Weekday Vegetarianism

I am starting to realize that I should count myself among the lucky. I grew up with grandparents who grew gardens every year (and still do). I knew what fresh vegetables were supposed to taste like. I was able to eat freshly made salsa out of the pot while helping my grandmother to can it. When I was home with my mom, during weekdays we ate a lot of boxed dinners and casseroles. But on weekends, we would go crazy cooking food. Sometimes, it was the southern traditional food like barbecue or hamburgers, but other times we would make stuffed bell peppers or something else healthy. We always had fresh fruit and vegetables around. That is the real reason why I am lucky. I didn't grow up eating only processed foods.

I began to realize how lucky this made me when Richard started commenting on how he had never had certain foods fresh before, like cauliflower. He grew up in a family that pretty much always ate food from a box, with the exception of holidays. When I introduced him to all of my crazy cooking, he was amazed to find that he liked foods he thought he didn't. I finally got him to enjoy eating a stuffed red pepper the other night, it was his third try. It's really difficult to adjust to a vegetarian lifestyle if you don't know how to add fresh fruits and vegetables to your diet.

I used to tell my mom that I could be a vegetarian easily, if I wanted. However, growing up in that family, it would have been more difficult than I thought. It was mid-way through sophomore year of college before I made good on that statement. I decided I was going to be healthier, so I became a full-fledged vegetarian and started going to the gym every other day. It wasn't as hard to adjust as people made it out to be. I didn't ever like red meat that much anyways, so I only missed chicken, shrimp, and sushi. For about eight months I was a vegetarian. Then I got tired of the occasional cravings for protein and decided to become a pescatarian. So, I supplemented my diet with fish and shrimp. There are people who say pescatarianism is the healthiest diet. I stopped craving protein even though I only ate seafood about once a week. It was the best decision I could make for my diet.

Richard isn't taking being a pescatarian quite as well as me. He craves fried chicken on a weekly basis. I don't even understand what could be missing from his diet to make him crave that. So, occasionally I break down and buy a chicken from CLG, which I end up cooking in three or four different meals. My favorite being chicken and dumplings.

Today, we watched the TEDtalk by Graham Hill about becoming a weekday vegetarian. When it finished Richard immediately exclaimed, "See! That would be so much easier!" I could only shake my head at him. On reflection, though, being a weekday vegetarian is definitely an improvement from his old lifestyle. It would probably also mean he didn't consciously miss eating meat. So, maybe that would be an easier way for him to transition.

I would definitely recommend becoming a weekday vegetarian as a starting point. I know several people who have tried giving themselves a New Years resolution to become vegetarian and quickly failed. It's the age old problem where when you deny yourself something, you want it so much more. So, instead of denying yourself completely, try to limit your intake to the weekends. On top of that, buy local organic meats, which are better for you and the environment. I have to say, chicken from CLG definitely makes me miss the diversity of dishes you can make when you add meat to the plate. In the past year, I have had a number of slip ups with eating meat. Curried goat and lamb is just too delicious to pass up every time I eat at an Indian restaurant. Admittedly, it all started with a roasted leg of lamb in Paris, France. So, I think it is okay.

For the most part, I plan to be pescatarian this year. Or perhaps I will become a weekday vegetarian, reserving seafood, poultry, and deer for the weekends. Otherwise, I'll stay away from red meat. The smell of it makes me gag anyway. I will make a concession for meats that are locally produced, or shot in the wild, since my main problem with meat is the conditions in which animals are kept.

I am glad to have grown up in a family who taught me what fresh food tastes like. I am also glad to have taught myself how to cook proficiently, so that the transition away from meat was made that much easier.

Hungry for Change: A film review

Today I watched the film Hungry for Change, which is made by the same people who brought us Food Matters. This is a 90-minute film, which follows the every day life of Natalie, who is meant to represent the average American. While we follow her path to self-discovery, we are bombarded with information from various sources. I say bombarded because there are many quotations that are repeated at various times throughout the film, effectively beating you over the head. Most of the sources are authors; a few are nutritionists; some journalists; and one or two “experts” in strange fields, like wild food. I tell you this, not to discount the information that they present to you in the film, but so you can have some perspective on where the ideas presented are coming from.

