inner-eco™ | dairy-free coconut kefir

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inner-eco™ | dairy-free coconut kefir

Ground Turkey Shepards Pie

One of my favorite dishes of all time is a mouth watering Shepard's Pie. The problem is that this dish is usually reserved for special occasions due to its usually ridiculously high fat content. Since I love this dish so much I decided to take a stab at a lighter version in hopes that I could re-create it without losing so much wonderful flavor. Shepard's Pie is traditionally made with ground lamb, but Americans often substitute ground beef. I took it one step leaner and made it with lean ground turkey. I also vowed to make it as simple as possible and using very few dishes. Anyone who has ever made Shepard's Pie knows the dishes can pile up quickly. In place of starchy Russet or Idaho potatoes I use red potatoes and leave the skin on. I cut corners by using frozen mixed vegetables and add flavor to the meat with grated onion and garlic. I cut out the butter and used extra virgin olive oil instead and used 1% low fat milk instead of whole milk or cream. Before you go running from this recipe I suggest you give it a try. My husband raved about it, and he is my very own personal food critic.

Ingredients

1 lb or 6 or 7 medium red potatoes, skin on, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 medium yellow onion, grated (with a cheese grater)
3/4 c frozen mixed vegetables (corn, peas, carrots, green beans)
2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Sea Salt and pepper
1 egg yolk
2/3 cup skim or low fat milk
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Preheat oven to 425. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add potatoes to cook for 10 minutes or until tender. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon oil. Add grated onion and garlic. Saute until onion is golden brown (2-3 minutes). Add ground turkey and increase heat to medium high. Stirring until turkey is browned (8-10 minutes). Add flour and mix well. Add worcestershire and broth until it thickens. Add vegetables and salt and pepper to taste (about 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp salt). Pour mix into 2 quart casserole dish.
Drain potatoes and return to pot. Add remaining oil and begin to mash. Add additional oil by the teaspoon if necessary. Measure out your milk in a large measuring cup and thoroughly mix in egg yolk. Add milk mix slowly while stirring constantly. Add salt and pepper to taste (about 1 teaspoon salt). Top meat mixture with potatoes. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes. Turn on broiler for another 5-10 minutes to brown the top (watch closely). Top with fresh parsley. Serves about 6. We managed to get about 8 servings total.

Effects of the consumer's voice

Just when you think your voice doesn't count when it comes to the nutritional value of processed foods...PepsiCo will cut sodium, sugar, fat in drinks, chips. Way to go PepsiCo and Frito Lay! They have a LONG way to go, but it is a perfect example of how consumer dollars really do make a difference. Continue to make healthy choices in the checkout line and help to enforce change!

10 Things the Food Industry Doesn't Want You to Know - US News and World Report

10 Things the Food Industry Doesn't Want You to Know - US News and World Report

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Hidden nutritional pitfalls...in plain sight

A friend of mine recently asked me about ingredients to avoid when shopping for food and reading labels. While I could give her a few answers I was unable to give her a definitive answer because I really don't know all the nutritional pitfalls to avoid on a label. Thus began my research to understand more about ingredient lists. Between my fairly short attention span (my husband likens it to that of a house fly) and trying to entertain a demanding two-and-a-half-year-old I will limit this topic to 5 specific items to avoid, but I promise to return to this topic . I also learned that if the product you are buying has more than 10 ingredients (with the exception of items like soups with lots of real ingredients or bags of frozen vegetables with 10 plus kinds of vegetables) on the label you should probably put it back, especially if the majority of those ingredients are unpronounceable.

High Fructose Corn Syrup
If you have been actively reading this blog you are aware of my recent disdain for this product. I have a rule: if these words are present on a label, I will not buy it. Basically, it is a cheap substitute for sugar that is broken down in such a way that your body gains no nutritional value and doesn't even have to work to break it down. It has been shown to be detrimental to the health of your liver and is believed to be a major contributing factor to rapidly increasing rates of obesity. It is found in everything from sodas and ice cream (yes, Blue Bell too) to bread, salad dressing, granola bars, canned vegetables and even hot dogs. Basically, it can be lurking anywhere even in your favorite flavored morning latte (crying a little).

Partially Hydrogenated Oils (trans fats)
This should be an obvious one, but it unfortunately is not. Where this ingredient surprises me most is that it can be found in products we consider to be healthy or low-fat. Some natural no-stir peanut butters contain this ingredient leaving the consumer to believe they are buying a healthier product than the more popular "unhealthy, sugary" peanut butter. Butter substitute spreads are another big offender often containing "partially hydrogenated soybean oil" all the while labeling the product as having less saturated fat than butter.
So, why is this product so bad? Trans fats raise LDL (bad cholesterol) and lower HDL (good cholesterol). This deadly combo increases one's risk for heart disease, the leading killer of men and women. By adding hydrogen to vegetable or other oils through a process called "hydrogenation" the oil becomes more solid and stable helping to add shelf life to the product. That three month old box of crackers in the back of my pantry is proof.
The other misleading statement is "trans fat free" A product that contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving may label their product as "trans fat free". So, even if it contains partially hydrogenated oils it can be labelled as "trans fat free". The problem here lies in this: if you eat more than the recommended serving, you could be getting trans fats and if you eat several different items throughout the day containing partially hydrogenated "trans fat free" foods you could actually be exceeding your daily limit of trans fat and not even realize it. This might explain why so many of my well meaning "low fat" product diets have failed me!
Mayo Clinic recommends eating foods containing Monounsaturated fats such as olive, peanut , grapeseed and canola oils. I say, if you like the taste of butter, use butter. At least you know what you are getting. I reserve butter for baking and use Monounsaturated oils for cooking.

Food Colorings and a number (Blue 2, Green 3, Red 3, etc)
As a kid growing up eating M&M's I remember the color red being noticeably absent from the bag. The general assumption was that red M&M's caused cancer due to the use of Red Dye #2. In truth, Mars stopped making red M&M's for fear of the association people might have with their product and the dye banned in 1976. The triumphant return of the red M&M occurred in 1987.
Although, Red Dye #2 is still banned for use in food products there are still concerns over artificial food colorings. Studies have shown the use of some of these popular artificial dyes can cause behavioral problems (such as Attention Deficit Disorder) in children who are sensitive to the chemicals. Granted, not all kids are sensitive, but it is a safe bet to eliminate foods containing artificial dyes. Whether I fully agree or not, I'm looking for dyes on labels now and putting many products back that I thought were healthy. The irony is that candy is colored with these dyes, but try diverting your kids' attention away from a bright red sucker.

Refined Soy
Say it ain't soy! This one really surprised me. I have NEVER thought of soy as unhealthy. Soy milk, tofu, soy based formula, edamame, and soy burgers are ALL good for you, right? The stories of busy body wives trying force tofurkey down their "meat n' tater" husbands are all too common. I found surprising information on how soy affects our health in adverse ways. To Google this subject still leaves fairly sparse information and much of it is contradictory. Some might speculate that the mighty subsidized soy industry has a "chilling effect" on the topic, but who knows. I will, however, offer a few examples of soy concerns.
Soy contains plentiful amounts of isoflavones (estrogen-like compounds). These are the same compounds that are beneficial to our health helping protect us from diseases like cancer and heart disease. As little as 38mg of isoflavones (less than the amount in two glasses of soy milk) can depress thyroid function in women. Soy infant formula contains very high levels of isoflavones for their low body weight so soy fed infants are recieving very high doses of estrogen daily. "Dr. Mike Fitzpatrick, a New Zealand toxicologist estimates that an infant exclusively fed soy formula receives the estrogenic equivalent of at least five birth control pills per day." Soy, The Darker Side of America's Favorite "Health" Food.
Basically, the rule for soy is to eat it in moderation. The problem lies in that soy is found on ingredient labels all too often. Examples include bread, buttery spreads, ice cream, frozen potatoes, and chocolate. If you are eating soy in whole food form like tofu or edamame you are probably not going to suffer major adverse health effects. If every processed food in your pantry includes processed soy in some form you may want to clean house and commit to limiting your purchases of products containing refined soy. Our goal is to keep our little girl a little girl as long as nature will allow, so I am going to strictly limit the amount of soy that comes into our home. As for soy milk...we'll just stick to good ol' cow's milk.

Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA)
This sounds like a serious and threatening disease of unpronounceable body parts, but it's just another additive. This is an ingredient of which I was totally unaware. It's usage is limited by the FDA to less than 0.02% of fat content in foods and less than 0.1% in chewing gum, so maybe that is why it is not commonly known. Plus, it is another unpronounceable word people tend to forget or ignore (which is my case). It is basically a preservative used in oils or fat containing foods as well as some cosmetics and rubber and pteroleum products. In short, BHA has been found to have carcinogenic effects on animals and scientists are still largely unaware of what levels can be toxic to humans. For me, I'll just pass over products with those two words on the label...just to be safe.

There are a million things to look for on labels before tossing items into your grocery cart, but this would become a very long blog post and I am not captivating enough to keep you reading to the end. Navigating labels is really common sense. If it seems the label is rife with chemicals, sugars, fats and salts it is probably best to put it back on the shelf for the the next unsuspecting consumer. I know some people might think this is all a little crazy, that maybe scrutinizing ALL of our food is just too much. For me, this food revelation has been enlightening to the actual amount of these ingredients we have been consuming. If we continue to buy foods containing ingredients we do not want to consume then we are telling the food industry that it is OK to continue to short change the quality of food and our health. The government does not have the power to control this industry nor should they. WE should. As consumers, we VOTE on what we want to eat by the purchases we make. Your grocery list is your ballot, so make it count!

