How to Squeeze More Veggie Servings into Your Day

I enrolled in a Healthy Habits Boot Camp early this winter, and we spent an hour each week examining our eating habits and how to make our eating healthier. Our instructor used the Canada's Food Guide, and challenged us to follow the recommendations. We were to track our meals and count the servings for each of the food groups. I figured I knew how to eat healthy, but never in my life would I guess that I was falling so short of vegetable intake. Even with my veggie box. It was dismal. So I made it my mission to get the recommended 7-8 servings of vegetables in a day.

I had to sneak greens into pretty much everything, because I think I would have gotten really sick of eating salads for every single meal.

Here are a few of the tricks I used. (I should note I am showing the pictures and linking to the recipes only to give credit, they aren't the recipes I personally use).

Skip the spaghetti noodles and use a bed of greens

The concept of putting hot tomato sauce on a bed of lettuce or spinach that wilts when it heats seems wrong, I know. But once you forgive yourself for that and try it anyway, it is good. And the more you eat it, the better it gets. Your palate changes from "This spaghetti tastes ...different" to "This is the BEST salad." See the difference there? It's no longer pasta, just a hot, spicy, tomato-saucy salad. For a mom who's wheat-free and serving three other people who aren't, it's a quick modification to a weekday meal.

This is the closest picture I could find that looked like what mine look like...I don't bother with all the fixings, just dump the spag or chili on a bed of greens and go, but for the sake of a picture, here you are:

Use Spinach in your Pasta Sauces

Wilted spinach is barely recognizable in chili or spaghetti sauces, and you can blow through 2 or 3 cups easily. If you chop it up a  bit, the pieces get so small and your kids will never know they are eating all their spinach.

Use Greens in your Stir Fry

Very similar in concept to adding them to your sauces, the wilted greens give it some different color and flavor. It doesn't hide as well as it does in the sauces, but it really is tasty. And it wilts down so small, you can throw several handfuls in and it's not too much.This picture shows just spinach and chicken, but through all your usual stir fry veg in there too.

Use Spinach in your Smoothie

There are millions of smoothie recipes online with spinach in them, so go try one. It doesn't take like spinach, I promise. A little peanut butter and some chocolate protein, and you are drinking a cold Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. You will never know you are getting spinach into your system.

Use Greens in your Quinoa

I took this recipe (or my version of it anyway) to my mother's house for a dinner one night, and everyone loved it. I was requested to bring it again the next time we had supper. It is so good... I tell everyone that I could (and have) eaten the whole pot by myself. The cranberries, the feta, it all just makes it so fantastic. My favorite hidden greens recipe by far.

I'd love to hear from others how they work at getting lots of veggies in their diets, or any other ways to hide vegetables...let me know in the comments!

Week Four: My Pizzas

Pizza on Fridays is the food highlight of my week.

You can imagine my disappointment when I didn't have time to have a pizza this past Friday.

Looking back though, I had some Thai on Tuesday with some friends, and it was so delicious, it totally made up for it. The Pad Thai was made with rice noodles, and the Chicken Curry was served on rice, so no wheat pasta. And it was SO GOOD. And there were leftovers. I could have eaten it ALL.

Between eating out of the house with friends and family a few times this week, not eating at home has left me with a lot of extra veggies in my fridge. I get my veggie box every Friday, so I took some extra veggies to my sister in laws...there was no way I could get through all those veggies before they went bad.

A Typical Wheat Free Day

I know it sounds like I am going on about Thai food and pizza...but I'm really not starving myself. This is what a typical day looks like for me on wheat free:

Breakfast:
Egg (Fried or hardboiled)
A piece of fruit OR a fruit smoothie (frozen fruit, plain greek yogurt, almond milk, ground flax seed and a small bit of protein powder)

Snack:
Apple
Some almonds or mixed nuts

Lunch:
Leftovers from supper the night before (BBQ meat of some sort and veggies)
OR
Salad (sometimes topped with leftover BBQ meat, or tuna salad (tuna, mayo, fresh dill)

Snack:
Yogurt
Almonds or mixed nuts

Supper:
BBQ meat and a salad OR cooked veggies such as carrots, potatoes, beets, kale chips OR raw veggies such as carrots or cucumber

Snack:
Pistachios, cheese, carrot stick dipped in guac, greek yogurt frozen with some peanut butter swirled in, or fruit smoothie if I was feeling hungry and didn't already have one for breakfast

So fairly well rounded, I think. I have to get through a pile of veggies in the run of a week, so my meals HAVE to include them, whether on Wheat Belly or not.

