winter vegetable

Each week we are to chose a new organic item we have not tried before. Naturally if I run out of local ideas I can consider other organic packaged items. 

This week I chose a parsnip. I just was not raised up eating them and they never really felt that interesting to me.  I have to tell you they are very good.  I boiled it with cabbage, carrott, onion and potato. it had a bite like a radish and texture like turnip. I will deffinately experiment again with this new chosen root vegetable.  Remember to peel it first.

consumer beware!

My Herbs

This weeks lessons on nutrition is already blowing me away!  We have been asked to view two movie/videos for this week. http://www.food,inc.movie.com/ and http://www.thefutureoffoodvideo.com/
The first movie I had seen before, and must say I was shocked and appalled that people would be so greedy and stupid to jeopardise this planet in such a way for all of man kind.  The second made me feel helpless and I cried half way through realising the future impact on our world.

You owe it to yourself, family and friends to view both . I will never look at my food pantry the same again.  Especially that this information tells you that you do not have to have it this way.  We have a right to know what is in our foods and how it is handled.  No one has the right morally to make such critical decisions about your body.  Did you know that GMO foods effect antibiotics?  I have not had any in the last few years but I have taken medicine and it effects all pharmaceuticals.  If you have a child for instance that needs antibiotics for respritory infections, asthma, or other areas, these antibiotics may not be available or work due to modifications that enter products that currently are used to produce your medicine? This is because the products grown that have been modified, have a antibiotic resistance strain so it does not interfere with the chemical engineering of the seed. 

Remember that old saying what goes around comes around?  Well it has.  Salmon that is modified, will NOT be labeled as such because the government thinks it will only confuse the consumer.  That's right folks they have decided that we are too stupid to understand what we are eating.  See http://www.naturalnews.com/  and  www.Washintonpost.com/wp-dy

Here is another kick in the head.  There are only 4 seed companies controlling the entire market.
There are only 4 major companies that control the beef market.  The projected view of retail in the next 10 years is that only 6 retailers will control the market and only one of them is in America and it is Walmart.  We will not have the choices to our food supply and they will be making all the choices for us.
Europe has banned GMO's in products.  Round up co. is the Monsanto co. that developed canola seed modification.  They have sued several farmers for cross pollination in farmers fields saying the farmers have stolen their seed patten.  Apparently we are now responsible for the control of bees, birds, wind, and natural pollination methods.  If you as a gardener, are found to have and gmo modification linked to their patten, you too are liabel for law suite as you will be considered thief. 

I think the last straw is that seed produced today is being modified to be terminator seed.  It produces seed that grows a plant we eat,  then in return produces a seed that dies and does not produce.  There are 15 pattens of these seeds today.  This is so farmers can not save their own seed but are forced to buy from the seed market.  1.4 billion farmers depend on saving their own seed. 

Are you now as angry as I am?  Think, if the seeds can not reproduce, how long will it be before we have no food.  We are just one major disaster away from the original seeds being destroyed that was used to grow the crop the seed was taken from and modified.  I do not want to be geneticlly modified nor do I want to eat foods I have no idea what is in them.

 Pre world war one our food was organic and clean.   No one here on this planet is not effected by how our food comes to us.  Please, please take the time to think organic.  I personally will be changing my food habits as quickly as I am able.

new foods and oils

This week we have learned so many things but I feel the need to cover what I have learned about cooking with oils.  We take it for granted the oils are a part of our kitchen when really kitchens did not have these varieties available only a few years ago. Fire cooking , roasting and baking was the way.  Prolonged high heat cooking is not the way to go if you want to keep the nutrients in your foods and cancer at bay. 

-safflower and sunflower oils, smoke at a failry low heat.  Aprox 225degrees F (107 C)
when refind they increase the smoke point by 100-125 degrees.
-canola however when refined can raise the level as much as 400 degrees.
-extra virgin olive oil can range from 200-405 depending on the refinement level and original condition of the oil.
-avocado oil has one of the highest smoke points of 520 degrees.

Heating oils not only loses nutrients but causes free radicals causing oxidative reactions.
manufactures call them peroxide value or PV.  Also polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs in the oils can increase illness risks such as cancer.

Because of these reasons it is best to use extra virgin olive oil. The best thing to do is buy organic, unrefind, cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil. At 200-250 degrees this range limit causes the least amount of damage. It is best to use for sauces and not for baking or higher temperatures.

Remember the oxidation reactions occur well before the smoke point.

So what is a girl to do if she wants that fried chicken?  I suggest baking methods with out oils. You can get a nice crispy chicken with out the frying.  Naturally we will talk about these health issues later like dark over white meats and skin vs no skin. That is for another day.

