Cheese Making

“Age is something that doesn't matter, unless you are a cheese” - Billie Burke

Several years ago, my wife and I attended a cheese making class and had a great time. For a simple cheese like mozzarella, the technique is quite simple and the cheese can be eaten immediately. Firmer cheeses like cheddar require a long drying time and more experience. Cheese making is not a difficult hobby and can become a business. When traveling we love to visit independent cheese makers and sample their wares. They are everywhere!

For equipment, supplies, techniques and recipes, check out BEGINNING CHEESE MAKING © by Professor Fankhauser, Ph.D., at the University of Cincinnati Clermont College. The professor recommends starting with his yogurt recipe and working your way up to soft cheese (Neufchatel) and mozzarella.

Bottom Line

Freshly made cheese is so amazingly tasty. Try some fresh ricotta on bread as a spread. It is literally milk turned solid with a clean and simple taste different than the more processed cheeses that take on a flavor of their own from the maturing molds and bacterias. You'll also be surprised at how wonderful fresh yogurt can be - just like Greek yogurt but cheaper.

Added Sugars 2

“A wise woman puts a grain of sugar into everything she says to a man, and takes a grain of salt with everything he says to her.”- Helen Rowland

The Wall Street Journal reports that the American Heart Association is taking aim at the nation's sweet tooth. In a scientific statement issued Monday, the organization says most women should limit their added sugar intake to 100 calories, or about six teaspoons, a day; for men, the recommendation is 150 calories, or nine teaspoons. The national average is 22 teaspoons a day. Just one 12-ounce can of cola has about 130 calories, or eight teaspoons of added sugar.

These values are based upon the My Pyramid government guidelines. With “My Pyramid” people on a 2,000-calorie-per-day diet have 267 discretionary calories. (512 for active young people, 200 for dieters) The AHA decided that allocating half of the discretionary calories for added sugar was a proper course. More than that risks displacing necessary nutrients sugar.

Most foods contain some natural sugar and this is already calculated in the My Pyramid plan. What the AHA is asking us to limit is the extra sugar added to soft drinks, fruit drinks, candy, and desserts like cake and cookies. Also found in sweetened dairy products like ice cream and yogurt. The sugar in alcoholic beverages also counts as added sugar. Consuming added sugar in drinks is particularly problematic because it doesn't make you feel as full as calories in solid food.

The AHA says added sugars "offer no nutritional value other than calories to the diet. … The majority of Americans could reduce their risk of heart disease by achieving healthy weight and the evidence is fairly clear that reducing the amount of sugars can help with that."

Note that the AHA is not banning sugar use. Instead they recommend using the added sugar allotment to make healthier foods more tasty, such as adding sugar to whole-grain cereal, instead of consuming it in candy.

Bottom Line

Trying to figure out how much added sugar is in foods and drinks is challenging. Current food labels don't list sugar content in calories or teaspoons and don't distinguish between natural and added sugars. See Added Sugars for more sugar facts.

Often added sugars are given different names to avoid being listed as the number one ingredient. Check product labels for added sweeteners under these names:

• Corn sweetener
• Corn syrup
• High-fructose corn syrup
• Dextrose
• Fructose
• Glucose
• Lactose
• Maltose
• Sucrose
• Honey
• Sugar
• Brown sugar
• Invert sugar
• Molasses
• Malt syrup
• Syrup

The Amazing Banana

“Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana”-Groucho Marx

I love bananas. When I worked in NYC I’d buy one from sidewalk vendors each morning. Now that I work in Connecticut I bring a banana in my lunch bag each day. So I’m pleased to read in, “A Banana a Day?”, that this fruit is even more amazing than I knew:

Compared to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium (second only to the avocado).

With three natural sugars (sucrose, fructose and glucose) just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous, 90-minute workout. [On the flip side, don’t gorge on the yellow fruit. A single banana contains 170-190 calories. Twice the calories of a medium sized apple.]

The “A Banana a Day?” article also cites health benefits for the following:

• Reducing Depression & SAS (Seasonal Affective Disorder)
• Ease PMS
• Lower Blood Pressure & the risk of Stroke
• Calm the Nerves & Stress
• Increase Brain Power
• Ease Constipation
• Prevent Hangovers
• Lessen Heartburn & Ulcers (a natural antacid)
• Reduce Morning Sickness
• Remove the itch from Mosquito Bites (rub the bite with the inside part of the peel)

Bottom Line

The banana is unique amongst fruit because it does not come from a tree but rather from a giant tree-like herb related to the lily and orchid family. Bananas are easy to digest with no fat and are often the first solid food given to infants.