My favorite meal was always the pizza though. It was just so warm and greasy and flavorful.

My Pizzas

The first Friday was the cauliflower crust pizza. This Cauliflower Pizza Crust recipe is similar to the one I used. It took a little bit of extra time, and grating cauliflower was messy - pretty sure I pulled some out of my hair when I was done. But it was really good...the consistency wasn't too bad and it didn't taste like a cauliflower. Pretty decadent actually. I'd make this one again. Four stars.

The second Friday was a Potato Crust Pizza similar to the one linked, but with my own pizza toppings. It tasted ok...it didn't stay together as one pizza though. All the slices separated, so it was like a little mini pizza on each slice of potato. Like a cross between nachos and stuffed potato skins. It was ok. Three stars.

The third Friday was a Cream Cheese Crust Pizza which was fantastic and delicious and decadent and wonderful. And not something I could eat every week. It was that good. It was similar in consistency to a regular thin crust pizza, but rich and cheesy. The recipe even says not to top the pizza with too much cheese, as the crust is entirely cheese. I would definitely make this one again. Five stars.

My iPhotography does not do Cream Cheese Crust Pizza justice.

My 30 Day experiment ends on Tuesday, and I have to make a decision: do I go back on wheat? Or stay off it? Or slowly wean back on? Or just limit it? I'm thinking I might stay away from it ... I definitely notice less tummy bloat, which I really like. And what is the point of trying it for 30 days and just going back on wheat? Kind of makes the past month pointless. I've already proven to myself I can do it.

Or I might stay on it so I have an excuse to eat Cream Cheese Crust Pizza again. I don't know.

Week Two: There is no such thing as comfort food.

I'm going to start this off with a confession. I cheated. 

It was Friday, and I was picking the kids up from my sister in law's, and we started chatting, and she offered me a beer, which I accepted without even thinking. All I was thinking was "it's hot and it's been a long week and a beer would be great". I was about three quarters of the way through when clued in to what I was doing. I finished the beer and confessed to my partner-in-diet and my husband.

I forgot about it shortly after.

It took two days for my gut to forgive me for it. Whoops.

No Such Thing as Comfort Food

Besides the one slip up with the beer, I spent a lot of this second week examining my relationship with food. It made me realize that junk food has always been a source of comfort for me. Had a bad day? You need some chocolate. Something spicy for supper? You need something sweet. Movie night on the couch? You need chips.  Heading back to work in the rain? You should get a hot chocolate. Kids driving you nuts? You better shovel food into that mouth.  Bored? Eat. Tired? Eat. Stressed? Eat.

The absence of comfort food has made me realize how much I depended on it. Every time I turned around this week, when I would normally turn to something yummy to snack on, my choice was a piece of fruit and some nuts, or a yogurt. It was like expecting a hug and being faced with a brick wall. An apple does not make me happy the way chocolate does. Yogurt is not nearly the late night treat that chips are. I was never hungry in these situations, just needed that dose of food, that comfort, those happy feelings.

So this week I'm learning how not to use food as comfort. Don't get me wrong, I love food. I love a great meal. I love caramelized onions on my pizza... peanut butter smeared on a banana... espresso balsamic vinaigrette drizzled over feta in my salad. Love love love food. Just gotta not be so darned emotionally dependent on it.

Had a bad day? Yes. Hungry? Yes. Hungry enough for another apple? No. Get out of the kitchen then.

Wheat Belly Diet: Week One

Ahh, nice to be back after four months of silence. It's been busy, I guess. Started a new job, trained for another round of Tough Mudder, did some reading, tried to garden and enjoy the bounty (win: rhubarb jam, fail: strawberry jam) and just generally kept up after two whirlwind children. One started a fire in my microwave this week. Just your normal household chaos.

