Kitchen Chemist

Tick...Tick...Tick

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 16:51:46 -0400

Ticks are emerging from leaf litter and they’re hungry. Don’t be their next meal. In my article this week on South Kingstown Patch you can learn about the tick life cycle, a brief history of Lyme Disease, some facts about other tick-borne diseases, and (most important) how to PROTECT against ticks. We are grateful to Dr. Thomas Mather, Professor of Entomology at the University of Rhode Island for granting us an interview for this article. Dr. Mather’s advice is priceless and could literally save your life. Read the article by clicking here.

Backyard Chickens

Sat, 19 Feb 2011 08:48:13 -0500

As many Simple Food Kitchen Chemist readers know, I am a Contributor to America Online’s hyperlocal publishing venture, Patch.com. I research and write about a variety of topics. This week I share some of the joys and pitfalls of raising a backyard flock of hens.

There is absolutely nothing in the grocery store that compares to local eggs from happy chickens. If you are unable to raise your own hens, try to buy from local farmers markets or food cooperatives.

South County Garden of Eatin' on South Kingstown Patch

Sat, 5 Feb 2011 08:56:45 -0500

Just a couple weeks ago, I began writing feature articles for America Online’s new publishing venture, Patch.com. Patch is expanding all over the country with the emphasis on hyperlocal news and views.

My first article featured the South Kingstown Farmers’ Wintertime Indoor Market and you can find the article and photo gallery here.

Guest Blog - Pete Rundlett, Organic Gardener

Sat, 5 Feb 2011 08:20:19 -0500

Rarely, in any profession, do you meet someone as eloquent as my farmer friend Pete Rundlett. Pete’s Moonstone Gardens is the local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program to which I belong.

If you live in Rhode Island, consider joining Pete’s CSA. Even if you live elsewhere, please take a few minutes to read Pete’s words about food security, sustainability, and organic farm management. Pete’s words make excellent communication-starters for teachers to share with their students at any level.

How to Expand Your Healthy Food Options

Wed, 5 Jan 2011 15:50:49 -0500

Science, it seems, is catching up with the old adage, “You are what you eat.”

A recent article - “Why Your Genes Don’t Determine Your Health” - by Dr. Mark Hyman, writing for The Huffington Post - explains how environmental toxins act like “switches that turn genes on and off (to) trigger signals of disease or health.”

He emphasizes, “The most important thing you do to control your genes every day is eat well.”

It’s really not as difficult as it sounds.

A Musical Interlude from Yeo Valley Organic Dairy

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 14:11:30 -0500

You’ve been slaving away in your garden to wrap things up for the season. Your hands are hurting and your knees are starting to talk to you.

You deserve a break and we have just the entertainment for you.

It is, according to Grist, “the world’s first organic dairy rap video” and it’s from Yeo Valley Organic, a United Kingdom based organic dairy farm.

Enjoy!

How to Avoid Wasting Food

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 13:35:13 -0500

Waste not, want not. How often did our parents and grandparents repeat that mantra?

This autumn I realized that if I made the food in my pantry more visible, I would waste less. When it was behind closed doors, food would sometimes die a slow death - even as it seemingly sprinted past its expiration date.

Pantry Makeover

My pantry makeover was simple and inexpensive and I was happy to share the experience with readers of the Preparedness Pantry Blog. When you read my article you might recall another old proverb: Out of sight, out of mind. Definitely not good advice when it comes to food.

How to Protect Your Family and Pets against Ticks

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 11:57:52 -0500

If you enjoy outdoor activities such as gardening, you need to be aware of the dangers lurking among the veggies. While raking autumn leaves recently, it hit me: Kids can no longer jump into leaf piles without literally putting their health in danger. Why?

In my small circle of friends and neighbors, I know people who have died from tick diseases, others who are to this day dragging around oxygen tanks because of tick diseases, and at least a couple who have suffered permanent neurological damage from tick diseases. Just this week another friend confided her feelings that her child’s Lyme Disease and the boy’s sudden onset of behavioral issues was not simply coincidental.

