"Eat Right, Exercise, Die Anyway".....

One of my favorite T shirts I saw in Key West said "Eat Right, Exercise, Die Anyway".....

I eat pretty healthy only because the chips happens to fall that way. I grill most of my food so that fat drips away for all you fat watchers (not that I care) I love the fat, especially the skin on whatever! I just like grilled food over oven food. I love seafood and it just so happens most seafood is good for you. I grew up on roast Pork, seafood, and rice and beans.

I have always been a good cook because I learned from my Mother and Grandmother. My Grandmother Blanca Avael (God bless her Soul) used to cook at a restaurant in Key West named "The Fourth Of July". Most Conchs will remember this place. There used to be lines waiting all the way down the street and around the block just to get some of her food.

At her home she had three Bustelo cans full of lard.Yes LARD. One for fish, one for chicken, and one for beef. Yes she re-used this lard over and over. She also had three different cast iron skillets to match the lard. I still remember the backwards box fan in the window sill to blow the smoke out when she was cooking. It used to bring the neighbors running over! She made the best of whatever she was cooking. I miss her so much. Every time I cook something, I think of her.

We grew up on this supposedly unhealthy food but lived pretty long lives. My Grandfather Julio Avael into his 90's. My Uncle Raul smoked 1-2 packs of unfiltered cigs per day and ate the same food. He also lived a long life. 

Even today, I have family members in the medical field that believe without a doubt, what you eat, can kill you. Sorry, I don't believe it. I think it's how you grow up and how you live. I don't mean what you eat or how you exercise. I mean HOW YOU LIVE. Stressful life? early death in my opinion. Get rid of that stress and laugh more and you will live longer. Google it for crying out loud, if you don't believe me.

I also believe it's WHERE you live. My Family for the most part grew up in Key West. An Island life that was laid back and easy going. Everyone worked hard and pitched in, and at the end of the day, Family is what mattered. Not style, or fashion, or TV, or Money. We always had enough and we all always shared. There was something about catching all that seafood yourself and eating it fresh, that just made it all the better. I remember riding my bicycle with a mask, fins, snorkel, and a spear. I would catch dinner only a few yards away from the beach, in a matter of minutes. I miss that sand so much.
Conch Shells that you can't even touch these days? Hell, I stepped on more than I could eat right off the beach. Lobster that you all pay so much money for? I ate so much of it for free to make you jealous.

We also ate a lot of fruit. Not from the grocery stores either. Straight from the trees. Fresh picked mangoes hanging over my Grandmothers fence from the neighbors yard daily. Coconuts straight from the trees, simply because it was fun to climb the trees and they were delicious, tamarinds right off of her back yard tree, and my favorite one, also from the trees in her yard......Mamoncillos. Again, if you don't know what they are...Google them. Conchs know, Sweet and delicious.
I just relived a great part of my growing up, and I understand the style is not for everyone. Especially athletes that require "special" diets. All I'm saying is relax people and eat what you like, laugh more, and find a way to rid yourself of useless stress. Exercise is still important. I just used to get it diving, spearfishing, and climbing coconut trees!

mamoncillos