A Simple Apple Dessert

We went apple picking last weekend.  We do this many times in the fall and I am sure you'll do it once or twice, if not you'll take advantage of all the apples that are for sale around this time of year.   This is a very quick and simple dessert that pleases everyone and might be fancy enough for company.  All you need is an apple corer (worth every bit of the $6 or so you'll spend) and some oven proof individual dishes (though bigger than ramekins). My mother needs the credit for this dessert.... she makes it all of the time.

Basically, you core the apples (do not peel them). Place them in the small dish and fill the hole with maple syrup. I use real maple syrup, but I have never tried it with pancake syrup, so I am not sure if it would work as well.  You could also just use brown sugar if you don't have real maple syrup. Place the apples in the oven (about 350F or 375F, it doesn't really matter) and wait 30 minutes or so. They will start to melt down and bubble. The more time you leave them in there, the more melted the apples will become. Eat them as is or if you would prefer: top with ice cream (rice dream ice cream is fine), heavy cream or add some brown sugar. Adding dried cranberries or nuts would also be nice.  Its like eating apple pie without the crust and it takes no preparation or work, aside from coring the apples and opening the oven.  This dessert has always been a hit, and is a great and easy way to use all those wonderful fall apples. Enjoy!

A Green gift for those hard to buy for people...

2 posts in one day!!  Yeah for nap time.

My sister-in-law was just visiting these past two days and mentioned that her friend had a great green company that sends gifts.  These would be great alternatives to sending flowers (I love flowers, but most of the one you send tend to be laden with pesticides and have been grown in 3rd world countries with terrible working conditions for those who work in the greenhouses).

In any case, if you need a baby gift, a graduation gift, a thank you gift, a christmas gift for Uncle Ned who is impossible to shop for, check out their website:

www.greensender.com

They price range from $12 for an organic t-shirt to gift packs that are in the $4o range... which is pretty much what you'd pay if you sent someone flowers.

(And no, I don't know the guy and haven't gotten a free gift box- I just thought it was cool.)

Trash and toilets.

I have used reusable bags for my shopping for over two years (maybe three?) and though I feel good about this, I always squirm when I need to purchase trash bags. They are plastic and in purchasing them I am knowingly sending them to a landfill, which is both ironic just to buy something to throw away and environmentally unfriendly. Same with toilet paper. Not only is it something that really goes to "waste" but it is even harder to pay more for the environmentally friendly kind when you see your 22 month-old trail it from the bathroom through the kitchen and into the living room.  So what to do? 

You can compost, recycle, reduce trash by purchasing things in bigger (and recycable) packaging, but it is very hard to completely remove the need for trash bags. The other day I was in the commissary (military grocery store) and I found degradable bags by Presto that didn't cost a fortune. Supposedly they degrade in 12-18 months. I impulsively bought them and  then came home and started using them.  They aren't bad, I don't have that much garbage so they haven't leaked yet. The problem is that I paid for and am using something I thought was good for the environment.  They really aren't that much better than regular trash bags.  For things to degrade, they need exposure to sunlight and oxygen, two things which are not abundant in a landfill.  Frustrated, since I had thought I had found a solution to my trash bag problem, I did a bit of research and found that the best thing you can do (once you have recycled, composted, and reduced) is to buy recycled trash bags.  This way, though the bags will still not degrade in the landfills, you at least aren't using NEW plastics.  7Th Generation sells some that are made with 65% recycled plastic and according to their website, if every family in the US would use just one of package of their bags instead of regular trash bags, then we would save 39,000 barrels of oil, enough to heat 2,200 US homes for ONE year.  I will be on the lookout for these bags the next time I hit the grocery store and update you on what I have found.

7Th Generation also sells recycled paper products, a solution to the toilet paper (and paper towel) predicament.  I have also found another company that uses recycled paper for their paper products, Marcal.  Their items are usually low cost, but some of their individually wrapped toilet tissue is wrapped in plastic, so not as environmentally friendly as purchasing individual rolls all wrapped in paper.  Green Forest also sells recycled toilet paper and paper towels.  One blogger suggested buying the 7th Generation toilet tissue in bulk; at Amazon.com you get a case of 48 for $47.99 plus shipping.  The rolls have 500 2 ply sheets.  In comparison to regular toilet paper, also at Amazon.com, you can purchase 45 rolls (5 packs of 8 rolls) of Charmin Ultra for $41.49, however you will get only 250 2-ply sheets per roll. Thus in some stores and online, it is possible to buy environmentally friendly paper products that are actually cheaper than conventional products.  

