Real Food Wednesdays

There’s Nothing “Smart” About Froot Loops

/ Ren
Action Alert: (Not So) Smart Choices ProgramLearn more at The Nourished Kitchen

Dear Doctors Kennedy, Kahn, Hager, and Bier,

I am writing to express my outrage that you are supporting the “Smart Choices” program. Any certification program that calls Froot Loops a “Smart Choice” doesn’t deserve your support. Our children are already eating too much sugar and suggesting that parents should consider Fruit Loops and other unhealthy foods packed with sugar a good choice is irresponsible given the dangerous and costly rise in childhood obesity we currently face.

Fruit Loops is 41% sugar.

You should know better, as doctors and as public health leaders, than to promote eating sugary cereals for breakfast. I am appalled that any university or nonprofit organization that supports healthy eating would want to be associated with an industry-backed promotional gimmick suggesting that Fruit Loops and other clearly unhealthy foods are a good choice for children.

This is, simply put, unacceptable. I urge you to resign from the board of the Smart Choices program. Until you do, you not only cast doubt upon your own objectivity, but also on the credibility of Tufts University, the Baylor College of Medicine, the American Dietetic Association, and the American Diabetes Association. I highly doubt that any of these institutions want to be associated with the idea that Froot Loops, or any of the other unhealthy foods manufactured by the program’s sponsors are “Smart Choices.”

Prefer an ACTUAL Smart Choice?  Try Kelly’s Breakfast Oatmeal..

The night before, mix these ingredients together in a small saucepan (takes about 2 minutes):

1/2-1 t. sea salt
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 c. real maple syrup (we get ours at our farm, ask at your local health food store)
2 c. organic oats (not the quick-cooking kind)
2 c. warm water (filtered is best) (***Only 1 c. if you’re just adding hot water in the morning – see below.)
4 T. organic whole-milk yogurt (even better: homemade yogurt from raw milk), OR you could also use whey, kefir or buttermilk – using ONE of any of these is the key to breaking down the phytic acid. (Those with severe milk allergies can substitute lemon juice or vinegar.)

Cover and leave it on the counter-top overnight.

In the morning, turn on your stove and heat the oatmeal to the desired temperature, and that’s it!


kk-rfw-thumb3

Go get some more REAL breakfast ideas!


Bookmark and Share

Pan-Seared Salmon, Fresh Peas and Mustard Beurre Blanc

/ Ren

Wild Alaskan sockeye with smoked pepper, fresh peas with pastured bacon and thyme and coarse mustard beurre blanc..

Pan-Seared Salmon, Fresh Peas and Mustard Beurre Blanc

Pan-Seared Salmon, Fresh Peas and Mustard Beurre Blanc

For the mustard beurre blanc

1/4 cup white vermouth
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon minced shallots
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 oz fresh cream
1 tablespoon homemade coarse-grain mustard
4 tablespoons pastured butter, cut into small pieces
sea salt to taste
cayenne pepper to taste

Boil vermouth, vinegar, shallots and garlic until liquid is reduced by 1/2, about 5 minutes.

Whisk in fresh cream and homemade mustard, reduce heat and simmer another 5 minutes.

Strain mixture into a clean pan over low heat and whisk in butter 1 piece at a time.  Season with sea salt and cayenne and keep warm until ready to use.

Rinse fresh, wild Alaskan salmon fillets, pat dry and season with sea salt and smoked black pepper.  Set aside.

Blanch fresh peas in salted boiling water until not quite done. Drain and rinse under cold filtered water to stop the cooking process. Set aside.

Fry pieces of fresh pork belly or uncured bacon until crisp.  Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of fat then add blanched peas and fresh thyme.   Cook until peas are fork-tender, perhaps 5 minutes.  Keep warm.

Meanwhile, sear salmon presentation-side down in a little clarified butter or unrefined coconut oil until brilliant orange and slightly crisp on the edges, about 2-3 minutes.

Turn salmon over and place pan in a 400 degree oven until the fish is medium-rare, about 3 minutes depending on thickness.

