Let’s start here: I don’t like things to be complicated.

I can handle complex, sure. Nuanced and variable? No problem. I like layers to things (like lasagna, or chocolate-raspberry cake, for starters). However, I cannot get behind a big hairy mess. Hence the name of this website.

When it comes to food, I agree with Michael Pollan: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”

Food shouldn’t be complicated. Fats, carbs, high vs. low protein, organic vs. non—this should not be complicated. Hold out your hand. I’ve got five points for you to remember. You with me, people? Check ‘em off. Here we go.

1. Food should be food. Buy items that are recognizable as food: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, oils from actual food crop plants, and eggs and dairy. If it comes in a cardboard box or plastic bag, chances increase that it’s not really food—unless, of course, you’re buying a bag of lentils or something. If it has more than five ingredients, including anything you can’t pronounce (think butylated hydroxytoluene, or BHT) or don’t recognize (autolyzed yeast, anyone?) as an actual food item, leave it out of your cart.
2. Food should be delicious. Oh, baby. Savory and succulent, sweet and tart, rich and smooth, chewy and satisfying, all the wonderful things that make eating both nourishing and satisfying.
3. Food should make you feel good. Everyone is different and will need slightly different combinations of foods to feel their best. If you feel terrible when you eat dairy, don’t eat it—no matter how good some say it’s supposed to be for you. If you feel tense on a mostly raw diet or sluggish and bloated when you eat wheat—don’t eat those things! Listen to your body and take into account the specific dietary needs of the people you are feeding when you prepare food. Seriously. I am not a doctor—be smart and pay attention to what your body tells you.
4. The food you feed your family shouldn’t drain your brain or your wallet. It should be affordable and easy. However, you may have to spend more for some organic products than for their conventional counterparts. I realize that can pinch, but I look at it as health insurance. Likewise, agave nectar is more expensive than sugar, but if it allows you to get off diabetes meds, I’d say you’re coming out ahead—in a lot of ways.
5. Food should come from home, or close to it. Fresh, local, organic foods should make up the cornerstone of your diet. Know the people who are producing your food whenever possible. Grow your own herbs and some veggies if you have space, even if it’s just a windowsill. If you have a yard, consider planting a fruit tree, some raspberries, or some grape vines. The fresher your food is and the healthier the soil is where it’s grown, the tastier it is (hello—raspberries right off the vine?) and the more nutritional bang you’ll get for your buck. Plus you get to invest your money in your own community, which is just smart.

That’s the Simple Spoonful: an intersection of healthy recipes, food facts, and food politics designed to help you “read between the tines” and make food choices that are healthy in the broadest sense of the word.  More information on my food philosophy and how to keep it simple is available around the site, and you can always e-mail me with your questions at laurel (at) simplespoonful (dot) com. Who doesn’t like getting mail? If it takes me some time to get back to you, don’t fret. It just means I’m probably in the kitchen, cooking up something delicious.

About Laurel

Laurel is a freelance writer and editor based in the Phoenix area. Once upon a time, she taught junior high for several years. She has also led school tours about the stunning Sonoran Desert at the Desert Botanical Gardens and served as lead designer on several specialized curriculum projects in Spanish and literature. Every now and again, she writes a poem or story that finds its way into a journal. She has been vegetarian since 2001 and married to the extraordinary Unicyclist since 2007. While she loves to cook nutritious dishes, she is neither a chef nor a doctor. That is, in fact, a key point of the Simple Spoonful: ordinary people can get into the kitchen and figure out how to make fresh, delicious, healthy, real food. They don’t need specialized training—they need support, ideas, and information. That’s what the Simple Spoonful aims to serve up.

Pull up a chair, audience. Dinner is served.