Archive for the ‘Food-Nutrition-Health’ Category

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Sxusem: Indian Ice Cream

Saturday, August 14th, 2010

Canadian Buffaloberry (Soapberry)

by Catherine Haug

(Photos by C.Haug)

I have a section of my yard that has never been landscaped, and is full of native shrubs and flowers. The other day I noticed a shrub with berries that I had not noted before (though by its size, it has been there for many years). With the help of Brett T., it has been identified as Shepherdia canadensis or Canadian buffaloberry, which is also known as soapberry.

The Chinook name is Soopolallie (soapberry), and natives of the Pacific Northwest made a summertime sweet concoction called sxusem. From Wikipedia (2): (more…)

Posted in Ecology, Food-Nutrition-Health | Comments Closed

Optimal Storage for Fruits, Vegetables

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

by Catherine Haug

As our gardens provide summer bounty, we like to keep these fresh goodies as long as possible. Mint Life had an interesting article by ‘Frugal Foodie’ from earlier this month, with tips to extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables (Pantry, Counter, Fridge; Where to Store Produce for Maximum Shelf Life (1).

Frugal Foodie often suggests storing fresh (or dehydrated) foods in plastic bags, but I shy from these because they:

  • Are made from precious petroleum and are thus not sustainable;
  • Can out-gass or leach toxins into the stored food;
  • Don’t allow the food to breathe;
  • Are not biodegradable; and
  • Escape in the environment to find their way to oceans and marshes where they can trap and kill animals.

Instead, I prefer to use lightly moistened bags I make from muslin or cotton dishtowels, or glass containers covered with lightly dampened cloth.

Winter Storage

Check out the following EssentiaList articles and handouts:

Read on for short and long-term storage tips from A (for Apple) to Z (for Zucchini), including dehydrating and freezing. (more…)

Posted in Food-Nutrition-Health | Comments Closed

Rendering Lard – the Perfect (& Original) Shortening

Sunday, July 11th, 2010

Cooled lard in molds

by Catherine Haug

(photo, right, by C. Haug)

Back in your grandmothers’ (or great grandmothers’) time, lard was a common staple in everyone’s kitchen, used for tender & flakey pie crusts, melt-in-your-mouth cookies and cakes, frying, deep frying, a spread on toast (like butter), and more. But in more recent times, it has been maligned, along with all animal fats, as an artery-clogging nightmare. It does not deserve this reputation.

[I firmly believe it has gotten a bad rap because the powers-that-be want to push us into using fats/oils from vegetable sources so they could sell more seed. But that’s another topic altogether…]

See Rendering Lard in a Crockpot: The Process for instructions and photos (by Shelli R and Catherine, October 23-24, 2010)!

What is Lard?

It is the fat from hogs, in both its rendered and unrendered forms, and comes in three grades: (1) (more…)

Posted in Food-Nutrition-Health, Shop Local | 1 Comment »

Eating Sustainably – It Takes Community

Sunday, July 11th, 2010

by Catherine Haug

Eat only what’s in season, and what is grown/produced locally.

We all know this is important if we want to minimize our energy and ecological impact on the planet. But have you ever given serious thought to what this means to you and your family, at a personal level?

Last week I posted La Vida Locavore on this very subject, and I can imagine some thoughts that ran through my readers’ heads as they read that post: (more…)

Posted in Community, Food-Nutrition-Health | Comments Closed

La Vida Locavore

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

by Catherine Haug

Once again, I checked out our new Bigfork Village Market this evening, a warm and sunny event. Lots of people turned out to visit the 10 or so booths selling fresh veggies, prepared foods, flowers, candies, candles, soaps, lotions, art and jewelry. The live music hadn’t started yet, but it was already a festive evening.

It felt good to be a locavore, and an active part of our community, as I shopped for fresh greens and baked goods, chatting with vendors and customers.

What is a ‘locavore?’

“Locavores are people who pay attention to where their food comes from and commit to eating local food as much as possible.” (from 10 Steps to Becoming a Locavore).

We were all locavores in Bigfork, prior to the 1960s…
(more…)

Posted in Community, Food-Nutrition-Health, Shop Local | Comments Closed

Nutrient content of different types of milk

Sunday, June 20th, 2010

Bottle of Milk

by Catherine Haug

Have you ever wondered which milk source has the highest nutritional value? If so, check out this webpage from Dom’s In-Site (Dom is an international expert on kefir): Nutritional Value of Different Fresh Milk-Types (see References for links), which compares the nutritional value (from USDA data) of cow, goat, water buffalo, sheep, human and soy milk; and the following measures for each milk type*:

  • Proximates: water, energy, protein, lipids (fat), ash (minerals), carbs;
  • Minerals: calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, zinc, copper, manganese, and selenium;
  • Vitamins: A-carotene, A-retinol,C, D, E; and B vitamins: thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, folate, B6, B12;
  • Lipids (Fats): mono-unsaturated, poly-unsaturated, cholesterol, total saturated [NOTE: this category not shown for soy milk, even though it contains lipids].

*NOTE that raw milk of any type has higher nutrient content than pasteurized.
(more…)

Posted in Food-Nutrition-Health, Health | Comments Closed

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