What We Should Eat: Draft One

Originating on the Greek island of Crete, the Mediterranean diet is a healthier version of the “normal American diet.” The Mediterranean diet contains a bigger intake of fruits, vegetables, breads and other grains, beans, and nuts. Sweets, eggs, poultry, and fish are eaten a few times a week, and red meat is only eaten a few times per month in smaller portions. The Mediterranean diet is very healthy, it reduces the risk of heart disease. Even though it includes meat, it is not that much. Almost everything incorporated in the diet can be found in supermarkets.
The Mediterranean diet is higher in fat than the American Heart Association recommends. While there is a lot of fats in the diet it is the healthy kind of fats. Monounsaturated fats are good for you, they lower total and LDL cholesterol and increase HDL cholesterol. These types of fats can be found in nuts and peanut, canola, and olive oils. Polyunsaturated fats lower total and LDL cholesterol as well. It can be found in fish containing omega-3 fatty acids. (www.health castle.com). Eating cold water fish reduces the risk of heart disease and also boosts the immune system. It is recommended to eat foods containing monounsaturated fats daily and polyunsaturated fats a few times per week while on the Mediterranean diet. People on the Mediterranean diet eat very little red meat. Red meat has saturated and trans fat, which is not that good for you.
Another reason that the Mediterranean diet is a good one to choose is because it can reduce the risk of heart disease. A study conducted by French researchers had 600 heart attack survivors follow the Mediterranean diet or a normal American diet. The short term results were similar, everyone saw change in cholesterol levels. The long term results, over the next two years, showed that in the Mediterranean group only 8 people had another heart attack, while in the other group 33 people had another heart attack. (www.womensheartfoundation.org). Obviously, a person with heart disease could reduce the risk of another heart attack by switching to the much healthier Mediterranean diet.
It is recommended to drink a moderate amount of wine. About one glass per day for women and two glasses a day for men. Alcohol can reduce the risk of heart attacks by increasing the level of HDL in the system and reducing blood clots. Instead of drinking alcohol it is suggested to drink purple grape juice.
The Mediterranean diet does involve eating meat. It is perfectly alright for humans to eat other animals. We are animals as well, and other animals eat each other, so it is ethical to eat meat. Meat is also healthy to eat when it is in moderate portions.
Since the Mediterranean diet is mostly grains, fruits, and vegetables, it is easily accessible. You can walk into any supermarket and there are plenty of foods that fit into the Mediterranean diet.

Supermarket.

While looking around the supermarket I noticed the section of canned foods. Since corn is yellow, the can caught my eye. There were many different types of canned corns. There was sweet corn, white corn, fiesta corn, whole kernel corn. What's the difference? Is a specific type any better or worse? I also noticed that there were many different brands of corn. The Associated brand canned corn was .75 cents, Del Monte brand was $1.25, Green Giant was $1.29, and Libby's was $1.35. Why is the Associated brand so cheap? Is it because it was produced differently? How much better/worse is it for your health? Can canned foods actually be good for you? Since the corn is mass produced, is the corn they use less healthy then corn that is sold as regular corn (not in a can)? I didn't look at the expiration dates but canned foods can obviously be saved for much longer than fresh corn, so how long does it last before going bad? All of this made me a little bit grossed out about eating canned foods, I don't know how long they have been on the shelf or where/how the corn was produced.
I also saw all of the different milks. There is soy milk, organic milk, fat free milk, 2%, lactose free (how is that possible?), 1%, half and half, chocolate milk, whole milk. Some of the milk was not in the refrigerator, it was on a regular shelf. I know that in France, you don't have to keep your milk in the refrigerator until it's opened but I don't really get it. Doesn't milk have to be kept fresh? What exactly is soy milk? I know that cows milk does not taste the way that milk from a carton tastes, how many different things do they add to the milk to make it taste that way?

Fast Food.

