Cappello Cornbread Recipe + Souls/Days that Set your Heart Alight + Metaphor for the Robbery of our Future
How to make oatflour? Throw whole-oats in a blender for a few seconds. How to make flax meal? Same thing.
Don’t have dates? You could use pure maple syrup or some other natural sugar. We use dates because they are packed with fiber and minerals.
OPTIONAL: grate in a garlic cloves per taste.
Continue for: our Cappello Cornbread Recipe (plant-based, whole-food, gluten-free); the nutritional wonders found within; a perfect day at my childhood beach with souls that fill my heart to bursting; plus 3 whole days of what this family feasts on while we’re living our healthiest lives via plant-based diets and Lifestyle Medicine pillars.
Live Kindly, Feast Kindly, Grow Forward!
Ingredients needed for a batch of cornbread: baking powder, pickled jalapenos (optional as a substitute for using Apple Cider Vinegar, you can use pickled-pepper brine), corn meal, apple cider vinegar, oatmilk, dates, garlic cloves (optional), oatflour, flax meal, salt per taste.
A lot of cornbread recipes involve throwing in sugar to tamper down the bitterness of the corn flour. In this recipe, we puree whole dates with the oatmilk and you’ll get a super-sweet, rich tasting base. You won’t miss those refined sugars at all.
Make a well in the middle of your dry ingredients, pour in the wet mixture, and stir from the middle out to slowly incorporate. This way prevents lumps.
Optional: sprinkle some paprika on top.
No need to oil a pan, it’ll come out fine without it.
Throw this into the oven @ 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.
If you have a kiddo around, they can be used for pre-washing the mixing bowl. :-) There are no eggs or other ingredients of concern.
Voila! <3
Also tastes delightful with a bit of pesto and balsamic tomatoes.
From “Undo It” by world-renowned cardiologist Dr Dean Ornish and Anne Ornish.
From “Undo It” by world-renowned cardiologist Dr Dean Ornish and Anne Ornish.
For those folks that don’t care about the environmental impacts, here’s what your animal-product dense diet is doing to your cardiovascular system…AND YOUR CHILD’S!
You may erroneously assume that whole-grain cornflour has nothing going for it, but here’s what’s really going on in one cup (this recipe calls for 2):
Protein 8.1g 16%
Dietary Fiber 8.5g 34%
Vitamin A 250IU 5%
Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol) 0.5mg 2%
Thiaminv 0.3mg 19%
Riboflavin 0.1mg 6%
Niacin 2.2mg 11%
Vitamin B60.4mg 22%
Folate 29.2mcg 7%
Calcium 8.2mg 1%
Iron 2.8mg 15%
Magnesium 109mg 27%
Phosphorus 318mg 32%
Potassium 369mg 11%
Zinc 2.0mg 13%
Copper 0.3mg 13%
Manganese 0.5mg 27%
Selenium 18.0mcg 26%
If that wasn’t enough, you’re getting antioxidants from those tasty kernels, and you’re getting even more from the oats:
“Whole oats are high in antioxidants and beneficial plant compounds called polyphenols. Most notable is a unique group of antioxidants called avenanthramides, which are almost solely found in oats. Avenanthramides may help lower blood pressure levels by increasing the production of nitric oxide. This gas molecule helps dilate blood vessels and leads to better blood flow. In addition, avenanthramides have anti-inflammatory and anti-itching effects. Ferulic acid is also found in large amounts in oats. This is another antioxidant.”
What about those dates? Well, instead of harmful refined sugars that feed you empty calories and disease, the dates have the following:
Fiber: 7 grams
Protein: 2 grams
Potassium: 20% of the RDI
Magnesium: 14% of the RDI
Copper: 18% of the RDI
Manganese: 15% of the RDI
Iron: 5% of the RDI
Vitamin B6: 12% of the RDI
Flavonoids: Flavonoids are powerful antioxidants that may help reduce inflammation and have been studied for their potential to reduce the risk of diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and certain types of cancer (2, 9).
Carotenoids: Carotenoids are proven to promote heart health and may also reduce the risk of eye-related disorders, such as macular degeneration (2, 10).
Phenolic acid: Known for its anti-inflammatory properties, phenolic acid may help lower the risk of cancer and heart disease (11, 12).
Laboratory studies have found dates to be helpful for lowering inflammatory markers, such as interleukin 6 (IL-6), in the brain. High levels of IL-6 are associated with a higher risk of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s (13, 14).
You’re topping that wallop with the fibrous punch of whole oat flour, flax meal, and our unstrained fiber-packed oatmilk, which gives you one heart-healthy wonder…not something that will weigh your endothelial system down and clog your arteries.
