We Watched Forks Over Knives

Today, my family and I watched Forks Over Knives.  The movie had been recommended to us by several friends and I finally had the chance to sit down and watch it.  I have watched many food movies at this point and read many food books.  Mostly, my perspective on food issues has been to answer the following questions: What is the impact of food production on the environment? Is the food safe for our bodies?  To date, I have been able to sustain my beliefs as a locavore but watching the Forks Over Knives documentary has changed my perspective yet again.

I would highly recommend you watch it.  The movie promotes a plant based whole foods diet.  They provide research which supports the belief that this type of diet provides for a healthy, well balanced life-style and lowers an individuals risk of cancer, heart disease and other illnesses.  If you have Netflix, you can check the movie out there or your local library.

With strong evidence of the veracity of this life-style change from a close friend, we decided to try it out.  Our goal is to eat a plant-based whole foods diet for the next eight weeks and then have a physical exam to see if there are any changes.  My husband is on the verge of high cholesterol and is not at his personal ideal weight.  I had had high blood pressure at my last appointment, my bad cholesterol is high  and I often feel tired.  I hope that the changes we are about to make will help.

I still have a fridge full of food that I am not going to let go to waste so I will incorporate those items in small amounts as we make the transition.  But, tonight we had Enfrijoladas and a big green salad with avacados, tomatoes and sunflower seeds.  We decided that the only way this would work would be if the whole family were doing it so the kids ate the food, too.  Little E (3.5) devoured the two bowls of salad and almost her entire entree.  Little M (5) had three bowls of salad and half of her entree and Little  J(7) ate only half of his entree but I feel like we are off to a great start.  

I am making a meal plan for the week with breakfast, lunch, dinner & snacks identified throughout the day since this will be a new way of cooking and eating.  I will have to ditch my 'go-to' recipes and foods.  I am excited though as I do enjoy trying new things.  Looking forward to how this adventure unfolds.  I'll do my best to bring you along with it!

Ban On Soda

This article is thought provoking http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/14/nyregion/health-board-approves-bloombergs-soda-ban.html.  New York city health department has banned the sale of soda and sugary drinks larger than 16 oz.  I ignored the comment about us being able to make our own choices and this being a restriction on our own abilities to make good choices.  Why?  Because as a society we are largely not making good food choices.

I think there is a growing population of people who are interested in food, it's affect on our bodies and where it comes from.  But, many, many people are still in the dark.  Because the options are big, bigger and biggest for soda they forget that there ever was a small size and it is not even an option to order it.   I find it impossible to get my children a reasonably sized drink while out to  eat because even milk is served in 16 oz cups at some restaurants!  We usually go for splitting this between all three kids or opting for water instead.  2 c. of milk is a lot of milk for one child at a meal. Imagine if that were completely empty calories.

I am not morally in favor of more laws but it seems we as a society need a jump start on making better decisions and railing against the marketing industry that is hell bent on selling more of what is bad for us.

To the Test

Today was the first real opportunity for the decision my family has made to change our food choices to be put to the test.  For several weeks now my husband and I have been discussing the decision to put into action throughout our lives the choices we have made about the food we eat at home.

At home we eat only meats that were grass fed, pastured and raised locally and ethically.  We do our best to choose meats that were not fed corn unless that is their preferred diet.  That means our chickens forage, our cows eat grass and our pigs do not live in a building with hundreds of other pigs suffering.   At home, our fruit, veggies and honey comes from the farms in our local area.  We eat very little processed food and our milk comes in glass bottles only 15 miles from our home.  It is a great way to eat.

But prior to a few weeks ago, we still ate meat while we were out.  Meat that did not follow our food rules and relied on the corn industry that we are opposed to.  So, while field corn is withering across the mid west we have made the decision to align our true selves with our eating out selves.  We are going vegetarian unless we know our meat.

So, today was the first time we ate out that didn't involve a cheese pizza :-)  I love Panera and when my favorite local places are not available, I often choose it next.  I understand that I could ask for most items without the meat but I was surprised to find very few vegetarian options.  I had the tomato soup and mac & cheese.  My husband, eating out at a separate restaurant 60 miles away, also chose vegetarian.  It was hard.  But I am so proud of the choices we have made.

