They Draw and Cook

Hey guys!

I wanted to share this amazing website called They Draw and Cook. It is an international community of foodies and artists that create visual recipes that are a feast for the eyes! To give you a taste (ha!) for it, here is an illustration of a recipe for salad and soy sauce salad dressing by Rie Nicheco from Japan! 

If this is something you are interested in, I urge you to sign up!! it is a no obligation thing - all for fun, and if it is only to look at the amazing works of others, by all means do that!

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Gourmanda

Sugar: 2 videos

I have two videos for y'all to watch this weekend. Some food for thought. Here they are:

1.

2.

I got both of these videos from ed.ted.com - my new favorite website, go check it out! They have videos on topics ranging from animation to philosophy. You can learn so much from watching just one so I encourage you guys to head on over there!

I am sorry I haven't been posting recently.

As always:

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Gourmanda

Sugar in a Plastic Bucket, Doesn't that Sound Appetizing?

Here is a grotesque close-up 

Yesterday I was in Rite Aid on the check-out line to purchase some shampoo when I looked to my left and saw something truly horrifying. Appalling. Even sickening. Here it is:

 All I have to say is: what has our the world of food come to??? Who in their right mind would stroll into a drug store, see a plastic cylinder filled with wrinkly pastel floss and think, "That looks like something I want to put in my mouth!"

Yes, I have seen cotton candy before. Yes, I have eaten it. But tasting the melting sugary sensation only makes me want to spit it back out.

And you know what the best part is? In the yellow balloon on the container it reads "Fat Free". Like that makes everything better. Oh hooray! It's fat free! That makes up for the ALL THE SUGAR I AM SHOVING INTO MY BODY.

FACT: When something says its "fat free" it means that all the fat has been taken out and has been replaced with refined sugar to compensate for the lost flavor. Fat free is not a good thing.

We need to be schooled on the importance of food knowledge. No, not how many hot dogs one can eat in one sitting, no, not the price of a chocolate bar at Walgreens.

Nutrition facts of a tub of the cotton candy

Before you purchase one bucket of cotton candy, or any processed food item, ask yourself, "Do I know what is really in this?" Knowing where our food comes from. This is invaluable.


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Gourmanda

Zoodles: The new way to pasta!

Hello Gourmanda readers!

I am officially back and cracking my knuckles in preparation for a posting spree to make up for time lost while at camp!

For now I want to tell you all about the amazingly delicious recipe that I made last night using a combination of three recipes from three different resources all while accommodating three different tastes/diets!  I will call it Tomato and Almond Pesto Zoodles with Paleo Meatballs! 

Now before I give you the recipe, a quick explanation of "Zoodles." Zoodles are zucchini noodles made using a spiralizer. Many people following the Paleo or Raw Vegan diets opt to make this veggie pasta as a substitute for the real stuff, and claim that it tastes very similar! What makes zucchini a good substitute for pasta made from flour is that it has a similar look and texture and an almost bland taste that can be manipulated with ease using various sauces and spices.

After placing platters of this dish in front of my family of four, floating above the table were exclamations of "Ooh!" "Yum!" "This is delicious!" My father recently started to follow the paleo diet and he testified, "That was one of the best meals I have ever had! And I've eaten a lot of meals!"

I hope you enjoy this recipe and check out my girl "Fully Raw Kristina's" Youtube channel for more videos and recipes for zoodles.

Tomato and Almond Pesto Zoodles with Paleo Meatballs

Zoodle Ingredients and Equipment:

4 zucchini 8-10"long

A Spiralizer (I have one from Paderno)

Place the strands of zucchini in a colander. Toss with salt and let sit for 20-30 minutes. Rinse with running water, drain well, and pat dry with paper towels. 

Tomato Almond Pesto Ingredients and Equipment:

5 or 1.5 lbs plum tomatoes, halved
1 cup plus 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup almonds, toasted
1 clove garlic, chopped

1 cup of lightly packed basil

1/2 cup of almonds
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese*

Food Processor (I used one from Ninja)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place the tomatoes cut side up on a baking sheet and drizzle with two teaspoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and bake for one hour. Let cool to room temperature. Place the almonds and garlic into food processor. Pulse 3-4 times to roughly chop. Add the basil and pulse another 3-4 times. add the tomatoes and the remaining cup of olive oil and pulse until the tomatoes have broken down but some small chunks remain. The peso should retain a bit of texture. Stir in the Parmesan* and salt to taste.

