*bouncy*

[sparkindarkness]

I am all bright and happy lately. Partly I think it’s from not being ill any more (barring the asthma-that-isn’t because all they can do is keep saying “uhhh, maybe?” so we’ve reached a compromise of keeping the blue thingy round in case I have an asthma attack) but I think it’s a result of my new resolution!

Healthy eating!

Now, I am one of the biggest critics of healthy eating fad because I think it either a) makes a huge amount of money telling people stuff they should already know (you mean eating half my bodyweight in bacon is bad for me? Who KNEW?!) or b) telling us to ignore our common sense so they can try and sell us things as healthy food even though we doubt it (with wholegrain in every sugar laden cereal and many claims of “healthy” chocolate)

So, no, I’m not a fan of healthy eating fads or schemes or diets. I like basic common sense - which I am now applying and combining with healthy paranoia.

See, I don’t mind eating unhealthy food - I love eating unhealthy food - but I am HONEST that it is unhealthy so I acknowledge it as an indulgence - which means it has to be an indulgence. If I’m going to eat something that is going to shave a couple of minutes off my total life span I demand it taste good enough to be worth it! (And preferably contain bacon).

And this is the problem, because analysing my diet with paranoid label reading I find that even though the copious piggie sandwiches are not good for me, the bacon may actually be more healthy than the bread it’s laid upon! “Wholemeal bread, no artificial preservatives or flavourings” uh-huh, it has 3 different E-numbers, 2 acids and an obscene amount of salt in it according to the label. It’s BREAD - flour, yeast, water, sugar - the label should be very short. It shouldn‘t have a dozen extra ingredients. Half of them SHOULDN‘T sound like the liquids we used in chemistry class. What is this crap you have put in my bread?

So much of our food is messed with that it’s unbelievable what you’re eating these days - especially when you make convenience food. And this is where I slip up. Ready sauces, ready made meals are so EASY at the end of the day. But I sit down to a moderately decent but nothing special bowl of pasta with some ready-made pasta sauce on it or a stir fry with some brand’s sweet and sour slathered through and a quick check of the label tells me that I may as well have just chewed down some sugar coated lard with extra salt. And this bugs me - if I’m going to eat something this unhealthy it should at least be special taste/food experience wise. And it isn’t. I’m packing my body with chemicals and salt and crap and my only reward is, what, 30 minutes extra time? Screw that.

So, for the past few weeks I’ve been buying food that is as un-screwed with as possible. As an extra bonus I’m using Beloved’s bread maker (one of the gadgets that is stuffed in the cupboard of doooom) which is great. Put it on in a morning (it takes 10 minutes) and come home to bread for the evening and next morning - and the only crap that goes in it is crap I put in (which may involve bacon.)

It’s shocking really, I mean, I’m no cook. I’m a lousy cook - but anyone can throw together sauce for pasta or chicken or stir fry and it’s amazing how much tastier meals are. Yes we have cooking disasters but it still has more substance than a salt ridden, monstrosity you warm in the microwave. And the cost?! It’s amazing how much cheaper some of it is!

So I’ve decided, it’s a success and from this day forth the only people screwing around with my food are going to be people who are actually COOKING it (and regard it as cooking - not producing industrial style).

Comments

[polarbee.livejournal.com]

You want scary, read the labels of food in America. I swear some of this stuff is 80% preservative. We also can't be trusted with raw milk cheese.
*stops herself from this rant*

If you have the option, you could try sprouted grain breads. They are usually fairly short ingredient lists and very tasty. Some of them are anyway.

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

*aighs* some of it shouldn't even be considered food any more. Who was the person who coined the term "food-like substance?"

I look to actual bakeries when not baking my own - much less likely to be unnecessarily meddled with

:)

[triplemare.livejournal.com]

Who was the person who coined the term "food-like substance?"

SPAM and Velveeta Industries, respectively.

[stormcat.livejournal.com]

But chocolate IS healthy!!! If I have PMS, give me chocolate and remain healthy! How is that bad? ;)

And yeah. I've been forced to cook more and very carefully read labels due to my body having hysterics over a can of Spaghettios (I MISS my canned chemically pasta! *cry*), but on the other hand... I'm a canary. I'll be the first to be affected by things like overchemicalization and the like; when I fall over it's time for everyone else to stop doing/using whatever made me go boom.

One of the things you can also do is make mass amounts of tomato-based sauce. It's easy if time-consuming to get it to the right consistency, it's tasty (especially if you use the secret ingredient of mashed-up anchovies -- trust me, it gives it body and doesn't taste fishy at all), it freezes and reheats well and you can dump it over chicken or pasta and have a salad on the side for a ten-minute dinner that's actually healthy. And crockpots are a godsend -- chunk of decently-marbled beef, some barley, glug or two of red wine, couple of bay leaves, water enough for the barley, onion/carrots/potatoes to taste and my lazy-cook secret ingredient of instant onion soup mix (there should be "organic" floating around somewhere), put it on low and walk away for the day. Ooh, and homemade pesto in the food processor also freezes well. Pesto meatloaf? Smear it on salmon filets before wrapping them in foil and baking them a bit? You get the idea. :)

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

Helathy for all of us I imagine! :)

It must be awful to be so sensitive, but at least you have a warning system for when something is more chemical than food?

