What food looks like

I remember being surprised, when we first started shopping at the farmer's market, at how crooked my sweet potatoes were.  They were so hard to peel!  They had dirt stuck under everything!  These weren't the vegetables I was used to, the straight, clean, easy to peel sweet potatoes my father used to hand me before dinner to deal with.  

Now, when I go to the farmers market, I expect my potatoes to look like they just came out of the ground, I expect the mushrooms I buy to have dirt on the end.  I expect my vegetables to be crooked.  I was really surprised last week though, when we went to buy carrots, and I was confronted with Giant Carrots.  They were at least three inches in diameter.  I mean, they were enormous.  I'm used to organic, farmers market produce being smaller and less shiny, like my strawberries.  I'm not used to organic produce being massive.  

The first time I saw Brussels sprouts on a stalk, I was confused.  (I was also 23, so there's that.)  You mean Brussels sprouts don't just come in a plastic bag from the grocery store?  I'm still not entirely sure what peas come in, although I hear a pod, because I'm convinced they come in a white package in the freezer section.  (I'm hoping there is a recipe in one of my cookbooks that uses fresh peas, and then I can figure this out.)  

I think it is a good thing, to constantly challenge our perceptions of what food looks like, what food should look like, and to recognize that aesthetics aren't everything and vegetables taste the same, regardless of shape.  (Size is a different matter.)  It's also important to know where our food comes from, not in a cage-free, hormone-free, go to the butchers and watch them kill a cow kind of way (although, go to town, if you're up for it); but in the most basic way.  What kind of plant the food you are eating is part of.  Is it a tree or a bush or a root?  Does it grow on a stalk?  Are there flowers involved?  

What has been your most surprising, "Huh. So I guess that's how that vegetable grows" moment?  

Honey Wheat Quick Bread

This recipe is from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, and it's amazing.  Do you own it yet?  You should.  It's excellent.  This recipe is from 689, and will be the last recipe I post from this book.  Because you should own it.  And yes, I also own the Joy of Cooking and The New Best Recipe Cookbook and I thought owning a third encyclopedia book would be overkill, but this one is different and it's amazing.
Ingredients:
Oil or butter for greasing the pan
1 2/3 cups buttermilk/yogurt (or 1 1/2 cups milk plus 2 tablespoons white vinegar)
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup molasses (I used honey for a lighter flavor)

Procedure:
1.  Preheat the oven to 325 and grease a loaf pan.
2.  Sour the milk - and this tip is why you MUST buy this book.  It's genius.  Heat the milk in the microwave for 45 seconds or so, and then pour in the vinegar.  Let it settle.  It sours so much better than when you just pour in the vinegar.  Let it sit while you assemble the dry ingredients.
3.  Mix together the dry ingredients and add molasses (or honey) to the sour milk.  Combine ingredients until just moistened.
4.  Pour mixture into loaf pan.  Put it in the oven.  Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Verdict: This bread is delicious.  It's a whole wheat bread that doesn't taste too wheat-y, and the honey gives it a great flavor.  I bought a 2lb jar of Wildflower Honey at the farmer's market this morning and it's amazing.  We've been going through honey so fast that we're hoping the 2lb jar lasts us awhile.

Detoxing: The Three Rs

What is the point of detoxing?  I do it for a number of reasons, all of which are uniquely suited to my particular detox "plan".  Which I made up when I lived in Michigan after returning from a week at the beach with too much alcohol and salty foods (I gained 7lbs in a week and lost it almost instantly after not touching salt for three days.)  I'm not a scientist and I'm not a doctor and I have no idea if this plan is actually good for you or not.  So please don't read this as a diet.  It's simply my reasons and rules for occasionally choosing to reduce my intake of processed foods, and I don't do it for more than a few days.  So here are The Reasons:

• If I've been eating out too much, eating too many salty foods, or consuming too much alcohol or sodas, it's a good way to let my body get back to normal and reduce the bloat.  
• It's a good way to remind myself that it is possible to eat good foods that don't have a lot of sugar or saturated fats in them. 
• It gives me a chance to check in on what I'm eating; what I think I can't live without in my diet; how much sugar or saturated fat I'm consuming.  
• It lets me take a step back and focus on what I'm eating, instead of mindlessly munching.  I agree that diets shouldn't be about restriction, but not being on a diet often leads to my finding snacks in easy places.  
• It encourages me to think about food.  I haven't become obsessed with labels yet, but I want to eat fewer processed foods.  Detoxing reminds me that it's not necessary.  
• I eat less.  I reinforce portion sizes.  I reinforce healthy protein-fat-carb ratios. 
• I force myself to eat whole grains.  Usually, I'm really lazy about this.  Detoxing is a good way to remind me that eating whole grains is easy and delicious.  

So what are The Rules?  (These are my rules.  They are not one-size fits all and please, if you are already not particularly healthy, don't try this without talking to a doctor about making drastic changes to your diet.)

