Flat out exhausted by Swamibu, on Flickr

I just realized this morning that I hadn’t written a single blog post in three months. THREE? Really? Summer takes it out of me, for sure, but I hadn’t realized it had been quite that long. What have I been doing? Driving. One day last week, I spent 8 hours behind the wheel, and that not continuously, but an hour here, then home for 20 minutes; a half hour there, then home for 15 minutes; two hours there, then home for an hour…all day long. That’s what my summer was like.

But I’m back and rejuvenated with great ideas for posts, exciting new recipes to share and other changes you might notice.

For one, I have accepted my first ever affiliate sponsorship! After reading The Dark Side of Fat Loss by Underground Wellness’ Sean Croxton, I was absolutely blown out of the water. I couldn’t even read it in one or two sittings, but had to read a tiny bit at a time and give each idea time to digest. This is a life-changing book and I cannot recommend it highly enough for anyone wanting to lose weight, get healthy or (hopefully) both! So, if you are ready to get out of the “eat less, move more” box that’s kept you from reaching your health and fitness goals, click on over.

I’m going to try to post faithfully, one post per week, for the next several months. New posts will come out on Friday morning. If I have any mid-week recipe successes, I’ll post those in a separate entry, most likely on a Tuesday or Wednesday. My life has settled down somewhat from the summer, but I’ll be honest with you…I still have insanely crazy days where remembering to eat is even a challenge!

But I am so happy to be back, writing (which I love) and sharing (which is challenging sometimes) my journey toward real food and real health!

chia pet! by JulieFinestone, on Flickr

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia! If you lived through the 1980′s you probably have that little jingle stuck in your brain. Before there were chia Homer Simpsons, Scooby Doos and Shreks, there was the original Chia Pet, a terra cotta ram, sold with a plastic tray and a packet of chia seeds. Just soak the seeds, spread them on the pet, keep your pet watered, and in just days it will sprout little grassy sprouts! What fun!

I doubt many of us actually ate the sprouts, and it wasn’t long before we forgot to water our seedlings or we moved on to other distractions. But wasn’t it weird how the seeds made the water like jelly when you soaked them?

Turns out those seeds are food! Wow, who knew? The Mayans apparently did, because they named the seed Chia, their word for “strength.” I’m learning about the strength of this tiny seed by doing some research and have come up with some really interesting properties and uses for my family!

• Chia seeds were once called “Indian Running Food” for the energy they impart. With two kids working and two volunteering (all in different places across the metro area) I might have to call it “Mom Running Food!”
• Chia seeds contain 30% protein and a nice range of essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
• They can be eaten raw, soaked, sprouted or cooked. Their flavor is very, very mildly nutty, almost flavorless. I do like a flexible food! (If your seeds taste bitter at all, they are rancid, throw them away, do NOT eat them!)
• When soaked, chia seeds release soluble fiber into the water, turning it into a gel. The gel is colorless, somewhat like a not-quite-set Jello but flavorless, and the seeds aren’t gritty or hard to chew. More on that in a minute.
• Epidemiologic studies have shown that increased fiber in the diet can reduce blood pressure and inflammation, according to the Mayo Clinic website. While some forms of fiber (insoluble) can bulk up stools and chew up the gut, scraping away its protective coating and good bacteria, the kind of fiber in Chia Gel (soluble) is very soothing to the intestinal tract and feeds good bacteria. I don’t like popping pills for inflammation, so I’m giving chia a good test.

To make one serving of Chia Gel: Add one-sixth of a teaspoon of chia seeds to one-sixth of a cup of water, stir. Wait ten minutes, stir again, drink.

Money by Thomas Hawk, on Flickr

Real Food Forager posted a thoughtful and well-worded post today about the state of our food and how to improve the Standard American Diet, which was a response to Bittman’s NYT op-ed last Sunday. I started writing a comment, but it became so long I just decided to move it here.

I agree, it’s time to stop the attack on saturated fat. It’s nonsensical and has probably led 50% to the ills we face now.

I disagree with additional taxes on soda. I know, I’m in danger of aligning myself with the enemy, but hear me out.

