Once again, apologies for the delay in postings. I got admonished yesterday by a loyal reader who apparently checks this blog every morning for updates and was very upset that it had been a week since I posted anything. I have a blog groupie! Awesome!
But the reason for my delay is also the topic of today's post... I was on the road for work. My job often has me traveling around in circles visiting college campuses. The problem, of course, is that in the midwest and south (my territory), most college campuses are not in major metropolitan areas. In fact, they are often in the middle of nowhere. So that often means that a very full day of work will consist of only 3 meetings, with a good hour and a half to two hours drive between them, and no downtime whatsoever (think car-campus-car-campus). That, coupled with the fact that I'm often driving through incredibly rural areas, also coupled with the fact that when I finally do get to a destination it's a college town and predictably filled with mainly college-town restaurant chains, makes following the Au Naturale diet very difficult. Or in the case of this most recent trip, downright impossible.
Now granted, maybe I should give myself some slack- this is my first trip of the year since committing to the Au Naturale lifestyle. But put yourself in my situation on my first day of the 3-day trip: when you have a 9:30am meeting that goes an hour and a half, followed by a 45 minute car ride, followed by a noon meeting, followed by an hour and a half drive, followed by a 3pm meeting.... when do you eat? And when you're hopping the state line between Wisconsin and Minnesota 3-4 times during that drive... where do you eat?
In my case, at McDonald's.
Terrible, I know. Can you think of a less Au Naturale choice? But it really was the only option. Sure, I could have had a salad. But trying to eat a salad while driving? That is a recipe for disaster. And by 2pm, when all I had for breakfast was a terrible luna bar-like thing from the "market" at my hotel (I had totally misjudged my prep time in the morning), I needed something majorly filling. So a double-cheeseburger and fries it was. Sigh.
This did cause me to reflect on something that I have increasing noticed as evident to maintaining a successful Au Naturale life: prep and foresight in food choices. For my next trip, I need to make sure to pack both healthy and slightly decadent treats to live in my rental car. But when it comes to the rushed meal in the middle of the day (and it will be rushed, and most likely eaten while driving), that's where I need to find a better solution. Up next: another three day trip in rural western Kentucky. Oh, loyal 2 or 3 readers: any suggestions?
As dramatic as I'm being, the whole trip wasn't a total loss. In a rare chance to stay in a metropolis during my travels, I spent two nights in Minneapolis and had a wonderful treat of being able to see some good friends who have moved there. One evening, my friend Sara and I hit up Bradstreet Craftshouse Restaurant , an inventive restaurant that specialize in craft cocktails (consulted by Violet Hour owners, for those in Chicago who know that bar) and great food. What especially pleased me about Bradstreet was their commitment to local and organic products in each of their dishes. As much as I talk about organic and preservative-free in my food choices, local and sustainable means a lot to me, too. Each menu item that contains a product, whether it be cheese, produce, or meat, from a local farmer lists the farm and a description of their business and practices. Satisfying to the stomach and my conscience. And the next day at the airport, I actually found a French Meadow Bakery & Cafe in the terminal, which offers organic and all-natural choices.
One of the fun things about traveling in rural areas is seeing first-hand the kinds of farms I am both trying to patronize and avoid. Stay tuned for a quick story about one of those....
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Ew.
Fake blueberries abound in food products
http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-fake-blueberries-20110120,0,7536769.storyIt almost seems like more effort than just using the real ones, right? Way to turn one of the biggest superfoods on the planet to junk!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Pita Bread! **Recipe Alert**
I wish I could wax poetic about why I decided to make my own pita bread. This time it was actually as simple as the fact that I saw a recipe for a nice chicken sandwich in pita that I wanted to have for lunch, and my new Au Naturale instincts said: "Make your own pita!" So, I did. Recipe below:
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups bread flour, plus more for sprinkling while kneading and rolling out dough
2 TSP salt
1 TBS sugar
2 TSP active dry yeast
2 TBS good olive oil
1 cup warm water (105-110 degrees)
Directions:
1) cut 8 8-inch squares of aluminum foil for baking pitas and set aside.
2) in a large bowl dissolve yeast and water. Mix in 1 cup flour with the salt and sugar. Add the oil.
3) Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon for three minutes, then stir in the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time.
4) The dough should be a rough, shaggy mass that will clean the sides of the bowl. If the dough is moist, add a small amount of additional flour.
5) Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 6 minutes.
6) Divide the dough into 8 pieces. i patted the dough in a circle and used a knife to cut it like a pie:
7) Roll into balls, dust lightly with flour, and cover with a damp tea towel. Let rest for 30 minutes
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups bread flour, plus more for sprinkling while kneading and rolling out dough
2 TSP salt
1 TBS sugar
2 TSP active dry yeast
2 TBS good olive oil
1 cup warm water (105-110 degrees)
Directions:
1) cut 8 8-inch squares of aluminum foil for baking pitas and set aside.
2) in a large bowl dissolve yeast and water. Mix in 1 cup flour with the salt and sugar. Add the oil.
3) Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon for three minutes, then stir in the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time.
4) The dough should be a rough, shaggy mass that will clean the sides of the bowl. If the dough is moist, add a small amount of additional flour.
5) Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 6 minutes.
6) Divide the dough into 8 pieces. i patted the dough in a circle and used a knife to cut it like a pie:
7) Roll into balls, dust lightly with flour, and cover with a damp tea towel. Let rest for 30 minutes
pita dough balls
8) Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
9) Use the palm of your hand to flatten each ball into a disk. Finish with a rolling pin, flattening the dough into a disk about 6" in diameter and 3/16" thick. (I don't expect you to use a ruler for the 3/16".. just make it thin.) Their thinness is more important than making them perfectly round.
note the lovely imperfection
10) Place each round on a square of foil, and carefully place 3 or 4 of the rounds directly on the oven rack. Bake for 5 to 8 minutes, or until they are puffed.
When you remove the breads from the oven, stack them up and wrap them in a large piece of foil. This will keep the dough soft while the tops fall, leaving a pocket in the center. Cut them in half (so you can fill the pocket) and serve warm or at room temperature, or let cool, wrap tightly in aluminum foil, place in a zipper bag, and freeze. Thaw frozen pitas before using (this only takes about 5 minutes at room temperature). To reheat, stack several in a pile, wrap with foil, and place in a 375 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes.
Thanks to www.farmgirlfare.com for this recipe.
