Safe eating. A few ideas

[SoCalDem]

This place seems to have a variety of "raw materials" that are organic. You might be able to find some locally too. They have been in business since 1790, and are privately owned.

You can go on ebay or Amazon.com and buy some old cookbooks that I dearly love, and still use.

HP Make-A-Mix. They have several versions, and basically you just use raw ingredients and make your own mixes..cake mixes, baking mixes, breading mixes, pancake mixes.

You can freeze them, since they are dry, or you can make smaller quantities and use up quickly

The link has organic cocoa powder, powdered milk & flour..

Planting even a small garden can cut down on the "prepared" shit we all buy sometimes.

If you eat meat, check into buying a hind quarter from a local rancher/farmer.

Make your own lemonade/orangeade.

You can make a very acceptable spaghetti sauce in quantity and freeze it for fast meals later..

Making your own salad dressings takes only a few seconds if you have a blender or mini-food processor.

Use olive oil instead of the air-puffed fake stuff.. or even lard in small quantities is better than the fake stuff.

Find used cookbooks OLD ones..(pre 1950) and you will find many easy recipes that you can make as fast as the mixes... I PROMISE!..

The dog/cat food fiasco is a WARNING!! Heed it while you can.

...

Babyfood is easy & fast,but you know what's even faster & easier? A coffeemill or blender and whatever YOU are eating..

For tiny infants, the Gerber rice cereals are probably fine, but for older babies, why not get them used to what you already eat?

I never used salt when I cooked (we add it, to taste at the table)..

...............................

add your own tips :hi:

[Richard D]

1. Here's a recipe for very fast home made mayonaise

I use organic olive oil and organic eggs. You could also use grape seed oil or hemp oil, or combinations. Pretty easy and quite tasty.

http://www.instructables.com/id/EINKT1P2P7EY95W7IM/?ALLSTEPS

[rumpel]

6. garlic

what an idea - I have to try this - thanks

also the "hand blender" is the best tool I ever invested in - :)

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. Raise your own food as much as possible

from heirloom seeds if you can. There have been Seed Savers groups out there for years now. My neighbor has been a member and has a greenhouse full of open pollinated plants for sale. We got some and have planted them in our garden.

Dry onions, tomatoes, and most fruits. Easier to store and they don't spoil that way. You can make your own fruit leathers, too.

Make stir-fry with fresh veggies when you can. Besides looking up old cookbooks, look to ethnic cookbooks for healthy eating ideas. I love to make various curries using different veggies. Most of the prep is in chopping up the veggies. If you have an overabundance of, say, peppers in the garden, chop them up all at once and put in meal sized freezer containers.

Use butter or olive oil for your grease-advice of my doctor.

Cook a big pot of lentils over a weekend, then divide into meal size containers and put in fridge or freeze.

Chop up a fresh cabbage and put in a crock with layers of salt and make your own saurkraut. Much better tasting, and the digestive enzymes from this dish are very good for your health.

Don't forget to try fresh vegetable juice at least once a week--a healthy drink and delicious, too!

Make your own yogurt--I use Dannon's plain to get the culture--you can also make your own buttermilk in much the same way.

[Richard D]

14. Yogurt is good . . .

. . . home made Kefir is great, and much easier than yogurt. All you need to do is buy or beg some kefir grains (the starter) from someone and every day you can have fresh kefir. Way more probiotics than yogurt, and you don't have to worry about keeping it warm during the brewing process since it even will happen at cool temperatures. Plus the kefir grains keep growing and reproducing so you can share with friends. One purchase will last forever if you take good care of them.

You can also make great non-dairy drinks using the kefir grains (though once you do so they can't go back to milk).

A great site about this very healthy beverage is http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~dna/kefirpage.html

[southerncrone]

3. SoCal, we need to find more companies like King Arthur.

About 15-20 yrs ago, there was a book published that listed companies that were doing good things for their employees, environment, communities, etc. I do not recall the name of the book, & it would probably be outdated today. I don't know if they continued to publish newer editions every year or not.
Seems like the name had Responsible Companies in the title, but not sure.

Maybe someone here remembers it. I supposed I could Google & see what comes up.

Thanks for this thread.:9

[catzies]

4. While this link may not be it, I think it's close

http://www.coopamerica.org/pubs/greenpages/


(You also reminded me of the Whole Earth Catalog)

[rumpel]

5. basic Pizza Dough is very easy, too

Yeast, flower, warm water, olive oil and salt - let it rise at room temp until double in size - put in fridge for another 20 min or so..Just takes a little waiting time...

here are some recipes
http://www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/breads/yeast/pizzadough.html
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/001506.html

[hlthe2b]

7. For the apartment/condo-bound.... Thoughts?

AeroGrow AeroGarden™ and Seed Kits


Who cares about the weather! This revolutionary indoor home gardening system lets you cultivate delicious herbs, greens, vegetables and flowers inside your kitchen - with no green thumb necessary! Using Aeroponic Technology, plant roots grow into the air instead of soil. Inside the 100% humid, rainforest growing chamber, roots are bathed with organic-based nutrients and oxygen for fast, healthy growth. The Built-In Plant Lighting System is energy efficient and means you can grow plants anywhere, any time of year. Just drop in the pre-seeded Plug 'n Grow Bio-Dome Seed System™ pods and watch your plants grow to maturity in just weeks. The Computerized Smart Garden Technology alerts you when to feed and water while the microprocessor adjusts light cycles and nutrient and water delivery. Includes one AeroGarden™ unit, one Gourmet Herb seed packet and two Grow Bulbs. Additional seed packets and bulbs sold separately. Measures 12 2/10" W x 20 1/10" L x 11 3/5" H.


http://www.greenhousesoutlet.com/category/AeroGarden/Seed_Kits_

seems intriguing to me... All kinds of see kits available from salad greens to tomatos, herbs, flowers... Sort of expensive, but if they really produce, having a couple of these would seem great and would really reduce some of the concerns over pesticides and bacterial-contaminated salads at least...

