Giving Up Coffee

Today I made the last of the coffee in the house.  It is now clear if I want more, I'll have to go out and buy more.  And buying more feels like admitting I have a problem.

I've given up coffee before, and I never really was into it until after I turned 30.  So why is it so hard to give up now?

It really has become one of life's greatest pleasures for me.  Aside from tasting good, it gives me that morning boost, helps alleviate my allergy symptoms, and I feel it keeps me from eating as much in the morning.  It has become my morning ritual to get to have my one cup of coffee in silence, while baby is still asleep (hopefully), check my email, my blog subscriptions, and read quasi-trashy news.

But...

It also stains my teeth, adds extra calories (cream and sugar-drinking it black gives me the jitters) to my daily tally, probably screws with my insulin response and hormone regulation, and if I want to start taking SAM-e again (for my anxiety and joint pain)-it renders it less effective.  It's also expensive.  The cost of organic, fair-trade coffee, organic cream, and cane sugar can sometimes run two adults $10 a week.  That's $520 a year.  Yes, way cheaper than getting it at a shop.  Which at $5 a day for one coffee, would be $3640 a year for two.  We are so serious about coffee we have three counter (takes up a lot of space) implements for brewing:  The standard drip pot, a coffee burr grinder, and a press-pot.  Finally, if I ever get pregnant again, I'll have to give it up anyway.

I do have a suitable replacement.  It's back to Green Tea for me, which if I ever get pregnant again I'll have to give up as well.  Right now I'm enjoying an old favorite:  Organic Jasmine Green Tea.  And the 1 teaspoon of sugar (for now) isn't going to do much damage.  It still stains teeth though, but it actually supports weight loss, energy, and the immune system.

Vegetable Biryani

I got this recipe from the Sundays At Moosewood Restaurant cookbook, p. 306, and tweaked it a bit.  While the dish itself isn't very spicy, the onion chutney heats things up.

1 cup brown rice
2 cups water
1/2 tsp. salt

Cook according to directions.  While the rice is cooking:

2 Tablespoons Butter, Chicken fat, or Oil (if vegan)
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup of sliced carrots
1 green pepper, diced
1 small yellow squash, halved and sliced
2 cups of cooked chic peas
2 teaspoons of chopped fresh ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 Tablespoons Olive oil

Melt the butter in a large skillet, over medium-high heat.  Add the cut vegetables one at a time, and let each cook for a couple of minutes before adding the next.  I usually use that time to chop the next (this drives my husband crazy, he'd rather have it all ready to go).  Add the spices last, and at that point it's probably ready, drizzle on the olive oil.  You don't want to overcook the vegetables.  The whole thing takes about 15-20 minutes tops.  The rice takes 50 minutes, so you'll want to time it right.  Before cooking the vege, you could make:

Onion Chutney p. 313

1 small onion, minced
4 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
salt to taste

I thought it was extra good topped with the chutney and some paneer, which I had accidentally made earlier this week while heating old milk to make yogurt.

You can use any variety of vegetables.  The recipe actually called for all of the above (except yellow squash), plus, 1 diced tomato, 2 cups of cauliflower, 1/2 cup green peas, and 1/3 cup raisins.  You could also use sweet potato instead of carrots.

Easily serves 4

Pound Cake

Recipe link below, so good it's addictive.

I had decided long ago to make pound cake, and Challah, for the market, because they required a lot of eggs, which was the first thing our farm ever produced.  In the Market rules, your baked goods must have an agricultural product, and you-a home processor permit (free, in KY).  Secondly, you must have an egg producer certificate or license, which we did, to use your own chickens' eggs in baked goods for sale, or sell to commercial establishments.  The license means you are following production and handling rules, i.e. washing and refrigeration.  I've known other bakers who couldn't use their chickens' eggs at all in their baked goods for this reason.  Oddly enough you can still sell up to 60 dozen a week, direct sales, without a license.

So, since we aren't marketing, and won't be again for awhile, if ever, here is the recipe I used, which I modified for ease and finished product perfection, Paula Deen's pound cake recipe.

I also had come up with a variety of seasonal favorites.  One of the most popular was Lemon.  Just add zest, would work for Lime, and Orange as well.

My Top Ten Super Foods List

I have finally compiled my top ten list of "super foods."  This list has been in the works since 2006. Know that in all cases, food should be grown without chemicals, antibiotics, hormones, non-GMO, preferably local (where possible, i.e. in season), and Fair Trade-if it's imported.  * Means you can easily grow/raise it yourself, I did/do.  If you are lucky enough to own land in California, you could have an almond, avocado, and lemon tree.

Top Ten Super Foods:
*Leafy Dark Greens:  Spinach, Kale, Swiss Chard, etc.
Almonds
*Berries:  Black, Rasp, Elder, Blue
*Eggs
Avocado  (the omega profile, high in 6, could cause hormonal problems)
*Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Pumpkin, etc.
Fatty, wild-caught, Fish
Legumes or Beans:  Black, Kidney, and Lima are the most nutrient dense
whole milk Yogurt (with no additives, just milk and beneficial bacteria)
Dark Chocolate (70 percent Cacao or greater)

A word on milk products, you need fat in your milk products to help with vitamin D absorption and prevent insulin spikes.  The only milk product that does not make you GAIN weight is yogurt, because of the probiotics.  Probiotics can be taken via supplements, and exist in fermented foods.  Several of the above foods are rich in Calcium.  You do not need to consume yogurt unless you like it.

