Kitchen experiments

fact: there is no watersource in the u.s. that is not polluted with either prescription drugs or herbicides or industrial waste or all three.

fact: the air we breathe is polluted by so many substances, no one i know of has seen fit to compare 'today's air' to air from x years ago when they could first measure. to bring up an email subject, lung diseases are way higher percentage wise than they were years ago, but smoking is declining....so...therefore...what?

fact: if the air and water are polluted (and they are), then how does anyone really think that any 'food product' can be 'completely clean'? myth...urbane myth.....i filter my water, and i 'm growing my own tomatoes (and i hope, my own eggs), but i'm not going to bullshit you and say 'well, these'll be completely clean'-are they 'organic', well, hell yes! but are they 'pure'? bet not....bet nobody's is....i do'nt own a good lab, so i can't prove this...but the fields in this country are about as safe as we get food from...if someone's really interested, maybe they could talk to soil conservation service or their county agent, but there's the chance that it'll be a dummy parroting the 'everything's safe' line. just like no scientist will admit taht a mosquito can transmit aids...lol! sure...they never, ever pick up a virus and transmit it, do they? lol! holey moley....suspension of disbelief at the movies has nothing on this society....
reb

Is that why I glow Reb?
I was popular at the raves.

lol Reb, while I agree with all that, it's not a recipe

Now, this has been said many times, especially by people who use it as excuse to keep on with frozen dinners & such...
& I do know you better than that... So I'll take it you just want to share with people... (& vent some frustration - hey, maybe we could have another topic for this?)

Maybe it would be good if we add that if you eat enough nutrients that 'flush out' the baddies (vitamins, minerals...) you still have increased benefits of health-ier food, than if in addition to polluted air & water all you eat is frozen dinners, no?

BTW I do admire you for growing your own tomatoes (& eggs!) & not resorting to bought stuff like Merlin - even if you're a 'dude'!

I wish I could have free-range hens & organic eggs too!!
We do have tomatoes but they're not doing very well this year.. (too much rain, roof set up too late!)

recipe-wise: hm. Haven't been experimenting much lately...

Okay, this is good: zuchinni/fresh pumpkin, sliced & coated in chickpeas flour & fried (yes I know frying is sorta bad too, but it's only very occasional here!)
Made it today & it was yummy! better than 'coated with eggs & fried' - at least for me!! /I've been still mainly staying away from gluten.. so the 'Vienna-steak' variant with wheat flour, eggs & breadcrumbs had to be re-negotiated)
Ate it with (cooked) rice & a lettuce salad.

A more 'everyday' variant is just onions & zuchinni sauteed on oil a bit... some basil & oregano added.. also a nice side-dish to rice or such.. (you can add sauteed tuna or such, & some homemade tomato/pepper/onion sauce (sounds a bit like your chilli - not sure how much they overlap:)) if you wish lol, though tuna is to be non-frequent too, for mercury content, a site said 1x a week max, better less if you're preggers. I know tuna may be healthier if raw (if it's bug-free), but I don't like the taste so I sautee it a bit, on onions preferably, with a laurel leaf & some basic & oregano - Yum!)

PS I think every student-dorm had a few tuna recipes!! lol I didn't even know about tuna before I came to the dorm! lol

PPS Merlin, even if you're single you can learn to cook a few simple meals 'from scratch' - &/or at least buy organic/'better' or healthier options... Plus, it might help you not be single anymore... Girls like guys who cook!! (I know, I dated a chef! & a few friends either married one or are still in LTR with one!)

Mel, I like your recipe!

We did something like this with millet! (so you might try that one too..)

Also, a non-baked variant of this is called paella, a famous spanish dish that usually has bits of chicken or such in it too, but we did the vegetarian version, which was similar to what you describe, but non-baked...
/Both were found in a health-food cookbook, so I can't claim originality.../

/& for chickpeas flour being used instead of breadcrumbs for frying, Coz told me about that one, so I can't claim 'real' originality either... But it was still inventiveness on my par, cause I usually almost never fry things lol/
Aubergines are very good if fried too... (either in breadcrumbs or chickpeas flour) Oh, & I do salt a little... I think that 'no salt' is not exactly healthy either... So if you mainly eat food 'from scratch' it's good to add some salt.. (if you eat a lot of processed stuff, you probably have too much anyway!)

What are aubergines? Chickpeas flour sounds good, but I haven't seen it in any of my local supermarkets, sigh. Millet is also hard to come by, but I bet it would be good baked with vegetables and olive oil. Adding garlic is easy; I just use crushed garlic that comes in a jar; I found one with no additives and it's excellent.