The film presents you with a number of ideas surrounding food and the food industry of today. If I had to pick an overall theme for the film, I would say it is we live in an age where we are overfed, but are starving nutritionally. The film talks about how our hunter-gatherer-gardener ancestors ate food with a high nutrient content and low calorie content, whereas today we have a high calorie, low nutrient diet. The film goes on to encourage you to change your diet to almost no processed foods, more fresh vegetables and to stop “dieting”.

According to Dr. Alejandro Junger, creator of the Clean detox program, "The problem is we are not eating food anymore, we are eating food-like products. The objective is not to give you a healthy product; it is to give you a product that will make you buy it, that will last long, and will make a lot of profit for the company." In today’s society, we eat foods that are highly processed, refined and full of additives. They give an example of Total brand blueberry pomegranate cereal, which, in fact, contains no blueberries or pomegranates. There are fillers and flavorings that trick the mind into thinking it is getting nutrients, when it truly isn’t. The film explains that in a world where we have empty calories from fillers paired with an indoor lifestyle and no exercise, we are wreaking havoc on our bodies: “You’ve got way too many calories, not enough nutrients and not enough use of those calories.” They also mention that those empty calories make us continue eating, because our bodies are striving to get the nutrients we aren’t providing it.

Food additives are highly denounced in the film, especially MSG and aspartame. MSG is used in a huge variety of foods as a flavor enhancer. They are exasperated with the labeling of MSG and free glutamates, which are hidden behind names we often cannot even pronounce. The authors in the film explain that MSG is used to fatten rats for experiments, yet companies are allowed to use it in our food. Aspartame is an artificial sweetener used in diet food and drinks. They claim that aspartame causes formaldehyde build-up in the brain and frontal lobe inflammation, which can lead to migraines. Despite their claims, there have been no conclusive studies done to prove or disprove the connection between these chemicals and migraines.

The film also addresses the issue of sugar, claiming, “Sugar is without doubt the cocaine of the food world, but they get away with hiding it in food.” They show one of the best examples possible; a TED talk by Jamie Oliver where he explains how much sugar is consumed by school children just by drinking milk. The picture below shows the mountain of sugar consume by a child in the first five years of school.

They continue with the simile of sugar and drugs by explaining how you become addicted to it. They also liken the addiction to that of a smoker. You think you can stop eating, but really the foods you consume are manufactured to make you eat more and more. I don’t know the number of times they use the simile between food products and drugs, but my favorite has to be: “Eating high-fructose corn syrup is, in my view, a lot like snorting cocaine." They go on to explain that both are highly processed and refined from a natural plant source, corn and cocoa leaves, respectively. An interesting comparison to be sure, but it may be a little extreme for most viewers. HFCS is said to promote type-2 diabetes and obesity, which are huge problems in the U.S.

 

Dieting is completely bashed by the film. Though use of the word seems to be becoming passé, the film reminds us of the true definition: “a diet is the foods that an organism habitually eats to sustain itself.” They repeatedly remind us that dieting never works. We cut out one of the essential nutrients, like fat, instead of trying to change our eating habits to include the good kind of those nutrients. Most “fat-free” foods replace the fat with carbohydrates. Carbohydrates break down into sugars in the body, which then turn into fat. A better solution is to eat the right kind of fats, like those that come from plant-based sources such as avocado.

The film also brings up an important point regarding the studies that are published on new food additives and chemicals. The manufacturers of these products pay for most of the studies that are published involving the effects of a food or food additive on the body. As an example of this link, author and researcher William F Engdahl states, “Over half of the scientists involved in the [genetically modified organism] GMO panel which positively reviewed the Monsanto’s study for GMO maize in 2009, leading to its EU-wide authorization, had links with the biotech industry.” The FDA does not have it’s own scientists who study the effects of new chemicals on the human body. This could obviously lead to botched studies and misrepresented evidence. However, finding proof of that would be an expensive and difficult endeavor.

