The pursuit of healthy food

Kombucha

2009-10-30T12:46:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I made my first batch of Kombucha with a scoby from Lee Moore, thanks, Lee! It was easy to do, now I need to wait 8 days to see if it works! I boiled 3 quarts of water (2 filtered, 1 Italian Mineral spring water) and dissolved a cup of organic cane sugar. Once dissolved, I floated 4 black organic tea bags and let sit overnight until cool. I then took out the tea bags and poured the sweet tea into a one gallon glass jar already containing 1/2 cup of Lee's Kombucha for the starter. I then floated the scoby on top of the tea and covered with a tea towel.

The tea is supposed to brew in a warm environment and it's not particularly hot in our home. So, I put it next to my crock pot cooking beans and hope that the steam will warm the tea enough to get the process going.

I also made some pate for a dinner party tonight with fresh chicken livers, some mushrooms, white wine and dried herbs from my garden. After cooking till all the liquid is gone, you let it cool. Then, on to the food processor with half a stick of butter. Yum!

Chicken soup really does work

2009-10-20T11:02:00.000-07:00

After a weekend away camping, my daughter presented with cold/flu symptoms on the car ride home. She stayed home from school yesterday and I used the time to make the Nourishing Traditions inspired Chicken Soup. I make the Chicken Stock recipe adding vinegar as it calls for to leach calcium from the bones. There is something in chicken soup that stimulates the immune system- I think it's in the collagen in the chicken feet, yes chicken feet.

Anyway, I started doses of Oscillococcinum (which really works!)and by dinner time the chicken soup was ready. I cooked up a batch of simple rice a la Rick Bayless and voila!

Satisfying dinner! I also prepared a lettuce of local fresh greens and a simple dressing (also Nourishing Traditions). The dressing is one that my mother in law taught me. Nourishing Traditions adds flax oil for omega 3's. Just a little dijon mustard in a small glass bowl, add (approx. 2 TBS) raw apple cider vinegar and swirl around until the mustard is dissolved. Then add olive oil to taste (I use a little more than the vinegar, so about 3 TBS) and 1 TBS flax oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Just stir with fork until blended and toss with your salad. I had blue cheese so that went in too!

My daughter is back at school today, feeling nourished.

Thanks to healthy food, and a little help from oscillo! Oh, and I got to play my tennis match and we won!

Liver for breakfast!

2009-09-30T06:57:00.001-07:00

Today, I served sauteed liver for breakfast. Yesterday, I purchased two whole chickens from Whole Foods for $1.39 a pound! I had the butcher cut up the chicken into parts and froze 4 bags of parts. I had the organ meats leftover and served chicken hearts last night to my husband. He loved them! We decided to serve the livers for breakfast.

Organ meats are extremely healthy for you (if you know your meat is safe)and should be consumed more regularly in our diet. These organ meats contain vital vitamins and minerals that our body needs. More on that later- I will do research and post the results.

Pizza Night!

2009-09-16T13:35:00.001-07:00

I am trying out the sourdough pizza dough recipe found on http://www.breadtopia.com!

It's currently rising (I made it this morning and left in the fridge for several hours) and hopefully will double in size while I go pick up my daughter from gymnastics!

Updates later!

Dinner tonight

2009-09-15T07:59:00.003-07:00

Last night's dinner went well and the leftovers will be today's after school snack. The baba ghanoush recipe was particularly easy, just roasted the eggplant in its own skin on a cookie sheet covered in foil (prick like you would a baking potato) at 450 degrees for 20 minutes. The eggplant becomes soft and after it cools is easy to split open. The recipe called for scooping out the flesh, but I like a little of the eggplant skin.

Process in a food processor along with a couple of Tablespoons tahini and olive oil, juice of one lemon, a little salt and a few garlic cloves and voila!

Hummus is a similar process, just use your drained, cooked chickpeas in place of the eggplant (I cooked 1 lb. dry beans in 8 cups water, cooked in slow cooker on high for 4 hours- I used half for the hummus and froze the other half for later use) and the only additional ingredient is a little fresh water.

OK, for tonight's dinner I am making carnitas from Alice Water's cookbook. Very simple recipe. I have a pound of frozen pork shoulder already cut into cubes. I will also cook zucchini and squash- I had planned on serving this last night, but I ran out of time! Additionally, I am putting a pound of Pinto beans in my slow cooker for six hours. (8-10 cups of water, 1 lb Pinto Beans- no salt at first) After they cook I will add a little leftover bacon drippings and salt. Mash them and you have refried beans! I will serve the Carnitas with hard shell tacos with lettuce, tomato, and homemade guacamole.

Yum, my family loves taco night! Off to put on the beans.

Ads on a blog

2009-09-15T07:57:00.000-07:00

I am experimenting with running ads within my blog. I am trying to only allow ads that promote healthy products, but am not sure that the filters will work. So, please use your head and only click on the ones that are healthy! I will continue to monitor this and please give me feedback!

Also, I have added a search engine that will take you to a new window with your search results. The search engine is powered by Google and is located at the very bottom of my blog page.

Canning class

2009-09-14T14:09:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I have blogged. Guess I am still getting used to this! I just signed up to help at a canning class this Thursday, 9/17. Anyone care to join me? We will learn how to can tomatoes and I can't wait! I hope I am chosen to help...you can learn more about this class at www.CharliVogt.com. If you do register for the class, let her know I sent you! Charli teaches the class at Oakhurst Community Garden Center.

