Pleased to "meat" you...

It's overwhelming when you think about it--eating has become so complicated. There had to be a time when if the food tasted good it was good for you and if it tasted or smelled bad you avoided it. Unfortunately that is no longer the case. What seems to be perfectly safe food is causing illness and sometimes even death. The most recent case happened just the other day when salmonella was found in ground beef packed in Fresno, CA, prompting a recall of 826,000 pounds of beef. This same company recalled 1560 pounds of beef cheek products (Just knowing that there are products made from beef cheeks is disgusting enough!) a year ago due to E. coli contamination. If these problems keep appearing why hasn't something changed in the way our meat is processed? Could it be because the government agencies that we trust to protect us and uphold food safety standards are more interested in protecting the interests of the food companies? Just a thought...

I was relieved that this was one meat recall I didn't have to participate it. My ground beef came from a ranch in Colorado where cows aren't crammed into feedlots standing knee deep in their own waste. It didn't cost $1.89 a pound like the recalled beef probably did, but we have been eating it for two weeks and have nothing to worry about. So how do you know which beef to buy? There are so many adjectives describing the items in the meat case these days how do you know what matters and what is just a marketing ploy? Click here to see definitions of the terms found on your meat labels.

This week I wanted to compare some produce prices so I visited my local Whole Foods. Based on this week's prices, the Winder Farms' organic produce box came in about a $1 more than the same items at Whole Foods. It seems like prices have dropped throughout the whole store. The Kashi cereals were around $3.49/box, the Stonyfield Farms Yokids yogurt tubes were on sale and I was delighted to find hamburger buns without high fructose corn syrup(I don't remember if they were on sale, I was just happy to find them). We also tried the Horizon Organic kids yogurt tubes which did not pass Jack's taste test. They are very tangy compared to other "kid" yogurt. I didn't like them very much either and I am pretty forgiving in the yogurt taste department. I also found boneless, skinless, organic air-cooled chicken breasts for $4.99/lb. When I purchased them I had no idea what air-cooled meant, I was just happy to see organic boneless skinless breasts for the same price that Albertson's organic bone-in breasts were. I haven't tried them yet but after some research I discovered that they are supposed to have amazing flavor.

Our baby chickens are growing so fast and their only air cooling will come from our air conditioning unit because we brought them home to be egg layers not fryers. I never knew how much joy could be found from watching chickens. They are so goofy and cute. We take them out each night after dinner and watch them trying to catch bugs, taking dust baths, learning to fly and pouncing on each other...it's hilarious! I will have to film it and post a video. They will be all grown up before I know it but at least when that happens, I will have the freshest free-range organic eggs that money can't buy.

Going postal...compostal that is!

Do you ever really think about garbage? Probably not, I know I have a lot more important things to ponder. If you do decide to dwell on what you are tossing out however, you may realize that there is gold in that there wastebasket. As I research more about gardening in this barren wasteland, the word "compost" keeps popping up (or do I mean cropping?). So what is compost exactly? It is a plant fertilizer made from decaying organic matter such as yard and kitchen waste. It looks like my smelly garbage is going to be helping me grow more smelly garbage! Composting always seemed like something reserved for hippies or Al Gore and even seem too complicated...layer of green waste; layer of brown waste; water; turn; lather; rinse; repeat. I guess the only way I will learn is by doing. There was already a lonely compost bin in my backyard from the previous owners so really I have no excuse to delay the decay...we have started a compost pile. It began with some soil, pine needles, grass clippings and fruit and vegetable scraps. Will it really turn into the black gold that will help my vegetables grow? I will keep you "posted."

Until I am growing my own vegetables, I will be trying a new improved Winder Farms organic produce box. Somehow a representative from Winder Farms came across my blog and called me to discuss my produce issues. Is that incredible or what? I explained to him that I was very happy with their service, I just thought I could do better buying the produce in the store. He stated that, "we don't want you 95% satisfied, we want you a 100% satisfied." I think I am a 110% satisfied with their customer service, that's for sure. We successfully made our last bottle of Winder Farms milk last through this morning, and are anxiously awaiting our next delivery tomorrow. I actually ran out while pouring a bowl of cereal and used half and half to fill the rest of the bowl. Not a good idea, half and half tastes great in coffee but ruins a perfectly good bowl of cereal.

Speaking of cereal, I can confidently say that the Kashi cereals are cheapest at Wal-Mart. They all sell for under $4 a box which is much better than every other store I have been to. I like these cereals because of their simple ingredients and lack of high fructose corn syrup. We have tried Cinnamon Harvest (which is also available at Sam's Club in big box form), Honey Sunshine, Island Vanilla and Strawberry Fields. Jack is a fan of Strawberry Fields but Keith is more of an Island Vanilla guy.