• Additional taxes are money out of your pocket and into the government’s. Now, I realize not everyone is of the same political bent as I, and I’m not saying we should skip paying our taxes entirely because the government is unnecessary or could run on air, but I am saying that once money goes into that huge machine, it rarely comes out the other side. Earmarking tax income for healthcare and nutritional education might seem a worthy goal, but we have no promises the money would actually do that. Putting the government in charge of another layer of if/then creates a new bureaucracy, new red tape, new loopholes and meanwhile, people are starving to death with full stomachs. Do we really want to give the government more of our hard-earned money to push their low-fat, high carb, more-and-more-and-more grain agenda? Yes, you can avoid this tax by skipping the soda, but once we go this direction, it’s likely that well-meaning legislators will toss saturated fat into the bill as well, since “we all know” that sat fat MUST be making us obese! It’s a dangerous trend, this “sin tax” business.
• Taxes do not inhibit the behavior of addicts. When I was a teenager, a pack of cigarettes cost about fifty cents. I remember the adults saying they’d quit if they ever had to pay a buck a pack. They didn’t. And now that a pack is $5, the same people (plus millions more new smokers) are shelling out the money to support their addiction. When I was younger and 2 liter bottles of soda were first on the market, I could get them on sale regularly for fifty cents each. The same amount now costs between $1.50 and $2 and even more of it is being consumed than when it was fifty cents. We are addicted to high fructose corn syrup. Taxing it won’t stop the addiction.
• Using government money (in the form of subsidies) to fund our addiction puts the governmental stamp of approval on it. Turning around and punishing us for purchasing something the government approves of is hypocritical double taxation, since our taxes already pay the subsidies.

We started out by switching our dead table salt to sea salt, which is less processed. Then, a little at a time, I started adding powdered seaweed a tiny bit at a time over the course of several months. Our salt is now about 25-30% powdered seaweed. Because we have adjusted gradually, I don’t get complaints about a difference in flavor or consistency. It just looks…dirty. (Hence, my dirty little secret.)

I am allergic to iodine, even the tiny amounts in iodized salt, if I eat it several meals in a row, but my body can handle the natural form of iodine in seaweed with no problems. I use salt very, very sparingly in my cooking, leaving the salt to be added at the table to taste.

I do keep a small amount of pure sea salt available for baking because I don’t want the essential chemical reaction salt provides to be diminished.

Don’t forget to come back on Mondays in June for the Real Food Emergency Prep blog carnival!

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday, hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop

I love the durable burlap shopping bag and really needed those gloves!

Real Food Media and Seeds of Change hosted a Twitter chat a while back. We talked about container gardening, mulch, bugs, exchanged recipes and had a grand old time! Five of us chatters were chosen to receive gift bags and I was one! Thanks, Seeds of Change!

I’m not sure when the next Twitter chat is scheduled, but I’ve followed @seedsofchange and @realfoodmedia so I’ll hear about it well in advance. Why don’t you join us next time?

Killing by fast food, a photo by Nomadize on Flickr.

Wordless Wednesday? I don’t take pretty pictures and I’m way too wordy. Meatless Monday? Not a chance. But No Fast Food Friday? Now there’s a campaign I can get behind!

Back on March 25, Rob Smart (aka Jambutter) tweeted that he’d like to see #nofastfoodfriday take off. And it has!

I totally understand the end-of-the-week crash that hits around 4pm on Friday. October through April, my answer is Clean out the Refrigerator Dinner (CORD). Saturday mornings during those months I go to the farmers market to stock up for the week once again. But by Friday night, the kitchen is looking pretty stark. CORD allows us to enjoy the leftovers one more time, keeps us from wasting food, and (best of all) gives Mama a night off in the kitchen while everyone heats up their own “best of the week” plates!

For those who are observing fish on Friday this time of year, you already have a fast option. I can’t believe how fast a meal of salmon is to cook. It’s so fast, in fact, I usually have to have the side dishes almost completely done before I start the salmon!

Friday would be a good night for a homemade pizza dinner. With a little night before and Friday morning planning, everyone can make their own personal sized pizza in just a few minutes. It’s also a great night for the kids to cook. With a little supervision, they can make spaghetti, sandwiches or even a big chef’s salad and let you put up your feet.

