Put the frozen burrito down and back away

November 6, 2009 in In the News, Newbism | 6 comments

Efficient menu by andreasmarx

(Rant warning) It’s not that I don’t understand. I have a larger-than-average family to feed. Of the seven of us, three are teenagers that seem to eat their weight in whatever they can lay hands on daily. We’ve also been self-employed for the past 18 months since being laid off; working six-day weeks to scrape by on freelance assignments paid hourly, just making the mortgage, doing without health insurance, cutting back further and further on what we once considered necessities. Our income dropped by 2/3 in 2008 and here, at the end of 2009, is still running 1/3 less than we made just two years ago.

When I say our food budget is a full fourth of our income (that’s 25%, compared to the 9-11% the average American spends) it’s not because we’re eating expensive food, it’s because I have mindfully and carefully chosen the food my growing children eat to be one of my top priorities regardless of the insufficiency of our income. We keep a roof over our heads and health-supporting food on our table. If we wear last decade’s clothes with a few mended holes, we can deal with that because clothes are for covering and warmth here. Shoes provide protection from the elements in our house, they aren’t fashion statements. Our car is a servant that provides transportation from point A to B, it is not a commentary on our political or sociological views. We all make choices and these are some of mine.

Everyone has to make their own choices, of course. But assuming healthy food is out of your economic reach without actually doing the math or choosing not to make informed choices is selling yourself short.

So when I read that the economy has “forced” families to choose less healthy options at the grocery store, I get a little riled. There are so many better ways to eat inexpensively besides going for the lunch of chips and Coke. From the above article:

Mintel, the market research firm, is tracking double-digit sales gains for salty snacks as well as popcorn and cheese snacks this year. Potato chip sales are up 22 percent this year compared with 2007 while tortilla chips sales are rising 18 percent.

To me, these increases mean that more Americans are turning to Frito Lay as the basis for a meal. Lunch becomes the chip and soda as the more expensive sandwich and and less filling soup fall to the wayside. Junk food Snack food companies are reporting record years.

There is a better way.

If you, or someone whose health is important to you, is challenged financially, take heart. There are some great options for less expensive food that is still nourishing. Here are some examples:

In short, there are just too many great options to fall into the frozen pizza/chips/kool aid trap. Nourishing your body is something you have to do. You can’t just “turn off service” like you would a phone or TV to save a few bucks. There are long-term consequences to feeding yourself poorly for an extended period of time. Children’s bodies suffer most: with lack of concentration, poor growth and bad habits formed that will be hard to break. Some deficiencies can cause problems for several generations beyond our own. Let’s not spend fifteen minutes chatting with our spouses about tonight’s TV schedule then open a can of soup because we don’t have time to chop a vegetable or two and add it to homemade broth. (Rant over, thank you for your patience.)

This post is part of Fight Back Friday, hosted by the ever rebellious but rarely ranting Food Renegade.

Fight back friday food renegade fist

Stop Childhood Obesity: Serve Whole Milk!

November 4, 2009 in Health is Beautiful, In the News | 1 comment

Proper British Now - Day 55 by MarkAllanson, on Flickr

Yes, you read that right. Turns out…

The study showed that children who drink full-fat milk every day weigh on average just over 4 kg less.

As a matter of fact…

Children who often drink milk with a fat content of 3% are less overweight. The thesis shows also that the children eat more saturated fat than recommended, but those children who have a high intake of fat have a lower BMI than the children with a lower intake of fat.

Now, isn’t that interesting? Gee, fat intake, and specifically saturated fat intake doesn’t seem to correlate to obesity. Hm. I wonder if doctors and dietitians read Science Daily.

This post is part of the Prevention, not Prescriptions blog carnival.

 

Butternut Squash Gratin

November 3, 2009 in Community Supported..., Meal Planning and Recipes, Veggies | 5 comments

Butternut Squash Gratin

In my continuing quest to use all the winter squash provided by my CSA, I stumbled across a recipe that didn’t sound half bad. With a few tweaks, it would do the trick quite nicely.