Paleo Pesto Meatballs Ingredients and Equipment:

2½ pounds pastured lean ground beef or turkey

½ cup almond flour

1 large egg

1½ teaspoons kosher salt

¾ cup Tomato Almond Pesto

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine ground meat with almond flour, egg, salt and pesto. 
2. Roll the mixture into (golfball-sized) balls and place them in a pan

3. Cook each meatball until the sides are evenly browned

FINAL STEP: Combine zoodles, pesto, and meatballs in pot and let simmer for 1-2 minutes. 

serves 4 people

More yumminess to come!
Gourmanda

*Note: do not use Parmesan for Paleo dieters. 

Resources: theclothesmakethegirl.com "Basic Zucchini Noodles", Edible Vineyard Issue 22 "Pesto", everydaymaven.com 

Dinner in the Dining Hall - Brought to you by Camp Timber Tops!

Hello Everyone!

Right now I am probably having dinner at camp in our dining hall. Sitting at a 50 yard long table with 50 other girls screaming and yelling as loud as possible so I can eat.
Sounds awesome, right?
Sadly (although I could use a break from technology), camp is also where I am not allowed to have any Internet access or electronic devices. So, thanks to the handy dandy "Schedule Post" button, I can magically post during camp and keep the blog going! :)

So today, why don't I teach you some of our songs so you can virtually sing along with me and the rest of the camp?!

Here is the first one. It's called "Chicken"
C that's where it begins,
H that's the second letter,
I that is the third!
CK thats the middle of the word.
E that's near the end,
N that is the end.
C-H-I-C-K-E-N,
That's the way we spell Chicken!
Chicken, lalalala
Chicken, lalalala
C-H-I-C-K-E-N,
That's the way we spell Chicken!

Number 2: "Pizza"
P is for pizza
I is for Italian
Z is for zesty
Z is for zestier
A is for all night loooOoOoong!
PIZZA!
PIZZA!
WE WANT SOME!

Very clever, right?

Keep singing!

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Gourmanda

FED UP!

On July 2nd I went to go see a new film with my family. This film is called Fed Up and it is an eye-opening, jaw-dropping movie that everyone needs to see. The film was produced by Laurie David and former news anchor Katie Couric and directed by Stephanie Soechtig.

Fed Up follows four different teenagers struggling with obesity who share their experiences. Ms. Couric, the narrator, then explains the science behind the growing epidemic and why it is worsening everyday. Many credible experts such as Michael Pollan, Mark Bittman, and Bill Clinton speak on different points throughout the movie as the point are illustrated using simple graphics and video clips.

"'Fed Up' is probably the most important movie to be made since 'An Inconvenient Truth,'to which it’s related in a couple of ways," said Mark Bittman in his article about the film (http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/05/14/opinion/bittman-an-inconvenient-truth-about-our-food.html?referrer=&_r=0). "One of its producers is Laurie David, who also produced “An Inconvenient Truth.” Climate change, diet and agriculture are inexorably intertwined; we can’t tackle climate change without changing industrial agriculture, and we can’t change industrial agriculture without tackling diet."

What I learned from the movie is this: Sugar is the root problem of the obesity epidemic in our country and if we don't do something about it now, the majority of the population of America will have food-related diseases (diabetes, heart disease) in the near future.

The movie drew an interesting parallel by comparing the Sugar Industry to the tobacco industry. Thank goodness I am not old enough to have grown up with cigarette/cigar/chewing tobacco advertisements on TV and billboards without the Surgeon General's warning, but many people did live through this time. We need to urge those people to implement the successful strategies used to win against the tobacco industry on the big sugar companies such as Coca Cola, Kelloggs, McDonalds, and Pepsi. Today kids are unarmed in facing the commercials that bombard them with sickly-sweet messages. Sugar cereals, Go-gurt (I used to like that stuff, but now that I think about it, I was squeezing sugary goop out of a tube and into my body,  BLECH!), McDonalds, Chuckie Cheese's, and many, many more.