And for the curious or those picky about what comes in contact with the sensitive back end, I have found that the green forest, Marcals and 7Th Generations are all pretty soft and hold up rather well. Marcals are the least soft, but my girls like them because they have hearts. They are not as soft as a package of kleenex, but not irritating or harsh.  If you have any opinions or reviews about any of these products, I'd love to see your comments posted. I am not too picky and my kids haven't complained.

As for paper towels: the greenest option would be to only use cloth (napkins, dishtowels, rags) rather than paper products, but sometimes, for certain things, paper towels are nice to have and if you do need to use them, might as well be made from unbleached recycled paper.  

In conclusion, if you can find toilet paper made from recycled paper and trash bags made from recycled plastics, you will reduce your dependence on foreign oil, reduce your carbon footprint and help the environment.  Perhaps, you may even help your wallet!

Wheat, Soy and Milk-Free Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's Pie is a great, hearty fall and winter meal that I used to make frequently. Unfortunately, it usually calls for butter, cream and milk along with regular flour.  Since I am trying to spare myself from making 2 dinners, I have finally made a good milk-soy-wheat free version that the 2 youngest kids can eat. If you like a bit more kick, be a little more free with the seasonings, particularly with the garlic salt and pepper, or add some mustard later.  This version was meant to be easily prepared... so you could spend more time and add real garlic and bacon if you wanted to. I wanted it prepared in under 20 minutes and something I could also prepare during nap time and pop in the oven at 5 pm.

5 small (or 3 large) potatoes, peeled. Halve the large potatoes, but you can leave the small potatoes whole.

3 large carrots (peeled and cut into smaller sections)*

*(2 cups of baby carrots that are already peeled work as well).

1/2 large onion or 1 small onion, chopped.

1 pound ground meat (turkey, beef, lamb, pork, etc)

1 cup sweet rice flour

2/3 cup of rice milk

2 tbsp of lard (or oil)

salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic salt and nutmeg

1. Peel and boil potatoes and carrots together.

2. In a large skillet, soften the onions.

3. Once the onions are soft, add the meat. Add a dash of salt and pepper to taste. Let the meat brown on medium-lower heat. Stir it around so it crumbles nicely.

4. In a small sauce pan, make the white sauce.  This is a quick and focused sauce. It can easily burn, so have your whisk handy and don't answer the phone!  First, melt the 2 tbsp of lard in the saucepan over medium heat.  Add the rice flour and whisk it all together. It gets very clumpy and sticky. Slowly add the rice milk as you whisk.  Soon you should have a smooth white sauce.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

5.  Place the browned meat in a casserole dish (either a round or square one, the rectangular ones are too big) and pour the white sauce on top and add a dash of garlic salt. Mix it together a bit to have the sauce really cover the meat.

6. Remove the potatoes and carrots from the stove. Drain the water, keeping about a tablespoon of the liquid with the vegetables.  Mash them together using a potato masher.  Add a tablespoon of olive oil and a dash each of nutmeg and garlic salt.  

7.  Spoon the mashed carrots and potatoes on top of the browned meat/ white sauce mixture.

8.  Bake in an oven for 25 minutes at 325, or until the mashed vegetables are browned a bit.

The kids like to eat it with Ketchup, while we like it with some Dijon mustard.  You could also vary it by adding different vegetables to the potatoes.  Spinach is nice, particularly with pork or lamb and would make a great green St.Patrick's Day meal (or some other green-themed day).

Soy, Milk and Wheat Free Waffles and Pancakes

Hello all,  as promised after 4 months of perfecting these recipes, here are our recipes for milk, soy and wheat-free waffles and pancakes. (They really aren't that hard!)

Milk, Soy, Wheat-Free Pancakes:

1/2 cup sweet rice flour*

1/2 cup brown rice flour*

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 egg

1 tbsp oil (safflower, etc).

up to 1 1/2 cup of rice milk

1. Heat your griddle, I like using one of those electric griddles since we can make a bunch at a time.

2. Mix your dry ingredients.

3. Add the egg and oil.

4. Add the milk until you get the batter to more liquidy  than in the waffle recipe, so that you can pour it onto the griddle and it spreads out. (But not so thin they are like crepes! Which are good too, but not as easy for a small child to eat.)

5. Pour a small amount of batter onto the griddle, they work best when they are mini-sized, about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter.