The Battle with Sugar

I had completely meant to do a blog post about sugar in the previous months, but got discouraged when another blog I read did a great post on it, so I didn't think I could do it justice anymore. Here is the article if you are interested: Why Sugar is Worse Than Darth Vader

It was around the time this article come out I think that I stopped drinking sugar in my coffee, and went from a double double to a double cream. Man the first few sips were gross. I made several faces. But a month later, I'm still going. Coffee has become less of a sugary treat, and more of a means to an end, but that's ok.

Ready for the Next Step

We were on the drive home from Tough Mudder Montreal when my brother started talking about the book Wheat Belly, and the claims it made. Like if you cut out wheat, it can cure diabetes, heart disease, schizophrenia, joint pain, etc, and when you reintroduce wheat, your symptoms and pain that you had previously instantly come back.

He explained that the author said that wheat is not bad, just that the wheat we are being fed today is bad. Today's wheat no longer resembles the wheat from our forefathers, or even from our grandparents. There has been so many "advances" in how to change the wheat's genetic code without doing any long term testing to see if these genetic modifications are even good for us. The book says: it's not. And, in addition to all the genetic modification going on, that we, as a society, have become too dependent on wheat...that grocery store aisles are full of processed foods that are filled with wheat or sugar or corn that is just waiting to wreak havoc on our blood sugar. Junk food and comfort food make us feel good, and so we eat more of it, and it keeps on making us sicker.

So even though I'm not overweight, or struggling with an illness, I do want to be healthy, I just finished my latest goal, and hey, I'm a sucker for punishment, so why not? The author, Dr. William Davis, also claims the Wheat Belly Diet will give you more energy, higher mental clarity, better sleep and better skin. Sold!

Sign Me Up!

I didn't think I would have much trouble with it. I rarely eat pasta, I can switch out beer for wine, and I'll just make sandwiches with spinach instead of bread. I should note here that Dr. Davis says that if you cut out wheat, then you are likely to start eating other food in its place, and you should make sure that other food is the healthy stuff, not snack food, or processed food, or anything that's going to make your blood sugar spike. He goes a little crazy with this list, including things like: ketchup, canned meat and curry powder. Incidentally, a few things I'm not willing to give up: ketchup, canned tuna, and adding a bit of curry to whatever healthy dish I'm cooking that needs some kick.

Therefore, I'm more doing an interpretation of the wheat belly diet...eliminating wheat completely, but only limiting the other foods. I feel like since I'm not struggling with any serious health issues, and I eat pretty healthy most of the time anyway, that I'm ok with having ketchup on my hamburger wrapped in spinach. I'm still avoiding things that will spike blood sugar, like oatmeal, rice and ice cream. Close enough.

Wheat Belly: Week One

Much harder than I thought it would be. My starting day coincided with another brutal day of the month (you hear me, girls?), which is usually a carb free-for-all time for me, so it was extra challenging. I had a friend decide to try it with me for 30 days as well, so it was nice to have someone to compare meals with. My husband also agreed to try the challenge, but lasted approximately 1.6 days.

Day One and Two were fine. Day Three was long and I just wanted to nap. Day Four was HARD. This was the day of the microwave fire. I didn't sleep the night before for whatever reason, so between that and the hormones, it was just a perfect storm for a bad mood and an itchy, nerved-up craving for something sweet and carby. Managed to survive Day Four unscathed and woke up to Day Five with a better mood, less carb-hunger and a flatter stomach. I ate like crap the week before and the week after Tough Mudder, and was seeing the effects of this, so even though I'm not doing Wheat Belly to lose weight, I was still very HELL YEAH when I woke up on Day Five.

I'm on Day Six now, and feeling much better. I made cauliflower crust pizza for supper for myself last night and it was positively decadent compared to the rest of the week. This morning I had ground flax seed and almond milk as a hot cereal, sprinkled with cinnamon, raspberries and sunflower seeds, and I actually enjoyed it.

The friend who jumped on board with me sent me this, and it is so fitting to my Day Four mood.

