Throwback Thursday!

Happy Throwback Thursday!!

Wow I guess we've used that new term so much that now we can consider it a holiday. Huh.

Anyway, in honor of the day on which we get an excuse to post cute baby pictures on Instagram, or post on your friend's wall reminding them of that time they did something embarrassing, I thought I would do a food-related throwback.

EZ Squirt ketchup

Okay, who remembers that time that Heinz came out with colored ketchup? It was a brief time period in my childhood history, I don't even remember buying it, but I remember seeing purple, green, orange, and even teal ketchup on the shelf at the grocery store and thinking, "Is there anything they can't do?"

I can just imagine the meeting they had at the Heinz company. It went probably something like, "Our sales are down, we need something new and fun! Something that the kids will love. How about throwing some dye in our ketchup? Kids love things that are colorful! Just look at Barney the purple dinosaur!" (This reminds me of an awesome Portlandia episode that you all need to watch!)

It only lasted six years, EZ Squirt ketchup just barely jumped the shark. But really, would you eat something called "Funky Purple" or "Blastin' Green?"

But wouldn't it be cool if the whole ploy was a social experiment in disguise?

What if the board meeting really went like this: "Hey guys, what if we studied how change in color effects the likability of our product, red tomato ketchup? We could compare which colors were the most popular, and how much color really matter in a food, is taste more important than color?"

Sorry if that was a little out of the blue (pun intended), but I'm becoming more and more interested in food psychology and how our behavior at home, in restaurants, and at the grocery store effects our eating habits. It's a really fascinating field of science that Brian Wansink at the Cornell Food and Bran Lab is doing a lot of work in.

So I leave you with a question, how would you react if you opened the bun of your hamburger and there was a pile of blue goop instead of red? I'd like to know! :)

More,

Gourmanda

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!

More,
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:

More,

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.


More,

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!

More,
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?