Tomato peppers and onions: the basic ingredients of salsa here (spanish for sauce). There are countless variations of it too.

The nice thing about baking is that it is healthier than frying, and the vegetables get this wonderful sweet roasted flavor. The other is that it is simple, fast prep time and little cleanup.

I plan to pair this dish later this week with some baked fish and finish up the meal with a fresh fruit salad (fruit purchased at the local farmer's market as are the vegetables).

Well, remember it's always healthiest to eat fruit on its own! (Or at least 30 minutes or so BEFORE other stuff, as fruit gets digested real quickly & eg meat doesn't.)

Aubergine=eggplant lol

You could always grind your own chickpeas to make 'flour' That's what my cousin did. I think in his grains-mill... (Yes, he belongs to the 'weird' part of the family & is into yoga & healthy living too.. & an engineer.. )
Who cooked healthy meals for him when he was still single... /hint, hint, single guys! /
Or try health-food sections of stores/health food stores... (?)

Well, we grow & cut our own garlic, or 'squeeze' it in one of those thingies..
Millet is quite easy to find here, though organic is very pricey, so usually we just have non-organic... (Not best, but the prices are really verry different!)

Another thing you might try is baked potatoes with carrots & onions, sheer Yumminess!! Dad's specialty!! eggs & cream added on top, for 'crunchy yum-factor!' - & some spices like nutmeg. (was also found in afore-mentioned health food book, or its sister) to be served with eg lettuce salad. If you're interested I might dig up specifics..
Though 'the new potatoes' are yummy just by themselves!!

We have a downstairs kitchen so any baking goes on there, in da summer... It does seem a bit of a waste of energy to 'bake' eg potatoes in a big oven for one person only.. So if I cook for myself I prefer sauteed/wok-ified (without the wok!) things or such...

i put my store list on here for SB's edification; lost post again...we've entered 'the organic zone...beware, today reb thought he was posting, but, in actuality, aliens had eaten his buick....'
reb

Aubergine=eggplant...cute. Aubergine is the color of one variety of eggplant. There are soooo many varieties and ways to make it.

Potatoes, carrots and onions is a classic. Unfortunately, I've become lactose intolerent, so no cream, butter, cheese or sour cream or yogurt! I had to learn new ways of cooking to compensate.

I do cook for two. If you're cooking for one and want to use the oven, cook for several meals and then just breifly reheat subsequent nights. Most dishes can be frozen too. I usually use the oven for several dishes that go into one meal so it is more energy efficient than using it for just one potato!

Poor Reb; the only solution to that sorry excuse for a utility line you've got is to move. Or get aliens to replace it while eating that buick....

i think, if i vote for obama, he'll send the socialist welfare people to put in a new line, give me dsl, and i'll have as good a setup as the prisoners on death row have.... maybe he'll give me some of that organic tea he's drinking, too...and a mac!!!! whoa! a mac...i'm voting for obama..

(see that news bite about the kid who advertised his vote for sale? the maximum jail term is 5 years, and the fine is more'n i make in a year...)
reb

This was my one nonpolitical thread!!!! Boy is your mind meandering today, lol! And yes, I did see the news bite. Not surprising.

Doesn't taste good though.

you mean the news bite, or the organic tea o'bomber's drinking? lol! dint know he was irish, didja? you'd never guess i have viking blood, either, wouldja? lol again!

i'm not meandering, just wobbling like a drunken sailor...wish i could have abou tthree fingers of jack over the rocks, i do....lol! sleep like a baby, i would...the netzero email is not working; i'm gonna email ya from gmail(but i'll clearly show in the subject it's me)

speaking of cooking, SB, here's my grocery list...

3 ms. baird's split top wheat
sack of valencia oranges
half gallon mint chocolate chip ice cream store brand (dint work all those years to eat dull food, dang it)
half gallon organic, non-pastyoureyes milk
3 packs of hebrew national hot dogs
2 large blocks of store brand cheddar cheese
1 large can of country time lemonade mix (makes 9,000 quarts)
oatmeal
bananas
one luscious, ripe young female cashier with tender earlobes to nibble on....while i listen to mozart...lol!
reb

reb wrote:...one luscious, ripe young female cashier with tender earlobes to nibble on....while i listen to mozart...lol!
reb

Aha! Reb really does want to...

