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When we first started making the switch over to organic foods I found that the book "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Organic Living" by Eliza Sarasohn with Sonia Weiss had a lot of useful resources in it. I recommend picking up this book, it was a handy, easy to understand reference for getting started and I still find myself referring to it and the lists provided on a somewhat regular basis.
One of those resources is a list of 'pretty clean' vegetables through to 'dirty' vegetables.
The fruits and vegetables listed here are from the most current list (at the time of the publication of the book) provided by the Environmental Working Group. The EWG is an organization that focuses on a number of public health issues including food safety and they publish the Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce listing vegetables with a number assigned for scoring level of pesticide residue found in the produce.
The "Dirty Dozen"
'Dirty' vegetables are difficult to grow and require a good deal of intervention to protect them from pests and disease such as fungus' making them subject to repeated application of chemicals during their growing season. Obviously the 'Dirty' vegetables would be the important ones to switch over to Organic or 'naturally grown without chemicals' first.The fruits and vegetables listed here are ranked from Most to Least contaminated, the numbers following each is their score.
1. Peaches. (100)
2. Apples. (96)
3. Sweet Bell Peppers. (86)
4. Celery. (85)
5. Nectarines. (84)
6. Strawberries. (83)
7. Cherries (75)
8. Lettuce (69)
9. Grapes -imported (68)
10. Pears (65)
11. Spinach (60)
12. Potatoes(58)
The "Pretty Clean" Thirteen
The fruits and vegetables listed below are on the EWG's least contaminated list. This means they constantly test low to negative for pesticide residue. There are a number of reasons for this; some simply don't need chemicals to grow well due to natural resistance, some have natural predators that protect them from pests and in some case they are grown in parts of the world where pesticides are too expensive to use so very little is applied. Listed from lowest to highest EWG rankings, the number following each is their score.
1. Onions (1)
2. Avocados (1)
3. Sweet Corn (2) (test corn was frozen)
4. Pineapples (7)
5. Mangoes (9)
6. Asparagus (11)
7. Sweet Peas (11) (test peas were frozen)
8. Kiwi Fruit (14)
9. Banana (16)
10.Cabbage (17)
11. Broccoli (18)
12. Eggplant (19)
13. Papayas (21)
Don't Forget: A low pesticide level doesn't mean the produce is 100 percent clean, pesticides and their residues are all around us, and therefore some of it will get into our food.
We buy nearly all our fruit and vegetables at our local farmer's market, we are fortunate that it is host to a great group of organic greenhouse growers, so many vegetables are available all year round. It really doesn't cost that much more and there is a certain satisfaction to knowing you are supporting your local producer's when out shopping for your weekly vegetables and fruits. It has also turned into a fun family outing each Saturday and is something our 3 year old looks forward to with excitement each week. (she gets her face painted every week and has become a favorite regular customer with the 'face painting lady')
This year, I am hoping to have enough of a harvest from our newly establish garden space (we put in the garden beds last spring) to have more that a couple weeks worth of things to put up for the winter. It was great last year to eat things grown by us even if it was only enough for a few meals!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Spring ?! with snow
We celebrated spring equinox yesterday. It was a wonderful time with family and the food was delicious. I made pulled pork for the first time and it is amazingly simple to make, its gonna become a favorite I think. Amanda made pan friend eggplant for Danae, we created the recipe for the breading and it turned out pretty good, next time we'll try it with less thyme and maybe add a it of dill. Amber made a fabulous Blueberry Buckle (a pudding like cake) from the blueberries we put up last fall... MMMMMMmmmmmm!
We talked about what our goals and aspirations are for the upcoming growing season. Very exciting stuff! I am so proud of all my girls and the young women they have become. We talked about looking forward to starting seeds for the garden, and getting outside once again. It has been really nice here lately and the yard was nearly free of snow. The nice black dirt in the garden started showing and looks so inviting.
