I noticed a few posts bake someone mentioned that people in france eat more meat, drink more and are still heathier than the average American. From my limited knowledge of the Land of the Free and that of the La Tricolore, I think its down to lifestyle alot of the time drive through a french town and you'll rarley see an advert for fast food, red bull is on the fringes of legality and they take huge enjoyment in the natural tastes of food. every meal is a social occasion there and in many European countries, something me as a Brit am envious of. Everything from the cooking to slowly eating and savouring the flavors. Don't get me wrong there are McD's/BK/KFC/Dominos and the Hut but they are less prominent. During my trips Stateside there is an abundance of what i would class as convience food very where you look. Didn't matter if I was in RI,MA,CA,TX there was always something on a bill board or a sign pointing to a store or drive through, tons of commercials on TV - I felt bombarded and this from a guy who likes his triple whopper with Bacon and Cheese!!! (speaking of which whats the deal with EVERYThing having cheese! breadsticks,chicken sanwiches - WTF man
). Just out of Curiousity when you sit down tonight watch a 1 hr long show and count how many ads are food related!! out of those how many are actually heath in the real scheme of things? its insane.All of that mixed in with the peronal freedom of the car and its not gonna help - in europe you see a lot more people walking or cycling for the most part, except maybe in MA,RI and SoCal where it has quite a european feel.
Other thing is portion control. in '07 when I was in CT I got two large meat feast pizzas for $12 and the guy didn't even blink when i collected them on my own and he asked if they were just for me - in fact he threw in a large pot of wedges! I've been out in Houston and got a steak - what arrived could have been back on its legs with the attentions of a good vet! it was HUGE and I only ordered the smallest one on the menu! how you guys who stay 'sustainable' and rural with your food sources do it are amazing - in just seven days in the States I went from 169 lbs (5'9") to 183 lbs and thats after doing a token gesture of 45mins cardio in the hotel gym on the 3 non - travelling nights.
Veg pasta bake:
Fry off half an onion, 2 sliced bell peppers,5 large mushroom, one rough chopped courgette (zuchinni??) in 1.5 table spoons of olive oil until vegs have car
Boil enough wholegrain pasta to 3/4 fill a 9"x4" pyrex dish
stir in a tin of peeled tin tomatoes, a pinch on basil and a crushed half clove of garlic into the frying veg.
mix pasta and veg/tomato mix together and spread out in the pyrex dish, sprinkle some swiss cheese on it and bake of 15 mins @ 410F
Serve with acouple of inch thick slices of granary bread