Ned wonders how many of his followers are concerned about the supposed widespread occurrence of food-borne diseases, and bad eating habits by kids, and adults, too. Assuming such diseases are rampant, Ned offers a few common-sense methods by which his friends can avoid most such unpleasantness.
First, buy local food as much as possible, and avoid ground meat. Most of the tainted ground meat that sickens thousands a year is industrially grown and mixed from many sources in plants hundreds if not thousands of miles away. Buying locally grown (or 'growed' as one of Ned's associates once remarked) is the best way to avoid meat-related sickness.
Next, avoid trying those samples of food that seem to be proliferating in groceries. Ned asks his friends to imagine the grubby little hands, fresh from their little noses or worse, that have been pawing those samples. And, of course, Ned counsels buyers to avoid bulk bins at the lowest levels in bulk sections, unless the food is something bland and harmless like flour. The lower level bins are the most likely to have been pawed over by grubby little carpet vermin whose parents seemingly couldn't care less. If you can't resist samples, ask your grocer if they will place the samples out of reach of the rug rats.
As an aside, Ned advises to avoid finger food. This stuff gives sends the wrong message to kids who generally ape whatever grown-ups do. If you eat finger food, that's what they'll want too. And most finger food--chicken "fingers", pizza, fries, fish sticks, etc, are pretty unhealthy to begin with. Never mind raw vegetables: kids won't eat those unless they are slathered in some sort of dip, equally unhealthy. And eating fruit slices with their hands is unsightly and unsanitary, besides being bad manners, or is Ned being overly insensitive to the emotional needs of four year olds?
Ned has seen kids who will eat most everything with their fingers if they can, eschewing a fork: cereal, fruit, bites of pancake, toast, you name it.
So let's agree to try to avoid eating food with our fingers if we can. Let's rediscover the beauty and utility of the knife and fork.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
SALMON PANCAKE ETC
Ned and Mrs Ned announce their latest culinary triumph, or at least their latest decent concoction: salmon pancake with braised kale. Here's the recipe:
1 can (7.5 oz) canned Alaskan wild caught salmon, unsalted. Open can and remove bones and excess slimy black skin. Pour liquid into a bowl and add 1/4 cup quick oats. Add 1/4 - 1/3 cup finely chopped onions, preferably sweet onions. Add 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper or to taste. Add salmon and mash with fork into mixture. When well mixed, add one egg from happy hens. Mix well.
To a hot cast iron skillet, add 1 generous pat unsalted butter. When sizzling, add salmon mixture and cook at medium-low heat until half done. Then place skillet under broiler at 400 degrees and finish. Serve with Food For Life buns, organic mustard, avocado slices and medium salsa if desired.
For kale, remove stems on 2 cups organic kale, and chop. In stainless skillet, saute 1/2 c onion and 1 tsp garlic powder in olive oil until onion is translucent. Add kale and cook on low heat with an ounce or so of sherry until kale is tender.
Serve kale with chopped tomato.
We tried this with a bottle of Gruet brut rose.
Enjoy!
1 can (7.5 oz) canned Alaskan wild caught salmon, unsalted. Open can and remove bones and excess slimy black skin. Pour liquid into a bowl and add 1/4 cup quick oats. Add 1/4 - 1/3 cup finely chopped onions, preferably sweet onions. Add 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper or to taste. Add salmon and mash with fork into mixture. When well mixed, add one egg from happy hens. Mix well.
To a hot cast iron skillet, add 1 generous pat unsalted butter. When sizzling, add salmon mixture and cook at medium-low heat until half done. Then place skillet under broiler at 400 degrees and finish. Serve with Food For Life buns, organic mustard, avocado slices and medium salsa if desired.
For kale, remove stems on 2 cups organic kale, and chop. In stainless skillet, saute 1/2 c onion and 1 tsp garlic powder in olive oil until onion is translucent. Add kale and cook on low heat with an ounce or so of sherry until kale is tender.
Serve kale with chopped tomato.
