 My name is Maria Mera, I'm going to be your host and I'm also a financial advisor with Edward Jones. And you know at Young and Hard we like to cover all kinds of topics but today is probably one of my favorites and I think you're going to enjoy it a lot. We're going to explore how to stay healthy through food. And I brought my guest today, she's a trained cook and she's also the author of one of the best-selling books on Amazon. One of the books that talks about how to bring farm to table. The name of the book, I'm having trouble pronunciating, I hope you guys understand me but I'm going to ask her for help. So the name is Boosles and Fist and my guest is Rina Thoma. Rina welcome to the show today. Thank you so much Maria, thank you so much for having me on the show today. Awesome, thank you for joining us. Just out of the door here, please, Boosles and Fist, tell us a little bit about the title and how you came up with that title and pronunciate it properly please. Yeah, Bushels and Fist, I think your pronunciation sounds great. When I was working on some of the marketing for the book, this was before I had a title for the book, I just wrote the sentence, it was something like transforming bushels of real food ingredients into healthy, delicious, everyday feasts. And I'm looking at the sentence and I just saw bushels and feasts and I just knew that was it. I had the title of my book and it was towards the very end, almost close to when I was about to launch the book, I still didn't have a title and it just as soon as I saw it, I knew. That was it, right? Sometimes you just fall in love with the title of your book but that's, so what are you passionate about? What is it really the reason why you wrote the book and you said a little bit just to inspire, but in your own words, what is your mission statement? There was just, you know, there's so many things, I think, you know, I just, I love food so much, I mean, that's why I went to culinary school, I just wanted to learn how to cook really, really well. I loved food, I loved cooking, you know, that was my upbringing. And then when I went to culinary school, I just, I went to culinary school in San Francisco, California and I just fell in love with the farm to table culture there in California. I fell in love with the restaurants, the chefs, the farmers, you know, I was in the Valley and Sonoma and wine country and, you know, experiencing farm to table cuisine at its best and, you know, I was very, very inspired by that and, and, you know, my husband and I shortly after that moved to Europe and we were in spent a lot of time in France and they have such a huge farm to table culture there. It was just, I just saw how these two worlds, let me stop you right there. Just for those who are not so familiar with their farm to table theory or the basis of it, what does farm to table mean? Farm to table basically means that we'll use a restaurant for an example. A restaurant will have a relationship with a farm and they get all their fruits and vegetables, they get all their grass fed, beef and pork and pastured chickens and, and, and it's their menu typically changes, if not daily, weekly, depending on what's in season, what's available, what's at its peak of freshness, of ripeness and so when you eat at a farm to table restaurant and these are all over San Francisco, all over California, you're, it's really a reflection of the market and, and what's available and in turn, the food is just so unbelievably amazing and delicious and, and, and, and we'll get into your travels and maybe more towards the second part of this. So, um, and, but I, I want you to compare a little bit, um, the, you keep saying farm to table in California, which I experienced myself living there for nine years, but, um, do you, since, since we both live in Hawaii and most of our viewers are in Hawaii, did you find, uh, did you find it easy to find that farm to table? Well, I, I live in Honolulu and, um, have you been to Miriamans by chance? Miriamans, he's a great chef and his restaurant is farm to table and it's right down the street for me. Um, you know, I think, you know, there's not a lot of farm to table restaurants here, but there are, there are a lot of chefs who are paying attention to the seasons and that their menus do change with the seasons and I love that. I don't, you know, um, I don't have to eat at farm to table restaurants and I, but I love to, um, because we, and we support our own local, uh, people, right? I, and actually I met you at a farmers market that funny of, so we're obviously both supporting that. Um, is that something that like, let's say for people who are starting, is that something that you would recommend to go to a farmers market and buy there or it really doesn't matter where you buy, um, your food? Um, I think a lot of people don't pay a lot of pay a lot of attention to, you know, where their food comes from and where they're buying their food. Um, but I, you know, with my book, I really wanted to inspire people to, to do that a little more often. Um, I really wanted to inspire people to go to the farmers market, you know, go there and have fun there. There's so many amazing farmers and artisans selling the things that they make by hand, not just food, but, um, you know, little beautiful wood, little dishes, and they're, they're true artists, um, you know, selling their honey and just selling their, um, jewelry and selling. And then of course the farmers are selling the most beautiful. You cannot get ingredients at the grocery store like what you're going to find at the farmers market. At least not as fresh, right? If nothing else, the logistics will