Project Food Budget / My Healthy Budget: February, Month 4, Week 1

09 Feb 2012 at 09:09

debbie @ That's Just Me

food

3 Comments

My healthy budget goal is to eat seasonal, home-cooked meals while sticking to a $400 monthly budget for all food including groceries, dining out, entertaining, vitamins/supplements, and spices/herbs.

There’s two of us eating 3 (mostly) meals per day. My husband occasionally eats take-out lunch at work, & that $ comes out of his personal cash stash.

February – Month Four, Week One

project food budget

I’ve spent $118.81 this week.

My meat CSA will be delivered later this month for approximately $83, so that leaves $197 for the rest of February. I’m hoping to hold out and shop only on Fridays leaving me 3 more shopping weeks, @ $65 each. Fingers crossed!

Dining Out: $0 – really proud of this! whoo hoo!
Groceries: $118.81

Here’s My Spending Details

Amazon Subscribe & Save $16.68 – Wild Planet Tuna (6pk)

Market Basket $34.56 (2/1 Wed): Applegate Farms turkey hotdogs (cheaper than take-out), mushrooms, 2 lb bag of organic sweet potatoes, organic beets w/ greens, 5 lb bag o’ onions, 1 avocado, bananas, small jar of instant yeast, large tub organic plain yogurt, cheddar cheese, salsa, organic peanut butter.

Local Farm $6.25 (2/3 Fri): 2 dozen eggs

Whole Foods $44.06 (2/3 Fri): 5lb bag o’ organic carrots, organic celery, organic Italian parsley, organic pears, organic apples, bananas, celery root, turnip, organic oranges, pitted dates, 2 lb bag white rice, 1 lb bag green lentils, bulk split peas, bulk quinoa, bulk nutritional yeast, (2) Muir Glen whole tomatoes, frozen organic green beans.

Market Basket $17.26 (2/5 Sun): 5 lb Bag ‘o organic russet potatoes, California olive oil, molasses, Haagen Daz vanilla ice cream for Superbowl snack – cheaper than sundaes at Friendly’s!

Week of Meals

  • Wednesday (2/1): leftover frozen bean chili with jalapeño corn muffin
  • Thursday: Applegate Farms turkey hot dogs, homemade rye bread, and canned baked beans (cheaper than take-out)
  • Friday: Pasta topped with tomato, carrot, celery, onion sauce
  • Saturday: Slow cooker whole chicken with leftover frozen stuffing (from Thansgiving) & cabbage carrot slaw
  • Sunday: Pantry Soup with leftover Chicken, veg stock, mushrooms, carrots, celery, beet greens, leftover baked beans, leftover chunky tomato/veg sauce over barley grains; Superbowl snack: Haagen Daz ice cream w/melted peanut butter – cheaper than going to Friendly’s for sundaes!
  • Monday: Leftover chicken with white rice, cabbage slaw and green beans
  • Tuesday: Bread Pizza with salsa and cheese
  • Wednesday: Homemade beef broth with vegetables over pasta

Note on the slow cooker chicken. It was so easy. Just throw in a whole chicken, no need for any liquid. Cook on low all day. The chicken is moist and just falls off the bone. I’ll be cooking it like this a lot!

Want to Join the Project Food Budget?

project food budget

It’s never too late to join the Project Food Budget!

If you’d like to participate, get the details and let Emily know you’re on board!

Here’s who else is budgeting this week:

Project Food Budget / My Healthy Budget: January End of 3rd Month

02 Feb 2012 at 09:11

debbie @ That's Just Me

food

4 Comments

My healthy budget goal is to eat seasonal, home-cooked meals while sticking to a $308.49 $400 monthly budget for all food including groceries, dining out, entertaining, vitamins/supplements, and spices/herbs.

There’s two of us eating 3 (mostly) meals per day. My husband occasionally eats take-out lunch at work, & that $ comes out of his personal cash stash.