THEN, this morning we woke up to a white blanket of fresh snow over everything. Blargh! At least it shouldn't last long at this time around and with any hope this means we won't get snow in May like we usually do. (crossing fingers)
Its a Good Day to make a batch of bread, Amanda is home from school to help me watch the little ones and its always nice to come into a house that smells like fresh bread when you have been out i a snowy cold world. Himself and the other girl's should enjoy the smells when they get home later today. Its been far too long since the smell of fresh bread has drifted through the house. Since last fall in fact when we did all the canning and freezing of fresh fruit and veggies. I hope this year I can juggle it better so it doesn't take so long to get back into the swing of things.
I haven't found organic ingredients for our homemade bread that is at all affordable yet, so I have opted for locally produced ingredients where I can and no additive flour. Organic yeast, lard and flour are so horribly expensive, it is cheaper to buy pre made organic bread... its sad.
We talked about what our goals and aspirations are for the upcoming growing season. Very exciting stuff! I am so proud of all my girls and the young women they have become. We talked about looking forward to starting seeds for the garden, and getting outside once again. It has been really nice here lately and the yard was nearly free of snow. The nice black dirt in the garden started showing and looks so inviting.
THEN, this morning we woke up to a white blanket of fresh snow over everything. Blargh! At least it shouldn't last long at this time around and with any hope this means we won't get snow in May like we usually do. (crossing fingers)
Its a Good Day to make a batch of bread, Amanda is home from school to help me watch the little ones and its always nice to come into a house that smells like fresh bread when you have been out i a snowy cold world. Himself and the other girl's should enjoy the smells when they get home later today. Its been far too long since the smell of fresh bread has drifted through the house. Since last fall in fact when we did all the canning and freezing of fresh fruit and veggies. I hope this year I can juggle it better so it doesn't take so long to get back into the swing of things.
I haven't found organic ingredients for our homemade bread that is at all affordable yet, so I have opted for locally produced ingredients where I can and no additive flour. Organic yeast, lard and flour are so horribly expensive, it is cheaper to buy pre made organic bread... its sad.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Recipe: Vegetarian Eggplant Spaghetti Sauce
One of our daughters has decided to become a vegetarian, so I have been experimenting with recipes that she can have when we have our meat courses. Tonight I had eggplant and decided to see what I could make with it for the spaghetti sauce so that she didn't have to have plain spaghetti. hehe. It turned out amazing, in fact even our meat eaters loved it and it would go good with a meat based sauce as well. My recipe is done with organic ingredients.
one med/large eggplant peeled and cut into cubes, sprinkle liberally with salt and set aside for 20 min.
one good size leek
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
approx 1 teaspoon basil (I use my hand for measuring so this is an estimate)
approx 1 teaspoon thyme
2 tablespoons of olive oil
two tomatoes cut into 8 wedges
partial jar of pre-made organic pasta
heat your oil in pan, pat dry the egg plant and saute' over med heat for a few minutes til it starts to brown, add the leeks, garlic, basil and thyme, cook for about 10 min then add the tomatoes and 1/2 cup tomato sauce. Reduce heat to a simmer for 15 min, add more pasta sauce to desired consistency, turn heat to low and let simmer for 1/2 hour or until eggplant is soft and all ingredients are well blended. Add a touch of fresh ground pepper to taste. Serve over noodles or rice. This recipe makes enough for 2 or 3 servings.
It was super simple, filled the house with a fabulous aroma and tasted divine! I used the pre-made sauce tonight because I was in a hurry, but I probably could have used my own homemade sauce (need to can some more) or even crushed tomatoes
one med/large eggplant peeled and cut into cubes, sprinkle liberally with salt and set aside for 20 min.
one good size leek
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
approx 1 teaspoon basil (I use my hand for measuring so this is an estimate)
approx 1 teaspoon thyme
2 tablespoons of olive oil
two tomatoes cut into 8 wedges
partial jar of pre-made organic pasta
heat your oil in pan, pat dry the egg plant and saute' over med heat for a few minutes til it starts to brown, add the leeks, garlic, basil and thyme, cook for about 10 min then add the tomatoes and 1/2 cup tomato sauce. Reduce heat to a simmer for 15 min, add more pasta sauce to desired consistency, turn heat to low and let simmer for 1/2 hour or until eggplant is soft and all ingredients are well blended. Add a touch of fresh ground pepper to taste. Serve over noodles or rice. This recipe makes enough for 2 or 3 servings.
