Seems that people in Germany have turned to organic in a big way after the dioxin scare. It’s easy to get complacent and just ignore the organic food movement. We’ve all heard it “a bunch of wing nuts… wasting money..” . Well, maybe most of the conventional food is perfectly safe .. we believe..   Actually most conventional foods, even the so called purest, often contain chemical residues from agriculture and processing. But one thing’s for sure and that an Organic Certification is a nice extra layer of assurance of purity. And that’s a pretty good thing.

Related Posts:

• The “Is Organic Food Superior to Non-Organic Food” Series: Organic vs Non-Organic Food Quality Comparisons
• Irrational Fears and Irrational Bravado
• Organic Food Is Better Food

You can almost hear the non-organic food manufacturer’s.. “Well you didn’t ask if it contains hexane.”  Well, no, and I didn’t ask whether it contains arsenic either… just assuming that the food thing you produce is sort of safe to the point where I could consume any of it’s ingredients without worry. .. Anyway on a side note, Mother Jones which broke the story now reports that rumors have been generated that the meat industry funded the Cornucopia Institute Study which found this out. Anyway, stay organic and you’ll be fine. Also, here are some links if you want some additional information as well as an Organic Test Kitchen Post on how the food industry uses furniture shellac on apples to make them shiny:

• Soy Burger with a side of toxin (CBS News)
• Mother Jones Blog regarding the rumors of the meat industry funding the Cornucopia Institute Study
• Wikipedia on Hexane
• Organic Test Kitchen Post “Shellac On Your Apples (Refinishing To Bring Out The Luster In Old Food)“

 Melamine as you may know is used to create a thermosetting plastic resin. One of it’s main problems is it’s tendency form insoluble crystals in the bloodstream that can cause blockages in the kidneys. This is not nice stuff. As an engineer I was involved in a few projects back in the day where we had to use expensive specialized equipment to contain any spills and fugitive emissions of this chemical. It was “not-good”. However what it does do is mimic protein content in testing so as USA Today states it’s inclusion into the food chain may not be accidental. I tend to buy into this theory.

 China is of course the same country that gave us previous problems of lead paint in our baby toys, melamine in pet food and chemicals in their farmed raised fish. .. Enough… Apparently Chinese food products are not to be trusted and the FDA can’t be relied on to catch any problems.

 So the lesson here is that Organic is really different. Now we often here that it’s a waste of money and that compared to standard food there’s no difference. Well sometimes in the real world of production especially in poorly regulated countries there might be a big difference. And the danger is getting lulled into a state of “OK, now that’s taken care of. Now we’re good.” Well, maybe the FDA guy said that about the farmed raised fish as he was munching on his Cadbury Bar during his break. .. So as a general rule try to eat organic if you can. .. And if you can’t then consider making a conscience choice not to consume any food products of Chinese origin, it’s just too iffy.

  Related Links:

• Melamine in pet food may not be accidental (USA Today)
• FDA Updates Health Advisory on Melamine Contamination

 However, one of the challenges of eating this way is making certain you are getting an adequate intake of protein (you need to consult with your nutritionist or doctor before doing this). And this is especially a concern if leading an athletic lifestyle. For instance, I enjoy resistance training using free weights and machines. Getting the proper amount of protein during recovery is essential. 

 One solution to this is to use a protein supplement. I use several but one of the staples is something called Riceotein TM. .. Reading from their label here’s what they say about themselves .. “Riceotein TM is the most complete, great tasting vegetarian protein, high in essential amino acids. It is essential for building lean muscle. It is excellent for hyper-sensitive people that are prone to allergies normally associated with products such as soy, milk, egg, wheat, corn or yeast. Riceotein TM Brown Rice Protein is made using low temperatures and our exclusive certified organic  process.”

 Nutrition: 1 Scoop is 114 calories with 22g protein, 2g fat, 16.8 mg sodium, 0g cholesterol, and 6g carbs. .. We like the excellent levels of protein and the low fat content.

  Certifications: USDA Organic, VEGAN Certified, Non GMO and Third Party Tested Gluten Free TM. All Good.

