Thoughts on Nutrition & an Appetizer Recipe

Please humour me as I just got some fantastic news regarding this blog but want to wait until everything if finalized before announcing anything. I promise to release all information shortly. So today I'm going to just highlight a little about nutrition and I hope not in a preachy way. Don't worry near the end is a wonderful little appetizer I found in Food & Drink but modified by me. It is a nice, light appetizer that should please most tastes.

Here's my theories on nutrition. First I want my readers to know I have never had a weight problem and given my metabolism likely never will. However, I do use foods for their healing properties and I firmly believe that proper nutrition is paramount. Food serious does heal the mind and sould. This topic is on my mind having returned from Las Vegas and needing to get our routine back in order. Hopefully, that is as preachy as this entry will get.

My dietary style is I don't do diets. I'm sorry but I have other things to worry about in life. My husband is a meat and potatoes guy who likely eats more red meat than he should when we eat out. When my kids were young and right from birth I kept anything white from them. That meant white sugar, white flour and white rice. My kids were in kindergarden before they were ever exposed to sweets and guess what even now as young adult they don't like them. I also had the philosophy that a kid will not intentionally starve themseves so as long as good food is available . I figured if they had healthy coices they would eat when hungry so mealtimes have never been problematic for us. Unlike some any food was fair game in the house while the kids were growing up and still is. There are fruit and vegetable bowls everywhere and the biggest problem is keeping them well stocked. What you won't find in our home is the heavily processed, commercially prepared conveience or fast foods. I think if I had to really describe our family diet it would be vegetable, fruit and grain based with a lot of good quality fish, meats and poultry. Since I do a lot of home preserving you won't find very many of those government nutritional labels in our home.

I will mention four books that I do enjoy for their nutrition content: Healing Foods by Pratricia Husman and Judith Benn Hurley, Book of Food Counts by Dr. Art Urlene, Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser and The Hundred Year Lie by Randall Fitzgerald.

Well, that is my bit on nutrition. There is no doubt we fit into the suggested guidelines of healthy eating the majority of times but there are days we stray.

Here's the healthy appetizer:

Cucumber Cups

This is a nice refreshing appetizer, easy to make, low fat and sure to please.

Ingredients:

1 English syle seedless cucumber
1 6 oz tin tuna packed in water
1-2 tbsp Miracle Whip or mayonnaise
1 tbsp finely chopped onions
finesly chopped chives (optional)
handful of mesclun mix
homemade raspberry viniagarette (optional)

Wash and dry the mesclun mix. Place it on the serving dish. Drizzle lightly with the vinaiagarette. Wash the cucumber and remove both ends. Cut into 2 1/2" pieces. Carefully remove the center of the cucumber with a small spoon leaving about 1/2" for the bottom forming cups. Set aside. Drain the tuna and stir in onions and Miracle Whip or mayonnaise. Add chives or other herbs as desired. Spoon this mixture into the cucumber cups. Place the filled cups on the lettuce base.

Pork & Beans and Old Fashioned Vermont Beans

Beans are one of the easiest and most economical things to can especially when you buy your beans on sale or in bulk. Better still is the flavour of homecanned beans of any kind. I like keeping a good stock of home canned pork & beans, old fashioned vermont beans and kidney beans but can other beans to have on hand too. The nice thing is beans can be canned anytime of the year. I'm down to my last four jars of pork & beans so will be canning up a batch this week. The picture is from the last batch.


Pork & Beans

Pork & Beans
source: Jean Paré, Company's Coming Preserves, 1994. Pp.112

3 lb dried navy beans
water to cover well

1 1/2 lb ham, diced
1/2 c onion flakes
2 c ketchup
1/2 c molasses
2 tsp coarse pickling salt

Soak beans in lots of vvater oVernight in large heavy saucepan. Drain next mornig.Cover with water again. Bring to a boil, stirring on medium heat. Cover. Cook about 1 hour until tender too soft. Bite into a bean to check if cooked. Stir often while

Add remaining ingredients. Stir. Return to a boil. Pour into jars to 1 - inch (2.5 cm) of top. Secure lids. Process in pressure canner 10 pounds pressure for 80 minutes per pint, 100 minutes per quart. Makes 10 pints or or 5 quarts.

Note: for a different spin, reduce ketchup to 1 3/4 c and add 1/2 c maple syrup (aka Old Vermont Beans)

Bugs & Hamburger Soup

The day started out with very good intentions then quickly esculated to unneeded complications. But I did finish one large batch of a hamburger soup that will give us a couple of quick meals and a few meals in the freezer to help get through the next week.

Unidentified Bugs

Because of a rodent problem 99% of my dried foods are vacuum sealed in mason jars. I had exactly 6 bags of food in an upper cabinet that I didn't bother vacuum sealing because I knew I would be using them within a very short period of time and the chances of rodents getting up there are slim to none. What I didn't bank on was bugs!

It started innocently enough as I wanted to get my beans ready for sprouting. On the very back of the cabinet was what looked like a blotch of instant yeast. So my husband looked, deemed it dust, wiped it off and there you go. Except, I pulled out the only plastic bin I have in the cabinets. It held the 7 bags of of food: rice noodles, pot barley, bulger, couscous, gourmet wild rice, adzuki beans and balsami rice. Of those only the pot barley had been opened then secured with an elastichw ile the adzuki beans were in a zipper bag. Then I saw a lot more of the dust except it was moving! I don't know what these bugs were but I was not impressed at having to clean out an entire cabinet. The only thing that appears to have been affected was the barley so I don't know if they came in with the barley but I suspect so since it is a fairly new bag. At any rate, the new rule in our house is all dried foods will be vacuum sealed in mason jars.


We really need comfort, home cooking right now so I decided to whip up a batch of this thick soup. I've been making this dish ever since the kids were knee high to a grasshopper and it is a family favourite. What to call this dish has always been a question. My family refers to it as Mommy's Surprise and they likely aren't too far off. This is one of my home made versions of hamburg helper so anything is fair game including beans and barley. I'm making a 15 quart batch as I'm typing this entry. I'll keep enough in the fridge for a couple of meals and freeze the rest.

Hamburger Soup aka Mommy's Surprise

As mentioned this is one of our favourite, most requested meal during the winter. Don't let the picture fool you, there is 15 quarts of yummy soup in that pot. This dish freezes nicely even though it has noodles in it. We like it served with grated cheddar cheese on top and homemade sourdough (recipe will be posted shortly). This really is pantry cooking at it's best. The result is awesome, family friendly and can be made with ingredients from your pantry or freezer.

This is a method rather than a recipe but you could likely formulate a recipe from it. The base is always the same:

2 lb lean ground beef, browned and drained
1 qt vegetable stock
2 med onions, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2-3 qts stewed tomatoes

First brown the ground beef and drain. Pour that into a large stock pot and add the other ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Add about 4 oz of tomato paste and 2 quarts of water.

Now here is where it gets fun and you can raid the fridge, freezer or pantry to your heart's content. Note, if using left-overs, frozen or canned vegetables proceed as following if using fresh add every thing at once.

vegetables of choice: our favourites are - corn, garden peas, green beans, potatoes, mushrooms, zucchini and carrots
beans: optional but kidney and lima beans are quite nice, use homecanned or commercial for quick cooking
herbs: chives and thyme are nice, or use a bayleaf then remove before serving
pasta*: toss in a couple of handfuls of broad egg noodles

*substitute rice or barley for the pasta or if you want add those too

Sorry I can't be more specific. I don't measure but simply toss much like many of our family favourites. For those who have read through my blog, you will immediately know that is my style.

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