Category: Real Food + Eating Well

The Art Of Nourishing Eating: Bringing Back Pleasure Into The Kitchen (And Consequently Life)

August 17th, 2010 · Vina Barham · Happiness + Growth, Real Food + Eating Well 3 comments - Tags:

I’m a minimalist at heart. The walls in our home are white and bare. Our house is sparsely decorated and furnished only with essentials. And my minimalist philosophy is most evident in the kitchen. I tend to be drawn towards doing the bare minimum especially in things that I am NOT good at, cooking being one of them. My approach has been to eat for health and frugality, and if we are able to, for sustainability and justice. Because these are what I have deemed to be of utmost importance. 

But lately, I’m slowly coming to a different conclusion. That mindful eating is not enough. There’s something MAJOR that is missing from the picture. And that something major is pleasure.

Consider this:

  • About 40-60% of our metabolic power at any meal – meaning our ability to digest, assimilate and calorie burn  – comes from something called the Cephalic Phase Digestive Response – which is a scientific term for taste, pleasure, aroma, satisfaction, and our visuals of a meal.Which means when we only consider the health and frugal aspects of eating, as well as the sustainability and the justice of it all and leave out what I call the pleasure factors which in turn shapes our subjective experience of eating, we cut down our metabolizing rate by 40-60%. That’s a lot.
  • Our bodies are not properly conditioned to digest when we are under stress. And your body perceives distraction as stress. So when we are eating while watching T.V. or emailing, the simple act of attending to two stimuli at once lowers our metabolism drastically. When we are cooking and we are under stress (i.e. figuring out what to do with a toddler yanking on your leg), same thing. When we are chowing down our food so we can do the next thing, same thing. When we have stressful conversations over our meals or when our conversations distract us from paying attention to the flavors and delight of our food, same thing. 

The Italians certainly know the Art of Soulful Eating. This is part of what the author Elizabeth Gilbert of the book, Eat, Pray and Love discovered went she went to Italy after her divorce (haven’t seen the movie but have read the book awhile back!). They take time to prepare elaborate meals, with antipasti, insalata, primo, secondi and dolci. They eat a meal for a long time with others, enjoying not just the food but the entire experience as well. They welcome wine and laughter and most of all, pleasure to grace their time at the table. An everyday feast to look forward to. 

So here’s my desire: that I can truly be a nourishing cook, that I can learn how to make really delicious food that smells great, looks great, and tastes great without compromising the health, frugality, sustainability and justice issues that I try to consider. 

How’s a culinary-challenged mama supposed to do that? Move to a countryside in Italy (or France)? 

Maybe. Maybe.

Tips Of Another Kind Tuesday: An Encouragement For The Domestically Challenged Mom

July 27th, 2010 · Vina Barham · Minimalist Kitchen, Nourishing Food, Real Food + Eating Well 8 comments - Tags: ,

In this blog’s past life (oh, about six months ago), I dedicated my Tuesdays on writing about everything related to Food. I mostly focused on Real Food advocacy because my family was transitioning to a more sustainable way of eating.  I was very much motivated at first to make EVERYTHING we eat from scratch, forego all the yucky processed food and vowed never to eat McDonald’s ever ever again. 

But guess what? 

I have broken that vow a few times and I probably will do so again.  And I don’t make everything from scratch and I sometimes still feed my family something I know isn’t completely healthy. And for a long time, I felt like a complete faker. As if I can only be one or the other: an all-natural-cook-from scratch-granola-loving-grow-vegetables-kind of mom OR a Goldfish-and-Rice-A-Roni-and-Take-Out-kind of mom. 

But I’m neither. I’m somewhere in the between and I’m totally okay with that. 

