Ep 45: Mediterranean Moments: Delicious Simplicity in Midlife Cooking

Written By Christine Van Bloem

The Mediterranean diet is a great first step toward a healthier lifestyle, but what the heck is it? It's the ease of cooking lighter summer meals, using fresh seasonal produce, and incorporating healthy fats and lean proteins, plus so much more. 

We're making food an event by inviting friends and savoring meals, the benefits of including physical activity, and promoting joy in the kitchen. 

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  • Well, oh, happy day. I am so thrilled to be here with you today. Listen, I've got a little shorty episode for you today because I have been doing tons and tons of work on Mediterranean diet stuff. I think y'all know that, and I have just been having the best time. I truly think that as the weather warms up, it gets so much easier to cook because we're looking at much shorter cooking times. Think about grilling, right? Everything grilling doesn't take forever. Now, if you do all of the smoking and whatnot, that takes forever, but that is a passion that you have. It's not one I have, but that's a passion. But summer food. Really becomes so much more about not doing too much to it and letting the actual food and produce shine. Now it's just the beginning of May, so we're not talking really huge gardens yet. Everything is just starting, and if you're going to your farmer's markets and you live. Anywhere, you know, middle of the country, northern part of the country, you are gonna see that they're kind of scarce still. You're probably gonna have some food trucks there. Your bakeries will still be doing things, but, but the food is not quite there yet. Here in Maryland we're getting the asparagus, we're starting to get some of that yummy early spring food. But the herbs are what are really shining right now, so. As we go into this quick cooking time that we're doing, I wanted to talk to you just about how to make it work for you and kind of what the basic principles are of the Mediterranean diet. And one of the things I wanna say about this is if you have ever seen a picture of me or met me in person, you know that I. Am no delicate flower. I am not the person to be talking to you about losing weight and I, well, I would never, that's not what this is about. That's something between you and your doctor. Mediterranean diet is really so much more of a lifestyle. It's not like the crazy cotton ball diet. That's a real thing. Really don't ever do that. That's terrible. But it's not like some crazy restrictive diet. And I think what you'll find if you explore this a little bit, it's really more about adding things in instead of taking things away. That's really common, everybody, especially if you are. In my age group, and you reached early adulthood in the age of snackwells, you know that it was all about deprivation. It was all about eating less, and now it's all about eating more. And that is what I love about this. So core principles of your Mediterranean diet are this. I don't know if you've ever seen, you know, eat food, eat real food, mostly plants, not too much. Something along those lines. But when we're dealing with Mediterranean diet things, we are definitely eating more plants. That's where we're going. We're eating more veggies, more fruits, more legumes. I'm now the queen of bean. Um, and definitely more whole grains if you've ever. Checked out my website or just any of my stuff, you know that I'm obsessed with Pharaoh right now, especially the 10 minute Pharaoh that you can get at Trader Joe's. It's a couple of bucks a bag. I love it. And one of the tricks that you get when you're making these whole grains. Especially if you're cooking for one or two people, it's annoying to make a single serving. It really is. Or even two servings, so I don't bother with it. I'll make a nice sized batch and then. I will batch it in freezer bags, flat packet, squeeze all the air out, and then pop it in the freezer so it's ready. When I am, I do it either in half cup servings or I'll do one cup if I'm thinking it's for two of us or for two meals. But that is a great way to kind of save time. And bank your effort because as we're eating mostly plants, we're gonna be bringing in so much good fresh stuff, especially now, right? Especially now. But we wanna make the little cheats, the little shortcuts where we can, where it's not gonna impact flavor or nutrition. Now, fat again, that snack wells thing, uh, fat. It's actually an okay thing here, but I'm talking about our healthy fats and if I ask anybody to shout out a healthy fat, the very first thing that they yell is avocado. And they're right. I love an avocado. And can you tell, I went to Trader Joe's yesterday. Trader Joe's has. Mini avocados. Now I got regular size because the minis were nowhere close to ripe, but they have little mini avocados that you get in a bag, and for me that is so great. It's the perfect size for one person, but other healthy fats come from nuts, seeds, and of course, that extra virgin olive oil. I have noticed that extra virgin olive oil, any olive oil really has just shot up in price, and it wasn't something I was expecting. I'm not sure why it's gotten so pricey all of a sudden. I don't know that it's subject to tariffs. I'm, I'm just not sure. But I have noticed that it's getting much more expensive right now. Buy the best quality that you can afford. And I will say that Goya, I think I've mentioned it before, but Goya has a really lovely extra virgin olive oil that for its price point. Is pretty fantastic. It's really rich in flavor, so make sure you're incorporating those healthy fats. Then we're coming into the lean proteins and you know, when we're talking about lean proteins, we're talking about fish and other seafood, poultry, eggs, even beans, right? Beans are a protein. That's why I'm the queen of beans. I also sneak in. Uh, pork tenderloins because not only have I found them to be really economical, especially if you're buying a family pack, but it is a nice lean protein. I cook them this time of year. I'm really moving out to my grill, my gas grill, and I will say that the, uh, cooking class I'm gonna be doing for a A RP in June. It's that first Saturday in June the seventh. That cooking class is going to be on grilling, so make sure I'll put a link in the show notes. It's totally free. A A RP Maryland sponsors that. Love to have you