Month: September 2011

October Unprocessed 2011 Some Considerations

october unprocessed 2011

I’ve been reading the Eating Rules blog trying to organize my pantry and fridge for the upcoming challenge to give up all processed foods for the month of October.

So here are a few of my challenges and concessions.

Chocolate

So many natural brands contain either soy lecithin, sugar or both. I’ve been working on finding an alternative. We enjoy a small bit of chocolate as a snack a few times a week, so I don’t want to spend a fortune on a $10 bar of chocolate that won’t last very long.

I found a homemade powerballs recipe on the 100 Days of Real Food web site and I just made a batch this afternoon. I pressed them into a square glass baking dish and they’re in the fridge now. I figure I can get 16 servings/pieces, and then we can add more nuts on top when we’re eating them.

We’ll see how it goes. If it’s not acceptable, I will cut back but will not compromise our chocolate needs. I will just find a brand that doesn’t use soy lecithin, and doesn’t cost a fortune, but we’ll have to make an exception for any added cane sugar.

Fruit jelly or jam

I’m a big fan of Crofters. It’s really low in sugar and the ingredients are organic. I buy the premium spreads which contain fruit as the first ingredient as opposed to their Just Fruit product which contains grape juice as the first ingredient. The problem is “sugar” as in processed white sugar isn’t allowed according to the “rules” and the “premium spread” jellies contain organic cane sugar. Since this brand is not inexpensive to buy, I don’t want to pay for fruit juice, so I will not be giving up my Crofters spread for October. Note: As I’ve been reading more and more comments over on the Eating Rules blog, I’m getting the feeling that some participants are a bit over the top. I’m don’t plan to be as strict & rigid, and that’s okay.

So Delicious Coconut Milk

I have an opened carton of the unsweetened milk in the fridge. It doesn’t pass the test for unprocessed because it contains guar gum and carrageenan, ingredients I wouldn’t expect to see in my own kitchen. Plus they enrich with vitamins and minerals. But since I opened the carton before I took the pledge, I will continue to use the coconut milk until it’s finished, and I won’t use it again until after October, if at all. I use So Delicious for baking and a tiny bit for my oatmeal, but I might consider a permanent switch to another kind of milk instead. Or maybe even a fresh non-homogenized dairy milk.

White Flour

I will still continue to use white flour – unbleached and un-enriched from King Arthur, but I will make a conscious effort to use more whole grain flours when baking bread, the way I used to when I first started baking. I’ve become a bit lax on that lately, adding up to half white flour. I’ll keep experimenting with barley, corn and rye flours as well as whole wheat. Oh and I’ll be also using vital wheat gluten.

Restaurants

I don’t think many of the big chain restaurants will qualify for unprocessed, even Chipotle Mexican Grill probably has something that breaks the rules by using sugar, soy, etc.

It was suggested on the blog to try local restaurants instead, but I’m not that sure they would be any better. Even if a restaurant boasts homemade food, how truly homemade is it. I’m sure there is some sort of processed ingredient, like soy sauce (not naturally made) or refined sugar.

So, I have to decide. Do I give myself one day a week to treat myself to a restaurant meal, as long as the meal is presumed to be fairly unprocessed? For instance, steamed chicken and veggies at the Asian restaurant or meat skewers & pork ribs at the Greek restaurant. Yes, I will add this to my list of concessions as well. One day a week, a healthy restaurant meal. NO chain restaurants.

Well I think that is all the issues I’ve encountered. I’m going to try to stick to the rules, but I refuse to spend a ton of extra money or waste food. Part of my challenge will be to stick to our budget!

October Unprocessed 2011 – NO Processed Food for One Month

I stumbled on the October Unprocessed 2011 over on the EatingRules.com blog and it seems like a good challenge to try.

For the most part, I don’t eat processed food, but yes, there are times when a few items sneak in…like a subway sub or some birthday cake from the grocery store.

His definition of “processed food”

Unprocessed food is any food that could be made by a person with reasonable skill in a home kitchen with readily available, whole-food ingredients.

I call it “The Kitchen Test.” If you pick up something with a label (and if it doesn’t have a label, it’s probably unprocessed), and find an ingredient you’d never use in your kitchen and couldn’t possibly make yourself from the whole form, it’s processed.

It doesn’t mean you actually have to make it yourself, it just means that for it to be considered “unprocessed” that you could, in theory, do so.

There is a discussion from last year

It would be a good challenge, now that summer is winding down. No more vacations to temp me with sugary fatty treats. I signed up! Whoo hooo!

