The Irony of New Years Resolutions.

It's January, and just about every ad on tv and radio is about losing weight, getting healthy, and back in shape in the New Year.  Everyone is talking about their new years resolutions, and how they're going to turn their lives around this year and lose all that weight they've gained over the last 10 years.

I had to laugh. I'm watching Adam Richman on Man Vs. Food, a show about gorging oneself on food in food challenges, and I thought it odd that almost every ad supporting this episode was an ad on weight loss of some type.  Really?  Is that appropriate?  It's like the binge and purge of TV.  Then I got to thinking about the title of the show I was watching (Man Vs. Food) and the picture of the wrestler guy punching a drumstick.  How weird we American's are when it comes to our relationship with food.  It's portrayed as our enemy.  Something to beat down and force as much in as we can, or something to be avoided at all costs, because it will make you fat, give you diabetes, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure. I find this a sad.  From what I see of the part of America I'm living in, this attitude that food is something to fight a war against isn't doing one iota to help the health of the American People. (I do enjoy this show by the way - I have nothing against Adam Richman or the Travel Channel)

When we look at the French, Italians, Spanish, and Portuguese.  The Mexicans, South Americans, Greeks, Eastern Europeans, Chinese and Japanese among many others.  All of them seem to have a relationship with food that is positive.  It's an important part of their family and religous traditions. It's lovingly cooked, not grabbed, ripped open and stuck in a microwave.  Time is spent on it, the recipes are often handed down over generations and are precious.  The tables are nicely set and families sit down together and eat, not in front of a tv, but in front of each other, and they savor their food.  They eat slowly and thoughtfully.  Converse with each other, connect with each other over their food.  They don't make a point of filling a huge plate to brimming.  They serve and eat what satisfies them.  (Although, with the influence of our Western world, this is rapidly changing)

Where am I going with this exactly?  I'm not completely sure.  I'm just so perplexed by our fear and hatred of food, and at the same time our overwhelming urge to have it.  Like it's something forbidden that has to be done in private and quickly.  No time to enjoy, just get it down before anyone sees you.  I have a childhood friend who is on such a quest to be healthy he's making cheese cakes with no carbs or sugar.  When I read this, all I coul do was ask, "why?".  Why bother making the dessert at all if you can't make it real.  You can make a real dessert, with real fat (not margerine - but butter.  Butter is not the enemy), real sugar and a real crust.  You don't have to sit down and eat the entire thing as fast as you can. Take a small slice.  Take one bite at a time and savor every ounce of the flavor.  Enjoy the texture on your tongue, and let it slowly move down to your stomach and let it leave you pleasantly satisfied. Not just your hunger and the desire for something sweet and fatty, but let it satisfy your soul. Why, I wonder, is it such a sin to eat like this in America?  Why is it we prefer to eat food like products, that aren't even real food (yes this thought is inspired by Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food)

I found that Mr. Polan made a a fascinating point in his book.  How food science has moved us farther and farther away from eating real food, out of fear of what it can do to us, and more and more into eating food products created by science.  This direction we've taken has not made our country healthier, but has done quite the opposite.  Since I was a teenager my instincts told me it was wrong to eat margerine (even though that's all my parents ate) or fake sugars such as sacchrine.  My instincts told me my body wasn't built to eat man made food products any more then it was meant to eat plastic.  I'm glad I've made a concerted effort to do so.  I think I'm much healthier for it. 

So what can I do to help make my country healtheir I wonder?  I think the first step is to start with myself.  No, I will not do a "cleansing diet" or take Alli.  I will not cut out those evil carbs, nor will I cut out fat.  I will do my best to follow Michael Pollan's advice, because it intuitively makes sense to me.  I will "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants."  I will take it a step further, by attempting to grow as many of my own plants as I can manage in the climate I live in.  I will try to fill in what I can't grow by buying the rest at my local Farmers Market.  We've already been rasing some of our own meat, and my husband fishes for much of our fish.  He started hunting this year, so I hope to have more game in our freezer.  I will can and freeze more of what we have grown, slaughtered, and hunted for the winter months.  I will eat real butter and real sugar, and when I can afford it, I will buy as much of it locally made as I can.  When I make a decandant dessert to enjoy, it will be just that, decandant.  I will sit down with my family and friends and we will enjoy it together over good conversation, and our souls will be satisfied.  Then I will go out into the fresh air and walk with my dog, play with my kids, and dig in my garden.  My spirit will be refreshed, and I will be a happier person to be around and I hope I will inspire others to take this path that Mother Nature intends for us to take, and not the one that marketers, medical suppliers, and pharmeceutical companies would prefer to see us take, because the natural path will cost them big bucks. 