Some of the pitas didn't puff, which I understand to be because... sometimes they just don't. I froze those to make pita chips later. But beyond the chicken sandwich that inspired this kitchen experiment, I also found the pitas to be a great tortilla substitute when I made some completely Au Naturale black bean tacos with lettuce, carrot, freshly grated cheddar, and roasted tomatoes (as a substitute for salsa):
Bon Appetit!
The Commercial I Just Saw
...says that they are combining Philly Cream Cheese with Philly "natural" mozzarella to make a more "creamy" mozzarella. Based on what we learned about grocery store cream cheese in yesterday's post... ew?
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Adventures in Cream Cheese, Part I **Recipe Alert**
I love lox and bagels. So pretty much by default, I love cream cheese. I decided early on that a good, natural and organic cream cheese needed to be on my new food list.
I don't know why, but I was pretty amazed at how easy it is to make cream cheese. Literally, all you need is milk and a starter. That's it! I guess part of my surprise stemmed from looking at the ingredient list of my (formerly) favorite brand. Seeing how long it was, I thought this was going to be an impossible task:
skim milk, whey, sodium tripolyphosphate, sugar, pasteurized milk and cream, salt, artifical color, xanthan gum, potassium sorbate and calioum propionate as preservatives, carrageenan, cheese culture, sodium phosphate, artifical flavor, carob bean gum, vitamin A palmitate
If there is anyone reading this blog that can correctly identify more than 6 of those words, you win a cookie. And are apparently a scientist.
So I started to research. And realized that as few ingredients as cream cheese has, there are that many more ways to make it. After careful consideration, I picked two to try. I call them in my files "quick cream cheese recipe" and "longer cream cheese recipe". Original, I know.
This weekend I decided to try the quick recipe. This involves a little bit of cooking and a little bit of draining. And some creativity with suspending thermometers in mid-air.
Ingredients:
1 gallon whole milk
1 quart cultured buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pour milk and buttermilk into a large pan and suspend the thermometer in the milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the termperature reads 170 degrees.
Keep the mixture on the heat and the temperature of the milk between 170 and 175 degrees. After 30 minutes, the mixture should start to separate into curds (the lumps) and whey (the liquid).
(A warning on this part. Make sure the thermometer is hanging quite deep in the milk mixture, unlike mine, which is only partially in. As the curds rise, they cool, which made my temperature out of whack. In fact, my thermometer didn't register much higher than 150 before the temp began to drop. I found that strange, especially since the curds were forming as the instructions said. When I stuck the thermometer down lower, suddenly the temp shot up to 195. Oops.)
Line a strainer with several layers of moistened cheesecloth and set it inside a large bowl. Then lift the curds from the milk mixture and lay them in the cheesecloth. Pour the remainder of the whey through the cheesecloth and save the whey for other recipes (buttermilk). Let curds drain at room temperature for 2 to 4 hours. You can also shorten the process by gathering up the sides of the cheesecloth and squeezing the liquid out of the ball of curds inside.
Remove the cheese from the cheesecloth and place in food processor with the salt. Blend until creamy. Store the cheese in small containers with tight fitting lids and refrigerate.
The cheese can also be frozen, thawed and then beaten again in blender until creamy.
I was thrilled! The cream cheese had the right texture and consistency. I was terribly eager to try it with some of my homemade rye, or homemade bagels which I will make either when the rye runs out or a brunch date compels me.
The next day when I just couldn't wait and had to scoop out just a touch for a taste test, I was, well, underwhelmed. Hold on, that was too nice. I was disgusted. It tasted, simply, like crap. I couldn't figure out what I did wrong. Did I overcook it? Did I let it drain too long?
However, I couldn't quite bear to throw it away. Don't ask me why. And I'm glad I didn't. Today, 4 days after making the cream cheese, I went back and tried it again. And you know what? It wasn't bad. Somehow it had improved. It is now tasty but not perfect, so I do plan to try the second recipe- saved of course as the "longer recipe", which involves no cooking. I will report on how that goes.
But... any thoughts on what may have gone wrong with this recipe? Overcooking? Not a good recipe in general? Or is it supposed to be that way, slowly improving with rest? I value your thoughts, oh 2 or 3 loyal readers.
I don't know why, but I was pretty amazed at how easy it is to make cream cheese. Literally, all you need is milk and a starter. That's it! I guess part of my surprise stemmed from looking at the ingredient list of my (formerly) favorite brand. Seeing how long it was, I thought this was going to be an impossible task:
skim milk, whey, sodium tripolyphosphate, sugar, pasteurized milk and cream, salt, artifical color, xanthan gum, potassium sorbate and calioum propionate as preservatives, carrageenan, cheese culture, sodium phosphate, artifical flavor, carob bean gum, vitamin A palmitate
If there is anyone reading this blog that can correctly identify more than 6 of those words, you win a cookie. And are apparently a scientist.
So I started to research. And realized that as few ingredients as cream cheese has, there are that many more ways to make it. After careful consideration, I picked two to try. I call them in my files "quick cream cheese recipe" and "longer cream cheese recipe". Original, I know.
This weekend I decided to try the quick recipe. This involves a little bit of cooking and a little bit of draining. And some creativity with suspending thermometers in mid-air.
Ingredients:
1 gallon whole milk
1 quart cultured buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pour milk and buttermilk into a large pan and suspend the thermometer in the milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the termperature reads 170 degrees.
note the ingenious use of kitchen twine, masking tape, and the handle of the microwave. My arts & crafts teacher would have been proud.
Keep the mixture on the heat and the temperature of the milk between 170 and 175 degrees. After 30 minutes, the mixture should start to separate into curds (the lumps) and whey (the liquid).
(A warning on this part. Make sure the thermometer is hanging quite deep in the milk mixture, unlike mine, which is only partially in. As the curds rise, they cool, which made my temperature out of whack. In fact, my thermometer didn't register much higher than 150 before the temp began to drop. I found that strange, especially since the curds were forming as the instructions said. When I stuck the thermometer down lower, suddenly the temp shot up to 195. Oops.)
Line a strainer with several layers of moistened cheesecloth and set it inside a large bowl. Then lift the curds from the milk mixture and lay them in the cheesecloth. Pour the remainder of the whey through the cheesecloth and save the whey for other recipes (buttermilk). Let curds drain at room temperature for 2 to 4 hours. You can also shorten the process by gathering up the sides of the cheesecloth and squeezing the liquid out of the ball of curds inside.
whey on the left, curds on the right
cheese draining
Remove the cheese from the cheesecloth and place in food processor with the salt. Blend until creamy. Store the cheese in small containers with tight fitting lids and refrigerate.
The cheese can also be frozen, thawed and then beaten again in blender until creamy.