Lets talk about what you are cooking on.  yes , we all remember grandma's aluminum cook ware.  Even back then I remember being told not to leave foods in the pot it will pit the aluminum.  That is because it leaches into our foods.  Although most people can process these small levels of aluminum, those with fragil health or delicate immune systems should never use aluminum cook ware. Yes, sadly I have some of that vintage cook ware although I have not used it for years,  now it will decorate my vintage kitchen. Teflon and non stick ware is in every kitchen except mine.  I never liked the effect of peeling blackness into my foods.  It most often does wear off and is a likely carcinogen.  Tefflon can basicly be reguarded as plastic.  This make a problem what the chemist call PTFE and PFOA , toxic particals and fumes begin to release from tefflon-coated pans on stovetop at 464 degrees. see http://www.ewg.org/

Stainless steel is the way to go or cast iron.  I personally live out of cast iron and my basic cooking is done from a dutch oven, sauce pan, and fry pan that I never fry in.  Unless you have an issue with too much iron in your body this is an excellant way to go.  The amount of oil use to season these pans is so small, and the formation of free radicals is normal. It is what helps life go on.  It is only when they play havic with blood vessel walls and can start to damage a blood vessel or too many free radicals in the wrong place can cause a problem.  Balance is the key.
A quick word on microwaves. Remember to never use plastic and that it has the inability to kill Ecoli or salmonella and streptococcus bacteria. I use mine mostly to heat water, some times melt butter or other quick convient task. I do not cook in my microwave.

A quick note on grilling.  There are documented health risks to char-broiling and gas grilling.  There is a formation of heterocyclic amines, HCA's.  most are documented carcinogens so keeping their levels to a minimum to avoid cancer is important.  Under 325 degrees the formations of HCA's are low.  High temperatures they increase as much as 700-1000%.  This is enough reason to stay low. 

Learning nutrition wellness

	This is just as true today, plant what you can for better health! I have taken a picture of my food storage area to get a good look at the before and after experiment of how my foods change during this holistic approach to nutrition. However I am having trouble importing it here. It will be an interesting journey. I hope in my weekly blogging I can bring a little history and fun to this nutrition page. For those of you who come across this blog and are not in the class offered at SOUTH WEST INSTITUTE OF HEALING ARTS  http://www.swiha.edu/ feel free to check out the site. Organic food has been a back and forth issue for me. I truly want to eat organic however the cost vs. having enough food for the week sometimes causes an issue. Although I do not have children at home now, eating for two of us can be equally a challenge when you live with someone who loves junk food. I was very good about all this early on in my marriage 29 years ago, but over the years have bounced back and forth. The question is why? I think it is plain to see convinces. As most of us create our lives they have sped up and spun out of control to the point the we have cheated ourselves in thinking fast convenient foods are just as good. After all we don’t eat them all the time. Or do we and don’t think about it? 　 　 　 We are using the book the world’s healthiest foods by George Mateljan ISBN 09-76918544-53995. The 1st week so far I have learned a lot about our cells, their make up and how food effects us. We truly owe it to ourselves to feed these living little cells that make up our bodies. For example, one med. Apple equals 1500 mg of vitamin c and our daily requirement is only 60 mg. So why not eat the apple that is more fun than swallowing a pill? Did you know that it takes 2 ½ - 5 slices of bread to equal 1 slice of whole grain bread? Not to mention nearly 320 calories more in eating the white bread! This is where we trick ourselves in thinking well it is just one piece how bad can it be? Obviously very bad. Did you know almond are very good for your heart and lower your LDL cholesterol levels? You boost that by as much as 52.5% more by eating them with the skins on! WOW! So here on this journey of nutrition I hope we can all learn together. Here is a web site to read about organic foods.http://www.grinningplanet.com/2005/12-27/health-benefits-of-organic-food-article.htm　 　 The Chemical Age Dawns in Agriculture World War II was the first U.S. war in which diseases – many like typhus and malaria carried by insects – killed fewer people than bullets and bombs. The reason was DDT. The insect killer – or "insecticide" – had been discovered in 1939 and used extensively by the U.S. military during the war. So, it is no wonder that the postwar period saw the dawning of the chemical age in pesticides. Hundreds of thousands U.S. soldiers were issued DDT powder and told to sprinkle it in their sleeping bags. Word got back to the home front that this new miracle chemical was saving the lives of loved ones. By 1952, there were almost 10,000 separate new pesticide products registered with the USDA. The war affected food at home. The government rationed supplies of staples such as sugar, coffee, meat, fish, butter, eggs and cheese. Homemakers were challenged to fix nutritious meals on a budget with restricted supplies. Planting a Victory Garden was seen as patriotic.http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe40s/pests_01.html