It’s a well known principle in our family that to get the kids to eat something, just cover it in cheese. This dish turned out so well that I could see it at our Thanksgiving table easily. It was sweet and savory, gooey and melty, and had just the right “punch” from the rosemary. I served it with salmon and kale. It did take a two-step cooking process, something I’m for the most part against for daily cooking, but the end product was very much worth the trouble.

Butternut Squash Gratin
2 tablespoons coconut oil, plus extra for casserole prep
1 tablespoon pastured butter
1 small yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 two-pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
1 teaspoon real maple syrup
1 cup chicken broth
8 ounces each shredded Havarti and extra-sharp Cheddar
2 bread heels, whirred in blender to crumb
1 tablespoon stripped and chopped fresh thyme
1 tablespoon stripped and chopped fresh rosemary

Preheat oven to 350° and rub a 9×13″ casserole dish with coconut oil. Melt butter and coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onions and cook until they caramelize. Really take your time here and let them develop a light brown (they will continue to caramelize in the next step). This took me about 13 minutes. Add the squash and cook about 8 minutes until it is browned on the outside but still pretty firm in the center. Add minced garlic and maple syrup and cook, stirring, 2 minutes more. Put squash mixture into prepared baking dish. Pour chicken broth over squash and bake, covered for 40-45 minutes.

Stir together the breadcrumbs, chopped herbs and two cheeses. Cover the squash evenly with this mixture and return to the oven, uncovered this time, for about 15 minutes, or until topping is very lightly browned. This made 10 very generous servings.

This post is part of Twister Tuesday, hosted by Gnowfglins, the Make it From Scratch carnival and Real Food Wednesdays, hosted this week by Cheeseslave.

Tuesday twisterth_rfw_orange3

Nutritional Healing for Allergic Dermatitis repost

November 2, 2009 in Allergies, Health is Beautiful | Leave a comment

Here’s a blast from the past! My daughter has battled hand eczema for several years now. Although we are winning the war, there are still skirmishes where her hands crack, peel and bleed. Since the original post, we have added a daily dose of kombucha to her diet. Without further ado, this week’s entry into the Prevention Not Prescriptions blog carnival:

Nutritional Healing for Allergic Dermatitis

What Joel Salatin Said

October 29, 2009 in Everything Else | 9 comments

Joel Salatin by geoffandsherry, on Flickr

Joel Salatin by geoffandsherry, on Flickr

Joel Salatin came to a local college for a speaking engagement this week. It was a wonderful evening. He brought a slide show, answered questions and had so much to say that I can’t begin to remember it all, despite taking notes! Kate, animal lover and nutrition student, came with me.

The comment Mr. Salatin made that totally hushed the audience (with the exception of a few awestruck, “Wow”s) was:

“Every bit of the alleged science linking methane and cows to global warming is based on annual cropping, feedlots and herbivore abuse. It all crumbles if the production model becomes like our mob-stocking-herbivorous-solar-conversion-lignified-carbon-sequestration fertilization. America has traded 73 million bison requiring no petroleum, machinery or fertilizer for 45 million beef cattle, and we think we’re efficient. At Polyface, we practice biomimicry and have returned to those lush, high organic matter production models of the native herbivores. If every cow producer in the country would use this model, in less than 10 years we would sequester all the carbon that’s been emitted since the beginning of the industrial age.”

It really is a “Wow” statement. I’ve been quoting it in comments to all the “Red meat is destroying the planet!” news articles I can find. Stop and think about that for a moment: Raising beef cattle with biomimicry can stop global warming in its tracks almost singlehandedly. Wow, indeed.

The other moment that really struck me was a comparison of the “get-by-selfish-me-first” protocol versus the “artisanal-sacred” protocol. Any endeavor, Salatin claims, can be artisanal if approached with awareness, excellence and a desire to serve.

I confess there have been times that I have fallen into a “get-by” mentality. Sometimes I allow the pressures of my life to rush me into doing good enough instead of excelling. I am guilty of not editing and thinking through sufficiently, opting for faster and easier methods of living, homeschooling, blogging, raising a family, being a wife and neighbor. Joel Salatin inspired me to seek excellence, not just a check in a box of my to-do list.

Farmers rock.

This post is part of Fight Back Fridays, hosted by Food Renegade.

