Greetings from Off the Wagon

Like this, only with Cheetos

Forgive the late post this week, fellow Bellevue-Farmers-Market devotees. I've been vacationing with the fam in snowy Lake Tahoe. And I mean snowy! I don't recall seeing that much snow even as a kid. It was piled up on either side of the road over six feet high and more was expected today. While the children compared it to whipping cream, I thought the straight-edged snowbanks created by the plows looked more like block styrofoam. (Ecologically-helpful note: IKEA recycles block styrofoam. Throw it in the bins right by the entrance.)

In any case, I was on a vacation in more ways then one because I ate stuff on this trip that I hadn't touched in years. Cheetos, for instance. As yummy as I remembered, and, in case I needed the reminder, the in-flight magazine on the way home had a story about a Spokane company that makes biodegradable packing peanuts that are extruded just like--uh-huh--Cheetos. My sister bought strange pre-cooked Oscar Mayer bacon that was shelf-stable in boxes. There were Thomas' Sourdough English Muffins that didn't have a nutritional molecule to their name, and my youngest ate Fruit Loops the first day and Corn Pops the second. To my amazement, I read the box and found that a serving of Corn Pops contains two grams of dietary fiber. How about that! My niece celebrated her ninth birthday with a "Funfetti" cake, which tasted like every other white/yellow boxed cake you ever had, but this one had the special addition of those baby glops of wax and sugar and food coloring dear to every child's heart and better known as "sprinkles."

Then there was the meal that I sprung for--we couldn't find the pizza place in Tahoe City and ended up at the Safeway to buy--drumroll please--frozen pizzas and lasagna!

All of which is to say, I'm not in the position to offer any food advice this week except Do as I say, not as I do. If you haven't clicked away from this post in disgust, you might be interested in the NY Times' Opinion Pages take on "Eat Real Food."

On the other hand, I was pleased to read that Organic Valley milk in Northern California (don't know about Southern) comes from Northern California. The dairy farm advertised on the carton hailed from the Shasta vicinity. Just for fun you could check out their "Organic Counts" quiz to see how much your personal eating habits are saving the universe. But I wouldn't recommend doing it right after a processed-food vacation in Lake Tahoe!

Your Total Food Makeover

Valentine's Day is over. Time to back away from the box of chocolates and get back to eating healthier! Just in case threats don't work on you, I have some findings, dear readers:

Cuter and perkier than this girl? Yes, you!

1) If Valentine's Day this year was a bust for you, consider eating more carrots in 2011. The Week reports a recent study wherein folks who ate lots of carrots, bell peppers, strawberries, and leafy greens developed attractive, healthy glows that test participants preferred to non-veggie-devouring people with suntans. Of course, they neglected to run this study in the glorious Pacific Northwest, where lack of sunshine prevents having any sort of group to compare against. I don't know if I buy these findings one bit, but it's a good one to tell your kids.

2) Not only can eating poorly make you pastier and less attractive, it can also bum you out. (Perhaps a chicken-and-egg situation?) A pair of universities studied the effects of trans-fat consumption on mental health and discovered the olive-oil camp was considerably less depressed. Out of the 12,059 study participants, 657 developed cases of depression over the course of the study, with trans-fat eaters recording a monstrous 48% increase in risk. Yikes! Their conclusion: for optimum mental health, stick with olive oil and polyunsaturated fats, including fish oil.

3) If you've been wondering how all this vegetable consumption will affect the bottom line, the USDA assures us that the recommended daily allowance of fruits and vegetables can be had for $2-2.50/day. Unfortunately, being the USDA, they include juices and processed fruits/veggies in these daily servings, with the real McCoys being on the more expensive end. Nor do they account for the added costs of organic produce, but I suppose a pesticide-laden bell pepper will still be better for the bod than a bag of Doritos. All that veggie goodness, for less than a daily latte at Starbucks!

4) And lastly, speaking of the USDA, you might have heard about the new dietary guidelines they've put out, in the exalted tradition of the Four Food Groups and the Food Pyramid. Naturally concessions had to be made to powerful agro-industrial interests, but they're worth checking out. One key recommendation: "Eat less." Dang. Marion Nestle offers a collection of takes on it, for your reading pleasure.