bring it. Yeah, yeah. So let me, let me ask you one question because we have, we have a lot of good recipes to show to our viewers today and I think they are going to enjoy just even the pictures. Um, your, the cookies, 170 recipes, right? Yes. And they focus on, um, gluten-free and grain-free. Yes. So tell me a little bit more about that. Why, why did you go that route? Because you can do farm to table and just not need to do gluten-free. Yes. So after I graduated culinary school, I was probably the unhealthiest I had ever been. I was definitely the heaviest I had ever been, but my skin was a complete disaster. Um, I just had this really painful cystic acne and I've always struggled with, with acne and, and so, you know, not only was I wanting to lose the weight that I get in culinary school, I just wanted to look better and feel better. And I just said, you know, I have to figure this out. And so I just started doing a ton of research and I, um, I found a book called The Paleo Solution and which talks a lot about ancestral health and eliminating, um, a lot of these, uh, you know, eliminating things like gluten from your diet, trying to get back to the way we ate before the development of agriculture. And so I started doing that and it just completely changed my life. Not only did I lose all the weight and more, um, that I gained in culinary school, but I, my skin looked better than it ever has. Um, I just felt so much better. I, I really thought that, you know, bloating and gas and those sorts of things were just normal. And, and, you know, once I just eliminated certain things from my diet, I, I didn't have those things. I just felt amazing. And, and, and so did my husband. And, and, um, so we just, what's so, so excited is also it's, it goes inside, right? Um, so are you an advocate for gluten free for everybody or, or it's only for people who know, you know, I'm, I'm kind of like, you know, you just really have to find something that works for you. You have to find a diet that makes you feel good. Um, but if I were, and I'm going to help expert, but if, but I've done so much research and I pay attention and I follow the experts that have real, uh, you know, that, that, that can refer to for, you know, professional journals and science and research that say that, you know what, three things that you can eliminate from your diet that will make you healthier is one of those things is gluten. Um, and it's not like you can never eat bread again or eat pizza again or eat your pastries again, but maybe just, um, you know, find other person if I don't eat bread again. You know, I, when I, when I, you know, said, okay, I'm going to eliminate this from my diet, I think I cried eating. I was like, you mean I could never eat cereal again or pasta or all those things. But now we have so many amazing alternatives for, we don't need to eat white flour. We can eat, you know, almond flour and coconut flour and cassava flour and there's so many other flours that are just healthier for you. And I think now the research shows that, you know, gluten does cause a lot of inflammation in your gut. And if you, you read about gut health, you'll find that, you know, it causes, it does cause a lot of inflammation in your gut and in your organs. And it's just not all that healthy for you. And there's just so many other healthier things. Yeah, if nothing else, um, educate yourself, right. And, and I would love, um, if you can, I guess we're going to show pictures of your recipes. So, um, people can do that. But, uh, it's like, I'm thinking of, of, um, my niece, right, who goes to, uh, the university and she starts cooking by herself. Um, what would you recommend for someone who starts cooking and see that saying, um, how, how do you choose the healthiest alternatives or, uh, for people who are initiating into, into cooking? You know, um, I, I think it's very, very simple. And, you know, whenever I'm, um, putting together a plate of food, whether it's for me or for my, my little girls, it's okay. 50% of the plate is going to be fruits and vegetables. And then 25% is going to be some sort of healthy protein, some sort of meat or fish. And then the other 25% is going to be some sort of healthy fat, like nut butters or avocado or nuts. Yeah. Avocado, you're speaking my language now. I'm liking everything you're saying. Basically, it doesn't have to be obsessive of waiting and everything you eat. It's just look at your plate and a little bit of portion-wise, right? Yeah. Yes. And so that's, that's how I always, you know, whenever I'm cooking, whenever I'm eating or shopping or things I'm focusing on. I, I like, I don't know if you agree with this, but I like to make my plate look pretty. I don't know if this is something that you good suggest to, or is that something like, at least if it's look pretty and appetizing, it seems like it fits, but it fits you more. Definitely. And I can, I can help you or anyone with that. I love who's styling. I'll let you, I'll let you cook for me anytime you want. I'll thank you all for that. So of those 170 recipes, could you pick one or two that are your favorite or your full two meals that you usually or that you would recommend? Yes. I always tell people to my, the two that are sticking out in my head are the blue cheese stuff dates with brown butter and lime zest. And I think we have the picture there. Yeah. Okay. I love, you know, it's just blue cheese inside of the dates and you just roll it around in some butter and, and you cook it so that the butter browns and, and if you've never had brown butter, it looks, it smells amazing, but it tastes amazing. And then with some lime zest on