Grilled shrimp

Grilled shrimp, there is nothing like it. They are so wonderful and so easy to make. We grilled some shrimp and made a quick and easy dinner that was a hit with all of us but my son who doesn't care for seafood so much.

 

 

 

 

QUICK AND EASY GRILLED SHRIMP

1 to 1 1/2 pounds of raw shrimp deveined with the shells on


Marinade

1 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
2 Tablespoons apricot jam
1 clove of minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon Mustard of your choice

1. Whisk the marinade ingredients together

2. Pour the marinade over 1 to 1 1/2  pounds of shell on shrimp (deveined but with the shell still on)

3. Let the shrimp marinate for 10-30 minutes (depending on the size).
 For a quick reference on shrimp size check out this Shrimp size chart.

4. Preheat the grill

5. While the grill is heating skewer the shrimp in preparation for grilling

I love a nice flat metal skewer for this job. The round skewers tend to let the shrimp twirl on the skewer and it makes them hard to turn on the BBQ.   Mr Barbeque himself, Steven Raichlen has designed some great metal skewers. Check them out.
Steven Raichlen Best of Barbecue 3/8-inch Wide Signature Stainless Steel Grilling Kabob Skewers (Set of 6) - SR8025
(If you don't have flat metal skewers you can use a pair of bamboo skewers and slide them in side by side). This helps so you can turn the shrimp easier.

6. Scrape the grill, or brush with a grill brush like this one,
Charcoal Companion Compact Rosewood Handle Grill Brush

7. Once the grill is scraped or brushed, take a little vegetable oil on a wad of paper towels and run it across the grates (this helps ensure the shrimp won't stick)

8. Lay the shrimp on the grill and cook 2-3 minutes for small shrimp (51-60)
or for larger Jumbo shrimp (21-25) 4-6 minutes.

Color determines doneness. When they turn pink and there is no sign of grey they are done. They really do cook quick, do not leave the grill.

9. Serve them up right away.

notice the shrimp are turning pink


 

We ran out of skewers and grilled some of the larger shrimp right on the grate which works, but it is hard to keep them  turned. It is a lot easier to turn them on the skewers


The skewers make a really nice presentation and it keeps the shrimp from escaping down to the fire beneath

The kids were so happy to have their own skewer of shrimp. The girls loved the shrimp dinner. They thought we had something special. It was fun and it was so easy to do.
 We served up the shrimp with a simple salad and some fruit from the fridge.
 

 

Creamy mushroom and spinach bake

This was a quick and easy dish that I prepared for supper the other night. We enjoyed it, so I thought I would share.

Creamy mushroom and spinach bake

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
Grease a casserole dish with butter

1 package of frozen chopped spinach
Spread the spinach in the bottom of the casserole dish

1 1/2 cups mushroom gravy
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 small can of mushroom pieces drained
Mix these all together and spread over the top of the spinach

Slices of Mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup bread crumbs
About 1/2 teaspoon of coarse ground black pepper

Lay slices of mozzarella cheese across the top and sprinkle with bread crumbs and black pepper
Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes until it is hot and bubbly and the top begins to brown. 

Thoughts on Vegetable chips.

Vegetable chips, better than regular chips? 

Vegetable chips; given their name they would seem a healthy and yummy alternative offering more nutrition than the lowly potato chip, but do vegetable chips have any  real advantage over potato chips?

It all depends on the processing of the chip. Read the labels. If it were as simple as take the vegetables slice them, and fry them yes, there would be of some benefit to your health. There are some great products out there on the market, but most of the vegetable chips on the market are made from dehydrated vegetable powders added to potato and or other starches then mixed and mashed together and  a variety of flavorings and preservatives until there is nothing left of the vegetable that began this journey.



Processed and full of chemicals from the beginning, these things are far from healthy. Start with the vegetable powders used.  Many of the dried fruits and vegetables  that are produced  today are not done the old fashioned way. There are too many things added to aid in the process of drying fruits and vegetables. Chemicals are added to improve the texture, color, and flavor, as well as additives to avoid spoilage and aid in quicker drying times. All this chemical stuff just to dry out the vegetables, and we are just beginning to make the vegetable chips.

Once this vegetable infused powder is obtained then it is mixed with large amounts of chemicals, fillers, starches, flavorings etc. to create a mass of "dough" that will be pressed through a machine and will ultimately end up in the deep fryer. Now you take this mass of chemicals with a hint of what used to be vegetable and let it swim in the oil bath, which is more chemicals.  (don't believe me check out how vegetable oils are made). After this process, the chips are usually off to a shower of salt and flavorings (read another chemical bath).  Then off to packaging, which includes more chemicals to preserve them while in the bag.

We eat this stuff thinking that we have done something good for our body. Thinking that somehow because it began as a vegetable it is good for us. Vegetables are good for us because they are living full vitamins, minerals, and fiber. They are living and if eaten in this form they give life to us, take away that and mutilate the vegetables in the manner described above and it has no life or energy left to give to you and I.