So that was my week one of the Wheat Belly Diet, or my interpretation of it, anyway. I have a whole weekend to get through now, including a few beach trips, hopefully. New day, new challenge. Wish me luck!

Five Things That Shock Me.

For the past year or so, I've been painfully aware of the amount of processing that food goes through, and been making attempts to eat unprocessed and local food. I've come across tons of stories and statistics and watched documentaries and read some books...and there are a few things that I've read or watched that really stuck with me. There are a few more, but I stuck to the top five.

This is the stuff that shocks me.

5. Coke's effect on the body is similar to heroin.
I don't drink pop regularly, but when I read this one I was glad I don't.

Have you ever wondered why Coke comes with a smile? Because it gets you high. They removed the cocaine almost 100 years ago. Why? It was redundant.

In the first 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor, allowing you to keep it down.

20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat. (And there’s plenty of that at this particular moment.)

40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate; your blood pressure rises; as a response, your liver dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked, preventing drowsiness.

45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production, stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.

> 60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium, and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.

> 60 minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (It makes you have to pee.) It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium, and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolytes, and water.

> 60 minutes: As the rave inside you dies down, you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, pissed away all the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like hydrating your system, or building strong bones and teeth.

This will all be followed by a caffeine crash in the next few hours. (As little as two if you’re a smoker.)

Read more: http://www.blisstree.com/2010/06/23/mental-health-well-being/what-happens-to-your-body-if-you-drink-a-coke-right-now/#ixzz2Ob8qeTPz

4. At a meal at McDonald's, you are eating more corn than the hamburger or potatoes.
In The Omnivore's Dilemna, author Michael Pollan spends time tracing the roots to his meals. One of his chosen meals was a fast food meal, and he wondered how much corn went into the making of his meal, from the corn that the steer ate, to the high fructose corn syrup in his pop. An excerpt:

“Some time later I found another way to calculate just how much corn we had eaten that day. I asked Todd Dawson, a biologist at Berkeley, to run a McDonald's meal through his mass spectrometer and calculate how much of the carbon in it came originally from a corn plant. It is hard to believe that the identity of the atoms in a cheeseburger or a Coke is preserved from farm field to fast-food counter, but the atomic signature of those carbon isotopes is indestructible, and still legible to the mass spectrometer. Dawson and his colleague Stefania Mambelli prepared an analysis showing roughly how much of the carbon in the various McDonald's menu items came from corn, and plotted them on a graph. The sodas came out at the top, not surprising since they consist of little else than corn sweetener, but virtually everything else we ate revealed a high proportion of corn, too. In order of diminishing corniness, this is how the laboratory measured our meal: soda (100 percent corn), milk shake (78 percent), salad dressing (65 percent), chicken nuggets (56 percent), cheeseburger (52 percent), and French fries (23 percent)."

So, yes. The calories at McDonald's are coming from corn, not the beef, not the fries, but the corn syrup in the pop, and the corn oil the fries were cooked in.

3. The China Study 
The China Study was a 20 year study that started in 1983 that looked at the correlation between illnesses such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes, and diet that was either plant based or animal based. The China Study concluded that a plant based diet will prevent or reverse disease.

Read that again. A plant based diet will prevent (...ok) or reverse (WHAT? really?) disease.

Think about this statement. Now think about the implications.

Are we living in this meat-eating, the-world-is-flat culture that is completely unaware that we are poisoning ourselves? I don't know. It seems pretty "out there".  I'm still eating meat and meat products. Bacon rocks. Milk is my son's favorite thing. I don't plan on changing that soon. But why aren't I? Why isn't everyone? Culture is a hard thing to turn around.

2. In the United States, the USDA held a mother and her children at gunpoint for selling local food to locals. 
Thank the lord I live in Canada. Watch the documentary Farmageddon.

1. Food dyes contain petroleum. 
They make asphalt and kerosene from petroleum as well.

My daughter ended up in emergency a few weeks ago, all of a sudden started vomiting, and had a fever with an itchy rash. She took an allergic reaction to something and when we said she had a candy, and the nurses immediately said artificial dyes. The doctor also said it was likely.

