Real Food Daily » Ann Gentry

May 14th, 2010

Healthy Eating for Kids!

Posted by Ann on May 14th, 2010

As I’ve spent the week preparing for my talk at this weekend’s You Are What You Eat event, I have spent a lot of time thinking about how to get kids to the table and enjoy healthy and delicious meals with the family. As I thought back on strategies that I’ve used with my kids, I remembered this GEM of an idea, given to me by Mary Hartzell, who is an early childhood educator and ran the nursery school both by children attended. Mary suggested to always have one consistent dish on the dinner table that the kids could eat, no matter what. If they are picky or fussy and don’t want to eat what I have prepared, there is always one dish that they can eat.

When I cook, I cook what my husband and I want to eat (and what we WANT our kids to eat) but, lets be honest, what parents like eating vs what the kids want to eat is often not the same thing! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve told Halle and Walker, that our home kitchen is not a restaurant! So in addition to what recipes I am preparing for that night’s dinner, I always prepare a whole grain dish, usually quinoa or brown rice. That way, the kids know there’s one nutritious item being served that they’ll WANT to enjoy.

I hope that there may be some of you out there who are able to make it to Brea tomorrow. There promises to be a full day of talks and discussions on this very topic, which I know is one that most mothers grapple with regularly! Even if you can’t make it to Brea, please feel free to share any thoughts or questions you have in the comments section, I’d love to start a dialogue where fans of RFD and REAL FOOD can talk about how to make the best choices for you and your families.

Click here for more information on You Are What You EAT. I hope to see you there!

Tags: Advice for vegans, Ann Gentry, balance, Dairy-free, diet, lifestyle, moms, preparing vegan meals, Real Food Daily, RFD, Vegan, vegan cooking, vegetarian, working mothers
Posted in Ann's Blog, The RFD Blogs | 2 Comments »

May 4th, 2010

Superfoods to save the day!

Posted by Ann on May 4th, 2010

I recently had a great opportunity to work with the folks at MSN’s Practical Guide to Healthier Living, a health and wellness site dedicated to showcase easy, everyday tips for ways to improve your quality of life and improve your overall health and wellness.

I was asked to share my thoughts on superfoods, and why it’s so important to incorporate these nutritional powerhouses into your daily diet. I was thrilled, because this is a topic very near and dear to my heart. Often, people think that “Superfoods” are just the exotic items like Goji or Acai berries, and neglect to think of the everyday items that really pack a nutritious punch. Foods like spinach, soy, avocado, and blueberries are all items that are nutrient rich and loaded with antioxidants and phytonutrients. By simply incorporating these foods into your daily meals, you will get an extra surge of vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients that will produce results for your body that you can see and feel, inside and out.

Check out my full video interview, as well as my article on superfoods on the MSN website, and let me know your thoughts! Are there items that surprised you on the list? Are there foods we left off? Let us know!

Tags: Advice for vegans, Ann Gentry, Antioxidants, diet, lifestyle, Phytonutrients, preparing vegan meals, Real Food Daily, RFD, substainability, Superfoods, Vegan, vegan cooking, vegetarian, whole grains
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April 8th, 2010

Eat Well, Chew Well

Posted by Ann on April 8th, 2010

At Real Food Daily, we make sure to let everyone know that we are LA’s top spot for organic vegan cuisine. What you might not know is that RFD’s original menu was founded on the principles of macrobiotics, and we still keep a core devotion to the macrobiotic diet with our Real Food Meal and our daily basics such as whole grains, beans, greens, and vegetables both land and sea as well as nori maki and miso soup.

Macrobiotics is a concept that gets an occasional burst of media attention as one celebrity or another endorses the diet, but in truth, Macrobiotics is more than a diet—it is a lifestyle based on the principles of balance and harmony, dedicated to the pursuit of living life to the fullest.

While there are many facets to the Macrobiotic diet, one good place to start the discussion is to talk about chewing. Before you get caught up in what to buy, or how to cook it, let’s talk about The Chew.

Macrobiotics teaches that how we eat is just as important as what we eat. This may sound crazy—especially when you read on and discover that some gurus recommend chewing 100 TIMES before swallowing – and that’s per bite, not per meal! Chewing, it’s core, is a practice in mindfulness.

According to practitioners, benefits associated with chewing well include: improved digestion, more energy and endurance, eliminating more toxins, promoting deeper relaxation, and cultivating patience and self-control. Once you begin the practice of mindful eating, you may even begin to experience feelings of enlightenment or event bliss! (Some attribute this experience to the fact that the brain receives about 20 percent more oxygen when chewing well.)