THE VERDICT:  

I think I will stick to real vegetable chips made with thin sliced vegetables, oil, and salt.

I think that they are a hoax offering you very little. It is like the package of vegetable pasta I picked up the other day and looked at the label. On the front it boasted that a 6 oz. serving provided half a vegetable serving. It had a little star by it. I turned the package over to see the real story. On the back of the package it showed that a the serving size was 2 oz. This meant that you needed to eat three servings of pasta to equal half a serving of vegetables. I will stick to real fruits and vegetables.



If you want to check out how vegetable oils are made here are some places to start.

Answerbag, how is vegetable oil produced   The short sweet version
Healthy eating politics how vegetable oil is produced The long version with all the nitty gritty details.

 

This post shared as part of real food wednesdays

 

Salad it's whats for dinner

Want more energy in life? Want better health?




Start with a daily salad.  No, I am not talking about cookie salads, Jell-o salads and other such things. (I live in an area where anything mixed into a  tub of cool whip is called a salad). No, I am not talking about chocolate (which according to the note below some may consider it a salad.) No, I am not talking a bit of iceberg lettuce with cheap cheddar cheese and imitation bacon, topped with a healthy dose of ranch dressing and maybe a tomato slice for color. I am talking real, full of flavor, life giving, yummmmmm kind of salads.

Salads can be anything tossed together.  Truly, it is amazing what you can do in the salad world by combining whatever fruits and vegetables, grains, beans and herbs you have close by. My salads are getting better. I am enjoying different salads and different flavor combos. The kids are doing well with it too. They like to see what Mom will come up with next.  Yes my kids eat salad.  If exposed to good salads, kids (and adults) can learn to enjoy them.


Salads are more than just lettuce. You have to start thinking outside the box. fruits, vegetables, whole  grains, beans, lentils, herbs; they all can go in a salad. Chef Brad's fusion grain cooking show has helped me to learn about some of the less popular grains out there. He often makes salads from the cooked grains. I will include a link to his salad recipes.  My family has discovered they like tabbouleh salad.  It is made from bulgur wheat, chopped vegetables along with healthy amounts of mint and fresh parsley. I have enjoyed making more salads. Salads bring life to my world. 

Take a look at some photos of salads that I found. Notice the variety of ingredients, and textures. Imagine the flavors, and see the endless possibilities (This is just a tiny sampling of what I found.)

 

                                                                           Photos in this post  courtesy of Bing images


Salads can be very nourishing with the exception of  store bought dressings that many douse their salad in. Processed dressings are really no good for you. They start with cheap flavorless oils then they add a ton of sugar, salt, and flavorings to make it taste edible. Then they add preservatives, and emulsifiers to keep it all together. What you end up with is a major chemical bath for your salad. Who wants that?  Yet this is what people eat on salad every day. People will have a typical salad thinking they are doing good for the body and ruin it with a healthy dose of something like ranch. People will literally make salad dressing soup. They float a little lettuce in their ranch dressing and call it a salad.

Go beyond the ranch dressing. For some of you it is the standard go to dressing for everything. You get tired of salad because they are all the same. All salads taste the same because of the dressing.  If this is you, you are in for a pleasant surprise. Wake up with new flavors by changing up your salad dressing.  There are many options out there I have written a post about making your own salad dressing I will include a link below.

Making your own dressings are so easy.  If you start with a good quality, flavorful oil and vinegar you are nearly there. A bit of salt, pepper is all you need to make a simple vinaigrette. If you prefer creamy dressings, avocado or nuts in a blender can really add  to the dressing, making it more like the creamy dressings we have come to expect on a salad. These things can really have a positive impact on your health.

Are you ready?  Are you willing to try?  Will you give salads a second look in your house? We are really glad we did.  We eat a lot less starchy side dishes because we have replaced them with salads. Our health is better because of it. You too can have better health by making salads a major part of your daily diet.

 I have included a bunch of helpful links below to help you get started.
 
My dressing tutorial

Chef Brad salad recipes

101 salads for the seasons (New York Times)

101 cookbooks

Happy salad making!  


This post shared as part of real food wednesdays

Beans, beans, the musical fruit

Beans, they are good food for the body yet here in America many people eat them once or twice a year. Why is this so? Probably because nearly every six year old goes around chanting a little thing they heard in school that goes something like this "Beans, beans, the musical fruit, the more you eat the more you toot, the more you toot  the better you feel, so lets eat beans at every meal." Is is any wonder that passing gas is so funny to a six year old?

