Food bytes

[Former Member]

6 minutes ago, Mikiesboy said:

I eat low salt because of my blood pressure.

I’ve given up on worrying about my sodium level. I know it’s shortsighted, but my medical bills were unaffordable even though I’m on Medicare, MediCal, Extra Help, and using the County Health Care System.

 

Besides, even after I stopped taking my blood pressure medication, I was in the normal range. I started on the meds when I was more stressed than I am now. While I was being prescribed additional medication, my situation got worse. There seems to be no mechanism ratchet things down to see if the meds are still required. Unless the patient (me) just stops taking the meds.

[Mikiesboy]

2 minutes ago, droughtquake said:

I’ve given up on worrying about my sodium level. I know it’s shortsighted, but my medical bills were unaffordable even though I’m on Medicare, MediCal, Extra Help, and using the County Health Care System.

 

Besides, even after I stopped taking my blood pressure medication, I was in the normal range. I started on the meds when I was more stressed than I am now. While I was being prescribed additional medication, my situation got worse. There seems to be no mechanism ratchet things down to see if the meds are still required. Unless the patient (me) just stops taking the meds.

yeah i know .. i dont take meds.. yet .. and i hope to keep it that way as long as possible. so i'm careful.. that's the thing.. once you start them.. you're on them forever... 

[Former Member]

3 minutes ago, Bucket1 said:

This is all about what works for you - if want to try a different sauce for your chicken, get hold of Tonkatsu sauce, I use Bulldog brand (vegetable and fruit sauce - semi sweet is the translation on the bottle. It is a Japanese Worcestershire (sort of) and is a great combo with chicken.

I didn’t think anyone would know what that was! It’s supposed to be used with Tonkatsu (usually fried pork cutlets, or these days, chicken). It’s not as sweet as most Teriyaki sauce, but it’s much thicker and not as strong as Worcestershire sauce.

 

The most essential things in my ‘pantry’ are white and brown rice.

[Former Member]

Did someone say pasta?

Pasta with butter and sage:

Just cook your pasta. Take out a pan while it is cooking and put some butter in it, when the butter is melted add some sage leafs, could be dried, I prefer fresh. Add the pasta, if ready and spice with salt and pepper. Done!

Pasta with spring veges:

Take a pan get in some oil and every spring veggi you like and a chopped onion, some garlic, if everything is a bit roasted ad some apple juice, just a little bit, to (I don't know the correct English cooking word quench?) it. You can take whit wine, but it is not necessary. Spice it with salt, pepper maybe a little paprika spice (mild version) ad pasta and mix it. Done!

Pasta with tomato sauce:

I always start to roast onions, carrots and celery. Later I will add some garlic. If it goes in too early it will turn black and become bitter. Then I add some sugar in the pot and a bit of tomato past and let it varnish. If it is done — very fast- I add some broth and grape juice or red wine just to my liking and let it boil a moment. Then all herbs I need go in there, rosemary, oregano and thyme do the trick for me. In addition, I put canned tomatoes (whole and sieved) in the pot. I normally do so much of this, that I have a 5l+ pot. This would be 1 kg of every veg and tow or three big tins of tomatoes and 1 tin of sieved tomatoes and half a liter of broth and red wine/ grape juice. If you add grounded meet in the roasting process in the beginning, it is a nice bolognese. I freeze it in portions for later use and have always some in my freezer. The bolognese is very good for making fast lasagna. Which my family is especially fond of.

[Mikiesboy]

7 minutes ago, Lyssa said:

Did someone say pasta?

Pasta with butter and sage:

Just cook your pasta. Take out a pan while it is cooking and put some butter in it, when the butter is melted add some sage leafs, could be dried, I prefer fresh. Add the pasta, if ready and spice with salt and pepper. Done!

Pasta with spring veges:

Take a pan get in some oil and every spring veggi you like and a chopped onion, some garlic, if everything is a bit roasted ad some apple juice, just a little bit, to (I don't know the correct English cooking word quench?) it. You can take whit wine, but it is not necessary. Spice it with salt, pepper maybe a little paprika spice (mild version) ad pasta and mix it. Done!