I was thrilled! The cream cheese had the right texture and consistency. I was terribly eager to try it with some of my homemade rye, or homemade bagels which I will make either when the rye runs out or a brunch date compels me.
The next day when I just couldn't wait and had to scoop out just a touch for a taste test, I was, well, underwhelmed. Hold on, that was too nice. I was disgusted. It tasted, simply, like crap. I couldn't figure out what I did wrong. Did I overcook it? Did I let it drain too long?
However, I couldn't quite bear to throw it away. Don't ask me why. And I'm glad I didn't. Today, 4 days after making the cream cheese, I went back and tried it again. And you know what? It wasn't bad. Somehow it had improved. It is now tasty but not perfect, so I do plan to try the second recipe- saved of course as the "longer recipe", which involves no cooking. I will report on how that goes.
But... any thoughts on what may have gone wrong with this recipe? Overcooking? Not a good recipe in general? Or is it supposed to be that way, slowly improving with rest? I value your thoughts, oh 2 or 3 loyal readers.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
My New Breakfast Obsession
1 slice homemade rye bread, toasted
1 tablespoon almond butter (freshly ground, of course)
1 banana, sliced
Directions: put together and enjoy.
Only two words can describe this: yu-um.
Doesn't sound like a lot? The combination of whole grains, protein and starch (the good-for-you kind) kept me full for 3 hours. And did I mention: yu-um?
1 tablespoon almond butter (freshly ground, of course)
1 banana, sliced
Directions: put together and enjoy.
Only two words can describe this: yu-um.
Doesn't sound like a lot? The combination of whole grains, protein and starch (the good-for-you kind) kept me full for 3 hours. And did I mention: yu-um?
Monday, January 17, 2011
Why, Oh Rye? (and some important points) **Recipe Alert**
Sorry, that was a lame attempt at a witty title.
But really- rye bread! How delicious! I was tired of having to ration out my last frozen loaf of wheat so decided to take matters into my own hands. But for fun I wanted to try something different as I've been reading quite a bit about the benefits of other whole grains, such as rye and pumpernickel. (Check out information here and, well, any place you can find nutritional info.) Considering I prefer rye, guess what got the first test run.
The recipe itself is pretty easy. A first time breadmaker, I think I nailed it despite worrying that my dough was too wet. It may have been, but I've also read that rye dough tends to be stickier than others. So... we'll see. But if you're afraid to try it yourself- don't be! The smell filling your home is worth every minute of baking.
A note though-- call it some introspection-- before the recipe:
The other day I was telling someone about this blog and my Au Naturale quest as it came up in conversation. As has occurred other times I've mentioned the blog, my quest prompted a bunch of questions-- What are you doing? Why are you doing it? etc., etc.
These questions from this particular person, however, seemed a bit more cynical. "So you're going organic?" Well, it's more than that, I explained, with the quick 5-sentence summary of the full Au-Naturale goal. My response was followed (with a disclaimer that he wasn't trying to discount what I am doing) by, "What exactly is your definition of organic?" and "How do you feel this is better for you?"
As I've said from the start, this is more than just picking from the organic aisle of the produce section. This is more than just grabbing a package that says "organic" or "natural ingredients" on it. The way we, as a society, make our food has changed dramatically in the past 75 years, and not in a good way. For me, this is not about embracing a fad but going back to the way humans are supposed to eat. So this is about something much bigger, eliminating anything and everything that doesn't come directly from nature, and either he didn't hear it or I didn't explain it well enough.
The next day I went to my local Dominicks to pick up some staples and decided to make a quick detour to the bread aisle. I grabbed a packaged loaf of beefsteak rye bread and looked at the ingredient list. Below is what I saw:
You should have seen the look on a random guy's face as he walked past me taking a picture of a loaf of bread.
You can't really read the ingredients, but you can tell that there are so many that it stretches across the loaf and even goes so far that it gets cut off by the twist-tie holding it closed. There's got to be, what, over 20 ingredients there? More? Guess how many ingredients my rye bread has.
Eight.
So what's the difference between a loaf of bread that needs 20 ingredients and one that needs only 8? Chemicals. Chemicals that don't belong in our bodies. Chemicals that aren't necessary to the making of the actual bread itself. The difference is that the beefsteak has to be able to live longer on the shelf, both in your supermarket and at home. It needs an anti-mold element for that. It needs yet another ingredient to protect its color as it sits and ages. And because it has to be protected from the elements in the factory in which it was created, such as rat droppings and the odd worker who rubbed their nose before touching it, it needs one or two more ingredients for that. No company wants their name associated with yet another salmonella recall.
And I say: who needs it?
I know that of course there is only so much that even I can control when making bread, or anything for that matter, at home. The organic flour I bought had to go through a factory somewhere, too. I am fully aware that to really and truly live the complete Au Naturale lifestyle, I need to pick up and move to a farm and eat only what I can grow on my land. But in lieu of doing that, I just know that I don't need 20 extra ingredients/chemicals that just simply shouldn't be there.
A final note (and thank you for sticking with me on my soapbox). The doubter that brought about these questions was not convinced. And that's fine. The one thing I plan to not do with my personal quest is to prosthelytize and judge others for not doing the same thing as me. If he wants a slice of that beefsteak rye, that's his prerogative and I will not judge him for it. Truly, I believe, to each their own.
And with that, I bring you Caraway Rye Bread. I used as many organic ingredients as possible and whole wheat all-purpose flour instead of white.
But really- rye bread! How delicious! I was tired of having to ration out my last frozen loaf of wheat so decided to take matters into my own hands. But for fun I wanted to try something different as I've been reading quite a bit about the benefits of other whole grains, such as rye and pumpernickel. (Check out information here and, well, any place you can find nutritional info.) Considering I prefer rye, guess what got the first test run.
The recipe itself is pretty easy. A first time breadmaker, I think I nailed it despite worrying that my dough was too wet. It may have been, but I've also read that rye dough tends to be stickier than others. So... we'll see. But if you're afraid to try it yourself- don't be! The smell filling your home is worth every minute of baking.
A note though-- call it some introspection-- before the recipe:
The other day I was telling someone about this blog and my Au Naturale quest as it came up in conversation. As has occurred other times I've mentioned the blog, my quest prompted a bunch of questions-- What are you doing? Why are you doing it? etc., etc.
These questions from this particular person, however, seemed a bit more cynical. "So you're going organic?" Well, it's more than that, I explained, with the quick 5-sentence summary of the full Au-Naturale goal. My response was followed (with a disclaimer that he wasn't trying to discount what I am doing) by, "What exactly is your definition of organic?" and "How do you feel this is better for you?"