Because I have learned to accept a few things: 

  • I am not a Martha Stewart and the kitchen is not my most favorite place to be. Which means that the more time I spend making all sorts of stuff in the kitchen, the more crabby I get and the less time I have to do more of what I enjoy of with my family. Which means I need to stick to a minimalist approach to cooking to get the most out of the short time I spend on it.
  • I am a slow learner when it comes to cooking. Which means I have to take things slow and not make crazy goals, like learning how to make kombucha, making my own yogurt and soaking flour all at once. And that I had better focus on the simple but necessary things like  putting a healthy and yummy dinner on the table every night. 
  • I tend to take three steps forward and two steps back. Which means I had better look at my overall progress instead of what I had failed to do this week. Because my overall progress from a couple of years ago gives me a much more accurate picture than focusing on my  one decision to let my little toddler eat Chicken McNuggets at McDonalds: we’re growing some vegetables from our garden, we rarely buy take-out even though it means we might eat the same things that I have in my small repertoire of recipes that I can do well, I’ve learned to make awesome pot pies from scratch, and we rarely have junk food in our house. 

Part of becoming an Authentic Mother is be honest about who you are and figure out strategies that work for you and your family, given your goals. It’s important to focus on the Essentials of Mothering instead of the Ideal Image of A Mother so you can tailor it to how you work best.

Are you a domestically-challenged mom like me? If so, how have you managed to make your house into a home your way? I would love to hear! If you liked this article, you might want to consider subscribing to A Nourishing Home. It’s free!

Learn To Cook Real Food On A Budget: A Peasant’s Feast at The Nourishing Gourmet

June 16th, 2010 · Vina Barham · Nourishing Food, Real Food + Eating Well No comments - Tags: ,

When I was first making my way through that chunk of a book that is Nourishing Traditions, I often turned to bloggers who have already gone before me. Kimi Harris at The Nourishing Gourmet is one of my real food mentors and up to this day, she is still an inspiration to me in the kitchen. Her recipes are simple and frugal, and she hosts Pennywise Platter on Thursdays where bloggers everywhere can link up to offer there nourishing yet inexpensive recipes. It’s a great resource for those of us who are trying to feed our families healthy and yet not break the bank quite.

For those of you who are ready to take your cooking to the next level and learn techniques in the kitchen that pack in the nutrients for less money, Kimi has put together an affordable online learning opportunity, A Peasant’s Feast, a 13-week online course that begins June 28! (Yes, I heard about it a little late, but that’s better than never, right?) I not only love how she has made the course truly practical for families who want to eat more nourishing food within their budget, but she also gives a great foundational overview of a nourishing diet.

Here’s a peak at what’s in store:

  • Week One: Intro to Nourishing Food, How to Find Local Resources, Guide to Nutrient Dense Foods, and How to Find the Right Budget for You
  • Week Two: Why I am not a Vegetarian when Beans are so Cheap, Shopping Guide to Beef, Beef Stretching Recipes and Video Demonstration
  • Week Three and Four: How to Stretch one Chicken into Three Meals, The Health and Frugality Benefits of Homemade Chicken Stock (Recipes and Video Demonstrations)
  • Week Five: Why Seafood? Health Benefits of Seafood and What to Buy, Seven Tips for Saving Money on Seafood, Recipes and Video demonstration.
  • Week Six: The How’s and Why’s of Soaking Grains, Shopping Guide to Buying Grains, Video Demonstration and Recipes
  • Week Seven: Sourdough, How to Maintain a Starter, How to Make Sourdough Bread, Video Demonstration and Recipes
  • Week Eight: Eating Dessert like the French (Fruit based Desserts). Naturally Sweetened, fruit based desserts
  • Week Nine: Sprouting, The Benefits of Sprouting, Sprouting Guide, Pictorial Guides, Video Demonstration and Recipes
  • Week Ten: Lacto-Fermented Foods: The Benefits of Lacto-Fermenting, Demonstrations of two methods, and recipes.
  • Week Eleven: Dairy-Shopping Guide to Dairy, Making Homemade Yogurt and Creme Freshe, Video Demonstration and Recipes
  • Week Twelve: The Joys of Vegetables: Where to buy Quality Produce for Less, Making Main Dish Salads, Homemade Salad Dressings, Recipes and Video Demonstrations
  • Week Thirteen: Meal Planning Tips and Sample Menus.

