Roasted Garlic (and dinner idea)

Whenever we have roasted garlic with dinner, I always forget how long and at what temperature to roast it. So I thought I'd just post it here so I always know where to look.

How to Roast Garlic

1. Pre-heat oven to 400.

2. Peel off thin outer layers, but keep the cloves together.

3. Cut off the tips.

4. Drizzle top with olive oil and wrap in foil.

5. Roast for 30 to 35 minutes.

6. When it's cooled enough to touch, squeeze the garlic out of each clove.

Peel thin outer layers.

Cut tops off.

Drizzle with olive oil and wrap in foil.

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Here's an idea of how to put the roasted garlic to use:

Noodles with Roasted Veggies

Pasta of your choice
Roasted Garlic
Roasted Zucchini (500 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes)
Roasted Tomatoes
Fresh basil

Cook noodles. Coat with olive oil. Add veggies and basil.

DIY: Vanilla Extract

A few years ago, my sister-in-law, Nicole, gave us a kit for making our own vanilla extract. It was fun to do and tasted really good.

We wanted to see about doing it again since pure vanilla extract from the store is so expensive, and imitation vanilla has corn syrup and artificial flavors added to it.

So we bought some whole vanilla beans from amazon. We already had some rum (you can use rum or vodka) and an extra jar, so we were good to go!

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Here were my sources for figuring out what to do (you may want to read for more info on the process):

Taste for Adventure: How to Make Vanilla Extract

Simply Recipes: How to Make Vanilla Extract

Also, here's a write-up on the different vanilla bean varieties.

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Vanilla Extract

1. Sterilize your glass jar and lid in boiling water for 5 to 10 minutes.

2. Use 3 vanilla beans per 8oz of alcohol (in my 12oz jar shown to the left, I used 4 beans).

3. Slice the beans down the center to exposes the insides.

4. Place beans in the jar and cover with alcohol (rum and vodka are the most popular...use at least 80 proof)

5. Keep it stored in a dark cabinet for about 2 months. Shake it up about once a week.

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Other ways to use your beans:

Scrape the inside of a bean and use that in place of vanilla extract. Use one bean per 2 tsp of extract.

Make vanilla sugar. Cut open a bean and place in one to two cups of white sugar. Let it sit for about 2 weeks. Use in a recipe where you want vanilla flavoring, or use in coffee.

Find a dessert recipe that calls for real vanilla bean (like these).

Tahini

Our half-used jar of Tahini

Tahini is a paste made from ground sesame seeds, usually found in Middle Eastern dishes. It's very nutritious and can be used in a lot of ways.

From MindBodyGreen, here are
10 Reasons to Eat Tahini:

1. It’s rich in minerals such as phosphorus, lecithin, magnesium, potassium and iron. 
2. It's a good source of Methionine, which aids in liver detoxification. 
3. It’s one of the best sources of calcium out there. 
4. It’s high in vitamin E and vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5 and B15. 
5. Helps to promote healthy cell growth. 
6. Prevent anemia. 
7. Helps to maintain healthy skin and muscle tone. 
8. It has 20% complete protein, making it a higher protein source than most nuts. 
9. It's easy for your body to digest because of its high alkaline mineral content, which is great for assisting in weight loss. 
10. It is high in unsaturated fat (good fat!)

Here's what it says on our bottle of Tahini:

High in protein and other nutrients, it is a flavorful base for appetizer spreads, a topping for pasta or falafel, or an ingredient in soups and salad dressings. Tahini is also ideal for desserts and confections such as halva.

We've been using our jar to make hummus and salad dressing. I thought I'd share these delicious recipes...

(just to be aware, the jar is expensive...around $7. But you'll certainly get a lot of use out of it.)

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Homemade hummus on a yellow pepper

Hummus

(original recipe is from allrecipes.com: Hummus...this is very well reviewed. We modified it only slightly)

2 cups canned chickpeas (or cooked chickpeas*)
1/3 cup tahini
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1-2 cloves of garlic (or a sprinkle of garlic power)
1 tsp salt
sprinkle of paprika
1/4 cup olive oil 

In a food processor, combine all ingredients except olive oil. As it's mixing, slowly pour in the olive oil until smooth. Keep refrigerated.

*Instead of a can, buy some dried chickpeas (much more cost effective and no added salt). Soak them in water overnight, boil them in water for about 45 minutes. 

Easy Ways to Spice Up Hummus 

Hummus is great with veggies (like carrots, broccoli, bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, celery), bread, crackers and chips.

