Veggie Wrap with Grapes and Gorgonzola Sauce

Wrap:

1 large spinach herb wrap

1 roasted red bell peppers

3 garlic stuffed olives (coarsely chopped)

8 black grapes, coarsely chopped

1/2 cups baby spinach

Small handful red onion, thinly sliced

1 large avocado, sliced

1 teaspoon capers  

1 tablespoon sliced almonds

Sea salt and black pepper

Dressing:

1 roasted red bell peppers

1 tablespoons capers 

2 garlic stuffed green olives

2 tablespoons gorgonzola cheese

1/4 cup cream cheese

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Blend all the ingredients until smooth (add a little sour cream if you require a thinner consistency).  Refrigerate.

Spread a layer of dressing to cover the wrap, followed by a thick layer of baby spinach. Divide the remaining ingredients evenly over 1/3 of the wrap (closest to you), drizzle lightly with extra dressing (optional), and roll tightly. Cut at an angle into four equal pieces and secure with a toothpick.  Make sure to serve with extra dressing on the side as a dip.

Just What is 'Natural' Food?

www.latimes.com - November 30th, 2012

The word is included on many products despite meaning almost nothing.

Until a couple of years ago, Ben & Jerry's ice cream was labeled as natural. Then the company came under pressure from the Center for Science in the Public Interest because the ice cream contained, among other things, partially hydrogenated soybean oil. Unlike genetically engineered foods, for which there is little if any evidence of harm to human health, partially hydrogenated oil has been implicated as an artery-clogging ingredient to be avoided. And you can bet the soybean oil didn't hydrogenate itself. The company agreed to drop the "natural" label in 2010.

The real issue here isn't whether GMO Inside believes that different methods of human tinkering make some foods less natural than others, but that the reassuring word "natural" is included on many a product's label while meaning almost nothing. A 2009 study found that shoppers thought "natural" indicated a purer, more regulated substance than "organic." It's the other way around. But the whole point of rules for labeling is to allow people to make informed decisions about their food.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has considered defining the term a couple of times, and most recently gave up the effort in 2008. (Perhaps it should have started by trying to figure out what consumers consider natural to mean.) As the examples above show, attempts to regulate use of the word would be complicated, fraught with politics and would almost certainly involve multiple lawsuits by the food industry. (The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the less-complicated arena of meat and poultry, defines natural as "minimally processed," but that doesn't mean the animals were raised without antibiotics or hormones.)

The only times the FDA generally objects to the word "natural" is when it's used to describe products containing artificial coloring, flavoring or "synthetic substances." Could bioengineered DNA be considered a synthetic substance? Possibly.

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Mini Passionfruit Bundt Cakes with Salted Caramel Topping (gluten-free)

Bundt:

1 1/2 cups all purpose GF baking flour 

1 cup sucanat or white sugar

1 teaspoon GF xanthan gum

1/2 cup fresh or frozen passionfruit pulp

3 large room temperature eggs

1 cup butter

2 teaspoons fresh sage, chopped very fine.

1 teaspoon GF baking powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 F

Grease a 12-cup mini bundt pan with butter and dust with flour. Dip out all the excess flour. Whisk flour, baking powder, xanthan gum, sage, and sea salt to combine. Cream butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy (about 6 minutes). Add eggs one at a time beating well between each addition (about a minute each). On low speed, beat in 60% of the flour mixture followed by all the passionfruit pulp. Beat in the last of the flour mixture to combine.

Scoop into the pan making sure it's 3/4 full.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a stick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven to cool completely before you remove them.

Salted Caramel:

1 packed cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, cut into cubes

1/2 cup cream

Sea salt to taste

Melt sugar in a large stainless pot on medium heat until it melts, stirring occasionally. Add butter whisking constantly to melt and combine. Remove from the heat for a few minutes and add cream, whisking constantly to combine. Return to the heat and continue whisking until the caramel is smooth and creamy (if you prefer a thinner consistency, whisk in more cream). Season to your taste with sea salt and store in a sterilized glass jar with a lid.

Passionfruit Buttercream:

1/2 cup butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon passionfruit pulp

Whisk all the ingredients until fluffy and light.  Whisk in more powdered sugar if it's too soft.

Store leftover buttercream in an airtight container in the refrigerator for future use.

Fill the cavity of the mini bundt cakes with the butter cream and drizzle a generous amount of caramel sauce over the top.