But Reb, you've never listened to Ry Cooder's cautionary song about young female cashiers from the state of Texas? It's more or less the last half of the song:

"...Well, we settled down, got me a little old job, '65 Fairlane Ford
Every Friday night I would stop in and cash my pay check down at the
grocery store
They had a little girl worked in there, must have been about seventeen
She was the cutest thing I had ever seen
It's the same old story and I'm afraid it wasn't too very long
Before we had fallen deeply in love and I knew it was wrong
I said baby, we got to stop this thing right here
Or my woman is gonna cut my throat from ear to ear, that's right
With tearful supplication, she looked up in my face
I could feel her heart was breaking as these sad words she did say
'You should have told me you was married, baby'
She pulled out a forty-five and let me have it, right smack between the
eyes
That's the way the girls are from Texas
That's the way the girls are from Texas
That's the way the girls are from Texas
She was guilty, I was dead
Now, what'd you think that the old judge said ?
"Ah, that's just the way the girls are down here in Texas
Case dismissed!"
That's the way the girls are from Texas
That's the way the girls are from Texas (Houston to San Antone)
That's the way the girls are from Texas (Got to love 'em right or leave
'em alone, boy)"

So instead of a highly dangerous young female cashier from Texas, Reb, why don't we hook you up with a nice, female ecdysiast instead? Due to her chosen career, I'm sure she would have a great calming influence on you!

Yeah, I know this is OT, but the rest of you guys didn't think I was going to pass this one up, did you? As others have said elsewhere, we now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.

WD, that is a long way to go to use a word that means 'furniture refinisher'. lol! the chemical smell would not go well with my decor....lol!

it's not true what they say about texas.....there are a few things that don't bite, sting or claw....lemme see..what were they??? lol!
reb

lol WD I had to Google ecydiast too - Couldn't you just write 'stripper'??!! OoO
/&, do they make them in Texas too? OoO/

Anyway, Reb, I think you're like my great-aunt, & can't give up the sweet things!! lol
/She loves to bake, but has had her share of sailors, ex-policemen, drunken alcoholics etc. in her 'better days' too!! Yup, she was quite a looker!! )
Did you at least get the sugar-free icecream? (i'm guessing not.. OoO)

/Well, on the other hand, who can resist chocolate-chip icecream? I'm not one to raise a hand... /

Item #1 - is that bread or something? http://mrsbairds.com/products/splitTopWheat.html
It sounded healthy until I saw the pic! (Did you check it for 'E's'? such or similar 'packed breads' are laden with fishy stuff & E's here... But maybe it's different overthere?)

& why HEBREW hot dogs??!!! /It just puzzles me!! /

/& is this a regular weekly buy, or EXPERIMENTING? As this is the EXPERIMENTING thread? /
***
Melodic, I've mostly given up dairy since New Year's... so I know how weird it is at first!! I may be intolerant too, though I'm not 100% sure - how do you know?
I needed some time to adapt, but later on I didn't miss it at all... Been re-introducing it a bit (because of the Calcium mainly) & it seems to be sorta okay-ish, though it's better to not overdo it..

I'd advise you to eat calcium supplements if you eat no dairy.. if you're not already... (I started them too... though I still don't eat them every day.. humongous pills, yuck.. So I prefer some sour milk or cheese... now & then..)

Reb, if you have raspberries or such, you can make your own icecream!! (with sour milk, yoghurt or cream, it's yummy!!)

SB, here I can buy lactose free milk, which I can tolerate. If I do injest lactic acid, I can look forward to a whole week of intestinal misery. The intolerence is obvious. I do drink a lot of the lactose free milk though and sometimes cook with it. I make sure I eat enough calcium in my diet to meet my nutritional needs. I also eat other high calcium foods as well.

OK, here's an easy homemade marinara sauce:

One 64 oz can tomato sauce,
2 cups chopped fresh or stewed tomatoes (unsalted),
large handful fresh basil leaves chopped,
1/2 to 1 llb mushrooms, washed and sliced
large Tablespoon crushed garlic
dried oregeno (optional)

Heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. Serve with pasta, or any other dish that used marinara sauce.

You can tell, I don't measure when I cook.

I've gota recipe, or two....but don't ask me about the the whole diet thing. I have a shocking amount of processed food in my cupboards. Eh, what can I say? Ideally I would eat only organic things, and make everything from scratch but there's only me to worry about. If I'm cooking for other people then I'm much more attentive to theses things.
Okay, my fav recipe
It's supposed to be pesto...but when I make it, it never is.
Um, about a cup and half of mushrooms (button usually, but what ever is seasonal)
Lots of wild parsely, the one that has big leaves, and I mean heaps.
Fresh garlic about four cloves, crushed but do this to taste.
Fresh parmesan is best, about half a cup. Cheddar cheese does at pinch though.
This is the base, and you can add other things to it. I like chicken, with it, personally.
I cook the mushies, slicing them before hand, with the garlic.
Chopp the parsley, mix every thing together, and mix through pasta (penne is best). It's quick easy and very tasty.