    • As a loyal follower of The Nourishing Gourmet, I highly recommend Kimi Harris as a down-earth and knowledgeable guide if you wish you give your family the gift of nutrition through real and traditional foods. If you have been following our Nourishing Kitchen over here at our blog, this class is for you! You can click here to register or to find out more.

    Please Don’t Pass Sterility To Your Children

    June 15th, 2010 · Vina Barham · Everyday Justice, Nourishing Food, Real Food + Eating Well 4 comments - Tags:

    Photo by Kevin Dooley

    Last week, I talked about my determination to be a GMO-free household, and my husband brings home a box of donuts laden with ingredients I don’t even want to think about. Sigh. So today, I spew off some studies I found that I think have convinced him never to touch that stuff again (which means I have to come up with a healthy alternative to all that stuff he likes to eat without breaking bank!)

    Sterility and Oral Hair Growth May Just Make Our Case in Point
    So in case your significant other needs more reasons why it is essential to steer clear of processed food in general and non-organic food items (although I have to make a note here that some farmers don’t go through certification but still utilize organic methods, which is still organic in my book), here are some articles you may want to read:

    A new study done by Russian scientists suggests that Genetically Modified Food may cause long term sterility, that is, sterility in second and third generations. The scientists used hamsters for this research and divided them into groups. One group of hamsters was fed a normal diet without any soy products, a second group was fed non-GMO (genetically modified organism) soy, the third ate GM soy and the fourth group was fed an even higher amount of GM soy than the third.

    “This study was just routine,” said Russian biologist Alexey V. Surov, in what could end up as the understatement of this century. Surov and his colleagues set out to discover if Monsanto’s genetically modified (GM) soy, grown on 91% of US soybean fields, leads to problems in growth or reproduction. What he discovered may uproot a multi-billion dollar industry.

    After feeding hamsters for two years over three generations, those on the GM diet, and especially the group on the maximum GM soy diet, showed devastating results. By the third generation, most GM soy-fed hamsters lost the ability to have babies. They also suffered slower growth, and a high mortality rate among the pups.

    And if this isn’t shocking enough, some in the third generation even had hair growing inside their mouths—a phenomenon rarely seen, but apparently more prevalent among hamsters eating GM soy.

    “Effects were mostly concentrated in kidney and liver function, the two major diet detoxification organs, but in detail differed with each GM type. In addition, some effects on heart, adrenal, spleen and blood cells were also frequently noted. As there normally exists sex differences in liver and kidney metabolism, the highly statistically significant disturbances in the function of these organs, seen between male and female rats, cannot be dismissed as biologically insignificant as has been proposed by others. We therefore conclude that our data strongly suggests that these GM maize varieties induce a state of hepatorenal toxicity….These substances have never before been an integral part of the human or animal diet and therefore their health consequences for those who consume them, especially over long time periods are currently unknown.”

    Wait. It Gets Worse.

    So, that’s just the tip of the iceberg, I believe. The U.S. Government insists that GMO is safe. Of course, you need to know that Michael Taylor, former Vice President of Monsanto (the Big Guys behind GMO’s) is the new Deputy Commissioner at our lovely Food and Drug Administration (FDA.) Curious, isn’t it? I am not a conspiracy theorist of any kind, but there’s something suspect about this. But maybe not? What do I know, right?

    This Blog is Part of Two For Tuesdays Blog Hop, Real Food Wednesday and Fight Back Friday.