Kraft is being petitioned in the States to take the artificial colors Yellow #5 and Yellow #6 out of their Mac and Cheese. The UK has a ban on those ingredients, and the Mac and Cheese they sell in the UK tastes and looks exactly the same - they actually use real spices, like paprika. (Here in Canada, they aren't even required to list which artificial colors they use, just the generic term "artificial colors".)

I remember when Smarties changed their recipe and got rid of the artificial colors...I did not like it all. I didn't really get why they would change such a good thing. Now I get it. I totally get it. I'm pretty thankful that there is a company out there that is willing to stand up and say "Hey. Hi there. We aren't going to feed petroleum to you anymore. Don't bother thanking us. It's ok. We're just doing our job."

Sunday Prep Day

If I don't prep food over the weekend, I'm screwed.

Since I'm trying to eliminate pre-packaged and processed food, this means crackers, bear paws, etc won't be on the menu for school lunches. Also I was getting lazy with the snacks at home, the fam was getting sick of yogurt and apples. My husband's schedule has changed the past couple of months, so he was preparing suppers way more than usual. I can throw a healthy supper together fairly quickly, but god bless him, he struggles. He tries. But he struggles.

I found that the weekends that I prepare snacks and plan a few meals my week went a lot easier, and the kids had more snack variety. And I had fewer frantic texts at 4:45pm saying "I don't know what to make for supper."

On a good prep day, I make some healthy snacks. On an awesome prep day, I make some healthy snacks and prep a meal or two.

My food prep is usually a combination of a few of these tasty tidbits.

Carrot Sticks - I cut them using my Pampered Chef Crinkle Cutter, so they look like crinkle-cut fries. Kids love them. I store them in water in the fridge.

Whole Wheat Muffins - My veggie box people grind their own wheat, so we always have whole wheat on hand. The made some buckwheat once too, so I'll throw a cup in buckwheat sometimes. I keep half out and freeze the other half for the rest of the week.
Last Sundays recipe: www.kitchentreaty.com/hearty-spiced-carrot-muffins/

Roast Chicken - We got a few frozen chickens in our meat box, and I love just roasting a chicken and cutting it up without getting into the hassle of the entire meal deal with gravy and stuffing. (Not that I don't love a roast chicken dinner. I do.) After the chicken has cooled, I cut it and portion it into freezer bags. I usually keep a portion or two in the fridge, for a quick protein snack or to chop up for sandwiches.

Protein Bars - After a few unsuccessful recipes I found, I finally modified one to my liking - one that doesn't fall apart in my hands, and isn't sticky. I cut them into individual servings, put them all in a freezer bag and freeze. These are for hubby and I.

Protein bars before being cut. 

Spicy Roasted Chickpeas -  I saw these on Pinterest, and I loved them! They are probably an acquired taste, but I enjoy them. Crunchy and spicy...an "acceptable" substitute for my chip obsession (which I have not, and likely will not, kick.)

Spicy Roasted Chickpeas.

Hamburger - We get frozen packages of hamburger in our meat box, and meal prep goes a lot faster if my hamburger is already cooked. I throw the frozen hamburger into a frying pan, and cook a couple batches up at a time. I usually throw some onions and sage into it to give the flavor a boost. When it has cooled, just divide into freezer bags and toss in the freezer. Great for a quick spaghetti or casserole.

Freezer Slow Cooker meals - I tried a few of these for the days that my husband was home, he can take them out of the freezer and throw them into the slowcooker and not have to think about cooking at all. And that is better for everyone. I checked out these sites, and I think soon I will start trying to modify my regular slow cooker faves into their freezer-friendly versions:
mamaandbabylove.com
kojo-designs.com

Prepping some slow cooker meals for the freezer. 

Hard Boiled Eggs -  Eggs are another staple of our veggie box. I recently started hard boiling them, and keeping them (shell on) in the fridge. They are super handy for a grab-and-go breakfast or a sandwich filler.

