August 2011

Coconut Demystified

Coconut Demystified post image

Coconut is a very healthful food to incorporate into your diet. It is full of good saturated fat. Coconut oil is a medium chain triglyceride and is not stored, but rather used as energy right away. Lauric acid is present in the oil which is protective against bacteria and viruses. There are so many coconut products out there it is hard to figure out how to use them all. Fear not, this article will explain it all.

Fat Tuesday: August 30, 2011

It's that time of the week when real foodies come together for a food festival! Fat Tuesday is the official start of Mardi Gras and here at Real Food Forager we are having our own Fat Tuesday Forager Festival! Every Tuesday come join in this Real Food Free For All!

Recipe: String Bean Salad (SCD/GAPS)

What to do with all these string beans coming in! Make a string bean salad! String beans are easy to digest for most people and so they are appropriate for people on the SCD or GAPS diets. Just make sure they are well cooked. I usually simply steam them until they are a dull green or a knife goes through easily. They can still have a little firmness to them. String beans are full of nutrients.

Real Food in Aruba

Here in Aruba there is little locally grown food -- most everything has to be shipped in. However in the market, I was gratified to see so much traditional foods and lots of offal. Do you know what offal is? It is the parts of the animal that is not skeletal muscle, but rather the internal organs like the liver, kidneys, heart, as well as the extremities such as the tails, feet, and tongue. These parts of the animal are highly valued in traditional cooking all over the world as they are dense with nutrients.

NY Fresh Connect Farmers’ Markets

In a press release today, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the "New York Fresh Connect Farmers' Markets" (FreshConnect) program, which launches new farmers' markets and expands others around the state of New York. This is great news and real progress for farmers in New York.

Fat Tuesday: August 23, 2011

It's that time of the week when real foodies come together for a food festival! Fat Tuesday is the official start of Mardi Gras and here at Real Food Forager we are having our own Fat Tuesday Forager Festival! Every Tuesday come join in this Real Food Free For All!

Recipe: Arugula Salad

Still getting tons of tomatoes? I also get a lot of organic arugula and other saute greens like the various kinds of kale and bok choy that need cooking. Together, the greens and the fresh tomatoes make a delicious and nutritious side dish. Here's what I did with them.

7 Reasons To Avoid Soy Like The Plague post image

In my last post I discussed the controversy about soy and the conflicting information being fed to the public. I was duly roped in in the 1990's, but thankfully have become better informed due to the information and science presented by the Weston Price Foundation.

Fat Tuesday: August 16, 2011

It's that time of the week when real foodies come together for a food festival! Fat Tuesday is the official start of Mardi Gras and here at Real Food Forager we are having our own Fat Tuesday Forager Festival! Every Tuesday come join in this Real Food Free For All!

Recipe: Dehydrated Tomatoes

What to do with the windfall of tomatoes? This year I was able to dehydrate the extras in anticipation of the long winter without tomatoes. I never buy store tomatoes at all as they have no taste, are mealy and are not organic. This year I grew a lot of tomatoes, especially the mini plum tomatoes and I have too many to eat raw. I also make tomato sauce with some, but since I now have a dehydrator, I thought I would dry them.

The Great Soy Controversy

The Great Soy Controversy post image

It is almost "common knowledge" now in conventional circles that soy is healthy. After all, it is endorsed by the American Heart Association as healthy. The FDA allows health claims to be made for it on food packaging. "Diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol that include 25 grams of soy protein a day may reduce the risk of heart disease." They must know what they are talking about. Right?

Cargill, a giant United States meat processor, is recalling 36 million pounds of ground turkey produced at an Arkansas plant. The meat has been linked to a nationwide outbreak of salmonella food poisoning. This, in the face of a raid and three arrests at Rawesome, a natural foods buying club where no one has ever gotten ill.

Recipe: Blueberry Sunflower Cake

Blueberries are everywhere now! Here is a recipe for a grain-free, gluten-free, sugar-free treat that has an interesting consistency, balance and taste. Blueberries add flavor, texture and an abundance of antioxidants to any baked product.

Join the Movement: Fair Farm Bill

After writing my blog post Changing the Sad American Diet, I realized how complex and controversial a topic this was. Just go to the comments on my blog post to see what I mean. I may never understand or know all the complexities of this issue, but I do know one thing, we need to do something different than what has been done in the past. The Farm Bill is coming up for reauthorization in 2012 and WE HAVE TO ACT NOW.