Knowing What's In Your Food

I've been doing a lot of canning lately.  Last week I did a batch of ginger peach jam, this week I did a huge batch of salsa, and once the pears come in a couple of weeks from now, I'll be canning those, too.  I love to can.  I've talked about it before on my blog, and how empowered it makes me feel, how independent and self sufficient it can be. 

There's other reasons I love canning, though.  One is that it ties me to my roots; every time I can, I'm reminded of the great canning parties the ladies in my family would have, and the stories my mom would tell me of when her 11 brothers and sisters would help grandma put up food for the winter.  Another reason I love it is because it's pretty darn frugal.  My jams, even though they're almost all fruit with very little sweetener, cost roughly $1 for an 8 oz jar.  The salsa I made today cost around $1.35 for a 16 oz jar.  The pears I'll be canning?  They're completely free, because I'll be picking the pears from Chad's mom's yard as well as our elderly neighbor's yard.

But the reason I most love canning is because I know exactly what's going into my food.  I know my strawberry jam is made with organically grown berries from my own back yard, lemon juice, pectin, and some sweetener.  There's no funky ingredients with names so long and complicated that you can't pronounce them.  I know the pears I'll be canning are pesticide free.  That the peppers and onions I used in my salsa are locally grown.  And that there's love in every single jar.

Chad and I started out this low carb journey over a year ago, and it kind of surprises me when I think back to those times and how much we've changed since then.  We were still eating store bought condiments and salad dressing, eating vegetarian meats (like soy burgers and seitan), using soy flour to make low carb baked goods, using vegetable oils, eating canned soups, and using chemical laden seasoning packets.

It took us a while, but we gradually, little by little, converted our way of eating from a low-carb version of  the SAD diet to a more primal lifestyle.  And over that time, knowing exactly what's in my food has become more and more important.  That's probably why I have a personal goal this year to fill up a metal cabinet where I keep my canned goods.

This is without the salsa, which is cooling on the counter :)

As you can see, I still have a ways to go!  But with the salsa and pears, as well as some applesauce, taco sauce, and pickles I plan on making yet, I think I should be able to reach my goal.

If you're interested in canning salsa, the recipe I used was from this PDF (page 10, the recipe titled "Tomato/Tomato Paste Salsa II") from the University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension.  I chose that one because it looked easy, it made a goodly quantity (I got 11 pints), and coming from a university, I knew it was a tested recipe.  Also, I liked that in an earlier part of the PDF, it tells you that you can use any kind of pepper as long as you use the exact amount called for.  So I substituted bell peppers for the hot peppers, being totally anti-spicy foods.  It came out delicious, too, so I'll continue using this recipe!

Farm to Table II

Yesterday I wrote a post about getting our quarter cow, and said that the farmer we bought it from offered to have us on a pasture walk they had planned.  I jumped at the opportunity, because not only would I love to see how their cows lived, but I figured I'd learn a lot about farming that I can use down the road when Chad and I have our own farm.

The farm we bought the cow from is called Green Heron Growers, and they have a nice little farm here in Western New York close to where Chad and I live.  It was a pretty drive out to their farm.  It was kind of overcast that day, and it was sprinkling off and on, but we brought umbrellas so we wouldn't be too uncomfortable.

There were several people there already when we pulled up.  It was kind of funny, actually.  We were the only people there who didn't have their own farm, but everyone seemed so.... normal.  Not farmerish at all.  The folks that owned Green Heron Growers themselves looked like they used to be hippies, to be honest! 

Their farm is based very strongly on Joel Salatin's farm Polyface Farms, which is an intensive grazing system that promotes healthy animals, healthy land, and healthy people.  Instead of destroying the land, it improves it by adding topsoil and nutrients.  The animals eat the foods that they naturally eat in nature (GRASS!).  And because the animals are eating naturally and are happy, the meat they produce is healthier for people, too.