We tried this with a bottle of Gruet brut rose.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Of watermelons
Since childhood, Ned has had a love/hate relationship with the watermelon. He sold them as a boy at something like 35 cents each. He even ate them regularly until adulthood, when he decided to shuck off all things Southern. But, since Ned has retained an open mind, he would like to recommend watermelons to his followers looking for nutritious food, with a few caveats:
First, and foremost, Ned advises buying local and organic: local is important here as the transport cost is environmentally high.
Second, Ned advises to eat the watermelon down to the skin as nearly as possible, since the rind contains much that is good for you.
Third, Ned advises to buy watermelons from areas that don't need intense summer irrigation, and this would exclude the southern Great Valley and Mojave Desert of California. Here, immense quantities of water are used to grow mainly surplus crops, and this is water from the Sierra rivers where the fish need it more than the cotton.
So Ned suggests his southern and eastern friends find local watermelon, organic or 'no spray', and eat it UP. Both yellow and red melons are chock full of nutrition.
First, and foremost, Ned advises buying local and organic: local is important here as the transport cost is environmentally high.
Second, Ned advises to eat the watermelon down to the skin as nearly as possible, since the rind contains much that is good for you.
Third, Ned advises to buy watermelons from areas that don't need intense summer irrigation, and this would exclude the southern Great Valley and Mojave Desert of California. Here, immense quantities of water are used to grow mainly surplus crops, and this is water from the Sierra rivers where the fish need it more than the cotton.
So Ned suggests his southern and eastern friends find local watermelon, organic or 'no spray', and eat it UP. Both yellow and red melons are chock full of nutrition.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
PINA COLADA OR GINA KOLATA?
SUPPOSE YOU HAD TO CHOOSE BETWEEN A PINA COLADA AND A GINA KOLATA? What would you do?
Now, this absurd question is only slightly less preposterous than an opinion piece in today's NYT written by someone identifying herself as Gina Kolata. The article is titled, "Whether A Child Lights Up or Chows Down." The piece, such as it is, goes on to cite "experts" who debate the relative demerits of both teen smoking and child obesity. They conclude (wait for it) that both are bad.
But before he could even get into the gristle of the article (for there was, sadly, little meat), Ned was irked by the silly use of directional suffixes-- you know, 'sign OFF ON,' 'chow DOWN', 'knock it DOWN', 'light UP,' or Ned's favorite blood pressure increaser, 'listen UP.' But let that pass.
The topic of the article was encapsulated in the first sentence "If you had to choose one public health problem to attack, which would it be: teenage smoking or childhood obesity?"
To which Ned immediately replied, why should he have to choose? This is what the logicians call a false choice.
Both are severe health problems and both could be easily addressed. One could raise the price of cigarettes to confiscatory levels, ban their use outside the home, and prohibit tobacco companies in this country from paying dividends until they pay the entire cost of smoking related health problems. Childhood obesity could be addressed by restoring activity to grade schools, introducing healthy school lunches, taxing sodas, banning sugary drinks and 'snacks' from schools (a no-brainer, to Ned) and educating parents on the toxicity of most of what passes for industrially produced food in this country, among other things. But of course, little of that was mentioned.
Ned wonders how someone, whose expertise is not provided, got to write such a non-article in the first place. Is she the wife/girl friend of the opinion page editor? Does she have something over the NYT management? Because Ned cannot think of a better way to waste a quarter of a page in the Sunday Week In Review section that a piece like this, unless it is to write pieces on the LeBron James "story" or the latest item in the sad saga of Lindsay Lohan.
Oops, they did that too.
Now, this absurd question is only slightly less preposterous than an opinion piece in today's NYT written by someone identifying herself as Gina Kolata. The article is titled, "Whether A Child Lights Up or Chows Down." The piece, such as it is, goes on to cite "experts" who debate the relative demerits of both teen smoking and child obesity. They conclude (wait for it) that both are bad.
But before he could even get into the gristle of the article (for there was, sadly, little meat), Ned was irked by the silly use of directional suffixes-- you know, 'sign OFF ON,' 'chow DOWN', 'knock it DOWN', 'light UP,' or Ned's favorite blood pressure increaser, 'listen UP.' But let that pass.
The topic of the article was encapsulated in the first sentence "If you had to choose one public health problem to attack, which would it be: teenage smoking or childhood obesity?"