The film does at least present us with a solution to the problems: add more local, organic, whole foods to our diet; cut out the processed and refined junk; cut out the unnecessary chemicals. The experts explain ways to detoxify your body and present juicing as a catch-all answer. They explain that consuming juiced vegetables is a way to get the nutrients into your body that you usually wouldn’t. They even address the question of why not just eat the vegetables? It is because most people do not eat enough vegetables and fruits. Juicing is a fifteen-minute solution to our nutrient-deficiency. It is also a way to detoxify the body. They recommend a three-day detox period where only juiced vegetables are consumed. Then consuming whole foods, mostly vegetables, seeds and nuts, and some fruits. As Jessica Carr explains, “If it’s made in a garden, I eat it. If it’s made in a lab, it takes a lab to digest. If it has a shelf life longer than me, I don’t eat it. The simpler I get, the healthier I get.” Additional sleep, more laughter, and regular exercise are recommended to reduce stress and help maintain your metabolism. Your body is made to take care of itself and if you feed it the right foods, it will.

I am not convinced that you should take all of the information in the film to heart, as many claims are made without sufficient proof.  In a scientific world, we need more proof than a handful of people who swear by the solution they used to get healthy. However, we have learned in the past that bringing the public’s attention to a topic can create change. Take the book The Jungle, for example. This book led to an uproar over the malpractices of the American meatpacking industry in the early 1900s. Having read this book myself, I can understand how the graphic imagery used in The Jungle caused people to react. When you are able to relate to a person how a subject affects them (and everyone else), through written or shown images, it gets their attention more than statistics and numbers ever could. This is the reason that films such as Food Matters and Hungry for Change can be important to the food movement, despite their sometimes-overzealous claims. They do bring up valid points, such as the capitalistic nature of food businesses, the administrative fallacies in food governance, the health issues that are faced in the United States, and the reasons behind these issues. 

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I have decided to do a little experiment myself. I am going to take the next three days to detoxify my body using their method of consuming only freshly juiced vegetables/fruit for every meal. I went out and bought a large amount of fresh organic produce this afternoon and, luckily, already have a juicer. I plan to record how I feel for the three days and the affect the juice has on my body. Richard is planning to also participate so we can give a male and female perspective. I have to admit, I am weary of this experiment because I expect to be very hungry for the next three days. However, for the sake of knowledge, I will prevail.
Jan. 10, 2013
Okay, upon review, I lied. I will not make it three days. I barely made it past 1:30 before I broke down and had a bowl of yogurt, walnuts and honey. I am finally starting to feel the effects of hunger. My head aches and I don't think I'm going to make it to dinner, let alone past dinner. I will continue to drink juiced veggies and fruits (since I bought them already), but I cannot eat no solid food, especially no protein.

Urban Gardening

I have to say the weather was superbly pleasant today; I didn't even have to wear long sleeves outside. While trying to decide what to write about today, I managed to get some work done on my planter boxes that I've been meaning to get around to for about two months now. I pulled the seeds off of my dead basil and marigolds and put them in jars to store them until spring. Then I pulled the plants up (since both are annual, not perennial). I only saved a handful of seeds from both plants, because I only need a few to plant next year (after which I will save those seeds). I was entertained to find wild onions growing when I pulled up my basil, but more on that later.

Marigold seeds.

Basil seeds.

I originally planted the Marigolds because they are a natural pest deterrent. Steve Lunk, co-owner of Cedar Rock Ridge (one of the farms that sells through CLG), told me that even after Marigolds die, they haven't finished working for you. He recommended that I take the flower pods and crush them up into my soil, allowing them to continue deterring pests as they compost. So, as he suggested, I crushed up the pods whose seeds I didn't save into the planter box where my peppers had been this past year (I also removed the dead pepper plants today). Then, I turned the soil and planted my new garlic and Egyptian Walking Onions, which are hardy plants and will last through the mild Arkansas winter.

Over the summer, Richard and I did some landscaping in the back yard. We extended our back patio to about twice it's size and put together two planter boxes for my use (simply made of 1x6in boards nailed together to form a rectangle outline). I can tell you that planting in an urban setting is made much easier if you pull up the weeds, lay down some plastic and use raised beds. It is a lot easier to control the nutritional content of the soil, as well as what plants pop up. If you are thinking about starting a small garden plot around your home, I recommend using a raised bed. Now, if you want to start planting this spring, you need to start a compost pile today. We ended up using all of the dirt we dug up in the landscaping project to add to the small compost pile we had going. All of that dry weed-filled dirt is now moist, bountiful soil. Most people I know have a bin where they keep their compost, however, Richard and I just have a pile at the wood-line of our property.

