Making The Switch

When I started studying about healthy fats about six years ago, I realized that I was using very unhealthy fats.  I was buying butter (went through a very short phase on margarine because it’s so cheap, glad that didn’t last long), but I was using canola for cooking.  I read Dr. Mary Enig’s very in-depth book, Know Your Fats and my eyes were opened!  At the same time, my suspicions about butter were confirmed.  Yeah!  Butter really was better for you.  I learned how bad canola is and why.  I learned that of all the vegetable oils, peanut oil is the most stable.  It contains omega-6 fatty acids, whereas the other vegetable oils contain a combination of omega-6 and omega-3.  I know, I know, we hear a lot about omega-3 and how good they are for us.  BUT, omega-3 oils are damaged when heated.  All the vegetable oils in the general grocery store are very refined and have been heated to high temperatures.  Omega-6 oils are not damaged as bad with heat.

So, I switched to peanut oil for most of my cooking.  It has a high smoke point and thus makes nice crispy french fries and is great for stir fry, which is done at a high temperature.

But that was six years ago and I have since learned that while peanut oil is better than canola and soybean oil, it isn’t the best.  In fact, consuming too many omega-6 fatty acids is detrimental to our health, one example is inflammation.  We hear a lot about this lately, how inflammation is at the heart of a lot of diseases, click here for a great article on that topic.  Then I read this article in Prevention magazine that said omega-6 oils are responsible for a slower metabolism and fat storage.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t need a slower metabolism!  So I started looking for alternatives.

I have used tallow for our french fries quite a few times now and I’m happy with it.  Best of all, my picky family is happy with it.  :)  I decided to try making my homemade croutons with coconut oil instead of peanut oil and they turn out great.  Next up was hash browns.  These are the shredded potato variety, not those pre-formed patties–those are loaded with trans fat.  Last Sunday I tried using half coconut oil and half butter (because I needed them to brown, coconut oil alone doesn’t brown very well) and they, too, turned out great.

On Monday night I tried making fried rice with coconut oil.  I have always used peanut oil.  There were pros and cons.  On the positive side, I was happy that the oil didn’t smoke at all.  I drizzled the oil in the pan immediately before adding the eggs to scramble and the rice to fry.  If I had left it very long, it would have smoked (coconut oil has a lower smoke point than peanut oil).  Another positive was that this seemed to be a good fat for keeping the rice from sticking to the pan.  But we lose points in the taste category.  The coconut flavor was too predominate.  My family wasn’t thrilled.  My son hates coconut oil (but I do require he take a dose everyday for eczema, he just holds his nose).  My husband is a picky eater and didn’t care for the taste, although we did eat the entire batch of rice.  I am going to buy a refined coconut oil for this recipe, it won’t have a coconut flavor.  This will still be healthier than peanut oil, so I am happy.  :)

Remember, we all need to be taking our babysteps, don’t get stuck in a rut.  None of us has “arrived.”  Keep changing, keep learning, keep growing.

A Healthier Holiday

Make this holiday season healthier with these tips.

 

-Use butter wherever margarine or shortening are called for.

-Use raw cream in place of evaporated canned milk in pumpkin pie.

-Top those pies with homemade whipped cream, skip the Cool Whip.

-Make homemade egg nog.

-Use homemade broth instead of canned.

 

What tips do you have?

 

See also:

Thanksgiving Menu - includes recipes for Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Cranberry-Orange Sauce

Mystery Food Revealed

Tammy, you must be a label-reader!  You were aware enough of ingredients that you guessed correctly!  It was a Coffeemate creamer, Amaretto to be specific. That is fantastic.  We all need to be as label-savvy as you.  :)

 

Here are those ingredients again -

Water, Sugar, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and/or Cottonseed oil, and less than 2% sodium caseinate (a milk derivative), natural and artificial flavors, dipotassium phosphate, disodium phosphate, mono- and diglycerides, cellulose gel, cellulose gum, color added, carrageenan.

 

Let’s see, we have water, not bad, then sugar, not good, but not as bad as number three–the big, bad hydrogenated oil we talked about last month!  Given the choice between good old-fashioned cream and this pseudo-cream substitute, I’ll take the cream please.

 

But what about the fat?!?  Cream contains a high-percentage of butterfat (around 40%).  This fat actually contains vitamins A, D, E and K; antioxidants, selenium, CLA (conjugated linoleic acid–an anti-cancer nutrient), and lauric acid (an antimicrobial fat–a germ killer), and more.