6. Flip the pancakes over when they start to bubble, wait a minute or so more and voila!  rice-flour pancakes.

Milk, Soy, Wheat-Free Waffles:

1/2 cup sweet rice flour*

1/2 cup brown rice flour*

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1 egg 

2 tbsp of oil (safflower, etc)

up to 1 cup of rice milk

1. Preheat your waffle iron.

2. Combine all dry ingredients, mix.

3. Add egg and oil. Start stirring.

4. Add  rice milk slowly, until you reach the desired consistency, which is to say, a smooth but still thick batter (it will stick to your spoon).  Its about 3/4 of cup. 

5. Pour/ Spoon batter into waffle iron and follow the waffle iron's directions.

 

* If you don't want to make them wheat-free, just use a cup of regular flour instead of the 1/2 each of sweet and brown rice flours.

Enjoy!  You can also always add some Enjoy Life! Brand chocolate chips to vary the recipe a bit.  If you don't know about Enjoy Life! chocolate chips and you have a child that has soy and dairy allergies, google them. You can buy them on-line, but I can find them at my local health food stores, Hannefords, and Wegman's.  They are near the Gluten Free section.

Water, Grass and Beef

I haven't blogged in exactly 4 months.... June 11th- Sept 11th.  That is a long time. It isn't that I did not have things to say, its just that moving, broken arms, allergic reactions, making flower girl dresses and going to 3 weddings in 5 weeks (one in Belgium) took precedence. 

In the coming days I will post a few more wheat-soy-milk free recipes. Today, however, I want to talk about grass, water and beef.  I just read in my low-impact living e-newsletter that it takes 2,000 gallons of water to produce ONE POUND of conventional ground beef. I stress conventional because most of that water is used watering the corn grown to feed that cattle.  One more reason to buy grass fed beef. (Which is not that readily available commercially, I know.)  I know a wrote about this earlier, but I wanted to elaborate.

Why grass-fed beef?  I will note that my sources range from the documentary "Corn King" to Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemna to many internet sites. If you have time, read The Omnivore's Dilemna or watch Corn King (available at Blockbuster and Netflicks).

Back to grass-fed beef.  There are really three issues at hand: environmental, ethical and those that are health related.  First, you must understand how conventional beef is produced.  Cattle spend the last 60-120 days of their lives in feedlots where they are fed grain, predominately corn.  "60-160 days, that isn't too bad..." you think.  Consider two things: 1) that cattle usually go from birth to slaughter in less than 18 months, sometimes less than a year and 2) if fed grains longer than 160 days, they would die regardless.  Cattle are ruminating animals; they have a special digestive system with four stomachs, designed to process grass.  In The Omnivore's Dilemna, Michael Pollan describes what happens to grain-finished cattle:

"Perhaps the most serious thing that can go wrong with a ruminant on corn is feedlot bloat. The rumen is always producing copious amounts of gas, which is normally expelled by belching during rumination. But when the diet contains too much starch and too little roughage, rumination all but stops, and a layer of foamy slime that can trap gas forms in the rumen. The rumen inflates like a balloon, pressing against the animal's lungs. Unless action is promptly taken to relieve the pressure (usually by forcing a hose down the animal's esophagus), the cow suffocates.

A corn diet can also give a cow acidosis. Unlike that in own highly acidic stomachs, the normal pH of a rumen is neutral. Corn makes it unnaturally acidic, however, causing a kind of bovine heartburn, which in some cases can kill the animal but usually just makes it sick. Acidotic animals go off their feed, pant and salivate excessively, paw at their bellies and eat dirt.The condition can lead to diarrhea, ulcers, bloat, liver disease and a general weakening of the immune system that leaves the animal vulnerable to everything from pneumonia to feedlot polio."

Conventional/ Feedlot beef is always grain fed, and that grain is predominately corn.  Additionally, the major problem with feedlots, whether the beef variety or the "fish farm" is that by cramming so many of same animals together, it becomes a breeding ground for all sorts of bacteria, and so for the beeves (plural of beef) to be able to live to their "processing" date, they are administered routine antibiotics. I could go on at length here, but you can read my earlier post about fish farms and antibiotics.  Suffice it to say that currently antibiotics can be found in our drinking water  (along with antidepressants and other medications that we flush down the toilet) and there is as of yet no way to remove it from our drinking water.  We really don't need it added to the ground water.  Another problem with feedlots (where the grain-finishing happens) is that the waste produced by all of the animals becomes an issue.  While grass-fed cows produce manure, grain -fed cows produce something akin to toxic sludge that is completely unsuitable for any use.