I know that over the next twelve months it will be difficult to explain these choices to friends and family.  Especially, those who know us as carnivores.  And certainly meat is not off the table at home.  Additionally, we are not looking to offend anyone with our choice.  But, I think once we bridge that 1 year mark we will know how to do it.

Until then, many of my tried and true 'go to' fast dinner options - like keilbasa, lunch meats or  Chik-Fil-A are no longer options and meals will involve more planning to get used to these new rules, but I think we can get the hang of it.  I know we are in good company with other Locavores out there.

Until next time, eat well!

ah...corn :-) and AHHHH!!! CORN! >;(

I spent the evening in my kitchen preparing food.  The children are truly starting to understand now that we we do now: the picking, the cooking, the preserving; will last us into the winter months when so much fresh delicious food is no longer available.  Tonight's venture was tackling the peaches we picked yesterday at Spring Valley Farm in Conowingo, MD.  We also picked enough blueberries for one last blueberry cobbler and 1.5 qts of blackberries which we have enjoyed and frozen.

But the peaches, which are now of the yellow freestone variety were ample and sweet right off of the tree.  I blanched and cut up 10 for a batch of peach jam that I will make tomorrow and then another 10 for my food dehydrator.  I am trying everything in that machine this year just to see how it works.  We'll see the results in 6-16 hours.  There is still one more batch of peaches left out to ripen just a bit more before I prepare them to freeze.  When preparing peaches the easiest thing is to blanch them for 3-5 minutes in a big pot boiling water with the lid on it.  The pick them out with tongs and place them in an ice water bath long enough so that you can handle them.  The skins slip off and you can slice and dice to your heart's content.

Meanwhile, I also threw in a batch of bread from the dough I had waiting in the fridge and cooked the corn on the cob that came in my CSA basket from Sunny Hill Farm this week.  When that was all finished I put 6 eggs on the stove top to boil for tomorrow's lunches. The eggs were part of my weekly dairy order from Kilby Cream in Rising Sun, MD.

Back to the corn, sweet and fresh from the field it is a fantastic summer treat.  Truly, you must cook it and eat it right away or it just isn't the same.  I have been getting into the habit of shucking the corn we receive from Sunny Hill, cooking it for 7 min and cutting it from the cob the night that I get it.  I then freeze a pound and we eat the remainder.  It is an easy way to have veggies prepared and also to be putting some away for the winter.  Sweet corn is fantastic and so I say with a blissful sigh...'ah...corn' and smile.

But then there is the AHHHHHHH!  CORN! that makes me want to run screaming the other direction.  It is the corn that is sold as a commodity and used in practically every product we use edible or not in our daily lives.  That corn is field corn.  It is not inherently bad.  It is the system and the use that are wrong.  I feel very, very strongly about this point so I hope that I do not offend anyone.  But I was listening to NPR tonight while driving and the drought and it's many effects were being discussed.  The most heavily affected crop has been field corn.  The corn is simply withering away.  The news went on to say that without this crop of corn other agriculture is going to be affected price-wise such as beef, pork and poultry because large, corporate farms rely on field corn to feed their livestock.  The problem is that these animals were not meant to eat corn.  (If you would like to understand this issue better I highly recommend that you read The Omnivore's Dilemma or watch Fresh or Food, Inc.)  Our unhealthy, monstrosity of a food system is based on an unsustainable commodity crop and during this season of drought, all of our eggs are in one basket, so to speak.  It makes me sad and I feel helpless to change such a broken system.

But there is an issue that I have been dancing around for a while and I think it is time to take the next step.  At home we eat almost entirely locally sourced, grass fed, ethically farmed meat.  But I have made an exception when eating out and when eating at other people's homes.  I do not think I can live with two ideals any longer.  I am devising a plan and I will share it here next.  Stay tuned as I also plan to share how we will manage with this value shift.  Until then, "chews" well.  :-)

Cherries Jubilee!

Ok. I didn't actually make Cherry Jubilee but we have had quite a celebration of cherries around here recently.  Sour cherries come in ripe (usually) at the end of June and are available to pick for 1 week.  It's a small window so you have to know when to start calling to ensure you don't miss it!  This year we picked again at Lohr's Orchard.  The cost was only $1.40/lb and picking started last Thursday (June 14, 2012).  If you are still interested in picking in your area, be sure to call soon or check out pickyourown.org.  The kids and I were able to pick 7 qt's in about an hour, that's about 10 pounds.