So how do I get started? How can I improve my eating habits without sacrificing some of my favorite foods? One easy way for you and your family to embrace healthy eating and eliminate sugar and processed chemicals from your diet is to purchase Laurie David's new cookbook The Family Cooks. It contains lots of delicious healthy recipes for every meal, beautiful pictures, and helpful shopping and eating tips. I have already made five recipes from the book and I bought it three days ago!

I will be posting a lot about this movie so stay tuned because this is an issue that desperately needs our (and our government's) attention and support.

MUCH MUCH MORE!
Gourmanda :)

P.S. Did you notice the clever title "Fed Up" contains many different meanings?

Easy Summer Refresher: Watermelon Juice Recipe!

Good Morning!

It's sunny, it's hot, it's a perfect day...to make watermelon juice!

Here is what you will need:

• 1/8 Watermelon
• 1/2 cup of coconut water

That's it! 

1. Toss watermelon and coconut water into blender and blend. I use a Ninja Blender, but you can also use a Vitamix, or any other blender that gets the job done!
2. This is an optional step, but for those who do not like pulp you can take a strainer and place it atop your glass while pouring in the juice. This will get rid of any unwanted watermelon chunks.
3. Stick a straw in it and enjoy!

Makes about 2 cups

Tip: you may want to remove the seed prior to blending the watermelon. Personally, I like the whole fruit, but if this doesn't suit your fancy then pull out those seeds!

This recipe is completely changeable and if you find that different quantities of the ingredients work better for you, go for it!!

Happy sipping!

Gourmanda

Dessert: No-bake Granola Bars

Hello my foodies!

I had a delicious homemade granola bar tonight for dessert courtesy of @videomeals. I love following this account on Instagram because in 15 seconds you are taught a quick and easy recipe for either breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, or dessert! Today they posted a recipe for granola bars and the only kitchen tools required were a blender, bowl, and parchment paper - that easy!! They camp out fantastically and if you want the recipe you should follow them on Instagram or read below.

No-bake Granola Bars Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dates
• 3/4 cup almonds
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup flax seed flour (optional)
• 1/4 cup peanut butter (chunky or smooth)
• handful dark chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 rolled oats

1. Blend dates until small granules
2. Mix in dates with the rest of ingredients in a bowl
3. Scoop out onto parchment paper and shape into rectangle (or if you want funky-shaped bars, whatever you want!)
4. Place in fridge until firm (approx. 1 hour)
5. Cut into bars
6. EAT AND ENJOY!! :)

By the way, for all those raw vegans out there, these are completely safe to eat! And for non-raw vegans, completely yummy!

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Gourmanda

Garden Pool (SO COOL!)

"Our family feels that food is the currency of the future."

These are the words of Dennis McClung, the founder and creator of Garden Pool, a non-profit organization that teaches people how to transform a pool, yes, those cement holes normally filled with chlorinated water, into a garden that yields produce 365 days a year!


I would try to explain this amazing process, but you have to see it for yourself.

Original design sketch
gardenpool.org

Terms to know:
Symbiosis - an interdependent relationship between two organisms living together
Self-sufficient - needing no outside help in satisfying one's basic needs, especially with regard to the production of food
Aquaponics - a system of aquaculture in which the waste produced by farmed fish or other aquatic animals supplies nutrients for plants grown hydroponically, which in turn purify the water
Solar power - power obtained by harnessing the energy of the sun's rays
Biosphere - the regions of the surface, atmosphere, and hydrosphere of the earth occupied by living organisms

If I ever move into a house with an empty pool, and it is located in a good climate, I am DEFINITELY doing this. :)

More,
Gourmanda

Learn more at 
http://gardenpool.org/

Should I eat Insects?

Exhibit A: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM8s1ch5TRw

Exhibit B: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1jRxzMsOcI&feature=youtu.be

:) Gourmanda

Shades of Summer: Today at the Farmer's Market

On my bike sporting my Chappaqua Farmer's Market T-shirt!

Wildflowers

Leafy Beets

Rooty Radishes!

Vibrant Tomatoes

Colorful Swiss Chard

A variety of hummus's! Hummi?

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SUMMER!!!