The farmers first showed us their baby broiler chicks that were soon to go out to the pasture.

 

Then we headed out to their pastures, and talked about what they're doing to improve the land.  

Even the dog likes eating the grass.

I was amazed when they told us that they actively seeded their fields with lots of legumes (clovers in this case) and lots of different kinds of grasses to provide the perfect balance for the cows to eat.  Not too much protein, not too much carbohydrate, and not grasses that were too tough to eat. 

If you looks close, there really are all kinds of different grasses and clovers in this field.  I'll never look at grass the same way again.

They took us to their chicken tractors next, but along the way, I got this shot.  The farm across the way is an organic Amish dairy farm.

The chicken tractors were really cool.  What these are are outdoor pens for their broiler chickens.  They move them twice a day, so the chickens get a fresh crop of grass and bugs, and so the field gets fresh chicken poop fertilizer all over.  The tractors also help protect the chickens from natural predators, like raccoons, skunks, and coyotes.

 While we were there, he moved it for us so we could see how excited the chickens got when they got a fresh supply of grass and bugs.

After that, we walked on down to where the cows were that day.  Along the way, I caught a couple of pictures of some Amish buggies driving by.  This isn't unique for us to see in our area.  I see Amish people all the time because there's such a large group of them around here.  But I thought it was a pretty picture.

And then, cows!

They have a herd of 37 cows, mostly mixed, but all have Red Devon in them somehow.  He said this was very important to him, because the Red Devon is an extremely docile cow, and he believes that the temperament of the cow in life has a lot to do with how it tastes later on. 

Every day, they move their herd to a new paddock, or small sectioned off pasture.  That way, the land has a chance to recover, and the cows get fresh new grass every day.  This ensures that the cows are eating the very best food every single day, just like they would do if they were in the wild.  

There was a cute little baby cow that had gotten loose from the rest of the herd, and he just kept mooing at us.  When the farmer tried to catch him, he ran around like a little kid!  It was pretty cute.

The farmers actually name each cow born on their farm, that's how much they care about them.  The little calf that got loose was Midnight. 

Then they invited us into the new paddock they were moving the cows to, so we could watch them enjoying the new grass. 

Oh my, they were so loud!  They chomped like mad!  They started out on the other side of the paddock to us, but they just kept getting close and closer and closer.

This one was just a few feet away before she realized she had to turn and go the other way!

The red devon is so docile that he managed to get quite friendly with some of the calves born on his farm.

I accidentally captured his Amish neighbor, so I put a yellow dot there to hide his face; they prefer not to be photographed.

It was a long tour.  We were out in the fields nearly 3 hours, but I learned a lot and it rekindled my passion about farming someday.  I don't think we'll have cows right away, or possibly ever, but we'll definitely be caring for some kind of animals.  Chickens at least, and possibly sheep or goats.  

On the way back to our car, I saw some free range laying chickens in their back yard.

It was really cool visiting the farm we bought our meat from.  It made me really appreciate our purchase, and cemented the idea of buying from them again.  

By the way, did you know hows have whiskers?

 

Farm to Table

Do you remember back in May when Chad and I bought a freezer and ordered a quarter cow on a whim?  Fun times!  Well, it's July now, and we finally got a call from the butcher last week about what kind of cuts we wanted from our cow. 

The conversation went very quickly!  I hardly knew what to say, and the lady I was talking to sounded like she was in a hurry.  All I really was able to manage to get through was that we wanted as much of it as possible to not be ground beef, that yes I wanted the tongue but no I didn't want the heart, and oh yes, could I have the suet? 

On Wednesday of last week, the farmer sent an email to the handful of people they sold some cows to, to let them know the beef was all butchered and frozen and ready to be picked up.  They also said that they were having a pasture walk on Saturday and we were all welcome to come.  That sounded so awesome!  I wanted to go and check out their farm before, but wasn't sure if I could actually face the cow that we'd soon be eating.  But since the cow was already butchered, I'd only really be facing our cow's friends and family. 