Here are some recipes from my blog that go together very quickly:

Riffin’ on Bruschetta

Peachy Chicken Salad

Happy Family Chicken Breasts

Greek Goatburgers

Sunday Lamb Chops

Early Spring Salad

What are your favorite quick dinners? Come play with us on Twitter this Friday and share your strategies for No Fast Food Friday! Be sure to use the hashtag #nofastfoodfriday so we all see your suggestions!

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

A guy just knocked on my door, wanting me to buy Omaha Steaks. “Oh, no thank you.” I said, “Our steaks are all grass-fed and local.”

“That’s exactly what Omaha Steaks are too! Well, not local, but grassfed!” (He was mistaken, Omaha Steaks’ beef is grain fed.)

“And grass-finished?”

“What’s that?”

After a very brief chat about how most cattle are moved to finishing facilities for the end of their lives, to be fed corn and soy and the resulting loss of nutrition, my stalwart caller moved on: “Oh! I don’t know about that! I’ll ask my manager. Are you all set for chicken and pork, then?”

“Absolutely. We have an amazing farmers market here with local pastured pork and poultry, eggs and dairy, local vegetables, fruits and honey. You should come visit!”

What I didn’t even begin to discuss, though, was how superior my farmer’s beef tastes compared to theirs. I’m not ignorant on this topic: my family has prepared Omaha Steaks’ meat for the last several Christmas dinners. Taste is a very objective standard, and I imagine there are people who go toe-to-toe with others arguing about this region producing tastier beef than that, etc.

All I can really, honestly say is, you have to try it to know what you’re missing.

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

I’d like to introduce you to the six healthy fats (and one oil) I keep in my kitchen. They are my right-hand-men, providing just the right touch to what I cook. Mainstream medicine and media is finally getting the message that fat is not the devil it has been portrayed since the 1970′s, and I’m celebrating!

I tend to use like with like: tallow with beef dishes, lard with pork dishes, etc. But there are a few other uses that stand out.

Tallow – rendered from grassfed beef

(back row, right) I’m so thankful that my meat farmers save this valuable resource! Tallow is wonderful for deep frying. Added to soap, it produces a good, hard bar that lasts a long time, but I have a hard time saving any for soap because it is such a marvel on the stove. It has a high smoke point, 420°, which makes it a real gem for stir fries and deep fat cooking. You might not remember back when McDonald’s first started, but they cooked their fries in beef tallow, and that is what made those fries world-famous.

Lard – rendered from pastured pork

(back row, left) Of course you want to use lard when frying up a pork chop or making sweet and sour pork. But because it’s flavor is almost non-existent, it works magic in any savory baked product. Lard makes a wonderfully light and fluffy pie crust. Sourdough crackers become just-right-crispy when baked with lard. With a smoke point of 370-400°, it’s not your best choice for deep fat frying, but when I reach for flour, I almost always grab the lard with the other hand.

Schmaltz – rendered from pastured chicken

(middle row, left) I love seeing deep yellow fat on the top of my chicken stock jars. It tells me the chickens enjoyed sunshine, fresh air and their native diet. Schmaltz is golden in a pan as well, lending a warm chicken-y flavor to vegetables headed for chicken soup or pot pie. It has a very high smoke point, just above 500°. It’s not sold in stores, and many people don’t even recognize the word “schmaltz” anymore, but it was a staple of European Jewish cooking and an important part of what gave chicken soup its health-promoting qualities!

Duck fat – rendered from pastured duck

(middle row, center) Duck fat is amazing for cooking potatoes. It’s so good that it is hard to imagine using it for anything else! Its smoke point is more moderate, about 375°. You don’t want to go above that when cooking or it will take on a burnt flavor (and develop compounds that are not healthful.)

Bacon grease – leftover from cooking pastured, no-nitrate/nitrite bacon

(middle row, right) This is a “special occasion” fat, to be sure. The salt content and strong bacon flavor don’t go with everything, but for giving green beans or Brussels sprouts a toss in the pan, it can’t be beat. Bacon grease has a very low smoke point, burns very quickly and easily, and needs to be strained carefully after rendering.