Peru Bans Genetically Modified Foods As US Lags

www.stumbleupon.com - November 29th, 2012

Anybody planning to sneak genetically modified seeds into Peru should think twice – the country has just launched a historic ban on GMOs. Following a long struggle by the last administration’s environment minister Antonio Brack and several activist groups, current President Ollanta Humala signed a law last year that prohibits the import, production or use of GMO foods for the next ten years. The law went into effect last week, and would-be violators face huge fines. 

As large corporate groups like Monsanto continue to push their GMOs on countries around the world, many activists and lawmakers are pushing back. Including Peru, which initially supported GMO imports following pressure from the private sector keen to boost biofuel production. But for the next ten years, the country is relatively safe thanks to President Humala, whose law decrees fines as high as USD14 million and foods could be seized and destroyed.

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Banana Crumble Cake (gluten-free)

Cake:

2 cups gluten-free biscuit and baking mix (I use Bob's Red Mill)

1 1/2 teaspoons GF baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 sucanat or sweetener of your choice

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 large ripe mashed bananas

1 teaspoon salt

Crumble:

1/4 cup GF baking mix

1/4 cup sucanat or sweetener of your choice

1/4 cup butter

Preheat oven to 350 F

Beat eggs and 1/4 cup of yogurt to fully combine. Set aside.

Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda to combine. Beat in butter on low speed followed by 1/4 cup of yogurt and the egg/yogurt mixture and banana and vanilla.

Pour into a greased round 9" cake pan. Beat flour, sucanat, and butter until it resembles crumbs and scatter over the top of the cake.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a stick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

High Fructose Corn Syrup and Type 2 Diabetes

www.huffingtonpost.com - November 28th, 2012

Researchers have found an association between consumption of high fructose corn syrup and the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes, according to a new study published in the journal Global Public Health.

Researchers from the University of Oxford and the University of Southern California found, specifically, that the Type 2 diabetes prevalence was 20 percent higher in countries where the food supplies contained HFCS.

Type 2 diabetes prevalence in countries where the food supply included more HFCS was 8 percent, while it was 6.7 percent in countries where HFCS is not included in the food supply.

High-fructose corn syrup is a kind of sugar, and is used as a sweetener in many foods including soda and candy.

"The study adds to a growing body of scientific literature that indicates HFCS consumption may result in negative health consequences distinct from and more deleterious than natural sugar," study researcher Michael I. Goran, a professor of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California, said in a statement. Goran is also the director of the Childhood Obesity Research Center and the co-director of the Diabetes and Obesity Research Institute at USC.

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Sage Sweet Potato Spaghetti (gluten-free)

1/2 packet spaghetti

1 large sweet potato, cut into bite size chunks

3 small garlic cloves, minced
1 cup white pearl onions

Handful fresh sage, chopped

Extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil on medium high heat. Season generously with salt. Add spaghetti and cook until al dente (about 8 minutes - don't over cook!). Drain and put back in the pot. Drizzle about three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Add minced garlic and half the sage. Toss to combine. Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper. Keep warm.

Pre heat oven to 500 F.

In a large baking sheet toss sweet potato, half the fresh sage, and white pearl onions in a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil. Season with sea salt and black pepper. Roast for about 10 to 15 minutes or until brown and cooked.

In a large serving platter. Combine spaghetti and veggies. Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper. Drizzle extra olive oil all over the top and garnish with fresh sage. Enjoy!

American Cheese 'Revolution'

www.marketplace.org - November 27th, 2012

But, can you still call it American cheese if it's unprocessed and has only four ingredients -- all of which you can pronounce? The country's largest co-op of organic farmers says yes. Wisconsin-based Organic Valley is out to reinvent our de facto national cheese.

Perhaps nothing says unhealthy processed food more than American cheese. They don't even call it cheese on the label, they call it "cheese food." Yet, we still buy hundreds of millions of pounds of it every year. Now, a health-conscious competitor wants in on that market share.

The company recently wrapped a two-month nationwide "cheese revolution" tour and gave away more than fifteen thousand grilled cheese sandwiches made with its new organic American Singles.

Audrey Quatel, who handled the company's marketing on the North Carolina leg, says, "I think it's important that people know what's in American cheese, and especially when it says 'cheese food' on the label. Ours just says cheese."

In the parking lot of a Whole Foods in Charlotte, Kim DeRhodes took the taste test: "Mmm, very good. It just doesn't taste as fake as the regular cheese," she says.

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Crispy Avocado Rolls with Cranberry Balsamic Sauce

Sauce Ingredients:

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup cranberry sauce

Whisk all the ingredients to fully combine. Simmer on low heat until it thickens and reduces (about 10 minutes).