Before and after photo of the landscaping job

The trick to good compost is to put everything (except meats) in it. Egg shells, tea leaves, coffee grounds, spare vegetable parts, dry leaves, etc. This will give it a rounded nutritional content. When I was staying on a farm in Asheville, North Carolina, I was told that they did not put any food that had been cooked into the compost. The lady telling me this wasn't sure as to why, but thought it had something to do with the oils. I compost everything, even food that I cooked and was unable to finish before it spoiled. So far, everything has broken down and it hasn't caused a problem.

I've found a number of plants growing out of my compost pile. There were half a dozen tomato plants out there back in November. I found some parsley once, which I picked and ate. My roommate even dug up two squash plants, repotted them and let the grow. We discovered later that they were spaghetti squash plants and I currently have a spaghetti squash in my window from one of them. There are several keys to composting, including making sure the soil stays moist, turning the compost when you add fresh ingredients, and being patient.

When spring rolls around, you are going to want to transfer your fertile compost soil (not any chunks of food) into your planter boxes. When we started my planter boxes, I filled them with plain topsoil mixed with a small amount of the dirt we had dug up, then covered with a thin layer of organic potting soil. Once spring rolls around, I plan to turn in some of the compost soil, which will add more nutrition to the soil. Because I didn't have the added compost nutrition last year, I used organic fertilizer on my plants and they did really well. However, I planted all of my peppers in early summer last year, so they didn't produce until the fall. You would not believe the amount of peppers I got off those plants when they finally started producing.

Upon deciding to start your own urban garden, you must decide what kind of plants you want to produce. This decision will be the starting point for how deep your soil needs to be; where your planter boxes need to be placed relative to the amount of sunlight they will receive; how fertile the soil needs to be; and, which nutrients are the most important. I recently learned that the most likely reason for my tomatoes rotting last year was a lack of calcium in the soil. Steve says he replaces calcium in the soil with the calcium buildup (white powder) on oyster shells, which he feeds to his chickens, mixed with water. I will try adding more calcium to the soil next year and see if my tomatoes turn out better.

Another important thing to decide is how much of each vegetable or herb you will use. When my cucumbers started producing last summer, I was overrun. I canned around 10 quarts of pickles, put cucumbers in smoothies, made a lot of tzatziki sauce and still didn't use all of them. I only had four plants! I think next year, I will stick with just two. I planted a huge amount of basil this past year, as well. I learned just how much I had when I transferred the ten plants to one of my planter boxes. By the fall, my basil plants looked like hedges. I love basil and we ended up freezing a lot of it to use throughout the winter. (Nothing like semi-fresh pesto in winter!) If you are up to canning/freezing, I recommend plating plenty of vegetable plants and not worrying about them. I managed to salvage enough tomatoes for two quart jars and a handful of fresh ones. Oh, if you plan to pick tomatoes a little early, make sure you bring them inside to ripen, not leave them out in the summer sun. I lost a huge batch of tomatoes last year because I left them outside for a day after picking them and the sun just baked them instead of ripening them.

Plant spacing is a huge thing to worry about. Here, I can only give you suggestions based on my experience. Zucchini plants get huge. I planted mine about 18 inches apart and they still grew into one another. Oh, and you should get something for cucumber to climb; they are vine-like plants and like to hold on to things (like your grass or other plants around them). Tomatoes also need something to hang on to because when they get tall enough, they start to fall over if they don't have a brace. I used bamboo sticks this year and tied them up, but that didn't work as well as the chicken wire that my grandparents used to employ. Next year, I think I will go with the fencing option. Once I finish reading How to Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine, I will be able to tell you a lot more about spacing and symbiotic plant relationships.

My basil hedge.

You might think that you don't have time to take care of a garden plot. I am here to tell you that it takes almost no time at all. The most time I put into my garden last year was tilling the large garden plot and transplanting all of my seedlings into it. After you get the plants planted, you pretty much let them go. Make sure they have a lot of water. Last summer was awful considering the country-wide draught we suffered. It is well worth the time and effort put into having your own garden. One of my favorite feelings is that of pride when I go out and pick fresh vegetables or herbs to use for dinner.

