Golden

I want to suspend the food talk for a bit to share about a Eugene, Oregon, park I went to yesterday with my granddaughter. I heard about it from WREN (Willamette River and Educational Network), connecting with them a few weeks ago after visiting some of the West Eugene Wetlands. WREN will have their August Wetland Wander in Golden Gardens Park next Tuesday, August 9, 2016, from 9 to 11 am with a focus on late summer insects. Originally just leftover excavation pits from building Beltline Road, these once barely accessible ponds have been renovated, made safer, and made more accessible. I wanted to check them out before deciding whether to drive down next week for the "wander".

We entered about midway along The Jessen Drive side of the park, crossed the soft-surfaced walking path, and paused a moment to see if K could get her new kite to fly. We had a great little breeze, so I let her keep the kite up on a short string while we walked to a more open area. Bad decision. She let out a bit too much string and a cherry tree on a steep embankment snatched it right out of the sky. Fortunately I din't get too mangled while scrambling up, but we had to break the string to get the kite down. She waited while I quickly returned it to the car. The view above shows our first impression of the ponds and I knew I was going to love it here.

First turtle and a drawing of the size of the fish.

More turtles

Almost immediately my eye caught a large, gray shape splashing down into the water. My first thought was "fish"' but then I thought I must be wrong because it was so big. However, as I continued to watch the area while on our walk, I saw it a few more times and realized it was indeed a huge fish. (I think I need to get my license!) We also saw pond turtles on logs and read the informational signage about the need to be careful to avoid stepping on eggs buried under the soil. 

In a little creek K told me she saw a crawfish. I couldn't see it, but took photos of where she was pointing. yep. Once I uploaded the photos I saw it, but the glare makes it a bit hard to see.

Crawfish near the middle of photo

The next pond was so much larger than that first one. It was beautiful there. We saw dragonflies, butterflies, bees, and birds. We also saw a few teens walking along staring at their phones, so we assumed they were playing Pokemon Go.

Along the soft path there were occasional benches; perfect places to sit and enjoy the view of the water, wildlife, and wildflowers. One of the most prolific plants in the area was the wild carrot. their white blossoms were everywhere.

Wild carrots

For more information about the park, check out a few of these links. Enjoy!
   Golden Gardens Park
   Golden Gardens Park on Facebook
 


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Transparency

I hope by now you have not tagged me as some kind of health enthusiast who follows every latest trend. I'm not. In fact, when I hear the latest fad for anything I generally avoid it. I tend to brush off fads as something a small group of people are touting because of a few anecdotal experiences, especially when they are food claims that seem reminiscent of snake oil - will cure anything.

For years, though, I have believed that we are all better off eating food as close to the way God made it as possible. Not only do we have a world of magnificent plants and animals, but also blessed us with people who discover delicious ways to prepare them. Now, we have the science to back up some of the "old wives tales" and the benefits of getting nutrition from nature instead of manufactured chemicals. (No, I'm not anti-medication either. Life-changing and life-saving medications are being developed all the time. I rely on several to help me through each day.)

My granddaughter took this shot. Most of my body is hidden.

My new CPAP machine

I am obese, have diabetes, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease), knee/feet problems, and have used food to deal with my stress. And I've been WAY stressed these last 35+ years. Due to my work and special needs kids, I have become rather a homebody and exercise has been spotty at best. A year and a half ago I saw a snapshot of myself and was horrified! I knew I needed to change, but had never imagined myself as that big.

Low fat taco salad

Now, however, I have an empty nest and life is actually manageable enough to begin the life-change I've always wanted. I want to hike in the mountains, bicycle all over, and (you're the first to hear this) I've always wanted to run in a marathon. Just once. I don't want my body to hinder my photography opportunities. I want to run and play with my grandchildren. They say it's never too late to start, so here we go. I am of the conviction that baby steps and adjustments will produce more lasting results than large, unrealistic expectations. I still love chocolate and ice cream and other "no-no's", and will work to keep those treats in proper balance.

Speaking of chocolate, I recently followed some interesting links and wound up signing up for emails from One Green Planet. I have downloaded their app: Food Monster and many things look good. I don't plan on becoming vegan, but having some healthier options (without the added chemicals of most "diet" foods) is good. Vegan does not mean it matches my lifestyle either. Food from plant sources, nothing about fats and sugars.

I had to try this 5-Ingredient Microwave Brownie (vegan and gluten-free). Wow! I used Dutch processed cocoa, and had to use regular non-fat milk, but it was easy and delicious! The baking powder makes it rise so it isn't just a lump own the bottom of the cup. Follow the directions (learn from my mistakes) and enjoy. Too little micro time leaves it too wet. Too long and it starts to loose height and becomes harder.