Rolls:

3 large avocados, remove skin and pit, slice into strips

10 Vietnamese spring roll sheets

Sea salt and black pepper

Fill a large bowl with warm water (not hot) Dip one wrapper at a time to soften (about 2 seconds).  Wrapper will get softer by the time you roll it.

Lay wrapper flat. Leaving about 2 inches uncovered on each side. In a row across the center, place avocados (about 4 strips). Drizzle your desired amount of sauce on top. Fold uncovered sides inward, then tightly roll the wrapper. Heat a deep sided frying pan with enough pure vegetable oil to cover the bottom of the pan (about 4 tablespoons) on medium heat until oil is ready for frying. Add 4 rolls at a time so as not to overcrowd the pan. Fry until crispy and brown (about 8 minutes on each side). Remove from the oil and drain on paper towels. Season with salt and black pepper.

Serve immediately with extra dipping sauce on the side.

Phase Out Pesticides

www.huffingtonpost.com - November 26th, 2012

I worked for two years on Capitol Hill and 25 for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. During that tumultuous era, from the administration of Jimmy Carter to the first administration of George W. Bush, I saw and experienced the decline and near extinction of America's policies for the protection of public health and the environment.

The government in most instances kept the people in the dark but catered to private interests, which even drafted the government's policy.

In the case of pesticides, for example, the result of the "regulated" industry-government complex has been deleterious.

By the time EPA came into being in December 1970, America was hooked on petrochemical sprays of staggering amounts, 70 percent of which went to drench the farms and the rest to millions of homes, lawns, schools, golf courses and industrial facilities.

Pesticides are by design killers of life. They are biocides. They are the only hazardous pollutant willfully put into the environment. Some of them are associated with higher rates of cancer; others poison the nervous system; others act like hormones, disrupting the endocrine system, causing sex and developmental abnormalities.

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Cinnamon Pumpkin Cranberry Bark

5 cups bitter sweet dark chocolate chips (60%)

2 tablespoons condensed milk

2 tablespoons pumpkin puree

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup sliced almonds

Cinnamon

Sea salt

Combine condensed milk and pumpkin. Set aside. Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a small pot of hot water on a low heat making sure the bowl doesn't touch the water until melted. 

Line a 16 by 12 inch cookie sheet with parchment paper. Pour melted chocolate over and spread a even layer over the cookie sheet. Drizzle pumpkin mixture over the top. Scatter the rest of the dried ingredients over the top and season with sea salt and cinnamon. Refrigerate until set. Cut into squares 

Store in a airtight container in the refrigerator.

6 Seasonal Foods That Fight Fat

www.huffingtonpost.com - November 19th, 2012

Nuts

Nuts fight weight gain by slowing rises in blood sugar and curbing hunger. One study from Purdue University found that individuals who added 500 calories of nuts to their diets for three weeks experienced almost no change in body weight and had a 24 percent drop in triglycerides--blood fats associated with heart disease. Just make sure nuts replace other snacks throughout the day.

Cranberry Relish

You probably know that fiber is the magic bullet of weight loss. It keeps you satisfied throughout the day--and away from the fridge. But you may not know that berries are an excellent source of said magic bullet! And cranberries have 4 grams per cup. Plus, cranberries are a slimming snack--they have fewer than 50 calories per 1 cup serving.  Just don't overdo it with the sugar.

Turkey

This clucker has the fewest calories per ounce of any animal protein. Like dairy, it contains the amino acid leucine, which may play a role in preserving muscle mass during weight loss, keeping metabolism running at full speed. Protein is also more satiating than fat or carbs--so you're less likely to overeat.

Deviled Eggs

Face it--eggs are diet food. There is no other food on the planet that packs more satiating protein per calorie than eggs. Add in all that brain-enhancing choline and fat-burning vitamin D, and you have yourself one super holiday treat that will build you up without filling you out!

Dark Chocolate

Yes, chocolate. Studies have found that those who eat dark chocolate consume 15 percent fewer calories at their next meal and are less inclined to choose fatty, salty, sugary snacks. Chocolate also boosts your brain's serotonin and endorphin levels, giving you that warm and fuzzy feeling that will keep you from wandering around in search of quick snack fixes.

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Lemon Bread (gluten-free)

1 16 oz bag Bob's Red Mill Pizza Crust Whole Grain Mix

1 cup sucanat or sugar of your choice

2/3 cups room temperature buttermilk
1 large egg, room temperature
3 egg whites (only the whites!)
1/4 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons lemon zest

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon sea salt
Preheat oven to 350 F

Empty the bag into a mixer. You will find a small packet of yeast inside.  Open and add to the mixer including sea salt and lemon zest. Combine all the wet ingredients in a separate container and add to the mixer on low speed. Use regular beaters not a dough hook and beat for 5 minutes. Make sure to scrape down the sides as necessary.