While I was in Little Rock yesterday, I stopped by a garden center to ask about fruit trees. I convinced Richard to let me get a peach tree to plant this year. However, when I talked with the owner of the shop, he informed me that a number of fruit trees won't bear fruit around this area (they do better on hilly areas). Peach and apple trees where two of the ones he mentioned. I was disappointed, but decided that I would get a dwarf lemon tree instead. Apparently citrus fruits are much more prolific in this area of Arkansas. Thinking on what I was told yesterday, I am a little confused. Richard's dad lives in Little Rock on a little farm off I-440, in a non-hilly area. He has two peach trees in his yard and gathers a large amount of fruit from them every year. I'm convinced that a peach tree would grow in my yard, but I already decided to get a dwarf lemon tree instead. Besides there is an orchard right on the edge of Conway (Collins Orchard) where I can gather peaches in the summer for a decent price. If you want to check out the orchard, their website is: http://www.collinsorchards.com/.

To sum up, urban gardening is not as difficult as some might imagine; even organic gardening is pretty simple. Composting is important and should be started now for spring gardens. Things to keep in mind when planning your garden include: type of plants, amount of sun they need, depth to be sown, spacing plants properly and nutrients they require.

I hope that some of you will decide to start your own gardens this year, even if they only have one or two plants in them. I would recommend starting with herbs if you want to grow something easy and hassle free. Growing herbs is one of my favorite hobbies because fresh herbs are super expensive and they are easy to grow. Below you can find pictures from my garden last year to inspire you.

Freshly transplanted baby zucchini.

Zucchini plant, not even at it's largest.

My large garden plot about mid-summer.

One day's harvest.

Top of the New Year!

Every year since I was 16, I have given myself a New Year's Resolution. Each year since, I have managed to keep that resolution. This year, I feel like my resolution should be something to do with food or writing. Upon consideration, I finally settled on two resolutions for the year: 1) write every day and 2) cook a new recipe every week. Now the reason that these are my resolutions is because I am attempting to write a book, which my friends have encouraged me to continue. Plus, I love food, obviously. If I did not have an appreciation for local, organic food as is, my resolution might have something to do with that.

I would like to encourage all of you to make a resolution involving food this year. Some of my favorites include: a) starting the tradition of meatless Mondays in your family, b) using only seasonal ingredients (unless frozen), c) buying more local foods, d) starting your own garden, e) begin composting. Of course, there are a million and one more resolutions involving food that you could make to help the world. Leave a comment below and share yours!

Jan. 1 dinner

So to start off the New Year, I decided to make something new. The main course for dinner was baked panko and walnut encrusted tilapia. For dessert, Richard made a new biscotti recipe, which turned out amazing: macadamia nut biscotti from Bob Greene's "The Best Life Diet". At some point in the future, I plan to put a review up of this book (once I've finished reading it and made a few more recipes from it).

Biscotti and hot chocolate make a great dessert.

As part of my writing resolution, I plan to write on this blog once per week (at minimum) and continue writing my book (which has nothing to do with food). I hope to have some good news this year for the local food movement in Conway. I'll let you know what happens at the F.R.E.S.H. Foods meeting later this month. Until then, have a great week and be sure to keep food on your mind.

Growing

As some of you know, I was working with Conway Locally Grown, CLG, in attempts to create a magazine for the organization. Everyone liked the mockup magazine that I created, however, it was decided that CLG is not ready for such a publication at this time. A little disappointing to me, since I was looking forward to running another magazine. (I was the editor of the literary/arts magazine in high school.) Despite my own disappointment, I am glad for the reason they are not ready for publication. Cody thinks that CLG might be moving towards a local food store, which was always his vision. The city of Conway seems to be leaning more towards making this happen as well.

There is an article in the Log Cabin, which begins, "The Faulkner County Cooperative Extension Service will host a panel discussion in January with the goal of connecting local farmers to restaurants and food vendors." The rest of the article can be found here: http://thecabin.net/news/2012-12-10#.UNdQNo6vY5Q.

If the connection comes to fruition, I believe this will give CLG a boost big enough to open the doors of a local food store. The article lists six venues which already include local products in their dishes. If more restaurants were to use local ingredients, or the current restaurants were to buy more produce locally, this would be an invaluable step forward in the food culture of Conway. The main problem mentioned in the article is the cost difference of buying locally. A majority of the food grown for CLG is organic, in practice if not in certification. You will always pay more for the quality. This is a choice that consumers make everyday when deciding between Great Value brand or the more expensive name-brands. What consumers have to take into account when purchasing local is that they are keeping the money in their community. Sure, you might pay a little more for locally grown lettuce, but you know that farmer is going to reinvest their money into the community, not into the big corporations like Monsanto.

