Sunday, October 31, 2010

Jim's Longevity Diet Broth


I promised something other than a book review or race report so here is something else I do.

When I am at home, I make "Jim's Special Secret Organic Longevity Diet Broth" three or four times each day. (Perhaps I should open a marketing company since I am so good at coming up with memorable names for products)

The recipe is simple. First I turn on the kettle. Then I go outside and pick a good size handful of fresh herbs and greens(about 1/2 cup loose). At this time of year my options are limited but I still have a fair crop of parsley and chives so lately it has been mostly that.

I cut the herbs up finely with scissors and put them in my 16 oz wide mouth thermos. Pour boiling water on them.

One of my favourite broths is just basil. 1/2 C basil is flavourful and the best.

I also add spinach, lettuce, beet greens, turnip greens etc when they are in season. Cutting them with scissors as I do allows me to use the slightly tougher greens and stems that are available at this time of year. As I write, I am sipping on a broth made with beet greens.

Sometimes I add something to give it a bite like a spoonful of salsa, a slice of jalapeno pepper (which were a great crop this year) or some curry powder. I also sometimes grind some cumin for it. I never add salt but that may be just my taste.

Sometimes I add a teaspoon of small lentils and/or oatmeal or rice. This adds a bit more substance.

The broth is ready to drink/eat in an hour (but often I wait 3-4 hours and it is still hot). For maximum health impact, I suggest using that hour to run 12 K.

Although I call it broth, I eat the "greens" with a spoon. So eat the whole thing.

It is that simple.

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Economics change behavior. I have long been an advocate of dramatically increasing energy prices to change peoples' behavior.

There is a cute (but horrible) story on economics and prisoners in the 1700's that illustrates the power of economics.

1 comment:

  1. Economics change behavior. I have long been an advocate of dramatically increasing energy prices to change peoples' behavior.


    Jim,

    I found this comment interesting. I work in a marketing capacity for a number of energy companies. The price of some forms of energy, especially electricity, are going up. Not necessarily because of any coordinated plan or strategy, but as a result of bad planning by the provincial government and political fear.

    Building power plants is expensive, and for nuclear ones, the costs seem to be unpredictable (well, you can predict they'll be double or triple of the first estimates). As a result, at least in Ontario, we've had 15 years of governments who have dithered. Which may not be such a bad thing in the end, but you would hope for programs that strongly encourage and provide incentives for much more energy conservation.

    The first place to start would be building codes - build the efficiency in from the beginning, and for owners of older buildings, give them X years to get up to the new code. However, given that many political campaigns are financed by developers, this is a long shot too.

    So in the mean time, in the guise of other types of programs and added on charges, prices are creeping upwards. Predictably, customers start to complain, and politicians get nervous. But we are a long way from prices in Europe, or even our neighbours in New York state.

    Behaviour is changing, but slowly.

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