Spoon peas in a circle around perimeter of plate and spoon beurre blanc into the center of the plate.  Place salmon on top of sauce and dress with a squeeze of fresh lemon.

This post is part of the Real Food Wednesdays Blog Carnival

Bookmark and Share

Simple Things

/ Ren

The more distance we put between ourselves and the profoundly broken industrial commercial food system the better.  The better for our health, for the local economy, the environment and our own pocketbooks.

Do what you can to become more self-reliant.  Turn off the TV, plant some herbs and vegetables, take a class about food preservation.  Learn to cook.  With practice, these things become second nature.

Consider today’s lunch..  homemade sauerkraut frittered in pastured butter, onions and peppers from the garden, locally made sausage, homemade fermented mustard..

100_2564

Real. Simple. Lunch.

What have you been eating for lunch all these years?  Is it time for a change?

This post is part of the Real Food Wednesdays Blog Carnival


wget -m http://ginatrapani.googlepages.com

Bookmark and Share

Jalapeno Cornbread

/ Ren

Do you remember the taste of real, honest-to-God yellow corn?  You know, back before the genetically modified junk that nowadays goes into producing HFCS, ethanol and batteries?

Yeah, that stuff..

100_2397

Jalapeño Cornbread

(adapted from a recipe by Michael Ruhlman)

Makes 1 loaf

1 cup organic, whole grain yellow corn meal
1/3 cup sprouted wheat flour
1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
8 ounces real buttermilk
2 large pastured eggs
4 ounces melted pastured butter
2 or more fresh jalapeño peppers
1 cup fresh yellow corn

Toast corn and seeded and chopped jalapeño peppers in a dry skillet until corn is slightly browned.  Toasting brings out the corn’s natural sweetness, eliminating the need for added sugar, and makes the peppers slightly less hot and more complex in flavor.  Set aside.

Mix the corn meal, flour, baking powder and salt together in a mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs and melted butter.

Stir the wet and dry ingredients together until just combined, then fold in the peppers and corn.

Put the batter into a buttered loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees until just barely dry in the middle, about 30 minutes.

Allow to cool several minutes before slicing and serving warm with pastured butter or raw wildflower honey.

For a real treat, fry slices of cornbread in butter or a bit of bacon fat.

Did you know that “44 percent of U.S. corn becomes domestic animal feed, and another 10 percent ends up in feed rations as the ethanol byproduct distillers grains? That means more than half of U.S. corn—our nation’s largest farm crop—ends up on feedlots”.

This post is part of the Real Food Wednesdays Blog Carnival


Bookmark and Share

Sour Cherry Scones with Vanilla Cream

/ Ren

A scone is a leavened quick-bread of Scottish origin.

Organic soaked wheat and malted barley flour, pastured butter, cacao nibs, dried cherries and raw cream..

103_2051

Soak 1 /1/2 cups of organic whole wheat flour in 1/3 cup filtered water and homemade whey overnight. Soaked flour is easier to digest, thereby increasing the bioavailability of the nutrients.

Pour fresh raw cream into a stainless steel or enameled pan.  Add a split and scraped vanilla bean and heat the cream very slowly until the surface begins to wrinkle, and then continue to heat until thickened, about 1 hour over low heat (do not let it boil, or you’ll have to start over).  Allow to cool to room temperature; this is the vanilla cream.

Stir 1/2 cup of malted barley flour into the soaked wheat flour and pour into a glass mixing bowl.

Add 1 teaspoon cream of tartar, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon Celtic salt and then cut in 4 tablespoons pastured butter.  Make a well in the center of the mixture, then add 3/4 cup raw milk, 1/2 cup of raw cacao nibs and a cup of coarsely chopped, dried tart cherries.

Work by hand into a soft, slightly wet dough.  Mixture will be quite thick and a little sticky.

Drop heaping tablespoonful of dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, sprinkle with rapadura and bake in a 375 degree oven until golden brown, about 12 minutes.

Serve warm with additional cacao nibs and vanilla cream.

This post is part of the Real Food Wednesdays Blog Carnival


Bookmark and Share