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Buttery love... by im.mick, on Flickr
I was jumping up and down excited to read this article in Scientific American. More and more, mainstream scientific research is proving and mainstream media is running stories that we’ve all been told a big, fat lie about the dangers of saturated fat in the diet. Sure, as demonstrated in the comments, there are those who still cling to the fat-is-bad mantra, but the tide is turning. My favorite quote from the article:
The next time you eat a piece of buttered toast…consider that butter is actually the more healthful component.
It reminds me of the wonderful cover of Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes. Most Americans, if asked which are the good and which are the bad, would cite butter as bad, I am convinced.
But, fellow Food Renegades, we know better! We know there are few fats healthier than grassfed meat, too. While you’re here, please take a moment and click over to this post about how grassfed meat could be going down for its final count, and what YOU can do to keep it available!
This post is part of Food Renegade’s Fight Back Friday.
Hair parted with a ruler. No kidding.
In Monday Morning Rethink, I asked about buzz phrases that mean something to you. Did you come up with one? Here’s my story.
I’ve shared with you that I’m a control freak. Few of you who know me in real life will be surprised by this. It’s something I’ve struggled with since I was a tiny child. Somehow I’ve always felt out of control in my own life, so in a vain attempt to be in charge, I would over-regulate and strictly schedule my world. Of course, the more I tried to be prepared, the more life’s curves would throw me off course. And, not surprisingly, the more I realized my inability to control my world, the more depressed and hopeless I would become.
Sometimes the world seems to be spiraling out of control, which only heightens my freaky nature. My favorite buzz phrase started out to be just another way to seek to control my circumstances. The buzz phrase that speaks loudest to me right now is a quote from Mahatma Ghandi, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” This quote speaks of personal responsibility to me. Don’t just point your finger at what is wrong and shake your head. Don’t just feel helpless to change what isn’t working for you, for your family or for your community. Be the change. Start in your own mind, home and neighborhood.
At the same time, there is a certain amount of turning loose the reins required in my life. The AA “Serenity Prayer” keeps popping into my head and honestly, I find living like this very challenging. You’re probably familiar with the first part, but here it is in its entirety:
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
In the Bible, being aware of your choices looks like this:
Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD. Joshua 24:15
Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6
For El Dragon, it looks like a guerilla garden.
For Beth Terry, it looks like reduced consumption combined with an effort to rid her life of plastic of all kinds.
For me, it looks like canvas grocery totes, eating locally, supporting local farmers, buying less of everything, smiling at strangers, not talking or texting during a movie (and staying for the credits), teaching my children manners and taking only one parking space.
When I identify a problem I see in out there in the world, be it anything from rudeness to the takeover of our lives by multinational industry, I bring it home. What can I do within my own four walls that will be the change I want to see? Each choice I make can be analyzed from this platform. Is this purchase what I want to see more of in my home and community? Is this convenience worth what I’ll miss out on? Is this particular battle really worth fighting?
I also try to remember that even using my best decision-making skills, life is going to throw me some curves and I need the ability to adapt, smile and go with the changes. I guess by practicing deliberate decision making, I’m exercising the muscle that helps me think on the fly because my spur of the moment decisions have been improving lately.
Now, honestly, do I do this level of thinking for every decision? Heck no, that’s the fast lane to a rubber room!! But I do try to move my brain this direction when I find myself irked by something.
One complaint I hear often when I recommend grassfed meats is how expensive they are. Now, it’s true that compared to CAFO-produced, GMO grain-fed, mass produced beef, $26 for two New York Strip Steaks might seem expensive. But, when those two steaks feed seven people with leftovers, the overall cost drops considerably. As part of a meal that costs only $3.75 per person, they become a bargain! And, in the meantime, we are supporting a local farmer, encouraging carbon sequestration, and eating some pretty fine meat.