• Eliminate foods that are highly processed.  Nothing that comes from a box with a packet of powdered cheese.  Nothing from a can.  Nothing that is frozen with some kind of sauce.  Nothing from a jar.  Nothing you don't know the process.  
• Eliminate foods that are high in salt.  Nothing should have added salt.  I do add a sprinkling of kosher salt to certain dishes, but only after tasting it and assessing whether it really needs salt.  
• No white flour or white sugar.  This eliminates a lot, but it's also a pretty easy rule to follow.  
• Eat mostly plants.  If it isn't currently a plant, how long ago was it a plant?  What happened to it to make it not a plant?  
• Eat foods with very few ingredients.  A lot of people follow the less-than-five rule from the Omnivore's Dilemma, I just try for ingredients I can read.
• Eating animals - I eat fish, skim milk and fat free greek yogurt as part of this.  I'm detoxing, not tormenting myself unnecessarily, and without eating grains, I need foods that carry a LOT of protein.  I don't eat cheese though.  Cheese is very high in sodium and deliciousness, and it's one of the reasons I'm detoxing.  
• No chemicals.  For the Splenda junkie, this ones a tough one.  
• Go easy - when I went running on Day 2 the last time I did this, I nearly passed out.  
• Cheat.  Do not torment yourself.  I needed veggie broth for my soup tonight and I added one of those no-sodium bullion cubes.  I didn't even check the ingredients, but I was not going to make my own stock.  Sometimes a little cheating is necessary.  I also had dried cranberries in my oatmeal and dried dates in my salad, both of which are really high in sugar.  
• Kick your spouse out.  Mr. Barefoot is out of town right now, which means I get the run of the house and total control of the kitchen.  It also means I can dedicate my evenings to cooking, if I want.  

And finally, the Recipes.  There's not much to them.  

Oatmeal (in the rice cooker)

Combine 1 cup oatmeal, 3/4 cup water, and 1 cup milk.  Add cranberries and maple syrup, or, if you are hardcore, eat as is.  

Greek Yogurt 

Combine 1 cup of Greek yogurt with fresh or frozen raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, or other fruit.  Or eat on it's own, if you are hardcore.   

Broccoli Bean Soup

Via Eating Well - http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/broccoli_cannellini_bean_cheddar_soup.html

Broiled Tilapia 

Via About.com http://southernfood.about.com/od/tilapiarecipes/r/bl40621s.htm 
Eaten with brown rice and asparagus.

Baked Asparagus-
Heat oven to 350 with pizza stone in the oven.  Toss 4-5 pieces of asparagus that are approximately the same size with lemon juice.  Put on warm stone, cook for 5-7 minutes or until tender.  


Salad-
Toss salad with dried fruit, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.  

The Length - 

Usually I hardcore detox for 1-2 days, then slowly re-introduce gluten and other foods back into my diet starting at the end of Day 3.  I wound up waking up Wednesday morning (Day 3) with a headache and generally not feeling well, and so I went ahead and had some Kashi GoLean Crunch with milk.  Things like Kashi are a gray area, since they are processed and contain sugar and chemicals, but they are whole grains.  By the end of Day 3, I wasn't craving sugar as much and wasn't hating myself for forcing myself through this, so I think that's a good sign.  

Cookbook Project: 350 Big Taste Recipes for the 1 1/2 Quart Mini Slow Cooker

There are almost no cookbooks out there for the mini crockpot, and I got tired of scaling the 4-6 crock recipes back, so I asked for this book for Christmas.

It's a terrible cookbook.  All the recipes in it are made for people who do not know how to cook, and are missing their tastebuds.  It's also poorly written.  For example, the recipe I made from it includes garlic on the ingredient list but does not say when to put it in.  A lot of the recipes are high in sodium, since they involve canned ingredients, but supposedly this book has an "emphasis on healthy cooking."

But last week we had extra shrimp, so I made this recipe.  We got rid of our 1.5 qt slow cooker when we got a rice cooker, and since this was a rice recipe, I used the rice cooker settings.

Ingredients:
1 lb medium shrimp
1 1/2, cups instant long grain rice (I used parboiled)
1 1/2 cups hot tap water
1 small onion, diced (1/2 cup)
1 can tiny spring peas (I used frozen peas)
1 tsp garlic, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Process:
Oil the crockpot; add rice and onion.  I also added the garlic at this time.  Let cook for 2 hours (or cook on rice cooker setting.)

Fluff the rice, add the shrimp and cook for 45 minutes; add the peas and cook for 15 minutes more.  (I added the shrimp and the heat from the rice cooked them almost instantly, so I added the peas at that time.)

If you do make this, add some hoisin and soy sauce.  Once we did that, it came out pretty tasty.  I do feel like I cheated more than usual on this one by using the rice cooker, but there is nothing about this dish that being cooked more would have improved.

Detoxing

Every once in awhile I like to take a step back and remind myself that life without processed food is possible.  Especially processed sugar or sweetener.