I'm sure the panel would like to here from locals on this subject. Everyone is invited to attend the meeting on Jan. 22 at 1 p.m. at the Faulkner County Extension Service office, 110 S. Amity Rd., Suite 200 in Conway. If I am not working that day, I know I will be there.

Texture, Aroma and Flavor: A Note on Herbs and Spices

I thought that this post might compliment the 30-day recipe challenge well. In the previous post I talked about how adding news foods or recipes to your diet is a good idea. In this post, I will talk about herbs and spices, as well as cooking methods, and how they can make all the difference in a dish.

The preparation of certain foods can completely change the texture and flavor of the ingredients. The easiest example to come to mind is okra. If you boil okra, it becomes somewhat slimy and mushy, whereas if you fry or roast it the texture is crunchy and much less slimy. My favorite way to eat okra is after it has been pickled (and marinated for about a year in the jar). The vinegar makes the okra less slimy that regular boiling and softens the otherwise tough exterior of the pods. Most people I know won't eat okra unless it is cooked in gumbo, which softens the skin and takes the sliminess away since it is stew-like. Okra is definitely a food I would try many different ways before discounting. I'm not a fan of fried okra (too much grease), but today I tried roasted okra for the first time and I enjoyed it. (I am very proud to say the okra we ate today was grown organically in my garden this summer and frozen directly after being harvested.)

The main problems that I have noticed people have when trying new food relate to: flavor, texture, or aroma. All of these problems can be remedied with a different cooking method or the inclusion of different herbs and/or spices in the dish. Richard has never enjoyed vinegar or mustard. However, lately he has been eating quite a bit of Dijon mustard. He has also never enjoyed cabbage before. Imagine his surprise when I fed him blanched cabbage marinated in a Dijon mustard sauce. He has said, "my biggest problem with cabbage is that it feels like rubber." Blanching and marinating the cabbage allowed it to have a crisp texture. The Dijon mustard was mixed with garlic, vinegar, and oil, which apparently creates a flavor combination different enough from vinegar or mustard itself that Richard didn't mind it. He also ate cabbage in the Peanut Shrimp wraps we made for lunch one day last week. According to him the flavors and textures of the peanut butter and shrimp covered up the flavor and texture of the cabbage. Through these methods, I was able to convince Richard that cabbage isn't so bad after all.

When it comes to texture, the simplest way to change a food is to find a different way to prepare it. Brussels sprouts are another good example. Until recently I had only ever had Brussels Sprout from a can. Let me tell you, this is not a pleasant experience because of taste and texture (it's been too long for me to remember about aroma). However, at EcoFest two weekends ago, I had braised fresh Brussels sprouts, which were delicious. The lesson I learned was you cannot judge any vegetable from the canned version. Chef Robert suggests, "If you cannot get fresh, then go with frozen which will have a more similar texture to fresh than canned." The flavor of canned foods is just a little bit off, as well. Because you have to use salt as a preservative, canned vegetables tend to be a little salty and a little acidic, which is untrue of their fresh counterparts.

Now when it comes to flavor or aroma of any dish, you have to turn to the spices and herbs that you use. Different herbs and spices pair well with different foods as well as other herbs and spices. I have a lovely book, The Spice and Herb Bible by Ian Hemphill (2009 ed.). The author grew up on an herb farm which meant that throughout his life he was always comfortable using herbs and spices, which, as he points out, is not true for everyone. When I was growing up, my mother had only what she deemed the essential herbs and spices in our kitchen: salt/pepper (from shakers not grinders), lemon pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, bay leaves, basil, parsley, dill, red pepper, chili powder, italian seasoning, cinnamon, allspice, and pumpkin spice. Glancing at my spice rack I wonder how I ever survived on so little flavor options. I am never out of curry powder, garam masala, ginger, cloves, cilantro, turmeric, ground coriander or cumin, thyme, rosemary, mustard seed, nutmeg (whole), mint and various other selections. I have developed a love affair with spices and herbs, one that will last me a lifetime.