I lift my fork full of delicious food to all and wish you a Happy and Bountiful New Year.

Love Your Farmers Market

I just voted in the "Love Your Farmers Market" contest sponsored by Care2.com and LocalHarvest.org to help my favorite market, Ferndale Farmers' Market, win a grand prize of $5,000. I care about promoting fresh, local and healthy foods, and I need your help to get enough votes to help Ferndale Farmers' Market win. Please vote here: http://www.care2.com/farmersmarket/17312?refer=21496.01.1249686504.164956.

Chinese Kale - Early havest meal

Back in August of 2008 I posted about our trip to Oakland's Chinatown. While we were there I picked up a few seed packets in one of the many awesome grocery stores there. One of those packets was Chinese Kale, also known as Chinese broccoli. The same kind of broccoli we were served at Restaurant Peony in Oakland along with our delicious chicken that still had the head attached. Later I posted about my Chinese Kale starts on my Ignorant Gardener Blog and how I was having great success starting them in my milk jug greenhouses. Again, just a little over a week ago I wrote on my Ignorant Gardener blog about how those starts have grown into a fantastic patch of vegetables to be eaten. Well, tonight we got that pleasure, thanks to my husband harvesting, washing, preparing, and cooking that beautiful kale. We rarely have such an abundant harvest of anything but radishes this time of year, so this is particularly exciting for us.

We focused our meal around the Chinese Kale/Broccoli. I found a recipe in my cook book The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen by Grace Young. (I'll post the recipe at the end with my husbands modifications) and threw together some Chinese fried rice. One of the best ways to use up leftovers and odds and ends from your fridge.

The fried rice consisted of 4 cups of cooked long grain rice, two scrambled eggs, cooked, sliced and set aside, a mixed frozen package of seafood, a tsp of fresh ginger, 1/3 cup onion, about a cup of mixed frozen "stir fry" veggies and two tbsp of soy sauce. First my husband fried the onion and ginger in about 3 tbsp of olive oil/sesame oil. He added the frozen mixed seafood and then the frozen stir fry veggies. Last he added the rice. Then he stirred in the cooked eggs and the soy sauce and mixed it all up. This ended up being some excellent comfort food.

Then he cleaned the kale, chopped the stems up and set the leaves aside, and he cooked it, for the most part according to this recipe:

Stir-Fried Chinese Broccoli and Chinese Bacon (in our case, salt pork)

10 stalks Chinese broccoli/kale (gai lan) about 12 oz

3 oz Chinese Bacon (lop yak) - we used about a 1/4 of some salt pork that chopped up in bits.

1 (we used a bit more) tsp soy sauce

1 tsp Shao Hsing rice cooking wine ( we used Mirin)

1/2 tsp sugar

2 tsp vegetable oil

2 garlic cloes, smashed and peeled

John washed the kale and trimmed it. The thicker stalks (more then 1/2 inch in diameter) he peeled with a veggie peeler and halved lengthwise. All (including leaves) were cut into 2 inch pieces and the stalks were kept separate from the leaves and buds.

John then combined the soy sauce, rice wine and sugar and set aside.

He heated the wok over high heat and added the oil and garlic and stir fried for about 15 seconds. He added the salt pork and cooked until done. Next he added the stalks and cooked for 3 or 4 minutes, and finally he added the leaves and cooked until limp. Then he added in the soy sauce mixture and cooked a couple more minutes. We served this up immediately with the fried rice. A quick and simple (simply delicious) dinner. Our kids happily devoured their meals.

