Should you always eat organic?

There is no simple answer but the short one is no.  Why eat organic at all?    

There are many reasons for that.  It is more nutritious, contains more minerals and vitamins, is non-GMO, and is free of many poisons like antibiotics, hormones, herbicides, fungicides and insecticides.

There are also certain disadvantages. Perhaps the biggest argument against organic foods is the expense.  Organic produce is about 50% more costly than the conventional variety, and meat and milk costs even more than that. Productivity is greater within industrialized agriculture and more skill is required to do organic gardening.   Apparently organic gardening is more drought resistant, and organic farming is friendly to the soil and healthy for the farmer. 

One more advantage about organic produce – it tastes better (most of the time).  However, taste is an acquired feature and is different for different people.  Organic strawberries might be less sweet than conventional strawberries, but have greater flavor. 

Because of the higher price of organic foods, be selective when buying produce. Depending on how the food to-be grows, look at how much permeable surface it has and how much spraying and irrigation it requires.  Try to eat certain foods only in organic varieties unless they are purchased from a Farmer’s Market.  Watch foods are – strawberries, watermelon, artichokes, potatoes, peanut butter, milk, meat, tofu and coffee. 

When buying organic, look for the following USDA regulated terms on food labels:

·     100% organic - means the food has no synthetic ingredients

·     Organic - means the food has a minimum of 95% organic ingredients. It can also use the organic seal.

·     Made with organic ingredients - means the food must contain at least 70% organic ingredients.  These foods cannot use the organic seal.

Meat, eggs, poultry, and dairy labeled "organic" must come from animals that, among other things,  have never received antibiotics or growth hormones.

Standards for organic seafood have not been set.

     
Today, organic has turned into an industrialized monster business. Many organic brands today are owned by the same companies that once tried to convince the consumers that organic was no better.  These companies have now invested themselves in the organic label because that is where the consumer walked. If years ago it meant locally grown without pesticides or chemicals, today it means a label  that is also heavily regulated by USDA.  The cow that produces Organic Milk might be fed organically grown feed, but may not be able to see daylight or grass from its pen. 
     
But how would you know the good-organic from bad-organic. Clearly there are other parameters by which food can be measured.  Organic production can reassure the absence of pesticides, unnatural fertilizers, and genetically modified organisms, but one must also look for free-range or pastured animals and perhaps the small carbon footprint of locally transported foods. 

When you eat locally grown, seasonal fruits and vegetables – those usually do not require too much additional chemicals and who cares if those are labeled organic or not.. 

Simple Ratatouille

All fresh ingredients for the ratatouille make for a delicious treat.

Ratatouille is a French Provencal vegetable stew featuring tomatoes, courgettes (zucchini), eggplant, bell peppers, onion, garlic, and herbs.  Usually served as a side dish, we love ratatouille as a meal with pasta, over fish or other proteins, and as a dip.  Very versatile, there are lots of ways to make this flavorful medley.  To keep things easy, we offer a one-pot recipe which is modified from a ratatouille recipe found on the Real Simple blog.  (They offer great recipes and food ideas.)

A quick note:  this recipe was made at around 7000 feet elevation.  Cooking times may vary (be shorter) if you live in the lowlands.

Simmering and softening the ingredients.

Makes 3 - 4 cups

3 Tblsp. olive oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1 bay leaf
1 large tomato, coarsely chopped
1 medium eggplant, top trimmed off, unpeeled, and cubed
1 medium zucchini, top stem trimmed off, halved lengthwise and then thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, remove stem and seeds, cut into quarters, then into thin slices
1/2 - 1 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 - 1/2 C. chopped fresh basil
freshly ground pepper

In a large pan, heat the oil and saute the garlic, onion, and bay leaf over low to medium heat until the vegetables are softened, about 10 minutes.  Add the tomato, eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper, and kosher salt, and cook over medium heat until the vegetables have softened (particularly the eggplant). Stir in the basil and add a few grinds of black pepper.  Remove from heat and serve.

A batch of ratatouille keeps in the fridge for several days.
 Use glass jars with lids for best results. 

One recipe will make six to eight servings.  The entire stew above offers approximately 580 calories, loads of vitamin C, manganese, and fiber.  Be cautious with your use of salt.  This mix is so flavorful, you really don't need to add very much while the mixture is cooking.  My first batch seemed to get saltier as it sat.

