Nourished Kitchen» weston a price foundation

A Recipe: Salisbury Steak for Grown-ups

Jenny — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 04:19:50 +0000

This is not your lunch lady’s Salisbury steak recipe. No. Not by any means. In this Salisbury steak recipe, we pair grass-fed beef with earthy oyster and shiitake mushrooms, fresh thyme and mineral-rich homemade beef stock. It’s a luxurious dish – rich and robust.

For a woman who lives food, dreams food, revels in food like I do – there’s a handful of dishes that evoke powerful memories, memories so strong one can almost relive them in tasting the dish. Preserved lemons and home-cured olives bring me back to my summer in Morocco – whitewashing a children’s center, traveling the ridge of the Rif mountains in a teetering old van. Just a sniff of cherry-flavored Jolly Ranchers or black licorice-flavored jelly beans, and I’m sitting at the worn wooden table in my grandmother’s Long Island kitchen. And Salisbury steak takes me back to the grade school lunch room, to science fairs and playing Red Rover during dusty and hot recesses. And then, a second memory comes. I’m in college, poor like all college kids – spending money on books and booze, bagging groceries at the supermarket until midnight when I’d settle in for a microwave supper. Banquet made the cheapest and I could usually buy one for under $1.50. Oh how it makes me cringe now; though, in all fairness, it made me cringe then, too – and I eventually gave it up to vegetarianism (another bout). Let me tell you now, texturized vegetable protein and vegetable broth does not a Salisbury steak make. Of course, I learned quick to ditch the processed soy and resolved to eat a whole foods vegetarian diet – lentils and beans, grains and vegetables.

Oh, but what was I thinking!?! How I wish I had learned about the dangers of soy and read the Weston A Price Foundation’s guided tour for vegetarians before I found my young body (already challenged by pharmaceuticals for a decade) riddled with autoimmune disease, thyroid disease and infertility.

I’m joyful, near blissful to have come full circle in a celebration of traditional foods. I know better than to deny my body the nutrient-dense foods it craves – even butter and fresh cream and whole raw milk. I have my reasons for eating red meat, and I cherish my local ranchers who nourish my family and our collective land with grass-fed and pasture-raised meats. Their work, and the work of other ranchers practicing holistic management, greatly improves the variety and health of local fauna and sequesters carbon in the soil where it belongs. The animals need the land, and the land needs the animals. We humans? We need both.

In this Salisbury steak recipe, we season grass-fed beef with shallots, onions and wild mushrooms before searing and tenderly simmering it in mineral-rich broth. This gentle practice which imparts moisture to the final dish makes up for what some cooks consider grass-fed beef’s shortcomings: namely, that its leanness makes it tough. On the contrary, grass-fed beef can be wonderfully tender – particularly so when it’s slowly cooked with plenty of good quality broth or wine as called for in this Salisbury steak recipe.(...)
Click here to read the rest of A Recipe: Salisbury Steak for Grown-ups (750 words)

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A Recipe: Sourdough Challah with Poppy Seeds

Jenny — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 15:54:33 +0000

Whole wheat sourdough challah, fragrant with olive oil and honey, is a nourishing bread – rich, flavorful and worth the extra effort it takes to lovingly prepare the dough, roll out the strands and intricately braid the loaves. While typically prepared from refined white flour, vegetable oil or margarine and refined white sugar, challah is, indeed, a loaf for special occasions – but preparing this traditional bread from wholesome ingredients elevates challah beyond the mundane to something that truly nourishes the body and spirit while satisfying the tastebuds.

In this version of challah, we use soft white wheat flour. Soft white wheat is a whole grain, differing from hard red wheat which is typically used for breads, in that it is softer, with a lower protein content and is better suited to preparing pastries. When transforming your family’s favorite treats and sweets made from refined white flour, to more nutrient-dense whole grain alternatives, choosing whole soft white wheat flour enables you to maintain the baking qualities of white flour while nourishing your family with the myriad vitamins and minerals typically found in whole grains. Of course, whole grain is rife with antinutrients including enzyme inhibitors which inhibit good digestion as well as food phytates which bind up minerals in the digestive tract inhibiting your body from fully absorbing all the micronutrients whole grain can offer so the proper preparation of flours and breads is essential not only for improving flavor, but also in protecting from mineral deficiencies. Fortunately, sourdough fermentation as called for in this recipe for whole wheat challah dramatically improves the nutritive qualities of whole grains by neutralizing enzyme inhibitors and degrading phytic acid.

