Mystery Food Revealed

Thank you everyone for participating in this month’s Mystery Food guessing game. Most of the responses were on facebook, so I will list them here. Here are the guesses:

• canned buttercream frosting
• ice cream
• pudding
• sweetened condensed milk
• Miracle Whip
• caramel ice cream topping

Caramel ice cream topping was SO close! Good job! This happens to be Marzetti’s Light Caramel Apple Dip.



Let’s review these ingredients again:
HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CORN SYRUP, NON FAT MILK, POLYDEXTROSE, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, BUTTER (MILK, CREAM, SALT), SUGAR, LESS THAN 2% OF: DISODIUM PHOSPHATE, SALT, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, POTASSIUM SORBATE (PRESERVATIVE), MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES.



Is nothing made from good old-fashioned sugar anymore? Everything is high fructose corn syrup based. Notice it’s the first ingredient, meaning, of all the ingredients, this one is the highest quantity.  Then corn syrup. Sugar is the 7th ingredient listed. And then…aaaah!–partially hydrogenated soybean oil–this is the trans fat we talked about, just the other day. Mono and diglycerides are also trans fat.



But you may be thinking, it’s a treat, all treats are bad for us.  We can have a little, right?



There are levels of bad. If you were to make your own caramel dip (not that hard) at home, you would use sugar, butter, cream, salt, vanilla, and maybe a little corn syrup (I use Griffin’s since it lists corn syrup and sugar syrup on the label, not high fructose corn syrup). These ingredients are much better for you. (Note, I did not say “healthy”, but better. For more information, check out my Ladder of Healthy Eating.)



This is an October treat for us, we don’t eat it all the time. I used to buy the Marzetti dip. No more, we are taking our steps up the ladder. Checkout any good cookbook for a recipe for real caramel. Make some at home. I especially like Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything and The Joy of Cooking. Real food–this is what grandma lived to 90 on!

October Challenge Update

Little late here with my update on the trans fat challenge–been busy!



Well, trans fat is probably the number one thing I look out for. I avoid it like the plague. I don’t just look for the grams of trans fat listed on the label (it’s often not correct), I look at the ingredients list and check for partially hydrogenated oils. That’s the true tell. So, I don’t have a lot in my house that contains it. The only staple I can think of is flour tortillas. Some day I will get around to making my own, but for now I still buy them. However, I abstained during the challenge.



My family wanted Oreos with our movie night. In the past I bought Newman’s Own Newmanos, because the cream filling was trans fat free. Since companies are now required to label trans fat, Oreos has reformulated their product. They couldn’t risk everyone knowing just how many grams of trans fat their product contained. So now I will buy them about twice a year. The other night I indulged in one cookie.



Other things that come to mind are peanut butter. I buy Smucker’s Natural because it truly only contains peanuts and salt. Don’t be fooled by the other brands that try to say they don’t contain trans fat. They do, and they’re loaded with sugar.



Many bread products have trans fat added to soften them–sandwich bread, hamburger buns and hot dog buns. Packaged cookies, cakes, and chips contain trans fat. Packaged cookie dough is a big one–it’s loaded, and also packaged biscuits and rolls. Make your own cookies and use real butter. Believe me, they will be much better for you!



I used to buy crescent rolls in a tube. Pampered Chef recipes call for this ingredient all the time. Well, not any more! Not since I found out about the trans fat! Packaged pizza crust, too. Make your own with my french bread recipe. It’s so very easy and much, much more delicious!



Boxed cake mix contains trans fat and canned icing is pure trans fat and sugar. Think of it as a can of Crisco with sugar and flavoring added. I do not eat store-bought cakes anymore and trans fat is the reason. If you invite me over for a party and see that I do not partake of the cake, don’t think I have immense will power to avoid junk food. I have just read about trans fat and what it does to your body and it totally turned me off to store cakes. I make my own and enjoy them fully! Click here for my chocolate cupcake recipe.



