Over the Hump!

I’m thrilled the end of this week is in sight after plenty of work madness! I’ll spare you from my stress rant, but something interesting did happen at work – HR introduced Wellness Initiative, a new voluntary program for employees. It encourages us to fill out a health survey online with information like BMI, blood pressure, weight, etc. for a health analysis and recommendations for a healthier lifestyle. On the surface it seemed like a helpful benefit for employees. But there’s an ulterior motive and I respect that they just came out and explained company health costs are increasing 10-15% each year due to claims from the previous year on the company’s plan and the costs are getting too tough to absorb. Wow! I was irked about at our last increase and had no idea it could have been way more, that’s scary.

I had mixed feelings about the new program. While it’s a nice gesture, it’s sad that the company has to resort to this to encourage a healthy lifestyle just to cut healthcare costs. It shouldn’t be the company’s responsibility. And while someone like me might be interested in filling out the survey (though won’t have time this week and probably for awhile!),  I don’t think those who would benefit from it would take the time because it sounded like being shoved into Dr. Oz’s truth tube. It made me wonder how long until programs like this are mandatory for companies trying to reduce healthcare costs. And it was funny and sad that donuts and cookies were served at the meeting introducing this program.

Eh, anyway, I was feeling torn for dinner – I wanted salad and something warm after driving home in a windy downpour. So salad and squash it was! I winged a dressing in the Vita-Mix not following a recipe. I just threw a couple of pitted dates, chopped carrots, tahini, miso, ginger, lemon juice and water in to see if the end result was edible.

And it was! Sweet, spicy and savory – yum!

I also added my dill cultured veggies to the salad which was a huge gamble since I had no idea how dill would taste with the dressing.

And cultured sprouted lentils are very tasty with a soft, but dense texture.

I also steamed half of a butternut squash in the microwave with a dash of pumpkin pie seasonings and stevia.

For a fast dinner. I thrilled my first batch of cultured veggies came out not only edible, but delicious! Adding dill to the liquid added a great dill pickle tang to them and blended nicely with this dressing. For more info on cultured veggies, this is a great article from Body Ecology. And here’s my post on learning about it from a raw party.

What do you think about companies offering wellness programs?