As I've said from the start, this is more than just picking from the organic aisle of the produce section. This is more than just grabbing a package that says "organic" or "natural ingredients" on it. The way we, as a society, make our food has changed dramatically in the past 75 years, and not in a good way. For me, this is not about embracing a fad but going back to the way humans are supposed to eat. So this is about something much bigger, eliminating anything and everything that doesn't come directly from nature, and either he didn't hear it or I didn't explain it well enough.
The next day I went to my local Dominicks to pick up some staples and decided to make a quick detour to the bread aisle. I grabbed a packaged loaf of beefsteak rye bread and looked at the ingredient list. Below is what I saw:
You can't really read the ingredients, but you can tell that there are so many that it stretches across the loaf and even goes so far that it gets cut off by the twist-tie holding it closed. There's got to be, what, over 20 ingredients there? More? Guess how many ingredients my rye bread has.
Eight.
So what's the difference between a loaf of bread that needs 20 ingredients and one that needs only 8? Chemicals. Chemicals that don't belong in our bodies. Chemicals that aren't necessary to the making of the actual bread itself. The difference is that the beefsteak has to be able to live longer on the shelf, both in your supermarket and at home. It needs an anti-mold element for that. It needs yet another ingredient to protect its color as it sits and ages. And because it has to be protected from the elements in the factory in which it was created, such as rat droppings and the odd worker who rubbed their nose before touching it, it needs one or two more ingredients for that. No company wants their name associated with yet another salmonella recall.
And I say: who needs it?
I know that of course there is only so much that even I can control when making bread, or anything for that matter, at home. The organic flour I bought had to go through a factory somewhere, too. I am fully aware that to really and truly live the complete Au Naturale lifestyle, I need to pick up and move to a farm and eat only what I can grow on my land. But in lieu of doing that, I just know that I don't need 20 extra ingredients/chemicals that just simply shouldn't be there.
A final note (and thank you for sticking with me on my soapbox). The doubter that brought about these questions was not convinced. And that's fine. The one thing I plan to not do with my personal quest is to prosthelytize and judge others for not doing the same thing as me. If he wants a slice of that beefsteak rye, that's his prerogative and I will not judge him for it. Truly, I believe, to each their own.
And with that, I bring you Caraway Rye Bread. I used as many organic ingredients as possible and whole wheat all-purpose flour instead of white.
Ingredients
Directions
1. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water.
2. Add brown sugar, caraway, oil, salt and remaining water; mix well. Stir in rye flour and 1 cup all-purpose flour; beat until smooth. Add enough remaining all-purpose flour to form a soft dough.
3. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.
4. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. It will look like this:
5. Punch dough down; .Shape into a rectangular cube and place into a greased 9 in. loaf pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes.
6. Bake at 375 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
alternate option for #5: Punch dough down; divide in half. Roll each half into a ball, place in two greased 8-in. round cake pans. Flatten balls to a 6-in. diameter. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes
The alternate was part of the original recipe, but a) I prefer my bread in loaf form rather than round form, and b) some have said it doesn't rise as high when you split into two loaves. Try it either way. Enjoy, and tell me what you think!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Benefits of a 3-day Weekend.. and Check Out This Place!
Hi! I must apologize to you, my loyal readers, for disappearing off the blog-map this week. I had big plans to experiment in the kitchen, track my trails, enlighten you to some fabulous Au Naturale recipes... but then my well-intentioned plans got pushed aside for other plans. Mainly, the being-social-with-other -human-beings plans. Oh, well.
I won't bore you with another soul-searching lament about the fact that I ate out this week. A lot. I'm going to just go ahead and assume (or hope) that the higher-end restaurants I ate at make most of their sauces and rubs and marinades in-house. Shall we leave it at that? Okay, sounds good.
However, I will take a moment to brag that I was able to avoid the jelly bellies on the Evil Bar of Doom for the rest of the week, except for Friday evening at about 6:30. I was at work very late for a good cause and had run out of both energy and the raw macaroons. Anyone else seeing a pattern here? I need more snacks at work. I recognize this, however I have yet to do something about it. This is my learning disability.
I also want to give a shout-out to another great place to visit while eating Au Naturale downtown. On Thursday I had every intention of hitting up Hannah's Bretzel for another delicious sandwich, but on my way to a bookstore I passed Chicago's Downtown Farmstand, a wonderful little storefront I discovered this summer on Randolph. I haven't hit it up much this winter well, because, walking down Michigan Ave. in the dead of winter tends to be very windy and cold. But I'm glad I did.
Chicago's Downtown Farmstand specializes in products which are all within 250 miles of Chicago. Many of the farms that visit my summer farmer's market sell there, which makes me very happy. Beyond local and sustainable produce, though, they also offer packaged products from businesses that also reside within the 250 mile radius-- and all, to the extent I can tell, are completely all-natural. Very affordable, too: The pepper, mushroom and cheese pie I picked up there, made by Middle East Bakery and Grocery in Chicago was less than $3. I grabbed a second to keep as a snack in the office fridge. Maybe I am learning, after all.
Now to throw on some clothes and head to Whole Foods to pick up ingredients for experimenting. Yes, the same experimenting I was planning on doing this week. I have a 3-day weekend so this should be fun. Again, stay tuned!
I won't bore you with another soul-searching lament about the fact that I ate out this week. A lot. I'm going to just go ahead and assume (or hope) that the higher-end restaurants I ate at make most of their sauces and rubs and marinades in-house. Shall we leave it at that? Okay, sounds good.
However, I will take a moment to brag that I was able to avoid the jelly bellies on the Evil Bar of Doom for the rest of the week, except for Friday evening at about 6:30. I was at work very late for a good cause and had run out of both energy and the raw macaroons. Anyone else seeing a pattern here? I need more snacks at work. I recognize this, however I have yet to do something about it. This is my learning disability.
I also want to give a shout-out to another great place to visit while eating Au Naturale downtown. On Thursday I had every intention of hitting up Hannah's Bretzel for another delicious sandwich, but on my way to a bookstore I passed Chicago's Downtown Farmstand, a wonderful little storefront I discovered this summer on Randolph. I haven't hit it up much this winter well, because, walking down Michigan Ave. in the dead of winter tends to be very windy and cold. But I'm glad I did.