January – Month Three, End of Month

project food budget

Well this is it, the end of January! Phew, I’m not usually one wanting to speed up time, but yes, I admit that I’m more than a little psyched that January is over, and a new month is beginning.

I started the week with $21.10; eggs needed to be purchased for $4, so I was left with $17.10 for groceries to last until Wednesday, Feb 1st. I decided to cut myself some slack, and round up to the nearest dollar giving myself $20 for groceries instead. Whoo hoo, bonus!

Here’s my spending detail for the week:

Eggs: $4 (local farm)
Market Basket: $4.45 = bag o’ oranges, bananas, & small frozen green beans
Whole Foods: $15.26 = organic green cabbage, organic braeburn apples, organic baby bok choy, organic celery, 2lb bag o’ organic carrots.

…For a grand total of….drum roll please….$23.71 – whoo hoo!

Final Total For January: $311.10 over by only $2.61 – I can live with that! haha!
Monthly Total Dining Out: $34.00
Monthly Total Groceries: $277.10

So, the good news is, in February, I’m back to my normal $400 budget. There is going to be a massive stock-up, since my pantry is bare bones.

Week of Meals

Meal planning was super important for this last week, I meticulously planned my meals and grocery list. We had wonderful dinners, but our snacks and lunches were more challenging.

  • Thursday: Fried eggs topped over brown rice, frozen peas & salsa
  • Friday: Premade Bacon lentil veg soup over pasta
  • Saturday: Slow cooker chick stock made into soup with celery, carrots, onions, cabbage & bok choy (leftover frozen chicken added for DH)
  • Sunday: Beefalo meatloaf with caraway cabbage carrot slaw, applesauce, & baked sweet potato
  • Monday: bread pizza with diced tomatoes and mozzarella
  • Tuesday: Leftover freezer beefalo brisket, added to frozen potato leek soup with frozen green beans, diced tomatoes, carrots, celery. Topped over a mix of lentils, white & brown rice
  • Wednesday (2/1/2012): I’ll be including Wednesday’s meal in next week’s entry

Want to Join the Project Food Budget?

project food budget

It’s never too late to join the Project Food Budget! In fact, we have a couple of new bloggers this week!

If you’d like to participate, get the details and let Emily know you’re on board!

Here’s who else is budgeting this week:

Windex Mini Concentrated Refill Toxins

28 Jan 2012 at 09:44

debbie @ That's Just Me

Health & Fitness

No Comments

We watched the CBS This Morning show and they showcased the “best new consumer products” from Better Homes & Gardens.

I had to laugh because one of their recommendations was the Windex Mini Concentrated Refill Pouch – they touted it as better for the environment because there was less waste in the packaging. Huh?

windex mini concentrated refillable pouches

Okay, saving the environment with smaller packaging, but perhaps ruining our lungs, soil, and water supply with toxic chemicals inside the smaller package. That makes no sense!

Wouldn’t it be refreshing if Better Homes and Gardens really did try to make our homes and gardens better by recommending natural products that weren’t poisoning our lungs and environment; but I guess their big corporate advertisers like Johnson & Johnson wouldn’t like that too much, would they?

Here’s the list of ingredients:

  1. Water
  2. Cleaning Agents: Ammonium Hydroxide, Ethoxylated Alcohol, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
  3. Fragrance
  4. Preservative: Benzoisothiazolinone
  5. Dye Liquitint® Sky Blue Dye
  6. pH Adjuster: Citric Acid

Yeah, Johnson & Johnson claim to be transparent with their list of ingredients; they really try hard to convince us that there is no danger with the chemicals they use, but truthfully, ammonia is toxic for our lungs, skin and our earth no matter how hard they try to spin it otherwise.

And sorry, I am not stupid, I don’t need blue dye in my cleaning products to “help me see where I applied the product and when a product is used up.”

There is also absolutely no need for “fragrance” but unfortunately the public equates clean with a strong chemical smell. It’s really very troubling.