Beans do tend to cause gas for some people because they are are so high in fiber and other things that our bodies have forgotten how to use. For many of us beans/lentils are a foriegn food that our bodies don't know what to do with.  What was once a staple of the diet has become nearly extinct except at the occasional barbecue, and then the jokes start. Yet the key to helping with the gas trouble is to eat beans/lentils regularly. Eat beans 3 times a week and watch what happens. (alot less gas) 



pdphoto.org 

People all over the world eat beans and lentils everyday. Our Grandparents and Great Grandparents ate beans as a staple food. What has happened since that stopped? Heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and a whole heap of other diseases and things have exploded upon the scene. We have gotten away from the goodness of the whole foods like beans and our bodies are telling us. It would do the body good to get back to the basics and eat beans more often. Many of the "preventable diseases" can be helped or prevented simply by adding things like beans back into the diet.

Part of the trouble is the time that it takes to prepare beans. To cook them from scratch takes time. even with a pressure cooker it takes time to cook them. Canned beans can be a great way to begin to add beans to your diet. They are convenient and easy to use. The other part of the trouble is "I don't know what to do with them besides making soup".  They can be used in soups, salads, or tossed into casseroles.  Lentils can be used to extend ground meat especially when well spiced.

If you are in need of some recipes and things to do with beans and lentils The savvy vegetarian has some great ideas, recipes, and tips for adding more of this great food to your diet. Adding in beans/lentils is one of the projects I am working on for myself and my family. I will update later on about how this is going for us.  In the meantime, What is your favorite way to get beans/lentils into your diet? Leave a comment below as inspiration for others.


For more info on types of beans available, more recipes, and cooking tips, check out the sites below.
101 vegetarian recipes
life 123


shared as part of real food wednesdays

obsessed with processed foods

We live in a society that is addicted and obsessed with processed foods. It is hard to escape it. Even those who are on "special diets" still can't escape the call of  packaged/processed foods. They make it so simple to grab and go.

Just this last week on facebook I saw a call for help. It went something like this. I gotta go gluten free for three weeks. Which products do I choose and which packages do I avoid? I loved one of the first comments. "Eat food that God made". A call to go gluten free is really a call to avoid processed foods. The problem comes in the way we approach it. My husband comes home this week and tells me about a study he heard where going gluten free had no real effect on the majority of those who follow. It does not really supprise me. I am sure that those were the people that were going gluten free according to package labels, and not really changing the way they ate.

I see all those who jumped on the low carb/Atkins diet a number of years ago. You would see people eating eggs and bacon three meals a  day. Or a big greasy hamburger without the bun. How can this be healthy?  I read the book. It  talked about eating good proteins as the main part of the meal. It was eating low carb fruits and vegetables. It added in some whole grains and other good foods like nuts and seeds. It was not eat piles of processed meats, although that is how it became interpreted my many.  The book was advocating real food, with a few rules, for helping you keep the processed carbohydrates low by eating fruits and vegetables. People do not want to really give up the foods they love for fruits and veg nuts and seeds. We have gotten to where processed carbohydrates are such a part of us, that parting with them is really hard.  You could eat processed carbohydrates as long as you offset it with fiber. So all these "low carb" processed foods had a high amount of processed fiber additives. They added all kinds of fiber stuff to make it "low carb friendly". The other thing about the low carb was the sugar substitutes and alcohol sugars. These things really caused havoc on peoples bodies. It is no way to live for the long haul.

Vegan diets. Avoid all animal products. OK I get that. There are some good reasons to get rid of conventional animal products. There is alot going on with our system that I do not agree with, but the extremes that people go to on a vegan diet amazes me.  I imagined that people on vegan diets were eating mainly things like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds. What I have found with vegans is things like Vegan hot dogs, cheese, and burger substitutes. Things like Oreo cookies and other processed foods that are vegan friendly. It  really kills me. I don't see how this can be healthy for your body. It is not real food, yet it is made with no animal products so therefore it is good?

Then comes Paleo/caveman diets. I understand the call to get back to basics. They ate whatever was available to them. I am understanding how going no grains can be beneficial considering what we have done to our food sources.  I think it is more how we process the grains with all our technology  and the fact that people think that wheat is about the only grain to eat. Again I see the paleo diet as a call to avoid processed foods, yet people don't get it.  I see all these paleo friendly dessert recipes out there made with peanut butter and coconut flour. I am thinking, caveman did not eat like this. People are missing the point.

There are a ton more diets out there that I could go on about it all day, but the point is..... People are taking these things to the extreme. So many of these diets have so many rules, regulations, and guidelines. Don't eat this, don't do that. It is counting carbs, fat grams, calories, fiber grams, sugars etc and the list goes on.  People are taking these general rules  and guidelines and making them the gospel truth, and usually they are picking only one of the rules to live by. They take these rules and look about to see how they can still eat the foods they are addicted too and still make it fit into "the rules", and not getting the fact that the rules were intended to help guide you to whole foods and a change in the way you eat.  The large food manufacturers want your business. They want you to be addicted to their processed foods. They want to keep you coming back and buying these products. They will do all they can to somehow fit their products into your rules  or thoughts about eating. 