On an even more personal level, I have had Lyme Disease twice; the second time it brought babesiosis along for the ride. Fortunately, my quick response to symptoms and the proactive work of my health care provider helped me to stem the tide of bacteria and protozoans drilling through my tissues and boring into my red blood cells. Despite such good medical care, however, I didn’t recover my normal vitality for 18 months. Two of my toy poodles have also had tick diseases. I know first-hand how dangerous tick diseases are.

How to Protect Yourself

Google the phrase “tick diseases” and you will be amazed at the amount of information that’s available online. I’ll leave it up to you to pick and choose among the thousands of links Google provides. Meantime, here are three resources that distill a vast array of information into a Tick Disease Starter’s Guide.

1. University of Rhode Island TickEncounter Resource Center
As a URI graduate, perhaps I’m biased. But the University of Rhode Island TickEncounter Resource Center is arguably one of the world’s foremost tick research labs. Noodle around the URI site to learn how to help prevent tick diseases from harming you, your loved ones, or your pets. Click here to read about Dr. Mather’s work.

2. Under Our Skin: The Politics of Disease
Some people have the rather cavalier attitude that Lyme Disease is easily cured by a couple weeks of oral antibiotics. This documentary film might make you think otherwise. Lyme Disease can lead to devastating consequences. The film also sheds light on the “politics” of Lyme Disease. The Under Our Skin web site provides a list of film viewings in your local area or you can purchase a personal copy of the film on DVD.

3. Jesse Ventura’s Conspiracy Theory: Did an ex-Nazi Create Lyme Disease?
This season Jesse Ventura’s television series “Conspiracy Theory” investigates the U.S. government biological research lab on Plum Island, New York. Plum Island is regarded by some as the source of the ticks that brought Lyme Disease to nearby Lyme, Connecticut, and from there to the rest of New England and beyond.

How to Prepare for a Food Shortage

Sat, 22 May 2010 05:13:51 -0400

Even if the food supply itself is ample, natural events can disrupt the distribution of food. Some experts are predicting an especially active hurricane season in 2010 in the Atlantic Ocean, for example.

Toss in some volcanic eruptions and a gazillion tar balls washing ashore from the massive oil geyser spewing in the Gulf of Mexico as we write this and you get the picture. As our dear mother used to say, “There are no guarantees in life.”

Events both predictable and unpredictable drive home the lesson that our food supply is fragile.

How to Protect Yourself

One way to protect yourself and your family is to eat fewer processed foods, depending instead on basic, simple food that you grow, preserve, and prepare yourself. That is what this blog is all about.

Another step in the right direction is growing a garden or joining a CSA (community supported agriculture) program. In either case, you will probably have enough food that you can freeze, can, or dehydrate for off-season use.

But you can’t grow it all yourself. For example, few of us have fruit orchards. And fewer still raise livestock.

Preparedness Pantry

That’s where the Preparedness Pantry blog and its companion site Emergency Essentials can help. We’ve been customers of the company for perhaps 10 years.

We’ve already written about their easy to use vegetable sprouting trays.

But we also enjoy having on hand a wide variety of Emergency Essentials dehydrated foods. We love their nonfat dry milk. This is the milk we use to make our kefir and yogurt.

We’ve enjoyed many Emergency Essentials dehydrated fruit slices and dices from pineapple to mango to raspberries. These products come in sealed #10 cans. They store for years unopened. At the moment, we are on a dehydrated banana chip kick. The company’s dehydrated blueberries, while pricey, taste amazingly fresh-picked. With dehydrated fruit, a little goes a long way.

Sometimes we make our own trail mix using these dehydrated fruits. Other times we make fruit compotes with fresh rhubarb from the garden and dehydrated apples slices or whatever Emergency Essentials dehydrated fruit we have on hand.

The company offers a whole host of long-term food storage options including MREs (meals ready-to-eat) and bulk grains.

Whatever your food storage plans are, you should check out the Preparedness Pantry blog and Emergency Essentials web sites. Yes, there are other companies out there offering similar products and they deserve a look, too. A Google search will find them for you.

