A SAD return.

I'm currently reading Simple Food for Busy Families. I'm about half way through it. It's a pretty common sense book for anyone who has spent any sort of time already researching whole foods and diet and nutrition. Yet, I still like it. It breaks things down in a very simple, easy to understand way. And even though I already know much of the information, it's really been a fabulous refresher course.

And a SAD awakening. Although I've seen it happening, although I'm the one who's most in control of our diet and food purchases and preparations - and even though I sort of pride myself on eating a mostly whole foods diet - the truth is, we haven't been.

Slowly but surely over the last several months, we have become a typical family eating a Standard American Diet.

As I was reading the list of Imbalances Caused by the SAD Lifestyle - I found myself check off almost all of them for myself, and many of them for my children and husband. Well, crap.

Now I of course have a million reasons why. Pregnancy induced laziness (haha), pregnancy food aversions, exhaustion from working long days - now coupled with my husband student teaching and working just as long days, the winter blahs, lack of fresh foods. This list of all very good and very valid excuses could go on and on.

And if someone like me, who does usually strive for a whole, local, fresh foods approach can slip this badly - is it any surprise that so many busy American families end up reaching for a frozen or fast food meal for so much of their nourishment? The truth is that it's quick, easy, and as much as I hate to admit it - tastes darn good!

That list of excuses is not good enough. The reasons that I, along with so many other families, reach for processed foods is not good enough.

We deserve better. Our children deserve better. Now, more than before I need to be eating better as I am the sole source of nourishment for this fetus. I don't imagine babies thrive on a steady diet of soda and sour patch kids (my currant addictions).

So why in the world am I craving these foods when they have no nutritional value? When I haven't indulged in these foods in years? I don't know. I have no idea what my body could be needing that's leading me to crave french fries. Sodium? What I do know, is the more I indulge in these foods - the more I want them. And that's the tricky part of a SAD lifestyle. Breaking the cycle.

Making that especially difficult right now, is the fact that it's February in New York. Which means even at our local farmers market - the offerings are slim. Stored potatoes and apples pretty much sums up what is available in way of fruits and veggies. I have a few packages of frozen corn, peppers and zucchini left from last summer and quite a few berries hidden in the freezer.

My mind is already on April and asparagus. But, the rest of me is still here in the middle of winter. Realizing a few weeks ago that we were on a roller-coaster of bad diet choices - I bought some lettuce at the big grocery from who knows where. No one ate it. Who wants a salad in February? I know we should be having salad but there's a reason our bodies want heavier foods - soups, stews, casseroles.

I guess the answer here is to try and eat as naturally and seasonally as possible, even in the dead of winter. Use what is stored. Oats, grains, canned sauces and frozen fruits. I can still get fresh dairy and meat at the market.

There's no reason to turn to frozen store bought pizza and Doritos just because it's hard to get excited about food in the middle of winter.

By now everyone (at least in my family) is sick of heavy foods. Even though our big grocery offers anything you could want  ("fresh strawberries"?!) it doesn't mean that we should be eating them. And they're never as good as June strawberries - or even the ones pulled from the back of the deep freeze and added to some yogurt.

I guess the trick here is to keep plugging along. Stop making excuses to eat out. Stop coming up with the cash to let the kids buy lunch. Start listening to your body. Even if you're stuck in a sort of limbo between craving fresh vegetables and turning your nose up at bland grocery vegetables, realize this is the end - Spring is coming. So keep on moving on. Find new soups to make. Bake a fresh loaf of bread.

There are still so many nourishing foods we can eat, even in a cold New York winter. Stop fretting about your kids vegetable intake. Sometimes eating seasonally and locally means that your body doesn't get everything all the time. Do the best you can and trust that in a few short months you'll be stuffed to the brim with fresh, vibrant, full of life vegetables in fruits.

And stop buying sour patch kids!

Seasonal Eating: Sour Cherries

For a very long time, as far back as I can remember, I thought I didn't like cherries. My aunt and uncle lived and worked on an orchard. And every year they would send us home with bags and bags full of cherries. My mom loved them. Not me.

Last year, in my quest to eat locally and in season - I gave cherries another try. Sweet cherries are in season first, and well, sweet cherries just sound good don't they? I really wanted to like them. They're so pretty and the idea of them is so lovely. But I always felt they were just bleh. Then, you may remember, late last season I discovered sour cherries. Oh my. Now those are good. I guess a lot of people don't like them for eating plain, I love them that way. The tartness is divine.