So there's your makeover! Drizzle your $2.50-worth of vegetables in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, give them a roast in a hot oven, skip the processed snacks and heavy desserts, and voila! A glowing, perkier you. Enjoy.

Sweets to the Sweet

With the end of Sugar-Free January and the advent of Full-On-Fat February, it's been high times in the UrbanFarmJunkie's household. I think we've had sugar cookies, chocolate-chip cookies, Snickerdoodles, peanut-butter-chocolate-chip cookies, dark chocolate, and ice cream. Not all at once, mind you, but that's a pretty long list, considering it's only February 8. Nor does that include desserts had at restaurants.

With all the no-sugar fuss, we never did give up jam or honey. I've been enjoying Rome Doherty's blog posts (as Handmade in Seattle, he was our Bellevue Farmers Market jam purveyor), including a post on why he doesn't use sugar substitutes. If you've had his jams, you know he specializes in classics as well as intriguing flavor combos. The next jar I open up will be his Apricot with Vanilla Bean.

Whatever your indulgence this Valentine's Day weekend, try to keep the food homemade and real! It turns out that, as if our overcast, dark winters weren't enough, trans-fat consumption can also lead to depression. Check out this Science Daily article. Seems to me there are many variables in such a study (couldn't olive-oil eaters be happier because they tend to live in sunny, Mediterranean climates?), but it's not like anyone has proven trans-fats to be beneficial...

Skip the fast food, skip the processed food, and watch the portions. There's been lots of press about how American portion sizes have ballooned along with our average weight, but this article provides some nice visuals.

Oh, but one exception to portion-size would have to be your Valentine's Day treat. Even Eating Well magazine caves and runs its chocolate recipes, including this one for their favorite rocky road brownies. Try it out and save half a pan for me!

Group Project!

The stuff only looks peaceful

Don't know if you've been hearing about the uproar in the sprout world. You wouldn't think those little alfalfa sprouts could get people going, but they've done just that.

The sub sandwich chain Jimmy John's (a favorite with my 2nd grader) recently announced they would be switching to clover sprouts from alfalfa, following a widespread Salmonella outbreak linked to the innocuous-looking little buggers. Clover sprouts might not do it, though, because they themselves have been tied to outbreaks in the Pacific Northwest.

And even if you get Salmonella-free alfalfa, soon we will have to be careful that it's not genetically-modified (read Roundup-resistant). Instead of blocking GMO-alfalfa altogether, now the USDA and courts are niggling over what sorts of restrictions to place around it and how to prevent GMO-alfalfa from contaminating organic alfalfa. Check this Food Safety News article for the details. You might hate sprouts and think yourself not impacted, but our dear dairy cows love the stuff, meaning you will be eating the sprouts sooner or later. I'll be very interested to talk to our dairy farmers when the Market opens in May to get their opinion on this.

In the meantime, I'm sticking with my Organic Valley dairy products. They issued a statement this morning clarifying their position on the sprout schism (duh--they came out against).

If you do happen to love the fresh crunch of sprouts in salads and sandwiches, may I recommend you grow your own lentil sprouts? (Thank you to Janette for teaching me this.) I have zero green thumb and can't even grow my own herbs, but I can manage lentil sprouts. Which means you can manage lentil sprouts.

(1) Firstly, you will need a jar and a 1/4 cup of organic lentils. Plus one of those funny net things they bag some produce in, like green beans or brussels sprouts.

 (2) Dump the lentils in the jar. Pull the net over the jar and secure with a rubber band. Add enough water to cover the lentils and then drain most of it out until they're just wet and glisten-y but not floating.

 (3) Place the jar of wet lentils in a dirty windowsill where it can get a little light. The windowsill can be clean, but you take your chances. I've always grown mine in a dirty windowsill and it works like a charm.

(4) Whenever the lentils look dry, add water and drain. I do it at least once per day.

(5) After a day or two, you'll see tiny sprouts!

(6) When the sprouts look like sandwich- and salad-size, they're ready to eat. (You can tell I just started this project a couple days ago, so I don't have a picture of the finished product yet.) I usually refrigerate them, once they're "done."

Voila. Salmonella-free and non-genetically-modified. Happy organic farming!