Folami interviews Chaye Wise about her Wise Eating advice column.

Chaye and I first met in a birthing class in 1986. I have watched her grow into a healthy lifestyle guru operating her business Wise Eating. How lucky for her she married Moshe Wise! J. She offers cooking classes, food buying co-ops, personal catering in homes, and healthy eating seminars and lifestyle change consultations. She is also a nationally certified massage therapist. She is the proud mother of four beautiful children, ages 18 months, 12, 15 and 18.

FOLAMI: What is wise eating?

CHAYE: Wise eating is a concept that is not just about food that you eat. It’s about recognizing that everything we take in affects who we are; the food, the fluids, the air we breathe, the interactions and relationships, the music and the media – all make up who we are.

FOLAMI: Isn’t that funny? On my CD I have a quote of my own. “We are what we sing.” So you know where I got that from…

CHAYE: It’s an understanding that wise eating is wise. Looking at the wisdom of the elders, of our experiences and life in general to determine what we are going to take in, looking at the need for clean air and pure water. As simple as it sounds, natural foods are not the norm. Everything is over-processed and full of preservatives and additives that are harmful to our bodies; in more than just physical ways. They affect our emotions and our spirit.

We need to make informed decisions about what we are going to take in.

FOLAMI: Do you think that any of the trends we are seeing in today’s children such as the so-called hyperactive child, or the growing number of pre-teens with women’s bodies. Does any of that relate back to the foods we eat?

CHAYE: Absolutely! The over-activity that we see in children often stems from sugar content in the body which can be something that could have started in their systems before they were actually born, having started while in the womb. Wise eating includes expectant moms considering what they eat. As far as the growing number of well-developed pre-teens girls, there is scientific proof that the hormones that they put in poultry go into our systems as we eat the poultry. So the same hormone that makes the chicken breast plump is having the same effect on our daughters.

FOLAMI: Well, I want to ask you about Ritalin as a solution but we’ll give you an entire column to address such an important issue. Cool?

CHAYE: Yes.

FOLAMI: Well, let’s face it. Even I have slipped, Chaye. When you met me 20 years ago, I was a strict vegetarian, committed to avoiding fast food and even baked my own bread. Those days are OVER. I have found that my active lifestyle has led me to take advantage of quick meals, non-veggie meals, sugary cereals and (okay, I’m admitting it to the world) fast food. So how can you help people like me who want to do better but associate wise eating with 5 hours in the kitchen?

CHAYE: Whole Foods and that whole industry have made it easier now, because so many people like you (and me) when we had small children, we had more time in the kitchen, but as our children have grown older, we are drawn out of the kitchen. There is not enough time and we need help with the details of preparation of healthy meals. And so numerous time saving gadgets have been created that still allow foods to stay in the healthy realm without compromising the quality as well as pre-packaged foods that, again, still allow a family to eat healthy natural foods with a fraction of the time being spent in preparation. The demand is growing because of people like us.

The reality is it does take time to eat healthy. It does take time to prepare. However, planning takes time (doing a menu, scheduling in a combined effort and doing the work) Utilizing some of these time-saving ingredients and tools can cut the time and make the time spent well worth it for everyone involved. It would be hard of I had to do all 5 of those hours by myself like I did when they were babies. Now that they’re older, they spend that time with me in the kitchen and what took 5 hours takes 2 hours and we spend quality time together.

FOLAMI: Let’s start small. Give us 3 gadgets and one semi-prepared healthy meal for our 21st century kitchens.

CHAYE: A salad spinner.

FOLAMI: Any objections to bagged salad?

CHAYE: Yes, some. But no, not in general. One of the keys to Wise Eating is reading labels. If it’s just bagged salad with no preservatives added, that’s fine. But if your pocketbook won’t allow you to do the bagged salad, which tend to be pricey, then a head of romaine lettuce, a carrot and a piece of red cabbage can last a few days longer than that pre-packaged.

Of course we have our food processors and blenders, and as they have improved there is less of a clean-up issue.

FOLAMI: Forgive me for laughing. But I just left my kitchen and out of the corner of my eyes, I saw “pieces” of a food processor. Do the newer models have fewer pieces?

CHAYE: Unfortunately, I don’t know cause mine are pretty old. I chose to buy the ones that are more expensive that last forever and they are lasting forever.