Chicago's Downtown Farmstand specializes in products which are all within 250 miles of Chicago. Many of the farms that visit my summer farmer's market sell there, which makes me very happy. Beyond local and sustainable produce, though, they also offer packaged products from businesses that also reside within the 250 mile radius-- and all, to the extent I can tell, are completely all-natural. Very affordable, too: The pepper, mushroom and cheese pie I picked up there, made by Middle East Bakery and Grocery in Chicago was less than $3. I grabbed a second to keep as a snack in the office fridge. Maybe I am learning, after all.
Now to throw on some clothes and head to Whole Foods to pick up ingredients for experimenting. Yes, the same experimenting I was planning on doing this week. I have a 3-day weekend so this should be fun. Again, stay tuned!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Farmer's Markets and the Restaurant Dilemma
It's hard not to be disappointed by a farmer's market in the winter while also being excited that there is some sort of farmer's market in the winter. After all, it's really hard for crops to grow when it's literally freezing outside. That's why we flock to grocery stores to buy produce from South America, California and other far away places, and endure procedures like picking the items prematurely and then gassing them so they look like they were fresh-picked. Not ideal, but if you really want a tomato, so be it.
But, believe it or not, there are a few hardy winter farmer's markets in the Chi-town area, and on Sunday for the first time this winter I visited the one most local to me, located in the lobby of the Congress Theatre. What can you find in the cold dark of winter, you may ask? Well, the benefit of being in such a big city like Chicago is being in a city that happens to be located smack-dab in the middle of the Midwest. That means that whatever items farms from Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan are producing-- the borders of which in any direction aren't much more than an hour and a half away-- you can buy. And if they're taking the time to fight the cold, snow and ice to sell one day a week at a farmer's market, then they are probably small and sustainable farms-- right up my alley.
A quick shopping trip later, I have stocked up on fresh pasture-raised eggs from Tempel Farms Organics, grass-fed steak and sausage from Black Earth Meats, tofu from some farm in Champaign, IL, and mushrooms from a grower in Wisconsin. Sadly, High Rise Baking Company, my bread supplier from the summer, did not have a space there. I may have to find a way to stretch the last half loaf in my freezer til June. If I can do it... well, kudos to me.
Later that evening I went to celebrate my boyfriend's birthday with his family at Prairie Moon in Evanston. All that meat shopping made me hungry for a burger and I was drooling (all I had to eat at this point in the day was my beloved toast with organic hand-rolled butter, a small caprese salad, and a bit of aged parmesan. Sound familiar? It's cause I don't have much food in my fridge so I am emptying out before I go shopping again). I made the smart move to get cheddar on the burger instead of the traditional American. After all, there is really nothing remotely cheese-like in American. I am aware that my cheddar may not have been to my au naturale liking, but it was at least a slight step up.
Then I hit a dilemma, one I've been dreading since I started on the Au Naturale path.
The bun was not fresh-baked, I'm sure, and that was something I was certainly aware the second I decided on a burger. But really, can you eat a burger without ketchup or mustard? Don't answer- it's a rhetorical question. Of course you can. But, do you want to? My issue was the bottled stuff waiting for me on the table. Preservatives, HFCS, and a lot of other things that resemble neither tangy tomato sauce or mustardy goodness. They were my only options.
So I ask you, oh loyal 2 or 3 readers- what would you do in this dilemma, when you are at a restaurant and have little to no control over your ingredients? Suck it up and have a dry burger? Suck it up and make a small concession for this one meal? Or be THAT person who sneaks in the natural, homemade ketchup and mustard in your purse? I value your opinions, as this certainly will not be the last time I run into this problem.
Other than that, today back at the office was a moderately good day, except the Evil Bar of Doom struck again. I've been great about avoiding most of it thanks to the raw macaroons hanging out by my desk. The jelly bellies keep getting me at about 4:59 but today I avoided them: only to be sucked in by a box of DOTS someone had left out. DOTS are a big weakness.
I left work consumed by guilt from the 7 (yes, I counted) DOTS that I ate. However, shortly before the end of the work day I got some very exciting news, and to celebrate decided to treat myself to takeout for dinner. I swung by Crust, a delicious high-end pizza and other-stuff restaurant in the Wicker Park neighborhood. Crust is an organic restaurant, and anything that they may not be able to get organic they substitute with responsibly and locally produced items. One grilled eggplant, wild arugula, roasted garlic, red onion, capers, pesto & fresh mozzarella pizza and a pomegranate lemondrop martini (made with organic infused vodka) later, I was a happy camper.
But takeout cannot be every day. This week begins the experimentations. To cream cheese, or to cream cheese a different way? That is the question. And please, take a minute to give me your thoughts on the ketchup/mustard dilemma. Stay tuned....
But, believe it or not, there are a few hardy winter farmer's markets in the Chi-town area, and on Sunday for the first time this winter I visited the one most local to me, located in the lobby of the Congress Theatre. What can you find in the cold dark of winter, you may ask? Well, the benefit of being in such a big city like Chicago is being in a city that happens to be located smack-dab in the middle of the Midwest. That means that whatever items farms from Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan are producing-- the borders of which in any direction aren't much more than an hour and a half away-- you can buy. And if they're taking the time to fight the cold, snow and ice to sell one day a week at a farmer's market, then they are probably small and sustainable farms-- right up my alley.
A quick shopping trip later, I have stocked up on fresh pasture-raised eggs from Tempel Farms Organics, grass-fed steak and sausage from Black Earth Meats, tofu from some farm in Champaign, IL, and mushrooms from a grower in Wisconsin. Sadly, High Rise Baking Company, my bread supplier from the summer, did not have a space there. I may have to find a way to stretch the last half loaf in my freezer til June. If I can do it... well, kudos to me.
Later that evening I went to celebrate my boyfriend's birthday with his family at Prairie Moon in Evanston. All that meat shopping made me hungry for a burger and I was drooling (all I had to eat at this point in the day was my beloved toast with organic hand-rolled butter, a small caprese salad, and a bit of aged parmesan. Sound familiar? It's cause I don't have much food in my fridge so I am emptying out before I go shopping again). I made the smart move to get cheddar on the burger instead of the traditional American. After all, there is really nothing remotely cheese-like in American. I am aware that my cheddar may not have been to my au naturale liking, but it was at least a slight step up.
Then I hit a dilemma, one I've been dreading since I started on the Au Naturale path.
The bun was not fresh-baked, I'm sure, and that was something I was certainly aware the second I decided on a burger. But really, can you eat a burger without ketchup or mustard? Don't answer- it's a rhetorical question. Of course you can. But, do you want to? My issue was the bottled stuff waiting for me on the table. Preservatives, HFCS, and a lot of other things that resemble neither tangy tomato sauce or mustardy goodness. They were my only options.