The worst part is because the product is ultra concentrated, these ingredients are super strong compared to regular bottled windex. I can’t even imagine this product being accidentally ingested by children or pets, or spilled on your skin or down the drain.

Take a peek at Windex’s Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) (link opens to a pdf file) and it should scare the crap out of you!

Please keep products like Windex out of your home!

Try a mixture of plain white vinegar and water in a spray bottle; it’s 100% non-toxic! I use vinegar & water to clean my counters, sink, and even my produce. It works great!

Project Food Budget / My Healthy Budget: January Wk 4

26 Jan 2012 at 09:03

debbie @ That's Just Me

food

4 Comments

My healthy budget goal is to eat seasonal, home-cooked meals while sticking to a $308.49 $400 monthly budget for all food including groceries, dining out, entertaining, vitamins/supplements, and spices/herbs.

There’s two of us eating 3 (mostly) meals per day. My husband occasionally eats take-out lunch at work, & that $ comes out of his personal cash stash.

January – Month Three, Week Four

I’m a little long-winded this week, but a lot has happened and I wanted to document it, not necessarily for others to read, but to keep an account for myself.

project food budget

This week, I’ve spent $127.85, leaving $21.10 for the remaining days of January.

Purchases For the Week

This week, I set a spending limit, and stuck to it. I carefully made my shopping list only adding the necessary produce items that were needed for my planned meals this week. My list was calculated to the exact dollar I wanted to spend, thanks to my Grocery IQ iPhone app.

Dining Out: $0
Groceries: $127.85 (including meat CSA)

Market Basket (Thursday): $9.80 = broccoli crowns, bag of oranges, organic pears and bananas.

Whole Foods (Friday): $34.71 = organic celery, organic baby bok choy, organic kale, organic carrots (2lb bag), pineapple, organic gala apples, bagged frozen organic Mediterranean blend veggies, fresh mozzarella (local), 4+ lbs of chicken breast (madness sale @2.99lb)

Even though I usually try to buy only pastured meat now, the Whole Foods chicken breast sale was too good. I ended up tossing all four pounds on a large baking sheet into the oven so I could have lots of freezer portions of pre-cooked chicken for dishes like soups, pastas, tortillas, and stir fries.

I had planned on purchasing the wild Alaskan salmon on sale ($7.99lb) but they only had 2+ lb frozen packs (way too much), and I didn’t want the defrosted at the fish counter, so I passed. Next month, I might get a package of their vacuum-packed Wild Catch Alaskan salmon. Yes, it’ll be more expensive, but the portions are 6 oz each, and that is much more manageable than 2 lbs at once. So, for the same amount of $, I bought the chicken instead.

Local Meat CSA (Saturday delivery): $83.34 = 4 lbs whole chicken legs, .80 lb boneless chicken breast, 3.5 lb whole chicken, 1.5 lb beef shanks, 1 lb beefalo flat iron steak, and 2 lb ground beefalo.

Feeling a New Appreciation & Respect

Last week, I was feeling sorry for myself (wah wah), feeling the pinch of my lower budget and wishing the month were over so I could go back to my higher amount next month.

Then something clicked.

It was brought about because of a comment from Katy on the Project Food Budget Facebook group. I won’t go into the specifics because it really doesn’t directly pertain to the situation, but the comment set my thoughts in motion, and I realized…

No, I do not need to keep to this budget out of necessity. Yes, of course I want to spend less, but it’s not like I cannot afford to throw in an extra $20 or $30 or even $100 to spend for my groceries.

I realized WOW, I am so lucky! I have a choice!

I hope it doesn’t sound pretentious, but I found a new appreciation and respect for families that budget because that is all they have to spend. How dare I complain when these families experience the “pinch” every single week and every single month; there is no luxury of rolling a spending overage into the next week/month, they have an allotted amount and that’s that.

