About Me
The short version: I am Joshua Dusick, foodie, chef, and music fanatic. I started this blog primarily to share some of my favorite recipes and other thoughts on food and health. Maybe I'll even occasionally post about music when the inspiration hits.
The long version: I’ve been passionate about food and cooking for most of my life. I decided to start this blog to share my experiences and knowledge about food (and maybe health and music a bit too from time to time) with anyone who is interested.
Many years ago, I realized that I was much healthier after eliminating gluten and dairy from my diet. That was a hard step to take for someone who cherishes food as much as I do. But once I took it, my life improved in many ways. Since then, I’ve had to relearn how make food I love (at least some of it) and I feel that my food life is as rich and delicious as ever—while protecting my health. I hope the knowledge I’ve gained will be helpful to others who are trying to (or have to) implement the same changes in their lives.
I plan to share some of my favorite recipes, both those I’ve adapted from others as well as things I’ve come up with on my own.
In addition to my love of cooking, I’m very much a DIY’er and love to grow, raise, forage, and occasionally hunt my own food. I’ve learned a lot about how to prepare, preserve, ferment, and tincture the bounties of nature that my family and I grow and collect around us. I’ll share some of those insights here as well.
A few general things about my life in food:
1.I don’t ascribe to any one specific dietary regimen. Mediterranean diet, paleo, keto, low carb, etc.—I don’t follow any one of these, although many things I cook and eat may fall into one or the other.
2.I thoroughly avoid gluten and dairy. More details about why I do that may show up in future blog posts.
3.In addition to avoiding gluten containing grains, I generally try to reduce the amount other grains in my diet. Some rice and corn, for example, in moderation. But I generally avoid them being a major source of calories in what I cook and eat (sure, I’m guilty of downing a bag of tortilla chips with salsa while watching a movie from time to time, but I try not to make a habit of it). Religiously avoiding gluten and dairy does not mean that I substitute all those foods with equal amounts of gluten-free versions of themselves. Yes, I eat gluten free, dairy free pizza from time to time and the occasional sandwich with gluten free bread, but I generally try to reduce grains and processed foods where possible.
4.I try to maximize foods that supply more than just calories and basic nutrients (protein, fats/oils, basic vitamins, etc.), including rich sources of polyphenols, carotenoids, and other naturally derived nutrients. Many of these aren’t listed among the “essential” nutrients you must have to survive. But in my opinion, they should be. You will be healthier in the long run if your diet includes them in abundance (after all, our ancient ancestors evolved eating much more of these than most modern humans). Countless scientific studies have documented the profound impact they have on our biology and health. What I’m talking about is herbs, fruits, colorful leafy vegetables, etc. And there are so many different ways to consume them. I’m not just talking about salads. In teas, tinctures, fermented foods, fresh veggies and fruits, etc. My family grows and collects these things in abundance and every year we do all of the above with them. During the winters, we use the dried, tinctured, and frozen forms when fresh isn’t as available.
5.Fats/Oils – One of the biggest faults of the modern Western diet is the huge imbalance in polyunsaturated fatty acids in the diet. Our ancient ancestors evolved with a roughly 1-to-1 balance of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. Modern diets can often be as bad as 20-to-1 both because intake of omega-6’s (prevalent in most packaged, prepared, and processed foods) has increased, and because intake of fish-oil derived omega-3’s has decreased. I try as much as possible to reduce omega-6 intake and have a healthy intake of fish-oil derived omega-3’s.
More to come! Cheers!
The long version: I’ve been passionate about food and cooking for most of my life. I decided to start this blog to share my experiences and knowledge about food (and maybe health and music a bit too from time to time) with anyone who is interested.
Many years ago, I realized that I was much healthier after eliminating gluten and dairy from my diet. That was a hard step to take for someone who cherishes food as much as I do. But once I took it, my life improved in many ways. Since then, I’ve had to relearn how make food I love (at least some of it) and I feel that my food life is as rich and delicious as ever—while protecting my health. I hope the knowledge I’ve gained will be helpful to others who are trying to (or have to) implement the same changes in their lives.
I plan to share some of my favorite recipes, both those I’ve adapted from others as well as things I’ve come up with on my own.
In addition to my love of cooking, I’m very much a DIY’er and love to grow, raise, forage, and occasionally hunt my own food. I’ve learned a lot about how to prepare, preserve, ferment, and tincture the bounties of nature that my family and I grow and collect around us. I’ll share some of those insights here as well.
A few general things about my life in food:
1.I don’t ascribe to any one specific dietary regimen. Mediterranean diet, paleo, keto, low carb, etc.—I don’t follow any one of these, although many things I cook and eat may fall into one or the other.
2.I thoroughly avoid gluten and dairy. More details about why I do that may show up in future blog posts.
3.In addition to avoiding gluten containing grains, I generally try to reduce the amount other grains in my diet. Some rice and corn, for example, in moderation. But I generally avoid them being a major source of calories in what I cook and eat (sure, I’m guilty of downing a bag of tortilla chips with salsa while watching a movie from time to time, but I try not to make a habit of it). Religiously avoiding gluten and dairy does not mean that I substitute all those foods with equal amounts of gluten-free versions of themselves. Yes, I eat gluten free, dairy free pizza from time to time and the occasional sandwich with gluten free bread, but I generally try to reduce grains and processed foods where possible.
4.I try to maximize foods that supply more than just calories and basic nutrients (protein, fats/oils, basic vitamins, etc.), including rich sources of polyphenols, carotenoids, and other naturally derived nutrients. Many of these aren’t listed among the “essential” nutrients you must have to survive. But in my opinion, they should be. You will be healthier in the long run if your diet includes them in abundance (after all, our ancient ancestors evolved eating much more of these than most modern humans). Countless scientific studies have documented the profound impact they have on our biology and health. What I’m talking about is herbs, fruits, colorful leafy vegetables, etc. And there are so many different ways to consume them. I’m not just talking about salads. In teas, tinctures, fermented foods, fresh veggies and fruits, etc. My family grows and collects these things in abundance and every year we do all of the above with them. During the winters, we use the dried, tinctured, and frozen forms when fresh isn’t as available.
5.Fats/Oils – One of the biggest faults of the modern Western diet is the huge imbalance in polyunsaturated fatty acids in the diet. Our ancient ancestors evolved with a roughly 1-to-1 balance of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. Modern diets can often be as bad as 20-to-1 both because intake of omega-6’s (prevalent in most packaged, prepared, and processed foods) has increased, and because intake of fish-oil derived omega-3’s has decreased. I try as much as possible to reduce omega-6 intake and have a healthy intake of fish-oil derived omega-3’s.
More to come! Cheers!