More Super Foods:
*Garlic
*Onion
Olive Oil (if it's real)
Honey (if it's real)
Maple Syrup (if it's real)
*Cruciferous Vegetables:  Broccoli, Cabbage, etc., slightly cooked for optimum digestion (and lower thyroid issues), or fermented for beneficial bacteria
Lemon
Green Tea

If I eat a serving a day of the top ten, my average daily calorie intake would be about 1,600.
 
140-1/4 cup almonds
160-2 eggs
(0)-2 cups raw greens
80-1 cup berries
150-dark chocolate
200-1 cup legumes
150-1 cup whole milk yogurt
200-1 medium sweet potato or 3 medium carrots
200-1 whole avocado
350-7 oz. wild caught fatty fish

Cold Potato Salad

This for me is the classic cold potato salad recipe.  I absolutely hate sweet pickle relish, particularly in potato, egg, or tuna salad, so you won't find it in this recipe.  I also couldn't bring myself to add a cup of mayonnaise.  The end result was delicious, not heavy, but needed a little salt.

8 medium to large red skin potatoes
8 celery stalks
1 small onion
8 hard boiled eggs
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
1/4 cup Dijon Mustard
1 Tablespoon salad oil
2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar (I didn't have, so I just used white wine)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Scrub and boil potatoes till a fork pierces easily, about 35-45 minutes. Remove potatoes and add eggs, bring back to a boil, put on lid, turn off heat, and let eggs sit for 20 minutes.  Remove eggs, and place in an ice water bath.  Under cold running water slide off potato skins, rinse and set aside.  Finely chop celery and onions, mix remaining ingredients.  Cube potatoes, and one-at-a-time toss with dressing.  Refrigerate the salad, till ready to eat, the longer the better (at least 4 hours).  Before serving, peel the eggs, dice, and toss with salad.  I found the eggs infinitely easier to peel after being in the fridge overnight.

Black Bean Brownies or Flourless Brownies

2 cups cooked black beans, drained and rinsed
4 large eggs
1/2 cup melted butter, more for the baking dish
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla extract
3/4-1 cup cane sugar
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 
  
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Melt the butter in your 8 inch baking dish in the microwave.  Swirl it around the dish to "grease."  Place the black beans, melted butter, eggs, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla extract and sugar in the bowl of a food processor or blender, and blend until smooth.  Gently stir in the chocolate chips before pouring mixture into the prepared pan.  Bake the brownies for 40 minutes, or until just set in the center. Cool before cutting into 16 squares.  Cover and refrigerate once cool.

 I could not recommend these on day 1.  They were oddly dry and spongy, in addition to not being sweet enough because I goofed on the amount of sugar.  Also, as I expected, all the chocolate chips had sunk to the bottom.  A remedy would be to use the tiny chips, or melt the chips with the butter to achieve a truly chocolaty flavor, because, let's be honest, cocoa powder doesn't cut it.

By day 2, and even more by day 3, they were fudgy, not dry, and had taken on a more chocolaty flavor.  Not bad at 160 calories per brownie, 175 if you use the full cup of sugar.

MSG in Fast Food? I am so naive

MSG (mono sodium glutamate) sensitivity is a strong topic of debate.  For as many people out there that feel badly when they eat MSG, there are just as many people out there who believe it's psychosomatic.  While it's true that MSG occurs naturally in many foods like meat and cheese, when it is added to foods in greater quantity than what a human should ever consume, I know it causes a reaction in my body.

So when I recently ate take out from a fast food fried fish joint and within 20 minutes came down with a bevy of strange symptoms, one of the first culprits I suspected was MSG.  Almost immediately after I ate I began having stomach cramps and nausea.  I got very tired, dizzy, and confused.  I couldn't understand what my husband was trying to ask me, and I broke out into tears.

After some time had passed, I drank some white grapefruit juice to assist my stomach, and plenty of water to flush out my system.  Once I regained my mental faculties, I wondered aloud to my husband if this reaction had been because of MSG.  There was no other reason for this reaction, and I didn't know (until I looked it up) that most fast food places put MSG into something.  If I had known I would never have eaten it.

Fried foods are apparently the biggest culprits with a huge fried chicken chain being the most loaded.  But it's in food you wouldn't even think necessary to season, like pizza sauce.  One of the reasons this additive is used is not just for the "umami" (a word I hate), but because it does become addictive.  Your body reacts causing you to overeat, and then desire more of that food later.  This reaction isn't just limited to MSG, but other additives like sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate.  If you've noticed the later two being added to more and more foods under the reasoning to make them more "shelf stable," it's really because food creators learned that it makes you crave more.  I learned this years ago during my prune craze of 2007.  I mean who can't get enough prunes?  Once I switched to a non-additive brand of prunes I no longer had a problem with just having one.  Something to think about if your binge or trigger foods are from the shelf.

So what's so bad about these additives other than making you want to eat more of the food they are added to?  I don't know.  I don't know that if is shortens your life expectancy.  I don't know if they increase your risk of cancer, or heart disease, or birth defects.  But, if you have a sensitivity beyond food addiction, you could suffer from any of the ailments I discussed earlier, or worse still.  Probably the worst symptom associated with MSG is a Migraine.  I know several people, including myself, who get these kinds of headaches ranging from mild light sensitivity and pain (my symptoms), to crippling pain, blindness, and nausea that lasts for days.

This is not the first time I've suspected and then researched whether or not MSG was in the food I just ate, and it won't be the last.  I just feel so naive that I feel like I never considered that, like gluten, it's probably in all restaurant food.  I already take my chances with other people's cooking.  What's worse is that MSG has a myriad names like autolyzed yeast extract or hydrolyzed wheat protein.  Don't be tricked into thinking that a product doesn't have MSG because it claims "no added MSG."  Always read the ingredients!!!  With this in mind it's probably for the best if I do just plan on making all my own food forever.