This February 2015

It baffles me that February is Heart Month and we cheering Go Red all the while will celebrate Black History Month with Soul Food spreads & luncheons at work, church, etc. Shouldn't while we are celebrating the accomplishments & achievements of history makers in our culture, we might educate our future about healthier ways of cooking the food black enslaved ancestors? The information is out there. Many of us cook soul food dishes based on r recipes at home.

I remember a few years ago a church I know was celebrating its Go Red Sunday. The ladies had on pretty red dresses, suits, hats & other accessories. Many of the gentlemen had red ties & pocket squares commemorate the day. The Nurses Guild was set up to give free blood pressure readings and pass out heart-healthy pamphlets after service. Also after service, the church partook in a family-style meal cooked by all the families. I saw what was being served and wanted to scream.. Beans with ham hock, greens & cabbage with fatback swimming in it with cornbread that almost looked like pound cake were served with fried chicken & pork chops. Then I overheard one lady ask the lady who made the beans,
      "I thought you didn't cook with ham hock anymore".
     "I don't cook with it at my house. I use smoked turkey wings. But you know these folks ain't trying to eat nothing like that", the bean maker said.
I want to cuss at that point. Did she poll everyone in the church and they said no to the healthier recipes? No, she didn't poll anybody. She didn't want to go out on a limb and help the congregation's heart, blood pressure & waistline with a lighter fare. She would rather serve this

and not rock the boat by bringing this.

I bet the Nurse's Guild saw some very high BP readings that Sunday. 

Well, readers, I am rocking the boat. As a nutritional consultant, I am tired of being perplexed by this occurrence. What food people put in their bodies is my business. So this February, I am posting healthier Soul Food recipes on this blog. All recipes will be foods I know how to make personally provided from sources I trust. I will even have meatless & dessert posts also. I'm not saying Soul Food is bad. It's not but we need to learn to cook it in lighter ways. Black people are not slaves anymore. Black people or anyone for that matter, don't have to eat like slaves anymore either.

As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms

It’s February

Growing up, the youth of my foundation (childhood) church use to present Black History Facts every Sunday in the month of February. We called it “Who am I”. Me being me well I grew tired of hearing about the same folks. So whenever I was chose to do “Who am I”I would find someone or something that was rarely talk about. The last time I did a “Who am I” I did, T. B. Boyd III (Now go look him up.). I was a sophomore in high school. Wow, I am old.  So this month I will talk about a few people that are rarely talked about in Black History. Here are some hints.

1. What is the oldest black Secular organization in the United States of America?
2. Name someone that died in the 1986 Challenger Explosion
3. Who is the 2^nd female Surgeon General?
4. What happened to the Buffalo Soldiers?

2 and 3 should be easy. I know some members of 1 that will scoff at the idea of someone not knowing that one. LoL Now 4 you have heard of them especially if you live here in Texas, you just don’t realize it.

Also this month I will tell you something sappy “I like…” and sadly I will have to rant about something. I would tell you the subject but since you don’t know the words you’ll read it when I do it.

The pictures in the blog are of me showing off my Little Red Dress Pin. The pin is the show awareness for American Heart Month. Heart Disease is the Number 1 killer of women in the United States. It has affected my family and friends and many of yours also. I wear my pin every chance I get during the month February.

February 7^th is the day set aside to show awareness in the fight of heart disease in women. For more information or to get a lapel pin like mine or other awareness apparel, educational books and cookbooks go to https://www.goredforwomen.org/.

 

As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms