Cook, Eat, Blog

+food52

+COOK SPOTLIGHT: ADASHOFBITTERS
>A Dash of Bitters - blog
+SLOW COOKER PORK BELLY - RECIPE

Rosemary & Pink Pepper Chevre__$10

+PRODUCTS
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Back to Basics

+NOURISHING TRADITIONS - COOKBOOK

+MY FORAY INTO NOURISHING TRADITIONS - review
+INGREDIENT CHANGES FOR A NUTRIENT DENSE DIET
+THE NOURISHING COOK
>Ketchup With Me
+THE WESTON A. PRICE FOUNDATION
>Soy Alert!

Basic Brown Rice
Brown rice is the highest of all grains in B vitamins, and
it also contains iron, and vitamin E. Nourishing
Traditions has recipes for many tasty, ethnic brown rice
variations including Indian Rice, Mexican Rice, Greek
Rice, Oriental Rice Salad, Wild Rice Casserole and
many others...

2 Cups long-grain or short grain brown rice
4 Cups pure warm water, plus 4 TB kefir, vinegar, or
lemon juice
1 tsp. Real salt
2-4 TB butter

Combine the rice, water, and yogurt (or kefir OR lemon
juice) in a stock pot with a secure cover. Allow to soak
for 7 or more hours if possible. Bring to a boil, reduce
heat, add salt and butter, cover tightly. DO NOT
REMOVE THE LID. Cook over lowest possible heat, for
about 45 minutes. (I soak my rice in my Duromatic and
pressure cook to save a lot of time.)
Variations: Use 1 cup coconut milk, or homemade
chicken, beef, or fish stock for part of the liquid.
[UrbanHomemaker.com]
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Just Try it

+THE NEW STAPLES

Aussie Skincare

+KOSMEA - official site
+ANYONE TRIED THE FOLLOWING PRODUCTS? - forum

Where's the Beef?

+THE BURGER EXPERIENCE WITHOUT THE BEEF
+ULTIMATE VEGGIE BURGER RECIPE

What's in it?

+BEEF LABEL DECODER

Pharma Fries

Health Canada Seeks Input on Adding Anti-Cancer Drug to Junk Food
[Yahoo.com - 12/22/09]
OTTAWA wants to know what you think about its unusual proposal to put a cancer-fighting drug into junk food.

Health Canada is inviting public comments until February 21 on its idea to have small amounts of the enzyme asparaginase put into foods like potato chips and french fries. On its website, Health Canada says its scientists have finished a detailed safety assessment on the enzyme and haven't found any health or safety concerns.

At issue is the chemical acrylamide, which is found as a cooking byproduct in the production of foods like french fries and potato chips and has been linked to cancer in animals.

Research suggests asparaginase reduces acrylamide production.

Health Canada notes the enzyme is used in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and Denmark, and has been given a favourable evaluation by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives. END

Cancer-Fighting Additive Weighed for Junk Food
"I thought Health Canada was supposed to encourage healthy eating habits," Judith Ryan told CBC News. "If the additive is used, people will think junk food is safe and eat more. The result will be more obesity, more diabetes and more heart disease, and eventually more costs to the health-care system. How smart is this?"

COMMENTS
Since asparaginase is already being used in much of Europe and the USA, I would like to know what products contain it, and what the European/US experience has been with it.

Millions of "test subjects" out there - why not find out how they're doing? Otherwise, we're all just providing knee-jerk reactions to a poorly explained proposal.

Canadians are denied the information concerning whether or not the food they consume is of GM origin and yet we are to trust Health Canada to put some beneficial additive in the food supply?

This is unacceptable! Drug used in chemo therapy for certain cancers, added to food staples: bread, flour and potato products? Seriously? I don't think so!

Big Pharma is going to benefit from it. They will have a huge nation wide trial study on unsuspecting citizens. In couple of years, it will be discovered that it was not such a good idea, and maybe even they will pay some damages. But, make no mistake, big pharma will make enough profit from sales of Asparaginase (and other drugs used to treat complications from Asparaginase consumption), so law suits cost will be peanuts to them.

Who is not going to benefit from it is YOU. Yes, you, the one reading comments now!

