Cancer and the “war”

I just read an article over at Christinacooks entitled; Cash, Cancer and Confusion by Bill Tara.

Well done. My favorite quotes are, “A few years latter Richard Nixon declared the war on cancer. It has turned out to be the medical version of Vietnam.” And, “We don’t need more research we need more action. Some of this action needs to be focused on reversing the ridiculous social fixation on meat eating.”

He talks about the need to make a healthy lifestyle accessible to all. That people need to know healthy food can also be inexpensive.

So, read my series on Saving Money on Whole Foods, and check out Lindsay Nixon’s stuff. She’s got meal plans available and three cookbooks out, all of which utilize easy to find ingredients in recipes that are quick when it comes to prep. time.

C

Pressure Cooking 101, the final

Having successfully cooked something, in your pressure cooker, you are now ready to move on and branch out in your pressure cooking experience.

If you purchased The New Fast Food, finish reading it.

Recipes start on page 29, but the there are two sections following this which talk about cooking grains and beans in more depth. Definitely worth a read.

Try cooking other things.

What not to do:

Do not decide to impulsively convert your lentil soup recipe. Actually, this would have probably been fine except too watery (turns out you reduce the liquid when converting recipes). However, if you also at the same time decide to double the recipe, and then after adding nearly everything (except some of the water) think about how you are supposed to only fill the pressure cooker 1/2 to 2/3rds full, and then decide to try it anyway minus some of the water (which was a good thing).  Then when it’s cooking freak out and do a quick release resulting in undercooked soup. And then because you’re still worried about it being too full, ladle out half of the soup and cook the other half, eat dinner, and then cook the rest. Don’t do that. Just in case you were thinking about it.

Instead:

Cook more than one recipe already converted for pressure cooker use. Try some beans, after all that’s what pressure cookers are for, right?

C

Pressure Cooking 101, steps 5 through 8

Step 5: Read through the manual and identify the various parts, get a general idea of how to operate your cooker.

*This may lead you to wonder what people have against broccoli. Eight minutes in a pressure cooker? I don’t even steam broccoli for that long, so at first I thought they just didn’t know anything about cooking vegetables, but… then I read how long to cook Brussel Sprouts. Four minutes. Probably accurate, but seriously who cooks Brussel Sprouts for less time than broccoli? The resulting limp, army green broccoli is exactly why people think they don’t like it.*

Step 6: Having thoroughly read the owner’s manual attempt the water test. Fill the pressure cooker with 2 cups of water and bring to pressure. This will tell you whether your particular pressure cooker is functioning or not.

Interestingly, you take the cooker up to pressure over high heat and then if you have a gas stove top you lower the heat to maintain pressure, but if you are cooking on an electric range you may need to use two burners. One would be set on high and the other on a low heat (or medium as needed) because electric burners tend to take longer to cool down. That said, I’ve heard some people have no problem using just the one burner even on an electric stove top.

Step 7: Start to play around with the minimum amount of water required to achieve and maintain pressure. My manual says 1/2 cup, but my pressure cooker will hold pressure with only 1/4 cup of water. I suppose this step could be optional, I would never have tried it except forthe fact that Jill Nussinow recommends doing so in my “textbook”, The New Fast Food, since some of her recipes call for fairly low amounts of water.

Also, as recommended in Jill’s book, I tried the quick release method of lowering the pressure. Wherein you run cold water over the lid, as most likely illustrated in your users manual.

(Steps 6 and 7 will also help you overcome any residual fear of pressure cookers you may be harboring.)

Step 8: Actually cook something! Pick something simple, one ingredient. And, I would recommend something that cooks quickly for your first time through. I made banana squash, cubed (large cubes) and with about 1/2 cup of water added to the pressure cooker, it took 3 minutes at pressure to cook! I’m half in love already. In addition to being super speedy it was cooked to perfection, something that frankly doesn’t usually happen when I cook squash in the oven. I didn’t use the quick release method, since it was winter squash and I wasn’t worried about it overcooking. Instead, I just waited for the pressure to decrease naturally while I finished our salad dressing. Seriously, loving this!

*Disclaimer – I have not actually tried cooking broccoli in a pressure cooker for 8 min. so maybe it doesn’t really result in limp, soggy, army green, and unappetizing broccoli. But, I’d be surprised if it didn’t.

C

Pressure Cooking 101, Steps 1 through 4

A Self Taught Course.