Food security is one way to protect yourself and your family in case of a power outage, grocery store delivery disruption, or emergency food shortage.

Emergency Essentials is a good place to start.

How to Use LEEKS

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 09:10:56 -0400

Members of the onion family (alliums) have long been considered a health food. Garlic is a good example according to the National Institutes of Health.

A century ago, our Irish grandmother would keep an onion syrup warm on the kitchen stove to treat wintertime sore throats. More recently, RealAge reports that the green pigment in plants (chlorophyll) such as leeks might counteract liver damage from aflatoxin, a mold toxin.

The Basics
Leeks are perhaps the best kept secret in the produce aisle or at the famers’ market. Leeks have a milder flavor than onions. Besides their physical beauty, leeks are easy on the eyes in another way: We’ve yet to “weep” when slicing or chopping leeks.

Leeks look like overgrown scallions but the way they grow requires a bit more attention when cleaning; you need to remove any dirt particles that the leaves capture as they grow their layers.

Cost Savings
With the exception of the very bottom of the leek (where the roots are), every part of the plant is edible. The green leafy part is sturdier than that of a scallion but not at all tough to chew. Cooking softens leeks, of course, and they are great grilled, braised, or chopped up and tossed in soups and stir fries. We also enjoy a small amount of chopped leek in omelets.

Because of their versatility and the fact that they keep well in the vegetable crisper in your refrigerator, leeks are a great value. Here is the Northeastern part of the U.S., leeks are available even early in the Spring when other veggies might be out of season. As you know, buying vegetables in season assures freshness and saves money.

How to Join a CSA Program

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 06:07:53 -0400

Have you noticed how much of our food in the US is imported from other countries? Obviously, we don’t have banana plantations so we need to import this healthful and delicious fruit. Beyond that, however, supporting US farmers - and especially local farmers - is an idea whose time has come.

Your support of local agriculture provides you with a greater degree of food security, not to mention a bounteous share of nutritious food to enjoy now and to preserve for winter.

The Basics
When you support community agriculture by purchasing your fruit and vegetables at farmer’s markets, you are helping to keep jobs in your city or town. It’s “green” to purchase locally grown produce because the food travels a few miles instead of thousands of miles to reach your dinner plate. Perhaps best of all, locally grown produce does not come from a factory farm.

Cost Savings
Besides saving fuel and jobs in your community, buying locally grown produce (or locally raised meat) can save money by encouraging you to prepare meals according to the season. When tomatoes are plentiful, for instance, it is the ideal time to buy in bulk and make juices, sauces, and relishes for off-season enjoyment. No one knows where food prices will be next winter but we can guess the direction will be up not down.

Though it takes an investment in money and time, home gardening is an ideal way to cut your grocery budget down to size. But another great way to eat more healthfully - and get your recommended nine daily servings of vegetables and fruits - is by joining a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program. You will also be introduced to wonderful veggies you might never have tried before. Consider it part of your food appreciation education. And who doesn’t love food?

How to Make WINE

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 10:27:04 -0400

Hardly a day goes by that you don’t read something about wine’s health benefits. The word antioxidant has become part of our everyday lexicon and when many people think of antioxidants, they think of resveratrol, a component of red wine that’s said to protect the cardiovascular system.

The Basics
Whether you enjoy red or white wine, it’s easy to make wine from a wine kit or from fruit you gather or purchase at a farmers’ market or grocery store. You just need to be able to follow instructions and have some patience. Wine making takes 28 or more days from beginning to imbibing.

We’ve made wine using grapes from our yard and from blueberries purchased at the supermarket. But for almost foolproof consistency, we highly recommend that you make your wine from a wine kit offered by a company such as E.C. Kraus. We’ve been buying our kits from E.C. Kraus for more than 10 years and have yet to be disappointed.

Cost Savings
There is really no comparison emotionally to opening a bottle of your own wine versus popping open a bottle of store-bought wine. Beyond that, you do save money whether you are making wine for your own family or for gift giving.