Wow I thought I would never say those words ;). But seriously, this is a day worth celebrating. And the perfect way to celebrate? An early morning trip to the Chappaqua Farmer's Market!! At around 9:00 this morning my lovely mother and I biked to the train station to reap the benefits of the cornucopia that is our market! We purchased spinach, tomatoes, whole wheat sourdough, a berry lassi, delicious Taiim truffle hummus, and a big fat carrot!

I hope your weekends are filled with delicious farm fresh food and fun!

More to come!
Gourmanda

P.S. Shout out to my mommy and dado who are celebrating their 16th wedding anniversary!! I love you guys!!

The Dirty Truth

I was making myself a spinach salad the other day when I noticed that accompanying the comforting USDA organic stamp and "Package made of recycled bottles" motif on the organic spinach container was an unsettling two part adjective. "Triple-Washed." I had never noticed this description before and yet I eat spinach almost as often as Popeye!

It made me think, why is my spinach being washed thrice, or even twice? What is on my spinach that requires it to be scrubbed more than once? What are these people that are processing it in the USA washing my spinach with? Does the USDA approve that? 

Along with all these befuddling questions, my spinach resurfaced a story I remember hearing from my aunt several years ago, who is from Namibia, now living in DC. She told this story at the dinner table at a family event, but while this story struck me as funny back then, now it seems utterly appropriate.

During her pregnancy with my fabulous cousin, Lisa, my Aunt Connie recalled craving and eating termite dirt because of its nutritional qualities (high in protein!). At first this seemed disgusting to me, who would eat termite dirt (poop)?! Such an approach seems a polar opposite to the teachings of western medicine. But I did some research and the practice of eating dirt while pregnant is actually very common! 

According to Magnetic Clay.com, "One of the most common human populations to engage in the deliberate consuming of earth-based substances is that of pregnant women. In sub-Saharan Africa, the rates of pregnant women eating soil or clay range from 28% in Tanzania to 65% in Kenya. Clay is prepared and sold in markets, or taken from termite mounds known to be rich in minerals, and eaten at an average of 30g daily." 

Hmmm... would termite dirt stick in my teeth? Or taste good with a cricket muffin? Would it have good umami? Although I haven't tasted any soil yet, my spinach is making me think: does the US have a problem with over sanitizing?

Allergy specialists have observed that in Africa, almost no one is allergic to anything. And why is this? From a very young age, kids run around shoeless in the dirt, are exposed to all kinds or germs playing outside, and drinking unfiltered water. Although this might seem like a dangerous lifestyle for a three-year old, lets spin the looking glass to our side. From the minute a baby is born, it is washed and tested with chemically-sterilized instruments. Parents avoid exposing their young children to potentially germy environments for fear that they will become sick. 

And think about this, a study funded by Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) showed that the number of children in the U.S. with peanut allergies has more than tripled between 1997 and 2008.

It is true that the improvements to our sanitary habits over the last hundred years or so have shown a positive effect on public health (The habit of hand-washing has decreased the occurrence of bacterial diseases such as typhoid), but I think it can be argued that we have gone a little too far in the hand-washing, Purell-toting (they make these cutesy carrying cases for crying out loud!!), Clorox-disinfecting game and started to veer off into the stainless steel land of suds and bubbles.

Am I proposing a war between the clean and the dirty? Maybe. But as Spongebob famously declared at the end of that ingenious episode:

"It matters not whether one is dirty or clean, for can cleanliness exist without filthiness? And would we know filthiness without cleanliness? We must not reenact the history that divides us, rather we must embrace what draws us together. All must be free to choose their own path."

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Gourmanda

That's what I like to see! / Eggs Make my Day

The New McDonalds Character is McScary to Me

Meme of new McDonalds character "Happy"

A couple days ago, my brother and I were watching TV, Nickelodeon to be exact, and I noticed a new commercial come on. It was a McDonalds commercial and it featured a new character that I did not recognize. My brother and I usually make a game of ridiculing ads, especially ones for fast food establishments, and we had grown sick of McDonald's campaign showing cartoon characters such as "Dina the dino" and the kid named Ferris who had a pet goat who "ate everything in sight" and was told, "Goat, you gotta eat a better diet, fruit and dairy, let's go try it."