SB,
i LIKE my diet; i wasn't asking for 'approval' lol!...and, no, no 'sugar free ice cream'. i get a half gallon twice a month; i'm not going to eat 'health food crap' until the chinese reduce us to poverty due to oil prices....this stuff is rich and creamy, with a hint of mint, and semi-sweet chocolate chips....mmmmmmm...

hebrew national hot dogs are kosher. dig it. the israelites knew a thing or two about 'processed food' way before any of us were a genetic possibility....i been living on hot dogs on a sammich with cheddar cheese, mustard, sweet relish and lemonade; oatmeal with honey and cinnamon; red beans poured over a bowl of fritos; vegetable juice; grape juice; and diet meals in a can. sometimes some salmon or chicken or liver, and a can of green beans or spinach. yum.....

and, SB, for you, i think, as for me, EVERYTHING is an experiment, so we're not restricted to a thread.....why the hell did anyone ever think to call a topic a thread in the first place...does the whole forum make up a rope? and who hangs on it? lol! what a picture....my bridge partner sent that email of 'stick people' (rope made me think of them) doing various sex acts to an 85 year old woman...she played against us today...he brought that up, an di got to laughing, cause i remember it...and she turned red as a beat....lol! had a stroke, but she can still laugh...

and she doesn't eat the junk you eat, SB...i bet you live to 200, and have all kinds of aches and pains...you'll be so tired of life since you're so healthy, you'll be trying to walk in front of buses....lol!
reb

lol No need to fret... If I make it to 120 I'll be so happy I'll die... (probably)

My Dad's work buds used to joke he lives so healthy they're gonna have to come & kill him when he's 90 or so... (but I wondered if they'll still be around... hmm...)
/used to call him 'Dachau athlete' too, in his more experimental days, when he lost some weight.../
Anyway, guess Dad got the last laugh cause after a few years they started to respect him, cause he was healthy & could still work & do lots of things, & his fellow mates who were about in the same troubles health-wise as he was (rheumatism, back pain etc) were continuously on sick leave, or were on disabled pension!! (& another, who ate REALLY bad, & I mean way worse than ANYONE on this board - I think - is really ill & his wife just died recently, & they're both wayy younger than Dad...)

So, joke as you will, I like my icecream too, but it's for 'occasional' rather than everyday use...
/& Dad does transgress too, but only to be able to 'stick to it better' later on... when pains etc force him to, he he../
If you're pleased with your health, no frets.. If you see you could do better... Well, you know what to do...

& if you think the Chinese or big corps will let you buy HEALTHY food cheap, think again

Anyway, still fascinated with Hebrew hot dogs.. Nothing like that exists here... lol (Once a bus of Israelites came to a spa around here, a few years ago, & the kitchen staff were bamboozled lol - They did learn how to feed them in the end, but it was an educational experience for both, I think lol)
Their sites says 'premium chops of beef' so I guess 'nothing mysterious... (?) If I did eat beef I might be tempted to have a taste myself!! lol

Mel, interesting recipe.. Seems like a lotta tomato...
/I think if we were making it there would be probably less tomato, & more onions.. We usually sautee everything on onions around here... /
But we never really thought of combining mushrooms & tomato! Here's a thought now!!

Aidan, yours looks quite interesting too... Hm, I thought pesto was basil & garlic mainly...? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesto
But I guess you can make it from all sorts of things too!!
/I once tried a store-bought one but it was yucky... so now I may be tempted to do a more home-based & less exotic thing... hmm...!! :/

SB,

we had a 'rabbit' where i worked. he ate nothing but vegetables; exercised about 4 to 6 hours a day. rode his bike to work (even in the frigging snow!). looked like lance armstrong with black hair....and, at 46, he had complete blockage of his heart. hadda go to mayo clinic to get 'replumbed'. i don't worry anymore, and don't intend to change how i eat unless i decide to...no sense lobbying me. i'm not insecure with my lifestyle lol!

hebrew national hot dogs...yum
reb

Adain, your recipe sounds really good. Unfortunately, I am lactose intolerant, so no parmesan for me (and do I miss it!).

SB, original basic pesto sauce is fresh basil, lots of crushed garlic, olive oil and toasted pine nuts. But modern cooking has changed the term to mean a lot of things.

As for marinara; it is a tomato based sauce. Some make it with onions, but it must have a good bit of garlic too. My marinara sauce is pretty classic; close to the basic original; maybe more garlic and the mushrooms added are the only changes. You don't have to use tomato sauce; you can start from scratch and puree a bunch of ripe tomatoes and strain for the skin and seeds and then cook it down--that is how tomato sauce is made. The 64oz can of tomato or spaghetti sauce saves a lot of time and effort and it still tastes just as good.

