This Looks Crazy Delicious.

Picture and recipe from here.

I just found this Chicken Vegetable Casserole recipe on the Framed blog and can't wait to try it!

My Favorite Tea

Upon recommendation from a friend, I grabbed a cup of Paris tea at the Dutch Bros. drive through and my taste buds haven't been the same since. I became mildly obsessed with finding my own stash of this amazing tea, even driving with the kids during nap time to Willamette (West Linn) to a tea shop, eager to purchase this tin:When my husband found the tin and the corresponding receipt on the counter, he asked if we are rich, but I feel this indulgent treat makes iced tea a whole new experience. Needless to say, Harney and Sons are not cheap tea makers....

Food, Inc.

I have been searching around various libraries and Redbox, trying in vain to get my hands on a copy of the movie, Food, Inc.. Low and behold, one of my Facebook friends, (well, she's really family) posted that PBS was showing this movie at 9 p.m. yesterday. Colin and I promised each other (well, I sort of asked him like a million times and he agreed) that we would watch it together and we did. The entire thing. And if you know me at all, you know that I can't stay up much past 9 - last night I couldn't fall asleep until 12. The movie ended around 10:40, but my mind kept replaying the horrifying scenes of slaughter, frightened animals, beef parts, farmers forced into yucky, dirty practices by large companies, etc..

After we watched the movie, we both agreed that something would be changing with the way we eat. We haven't decided specifically how yet, but I think we will be buying organic milk, free range chicken and if we purchase beef, it will be grass fed.

I think the shocking part is that the general public doesn't know what's going into our food - and how much Washington D.C. controls our supply and quality of food.

I would encourage anyone and everyone to rent this movie and make informed decisions about what they are putting in their (and their childrens') bodies.

Icky Food Facts.

After reading an article regarding our beef supply and what's included in it from the above magazine, I was horrified. I've cut and pasted the guts (no pun intended, gag) of the article below:

"Ten years ago, the rejected fat, sinew, bloody effluvia, and occasional bits of meat cut from carcasses in the slaughterhouse were a low-value waste product called ‘trimmings’ that were sold primarily as pet food. No more. Now, Beef Products Inc. of South Dakota transforms trimmings into something they call ‘boneless lean beef.’ In huge factories, the company liquefies the trimmings and uses a spinning centrifuge to separate the sinews and fats from the meat, leaving a mash that has been described as ‘pink slime,’ which is then frozen into small squares and sold as a low-cost additive to hamburger. (For an effective visual, watch the movie Food, Inc.) Today, BPI produces more than 7 million pounds of the mash per week, making it the world’s largest manufacturer of this frozen product. BPI explains that its product is mixed into most of the ground beef sold in the U.S. – at major fast-food restaurants, supermarkets, and school lunch programs."

"One of the problems BPI encountered when trying to turn trimmings into food was contamination. Trimmings contain dangerous pathogens like E. coli and salmonella. To kill them, BPI sprayed the mix with ammonia. They requested that the ammonia be classified as a ‘processing agent’ and not an ingredient to be listed on labels, and federal officials agreed. The added ammonia had some problems, however. There were complaints about the odor. And more significantly, the ammonia did not always rid the food of pathogens. A recent investigative report in the New York Times (by Michael Moss, published December 30, 2009) discovered that ‘…pathogens were found dozens of times in Beef Products’ meat, challenging claims by the company and the USDA about the effectiveness of the treatment.’ In response to the Times investigation, the USDA has begun including BPI products in routing testing and in product recalls. Previously, the USDA considered BPI products as pathogen-free due to the added ammonia."

Take what you will from that, but it made me throw up a little in my mouth. Yuk.

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Also? Just found out that traditional sweetened coconut that you buy in the store contains an ingredient also in anti-freeze: propylene glycol. Apparently it's a flavor transporter and after a quick Google search I found this guy's opinion on the stuff. May be just an opinion, but last time I checked, coconut didn't need flavor transported. So, I now buy coconut from Bob's Red Mill - unsweetened and un-propylene glycol-ed.

Food. And More Food.

Sometimes I just gush with my excitement over food. I'm chewing on mostly raw garlic right now (I baked broccoli with garlic, bread crumbs, freshly grated parm, olive oil and salt and pepper). I can't stop thinking about the smell of my house when blueberry scones are baking in the oven. Meat shredded to perfection gives me a bit of a high. These kind of posts are more for encouraging someone out of a cooking rut than to brag about what my family is eating. I really don't like bragging. So, here's my meal plan currently:

Spicy shredded pork - as as seen in my picture below, before it was shredded. I love the recipe. I didn't have the white wine vinegar, so I substituted Mirin, a sweet rice cooking wine. It added a wonderful depth of flavor. I pair this with brown rice, lime wedges and tortillas. Hands on time is minutes. P.S. I love my Le Crueset dutch oven. The world is a better place with these bad boys in it. We also tried a new meatloaf recipe from Real Simple - paired it with yellow potatoes (I actually purchase them at WinCo in the bag and love them - so buttery).

Pasta/parm/veggies. A good standby - no recipe needed and it's quick.

Bean chicken and sausage stew - known as "hot dog soup" around these parts. I purchase the chicken sausage at Trader Joe's and the soup involves kale, so I don't feel so bad.

This morning I made these blueberry scones. It's the perfect recipe and they remind me almost exactly of the ones I get at Starbucks when I'm starving (which is almost always).


I have a confession. Up until this point in my life, I wouldn't touch an entire raw chicken with a ten foot pole. Well, I briefly saw the Neeley's on the Food Network get all up in a chicken (including under the skin with butter and herbs). I realized I was missing out on this entire corner of the culinary world that involved beautiful golden birds filled with garlic and lemon slices and I could resist no longer. I put my bacteria neuroses on the back burner and cooked a bird. What a success! The meat was fragrant and moist (but no where near as salty as those delicious rotisserie chickens you get at Costco - what do they put in those?!) and I will definitely do it again.

My last recipe is one found in the Mother's cookbook. I am attempting the carrot cake recipe, although I don't really have the crowd to cook it for.