The Spice and Herb Bible happens to be an amazing tool which has opened my eyes to many new tastes as well (lemongrass, fenugreek, capers, cloves, etc.). The book gives a history/uses/names of each herb and spice listed, and advises on how to grow, dry, and store your own herbs and spices. It lists the main spices and herbs used in different cuisines (convenient if you have themed weeks for food). It lists complimentary flavors, the flavor group of individual herbs and spices, traditional uses and suggested quantity per pound to use on meats, veggies or grains. The book even includes recipes for some of the herbs and spices. It is an invaluable tool if you are trying to develop your flavor palette.

So, the next time you are trying to decide how to flavor a dish, maybe try looking up an herb or spice to decide whether it pairs well with the dish you are preparing and what other spices and herbs you can use in combination. I am sure wikipedia can be of help to you. Or you can splurge a little and get The Herb and Spice Bible, which is even more convenient. (Amazon has both the old and the new versions of this book: http://www.amazon.com/The-Spice-Herb-Bible-Hemphill/dp/0778801462 or http://www.amazon.com/The-Spice-Herb-Bible-Cooks/dp/0778800474 ).

30-day Recipe Challenge

As some of you know, I returned home from Europe about three weeks ago. Upon my return, I knew that I would need to keep myself busy and entertained while I searched for new job prospects. So, I decided to challenge myself to 30 days of cooking only new recipes. I knew when I started this challenge that lunch and dinner would be super simple, I usually try to have a variety of those anyways. Breakfast, however, has always been a challenge for me in the creativity department. Mark Bittman does not offer up any new breakfast ideas in his cookbook, which was fairly disappointing. However, to-date I have managed to scour the internet and my various other cookbooks and come up with new recipes for breakfast too.

The way I like to start every day: with Coffee and a Cookbook.

My two favorite breakfast creations are shown below.  Richard requested that I make grits one morning, so I made cheesy grits using gorganzola cheese and boiled corn meal. Paired with a poached egg, this was quite a delicious dish. I used poached eggs so the soft flavor of the grits wouldn't be weighed down by the oil in a fried egg. The second image is a creation of my own. I love avocado and I love finding new ways to use it. On this day, I paired avocado chunks with mango chunks and a little bit of lime juice. Then I put this mixture on top of eggs in a basket. The result was fabulous. Just a little bit tart, a little bit sweet, very creamy mixed with medium well eggs and toast. Fast, easy and definitely something I would recommend. The final picture is a meal consisting of an accidental creation and chocolate gravy. One night I was attempting to make up a banana peanut butter cookie. However, I forgot that banana can be used in place of eggs in baking, so I used both... Instead of making cookies, I made more of a banana peanut butter biscuit. However, upon trying these tasty treats I decided they would go well with chocolate gravy and make a tasty breakfast; and that they did. I believe I could recreate this recipe....but I'm not completely certain.

I & W- Cheesy grits with a poached egg

I- Eggs in a basket with avocado and mango "salsa".

I & FG- Chocolate gravy with Peanut butter banana biscuit.

So, as you can see, creating new and interesting breakfasts is not as difficult as you might imagine. Personally, I try to stay away from sweet breakfasts; however, every now and then they aren't an awful choice as long as you go easy on the sugar.

Now, on to lunch/dinner. I have a habit of using recipes for these two meals interchangeably. It has been argued that you should actually eat a heavier lunch than dinner. This makes sense considering at mid-day you need much more energy than in the evening. Nevertheless, this is a difficult concept for me, considering I was raised to have a big meal at dinnertime. This is, no doubt, a result of my parents working all day and coming home to cook the only real meal we had. I have never really gotten this out of my system. However, I have tried to make my lunches more well rounded and less light. Hence dinner and lunch have interchangeable recipes. (And often leftovers from the night before become lunch.)

MB- Rice with Broccoli, Tofu and Black Tea Sauce.

So far as dinner and lunch go, Bittman's Cookbook offers many delicious choices. I was fairly impressed when Richard and I started using this cookbook. It has many diverse recipes and several techniques I have not tried before. One recipe that hooked me on his work was Rice with Broccoli, Beef and a Black Tea Sauce. It sounds really strange, but it is really tasty. Well, I can only vouch for the flavor if you replace the beef with tofu. The flavors that bring this dish together are a cup of black tea (we used Earl Grey), ginger, garlic, red pepper, scallions and soy sauce. Somehow these flavors meld into a delicious sauce for rice or noodles. Considering it is a rice dish, this meal has the possibility of becoming very heavy. However, it was light enough that I would recommend it for lunch or dinner.