Is this the way your grocery bag looks,
full of fruits and vegetables?




My take on all this. Get out of the fast food/ boxed food mentality. Get away from what I can't or shouldn't eat. Look for what you can eat. Start eating whole foods. Buy fruits and vegetables and then eat them. Find ways to cook and prepare them in a way that you will enjoy. Learn about whole grains that are available. Eat real food as it is grown. Grains, beans, nuts and seeds are good food and are meant to be the staple. Eat beans more than the twice a year that most people eat them (as baked beans at a summer barbecue).  Make eating whole foods, fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts the main event. Make these things the rule rather than the exception to the rule. You can still eat the other stuff, just in small amounts.  You will find that the boxed and bagged foods that you once loved will loose their appeal, and you will learn to love the good wholesome food. Try it and see what happens.

Rethinking real food.

Growing up in the eighties and early nineties we got a  message burned into our brains. FAT IS BAD, FAT IS EVIL. The message was everywhere.

see, hear, speak nothing of high fat foods, only low fat varieties

 It was all over the news, billboards, books, and infomercials showing us how to knock out the fat. Everywhere you turned you saw and heard about the benefits of a low fat or non-fat diet. The saying was "Fat is what is making you fat". We all followed these crazy low fat diets and what happened? We all got fatter and we still screamed for more low fat foods because doctors and health Gurus are telling us that low fat is the way to live. Food producers trying to keep up with the demand were loading up food items with sugar, salt and all kinds of flavorings and chemicals to make up for the lack of fats. It is not a good combination for health yet people still believe that low fat is the way to go because it has been beat into our brains that low fat is the way.

One of things that I am having the hardest time with is rewiring my brain to believe that FAT IS GOOD. It has been so ingrained in me that any and all fat is bad, I have struggled with buying those "high fat" foods. I have started buying whole milk and yogurt and real sour cream. Butter, and cream (which were so against the rules) are now a staple in my fridge.  I have started cooking with real olive oil and coconut oil.  I have added nuts, seeds and avocado as the major source of the fats in my diet. I feel better and my brain is working better because I am fueling it with the fats it needs to thrive, yet I still struggle with the thoughts that it might be bad for me because it is so ingrained into my brain that fats are bad.

Dairy farmers know that fat is good. They just supply what the public market is demanding. We are demanding low fat dairy products so they keep supplying them. It is so ingrained in us. Low fat dairy is being sold to us for our children's health telling us that our kids will get fat if they eat full fat dairy, but know this, a calf that is not fed enough fat will die. Mother nature made milk as a good start for growing babies. Even our own babies need the fat and nutrition in mother's milk to survive. We need fat to survive. Our brain is sixty percent fat. We need the essential fatty acids for our brain to engage properly. So many are getting the wrong fats and an overload of them. We are getting plenty of fat into our diets, yet our brains are starving  and crying for fat because we are not getting the right fats that our body and brain can use.

We need real fats, the fats produced by nature itself. Olive oil pressed right from the olives, coconut oil squeezed right from a coconut, avocados, nuts, eggs, seeds etc. These things I understand. Many of the other oils I choose not to use as often. Soybean, canola, cottonseed and many other oils are so unnatural. Take some plants that have a relatively small amount of oil in them and grind them up, mix them with  toxic chemicals  and put them under extreme pressure in order to extract that small amount of oil. Then it goes through a whole process of heating and more pressure and more chemicals to clean and deodorize it so it does not taste and smell of all the chemicals. Take this highly refined oil and run electricity through it along with other stuff to hydrogenate it and you have something that our body does not know what to do with, yet we eat this stuff by the boatload. Nearly every packaged product on the grocery store shelves (and many in the health food stores) contain hydrogenated oils. These are the bad fats that we should avoid and for good reason, yet so many of us are eating a ton of these processed fats because they are hidden and we do not see them and do not really register that they are there.

Because it is so ingrained in us that fat is bad, we are eliminating the added healthy fats  (the ones that we can see).  It is easy to eliminate those things we see.  so many  people avoid things like avocados, nuts and eggs which we really should be adding to our diets.  "They are high in fat,  so I can only eat them occasionally." Yes they are high in fat, but it is the good fat that our body is trying so hard to get into the brain. We should be eating so much more of them and so much less of the junk we are eating.  So many avoid cooking with butter or olive oil and use a nonstick cooking spray which I avoid like the plague (more on that in another post). Learn to cook with real fats. Avoid the processed foods. Just about any food that comes in a bag, box, or can that is ready to eat will have some form of these over processed oils in it not to mention the preservatives. We need to eat food as nature made it, not as man made it.