When I saw this new character it immediately reminded me of the hyper-popular animated characters of the Universal Studios movie "Despicable Me" and its sequel. Yes, this food container character made me think of the yellow minions that we all love so much.

It makes me sick. It makes me sick that this corporation that caters so much to little kids. The fact that McDonalds incessantly advertises on kid's TV channels such as Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network is despicable!

In fact, this character was designed by the same people that animated the film starring the beloved "Gru." And this Happy Meal thing has actually been in Europe and other places for a couple years already!

Cartoon from the New York Daily News

I wasn't the only one that objected to this new face. Twitter went crazy when this character was first introduced to America calling it "McScary" and "McCreepy" for its toothy grin and large eyes. I agree with the good people of Twitter, but not for the same reasons.

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Gourmanda

Reusing our food (Choice 2)

28% out of the 46% of Organic waste is food!

There are two paths that as a world we can choose to follow when it comes to feeding our looming estimated population of 9 billion. Choice 1: Finding alternate food sources, like the ones I mentioned in my previous post. Or choice 2: Finding ways to reuse leftover unexpired food. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, food waste makes up about 28% of our landfills. 28%! That's more than 1 out of 4 pieces of pie! 

I already talked about different alternate food sources so now we will discuss choice 2. The other day I found this excellent advertisement from an organization called Food Recovery Network. Here is an except from their website:

"Food Recovery Network unites students on college campuses to fight waste and feed people by donating the surplus unsold food from their colleges and donating it to hungry Americans. Founded in 2011, FRN has grown to include chapters at more than 90 colleges and universities in 25 states, DC and Puerto Rico that have recovered over 340,000 pounds of food. Each chapter works with on-campus dining halls and other, off-campus eateries to divert food from the landfill to community members in need, while also raising awareness on issues of food waste and hunger in America. By May 2015, Food Recovery Network aims to be on 150 campuses and to have donated 610,000 pounds of food."

Who, do you ask, benefits from these donations? Exactly the people who deserve to: the homeless, people who cannot afford to buy food, and many more. 

This is a very smart way to approach our potential famine problem and we should all support this organization and other ones like it.

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Gourmanda

The Future of Food

Hi all!

I came across two intriguing stories this week. One was an article and one was a video. They both talked about the future of our food culture and how we, the world, are going to support our exponentially enlarging population with a limited food supply. Both stories offered inspired approaches to this serious problem. 

The article I read appeared in The New Yorker and was entitled "The End of Food." It made the novel suggestion of blending all the most basic components of our diet to make a liquified version of an ideal meal. It's called Soylent and it might be change the way we think about "food" forever. The shake is chock full of protein and other nutrients (find the full list of ingredients here) and to taste testers, has a distinct doughy flavor.

It seems obvious and simple to turn to the purest forms of essential nutrients that our bodies need. In Wall-E the 2008 Disney Pixar movie that depicted the earth's environmental demise also showed the obese people of the starship living off of "Lunch in a cup!" The alternate food source the people consumed sounds very much like Soylent. 

Bitty Logo

I've recently become addicted to TED Talks. And when I came across this talk, I was completely enraptured by the speaker's concept. This other solution to our future famine is one that could be a bit controversial with Entomophobiacs/Insectophobes. It is the brainchild of Megan Miller, a former employee of the USDA and founder of Bitty. Bitty is a company that sells baked goods, but here's the twist: all of their foods are made with cricket flour. What is cricket flour? It is essentially dead crickets that have been ground up into a flour that has been described as "nutty" and "wholesome." The genius behind this idea is it's incredible sustainability. Crickets are in abundance and incredibly cheap to farm. Also, cricket flour is very healthy and nutrient-rich as well and would be a much cheaper alternate to buying big brand refined white flour. 

So how do these alternate food sources help? I think the end goal of both companies is to take a large slice, if not the whole pie, away from the pizza of world hunger by sending their products to impoverished nations. Soylent could be used as a filling form of nourishment and become a staple in poorer county's food support system, while cricket flour can be substituted for other flours in foods such as bread, muffins, or even cookies!

So which would you prefer to be the future of our food? Both? Neither? I'd definitely like to try both!

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Amanda