 

But soybean and/or cottonseed oil can’t be that bad?!?  This pseudo-cream substitute contains a man-made hydrogenated oil (read trans fat) that causes cancer, type II diabetes, heart disease, infertility, obesity, hinders the immune system and a lactating mother’s milk.  In a pregnant woman, trans fat can cross the placenta and hinder brain development of the child.  In a nursing mother, trans fats will be present in breast milk and can interfere with the child’s neurological and visual development.

 

So you can see why I choose cream.  I’ll take vitamins and a strong immune system any day over cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and infertility!  We don’t even have to go into the details of the rest of the ingredients, that third one is so bad.

 

Remember, if God created it, it is healthy; if man has messed with it, it is not!

 

Read more here:

All About Trans Fat – a very informative brochure.

Butter Is Better – another short brochure, both are must-reads.

October Links

There are some really great articles around the blogosphere this month.



Food Renegade has some excellent information about butter and margarine.  Click here.



Concerns about the swine flu?  We can always count on Dr. Mercola to give us the truth!



Natural mole removal?  Who would have guessed?  Check it out here at Cheeseslave’s site.



I found a new health blog (new to me), check it out — Just Making Noise: Sound Bytes From a Deaf Mama.  Marilyn Beard is a missionary, with her husband, in Costa Rica.  She is into Nourishing Traditions, homebirth, kombucha, kefir, and more!



And last, but certainly not least–Kelly the Kitchen Kop is hosting a giveaway–Beef Tallow from US Wellness Meats–a $99.95 value!

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.

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.

Valentine Cupcakes (or anytime!)

Have your cake and eat it too!

 

Contrary to popular opinion, I am not the food police.  I am not looking around me in shock at what people choose to eat.  I really am an oblivious person.  I’m usually too absorbed in thought to notice others and make judgments.  I am just trying to take my babysteps and I recognize that everyone is at a different place with their babysteps.

 

I do enjoy my occasional desserts.  I try to stick to homemade desserts and forgo the store-bought or restaurant fare.  But sugar is sugar, right?  Well, most (if not all) store-bought (and restaurant) desserts are very high in trans fat.  You name it–cookies, cakes, pies, etc.  You will be much better off if you just make something at home to enjoy.  Use white flour and sugar, but PLEASE, please, please, use butter.  Your heart will thank you.  For more information on that, click here.

 

   Chocolate Cupcakes

This recipe is from a Pam Anderson cookbook.  I LOVE all her recipes!  (I have not attempted to cut back the sugar in this recipe.  Cake recipes are pretty delicate, they are not easily altered, like muffins or yeast breads are.)

I divided it in half to make 12 cupcakes.

 

Measure in a bowl:

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons cake flour (it probably wouldn’t hurt to use all-purpose flour)

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/8 teaspoon salt (just a little over 1/4 teaspoon)

Whisk those ingredients together and set aside.

 

Melt 7 tablespoons butter and set aside to cool.

 

Boil 3/8 cup (6 tablespoons or 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons) water and mix with 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa (I use Hershey’s).  Stir until smooth.  Let cool a bit and then add 1/4 cup sour cream and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.

 

In a separate bowl beat 2 egg whites to soft peaks.

 

With a hand mixer, mix melted butter into flour/sugar mixture.  Add cocoa mixture and beat until batter is smooth, 2 to 3 minutes.  With a spatula, fold egg whites into batter until just incorporated.  Spoon into paper muffin cups.

 

Bake in a 350F oven 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Then let cool.

 

   Cream Cheese Frosting

Now this is where you can really cut back on the sugar.  The original recipe had 3 times as much sugar as this, yet this version tastes so good!  The extra sugar is not necessary.

 

Beat together 2 1/2 tablespoons softened butter with 4 ounces soft cream cheese, until smooth.  Add 2 drops red food coloring, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, and 1/3 cup powdered sugar.  Beat until thoroughly incorporated and fluffy.

 

Spread frosting on cupcakes.

 

   Chocolate Heart Decorations

I melted about 1 tablespoon chocolate chips and transferred to a ziploc bag.  I snipped off the tip of the bag and then piped hearts onto parchment.  I let them cool to harden and then placed 2 hearts on each cupcake.