Dig into some cornbread and start enjoying food that is feeding you health while filling the earth with kindness. <3
Sunday Song Day Start-of-the-Day. I get up at 4:30AM on writing mornings, and Wicket is my writing companion. Luckily for both of us, I’m always standing behind that desk so she has full reign of the stool.
My always happy, forever furry cub. <3 (<—Def got my Lalande Hairy-Hobbit genes!)
I write in the dark for several hours and then get the pitter-patter of this little soul running downstairs to greet me with a hug and ask for breakfast.
Plant-Based Kiddo Breakfast: Sprouted Hemp Bread (thanks, Crystal!), peanut butter, and peach.
Sunday we loaded up the car and headed up to Selkirk State Park with Tara, with the intention to meet our beloved Steph and her boys.
We’ve been working so hard on house projects and saving-the-earth projects that both Ian and I felt almost guilty taking a break and heading out for some family time, but BOY HOWDY was this a well-needed rest. We came with a bounty of zero-waste gear and a cooler stocked with earth-friendly/body-friendly feasting for us and to share.
Except for me, no one in our group had been to this beach before, and for this lady it was an emotional whirl.
Selkirk is where my mother brought us when we were kids. We came here every summer from birth through high school. It was where her mother and brought her as a girl with all her siblings, and it was where my grandmother had come in her own childhood. It’s also where my parents met (when my mother was 15 and bobbing in the water coquettishly hollering “Who wants to dunk me?!” and my father answered the call with his trickster gleam).
Selkirk is seared into my childhood. It is one of my favorite places on this earth, and in all the years I was coming here I never once imagined I’d one day be bringing my own cub and continuing the tradition.
Another thing I could not have imagined: that one day I’d have a mother-in-law I love more than just about any soul on this earth, a soul so sweet it’s impossible not to fall in love with her, and I’d be standing on the pier of my youth watching her view sailboats with my spawn, while I swallowed a happy-tears lump in my throat.
Q overjoyed to see his friends in the distance. We’d set up this beach day so he could see Steph’s two boys: friends he’s loved for years but has not seen since January.
Two of the happiest, strongest-willed boys I’ve ever met having the absolute time of their lives getting walloped by waves.
Picnic Lunch (that had been prepped that AM): salads for me and Q (Quinoa stirfry —with eggplant, garlic scapes,shiitake mushrooms, and peas— romaine, swiss chard, avocado, golden tomatoes, yellow squash, ruby kraut, green onions, and sesame dressing).
And berry bread cups (to share) topped with peanut butter and cashew cream.
If you’re wondering if Q actually eats all these salads I make for him, the answer is not only YES: he also licks the dang bowl clean.
<3
Ian wins the non-existent award for best dad bod. Hubba, hubba. :-)
Mothers and Sons <3
Our day was absolutely perfect. It was laughter, it was talking, it was reconnecting, it was over-filled with love, and we were in and out without leaving a bit of trace.
Someday Steph is going to get her own post, because she is one of the dearest/favorite souls in my life.
Steph makes me belly-laugh, Steph is the kind of soul you can have long thoughtful conversations with, Steph is the sort of friend you can be absolutely quiet/still/comfortable with. Steph is a balm of love on this wild earth.
Plant-Based Dinner:
j & Q - leftover arepa pizzas, balsamic tomato medley.
i - purple mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, lentil loaf, squash, swiss chard.
Sunday Family Movie Night (with homemade, zero-waste popcorn): “Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan”
This was an Ian suggestion and was loved by all. If you’re a fan of stop-motion animation, old movies, impressive human craft, and science-fiction: check this out.
Nightly Reading.
Plant-Based Kiddo Breakfast: sprouted bread with humus and bell pepper, with extra bell peppers and half an apple.
What my Monday and Tuesday mornings looked like: painting the exterior of the house while simultaneously homeschooling Q.
After <3
What Q was working on. <—Simultaneously eye-rolling and heart-squeezing over here. He is SUCH a mini-Ian!!
Lunch: Quinoa stirfry —with eggplant, garlic scapes, shiitake mushrooms, and peas— romaine, swiss chard, avocado, golden tomatoes, yellow squash, ruby kraut, green onions, sesame dressing, and furikake.
Dessert: berry bread, cashew cream, peanut butter, and melted a little piece of chocolate with a bit of sesame oil and got this delicious chocolate sauce. Woot woot! <3
While Q drew and drew and drew to his sci-fi heart’s delight, I mowed quadrants of our yard.