Today, I am serving a totally vegetarian meal. I had some leftover salad dressing that I made from Rick Bayless' cookbook, "Everyday Mexican" made from dried New Mexico chiles rehydrated in olive oil in a skillet alongside some garlic cloves. The whole thing is blended along with some vinegar. It's quite yummy. So tonight's dinner is salad with avocado, tomato and blue cheese. I will also stir fry some local squash and zucchini. I have dried garbanzos cooking in my crock pot and I will make a hummus when they are tender (about 4 hours). I think I might make Baba Ghanoush, too. I found a good recipe on the Food Network (foodtv.com) that I want to try again. The last time I made it I used frozen eggplant slices that I had put up last summer and it worked out quite nicely. Today, I actually have a whole eggplant from last week's CSA share. (www.moorefarmsandfriends.com) I should have enough to send some leftovers for snack tomorrow!

All for now- off to roast the eggplant!

Organic Consumers Association: Take Action!

2009-08-21T08:22:00.001-07:00

OCA: Take Action

Shared via AddThis

This link will take you to an article on swine flu vaccination. Another reason to buy locally raised pigs.

My first post

2009-08-20T08:23:00.001-07:00

This blog was created because my husband's cousin thought I would enjoy writing about my passion for healthy food and cooking. Last week, while at the beach, we were having a glass of wine after enjoying a ladies lunch and movie screening of "Julie and Julia" when she suggested that I start a blog. I am currently reading Robyn O'Brien's wonderful book, "The UnHealthy Truth".

This book links Asthma, Autism, ADHD, and Allergies to the U.S. Food Supply. I hope to share what I learn so other mothers can be aware of the dangers in our food supply and keep their children safe. You can't control everything. I know that. I have to admit that when I got pregnant (almost 11 years ago) with my daughter I started thinking more and more about what I was eating, drinking, and breathing! My passion was beginning to develop I suppose. This was a time when Organic was just not available. Local was not associated with food, really. The more I learned about the benefits of going organic (reduced exposure to pesticide and increased nutrition content) the more passionate I became. I went a teency bit overboard. My husband said to me "modulate"- how about 80/20. I was familiar with this concept. It worked. I could finally eat out again, I could stop being hypocritical. Robyn uses the 80/20 concept in her book as a guide for mothers, too.

Yesterday, was my daughter's second full day at school. She is in fifth grade. I noticed a few years back that in fifth grade the eating habits of the kids were taking a back seat to who sits with who at which table. So, I am extremely motivated to have snacks that are appetizing, healthy and yummy and let's add economical. I want to avoid "UnHealthy" foods (as described in the above mentioned book ) which includes any GMO (genetically modified organisms) food, food with additives such as msg, yellow #5, sodium benzoate, etc., partially hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, soy anything and I seek to avoid processed foods whenever possible. Remember the 80/20 rule? I participate in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program that is a network of local farmers. Every Wednesday, I pick up locally and sustainably (not necessarily certified organic but not heavily pesiticided either) grown fruits, vegetables and also free range eggs.

Given the rise of peanut allergies, you CAN'T send any form of peanuts or other tree nuts. We eat a ton of peanut butter and other nuts for protein so for school I shift gears.

Day one of school I sent a snack that included sunflower seeds (seeds are allowed), cut up plums, and home-popped organic popcorn. After school, my daughter ate her snack. This was very frustrating, but apparently with all the excitement of the first full day, they forgot about snack time.

Back to Day 2 snack prep. The night before Day 2, we had a very simple dinner of caprese salad (tomato slices, buffalo mozzarella slices and basil from my garden dressed with balsamic vinegar (in this case a special bottle of fig balsamic purchased at the beach) and olive oil. Along with that we roasted root vegetable rounds including turnips, potatoes, and beets. My daughter begged for any leftover rounds to be sent in for lunch. Not having any leftovers I made a fresh batch of potato rounds (chips) in the oven after dinner. This was a wonderful surprise in her snack bag! I also included slices of Grass-fed cheddar and crackers from Trader Joes's. After school, she reported that her snack was good. Not a huge fan of the cheddar (she prefers blue cheese) but still good. Whew!

Last night at dinner, I thawed some of my husband's chili, and roasted some more beets that I had received in my CSA share yesterday. The beets were a huge hit so I asked my daughter if she would want them in her snack for Day 3 (today). She sort of rolled her eyes and said don't make me look like the freak in the classroom. Okay- I get it. Add that to my mommy responsibilities. Good tasting, healthy, fun to eat, not freakish.

So, this morning as I prepared Day 3 snack, I considered the options. I decided to put something processed, normal, and very economical only because I didn't buy it. Mott's applesauce in pre-packaged container leftover from our beach trip. Thank you to the sister in law who purchased it! Of course, this is not really in keeping with my stated goals, but sometimes you have to use what you got. I will probably catch myself later doing research on Mott's applesauce and what their statement is on GMO's, pesticides, etc. In addition to the "forbidden" fruit, I also packed her favorite blue cheese and crackers, and little carrots and cherry tomatoes from my CSA share. (www.moorefarmsandfriends.com) I wonder what her reaction to snack will be today!

I hope to post recipes, pictures and more. Join me in my pursuit of healthy food!