Fight back friday food renegade fist

Look at this gorgeous milk

October 29, 2009 in Community Supported... | 5 comments

My delicious share of milkThis is my delicious share of raw, whole milk from my dairy farmer. Look at where that cream line is – all the way down at the base of the handle!

Just feeling so very blessed and wanted to share.

Hits Me Right Where I Live

October 28, 2009 in Books, Films and TV, Health is Beautiful | 2 comments

Dupont at Sunset by Alarobric, on Flickr

Dupont at Sunset by Alarobric, on Flickr

I did a bit of research after being angered by The Body Toxic by Nena Baker.

I live less than 10 miles from a DuPont plant. That plant is said to manufacture “Jacquard weave synthetic fabrics, Dobby weave synthetic fabrics, Knit synthetic fabrics, Synthetic velvet fabrics, Plain weave synthetic fabrics, Conveyor belting, Conveyor pulleys, Conveyor idlers, Conveyor belt lacing or fasteners, Conveyor belt brushes, Trolley lid, Chain conveyors, Motorized rollers or drums, Conveyor frames.” In 2007, that plant had atmospheric releases of the following, according to the EPA:

  • ACETALDEHYDE
  • SULFURIC ACID
  • AMMONIA
  • 1,4-DIOXANE
  • COBALT COMPOUNDS
  • SODIUM NITRITE
  • NITRATE COMPOUNDS
  • DIOXIN AND DIOXIN-LIKE COMPOUNDS
  • METHANOL
  • POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC COMPOUNDS
  • MANGANESE COMPOUNDS
  • ETHYLENE GLYCOL
  • BIPHENYL
  • HYDROCHLORIC ACID (1995 AND AFTER “ACID AEROSOLS” ONLY)
  • MERCURY COMPOUNDS
  • ANTIMONY
  • HYDROGEN FLUORIDE
  • LEAD COMPOUNDS

Yikes. I’d probably say something like “time to move!” if I thought any other community was better. My own tiny community, if it could be somehow detached from the rest of the world, would be relatively clean. It’s a bedroom community with very few manufacturers. Still, within two miles of my house we’ve had environmental releases of xylene, n-hexane and toluene, and I am downstream from some very big players.

Hazardous chemicals are everywhere, even in breastmilk. Our youngest, most susceptible citizens are being exposed to deadly chemicals in their best food. There’s no better alternative. And it is taken as fact that every woman of childbearing age in every country of the world has these chemicals in their bloodstream, fat and organs.

Now is not the time to sit and stew in fear. There are things you can do to reduce your exposure. Baker offers both a list of what she does and what she recommends at the end of The Body Toxic. If you believe that there is a chance for change offered by the current administration, now would be a great time to write and call your elected representatives to get years of head-turning, innocent-whistling denial repealed and replaced with meaningful regulation as the European Union has done with their REACH regulations.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesdays, hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop because Polycyclic Aromatic Compound Breastmilk is not real food for infants.

th_rfw_orange3

20% of Kids Aged 1-11 Not Getting Enough Vitamin D

October 26, 2009 in Health is Beautiful, In the News | 4 comments

Someone I love soaking up the sun

Someone I love taking her vitamin D

In the news today was a report that our children are being shortchanged on their Vitamin D.

At least one in five U.S. children aged 1 to 11 don’t get enough vitamin D…

By a looser measure, almost 90 percent of black children that age and 80 percent of Hispanic kids could be vitamin D deficient…

Children can get 400 units daily by drinking four cups of fortified milk, or eating lots of fish, but many don’t do that…

According to my research, vitamin D is best assimilated from exposure to the sun between 10 AM and 2 PM (yes, that’s right…the very hours we’ve been warned against) for 20-120 minutes, depending on skin color. This article explains the importance of those hours to maximize vitamin D intake while minimizing exposure. You can, with very few exceptions, get the vitamin D you need from sunlight exposure. If you live in a cloudy area, or are experiencing a rainy season, you might need to supplement your diet with foods high in vitamin D.

Cod Liver Oil is an excellent source of vitamin D. Relax, there are finally good alternatives to taking it off a spoon the way they did in your mother’s time. I take a combination of fermented cod liver oil and butter oil in a capsule which provides 90% DV. I never taste it.