Whole Foods – Took a Month Off

My last visit to Whole Foods was Friday, 9/2/11. I am really hoping that I’m able to last a full month, without visiting the store, and so far I’m winning that challenge.

The most difficult part has been finding organic USA-grown nuts for snacks. I ended up buying some River Queen brand unsalted peanuts at the local grocery, but I really miss Whole Foods bulk isle.

So far, I’m doing alright for grains, but getting very low. I’ll definitely need to stock up in the bulk isle my next visit for sure!

I have been trying to stick to eating out of my freezer, and it’s been going well. Although I did buy some local meats yesterday at the farmer’s market, but for the most part, I’ve been trying to use up the food in my freezer. I’ve even been defrosting some soup and chili for lunches for DH and myself.

Anyway, it feels great to be free of Whole Foods, if only for a little while. Who would have thought a few months ago I’d be saying that?! Ha!

Is it bad to eat corn & soy fed meat from a humanely raised farm?

I’m in the middle of a debate with myself. Which is a better purchase?

  1. 100% grass-fed animal products sold at Whole Foods that might or might not be humanely raised, from an faceless farm in different state many many miles away?
  2. or
    local humanely-raised outdoors, mostly grass-fed but also fed corn & soy?
  3. or
    local humanely-raised outdoors, 100% grass-fed, but at a much higher cost to purchase?

I had a long conversation with a local farmer at the farmer’s market yesterday. He pasture-raises his animals, but he also supplements with soy and corn feed. I don’t necessarily agree with all his reasons to feed GMO corn and soy, but our discussion was enlightening.

Corn-fed beef tastes more familiar to consumers than 100% grassfed, and it’s more cost effective.

He didn’t come right out and say it, but reading between the lines, I realized that as a farmer, you’re trying to sell to many people, so it’s necessary to make local humanely-raised animals more attractive and accessible by keeping the cost as low as you can, and at the same time, offering a meat product that tastes better but more “familiar” to the consumer.

He is a responsible farmer. He uses no chemical fertilizers, as the fields are self-fertilized by the animals. He’s sustainable, and that’s more than we can say about the majority of other farms (even organic) across the country.

I wrestle with the idea of adding corn/soy to a cow’s diet, and I know there are other local farms that do not feed corn and soy, but they also have to charge much much more. Is it worth the extra cost? Perhaps, yes, or perhaps it doesn’t matter so much either way because we personally limit our animal product consumption, and eat mostly plant based foods.

Or perhaps it doesn’t matter because the animals and the farmland they are raised on, are treated with respect and care by ALL of these farmers.

Then it hit me. I realized the most important question I should be asking is how well the animal is being treated? As long as an animal is raised with respect, on land that is equally respected, THAT is a good life. THAT should be priority number one!

So I did purchase a few items from that farmer. I bought a small whole chicken, a beefalo brisket, and a small picnic pork roast. My total was just shy of $60. I’m still considering other sources, but it’s a start for me in my quest for local meat!

PS He told me he feeds about 5-6 pounds of formulated grain (no anti-biotic or growth hormones) to each his beef cows per day; from what I gathered online, the average feedlot cow eats about 20 pounds of corn/grain per day, so, if my calculations are correct, his animals are not getting a whole lot of corn/soy per day and are mostly grass fed.

The Chew Review – New Daytime Food Talk Show on ABC TV

I’ve been looking forward to the premiere of the new food talk show, “the Chew” – with Mario Batali (famous chef, previously on Food Network), Carla Hall (charming contestant from Bravo’s Top Chef), Michael Symon (current “Iron Chef” on Food Network), Daphne Oz (supposed nutrition expert, and daughter of famous Dr Oz), and Clinton Kelly (entertaining expert).

Today is the day! Episode #1

I’m excited that it’s an actual “live” show with an audience, well at least live-taped some time that same day. From the show intro, it looks like there are going to be a lot of taped segments filtered into the “live” audience stuff.

They promise a “party in the kitchen” – I’m just hoping for healthy, consciously sustainable, and interesting talk and advice. Let’s dig into the Chew!

Mario Batali isn’t in studio, he’s shown on a big TV screen by satellite feed at a charity golf event.

Michael Symon is now cooking up a pork dish with beans and greens. They need to work out the camera angles a little better…Too many long-view camera shots, or blurry too-close shots.

Commercial break.

We’re back. Audience is tasting and chatting about the Symon pork dish. Symon asks the audience member, “Tell me why you think it’s delicious?” as if it couldn’t be anything OTHER than delicious. Lots more unnecessary chatter and then a good dose of ego-boosting audience applause. Stop wasting time! Yes, we know you cook delicious food, get on with it. It would have been more interesting to see more actual cooking and less adoration and chit chat.

