Archive for January, 2008
The Future of Food
Posted by: | CommentsLately I’ve been hearing about GMO’s (Genetically Modified Organisms) aka GE’s (Genetic Engineered) for humans, but it wasn’t until I learned more about it that I realized why it’s so bad for us!
“The Future of Food” is great film that explains GMO’s and talks about the science and politics behind it. The film is 1 1/2 hour, which took me a day or two to watch all the way through (because I’m also caring for Julie), but it was well worth the investment of time.
There’s lots of things that disturb me about GMO’s, but perhaps the biggest is the fact that we (the consumer) have no idea if we’re eating GMO’s. Even if food packages and produce were labeled (which they are not), some farmers claim they have no idea that GMO seeds have taken root in their fields. One farmer interviewed in the film claims that he only learned he had GMO seeds when Monsanto filed a lawsuit against him for patent infringement. GMO crops are indistinguishable from non-GMO crops. According to the farmer’s neighbor, a truck load of GMO seeds was passing by his farm when the tarp blew off, and seeds were blown into the air, settling in his field. The farmer first noticed something different when he sprayed Round-up (a weed/grass poison) around power poles in his field and his crop didn’t die–he dismissed it, thinking that the weeds must have built a tolerance to the poison. This is in fact one of the patented “features” of Monsanto’s seed. It’s called “Round-up Ready”. They take the active ingredient DNA in Round-up, and insert it in the DNA of other crops. This enables a farmer to dump loads of poison on the crops, killing pest weeds and grasses, but not killing the crop. There is a lot still unknown about GMO’s and how they will impact our health in the long run–this is one of the reasons that lots of other nations have stopped accepting imports of certain American foods.
Some scientist and scholars say that the methods used to make these genetic changes to seeds further compromise the seed to unknown viruses and bacteria that most likely will have long term effects on our health. Accordng to the film, scientists penetrate the cell of the seed using e. coli bacteria and “cauliflower virus”. Lots of studies have been done on animals, and the results are disturbing at best. There are lots of unexplainable problems including illnesses, stomach lesions, sterility, damaged immune systems, development of severe allergies, and death.
Now I use this list as a reference of processed foods. This list contains both non-GE and GE foods.
cooking with stainless steel
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Over the years, Roger and I have spent a small fortune on non-stick pans! We’ve tried them all: the super cheap Costco pans, the cast-iron teflon covered pans, and the “gourmet/professional grade” non-stick pans. No matter what, the pans are always destroyed between 1 – 3 years. The last pan was an Anolon brand “professional-grade” that cost $200+.
I admit, Roger and I both had a very bad habit of always cooking on “high”, which we have learned is a BIG no-no with teflon. Not just because the high heat destroys the coating (which is part of the reason why the pans never lasted) but also, teflon contains the chemical perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which is a “likely” carcinogen, according to the EPA. I’m sure everyone’s heard the story about the indoor pet birds who have died while their people were cooking with non-stick pans in the same room. As a result, DuPont has decided to “voluntarily” reduce emissions of PFOA by 95 percent by no later than 2010. But after the last non-stick pan went to the landfill after about 18 months, I was tired of using these disposable pans.
I started looking into cooking with stainless steel, and found that people who use it love it and never go back to non-stick. We ultimately went with this 3-quart All-Clad Copper Core saucier pan for our “all-purpose” cooking, and an All-Clad Copper Core 4-quart stock pot for soups and stews. I do love cooking with the stainless steel, but there is definately a learning curve when going from non-stick to stainless.
Here’s my advise:
If you buy a stainless steel pan, spend the extra money on a copper core. Everyone seems to agree that cooking on stainless without the copper core is a lot more difficult because stainless steel alone is a poor conductor of heat–which makes it very difficult to control the distribution and intensity of the heat. We went with the All-Clad Copper Core. It cost a little more than we had been spending on non-stick, but these pans most likely WILL last for many years, so I see it as an investment.
- When searing/frying foods, it is common for the food to stick to the pan. If you are patient, the food will release from the pan, and you’ll keep that nice brown crust on the food. From what I’ve read, it seems that most people agree that the reason for this is that the food initially sticks to the surface until steam builds between the food and the cooking surface. Once the steam builds enough, it releases the food from the surface. This has been my experience with steak. However, I lost the nice brown crust on Tilapia the other night
Next time, I’m going to turn the heat up just a little, and hopefully that will solve the problem–I NEVER cook with a setting higher than MEDIUM. - If something does stick to the pan, fill the bottom with water, and let it soak for a little while, and the stuck food will come right off. I usually put water in the pan as soon as I’m done cooking, and by the time we’re done eating, the pan is ready to be washed.
- Keep the finish looking like new by using “Barkeeper’s Friend” or “Bon-Ami”. We’ve had our All-Clad pans for a few months, and I’ve polished the cooking surface about 3 times. I expect to polish less as I gain more experience cooking with the pans.
Overall, I highly recommend trying stainless steel. I like the health aspect of not using dangerous non-stick teflon, but I also love the lip around the edge of the pan. When pouring from the pan to serving dish, the liquids/food don’t dribble down the edge of the pan. Not a really big deal, but it sure is nice to not have to wipe the edge! I also like the way these pans look. These pans are all business, but they have a beauty to them that I have never seen in the non-stick varieties.
Who is this sleeping baby?
Posted by: | CommentsI admit to being a little superstitious. Perhaps there’s nothing to it, but what if there is? I certainly don’t want to take that chance! That’s why it has taken me this long to talk about this subject…but it’s been almost 3 weeks (dare I say I’ve lost count!?). Julie has slept almost all night (in her own bed) for about 3 weeks! WHAT is going on? When she does wake up “early”, it’s usually aroun 5am, but most mornings she sleeps until ~7ish!
When we told people Julie was “co-sleeping” (sleeping in our bed), almost everyone gasp, and most warned us that once she’s in the bed, we will “never get her out”. I gotta say, it was a rather peaceful transition, and it happened when SHE was ready. The first night was a little rough, she whined for 16 minutes, if I remember correctly, but we knew she was whining because she was tired, not because she was scared or missing us.
I’m glad the transition was peaceful, and I’m still a little surprised she was ready to go to her own bed at 13 months (it took us about a month to figure out what she wanted). After hearing everyone’s horror stories, I braced myself for this to be a long drawn out situation that would someday become a “problem”.
Now I’m just waiting for potty training to start!