And more kudos to them if they are committed to spending their hard-earned dollars on healthier whole foods, even though it might be easier to compromise with processed foods.

This has been such a great month for me! Full of challenges and epiphanies. I have learned so much about myself, it sounds so corny, but I really am lucky!

Week of Meals

I forced myself to start planning meals last week and it’s really turned out well so far. In fact, I’ve turned into a planning monster. LOL. I set up a “note” on my iPad with a long list of my food inventory and then a meal planned for every day for about 2 weeks.

I think what made it easier to stick to my meal plans was keeping my list handy so don’t forget what was planned. In that past, I’d make a meal plan, then never look at it again; I’d end up making something last minute because I’d forget the details.

I also include as many ingredients as I can think of for each meal, sort of like a mini recipe I can see at a glance.

I’m amazed how many complete meals I can make with food ingredients I already have on hand. The culinary creativity really started flowing when I put my mind to it!

I’m also getting back into feeding my freezer since my reserves were getting low. I found a great site called Once a Month Mom and there is a ton of info and tips available about make ahead cooking and menu planning. I especially loved their Create Your Own Menu series of articles especially helpful.

I also found some great videos on YouTube for make ahead and freezer cooking. I think watching someone complete a recipe visually is more beneficial than reading a recipe.

  • Thursday: Bread pizza with roasted peppers, tomatoes, spinach & feta with a side of caraway cabbage carrot slaw.
  • Friday: baked boneless chicken with side of quinoa and broccoli
  • Saturday: soup: Chicken, pasta, pinto beans & tomato, chile peppers (from freezer), bok choy, celery, carrot topped w/ fresh mozzarella
  • Sunday: Roasted potatoes, onions, sweet potatoes topped w/ egg
  • Monday: Leftover frozen beefalo brisket with BBQ sauce & frozen jalapeño corn muffin w/ kale and broccoli
  • Tuesday: bread pizzas with mozzarella, salsa, roasted peppers
  • Wednesday: boneless pork ribs braised in wine with carrots and potatoes

Want to Join the Project Food Budget?

project food budget

It’s never too late to join the Project Food Budget!

If you’d like to participate, get the details and let Emily know you’re on board!

Here’s who else is budgeting this week:

Fresh Vegetable Stock – For Free!

25 Jan 2012 at 15:05

debbie @ That's Just Me

food, Recipes

No Comments

Today I made another batch of “free” veggie stock! I love doing this.

I save all my veggie scraps in a gallon zip-lock bag in the freezer: carrot peels/ends, onion ends, fennel fronds/stalks, celery ends/leaves, broccoli ends, parsley/herb stems, etc. I don’t save too many cruciferous veggies like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, as they can overpower the stock flavors.

Anyway, once my gallon bag is filled, it’s time to make stock. I dump the whole bag (frozen) into my 7qt cast iron pot, along with a handful of homemade dried celery leaves, then I add water to cover (today I used 14 cups) and simmer. You could probably add other dried herbs too.

I didn’t want it to boil too quickly, so I slowly heated the contents on the stove, and after about 1.5 to 2 hrs, I moved the pot from the stovetop to a low-heat oven and simmered for another hour or so.

I carefully removed all the bigger veggie pieces, then strained the rest in a colander. Then strained once more to remove all the teenie bits using a fine mesh strainer. It made just about 14 cups, almost filling 4 qt sauce pot.

I used the stock today to make bacon lentil veggie soup. Yum. But it can easily be frozen like any other stock.

Good Housekeeping Drop 5 Lbs – New Cooking Channel Show

24 Jan 2012 at 23:35

debbie @ That's Just Me

Reviews, Video-TV

4 Comments

I was curious about the new show on Cooking Channel TV: Good Housekeeping Drop 5 Lbs (with Melissa d’Arabian), so I made sure to DVR it.

The first episode opens with the recipe, Chicken Breasts with Apple Curry Sauce and it looked scrumptious; I love the idea of sweet & savory for dinner.

