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  • Green Beans & Sausage

    Green Beans & Sausage

    One of the reasons I hear time and again for not eating healthy is, “I can’t afford it.” That used to be one of my personal favorites. If you think the only way to eat healthy food is to eat only locally grown, super-organic, ultra-natural whatever, then you’re right. That’s not the only way.

    You do have to be dedicated. You do have to understand that making better food choices involves effort. That’s not a bad thing because EFFORT IS FREE!

    The effort involves looking in the right places in the store when you are there. Our local Market Street has the best produce around, and a quick trip in the store netted me a meal on the cheap.

    • 9/10ths of a pound of green beans – $1.05
    • one onion – $0.31
    • one-half pound of polish sausage on sale – $0.84
    • plus about $0.50 worth of raw almonds
    • maybe $1.00 or so worth of homemade bacon
    • and about $0.10 worth of garlic

    Put everything but the sausage in a pot of water, and boil for an 1 1/2 hours or so. Heat up the sausage in the microwave or a skillet.

    Green Beans with Sausage

    This made my entire meal plus provided servings of truly excellent green beans for two others.

    This article was first published on October 5, 2014 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.

  • Low-Carb Cheese Sticks

    Low-Carb Cheese Sticks

    News flash… Brun-Uusto Cheese is delicious.

    Brunkow's Brun-Uusto with Jalapeno

    This cheese tastes great. The flavor really comes out when eaten warm. We usually cut it into cubes and pop it in the microwave for about 20 seconds.

    Tonight, we tried the Jalapeño version. Cut into sticks and dropped in a hot skillet for a few minutes, this try it served warm cheese makes a perfect low-carb cheese stick. As a matter of fact, whether low-carb or not, it makes a delicious cheese stick.

    grilled brun-uusto

    This article was first published on September 29, 2014 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.

  • Bacon Jalapeno Skiffs

    Bacon Jalapeno Skiffs

    I had a little bacon that needed using, and I wanted to try something a little bit different. So… I decided to try a different take on combining bacon, cheese, and jalapeño. I was going to call them Bacon Jalapeño Boats but calling so small a treat a boat seemed somehow inappropriate.

    I got out the KitchenAid and put the food grinder attachment on it. It took about fifteen minutes to run about a pound of bacon and half a block of sharp cheddar cheese through it to end up with a ground bacon cheese mixture.

    KitchenAid Food Grinder ground bacon cheese

    While this was being done the jalapeños were prepped. Prepping involved cutting them in half lengthwise and removing the seeds.

    jalapeno pepper halves

    The ground bacon mix had a little garlic powder and a bit of onion powder added to it. This was mixed in thoroughly and spooned in to the pepper halves. Afterwards they were cooked in an oven preheated to 375. Then they were broiled for about five minutes until the tops started to brown. I pulled them out and let them cool just a minute or two. They looked good and I had to try one. How would it taste?

    detail jalapeno skiffs

    RESULT!

    This article was first published on September 26, 2014 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.

  • Eat Smart

    Eat Smart

    “Long-term, the saturated fat and cholesterol content of the diet will raise the … bad cholesterol and increase the risk for cardiovascular disease, particularly heart attacks.” (link)

    The quote is from an American Heart Association over a decade ago. The AHA finally moved away from the low-fat diet as the cure-all for heart disease years ago and now recommends no more than 24-38 grams of sugar per day. For the record, this is too much sugar but it is progress for an organization that is loath to suddenly give in to the fact that it’s been giving poor health advice for much of its existence.

    Even if you don’t follow a low-carb or real food diet, this has to concern you. If it doesn’t, well, I’ll just say I hope it does.

    IHOP Blueberry Cheesecake Waffle

    How’s that look. Tasty? Read the nutritional information on this waffle and you’ll find the ultimate Combo it comes with has a whopping 91 grams of carbohydrates. IF you’re a calorie counter, we’re not, that’s 1,350 calories represented in that picture above.

    I’ve got to give them credit, their food laboratory must have got it right; and they’re honest. They proudly proclaim, “Full of baked in flavors you’ll crave day and night.” Maybe Howard Moskowitz or one of his successors “optimized” their waffles for them. No doubt IHOP has designed these waffles to do exactly what they say they do, make you crave them.

    This article was first published on September 24, 2014 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.

  • Junk Food Science

    Although over one-and-a-half years old, The Extraordinary Science of Junk Food is well worth reading. It documents the concern some food manufacturers had about the obesity epidemic fifteen years ago and how they tried to do something about it. Unfortunately, as it reveals, that concern was not received well by many industry executives. Their interest is in profit and nothing else.

    The daughter of the inventor of Lunchables when asked about her children eating them replied, ““I don’t think my kids have ever eaten a Lunchable,” she told me. “They know they exist and that Grandpa Bob invented them. But we eat very healthfully.” Grandpa Bob’s remorse over his part is put on view for everyone as well as that of several other ex-food industry scientists.

    Most importantly, if you’re having trouble cutting certain foods from your diet, it is partially because junk/snack foods are designed to be as addictive as possible. Cheetos are lauded by one food scientist as one of “the most marvelously constructed foods on the planet” due to the fact that they make your brain think they have no calories in them. Much like tobacco companies did years ago, food manufacturers are working to make sure you consume as much of their product as often as possible to drive bigger profits.

    This article was first published on September 17, 2014 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.