It was super simple, filled the house with a fabulous aroma and tasted divine! I used the pre-made sauce tonight because I was in a hurry, but I probably could have used my own homemade sauce (need to can some more) or even crushed tomatoes
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Eliminating MSG
Three or four years ago now, we did a bunch of investigating and decided to eliminate MSG from our diet. The potential health impacts from eating MSG especially for children far outweighed any supposed "benefits". Actually I don't know if I ever found any benefits for it beyond it being a flavour enhancer, which really is a strange thing to deem as acceptable in ones food. IF you use good, fresh food sources the flavour doesn't need to be enhanced. It seemed that often food manufacturers were using MSG to hide the fact that they were using inferior products to create the food in the first place. The lists of potential health issues are miles long and can be quite severe weighed against the claims that MSG is not bad for you, we choose to go on the side of caution.
This decision resulted in my going in to our pantry and pretty much removing everything and then restocking with foods that didn't contain MSG. That search actually turned out to be a lot more involved than it sounded to start with. Manufacturers advertise "no MSG" and list ingredients that are still MSG but are not recognized as such by the average consumer, things like "yeast extract", even certified organic foods can contain hidden sources of MSG. As a result we buy very little processed foods and make nearly everything from whole, natural ingredients. and guess what? IT TASTES BETTER... imagine that!
There are some foods we really miss that I haven't found alternate sources for without MSG hidden in them, and occasionally we end up buying things that contain ingredients that may be hidden sources of MSG because we just 'really wanted it' inevitably though we find we don't eat it. Our littlest ones (ages 18 months and 3 yrs) seem to have developed built in sensors for unnatural ingredients and will refuse to eat things that later we find have a hidden source of MSG in them.
So, thus far we have virtually eliminated most of the list of "always contain MSG" from our food purchases, we haven't gotten very far on the "may contain" list mostly because its hard to remember all the things on it, And partly because some of it I think is naturally occurring and I am not sure how "hard core" we want to be.
I am hoping having the list on the blog will help because we can just call it up on the i-phone at the store. One shouldn't have to be a chemist to rad the labels on their food! We recently have been opting to try and not buy anything that has ingredients we can't pronounce, aiming at the elimination of food additives in general.
This website has some insightful information about MSG and truth in labeling truth in labeling
from the Truth in labeling website :
HIDDEN SOURCES OF PROCESSED FREE GLUTAMIC ACID (MSG)
NAMES OF INGREDIENTS THAT CONTAIN ENOUGH MSG TO SERVE AS COMMON MSG-REACTION TRIGGERS
The MSG-reaction is a reaction to free glutamic acid that occurs in food as a consequence of manufacture. MSG-sensitive people do not react to protein (which contains bound glutamic acid) or any of the minute amounts of free glutamic acid that might be found in unadulterated, unfermented, unprocessed, food.