Steak Salad for Eight
6 cups lettuce leaves, washed and torn
1 organic red bell pepper, washed and chopped
1 bunch organic asparagus, washed and tough ends trimmed
2 New York Strip Steaks (about 1-1/2 inches thick, just less than two pounds total)
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
bowl of ice water
1 organic lemon, juiced and rind grated
1/3 cup organic extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon flax oil
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup créme fraiche
Put an inch of water in a pan large enough to hold the asparagus in a single layer. Add a pinch of salt and bring the water to a boil. Put the oven rack on the lowest level and turn the oven on very high, 550° is the setting I used. Rub a tiny bit of lard on an oven-safe pan and put the pan in the oven while it preheats.
Add the asparagus to the boiling water and cook three minutes, then remove it from the boiling water and plunge into ice water to stop cooking immediately. Drain and pat the asparagus dry.
Add the steaks to the pan and sprinkle the tops with salt and pepper. Cook five minutes, then flip, reseason and return to the oven for another four minutes.
Let the steaks rest at room temperature for two to three minutes while you assemble the salad on the plates and make the salad dressing. Whisk together the juiced lemon with its grated peel, oils and honey. Stir in créme fraiche. Slice the steaks thinly against the grain and serve atop the salad.
Hey, while you’re here…Now that you’ve seen one beautiful dish made with local grassfed beef from a small-scale farm, won’t you drop by this post and read about how local beef is in danger of being regulated out of existence? It’s a very important post, and will only take a minute of your time. Thanks!
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday, hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
P1080934 by jessicareeder, on Flickr
Food safety is much in the news, and rightly so. As the nation has moved from small farms producing meat for their local community to larger and larger processors, food safety has suffered. According to Food, Inc., in 1970 the top 5 beef packers controlled about 25% of the market. Now, the top 4 packers control more than 80% of the market. Every time there has been a massive recall of tainted meat, the meat has come from huge producers and processors, not small, local facilities.
A pending regulation threatens to push even more meat in to the industrial food system by forcing smaller, local processors out of business. FSIS (Food Safety and Inspection Service, part of the USDA) has revised their guidelines to require “micro testing,” a new and expensive method that attempts to prove that the safety measures of a meat processing facility are effective. Unfortunately, this micro testing has not been shown to improve food safety.
The system in place since 1996 requires that the HACCP plan (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) actually works in each specific establishment. Old, tried and true methods of providing a safe environment for processing have not required these micro tests. Only new processes not established and proven have required them. This process has worked well for the last decade, especially for small processors who rely on the safe processing methods that have been in use for a long time.
Requiring micro testing data of every step of every process within every establishment, even those using proven methods of safety validation, places too heavy a burden on smaller processors providing local, safe food. How much of a burden? One small processor did the math. The initial costs for the micro tests will cost $455,592, followed by an annual ongoing series of tests tallying $140,182.
Another small plant owner says, “The thing that’s going to affect us is the cost of the testing.” The revised rules for a small plant like his would require 13 samples of every product to be sent for testing before processing, and another 13 samples after processing. “When you add all those products and tests, it racks up a super amount of money. Right now we’re sitting at about $500,000 for the initial validation tests, just for the first year. We wouldn’t be able to do it. It would just really devastate our business.”
There is no evidence that micro validation will result in any improvement to the system of food safety protocols already in place. Because of the tremendous expense involved, these new guidelines will drive smaller processors out of business, putting more meat in the hands of fewer processors—something we already know has a negative effect on food safety. Dustin VandeHoer of the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship agrees. “We haven’t had problems with food safety, especially with the smaller plants,” he says. “We should never become complacent, but I think we can reach a point where [small meat processors] can still be allowed to operate and food can be safe. I don’t know that we need to be taking this path that’s going to put small plants out of business.”
These new guidelines could spell the end of locally produced, small-batch processed meats. To those of us seeking the freshest, safest food, these new guidelines could mean we no longer can choose to opt out of the industrial food system. To your local farmers, they could represent the loss of livelihood.
If safe, local meats available from farmers you know and trust is important to you, please take a moment and write a note to the FSIS right away voicing your opposition to this new regulation. Let’s support our farmers by adding our voice to theirs. The original comment period for these recommendations has passed, but there are requests to extend the comment period, and late comments are read and considered. Please do not let this opportunity to stand up for what you believe in pass you by. Take just a moment right now and be heard!