Pasta with tomato sauce:

I always start to roast onions, carrots and celery. Later I will add some garlic. If it goes in too early it will turn black and become bitter. Then I add some sugar in the pot and a bit of tomato past and let it varnish. If it is done — very fast- I add some broth and grape juice or red wine just to my liking and let it boil a moment. Then all herbs I need go in there, rosemary, oregano and thyme do the trick for me. In addition, I put canned tomatoes (whole and sieved) in the pot. I normally do so much of this, that I have a 5l+ pot. This would be 1 kg of every veg and tow or three big tins of tomatoes and 1 tin of sieved tomatoes and half a liter of broth and red wine/ grape juice. If you add grounded meet in the roasting process in the beginning, it is a nice bolognese. I freeze it in portions for later use and have always some in my freezer. The bolognese is very good for making fast lasagna. Which my family is especially fond of.

we are pasta/ lasagna lovers here too

[Bucket1]

A good news story

 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/apr/28/australias-first-rescued-food-supermarket-opens-in-sydney

[Former Member]

Just now, Mikiesboy said:

we are pasta/ lasagna lovers here too

I wrote Gary a little lasagna love poem once. LOL

[Former Member]

21 minutes ago, Bucket1 said:

A good news story

 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/apr/28/australias-first-rescued-food-supermarket-opens-in-sydney

The only problem I see with this is that those items currently get donated to food pantries and agencies that give them away to to poor people like me!  ;-)

 

A local group that picks up and distributes items approaching their expiration date was recently in the news because someone stole one of their trucks. It was discovered a day later about 90 minutes and two counties away. I’ve gotten some really nice stuff from them (lots of lusciously sweet bakery items I’d never buy, as well as bread from Trader Joe’s).

[Mikiesboy]

42 minutes ago, Bucket1 said:

A good news story

 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/apr/28/australias-first-rescued-food-supermarket-opens-in-sydney

That is cool... BBC did a doc about a place that does this in England. started some years ago. It was good.. but the amount of food tossed out is horrific.  And they couldn't take all of it.. it is horrible.. 

http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/home/topics/waste-not-want-not/the-big-food-rescue-bbc-series-to-follow-food-waste-charity/545375.article

 

[Bucket1]

13 minutes ago, droughtquake said:

The only problem I see with this is that those items currently get donated to food pantries and agencies that give them away to to poor people like me!  ;-)

 

A local group that picks up and distributes items approaching their expiration date was recently in the news because someone stole one of their trucks. It was discovered a day later about 90 minutes and two counties away. I’ve gotten some really nice stuff from them (lots of lusciously sweet bakery items I’d never buy, as well as bread from Trader Joe’s).

The market is run by OzHarvest - one of the agencies you speak about - they started out quite small and are now nation wide. That reminds me I was going to look up their cookbook.

[Former Member]

15 minutes ago, Bucket1 said:

The market is run by OzHarvest - one of the agencies you speak about - they started out quite small and are now nation wide. That reminds me I was going to look up their cookbook.

This area is served by multiple organizations. The Food Bank covers two counties (oddly enough, not our slightly larger by population neighbor to the south which we usually pair off with, but the much less populated county to the north). I think they get most of the non-perishable things and they buy fruits and vegetables in bulk to help roundup their selection.

 

White Pony Express, the group that had their truck stolen, delivers perishable items (including cut flowers and small potted plants on occasion).

 

There is a group in San Francisco that collects excess food from restaurants and delivers it to groups who can serve them to needy people. This one’s trickier to manage because you need to have a large enough pool of restaurants to make collection viable, you need to have organizations who can serve the food, and you need to have clientele available to eat the food. I know it would work for one of the shelters I stayed at – the regular meals served are prepared by prisoners, delivered by sheriffs (left-overs from the jail), and stored in refrigerators until microwaved at mealtimes. The clients there would love not having to eat stuff that appears to be canned fruits and vegetables alongside a starch and a protein source (describing it as ‘meat’ might be an alternative fact). But there aren’t that many non-fast-food restaurants in the area.

[Bucket1]

I found my OzHarvest recipe book but got distracted by my reprint of a 1885 book on vegetables. A little munched by silverfish but good fun to read. More for the gardener than the cook filled with descriptions, growing hints and old drawings.

 

The first OzHarvest recipe was for frittata but I was trying to find the one I had for spaghetti squash. I need a bit more discipline when hunting for recipes

[DynoReads]

7 hours ago, Bucket1 said:

The first OzHarvest recipe was for frittata but I was trying to find the one I had for spaghetti squash. I need a bit more discipline when hunting for recipes

We use spaghetti squash as a substitute for pasta now. Cut in half, remove seeds, bake at 350 for 30 minutes. I'm hoping to grow zucchini and yellow squash and try them instead of pasta this summer.