Here's what it all looked like:
The Kale stems:
The fried rice:
John, adding in the Kale leaves:
My beautiful and delicious serving:
My youngest's serving (she wanted her dinner posted on Mom's blog - and she ate it all!)
I quick and economical meal. I love how the Chinese cook. Little to no waste, and I love being able to eat fresh Chinese veggies from my own garden. That trip to Oakland Chinatown keeps paying off.
Happy dining!

Potato Chip Oven Baked Chicken and more

I was feeling like some comfort food on Monday and this is what I came up with. Potato Chip Oven Baked Chicken:

I crushed one medium bag of Kettle Salt and Pepper potato chips into very fine crumbs and added about a tsp of garlic powder and a half tsp of dried sage and mixed that all together. I took 6 chicken thighs and brushed them with milk and rolled them in the potato chip mixture. I placed them in a baking dish and baked them for 55 minutes. There is no need for salt or pepper because there is plenty on the potato chips. They turned out crunchy and yummy!

Then there was the fresh chard from our garden. The same plants we've had since last year! I chopped them up, removing the stems, sauted them in some olive oil for a bit then added 2 tbsp water and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and cooked until wilted. I sprinkled kosher salt to taste as the last step. This was fresh and light. A nice contrast to the chicken.

I also boiled a half pound of bow tie pasta, then melted a tsp of butter and drizzled with olive oil parmesan cheese and a pinch of kosher salt.

While I was getting all of this ready I grabed 1 1/2 lbs of the sandwich bread dough I had made a couple of days before and baked a loaf of whole wheat bread. I think I over warmed the milk and messed up the yeast a bit. The bread didn't raise as expected, but it did come out pretty good. I enjoyed a slice for breakfast the next morning with some of my homemade apple butter. Yum! More soothing comfort food before a long day at work.

Artichoke Heaven

When I was a kid my dad decided to grow some artichokes. I loved artichokes, but I remember getting sick of them that year, because we ate them with every meal for weeks straigt. I also remember we always dipped the leaves in mayo. I'll never forget when Mom and Dad left me with Mom's best friend Josephine when they went on one of the very few trips they ever took without me. Josephine said, " we 're having artichokes tonight!" I was so excited! I was feeling homesick, and this was going to cure it, until I saw what she served. It was artichokes alright, but where was the mayo? No mayo! Only vinegar and oil. I was dismayed!

Well, I've recovered from all of that, and I still love artichokes, as does my husband and kids. My girls are like me, they must have mayo. John on the other hand is like my mom's Portuguese friend....vinegar and oil. But, last night, we had artichokes fresh from the garden that needed nothing. I boiled them in salt water. They were still young enough to not have to cut off their thorns. I served them up with ham and cheese sandwiches. I don't remember an artichoke tasting so fresh. My oldest daughter said, " These are the best artichokes ever! They taste like water, like good water. Fresh, like the earth. They're so good! I don't even need the mayonase." She was right. No mayo or vinegar and oil required. These things were heavenly!
I don't know if I'll ever be able to enjoy an artichoke from the store ever again. Last night's chokes were pure earthly heaven.

Nevada Joshie's Sun Baked Zucchini

All Right! I think if I were having a contest, Nevada Joshie would win for most unique, and most resourceful recipe ever! Keep your eye's open for more unique resourceful and fun recipes from Nevada Joshie!

Nevada Joshie's Sun Baked Zucchini

30 lbs of zucchini whole

Take 30 lbs of zucchini to work.I forgot this part, sorry Nevada Joshie...Find an unlocked co-workers car and arrange the zucchini on the dash board. Leave in place until the co-worker finds them

I'm looking forward to the Floorboard Bluegills and the (I believe it was called) Hubcap Shrimp. You go Nevada Joshie!!!!

Need Zucchini Recipes

HELP!!!!! I need zucchini recipes. Our Zucchini plant won't stop and my kids are getting sick of the things. I need some creative recipes that my kids will eat (they're pretty adventurous). Please skip the zucchini bread recipe, unless it's something real different. I'm kind of tired of zucchini bread.