I didn't think that I ate fast food because I do not eat at places like McDonald's or Wendy's. But, I do eat other types of fast food. For this assignment, I had Bravo pizza. I ordered a plain slice with garlic knots. When I order pizza I always get plain because I know it is what most people order. So, it must mean that they have to make a lot of them and it has not been sitting out all day. As I was waiting online for my pizza, I looked at all of the other type of food. There wasplenty of pizza with different toppings. The thing that I always notice when I am at Bravos is that the glass protecting the pizzas does not go all the way down to the counter, there is still that little space in between. This grosses me out very much because some of the pizza comes through to the other side, meaning people can touch it (that is another reason why I always order plain, it is never that close to the glass). The food was good, I
guess. It was really greasy and filled me up fast.

Growing Herbs

When can we start/ How do we do it?
We can start planting herbs now. Well, as soon as we get the supplies. It is harder to grow herbs in the winter because of the cold weather. To start, we need some pots that are 20cm deep, we can either use one long pot or multiple smaller ones. The bigger the pot is, the better because it lets the roots of the herbs grow. We also need soil mix that is not too rich. To prepare the soil to grow the herbs:
"mix two parts sterilized potting soil and one part coarse sand or perlite. To ensure sweetness of the soil, add a cut of ground limestone per bushel of soil -- or 1 teaspoon of lime per 5-inch pot. There should be an inch of gravel at the bottom of each pot to ensure good drainage."
(http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/hortcult/herbs/ne208hrb.htm#Indoor%20Herb%20Gardening)
The best way to keep them alive is to not over water them. I think that we should use a mister.


What type?
There are many different type of herbs that we can plant. Sage, parsley and
thyme can be used in food and also have medical purposes, they are good
for sore throats, colds and coughs. Hyssop is good for bronchitis, and
yarrow is good for lowering fevers. I think that any of these would be good.


Issues/Concerns:
Herbs need at least 4 hours of sunlight a day. From what I have read, the best way
to keep the herbs alive is to move the pots with the sun. They also need to be protected from the wind, but they can just live in the greenhouse.






Information on different types of herbs.
http://www.herb.co.za/herb-gardening/potted-sunshine.htm

Foods that seem the healthiest to me are organic foods. Vegetables,
fruits, and grains are healthy. Mostly foods that are not processed.

3 day menu
day one
breakfast: almond croissant with raspberry jam
lunch: sushi
dinner: penne with arura sauce

day two
breakfast: fruit salad
lunch: chicken cheese steak from slacks
dinner: crab cakes and mashed potatoes

day three
breakfast: cereal
lunch: chicken caesar salad
dinner: macaroni and cheese made by my g-mom

I think that people should eat organic foods. They should also eat what is suggested on the food pyramid.

Introduction to locally available goat milk cheese

a.] Goat milk cheese is cheese made from goat milk. There are many different types of goat milk cheese. There is feta, chevre, and ricotta (made at this particular goat milk cheese farm). The cheeses are mixed with various different topping, there is orange, honey, sun-dried tomatoes, walnuts, garlic, herbs, pesto, etc.

b.] Goats milk has less fat than cow milk. It also has more fatty acids than cows milk which makes it easier to digest than cows milk. Goats milk is much healthier than cows milk because it can help burn fat and increase energy. It contains a higher level of potassium, which is good for the heart, and protein than cows milk.

c.] You can find Lynnhaven Goat Milk Cheese in Pine Bush, NY. The goats live on a farm in Pine Bush where the milk is produced. It is sold in Union Square on Wednesdays, Grand Army Plaza on Saturdays, and 82nd St. on Saturdays.