I could go on and on about trans fats. Learn to check your labels. Cook with butter, coconut oil, and olive oil. Start making more things at home from scratch. Take your babysteps and checkout The Trans Fat Solution by Kim Severson for more information.  I don’t agree with everything in this book (she mentions using soy protein, for example), but her information on trans fat is wonderful.  And she has good information about coconut oil, too.  The informative part of the book is only 31 pages, the rest are recipes.  It’s available at my local library, it might be at yours, too.

Convenience Food

Convenience food is so bad for you, but what’s a person to do when they want something quick and easy?



Plan ahead.  I learned of this idea from moneysavingmom.com.  She does a once-a-month baking day and freezes all the items so she can pull them out anytime she wants.



This works great for me, a homeschooling mom of two.  We do our schooling on a six weeks on, one week off schedule.  So on the week off, I do a baking day.  I bake up lots of muffins, so that once a week we can have a quick easy breakfast, without cooking.  I just place the frozen muffins in a baking dish the night before, cover with a heat-proof lid or foil and leave out on the counter.  The next morning I turn the oven on and pop them in.  They come out tasting just like they were fresh-baked.



I also make up a couple batches of my french bread recipe, so that I can make croutons or french toast easily.  I just cut the bread up into cubes and freeze them for the croutons or slice the bread and freeze it for french toast.  French bread makes the best french toast ever!



I have also made up waffles the same in the past.  Just pull them out of the freezer and pop them in the toaster.



Cooking from scratch doesn’t have to be intensive labor, just plan ahead, make life easier!

October Challenge

Are you ready for another challenge?



This month, the challenge is to cut out hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils for 7 days. Check your labels, you might be surprised to learn what foods contain these oils.



Partially hydrogenated oil is the same thing as trans fat. The problem is that a lot of packages claim 0g of trans fat per serving, but it really is anywhere from 0 to .49g. The FDA allows the manufacturer to claim 0, if it is less than .5. Well, half a gram doesn’t sound bad, does it?



Let’s think about it this way, though. When was the last time you just ate 1-oz. of chips. If you have a scale, try weighing out 1 ounce. It isn’t much. Most of us eat more than one serving of most foods at a time. The manufacturer makes that serving size so small so that they can hide how much trans fat and/or sugar the item really has. So, then you are really eating possibly 1.5g of trans fat, every time you enjoy those chips. Studies show that even 2 grams of trans fat a day are dangerous.



If you normally cook with Crisco, use butter instead. Butter is a very healthy fat. It has had such a negative connotation for far too long. Click here to read about that.



Click here to learn more about hydrogenated oils.



I will check back in at the end of the 7 days and report my results. See you then!

Whipped Cream

Photo courtesy PDPhoto.org

Don’t buy fake substitutes! We learned here what is in Cool Whip. It’s loaded with trans fat.  When I was a kid, I had a real thing for Cool Whip.  Now that I’m grown and I read my labels, I won’t touch the stuff!  It just grosses me out to realize it’s just Crisco that is whipped. Have you ever noticed how it never changes if it’s left out at room temperature? I have noticed it on a spoon in the sink, the morning after serving a dessert, and it hasn’t melted like real whip cream will. And it is hard to rinse off a spoon–because it’s grease!



So make it from scratch instead. It really only takes about 5 minutes and tastes fabulous!



1 cup heavy cream (I use raw)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tb sugar



This make about 2 cups of whipped cream. That is plenty for our family of four (with leftover). If you need more, just double this recipe.



I have learned that cream will not whip very well if it is too shallow. So don’t use a big Tupperware bowl. I use one of those square Ziploc disposable containers. This way, when I whip just one cup of cream, it is deep enough to whip in the air.



I fit a collar of foil around the bowl to catch the splatters of cream.



Whip the cream and vanilla on high until thickened, but not stiff. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar and keep beating until it’s as thick as you want. I like my whip cream really thick (thicker than in the photo), but you have to be careful.  If you whip it too much, it will separate into butter and whey.