So I ask you, oh loyal 2 or 3 readers- what would you do in this dilemma, when you are at a restaurant and have little to no control over your ingredients? Suck it up and have a dry burger? Suck it up and make a small concession for this one meal? Or be THAT person who sneaks in the natural, homemade ketchup and mustard in your purse? I value your opinions, as this certainly will not be the last time I run into this problem.
Other than that, today back at the office was a moderately good day, except the Evil Bar of Doom struck again. I've been great about avoiding most of it thanks to the raw macaroons hanging out by my desk. The jelly bellies keep getting me at about 4:59 but today I avoided them: only to be sucked in by a box of DOTS someone had left out. DOTS are a big weakness.
I left work consumed by guilt from the 7 (yes, I counted) DOTS that I ate. However, shortly before the end of the work day I got some very exciting news, and to celebrate decided to treat myself to takeout for dinner. I swung by Crust, a delicious high-end pizza and other-stuff restaurant in the Wicker Park neighborhood. Crust is an organic restaurant, and anything that they may not be able to get organic they substitute with responsibly and locally produced items. One grilled eggplant, wild arugula, roasted garlic, red onion, capers, pesto & fresh mozzarella pizza and a pomegranate lemondrop martini (made with organic infused vodka) later, I was a happy camper.
But takeout cannot be every day. This week begins the experimentations. To cream cheese, or to cream cheese a different way? That is the question. And please, take a minute to give me your thoughts on the ketchup/mustard dilemma. Stay tuned....
Friday, January 7, 2011
Oops.
In yesterday's post, I poo-pooed the sandwich as a quality meal to eat when you're tired and in a rush. Specifically, I poo-pooed the PB&J.
Guess what I'm eating right this second.
Okay, I guess I'm figuratively eating my words. Bu don't cluck at me too hard! My PB&J is the epitome of Au Naturale. I made it from two slices of wheat bread that I've only been able to find at my farmer's market- from a Chicago bakery that uses about 6 ingredients total to make it, all of which you would recognize. (I would tell you the name and the ingredients, but the last loaf I've been keeping in my freezer doesn't have a label. Hopefully the indoor farmer's market on Sunday has it. Fingers crossed!) Peanut butter is freshly ground, by me, from organic peanuts. And the jelly is a succulent Marionberry from Oregon.
Never heard of Marionberries? No, it's not the ground up remains of a disgraced mayor from D.C. (Ha!) Looking like a blackberry but tasting more of a tangy raspberry, you can find them Oregon, where apparently over 90% of Marionberry crops are grown. You don't see Marionberries in Chicago because they don't travel well. At all. A carton of berries barely makes it from the market to the house without getting bruised, if it doesn't get eaten first. Every year my family goes to visit relatives in Oregon and we stock up on jam to bring back. The jar I got from the Saturday Market in Corvallis, OR (a farmer's market NOT to be missed) is from a small, local farm that really just makes their jam with not much more than berries and sugar. The label is a sticker that is handwritten. If you can ever get your hands on some Marionberry jam, I highly recommend it!
I also promised a report on the raw macaroons. Did they satisfy my sweet tooth? You bet. The flavors in there were unbelievably strong. However, one macaroon packs 100 calories, which is a bit much for a girl trying to lose some weight, holiday and otherwise. I guess that's the tradeoff you get for avoiding calorie-free chemicals, but my quest for a quality 3pm fix continues.
Have a great weekend! Reports from a Chicago Farmer's Market in January (whaaa???) to come.
Guess what I'm eating right this second.
Okay, I guess I'm figuratively eating my words. Bu don't cluck at me too hard! My PB&J is the epitome of Au Naturale. I made it from two slices of wheat bread that I've only been able to find at my farmer's market- from a Chicago bakery that uses about 6 ingredients total to make it, all of which you would recognize. (I would tell you the name and the ingredients, but the last loaf I've been keeping in my freezer doesn't have a label. Hopefully the indoor farmer's market on Sunday has it. Fingers crossed!) Peanut butter is freshly ground, by me, from organic peanuts. And the jelly is a succulent Marionberry from Oregon.
Never heard of Marionberries? No, it's not the ground up remains of a disgraced mayor from D.C. (Ha!) Looking like a blackberry but tasting more of a tangy raspberry, you can find them Oregon, where apparently over 90% of Marionberry crops are grown. You don't see Marionberries in Chicago because they don't travel well. At all. A carton of berries barely makes it from the market to the house without getting bruised, if it doesn't get eaten first. Every year my family goes to visit relatives in Oregon and we stock up on jam to bring back. The jar I got from the Saturday Market in Corvallis, OR (a farmer's market NOT to be missed) is from a small, local farm that really just makes their jam with not much more than berries and sugar. The label is a sticker that is handwritten. If you can ever get your hands on some Marionberry jam, I highly recommend it!
I also promised a report on the raw macaroons. Did they satisfy my sweet tooth? You bet. The flavors in there were unbelievably strong. However, one macaroon packs 100 calories, which is a bit much for a girl trying to lose some weight, holiday and otherwise. I guess that's the tradeoff you get for avoiding calorie-free chemicals, but my quest for a quality 3pm fix continues.
Have a great weekend! Reports from a Chicago Farmer's Market in January (whaaa???) to come.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Good Fast Food! *Recipe Alert*
Everyone has their own "fast food" at home. You know, the standard meal you make when you get home from work and want something to eat but you don't want to be on your feet cooking for hours? For some, it's a PB&J sandwich. For others, it's instant soup or cereal. Lucky for you, my version of a fast food dinner at home is unbelievably delish, quick, easy, and fancier than a sandwich, which is why it gets the honor of being the first recipe in this blog. Ladies and gents, I proudly present... Parmesan Chicken!
A note about this recipe- I don't have a formal recipe so I do everything by sight. But of course you need specifics in a recipe so I'm going to estimate as much as I can, and you can adjust for your taste:
makes 3 servings:
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 1/4 tsp sesame seeds
1.5 tbs chopped fresh or dried oregano
1/8 TSP pepper, or to taste
salt to taste
1 egg, beaten
lemon wedges
mix the parmesan, sesame seeds, oregano. salt and pepper in a bowl. Dip the chicken breasts in the egg, coating both sides well, and drain any excess back into the egg bowl. Dredge breasts in the dry mix, till both sides are coated evenly. Line a baking sheet with foil and bake at 370 for 20 minutes, flipping once, or alternately you can pan fry with a little olive oil, cooking each side for 5 minutes each. Garnish with lemon wedges.
That's it! Simple with a lot of flavor. And it keeps well for leftovers the next day.
