Pickled Okra

This was our last week here for Farmers Market. But, I did pick up some more okra so I could have another try at pickled okra. The first go round went pretty well. Although I was a little disappointed at first as the flavor was pretty weak. But now, two months later, they are pretty good – good enough I want to do it again. I could not find an NT recipe for lacto-fermented okra, so I had to improvise. I used the basic pickle (cucumber) recipe from Nourishing Traditions for the”brine” and searched around for pickled okra recipes to get an idea on the spices.

• About a pound of small okra
• 1 jalapeno – seeded & quartered lengthwise
• 2 cloves garlic peeled & halved
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
• 1 tbsp sea salt
• 1 cup filtered water
• 4 tbsp whey

Wash the okra well and place in a quart-sized mason jar. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over the okra, adding more water if necessary to cover the okra.The top of the liquid should be at least 1 inch below the top of the jar. Cover tightly and keep at room temperature for about 3 days before transferring to cold storage.

As I mentioned, it takes several weeks for these to really develop their flavor, so you have to be patient. And the flavor is not at all like the commercial variety, where the okra is pickled in vinegar. But once they have aged properly, they are very good – at least if you like okra. Now a bit from Sally Fallon on lacto-fermentation:

Lacto-fermentation is an artisanal craft that does not lend itself to industrialization. Results are not always predictable. For this reason, when the pickling process became industrialized, many changes were made that rendered the final product more uniform and more saleable but not necessarily more nutritious. Chief among these was the use of vinegar for the brine, resulting in a product that is more acidic and not necessarily beneficial when eaten in large quantities; and of subjecting the final product to pasteurization, thereby effectively killing all the lactic-acid-producing bacteria and robbing consumers of their beneficial effect on digestion.  Nourishing Traditions, p. 90.

An Observation

I recently read a great post by healthycookie about MSG and learned some things I hadn’t heard before. It appears to be a well researched and thought out post. Here’s a tidbit, that will hopefully inspire you to read more:

MSG is not a preservative, vitamin, or mineral. MSG goes by dozens of different names and is a highly addictive and destructive drug. A drug that attaches to glutamate receptors located on major organs in our body including the pancreas and heart, as well has the potential to cross the blood bran barrier (protective barrier around the brain).

Having that on my mind, I recently observed my son’s eating behavior with certain foods.

When at any of the grandparents, B generally is up before anyone else, and therefore consumes boxed cereal for his breakfast. I’d noticed that he often refilled his bowl multiple times. At home, if I buy boxed cereal, it’s usually some organic variety, although those aren’t exempt from suspicion. However, I noticed he seemed more satisfied with those, usually, and didn’t have so many refills.

I mentioned before trying some homemade cereal recipes. My most recent was an oat granola that turned out quite well. B had a bowl of that yesterday, and that was all. Just one bowl. This morning, he opted for a boxed ‘o’ shaped variety offered by the grandparents, and had no less than three refills. In light of the MSG article I found that very interesting.

This link has a list of aliases for MSG.The cereal B had this morning had modified corn starch in the list of ingredients. I wonder if that is the same as modified food starch in the alias list. I think I need to learn a bit more about this little additive. Thanks, healthycookie, for the heads up.

Almond Alert

I first saw mention of this by a commenter on one of my previous posts. Then, a few days ago it was posted on the discussingNT group. Almonds grown in California will soon be required to be “pasteurized.” In addition, these almonds will still be allowed to be labeled raw. I’ve also learned that “pasteurization” includes fumigation, using a potentially carcinogenic chemical. And no labelling is required to differentiate “pasteurization” method.

For full details, go to the Cornucopia Institute. There is a link to the full news story, an Almond Fact Sheet, an Action Alert and sample letters you can use to voice your concern. The new rules were originally to take effect September 1, but now may be delayed to March, 2008, to give the industry time for implementation. As I read, it seems the rules have been established more to protect the large scale producers from lawsuits than the consumers.

These new rules are a reaction to a couple of incidents of salmonella contamination (linked only to large scale producers). While reading about this, I recalled a similar incident not too long ago involving spinach. Will fresh spinach soon be required to “pasteurized” in the same manner? What else may this be applied to in the future?

My sick child just came in and crawled in my lap, so I guess that’s the end of this post. I hope this gives folks food for thought and brings more awareness regarding our food industry.

Happy Friday.

What to Feed the Dog??

