on my mind monday 4.30.12

news | photo: mconnors

It's never the same two weeks in a row.  A collection of what I find interesting in health, nutrition, and holistic living.  Read what's on my mind.

Beef Cattle Become Behemoths - Antibiotics are not the only dangerous thing being fed to our livestock (dangerous because the overuse has negative physical effects for us such as helping to breed disease resistant bacteria).  Many conventional farms also feed animals hormones and other drugs to make them grow faster, grow fatter, and push their development all in the name of profit.  Many countries around the world, such as those in the European Union, do not allow this because of concerns about it's effect on the people that eat the meat from treated animals.  When that animal is slaughtered all the hormones and drugs do not go away, they stay in the meat and the fat.  If you eat it you then are consuming those products as well.  Building " bovine Schwartzeneggers" is not in the best interest of anyone other than the company that sells these drugs.  Now it looks like in addition to co-opting medical schools with research dollars and propaganda, pharmaceutical companies are, and have been, doing the same with agricultural schools.  Don't get me wrong, there are many good pharmaceutical formulations and they can have great benefit.  I just don't believe that this type of drug oversale is an appropriate usage, nor do I believe it is healthy for the animal or for those that consume it.

Watermelon's Wild Cousins - A watermelon that grows in the desert?  And provides reasonable nutrition?  Who knew such a thing existed.  This article highlights the Tsamma melon which grows, amazingly enough, in the Kalahari in South Africa.  The description of use and nutrition in this family of melons highlights why we need agricultural diversity and not genetically modified commercially motivated mono-cropping.  This idea is further highlighted by a recent article I spotted about Vietnamese farmers changing melon crops due to drought conditions.  My take from reading the article is that they were choosing a different type of melon rather than a GMO melon; an agriculturally and environmentally positive choice.

Calm.com - A wonderful guided meditation site with fabulous audio/video presentations.  Two minutes that can lower your blood pressure, re-center you, and help you to feel better.


Feeding a city is something that we don't often think about. But as we move to cities our diet changes, demand for meat and dairy goes up. And there's food waste and food imbalance (larger and larger number of starving people as well as those that are overfed). This video highlights how food moves into a city and looks at ways to help solve some of the problems that cities face when it comes to their food.

Four Foods You Probably Waste - I bring this topic up a lot.  Food is more than just access to good, clean, nourishing products.  It's also about proper utilization of what we have.  That means not wasting it.  Even though rotting food can be thrown into a compost heap to be turned into beneficial compost, isn't it best to eat it?  After all, you paid for it.  Here's a few simple and delicious looking recipes to help you avoid throwing out some of the most commonly wasted foods.

What I'm Reading

Make The Bread, Buy The Butter - I picked up the copy at my local library.  By the top of the second page I was hooked.  I like her writing style, we think the same way, and I have already bookmarked several recipes to try.  I was most impressed with her bread which uses 3 1/2 cups of whey.  That's awesome.  I have lots of whey hanging around from straining yogurt; although I use it, I confess sometimes it gets fed to the dogs because I have too much.  I am occasionally tempted to make ricotta cheese from leftover whey.  The trick is you need 16 quarts of the stuff and if I tried to squeeze 16 quarts into my side-by-side refrigerator I'm pretty sure my family would be upset due to the lack of space for food.  And that 16 quarts of whey?  It yields less than 2 cups of ricotta.  I haven't gotten to that part of the book but I'm guessing she recommends buying it.  This bread however looks to be a great use for leftover whey.  And I'm planning a tea party just so I can make my own clotted cream.  I'm also looking forward to reading the rest of the book which is definitely on my "to buy" list.

disclaimer - cmp.ly/5

making mayonnaise

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about, among other things, making my own mayonnaise.  Sam asked for the recipe.  It would have been very simple to just give you the recipe but I decided it would be more fun to wait until I needed to make it and then take a few pictures.

I began making my own mayonnaise probably about 15 years ago after a visit to my husband's grandmother, Mamie.  She made her own mayonnaise.  All of it.  I'm not sure she ever bought a jar in her entire life.  During this particular visit she happened to need mayonnaise while we were there so she assembled all of the ingredients and made it.  I was delighted to see how easy it was.  Homemade mayonnaise is so much creamier and more flavorful than store-bought, my family was hooked.