Then I came in from mowing, and made us fresh arepa dough, a savory filling, and started work on another batch of arepa pizzas. What’s in that pan? Caramelized onion from Crystal plus green onions from our Stone’s Throw Farm CSA share, freshly grated garlic, and lentil loaf. Tastes like a savory, allium delight.
Man, if only one had energy to spare on a plant-based diet. If only the food options were scrumptious. ;-)
Worried plant-based cheese won’t melt like regular cheese or taste disgusting? Worry not. I would not come near this if it didn’t taste good, and these are so delicious that it turns into a battle of Cappellos over who’ll get the last piece. <—Hyperbole: we always give the last/best part to Q because we’re over-doting/loving parents.
Dinner: balsamic tomato medley, green onions, arepa pizza.
Dessert: chocolate mint nice cream.
My partner in life, advocacy, love, and chores. I do some dishes, but Ian definitely does the bulk of them. It’s our balancing act: I do all the cooking, so he helps out with the receptacles that have fed him.
While he washes dishes and listens to mind-opening podcasts, I read Q to sleep.
Nightly Reading
Another plant-based kiddo breakfast: sprouted bread with peanut butter (Crystal gave us half a loaf and given that Q gets one slice a day he’s really stretching out the glory of this treat!) and a peach.
When you’re proud of yourself for reading a word correctly and then get right back to it. <3
Lunch: balsamic tomato medley, green onions, arepa pizza.
Dessert: mango, strawberry, blueberry smoothies.
When you’ve been painting and mowing in 90 degree temps, and then your body lets you know that you’re not pregnant again, and you come in deflated, explain “why” to your son when he asks (because he’s a little empath who can read everyone’s moods and we discuss everything openly in this house), and go to fix yourself a berry bread bowl, and your son hollers out, “Mama, I put all the comfiest pillows on the couch, and put the softest one where you always sit. Snuggle up next to me and you’ll feel better soon!”
In all honesty I felt better as soon as I saw his love-filled face, but Boy Howdy is his sweet soul a balm for the heart.
Dinner: Quinoa stirfry —with eggplant, garlic scapes, shiitake mushrooms, and peas— romaine, swiss chard, avocado, golden tomatoes, yellow squash, ruby kraut, green onions, sesame dressing, furikake, and kalamata olives.
Nightly Reading
Imagine you’re working day-in-day-out doing all you can to save up for your child’s future. You don’t come from money, you don’t come from prestige, neither you or your partner have high-paying jobs, so everything you have comes from hardwork and is precious.
Yet no matter how hard you work, no matter how much you save, every time you squirrel something away, someone comes by and takes it.
Not only is it "someone”, it is some of your favorite souls on this planet: a wide array of souls you love and respect.
You speak up and say, “Uhh…hey, not sure if you know what you’re doing, but you’re taking hard-earned resources away from my son. Could you please stop?”
They say, “No we’re not. That’s just your opinion.”
So you gather up some references all pointing to the glaring theft —and your references aren’t from some Karen down the street, they are from all the leading organizations across the globe—and in the process you also learn that with every bit they take from your son, they are actually harming themselves and their kin too. And yet they keep taking. They take daily. They take sometimes 3 or more times a day.
You go back to them and you say, “Hey, I get it. You may not know this, but here are a whole bunch of studies, research, and journals all pointing to the fact that not only are you taking from my son, but you’re harming yourselves, your kin, and this greed is even harming the planet and every species on it! I have a son who wants to grow up and save the ocean from irreparable harm, and he’s worried that there won’t be enough resources left for his future babies to thrive. Could you PLEASE STOP?!”
And they say, “How dare you ask us to stop taking! Shush up, we don’t like your tone!”
It’d be enough to drive me off the mental deep-end, if I wasn't surrounded by souls supporting me with love, souls urging me forward, souls who have taught me how to speak up for what’s right no matter how hard people want to ignore the facts, an ever-growing list of inspiring souls who have taken this information to heart and are growing forward in health and kindness; and a son who reminds me every day why I need to keep up the hardwork of protecting his future.
Humans are categorically more focused on the preciousness of money than they are health or a sustainable environment, and if you listened to that Dr David Katz interview I posted about weeks ago you’d hear him explain the same and understand why I chose the above metaphor. He also goes over the vast data supporting a plant-based diet for planetary health as well as body health. Who is Dr David Katz and why should we give a hoot what he has to say?