So Thursday, Chad went out to the butcher's on his lunch break and brought home this.

Totally 70s kitchen flooring. 

When he handed me the first box, the first thing I said was, "Holy cow!", which made me laugh and almost drop the box.  All together, we got 91 pounds of beef, so each box was about 40-50 pounds!

Now I'm a nerd, deep down.  I needed to know how much meat we got, what kind of cuts we got, how much we paid per pound, and if we actually saved any money going this route.  So before I carted the meat downstairs into our new freezer, I weighed and wrote down how much of each kind of meat we got.

If you're as much of a nerd as I am, you can check out my figures here.  If you're not that interested in numbers and figures, I'll just tell you here the basics. 

We paid the farmer $4.50 a pound for hanging weight of our 1/4 cow, and that included the butcher fee.  Since our quarter came out to be 135 pounds, that's $607.50.  After processing, we got about 91 pounds.  That means we paid $6.67 for the parts of the cow we actually brought home. 

Now, if I went to our local Wegmans and bought the same cuts of organic grass fed beef (although Wegmans doesn't carry organic in all the cuts we got), we would have spent $7.96 per pound.  So it actually was a good deal. We ended up filling our freezer quite well.

It wasn't just about how good of a deal we could get on meat, though.  It's about quality.  It's about knowing that the cows are very well taken care of, that they eat good natural foods, and that they're happy.  I don't know if you can actually taste a difference (some people say you can), but I liked just knowing that we got to make at least one cow happy. 

And he was pretty delicious, too.

 

Paired with my own homegrown veggies as a side, this was the perfect meal!

Tomorrow I'll show some awesome pictures we took on the farm that our cow came from! 

Whey Protein's Dirty Little Secret

I want to like whey protein.  What isn't to like about it?  It's a good source of quick protein to help you build muscles, it makes a great addition to smoothies, and there are lots of low carb recipes that use a lot of the stuff (like cookies and fudge).

Despite how much I want to like whey protein, I don't use it and never will.  For one thing, it's really expensive.  $15-$20?  Ouch.  If all I wanted was the protein, I could get equal amounts of protein from eggs for much less money.  If I want a delicious addition to smoothies, I use full fat yogurt or cream.  And when I want to make low carb cookies, I just use almond or coconut flour.

But what turned me off from whey protein the most was when I read this article from Consumer Reports.  They tested several of the most popular brands of protein powder, and every one of them had heavy metals.  Metals that your body can't get rid of very quickly, and that can be harmful when large quantities accumulate.  There's no need for there to be so much heavy metal in whey protein powder.  It just doesn't make sense.

Well, what about other kinds of protein powder, like rice, soy, pea, or other plants?  Mark Sisson posted a while back about how plant protein powders just don't work that well.  And who knows?  They might have large quantities of heavy metals too.

And now here's the biggest secret of all about whey protein.  Do you know what it's made from?  Well yes, it's made from whey.  Whey is a byproduct of cheesemaking; when the cheese curds have formed and you strain them away, the liquid that's left is the whey.  It's still got protein in it, though.

Cheesemaking is an old art.  People have been doing it for centuries.  Back before they had the sophisticated machines to extract the protein and turn it into powder, they had another method of extracting all the protein from whey.  They boiled it a second time, this time much hotter than when they were forming cheese curds, and then they let it cool.  Then they strained it.  You know what they got when all the liquid is strained away?

Ricotta cheese.

Yes, my friends, ricotta cheese, which literally translates to "recooked".  Now it's true that it's not 100% protein, but then neither is whey protein powder.  Ricotta is more of a balanced food;  1/2 cup of whole milk ricotta has 14g of protein, 16g of fat, and 4g of carbs.  1/2 cup of part skim ricotta has 14g of protein, 10g of fat, and 6g of carbs.  You don't want to touch fat free ricotta, though.  It has only a small amount of fat, but it's still only 14g of protein, and packs on 10g of carbs.