Divide dough into two greased bread pans and cover. Let bread sit in a warm place until it doubles in size. Sprinkle oats (optional) over the top.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until baked and golden brown.

Aspartame is so Dangerous to Your Health

www.foodconsumer.org - November 16th, 2012

Aspartame is the technical name for the brand names NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, and Equal-Measure. While it's one of the most commonly used artificial sweeteners in the world, it's also one of, if not THE most dangerous food additive on the market today.

Aspartame accounts for over 75 percent of the adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA. Many of these reactions are very serious, including seizures and death.

In this interview, Dr. Woody Monte, professor emeritus at Arizona State University in food and chemistry, sheds light on what makes aspartame so hazardous to human health.

Dr. Monte, who also authored the book While Science Sleeps: A Sweetener Kills, is well-known as a world expert on the toxicities of methanol as it relates to aspartame, having studied it for the last three decades.

"I was asked by the soft drink beverage industry to look at aspartame [in 1983]... Basically, the summer of '81 is when aspartame first came out, but it first came out in powdered drinks only, and for good reason.

Crystal Light, that kind of thing. They didn't want to put it into liquid form because they knew in the liquid form it would break down. It breaks down into methyl alcohol and what's left of the molecule. They didn't want to start doing that."

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Spiced Chocolate Bundt Cake (gluten-free)

Cake:
2 1/2 cups gluten-free biscuit and baking mix (I used Bob's Red Mill) or wheat cake flour

3/4 cup pure chocolate powder

4 large room temperature eggs

1 cup room temperature butter 

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 cups sucanat (natural sugar) or white superfine sugar

2 teaspoons cloves

Preheat oven to 325 F

Sift flour, cloves, and chocolate powder to combine. Set aside. Whisk yogurt and milk to combine and set aside. Butter a large Bundt cake pan and sprinkle chocolate powder over the top.

On medium speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, making sure to beat well in between.

On low speed, add about 60% of the flour mixture followed by the wet ingredients. Add the rest of the flour to the mixture.

Pour into the pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a stick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack before you take it out.

Glaze:

1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks

1/2 cup cream

Heat cream in a saucepan on medium heat to hot (don't boil). Pour over chocolate chunks and whisk until chocolate mixture is smooth and shiny.

Drizzle over the top of the cake to serve.

Butterball Turkey Abuse Caught On Undercover Camera -- Again

www.huffingtonpost.com - November 15th, 2012

In December of 2011, animal welfare advocacy group Mercy for Animals released a gruesome undercover video of turkey abuse at a plant that raises poultry for Butterball. That footage led to a raid of the plant being videotaped, as well as several arrests and criminal charges for employees who were involved.

But it seems Butterball -- which raises a full 20 percent of the total turkey sold in the country every year, and 30 percent of the turkey eaten on Thanksgiving -- hasn't learned its lesson. Because today, Mercy for Animals released another horrifying video detailing 

turkey abuse at several Butterball plants in North Carolina.

The disturbing video is embedded above. It's not the most graphic animal abuse video we've seen, but you should still exercise caution before deciding to watch it. It's quite grainy and is in black and white, but you can clearly see workers kicking and throwing birds around the plant. At one point, an employee callously notes that he's seen maggots crawling all over the birds.

Mercy for Animals is encouraging people moved by the video to consider eating a vegetarian turkey substitute instead of a bird on Thanksgiving next Thursday. Another option is to opt for a turkey raised more humanely, on a smaller farm. Many of the latter have added benefits in terms of flavor, compared to the Broad-Breasted Whites raised by producers like Butterball. Click through the slideshow below to see several heritage breeds:

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Thai Coconut Fish Veggie Stew (gluten-free)

1/2 packet Pad Thai noodles

4 firm white fish fillets cut into chunks

1 large cooked sweet potato, cut into chunks

6 whole baby Bok Choy

2 cans full cream coconut milk

3 tablespoons Thai red curry paste

1 tablespoon lemongrass paste

1 lime, juiced

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

Extra virgin  olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Cook noodles according to the instructions on the package. Drain and set aside.

Saute Bok Choy in a large skillet with two tablespoons of oil until cooked (about 4 minutes). Season with sea salt and black pepper. Set aside

Combine coconut milk, lemongrass, paste, pepper flakes, sweet potato, and lime juice in a large skillet. Season with sea salt and black pepper. Bring to a boil. Add fish and cook for 4 minutes. Season with sea salt and black pepper to taste.