This recipe was made in the morning and it just seemed
too perfect not to use it for breakfast.  Voila, top with a poached egg!
The nieces all loved this.  Toast would be a great compliment.

- Kim Fielding

Chicken and cholesterol

Types of cholesterol  - good or bad, sometimes could be very confusing. When you see your doctor they tell you that your cholesterol is high but... Our bad cholesterol is the LDL-cholesterol and it should be less than 165 if you're otherwise healthy.  It should be less than 130 if you have one medical condition, or less than 100 if you have diabetes, and less than 70 if you have already had a heart attack.  But even bad cholesterol LDL could be not so bad. Our good cholesterol is called HDL, and higher  numbers are better.  Sometimes your total cholesterol can be high because you have high HDL.  As I said, cholesterol can be confusing but your diet should not be confusing.
 

Let’s talk about chicken.
 

Today chicken is considered as a default healthy protein for most people.  Somehow chicken made a name for itself as a healthy meat but people should know that it doesn't lower cholesterol and as a matter of fact regular consumption of chicken will raise your cholesterol.  In reality, chicken is a big source of fat. Actually, chicken breast has exactly the same amount of fat as lean pork, beef or lamb.   Even white chicken meat raises cholesterol as it contains both saturated fat and cholesterol, plus the way the chicken is raised may have multiple other  unhealthy elements. 
 

Here are some facts about most chicken on the market.  Feedlot chickens are fed with hormones to make them grow faster, their feed is full of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and they are given antibiotics to keep them from getting sick while packed in with hundreds or thousands of other chickens.  Most chicken you eat at the restaurants  are these type.

Alpha Living is about going to back to the beginning and eating what your grandparents ate. Your grandparents did not eat chicken every day. Chicken was actually considered to be a luxury and people ate it no more than once or at most twice a week.  So, if you are trying to lower your cholesterol then try to increase vegetables and plants in your diet.  As far as chicken, eat only the organic free range version and only once or twice per week. 
 

Weeknight Green Bean Supper

Fresh green beans, tomatoes, ground turkey, onions and other seasoning
make a quick and easy supper.

Here we have yet another green bean recipe inspired by the season.  Dr. Mariam first introduced this easy one pot dinner in our book "The Alpha Plan" which offers recipes for college-age kids and new cooks.

Although this recipe features ground turkey, you may also use ground beef or crumbled tofu.  Spices are mild so feel free to add more heat or seasoning as you desire.

Another bonus - this recipe tastes even better the next day.  Great left-overs.

Serves:  6
Prep and cook time:  about 30 minutes

1 onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
A package of ground turkey, 1 pound ground beef, or crumbled tofu
1 pound trimmed green beans, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 can diced tomatoes
dash of salt and pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

Saute the onions in the oil for about 3 minutes.  Add the ground protein and cook until no longer pink,  Add the green beans, tomatoes, salt, and pepper, and bring to a simmer.  Cook for 20-30 minutes.  Test the beans for doneness.

Sprinkle the parsley over before serving.  This dish is yummy served with pilaf or brown rice and a green salad.  We have also served the turkey version of this dish with a cauliflower/new potato mash.

Each serving offers about 320 calories, half your RDA for protein and selenium, and a third your daily requirement for iron, niacin, vitamin B6, and phosphorous.  With just shy of 4 grams fiber, be sure to balance the main dish with a high fiber side dish or two.

- Kim Fielding

Fancy Green Bean Salad



Cooked green beans with dressing.  They are about to be tossed with freekeh
and lots of fresh herbs.  Refreshing!

I picked up the latest Bon Appetit magazine, August 2014, and fell in love with the salads presented by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi.  My green bean salad falls very short of their presentation, but the basic ingredients that these two genius chefs offer us make even the most basic chefs shine. 

First off, we used only home grown veggies and they aren't particularly pretty.  The green beans had been frozen then defrosted but were stringy.  The key to stringy green beans is to cut them into short pieces.  The other thing that I was missing was tahini.  After living away for almost a month, I am slowly but surely finding out what is no longer in my pantry - tahini being one of them.  Okay, so without tahini, let's make this salad work..... and it does.

