January 29 Foodie Night

Study Finds High-Fructose Corn Syrup Contains Mercury

    Source: http://myfoodprint.com/

I just came across this. Sheesh ... I knew there we had a history with this stuff in our country and that it was one of the big targets for the obesity epidemic, but wow.


 MONDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Almost half of tested samples of commercial high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) contained mercury, which was also found in nearly a third of 55 popular brand-name food and beverage products where HFCS is the first- or second-highest labeled ingredient, according to two new U.S. studies., ... Read the complete article here.

"Kind Diet" sample recipes

I came across this link to 4 recipe's from Alicia Silverstone's "Kind Diet" (she is vegan). The peanut butter cups look amazing! Also, the bean dip. I'm excited to try them out.

http://www.oprah.com/food/Vegan-Recipes-from-The-Kind-Diet_1

Creamy Red Pepper Soup

No pics at the party! Argh. That sucks since we had such beautiful, diverse menu items. Here's the recipe for the soup I made:

Creamy Red Pepper Soup:

Saute in 2 T of EVOO for five minutes: 2 chopped onions, 3 chopped cloves of garlic, 2 chopped carrots, and 2 t thyme.

Add: 6 C water, 1 1/2 or 2 roasted red peppers, 1 chopped potato and 1 T sugar
(You can buy a jar(kind of expensive) or buy a couple from the olive bar at Macey's)

Bring to a boil. Simmer covered for 20 min. Blend with a hand blender or upright blender until smooth.

If desired, top with croutons and mascarpone cheese, Salt and Pepper to taste

Here's the link for the Oprah interview with Michael Pollan.

Until next time!
-Amelia

OATS!

Here are some recipes I have made lately for breakfasts and snacks all using oats! They all last for awhile and it was great taking these to work to snack on or for a quick breakfast.

BREAKFAST BARS

2 1/2 c. Oats
1/2 c. Flax Seed Mill
1/4 c. cocoa powder
1/2 c. honey
1/2 c. natural peanut butter
1/2 c. - 1 c. HOT water

Mix all ingredients together (only 1/2 c. hot water) add more as needed. For into bars and wrap in plastic wrap. Store in Fridge or freezer.

OATMEAL COOKIE SNACKS

2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. flax mill
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. natural cane sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1/2 c. honey
1 sm. apple peeled and chopped
1/2 c. berries or raisins (dried)
1 cup almonds or walnuts chopped
1 1/2 c. coconut
3 c. oats
1/4 c. applesauce

Don't get overwhelmed by all the ingredients, they are tasty and it is pretty quick to make! Mix ingredients. Drop spoonfools onto baking sheet. Bake 12-14 minutes at 350 .

GRANOLA
for breakfast cereal or yogurt

8 c. rolled oats
1 1/2 c. wheat germ
1 1/2 c. oat bran
1 c. sunflower seeds
1 c. chopped nuts
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. organic brown sugar
1/4 c. real maple syrup (I used agave syrup)
3/4 c. honey
1 c. veggie oil
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. vanilla
2 c. raisins or dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 325. Combine oats, wheat germ, oat bran, sunflower seeds, and nuts. Stir salt brown sugar, syrup, honey, oil, cinnamon and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to boil and then pour over dry ingredients. Back about 20 minutes. Stir halfway through. Then stir in raisins before storing in an air tight container.

GRANOLA BARS

2 1/2 c. oats
1 c. coconut
1/2 c. sunflower seeds
1/4 c. sesame seeds
1/2 c. wheat germ
1/2 c. slivered almonds
4 tbsp. butter
1/4 c. natural brown sugar
1/2 c. honey
1 c. raisins
2 tsp. vanilla

Toast oats, coconut, sunflower seeds, wheat germ and almonds on a baking sheet at 300 degrees for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally. Heat butter, honey, brown sugar. Mix all ingredients. Press into a 9X13 pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool for 1 hour before cutting into bars. Store in plastic wrap.

Recipe of the day: Spinach Barley Salad

I threw together some random scraps in the fridge and it turned out so well I thought I'd share the recipe.

Spinach Barley Salad

4 cups of raw spinach
2 cups cooked barley (cooked in a bit of butter, herbs de provence and lemon juice)
1 roma tomato - sliced
2 hard-boiled eggs - sliced
4 oz pepperjack cheese (or mozzarella)
2 T. your choice of mustard-base dressing

optional: 3 T. sliced almonds

I found these awesome containers at wal-mart for $1.99 and I shop a lot from the bulk section at Smith's marketplace. Things are really cheap and all raw foods! Some of the favorites are: barley, sunflower seeds, sliced almonds, wheat, flax meal, oat bran, pinto beans, rice, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, quinona, and raisins.