With the cherries we picked I washed and pitted 1 quart and set it up in my dehydrator to make dried cherries.  That took only ten minutes.  The cherries spent the next 24 hours drying.  From my 1 quart I made about a cup of dried cherries.  I found a calculation online that said that drying cherries reduces them to .175 of their original weight.  If you are looking for an electric dryer, this is the one that I use:

The next quart was made into cherry cobbler.  I used this recipe from Better Homes and Gardens.  Instead of a large container I made the cobblers in individual ramekins which made controlling portion sizes and divvying out servings to the kiddos much easier.

This year my plan is to make at least 1 batch of jam of each kind of fruit that we pick.  I already have 2 batches of strawberry freezer jam prepared and this morning the next 2 quarts of cherries were made into cherry jam.  I prefer the low sugar recipe available in the Sure Gel No Sugar Package.  The Sure gel costs about 2.79 a package.  I have the jars and you need 3 c. of sugar.  Making your own jam is definitely less expensive than buying this stuff and tastes so good.  You always have a nice gift to give, too, in a pinch.

The last 3 quarts, or what was left after the kids scavenged the fruit, was washed, pitted and frozen.  I freeze my cherries in a single layer on a cookie sheet with edges and lined with parchment paper.  Then, once frozen, I just put them into freezer bags.   You can then use the whole bag at once or just take out what you need.

The fresh and frozen cherries are fantastic in oatmeal, muffins and yogurt.  Next year, I am going to pick another quart and make this cherry sorbet from EatingWell.com.  With only 2 tablespoons of sugar it would make a refreshing, healthier alternative to ice cream.   Maybe by then I'll have my own cherry trees planted.

Tomato and Sausage Risotto

I love the internet for finding just the right recipe when I need to cook something.  Tonight, I knew I needed something relatively quick to cook. I could have made spaghetti but I didn't have any pasta noodles, at all, in the cupboard.  I did have pork sausage and risotto rice and veggies so I googled sausage risotto and found this recipe adapted from Martha Steward Everyday's Tomato and Sausage Risotto.

It fit the bill for being relatively quick and including only ingredients that I had on hand.

I also picked up a bushel of shelling peas today from Brad's Produce for $45.  This bushel will last our family for the entire year.  It is a simple process, albeit a bit time consuming, to shell the peas and then you need only freeze them.  No washing, blanching or other processing required.  I use a FoodSaver vacuum sealer to ensure that the peas stay fresh through the year.

Foodsaver V2450 Foodsealer

What's For Dinner?

This Wednesday was the first day of our summer share with Sunny Hill Farm.  Wow!  What an abundance!  We received broccoli, spring onions, romaine lettuce, spinach, cabbage, asparagus, eggs and a potted herb.  So much delicious food but planning meals based on your basket can be a challenge.

I have several goals with each meal: to utilize the stores of food that I already have, to create a healthy well balanced meal, to provide a meal my family will enjoy.  I am not sure that my young children would say that they 'enjoy' my food but certainly the opportunity is there!

Wednesday - Spinach Soup, fresh whole wheat bread and poached eggs.

• The spinach soup recipe calls for frozen spinach but you can easily replace this with fresh.  Bring a large pot with 2 inches of water to a boil.  Add fresh washed spinach and replace the lid.  Keep a close eye on your pot.  It will only take about 2 min to wilt the spinach. You can stop the cooking by draining the spinach and placing it in an ice bath.  It isn't totally necessary for this recipe.  I do find it helpful to chop the cooked spinach some.  I use an emersion blender to puree the soup in the pot when it is finished cooking.  

Thursday - Beef and Broccoli with brown rice.

• I used beef from Sunny Hill.  I didn't have oyster sauce that the recipe called for but substituted sauces I did have and that worked out just fine. 

Friday - Ham Steak, quinoa with broccoli, carrots and onions.

• The quinoa dish was one I concocted.  I cooked the quinoa and simultaneously blanched 1 head of broccoli and 3 carrots.  Next, I drained the vegetables and sautéed them with butter and 2 spring onions.  When the quinoa and veggies were finished I combined them with 1/4 c. of feta.  The ham steak was from Rumbleway. 

I have linked to the recipes that I used to help you in planning your meals.