I like to serve this dish with a roasted tomato topping, which you can find in the bulk section of Whole Foods- just roasted tomatoes, herbs, and oil. Yum! My plate in the below picture is a bit bare.. adding a side of sauteed spinach or another veggie is always a great option, but I did not do so tonight.
A great alternative to this recipe is to add italian bread crumbs to the dry mix, and instead of an egg wash, use dijon mustard. A nice spicy twist! Of course, to truly make this Au Naturale-worthy, I would make both my own mustard and bread crumbs... those recipes to come soon...
Some notes on ingredients as they relate to the overall Au Naturale goal:
- I currently get my chicken breasts from Whole Foods, who in turn get theirs (in Illinois, at least) from Pine Manor Farms. After doing some research I learned that it's an Indiana farm, so it's nice that it's (moderately) local, and they claim that their chickens are raised on nearby amish farms with a vegetarian diet and no hormones and byproducts. Isn't it illegal now to shoot up animals with hormones, anyway? Anyway, if that's the case (the Amish part, at least) then I'm willing to trust that they raise and feed their chickens well. Thanks to Food Inc I've learned that "free-range" can be a misleading term in how much sunlight, fresh air, and space the chickens actually have to roam, so I'm not 100% completely sold on this farm. I fully admit I need to learn more about the best way to detect a well-raised chicken. But I would love to find an even smaller, more local farm from which to get my poultry. I'll let you know when I find it.
- I also often used pre-grated parmesan from Whole Foods. Today, I changed it up a bit and got a block of parmesan reggiano and grated it myself. The result was a light, fluffy parmesan mix that made me feel better because freshly grated anything is generally more delicious, and in a bigger sense I feel better that it went through one less process in a factory to get to my table. And I can snack on the block later.
-If you have the ability to grow herbs indoors, do it! I used fresh oregano from a plant I start in the summer and bring indoors once the season gets cooler. I don't get as great direct light indoors as I do on my back deck, but my oregano always thrives. And then I don't have to spend a ton of money for packaged herbs at the store that will grow brown after just a few days.
An additional great fast food appetizer is a good old fashioned caprese salad. Here I've mixed organic grape tomatoes, sliced lengthwise, mozzarella cheese (cigliene style), and fresh basil from my own basil plant (again, a must if you have the space and sunlight!). I then dress it with a touch of salt and pepper and finish it off with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and homemade red wine vinegar (from an Italian friend of my parents- we get a vat of it from him yearly and it is just amazing!) Balsamic or white wine vinegar works well too as alternates. And look how colorful it is!
By the way, these are both exceptional recipes if you are the type who likes low-carb food, too.
On a general status note, though, I did pretty well today adhering to the new diet. Eggs for breakfast, a delish roasted tofu sandwich from Hannah's Bretzel for lunch, and organic roasted almonds as a snack. I did cheat a bit towards 5pm when I was just ravished and had nothing around me... except jelly bellies. For that reason, I picked up some raw-food style macaroons at Whole Foods tonight. I'll give a report on those tomorrow.
A note on Hannah's Bretzel... what a fantastic find! This is an all-organic, all-natural fast food restaurant that I stumbled upon in the Illinois Center on my way back from the gym one day. Their food, which includes both breakfast food, lunch salads and sandwiches- with both vegan and vegetarian options-, and an amazing assortment of chocolates and desserts, is organic wherever humanly possible and sourced from local growers and producers. The small storefront itself is LEED certified, and all of their packaging materials are environmentally-friendly. They have a second location on W. Washington. Check out everything about them, including a full menu and calorie count (if you're in to that sort of thing), at www.hannahsbretzel.com.
P.S. While cooking and typing all this tonight, the local news broadcast announced yet another food recall. I didn't hear for what. But once again I'm glad I'm going down this path.
A note about this recipe- I don't have a formal recipe so I do everything by sight. But of course you need specifics in a recipe so I'm going to estimate as much as I can, and you can adjust for your taste:
makes 3 servings:
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 1/4 tsp sesame seeds
1.5 tbs chopped fresh or dried oregano
1/8 TSP pepper, or to taste
salt to taste
1 egg, beaten
lemon wedges
mix the parmesan, sesame seeds, oregano. salt and pepper in a bowl. Dip the chicken breasts in the egg, coating both sides well, and drain any excess back into the egg bowl. Dredge breasts in the dry mix, till both sides are coated evenly. Line a baking sheet with foil and bake at 370 for 20 minutes, flipping once, or alternately you can pan fry with a little olive oil, cooking each side for 5 minutes each. Garnish with lemon wedges.
That's it! Simple with a lot of flavor. And it keeps well for leftovers the next day.
I like to serve this dish with a roasted tomato topping, which you can find in the bulk section of Whole Foods- just roasted tomatoes, herbs, and oil. Yum! My plate in the below picture is a bit bare.. adding a side of sauteed spinach or another veggie is always a great option, but I did not do so tonight.
A great alternative to this recipe is to add italian bread crumbs to the dry mix, and instead of an egg wash, use dijon mustard. A nice spicy twist! Of course, to truly make this Au Naturale-worthy, I would make both my own mustard and bread crumbs... those recipes to come soon...
Some notes on ingredients as they relate to the overall Au Naturale goal:
- I currently get my chicken breasts from Whole Foods, who in turn get theirs (in Illinois, at least) from Pine Manor Farms. After doing some research I learned that it's an Indiana farm, so it's nice that it's (moderately) local, and they claim that their chickens are raised on nearby amish farms with a vegetarian diet and no hormones and byproducts. Isn't it illegal now to shoot up animals with hormones, anyway? Anyway, if that's the case (the Amish part, at least) then I'm willing to trust that they raise and feed their chickens well. Thanks to Food Inc I've learned that "free-range" can be a misleading term in how much sunlight, fresh air, and space the chickens actually have to roam, so I'm not 100% completely sold on this farm. I fully admit I need to learn more about the best way to detect a well-raised chicken. But I would love to find an even smaller, more local farm from which to get my poultry. I'll let you know when I find it.
- I also often used pre-grated parmesan from Whole Foods. Today, I changed it up a bit and got a block of parmesan reggiano and grated it myself. The result was a light, fluffy parmesan mix that made me feel better because freshly grated anything is generally more delicious, and in a bigger sense I feel better that it went through one less process in a factory to get to my table. And I can snack on the block later.
-If you have the ability to grow herbs indoors, do it! I used fresh oregano from a plant I start in the summer and bring indoors once the season gets cooler. I don't get as great direct light indoors as I do on my back deck, but my oregano always thrives. And then I don't have to spend a ton of money for packaged herbs at the store that will grow brown after just a few days.