The closest place I found by me that has u-pick sour cherries was about 40 minutes away. My camera died, so you get no pictures. Boooo.  I wish the sweet and sour cherries overlapped, but sweet picking ended last week and sour started this week. I would have liked to supplement with some sweet cherries in the recipes. Also, there are not nearly as many sour cherry recipes as sweet.

I made another batch of Sour Cherry Vodka
 
I froze about 2 cookie sheet fulls of cherries and made some Cherry Raspberry Jam using Pomonas

I discovered Pomonas at the beginning of the season, and I love it. I've had nothing but excellent results with it and it allows me to use minimal sugar.



I also made some Sour Cherry Jam using the Pomona Pectin. There really is no recipe to follow. The basic idea is 4 cups of fruit, 2tsp calcium water, 2tsp pectin powder and lemon or lime juice if needed. You can use white sugar, sugar substitute or honey. I've only done white sugar so far, between 1-2 cups depending on the fruit (and I get 4-6 jars per recipe) I'm reluctant to try honey after the overpowering honey flavor in the strawberry jam last year.

I wanted to can some cherry pie filling too, but all the recipes I found called for Clear Jel, which I didn't have and was too lazy to go get. Maybe I can do it with the frozen berries later.

Do you love cherries? Hate them? Sweet or sour? Share your recipes!

image source

Guess what I didn't have? Yeah, a cherry pitter. Pitted by hand baby.

quote for the week

        "Even when the war is over, we must never again be as wasteful as we have been, as the devastated countries will still be underfed. . .

 The abundance of our county is a great responsibility at the moment. No one with common sense and respect for the great art and science of 'cooperating with the earth' to make it yield it's crops in abundance, likes to see food wasted even in times of plenty. Now in a time of world hunger it becomes a crime."

                                                               ~Anne Pierce, Home Canning for Victory, 1942

We went strawberry picking this morning. For 23 dollars (and hours of slicing strawberries!) I ended up with:

4 - 8oz jars of low sugar strawberry jam
6- 8oz jars of low sugar strawberry, black raspberry, blueberry jam
1 quart jar and 1 pint jar of strawberry cordial
1 cup strawberry syrup
2 large baking sheets full of strawberries in the freezer
2 quarts of strawberries in the fridge for fresh snacking

I am exhausted. And it's hot today. I tried canning on the grill - no luck, took forever. So, we had ice cream for dinner. And my kids watched way too much t.v. And now the sink is full of my strawberry stuff. But, it's a pretty great feeling to have those jars cooling on the counter.

Seasonal Eating: Black Raspberries

I've found these growing all around the edge of our woods, and into the woods. I'm in love.

 I know, I know, I posted this picture yesterday too . . .

I've gotten about a pint each of the last two days, and I've found more tucked into the woods that I need to make a path to. I have no idea how long they produce, or how much they produce - I'd love to get enough for jam.

I had no idea what to do with what I had so far though.

First, I looked at this recipe: black raspberry muffins

Then, I found this recipe: raspberry hazelnut meringue

And while they both look absolutely delicious - they just weren't calling to me. So I checked a bunch of my cookbooks, which were very surprisingly sparse in the raspberry section - including my Cooking with Berries book. I was thinking about doing a raspberry vinegar, but many of the recipes called for more berries than I had - and I still wasn't sure if I wanted to use my precious berries that way either.

I finally settled on a raspberry shrub that I found in Pantry Gourmet. I kept coming back to that recipe, so I knew it must be The One.

A shrub, as a I found out, is an old style vinegar based drink. Yes, vinegar! Seems part of the reason for the vinegar was to prevent the drink from spoiling in warmer weather.

Most times, a shrub is made with quite a bit of sugar. Luckily the recipe I found calls for honey, which ok - is still like sugar - but seems a wee bit better, especially since I'm trying to cut out white/refined sugars and foods.

"Raspberry Shrub mixed with water is a pure, delicious drink for summer; and in a country where raspberries are abundant, it is good economy to make it answer instead of Port and Catalonia wine." 

~   The American Frugal Housewife by Lydia Maria Child, 1832

Raspberry Shrub
from The Pantry Gourmet by Jane Doerfer

" Use the raspberry liquid as a base for an old-fashioned raspberry cream soda. Add equal parts raspberry syrup and cream to a glass, fill it with seltzer water and stir. Taste the shrub and adjust amounts, or add 2 Tbs syrup to a glass of  seltzer."

1 quart raspberries (I, of course, used the black raspberries and had slightly under a quart)
2 cups water
1 cup honey (I used 3/4 cup)
1/4 cup white vinegar

Place the raspberries and 1 cup water in an enameled or stainless pan. Crush berries. Bring mixture to a boil, lower heat, and gently boil 5-10 minutes until berries release juices. Cool slightly.