Ultimately, what you eat, and how you eat it can have a profound impact on your daily happiness. At your next meal, start by chewing each bite as many times as you can—when you start it will probably be only 8 or 10 “chews” before you feel compelled to swallow. But keep at it! This practice will help you to be more mindful as you eat, and will encourage you to be thoughtful and conscientious about how you feed your body.

Eating well gives you three chances every day to make good decisions for your body and your soul, so embrace the opportunity to eat and chew well!

Tags: Advice for vegans, Ann Gentry, balance, chewing, diet, lifestyle, macrobiotic, Real Food Daily, RFD, Vegan, vegan cooking, whole grains
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April 7th, 2010

Driven to a Greener Future

Posted by Ann on April 7th, 2010

We were so fortunate this year to be a part of the 2010 TED Conference in Long Beach, as participants in the Lexus Eco Village, and now I have big news: I am a finalist for the Lexus Prize!

At the Eco Village, TEDsters were invited to share their ideas for small but powerful ways that we can all reduce our carbon footprint. My idea is very simple: Eat Green! A vegan diet is an easy and delicious way to reduce your carbon footprint, and I’ve made it my mission for the last 17 years to share that message with the work we do at RFD.

Watch my video here, or see it online at Articulate-SF.com

Tags: Ann Gentry, Carbon Footprint, EcoVillage, Green, Lexus, RFD, TED, Vegan
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March 9th, 2010

my cup is full.

Posted by Ann on March 9th, 2010

Almost a month has past and I thought I was on a roll with my blog postings. I am laughing, what was I thinking? Ideas run through my head daily, but my fingers never touch the keys. The perils of a modern woman are running my cup over. In plain English, I am on overload, but I’m use to it, so I don’t even notice.

OMG, am I just whining when I think of all my excuses?

Let’s see, I own a small business that employs 150 people. I actively run it every day. I’ve got my business in a good place where I work on it, not in it. I’m the producer, but this role does call on me to be present and participating. I liken it to show business and the show must go on. I am raising two kids and maintaining a relationship with my husband. Daily, I try to carve out quiet time to have the sacred life, I so longing want and I try to show up at a few exercise classes because if I don’t release all the tension from these other things, I’ll go mad.

And now, I have taken on a big creative process, the one the fortune teller told me in the fall that I needed to balance my life, to fulfill my creative urges. So, here I am writing a cookbook and blogging about it. Am I crazy? How do writer’s work? How do mother’s juggle? How does a working woman stay emotionally attractive to her man? How do I connect to my blog readers, my husband, my kids, my employees, myself?

Tags: Ann Gentry, blogging, business owners, cookbooks, moms, vegan cooking, vegetarian, working mothers, writer's block
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February 9th, 2010

Prius lovers going veg

Posted by Ann on February 9th, 2010

One of my final jobs as an actress was playing in a Miller Beer commercial. I was paired with a ‘real’ live rodeo star, Steve? and we filmed in this honky tonk joint (which was really My Father’s Moustache on Montana Ave in Santa Monica.) I was the waitress (I nailed the audition because I knew exactly how to play this role from all my years in restaurants.) The scene is at the bar; I was serving rodeo rider, Steve his Rib-eye dinner. My big line was, “Here’s your steak, Steve” delivered with a Southern sassy flair. By then I was a hard-core foodie in the arena of veganism and macrobiotics. This was the perfect finale to my acting career.

A lot has happened since I served Steve his steak. My interest in healing foods and conscious eating has widened to include the connection to how our food choices effect the environment. In the past decade there has been so much information to digest. The facts about global climate change directly related to agriculture through the loss of wilderness to farmland, methane released from animals, energy-intensive fertilizers, polluting pesticides, and food processing and transportation were not lost on me.

And as a restaurateur, I’ve been noticing that my restaurants fill up with people who aren’t vegan or vegetarian full-time. These are people who are thinking about their health and their impact on the environment. With new knowledge, their interest in adding plant-based meals to their weekly repertoire seems to be growing. They have a hunch that driving a Prius but eating a steak dinner is missing the point on environmental responsibility.

These past few years has seen the launch of many awareness campaign like the one Sir Paul Mc Cartney and his daughter Stella have spearheaded. Meat Free Monday, aims to persuade people to go veggie once a week to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the world’s livestock to the United Nations and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health echoing the connection between the consumption of meat and the deterioration of our environment. Vegetarianism is has moved into the mainstream.