If you’re serious about bread baking, you might also consider purchasing a grain grinder for your home (see sources). After whole grain is milled, packed and allowed to sit in bulk bins or on the shelves of your local grocery store, nutrients are lost – vitamin E and other vitamins slowly degrade the longer the flour sits. When you grind grain fresh, not only is the flavor vastly improved, but many of the fragile vitamins and enzymes remain intact. Bread, like this whole wheat challah, becomes a true luxury when prepared from freshly ground flour.

Whole Wheat Sourdough Challah with Poppy Seeds

Whole wheat sourdough challah, sweet and tart and fragrant with honey and poppy seeds, offers a decidedly more nourishing take on the classic sweet bread, omitting refined white flour and sugar for more nourishing alternatives: whole soft white wheat flour, honey and unrefined extra virgin olive oil.

Sourdough Challah: Ingredients

1 quart proofed sourdough starter (see sources)
7 cups whole soft white wheat flour (see sources), divided, plus extra for kneading
1 cup filtered water
5 eggs, divided
1/4 cup honey (see sources)
1 teaspoon unrefined sea salt (see sources)
1/2 cup unrefined extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to grease the bowls (see sources)
poppy seeds, to dress the challah

Sourdough Challah: Equipment

mixing bowl and wooden spoon
stand mixer
kitchen towel
baking sheet or baking stone

Sourdough Challah: Method

Stir one quart proofed and bubbly levain with four cups soft white wheat flour and one cup filtered water. Pour the levain and flour into the basin of a standmixer equipped with a dough hook and mix until the dough forms a solid lump, cleaning the sides of the bowl, about three minutes.
Transfer the dough to an oiled mixing bowl, cover it with a kitchen towel and allow it to rest for twelve hours.
After the dough has rested for twelve hours, whisk four eggs, one-quarter cup honey, one teaspoon unrefined sea salt with one-half cup unrefined extra virgin olive oil.
Transfer the dough back to the mixer equipped with a dough hook, pour in egg mixture and remaining three cups soft white wheat flour. Mix together until the dough forms a solid lump, about four minutes, then transfer to a floured surface for kneading.
Knead the dough, adding additional flour as necessary, until it becomes smooth and pliable, about six to eight minutes.
Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and allow it to rise until doubled in bulk, about one to two hours.
After the dough has doubled in bulk, divide it into two equal portions. To make one loaf, divide one portion of the dough into three portions, then divide each of those three portions into two portions. You should have six equal portions of dough for one loaf of challah.
With the palms of your hands, roll each of the loaf’s six portions of dough into a strand about twelve inches long and one and one-half inches wide. You should have six equal strands of dough for one loaf of challah.
Braid the six strands of challah. (Register for Happy & Healthy Holidays to view the video tutorial on braiding a six-strand challah, available December 1st).
Prepare the second half of dough in the same way as you prepared the first.
Beat the remaining egg with two tablespoons water and brush it on the loaves.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Allow the loaves to rise again for about an hour, brush with egg wash a second time and dress with poppy seeds.
Bake in an oven preheated to 375 degrees Fahrenheit until golden, about forty minutes.
Cool loaves completely before serving.

YIELD: 2 loaves
TIME: 30 minutes (active time), 12 to 15 hours (fermentation and rising), 30 to 40 minutes (baking)

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Guest Post: The Messed Up Food Pyramid

Jenny — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 04:03:32 +0000

This is a guest post from Kelly of Kelly the Kitchen Kop, one of my favorite real food bloggers whose down-to-earth attitude and charming witticisms make healthy eating fun, informative and easy. Hope you enjoy it! And if you’d like to contribute to Nourished Kitchen, please contact me. — Jenny

