Sea Kelp Noodles: What They Are And How To Use Them
Let’s take a look at sea kelp noodles, a great source of the all-important sea vegetables that most of us don’t eat enough of (me included). I discovered these about two years ago and quickly bought a case.
What Are Kelp Noodles?
Kelp noodles are…noodles made from kelp. Okay, that was an easy one. But that’s really about all of the description that’s needed. They contain only three ingredients: water, kelp, and sodium alginate. Before you freak, sodium alginate is a salt derived from brown seaweed that, they claim, helps chelate heavy metals from the body.
They have a neutral taste and are pretty light with a slight crunch. Some people think they’re a bit rubbery, which I can see, but they might have an “off” package. Mine are typically slightly crunchy, kind of like properly cooked spaghetti squash, whether I eat them raw or cooked.
You can use them either straight from the package as long noodles or chop them up into more edible sizes. I almost always chop mine up into about 1″ long pieces just by slicing across the mass that comes out of the package. They also work both raw and cooked.
Why Are They White?
Yeah, I know, kelp isn’t white. Kelp is a dark brown color. According to Sea Tangle, the only company I’ve found that makes them for mass market …
Friday Links: Tainted Honey, Pizza As Vegetable, and The Flu
Hello! I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving holiday (for those of you that celebrate Thanksgiving). My girlfriend and I spent another Thanksgiving away from home in Kentucky. Last year, I was living in San Diego and she came out for us and some friends to have a big meal and a lot of wine. This year, we’re helping on a farm down in Macon, GA. I smoked a turkey, made a great CranApple-Sage Stuffing, and played with the horses.
Here are some great posts and news articles from around the web to check out while you’re recovering from yesterday.
Hey There, Honey
Real Food Forager – What’s In Your Honey?
For instance, traces of GM pollen have been found in honey.
….
Dishonest honey distributors buy the cheap stuff from China where it may be contaminated with antibiotics and heavy metals or it may not even be honey at all — it may be high fructose corn syrup or other artificial sweeteners.
This is one part of the honey news from the past week or two. And now for part two.
Speaking of Honey, Buy From Sources You Trust
Time – Tainted Chinese Honey May Be on U.S. Store Shelves
I could quote a ton of this article, so your best bet is to just go read it, but I’ll show you some highlights:
Chinese honeymakers are laundering their products through other Asian nations, including India, Vietnam and Malaysia, in order to smuggle …
ADHD, Diet, & Food Additives
I came across this article awhile back and forgot all about it until I came across it in some saved links. It’s pretty interesting to me, especially considering the number of kids now on psychostimulants like Ritalin and Adderall.
9 Food Additives That May Affect ADHD
I’ll go ahead and warn you that some of my commentary on this subject is likely to tick more than a few people off, but oh well.
Some ADHD Stats
9.5% of kids 5-17 have been diagnosed ADHD
ADHD diagnosis increased an average of 3% per year from 1997 to 2006 and an average of 5.5% per year from 2003 to 2007
The percentage of children with a parent-reported ADHD diagnosis increased by 22% between 2003 and 2007
Boys (13.2%) were more likely than girls (5.6%) to have ever been diagnosed with ADHD
So let’s see…what’s this tell us? One in ten kids has trouble paying attention; every year there are more of these kids; the parents think it’s getting worse; and apparently boys are worse than girls.
Interestingly, if you look at the map on the CDC’s page (Source link above), living west of Mimal The Chef (a mnemonic I learned in school: Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana…I must have paid attention) means you’re less likely to have ADHD and it’s worst in the Southeast.
What Causes ADHD?
Of course, the standard claim, as with nearly everything these days, is that …
Three Turkey Tips: How To Pick, How To Cook, & A Great Thanksgiving Recipe
With Thanksgiving coming up, I figured now is a good time to give you a few turkey tips. First up, let’s talk about how to pick a turkey, then I have a tip on how to cook your turkey so that it turns out moist and juicy every time. Finally, I have a recipe that I made last year for Thanksgiving (using a goose instead of a turkey) that is lip-smacking good.