But I was a little puzzled when she suggested topping the steamed broccoli with a tsp of margarine. MARGARINE? Do people still use margarine?

It was even funnier to look at the recipe online, and see they suggested, “trans fat margarine” – LOL. I assume they meant “trans fat-free margarine” but even still, to suggest margarine over a whole food like butter is silly.

trans fat margarine

For example, after googling “margarine brands”, I found Smart Balance Buttery Spread contains 80 calories per tablespoon, that’s 26 calories for 1 tsp. Organic Valley unsalted butter contains 100 calories per tablespoon, which equals out to 34 calories per tsp. That’s hardly enough of a difference to recommend margarine over butter!

Plus if you choose the butter, you’ll save yourself the consumption of icky ingredients like artificial flavors, monoglycerides, sorbitan ester of fatty acids, disodium EDTA, along with a dose of GMO (genetically modified) vegetable oils, plus all the pesticides and toxic fertilizers.

But getting back to the episode.

I whole-heartedly agree with the advice that you need to measure your portions; I think a kitchen scale is a more accurate way than a measuring cup though (I love to weigh in grams) but it’s better than eye-balling it. Two & half years later, I still weigh most of my food. It really does help keep your portions honest!

On the whole, I’m not a fan of Good Housekeeping, it’s a bloated ad-driven magazine, but at least the show seems like a fairly good idea. No, the tips and hints aren’t anything new, but if it helps inspire someone to begin a healthier lifestyle, then that’s all that matters.

I’ll continue to DVR the episodes, so we’ll see how it develops.

True Blue Bay Tuna from West Coast Seafood

21 Jan 2012 at 11:11

debbie @ That's Just Me

food, Reviews

No Comments

Important Disclaimer: Although there are organizations like the MSC (marine stewardship council) that suggest certain seafood choices are sustainable with an abundant supply, I don’t believe ANY seafood or meat can be completely sustainable, because there are just too many people eating it! Restraint is always needed; United States caught tuna should not be taken for granted and shouldn’t be over-consumed even though it’s a much healthier choice than imported tuna.

I was contacted by West Coast Seafood to try their albacore tuna in pouches. Since I love USA-caught tuna, I happily agreed. I received two 6 oz pouches of tuna: “no salt” and “garlic & pesto” flavors.

true blue bay tuna - sample packs

True Blue Bay albacore tuna is packed in pouches, not cans, which is more environmentally-friendly, since it’s lighter to ship. Their tuna is cooked once, which they say retains 6x the omega 3 fatty acids, unlike canned which has to be heated/cooked twice.

It’s also much lower in mercury than the big commercial brands (Starkist, Chicken of the Sea, etc) because the fish are smaller when caught. And of course the tuna is caught in the US, not Asia, with hook & line, which is a more environmentally friendly method.

The tuna is packed in the US, unlike Wild Planet which unfortunately packs its US-caught tuna in Vietnam, stating there is no US sardine or tuna cannery capable of processing their larger volume. :(

Yes, Wild Planet is my usual brand of tuna, and yes, I do worry sometimes about the quality-control regarding packing outside the US. I’m concerned about the possibility of their product being altered or tainted somehow. But it’s still heads & tails above any grocery brand of tuna.

For more information about the problems with big commercial grocery tuna brands, check my prior post. In the post, I also include reviews for American Tuna & Wild Planet.

True Blue Bay Albacore Weight

As I said above, I received two different flavors of tuna from them. We consumed the “no salt” flavor first.

I weighed the liquid (natural juices) in the pouch, and it weighed 1.25 oz, while the full package contents weighed in at 5.85, just slightly under the 6 oz claimed on the package.