Cinnamon Chia Seed Granola- I've only made this once, but will definitely try this one again. It made me buy chia seeds, which are a fun and random little seed. Why random, you ask? This little seed turns into a gel when it gets wet. It's an odd little thing.
Chia Seed Granola

And those are the usual suspects for Sunday Prep Day. I have a few more recipes I'd like to try, have to test out some more freezer slow cooker meals, and I'd love to make a couple huge batches of spaghetti sauce to have in the freezer. Pinterest and websites like 100daysofrealfood.com are always a great source of ideas and information.

I'm just getting into this habit, so I'm interested in what everyone else does for Sunday prep?

What goes around, comes around.

We went out with friends to dinner a few weeks ago, and I don't know why this happens, but the subject of our veggie box came up. Must have been talking about kids, trying to get them to eat, or something along that lines. Whatever. Anyway. I go through my whole veggie box spiel, and she says she was interested in the idea and planned to get signed up. Over the next couple of days, I sent her the contact information of our farmers and didn't think much about it.

Fast forward a couple of weeks, and we are at their place for dinner. We sit down at the table to eat, and they have served Shephard's Pie and some squash on the side. Smelled heavenly.

Then they say that everything we are eating that night is local, from the veggie box they signed up for! Woo! The Shephard's Pie hamburger was even mixed with a bit of the lamb from the box.

And then I asked what kind of squash it was, and she said it was the squash from the box as well. Wait. What? You mean those squashes that we've been getting are edible? I've been using them as ornamental fall decorations around the house!! They are so little and pretty!

 

See? Looks different than other buttercup squashes...more ornamental...

So I passed the word of the veggie box to someone, and in turn they taught me something new! And now I have five little squashes to roast...mmm... And now I'm glad that I talk about my veggie box in random conversations. It all works out in the end.

My Veggie Box.

"Your what?"

That's the usual reaction when I mention my veggie box.

Every week, I pick up a plastic tote full of vegetables, eggs and herbs from a local farmer. I believe it started as a part of a government healthy eating program. I signed up to the program, and now every week, for the past two years (possibly three- I'm getting old and am losing track of time) the farmer packs up a large number of boxes into their cube van, parks in a central spot in town, and townfolk like myself pay the $25 to give back their empty box and pick up a new one.

A mid-summer veggie box. Mmm corn on the cob.

This was the contents of the box this week:

• broccoli 

• cauliflower

• beets

• kale 

• tomatoes

• cucumber(2)

• large white onion

• spaghetti squash

• dozen eggs

And two week before:

• carrots

• red cabbage

• cucumber(2)

• tomatoes

• leek

• broccoli

• small sweet dumpling squash

• large white onion

• swiss chard

• dozen eggs

So you get whats fresh, and there is a good variety, in the summer at least. In the winter, there are a lot of root vegetables, which they sometimes supplement with their own flour, or pancake mix, homemade jam or fresh bread.

The great thing about the veggie box is that it really forces me to eat more veggies. Pasta is a rare thing in our house, as is rice, fries or any kind of boxed side dish. I love love love squash. I am starting to learn how to eat beets (we bought a juicer!), and recently discovered that bacon (from the same farmer!) is a very tasty ingredient in a cabbage dish. You have to get creative.

I really recommend looking into this in your own town. For smaller households, you might be able to negotiate with your farmer to get a box every second week, perhaps. We are really lucky, because our farmer also supplies frozen meat boxes as well, as they raise cattle, pigs and lamb. Grass fed beef...so so good.

When you live in a rural setting, take advantage of the ruralness. Local veggies ftw.

The documentary that changed the way I ate.

The tagline for Food, Inc. is "You'll never look at dinner the same way again". Never have truer words been spoken.

When we watched the documentary, I had no clue about food systems. I had a good handle on nutrition, and the rules: stay out on the outside walls of the grocery store, don't eat food that comes in a box, blah blah blah. I mostly listened to it. I get my veggies from a local farmer, but still bought my meat from the grocery store. And occasionally bought processed food for the sake of convenience and a "treat" for the family: chicken nuggets, chicken burgers, hamburgers, etc.

I was pretty much in the dark.



I encourage everyone to watch it. Granted, this is a documentary about the American food system, but who knows what happens inside an industry?