Lynnhaven Goat Milk Cheese
414 Church Rd.
Pine Bush, NY 12566
lynnhaven@hvc.rr.com

d.] The goat milk comes from Nubian goats. Nubian goats have long floppy ears and vary in color. The goats on this farm are fed pasteurized hay and grains. There are no added hormones or antibiotics. To make the cheese, they heat the milk at 125 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.


e.] links:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=131
http://www.stratsplace.com/cheese/cheese_course4.html
http://www.realfoodliving.com/goatmilk.htm


Pictures of the Lynnhaven Goat Milk stand at Union Square:

cooking grains: pasta

For dinner I decided to make manicotti pasta, stuffed with different kinds of cheese, and tomato sauce. These pasta's are about 4 inches long and 1 inch wide. They were hard before they were cooked, like regular pasta, and have a ridged surface. I made the stuffing using provolone, cream cheese, feta cheese, parsley, garlic, and pepper. It was pretty annoying to stuff this mixture into the pasta so I made my dad help me. When all of the pastas were stuffed I put them in a pan and covered them with tomato sauce. They have to be completely covered or the pasta won't cook all of the way. That has happened to me before and it is not good. I cooked the pasta in the oven instead of in boiling water. Since they are covered in the sauce they cook in the oven. That is why they have to be completely covered. After a half hour I took them out and fed one to my dad but they were not all the way done so I had to put them back in for 10 more minutes. When I took them out a second time they were done. The pasta was a lot softer now that it was cooked. When I looked, it had also puffed up a little bit. I have never noticed that before.
This is what it looked like when it was done:
















This is the lemon pound cake that I made because I wanted to use my new bunt pan. I just thought it looked cool.

dinner.

Tonight I had basmati rice with shrimp. The rice had onions, tarragon, parsley, lime and salt in it. The rice separated after I put it in my mouth. I could taste the lime right away, even there was only a little bit. As I chewed the rice I could feel it breaking into smaller particles in my back teeth. It was not hard to swallow since the rice was soft and all chewed up. A piece of onion was mixed in the rice and felt slimy against my tongue. I could not taste the onions so much because my sister does not like them so there were not a lot. The tarragon added flavor to the rice. I could tell that it was there because of the taste but I could not feel it when I ate it. The shrimp had lemon on it. When I first bit into it, it was tender. It took a lot longer to chew than the rice. It was full of flavor. It was very juicy.
After eating dinner, I had an avocado with brown sugar and lemon. The first bit was full of different flavors and textures. I could feel the brown sugar granules grinding against my teeth and each other. They disintegrated. The avocado was very mushy. The lemon added juice to the whole thing. The taste of the lemon made me swallow quick. Also, since it did not taste good that made me swallow quick.

nasties.

I decided I should eat, so I made some Annies Organic Peace Pasta & Parmesan. I only bought it because I liked the way that the box looked and because the peace sign pastas were cool.
It is not hard to mess up pasta but I did. I don't think that I made the sauce packet right. When I took the first bite of the pasta it did not taste so bad. The cheese was pretty bitter. It was too salty. I have never said that in my life but it was. After the first couple of bites the taste kept on getting worse. The pasta made me gag. The cheese sauce was pasty and too thick. So, I fed it to my dog. She seemed to like it.

Since I didn't eat and I was still hungry I has some cake. It was banana crunch cake that had just come out of the oven. My mom made it. The top of the cake had a layer of oats on it that crunches when you bite it. The inside of the cake is soft. It was still warm and the bananas were moist. It makes me happy that it was made with brown sugar because brown sugar is ten times better.

Things that are in my refrigerator.

drinks-
Tropicana orange juice, without pulp
turkey hill green tea
3 Coors light
coffee beans

vegetables-
lettuce
celery
parsley
tomatoes
carrots
broccoli
spinach
zucchini
peas
corn
endives
shallots

dairy-
Gouda cheese
feta cheese
brie
provolone
goat cheese
smoked mozzarella
parmesan
shredded sharp Cheddar
Stonyfield farm organic milk
Horizon organic milk
vanilla soy milk
3 yoplait yogurt
4 eggs

condiments-
ketchup
mayonnaise
mustard
hot sauce

animals-
shrimp
ground turkey
organic chicken breasts

other things that I don't know what to call-
hummus
marinara sauce
Alfredo sauce
cranberry sauce
capers
cornichons [little pickles]
salsa
curry paste
maple syrup
pancake mix that I made
1 lime