“He is the founding director (1998-2019) of Yale University’s Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center, Past-President of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, and Founder/President of the True Health Initiative, a non-profit organization established to defend and disseminate the science, sense, and global expert consensus about healthy, sustainable diet and lifestyle in the service of adding years to lives and life to years around the globe.
The recipient of many awards for his contributions to public health, he has received three honorary doctorate degrees. Dr. Katz has held faculty positions at the Yale University Schools of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing- and as adjunct professor at the George Washington University School of Medicine. He served as Director of Medical Studies in Public Health at the Yale School of Medicine for nearly a decade.
He holds multiple U.S. patents with other patents pending. He has published over 200 scientific articles and textbook chapters, and 18 books to date, including multiple editions of leading textbooks in both Preventive Medicine and nutrition. His 17th book, The Truth about Food, sends all proceeds to support the True Health Initiative. His 18th book, How to Eat (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), with co-author Mark Bittman, is available now.
Dr. Katz invented the meta-research method known as “evidence mapping;” the behavior modification construct called “impediment profiling;” a multi-site clinical trial approach to community-based participatory research called the multi-site translational community trial (MTCT); and most recently, “evidence threshold pathway mapping,” a method for applying diverse evidence sources in particular to questions about lifestyle practices and lifelong health effects.”
I’m not interested or ever focused on the uninformed voices of anecdotal Karens, I’m focused on our leading doctors, our leading environmental scientists, my son’s future, & the futures of the species we share this planet with.
All it takes are steps forward. The farther on down the path you go, the more you realize you don’t need to “take” to thrive.
____________
What’s the most impactful thing you can do as an individual to help your kin, community, millions of species, and planet? Transition as plant-based as possible.🌎♥️
Why? Plant-Based foods are environmentally imperative 🌎. They also promote ideal health💪 (which takes stress off our overburdened health care system), are inexpensive🙌, delicious🤤, & compassionate. 💕
Why imperative, though? 🤔We’re approaching (& have crossed) climate tipping points that will doom our kin & millions of other species. 😱📣Reducing/eliminating animal products is the *most impactful thing an individual can do* to prevent worse. 🌎🔥
Why? Animal Agriculture creates more emissions than the entire transportation sector combined, it’s tied to water waste/loss/pollution (<-- freshwater is our most precious resource💧), land loss/deforestation (<-- exacerbates climate change by reducing our ability to sequester carbon🔥🌎), ocean acidification (<-- FYI 50-85% of earth’s oxygen originates from oceanic plankton🌊) & vast species loss/extinction/suffering💔📣🌎
Plus, consuming animal products is tied to increased risk of cardiovascular disease❤️🩹, diabetes👎, cancer👎, and chronic disease👎; whereas Plant-Based feasting is linked to preventing/reversing some of our most common diseases (<— like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer); plus it promotes ideal health & robust strength (ie Olympians, Weightlifters, Endurance Athletes are thriving via PBWFs too). 🎉🙌♥️
What organizations are promoting plant-based diets for best health and environmental stability? National Institutes of Health, Mayo Clinic, Yale, the United Nations, Harvard School of Health, American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, The American Academy of Pediatrics, National Kidney Foundation, even the Parkinson’s Foundation.
We’re all overwhelmed in one way or another, but for the sake of our kin (and the millions of species we share this planet with) we need to start pivoting forward. As someone who once rarely ate green things & used to eat animal products at every meal, I can assure you that is possible, affordable, enjoyable, & purposeful to pivot Plant-Based. In fact, our whole family is now healthier/stronger than ever. 🙌♥️
Anecdotally, our son had failure-to-thrive, was also plagued with perpetual ear-infections/sinus-infections, and had an omnipresent runny nose. What was he eating? Grass-fed milk, organic/antibiotic-free/grass-fed/local meats, eggs from organic-fed/well-loved chickens from a neighbor, every meal came with vegetables, and we limited junkfood. He was healed via a plant-based diet: he’s launched out of that diagnosis and the last time he had a sinus-infection (or was sick at all) was in 2019 when he had some cheese at a school Christmas party. Before shifting to PBWF’s he was sick every month, and how he’s a robust, vital, thriving kiddo. 🙌🎉♥️
If you think any of the above sounds over-reached/absurd/impossible, please go read the links above. I understand the inclination to hackle-raise (<—because I was once totally there) but the science is clear: any step we make forward is imperative (<—and again “STEPS” is the focus. Don’t leap, just start making steps!). It’s as simple as starting with one meal a week and growing from there.💕
We have the ability (deliciously, healthfully, kindly, inexpensively) to *preserve/protect* the planet we share with millions of species & our kin. How are we going to use that power today?✌️🤟🖖