In my prior tuna reviews, both American Tuna and Wild Planet cans contained 1 oz natural juices and American contained 5 of solid tuna (6 oz can), and Wild Planet contained 4 oz (smaller 5 oz can.) I’ve since weighed the Wild Planet 5 oz can, and the liquid weighed under 1 oz this time, at approximately .65oz. The total weight of both liquid and fish was over the 5 oz as well at about 5.5oz.

Note: Don’t discard the natural juices from these premier brands, they contribute to the tuna’s full flavor.

how much liquid in pouch

how much total tuna in pouch

True Blue Bay Tuna Taste Review

I tasted the tuna, and I’m sorry to say that it was a bit bland. Yes, it is unsalted, but that doesn’t automatically mean it is flavorless. The true flavor of the tuna should shine whether on it’s own or mixed with other ingredients. Unfortunately, the True Blue Bay tuna tasted a little boring and “washed out.”

I then mixed the tuna with avocado, lemon juice & a little Earth Balance “mindful mayo” and made yummy sandwiches for our lunch. There was enough for sandwiches the following day as well.

tuna with avocado, lemon and vegan mayo

In general, we both enjoyed the tuna. Even though it was a little bland, it is so much tastier than commercial supermarket brands, it’s fresher and more flavorful, just like “real” tuna should taste.

A few days ago, I opened the 2nd pouch, garlic pesto, and only added Earth Balance mayo. I made tuna & spinach sandwiches for lunch, with a side of fruit. Yummy. I’ve never tried flavored canned seafood, so it was a first for me. It tasted good, but I prefer a pure no-salt version. That way I can add my own flavorings.

tuna spinach sandwich with a side of fruit
tuna spinach sandwich with a side of fruit

There was enough tuna for one more sandwich for lunch the following day.

So, would I purchase the True Blue Bay tuna again? As it is now, I have to admit probably not. If they sold at Whole Foods grocery (or another local outlet) then yes, I would probably consider it again.

My usual brand of Wild Planet can be found at Whole Foods, as well as through Amazon’s Subscribe & Save at less than $3 per can.

I have bought American Tuna a couple of times at Whole Foods, and it is a good tuna as well, but at $5 per can, it’s a budget buster.

True Blue Bay tuna is offered as low as $5 a can (inc/shipping) when purchased in as an “unlabeled” 24 pack from their web site, but it’s a big commitment to plunk down over $100 to purchase such a large quantity all at once. Again, I would consider them if they were available in a store in my local area.

So, bottom line, the True Blue Bay tuna is a little bland, but still delicious for sandwiches, similar to other US-caught canned brands, but the expense would probably deter me from purchasing again unless I could find it locally. It’s too bad, because they are a great company, and I’d love to support them, but after shipping costs, it would make more sense to purchase locally caught fresh tuna instead.

Important Disclaimer: Although there are organizations like the MSC (marine stewardship council) that suggest certain seafood choices are sustainable with an abundant supply, I don’t believe ANY seafood or meat can be completely sustainable, because there are just too many people eating it! Restraint is always needed; United States caught tuna should not be taken for granted and shouldn’t be over-consumed even though it’s a much healthier choice than imported tuna.

Project Food Budget / My Healthy Budget: January Wk 3

19 Jan 2012 at 09:03

debbie @ That's Just Me

food

6 Comments

My healthy budget goal is to eat seasonal, home-cooked meals while sticking to a $308.49 $400 monthly budget for all food including groceries, dining out, entertaining, vitamins/supplements, and spices/herbs.

There’s two of us eating 3 (mostly) meals per day. My husband occasionally eats take-out lunch at work, & that $ comes out of his personal cash stash.

January – Month Three, Week Three

project food budget

This week, I’ve spent $27.47 for a monthly total of $148.95. After my $83.34 CSA meat delivery coming this weekend, that leaves about $65 for the rest of January.

Dining Out: $13.00
Groceries: $14.47

(Saturday) Market Basket: $14.47 = organic spinach, bananas, Haagen daz vanilla ice cream (for the big playoff game), and California olive oil. Not a whole lot of product for the money – the olive oil quashed me, but I was down to about 1.5 Tbsp and it was desperately needed.

