What I’ve Learned Wednesday: Links from Real Food Blogland 8/31/11

One of the things I like most about being a Real Food-er is (virtually) meeting all the amazing people who make up this worldwide community of crunchy food fanatics. Many of them can be found blogging about their traditional-fooding lives, and most of them have been doing both of those things a lot longer than I have. Thankfully, they are around to teach me.

Whether about gardening or gadgets, farming or fermentation, pudding or politics, real food blogs are always buzzing with new things to learn, recipes to try, or interesting stories to read. So I thought it was time that I start sharing with my own readers what I discover from them.

Here’s what I’ve learned this week:

•  A lesson in batch cooking: This is really something I need to try to do. Even though it’s just the two of us right now, I know PH and I could benefit from the money-and-time-saving practice of buying and cooking meals in advance. I love this no-nonsense, practical look into one family’s batch cooking endeavors, from Real Food in Little Rock. Thanks for sharing how you make it happen, Julie!

• It’s not pesticide-contaminated food, it’s straight-up pesticides. With most GMO foods, that’s what you’re actually eating. GM crops, like Monsanto-made corn, contain a toxin derived from the genes of a soil bacterium, making the crop itself an active pesticide. Despite claims that the toxin is safe and breaks down in the gut, it has now been found not only in the blood of tested individuals, but in fetal blood. The next generation of GM test subjects — anyone who eats the standard choices from the food supply — are already pre-polluted with toxins. As Joel Salatin would say — folks, this ain’t normal. Learn more about the issue in this informative post from Common Sense Homesteading.

• McDonald’s food is indestructible. Check out this unbelievable video clip Ruth from Ruth’s Real Food discovered (if you didn’t already see it on Facebook when I shared it yesterday). A McDonald’s hamburger and french fries, over 4 years old, with virtually no signs of deterioration — no mold, no discoloration, completely intact. Imagine how long that junk stays inside your body!

• There are some crazy mushrooms out there to be picked and eaten. I’m not even a mushroom lover, but the thought of going out into the wild and foraging for fungus to eat makes my little hippie heart go pitter-patter. How completely awesome. This post from Hunger and Thirst discusses some of the more adventurous varieties of pluckable mushrooms to be found outside, and how you can learn to appreciate them.

• If you’re buying CAFO, you’re not just paying for crappy meat, you’re paying for crappy salt and water. As much as 40% of the weight of commercial meat comes from salted tap water, injected into the meat to make it more palatable, and to increase profit margins. So if you think the cost of sustainably-farmed meat is high, consider that a piece of CAFO meat you typically pay for for largely consists of a substance you can get for virtually nothing — and it’s not so much the bargain choice anymore. Read more about this surprising fact at Tender Grassfed Meat‘s blog, and go out and get yourself some real, 100% MEAT!

 

New — Here’s what I Plan to Eat!

 

I recently started using the super-amazing online meal planning program, Plan to Eat. It’s the perfect way to gather up all those awesome recipes from all the blogs we read, and actually get them on the table — instead of just drooling over them online! So now on WILW, I’d like to share which ones I’ve grabbed from all you bloggers out there, and added to my meal planning menu. If you’re a member of Plan to Eat, you can simply “friend” me on there, and add the recipes I’ve uploaded directly to your own recipe book and meal calendar! So easy.

Here’s what I added to my recipe book this week (link to their spot in my PTE recipe book is the first one, followed by their blog link):

• Bacon Wrapped Peaches: Um. Are you kidding me. Need I say more? Thanks, Following My Nose, for this incredible appetizer/snack/breakfastlunchanddinneromg recipe!

• Homemade Sloppy Joes: Bye-bye, Manwich. A wholesome alternative from Real Food, Allergy Free has got this yummy comfort food covered, no HFCS required.

• Peanut Butter Cold Breakfast Cereal: Store-bought cereal — even the so-called “healthy” or “organic” kind —  is one of the worst things you can eat (I’ll explain more in a post sometime). Thankfully, you can make your own cereal that actually is healthy! Try out this peanut-butter-flavored version from Project Family Cookbook — I’ll bet it even tastes better than Peanut Butter Cap’n Crunch (you know you used to eat that stuff!)!

• Flourless Chocolate Brownie Cookies: Okay, these treats from Creative Kitchen Adventures are a bit of a real food cheat — lots of sugar in there, so it definitely falls under the category of “compromise” according to NT. But the good news is, you can sub out the powdered sugar with your own homemade powder made from a healthier sweetener (thanks, Whole New Mom!). Just look at the picture though — how can you not want these?!

• Easy Eggplant Parmesan: I’ve learned to love eggplant since I started eating real food, and this dish from Moms for Safe Food looks like such a great way to turn it into an inexpensive meal! Even if you’re not huge on eggplant, I kinda have this theory that if you throw enough cheese onto something, it’ll eventually taste awesome. Test it and tell me that’s not legit!

 

What have you learned lately from your favorite blogs? Did you discover any new recipes lately you plan on trying out?