Thank you Jenny for allowing me to write a guest post for you on a topic that has me fuming. The problem is, here probably isn’t the best place to post the rotten quality pictures I have to go with this post, on Jenny’s blog where her pictures are always crazy awesome! (I have a good excuse, though. I snapped these from the bulletin board at my kids’ school the other day and thought at the time that I’d be using them on my own blog, where my readers are used to that sort of thing.) The poor lady there with the after-school kids was stuck listening to my rant. When I told her butter is good for her, she whispered apologetically, “Yeah, I eat a little now and then.” I wanted to scream. Due to THIS misinformation below, she and probably 95% of American adults all think the same old thing. Maybe more? What do you think? In your daily life aren’t you constantly coming across very few people who know the truth about real food and healthy fats? Maybe you’re still unsure yourself, and if so, that’s OK. There’s so much conflicting information coming at us, it’s not easy knowing what to believe.

What’s wrong with these pictures?

Why are so many of us suffering from more diseases of all kinds, but especially Metabolic Syndrome? Read Wikipedia’s definition:

“Metabolic syndrome is a combination of medical disorders that increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes. It affects one in five people, and prevalence increases with age. Some studies estimate the prevalence in the USA to be up to 25% of the population.”(...)
Click here to read the rest of Guest Post: The Messed Up Food Pyramid (668 words)
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Weston A Price: Findings on Traditional Foods

Jenny — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:44:11 +0000

Weston A Price, a Cleveland dentist who, when challenged by rampant tooth decay and the considerable physical degeneration of his patients, left his practice and traveled the world researching the dietary practices of peoples consuming processed foods and those consuming an unprocessed, native diet, and the non-profit nutritional advocacy group named in his honor – the Weston A Price Foundation – have heavily influenced the content and message at Nourished Kitchen. As a Weston A Price enthusiast, it’s time I share more information about the man including how and why his work has so heavily influenced me.

Weston A Price

Weston A Price, a native of Canada, practiced dentistry in Cleveland, Ohio at the turn of the 20th century. A researcher at heart, Price served as the chairman for the research section of the American Dental Association for nearly a decade. About the time that he began his work in dentistry, the American food system changed, and dramatically so; Weston A Price – confounded by patients riddled by rampant tooth decay, malformations of the palate and other health issues – witnessed the detriments of this shift in the standard American diet firsthand and, with his passion for research firmly in place, committed himself to determining just why and how the health of populations in industrialized societies degenerated so significantly in just a few decades.(...)
Click here to read the rest of Weston A Price: Findings on Traditional Foods (924 words)

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Reader Questions: GMO-free Infant Formula

Jenny — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:53:36 +0000

Melissa asked:

Q: I have a 3 month old daughter and wanted to know if is there are GMO free soy baby formula? I have been using Simulac Soy for the reflux benefits and cannot find any information on whether or not it is GMO free.

A: First, I wouldn’t recommend you feed your daughter an infant formula at all, especially not one based on soy. Soy contains xenoestrogens and other compounds that can negatively impact the health of adults let alone young babies. It is particularly poor for the developing endocrine system and has been linked to the development of autoimmune thyroid disease. Nevertheless, I understand that there are likely to be other reasons beyond my knowledge that may have prevented you from exclusively breastfeeding her. Motherhood is a tough road, but a blessing nonetheless.

First, boost your milk supply or consider relactation.

If you’re breastfeeding her even partially and just looking to supplement with infant formula, there’s some great botanicals out there that can help boost your supply to some degree. When my milk supply was waning, I had moderate success with motherlove’s more milk tincture special blend coupled with Vitanica’s Lactation blend and fenugreek. I used these when my supply started to wane and they enabled me to continue to pump until my son was about 11 months old when I simply could no longer pump a drop (I’m a working mom.), I was able to continue nursing him until he self-weaned a few months after turning 3. If you’re not breastfeeding at all, I strongly urge you to consider pursuing relactation and kellymom is a great source for breastfeeding support and information.

Second, consider a mother-to-mother milk share.

If neither boosting your milk supply or relactating is possible, consider a mother-to-mother milk share arrangement. If you find a healthy mom who is on a dairy-free diet and is willing to share her milk with your daughter, your little one will reap the rewards of breastmilk and that is very, very important as I’m sure you understand more than anyone else. You can find a mother-to-mother milk sharing arrangement.

Third, consider a homemade goat’s milk formula.