A bottle of wine you make from a kit might cost you $3 but is often comparable to commercial wines in the $7 to $10 price range. Homemade wine from your own fruit can cost less than $1 per bottle.

How to Add FIBER to Your Diet

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:05:49 -0500

Fiber. The very word makes our digestive system smile. While there are many over-the-counter fiber supplements, we prefer to get our daily portion of dietary fiber from the food we eat.

The Basics
It’s easier than you think to bulk up your gastrointestinal (GI) tract with both soluble and insoluble fiber. According to the Mayo Clinic, there are enormous health benefits.

Soluble fiber absorbs lots of water, creating gelatinous bulk in the digestive system. It provides satiety, that wonderful feeling of satisfaction, because it makes you feel full longer. Think: pears, oatmeal, beans.

Soluble fiber sources or prebiotics are largely indigestible to us but are important to the health of the good bacteria (probiotics) inhabiting in our intestines. We get these good bacteria from foods like yogurt and kefir.

Insoluble fiber or roughage is also indigestible; it keeps things moving through our system. It tends to be dry and papery due to its high cellulose content. Think: apple skins and the outer coverings (husks or hulls) of grains, seeds, and nuts.

Wheat bran, the outer covering of the wheat grain, is one source of insoluble fiber that is widely available and inexpensive. The last bag we bought cost less than $3. A little bran goes a long, long way - figuratively and literally.

How to Cook STEEL CUT OATS in a Crock Pot

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:09:02 -0500

We love our crock pot because, like you, we’re busy. We multitask. Wouldn’t you rather noodle on the computer than hover over the stove stirring stuff?

If you read our recent article, you know that we frequently make rice in a slow cooker. But one of our favorite uses for this indispensable appliance is cooking steel cut oats.

The Basics
Although there are many types of oatmeal available - and we do use quick- or rolled oats occasionally - we prefer the less processed form: steel cut oats, sometimes called oat groats. This whole grain food provides lots of soluble fiber or prebiotics.

Prebiotics help to keep your immune system humming. Learn more about dietary fiber in “How to Add FIBER to Your Diet.”

Getting Started
Nothing could be easier than making steel cut oatmeal in a crock pot. All you need is water and steel cut oats. You can purchase oat groats in bulk very inexpensively at a local health food store or online. You can also buy name-brand steel cut oats in the grocery store.

Cost Savings
Steel cut oatmeal costs as little as 15¢ per serving. Even after embellishing your oatmeal with ground flaxseed, a handful of nuts, some yogurt, fruit, or sweetener, your breakfast probably costs less than a single envelope of that way-too-sweet oatmeal you buy in a cardboard box.

How to Make SOUP

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:21:21 -0500

Repeat after me: “Soup does not have to come in a can.” Yes, canned soups are convenient. Just heat and serve, as the saying goes. For that convenience, however, you might be paying a price - not just in terms of dollars but in terms of additives such as sodium. While sodium is a life-giving mineral, an excess can lead to health problems.

The Basics
Making soup at home is so unbelievably easy that some readers might scoff at our writing an article about the process. But for those of us raised on canned soups, finding out how easy it is to make soup is a money-saving revelation.

Getting Started
We like making soup for several reasons. We control what goes into the soup. We can add salt (or not). Perhaps, best of all, we can use whatever we have on hand, including seasonal vegetables or meat left over from another meal. You can even toss in some of home-grown sprouts.

All you really need to make soup is a large, covered pan. We use the chef’s pan in the top photo. A similar pan (Invitations® 11” Nonstick Covered Chef Pan) was featured in a recent Bed Bath & Beyond ad for only $9.99. To sweeten the deal, the ad came with a $5 off coupon (on a purchase of $15 or more). Ordinarily we prefer stainless steel cookware but we haven’t found an alternative to this pan that we like better.

Cost Savings
A 16-ounce can of soup in the grocery store will cost you a couple dollars or more. Take-out soup from the prepared foods section can set you back $5 per bowl.