The only disadvantage I see of real whipped cream to Cool Whip is it’s ability to keep.  This will keep for a while in the fridge, you can make it ahead, but I’ve noticed it’s a bit runny the next day.  Not sure if it would re-whip.  I usually make it as close to serving time as I can.



Enjoy!



[Concerned about the saturated fat?  Click here.]

Recommended Reading

If you haven’t noticed already, I highly recommend Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, with Mary Enig. This book is available at my local library, it just might be available at yours.



This book opened my eyes to a lot of things. But I must say that the first time I checked it out, I was overwhelmed and didn’t even read it. It is so thick. Then I learned that it is mostly recipes. The portion on nutrition is only the first little bit, maybe 60 pages. That was doable to me.  I have read that portion, now, over and over, each time gleaning new information.



The authors cover everything you need to know on the subject of fats, carbs, protein, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes, and more.



This is a general resource that everyone should check out, whether you’re just starting to eat healthy, or you grind your own wheat and make your own bread.

Omega 6: Are You Overdosing?

I just read an awesome article in this month’s issue of Prevention magazine.  I have read about Omega essential fatty acids before, but this article brought some new things to light.

We’ve heard of Omega-3 essential fatty acids, but what about Omega-6?  We hear we should eat fish to get Omega-3s, but is it found in other food?



Please read here and then you can read my notes.

The Vanishing Youth Nutrient by Susan Allport



Notes-

The author makes an excellent point that we need to get back on grass-fed meat and dairy, like our great-grandparents.  Here are some sources:

In the Tulsa, OK area – Swan Brother’s Dairy

Also for Oklahomans – Oklahoma Food Co-op

In the Tulsa area – Natural Farms (two locations–4th & Utica or 91st & Yale)

Also check out Eat Wild for a list of sources in your area.

Or you can order from US Wellness Meats

(I have not been paid to promote any of the above businesses.)



We see in this article that a big portion of the Omega-6s in our diet come from vegetable oils, soybean, cottonseed, corn, etc.  If you will remember from my earlier article, But Isn’t It Natural?, that these oils are very difficult to extract from the beans/seeds.  Chemicals are involved, as is high heat, both of which damage the oil tremendously.  If we would just eat these seeds in their whole form, we wouldn’t be overdosing on Omega-6.  Remember–If God created it, it is healthy, but if man has adulterated it, it isn’t.



I cannot agree with her recommendation of Canola oil for two reasons.  Canola oil has a 2:1 ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3.  This means that for every gram of Omega-3 you’re getting, you are still getting 2 grams of Omega-6.  I don’t see how this helps anyone.  We are supposed to be getting a ratio of 1:1 of Omega-3s and 6s.  Chances are, if you are using Canola oil, you are still eating some packaged food, so you are still getting too many Omega-6s.  The other reason is that the oil you buy in the store is already damaged, like mentioned above, by the heat and chemical process.  Ingesting damaged oils is toxic to your system.  But let’s say you are going to buy expeller-pressed Canola.  Then what?  If you are heating it, you are damaging it.  If you want to drizzle it cold, on your salad, I suppose it would be okay.  I, myself, will stay away from Canola.  Want more information?  Click here.



On page 115 (in the magazine) and page 6 (online), I take issue with point #6.  Butter is not bad.  You can read my article on that topic, here.  And did you know that butter has antioxidants in it?!?  Click here to read more.



So, overall, the information in this article was great and I hope it helps you.  It basically just comes down to the fact that if we were all eating food that hasn’t been processed, we would be getting plenty of the right Omega-3s and Omega-6s, in the right ratios.

Many Ways with Pesto

I have been harvesting plenty of basil this year, I love it!  Most of the time, I like to make pesto with it.