When I opened RFD 17 years ago, I was way ahead of my time. The choices I made came out of a deep connection to the Earth and my own body as well as intuitively knowing that eating ‘real foods’ was sensible, do able and the right thing to do. I would have never dreamed I would own a restaurant much less one serving exclusively an organic vegan cuisine. And yet, here, I am at the helm of two successful, ground breaking, eating establishments that show people that eating lower on the food chain can be exciting, satisfying and can change not only you but the world.

I’ve always been a gal with a mission. I’m pumped up about these environmental issues. So, I thought what better way to express myself then to pull these thoughts together in a book. Of course, that would be a book with recipes.

Tags: Ann Gentry, cookbooks, environment, Real Food Daily, RFD, substainability, Vegan, vegan cooking
Posted in Ann's Blog, The RFD Blogs | 3 Comments »

February 6th, 2010

My moment of reckoning

Posted by Ann on February 6th, 2010

I’ve been waiting for all technical difficulties to lie dormant, all connections to ignite and the stars to align. It’s come together and now I have to do my part. I have no other choice but to honor the commitment I made to myself. I must write a blog. I say that with equal parts terror and excitement. My promise was that once I finalized my second cookbook deal and the new RFD website was launched this would be the perfect time to chronicle the writing of my new cookbook. So without much adieu, here goes. I’m not quite dancing in the streets yet, but I did pop open the bubbly…. to celebrate a new journey.

Back in 2005, when I put my first book, The Real Food Daily Cookbook together, I always thought my second book would be The RFD Dessert Cookbook. Over the last few years, instead of organizing my pastry recipes in book form, I developed a full fledge pastry dept within my restaurant company. I built a state of the art bakery kitchen and expanded the original RFD location in Santa Monica, CA to include a bakery café. The cafe is a showcase for our baked goods and small works of sweet art as well as a groovy meeting place for like minded people who gather daily to eat and converse. My mission is to build the reputation of the RFD bakery for being the go-to place for vegan cakes and pastries. We’ve expanded our repertoire of special order cakes, such as birthday, anniversary and wedding cakes. Not only are our entire cake offerings vegan and organic, we’re now at work on a line of gluten free cakes, cookies and cupcakes—a subject near and dear to my heart. I’ve a lot to say on the topic, as I’ve been eating gluten free for eight months now. I’ll share more about this at a later date—um— I mean blog.

My new book with working title: Real Food Now, Modern Meatless Meals for Eco-Friendly Eating will be published by Andrews McMeel Publishers in the spring of 2011. Andrews McMeel is a boutique-publishing house based in Kansas City as well as London and Sydney. The story of the two men who started the company is a good one. Read about it at: http://www.andrewsmcmeel.com/about.html
Kristy Melville who is the publisher at AM was also the publisher at Ten Speed Press. 10 Speed published The RFD Cookbook on October ‘05. Kristy took a keen interest in what I was doing back in the early 2000’s and offered me my first book deal. I didn’t get to work with her during the making of the book as she left 10 Speed to go to AM. When my agent was shopping this cookbook project, Kristy and I re-connected. It felt both ancient and familiar. Besides being offered a great deal, something just felt right, well, I admit, I felt the love and that always feels too good to pass up. I love the cookbooks AM has published – many of them regional and heartfelt such as John Besh’s My New Orleans. (see John’s book on AM site.) One of my favorites is Cake Wrecks. This sits on my coffee table and is the source of lots of laughter. Check out this book and blog: http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/
One last thing about this is the Kansas City connection. I grew up a tad further south in Memphis. There are many similarities to these two cities from the blues to barbeque. KC has a blend of both Southern and Midwestern roots which I can resonant with and I spent a fabulous weekend there once while driving from NYC to California. Now, really I didn’t choose AM because of Kansas, I chose them because I think they will have my back and help me produce a great book.

Real Food Now is a cookbook with about 100 plus quick and easy modern recipes.
There will be lots of factual and fun supportive text on how to create delicious and doable meatless home cooking that is environmentally conscious, deliciously fresh, and up-to-the-minute.

Stay tuned as I share my journey of creating recipes and living my life while writing my new cookbook.

Tags: Ann Gentry, blogging, cookbooks, Kansas City, RFD cookbook, vegan cooking
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November 21st, 2009

Sunny Thanksgiving

Posted by Ann on November 21st, 2009

Back in LA, to more sunny days. Thanksgiving sneaking up, my, how fast time is moving. At RFD, we are counting our faux turkeys, one by one as we add up TG-togo

Meals we are serving the day before Thanksgiving. This is our 16th year of offering this incredible meal and deal! The seed for TG-togo was planted in year one. Those were the days, when I was working the floor at RFD-SaMo. One of my regular customers asked me if I could whip up a little something for a Thanksgiving dinner. He would be eating alone and wanted to keep it healthy and clean. Within three days, the core meal we still serve today was created. We wanted to close on Thanksgiving Day, so the brilliant idea to offer it the day before was born. Year one we must of sold 16 meals. By year two with a little more planning and marketing, we jumped to 80 meals and in year two we reached over a 100. By year 4, we were serving close to 200 plus meals and in year five when the second RFD in West Holly opened, they each ran neck and neck serving 228 full meals EACH. All for no turkey necks being broken!