Food sources high in vitamin D include fish, specifically: salmon and mackerel (very good sources), sardines (good) and tuna (moderate). But, if the fish has had no exposure to sunlight, his body can’t generate the vitamin D that you consume when you eat him. So, you need to consider farmed fish as  virtually useless when it comes to providing vitamin D.

As for “fortified” milk? Sure, putting vitamins in might seem like a good thing. But some synthetics added to food are barely touched by our bodies because they aren’t in a usable form. Much better to get the kids out in the sunshine, eat wild fish from time to time and drink good, healthy, raw, A2 milk. Not only will this provide your children the vitamin D they need, it will encourage them to exercise and enjoy good tasting food.

Low Carbing It

October 26, 2009 in Books, Films and TV, Health is Beautiful, Weight Loss | 5 comments

Cabinet by newrachael, on Flickr

Cabinet by newrachael, on Flickr

(NOT my cabinet above)

I have a real fondness for carbs. The mere smell of toast is enough to put me in a feeding frenzy. The thought of honey in my coffee makes my mouth water. Pasta, bread, potatoes or rice: now that’s a sound architectural base for a filling meal.

Back, oh, six years ago now, I lost a few pounds on the South Beach diet. But it was a struggle and I didn’t enjoy the food. (This was before I started using real foods like butter and cream and raw milk.) And as soon as “diet time” was over, the pounds packed right back on. I guess you could say I’m one of those that probably needs to lay off the carbs permanently. I’m also quite an addict: one piece of toast today leads to two tomorrow, etc.

But, for the last couple weeks I’ve been playing at low carbing my diet. Nothing extreme or regimented, just making different choices. My normal breakfast has been a couple eggs fried sunny side up in coconut oil. It’s the right size and usually keeps me from getting hungry again before lunch. Yesterday when the kids made sloppy joes for lunch, I had my meat in a bowl with a dollop of creme fraiche instead of on a bun. Delicious! And the Chicken Fettucini Alfredo my daughter made for dinner a few days ago tasted just right over broccoli instead of noodles.

I’ve been kind of keeping track of my total carbohydrate count for this most recent visit to Low Carb-land. I’ve been averaging less than 100 grams, some days slightly higher, but most days significantly less. Yesterday, for example, I was at about 50, even after a serving of my daughter’s homemade ice cream.

I haven’t seen a single pound drop and my clothes aren’t fitting differently so far. I do have a fairly good energy level and haven’t needed quite as many midday cups of coffee. After seeing Fathead, (yes, Kelly, Netflix finally found a copy for me) I’m convinced that even if I never lose an ounce I’m on the right track. So, I’m going to stick to it and not expect any weight loss. I’ll be doing my body a favor, even if it never does my wardrobe any favors back.

Local Spotlight: Twin Forks Artisan Bread

October 25, 2009 in Local Spotlight, Shopping | 2 comments

A Slice of Heaven!

A Slice of Heaven!

I was so envious of Cheeseslave when she posted about the bread baker she met at her farmer’s market. Since we started this new way of eating, bread is something that has never measured up. The sourdough I’ve made is hard and dense and sour, and not something my family would consider sandwich-friendly at all.

But while visiting the market I will attend when my regular farmer’s market shuts down this week, I was introduced to a baker. (That’s one of the benefits of getting to know your farmers. Producers who know what you like and can introduce you to other producers.)

David Tannen, owner of Twin Forks Artisan Bread, makes WAP-friendly bread and it is so delicious! He makes sourdough only, but it’s not heavy and sour at all. It cuts very nicely without falling apart, and doesn’t sport the tough, tooth-challenging crust of many sourdoughs. He uses homemade yeast, and bakes in his homebuilt oven. I’ve tried three of his four delicious varieties, and they have found a place in my heart, my freezer and my table.

I’m trying to cut back on carbs in general, but for times when only bread will do, it will be this delicious bread I serve! If you’re a Whole Foods shopper, you can find his bread at Cool Springs and Franklin, TN. He also delivers to the Produce Place on Murphy Road over by Vanderbilt. If you’re in Franklin, come by the Saturday Franklin Farmer’s Market and meet him!

What Came Before



Want to be notified of
new posts? Click Here!


Local Food and Local Farms

Click Here to Find Your Local Harvest!