Archive for April, 2008
As Gordon Brown urges Brits to reduce the amount of waste that goes into landfill, would a return to World-War style rationing and cooking not only reduce wastage, but also help to shrink the UK’s bulging waistlines and the environment in the process?
Food rationing came into effect back in February 1918 during World War One. However, there are many lessons that can be learned in order to benefit today’s wasteful society.
Although food was scarce back then and the black market profited from other people’s misfortunes, the fitness of the UK population was at an all time high, with food wastage and obesity barely an issue as every bit of food was put to good use and each meal was planned out to be as nutritional as possible.
Today, with families in the UK wasting on average
You can make soup from about anything. If you’re not in a hurry you start from scratch using meat to make a broth and then adding vegetables and what ever else that suits your fancy, but you will have to wait for your soup. That’s how we kids use to make it over a bonfire in our back yard when I was a kid.
You can make soup using fresh meat, chicken or beef broth from a can, and adding canned vegetables. You can cream your soup by adding creamed soups. This is much faster.
But the fastest way is the way I made Quick Frozen Veggie Chicken Cheese Soup today.
I was hungry having spent the morning in Twin Falls and skipping breakfast.
Usually when we go to Twin we have lunch there, but I went early because my dentist had an opening. After the dentist visit I went to JC Penny to pick up some shirts I ordered from their catalog and then went to the local “we-don’t-take-credit-cards” store to buy cake mix so that I can bake that cake every Sunday morning for my thirteen Idaho grandkids.
The “we-don’t-take-credit-cards store” is WinCo Foods. They don’t take credit or debit cards because they would have to raise their prices. I go to the bank to get cash before I go there because I seldom write checks.
A young mother with two babes told me where to find what I needed so I got out of there eventually.
My wife looked three years older when I got back to the pickup.
I was gone too long, but she didn’t complain.
She said that she should have gone into the store with me.
I guess if she had gone with me, we would have gotten out of there for about $150 instead of the $62 I spent. Each of us has his/her own idea about what should go into the cart.
By the time I got the stuff to make cakes, it was still too early to go to lunch, so I went home.
Of course, when I got home it was time for lunch. I messed around on the computer for a couple of hours and all of a sudden I had to get out into the kitchen and make something quick.
I didn’t want to starve to death.
I had been thinking about a new soup. My two small freezers are crammed full of stuff we aren’t using fast enough and I have little enough room for pizzas and ice-cream sandwiches.
The main problem is frozen vegetables. We keep forgetting that we bough them “last time.”
Well, I made the soup and my wife said it was good so I’m going to give you the recipe right now before you go somewhere else.
Recipe
Canned chicken or beef or what have you got in that can?
Frozen farm vegetables
Frozen cauliflower
Canned whole mushrooms or what have you
Grated cheese
2 cans of cream of something soup (mushroom, broccoli, celery, etc.)
1 can of chicken noodle soup
1 can of chicken broth
paprika if you can stand it
meat and poultry seasoning
salt
pepper
Procedure
Get the chicken broth a boilin’.
Add the meat.
Add the frozen vegetables and cauliflower (yes, I know it too is a vegetable).
The vegetables well cook quickly. Add the canned creamed and chicken noodle soups and mushrooms.
Stir until it looks nice. Add the cheese. Stir again.
Don’t forget to season it with the paprika, salt, pepper, meat and chicken seasoning, or what have you.
Serving
Did you make a salad?
Oh, well.
Got any juice to drink?
Well, water is okay.
Want toast or biscuits?
Fresh out!
Okay, let’s eat!
By: John T Jones, Ph.D.
About the Author:
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Camping and fishing go together like ham and eggs. After you clean and gut your catch, try one of these simple camping fish recipes. I have a fish recipe from each category: 1) Easy, 2) Weird, 3) Artery-clogging and finally, 4) Healthy.
Easy: Tin Foil Rainbow Trout
- fresh trout, any kind
- 1 tablespoon butter
- salt and pepper
- 1 small onion, sliced
- Bacon slices (optional)
Leaving the fish whole, stuff the insides with butter, salt and pepper, and as many onions as will fit. Wrap each fish with 1-2 bacon slices if your heart desires. Place stuffed trout on buttered foil and wrap up tightly to trap the moisture. Place over white hot coals for 7-10 minutes.
Weird: Grilled Catfish in Coffee Butter
(I know you’ll be skeptical, but this recipe is from the catfishinstitute.com, it is very good.)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon instant coffee powder
- 1/4 cup melted butter or margarine
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 pounds catfish fillets
Combine lemon juice, instant coffee, butter, onion powder and salt. Brush mixture thickly onto fillets. Grill on a SPAM-sprayed campfire grate for 10 minutes.
Turn and brush fish again with sauce. Grill 10 minutes longer or until fish flakes easily.
Heart-Clogging: Beer Battered Fish
- 1 1/4 c packaged biscuit mix
- 3/4 c beer
- 1 egg
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 fresh fish filet
- cooking oil
Beat together biscuit mix, beer, egg and salt. Pat fish to dry. Dip in batter to coat both sides. Fry in hot oil in skillet for 4 to 5 minutes on each side or until done.
