Guest Blogger Romey Ritter – Got Culture?
As in cultured dextrose? What is cultured dextrose? And what is it doing in my hummus?
Recently I was enjoying some hummus, but as I was reading the ingredient list (chick peas, tahini, water, olive oil, cultured dextrose, garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper….) I choked a little. Hang on a minute, what did I just read? I wondered what that noxious sounding ingredient was doing in my otherwise very healthy hummus.
Apart from the cultured dextrose, the other ingredients are simple and healthy. So why put a manufactured chemical into the hummus? As it turns out this chemical preservative extends product shelf life. Really, who needs hummus to last for six months?
When did we as consumers get so complacent about the additives in our food? Did it start in the 60’s with the advent of the TV dinner? Maybe it was the 70’s with the popularity of that square meal (actually referring to the square box the meal came in). Was it the 80’s with the boom in chemical additives, especially of the sweet artificial kind? Remember Tab? I am amazed at the sheer number of chemicals that have flown under the radar and made their way into our food.
There are chemicals to preserve freshness and prevent bacterial or other pathogenic growth. There are chemicals to manipulate smell, flavour and colour, and even manipulate texture. Believe it or not, there are chemicals to manipulate the ‘mouth feel’ of a product; its crispiness, creaminess, or fluffiness. There are chemicals to control melting, to stop dehydration, or even to make sure that every baked cookie looks identical.
Have you stopped to consider how these chemicals may be damaging to your health? The rubber stamp of “SAFE” placed on these products is often based upon studies conducted by the food manufacturers themselves. Yet no one really seems to be looking at the long term effect of these chemicals in our bodies or at least publishing that information to make it known to the consumer.
So what can we do? The simplest way to avoid additives is to eat fresh foods that are minimally, if at all, processed. Take time to make food from scratch. You gain so much satisfaction and great health benefits and it just tastes better.
I value my health and my time and money reflect this. I’ll stick with making my own hummus. With three growing kids and a hungry husband, it will be gone before any pathogenic bacteria can affect it!
2010
New Beginnings
New Hope
New Prayers
New Songs
New Birth
New Dreams
New Creativity
New Ideas
New Growth
New Faith
New Me
Yes – God is ever faithful!
GUest Blogger Romey Ritter – Tiny Cabbages
I’m standing in my kitchen over a big bag of tiny little cabbage like vegetables. Bright green, really firm, they can’t be all that bad. I’ll blanch them for a minute them roast them in the oven with some olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic. I’ll even crumble some gorgonzola cheese over them. But they were that bad. They were worse than I remembered.
When I was growing up, at least once a week and for years, my mum would make us eat overcooked, watery-mushy, brussel sprouts. I remember like it was yesterday, gagging on these little pale greenish white things. The bright green color all but cooked out. I would try and drown them in spoonfuls of tomato sauce just to choke them down.
Now as an adult, and a parent, I am an avid vegetable eater, continually looking for ways to get them into our meals. My kids do really well with many of them too. But not the day I tried to resurrect the brussel sprout. It had literally been twenty years since I had had one.
I ate about five of them trying to have the most convincing look of encouragement on my face as one by one my three kids and even my husband took a bite, then wasted no time in removing the little green things promptly from their mouths. I kept eating a couple more as if to say they’re really good, even trying to convince myself of their obvious health benefits.
I probably ate about ten, as I do have a daily vegetable quota to maintain. Needless to say, I tossed the left over’s. And to be honest they were not as bad as the ones I had growing up. As the cooking method really is a big key to your liking or really disliking something. But let’s just say it will probably be another twenty years before I purchase another bag of brussel sprouts.
Vegetables are a vital key to your health. Sadly for many people, I’m not talking about chips or fries. We probably can’t really classify those as vegetables after that method of food preparation.
What I am talking about is every other vegetable. A healthy diet consists of variety and vegetables provide us with just that. They come in every shape, color, size and texture. You can eat many of them raw, and in fact you should, or cooked; and they are incredibly versatile. One of my favorites right now is braised celery. That’s right cooked celery; it’s packed with flavor and loaded with nutrients. My all time favorite is avocado.
Generally the brighter colored vegetables contain a more vitamins and nutrients and it’s always good to mix up the colors, varying your eating patterns. Try something new, experiment. Even if you end up tossing some of them, you will find that there are a great many more vegetables that you will fall in love with. You will actually enjoy eating them.
For someone who typically doesn’t eat a lot of vegetables first try adding a salad to your daily meals. Then gradually build up to eating more vegetables with both lunch and dinner, where ever and whenever possible. Ideally, a person should be eating about eight or nine servings of vegetables and fruit a day, but more vegetables than fruit. One half cup is considered one serve.
A real key to loving your vegetables is using some things like fresh garlic, lemon juice, cracked pepper, a little sea salt, or try experimenting with fresh herbs. These are very good for your health also.
In many of our family meals, I am quite deliberate about making vegetables the star of the meal. And my family is reaping the health benefits. I really encourage you to try something new, start to experiment, it’s OK to fail, just keep trying with new vegetables and preparation methods. It’s a good habit. You will thank me for it!