How To Pick Your Turkey
Pastured Vs. Conventional Turkeys
As you all know, I’m a big fan of high-quality grass-fed beef instead of the mass-market, grain-fed stuff you find in most stores. Similarly, I am a big fan of pastured poultry. And since Thanksgiving dinner typically includes a turkey, I hope you’re using a pastured-raised turkey.
I’ll just cut to the chase and give you 4 reasons why you should pick a pastured turkey instead of that tasteless, dry, grain-fed turkey you’re used to eating at Thanksgiving. If you’re one of those that thinks turkey is boring, look no further than that Butterball on your plate. Pastured turkeys:
Taste better – Turkeys are natural foragers, like chickens. On an unnatural, grain-fed diet like all those turkeys you find in Kroger, Von’s, Albertson’s, etc, turkeys are bland. Allowed to move around and forage, turkeys develop a richer flavor.
Are better for you – Pastured turkeys have higher levels of Conjugated Linoleic Acid (a …
Friday Links: A New Local Food Resource & What Fish Are You Really Eating?
That’s Not Red Snapper
Delish – Consumer Reports Finds 22% of Fish Purchased is Mislabeled
Consumer Reports other findings as per the article:
“Only four of the 14 types of fish we bought — Chilean sea bass, coho salmon, and bluefin and ahi tuna — were always identified correctly. Eighteen percent of our samples didn’t match the names on placards, labels, or menus.”
Fish were incorrectly passed off as catfish, grey sole, grouper, halibut, king salmon, lemon sole, red snapper, sockeye salmon, and yellowfin tuna. Four percent were incompletely labeled or misidentified by employees.
All 10 of the “lemon soles” and 12 of the 22 “red snappers” we bought weren’t the claimed species. One sample, labeled as grouper, was actually tilefish, which averages three times as much mercury as grouper.
Why would they do that? Well, Red Snapper commands a higher price, as does King and Sockeye Salmon, typically. And since Red Snapper is a fish found predominantly in the Gulf of Mexico (and already overfished), you can bet that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill there in 2010 did plenty to further decimate stocks of real Red Snapper. Bottom line, find a fish source you trust to provide you with what they are actually charging you for.
Nevada Stops Dangerous Criminals
Farm To Consumer – Farm-to-Fork Dinner Fiasco
A little over a week ago, Quail Hollow Farm in southern Nevada hosted a farm-to-fork dinner, made with the freshest, realest ingredients possible. …
It’s Pumpkin Time – Three Recipes & A Special Celebrity Guest Chef
It’s fall and that means pumpkin! I love cooking with pumpkin and other winter squashes. So I have a special celebrity guest chef to bring you three easy, fresh pumpkin recipes. Enjoy!
Our Celebrity Guest Chef Is…
Five Ways To Use Greek Yogurt
Until the past year, I was never much of a yogurt fan. I had some texture issues with yogurt. Then I discovered Greek yogurt, which has quickly become a favorite of mine. And good news, along with tasting incredible, it’s a great souce of probiotics. Greek yogurt is characteristically sour like all yogurt, but due to a process of straining, it’s thicker, somewhere between yogurt and a soft cheese.
Here are four ways I’ve come up with to use Greek yogurt.
Tzatziki Sauce
I absolutely love Greek food. It’s typically very fresh and deliciously spiced. Part of Greek cooking is the sauce known as “tzatziki”. To make it, you just need some basic ingredients, most of which you probably have on hand already. Here’s a recipe to give you a start:
1 (32 ounce) container plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cucumber with peel, grated
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp lemon zest
3 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp black pepper
Just put the ingredients together and mix, then use it with some lamb or chicken for a simple dinner. Thin it a touch and you have a flavorful, fresh salad dressing.
As A Replacement For…
Mayonnaise
Sour Cream
Milk & Buttermilk
My girlfriend isn’t a fan of sour cream, so using Greek yogurt as a replacement is pretty appealing for us. I’d rather make my own more flavorful mayonnaise though.