These ALWAYS contain MSG
Glutamate (E 620)
Glutamic acid (E 620)
Monosodium glutamate (E 621)
Monopotassium glutamate(E 622
Calcium glutamate (E 623)
Monoammonium glutamate (E 624)
Magnesium glutamate (E 625)
Natrium glutamate (natrium is Latin/German for sodium),
Gelatin
Calcium caseinate
Sodium caseinate
Textured protein
anything "hydrolyzed"
any "hydrolyzed ... protein"
Yeast nutrient
Yeast extract
Yeast food
Autolyzed yeast
Vetsin
Ajinomoto
These OFTEN contain MSG or create MSG during processing
Carrageenan
Maltodextrin
Malt extract
Natural pork flavoring
Citric acid
Malt flavoring
Bouillon and Broth
Natural chicken flavoring
Soy protein isolate
Natural beef flavoring
Ultra-pasteurized
Soy sauce
Stock
Barley malt
Soy sauce extract
Whey protein concentrate
Pectin
Soy protein
Whey protein
Protease
Soy protein concentrate
Whey protein isolate
Protease enzymes
Anything protein fortified
Flavors(s) & Flavoring(s)
Anything enzyme modified
Anything fermented
Natural flavor(s)
& flavoring(s)
Enzymes anything
Seasonings (the word "seasonings")
These ingredients work synergistically with MSG to enhance flavor
(If they are present for flavoring purposes, so is MSG)
Disodium 5’-guanylate (E 627)
Disodium 5’-inosinate (E 631)
Disodium 5'-ribonucleotides(E 635)
Here are some websites that contain other lists and information about MSG
MSG Dangers and Deceptions
Health Dangers.com
MSG - The Deadly Mouth Aphrodisiac
and on the Opposite side of the fence here are some websites that claim MSG is not bad for you:
The facts on Monsodium Glutamate
Ajinomoto - All about MSG
There are so many more sites of opinion, both qualified and unqualified, some that sound very much like fear mongering conspiracy theorists and other that sound like scholarly scientists. Ultimately people need to choose for themselves and how they *feel* when they eat certain things. For us, we feel better without MSG in our diet in the huge quantity it used to be, I am happy with that.
This decision resulted in my going in to our pantry and pretty much removing everything and then restocking with foods that didn't contain MSG. That search actually turned out to be a lot more involved than it sounded to start with. Manufacturers advertise "no MSG" and list ingredients that are still MSG but are not recognized as such by the average consumer, things like "yeast extract", even certified organic foods can contain hidden sources of MSG. As a result we buy very little processed foods and make nearly everything from whole, natural ingredients. and guess what? IT TASTES BETTER... imagine that!
There are some foods we really miss that I haven't found alternate sources for without MSG hidden in them, and occasionally we end up buying things that contain ingredients that may be hidden sources of MSG because we just 'really wanted it' inevitably though we find we don't eat it. Our littlest ones (ages 18 months and 3 yrs) seem to have developed built in sensors for unnatural ingredients and will refuse to eat things that later we find have a hidden source of MSG in them.
So, thus far we have virtually eliminated most of the list of "always contain MSG" from our food purchases, we haven't gotten very far on the "may contain" list mostly because its hard to remember all the things on it, And partly because some of it I think is naturally occurring and I am not sure how "hard core" we want to be.
I am hoping having the list on the blog will help because we can just call it up on the i-phone at the store. One shouldn't have to be a chemist to rad the labels on their food! We recently have been opting to try and not buy anything that has ingredients we can't pronounce, aiming at the elimination of food additives in general.
This website has some insightful information about MSG and truth in labeling truth in labeling
from the Truth in labeling website :
HIDDEN SOURCES OF PROCESSED FREE GLUTAMIC ACID (MSG)
NAMES OF INGREDIENTS THAT CONTAIN ENOUGH MSG TO SERVE AS COMMON MSG-REACTION TRIGGERS
The MSG-reaction is a reaction to free glutamic acid that occurs in food as a consequence of manufacture. MSG-sensitive people do not react to protein (which contains bound glutamic acid) or any of the minute amounts of free glutamic acid that might be found in unadulterated, unfermented, unprocessed, food.