I have had to work hard on eliminating these negative thoughts about fat. It is getting easier  because my brain and body are saying "thank you." I am feeling so much better because I am eating well. I will continue to eliminate the junk that does nothing to fuel my body and brain.


photos courtesy of Microsoft images

shared as part of real food wednesdays

Yes, you can afford real food

I can't afford real food! I hear it alot. If you are buying processed "health foods" yes, it can be expensive. If you are paying for brands and labels it can be overwhelming. The biggest part of eating real food is finding the sources of "good, whole food" at prices that can fit into your budget.

1. A well stocked pantry and fridge is key.  A well stocked pantry includes herbs and spices, good oils, and wonderfully flavored vinegars. it also includes beans, lentils, rice, and  a variety of whole grains as well as canned fruits, vegetables, and beans. Keeping the fridge stocked with  fruits and vegetables is important.  Keep fruits and veg cut up at eye level.  Keep pre-cooked grains and beans in the fridge. They can be thrown into soups or salads if they are cooked and ready to go.  Dinner can be made in a snap if the time consuming work is already done (veg chopped, grains cooked). Cooked grains and lentils/beans will stay good in the fridge up to 10 days.
2.  Invest in a freezer. Buy good quality meat in bulk. Buy half a cow. Buy a pig. Grow your own produce and store it. Buy when there is an overwhelming bunch of produce and it is dirt cheap. We bought blueberries this last week and now we have enough berries to last. It cost about 10% of what it would have been otherwise.  It took just a few minutes to wash and freeze them for later use. Learning a few simple preservation skills is essential to eating and living well.

3.  Buy in bulk. Start small, but work up to buying in bulk. Pre-packaged grains are fine in the beginning while you are finding out what foods you family likes.  Find out what your family will eat, and then buy those things in bulk. Some of the grains can be so expensive in a package (2 or 3 dollars a pound) yet, in bulk those same grains can be  super cheap (less than a dollar a pound). There are options out there, you just have to search them out. Ask your store to expand the health section or get a bulk food section. There are online resources that can be utilized. Sometimes if you buy in bulk you can save on shipping. Find a few friends with similar values, and share the cost of bulk buying with them.

4.  Learn how to navigate the grocery store.  Shop the perimeter, and lower/upper shelves of the grocery store. The middle isles  right at eye level are where the most unhealthy foods are located. The store is arranged with the big brand, over processed foods at eye level. (even the health food stores do this)  Look up and down. The healthy foods are usually located on the highest and lowest shelves. I spend 90% of my time browsing the outer perimeter of the store. I rarely go down those middle isles and when I do, I usually keep my eyes near the ground, looking up only to scan the upper shelves (and watch out for other shoppers)


5.  80/20 rule.  This means that you strive to eat well and get good nutrition 80% of the time. This gives us room to have cheat days. It does not have to be an all or nothing thing. So many people get on an "all or nothing" kick. They then beat themselves up when their diet is not perfect, then they give up because they cannot achieve this elusive "perfect diet". There is no perfect diet. The key is to make the changes for the long haul that are sustainable. 100% perfection for a week, and then collapsing on the floor and going back to the junk because it was to darn hard, this is not sustainable. Simple choices and changes one peice at a time makes it easier to incorporate it all into a sustainable way of life.



6. Change the mind set. We get it into our minds that if we eat differently, people won't understand why I make these choices. We get into the mind set of some foods are "evil". Many men and children have the mindset that healthy food tastes like dirt. There are many who are of the mindset that vegetables and grain are for animal feed not for humans. There are many stories that we tell ourselves about the food we eat, Some of it conscious and some way back in the depths of the sub-conscious mind. For me, I had to get over emotional eating issues. "I eat to fuel my body, not to feed my emotions"  I had to repeat that over and over again until it became a part of me. It is not a diet for the short haul it is a journey of good health.

I hope that I have helped you to change your mindset to "I can do this". Take your family on the journey of good health. It is a journey well worth taking.





This post is shared with several link-ups including well fed wednesdays

Is it really the peanuts?

In the United States peanut allergies are growing at an alarming rate! 


 courtesy of Microsoft images

It makes me ask "what is going on here?"  There are so many kids being diagnosed with peanut allergies. Schools are going peanut free because of  it. It is super crazy.  A number of years ago we did not have this problem. After doing some research into real foods and how to keep our family healthy I have decided that it may not really be the peanuts causing troubles with our children and our schools.




I believe that it may not be the peanut itself, but the toxins in the soil that they are grown in. Peanuts are a root. They grow down  and suck up everything in the soil and water storing it all in the peanut that we eat.  Peanuts are routinely grown in cycle with cotton plants which are one of the most pesticide laden crops grown in the United States. The ground is totally saturated with round-up and other chemicals that kill everything in sight. The next year they will grow peanuts in the very same soil. IT THEREFORE MAKES ME WONDER IF IT REALLY  IS THE PEANUTS?

Now we go onto peanut butter. It is loaded with sugar (often in the form of corn syrup), and hydrogenated oils many of them made with cottonseed oil again doused with chemicals while being grown and then bathed in a chemical pool to help in the extraction of the oils. This oil is processed further by being hydrogenated and then it is put into the peanut butter.  Are we really shocked that so many of our children are allergic to peanuts? 