    8 Easy and Frugal Ways To Make Your Food More Nourishing

    June 8th, 2010 · Vina Barham · Nourishing Food, Nutrition + Health, Real Food + Eating Well One comment - Tags:

    Photo by Catsper

    There’s a season for elaborately done + uber-healthy meals. And there’s a season for simple yet nutrient dense meals that make your bank account giddy with extra change. If you are in the latter, here are some ways to cope with grace:

    1. Simplify With Greens
    Add a simple raw/fresh green salad in place of cooked vegetables to your dinner meals. Skip the lettuce and go for the deep green stuff. Nothing is simpler than throwing a good salad together. Add nuts, cheese, boiled eggs, anchovies? Oh yum!

    2. Eat Your Liver
    Try sneaking in ground liver to your ground beef recipes. Making meatloaf or meatballs? Grind your liver in your food processor and  mix it up with your beef. Try to find organic grass-fed calf liver. Super cheap-er, super nutritious and your family won’t even know what hit them (just don’t put too much in there!)

    3. Go Brown
    Substitute brown rice pasta in place of your regular one. If you eat a lot of pasta, try heading to your Trader Joe’s and stack up on their brown rice pasta for a mere $1.99 per package. It’s the best value I’ve seen and it compares well to more expensive brands like the Tinkyada.

    4. Serve It Smooth
    You can make a smoothie as yummy and nutritious as you’d like. Add greens, a little bit of flax seed oil, a little bit of coconut oil, yogurt/kefir, frozen berries and a bit of maple syrup and voila! Nourishing breakfast on the go!

    5. Stock Up The Salmon
    I read here that canned seafood (as well as canned corn, canned poultry, canned beef and canned beans) at Trader Joes come in BPA-free cans (I plan to confirm this at some point myself). So stock up on their canned wild alaskan salmon for fast nutritious meals and snacks. Who says you can’t afford to eat your Omega 3s on the cheap?

    6. Add The Eggs
    Add it in your salad. Add it to your meat + rice. Add it to your creamy pasta sauce. Or just eat it plain for a quick nutritious and affordable protein. Boil a few and have it handy dandy in the fridge when the hunger strikes. (You read about my take on eggs before, right? Right. Just checking.)

    7. Cook In Broth
    I usually make broth at least once every other week. I like having broth for cooking rice so it can soak up the good stuff even if we are not eating anything soupy for that day. It’s really easy to make chicken broth and here is an article why this needs to be a staple in your diet.

    8. Spice It Up
    Herbs and spices not only add so much depth and flavor to dishes, but a whole lot of health benefits as well. Add cinnamon to your oatmeal, tarragon in your dressings, cumin in your meatloaf, stevia to your tea, fresh basil to your salad and more.

    Did I miss anything obvious? Probably. So chime in and tell us how you make your food more nourishing, simple and cheap!

    Coconut Series: Coconut Oil and Wrap Up

    May 18th, 2010 · Vina Barham · Nourishing Food, Nutrition + Health, Real Food + Eating Well 2 comments - Tags: ,

    Photo by Daniele Satori

    If you’ve been following this series on Coconut, it’s not news to you that I simply adore this wonderful nut! Probably in part because I grew up with it and have so many wonderful memories associated with it. We often made coconut salad from the freshly grated meat of the coconut we bought from the wet market, coconut pies, coconut popsicles…I can go on and on! But more recently, I discovered just how much coconut is super good for you. 

    The Wonders of Coconut
    I’ve been highlighting in my previous posts the health benefits of coconut, but in case you need more nudging to regularly include it in your diet, here’s some more from Bruce Fife’s Coconut Research Center. (Disclaimer: I am not a health professional. I am only a mom who loves to learn about how to nourish my family better. Some medical professionals, mostly Western, think that the claims below border sensationalism but there are many experts from around the world that confirm many of these findings. )