Welcome to my journey.

Something Orange

A few weeks ago while chatting with a friend about my knee brace (from falling down some stairs) and she told me that turmeric was a natural anti-inflammatory. I conjured up images of needing to make Indian food every day, which sounds yummy, but I do like to change up my diet. She informed me that you can get supplements at the store. On my way home I dropped into a local store, and sure enough, they had turmeric supplements. Outrageously expensive supplements, especially compared to the price of some over the counter anti-infalmitories I had taken most of my adult life.

I put the idea on hold for a while, then an email from One Green Planet arrived with some great recipes, many of which feature turmeric. I couldn't remember which recipe, so I went back through my email.  I'm still not sure. So, here is a link to their turmeric recipe page.

How to Use Fresh Turmeric Root Instead of Dried 

Photo Credit Laura Beth Drilling/Demand Media

My first experience with turmeric was making a peanut soup from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Mollie Katzen (great cookbook with hand lettering and illustrations). Yummy. I kept dry, powdered turmeric on hand, but didn't really think much about using it. While shopping in asian markets I would often see fresh turmeric - looking sort of like a smaller, "orangier" version of fresh ginger, one of my favorite spices.

My old copy of The Enchanted Broccoli Forest. It's now The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest

So far, I've just added it to my yogurt and chia snack, but I'm looking forward to learning more. I'll be posting soon about the nutritional properties, uses, and recipes. One note before I go, the health benefits of the most beneficial substances in turmeric, cucumin, is difficult for the body to absorb. Consuming black pepper along with the turmeric increases absorption about 2,000%.

Powdered turmeric

Experimentation time...  (Quick note while waiting for photos to load. I just put turmeric into my dessert custard and it was fabulous. I'm thinking that, like ginger, turmeric will work well in both sweet and savory dishes.)

Guess this falls under the "no day without discovery" category.

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More Summer Food

I'm still working on my chia info. Fascinating seed. I always want to check my facts before publishing, so it's a good thing I love to do research!

In the meantime, I'll fall back on another of my state fair winning recipes. It even had me liking diced tomatoes! The contest was for Hidden Valley Ranch's "Fresh Taste for the Family". It won first place in 2008, so I'll repeat the recipe here, but we need to talk about changes and substitutions.

Summer Confetti Slaw

Summer Confetti Slaw

by Deborah Garrett

Hidden Valley “Fresh for the Family” contest

Oregon State Fair 2008

Dressing

1 packet Hidden Valley Original Salad Dressing and Seasoning Mix

3/4 cup mayonnaise

Juice of one fresh lime

1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon cumin

Mix well and chill while preparing the vegetables.

Vegetables and Fruit

2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1 cup pineapple tidbits, well drained

1 cup grated carrots

2 cups grated jicama

1/2 cup red onion, chopped

1 medium jalapeño pepper, finely chopped

In a large bowl mix fruit and vegetables with the dressing.

Serves 6 - 8

This is a very yummy salad, but eight years later I'm wanting something lighter, less sweet, and fewer artificial additives. So what other dressing can you use? Probably one you already like on other salads. I think I'd go with a nice balsamic or tomato based dressing. For creaminess you can always add some plain or flavored Greek yogurt.

As for the ingredients, they are already pretty healthy. But now I'd probably add some charred fresh corn, fresh peas, and probably some kale. I'd also want to have something crunchy and decorative like some nuts or seeds. 

With this kind of recipe the variations are endless. Use your favorite fresh vegetables, a bit of fruit, and a dressing of your choice. Enjoy your summer bounty in salad form.

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Tropical Snowballs

My 2nd child has bee interested in cooking and creating recipes since she was in elementary school (now 26). She even won a microwave at a State Fair competition. Creating recipes, especially for desserts,  became a passion for the two of us. One summer while visiting my mother in southern California we faced the challenge of creating something great that my diabetic step-father could eat. The ice cream we developed was a hit. From that recipe came these Tropical Snowballs, which won first place at the Make Your Best Sugar-Free Dessert Contest for The Order of Amaranth & The American Diabetes Association at the 2005 Oregon State Fair. I won a huge basket full of kitchen things and a diabetic cookbook and probably some money, but I don't remember how much.

Tropical Snowballs as entered into The Oregon State Fair 2005.

