While some posts are raves, this is a total rant. Prepare yourself.
I have been completely and totally disgusted by certain foods lately.
Specifically- Why does every single label I check have ingredients I cannot read or pronounce. Let alone "know" off the top of my head what those ingredients actually are. I mean I could be eating dog puke under the name hydrothrowupide. Mmm, yum. Add some of that to my yogurt ok?
At my house I try to stay away from three things. (And it is challenging at the store. This is why we have fallen in love with making food from scratch. Yes, we eat out and it is delish, but 75% of the time, I want it fresh with ingredients I can name. Breads, cookies, veggies, etc.)
1. No Partially hydrogenated oils- just google it, it will gross you out.
2. High Fructose Corn Syrup- I stick with good ol' sugar (or butter, cream or as natural as possible ingredients not Crisco or margarine)
3. Soy products. This one is the hard one. It IS IN everything. Go look at your Ranch, soybean oil- first ingredient, or your crackers, rices, cereal bars... soy lecithin or soy protein. Not the type of soy in Asia, minimally processed natural soybeans or soy flour. Were talking genetically engineered foods here people. We are only "supposed" to have 2 tsp a day of soy, yet it is in everything. The hard fact that hit home was my girlfriend diagnosed with breast cancer and the first thing they said, "NO SOY."
I am going more and more granola every day.
What is the world feeding us? What are we putting in our bodies? I am all about enjoying food and eating processed foods in moderation, (Um, yes, I say Bueno!) but day in and day out, what are we eating?
We all need to up the whole wheat, fruits, veggies and making things from scratch- not with the added dangers of over-processed, thick with preservatives, added oils, imitations sugars and in taking things we cannot even name! I am not even going into my thinking on meats. I only eat lean meats, such as chicken. I do not eat red meat. Not a vegetarian or vegan. And I have no "oh don't hurt the animal issues." This is about everything but the meat post.
I follow several blogs of healthy cooking, use allrecipes.com daily and get in the kitchen to make things from scratch- so fun and soooo yummy! What a sweet reward to make a meal or dessert and you know exactly what is in it!
This week my favorite was: Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal
I made it different each day, see what you like best. And Oh my, I cannot wait until the morning I will be having it again!
1 1/2 cups quick oats
1/2 cup brown sugar (or white, honey, guava juice, etc)
1 cup milk (organic cow, almond, rice, etc)
1 TB butter (or coconut, etc)
1 egg (or make a flax egg- 1 TB flaxseed to 3 TB water)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla (or oh yes try it with pure maple extract)
1/4 c peanut butter (or crunchie, almond butter, etc)
Add-on's
1 TB wheat germ
1 whole banana chopped and stirred in before baking
1/4 c barley quick oats
Bake in a 8 x 8 pan (or easily doubles in a 9 x 13) at 350 for 15-20 minutes.
Serve dry or over warm milk.
OR even better- omit sugars and make a maple glaze to go on top!
1 TB butter
1 1/4 c powered sugar
1 tsp maple extract
2 TB milk
You will thank me.
As for a Ranch-like dipping sauce, here is Natasha's twisted Greek sauce.
1 c plain Greek yogurt
1 TB garlic
1 tsp both sea salt and fresh ground pepper
1 peeled cucumber chopped
8 oz cream cheese
1 TB lemon juice
1 ripe avocado
Add everything to food processor and blend until smooth. Refrigerate and serve on a sandwich or with chips. I had it like prayer today, just about added it to everything! I love making up recipes!
My sugar cookies were a hit this week:
1 c sugar
1 c butter
3 egg yokes
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 c whole wheat flour
1 c unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 oats
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cream of tarter
1/4 c apple sauce
350 for 10 minutes- they will not look done, pull them out anyway and let them cool.
I put homemade icing and sprinkles on them.
We all enjoy good food, right? Let's make it a mission to enjoy healthy foods more often and take a stand against mysterious ingredients!
What am I trying tomorrow?
SO EXCITED!!!
NHP
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AMEN!! I will have to try your recipes...they look great. It's so easy to get into a time crunch and grab something easy...and our health suffers. You have inspired me to be more vigilant about reading labels.
ReplyDeleteYummy! Thanks for the made-from-scratch pita bread sandwich today! The greek sauce made it super-tasty! And the cookies were yummy, too!
ReplyDeletehow's this for granola: homemade bread every monday; cakes and cookies are always from scratch; homemade baby wipes; milk - fresh "squeezed" from the cow and brought to my door to boil and skim; pumpkin cut up, boiled and mashed; beef slaughtered and brought to my door in a bag to be minced/grinded; whole wheat flour, white flour ("you get what you get and you don't throw a fit"); homemade cream of chicken soup; whole chickens because boneless chicken breasts would cost me about $7 for 1 pound. the list goes on. sounds like a fun adventure. you may want to check out the "more with less" cook book. i use it a lot. i have some recipes if you like, but it sounds like you already have a great number to try. i also have some good bread recipes. just let me know. looking forward to trying yours this week. hope we'll have enough for you to eat here when you come!
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