that, it's just so simple, but it's, it's like the perfect bite of food that you'll ever have. And, and, you know, I've had people try it and just get goose bumps on their arms. The most amazing bite of food I've ever had in my entire life. So that's something that I make whenever I have people over that's, that's what I'll make it just a little appetizer. I'll make that, you know, you're going to blow them away. Yes. And then my other favorite recipe is my roasted chicken with tarragon cream sauce, and it's just a whole chicken and you just rub it down with butter and garlic and, and fresh herbs. And then after it's done cooking, you finish it off with a little bit of cream and fresh tarragon. And it is just, it is just one of those things that This is how you're, how you're describing it. I think I can already sense how much you like it and how much you're, you're passionate about it. Let's, let's do a little break here and I will, we'll be right back. Just one minute and we'll be back with Rina Thoma. Thank you for joining us. Welcome back to our show, staying young at heart. We are joined today by Rina Thoma, a cook and the best selling author of a farm to table book, poosals and fish. And we were talking before the break, Rina, about your favorite recipes. I wanted to follow up on that. Is there any Hawaii local bees that you found that you're like, okay, this one, they nail it, or it has all the ingredients and all the one that really, you would be happy to join in the recipes of your book. Okay, so like a recipe that's not in my cookbook, but That is Hawaiian. So something local from Hawaii. Okay, so at Miraments, which is right down the street, Peter Mirament, I have his cookbook and his restaurant is very farm to table. He has this dish. It's like, if you have, if you've ever had escargot, which I'm sure you probably have. I have, yes. He does like an escargot with taco, which is like squid. And it's, I believe it is fish chair locally. And it's amazing. So he's taking his, Okay, hold on, escargot are like snails. Yes. So it's, but these snails are peaking the ocean, because snails are not usually, unfortunately, I learned this when I was a kid. They are not peaking the ocean. Correct. They come from gardens. Yeah. And so he gets this taco, which is like squid. So he puts that in like the escargot dish with water and the garlic and the herbs and brings it out and he makes this like amazing, like house made bread and you just put it on there and you, and it is, it is delicious. Yeah. Although I'm not sure that it's very Hawaiian, right? Like, okay. Locomoco. But yeah, but I, yeah, that, that, that will pass as Hawaiian because it's cooked here, right? Yes. Yes. And you know, he's using local ingredient too. So, okay. So can I answer your question or did you want a more? That one is, that one is good enough. But anything, any other thing from Hawaii that you find more appealing that you think, you've explored so much writing and so many cuisines around the world. Is there anything in Hawaii that you like, this is better here than anywhere else? Okay. I really, yes. I really, really, when I came back to Hawaii, that was the first thing I had to have. I missed it. Nobody, it just doesn't, it doesn't taste as good anywhere else than here. I love, love, love, love the poke. So I, I eat that all the time. I really enjoy that. You know, I love a Locomoco every once in a while. Why not, right? Yeah. Locomoco like they do it in Hawaii. They probably don't do it. So Rina, you describe yourself as an army wife and the mother of two beautiful girls. And tell me, tell me a little bit about the concept of an army wife. My husband and I have been together for 20 years. We met when I was 20 years old. He was in the army. He was in medical school. And we, you know, I have just been following him around the world. We are both from Pennsylvania. We moved out here to Hawaii. That's where he did residency. We lived in San Francisco. We lived in Germany. We lived in Seoul, South Korea for a year and now back here in Hawaii. And, you know, it's, it's not easy being an army wife or military wife. You, you move around a lot and really don't have an opportunity to really create anything of your own to stay in one place or one job for, for a long time to be able to recline a corporate ladder. And do you, do you feel like, I mean, yours sounds like a super successful story. And I congratulate you for that. Yeah, just to play the voice advocate here. But do you feel like you lose your identity a little bit? And, and I'm sure your husband is amazing. So I don't want to, but, you know, you know, a lot of army wives have a really, really hard time. And I have definitely, my identity has always been my husband. And I've always been, you know, you know, the hardest question for me to answer was people would always be like, well, what do you do? What do you do? And I was always really hard for me. And, and I would just, well, just make them those dates with ruchis and they will know. I just, you know, would say I support my husband. And right now I'm working here and but we're moving and, you know, it's a team, right? Yours is a team. It's not an individual sport. Yes. And so, you know, this, this cookbook really gave me a new identity, which is one of the things that I'm so grateful for. And it's been, you know, one of the greatest gifts that I received since I, since I started working on this cookbook. So of all those places that you've been to, which one is your favorite as far as we've seen? And you've been to Spain, so don't disappoint. Well, I do have to say that St. Sebastian was my best food trip that I've ever had. Oh