As we continue to embrace the growing organic foods in our markets and they become more and more available I have to wonder, how much better are they really? How can the FDA which brought us petroleum fertilizers made of the same stuff used in Nazi gas chambers be trusted to regulate and enforce the true meaning of organic? I might sound like a conspiracy theorist, but in reality, it's a trust thing. If you tell me you are going to take care of my lawn so I don't have to worry about it anymore and then dump salt on it killing everything on it, why the hell would I trust you to come and take care of my lawn again. Same goes for my body I guess.
So, I distrust food production in the US... what now?!! I have idealized pastoral notions of what it is to be a farmer and how great that would be but I am also smart enough to know that they are just that, idealized notions, not reality. I don't want to farm just to be able to eat dinner, but I don't want to buy meat and vegetables that have been tortured and disrespected, laced with petroleum and dissected only to be put back together into some odd, food like substance we call food. So, what the hell do I do?
Well ladies and gentlemen I am on a quest, to find sustainably grown produce, meats and grains and buy them from the source, aka, the FARM. I don't think I will ever be a hippy, I am not cool enough for that and I do believe some processing of certain foods is not bad for you in moderation (I like and respect tofu for instance). But I have spent my whole life eating crap because the FDA told me it was good for me and I am no healthier for it. So, I am starting the agonizing uphill battle to take food back into my own hands!!
Check bag regularly for I will be posting my findings, and maybe a few recipes.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Getting oil stains out of unfinished granite.
We bought a house and the granite came unfinished. We didn't realize just how bad an idea that was until we accidentally dropped a spoon with oil on it on to the granite and then left it without knowing. We tried many things, the old dish soap and flour and cornstarch and industrial cleaners. Finally my mom suggested acetone and we thought what the hell. Turns out the universal solvent actually is a universal solvent and removes the stain 100%!!! Here's how to get it to work.
What you'll need
Paper towel (enough to cover the stain doubled)
100% Acetone (not nail polished remover) you can get this at home depot
Plastic Kitchen Wrap
Take the paper towel and cover the stain, pour the acetone on the paper towel until it's soaked. Cover it with plastic wrap. Let it sit overnight. Voila, stain gone!!
What you'll need
Paper towel (enough to cover the stain doubled)
100% Acetone (not nail polished remover) you can get this at home depot
Plastic Kitchen Wrap
Take the paper towel and cover the stain, pour the acetone on the paper towel until it's soaked. Cover it with plastic wrap. Let it sit overnight. Voila, stain gone!!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Tonights Pesto Experiment
Dinnertime today was all about using odds and ends. Here's what I had to work with:
Chicken Breast that we had thawed a day or so ago and was about to go bad
Half a bunch of Italian FL Parsley and Half a Bunch of Cilantro that were at their last day
Just enough funky organic pasta that was getting too dry
Tomatoes that were getting a little too ripe
So I decided to try a pesto pasta with chicken! The chicken was butterflied and seasoned with a little salt, then seared in a dry pan; then cut into strips. Pasta Boiled in salted water.
The pesto was the more unusual part. I put the two half bunches of herbs along with the juice of a lemon, 2 garlic cloves and some olive oil into the magic bullet and whizzed it to make a pesto. Chopped up the tomato into a small dice and tossed everything around... The resulting Pesto was much better than the sum of it's parts. It was possibly the best balanced pesto I have ever tasted and actually tasted nothing like cilantro or parsley. It had a lovely herbaceous flavor that was totally new. Don't believe me, try it. Here is the recipe to recreate it
1 cup Cilantro
1 cup Italian Flat Leaf Parsley
2 small organic garlic cloves
Juice of one lemon
Enough olive oil to just bring together (about a 1/8-1/4 cup)
Salt to taste
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor (or magic bullet) and whiz to combine.
Hmm... I wonder what else I could make into a pesto...
Chicken Breast that we had thawed a day or so ago and was about to go bad
Half a bunch of Italian FL Parsley and Half a Bunch of Cilantro that were at their last day
Just enough funky organic pasta that was getting too dry
Tomatoes that were getting a little too ripe
So I decided to try a pesto pasta with chicken! The chicken was butterflied and seasoned with a little salt, then seared in a dry pan; then cut into strips. Pasta Boiled in salted water.
The pesto was the more unusual part. I put the two half bunches of herbs along with the juice of a lemon, 2 garlic cloves and some olive oil into the magic bullet and whizzed it to make a pesto. Chopped up the tomato into a small dice and tossed everything around... The resulting Pesto was much better than the sum of it's parts. It was possibly the best balanced pesto I have ever tasted and actually tasted nothing like cilantro or parsley. It had a lovely herbaceous flavor that was totally new. Don't believe me, try it. Here is the recipe to recreate it
1 cup Cilantro
1 cup Italian Flat Leaf Parsley
2 small organic garlic cloves
Juice of one lemon
Enough olive oil to just bring together (about a 1/8-1/4 cup)
Salt to taste
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor (or magic bullet) and whiz to combine.
Hmm... I wonder what else I could make into a pesto...
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