You can add stuff to it to make it a full spaghetti sauce, like wine, grated summer squash, chopped spinach, meat, etc. It's pretty versitile.

SB, give up on trying to change how Reb eats too much! He does accept small changes sometimes though. He now eats brown rice sometimes. A little at a time....

reb wrote:SB,

we had a 'rabbit' where i worked. he ate nothing but vegetables; exercised about 4 to 6 hours a day. rode his bike to work (even in the frigging snow!). looked like lance armstrong with black hair....and, at 46, he had complete blockage of his heart. hadda go to mayo clinic to get 'replumbed'.

And plenty of people who drink like fishes, smoke like chimneys, and eat like pigs live to be 80+.

Some do, but most don't who live like that. Most did that when I was small, and they seemed to die at an average age of around 60 to 65.

It's the russian roulette of longevity genes. The question becomes, what are yours and how are they realised if you choose to live like that?

ah, hell....this whole 'save the planet, save your fellow man' thing is a power snatch. let us alone...we want to be like we want to be...and YOU (any of us individually) are not going to save anything but our own butt. there is the irish guy who drinks 3 glasses of stout a day, aned smokes, and recently completed a marathon...101, i think, and then there is the rabbit i worked with. all this 'do this, do that' is bs. and some of us (me, frankly) have genes that are likely going to control when we croak. guy in the gunshop wsa telling about his dad-dead at 67 of a heart attack....doc just said his cholesterol bp, etc was all perfect lol!

think of it this way.....the planet is overpopulated. thoseof us who die young are doing the planet a favor...now if the breeding slobs would just stop, the earth might return to a much less polluted place to live with a better quality of life...those under 30 now are likely to be deaf by 60 with all the noise, and have lung disease, while they eat their puffed rice and vegamite sammiches....

give it up...for god's sake, if i wanted to be told how to eat, not to pee in the sink, not to pee on the weeds to kill 'em, when to shave, my socks don't match, don't carry that nasty, dangerous pistol, please unload it, what about the children (fuck 'em-move to the orphanage, spawn of shiva!), i'd get married, and that's why i have the pistol...i'm NOT getting married (no, WD, don't go there....Lindsey is not on my long list, much less my short list....now, as a kitchen experiment, i might consider her, with a very well made raincoat....and i'd sure wipe off the countertops with some antibacterial wipes afterwards, SB, i don't care if it kills the whales.....Al Gore can go take care of 'em, instead of wanting to redistribute my income)

see, SB, i CAN get back on topic, but i'm not staying there....lol! topic, topic, topic....it's all you can say....what about bottomic? ever tried that? lol!
reb

reb wrote:ah, hell....this whole 'save the planet, save your fellow man' thing is a power snatch. let us alone...we want to be like we want to be...and YOU (any of us individually) are not going to save anything but our own butt. there is the irish guy who drinks 3 glasses of stout a day, aned smokes, and recently completed a marathon...101, i think, and then there is the rabbit i worked with. all this 'do this, do that' is bs. and some of us (me, frankly) have genes that are likely going to control when we croak. guy in the gunshop wsa telling about his dad-dead at 67 of a heart attack....doc just said his cholesterol bp, etc was all perfect lol!

think of it this way.....the planet is overpopulated. thoseof us who die young are doing the planet a favor...now if the breeding slobs would just stop, the earth might return to a much less polluted place to live with a better quality of life...those under 30 now are likely to be deaf by 60 with all the noise, and have lung disease, while they eat their puffed rice and vegamite sammiches....

give it up...for god's sake, if i wanted to be told how to eat, not to pee in the sink, not to pee on the weeds to kill 'em, when to shave, my socks don't match, don't carry that nasty, dangerous pistol, please unload it, what about the children (fuck 'em-move to the orphanage, spawn of shiva!), i'd get married, and that's why i have the pistol...i'm NOT getting married (no, WD, don't go there....Lindsey is not on my long list, much less my short list....now, as a kitchen experiment, i might consider her, with a very well made raincoat....and i'd sure wipe off the countertops with some antibacterial wipes afterwards, SB, i don't care if it kills the whales.....Al Gore can go take care of 'em, instead of wanting to redistribute my income)

see, SB, i CAN get back on topic, but i'm not staying there....lol! topic, topic, topic....it's all you can say....what about bottomic? ever tried that? lol!
reb

The curmudeon has spoken! Or is that ? or maybe: ?