[Steven_S]

8. Keep it coming...

You guys have no idea how much you're helping me.

I was recently diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease. Terminal. No treatment, No cure.

The best I can do, they tell me, is to become as strong as I can, as quickly as I can. No processed foods - organic only if possible. For the last month I've been eating fruits, vegetables and nuts with a little meat or chicken here and there. Dietary supplements galore, especially the B's E and C.

Between that and the exercise program I've never been in better shape. Just have to press on as long as I can.

Hope this thread builds up a bit, but even still, thanks for the tips. :)

[SoCalDem]

15. Oh Steven, I am so sorry you are ill.. I hope you can boost your immune system

by healthy eating..and stay as healthy as you can for a LONG time :hug:

[Deb]

9. King Arthur bread flour is the *BEST*

all around bread flour and the organic white is extremely good too. (I bake most of our bread and pastries) If you don't like to work with bread dough, a bread machine uses the same ingredients.

We go to the orchards and pick our own to can/freeze. Grocery stores that stock local grower's produce is another place to get fresh fruits&veggies for canning/freezing.

It's very simple to make your own canned fruit, jams and pickles. Yard sales and thrift shops are a good place to find "like new" canners and jars.

Skip processed deli meats and roast organic meats yourself.

Make your own weak bleach solution (1tbsp bleach to 1 gallon water) and use it all over the kitchen and I freeze or toss meat and meat based leftovers after 72hrs.

Check to see if your local Cooperative extension has free info or classes on home processing of foods and a list of local organic growers. More on home processing here - http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/index.html

Check here for food recalls- http://www.recalls.gov/food.html

[SoCalDem]

10. I found a "make your own mixes" place online.. Looks promising

http://busycooks.about.com/od/homemademixes/a/homemademixes.htm

there are even a few videos there :)

[unkachuck]

11. unkas' stir-fried chicken....

....I'm not a cook and I've had no training but I do prepare this for myself when I need meat....vary the ingredients as desired....I usually use a wok and add enough oil to coat the chicken....

2 skinless chicken breasts
1-2 TBS Tastefully Simple Spinach & Herb mix
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
2-3 TBS canola oil

======================

1) Slice chicken breasts into 1/4 inch slices about 2 inches long
2) Add canola oil and chicken to a wok or frying-pan
3) Add pepper and about 1 TBS of Spinach & Herb mix -- sprinkle
herb-mix until chicken is coated
4) Cook over medium heat for a minute or so, flip chicken and
sprinkle more Spinach & Herb mix
5) Cook (partly covered if desired) for 5-7 minutes more (flipping
chicken 2-3 more times) until chicken stops 'sizzling' or
until done
6) Drain and 'blotter' chicken on a paper towel to remove excess oil

======================

....interesting local site....

http://fuckcorporategroceries.net/

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

12. allrecipes.com

Fantastic free database of recipes submitted and rated by members. Many times the members comment on variations they tried, and how they turned out, so you'll know eg if the mix works as well with whole wheat flour as with white.

You can also search by ingredient wants and don't-wants, very handy when your cupboard's nearly bare and you don't know what to make with what's on hand. You don't have to register in order to use the search function.

I have a Joy of Cooking from the 70s. It's where I first learned you don't need any baking mixes that are often loaded with hydrogenated veg oil. I make fluffy, low-fat pancakes and heavenly dumplings for soups and stews with only the fat of one egg and some 2% milk. And no lard-laden pie is better (or cheaper) than a fruit crumble topped with a mix of whole oats, flour, butter and brown sugar.

I suck at gardening - I've tried and tried - and don't have the storage for haunches of beef. But I save money by shopping twice a month, with a list, after checking my store's website for sale items, and with a notion of what meals I'm going to make for the next two weeks. Then I cook and freeze as many meals as I can. It keeps fresh produce from spoiling, which it does more quickly when it's on sale, and eliminates the urge to order out when I'm too tired to cook.

(edit to add: the more times you go to the grocery store, the more impulse items you'll buy that'll throw you off your budget and your diet. I try not to go to the store more often than 2x a month. I either send my honey, who is able to resist the sweets that are my undoing, or I go to the nearby deli if I run out of an essential like milk.)

Speaking of freezing, I freeze every loaf of bread I buy. I find it keeps it from molding as quickly especially in humid weather. Defrosting doesn't take long and the bread tastes fine. I keep it in a cupboard instead of on the counter - that also cuts down on molding and staleness.

(also edited to add, SoCalDem, I really appreciate your frugality threads. :thumbsup:)

[SoCalDem]

13. Thanks. I have had to be frugal many times and it's a habit now

It helps to have learned to cook when I was about 8 yrs old too :)

Even though I had sons, they all are good cooks, know how to iron and do a mean load of laundry :evilgrin:

My youngest was a bit of a "personal shopper' to his friends. They always marveled at how well he dressed, and on bargain prices..

My boys always had strict clothes budgets and they learned early on.. My middle one even told his Grandma how MEAN I was.. Whenever they wore the toes or sides out on shoes before they no longer fit, or the soles were toast, they did NOT get a replacement pair (Moms of skateboarders know what I'm talking about)..and if they wore holes in the knees of their jeans, I bought replacements out of THEIR money :)