Aaaand...we're up and running!

It's been a busy month, with school starting and getting everything organized. Ask any teacher how the first 2-4 weeks of school is, and inevitably you'll get some sort of answer along the lines of:

Whew!

Busy!

Running around like a chicken with my head cut off!

I still have TONS to do and I've been at school every night till 6!

I'm not so sure about this class...

I forgot how much work this is!

Collecting forms bites!

If only I'd stop getting new students!

Etc

Etc

Etc

I'm finally starting to get everything how I want it (though I still have emergency sub plans to write) so now I have a bit of time to consider the food that I'm actually putting on the table. Tonight for supper group, given that I had a bunch of quinoa around (thank you Costco!), I made this chicken with quinoa and vegetable dish from allrecipes.com, along with mom's italian vegetable salad, bread and jam, and these fantastic banana chocolate chip cookies from Taste of Home. They're almost cake-like :-) Definitely a fantastic use for bananas that are on the verge. There was definitely some double-fisting going on by the kids :-) 

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies 

1/3 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. sugar

1 egg

1/2 c. banana, mashed

1/2 t. vanilla

1 c. flour

1 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1/8 t. baking soda

1 c. chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add egg, banana, and vanilla. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in separate bowl. Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheet, leaving 1-2 inches between each. Bake at 350 for 9-11 minutes, until edges have browned. 

Yield: 3 dozen (though for the size I was making them, it was more like 2 dozen) 

Mostly Plants

Last week, I was struck by the wonderful simplicity of the book Food Rules by Michael Pollan, and decided to share some of the best ideas with you. The main premise of this slim, 140-page book, is that if we can follow 3 basic rules in our food consumption, we'll be much healthier. In my last post, I wrote about the first rule, Eat Food, which emphasizes the need to avoid processed food products (for instance, things like Velveeta, which is a "processed cheese product" according to the package).

The next rule which is based on the first, and subject of this post is eat Mostly Plants. This basically speaks for itself. The more food we eat that comes from plants, which of course equals fruit, vegetables, etc, the less processed food we are eating. Notice that he doesn't say all plants, which some people do advocate. (The raw food movement would fall into this camp.) Another reason I like Pollan's work, is that he doesn't say Never. He doesn't say never eat junk food, he says keep things within reason (which is the main idea of his 3rd rule, which I'll write about in the next post.)

These are the rules that stuck with me the most from this section of the book:

34-Sweeten and salt your food yourself. 
      Again, he doesn't say, never salt your food. The main idea behind this rule is that when you buy processed or pre-prepared foods (TV dinners, canned chili, flavored yogurt, restaurant food, etc.), they often come heavily sugared or salted. Ironically, many so-called health foods do this. It's not uncommon for companies to make something, "fat-free," but then pump it up with sugar or salt so that it still has some flavor. So, the implication is that when you prepare your own food, even if you do add a heavy dose of sugar or salt, you at least know exactly how much is going into it. The added benefit of this is that you're likely to use less, because you'll be more aware of the amount. If you had to personally add the sugar into a can of soda, you would probably be less likely to use as much, especially if someone else was watching you! :-) Here's a great video/site explaining the amount of sugar in a can of soda--10 teaspoons!)

36-Don't eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk. 
     Many of the rules in this book were things I'd already known of, but it was good to have them repeated in a concise form. This one, however, I had never thought of. Totally true. Pink, yellow, or green milk is just not natural. (Literally.)

39-Eat all the junk food, you want as long as you cook it yourself. 
     I love this rule, because again, it doesn't forbid you from eating junk food. What it does do is emphasize the impact of fast food in our lives. Let's face it, there's a reason people don't eat french fries at home. They're a pain in the butt to make! If I had to make them every single time I wanted them, I'd definitely eat them a lot less. Same thing applies to baked goods, chips, etc.

So, to recap: Eat food, mostly plants.