Moving on, as nap time is only so long... They are so many people that I know who refuse to eat veal because of ethical concerns over their treatment, but happily buy and eat conventional beef.  I see feedlots and grain-feeding as unethical. Cows are meant to walk around, eat grass, not stand shoulder to shoulder, knee-deep in sludge. I understand that it is a cheap and efficient way to produce more meat and that demand is high.  However, consider this, it would be healthier for us to eat a little less meat and pay a little bit more for the grass- finished beef.

Finally, is there a difference in the quality?  Some would argue that the "quality", the marbeling of grain finished is better in grain-fed beef... but I would argue that taste is always acquired. Before the second world war, all beef was grass-finished and our grand-parents and great-grand-parents never complained. So, rather than discuss taste, which is subjective, I want to look at the health quality of the meat.  Grass-finished beef is higher in vitamins, omega-3's and lower in saturated fat.  It is considerably lower in fat, somewhere between 1/2 and 1/3  the amount of fat as grain-fed beef.  That is comparable to chicken!  What is more, Pollan argues that the current imbalance of Omega-3 fatty acids in the american diet has led to the increase of many chronic ailments that plague our society: diabetes, cancer, heart diseases, etc.  While not a great source of Omega 3's when you compare beef to salmon, it is still a source that we have moved away from in the past 50 years as food production has become more and more industrialized.

Additionally, Pollan would argue, there is a greater likelyhood to have E.Coli tainted grain-fed beef because the E.Coli have become adapted to a more acidic environment.  Remember that a cow's rumen is usually at a neutral pH, all of the little microbes that thrive in it can not survive the much more acidic human stomach. So, during the slaughter process, if some of the contents of the grass-fed beeves' rumens come in contact with some of  the meat, it should not pose a great danger to us. Our bodies can kill the bacteria.  Not so with bacteria that has been able to thrive in the higher pH rumens of grain-fed beeves.

What can we do?  As much as possible, buy local, pasture raised/ grass-finished beef (meat in general).  Go to localharvest.org,  select farms and type in your zip code. Hopefully there is a local farm not too far away from you that sells pasture raised meat. Invest in a freezer and buy part of a cow, pig, lamb and stock up. It will save you many trips to the grocery store, and you will be helping the environment and your family in the long run.  As for price, as corn has become in higher demand for ethanol, the cost of grain-fed beef has risen...  For those of you who think it is too "gamey", it really is all about the cooking.  At my brother's rehearsal dinner, my parents served venison. The bride's brother in law was sitting next to me and stated that he really did not like the gamey taste of venison... until he ate his first bite of that venison.  It was very well prepared by the caterer and he ate it all.  Perhaps in one of my next posts I will discuss that!  (And speaking of venison, it is a great local grass-fed form of meat... perhaps more in yet another post.)

Broken Arms, Casts and Water...

I actually forgot to post this blog entry I wrote in the middle of the summer, so here it is:

So within a week of moving into our new home, in the middle of summer, and only 2 days after discovering the local swimming area, our 4 year old broke her arm. Within 4 days, she had a new cast since she got it wet "watering" (AKA drowing) my potted vegetables on the back patio.  Being frustrated that I couldn't take all 3 kids swimming (It was about 85 degrees an 97 % humidity) and that I may have to cancel beach plans, I googled "waterproof cast cover" and found a cool product that cost less than $35. Its called a XeroSox cast cover and claims to be fully waterproof, so much so that you can fully submerge your broken appendage in the water, whether you are swimming, snorkeling or just taking a shower. I ordered it and it worked, despite that it was a bit too big.  I would not give it rave reviews because a) it was a bit too big, and we had ordered the smallest size and b) my daughter found it painful to have all of the air suctioned out of the cast.  It caused a certain amount of pressure which pained her.  Still, with waterproof tape around the top of the arm we were able to make an airtight seal that held despite not fully removing all of the air.  She was able to go to the beach and play round in the water as well as play on the slip and slide in the backyard and not have to get a third cast.  We did not brave fully submerging it underwater since it was a bit too big.

THEN, I got an e-mail from a former neighbor who told me her daughter had had a waterproof cast. I googled that and found you can line a fiberglass cast with something else than cotton. The product is called Gore Procel Cast Liner and for a small childs full arm would have cost $51 (plus $20 for next morning delivery) and a large adult full leg was about $125 (plus shipping). Of course, the Army was too cheap to use that, but if ever in the same situation, I would insist on it and probably pay for it. I bet many hospitals and orthopedic offices carry it. It would be so much easier if I didn't have to worry about her ruining the cast or getting it wet.  Of course, if the break was severe and there were skin wounds involved, it would probably not work since the risk of infection would be too great.

Anyway, a heads up that hopefully none of you will need!!