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Tahini Salad Dressing

(idea based off of a Rachael Ray recipe...but drastically simplified)

1/4 cup tahini
2 Tbsp soy sauce
drizzle of vegetable oil
sprinkle of lemon juice
sprinkle of white sugar

Mix together. Easily double or triple to keep on hand in the fridge.

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Broccoli and Cabbage Salad

Mix together:

- fresh broccoli
- red cabbage
- sesame seeds

(cashews and/or raisins would also be good)

Top with Tahini Dressing listed above.

DIY: Lemon Juice (Preservative Free!)

Normally, Sean and I don't use lemon juice very often. It's needed for the occasional recipe, or when you need to keep cut-up apples from browning too quickly. So like most of us, we have kept a store-bought bottle of preservative-filled lemon juice in the fridge which sits there for months in its plastic container, which further leaches chemicals into it. Yum.

Well now that we're making our own bread on a regular basis - which calls for lemon juice - we decided to ditch the bottle and make our own. It couldn't be simpler:

fresh-squeezed lemon juice ice cubes

(this obviously requires that you own a citrus juicer...we got ours from my in-laws and it's an old dinosaur, but works wonderfully)

1. Buy a bag of fresh lemons

2. Juice them and strain the seeds and pulp

3. Take an ice cube tray and fill each compartment (mine fits 2 tablespoons each)

4. Keep frozen until you need some!

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Why bother making your own?

The simple reason for making your own is to avoid preservatives.

I think we too easily dismiss preservatives as being okay for us, making them an acceptable part of eating processed food (especially since the FDA says they are safe in small amounts). But how many of us have looked at what these preservatives really are? How are they made, what are the made from, and which ones are truly harmful and should be avoided? Ultimately, do we want to be consuming them on a daily basis?

Okay, so I looked on foodfacts.com and searched for "lemon juice." It came up with about 16 products, all receiving a grade of C or D (the organics got a B). They got these grades mostly because of their "controversial ingredients" and that they have added sugar.

They all had very similar ingredients, particularly two preservatives: Sodium Bisulfite and Sodium Benzoate (these are the controversial ingredients).

Should we accept that these preservatives are safe for us because the FDA says they are? Or should we learn more and make our own decision?

Sodium Bisulfite

This is a chemical preservative used to prevent discoloration and bacterial growth.

From what I have read, Sodium Bisulfite was unregulated until the 1980's. It was used in processed foods, but also on fresh vegetables - like greens on a salad bar - to prevent browning. Many people had severe allergic reactions to it when they came in contact with concentrated amounts. There were even 13 deaths. After this was realized, the FDA put restrictions and limits on its use, but it is still widely used.

Health Risks of Sodium Bisulfite:

Sodium bisulfite may cause a potentially serious allergic reaction in some individuals.

Some people may lack the enzyme that is necessary to break down sulfites in the body after they are ingested. . .According to the Food and Drug Administration, about half a percent of the U.S. population, or approximately 1 million people, lack the enzyme that prevents a sulfite allergy.

Depending on the severity of your allergy and the amount of sulfites you have ingested, these symptoms can range from mild to severe. In rare cases, sulfites can cause your throat to swell to the point where your airway is blocked, causing asphyxiation and death.

The Dangers of Sodium Bisulfite:

Sodium bisulfite is safe for many people when consumed in small quantities that are used in processed foods. . .Today manufacturers that sell products that contain sulfites must declare the preservative and amount on the food label. Nonetheless, you can develop sensitivities to sulfites at any time during your life, even if you never had any problem consuming these substances before.

So it seems that as long as you don't have an allergy to sulfites, this won't be harmful to you. But as that last quote says, you can develop a sensitivity to it at any time in your life. For you, is this preservative an acceptable risk to take?

Sodium Benzoate

This is a chemical preservative used to help prevent the growth of bacteria and fungus in acidic products.

How is Sodium Benzoate Used in Food?:

Sodium benzoate, when combined with vitamin C, forms benzene. Benzene is a carcinogen and is known to contribute to the formation of many different types of cancer. However, the Food and Drug Administration states that food products that contain both vitamin C and sodium benzoate express benzene levels that are below the dangerous limit.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to consume ANYTHING that has the potential of giving me cancer. I don't care what the FDA says about it being within safe limits.

An article on naturalnews.com has more to say about this "safe" preservative.

Sodium benzoate is a preservative that promotes cancer and kills healthy cells:

(Sodium benzoate) has the ability to deprive the cells of oxygen, break down the immune system and cause cancer.

Sodium benzoate chokes out your body's nutrients at the DNA cellular level by depriving mitochondria cells of oxygen, sometimes completely shutting them down. 

