Recipe: Kasha Burgers

 

These flavorful burgers were a hit with me, though the kids needed a lot of ketchup and thought the Quinoa Burgers we had last week (Recipe to come soon!) were better.  These were tough to keep together while cooking, took some extra care.

Recipe

• 3T Coconut Oil
• 3 C Chopped Onions
• 3 C Chopped Portobello Mushrooms
• 2/3 C White Wine
• 2 C Water
• 1 1/2 t Dried Thyme
• 1/2 Dried Sage
• 3 T Soy Sauce
• Salt/Pepper to taste
• 1 C Kasha
• 3 T whole wheat flour plus extra to help form burgers

1. Heat 1 T of the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onions and saute over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to caramelize.  Add the mushrooms and 1 T of the oil, saute for two more minutes, stirring frequently.

2. Add the wine, water, thyme, safe, soy sauce, black pepper and kasha.  Over high heat, bring this all to a boil.  Cover and turn the heat to low, simmer for 15 minutes.  When the kasha is ready, it should have absorbed almost all of the liquid and the grains should be tender.

3. Move this to a large bowl and let the mixture cool for about 10 minutes.  Add the flour and mix with your hands until it is well mixed.  At this point (Sunday Prep Day), I covered the mixture and refrigerated until it was burger time on Tuesday.

 4. Get the extra flour ready as it is time to form this sticky mixture into patties.

5. Heat the remaining oil in a griddle/skillet.  Carefully handle these on the pan, you should probably make thinner patties than I did to help it stay together.  A few minutes on each side, they will brown nicely, keep pushing them back into shape.   Baking may also help these hold their shape. 

6.  I served these on whole wheat rolls, with fresh greens, sliced tomato and sweet potato fries I tossed with some olive oil and oregano, baked in the oven.

Recipe:Summer Garbanzo Bean Salad

This simple fresh salad tasted great the other night and was so easy to make.  The kids even loved this!  

Recipe

• One bag of dried Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas)
• One pint of Grape Tomatoes
• One Avocado
• One Cucumber
• 10-15 leaves of Basil
• Juice of one Lemon
• 2-3 T Olive Oil
• Salt/Pepper to taste

Soak the beans overnight, then cook until soft.  Cut tomatoes in half, cube the avocado, quarter and thinly slice the cucumber, chop the basil and mix it all together in a large bowl.  Drizzle the oil and the lemon juice over it all and season to taste.   I served this over fresh greens and it was a winner!

Watermelon Shark!

At my son's Pre-K, we were in charge of snack for the whole group about once a month.  We had the duty this past week, with a "Beach Theme" so after a little internet searching, this fun Watermelon Shark I saw pictures of was the winner.  It was pretty easy to make and proved to be a big hit with everyone that saw it, plus it tasted pretty good!

1. Chop a flat edge to allow the shark to sit flat.  (reserve for step 7)
2. Scoop out the insides and save it in a bowl. (reserve for step 8)
3. Flipping the watermelon over I cut out the mouth opening, leaving space for the teeth to be exposed.
4. Carefully cut only the outer green layer off of the teeth.
5. Cut triangles out of the white area to make this shark look mean!
6. Carefully score an almond shape and then a circle in the middle on each side removing the area outside the circle to give it eyes.
7. Cut a "fin" shape out of the removed and insert a few tooth picks to allow it to stick in the shark's back.
8. Fill the body with the watermelon you scooped out and feel free to add other fruit.  I added green grapes  to break up the red, as when I only had watermelon, it appeared the Shark was swimming in "bloody water"  Now that might work for your use, but for a Pre-K class... probably not good! Haha  I could see blueberries surrounding him being good or if you eat gelatin, a blue of some version could be made, cut up in cubes and placed around. 

Recipe: Fresh Strawberry/Mint Spread

Lunchtime rolled around today and I decided to have an almond butter sandwich (I'm allergic to peanuts).  Without thinking, I grabbed a jar of jelly from the fridge, but as I did, I saw the fresh strawberries sitting there which gave me an idea!  I grabbed a handful and remembered seeing the wild spearmint that grows in our yard, so I picked a few leaves. I threw them in the blender and voila!  I had a wonderful smelling and tasting fresh fruit spread with no added sugar/perservatives/gelatin.

Recipe 

-6 Strawberries

-4 Mint Leaves

Place these in a blender, and mix until you get your desired consistency.  I let mine get very smooth to get the mint leaves chopped up more.


Next time I'm going to try to add a dried date for some natural sweetness as it was a drastic change from what you are used to from the typical jellies/jams.  Otherwise I am excited to try new combinations!

Food Labels: Natural Flavors

I've read food labels to ensure that our purchases in the past were meat/fish free for my vegetarian wife for many years.  Over this time, it has really bothered me how many items listed I can not even begin to pronounce, let alone know what they are.  The other item I see listed on so many labels is "Natural Flavors"...  can this really be a legitimate/legal way of "informing" we the consumer?  How does someone with a food allergy or someone who chooses to avoid certain foods/sweeteners/salt/etc... truly do so if the food industry is allowed to throw in a bunch of "natural flavors"?  Why is this acceptable?  How difficult is it to list everything that is in your product?  Isn't this the point of the label?   Let's do some research and find out why this is!