The recipe that I use is a modified combination of the recipe from Joy of Cooking (page 363 in my 1975 edition if you care to look it up) and the way that Mamie made it.  Quick, easy, and delicious; I make it all the time.

The ingredients are simple:

1 egg
3/4 t. dry mustard
1 t. sea salt
1 cup olive oil
3 T. tarragon vinegar

I confess that the tarragon vinegar doesn't look so hot in the bottle so I staged that by adding a few leaves of fresh tarragon to the pre-measured amount in a glass.  Tarragon vinegar is made by putting a bunch of tarragon into a bottle of white wine vinegar and letting it sit "for a while."  If you don't like tarragon, don't use it.  I have also made this recipe with raw apple cider vinegar when I didn't have any tarragon vinegar on hand.

The eggs are an issue for some people.  I'm lucky enough to have a friend that I can get fresh eggs from.  If I don't see her often enough I also have three farmer's markets where I can buy fresh, pastured eggs.  So I'm okay with the idea of using uncooked eggs.  It is, however, up to you.

Place the egg, 1/4 C. oil, salt, and mustard into a container.  Blend well.  I use a stick blender which I think is one of the best kitchen gadgets ever invented.  You can whisk this together if you don't have a blender however it takes a long time and when it starts getting really thick it's a bit of challenge.

When this is all well blended drizzle in another 1/4 C. olive oil and blend well again.  Then add the tarragon vinegar, blend well.  Add the remaining 1/2 C. olive oil slowly and blend well a final time.

The end result is a delicious, creamy mayonnaise.  It's a little thin at first but after it sits in the refrigerator it firms up quite a bit and is just fabulous spread on sandwiches, in dressings, or any other way you choose to use mayo.  My particular favorite is for tomato sandwiches.

alkalizing

water with lime | photo: o0o0xmods0o0o

Those of you who read my Facebook Fan Page know that I regularly remind people to start their day with an alkalizing drink.  This invariably brings up the questions, what is an alkalizing drink and why do I need to drink it?

Second question first. Our bodies do better when they are in a more alkaline state.  If you remember from high school biology, a pH of 7.0 is base or neutral.  We should be somewhere between 7.2-7.4 in order to be healthy.  When our bodies are in a more acidic state we can potentially be prone to illness.  Maintaining an acidic body state for a long period of time can cause a wide variety of illnesses such as headaches, inflammation, bloating, acne, and possibly even hair or nails that break easily.  Because the body seeks balance if it is too acidic it will pull minerals from our bones and from muscle tissue.  This is not an appropriate solution as eventually there can be a depletion of minerals.

Our modern diet is very acidic.  Especially if we eat a diet that is high in processed foods and animal products.  This makes it a good idea to include more more alkalizing foods which are primarily vegetables and most fruits (specifically those with less sugars).  In addition to making sure we add alkalizing foods to our diet it is often a good idea to start the day with an alkalizing drink.

So back to question number one...what is an alkalizing drink?  A glass of water with 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice or raw apple cider vinegar is a great choice. Many people may have to work up to 2 tablespoons as it may be too tart if you are not used to it.  Adding greens powder to water or a morning smoothie is another way to get an alkalizing beverage into your day.  Another option would be to drink kombucha or water kefir, another great start to the day and one that has the added benefit of probiotics to further support gut health.

If you want to test to see whether your specific body state is more alkaline or more acidic you can purchase Ph Test Strips.  These strips test either urine or saliva (urine is generally considered to be a better indicator).  If you are interested in changing your diet you could also consider getting a copy of The Acid Alkaline Food Guide.

And to answer the unasked question.  "But vinegar and lemons are acidic so how can they be alkalizing?"  It's one of the odd properties of acid-alkaline balance.  Yes, we do consider them to be acidic however their ash, or residue after they have been broken down, is alkaline.  That makes them an alkalizing food.  This alkalizing effect is also found with limes and grapefruits however not with oranges.

So start your day with an alkalizing beverage and drink to your health.

disclaimer: cmp.ly/5