I don’t really follow a recipe.  I just pack my food processor bowl with basil leaves.  Throw in a few tablespoons of walnuts, a couple garlic cloves, some Celtic Sea Salt, and start pulsing.  When it’s chopped down nicely, I will pulse and drizzle with olive oil.  Pesto calls for Parmesan cheese, but I have heard that if you are going to freeze it, you shouldn’t add the cheese.  So I just add some Parmesan to it when I thaw and am ready to use it.



What do you use pesto for?  It’s wonderful on pasta!  But did you know, there is more to pesto than just a pasta sauce?



You can use it on pizza instead of tomato sauce, it is awesome!  You can dip fresh veggies in it.  You can use some to make homemade salad dressing.  Just look in a basic cookbook, like Joy of Cooking for a basic ratio of oil to vinegar/lemon juice.  And don’t forget about my Pesto Cheesecake!  It’s really more of a cracker/bread spread.  Think cream cheese, basil, garlic, and sund-dried tomatoes.  It’s wonderful!



Do you have other ideas for pesto?  Please share.

Homemade Pickles

I grew these pickling cucumbers this year specifically to make homemade pickles.  I’ve been making them for a couple years now, but I always bought cucumbers from Conrad’s in the past.  These are so easy to make and SO good for you.  Looking for more ways to get probiotics in your diet?  These are for you.

 

These are naturally fermented pickles.  They will not be canned.  Canning is a way to preserve your garden bounty, but the process of heating will kill all the beneficial enzymes, vitamins, and friendly bacteria.

 

If you’re new to naturally fermented foods, you may be thinking, “Ewww, I don’t want to eat something fermented!”  But lots of food you already enjoy is fermented–vinegar, sauerkraut, kimchi, wine, beer, cheese, yogurt, miso–to name a few.  Even more food was fermented back in the days before canning.  It is a natural way to preserve food.  This is how people back in Bible times kept food from spoiling without refrigerators.  Fermenting actually increases the vitamin content of food.  Eating some fermented food every day aids digestion.

 

I like to use a cross between a recipe from Wild Fermentation and Nourishing Traditions.

 

You will need:

-filtered water

-sea salt (If Celtic, make sure to sterilize, like I mentioned here.)

-dill seeds or fresh dill heads

-mustard seeds (optional)

-few garlic cloves

-cucumbers, either whole, sliced, or cut in spears

-whey (optional)

-glass jars or crock

-something to weigh down and keep the cukes submerged (see photo)

I mix 6 tablespoons of Celtic Sea Salt with 8 cups of filtered water, stir to dissolve.

 

Place a couple cloves peeled garlic in each jar, add seasonings, dill and mustard, if using.  Add cucumbers to the jar.  If you are using whey (this just gives them a little kick-start on fermenting, it’s not essential), add a couple tablespoons to each jar.  Then cover with brine.  If you need to mix up more brine, do so with the above ratio.  You will need enough brine to cover the cucumbers and you will want to leave about an inch of head room.

 

Now for the important part–you need to weigh your cucumbers down so that they stay submerged.  Any part of the cucumber that is above the brine level will rot and have to be thrown out.  If you’re using a big crock, you can use a plate to weigh them down.  I use mason jars (see above picture), so I use little plastic containers filled with dry beans as my weights.

 

You will now leave these cucumbers out at room temperature to ferment.  I do mine for 5 days.  The bigger your cucumbers the longer the ferment.  If you leave your cucumbers whole, it will take longer.  I always slice mine, like you see in the picture.  

 

You will see the liquid turn cloudy (that is good!) and the cucumbers turn from bright green to the darker pickle color.  Cover your container with a cloth to keep flies away.  After they are done fermenting, store in the fridge (with lids on the jars).

 

Now at this point, your germaphobia may be telling you that you can’t leave cucumbers out on the counter for 5 days!  But this is wrong.  Bacteria and mold cannot survive in certain conditions, salt and acid are two of those conditions.  The brine you made is very salty, nothing bad can live in it, that’s why we have to keep the cucumbers in that brine.  If they poke above the liquid, they aren’t protected and will mold and rot.  In the process of fermentation the sugars are turning to acids and that keeps baddies from growing, too.  Good bacteria are multiplying and keeping bad stuff at bay as well.  If you want to learn more, click here.