  • SSMS Beans

    SSMS Beans

    Sorta Santa Maria Style Beans. The spice I used for these beans was inspired by my experience with Santa Maria seasoning. Granted, it isn’t exactly the same but it makes for  great pot of beans. Throw in some whole wheat biscuits cooked in a cast iron skillet and you’ve got a delicious real-food dinner.

    SSMS-Beans500x500

    In addition to some home-smoked bacon, a pound of pinto beans were tossed into a pout with one large onion chopped up and a large jalapeño (sans seeds for little one). The real flavor derives from the Sorta Santa Maria mix below. I put all the spices below into a spice grinder and powder them finely.

    1 Tablespoon Each Sea Salt, Black Peppercorns, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Herbes de Provence, and Rubbed  Sage.

    1 Teaspoon Each Ground Red Pepper, Smoked Paprika

    Cook per directions with heaping tablespoon of the above mix for each pound of beans. You will end up with some delicious, slightly spicy southwest flavored beans. If you manage to  have any left, they’re always good the next morning topped of with some cheese and fried eggs for a tortilla-free version of huevos rancheros.

    This article was first published on September 16, 2014 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.

  • The Joy of Real Food

    The Joy of Real Food

    Eating real food, free of additives, chemicals, toxins etc. helps you stay healthy. This Labor Day weekend, why not enjoy your celebration without unhealthy food. No-bun burgers make a great low-carb meal. Made with grass-fed beef they’re a tasty, low-carb part of a real food diet. If you allow yourself some carbs, try adding some home-made onion rings coated in organic, whole-wheat flour batter.

    burger and whole wheaet onion rings

    Need more concrete reasoning for avoiding poor foods? How about the fact that it modifies your brains signals on when to eat.

    The article “Junk Food is Killing your Appetite for Healthy Foods” covers a new study on the effects of junk food on rats. The study (link) found that rats provided with cafeteria food basically lost their natural ability to regulate their own eating. Beef pie, cakes, and jam rolls are specific foods listed as given to the experimental groups. It suggests that the “rats may fail to retain short-term information regarding recently consumed palatable foods.”

    Seems that your brain forgets you ate when you’re eating junk food.

    This article was first published on August 30, 2014 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.

  • Why I Don’t Use a Menu

    Why I Don’t Use a Menu

    I spend less money buying loss leaders, sales, and clearances, instead of ingredients for a set menu. For example, these hunks of meat were being placed in the quick sale bin and half off regular price.

    SavedPicture-2014817141331.jpg

    These two large steaks provided protein and fats for several meals at a per meal cost that beat a meal of made of dollar menu items.

    Not only did we enjoy them as steaks, we had some steak with peppers, onions, and Havarti too. This is another way to defeat those excuses that pop so readily into our minds. I can’t afford to eat healthy.

    Steak with Peppers and Onion

    Steak with Peppers and Onion

    Horseradish Havarti Cheesesteak

    Horseradish Havarti Cheesesteak

    This article was first published on August 27, 2014 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.

  • “Coke and Pepsi at it Again”

    Foodmatters.tv posted about Coke and Pepsi. They’ve removed the flame-retardant from their products, but did it make them any less harmful?

    This article was first published on May 17, 2014 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.

  • Circles of Death

    MMmmmm. The smell of deep fried bread covered in sugary glaze or filled with sugary goo until it oozes out. You know of what I speak. The donut.

    Some of these little circles of death showed up at a meeting last week. I’d woken up late and had not eaten anything that morning. When two boxes of them were placed on the table my head filled with co-workers uh, voices telling me, “Eat one, it won’t hurt you” and “Come on, they’re not that bad.” I caved. Between the stressors going on in my life and the hunger I couldn’t resist. How much can one or two donuts hurt anyway?

    Well, for starters, the scale shot up five pounds the next day. My morning weight had been 199 for a week, every day. It was 204 the next. Also, some pain issues I’ve been having which will be addressed through surgery, at a minimum seemed to be worse for the next couple of days. Finally, without disturbing any readers, I’ll say that my gut sounded like a pack of lions for the rest of the day and part of the next.

    So why are they circles of death? Read the ingredient list below. This is the least-damaging list of ingredients that I found on a recognized donut makers website. There were other donuts with far more heinous lists.

    Given that I am not opposed to wheat per se and naturally occurring sugars, I intend to make an effort at putting together a donut with a much shorter list of ingredients in the near future. When I get around to a successful one, you can bet I’ll put it up here.

    Ingredients in simple glazed donuts:

    Enriched Unbleached Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Iron as Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamin Mononitrate, Enzyme, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Palm Oil, Water, Dextrose, Soybean Oil, Whey (a milk derivative), Skim Milk, Yeast, Contains less than 2% of the following: Salt, Leavening (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Baking Soda), Defatted Soy Flour, Wheat Starch, Mono and Diglycerides, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Cellulose Gum, Soy Lecithin, Guar Gum, Xanthan Gum, Artificial Flavor, Sodium Caseinate (a milk derivative), Enzyme, Colored with (Turmeric and Annatto Extracts, Beta Carotene), Eggs; Glaze: Sugar, Water, Maltodextrin, Contains 2% or less of: Mono and Diglycerides, Agar, Cellulose Gum, Citric Acid, Potassium Sorbate (Preservative), Artificial Flavor.

    This article was first published on May 12, 2014 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.