If you enjoyed this, you may enjoy another post I have written.
Is it the wheat, or the way it is processed

The skinny on trans fat Part one

High fat, low fat, fat fat fat.
Good, fat, bad fat, feel like a rat.
What to eat, and what to not.
Which will keep, which will not. 
My brain is going all around.
If I pick the wrong one, I'll be in the ground.
Help me please, cause I don't know.
Which fat to use and which should go.

Happy momma

                                                                                                          photo courtsy of Microsoft images



I penned this little ditty to express my feeling about the world we live in. People get so excited about what is good and what is bad for us to eat. There is so many differing opinions out there. It is enough to drive one crazy. I have avoided it by going simple and natural. If I understand it I will eat it. Simple foods like butter, made from cream and salt. Extra virgin olive oil, pressed straight from olives. Coconut oil straight from the coconut. These things I understand, but Margarine, trans fat.... this is all too much.



It is all begins with money; oh yes, money of which it is written; "The love of money is the root of all evil"  In my discovery of margarine vs butter there is a story told. It goes something like this. Margarine was invented in America by turkey farmers wanting to quickly fatten up their flocks to keep up with the demand for the  Thanksgving table. They knew that fat had twice the calories per gram as compared to other foods. They pumped cheap oil full of hydrogen to make it firm enough for the turkeys to eat, processed it into pellets, and proceeded to feed it to the turkeys which killed the entire flock. Not wanting to lose all the money invested in this project they processed it into something that resembled butter and fed it to the people. This is a bunch of crap, or is it?  The story makes for  a  great headline for those advocating real butter.


The truth does have to do with money. Let us take a trip back to 1860's The French were looking for a cheaper way to feed the men in the Navy. They held a contest to see who could come up with a cheaper substitute for the more expensive Butter.   In 1869 Hippolyte Mege-Mouriez of Provence, France, patented a butter substitute made from beef fat and other ingredients. He named this substance "margarine" since he had used the fatty acid component, margaric acid. Margaric acid looked like pearly drops so its discoverer had named it after the Greek margarites, meaning pearl.

This stuff called margarine took off around the world.  People were making real profit from it, often passing it off as real butter.  Here in the United States this new stuff  called margarine caused a nasty war between the dairymen and the men  making margarine. In 1886 congress passed the federal margarine act. It regulated the sale and distribution of margarine. I have included a link below to that document along with a history of the war on margarine. It is interesting reading.

Margarine really took off again in the 1920's and became widely acceptable with the advent of the great depression and the subsequent world war. It was affordable, and available. (dairy was scarce at this time).  During this time it is being developed and changed to be made with vegetable oils as compared to the beef fat, but nobody seemed to notice, it was cheap and fed the family and kept them from starving. By the time the depression and the world wars were over many had forgotten the fight between butter and margarine.  Margarine was becoming a part of every table. The ban seemed to  be useless, the people had spoken; they wanted margarine over butter. Congress removed the ban in the 195o's 

In the 1950's another  important thing took place. Ancel Keys published studies about the lipid hypothesis. The American heart association began warning people about the dangers of saturated fats, and its link to heart disease.  People were urged to not eat animal fats including butter. A large portion of margarines are now being made with vegetable oils. It seems to be the perfect substitute for those who were avoiding saturated fats. Margarine  was being called wholesome and good. It was even hailed as a miracle food. It was going to change the world once again.

It seems perfect for food  for manufacturers to put into their products. It was cheap and ready to take on whatever flavor they choose. The people have already accepted margarine, now we have hydrogonated oils. That have replaced animal fats in our diets. Hyrdogonated oils are put into nearly all of our food including margarine. It has become a staple in our diet. This produces a whole new problem when It is discovered that hydrogenated oils and the margarine made from them do not have the same effect on the body as the  margarine of the past.  And now a new war ensues.... the war on trans fat.  Come back in the next couple of weeks when we will talk more about it.

 In the meantime here are some interesting links with more info on the subject.


why has the war on margarine stopped?
margarine act of 1886
history of the war on butter

Fast food the healthy way

People tell me that they do not have time to cook for the family and that it is easier to eat out. It may be true that it is easier and more convienent to eat out, but making meals at home can be done simply and easily if the mind is put to it.

                                                                    All pictures in this post courtesy of Mircosoft office

When we think of home cooked meals we think of Grandma slaving over a hot stove all day long to create a meal. We think of a large elaborate meal like Thanksgiving. We put it into our minds that it is too much work, too overwhelming, too much of a hassle, too messy to cook.  There is a long list of reasons that people have for not wanting to cook.  If we would take a challenge and cook for a period of time,  we would find that it is not nearly as impossible as it seems. I have some advice to help overcome the excuses and thoughts that arise in cooking real food at home.