 

Natural Flavors

The FDA defines this in it's Code of Federal Regulations Title 21 in Part 101-Food Labeling, section 101.22: 

(3) The term natural flavor or natural flavoring means the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional. Natural flavors include the natural essence or extractives obtained from plants listed in 182.10, 182.20, 182.40, and 182.50 and part 184 of this chapter, and the substances listed in 172.510 of this chapter.

Okay, so at least we know that legally a "Natural Flavor" has to have been real at one point, but that pesky word "derived" throws a wrench in things.  The food industry has done plenty to turn real food into things that are terrible for you, but still try to convince you that it's great.  For instance, do you feel good that you switched to that better choice for a sweetener with Stevia? Do yourself a favor and read this link.   What about 100% Orange Juice from the big names? Do you search out those not made from concentrate, "freshly squeezed".  Even these use "flavor packs", created by perfume scientists, after removing the oxygen (to make it stay fresh for up to a year!) from the squeezed juice, to make sure each bottle tastes the same.  These packs are "derived" from oranges and who knows what else, but have been modified so drastically, they are hard pressed to be called "natural"  Read more at foodrenegade.com

Let's take a step back,  and ask the FDA to see what they define as "Natural":

From a food science perspective, it is difficult to define a food product that is 'natural' because the food has probably been processed and is no longer the product of the earth. That said, FDA has not developed a definition for use of the term natural or its derivatives. However, the agency has not objected to the use of the term if the food does not contain added color, artificial flavors, or synthetic substances.

So, it is tough to define Natural you say?  I think it is actually pretty easy, and they list it in there "product of the earth".   Yes, I would agree that the food industry is going to process most foods, but why do you feel the need to say that you can't define "natural" yet allow them to slap natural all over their products if they really aren't?  If they have to process items, they aren't natural anymore, seems simple to me! 

We are still left with allergens and dietary issues that can hide inside this term, with meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy, nuts, wheat, soy, etc...  Now, the blanket statement listing that the big allergens are potentially in there or "made in the same facility" is probably enough for those with the main ones, but it truly does not cover every base and is a disservice to those with allergies.  I'm not calling for every single food allergy to be listed on labels, but if EVERY ingredient had to be on the label, in layman's terms, that would go a long way towards honesty and transparency.  We are paying for this food, don't we deserve to know what it is we are buying? 

That is the best way for us to make a change though, the food lobby is too strong to pay attention to any petition or an outcry from this little blog.  If we continue the call for change in conjunction with not buying things we are left in the dark as to what we are buying, change will come.

I challenge the FDA to not take the cop out and accept processed food for what it is and not try to "natural" coat it.  They are failing people who read labels, but really don't know better, I know, because I was one of them. 

How Baby Carrots Pushed Me Over the Edge

I always thought I was doing good, trying to stick to the veggie trays at parties, stocking up on plenty of baby carrots.  You know, the kind you find pre-peeled at the grocery store in bags.  Before I began this Real Food journey, I stumbled upon some information on the internet that said baby carrots are soaked in Chlorine "to bring out the bright orange color"... and that was when I decided it was time to take control of my food.



So Chlorine? Really?  Do we really need our carrots to be that bright?  I don't!  I don't even know if it is really bad for you, but the thought of it really disturbs me.  I wanted to verify the story, as it also included information about the "white film" that develops on the carrots after they've been sitting for a while.   I headed to Snopes.com to find out if there was some truth to the rumor:

"As an antimicrobial treatment to minimize or reduce the contamination of the finished product, cocktail carrots can be treated with chlorine. Those that are will be subsequently rinsed with potable water to remove the excess chlorine before being packaged."

It turns out to be a good thing to a degree, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency claims that this is an accepted amount of Chlorine.  I also find that it isn't just baby carrots, but any "ready to eat" veggies that have been cut and bagged could have had the same "sanitizing" process.  The "white film" proved to be incorrect, as it is just the carrot drying out.  There were other parts of the story about what carrots are used, but I hadn't read that in my original finding, not really a concern.

I swallow my pride and accept that this story was not as bad as it initially appeared thanks to someone spreading incorrect information.  I am however really grateful that I read that and didn't verify this until after I started my goal of Real Food!  Without that push, I would have stuck with the processed foods and lived in that "Ignorance is Bliss" frame of mind.

I now peel my own carrots, chop them up, put them in a bowl of cold water and keep them covered in the fridge, so they are just as convenient to eat as the bag that previously lived in my fridge.  I will no longer eat carrots that swim in pools.

Recipe: Whole Wheat Waffles

Tonight, I made Whole Wheat Waffles for dinner!  My kids have always loved eating breakfast at a time that you wouldn't expect.  Go ahead, ask them where they want to go out to eat... they will start with Denny's, IHOP and then a local diner.  