This Week’s Struggle

It was a struggle (mentally) this week.

One part of me was telling myself to relax, it’s not the end of the world if I overspend a little. I can just roll any overage into Feb. Who’s going to care if I couldn’t fully absorb December’s $100 overage in January! It would be fine if I needed to split the overage into 2 months.

Then the other part of me was saying no, I have to stick with it! If I give in to extra spending when it gets tough, then what’s to stop me from overspending every other time!

So, I quit whining and I took a quick inventory of my pantry, fridge and freezer; then I created a list of the remaining days left in January, and proceeded to set a tentative meal plan for each day.

Meals are not set in stone, but it least gives me an idea of what’s possible; I have hope that I will indeed have plenty of food for the rest of January.

It may sound silly to some, that I’m worrying about this so intensely, but it’s become a personal challenge for me to stick to my budget this month. I will feel so accomplished on January 31st!

Week of Meals

Lots of freezer leftovers this week.

  • Thursday: Take out
  • Friday: leftover freezer veggie soup with beans, lentils & white rice
  • Saturday: Pasta with tomatoes, roasted peppers, and spinach
  • Sunday: Leftover freezer pork chops with sauce of mushrooms, beets, onions & tomatoes over quinoa and lentils
  • Monday: leftover freezer ham bean tomato soup with added mushrooms and leftover lentils & quinoa
  • Tuesday: leftover freezer grass fed (local) burgers with butternut squash & bulgar cooked with tamari & sesame oil
  • Wednesday: Jalapeno corn muffins with fried egg & sides of cranberry apple compote (freezer) and caraway cabbage slaw

Want to Join the Project Food Budget?

project food budget

Everyone is doing a great job with the project!

It’s never to late to join us! They officially started in October 2011, but there are new bloggers joining every week!

If you’d like to participate in the Project Food Budget, get the details and let Emily know you’re on board!

Here’s who else is budget blogging this week:

Masa Harina Corn Jalepeno Muffins Recipe

18 Jan 2012 at 12:09

debbie @ That's Just Me

Recipes

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masa harina corn jalepeno muffins

This recipe is slightly inspired from the Cornbread Muffins recipe found on page 124 in the Power Food Cookbook by Rachael Anne Hill and Tamsin Burnett-Hall. I used their recipe as a base, but put my own spin on the ingredients according to what I had on hand.

It’s all about adapting to your own pantry!

I didn’t have any milk (dairy or non-dairy) but I did have a carton of powdered buttermilk in the fridge, so I figured that would work. I also added 2 Tbsp of local raw honey and used less wheat flour, adding a mix of different corn flours, including masa harina, which I bought weeks ago to make tortillas (still on my list of things to do.)

The original recipe included chili peppers and corn! I still have a stock of frozen chile peppers from the summer CSA and there was a half bag of Trader Joe’s frozen organic corn. The original recipe called for 2 Tbsp of baking powder, and in my opinion, that is just way too much, so I cut it in half.

Masa Harina Corn Jalepeno Muffins Recipe

1 cup whole wheat flour (pastry if you have it)
3/4 cup stoneground cornmeal
1/4 cup corn flour
1/4 cup masa harina flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
5 Tbsp powdered buttermilk
couple of grinds of fresh ground pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 fresh chile pepper, deseeded, deveined & minced
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
1-1/3 cups water (or use milk and skip the powdered buttermilk above)
2 Tbsp honey (optional)
1 egg, beaten
4 Tbsp (1/4 cup) olive oil

  1. Whisk the powdered flours, baking powder, salt and powdered buttermilk in a large mixing bowl.
  2. Add black pepper, cumin, chile peppers, and corn, then mix to combine
  3. In large glass measuring cup, melt honey in about 1/2 cup of hot water and stir; once honey is completely dissolved, add the rest of the water to equal 1-1/3 cups liquid.
  4. Whisk in egg, and oil, then pour liquids into dry ingredients. Stir together until just mixed.
  5. Spoon into muffin tins, then bake in preheated 360F oven for 15-20 minutes until risen, firm, and lightly browned.
  6. Transfer muffins to cooling rack.

