new interests

I have a new interest...bloggers. I find it fascinating that people have the discipline and the motivation to blog regularly about a topic. For instance, there's a blog I now follow about school lunches in the US. I remember the school lunches from growing up, I even ate them occasionally when I substitute taught at my old Junior High in Herrick. But I take for granted how much healthier my school lunches are in Korea than they were back home. It's an interesting blog about a teacher who has determined to eat school lunches for an entire year, documenting it for the whole world (well, for those who follow her blog.)

http://fedupwithschoollunch.blogspot.com/

And let me tell you, the meals do NOT look appetizing. Ugh. Which brings me to my second new interest- Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. It just started back home and it's absolutely fascinating. Mind you, I'm basically in love with this man anyway. (Seriously Jamie, if you come to Korea, I would LOVE to have you come cook for me...just an FYI) I really enjoy his cooking shows and I've seen a couple specials before on his passion regarding wholesome eating. Bear in mind that he does love his food...it's not like he's trying to get people to eat celery and lettuce all the time. It's just all about using natural, fresh ingredients. Anyway, tangent there...his new show. It's about his effort in a town in Virginia which had been labeled as the unhealthiest town in the US (according to some research). The first two episodes have aired and it was all about him trying to make a difference in an elementary school. It was an eye-opener for me. I mean, I get that the schools do what they can with all the rules that the USDA throws down on them (we are notorious for our red-tape obsession back home, I have to admit), but to honestly feel that serving pizza for breakfast is a good idea...my God. And I know that my own childhood school district does the same thing. Anyway...So just to compare lunches.

My favorite school lunch when I was a kid was chili day. Big bowl of chili, fruit cocktail, peanut butter sandwich (for dipping) and carrot sticks (which I, of course, never ate). School lunch today: mixed veg and octopus soup (spicy) containing onion, potato, zucchini, sprouts and some green leafy thing, rice with beans (always a small portion because I'm trying to eat better), kimchi, greens in some sort of sesame oil...just enough to flavor it, and a side of pork (not fried) to dip into the best dipping sauce in korea (don't ask me the name, because I still have no idea, but it's what you get when you go for barbeque here...seriously, making my mouth water right now). I realize that chili is actually one of the healthier options on the public school menu at home, but compared to what I had today in Korea, there's no comparison for health benefits. Half of what I ate today was vegetables, a third was rice and the smallest portion was meat. That's pretty stinking awesome if you ask me. Maybe I should do something with this...maybe blog about my school lunches. After all, I do eat them five days a week. And my school lunches are pretty yummy. It's just too bad that they're really not pretty to look at most days! Haha. So that is what is consuming my free time at work these days. When I'm not prepping for classes, I'm reading and thinking about this.