Alternatively, many moms have had great success with a homemade milk-based infant formula. Since your daughter is cows milk intolerant, choosing goats milk might work very well for her as many babies who cannot tolerate cows milk can tolerate goats milk. Check out this recipe for a homemade infant formula by the Weston A. Price Foundation.

Fourth, consider a hypoallergenic formula.

Should that option not appeal to you, consider using a hypoallergenic formula instead of a soy-based formula. While not Organic and not necessarily GMO-free, it’s still likely to be better for your little one’s health since she won’t be relying on soy with its numerous negative health impacts for the bulk of her nutrition. Excessive intake of soy probably poses a greater risk to her long-term health than limited intake of GMO-derived ingredients. You should know, however, that hypoallergenic infant formulas are expensive.

If the lactose is the problem, and not the casein as is commonly the issue, you could consider Baby’s Only Organic Lactose Free Formula. It does contain soy oil and soy lecithin, but at least her consumption of soy would be more limited than if you were to choose a soy-based formula. This infant formula is GMO-free.

Lastly, there is a GMO-free soy-based infant formula available.

And, lastly, if your still feel that a soy-based formula is the right choice for your daughter, you should know that Baby’s Only Organic Soy Formula is GMO-free . And, to my knowledge, Similac does use GMO-derived ingredients in its infant formulas.

As a last note, baby’s have leaky guts so take great care to delay solids until after six month or longer and definitely no rice cereal! Take Care and enjoy your precious little girl.

If you have a question about traditional foods, natural living or anything else, please contact Jenny. I love to hear from readers.

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Food Wars: Governmental Programs & Industrial Food

Jenny — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:48:37 +0000

More and more, it seems that money and corporate interests inextricably intertwine the giants of the food industry and politicians. One glaring example of just how politicians and corporations work together for their own mutual benefit rather than to support public interests currently centers around the Illinois prison and school systems.

Industrial Soy-based Diet & Illinois Prisons and Schools

Since 2003, inmates of the Illinois prison system have been fed a diet comprised largely of soy and soy protein isolate. Inexpensive by comparison to beef, cheese and other animal-based foods, soy seems a simple and easy way to cut costs – especially on a large, institutional level. Soy “cheese” replaced dairy cheeses. Soy protein isolate was mixed with insubstantial amounts of meat and served daily. Soy flour and soy protein were added to baked goods and other items.

Illinois prisoners were consuming upwards of 100 grams of soy a day according to a letter issued by Sally Fallon, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation, to President Obama. Note that even in Asian countries soy consumption rarely exceeds 30 grams a day and usually hovers at about 10 grams per day; moreover, the soy consumed is largely fermented as in the case of miso, natto, tempeh and tamari. It is not largely consumed as soy protein isolate – the form given to the Illinois prisoners as food.

Soy is linked with autoimmune disease, hypothyroidism and the development of goiter and a slew of other issues which negatively affect the endocrine and reproductive systems in particular. Indeed, recent research has indicated that soy lowers sperm count and the FDA lists close to 300 studies illustrating the negative effects of soy.

Surely enough, consuming upwards of 100 grams of soy each day started to have deleterious effects on the men. They suffered from myriad gastrointestinal, cognitive, emotional and endocrine distress and other symptoms of consumption of toxic levels of soy. In 2008, prisoners began contacting the Weston A. Price Foundation – a not-for-profit that champions real food – detailing serious health effects of the soy-centered diet. They suffered from diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, heart palpitations, acne, insomnia, anxiety, depression and symptoms of hypothyroidism.

Of course, cost-cutting measures didn’t end in Illinois prisons; rather, a pilot lunch program serves a similar diet to young children. Again, soy protein replaces meats, cheeses and chicken. A soy-based diet is particularly dangerous for young children whose immune, endocrine and reproductive systems are still developing.

The Political Connection: Rod Blagojevich and Archer Daniels Midland

In 2002, Rod Blagojevich succeeded George Ryan as governor Illinois as the first democrat to be elected governor of Illinois since 1972. Blagojevich has since earned another first in Illinois politics: Rod Blagojevich is the first governor in the State of Illinois to be impeached. While Blagojevich’s campaign promised an end to controversy, controversies littered his tenure as Illinois governor. Since 2005, Blagojevich has been the subject of more than a dozen federal investigations that include fraud. In a callous decision, Blagojevich even threatened to revoke funding for a children’s hospital after its CEO refused to contribute $50,000 to Blagojevich’s gubernatorial campaign. He also owns the dubious honor of offering to sell President Obama’s vacated senate seat to the highest bidder.