Later I was contacted by a company producing a cookbook, Blue Ribbon Recipes, of top fair winning recipes and they wanted to include my Snowballs. So now I'm in print, too. All from making that sugar-free ice cream for my step-dad. Of course, you don't have the form this into cut little balls. Just eat it like regular ice cream. Hope you enjoy this.

I also wanted to find out the nutritional information for this, so I entered it into my SparkRecipies, arbitrarily decided that 1/10th would be a serving. Here's the quick breakdown.

See the full nutritional breakdown.
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Let's Start Again

My apologies for the blog silence for the past few weeks. You may be wondering... Did she forget about the blog? Did she give up? Did she lose her desire to write? No, no, and no. It was just a major life/family change that interrupted more than just my blogging. Thank you for your patience.

One thing you'll learn is that I love graphic design as much as photography, when I have the right tools. I become a bit obsessive about making things look "perfect". I am really lightening up on myself, but perfectionism seems to be hanging around and that isn't all bad. What it does do is force me to delay my next installment of chia information. You see, I'm crating a visual showing some of the benefits of eating chia. It isn't something that can be thrown together in a few minutes, but I hope you'll like it when I'm done.

In the meantime, let's talk chocolate! When it comes to chocolate, I'm on the dark side... the darker the better! However, as a diabetic, I need to watch my daily carb intake. Inventing recipes is one way to tailor "bad" foods into something somewhat healthier, but still tasty.

My well-loved and well-used book. When I ran the printshop at Oregon School for the Deaf,
I was able to add a comb binding to hold it together. 

Today I had a hankering for brownies. I love them dark, moist, and chewy, especially those little brownie bites baked in the small muffin tins. I pulled out the Better Homes and Gardens Cookies and Candies cookbook I've had since junior high (late 1960s - I baked so many Chocolate Chippers that I had the recipe memorized and could recite it when others asked for the recipe; friends and teachers loved when I practiced). Back to the brownies. I decided to make the Fudge Brownies and wondered how I could modify them.

My altered brownie bites. Quite yummy.

I'm going to post some comparisons first, then explain what I did to modify the brownie bites.

The altered recipe has the best numbers, with the original recipe doing nearly as well. My first conclusion is what I've always believed: home made is best. It is great to control what goes into what we eat. Now for my changes...

The recipe called for 1/2 cup of margarine. I use butter, but opted to just use 3 of the 8 tablespoons. I added a bit more fat though using 2 tablespoons of coconut oil. This doesn't save on total fat, but this reduces cholesterol in the batter. It gave a light coconut flavor and made the cake-like texture more tolerable for me because it reminded me of a Mounds bar. The recipe called for 1 cup of sugar. Yikes! I did use 1/2 cup of sugar, but supplemented with 2 tablespoons of Stevia powder. I was satisfied with the sweetness. Overall, they are good. I wish they were more fudgey. I haven't done research to see which ingredients will make a brownie more dense/moist, but I fear it may be that fat I cut out. I'll have to keep experimenting.

Salvia Columbariae

Ah, Chia. This seed seems to have risen to popularity in recent years and the health benefits can read like the old snake oil - cures anything. While not exactly true, the chia is an amazing seed. My introduction to the plant came in the early 1980's from the book Early Uses of California Plants by Edward K. Balls. The book appealed to my outdoorsy, Native American, and cooking sides. I was a fan of the Sierra Club and Euell Gibbons, the famous outdoors-man who introduced the masses to wild edibles. Foraging for food in nature. Sounded good to me.

Powerful tiny seeds of Salvia Columbariae

Until reading Balls' book the only thing I knew about chia were those “Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia Pet” commercials back in the day. Of course, I succumbed to its fascinating growing hair/fur. At least a Chia Pet was partly alive, not like the other popular item, a Pet Rock! We'll delve into Chia Pets and their history in an upcoming post.

Imagine my surprise when I read that chia seeds were not just for spreading on terra cotta figures. Californian (and other) Native Americans harvested the seeds of the Salvia Columbariae, a member of the mint family. Prepared various ways, they were not only delicious, but also deemeed to give strength and health. The Aztecs and Maya used them extensively. In fact, "chia" is the Mayan word for "strength". I just had to get some.

The name caught my attention. "Nature's Wild Grown."
However, these are not the same seeds I gathered in California.
Stay tuned to find out more about the different chia.

What a great excuse to head out into the dry valleys and grasslands out toward the desert. I took a paper grocery bag (that’s all we had back then, people) and drove on the side roads until I found the chia plants. It was the perfect time of year for harvest. I shook the plants in my bag and collected the seeds. I felt connected to those who had done this very thing for centuries.

Now all I needed was to figure out what to do with them.