The texture, color, and sweetness of bananas will change as they ripen. Green tipped bananas are firmest and ideal for cooking, yellow ones are for eating, and brown-specked ones are great for baking breads, muffins and cookies. You can add yellow bananas to your cereals, salads, yogurt, salsa, smoothie or shakes.

Store bananas at room temperature until they reach the ripeness you want; then move them to the refrigerator. The peel will turn black in the fridge but the banana inside will remain firm. To speed up ripening, store bananas in a brown paper bag with an apple or tomato overnight.

Exotic Foods - part 2

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me”-C.S. Lewis

Today’s post continues the MensHealth.com article on The Best Foods You’ve Never Heard Of.

• Kamut – the ancient wheat of the pharaohs. Kamut has higher levels of vitamin E and heart-healthy fatty acids than most grains. You can use Kamut in bread or substitute it for brown rice by boiling it in water for an hour or until the grains are tender.
  
• Kefir – similar to yogurt, this tasty beverage is made by fermenting dairy with Kefir grains. Because kefir contains gut-friendly bacteria, it’s been shown to lower cholesterol, improve lactose digestion, enhance the immune system, and satisfy hunger.
  
• Lemongrass - loaded with antioxidants. I wouldn’t eat this tough, fibrous grass. Instead pound it, break it, so the juices can leak out and add it to a soup or stir fry for flavoring. Sort of like a bay leaf.
  
• Mung Beans – these sprouts are high in potassium, iron, fiber, and protein. When bought dried, boil them until tender add to salads.
  
• Nori - nori also contains a triple dose of cancer fighters, including phytonutrients called lignans, which have been shown to help prevent tumor growth. This is the seaweed used to wrap sushi rolls and added to miso soup. You can also add it chopped in salads.
  
• Peppadew Peppers - packs heart-protecting vitamin B6, cancer-fighting lycopene, and vitamin C. This sweet-and-spicy fruit looks like a cross between a cherry tomato and a red –pepper and is great in salads and pasta or eaten plain with some cheese.
  
• Rooibos Tea – the new alternative to herbal teas. This African red leaf tea is caffeine-free and naturally sweet. My family loves it.
  
• Sardines – this is new (or exotic?) My wife lived on sardines and cheese in college. This oily fish is a top source of omega-3 fats. And while I’ve avoided eating the tiny fish in a can, I was pleasantly surprised by giant sardines (6 inches long) served at a Portuguese festival.
  
• Sunchokes – also called Jerusalem artichokes but they are not chokes at all. Instead they look and cook like potatoes with a nutty taste.
  
• Sunflower Greens – actually the young sprouts of sunflowers. Eat straight or in salads or on sandwiches.
  
• Sweet-Potato Leaves – one of the world’s richest sources of disease-fighting antioxidants. Cook them like spinach or any other leafy green.
  
• Watercress – looks like a two-leaf clover but really a member of the cabbage family. It has a light, peppery flavor and is great in salads and sandwiches
  
• Yerba Mate – this tea has half the caffeine of coffee with more health punch than green tea. Not for the herbal drinkers.

Bottom Line

I’m pleased to note that I’ve tried most of the items on the list today. Rooibos tea is great and a new flavor for anyone bored of the generic herbal teas. When we visit a teashop and say we want a non-caffeinated mix, the salesperson will often push Yerba Mate or similar as low in caffeine. But ½ strength is not really so low so you have to stay alert and know your teas. We recently enjoyed a chocolate-Rooibos mix and a peach-Rooibos mix.

Added Sugars

“I seek constantly to improve my manners and graces, for they are the sugar to which all are attracted.” - Og Mandino (American Essayist)

MensHealth.com has published some frightening facts about the amount of sugar we eat, The 20 Most Sugar-Packed Foods. By “added sugar” they mean sweeteners added to foods we eat.