I love ricotta cheese.  It would make a yummy addition to smoothies.  It's packed with protein.  It's great in recipes.  If you add a little salt and some Italian herbs, it makes a really yummy filling for rolled up lunch meat.  And it's a real food.  Yeah, ok, it's been processed, but all cheese is, and at least it's minimally processed (heating and then straining).  You can even make your own ricotta cheese if you want.  It's fairly easy. 

But what about protein powder?  I tried to find out how it's made, but I can't find any info through google.  Who knows; maybe it's also minimally processed.  I suspect it's not, though.  And even if it was, that doesn't make up for the fact that it's pretty darn expensive and full of heavy metals.

Condiments

I love condiments.  Don't you?  They make the world seem a little happier, and your food seem a little brighter.  Creamy mayo, tangy ketchup, smokey barbeque sauce....  What would life be like without condiments?

Well, most of us who are low carb, paleo, primal, and generally whole foods know exactly what it's like.  The only store bought condiment in my refrigerator is mustard, and I was never really a mustard fan to begin with.  But everything else in the store is loaded with crap; vegetable or seed oils, HFCS, sugar, artificial flavors, preservatives you can't pronounce.  And don't get me started on salad dressing. 

Chad and I went without condiments (except mustard) for quite a while, and salads were out of the question.  Which is sad, because I love salad.  After a couple of months of this, I finally said to myself THAT'S IT!  I'm going to make my OWN condiments!  And I did!

Today I make my own mayonnaise.  I use this recipe for regular mayo, except I use Linda's method from Linda's Low Carb for mayo, which is to put the all the ingredients except the oil into a quart mason jar, stir, pour the oil in, and then blend with an immersion blender.  Works every time! 

And when I'm feeling frugal/decadent, I use a modified version of this recipe for BACONNAISE.  Yes, baconnaise, a delicious mayonnaise created with saved bacon fat.  It's a great way to save money since the bacon grease is practically free.  But I only make baconnaise once in a while, because it's quite bacony, and you don't want to overdo that. 

Fresh hot bacon grease.

Now ketchup can be tricky.  There's such a subtle balance of sweet, tang, and spices that need to be just right.  My attempts to make it in the past have been pretty ugly, but then I came across Linda's recipe for Better "Heinz" Ketchup.  This is a winner!  You don't have to use Splenda.  I have used stevia and also xylitol.  Personally, I like it with xylitol better.  I bet honey would work well, too, if you allow that in your diet.

I've tried a few times to make barbeque sauce, but that's eluded me so far.  My next attempt is going to be Linda's Favorite BBQ Sauce recipe.  It looks like it should be very good.  I just don't know what to do about the liquid smoke; I'm not sure I want to use it.  I DO have a ton of applewood smoked sea salt I could use instead of regular salt, though, and maybe get some smoked paprika. 

What about salad dressings?  Those I make, too.  Mostly they're vinaigrettes, using whatever kind of spices or seasonings sound good when I'm making it.  We sometimes buy the Good Seasons Italian dressing mix in the store.  Even though it does have sugar in the ingredients, most of the rest of the ingredients are surprisingly not terrible.  But lately, I've been having fun making creamy dressing.  I've tried this recipe for ranch dressing, using my own olive oil mayo, and the other day, I just whipped together a Thousand Island dressing from the top of my head.  I knew it was basically mayo, ketchup, and relish.  Since I already had homemade mayo, and homemade ketchup, and I even had homemade pickles made from my own home grown beans, I thought what the heck!  And it came out so delicious!

I even used home grown lettuce for the salad.

I try not to think of my way of eating as restricting.  It's not, really.  I CHOOSE not to eat the yucky seed oils, or the HFCS, or the sugar, or nasty preservatives and colors and flavors that are in store bought condiments.  And because that's a choice I make, I get to go experiment in the kitchen.  How cool is that?