[mollyhousemouse]

6 minutes ago, DynoReads said:

We use spaghetti squash as a substitute for pasta now. Cut in half, remove seeds, bake at 350 for 30 minutes. I'm hoping to grow zucchini and yellow squash and try them instead of pasta this summer.

With hubby developing diabetes and my auto immune thing making me susceptible to weight gain, we just don't do pasta as often.  I'll have to try the spaghetti squash swap.

[DynoReads]

1 minute ago, mollyhousemouse said:

With hubby developing diabetes and my auto immune thing making me susceptible to weight gain, we just don't do pasta as often.  I'll have to try the spaghetti squash swap.

My 17 yo is extremely overweight. I've been trying to change his diet and eating habits for a while, the spaghetti squash was one that stuck.

He's seeing a pediatric cardiologist (high blood pressure).  She got him to change a few things. Apparently Eating or drinking sweet things makes us hungry again an hour later.even artificial sweeteners do the same. He's mostly given up sodas and the obvious sweet things. Still ate 5 yogurts in one night. We're seeing a dietician this week and I'll pass on anything she says then.

[Former Member]

19 minutes ago, DynoReads said:

We use spaghetti squash as a substitute for pasta now. Cut in half, remove seeds, bake at 350 for 30 minutes. I'm hoping to grow zucchini and yellow squash and try them instead of pasta this summer.

My kids love spaghetti squash. I use to cook it a little before putting it in the oven, because I found it more even. I do some sheep cheese on top. 

Did you ever try whole-grain pasta? It is much better than the normal pasta from white flour. It lasted longer until you get hungry again. I had to try different brands, until I found one I like, but especially for kids, it is a more healthy choice.

[Mikiesboy]

My fav healthy breakfast is muesli. I make my own... 1/3c large flake oats, a few raisns, a few dried cranberries, 1/4c of finely grated carrot .. put in a tupperware tub with a lid. pour in skim milk until it's about a 1/4inch above the oatmeal. Leave overnight in the fridge. 

 

The carrot is good for you, but was a big sweetener during the wars when sugar was rationed.

 

Fun Fact:  You know, that when food was rationed in the UK, people were their healthiest because they couldn't get much sugar or fat, and they ate many more vegetables than meat. Don't believe it: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/9728.php

[mollyhousemouse]

9 minutes ago, Mikiesboy said:

My fav healthy breakfast is muesli. I make my own... 1/3c large flake oats, a few raisns, a few dried cranberries, 1/4c of finely grated carrot .. put in a tupperware tub with a lid. pour in skim milk until it's about a 1/4inch above the oatmeal. Leave overnight in the fridge. 

 

I can't eat in the morning.  The very thought of food makes me ill.  I have water and coffee first thing, then about 8:30 or 9:00 I'll have some low fat vanilla yogurt or these great whole grain fig bars I found.

https://naturesbakery.com/snack-products/fig-whole-wheat-fig-bars

[Former Member]

5 minutes ago, mollyhousemouse said:

I can't eat in the morning.  The very thought of food makes me ill.  I have water and coffee first thing, then about 8:30 or 9:00 I'll have some low fat vanilla yogurt or these great whole grain fig bars I found.

https://naturesbakery.com/snack-products/fig-whole-wheat-fig-bars

That is an interesting link, but I am not used to read this tables. They are quite different to the ones we have around here. I didn`t understand the line about the sugar, can someone help me to understand?

[mollyhousemouse]

8 minutes ago, mollyhousemouse said:

I can't eat in the morning.  The very thought of food makes me ill.  I have water and coffee first thing, then about 8:30 or 9:00 I'll have some low fat vanilla yogurt or these great whole grain fig bars I found.

https://naturesbakery.com/snack-products/fig-whole-wheat-fig-bars

 

1 minute ago, Lyssa said:

That is an interesting link, but I am not used to read this tables. They are quite different to the ones we have around here. I didn`t understand the line about the sugar, can someone help me to understand?

Sure, Lyssa.  I'll give it a shot.

Many of the foods here are made using corn syrup instead of sugar from sugar beets or sugar cane.

Nutrition folks tell us that the body doesn't process the "high fructose corn syrup" the same way as regular sugar.