I've made some pretty significant changes in the eight months since I've watched it. I no longer buy chicken at the grocery store. The only chicken we've eaten since last January (eight months ago) has been whole chickens, raised locally. The farmers that provide us with our veggie box also prepare a meat box as well, so I've been buying their locally grown, grass fed beef. And let me tell you. Grass fed beef tastes so much better.

I've been reading more about what the industry is putting cattle through, and in the book I'm reading now, The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Micheal Pollan, has done some eye opening research.

A cow can't live on a feedlot for more than 150 days, without succumbing to one of the many diseases and sicknesses that it is inevitable with being on a corn fed diet. Bloating to the point their stomachs balloon and put so much pressure on their lungs, it suffocates them. Acidosis -really bad heartburn- to the point of diarrhea, ulcers and liver disease. These cows are sick. Antibiotics are the answer, of course. Antibiotics are pumped into the bodies of those cows to keep them alive as long as possible, to gain as much weight as possible before they are ready to slaughter.

This author, Micheal Pollan, was a part of the Food, Inc. documentary, as was this interesting guy: Joel Salatin. He's probably one of the most memorable characters in the doc. He's being interviewed, and telling stories while working on his farm, and we're literally watching him wring a chickens neck with his bare hands as he speaks. But he is so charming, you actually feel good about the chicken bodies piling up. These chickens are wholesome. Dead... but wholesome.

I hope everyone has a good weekend. Watch the documentary if you get a chance. Find out more about what you are eating. Support your local farmers. More importantly, trust your local farmers. Know that they care about what they are feeding you.

How to Burn Rhubarb Jam

Ahh good to be back. I've been on hiatus for a couple of weeks, but I swear not out of laziness. Things have been busy.

The weather has been absolutely beautiful here, so I've been spending a lot of time in my garden beds. I fell off the training wagon for a bit, so this week I've been slowly and painfully climbing back on (why, hello, Advil.) I also took a trip to Bar Harbour, Maine, and did some mountain climbing for the first time. Its been a busy three weeks.

The beautiful spring weather has brought a lovely crop of rhubarb, so I harvested some of it a couple of days ago and attempted to make a jam.

Berlin, my cat, is stalking through this tangle of rhubarb.

I love the thought of making my own jam. My family goes through so much of it. I've always held back from making it though - I've only made jam once before, years ago, and it was a lot of effort for results that were just meh. I figured my canning skills were ... lacking. My confidence was restored last weekend when I was at a birthday party, and my brother-in-law's mother said "No. Anyone can make jam." Huh. Well, ok then.

So I went for it. The recipe was as follows:

3 pounds rhubarb
4 cups sugar
lemon juice, to taste

Step One:
Cut off the leaves. Wash the rhubarb and cut into 1/2 inch pieces. Put the sugar and rhubarb into a large glass bowl and cover. Place in the refrigerator for 24-48 hours, coming back to stir the mixture gently a couple of times.

Step Two:
Pour the mixture into a large, heavy bottomed pot. Using high heat, bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. My cooking time was a little over half an hour. The last bit of cooking time, add the lemon juice in to taste.

Note: When stirring, stir gently. The rhubarb falls apart easily. Also, when nearing the end of the cooking time, it will start to stick to the bottom, so be wary. (Mine stuck to the bottom, and I made the mistake of scraping it back up. It turned the batch a brown color, which was disappointing. It smelled a little burned at first, but luckily did not seem to affect the flavor, though. Its delicious.)

Step Three:
Ladle the jam into your jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe down rim, and screw on lids. Process for 10 minutes.

My jam is wonderful, albeit a little discolored. I most definitely have not gone to the fridge and eaten a spoonful of it.

Actually, yes. Yes, I have.

So in my delight at producing a tasty jam, I now have jam fever. I turned my sad attempt at a vegetable garden I started three years ago (I order my veggies from a local farmer now, so no need to grow my own- I'll leave it to the professionals) into a strawberry patch. I look forward to making -and not burning- some strawberry jam.

Stay tuned for more adventures in jam. Wish me luck.

Strawberry Patch: The Beginning.