I thought these muffins were delicious. I loved the texture of the corn kernels, and the chile peppers didn’t add heat, but did add yummy flavor.

They were delicious for dinner, paired with a fried egg and sides of homemade cole slaw & cranberry sauce.

corn muffins with fried egg & coleslaw & apple cranberry sauce

Paula Deen Diabetes Announcement – Just Take Your Medicine, Ya’all

17 Jan 2012 at 11:23

debbie @ That's Just Me

Health & Fitness

7 Comments

As predicted, Paula Deen made the official announcement that she is diabetic. Even though she was diagnosed 3 years ago, her reason for coming forward now is that she wants to help others.

In reality, she’s coming forward with a profitable new partnership with drug maker Novo Nordisk, marketing a new “helpful” web site called Diabetes in a New Light, which should really be called “pulling the wool over your diabetic eyes so you can’t see the true light.”

Let’s Turn Off the “Diabetes in a New Light”

So I checked out the Diabetes in a New Light web site, and uh, seriously, someone should turn off that light before it hurts someone. :(

  1. The site is financed by Novo Nordisk, a Diabetes DRUG company, so right there, that’s a HUGE conflict of interest.
  2. There is nothing on the site that mentions PREVENTION of diabetes, only what to do if you’ve already diagnosed. Hmm, why prevent diabetes when there is so much money to be made.
  3. There’s nothing about trying to reverse it with diet/exercise. Again, Big Pharma can’t make millions if we can reverse it on our own with natural means. (Novo Nordisk’s drug Victoza, had global sales of $734 million in their first 3 quarters of 2011)
  4. Victoza’s list of scary cautions & warnings on every page should be enough to make anyone think twice about taking this drug.

Basically all the web site accomplishes is regurgitating common-sense diabetes advice while tricking you into giving them your personal information in order to sign up for a newsletter. Why do they need your mailing address for an email newsletter?

hmm….the answer is at the bottom of the form, Novo Nordisk want your permission to bombard you with marketing materials from them and their “affiliates or vendors.” What do you get in return? Oh some delicious, diabetic-friendly recipes. Worth it, right?

SHAMEFUL!

If Paula Deen truly cared about people then she would be giving her re-worked recipes and tips for free, without making you sign away your privacy to a drug company!

It’s Just Entertainment, Ya’all

I watched the Paula Deen interview on the Today show, and she tried so hard to convince us that all she wants to do is help people, but at the same time she skirts around the question if she’ll change the way she cooks and eats.

Her eventual answer was that she NEVER ate like that every day, it’s just entertainment, ya’all, and that she’s always been about moderation. Since when, Paula?

Perhaps she should have mentioned more about moderation during her “butter is beautiful” or “add another cup o’ sugar” shows on Food Network. Ugh. Yeah, what a great role model. It’s just for entertainment!

Wouldn’t it have been refreshing if Paula came forward and admitted that she was wrong, and that she made a lot of big mistakes with her health?

There’s no money in mistakes. Don’t change your life, just take some meds.

Farms Don’t Pay For Endorsements

This situation angers me the most because she didn’t go public with her illness until she secured a lucrative deal, and since the local farm-fresh industry is not paying for endorsements, why promote a change in lifestyle for free, when a top-bidding Big Pharma company will pay you millions to promote their drugs!

And the topper is Novo Nordisk is actually claiming that when they came to her to be a partner, they didn’t know she was diagnosed with diabetes. wink wink. Yeah, the National Enquirer knew, but no one else did? Makes me sick. I think I’ll eat some butter.

More links:
mercurynews.com/celebrities/

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