More than likely, your home-prepared soup will feature different ingredients each time you make it. Considering how inexpensive the ingredients are (and how much food you will no longer waste), we would venture to guess that the average bowl of homemade vegetable soup costs no more than 25¢.

How to Make YOGURT

Sun, 7 Mar 2010 12:38:46 -0500

Is yogurt good for you? Just consider all the ads you see on television touting the benefits of probiotics or “good bacteria” for digestive health.

What’s more, a recent study from the University of Toronto claims that probiotics might also help to soothe anxiety. Turns out there is a partnership between your brain and gut called the “enteric nervous system.”

The Basics
Like kefir, yogurt’s fermented-milk cousin, yogurt is produced by beneficial microorganisms which turn milk sugar into lactic acid. The acidity gives yogurt its familiar taste and causes milk proteins to coagulate, forming the creamy mouthfeel we associate with yogurt. Unlike kefir, though, yogurt fermentation takes place at a temperature somewhat higher than room temperature.

Getting Started
Culturing yogurt means being able to maintain a temperature of about 100 degrees Fahrenheit for 8 hours or more. To maintain the proper temperature, you could use a Yogotherm; it’s a plastic pail that fits snugly into an insulating styrofoam jacket. See Photo 1. This method produces a one-quart batch of yogurt.

For several years now we have, instead, used a Euro Cuisine yogurt maker; this appliance uses a tiny amount of electricity to maintain the proper temperature for yogurt cultivation.

The Euro Cuisine yogurt maker comes with 7 jars and lids so we have automatic portion control. After incubating, we simply screw the lid on each jar and refrigerate our grab-and-go yogurt.

Cost Savings
Store bought yogurt is often featured on sale. But even compared to sale prices, homemade yogurt saves you money. We estimate that each cup of yogurt we make at home costs us less than 20¢.

How to Use a WINE THIEF

Sat, 6 Mar 2010 09:00:05 -0500

If you already make wine at home, you might not realize that the process of sampling your wine is a lot less messy with a wine thief. [Ed: We are working on an article “How to Make WINE” for an upcoming Kitchen Chemist.]

The Basics
A wine thief is a tube with a larger opening at the top end which narrows down to a smaller dropper-like opening at the bottom. Science students will notice right away that a wine thief looks like a laboratory pipette. To the rest of us, a wine thief looks like a miniature turkey baster without a bulb.

Getting Started
With a wine thief you can draw up a small sample (up to 4 oz.) of your fermenting wine to taste-test its progress. The wine thief helps you to sample the wine without disturbing any sediment at the bottom of the fermentation vessel.

You can purchase a wine thief at any home brew store locally or online. Our favorite source of wine kits, ingredients, and supplies is E.C. Kraus. At press time, a wine thief cost less than $12. E.C. Kraus also sells beer-making kits and supplies.

Cost Savings
Making your own wine is more rewarding than mere economics. It’s a fun and satisfying hobby. A bottle of home-made wine costs as little as $1 if you use fruit from your own yard or orchard. A typical bottle of wine made from store-bought fruit, commercially available juices, or wine kits costs $3 to $5.
[Ed: Read more about wine making here.]

How to Grow SPROUTS

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 10:59:54 -0500

You learned how to wash salad greens in our previous article. What better way to top those salads than with vegetable sprouts that you grow yourself?

The Basics
Growing sprouts is so easy that children can do it. Unlike growing vegetables in a garden, sprouting gives you nearly immediate results. In just a few days, you’ll watch as seeds germinate and grow into healthful greens to use on your salads or in stir fries and smoothies. Sprouts contain all the nutrition that Mother Nature packs into the seeds from which they develop.

Getting Started
All you need are some sprouting seeds and a sprouting container like those in the photos. We prefer tray sprouters because they make it easy to rinse sprouts under the kitchen faucet. Jar sprouters, by contrast, have a screen-like, sieve top for rinsing and draining but we find them cumbersome.

Cost Savings
Sprouts cost very little. The per-pound price of sprout seeds might seem high but bear in mind that, depending on the size of the seeds you select, you might use only a tablespoon or so per batch. A small amount of seed goes a long, long way.