Among the many who contributed to Blagojevich and reaped the rewards of his peculiar sense of ethics was Archer Daniels Midland – one of the agricultural industry’s giants. Archer Daniels Midland is a leader in ethanol production (think GMO corn), wheat and, of course, soy. They spearheaded the inclusion of high fructose corn syrup into beverages and manufacture several soy-based meat substitutes.

Of course, Archer Daniels Midland is not unknown to controversy itself having been the subject of investigation by the Department of Justice in which its senior executives were indicted on federal charges related to price fixing. Indeed, three of the executives were sentenced to prison while the company was fined $100 million. Archer Daniels Midland, despite the lip service the company gives to sustainability on its website, has been the target of multiple federal lawsuits concerning air pollution and is listed as #2 among the top 100 corporate air polluters in the United States – ultimately responsible for nearly 13 million pounds of toxic air releases.

Archer Daniels Midland heavily contributed to Blagojevich’s campaign and is, incidentally, one of the top 100 biggest contributors to political campaigns according to Open Secrets a watchdog that allows the general public to see who is putting money into the pockets of American politicians (check out Archer Daniels Midland’s profile). Summarily, Archer Daniels Midland became the primary supplier of soy-based products and meat substitutes to the Illinois prison system.

Action on Behalf of Sickened Men

The Weston A. Price Foundation has hired an attorney to begin legal recourse on behalf of the many Illinois inmates sickened by the soy-based diet that lined the pockets of Archer Daniels Midland and former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. The suit also seeks an injunction against the continued use of the soy-based prison diet. Should such an injunction be granted, it would represent a critical aspect in the fight against pursuing a similar soy-based diet in other governmental institutions like public schools. Intentionally serving food that consistently sickens prisoners is negligent at best and inordinately cruel. Everyone deserves wholesome food.

What to Do Next

If you recognize that 1) no one deserves to be sickened by the food they eat and 2) that the continued allowance of a clearly toxic diet opens the floodgate for that toxic diet to be instituted elsewhere please consider further action.

Share this post and spread the word.
Visit the Weston A. Price Foundation for more information: Are Children Next Targets for Toxic Meals?
Write a letter to Eric Holder, Attorney General and Patrick Fitzgerald, Special Counsel to the US Department of Justice (View Sample Letters).

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Three Great Traditional Foods Videos

Jenny — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:32:24 +0000

1. How to Grow Your Own Kombucha Mother.

Simple enough: these guys teach you how to grow your own kombucha scoby without having to find a mother. Those of you who still want to purchase a mother can, of course, go through the Cultures & Starters Exchange or visit Cultures for Health.

2. Weston A Price on Mental & Emotional Health by Sally Fallon.

Sally Fallon discusses diet’s effects on emotional well-being at a 2009 conference – addressing Weston A Price’s findings in particular.

3. Fermenting Vegetables with Sandor Katz

Sandor Katz, author of many books including Wild Fermentation and guru of all things fermented, discusses his fermentation technique in this video.

This is cross posted at Real Food Wednesdays.

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Food Journals from Weston A Price Foundation

Jenny — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 13:23:14 +0000

I came across this link recently which highlighted three days of meals from the Weston A Price Foundation board members. It’s interesting, to say the least. For some reason, I thought the foods they choose would be lower in carboydrates and higher in protein than they are. I don’t know why I thought that as there are plenty of carbohydrate-rich foods available on a traditional diet: sourdough bread, honey, potatoes. But their meals are rich in fat with approximately 60% of daily calories coming from nourishing fats like duck fat, butter and extra virgin olive oil.

In general, my diet varies from day to day in the number of calories I consume. Still, the the proportions of fat, protein and carbohydrates tend to stay roughly the same with fat comprising 50% of my calories and carbohydrates and proteins comprising roughly 25% each. I don’t diet in general so all of that means little for me, but I do try to eat well.

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