there, but I do love to do a pork tenderloin as well. Now I'll still eat a steak here and there, but beef has gotten really expensive too. So I'm careful from a budget standpoint and you know, also a heart healthy standpoint for myself. So I use it sparingly. Now another big tenant of the Mediterranean diet is using lots of herbs, lots of spices instead of a heavy sauce, or even cutting back salt, right? We're gonna try to flavor things a little more naturally. And I always say that I'm really good at salt. I really think I am. Sometimes I make things a little too salty, but I really am pretty good at salt, but I am trying to dial it back a little. And just like you get a sweet tooth, you can get a salt tooth. So it's not going to be immediate where you say. Oh, I put less salt in and this tastes completely delicious. No, you gotta train those taste buds a little bit. But this is where all of those herbs, and let me tell you, my chives and my oregano and my tarragon are gorgeous. They are like superstars. Show it off outside in the garden. So excuse me. So use those herbs and spices and it's not too late to plant things. I am gonna go, I had bought all of these seeds and. We never looked at when they were supposed to actually be planted because that's who I am. And I looked at the basil'cause in my head I'm going, well you can't plant basil until Mother's Day, right? Totally wrong. You're supposed to plant the seeds seven weeks before you're projected last frost. Can you imagine? So I missed that window. I will pick up either at the grocery store or the local, um, food co-op. I'll pick up some nice basil plants, probably some Thai basil. I definitely wanna get some rosemary. It didn't make it through the winter, but I'm gonna get those things planted. Just plant some herbs. If you have to do it in pots, great. Just plant something so that you've got that. It's really important in the Mediterranean diet. Now, this one, for some of you, you'll go yes, and some of you will go absolutely not, but I want you to listen to me here. One of the things that is actually a tenant of a Mediterranean diet is making your meals. More of an event. Okay? Making it social. Can you invite over a neighbor? Can you invite a friend? Can you get together with a friend? What can you do to make it that it's not you sitting in front of the tv? Eating right. What can you do to bring a little more joy into the process if you are flying solo, or sometimes even if you're with a partner, you get in a rut, right? You get in a rut. I nestle my tush right back into the corner of that couch while we watch old men yelling about sports, about some meal that I just made that, you know, I put effort into my meals. So. Try to do something if you can do it. I mean, here's an easy goal. If you can do it once a month, once a month, if you can do that, I think it'll go a long way for you, because, you know, I'm all about finding joy in the kitchen again. Right? And then of course, we always wanna move, but I'm lifting weights at the gym right now and feeling really good. Feeling really strong. But just moving your body. Yesterday as my friend Carrie and I were driving to Trader Joe's, we're driving through the very most northern part of Northern Virginia and it's very pretty, and everything was so green and so lush and I, I don't even know what came over me, but I was like, oh my gosh, look at the trees. I mean, I was now looking back, I probably made poor Carrie crazy, but she looked at me and said. Boy, exercise really affects you mentally, and it's true. I mean, again, going back to that not a delicate flower kind of person, it is totally true. It. It gives me such a rush of the endorphins. For me, moving my body not only makes me feel so great, but it, it, I don't know. It's just part of that healthy lifestyle. And you don't have to go lift weights. You don't. You should, especially as a midlife woman, we lose that muscle tone, so that's really important. But just doing something. I know you wouldn't think this would be part of it, but it is. So just a couple of little, you know, points of what this is all about. And I want you to know I do not eat perfectly. I mean, I, I always say I still wanna be buried with a number 10 can of nacho cheese. And I'm not exaggerating. Nacho cheese is my weakness. And tonight we'll ride our bikes down. There's a new pizza place that opened up. We'll ride bikes down for Thursday pizza night. So. It's really more about trying to bring this in, trying to bring these little bits in and incorporating it as much as I can. But I'm never striving for perfection here because listen, truthfully, it's just not gonna happen. That's not who I am. I'm guessing it's probably not who you are. Don't mean to insult you if you are, but. It's really about making just kind of better choices and learning how to have food that tastes really, really good. Last night I made a a delicious little tomato bruta, you know, and I'm not Italian, so forgive my. Pronunciation, but I had that. I put some little baby mozzarella in it, grilled some bread, took the time to go out and grill the bread, use the olive oil, use the tomatoes. Fresh basil, kept it very simple. And I'll tell you that's, that's how we really like to eat as things warm up. So if this is something that interests you, you know I've got a little something, something going on. But in addition to menopause meal plans starting on Wednesday, May 14th, I have a course called Mediterranean Magic for Midlife. And let me tell you, it's six weeks Wednesdays at 5:00 PM Eastern time, six weeks of live cooking classes where we're gonna be getting together. Our community is already hopping. I am jamming on it so hard. I love it so much. It's very exciting for me. But it's a great course. It's six full weeks. It's easy. Everything will be recorded. If you can't make class, you can go back and look at it. I have recipes and materials. Everything's getting posted week by week, and uh, I'd love it if you'd come and join me. Come cook with me. I think it'd be super fun. I'm gonna put a link to it in the show notes. Um, I would. Love it. Click the link. If you have any questions, reach out to me. Registration does close on the 14th, but come on, let's cook together and then for real, I'll see you in the kitchen.

Christine Van Bloem
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Ep 44: Empowering Nonprofits: The Marketing Magic of Laura Van Bloem