To which Ned immediately replied, why should he have to choose? This is what the logicians call a false choice.
Both are severe health problems and both could be easily addressed. One could raise the price of cigarettes to confiscatory levels, ban their use outside the home, and prohibit tobacco companies in this country from paying dividends until they pay the entire cost of smoking related health problems. Childhood obesity could be addressed by restoring activity to grade schools, introducing healthy school lunches, taxing sodas, banning sugary drinks and 'snacks' from schools (a no-brainer, to Ned) and educating parents on the toxicity of most of what passes for industrially produced food in this country, among other things. But of course, little of that was mentioned.
Ned wonders how someone, whose expertise is not provided, got to write such a non-article in the first place. Is she the wife/girl friend of the opinion page editor? Does she have something over the NYT management? Because Ned cannot think of a better way to waste a quarter of a page in the Sunday Week In Review section that a piece like this, unless it is to write pieces on the LeBron James "story" or the latest item in the sad saga of Lindsay Lohan.
Oops, they did that too.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
COLESLAW
It is time to speak of coleslaw. This is a magic food, but like so many magic things it can both aid and harm, so Ned's readers must beware. Coleslaw has two attributes that should recommend it to all who are seriously concerned about their health: first, it is made of raw ingredients, so the antioxidants and other goodies are not degraded by cooking. Second, it is made predominantly with cabbage, both white and purple, and carrots, both of which are loaded with nutrient, low in calories, and are foods one can enjoy from conventional sources, since Ned is aware that not all his acolytes can always afford organic food. But cabbage and carrots have relatively low doses of pesticides. Moreover, they tend to be available year round. And finally, raw coleslaw can be purchased ready made: Ned is aware that it is much too tiresome to make on its own. Ned buys coleslaw from his local deli, where he knows the ingredients, and adds 1 part packaged coleslaw, Dole's or others, to 1 part premade coleslaw with dressing. Since it is the dressing that adds the calories, Ned believes that by cutting premade coleslaw with dressing, with raw coleslaw mix, he reduces the calories by 1/2 while preserving the flavor.
Ned also suggests that when dining out, his followers ask to substitute coleslaw for fries.
NEVER EAT FRIES UNLESS COERCED BY MALEVOLENT ALIENS AS A CONDITION OF SURVIVAL.
So eat more coleslaw, and stay healthy.
Ned also suggests that when dining out, his followers ask to substitute coleslaw for fries.
NEVER EAT FRIES UNLESS COERCED BY MALEVOLENT ALIENS AS A CONDITION OF SURVIVAL.
So eat more coleslaw, and stay healthy.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
THE BEAUTY OF ORGANIC STRAWBERRIES
Ned would like to extol the beauty of organic strawberries. It is a berry that Ned can eat, since the seeds are of such small size that they do not drive him mad with rage (Ned also recommends blueberries). But the strawberry is a wolf in sheep's clothing, as organic strawberries are among the most nutritious of all fruits. And a ripe strawberry is, like a thing of beauty to Keats, a joy forever. Moreover, their goodies are concentrated so one doesn't ingest too much sugar at the same time as one is ingesting all those antioxidants and bioflavenoids. Ned recommends Driscoll's strawberries if his friends cannot get local ones.
HOWEVER, it is vital that Ned's faithful followers eat only organic strawberries, since industrial strawberries contain among the highest doses of pesticides, fungicides, and other nasty stuff, of any common food. Moreover, conventional strawberry growers "sanitize" the soil by pumping in methyl halides. Methyl bromide, their poison of choice, has finally been banned from civilized countries, the last of course being the US, but it has been replaced by methyl iodide, which if anything could be more nasty than methyl bromide.
So Ned admonishes (with great respect) his readers to forego the few pennies they save by buying conventional strawberries and do the right thing for the growers, the planet, themselves and their offspring, and always buy organic.
HOWEVER, it is vital that Ned's faithful followers eat only organic strawberries, since industrial strawberries contain among the highest doses of pesticides, fungicides, and other nasty stuff, of any common food. Moreover, conventional strawberry growers "sanitize" the soil by pumping in methyl halides. Methyl bromide, their poison of choice, has finally been banned from civilized countries, the last of course being the US, but it has been replaced by methyl iodide, which if anything could be more nasty than methyl bromide.