After way too much easter candy, I needed to get a grip. So I'm detoxing, which involves eating clean, real foods that look like food. I cheat a bit, but my rules work for me. If anyone is interested, I will share my recipes and "detox" plan. (Eat plants and  whole grains. Don't eat peepsters.)

So here I am at work, drinking tea without splenda and have a banana to snack on. My earlier client brought me chocolate. Jerk.

So please, comment to share your favorite real food or whole foods recipes. Also favorite unprocessed snacks. I am a big snacker.

Cookbook Project: Secrets of Fat Free Baking

My mom, the one who is afraid of butter, bought some fat-free baking cookbooks awhile ago.  I don't know why, because Mama Barefoot Does Not Cook.  She occasionally bakes stuff, but that's usually slice-and-bake cookies.  So that she constantly buys cookbooks is really odd.  Fortunately, she has a daughter who likes to cook and "help clean out" the cookbook cabinet.  So I took this one in college, when we all still thought saturated fat was the Enemy.  Since it's not, I actually added butter to the recipe I used - partly because I didn't have the prune puree that the book recommends using, and partly because I don't think saturated fat is the enemy.  Since I made that substituton, I had to make another as well - the recipe was lacking in moisture, so I wound up dumping in a good chunk of apple butter as well.  I also threw in some white chocolate chips, and I will tell you, these cookies were amazing.

Cranberry Spice Cookies (p. 170 - Secrets of Fat Free Baking)
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (just used whole wheat flour)
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp unbleached flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 plus 2 tbsp prune puree (or 1 stick of butter, plus apple butter until dough is workable)
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup dried cranberries (I also added in about 1/4 cup white chocolate chips)
1 cup oat flakes or other ready-to-eat cereal flakes (I used oatmeal)

Process:
1. Preheat oven to 350.  Combine flours, sugar, baking soda, and spices, and stir to mix.  Add prune puree or butter, honey, and vanilla extract, and stir to mix well.  Stir in the cranberries or raisins and oatmeal.

2.  Grease a baking sheet, drop cookies onto the sheet.  Flatten them with a spoon (I didn't do this - it's advisable - these cookies do not spread.)

3. Bake for about 9 minutes (longer, if you didn't flatten your cookies.)  Transfer to racks and allow to cool.

Prune Puree (if you want to try it)
3 oz pitted prunes (1/2 cup)
1 cup water or fruit juice
2 tsp lecithin granules (or why I didn't make this recipe)

Put all ingredients in a food processor, blend until smooth.  Can refrigerate for up to 3 weeks.

Verdict:  I really liked these, and husband's office approved as well.  They tasted a bit of apple butter, but not really, and the cranberry/white chocolate chip combination made them really good.  They have a little more refined sugar than I would like, but often when we swap out one ingredient, like fat, we add a lot of sugar to make up for it.  I will be making them again this week for book club and trying to use a bit less sugar, since they get some from the white chocolate chips.

Those elitist Barefoots

I read through this article about food and elitism, and I started wondering if I'm a food elitist.  I mean, can somebody who makes macaroni and cheese on a regular basis really be a food elitist?  I mean, okay, sometimes it's not Kraft, but nonetheless.  I am a woman of simple tastes, and if I could do it without gaining weight, I would live pretty much entirely on grilled cheese and macaroni and cheese.  Oh, and pizza.  Which I buy frozen from Costco, most of the time.  With a side of brocolli, because I have a degree in public health and parents who raised me to not get scurvy.

But I don't like champagne, or truffles.  I don't have an appreciation for really fine foods with fancy-sounding ingredients.  I like good, simple food.  I don't like having to ask, "what is xyz?" when I'm at a restaurant.  I like wine that tastes like juice, and much to Mr. Barefoot's constant annoyance, I can't kick my soda habit.

Mr. Barefoot and I try to shop locally, we buy organic when we can, and to make that financially possible, we also choose to buy in bulk (a savings which in some ways is countered by our high rent for our apartment that is large enough to keep bulk items in - room for a 25lb bag of flour is hard to find, but that bag cost the same as the 5lb bag of King Arthur.)  We have a shelf in our pantry dedicated to a rag-tag team of containers filled with cous-cous, four kinds of rice, barley, cornmeal, and anything else that comes in those iffy-looking containers.  We recently switched to dried beans, because we eat a lot of beans and the price of dried organic beans is vastly cheaper than canned conventional beans.  Dried beans hardly seem elitist to me, especially when we are buying them to save money.

I mean, maybe going to the Farmer's Market often enough to take engagement pictures there makes us elitist:

(By Prema Photographic)

I do think we do a lot of things that make us elitist.  We both own Kindles, and we read a lot of books.  We go to movies, then put our noses in the air and say the book was better.  We travel, often to places that require passports, and when we do, we go to museums or we go scuba diving.  In our house, computers outnumber people, we recently bought smartphones, and we both have post-graduate degrees.  

So yeah, we're elitist.  But not when it comes to food.