1. It takes too long to cook.

Early on in my blogging, I wrote a post about making stove-top mac and cheese. It can be done in about the same time as a boxed mix. My husband finds it funny that it takes me twice as long to create from a box as it does otherwise. This last week we made Asian lettuce wraps. They came together very quickly. We had the meal on the table in about 20 minutes. We could not  load up the kids in the van and go get fast food  that quickly. Thin cut skillet steaks can be cooked in a matter of minutes. Heat some nice vegetables while the meat cooks and you have dinner in a snap. Watching Dr Oz the other day, he had a guest on the show advocating real food. He did an experiment with his family. He let each member of the family buy a microwave meal for dinner. It took nearly an hour to get all the food heated and on the table. There are many meals that can be prepared and on the table in less than 20 minutes. When people tell me I don't have time to cook, I know that it is more than an issue of time.

2. I don't know how to cook

So many have not learned the basics of cooking. It is something that used to be passed down from parent to child, but nowadays many have to start from scratch. In Chef school we learned. It is not all about recipes, it is about the techniques. Martha Stewart has a television show called Martha's cooking school. She goes into detail about different techniques each week. I enjoy this show and I learn each time I watch. Once you learn the techniques or methods then it is just a matter of applying it to different foods. Just recently I wrote a post on making salad dressings. Once you know the method, you can go from there and create a variety of dressings and sauces. There are many resources available to help.

Take a class, watch some instructional videos, borrow a book.

3. I don't know what to make.

This is very common, Coming up with dinner ideas can be a challenge. There are many planning strategies out there. Find one and see if it might work for you. The food nanny has a great plan. Pick a theme for each night of the week. Some examples could include pizza night, Mexican, Chinese, breakfast, soup, grill night, etc. Plan out for two weeks and make one large shopping trip for the main ingredients. You have a plan for what you will make each night, and you should have the ingredients on hand in the house. Having a plan is essential for most people. Create a plan or find one online and begin.

Give it some time to find what works for you. Some people love freezer cooking, others love slow cookers etc. Start wherever you are and build from there. Plan A may not work for you, so then you go on to plan B, or C ......on down the line until you find something that works. One pot meals have been a lifesaver for some. Freezer cooking is also another method that can help. There are some who do all the chopping of vegetables and fruits for the week all at once. Find a method that can work for you and your strengths.

I know one mother that has made a habit of starting a large pot of water to heat when she comes home from work. By the time she gets her clothes changed and back to the kitchen, the water is hot and ready for pasta, potatoes, rice etc. It saves her time and hassle. If she finds that the hot water is not needed for dinner then she uses it to wash up the dishes. It is simple things like this that make it possible to  put good food on the table quickly



4. It is such a mess to cook and clean up.

I think one thing that really deters people from cooking is the mess. For some this is a real concern. There are people that after cooking it looks like a  bomb exploded or tornado ran through the entire house. Sometimes the clean up can take 5 times as long as the cooking part. I am getting a bit more efficient in the kitchen. I am learning to keep the mess down. I do not make near the mess I once did. The more you practice the easier it gets.
 Cooking and cleaning up the kitchen mess can be beneficial for family life. Early on in my writing I wrote a post about washing the dishes by hand. It gives me a chance to get to know the kids better as we work together on a task such as this. It opens up conversations in a way that nothing else can. It is worth the efforts to ask the kids to put away the electronic devices and "unplug" long enough to help with the household chores. Try it, see what happens.

5. It does not have to be elaborate, simple can be extremely yummy.

A simple pasta dish can be made with  fresh tomato, a bit of olive oil, and a few fresh herbs, add a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and you have something wonderful. Sometimes the simplest dishes are the very best. When you are starting out, look for simple recipes with easy to understand ingredients and instructions. It does not have to be complex.

Start the change in your life. Put your fears aside and begin. Start small if need be. Cook one or two nights a week. As you gain confidence you can build up to cooking nearly every night.

I would love to hear from my readers: What has worked for you? What is your lifesaver in the kitchen? Leave a comment below for us all to learn together.


links to my posts mentioned above
making salad dressing
easy stove top mac and cheese
why I hand wash dishes


Other helpful links

Food nanny meal planning
Money saving mom's freezer cooking 101
15 one pot dishes
slow cooker recipes from spark recipes
cook, eat, share recipes for beginners
easyrecipesforbeginners.com
monthly meal planners

stuffed mushrooms

Here is my simple recipe for stuffed mushrooms

Easy stuffed mushrooms (serves 4)

for the mushrooms

8 ounce package of white mushrooms

1 beaten egg mixed with 1 Tablespoon water

1/2 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

oil for pan frying

1.  brush any dirt from the mushrooms and remove the stems of the mushrooms leaving the caps whole

(this is done by pushing the stem to the side with your thumb until it snaps off)

2. Heat oil about 3/4 inch deep in a skillet over high heat  

 while the oil heats...