I’ve written recently about my dog being ill, along with the pet food scare. I must say my dog’s illness was not directly related to the pet food – we did not have any of the recalled food. Although he is a relatively healthy dog, with only occasional bouts of illness (diarrhea, vomiting, ear infections), I believe the commercial diet we feed him does have a negative impact on his health. It is not a natural diet for a dog. In the back of my mind as I’ve made effort to eliminate certain types of food from our diet I knew the same types of issues existed for the dog, as well.

Several weeks ago, in the midst of the scare, I checked out the Weston Price website to see what they had to say about dog food. What they recommended was a raw meat diet. I brushed that aside and figured I’d find that cook book my mother-in-law had given and begin to cook him some mixture of food. Today, my husband gave me a news clipping about feeding your pet. They referred to PetStyle.com and claimed they recommended 1/3rd meat, 1/3rd grain, and 1/3rd vegetables. Well, I don’t know where the author got that from. In browsing the PetStyle.com site I’ve found two articles recommending the same raw meat diet as the Weston Price folks!

Aha! I just found an article by a vet recommending various brands of commercial pet food. So the above recommendations for preparing your pet’s food yourself are probably there, somewhere. So I suppose PetStyle offers a balance of the many differing opinions out there. But, the more I read about the raw diet for dogs and cats, the more sense it seems to make. The jury is still out and I’m not off to the butcher just yet. But I’m starting to lean more in that direction. My deadline for deciding and proceeding is before the current stash of dry dog food runs out. Here are some links to the raw diet info I’ve been reading:

• Trends in Home-Prepared Diets for Pets
• Optimum Pet Nutrition
• Dispelling the Myths of Raw Feeding
• Jane Anderson’s Raw Learning Sight - a wealth of information!
• Raw Fed Dogs

That’s Interesting

I watched a PBS nature show with my son yesterday. Sorry, I don’t remember what the title was. One segment featured the Tasmanian Devils of Australia. Apparently they are being ravaged by a disease that is threatening their population. Their numbers are dropping dramatically because of it. Although they didn’t make any mention of possible causes of the disease, they did mention one of their habits is dumpster diving. The little devils like to snack on discarded people food. After that they named the disease they had been referring to – lymphatic cancer.

They briefly mentioned that they were raising some orphaned devils in captivity, meaning their diet is more controlled – no dumpster diving for them. And so far, those devils have remained free of the disease. Hmmmm. This was a short segment without much detail. But I couldn’t help but wonder if there might be some connection between the dumpster diving habit and the cancer. I don’t really know anything about how food is processed in Australia, whether they have similar issues as we do here in the US with how crops and animals are raised for our food. I couldn’t possibly be the first person to wonder if there’s a connection. Surely it’s being considered. But, I thought it was interesting.

Not Gonna Do It!

I’ve been dreading turning 40 for nearly four years now, since I turned 35. Do you know why? It’s not a fear of getting old, so much. After all, what’s the alternative of growing older? No, it’s a little medical procedure that’s been preached at me for years, having my first mammogram. Yup. And my dread was growing as 39 looms ever closer this year, which would put me one year away from having to do it. Well, I’ve just decided I’m not gonna do it. Absolutely not.

For years I’ve kept my ears perked just in case a story broke telling of an alternative. But I haven’t heard any such thing, until last week while listening to Natural Solutions Radio when the show host mentioned thermograms. The thing is, this is nothing new. It seems the basic concept has been around for a long time. Leaves me wondering why I haven’t heard of it. It is a noninvasive procedure that apparently gives better results than mammograms. I’m definitely going to find out more about this, and how I can opt for a thermogram over a mammogram.

There are several articles regarding mammograms on the Natural Solutions Radio website that give plenty of reasons to avoid having a mammogram, aside from my own anxiety over the pain and discomfort of it. Check out Mammograms Offer No Health Benefits.

Since then, other doctors have begun to assert that in addition to failing to offer protection, mammograms — which involve exposing patients to radiation —may actually increase women’s risk of cancer. 

“The latest evidence shifts the balance towards harm and away from benefits,” said Dr. Michael Baum of University College in London. 

According to Canadian columnist Dr. W. Gifford -Jones, women between the ages of 40 and 49 who have regular mammograms are twice as likely to die from breast cancer as women who are not screened.

If you click the women’s health category, you’ll find several more articles specifically regarding mammograms or mammography. And here is another article on Thermography that has more information regarding breast screening and answers my earlier question of why I hadn’t heard of it. If you’re female, this is certainly something to investigate and seriously consider. I know I am.