Another commercial break? what? Are you kidding? Thankfully, I have this on DVR, so I can fast-forward the commercials.

And now we have Daphne talking about how wonderful her dad/family is. And then of course, they bring out a “surprise” visit from Dr Oz himself!

Way way too much chatter and giggling! *rolling eyes* They’re all talking over each other and you can barely hear what’s going on. Then Dr Oz pretty much took over, annoying. But I suppose he is used to being the center of attention! I kind of felt bad for her, he kept teasing her with embarrassing childhood stories.

Now, Daphne is explaining the components of her healthy smoothie recipe, talking extremely quickly. And again, there is way too much applause.

Commercial break.

Okay, now we’re watching Michael Symon again, touting the many wonders of the microplane grater/zester.

Not really ground-breaking, is it?

And we’ve got ANOTHER commercial break. Are they kidding? Come on. Another break?

Next, Carla tells the story about how she found her family’s old Betty Crocker recipe box. That was quite fun seeing this old piece of cooking history. I really hope they bring out more items like that.

So, now Carla is making apple ring pancakes, inspired by a recipe her mom made from the old recipe box. I’d make this dish; it looks interesting and fairly simple to prepare. I like Carla.

Recipes from the first The Chew episode:
http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/episodes/September-26-2011

And of course, we’ve got another commercial break.

Now the entertaining wizard, Clinton Kelly’s segment “Plate to Platter” is giving us tips on how to miniaturize favorite meal dishes into bite sized party appetizers. Eh, kind of boring, not really what I’m interested in.

Okay, after the next commercial break (surprise! another break!) we’re seeing Mario Batali make a pizza at the golf course. Because of the satellite feed, when the hosts ask him a question there’s a slight pause/delay before Mario answers.

Michael Symon asked how he got a pizza oven on the golf course? – he answered with his tagline “There’s Italians and those that want to be Italians” – joking that Italians drive with pizza ovens where ever they go. Yeah, a little bit of a “set up” but cute.

He gives his recipe/tips on how to make the perfect pizza, peppered again with way too much applause after every little comment, and I swear I also hear a fake laugh track added.

And that’s it. The end of the show.

I dunno. maybe I’m being too critical, but I really was looking forward to this show and it was a disappointment. Sort of like expecting Cooks Illustrated but getting Good Housekeeping.

Too much advertising and same ole same ole…nothing groundbreaking or new.

What else would I like see changed? I’m really hoping they tone down the excessive “love fest” between the hosts, it’s a little bit too much. And most importantly, whoever is in charge of lighting up the audience “applause” sign needs to take a little break once in awhile.

It would be great if they try adding a few more “real” subjects. I’m not saying they need to cover depressing serious subject matter, like GMO Crops & factory farming well, yeah, maybe they should once occasionally. It’s just too darned cheery on that set!

BUT I have trust it’ll get better, at least I hope so. I am not giving up on the Chew just yet. I mean, it’s only the first show, it needs time to find its way. Only time will tell!

Ground Grass Fed Beef at Whole Foods Disappointing

I’m disappointed with the ground grass fed beef I bought at the last big sale from Whole Foods. It’s supposed to be 90%, but it’s been awfully greasy/fatty when cooked.

I don’t know what cut of beef they are starting with, but I don’t think it’s up to the quality of prior purchases when it WASN’T on sale. It tastes a little dull and gray too.

But I really shouldn’t complain, I mean, what did I expect it was only $5 per pound!

I really have to buckle down and find a local grass fed beef seller.

136 – Low, probably TOO Low

I weighed in this morning at 136 pounds. Yeah, that’s a bit too low I think. I’m happy with 137, 138.

I think it’s time to increase the calories back up to 1700 or 1800. I’ve been doing okay keeping to around 1650, give or take a few calories.

I’m just happy to be back on track! Went to the doctor’s for my annual physical yesterday, blood pressure is 120/77, and I’m on my way to have my fasting blood test this morning. I’m looking forward to seeing my numbers, especially my vit D, as I’ve been taking 5K four times per week.

Life is good!

UPDATE: raised calories to 1750, a little less than the 1800, which was what I was previously eating while in maintenance.

UPDATE September 27, 2011: I’m up to 137 pounds. I like this weight!