Fruit & Yogurt
Okay, …
Friday Links: Who Is The Government Really Working For?
The Government-Industry Revolving Door Continues
Food Freedom – ‘No Food Rights’ Judge quits to work for Monsanto law firm
Recently, Wisconsin Judge Patrick Fiedler ruled that citizens:
“Do not have a fundamental right to own and use a dairy cow or a dairy herd;”
“Do not have a fundamental right to consume the milk from their own cow;”
“Do not have a fundamental right to board their cow at the farm of a farmer;”
“Do not have a fundamental right to produce and consume the foods of their choice;” and
Cannot enter into private contracts “outside the scope of the State’s police power.”
Basically, the government holds the power to tell you what you can and can’t eat. Well, that ought to pretty well solidfy whose side the government is on, but to make it even better, Mr. Fiedler quit his job as a judge to go work for the law firm that defends Monsanto.
The government is regularly eroding our rights, the choice of what food to eat being what I’d consider one of the most fundamental of “inalienable rights”. And, if you have been watching, you’ve seen the USDA get stacked with biotech-friendly former industry insiders, which is only further working hard to stack the food system against small farmers and consumers.
You Are Free To Buy Any Food…As Long As We Say So
Mises.org – The Freedom to Buy and Sell Raw Milk
This is another interesting article …
Friday Links: Organic Is Better & The Price Of Food
Once Again, Organic Proves Superior
The Star Phoenix – Study debunks myths on organic farms
The results are in from a 30-year side-by-side trial of conventional and organic farming methods at Pennsylvania’s Rodale Institute.
In fact, studies like the Rodale trials show that after a three-year transition period, organic yields equalled conventional yields. What is more, the study showed organic crops were more resilient. Organic corn yields were 31 per cent higher than conventional in years of drought.
These drought yields are remarkable when compared to genetically modified (GM) “drought tolerant” varieties, which showed increases of only 6.7 per cent to 13.3 per cent over conventional (non-drought resistant) varieties.
There’s some interesting facts about the differences in energy consumption and soil run-off in the article too. I suppose that pretty soundly defeats the thinking that we have to endure toxic chemicals because organic can’t feed the world.
Think It Costs More To Eat Healthy?
NY Times – Is Junk Food Really Cheaper? – Graphic showing three different meals
THE “fact” that junk food is cheaper than real food has become a reflexive part of how we explain why so many Americans are overweight, particularly those with lower incomes.
…
In general, despite extensive government subsidies, hyperprocessed food remains more expensive than food cooked at home.
This is a recent article by Mark Bittman showing that you can actually eat healthy food at home much cheaper than fast food. But I think it …
Friday Links: Your Tax Dollars At Work & Weird Beer
Does Government Ag Policy Affect The National Waistline?
Food Renegade – Agricultural Subsidies Linked To Obesity
Everyone who comments on the obesity epidemic points fingers at various culprits. We don’t exercise like we used to. We eat more calories than we used to. We eat more fat than we used to. We eat more refined carbohydrates than we used to. It’s the wheat! It’s the gluten! It’s the polyunsaturated fats found in vegetable oils! It’s the lack of play! The extra TV time!
But, would you believe that for the first time ever, a report has actually pointed the blame at agricultural subsidies?
GMO Salmon Is Still Swimming
Grist – Feds help GMO salmon swim upstream
AquaBounty Technology’s genetically modified salmon just got a hefty financial boost from the USDA: On Monday, the agency awarded the Massachusetts-based company $494,000 to study technologies that would render the genetically tweaked fish sterile.
My favorite part is that the company trashes people that oppose the GMO salmon as “anti-technology”. Uhh, perhaps we just want to see some proof that you’re not going to destroy natural fish stocks like other GMO crops are doing to the environment. Maybe we think salmon is just fine as it is.
Maybe it’s because GMO companies have routinely opposed labeling of GMOs on packaging so that consumers can make their own decisions about what they eat. It doesn’t really matter that a majority …