On the nutrition label, the total carbohydrates are 20 g  of those 10 g are derived from the different sugars in the bars.

 

Was that helpful?

[Former Member]

3 minutes ago, mollyhousemouse said:

 

Sure, Lyssa.  I'll give it a shot.

Many of the foods here are made using corn syrup instead of sugar from sugar beets or sugar cane.

Nutrition folks tell us that the body doesn't process the "high fructose corn syrup" the same way as regular sugar.

On the nutrition label, the total carbohydrates are 20 g  of those 10 g are derived from the different sugars in the bars.

 

Was that helpful?

Yes!! Absolutely. I got it. The fructose has an higher sweetness level, so you need less, to get the same sweetness as with glucose. The blood sugar level increases more slowly because fructose is not as easy absorbed as glucose.

I just want to note, please be careful, it is not that easy. There is an distinction to the adipogenesis, because fructose has an influence on certain metabolic processes.

[mollyhousemouse]

1 minute ago, Lyssa said:

Yes!! Absolutely. I got it. The fructose has an higher sweetness level, so you need less, to get the same sweetness as with glucose. The blood sugar level increases more slowly because fructose is not as easy absorbed as glucose.

I just want to note, please be careful, it is not that easy. There is an distinction to the adipogenesis, because fructose has an influence on certain metabolic processes.

I'm glad I got it explained well!

For our family, we stay away from the corn syrup as much as possible. It's one of the things I read labels to avoid. I'd rather have smaller amounts of sweets with real sugar than larger amounts of the over processed ones.  What's sneaky is that it's in things like prepared sauces, and condiments.  Makes me every more grateful for the many farmers markets and the small shops in our town that sell locally made products.

 

[Former Member]

Just now, mollyhousemouse said:

I'm glad I got it explained well!

For our family, we stay away from the corn syrup as much as possible. It's one of the things I read labels to avoid. I'd rather have smaller amounts of sweets with real sugar than larger amounts of the over processed ones.  What's sneaky is that it's in things like prepared sauces, and condiments.  Makes me every more grateful for the many farmers markets and the small shops in our town that sell locally made products.

 

I try to buy regional vegetables and fruits, too. I think, it is better for our environment, to not have a long transportation and because there is less distance to cover the vegggis have more time to get really ripe, and it shows in the taste. In addition I like the change of seasons in the food. I spend a lot of time outside and to feel the seasons with every sense - for example in the food - is something I cherish.

[Headstall]

Here is the lovely lasagna poem Lyssa wrote for me in a review of Chapter 18 of Cards on the Table... and yes, there was garlic bread... it made tim happy!

 

Lyssa  3,240

Posted March 12 · Report

Lasagna, lasagna, lasagna, who doesn`t like you.
Lasagna, lasagna, lasagna, one for me and you.
Lasagna, lasagna, lasagna, I am your fan.
Lasagna, lasagna, lasagna, eat you whenever I can.
Lasagna, lasagna, lasagna, makes everything good.
Lasagna, lasagna, lasagna, comfy-food I understood. 
Lasagna, lasagna, lasagna.......

 

 for sweet Lyssa  

[Bucket1]

3 hours ago, mollyhousemouse said:

I can't eat in the morning.  The very thought of food makes me ill.  I have water and coffee first thing, then about 8:30 or 9:00 I'll have some low fat vanilla yogurt or these great whole grain fig bars I found.

https://naturesbakery.com/snack-products/fig-whole-wheat-fig-bars

I inherited that trait from my mother. The rest of the family can literally get out of bed and eat breakfast. She needed to wake up first and I am the same.

 

3 hours ago, Mikiesboy said:

My fav healthy breakfast is muesli. I make my own... 1/3c large flake oats, a few raisns, a few dried cranberries, 1/4c of finely grated carrot .. put in a tupperware tub with a lid. pour in skim milk until it's about a 1/4inch above the oatmeal. Leave overnight in the fridge. 

 

The carrot is good for you, but was a big sweetener during the wars when sugar was rationed.

 

Fun Fact:  You know, that when food was rationed in the UK, people were their healthiest because they couldn't get much sugar or fat, and they ate many more vegetables than meat. Don't believe it: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/9728.php

I have never tried the overnight oats. I should give it a go.

 

Olive Oil wasn't rationed in the U.K. because it was medicinal. Elizabeth David came back home to find no butter but she was ok because she discovered olive oil during her stay on the continent