I know you'll be waiting with great anticipation for the breath-taking conclusion of this series! :-)

Eat Food

As described in the previous post, I recently read Michael Pollan's book Food Rules, which is a description of 64 basic rules for how we can adjust our eating habits to make sure we're eating well. The short book is divided into three major sections, the first of which is Eat Food, meaning eat real food, not processed food products. One of his major points throughout the book is that our diet has not always been disastrous as a nation, but in the last 30 years or so, it has really fallen apart. To this end, he makes a point of examining old wives' tales and sayings from the past that have been proven to have actual scientific merit and truly are beneficial to our diets. Hence, some of the rules reflect previous eras. Here are some of my favorites from the first section of the book:
[Note: These are all general rules, with clear exceptions.]

2-Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food.
     A la "Go-Gurt." or "Tofutti."

6-Avoid food products that contain more than five ingredients.
     By following this rule, you avoid a lot of preservatives like high-fructose corn syrup, added salt and artificial flavoring, and "nutrients" that are artificially pumped into food. (Again, be reasonable. One of my favorite Christmas cookies has three ingredients: butter, flour, and brown sugar.)

8-Avoid products that make health claims. 
     I particularly like this one, because Pollan points out that things that make health claims have 1) packages, and hence are farther away from real food 2) come from companies that have money to package and advertise, 3) come from companies that have money to engineer their foods to meet FDA guidelines, (like fat-free mayonnaise).

10-Avoid foods that are pretending to be something they're not.
     Like dairy-free cream cheese. This is an oxymoron. Or again, like fat-free mayonnaise or olive oil mayonnaise. There is no such thing. Real mayonnaise is made with eggs, oil and vinegar. Period. These are the ingredients in olive oil mayonnaise:

Water, Olive Oil, Soybean Oil, Vinegar, Modified Food Starch, Sugar, Maltodextrin, Eggs, Contains less than 2% of Salt, Mustard Flour, Dried Onions, Dried Garlic, Natural Flavor, Enzyme Modified Egg Yolk, Beta Carotene* (Color), Lactic Acid*, Potassium Sorbate* and Calcium Disodium Edta As Preservatives, Phosphoric Acid

13-Eat foods that will eventually rot. 

     Anything that will not rot in the coming days or weeks, is unlikely to be real food, based on the amount of sweeteners, shelf stabilizers and preservatives it apparently contains (i.e., Twinkies.) 

16-Buy your snacks at the farmer's market. 

    In this case, you're much more likely to be eating real food, without preservatives, etc. Not only that, there's a much better chance the food is healthy in the first place, like dried fruit, etc. Given my pregnant state, I plan on heading down to the farmer's market soon, since I'll need something to get me through the mornings at school. 

20-It's not food if it arrived through the window of your car. 

     I think this speaks for itself. :-)

Now, just as a point of reference, Pollan makes it very clear throughout the book that he isn't advocating NEVER eating french fries, Cheetos, etc., but just making the rules part of your general habits. (And occasionally breaking the rules. Not daily.)

Grrreat Granola!

Man, it has been a loooong semester! I've been so busy with my final semester of master's classes and trying not to wring any necks at school, that I haven't been able to focus long enough to write consistently on my blog. But, as of now, that's changing. I'm going to be writing at least once a week. Since I now have time to enjoy cooking/baking again and am in the midst of planning BESPTE (Best Europe Sampler Platter Trip Ever), I should have plenty to write about :-)

For this week's post, I must write about the only thing that I have made more than once in the past 2 weeks: granola. While some people only eat breakfast that has a super-excited Tiger on the front of the box, I LOVE to make granola. While it can be a bit expensive, it lasts for a long time, especially it you eat it on yogurt or added to cornflakes with Craisins. I frequently make my mom's recipe for granola, but I found this recipe recently and find it to be a nice change of pace. I found the recipe in the Sunflower Market magazine, which they give away at the store.

Coconut Almond Crunch Granola

8 c. rolled oats
1 c. sliced almonds
3/4 c. shredded coconut
1/2 c. sesame seeds
1/2 c. pumpkin seeds
1/2 c. sunflower seeds
3/4 c. maple syrup
1/2 c. oil
1/4 c. honey
1 T. molasses
1 T. vanilla
2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. salt

1. Preheat oven to 325. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and toss together until evenly combined.
2. On 2 greased baking sheets, spread granola mixture in a 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick layer. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes until golden brown.

NOTE: I used an extra 1/2 c. sunflower seeds and 1/2 c. chopped pecans instead of the pumpkin and sesame seeds, and dark corn syrup instead of molasses.