Serves: 5 large helpings
Preparation time:  30  minutes

The recipe, altered from the magazine version, is as follows:

1/4 cup dried freekeh, cooked
1 pound whole green beans, trimmed, and cooked
1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
A very large handful of herbs to include: parsley, cilantry, and mint

Dressing:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1small clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon diced shallot or red onion
1/2 tsp. maple syrup
Salt and pepper to taste in the dressing


In a jar with a lid, add all ingredients together and shake to blend.  Place cooked freekeh and cooked green beans in a bowl.  Stir the dressing ingredients into the green bean, freekeh mix, then add the walnuts, and half of the herbs.  Put the salad onto a platter then top with the rest of the herbs.

Sadly I didn't capture a photo of the salad served on a platter with all of the herbs and nuts sprinkled atop.  But it was yummy.

Each serving offers around 200 calories and almost five grams of fiber and protein.

- Kim Fielding

Sugar

Epidemic of obesity continues despite all the public efforts. The simple reason is that obesity is a disease and not just what people do to themselves.  It  is genetic and environmental, meaning that you get it if you're prone to sugar intolerance and you still use the sugar.  Once you are addicted, it is hard to stop it.  Just like other addictions (tobacco, alcohol, hard core drugs) it gets worse with stress.   Obesity is the mother of variety of other problems, like diabetes, heart disease, joint problems, gallbladder disease, sleep apnea and many others.  Once obesity develops it’s very hard to treat it, (though there is some progress with new medications) it is hard to lose weight and even harder to maintain the lost weight. We need to concentrate  on prevention of obesity and its ramifications.   Start from the baby in the mother’s womb, children, youth and the rest of us.

Parents can play very important in influencing their children's health habits. Unfortunately most of them influenced them in the wrong way if children are given soda at home or sweetened juices and quickly  get used to the sweet taste and develop an early addiction to it.  Regular sugar consumption eventually is going to turn into some kind of a medical problem.

For practical purposes, there is not a lot of difference between sugar and heroin; both are derived from natural plants and sugar from sugarcane or sugar beets as 90% of the nutrients are discarded to form the crystalized sugar. Heroin as you know is derived from opium poppy seeds. Both sugar and heroin are causing craving, addiction withdrawal and dependence.  As a matter of fact sugar addiction costs a lot more deaths in United States -about 300,000 per year compared to heroin that is about 600 per year.

"Want to eat something sweet" is a sound coming of the tired brain. Would a piece of dark chocolate do it?  Not always! 

Just because diet drinks are calorie free does not mean that those are risk free.  Zero cal can seem good but artificial sweeteners are bad for people.    When person is eating diet foods, they think that they're consuming fewer calories

and as a result the give themselves an opportunity to eat more. The artificial sweeteners confuse the brain and a person eats more. 

So, what is the solution?

Read the labels; avoid anything when sugar is one of the first ingredients.  Eat honey in small amounts, seasonal fruits and dark chocolate when you “crave” sweets. And, baklava on a rare occasion. By the way, the real baklava is sugar free, the sweetness comes from honey.

Green Bean Week

 

The pole beans are thriving here in early August.

Green beans are in season and boy are we seeing the bounty!  Between the bush beans and pole beans, we are searching for great recipes to share as well as how to store them for the months ahead when they won't be local and fresh in the stores.

The first thing that comes to mind is canning.  There is a certain joy in making preserves with summer fruits that carry us through the winter I can't describe.  We get to savor all the goodness in jams, jellies, and frozen to use in muffins and other foods. 

With veggies, we have to get creative.  There is an old time recipe in the Sunset Canning Guide for pickled green beans.  I have made them.  They are vinegary, dilly, and garlicky, and we love them.  They are great along with carrot and celery sticks for a platter of veggies and as a condiment in a dry martini.  They are worth a try.


If you have never canned before, these are an easy way to get started.

 

These were served plain, as pickles, alongside dinner last night.

 - Kim Fielding

More Greens Please!

"There is no love sincerer than the love of food" - George Bernard Shaw 

Yada, yada, yada... eat broccoli instead of a cookie or burger?  Makes no sense, right?!  But, do you know that green plant membranes found in foods such as broccoli, spinach, kale, colored greens,asparagus, watercress, parsley, and lettuce have been found to actually help curb your appetite leading to healthy weight loss?

Broccoli in the garden

Much has been written about the antioxidant and anti-cancer effects of these vegetables, but here is a new one. Scientists and colleagues from Lund University in Sweden studied the effect of a diet high in green plant membranes among a group of 38 women, aged 40 to 65 years. Those who consumed at least 5 grams a day lost on average 11 pounds over three months, compared to only 7.7 in those given a placebo.