An additional great fast food appetizer is a good old fashioned caprese salad. Here I've mixed organic grape tomatoes, sliced lengthwise, mozzarella cheese (cigliene style), and fresh basil from my own basil plant (again, a must if you have the space and sunlight!). I then dress it with a touch of salt and pepper and finish it off with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and homemade red wine vinegar (from an Italian friend of my parents- we get a vat of it from him yearly and it is just amazing!) Balsamic or white wine vinegar works well too as alternates. And look how colorful it is!
By the way, these are both exceptional recipes if you are the type who likes low-carb food, too.
On a general status note, though, I did pretty well today adhering to the new diet. Eggs for breakfast, a delish roasted tofu sandwich from Hannah's Bretzel for lunch, and organic roasted almonds as a snack. I did cheat a bit towards 5pm when I was just ravished and had nothing around me... except jelly bellies. For that reason, I picked up some raw-food style macaroons at Whole Foods tonight. I'll give a report on those tomorrow.
A note on Hannah's Bretzel... what a fantastic find! This is an all-organic, all-natural fast food restaurant that I stumbled upon in the Illinois Center on my way back from the gym one day. Their food, which includes both breakfast food, lunch salads and sandwiches- with both vegan and vegetarian options-, and an amazing assortment of chocolates and desserts, is organic wherever humanly possible and sourced from local growers and producers. The small storefront itself is LEED certified, and all of their packaging materials are environmentally-friendly. They have a second location on W. Washington. Check out everything about them, including a full menu and calorie count (if you're in to that sort of thing), at www.hannahsbretzel.com.
P.S. While cooking and typing all this tonight, the local news broadcast announced yet another food recall. I didn't hear for what. But once again I'm glad I'm going down this path.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
The 3pm dilemma
Even before I started this blog and made my now world-famous pronouncement (tee-hee), I've been gearing up by reading labels and paying attention to what I eat, taking mental notes along the way- where can I make a change? That supposedly whole wheat piece of bread I just ate- was it truly "whole wheat"? Was there HFCS in it?
It's easy to get totally overwhelmed by the particulars. For example, today I enjoyed a nice salad as my lunch. Veggies of varying variety, some tofu, and dressing of just simple olive oil and balsamic. But I skipped my usual light sprinkling of cheese (was it shredded velveeta??).. and then started wondering about the origins of everything else. Organic? No chance. Were those tomatoes gassed to get that nice red color? Probably.
But on to those nitty-gritties later.
The bigger issue is the little slip-ups in the afternoon. I bought an apple for a snack yesterday, but 3pm munchies sometimes can't be quelled by something so righteous. The frango mints on the office bar (yes, we have a bar in our office, and that is where all the evil free food goes) won out. Damn! I will now call you the Evil Bar of Doom.
So on the list-- homemade snacks that satisfy the sweet and often chocolate directed tooth. Oh, loyal 2 or 3 readers- any suggestions?
(sorry, this post was just okay. Still getting the hang of it. Also, quickly typing while inhaling the above mentioned salad probably didn't help. I have a new intern to train....)
It's easy to get totally overwhelmed by the particulars. For example, today I enjoyed a nice salad as my lunch. Veggies of varying variety, some tofu, and dressing of just simple olive oil and balsamic. But I skipped my usual light sprinkling of cheese (was it shredded velveeta??).. and then started wondering about the origins of everything else. Organic? No chance. Were those tomatoes gassed to get that nice red color? Probably.
But on to those nitty-gritties later.
The bigger issue is the little slip-ups in the afternoon. I bought an apple for a snack yesterday, but 3pm munchies sometimes can't be quelled by something so righteous. The frango mints on the office bar (yes, we have a bar in our office, and that is where all the evil free food goes) won out. Damn! I will now call you the Evil Bar of Doom.
So on the list-- homemade snacks that satisfy the sweet and often chocolate directed tooth. Oh, loyal 2 or 3 readers- any suggestions?
(sorry, this post was just okay. Still getting the hang of it. Also, quickly typing while inhaling the above mentioned salad probably didn't help. I have a new intern to train....)
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Welcome! Read me first.
It started when I first heard that dead bodies are decomposing nowadays at a slower rate because of all of the preservatives we eat (don't ask me to quote a source, I honestly don't remember where I heard that. Or if I can prove it's true). Then it was pondering on the skyrocketing cancer rates of our generation and our parents generation. And the food recalls. And revelations from the movie “Food Inc”. I've been wanting to switch to an all-natural diet for a while, but I keep slipping. Or I think I'm eating all natural, but then I start to question how the elements that I eat are grown/raised/packaged? After all, just the other day they announced that butter- plain, old, boring, nothing to be scared of butter- more often than not has a high level of a flame retardant in it. FLAME RETARDANT IN BUTTER?? Are you serious??
That was when it was time to make my attempts more than just attempts. It was time to make them permanent. And the only (or best, in my head) way to make them permanent in a 21st century environment is a very 21st centruy way: post a blog so I can chart my progress and countless anonymous millions- or about 5 friends who will actually read this thing-- can critique my every move. Personally, I would prefer that they encourage me, but critique is good, too.
Notice I say “all natural”, not just “organic”. I do think there is a difference. Yes, organic is good, and I'm totally for it. Beyond the debate on how “organic” organic-labeled things are, not every packaged item that is considered organic is necessarily all natural. I've become a fan of reading labels, but not to count fat or calories or carbs. I read ingredient lists, and if anything in there is a word that I don't recongize that ends in “-ate”, or if the last two ingredients sniff of preservatives, I don't want it. And I've definitely seen organic soups that have every ingredient listed as organic... and then the last two ingredients aren't, or contain "natural flavors" which, based on everything I've read, aren't necessarily natural. There is also the question of sustainability, like buying local, and caring about how living things are raised. A chicken can now be touted as “free-range!” but that just means they're not in a cage all day. They could be in a windowless overcrowded barn tripping over other chickens and eating their own filth. Thanks, “Food Inc”.
I will try as hard as I can to make this fun. And interesting! If I find a recipe or a purveyor of delicious and natural goodness, I will share for you all to see. And if you have suggestions- especially when I need help to overcome a stumbling block such as gorging myself on a Sausage McMuffin with Cheese after a heavy night of drinking- I am all ears. Except to hear you tell me all the reasons why that McMuffin is so bad for me. I know. I don't need reminding. It's just damn good and I'm going to enjoy it and get back on the wagon once the damn headache wears off. But thank you for your concern.
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