I have recently become motivated to learn to use a pressure cooker, in part due to the title of my recently acquired “textbook”, The New Fast Food by Jill Nussinow. Who doesn’t need a healthy and fast food option for dinner?

So, anyone else who’s interested, feel free to follow along. So far, it goes like this:

Step 1: Order/Purchase the Textbook

Step 2: Glance through the book and determine to unearth your pressure cooker from somewhere in the depths of the basement. (Alternatively you could go buy one based on the advice provided, )

Step 3: Read pages 0-18 of The New Fast Food. Be happy that she assures us that pressure cooking is now safe, reading this reassurance repeatedly is, I am sure, helpful to overcoming previous fears due to horrible stories/childhood pressure cooking experiences.

Interestingly, I don’t have any horrible or traumatic childhood pressure cooking experiences, and yet still have an intense reluctance to actually use a pressure cooker. My mother had one, which, after reading this book I am inclined to think was fairly solid (certainly heavy) and well made, and therefore relatively safe.

Step 4: Locate your owner’s manual. This will be easier if you are purchasing a new device, . I found mine in my cookbooks with various other cooking related manuals.

Interesting tidbits found in the cookbook/textbook:

*Pressure cookers save quite a bit of energy over traditional cooking methods.
*The Cuban Government (for the above listed reason) in 2005, made Chinese produced pressure cookers available to their citizens for $5.50, payable in installments.
*The first T.V. dinner cost $.99 and took 1 hour to heat in the oven. (Although I’ve read varying accounts regarding the cooking time required.)

Next up will be the water test.
And then cooking adventures await.
(Assuming the water test is passed)

C

Saving Money on a Whole Foods Diet: Fast Food at Home

Everyone is busy, and often, usually at least once a week we have nights where dinner just doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen.

To prevent a fast food run, here are several options.

* Learn to use a pressure cooker for cheap, fast food. Pressure Cooking 101 posts coming soon.

* Try freezing home prepared foods for later use. Examples that freeze well are veggie burgers, burritos, and lasagne.

* Have a short list of meals you can prepare quickly with pantry staples. At Least It’s Not Fast Food!

C

Saving Money on a Whole Foods Diet: Grow a Garden

Even a small garden can make a dent in your grocery budget.

Additionally, some of the easiest foods to grow, herbs, are also the foods that you pay the most for per pound at the grocery store. Perennial herbs are even better because you can just plant them and essentially not worry about them, aside from ensuring their watering needs are met.
Sage, mint (isolate it or it will take over), chives, lovage (huge though, you need space for this one), and oregano are some nice perennials.

I highly recommend perennials when it comes to vegetables too. They can help carry you through a year when you don’t get a good garden put it. Some options are; French Sorrel (some people would call this an herb, but I use it like a vegetable, so…), asparagus, nettles, rhubarb and Jerusalem artichokes.

Container gardens offer a lot of options if you don’t have a yard, as do community garden plots.

Planting your own fruit trees and berries is also an economical option. For very little maintenance you get a huge payback, after a few years of patience while the plants mature.

For faster results try berries first.

Some of my favorite resources are:

Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew
and
Eliot Coleman’s books

C

Saving Money on a Whole Foods Diet: Plan Your Menus

Just about everything that can be said on this subject has been said on this blog. This is because last October as part of a 31 Days of Posting Challenge, we focused on Menu Planning. I’ll re-post the links to that series here for your viewing pleasure.

You’ll notice it starts with #2, that’s just because post #1 was an introduction to the 30 Day Challenge.

2) Why Plan?
3) Plan for a lack of planning
4) Start with what you already have
5) To plan breakfast and lunch or not?
6) Feeding Children
7) A Master Plan
8 ) Inspiration
9) Dishes
10) Breakfast
11) More menu plans
12)A Virtual Sandwich Bar
13) Midweek Menus
14) Execution
15) Sleep
16) Halloween
17) Tomatoes and a Dinner Plan
18) Snacks are Important
19) What’s in your kitchen – a contest!
20) Thanksgiving 1
21) Menu Options Available Online
22) More Inspiration
23) Making Family Meal Time a Priority
24) Soup to the Rescue
25) A Few More Thanksgiving Ideas
26) Thoughts
27) More Lunch Ideas
28) Speaking of Thanksgiving
29) Side Dishes
30) Desserts
31) The End

I know CSA’s and Bountiful Baskets produce selections can complicate this. Try planning just after you receive the food so you know what you need to supplement with.

C