These ALWAYS contain MSG
Glutamate (E 620)
Glutamic acid (E 620)
Monosodium glutamate (E 621)
Monopotassium glutamate(E 622
Calcium glutamate (E 623)
Monoammonium glutamate (E 624)
Magnesium glutamate (E 625)
Natrium glutamate (natrium is Latin/German for sodium),
Gelatin
Calcium caseinate
Sodium caseinate
Textured protein
anything "hydrolyzed"
any "hydrolyzed ... protein"
Yeast nutrient
Yeast extract
Yeast food
Autolyzed yeast
Vetsin
Ajinomoto
These OFTEN contain MSG or create MSG during processing
Carrageenan
Maltodextrin
Malt extract
Natural pork flavoring
Citric acid
Malt flavoring
Bouillon and Broth
Natural chicken flavoring
Soy protein isolate
Natural beef flavoring
Ultra-pasteurized
Soy sauce
Stock
Barley malt
Soy sauce extract
Whey protein concentrate
Pectin
Soy protein
Whey protein
Protease
Soy protein concentrate
Whey protein isolate
Protease enzymes
Anything protein fortified
Flavors(s) & Flavoring(s)
Anything enzyme modified
Anything fermented
Natural flavor(s)
& flavoring(s)
Enzymes anything
Seasonings (the word "seasonings")
These ingredients work synergistically with MSG to enhance flavor
(If they are present for flavoring purposes, so is MSG)
Disodium 5’-guanylate (E 627)
Disodium 5’-inosinate (E 631)
Disodium 5'-ribonucleotides(E 635)
Here are some websites that contain other lists and information about MSG
MSG Dangers and Deceptions
Health Dangers.com
MSG - The Deadly Mouth Aphrodisiac
and on the Opposite side of the fence here are some websites that claim MSG is not bad for you:
The facts on Monsodium Glutamate
Ajinomoto - All about MSG
There are so many more sites of opinion, both qualified and unqualified, some that sound very much like fear mongering conspiracy theorists and other that sound like scholarly scientists. Ultimately people need to choose for themselves and how they *feel* when they eat certain things. For us, we feel better without MSG in our diet in the huge quantity it used to be, I am happy with that.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Introduction
The idea for this blog came as I continuously found myself looking for the same information to share with others or to use as reference and spending tonnes of time redoing the research. I thought "there has to be a better way " and tada! a new blog is born.
I want a place to put the information and websites we find so it is easy to access, to store recipes and write down my own creations that are excellent tasting so they don't get lost. A place to chronicle our journey as we move towards our goals of healthy, natural living. Perhaps it will help other families out there, and connect me to families that may have information I find helpful.
Recently, My husband and I were fruitlessly searching for a snack food (crackers) that didn't have MSG, or other additive and it took us an inordinate amount of time to search it out on the regular grocery store shelves. I think we ended up with a choice of 1 (yes one). It shouldn't be that hard to eat REAL food!
I have a horrible history with blogging, I go great guns for a short period of time, then life gets busy and I leave it by the wayside. I am hoping with this one I can utilize it to the best of its potential, and create a usable resource.
Here is a bit of history and info about us
We are a family of 9, My husband and I have 2 children together ages 18 months and 3 yrs, I have 4 girls from a previous marriage ages 19, 18, 16 and 15, the girls all live with us. My husband has a son from a previous marriage age 18, he lives with his mother. We also have my god-daughter and her baby living with us for a grand total of 10 in our home.
Sustainable living, healthy eating habits and being in good physical 'shape' have always been important to us. We want to leave a legacy of health and wellness, both in body and in the earth itself, to our children and feel the best way to do that is through example.
3 or 4 yrs ago we embarked on a journey to eat 'better' and that started with eliminating MSG from our diet. We eliminated most processed foods in that undertaking! Our journey has continued and we have eliminated not only MSG, but most preservatives. A couple years ago we stated buying 'naturally' raised meat (meaning no antibiotics, growth hormones, free range, grass fed etc.) and some organic products. We started to research why one would choose organic over non organic and which foods were most important to go organic with first and which ones were less "toxic" in how they were grown. That research process is ongoing.
The first thing we switched over to organic was cow's milk. The cost is nearly twice what it costs to buy "regular" milk and took a bit of adjusting! But once you get used to it, it becomes "that is what you pay for a jug of milk" . Last year we focused on buying locally and supporting our local economy. Our buying habits and the way we educate ourselves about the products we choose to buy have greatly changed in the last 5 yrs! We are continually adding new environmentally responsible products to our regular list of things to buy.
This year we are focusing on the move to wholly organic foods, with the caveat that naturally raised local food sources are preferable over imported food products. It's going to be slow going and I am sadly realizing that there are some things we may not be able to find organically produced, but its a start!