• The average American consumes at least 20 teaspoons of added sugars every day in addition to the natural sugars found in fruits, juices, and milk
• Added sugar sweeteners account for 15 percent of our daily caloric intake (460 extra calories every day for the average American)
• Over one year, added sugar equals 100 extra pounds of raw sugar
• A dollar will buy you about 75 calories' worth of fresh broccoli, but that same dollar can purchase 1,815 calories of sugar in processed foods
• Soft drinks are the No. 1 source of added sugar in the American diet. Fruit juices may sound healthy but are packed with natural and added sugars
• Many “healthy” yogurts are loaded with sugar to counter-act the natural bitterness of yogurt. For example “Au Bon Pain’s Large Low-Fat Blueberry Yogurt with Fruit” may be “Low-Fat” but it has the sugar of four Apple Strudels or 7.5 Krispy Kreme Glazed Doughnuts or 11 scoops of ice cream
• While oats are healthy, most Granolas are laden with sweeteners. Quaker Natural Granola can have twice the sugar of Lucky Charms
• Beware of sweet sauces on chicken and ribs like Teriyaki, Sweet & Sour, Honey Mustard, BBQ, etc. Try plain mustard or hot sauces for less sugar
• Sugar makes everything taste better and can be found in surprising places. “Bob Evans’ Vegetable Stir-Fry” has the same sugar content as Quaker Natural Granola mentioned above. Uno Chicago Grill’s Spinach, Chicken and Gorgonzola Salad includes candied walnuts that add more sugar than a double-scoop cone of Ben & Jerry’s Butter Pecan ice cream
• Muffins are more cake than healthy. For example, Panera’s Pumpkin Muffin has the sugar of two ice cream sandwiches or two Apple Strudels
• I love oatmeal cookies and like to think of the oats and raisins as being healthy, but Dunkin’ Donut’s Oatmeal Raisin Cookie has double the sugar of a glazed donut

Bottom Line
Added sugar spikes your blood glucose levels and tells your body to store fat. In addition to adding weight, “having consistently elevated blood sugar puts you at risk for developing Diabetes—a debilitating disease that can wreck your health, potentially causing blindness, limb loss, and death.”

Lost Skills

“Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter,” – Bible, Proverbs 30:33

If you’ve been reading this blog the past few days, you may be tired of rhetoric and politics and the economy. When will Gary ever go back to traditional preparedness advice? How about now?

I was looking at the blog article Storing Food Without Refrigeration and noticing the many items that could be kept for weeks or months at room temperature if you lose power: Condiments & Spreads, some Dairy products, some meat & eggs, bread & yeast. I had to do a double take - Dairy, meat? What gives here? Even inside my fridge I’ve had milk spoil.

Taking a closer look at the products I noticed the dairy items were cheese, butter and yogurt; the meat products were mostly salami and other dried meats. Then a light bulb lit over my head. Ah ha! Our medieval and pioneer ancestors invented these very products because they lacked refrigerators. Cheese, butter, salami, etc, (in addition to being tasty) were invented to extend the life of milk & meat.

Today we take these room-temperature products for granted and sometimes abuse them (hmm…yummy). Cheese & butter are concentrated milk fat. Many sausages are packed with salt or other preservatives that should not be overindulged in. However if you treat them as treats, part of food storage to treasure and dole out in limited quantities, your body will be thankful.

Speaking of food storage, would you know how to preserve meat and milk if faced with a long-term power outage? You could be like friends of ours who, after a hurricane in Puerto Rico, hosted a giant BBQ for the neighborhood; sharing their frozen steaks before they went bad. Or you could practice pioneer recipes.

Let’s start with butter. Nothing is easier.

1. Put heavy cream inside a clean jar. (Sorry skim milk won’t do. You need the milk fats)
2. Close the lid tightly.
3. Shake.

That’s it. Now you may get sore arms (or a great workout) before all the milk converts to butter but it will happen. Keep shaking, rolling, etc. An alternative to shaking is using a butter churn. These devices use a paddle with fins to agitate the milk as you move the handle up and down.

If you’d like to try something more ambitious, here is a site for making yogurt:
http://hubpages.com/hub/How_to_make_your_own_yogurt_-_An_illustrated_guide

Bottom Line

Most of us were never taught the many skills that kept our ancestors alive.
In Why a Depression Today Would be worse than in the 1930s, the author, a museum curator, notes that rural Depression era families could make butter, smoke meat, grow a garden, raise chickens, pull a tooth, draw well water, do basic medicine, ride a horse or bike, etc. They had the skills to survive independently with little to no money. Today we are like the fat space-cruiser passengers in the movie Wall*E. Totally dependent on others (like technology or government) to fulfill our basic needs.