Sprouting seeds are available at local health food stores as well as online. Compared to the sprouts you buy in the grocery store for $2 or more per package, a batch of home-grown sprouts will probably cost you less than 25-cents.

How to Wash SALAD GREENS

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 10:57:01 -0500

Salad greens - baby Romaine lettuce, arugula, baby spinach, frisée, and a host of others - are among the most healthful foods you can enjoy. Not only are salad greens “living” food, they offer vitamins and minerals as well as dietary fiber.

The Basics
During the past few years, there have been outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness (resulting in several deaths) from improperly washed spinach and other salad greens. Although you can’t oversee operations at the farm or food processing plant, you can minimize the impact of inadequately cleansed salad greens by properly washing them at home.

Getting Started
You don’t need anything fancy - just a clean dish basin, fresh cold water, and a salad spinner or drainer of some kind. We highly recommend salad spinners. They remove excess wash water by centrifugal force - or counterclockwise “spinning.” They are an investment that pays dividends in time savings and healthful eating.

Cost Savings
After spinning your salad greens, they will keep up to a week in the refrigerator. Consider how often you have thrown away spoiled or limp salad greens and the cost savings become apparent. Properly washed greens help keep you safe from food-borne illness and that is priceless.

How to Cook RICE in a Crock Pot

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 08:55:01 -0500

You already know that rice is a staple grain and a wonderful source of complex carbohydrates. What you might not know is that whole grain rice offers somewhat better nutrition than unenriched white rice. Perhaps best of all, it’s easy to cook rice “from scratch” in a crock pot.

The Basics
If you head down the processed food aisle, you will find all kinds of precooked or instant rice or rice creations that are laced with salt and other additives. Instead, consider purchasing unprocessed rice, making it in your slow cooker, and then adding your own herbs and spices for a home-cooked creation that’s both flavorful and nutritious.

Getting Started
Every grocery store sells rice but you need to know where to look to get the best value.

If your grocery store has a bulk food department, where you can portion out and buy only what you need, you can find plain ‘ol rice in many forms for between $1 and $2 per pound. Prices for organic rice will be in the $2 or higher range per pound. I personally consider that a bargain because I like food that is as close to nature as possible, grown in an environment that is free of herbicides, pesticides, or petroleum-based fertilizers.

If you have a health food store, natural foods store, or food cooperative in your town, you are in for a treat. These stores usually feature bulk food departments offering perhaps dozens of varieties of rice.

Cost Savings
Compared to a small box of processed rice at the equivalent of $3 o4 $4 per pound (check the Unit Pricing label for actual cost per pound), plain rice in a 2 lb., 5 lb. or larger bag in a typical grocery store’s “ethnic foods” department might cost as little as $1 per pound.

One pound of dry rice makes 28 one-quarter cup servings at less than 5-cents per serving.

How to Make KEFIR

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:33:18 -0500

Kefir (pronounced “ka-fear”) is sometimes compared to drinkable yogurt. But while yogurt is said to contain millions of good bacteria per serving, kefir boasts billions of probiotics in a single serving. Probiotics help to keep your immune system healthy.

The Basics
The probiotic organisms that make kefir ferment the lactose sugar in milk, creating lactic acid which is responsible for kefir’s pleasant but acidic flavor. I drink kefir straight. Its flavor would remind you of plain yogurt. As with plain yogurt, you can add sweetener before consuming kefir. [Ed: Click here to learn “How to make YOGURT” at home.]

Getting Started
You can purchase starter kefir organisms in freeze-dried form - like the Yogourmet brand pictured above. Once you create one batch of kefir, you can reserve a one-ounce portion to create your next batch. I’ve been using “seed” culture which originated from the first Yogourmet packet I opened a year ago. I put the remaining packets of Yogourmet in a plastic freezer bag to store in my chest freezer for future use. You could also start your kefir with store-bought kefir that boasts “live cultures.”

Cost Savings
Kefir costs as much as $5 per quart in grocery stores. You can make your own kefir for less than $1 per quart.