 

Oddly enough, even though the brine starts out very salty, it changes during fermentation.  These pickles are not too salty.  If your’s taste too salty, let them ferment longer.

 

You will need to check on your pickles every day and skim any mold that is growing on the surface.  It’s not essential to get all of it, just do your best.  Again, I know this sounds weird, but don’t worry, the pickles in the brine are safe.  This is how true kosher pickles are made.  This is how pickles were made in barrels for hundreds of years.  Unfortunately all pickles sold in regular grocery stores are only vinegar-soaked, not truly fermented, and so they don’t have the same health qualities.  In addition, store pickles are then pasteurized/heat sealed, which kills them.  These pickles are a living food and will last for months in your fridge.

 

If you are concerned with how these will taste, you can buy Bubbie’s at Whole Foods (sold in the refrigerator section, next to the cheese and yogurt).  They are made the same way I have detailed.  Bubbie’s are spicier, though.

 

Also, an added bonus–you will have pickled garlic–a wonderful, natural antibiotic.  The garlic takes longer to pickle than the cucumbers.  Typically the garlic is ready when the pickles are all gone.  If the garlic taste like a pickle, you know it’s done.  If it still tastes strong, like garlic, then you know it’s not done and you can just leave it in the jar, in the fridge.  I beat colds and flu with garlic, but it’s much, much easier to eat when it’s pickled!  My kids will eat it, too, and love it!  Occasionally, I will drink some of the pickle brine, too, since it has lots of good stuff, good acids, good bacteria (probiotics), probably some essence of the garlic, etc.

 

These are easy (probably takes me 30 minutes or less), but they require a little patience (you don’t get to eat them for a few days), but it is SO worth it!  Hope you enjoy!

Shopping

We headed to Whole Foods yesterday, I thought I’d let you peek at my shopping cart.

 

I bought -
-Organic grains:
  5 lbs. whole oats (called groats)
  1.5 lbs. brown rice
  1 lb rye berries

(We grind the oats in the blender and soak overnight to eat for breakfast.  Click here.  We also make blender batter pancakes, my recipe coming soon, or go to www.suegregg.com to see the original.)

-Store brand (365) baking powder – because it is aluminum-free (I hope it’s good, I usually buy Rumford, but it was over a $1 more.)

-2lb. bag of Sucanat – a true whole sugar, unrefined, we like it in our oatmeal and other things.

-Bragg raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar – great source of enzymes

-Blackstrap molasses – I take a few spoonfuls a week, it’s very high in iron and calcium.)

-bacon (my family loves this, but I HATE buying the nitrate/nitrite filled variety at Walmart, so we are going to try this.)

-hot dogs (see above)

 

Going to Whole Foods is a special occasion for us.  It’s so far away, we don’t go that often, so we will pick up a treat or two.

-I picked up a Lara Bar for myself.  These are really good and they don’t have any junk in them, not even sugar, they are sweetened with dates and raisins and such.  I glanced at a Luna Bar and it was full of junk.  Just goes to show you that you still have to read labels, even in the health food store.

-I also splurged on some crystallized ginger.  It’s good on it’s own, but a friend of mine adds some to her kombucha and it tastes very similar to ginger ale.  I’m going to try this.

-My son picked out some ginger snaps

-My daughter loves those date pieces sold in the bulk section.  I don’t really care for them, they don’t have any added sweetener and they look like puppy chow, but she likes them, so she gets them.  :)

 

Hope you enjoyed seeing what I buy at Whole Foods.  You will notice that I don’t really buy any packaged food here.  That stuff is unhealthy, whether you buy it at Walmart or Whole Foods.  Processed is processed.  :)