Farfalle with vegetables, tomatoes, feta and bacon

This recipe was actually inspired by a really tasty looking recipe from Food and Wine. Being the mother of a two year can have its consequences while grocery shopping. I often leave the store without all of the items on my list, thus leaving me short when it comes to preparing the recipes I have chosen for the week. On the other hand, it also forces me to get creative which is what happened here. I originally planned to make Farfalle with Tomatoes and Green Vegetables, but without the spinach, ricotta salata and green tomatoes I had to improvise. You might be wondering why I added bacon to an otherwise vegetarian dish. Bacon tastes good! If you don't eat meat, you can just eliminate the bacon and cook your veggies with a tablespoon of olive or grapeseed oil. This makes a very easy and light dish...and yes, my 2 year old even ate a bowl of it without complaint! (Serves 4)

1/2 lb farfalle pasta
1 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise
1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
8 asparagus spears, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 cup feta cheese crumbles
4 slices center cut, lean bacon trimmed and chopped
2 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced or use a garlic press

Cook chooped bacon over medium heat until crisp. While bacon is cooking, bring large pot of salted water to a boil and add pasta to cook for about 7 minutes. Remove the bacon w/ a slotted spoon and set aside on a paper towel. Using tongs to hold a crumpled paper towel, wipe up all but about 1 tsp of the bacon fat. Add sliced zucchini to pan and saute until almost tender, add garlic and tomatoes. Cook until tomatoes are just heated through. Remove from heat.
After pasta has cooked for 7 minutes, add asparagus and cook for one more minute. Reserve 3/4 cup of the pasta water and drain pasta. Return to pot and add zucchini mixture, green onions, and reserved pasta water to pot. Toss and place in serving dish, top with feta and bacon.

The Cheeseburger's Threat To The First Amendment

As much as I would like to keep my blog light-hearted and hopefully a little funny, I decided to write about a very serious issue that threatens our First Amendment rights. It is a topic of which most Americans are completely unaware: food-disparagement laws.

Have you ever said, "Don't eat that (insert perishable junk food product here). It's so bad for you."? Well, you just broke the law in 13 states. Hard to believe, right? You broke what is commonly referred to as a food libel law or veggie libel law. Thirteen states have laws on the books preventing individuals, media and businesses from disparaging perishable food products.

Remember Oprah's beef rancher lawsuit? She was sued by cattle ranchers in Texas for an episode of her talk show about "mad cow disease". She made the comment, "It has just stopped me from eating another burger!". Cattle prices tumbled and she was subsequently sued for "false defamation of perishable food" and "business disparagement". After spending 1 million dollars defending the suit she won, but the Texas law remains unchanged. She also no longer speaks publicly on the issue.

Most of us generally know what is good for us and bad for us to eat. We make our choices and justify eating it in some way or another. In no way am I some sort of food "Nazi" screaming that everyone should ban all junk food. That would make me a hypocrite or very skinny. I LOVE a good cheeseburger and fries! As my "journey" to a healthier lifestyle for myself and my family continues I'm sure I will detour here and there to indulge in the American decadence that is junk food. But my point is simply this: we should all be allowed to question and/or criticize the food we eat. I'm not willing to eat a burger that came from a cow with mad cow disease. Is it wrong to be given the information to make that choice? According to Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas it is illegal to provide any information that may disparage perishable food items unless you have deep enough pockets to defend yourself.

So, what can we say and in what context can we talk about food safety? Basically, if you can't back it up with reliable data you could be responsible for paying restitution to whomever you may have offended. If I were to imply that beef is bad for you I could be sued. Sure, I can back it up with all sorts of information regarding some of the negative effects beef has on the body, but beef has many positive qualities too. It is really all in the eye of the beholder. The data regarding food can be twisted in any direction to suit the argument. In the majority of food libel cases the burden of proof falls on the defendant. Ultimately, this causes a "chilling effect" meaning that food critics will remain silent regarding certain topics for fear of retribution in the form of a very costly lawsuit.

What about the First Amendment? Does it not afford every American the freedom to speak freely with out fear of retribution? Here's a refresher:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Food libel laws challenge the very fabric of the First Amendment. They leave the door open for all industries to move towards legislating opinions about their products. Can you imagine poor little Calvin getting slapped with a lawsuit for urinating on the Ford or Chevy emblems? We are a free consumer nation and should be allowed to question our consumer goods and share those questions and concerns with others.

When mother and Food Safety Advocate, Barbara Kowalcyk, was asked in an interview for Food Inc., whether or not she eats meat anymore she would not answer for fear of a lawsuit. Why would a Food Safety Advocate be prompted to answer that question? In 2001 her two-and-a-half-year-old son died 12 days after eating a hamburger tainted with E. coli. In her case, she would probably win that lawsuit, but she still would have to bear the burden of litigation costs. When faced with plaintiffs with very deep pockets and teams of lawyers a mother on a fixed income doesn't stand a chance making it through a trial with her shirt on much less winning.

So, what does that mean for my little mutinous junk food blog? Well, I will choose my words carefully. I will continue to post recipes I try and like. I will continue to blog about current food issues that affect my family and happily dole out advice to my inquiring friends about food. I do not presume that all the food I buy at the grocery store is completely safe for my family nor do I presume that agribusiness is out to poison us all to meet their bottom line. I will just continue to learn more about the food we eat, try to make the best choices for my family, and share those choices and ideas with anyone who might be listening.