We have began to dig into the deep quagmire that is Genetically Modified Organisms and how it affects our food, our health and our earth. We are also further researching other food additives and their impact on health.
We would like to eventually only eat out at organic, local restaurants, but we have a horrible restaurant habit and that one may take more time to get under control. We have made it to local, privately owned establishments but so far this year we haven't made it to one to any of the 3 (or is it 4) organic restaurants available to us in our fair city.
I wouldn't say I am an activist, but I do write letters to producers both in praise -supporting sustainable farming/production practices and in critique of the ones that are not. I write letters to our government leaders, to the media, I pursue answers to questions that are sometimes hard to answer. I encourage every mother, every person who lives on this planet and is in a position to choose what types of food they eat to get involved in their food supply. I believe we change our world by living the way we desire it to be and create change by pushing for the things that need to be changed through our actions.
I want a place to put the information and websites we find so it is easy to access, to store recipes and write down my own creations that are excellent tasting so they don't get lost. A place to chronicle our journey as we move towards our goals of healthy, natural living. Perhaps it will help other families out there, and connect me to families that may have information I find helpful.
Recently, My husband and I were fruitlessly searching for a snack food (crackers) that didn't have MSG, or other additive and it took us an inordinate amount of time to search it out on the regular grocery store shelves. I think we ended up with a choice of 1 (yes one). It shouldn't be that hard to eat REAL food!
I have a horrible history with blogging, I go great guns for a short period of time, then life gets busy and I leave it by the wayside. I am hoping with this one I can utilize it to the best of its potential, and create a usable resource.
Here is a bit of history and info about us
We are a family of 9, My husband and I have 2 children together ages 18 months and 3 yrs, I have 4 girls from a previous marriage ages 19, 18, 16 and 15, the girls all live with us. My husband has a son from a previous marriage age 18, he lives with his mother. We also have my god-daughter and her baby living with us for a grand total of 10 in our home.
Sustainable living, healthy eating habits and being in good physical 'shape' have always been important to us. We want to leave a legacy of health and wellness, both in body and in the earth itself, to our children and feel the best way to do that is through example.
3 or 4 yrs ago we embarked on a journey to eat 'better' and that started with eliminating MSG from our diet. We eliminated most processed foods in that undertaking! Our journey has continued and we have eliminated not only MSG, but most preservatives. A couple years ago we stated buying 'naturally' raised meat (meaning no antibiotics, growth hormones, free range, grass fed etc.) and some organic products. We started to research why one would choose organic over non organic and which foods were most important to go organic with first and which ones were less "toxic" in how they were grown. That research process is ongoing.
The first thing we switched over to organic was cow's milk. The cost is nearly twice what it costs to buy "regular" milk and took a bit of adjusting! But once you get used to it, it becomes "that is what you pay for a jug of milk" . Last year we focused on buying locally and supporting our local economy. Our buying habits and the way we educate ourselves about the products we choose to buy have greatly changed in the last 5 yrs! We are continually adding new environmentally responsible products to our regular list of things to buy.
This year we are focusing on the move to wholly organic foods, with the caveat that naturally raised local food sources are preferable over imported food products. It's going to be slow going and I am sadly realizing that there are some things we may not be able to find organically produced, but its a start!
We have began to dig into the deep quagmire that is Genetically Modified Organisms and how it affects our food, our health and our earth. We are also further researching other food additives and their impact on health.
We would like to eventually only eat out at organic, local restaurants, but we have a horrible restaurant habit and that one may take more time to get under control. We have made it to local, privately owned establishments but so far this year we haven't made it to one to any of the 3 (or is it 4) organic restaurants available to us in our fair city.
I wouldn't say I am an activist, but I do write letters to producers both in praise -supporting sustainable farming/production practices and in critique of the ones that are not. I write letters to our government leaders, to the media, I pursue answers to questions that are sometimes hard to answer. I encourage every mother, every person who lives on this planet and is in a position to choose what types of food they eat to get involved in their food supply. I believe we change our world by living the way we desire it to be and create change by pushing for the things that need to be changed through our actions.
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