You are currently browsing the daily archive for February 17, 2009.
Much has been said and written about voting with your dollar. Buying locally grown produce at a farmer’s market instead of out-of-season produce shipped in from the four corners of the earth is a great place to start. Asking the butcher to wrap your purchase in freezer paper instead of styrofoam and plastic is another (even though freezer paper is plastic-lined, you’re still skipping the styrofoam.) Joining a CSA and purchasing fresh, raw milk is a very loud vote! Spending a little more for things like raw cheeses and pasture butter and skipping the cookie, cracker and chip aisle altogether sends a loud message. There are a myriad of things you can do. What do you do? Bring your own bags? Special request unique and healthy items at the large chain supermarket? I’d like to hear your own version of checkstand activism.
Several years ago, I joined a polling company that accumulates data from households all over the country. They gather and tabulate purchasing information and provide it to companies seeking marketing data. It’s a rather cumbersome system right now and takes more of my time than I’d ideally like, but it goes like this: A handheld scanner and base is provided to me. For each and every item I purchase, I scan the UPC code with the scanner. Most items I scan require a price entry as well. If an item doesn’t have a UPC code, I scan a bar code provided by the research company so the item is put in the proper category. Once a week, I send the information to the company by plugging the scanner into the base, and the base into the phone line. I am not paid for collecting this data, but gain points for faithfully sending it which can be traded for merchandise.
Because I am part of the sample group, what I purchase sends an even louder message to corporate America. My purchases represent something like 10,000 homes. So picture this: three months ago, 10,000 homes very suddenly stopped buying your crackers, Nabisco. Four months ago, 10,000 homes made their last purchase of sugar, Domino. There hasn’t been a loaf of your bread sold to 10,000 previous regular customers in the last five months, Arnold Bread. There has been a very sudden upsurge in the number of American homes purchasing food through CSAs, farmers markets and local sources in the last twelve months. I have to smile when I hear those reports, knowing at least part of that is me!
So, let’s hear it, readers. How are you voting with your dollar these days?
I was out of bed at a good, early hour and made scrambled eggs. I had a tomato that I hadn’t planned for another use, and some leftover green onions, so I chopped those up to add. Those of us who don’t have problems with milk tossed a small handful of shredded cheddar on top of our eggs. We enjoyed some 7 sprouted grain toast with our eggs. I love coconut oil on toast!
For lunch, I sauteed some mushrooms and shallots in the skimmed fat from a jar of homemade chicken stock. When they were softened and starting to turn golden, I tossed in a little white wine and a cup of stock and let it reduce some while I chopped up some leftover roasted chicken. I added the chicken and scooped out youngest’s serving before adding some cream to the sauce for the rest of us. Served over soaked and cooked rice it was just right for lunch.
I started some breadsticks in the bread machine to have with dinner right after lunch. I used the flour I’d soaked the other day to use in pancakes. I had about 3 cups that had been soaked in a little more than a cup of water. I threw that in the bread machine with 2 teaspoons of yeast, 2 tablespoons of coconut oil (my machine warms the ingredients with the first mix, so this will melt gently and be incorporated well without my having to melt it first and take the chance of scalding the yeast) and a pinch of sea salt. I set it on the “dough” setting and let it do its thing. When the machine beeped its “all done” sound, I took the dough out and shaped it into long twists. They went on a buttered cookie sheet in the turned-off oven to rise, which took about 2 hours. Just before baking them, I brushed them with melted butter and sprinkled on some garlic powder (and parmesan for the un-allergic). They didn’t take long to bake, about 10 minutes at 400° and they were so, so yummy.
A couple days ago I set some red lentils to soak in a mason jar on the counter. When I realized I wouldn’t use them the next day, I set them to sprout. The sprouts on them were about 1/4 inch long tonight, just right for cooking, so I made lentil soup. It was orange and beautiful and didn’t have the earthy flavor of brown lentils, but a bright, herbal taste.
Sunshine Lentil Soup
1 onion, peeled and sliced
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon clarified butter
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 quart beef stock
1 cup (presoaking measure) red lentils, soaked and sprouted
thyme sprigs
1/2 lemon, juiced
Kefir, to pass at the table
Cook onions and carrots in butter and coconut oil slowly for about 20 minutes. Add stock and lentils and bring to a boil, skimming off the foam. Reduce heat, add thyme and cover. Simmer 15-20 minutes until lentils are tender. Remove thyme and blend with stick blender. Add lemon juice and sea salt to taste. Pass kefir at the table to add to soup.
This post is part of the Pennywise Platter Thursday blog carnival hosted by The Nourishing Gourmet.
The Dark Side of Fat Loss