We got to enjoy our first grass-fed beef cheeseburgers. They really do retain their precooked size and were very juicy for how lean they are. Unfortunately I had to serve them with hamburger buns that contained high fructose corn syrup. I could not find one package without it at the grocery store and I didn't have to time to check other stores. It's amazing that even the products in packages designed to attract the health conscious still contain the ingredients that we are trying to avoid. Even Quaker Original Instant Oatmeal is not as wholesome as it seems. You would be better off microwaving the actual oats instead. Does this mean I will have to make my own buns now? I sure hope not because if they are anything like the whole-wheat dinner rocks...I mean rolls, I will have to go low carb!

Where's the beef?

Where's the beef? It's in my freezer, 42 pounds of it. Yesterday was a big day for our family as our baby chicks arrived as well as our 100% pastured grass-fed beef from Pagosa Springs, CO. I have to say the chicks were a tad more exciting than the beef but both were special in their own way. From the moment we ordered the chickens, the anticipation was building in the whole house. We were so eager to see them and talked about it constantly. Our actual mailman called from the post office at 8:15 a.m. to find out if I wanted him to bring them on the truck or if I wanted to pick them up. Well of course I had to pick them up! When the clerk at the post office came around the counter with a peeping box, I actually felt a little teary eyed. My babies were here! All six arrived healthy and thirsty. You would be amazed how much joy baby chicks can bring to a family. We are head over heels in love with these little girls. There is a 10% chance that there could be a rooster but until we know for sure we have named them Ida, Annie, Penny, Nina, Madelyn and Lillian.

I can't believe how nervous I was to cook the new beef. Everything I had read warned that it was really easy to overcook the beef because of it's lower fat content so I was really concerned that I would ruin the steaks. I chose a package of NY strips and a package of ribeyes, not realizing that each pack actually contained two good-sized steaks(we actually had enough left for another meal). The one thing I noticed was how much meatier it was than grocery store meat, if that makes sense. It is denser and more flavorful and fills you up faster. I cooked it on a hot grill for about 6 minutes on each side and than turned the heat off and left it on the grill for about 7 more minutes(It was still slightly frozen in the middle when I first started cooking it so it will probably cook faster next time). I seasoned some with garlic salt and some with Lawry's seasoning salt. I think I liked the Lawry's better, probably because it was invented to season beef (It was created by the founders of Lawry's the Prime Rib restaurant). I am looking forward to making hamburgers with the ground beef this weekend.

We are still chugging the Winder Farms milk like newborn calves. Tonight at dinner the four of us drank a half gallon. I will probably have to break down and buy some store milk because I don't think we will make it until our next delivery on Monday. Milk has become my kids number one choice for a beverage now and I see no reason to discourage this. Looks like next week I will have to add another gallon to our order. Moo!

The whole (wheat) truth.

I've been to farmer's markets, Whole Foods, Sunflower Market and finally today I made it to Trader Joe's. I have loved shopping there for years but there isn't one close to me so I have to really want to go before I make the trek. The funny thing is, shortly after we moved out of Henderson, they built one a mile from our old house. I guess they didn't realize the money they would have made if only they had been there a few years earlier! My favorite find there today was white whole wheat flour. It is their own brand and sells for $2.99 for 5 pounds. Why is this exciting? White whole-wheat flour can be substituted for all-purpose flour when you are baking and still has a smoother texture than regular whole-wheat flour. It is made from a softer white wheat so you still get whole grain but the texture of your bake goods does not resemble wet cement. About a week ago, I made some dinner rolls substituting the regular stone-ground whole-wheat flour for half of the all purpose flour. They were like little hockey pucks. I found the recipe on the internet and I imagine that there were probably some proportion issues with the ingredients however, I have been scared to use whole-wheat flour ever since. We had chocolate chip cookies made with the white whole-wheat flour today and no one could tell any difference. The cookie recipe is on the bag but it is basically the Nestle Toll House recipe with the proportion of white sugar to brown sugar altered slightly.

We tried a new brand of whole wheat pasta(see photo) this evening which I have decided is now my favorite. My older son asked if it was whole wheat (he is paranoid about the food I make lately) but I know he couldn't tell the difference this time. This brand is made in Italy, organic and sells for under $2.00 per pound at Sunflower Market. I served it with a meat sauce and it was delicious.

Our latest Winder Farms delivery arrived today and I can honestly say the their honey whole wheat bread is as amazing as the ten grain. We have already gone through a half gallon of the new milk (probably because we had the chocolate chip cookies) and the organic red grapes were beautiful and delicious. They are clustered together much closer than conventional grapes, I don't know if that means anything or not but it looks cool! My organic produce box contained fresh beets with the dirt still on them. I am up for the challenge of preparing them in a way that my family will enjoy eating them. I have to admit I have hated beets since I was very young but I don't want to waste food that we paid good money for so by golly, I am cooking them.