Healthy: Steamed Fish with Veggies
- fish fillets
- small potatoes
- 1 medium Vidalia or any Sweet onion, sliced thin
- 2 stalks of celery, chopped
- 1 medium tomato, chopped
- salt and pepper
- 1 tsp Mrs. Dash garlic and herb seasoning
- salad dressing (optional)
Place fish chunks on top of heavy-duty tin foil. Pile vegetables on fish and season with the salt and pepper. Place a salad dressing on fish and vegetables. Italian is best, but Ranch, Raspberry, or some other favorite will work also. Wrap tightly and cook over a campfire for 15 to 20 minutes.
By: Myrtha C
About the Author:
Watch VIDEOS of Camping how-to, tips, recipes, gear reviews at http://www.JoyofCamping.TV
For a free 28-page Campfire Recipe book, email camping_recipes@aweber.com
If your health drinks of choice are those colorful vitamin waters and sport drinks, you will want to read this and pass it on, especially to anyone concerned about consuming more alkaline foods. Look at the ingredients in most commercially advertised sport drinks and vitamin waters, and you will quickly see they are far from being healthy drinks.
Next time you are shopping for health drinks or alkaline foods, here are a few things to avoid:
Phosphoric Acid is just what it says it is – acid. This is a definition of phosphoric acid: “A clear colorless liquid used in fertilizers, detergents, pharmaceuticals and food flavoring, irritating to the skin and eyes and moderately toxic if ingested.” When your diet is supposed to be 80% alkaline foods and only 20% acid forming foods for proper pH balance, this really puts you upside down quickly. High Fructose Corn Syrup – This is concentrated sugar that contributes to weight gain and abnormal blood sugar levels, which can also lead to diabetes. Excess sugars have no place in health drinks, and you certainly won’t find processed sugar in any alkaline foods. Artificial Flavors – We call them Excito-toxins! When artificial flavorings are in health drinks, they begin to resemble sugary juices, soft drinks and candy. These artificial substances will interfere with your pH balance and force you to consume more alkaline foods to neutralize the acid from the toxins in your blood. Artificial Sweeteners – These are so unnecessary in health drinks today. In addition to the acid forming properties of artificial sweeteners, nutritionists express concerns about their effects on the human body. Many consumers now believe that artificial sweeteners may play a factor in diseases of the brain, such as Alzheimer’s. That is one reason why corporations such as Pepsico and Coca Cola are beginning to market health drinks and other products containing Stevia, an all natural sweetener that is actually beneficial. You can learn more about Stevia Sweetener and discover alkaline foods for pH balance by taking the Alkaline Food Test at BestHealthFoodStore.net. Isolated Vitamins – When isolated, processed, heated, liquefied and bottled, vitamins and minerals break down before your body can use them. You need vitamins and minerals from whole foods, not from so called health drinks that are really bottled, heated, highly processed waters with colorful dyes and artifical ingredients.
Someone showed me a well-known sport drink the other day and I couldn’t believe the ingredients! This tropical mango flavored health drink didn’t mention mango anywhere in the ingredients, but let’s take a look at what it did list, along with some things to think about when choosing health drinks:
Sucrose Syrup (this is sugar) High Fructose Corn Syrup (more sugar) – A total of 56 gms of sugar Phosphoric Acid (the opposite of alkaline foods) Glycerol ester of wood rosin (acid forming) Modified Food Starch (how was it modified?) Natural and Artificial Flavors (your guess is as good as mine) Yellow 6, Yellow 5 and Red 40 (artificial dyes)
Another bottle of this not so healthy drink says “Specially Formulated for Tiger Woods” with the same ingredients, but blue dye instead of yellow. I guess that secret blue stuff is what makes Tiger play so well. In fact, experts could argue that Tiger’s recent knee problems are because of too many acid forming foods and not enough alkaline foods in his diet. Many medical and health specialists now believe that an acid/alkaline imbalance can contribute to weak bones and damaged joints.
When shopping for a good health drink, here are some important considerations to keep in mind.
Is it liquefied, pasteurized or otherwise heated in the bottling process? If so then the enzymes have been destroyed and the nutrients will not easily be absorbed by the body. Does it give you chlorophyll from plants to help your cells absorb more oxygen? Does it provide natural antioxidants to destroy free radicals? Natural antioxidants are essential for anti-aging. Is it made with whole food ingredients like real fruit or other alkaline foods?
Now, let’s take a different look at health drinks on the market today that are not advertised with flashy TV ads or filled with colorful dyes: Here are some of the characteristics of these truly healthy drinks:
Not liquefied or bottled, but in powder form Processed at low temperatures Contain live enzymes from whole alkaline foods and chlorophyll from plants Complex structures of the whole food ingredients are fully intact Loaded with natural antioxidants to combat free radicals
Does your health drink do that? Not if you bought it in a convenience store or the health food store at the mall.
By: Cliff Smith
About the Author:
Cliff Smith, as owner of an online health food store, is constantly researching the latest nutrition information. His Alkaline Food Test is a must for anyone who wants to know if they are eating enough alkaline foods. Cliff’s personal success story is highlighted by his natural weight loss and athletic achievements through a combination of concentrated health drinks, all natural foods and alkaline drinks for pH balance. Cliff is also a serious mountain biker, a professional actor and and voiceover artist who operates VoiceCreation.com