Spoon stew into a large deep soup bowl. Add noodles into the middle followed with one Bok Choy on top with a lime slice (optional). Drizzle olive oil over the stew. Serve hot.

Monsanto and GMO Food: Playing Roulette With Our Health

www.truth-out.org - November 14th, 2012

Genetically modified organisms, genetically engineered foods, transgenics - these all refer to the process of taking a gene or genes from one species and forcing it into the DNA of other species. You can mix and match between plant, animal, human, insect, bacteria and viruses, creating new organisms that were not part of the billions of years of evolution. The process itself is prone to unpredictable side effects.

The American Academy of Environmental Medicine identifies the following categories of diseases and disorders as afflicting the lab animals fed genetically modified soy and corn: problems with the immune, gastrointestinal and reproductive systems, organ damage, accelerated aging and insulin and cholesterol issues. Thousands of doctors now prescribe non-GMO diets to their patients and report dramatic improvements in these same categories. Similarly, livestock that switch from GM feed to non-GM feed also show health improvements in these areas. We don't think it's a coincidence that these same disorders and diseases are on the rise in the US population since GMOs were introduced in 1996.

The characteristics of the two main types of GMOs help explain why they might cause health problems in these areas. The "Bt" corn, for example, produces a toxic insecticide (Bt-toxin) that has recently been found to create holes and leakage in human cells. Bt-toxin was also discovered in the blood of pregnant women and their unborn fetuses. Other studies show that it provokes immune and allergic-type responses. Taken together, the characteristics of the Bt-toxin alone may explain the rise of digestive disorders, immune system problems, organ damage, and leaky gut—which itself may promote allergies, auto-immune diseases, gluten intolerance, cancer, Alzheimer's, and autism.

Most GMOs are "herbicide tolerant" and therefore have high amounts of herbicides such as Roundup, which is absorbed into the food. Roundup is directly toxic, linked with cancer, birth defects, endocrine disruption, Parkinson's and other diseases. A study released last month showed that rats fed Roundup in their drinking water at levels considered safe suffered massive tumors, premature death and organ damage. Other lab animals showed severe reproductive failures, such as sterility, smaller and fewer offspring, infertile offspring, huge infant mortality and even hair growing in the mouths of hamsters. Roundup also kills beneficial gut bacteria, and can render trace minerals unusable by our system.

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Pumpkin Pots De Crème

15 ounces cooked pumpkin puree

5 large egg yolks, room temperature

2 cups fresh cream

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat oven to 325 F

Whisk all the ingredients until smooth. Put through a strainer and divide into small ramekins. Place ramekins in a roasting pan with at least 2" around the sides. Fill the roasting pan with hot water to cover the bottom half of the ramekins. The pan should be in the middle rack in the oven. Cover pan with foil loosely and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes or until set (the pots de crème will not be completely set in the center). Remove foil and leave to cool completely in the oven before you take them out.  Refrigerate for three hours before serving.

Maple Apple Glazed Turkey

1 14-16 lb young turkey

Brine:

1 cup kosher salt

1/2 gallon apple cider

1/2 gallon vegetable broth

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

1 tablespoon all spice

1 gallon ice water

In a large stock pot add all the ingredients. Stir to combine. Remove innards and add turkey to the brine, breast down. Weigh turkey down until fully immersed. Cover and refrigerate for up to two days.

Rub:

2 cups Greek yogurt

3 large garlic cloves, crushed

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped

2 tablespoons fresh sage, chopped

2 tablespoons fresh thyme

Sea salt and black pepper

Basting:
1/2 cup pure maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350 F

Combine all the ingredients and stir to combine. Remove turkey from the brine and cover with a thick layer of rub. Season with sea salt and black pepper. Add to a large roasting pan and cover with foil.

Bake for 4 hours, basting constantly with the maple syrup and juice in the pan. Remove foil during the last hour of cooking.

This turkey is crispy on the outside, moist on the inside and very flavorful.

Pineapple Date Molasses Cake (gluten-free)

2 cups gluten-free baking mix (I used Bob's Red Mill) or all purpose wheat flour

2 cups fresh pineapple chunks

2 cups dried chopped dates

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

2 large room temperature eggs

3/4 cup butter

1 cup raw honey

2 tablespoons molasses

1 teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 300 F

Combine fruit, butter, and honey in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool completely. Whisk eggs and add to the wet ingredients

Combine baking mix and spices and fold into the wet ingredients.

Pour into a lined round 9" tin and bake for 90 minutes or until a stick inserted into the center comes out clean.