So Ned admonishes (with great respect) his readers to forego the few pennies they save by buying conventional strawberries and do the right thing for the growers, the planet, themselves and their offspring, and always buy organic.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
TEN RULES TO GOOD EATING
Did you notice how many people publish lists?
Ned is no exception. So here are ten rules for healthy eating, in no particular order.
1. Drink plenty of water, but not with meals. Dilutes your digestive juices.
2. Drink alcohol sparingly with meals. Alcohol is OK, but it's too easy to drink a lot with meals. Ned believes in having a glass of wine or even two, who's counting? before and perhaps a bit with, your meal, then a glass of rum after.
3. Take your time with a meal. Try to take a bite, then put your fork down and chew your food. Repeat. A meal ought to take a half an hour AT LEAST.
4. Discover the attributes of tea. Ned drinks tea every morning. It doesn't matter what kind of tea--black, white and green all have excellent nutrition. Ned likes his tea with an ounce of heated soymilk. Ned admits he is partial to chai, and this stuff has even more nutrition.
5. Have nut butter instead of peanut butter on homemade bread for breakfast, with fruit. Ned likes almond butter, but sunflower butter is excellent, too. Many stores, Fred Meyer, for example, have machines with which you can grind your own nut butter.
Try a hit or two of kefir as well.
6. Don't salt your food. Food has plenty of natural sodium. It's OK to add a little salt to food you are cooking, but be careful. Many ingredients already contain salt.
7. Try to buy organic, shade grown and/or fair trade coffee, if you drink coffee, and limit yourself to one cup per day. Ned likes coffee with soymilk, and try it with cinnamon and cardamom.
8. Eat plenty of fruit, preferably fresh. Avoid fruit juices, because they contain so much sugar.
9. Buy a food dryer at a thrift store and dry your own fruit in season. Last year, Ned dried blueberries that he and Mrs Ned picked, cherries, peaches apples, asian pears and figs from his tree. Ned also froze golden plums and used them to make cobbler. Great dessert, low in nasty calories and good for you.
10. Avoid "fast" food. For so many reasons. They are usually bad for you, consisting of unhealthy ingredients, and too easy to eat rapidly. This encourages overeating.
Ned is no exception. So here are ten rules for healthy eating, in no particular order.
1. Drink plenty of water, but not with meals. Dilutes your digestive juices.
2. Drink alcohol sparingly with meals. Alcohol is OK, but it's too easy to drink a lot with meals. Ned believes in having a glass of wine or even two, who's counting? before and perhaps a bit with, your meal, then a glass of rum after.
3. Take your time with a meal. Try to take a bite, then put your fork down and chew your food. Repeat. A meal ought to take a half an hour AT LEAST.
4. Discover the attributes of tea. Ned drinks tea every morning. It doesn't matter what kind of tea--black, white and green all have excellent nutrition. Ned likes his tea with an ounce of heated soymilk. Ned admits he is partial to chai, and this stuff has even more nutrition.
5. Have nut butter instead of peanut butter on homemade bread for breakfast, with fruit. Ned likes almond butter, but sunflower butter is excellent, too. Many stores, Fred Meyer, for example, have machines with which you can grind your own nut butter.
Try a hit or two of kefir as well.
6. Don't salt your food. Food has plenty of natural sodium. It's OK to add a little salt to food you are cooking, but be careful. Many ingredients already contain salt.
7. Try to buy organic, shade grown and/or fair trade coffee, if you drink coffee, and limit yourself to one cup per day. Ned likes coffee with soymilk, and try it with cinnamon and cardamom.
8. Eat plenty of fruit, preferably fresh. Avoid fruit juices, because they contain so much sugar.
9. Buy a food dryer at a thrift store and dry your own fruit in season. Last year, Ned dried blueberries that he and Mrs Ned picked, cherries, peaches apples, asian pears and figs from his tree. Ned also froze golden plums and used them to make cobbler. Great dessert, low in nasty calories and good for you.