my goodness. It was, I mean, the food is unlike anything anywhere else. It is, it is only something that people would have to experience to understand. Those, those pinchos and yeah, there's something on that piece. Yeah. Now you were talking about your, you were talking about the chicken before I can talk about that siebas and, and the cocochas. Did you try the cocochas? Is that, is like the second scene of the siebas or the cod? I have an amazing itinerary and I went to like all the main, the major places of where to go in and there was probably like 10, 12 different places that we went in over the weekend. And you just go from place to place to place and have a couple of things here and a couple of things there. And the ingredients, the quality of the ingredients are like anything I've ever had. And if you go to the market and the markets there, they're the most amazing markets that I've ever seen. So it, you know, it really does start with the markets and the quality of the ingredients and, and the access to the ingredients that they have there. It's really amazing. So if you, if you could choose the place to live, which one would it be? You know, it just, it changes. Sometimes I, you know, my husband, I mean, he loves to ski and he loves, he loves the food in France and he loves the mountains in France and Mount Bloch and Chamonix and you know, all that. So he's like, I want to die in France. And, you know, I go back and forth between Italy and, and France. And yeah. Do you think is, are there any plans to maybe move back again? Yes, yes. You know, we are, you know, within the year we are moving back to the East Coast and we're so excited to get back to the East Coast and then just be so much closer to Europe because we want to, we really want to show our girls Europe and take them there as, you know, and spend a lot of time traveling in Europe as a family. Yeah. It's definitely really far from here. It's not. It is so far. Yeah. Yeah. It takes a while. How do you see or what are your plans for the next five years? Or how do you see writing another book or what do you think your plans will be? Yes. I, you know, I think it would be so lovely to write another book and this time it'd be about me and my life and my childhood, the food of my childhood. I am Italian. I grew up in a very Italian household and I really want to dig into, to Italian food and explore that cuisine a little bit more and, and recreate the dishes of my childhood and recreate dishes that, you know, that, that I love now as an adult and having been now all over Italy and having all these amazing Italian cookbooks. And so, so yeah, I would love to do a cookbook inspired by my life and, and Italian cuisine and also food that really defines me as a person, which is, you know, so many different things. I've been so many different places and have experienced so many different amazing cuisines. And then so the, and then there's a part of me that is like, I would love to have my own line of pretty little dishes for little girls. And, you know, I, I just, I collected beautiful dishes all over Europe and at flea markets and, and you'll see them in my book. And I love looking at them. I think they're so beautiful. And I just, I would love little girls to have, you know, those types of options. So are your kids into cooking with you or do they like your food? What do they say? Sophia is three and a half and she loves everything that I cook. She, and she wants to be in the kitchen with me and wants to do everything. But she makes a huge mess. And so dangerous for her, but I'll, you know, she wants to always stir the pot. And so, so I, I want my girls to be a part of what I do. And that was one of the reasons why I decided to do it or finish it, because I wasn't sure if I was going to actually finish the book. I, you know, was having work. Yeah. And I, you know, I just didn't know if I, if I wanted to sacrifice what I knew, I would have to sacrifice to finish it. But so, but I said, you know what, I want my girls to be a part of this. I want them to, I want them to be in this world of food and culture. And I'm sure just by looking at you, they are learning. So just to wrap it up, Rina, if they, if someone wants to see your book or see your work, so we send them to your website or what last words they, you want to share with our viewers today? Yes. If you're, yes, you can absolutely go to my website ladochirina.com. And you can read more about me there. I have tons of free content on my website, all, all sorts of recipes on there that you can print out. You can also look at the full book and you can, there's a link there that will take you straight to Amazon.com. You can buy my heart cover book. My ebook is available as well. And, you know, I, I really created this book and wrote this book because I had so much to share. And it's, it's not about me, it's about my experiences and all of this beautiful food that I have been so blessed to have experience. And I just want other people to experience it as well. And I hope that I'm able to inspire people to, you know, just transform real food ingredients into healthy, delicious food. So thank you very much, Rina. You're in inspiration. I think, I think just by your words and how you're expressing yourself, we can see your love and just trying to make a difference. So, and I, I can tell everybody, if you go to the ladolcherina.com, you're going to get hungry. Those recipes look amazing. Thank you very much. We would love to, we would love to have everybody back at staying young at heart. Thank you, Rina, for joining us one more time. And happy Aloha Tuesday, everybody. Thank you. Bye. Thank you.