$5 Challenge – Slow Food With a Budget

So the Slow Food movement has been promoting a $5 challenge that is starting today, Sept 17th. Cook a meal for yourself, your family, your neighbors, a party, for $5 or less per person, using the slow food ideals: “food that is good for those who eat it, good for farmers and workers, and good for the planet.”

The $5 challenge has been met with praise and some criticism.

Yes, for a family of 5 or more, @ $5 per person, that could pose a bigger challenge for some families to afford on an ongoing basis. But I think the point is, the $5 amount is a guideline, as in “$5 or LESS” – so work within your own monetary means.

My $5 Challenge Meal

Last night I started to think about what I would like to cook for my $5 challenge meal. I won’t know exactly how the finished dish will come out until I start cooking, but I was inspired by a couple of recipes:

  1. Butternut squash with celery leaves and orecchiette (Whole Foods recipe) – now I wish that I didn’t “dry” all the leaves from this week’s fresh CSA celery.
  2. Pasta with Winter Squash and Tomatoes (Mark Bittman from cooking channel)

Here are the planned ingredients (I’m not counting salt & pepper or dried spices or balsamic vinegar):

  • $1.22 per person – Air chilled boneless chicken breast $4.89 for just under a pound = 4 servings. We’ll have leftovers! (boneless chicken breast is a treat for us, I normally buy whole chickens – pastured or organic. Eventually, I’d like to find a local source, but for now, I purchase at Whole Foods store.
  • $.52 per person – Butternut Squash @ 2.11 for 2 lb squash = 2 4 servings – after cutting up the squash, I realized there is more than enough for 4 servings.
  • $.38 per person – Dececco Pasta 3oz each person @$2 for a 16 oz box (Dececco is my splurge pasta. I think this brand is worth the slightly extra cost.)
  • $.17 per person – one 8 oz onion – 3 servings
  • $.58 per person – received a pint of mixed cherry tomatoes in our CSA box this week plus I picked a tomato from our garden (FREE). I’m estimating the cost to be $3.49 for the whole pint. Only using half the pint box tonight – 2 3+ servings.
  • $.14 per person – Olive oil 2 Tbsp. $7 for a bottle of California Olive Oil = 50 Tbsp per bottle
  • $.33 per person – Parsley from CSA. A batch of parsley – 3 servings
  • $.66 per person – I’m adding left-over cooked green beans, and a batch of pea tendrils, both from my CSA share this week. I’m estimating the cost for 3 servings.

$4 per serving!

Our Meal: Orecchiette Pasta with Roasted Butternut Squash, Sauteed Onions, Pea Tendrils, Tomatoes, Green Beans, & Parsley Topped with Baked Boneless Chicken Breast

$5 challenge - slow food

UPDATE: Well our meal was great. Not the BEST dinner we’ve ever had, (I wasn’t totally happy with the butternut squash mingling with the other flavors) but it was very tasty and VERY filling. I even had a lot of leftover veggies that I’ll throw into a soup tomorrow with the rest of the chicken.

Note: I ended up tweaking the ingredients’ cost per serving due to the left-over veggies.

Even though I have been regularly cooking and eating “slow”, it was helpful to organize my ingredients beforehand and really “see” how I was spending my money. It made me think about how I can create a better meal but save money at the same time! On the negative side, it was a little more stressful than usual. I don’t like being held in a constrained box when I’m cooking. I like being spontaneous. For me personally, I’d rather stick to a monthly or weekly budget, not a per meal budget, but it is a good way to start for newbies just learning to cook homemade food.

I hope the slow food $5 challenge brings much needed attention to good old-fashioned family dinners! Whether your table is set for two or twenty, get back to cooking from scratch! And challenge yourself to create something wonderful without spending a lot of cash. It can be done!!!

Links:

Wilson Farm in Lexington MA

I’ve always wanted to visit the Wilson Farms store in Lexington MA. It’s not very far away, but it’s still a little bit of a drive.

Well I was planning to be in the Lexington area yesterday, so I decided it was definitely time to check them out.

The night before, I browsed their web site, looking at their “sale” page. Wow, exciting. Prices look great, but I was a little skeptical. Then I found their growing page – actually their IPM (integrated pest management) page. Perfect!

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a way to control insect pests and diseases on crops by combining several complimentary strategies such as sanitation, soil enrichment, variety selection, pest detection, and biological controls. Chemical pesticides may be used, but only if absolutely necessary.

That’s how I want my food to be grown!

Yes, I know “organic” is supposedly better, but truthfully, I would rather buy from a local farm using sustainable and responsible growing practices like this, than an organic farm in California. Organic does not mean sustainable, especially when referring to the high yield organic farms.