Butter – from May to September-grazing grassfed cattle

(front and center) Ah, butter. It has to be the single ingredient I use more than any other in my kitchen. Cut into sweet baked goods, it’s a necessity. A pat floating on an acid-based soup (like tomato) is a blessing. Melting over vegetables, it’s a nutritional workhorse. When made from cream taken from cattle grazing on fast-growing grass, it is dark yellow and doesn’t need coloring like grocery store butter.

It has a low smoke point, so if you add it to a pan, be sure you don’t turn up the heat very high.

Coconut Oil

(back row, center) My grab-it-first and last resort oil of choice. If there’s just not enough tallow or if I need something absolutely flavorless, coconut oil it is. We probably use more coconut oil than any other fat for cooking. I prefer it to all the other choices available at the grocery store, and because of its amazing nutritional profile, I don’t think twice before using it. It has a nice moderate 350° smoke point, mild flavor and mixes well with either sweet or savory flavors.

What’s missing from my list? Olive oil! To be perfectly honest, I only use olive oil in salad dressings, and we generally eat our salads “bare”, so it just doesn’t get a lot of play in my kitchen.

What other fats do you have in your kitchen and what do you do with them?

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

5-4-3-2-1 Neon Countdown at Night 5-12-09 -- IMG_3815 by stevendepolo, on Flickr

Okay, I’ll play! A bunch of my blogger friends are writing blog posts today summarizing their top 10 visited posts of the year. Here are mine:

Blue Hubbard Squash Casserole

Whole Foods Market pulls kombucha? The real story.

Nutritional Healing for Allergic Dermatitis

Delicious Strawberry-Flavored DEATH

Recipe Redux: Coffee Cake

Lip Smackin’ Coconut Oil Treat

New York Times calls out Vitamin D

Blackberry Muffins and Sunshine Smoothies

Kidney Stones, Juice, Sugar…and Brain

“Yuck” factor hits a new market: soda fountains

I gotta admit, I really enjoyed writing that “Strawberry-Flavored Death” post!

Happy New Year, friends! I hope it’s wonderful for all!

ann miller, new year's eve by carbonated, on Flickr

I borrowed “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell from our local library and read it through. In the very first chapter, I was struck by a researcher’s insistence on ignoring fact unless it suited his paradigm:

The results were astonishing. In Roseto, virtually no one under fifty-five had died of a heart attack or showed any signs of heart disease. In men over sixty-five, the death rate from heart disease in Roseto was roughly half that of the United states as a whole. The death rate from all causes in Roseto, in fact, was 30 to 35 percent lower than expected…

There was no suicide, no alcoholism, no drug addiction and very little crime. They didn’t have anyone on welfare. Then we looked at peptic ulcers. They didn’t have any of those either. These people were dying of old age. That is it…

The Rosetans were cooking with lard instead of with the much healthier olive oil they had used back in Italy. Pizza in [Roseto] Pennsylvania was bread dough plus sausage, pepperoni, salami, ham, and sometimes eggs…When Wolf had dieticians analyze the typical Rosetan’s eating habits, they found that a whopping 41 percent of their calories came from fat.

But, the researcher dismissed the dietary findings, not correlating it to the long-term health findings because he “knew” that modern medical science had proclaimed lard  less healthy than olive oil and possibly even dangerous.

In the 1970′s, “everyone knew” that margarine was better for you than butter, but we now know that’s not true. In the 1980′s, “everyone knew” that a balanced diet focused on 6-11 servings of bread, cereal and pasta while using fats sparingly, but now we understand the insulin resistance that type of diet brings about. In the 1990′s, “everyone knew” that the linoleic acid found in polyunsaturated vegetable oils increased breast tumors but now we are beginning to find that the conjugated linoleic acid found in grassfed meats is actually tumor-protective. In the 2000′s, “everyone knew” that a deficit of Omega-3 oils could endanger mental health and we are just starting to learn that the Omega fats out of balance are dangerous whether they are 3, 6 or 9.

In the words of a favorite film character of mine, “Imagine what you’ll know tomorrow.”

One of the keys to learning new things is to not ignore facts that fly in the face of what you already “know.” My New Year’s wish for you, dear reader, is a healthy skepticism when you read the latest research, the time and persistence to find out for yourself whatever you can, and the courage to question your own paradigm.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday, hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.