Please submit your comments to:
Docket Clerk, USDA, FSIS
Room 2-2127
5601 Sunnyside Avenue
Beltsville MD 20705
Or email your comments to:
DraftValidationGuideComments@fsis.usda.gov
In this mini-series, I want to chat with you about rethinking life. I’ve been doing a lot of that lately and it’s been very energizing. I’m not going to ask you to be mindful 24/7 and tear apart every part of your life, that’s not energizing, it’s exhausting! But, let’s talk about a framework for re-imagining just one piece of your world. Once you’ve done it and seen the results, I think you’ll be hooked!
Why rethink?
It’s easy to become a creature of habit—to always buy the same laundry soap, go to the same restaurant, listen to the same music and plan the same meals. To some degree, it’s more convenient to have established patterns like this in your life. But at some point you need to ask yourself if these habits are helping anymore or if they are just old data that could be improved upon.
Choosing one area to rethink and then allowing yourself to think differently also gets your creative juices flowing. If you find yourself stuck in a pit of negativity, rethinking can unlock doors that are closed to you when you’re on autopilot. You might find new ways to deal with a difficult person or problem in your life just by approaching the problem from another angle.
Rethinking can be related to all those buzz phrases so popular right now. “Vote with your fork” is rethinking food. “Know your farmer, know your food” is rethinking your food supply. “Think globally, act locally” is rethinking consumption.
Whoa. Change??
Yeah, I know. Change is scary. Believe me, I really do know. I am acquainted with very, very few people as scared of change as I am. It terrifies me. That’s one of the side effects of being a control freak. But I have come to realize that being a creature of habit is more a loss of control than exercising my brain and making choices. When I make conscious choices, I am in charge of the amount of change I undertake. Not Johnson and Johnson, not Monsanto, not my doctor or my tax attorney or my favorite department store. Me. And when I fail, I learn. No choices means no failure but it also means no learning. I don’t want to be in that stagnant muddy pit!
So, that’s why I’m sharing this little journey. If you decide to come with me, be comforted that it won’t take much time at first, it won’t make money disappear from your wallet and it won’t hurt…much.
This week, let’s think about that buzz phrase thing. What is your favorite buzz phrase and why does it speak to you? What does it mean specifically to your life above and beyond its obvious meaning? I’ll be back Thursday to share my story, but I want you to share yours too! Please leave a comment here or link to a post on your own blog and let’s inspire each other!
I’m guest blogging at Hartkeisonline today. I hope you’ll drop by and share your favorite headache remedies!
joan of arc of philadelphia by pwbaker, on Flickr
Joan of Arc was a teenager in the early 1400s who said she heard from God how to win military battles for her country. Most infuriating to those who opposed her was that she actually did what she heard the Lord tell her to do, and succeeded. At the tender age of 17, she walked into a year-long siege, asked the commander for armor and ended the standoff in just nine days.
At only 19 she was burned at the stake after an unjust trial which broke the laws of the day. A generation after she died, the Pope declared her innocent of the charges brought against her. The answers she gave during her trial were so profound that George Bernard Shaw was moved to write a play using the extensive records of her prosecution. She was canonized as a Catholic saint in 1920 (the same year the 19th amendment guaranteed the right to vote for American women.)
Modern day theories attempt to preclude divine intervention and place the blame for Joan’s “hallucinations” on illnesses like epilepsy or schizophrenia, but I think it unlikely a sickly, insane youth would be able to handle the rigors of 15th century military life. Another popular theory is that Joan suffered from bovine tuberculosis as a result of drinking unpasteurized milk. French historian Régine Pernoud, author of Joan of Arc: Her Story said that if drinking unpasteurized milk could produce such potential benefits for the nation, then the French government should stop mandating the pasteurization of milk.