The FDA says it's safe because the amount used to preserve foods is very low, but don't ever combine it with vitamin C or E, as this causes benzene to be formed. This is dangerous. Benzene is a known carcinogen, which means it causes cancer.

So now why is it put in food? It's the cheapest mold inhibiter on the market, so it's all about the money. Acidic foods tend to grow bacteria, mold and yeast more easily than non-acidic foods, so the sodium benzoate extends the shelf life, while it shortens human life.

Cancer is all about the cumulative effect. When the human body is exposed repeatedly to any level of this carcinogen, which rears its ugly head in thousands of products, the immune system, over time, is depleted to the point that one acquires an immune deficiency. Then the body does not have enough essential nutrients to detoxify, and this occurs at the cellular level. Parkinson's, neuro-degenerative diseases, and premature aging have all been attributed to this infamous preservative.

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I'm not taking any chances with the health of my family. We will not be consuming anymore bottled lemon juice, or anything else with Sodium Benzoate it (oh, and it's also in soda to enhance the flavor of the high fructose corn syrup).

Be smart about your food choices. Educate yourself on what you buy from the store!

DIY: Coffee Creamer

I've never been a huge coffee drinker, but I do drink more now than I used to. At home, Sean and I usually make a couple batches on the weekend mornings, saving some for cold coffee drinks during the week (adding sugar while it's still warm).

In a small glass, I put in some ice, fill it about half full with coffee and add a splash of skim milk. Makes a delicious iced coffee drink with my breakfast.

If we weren't on a budget and could afford premium wonderful-tasting coffee beans, then I'd probably drink it black. But since ours never tastes that great on its own, we normally add sugar and milk. We've recently started buying whole milk regularly for our one year old, so at least we now have that on hand (skim milk just doesn't really cut it).

But even so, I'm a little bored with coffee drinking. I need some more flavor. And since our family is getting better at the do-it-yourself routine, I'm looking for ways to make our own creamer.

Just to be sure I'm making the right decision, I did a little bit of looking at foodfacts.com to see what's in the store brand containers.

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Store-bought Coffee Creamers

Doing a search for "coffee creamer" on foodfacts.com will bring up 283 products (both liquid and powder). On this website, all products are given a grade from A to F (they call it a "Health Score Report Card"). You can also see the ingredient list along with the nutritional information, and they tell you good and bad things about each product.

Here's the breakdown of how many coffee creamer products there are per grade:

A: 0
B: 1
C or C-: 16
D+, D or D-: 52
F: 214

(of the 43 powders, all but one received an F)

So what's in these products? Let's look at one example (ingredient descriptions come from foodfacts):

Coffee-Mate Original Coffee Creamer

Water

Corn Syrup Solids - sugar produced from cornstarch

Cottonseed Oil - a viscous oil obtained from the seed of the cotton plant

Dipotassium Phosphate - a highly water-soluble salt often used as a fertilizer, food additive and buffering agent

Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil - basically it contains trans-fats (the bad fat)

Sodium Caseinate - a modified protein extracted from milk (considered non-dairy)

Artificial Flavors

Beta Carotene Added for Color

Carrageenan - a thickening agent obtained from seaweed (large amounts have harmed test animals colons; small amounts in food are generally recognized as safe)

Polysorbate 60 - an emulsifying agent that helps stabilize two substances that will not normally mix. It is made of corn, palm oil and petroleum. It does not spoil and sometimes used to replace dairy or fat to extend the products shelf life. Polysorbates are made by combining ethylene oxide, which is a precursor to antifreeze, with a sugar alcohol derivative.

So in summary, this creamer is made of water, sugar, salt, oil, trans fats, artificial flavors and preservatives. Yum.

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Homemade Coffee Creamers

Since I'm new to this idea, I can't offer you a long list of creamer recipes that I have tried and can verify are delicious (I can offer just one, listed below). But I did do some searching online for what others have done, and there are lots of good ideas out there. To give you a starting point, here are two sources of what looks like good recipes to try:

Deliciously Organic: Homemade Coffee Creamer

5 delicious homemade coffee creamers

In my first attempt at this, I wanted to use what I already had in my kitchen. And since you can't go wrong with chocolate, that's what I used. Here's what I put together:

1 cup whole milk

1 Tbsp white sugar

2 tsp baking cocoa

1 tsp vanilla extract

In a small pot, combine all ingredients. Stir over medium heat until dissolved. Store in the fridge.

I tried it this morning and it was pretty good. I'm looking forward to continuing to experiment with making my own creamer and to getting some recipes perfected. I'll share with you what I figure out...

Oh, and feel free to comment with any tips or recipes that you use!