Tags: Ann Gentry, faux turkey, holiday meals, Real Food Daily, RFD, thanksgiving, vegan holiday food, vegan turkey
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November 15th, 2009

New Cookbook in the Oven ?

Posted by Ann on November 15th, 2009

I'm Going For Number 2 !!!

My 48-hour trip to NYC was to meet with editors at major book publishing companies to talk about my second cookbook. It was exciting to be in the center of the literary world. There are many opinions that believe this space will end, as we know it. From my vantage point, this world is alive and percolating with creativity, people and passion. I am really excited about the possibility of my new cookbook. This one will be written from the perspective of the ‘real’ home cook, more personal and dare, I say sassy and sexy, with 100 plus recipes with accessible ingredients and easier steps. Don’t get me wrong, my first book; The RFD Cookbook is a great book. It’s just that it was a restaurant cookbook, thus recipes made for serving and impressing hundreds of people per day. This time, I will share more from the heart and soul of my own home kitchen.

Tags: Ann Gentry, preparing vegan meals, recipes, RFD cookbook, RFD Real Food Daily, vegan cooking, vegetarian
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November 13th, 2009

Eating in NYC

Posted by Ann on November 13th, 2009

How apropos that I write my first blog while in New York. NYC is the place where I started my culinary journey.

I flew on Virgin America for the first time and it won’t be my last. I raise my carrot juice to Richard Branson. Forward thinking! His airline will become the standards of air transportation. Comfortable, quiet, my own private TV screen, free Wi-Fi, compliments of Google. I even got a tee shirt that says, “I hooked up @ 35,000 Ft.”

Two hours after I arrive, I’m chowing down at Souen on 13^th street eating dinner with my dear friend Pablo Vela. Pablo and I go back a long way to our days at Goddard College. We have kept up through the past three decades. He has led an amazing life as a theatre artist from teaching to acting to working all over the world. Food at Souen was scumcious as always. I went right for the kimpira as an appetizer and their cabbage salad with the famous secret carrot dressing. It’s hard to find anyone preparing burdock in LA except at a few Japanese places. Burdock is a medicinal food, it warms the body, strengthens the blood. I can feel its power bolting through my veins. This macrobiotic restaurant has been going strong for 30 years in Manhattan with several downtown locations. The Souen menu has a great explanation of the macrobiotic way, ???

On my first morning, I awake to marching bands outside my window. I love the fanfare, but I remember it’s Veteran’s Day. By the time I get on the street, a dozen bands are lined up waiting to march down Fifth Avenue. I thought I saw the Hell’s Angels but it was firemen lined up on their bikes ready to roar. It’s a hoot, especially the cheerleaders with pompoms. New York just liked I pictured it.

While I grabbed lunch at Angelica’s Kitchen, I got to visit with Leslie the proprietress and the love and energy beyond this landmark. I had the wee dragon bowl, with soup and cornbread and spread. Damn that cornbread slathered with tahini miso spread, something about it is amazingly satisfying. I was at Angelica’s on the first day it opened in the late 70’s. I remember I was fasting so I didn’t eat anything. Ha, I have to laugh on that one.

From the lower east side I high tailed it up to Columbus Circle to visit friend and RFD shareholder, Jane Velez Mitchell, TV personality, author, vegan and animal activist. Link to her site. Jane while LA based for the past decade, now is living in the city while hosting her show for CNN. She is joyously spending precious time living with her 93-year-old mother who is in great shape from years of dance and movement and eating vegan. Wow, I want to be like her when I grow up.

Back to Souen, this time the location in SoHo for dinner with another dear friend Margie. I mentioned the famous carrot dressing that for 30 years everyone has been trying to get the recipe for. At this location it was perfectly made, thick and sweet and you want to pour it on everything.

Following day, I trek through the rain and white to the Upper East Side to stop by Candle Café. I run into a RFD long time customer. Yummy split pea soup and nice salad of millet and black lentils. Take food for the plane ride back. Baked sweet potato, slow cooked grilled onions, braised tempeh, and sautéed mustard greens that were so deliciously bitterly good.

Good for you.

Tags: Ann Gentry, New York, NYC, Real Food Daily, RFD
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