Search for "Say No To Asparaginase!" group on the FaceBook, Join and please, DO ACT.
Call your MP, write to Health Canada, call Bureau of Chemical Safety, anything else you can come up with.

Let's stop the madness!

How much more will it take for people to realize that fast food and most snack food is crap. Vitamins are already added back into that stuff just to make it qualify as food.
Now drugs might be added so it won't kill you. This is insane.

Asparaginase (Crisantaspase)
This page tells you about the possible side effects of asparaginase (also called crisantaspase and Erwinase).

ABOUT
Asparaginase is a chemotherapy drug that is used to treat acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). One form is made from a type of bacteria called escherichia coli. Another form of asparaginase is made from Erwinia chrysanthemi bacteria and is called crisantaspase. Asparaginase is an enzyme that breaks down another chemical in tumour cells. The tumour cells need this chemical to make protein - they need to make protein to make new cancer cells.

You may have asparaginase as an injection into a vein (IV). But you are more likely to have it as a series of injections into a muscle in your arm or leg (IM). [...]

COMMON SIDE EFFECTS
1. Fatigue
2. Feeling or being sick
3. High temperatures (fever) and chills
4. Bruising more easily
5. Increased risk of getting blood clots
6. Loss of appetite
7. This drug may be harmful to a developing baby so it is not advisable to get pregnant or father a child if you are having this drug.
8. Loss of fertility
9. Liver changes
10. Allergic reactions

OCCASIONAL SIDE EFFECTS
1. Rise in blood sugar
2. Change in mood or sleepiness.

RARE SIDE EFFECTS
With this drug, a few people have a temporary drop in the number of blood cells made by the bone marrow, leading to the following side effects:

1. Increased risk of getting an infection
2. Tiredness and breathlessness
3. Bruising more easily due to a drop in platelets

Some of these side effects can be life threatening, particularly infections. You should contact your doctor if you have any of these side effects.

OTHER RARE SIDE EFFECTS
1. Inflammation of the pancreas
2. Asparaginase can very rarely be toxic to your nervous system and cause drowsiness, loss of energy, confusion, agitation or hallucination - tell your doctor if you have any of these symptoms.
[...]

Absolute Workout

Brett Hoebel is the founder of HoebeL Fitness, a leading-edge lifestyle-fitness company that focuses on physical well-being, mental clarity and self empowerment, and is dedicated to inspiring people with mindful, healthy living. As an international fitness expert, Brett is one of the most sought-after weight-loss, nutrition and lifestyle coaches in New York. He’s trained numerous celebrities, including Victoria’s Secret supermodel Karolina Kurkova. The co-host of Fit Family on Discovery Channel, Brett has also appeared on The View, Good Morning America, and Fox News, and is a recurring fitness expert on The WB Morning Show.

RevAbs is a cutting-edge, ab-defining and body-toning program created by Brett Hoebel. RevAbs is a high-energy program that combines ab training, interval training and strength training with a spice of Afro-Brazilian capoeira to yield unparalleled results in 90-days.




RevAbs.com Trailer

Bisphenol A

ECOHOLIC by Adria Vasil
Busting Bisphenol A
[NowToronto.com - Sept.08-15/2009]

Q: Now that it’s been revealed that Sigg bottles leach bisphenol A, should we be worrying about other secret sources?

A: Oh Sigg, why’d you dupe us like that? We swallowed every line you fed us about your canisters being better than bisphenol A-heavy polycarbonate bottles and now you’ve confessed yours were lined with the same stuff all along.

Looking back, we should have spotted the signs. The Swiss company never flat-out told us its lining was free of estrogen-mimicking bisphenol A. No, no, it just said its “proprietary water-based epoxy resin” didn’t leach the hormone disruptor.

So basically, Sigg danced around the topic like a prima ballerina during a performance of Midsummer Night’s Greenwash.

Back in 2007, I blogged about an Environmental Working Group report on tin cans that, as an aside, noted that Sigg bottles contained a BPA-based lining. The company quickly pounced and threatened to sue if EWG didn’t cough up proof. EWG backed down, removing the reference from its report. To outsiders, Sigg was still in the clear.

Sonya Lunder of EWG says, “It was a sign of how aggressively they were misleading customers.”

While Sigg now struggles to convince greenies that – ta-dah! – it’s new and improved liner is totally bisphenol-free, who can blame you for looking over your shoulder wondering who else is hiding toxic contents.