I love Italian sauces, though I go more for cream based sauces (and cheese based - cream, cheese and lashings of garlic and you can make a sauce for anything!) and a weekend random sauce making session may be in order. i've never tried anchovies in a sauce (I LOVE fish and anchovies but fear it being too overpowering in a sauce - which is why I am wary of tomatoes sometimes) but if it's not too overwhelming I'll definitely try it for consistency's sake (thin sauces are awful) nice idea, thanks :)

Wine and long cooking - we don't have a crockpot but we do have a loooong steamer, loooong pressure cooker and looooong over cooking thingy., We already use onion soup (either instant or made) for a lovely cheesy dumpling and rich stew recipe (beef, red wine, tomato, onion soup sauce, slow cooked with dumplings topped and mixed with red leicester or cheddar cheese)

Pesto will also be tried :)

[makarov.livejournal.com]

and you get the added benefit of that wonderful smell of bread baking

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, nothing better than when you stagger home from walk and the smell of fresh, hot bread. First thing to do is drop the brief case, grab the bread and the butter for that melting-butter first slice

[baranduyn.livejournal.com]

Everything you've written is so true and direct to the mark that I long to mouth kiss you. Tongue optional.

As for Mr Breadmaker...I have one. I have had it since February. My came-with-the-flat oven has too many cold spots to produce great bread. Mr Breadmaker has never let me down and I do love to play with him. I rather think he enjoys this as well.

Everything that goes in is organic/natural. I have added (hydrated) bulgur wheat to whole wheat bread. I have made dough. I have partied with him.

Here you go, my brother. Party central:

http://www.cooksrecipes.com/breads/bread-machine-recipes.html

[tanarill.livejournal.com]

Ooooh. Must remember this site for future experiments, yes I must.

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

NBow that IS endorsement :)

Breadmakers are soooo easy! And procude wonders. And now I am going to join this party - welcome to my favourites list recipes galore!

[tanarill.livejournal.com]

Ahahahaha. AHAHAHAHA-[wheeze]-HAHAHAHAHA!

Sorry. Chemist moment there. That was me laughing at your WTFage about what is in your food. For example, "monosodium glutamate," which even from this side of the pond I can practically guarantee is on your bread label, is also known as MSG. It's pretty tasteless, but sensitizes your taste buds to make whatever it's with taste better. It's found naturally in mushrooms. Some people are allergic to it in high concentrations, but the amount they stick in bread is basically there so that the bread doesn't have to taste that good.

I applaud your bread-machine usage. My family homestead also contains one, and it takes me about 15 minutes to slap together a loaf. It is much better. The only issue being you have to eat the bread that day or use it in some kind of stuffing-ish thing the next. Otherwise it's far too hard for human consumption.

Other things I can recommend, if you're looking for unadulterated food:

Most canned fruits and vegetables have few extras. You'll probably see "calcium chloride" as an additive, but a) it's chlorine, like what you get in table salt and b) the calcium is good for your bones. There are all sorts of recipes floating around that go "Take two cans of chickpeas, add a can of tomatoes and these spices, stir and heat, serve." so this is really helpful for thirty-minute-meals.

Indian food is astonishingly simple in terms of the basic ingredients list and difficulty of cooking. If you want to spend the money to invest in some good spices (not curry mixes, you! whole seeds, and a specially-tasked coffee grinder to powder them) then you can get some really good food. However, cooking Indian food the traditional way takes time and umpteen bajillion plates and bowls and spatulas, so I recommend taking shortcuts like substituting canned diced tomatoes for fresh diced tomatoes.

Sushi isn't hard. It's time consuming if you're cooking alone, but really ridiculously easy.

And, hey, if you find a particularly good recipe, please share it. We're going into the part of the year I live with my family, and they expect me to cook twice a week. Although I love them, I'd hate to bore them by repeating meals too often :P

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

It is on every label - I looked up what it did (nosy) and decided I want things to taste like what they taste like - not for them to cheat! No artificial flavourings, serve me good food and you don't need them :)

well 15 miunutes to make and about 3 hours to bake I think. It DOESN'T keep that's true - no preservatives. But we eat so much bread and can make a smaller loaf - we generally get through a little loaf a day (because if there's frsh baked bread? we will eat it) and left overs can always be used as bread crumbs for baking or the birds :)

I try to get fruit and veg fresh, but tin sounds better than frozen in this case - sad thing is most the fruit comes in sickly sickly syrup

Indian food either has to take ages and lots of fiddling with post and pans and pinches of a dozen spices or it's not worth doing at all I feel. It's the kind of food I set aside a lot of time for and really enjoy it - but can't do casually. Instant curry powders? EVIL and an insult to the cuisine!

I'll let you know but Stormcat about has some nice ideas :) I'm a terrible cook tbh and tend to do more stream of consciousness/whims than actual cooking (I cannot measure. Ever. And I'm AWFUL at following recipes. I dump in whatever is closest to hand/sounds right and put in as much as I like. Then more garlic. Lotsa garlic). Generally I just have my cream, my garlic and my 10 cheeses and work round them - everything can be improved by cream, garlic and cheese in copious amounts. It is known.

[elrohana.livejournal.com]

He he. I also discovered this some considerable time ago and now we eat junk CONSCIOUSLY as a treat when feeling lazy, in the same way most sensible people eat take-away food. Most of the time, we eat cooked from scratch stuff, and now occasionally with home-grown ingredients as well! We were given a breadmaker by the not-in-laws and it is getting used - though it does need toasting after the second day.

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

Eating junk as a treat I am totally behind. Then you can indulllllge and get a rewaerd for the badness. But having badness and not even being rewarded with joy?

Bread never lasts that long here. We eat soooo much (and toast is great to finish it off - or bread crumbs) plus we can make a smaller loaf uusally :)