I think Pernoud’s on to something…
There is some dispute whether goat is really the most eaten meat worldwide, but it wouldn’t surprise me in the least. What does surprise me is how few Americans have dished up chevre meat in their own homes. I have used cubed goat meat in chili, so when some ground goat meat turned up in my CSA order this month, I knew it would stand in just fine for lamb.
I started with a Rachel Ray recipe and messed around with it until I got it tasting like something my family would eat. And did they ever! Even the salad was a hit, thanks to its dearth of greens, most likely. So, c’mon, jump in there and grab the goat by the horns!
Photo by Kate
Greek Goatburgers and Vegetable Salad
1 1/2 pounds pastured ground goat (lamb steps in nicely if you’re not ready for the goat plunge)
2 tablespoons organic Dijon mustard
2 organic garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half
A handful of organic, fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
1/2 pound feta cheese, half of it diced (raw milk feta if you can find it)
3 tablespoons coconut oil
2 organic vine-ripened tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup organic pitted kalamata olives, chopped
small handful of fresh organic mint leaves, chopped
1 15-ounce can organic chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or freshly cooked if not canned)
1 organic cucumber, seeded and chopped
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
2 lemons
2 tablespoons organic olive oil
2 avocadoes, halved (I’m the only avocado eater here, so photo shows none)
pita breads
Warm the pita breads in a 300° oven wrapped in parchment. Rub a salad bowl with the open side of the halved garlic, then chop it. In a mixing bowl, combine the ground goat meat, mustard, chopped garlic, half the chopped parsley (toss the other half in your salad bowl) and a little salt and pepper. Mix well with your hands. Add the cubed feta cheese and fold the meat over the cheese gently a few times to incorporate it without breaking up the chunks too much. Form into four generous patties or six regular sized patties. Melt the coconut oil in skillet and fry patties for 4 minutes on each side. Remove the patties to a plate and put in the oven that you’ve now turned to “off.”
While the patties fry and rest, chop and combine the veggies in the salad bowl. Throw the tomatoes, olives, mint, chickpeas, cucumbers and oregano in with the parsley. Squeeze the juice of one of the lemons over, pour in the olive oil and give it a toss. Halve, pit and slice the avocadoes and sprinkle with the juice from the remaining lemon. Serve the avocadoes over the top of the salad and sprinkle with what’s left of the feta, crumbing it through your fingers. Set a burger patty next to the salad and pass the warmed pita breads for “scooping” up the salad and soaking up the delicious juices!
This post is part of Fight Back Friday, hosted by Food Renegade, that sweet lamb!
Cross eyed by net_efekt, on Flickr
This just in: Samsung has issued a warning on its Australian website that watching 3D television can be hazardous. Interesting that the same warning has not yet appeared on its American site. For info on how 3D can cause health problems, see my post from earlier this year.
I was all geared up to write about quiche as a method of using up leftovers, when I read this great post by Cara over at Health, Home and Happiness. Great minds think alike!
My quiche is a little different. I’m still working on pie crust skills, and really dislike using a rolling pin. Just one of those weird quirks about me. But I’m a huge fan of these mini-crustless quiches. Take one meat leftover, one veggie leftover, add eggs and shredded cheese, bake in a buttered muffin tin and lunch is served! These little gems are very helpful if your husband (like mine) hears “leftovers” as the answer to his what’s-for-lunch question and gets a sinking feeling.
Mini Crustless Quiche
8-12 ounces of a leftover meat (pictured is a half pound of cooked bacon)
10 eggs
6 ounces of leftover vegetable (pictured is cooked spinach)
4 ounces grated cheese (here I used grated swiss)
Toppings of your choice: ketchup, creme fraiche, fermented relish, etc.
Beat your eggs up well and add in meat, cheese and vegetable. Bake at 375° for about 20 minutes, or until they puff up prettily. Serve with toppings. Makes 12 mini-crustless quiches.
I put the bacon on top because it made a lovely presentation and I could control the serving to make sure everyone got about the same amount (inequitable bacon rations cause minor skirmishes in my house). Something plainer like roast beef or ham I’d probably mix in.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday, hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
The Dark Side of Fat Loss