My First Wilson Farm Visit

When you arrive, there is an open area full of produce bins. There are large canopies covering part of the area, but the sun beams in, depending on the time of day. I was concerned about the bin of mozzarella cheese, sitting in direct sunlight. No one thought it was necessary to move it. I wondered how long it was out there and how easily it could spoil.

Anyway, I was a little intimidated as I walked around. There was so much to take in. I felt like a newbie, slowly wandering around, pushing my grocery cart, looking in amazement at the bins of fresh produce. I was in heaven!

So, all their farm fresh produce is located outdoors. Every kind of tomato you could possibly imagine…including lots of heirloom varieties. A whole outdoor wall/bin of many varieties of apples, some local, some further away, in PA.

I also loved that they offered some of the more unusual produce, like purple carrots! You do not find those at the local grocery or even at Whole Foods stores!

After browsing outside, I walked into their large indoor area as well. They offer cheese, meats (hormone-antibiotic free), seafood, baked goods, lots of locally produced foods along with a wall of their own fresh-made packaged convenience foods, like soups, salads, meats, etc.

When you first walk in, under the potatoes/onions, that’s where I found the bags of Baer’s Best Heirloom beans. I heard about Baer’s Beans when I became interested in learning more about heirloom bean growers. I learned there aren’t any local growers….except Baer! How sad!

So, I looked at all of the varieties, and it was a tough choice between Jacob’s Cattle and Vermont Cranberry. I chose Jacob’s Cattle. They looked interesting (loved the color, too bad it doesn’t stay after cooking) and truthfully, the bag was a buck cheaper than the VT Cranberry, so frugality won out. I figure I’ll be back for more, so they’ll be plenty of time to try more varieties!

The one favorite thing about Wilson Farm is EVERYTHING is specifically marked where it’s from, which I appreciated. You knew right away if it was grown on their farm, or another farm in MA or in California.

Note: I’m trying to boycott any produce from Florida since I heard about their poor soil conditions, which necessitate using harmful pesticides and other chemicals PLUS more importantly the horrific treatment of their employees. I will never knowingly purchase a Florida tomato, so it’s nice to see specifically which state/area my produce is coming from.

There are lots of employees busily buzzing inside and outside, stocking shelves and bins with fresh produce and freshly prepared foods. It’s a friendly homey store! If you have a question, there is always someone close by to help. I was looking for fresh-made ricotta cheese, and couldn’t find it in the cheese shop; a helpful employee pointed me to the dairy department where she said she stocked the fresh ricotta.

So it was a very exciting, fun visit to Wilson Farm yesterday! I will certainly return.

What Did I Buy?

  • A big box o’ tomatoes – $5.99 – got home and weighed it, over 7 pounds. That’s under a dollar a pound. Perfect for roasting for tomato sauce!
  • Ginger Gold apples (local MA) – 1.1 lb for $1.64
  • Gala Apples (I think from PA – 1.2 for $2.31
  • Honeycrisp Apples (MA) – .71 lb for $1.41
  • Butternut Squash (their own) 2.13 lb for $2.11
  • Various shell beans (their own) – cranberry, fava & romano .90 lb for $2.69
  • 1 Sweet potato & 1 AP potato – $1.84
  • Baer’s Best Jacobs Cattle Beans – 1 lb bag for $4.59
  • Fresh Ricotta cheese – small container $3.89 ($4.99 lb)

Looking forward to autumn veggies, like potatoes, leeks, squash, fennel, lettuces, etc. Life is good!

Note: Wilson Farm is located at 10 Pleasant Street in Lexington MA

Eating From the Freezer

I have decided to try to eat what’s in my freezer before purchasing any more meat or seafood.

I have lovely scallops, shrimp, boneless chicken, whole chicken, ground beef, etc. and I think it’s important to save some money and just concentrate on eating what’s there first.

So far so good! I roasted a chicken on Sunday, and it’s given us 6 meals! 4 dinners (including soup!) and 2 lunches!

I can’t believe that I haven’t been to Whole Foods since the end of August! I did shop at the local Market Basket grocery store to pick up a few things, I desperately needed a bag of King Arthur white whole wheat flour, yogurt, and some bananas.

This week, I’m glad that there isn’t much on sale again at Whole Foods. I’ll just pick up a few necessities at Market Basket, and grab all my produce from the local farms and from my CSA share at Farmer Daves.

With our lower meat consumption, I could actually be sustained for a few weeks, and possibly not need to visit Whole Foods until October. Wow, now wouldn’t that be a feat!

But for now, one week at a time!