10. Avoid "fast" food. For so many reasons. They are usually bad for you, consisting of unhealthy ingredients, and too easy to eat rapidly. This encourages overeating.
SITTING AND EATING
In Ned's local paper, the Gazette Times, there's a story today that encapsulates why most people in this country will face the challenge of obesity at one time or another. The article is headlined, "Looking For Food, in all the right places" and is unfortunately password protected, so his readers will just have to settle for Ned's summary. In it, local residents are pictured riding a trolley from one local restaurant to another, sampling food and drink at each. Most of the riders are overweight, some are clearly obese, and most of the meals are unhealthy. Here is a sample: burgers, chicken paprikas with noodles, pizza with refined flour, crab in cream sauce. All "washed down" with alcohol or sugary drinks. Now, his readers know that Ned does not demonize alcohol, but certainly suggests its use in moderation.
Ned understands why local businesses would like to encourage locals and visitors to patronize their establishments, and certainly riding is better than driving if one intends to drink alcohol.
But, what about a community walk, centered about a cluster of local restaurants and bars?
Or, what about a visit to a health club to start with a supervised workout before embarking on eating and drinking?
Or a community bike ride featuring local restaurants?
Or a bike ride on Sunday morning exposing participants to the rituals of each local cult? Sorry, that was off topic.
Happy 4th.
Ned
Ned understands why local businesses would like to encourage locals and visitors to patronize their establishments, and certainly riding is better than driving if one intends to drink alcohol.
But, what about a community walk, centered about a cluster of local restaurants and bars?
Or, what about a visit to a health club to start with a supervised workout before embarking on eating and drinking?
Or a community bike ride featuring local restaurants?
Or a bike ride on Sunday morning exposing participants to the rituals of each local cult? Sorry, that was off topic.
Happy 4th.
Ned
Friday, July 2, 2010
NEW HEALTH DRINK
Ned would like to report on his newest liquid discovery: BLACK RUM.
Now black rum is about as similar to other kinds of rum as honey is to piss. So, even if you hate other rums (as does Ned BTW), you may love black rum. Ned recommends two types, but only one are you likely to run across in your average liquor store.
Ned likes HANA BAY BLACK RUM: Hana Bay calls itself Hawaiian, and in fact there is a Hana Bay on Maui, but Ned believes the rum is actually made in California. Never mind. It is cheap and tasty. Tastes great by itself (I am not kidding) and wonderful with pineapple juice and crushed ice.
Ned also likes CRUZAN BLACKSTRAP RUM: This stuff tastes like refined blackstrap molasses with a kick. Ned muses whether it is a very nutritious drink as well, given that blackstrap molasses is loaded with minerals.
Ned ecommends Cruzan Blackstrap with soymilk. Mix one part vanilla soymilk with 1 1/2 parts rum. Add crushed ice or an ice cube.
Best of all: it's only about $17 a bottle and it is OFTEN ON SALE.
Please do not share this information as it may make the drink hard to come by.
Ned thanks you, and have a "happy 4th."
Now black rum is about as similar to other kinds of rum as honey is to piss. So, even if you hate other rums (as does Ned BTW), you may love black rum. Ned recommends two types, but only one are you likely to run across in your average liquor store.
Ned likes HANA BAY BLACK RUM: Hana Bay calls itself Hawaiian, and in fact there is a Hana Bay on Maui, but Ned believes the rum is actually made in California. Never mind. It is cheap and tasty. Tastes great by itself (I am not kidding) and wonderful with pineapple juice and crushed ice.
Ned also likes CRUZAN BLACKSTRAP RUM: This stuff tastes like refined blackstrap molasses with a kick. Ned muses whether it is a very nutritious drink as well, given that blackstrap molasses is loaded with minerals.
Ned ecommends Cruzan Blackstrap with soymilk. Mix one part vanilla soymilk with 1 1/2 parts rum. Add crushed ice or an ice cube.
Best of all: it's only about $17 a bottle and it is OFTEN ON SALE.
Please do not share this information as it may make the drink hard to come by.
Ned thanks you, and have a "happy 4th."
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