Place berries in colander and let juices drip through, strain through a sieve or coffee filters (I just put them into a cheesecloth lined colander to begin with)  to remove any seeds and pulp.

Boil honey and remaining water for 10-15 minutes until light syrup is formed.

Stir raspberry juice and honey syrup together and boil for 1 or 2 minutes. Add vinegar and boil for 1 minute. Pour into hot, sterilized jar and seal.

Shrub will keep for several weeks in the fridge or for about 9 months in the freezer.

Recipe says it yields 3 1/4 cups - I got two jelly jars out of it 


I haven't made a drink out of it yet, as I need more seltzer. I did taste the syrup and it wasn't overly tart. I also planned on using it as a mixer for vodka, but this version looks interesting too - and I think I may try that shrub recipe next time: cocktailiana- raspberry-shrub.

 

strawberry rhubarb crisp with rhubarb ice cream.

mmmm rhubarb.

This weekend I made the strawberry rhubarb crisp I mentioned the other day. So far I've tried it and Evan has tried it. Colin won't and Kevin kind of pretends it doesn't exist.

Evan likes it. It's ok. Nothing to write home about, but a quick, easy, tasty way to use some rhubarb.


Molly Katzan's Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

2 pounds fresh rhubarb cut into 1" chunks
3-4 cup sliced strawberries
1/3 - 1/2 cup white sugar  ( I used a mix of xylitol and sucant to equal 1/3 cup)
2-3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup flour  (I used 1 cup of almond flour)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Combine the rhubarb and strawberries in a 9" square pan. Sprinkle with white sugar. Mix together remaining ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Distribute over the top of the fruit and pat firmly into place.

Bake uncovered for 35 - 40 minutes or until the top is crisp and lightly browned and the fruit is bubbling around the edges.

Serve hot, warm or at room temperature, plain or a la mode.

I also got it in my head I wanted to make rhubarb ice cream. But I was feeling very lazy, and didn't want to do a custard base and also didn't want to push the rhubarb through a sieve. So as a result the ice cream is more like a frozen ygourt texture and there were some chunks of rhubarb. Also, I didn't use the full amount of rhubarb, and I threw in a couple strawberries for color. If I did it again, I'd try a custard base for a creamier texture and I'd make sure I used the whole amount of rhubarb for a fuller flavor.



Rhubarb Ice Cream

6 cups diced fresh rhubarb (I used about 3 cups)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups heavy cream (I used 3 cups of heavy cream and 1 cup 1/2 and 1/2, cause that's what I had on hand)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon red food coloring, or to get desired color (I did not use)
3 cups milk (I used whole, cream on top, milk)


In a 2 quart saucepan over medium-low heat, combine rhubarb, sugar, water, lemon juice, and salt. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, or until rhubarb is tender. Cool thoroughly.

Combine cooled rhubarb mixture with heavy cream, vanilla, and red food coloring. Pour into a 1 gallon freezer container. Add milk, filling 2.3 full. Freeze, following ice cream freezer directions.
Makes 1 gallon.

Seasonal Eating: Rhubarb

I have rhubarb I bought a week and a half ago at the market, still sitting in my fridge. I hate when I do that. I have the best intentions and then . . . nothing. It's incredibly wasteful, in so many aspects.

So, I was thinking each week or two, I'd highlight some seasonal recipes here - and maybe you could share some with me? I know, I know. I did so well with a recipe of the week. And of course I followed up with last years recipe for the strawberry rhubarb pie. What? I didn't? Oops.

Let's start fresh, okay?

Soon, I'll let you know about some changes I've been making in my diet. But for now I'll just let you know I've (mostly) cut out flour (but will be adding back in whole grains eventually), starches and sugar (with some occasional xyltiol and stevia and sucanat).

I'm not a fan of mock things. And I'll get into that later as well, but I'm ok with adjusting things to a point. Using different flours, very small amounts of "natural" sugars etc . . .

I'll probably still post delicious looking recipes containing sugar and flour, but won't be able to actually try them. I'll let you know what my family thinks. They have very interesting taste buds.

And please, please share some recipes with me, either with a link in the comments to your blog, or right in the comments. Maybe that will help keep me on track! ha!

Evan has already been asking for a strawberry rhubarb pie again, so hopefully(!) soon I'll re-post (um, first post) that recipe with some notes.

Here's what I plan on trying this week: Molly Katzens Strawbeey Rhubarb Crisp

I'll probably lower the sugar and use an oat or almond flour (probably oat . . .) I'll report back in a few days with the results.

Do you have any must have rhubarb recipes?