FOLAMI: Give us one more gadget.

CHAYE: The old-fashioned apple core potato peeler, which is great for peeling all of your vegetables quickly and it’s a tool the children can safely learn to use at a young age.

FOLAMI: Good idea! Y’know that reminds of an incident that sticks in my head. I had a 22-yeard old visiting a few years ago and was making a salad and she did not know how to peel a carrot. I shared that story with a friend who told me her own daughter thought cabbage was lettuce. And explained it away by saying, “Hey we buy our salads in bags.”
(laughter)

CHAYE: Ha! That reminds me of a time I was working with children in an inner-city school and asked them where oranges, grapes and apples come form. And one of them raised a hand and shouted “Out the local grocery store!” Seriously. Our lives are so busy now that some of the basic simple things that we take for granted are slipping through the cracks as far as educating our children about our food supply. Too much is being left to the mainstream media which is often guided by a different set of priorities.

FOLAMI: Just last night my 7-year old son Kofi was surprised that an avocado had a seed. It made me realize I had not involved him in the prep of an avocado. But he went on to ask about the seed thing and I informed him that everything that grows from the earth has seeds and he tried to challenge me by naming beans. I told him beans are seeds that we can eat. Right?

CHAYE: Yes. They are the seed of the vegetable. Lentils, black bean,etc. There is a plant or leaf that those beans come from.

FOLAMI: See? I’m already more in the know. How about a convenient food or quick healthy meal?

CHAYE: Can I name brands?

FOLAMI: Name ‘em now and we hope they’ll sponsor later (laughter).

CHAYE: Fantastic Foods has done a fantastic job in bringing a large extensive line that includes some of our favorite and otherwise difficult and vegetarian recipes. Nicely seasoned and conveniently packaged, many of which you just have to add water.

FOLAMI: What is your children’s favorite dish they make?

CHAYE: My son, Yosef, the cook in the house, future culinary artist loves to make Cheesy Bean Burritos. And they were pleasantly surprised when someone gave me a box of Fantastic Foods instant refried beans. And how good they tasted!

FOLAMI: Oh, yeah. We’ve eaten that.

CHAYE; Normally, burritos have to be made after I’ve cooked a pot of beans (red or black or kidney) and we use the leftovers for the burritos.

FOLAMI: Do you refry them?

CHAYE: Sometimes. But under normal circumstance they have to wait to have one of their favorite dishes until after I’ve prepared beans. Fantastic Foods as well as other brands has made it possible for Yosef to prepare burritos in about 20 minutes at any time.

FOLAMI: Y’know, everyone in my family has a day to cook in my house. But my 13-year old sometimes has such a funky attitude about it that I don’t want to eat the food of someone who prepares it under duress. And my 17-yr old gets home from football practice at 8. So it’s really me and John and we do find it important to bring home take-out often just to stay on top of HW and try to have some quality time on the weekdays. Any take-out suggestions?

CHAYE: Just find somewhere that you trust.

FOLAMI: Who do you trust?

CHAYE: I found some conscious Asian (Chinese, Thai).

FOLAMI: Yeah, we eat a lot of Thai. I love thatred curry and Coconut Soup. But the last time I bright home Thai and realized I’d spent $40 for dinner, I knew that needed to become a treat.

CHAYE: We have a favorite Thai restaurant in the DC area but it is definitely for special occasions. I do most of our Thai favorites at home now and very inexpensively I can say.

FOLAMI: What do you think will keep the Wise Eating column reader coming back to the site for more?

CHAYE: An honest desire for alternatives, which is what Wise Eating is all about. Informing our audience about the alternatives to the traditional ingredients and recipes that have been handed down from generation to generation. Unfortunately, a lot of those ingredients and recipes are what are making us sick. Wise Eating’s commitment is to showing there are other options whereby you can have delicious and fun food that’s good for you, too.

FOLAMI: How can your readers communicate with you?

CHAYE: Join me in my kitchen to cook dinner any night. J But for obvious reasons, I can also be e-mailed at at wiseeating@homemadejamz.com. I’m excited and look forward to hearing the concerns that we’re facing today and I’m eager to offer as many answers as I can.

Contact CHAYE at wiseeating@homemadejamz.com with your wise eating questions. Let’s be wise when we eat!