So I'm again referencing a recipe from Lisa over at 100daysofrealfood.com (Thanks!)

INGREDIENTS

• 2 large farm fresh eggs
• 1 ¾ cups milk 
• ¼ cup oil (I tried coconut oil for the first time *see below)
• 1 tablespoon honey (I used Once Again's Dawes Hill Wildflower Pure Raw Honey, Made in NY!)
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 ½ cups whole-wheat flour (I used Red Mill's organic whole-wheat flour)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• Warmed 100% pure maple syrup for serving
• Fresh fruit for serving

     Makes 8-9 Belgium Style Waffles

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat your waffle iron.
2. In a large mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, oil, honey, cinnamon, and baking soda until well combined.
3. Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk together just until the large lumps disappear.
4. When the waffle iron is hot, dab it with a little butter and then ladle some batter onto the center of the iron. Follow the instructions that came with your waffle maker to know how long it should be cooked (mine takes about 5 minutes each).
5. Keep waffles warm until you finish cooking all of them. Top with pure maple syrup and fruit. Enjoy!

I had always used a basic waffle recipe from The Joy of Cooking and found this to be so much easier, without having to separate the eggs, whip the whites and then fold them back in, which never blended well.

*I  ran into an issue, as I had just bought Coconut Oil for the first time at Wegmans (Our grocery store of choice) the other day and remembered it being a liquid. When I took it out of the cabinet, it was a solid white mass!  After some research, coconut oil turns into a solid when the temperature is under 76 degrees or so, as the temperature is here today.  It isn't affected by this change in property, but I had to warm it up in order to use it.  However, as soon as I mixed it with the liquid ingredients, the cold milk immediately made the oil clump again.  I was concerned with this, but it proved to not be an issue!

Any waffle maker should work, 100 Days of Real Food used an "Eggo" style machine, I have a "Belgium" style and it worked great.  It rose a lot more than the Joy of Cooking recipe, so I had some spillover on the first batch.  I probably would have ended up with 9 waffles, but due to overfilling the first 4, I only got 8.

I cut up some fresh peaches and raspberries to put on top and the kids wanted whipped cream, so I prepared that too.  That was easy, heavy cream whipped to stiff peaks with a teaspoon or two of maple syrup to sweeten it a bit for the kids.  

The moment of truth, would they eat these up like they did my old recipe?  Yes!!  My son "C" gobbled his up so fast I had barely started eating mine!  We decided at dinner to use a rating system for these recipes to help us decide what we like and don't. On a scale of 1-10 (low-high) this recipe scored a 10 across the board, it surpassed my expectations for what a waffle could be!  

Look in the Lunchbox: Take 1

This is my first take at a Real Food lunch for my daughter "T"  We sat down after and looked over one of my favorite sites to look at 100daysofrealfood.com  and made a list of things that sounded good to picky eater #1.  So we have watermelon/strawberry combo, baby greens, carrots and cherry tomatoes, heart shaped whole wheat grilled cheese and pumpkin seeds/craisons.  She was really excited to help make and pack this tonight, so my fingers are crossed that this comes home empty with a smiling little 1st grader!

UPDATE 6-7-13: The lunchbox came home empty, except for the heart shaped whole wheat grilled cheese sandwich.  My daughter "T" has always been a fussy eater, cheese included, so I found it odd she chose that.  I suppose the heart shape was just too exciting until she had to face the texture of the cheese.  We will give it another go next week!

Can I get my kids to enjoy eating healthy?

Have you ever looked at the ingredient list on the things you buy at the store?  Have you heard horror stories about what is done to what you think is real food? (I will never eat a baby carrot again)  I do, and I really wonder how much all these changes in health across the world stem from the processed food we all eat on a daily basis.  I am married and have two great kids (7 and 4) who I really want better for.

I will be chronicling my attempt to make the transition to Real Food as much as I can for my family and I, through all the ups and downs.  I'm on board.  My wife is on board.  The kids, they are on board... in theory, but will they eat it?  Can the shock of moving from processed food to real food be made?  Can we grow their taste buds, train them to appreciate fresh/healthy foods, things that aren't loaded with salt/sugar/chemicals.

My wife is a vegetarian and has been since I met her (12 years ago) so as I learned to cook for two, I've been sensitive to alternative food choices in our meat-centric society.  When going vegetarian, replacing the protein that meat provides, is a large concern.  We relied on the "meat substitutes" until very recently, at which point we began to realize, they may be marketed as "healthy" options, but they can be just as bad in terms of fake ingredients.  So we decided that we wanted better and the best way to do that is to prepare our own food from scratch whenever we can.    I've been inspired by other blogs and what they've been able to achieve, so hopefully this journey can inspire someone else to help themselves.

Convenience is a downfall for us, it is so easy on a night when work/extra curricular activities get in the way to just grab something out of the freezer/box to throw on the table.  I'm not saying it will be easy, but I hope to make it work.  I plan on posting recipes, reviews and honest reactions as we try to find our way through a hectic and healthy life!