Marshall's Healthy (but not gross) Oatmeal Cookies

Bake: 8 min. per batch

Oven: 375 degrees F

Makes: About 48 Cookies

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar (100% cane sugar)

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

13/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups whole ground wheat flour (you may need to add more until the consistency is right)

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup of raisins (or all-natural chocolate chips)

Start with the butter and whip in the eggs and sugar. Then add everything else. Add the flour, raisins and oats last and remember to add more flour, if needed.

Recipes at Holly & Adam's (1-8-2010)

1. Pesto Genovese (added by Holly and Adam; from: Adam Smith)

5 peeled garlic cloves
2 cups large fresh sweet basil leaves
1/2 C pine nuts (or almonds - which are cheaper)
1/2 C (or more) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 C virgin olive oil
1/3 C whole milk or heavy whipping cream
salt to taste

Just put it all together (raw) in a blender and blend until well mixed. You can freeze what you don't use right away. It store in the fridge for a couple of weeks as well. It's great on pasta or as a spread on bread. We like to add fresh tomatoes on top of the pasta or bread as well.
*Helpful local hints: We buy our basil plants at Smith's Marketplace, and they always do very well. You can buy some really great parmesan cheese made locally at Aggie Ice Cream for cheaper than anywhere we've seen in the vally. They call it "Aggiano" cheese.

2. East Turkey Chili (added by Janelle & Dan; from_____)

1 pound of Lean turkey
2 cans organic black beans or homemade
? oz. of tomatoes, chopped
1 jar (16 oz) mild or medium chunky salsa, organic or homemade
1 T chili powder

Brown ground turkey and drain off any fat. Add rest of ingredients and let simmer for at least 30 minutes. Serves 8.

3. Sweet Spinach Salad & Dressing (added by Amelia & Paul; from:_________)

Spinach leaves
one chopped apple
one chopped orange
sliced almonds (candied in sugar if desired)

Dressing:
2 oz oil
2 oz fresh squeezed orange juice
2 oz red wine vinegar
2 TB sugar
Shake it!

Toss with Salad.

4. Lara Bars: (added by Amelia & Paul)

I bought these in bulk at Sam's Evil Empire 18 for $15

5. Barley Pilaf (added by Jen and Clay; from__________)

1 cup Pearl Barley
2 tablespoons butter
2 tbsp. chopped onion
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 tbsp. fresh or dried parsley
1 tbsp. lemon juice

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook 1 cup pearl barley about 35 minutes. Drain and rinse with cool water. In a skillet melt butter and saute onions. Mix all ingredients and season with salt and pepper.

6.

"Eat food, not too much, mostly plants."

by Adam & Holly Smith

(photo: Clay Olsen)

The new Cache Foodie group is a small bunch of food-lovers in and around Cache Valley. Our mission is to meet, eat, and share ideas and recipes that will help us abandon the "edible food-like substances" that plague our supermarkets, school cafeterias, and (all too often) our pantries.

We met this past week at our home. The food was amazing and the discussions were helpful and inspiring. We found an article online recently that summarizes many of Michael Pollan's (a nutrition author) suggestions regarding food. These are essentially the same ideas we discussed the other night and, in our opinion, are a fantastic set of rules to follow for those wanting to eat better, lose weight, or both.

7 Words & 7 Rules for Eating (taken from webmd)

1. Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food. "When you pick up that box of portable yogurt tubes, or eat something with 15 ingredients you can't pronounce, ask yourself, "What are those things doing there?" Pollan says.
2. Don’t eat anything with more than five ingredients, or ingredients you can't pronounce.
3. Stay out of the middle of the supermarket; shop on the perimeter of the store. Real food tends to be on the outer edge of the store near the loading docks, where it can be replaced with fresh foods when it goes bad.
4. Don't eat anything that won't eventually rot. "There are exceptions -- honey -- but as a rule, things like Twinkies that never go bad aren't food," Pollan says.
5. It is not just what you eat but how you eat. "Always leave the table a little hungry," Pollan says. "Many cultures have rules that you stop eating before you are full. In Japan, they say eat until you are four-fifths full. Islamic culture has a similar rule, and in German culture they say, 'Tie off the sack before it's full.'"
6. Families traditionally ate together, around a table and not a TV, at regular meal times. It's a good tradition. Enjoy meals with the people you love. "Remember when eating between meals felt wrong?" Pollan asks.
7. Don't buy food where you buy your gasoline. In the U.S., 20% of food is eaten in the car.

The next post will contain recipes for the foods we gobbled at this week's Foodie-Fest.