  Taste: ….(here’s where you hear the sound of screeching brakes) .. In two words.. Not-Good. It seems that the brown rice has a flavor that can’t really be overcome by the vanilla flavor or stevia. And this taste test was of course done bare naked with a scoop of the stuff mixed with spring water. .. So we did a little testing in the spirit of the label that states “Mix 1 scoop in your favorite smoothie, juice, water or food. Can be used to fortify vegetarian meals. Riceotein TM may be added to your cereal, baked goods and fruits or salads. .. ” All the results of food we added this to .. alright..but not great..

 Here’s my take on that… One of the major philosophies of Organic Test Kitchen is that in addition to our food being pure and untainted by chemical residues etc that it should also have knock your socks off with good taste (hey, a calorie is a terrible thing to waste, if you consume one it had better be damn good). .. In the flavor department this stuff is lacking at best. But as an organic protein supplement, this Riceotein TM rocks. .. So what do we do? Well, we resolve this conflict by just sucking it up and making a Riceotein TM drink, maybe dolling it up a bit (we usually add some yogurt to thicken things up/add a tang and to also put in some honey) and just drinking it. It doesn’t taste the best but it’s not that terrible. Then later when I take the time, effort and love to create some awesome tasting food I can really enjoy it. .. Have I tried Riceotein TM in every dish as a fortifier? Absolutely not. .. And I won’t. Given it’s flavor it’s most promising addition taste-wise would probably be in baked goods. But… how would the heat from the oven degrade the protein? Who knows? And one scoop is pretty hefty to be adding to a salad or whatever. .. Nope, for me I’ll just add this to some sort of drink that’s easy and love the fact that I’m getting a pure vegetarian protein without any of the bad stuff. From this perspective I LOVE Riceotein TM.

Related Posts:

• The manufacturer’s (Bio International’s) website for what it’s worth.. News Section with some great organic articles (but cannot find Riceotein there)

“But they’re in such small amounts that they’re harmless.” Ya right, based on your untrustworthy conventional nothing ever to worry about opinion. No thanks. So the motto is don’t trust what they say but rather trust what you think. This entire conventional world is one big lab experiment and you don’t want to be the rat. Hmmm. .. Conventional vegi’s sprayed with chemicals to kill bugs vs organic vegi’s that have never seen a chemical. Do you say “Don’t worry about it, it won’t kill ya” or do you say “Well there’s a lot of unknowns. It’s only a little more to get the kind without chemicals. Given the possible huge downside of ingesting insecticides maybe I’d be a smarter person if I got the all natural stuff (and besides it tastes better anyway)”.

 Well I like to think that those who visiting this little organic community are smarter than the average bear and choose right by choosing organic. 

 Please share with a friend if you like this post. Some related posts are as follows:

• Being Organic Means Being Environmentally Conscience
• Positive Social Consequences Of Organic Foods

  From there we did some experimenting with smaller batches with only enough to last a day… and then only enough for a single setting. The one pot for a single day seems to work really well in terms of quality & taste. But it does take somewhat of a time commitment to peel, cut etc .. and you have to reheat for subsequent meals several times during the day.

 However, what was a nice surprise was the making vegi’s for a single meal. At first glance this sounds a bit nuts since we all have the impression that vegi’s have these massive cooking times. But they don’t so long as you cut small. For instance, yesterday I was slammed with work but needed something quick so took out the sauce pan, put a small amount of water in, turned the heat up, then peeled and cut a few potatoes, an onion and a couple of mushrooms. Nothing fancy. Put the cover on, turned down the heat (at this the water was already at a rapid boil). Set a timer for 10 minutes and went back to work to check email. After 10 drained the water, put the vegi’s in a good size bowl, added some extra virgin olive oil, sea salt & pepper. Set this aside and quickly cleaned the pan (this was easy since it only had water and vegi’s in it).

 The results.. very nice, warm, fresh, 6 minutes peeling and cutting and 10 minutes on the boil. And there was no rushing while peeling (btw I us a paring knife for peeling and not one of those potato peelers..Loose a bit more but it’s quicker). In addition, I used only a small amount of olive oil so the dish was low cal. Also, it had zero cholesterol, zero gluten, and zero dairy. Nice and this is as fresh as it gets…

  We’ll try to put together some quickie vegi dishes.. this is a great way to eat fresh, stay healthy and loose weight.