The sad truth is that the sensitive estrogen mimicker is present in all kinds of products, from dental fillings to compact discs. Now, you may have heard that canned foods and drinks come in cans lined with bisphenol A, but holy mother of Gaia, BPA is turning up in food in good old-fashioned glass jars, too.

Why? Don’t blame the glass.

It’s lurking in the tin lids’ liner, that glossy white part under the cap. You can’t win for losing, can you?

You also fondle BPA whenever you get a credit card or store receipt. That waxy, thin thermal paper is coated with the stuff. Turns out all sorts of printing industry inks and varnishes contain BPA epoxy resins.

And wouldn’t you know it, European studies have fingered the recycling of BPA-laced paper as the biggest source of bisphenol A in the environment. Worse still, when PBA-heavy paper is mixed with chlorinated compounds in the recycling process, the breakdown products in waste water are 28 times more estrogenic.

That thermal paper and BPA-heavy inks then get recycled into food boxes and, um, gulp, toilet paper. The latter hasn’t been as heavily researched as BPA bottles, but European scientists point to the flushing of TP made from recycled paper as a serious source of estrogenic emissions to wastewater.

You could boycott toilet paper in protest – but more realistically, we should all demand that our federal reps take all bisphenol A out of all our products. End of story.

BISPHENOL A IN HIDING

• Some microwaveable plastic containers

• Recycled cardboard takeout containers

• PVC products, including cling wrap

• CDs

• Clear, hard plastic glassware END

Take Your SIGG, BPA Infested, Bottles Back to Major Retailers and Likely Get a New 'Clean' One
BPA is everywhere: in plastic bottles, in metal food cans, in food and toys. But where we did not think it existed were in our SIGGs. I have gone on the Oprah Winfrey Show, the Martha Stewart Show, the Ellen DeGeneres Show and told scores of magazines, newspapers, radio programs and lecture audiences to get reusable water bottles. My follow-up line has often been, “I use SIGGs” – accompanied by a gesture towards the bottle that was nearly always on my person, one that I had known and loved for years. [...]
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What's That Leaching From Your Cans?
Early exposure (like, say, in the womb) has been tied to birth defects, attention disorders, miscarriages, infertility you name it. Most recently, scientists at an American Association for the Advancement of Science meet said that exposure to estrogenic chemicals like BPA in the womb might even lead to obesity later in life. Same goes for breast cancer and prostate cancer. [...]

How to Save Your Cast-off Nalgene Bottle From a Life of Landfill Leaching
Q: What are we supposed to do with our old polycarbonate bottles now that we know they’re dangerous? Won’t they leach in landfill? [...]

Martin Kemp Beats Cancer

My Terrifying Battle With Brain Tumours
by Spandau Ballet's Martin Kemp

Spandau Ballet’s Martin Kemp today described his 'terrifying' battle with two brain tumours.

The 47-year-old guitarist and former EastEnders actor, who has now been given the all clear, first discovered he had a tumour in 1995.

He starts a world reunion tour with the Eighties pop giants, including brother Gary, next month.

Today, as he opened a cancer unit at the London hospital that saved his life, Kemp said: 'The first tumour was the size of a squashed grapefruit and doctors could cut my skull to get to it.

'What was terrifying was the second tumour - doctors avoided talking about it. I was very worried about the little guy in the middle of my head.

'After two years, doctors said it was growing and wanted to cut it out. But my wife didn’t want me to have the operation because it would leave so much collateral damage.

'She found a doctor who said it could be attacked with radiation, with an early form of Gamma Knife technology.

'Within six months of treatment there were signs it was dying and today there is nothing left of it.'

Barts in Smithfield was one of only two UK hospitals with the 'targeted' radiation technology when the star fell ill 14 years ago.

Today he paid tribute to the trust by opening the £3m London Gamma Knife Centre at Barts, specialising in the radiosurgery.

'It's great that the Gamma Knife surgery is now available and that so many more people will have access to this kind of treatment.

'When I was first dianosed there was nobody out there I knew who had come through it. It was a terrifying situation, but I want to be an example for patients now.

'At first it is such a massive shock you start to think it is the end of the world.'

[dailymail.co.uk - Sep.09]