3. dip the mushroom caps in the egg mix

4. season the flour with the salt and pepper

5. dip the egg coated mushroom into the seasoned flour

6. carefully place the mushroom caps in the hot oil

7. cook til browned on one side and then flip over and cook on the other side (about 3 minutes total)

8. remove from the oil and place on a baking sheet or other broiler safe dish

9. fill the mushrooms with a filling of your choice (See some ideas below)

10. when ready to serve, pop them under the broiler for 3-5 minutes until hot and bubbly.

These can be made ahead and kept for a couple hours in the refrigerator.

broil them when ready to serve

I like to try different fillings in my mushrooms

 here are some of my favorites

Bacon and Cheddar  filling

6 slices bacon cooked crisp

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Place bacon in a small food processor and chop it quite fine

add the cheese and pulse a few times until it comes together

Mushroom and cream cheese filling

 leftover mushroom stems chopped very finely.

1 tablespoon butter or oil

about 2 Tablespoons finely chopped onion

1 large garlic clove minced

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper to taste (maybe a 1/4 teaspoon each)

saute this all together until cooked through and slightly browned, let this mix cool slightly then add...

a squeeze of fresh lemon juice (optional)

2-3 ounces of cream cheese

Parmesan cheese for topping (optional)

Spinach or broccoli variations

To the  basic mushroom and cream cheese filling you can add

1 Tablespoon cooked chopped spinach that has had all the liquid squeezed out of it.

or

1-2 Tablespoons finely chopped cooked broccoli

Crab filling

2 Tablespoons finely chopped onion

1 garlic clove minced

saute together in a bit of olive oil until softened

1 Tablespoon fresh parsley

1 Tablespoon Mayonnaise

sprinkle of fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup crab pieces

1/2 teaspoon celery salt

dash of hot sauce

mix all filling ingredients together

fill the cooked mushroom caps and broil until hot and bubbly

Ham filling (pictured above)

1/4 of a small onion

1 garlic clove

1/2 cup cubed ham

2 Tablespoons mayonnaise

1 teaspoon mustard

grind ham, onion, and garlic in a food processor until chopped fairly fine

Stir in the mayonnaise and mustard

Fill the mushroom caps

top with grated cheddar cheese and broil

These are so easy and yummy, you will have people begging for more.



avocado more than guacamole

In the center of the greenish -gold oval is a seed resembling a peeled chestnut that must be removed and thrown away because it is both bitter and exceedingly hard to chew. Between this and the tough rind of the skin however is a paste that the Indians consume with great relish. Soft as butter in texture, it is of a very good taste.  Gonzalo Fernandez Oviedo y Valdes;  Spanish historian.   

                                                                                                                                               Photo from microsoft images

Avocado, what a wonderful fruit. They are rich and buttery in the mouth, wonderful for the body inside and out. So many love them, yet so many have not tried them except as guacamole. I do not know if it is the color, the texture, or the look of the outer skin, that causes people to be intimidated by this food. There are those who have not ventured to try them, but they wish they had when it becomes "love at first bite".

One of the most common ways to eat avocado (besides as guacamole) is straight up out of the skin, often with a squeeze of lime and a bit of salt and pepper.  There are so many ways to eat this wonderful fruit. It can be made into a soup, salad, or on sandwiches. It is made into dips, spreads, and even into baked goods.  

Avocados should be eaten fresh. There are some who say they can be frozen and made into guacamole later. We tried it; and now we know that they are much better fresh. If it came down to freeze them or lose them, it may be alright, but the texture and color is much better fresh. 

How to pick a ripe avocado.

1. Hold the fruit in the palm of your hand

2. Give a gentle squeeze

3. If it yields to gentle pressure it is ready

4. If it feels like a rock, it needs more time to ripen

5. If it feels overly soft and squishy, or you can tell that the rind is separated from the fruit, it is overripe.

Avocado gazpacho what a wonderful treat on a hot summer day

Avocado gazpacho

serves four

1 cucumber peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic

2 shallots quartered

1 green bell pepper seeded and rough chopped

1 cup lettuce

1 tablespoon fresh dill

1 cup chicken stock

1 avocado

juice of 1/2 lemon

salt and pepper

sour cream and dill for garnish (optional)

Puree the cucumber, garlic, shallots, pepper, lettuce, dill, and chicken stock, and 1/2 the avocado in the blender or food processor until smooth. taste for salt and pepper adding as necessary (it all depends on the salt in your stock). Dice the other half of the avocado and sprinkle with lemon juice stir into the gazpacho and then garnish with a touch of sour cream and dill if desired.

Avocado is readily available in most grocery stores across the country. They usually are reasonably priced. We get alot of them this time of year with Cinco de Mayo coming up about a week from now. Buy some and see what happens. You may be surprised; you may be like so many others, it may be love at first bite.

avocado recipes

food.com avocado recipes