Related Links:

• Home Cooked Vegi’s as a Convenience Food (Real Fast Real Food)
• Mr. Safety Almost chops His Thumb Off While Gabbing

 In addition, before starting this I wasn’t able to eat fruit without breaking out with a fever blister (aka cold sore..gross I know but facts are facts). It’s just the way my body reacted and my father has the same issue. Anyway, I now have a fresh orange first thing in the morning, then later in the day apples, bananas, pears you name it with no negative effects. So for the first time in my life I can eat fruit with no restrictions. Loving this!

 Mentally, I’m experiencing incredible clarity and an enhanced ability to focus. And strangely, there are other things that may or may not be related..A greater organizational ability, an enhanced propensity to find the solution and implement it quickly (ie more results in less time) and an even a greater comfort level associated with intelligent risk taking. What is meant by this last item is that there seems to be a greater capability to weigh all the factors and therefore feel even better about “taking the leap” (probably because there’s a greater awareness of all that’s involved). On the less extreme side, this includes joining a few new Kayaking Groups (time is a valuable commodity so am very guarded about joining things)..on the more extreme side, there’s Mt. Rainier (the highest peak in the lower 48) and spring whitewater rafting calling. 

 So after a month it all looks good. Now the next question is, has anything been unnecessary eliminated? To find out, I’m adding things back one at a time to see it’s effects. Right now this involves caffeine. Seeing some positives as well as negatives so far and should have some conclusions by next week.

 However, since going on the new diet the total iron consumed plunged. This ended up causing extremely severe upper leg pain at night and general weakness throughout the day..This has been fixed so that I’m getting more iron and B12 than ever before..pain & weakness have disappeared and am able to up the workout level at the gym by several notches.

 Apparently, people pursuing a healthy lifestyle often have deficiencies in critical nutrients (one of the most common is B12 deficiencies among Vegans)…We all need to check with our doctors/dietitians to make certain that our healthy lifestyles are truly healthy. Usually, all that’s required is some minor tweaking to optimize things.

 The seasoning process is actually pretty straightforward:

• Put the oven rack near the bottom of the oven. Place a layer of aluminum foil on the rack.
• Preheat the oven to 275F 
• Wash your new cookware with soap & warm water. Use a scouring pad or a wire brush to remove any factory residues. Be careful when handling cast iron, it’s heavy and can break a foot or toe if dropped.
• Dry the cookware with a towel.
• Coat the cookware with lard. If you try to use a liquid oil such as Canola Oil you’ll end up with tacky (as in sticky) cookware.
• Place the cookware in the oven on the aluminum foil.
• Bake for 15 minutes.
• Remove using good oven mitts (remember cast iron is heavy which also means it also holds a lot of heat, use good quality oven mitts when handling).
• Pour off any excess grease into a container for proper disposal.
• Place the cookware back in the oven on the aluminum foil.
• Continue baking for 1 1/2 hour more.
• Leave the cookware in the oven and shut off. Let the cookware come back down to room temperature in the oven.

Re-seasoning:

• If the pan start to stick just thoroughly clean and dry.
• Repeat the seasoning instructions above.

 Cast Iron Pans. They distribute heat evenly, last a generation or more if properly cared for, add a vital nutrient to our diets and are non-stick. Naturally, without chemicals and without using the resources needed to produce these chemicals.

Related Links:

• Amazon.com’s Lodge Cast Iron Cookware Page

 One thing to note however, is that when making things with white rice flour you often have to also use Xanthan Gum so pick some up at the same time.

 Many people in the Organic Community also choose to live Gluten Free. Sometimes they have to deprive themselves of treats which can be difficult, especially during the holidays. And if they really aren’t cooks then they’re at the mercy of what’s mass produced. What a nice gift to provide them with Organic Gluten-Free Foods that are fresh and taste great.

Related Links:

• Arrowhead Mills Gluten Free Page
• Gluten Free Products