MB- Peanut Shrimp Wrap

Also shown above is another interesting recipe from Bittman. He actually recommends using tofu-sesame for this wrap, but Richard decided we should use shrimp. We also replaced the lettuce with shredded cabbage. Essentially, cook the meat you are using in sesame oil, red pepper, honey and soy sauce. Shred some carrot and either lettuce or cabbage. Chop up some tomato and scallions. Take your tortilla and spread a tablespoon of peanut butter directly on it. Then layer your protein, cabbage, carrot, tomato, and scallions. Top with a squeeze of lime juice. The peanut butter was actually quite a nice touch to this wrap. There wasn't too much so it didn't overpower the other flavors, but complimented them. The use of cabbage gave the wrap more of a crisp crunchy texture than lettuce would have, but didn't change the flavor much. All in all, I give this wrap an A+. This would make a quick and light dinner for a weeknight.

A lot of the recipes that I use as a basis for my meals come from the website foodgawker.com. If you have not discovered this website yet, and you are a food lover, you are in for a treat. This is a collection of all the best food blogs on the internet. Not all of the recipes are in English, but google can translate for you if you don't speak the language. (I was very pleased to use a French recipe for blueberry muffins the other day without having to use the translator.) You can search by category, by ingredient, by style, etc. It really is a great tool if you are looking to expand your recipe lexicon. I usually find a recipe and modify it to my own taste. With Bittman's recipes I am actually following the recipes to a T, except for the substitution of shrimp or tofu for all of the meats he suggests; however, substituting tofu is something he recommends for vegetarians.

The difference in using foodgawker and a cookbook is that you are only getting the perspective of the person writing the recipe for you. So you have to follow your own instincts about a meal. The positive aspect of using a website is that you have comments from others to read and see what substitutions or changes they've made to improve recipes. Sometimes, however, readers simply comment on how the recipe looks, not on how it tasted when they made it. Below I have posted some pictures of meals that I or Richard created using foodgawker recipes, as well as recipes that I made up (like the shrimp salad).

On the photo captions I have created a system to let you know where the recipe came from. The key is as follows:
MB- Mark Bittman
FG- foodgawker
W- other website
CB- other cookbook
I- my imagination
F- friends recipe

W- Quinoa with sweet potato, pan-fried cauliflower, cheesy bread and green beans.

F- My attempt at German pancakes....

I- Cabbage and Carrot Soup 

I- Shrimp and Spinach salad with a Lime-herb vinaigrette.

W- Spicy Dragon Soup: "Asian Get Better Soup".

FG- Peanut butter oatmeal bars- good snack or breakfast.

FG- Curry tofu, chickpeas and cauliflower

There are only 10 days left in my 30 day challenge. So far I have very much enjoyed finding new recipes every day. It's a challenge that has allowed me to buy a lot of fresh vegetables and then find something to do with them rather than planning my meals for the week. (Though if you are on a tight schedule I recommend finding new recipes and making a shopping list.) I recommend trying to challenge yourself to make new recipes for a whole month. Or even just a week. You'd be surprised what new foods you can find you enjoy (like cabbage, eggplant and brussels sprouts for me). You can also find new ways to incorporate more fresh vegetables into your meals, which is what Mark Bittman encourages as the first step towards eating like food matters.

Natural Awakening magazine printed an article last month which stated another argument for changing things up: "When children are repeatedly presented with the same foods, they don't learn to appreciate new flavors and textures, which reinforces a picky palate and a fear of unfamiliar dishes (Keith-Thomas Ayoob, registered dietitian)." They suggest  incorporating a "new-food-of-the-week meal" once every week and pairing new healthy alternatives with family favorites. A delicious substitution I have made is to use quinoa instead of spaghetti as the grain in chicken or eggplant parmesan.

I think I will try to use new recipes every day until the end of the year. This, I know, will not be as strict as my 30-day challenge because I miss some of my old favorites: fajitas, gnocchi with gouda sauce, alfredo, curry (my way), stir fry, etc. I do enjoy expanding my knowledge of recipes, though.