Kales grow year round for us in northern California

Women eating the greens secreted more of a hormone known as glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) which is known to aid in satiety and to reduce the urge to eat junk food. Green plants also appear to slow fat absorption by collecting around lipid droplets from food. Lab animals given greens displayed reduced weight gain, fat mass and blood lipids. Likewise, the women in the Lund study had decreased total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL – or “bad”) cholesterol readings.

Wonderful peppery arugula.  This is another easy crop to grow.

So, make sure that you add greens to your dinner tonight, and every night.

- Dr. Mariam Manoukian
 

French Dip, Nice Style

8:00 a.m.  the Mediterrean Sea.  Warm salty water. 

 

I thought we were doing something special.  Just us wandering down to the Sea for an early morning dip. 

No. 

Apparently, this is a daily event for many locals.  Early exercise, followed by a quick shower and dressing on the beach, then off to work or their day.

The water made us all so happy.  We look back on it as a highlight of our time in France. 

Try it!!  If you are so inclined, find a local swimming hole that makes you happy.  The YMCA or community pools offer times for everyone to enjoy the water.  Aqua exercises are a gentle way to move without stressing arthritic joints.


Heading to the beach.
Oh Kev, I missed you on this adventure.

1/2 hour of recreational floating and swimming burns about 150 calories.  But the best part about this exercise is the happiness you feel after.

- Kim Fielding

French Salads

Two amazing salads typical of the south of France in summer.  Come another
season and the vegetables will be a little different.  Tay turned 21 on this day.

Lucky me and son #3 were invited to travel with my sister's family last month and in (mostly) France.  My sister's family is awesome and they like to capture every place they can in a short amount of time.  We were always offered the opportunity to join them visiting all the relevant sites wherever we went.  They are energizer bunnies when they are on the move!

Tay and I are a little different.  We like to kick back, meet the locals, sample the food, and use all of our senses when visiting a new place.  Two different styles of travel but we made it work in a way that, in hindsight, gets better each time we revisit our travels with people who ask about us.

One main  item that always brought us together though - dining.

The French have a way with food.  But it isn't just that.  They walk everywhere and eat what is local and in season.  In a larger city, there are produce stands on every other block.  You will find a charcuterie on every fourth block.  And always a boulangerie or patisserie.  The breads and pastries.  Oh, and the cheeses and wines, they are in all the markets.  Of course, too, the bistros.

The smaller towns have one baker, one produce stand (or families swap what they grow amongst each other) and maybe a meat market every other town or so.  Most often, chickens and their eggs, and meat, are grown locally so meat counters are not needed.   But the fact that everything is close by, no one hops in a car to make the trip to the grocer.  And they shop daily.  This is a lifestyle. 

To be fair, gasoline is extremely costly and finding a place to park is nearly impossible.  Trams, the metro, a bus, are vital to getting around if you need to venture farther than a few kilometers.  Otherwise, everyone walks.  Tay and I marveled at the energy people we encountered put into their daily lives - joie de vivre!

I was last in France eight months ago, in late October.  I had looked forward to the same salads, and, they weren't offered.  Oh wait.  Didn't I just say above that seasonality changes the offerings?  I may have missed certain dishes I had last October but had no reservations about eating locally and fresh in July.

Tay's salad was the Italian version of Nicoise.  It featured lots of fresh lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms and the Dijon vinaigrette which is always so lovely.  The twist on this salad was adding a few thin slices of prosciutto, crumbled gorgonzola, and baked crispy croutons.  He added Cidre, a low alcohol apple cider inspired by the Calvados region.

My salad featured lots of fresh lettuces, tomatoes, mushrooms, a hard-boiled egg, and diced (1/4 inch cubes) of emmenthaler cheese and boiled ham.  I was so full after eating this! 

These meals hit all of the punch points for luncheon dining - protein from the ham/cheese/egg, or tofu even, vegetables from the lettuces/mushrooms/tomatoes/herbs, starch (bread and croutons), and fiber from the veggies.  If this were to be a main meal, I would add a generous dose of lentil salad or white beans to round out the roughage.

Note to self and to our followers; do we really need off-season produce to make our lives better?  And if we do, how can we get them without importing from around the planet outside of our local environs?  Clue...check following blogs to see what we do.

- Kim Fielding