When I was at Trader Joe's today, I realized how much of their food is actually not good for you. It is still important to read labels if you are trying to avoid chemicals, hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup. I especially noticed these ingredients in their frozen items. Adios mini beef tacos, the Nolls are breaking up with you. You are full of ingredients I can't pronounce so this relationship is not going to work anymore. No, we can't still be friends...please stop calling!

Breaking the rules!

Well we have returned from a great trip to Lake Tahoe with some great friends, unfortunately we were eating some not so great things. Our drive started off well enough, our first Winder Farms delivery had arrived the morning we left and I brought the fruit with us to snack on during our 9 1/2 hour drive. We stopped in Beatty to get gas at the "Death Valley Candy Factory." Believe it or not, when you go inside it is full of CANDY. The worst part was that we actually bought some assorted licorices and gummy things and ate them! This was in clear violation of rule #1: Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food; #2: Avoid foods that contain ingredients that are A) Unfamiliar B)Unpronounceable C)More than five in number and D) Contain high fructose corn syrup; and #9: Don't get your fuel from the same place your car does. When we arrived at the cabin I instructed my kids that they had to eat whatever was served to them without complaint. I think that must have been why they were smiling so big downing those root beer floats the first night. There were also a large number of Oreos consumed which I don't think actually qualify as a food based on their ingredients. The Pringles we ate on the way there and back would probably also fall under the non-food category. We could also be spotted enjoying roast beef melts and curly fries at Arby's in Minden as well as Flamin' Hot Fries in Tonopah. Thoroughly sick of junk food, not one of us was interested in getting chips with our combo at Quizno's once we arrived home.

Speaking of Winder Farms, my first order arrived without any issues. My organic produce box contained baby spinach, celery, potatoes, cantaloupe, peaches and green grapes. Their 10-grain bread was out of this world and we used it to make sandwiches which we ate on a pier overlooking beautiful Lake Tahoe. I am looking forward to next Monday's delivery which will have more items than the first since we will be home next week.

Convenience foods are aptly named. When you are far from home it is so much easier to eat the bad stuff than to seek out and prepare the good stuff. I won't be discouraged however, because I looking forward to picking up where we left off BRT (Before road trip).

I have secretly replaced their regular noodles with whole wheat spaghetti...

Okay, so I didn't replace all of the pasta with whole wheat; only about half. It seemed like a good way to introduce the unfamiliar texture to my family. Whenever you change your pet's food, the bag always says to gradually mix in the new food with the food they are currently eating until you have totally replaced the old food with the new food. If it's good enough for dogs, why not us? I served it with meat sauce (the pasta, not pet food) and I personally couldn't tell the difference between the two types of noodles and everyone else seemed to love it. Next time I may go 100% whole wheat.

Since it is Tuesday, we headed to the Las Vegas Farmer's Market in Summerlin. I was excited to buy produce from real farmers, unfortunately there were only two of them. I hadn't been to a farmer's market for about 5 years and I had hoped that it had grown since the last time but apparently it has shrunk. The trip wasn't a total waste however, as I am now signed up for Winder Farms home delivery. I had consider doing this a year ago but it didn't make sense financially. Now the prices and startup fees are lower and it seems like less of a commitment than when I looked into it before. I can't verify if any of this is true, but according to Bob the Winder Farms salesman, their milk is better for you because it is not ultra-pasteurized like every other milk at the supermarket. This enables the milk to retain more nutrients and does not destroy the natural enzymes that aid in digestion. He also said that even people who are lactose intolerant can drink this milk because of this fact. Their milk has no chemicals, hormones or antibiotics and is processed in Salt Lake and than delivered to Las Vegas the next day. Conventional milk has a 6 week shelf life but their milk has a two week shelf life. This is a good thing! I also learned that all of the organic milk in the U.S. is processed at one of two locations: Colorado or New Jersey. It is also ultra-pasteurized so it can travel across the country. Winder Farms also carries organic fruits and meats in addition to all-natural breads. The minimum order for delivery is $5 and the startup fee is $10. My $10 included a 55 gallon cooler that is mine to keep. We tried samples of their milk, apple juice and raspberry tea and loved them all. The apple juice tastes as good as the cider from Gilcrease Orchards.

Our diet makeover is going to be gradual and rather than throwing away all the naughty food we are finishing it and not replacing it. I did throw out two unopened packages of Kroger popsicles after I found out they had propylene glycol in them. Just because the whole bag is 88 cents doesn't mean we should be eating an ingredient found in shampoo and hand soap. Thanks for the tip Meg. Hazelnut Biscotti and Peppermint Mocha Coffemate are what I will miss the most. In powdered form non-dairy creamer is highly flammable and yet I faithfully pour it in my coffee every morning. Click here to see a video of the Mythbusters using it as an explosive in a cannon. Is that really what I want in my body? Do you want it in yours?