    • Kills viruses that cause influenza, herpes, measles, hepatitis C, SARS, AIDS, and other illnesses.
    • Kills bacteria that cause ulcers, throat infections, urinary tract infections, gum disease and cavities, pneumonia, and gonorrhea, and other diseases.
    • Kills fungi and yeasts that cause candidiasis, ringworm, athlete’s foot, thrush, diaper rash, and other infections.
    • Expels or kills tapeworms, lice, giardia, and other parasites.
    • Provides a nutritional source of quick energy.
    • Boosts energy and endurance, enhancing physical and athletic performance.
    • Improves digestion and absorption of other nutrients including vitamins, minerals, and amino acids.
    • Improves insulin secretion and utilization of blood glucose.
    • Relieves stress on pancreas and enzyme systems of the body.
    • Reduces symptoms associated with pancreatitis.
    • Helps relieve symptoms and reduce health risks associated with diabetes.
    • Reduces problems associated with malabsorption syndrome and cystic fibrosis.
    • Improves calcium and magnesium absorption and supports the development of strong bones and teeth.
    • Helps protect against osteoporosis.
    • Helps relieve symptoms associated with gallbladder disease.
    • Relieves symptoms associated with Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and stomach ulcers.
    • Improves digestion and bowel function.
    • Relieves pain and irritation caused by hemorrhoids.
    • Reduces inflammation.
    • Supports tissue healing and repair.
    • Supports and aids immune system function.
    • Helps protect the body from breast, colon, and other cancers.
    • Is heart healthy; improves cholesterol ratio reducing risk of heart disease.
    • Protects arteries from injury that causes atherosclerosis and thus protects against heart disease.
    • Helps prevent periodontal disease and tooth decay.
    • Functions as a protective antioxidant.
    • Helps to protect the body from harmful free radicals that promote premature aging and degenerative disease.
    • Does not deplete the body’s antioxidant reserves like other oils do.
    • Improves utilization of essential fatty acids and protects them from oxidation.
    • Helps relieve symptoms associated with chronic fatigue syndrome.
    • Relieves symptoms associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia (prostate enlargement).
    • Reduces epileptic seizures.
    • Helps protect against kidney disease and bladder infections.
    • Dissolves kidney stones.
    • Helps prevent liver disease.
    • Is lower in calories than all other fats.
    • Supports thyroid function.
    • Promotes loss of excess weight by increasing metabolic rate.
    • Is utilized by the body to produce energy in preference to being stored as body fat like other dietary fats.
    • Helps prevent obesity and overweight problems.
    • Applied topically helps to form a chemical barrier on the skin to ward of infection.
    • Reduces symptoms associated the psoriasis, eczema, and dermatitis.
    • Supports the natural chemical balance of the skin.
    • Softens skin and helps relieve dryness and flaking.
    • Prevents wrinkles, sagging skin, and age spots.
    • Promotes healthy looking hair and complexion.
    • Provides protection form damaging effects of ultraviolet radiation form the sun.
    • Helps control dandruff.
    • Does not form harmful by-products when heated to normal cooking temperature like other vegetable oils do.
    • Has no harmful or discomforting side effects.
    • Is completely non-toxic to humans.

    Baby Step #3: Embracing Coconut Oil
    I’ve written about using coconut milk  and coconut flour as two small steps you can take towards welcoming coconut into your life.  But the real deal is coconut oil, my friends. It’s what makes coconut a wonder food. So if you are ready to step it up this week, join me in giving Coconut Oil a go in our kitchen, and beyond.

    How To Incorpoate Coconut Oil In YOur Kicthen

    •  Substitute for Cooking Oil:You can simply substitute coconut oil in place of any cooking oil you’ve previously used in most recipes. Extra virgin coconut oil might retain the coconut taste, so if that bothers you, you might want to try the high quality refined kind. It’s best used in SE/South Asian cooking, since many of the recipes lend well to the coconut taste. Also, because it has a high smoke point, it’s excellent as a frying oil.  
    • Baked Goods and Deserts: Again, you can simply substitute coconut for the butter in the recipe you are using. Coconut oil also works well with recipes using coconut flour. I hear it’s great for popping corn.
    • Drinks: You can add it to your smoothie, protein shakes, cocoa and of course, cocktails!
    • Dressings and Condiments: You can use in place of oils in recipes or blend it with other oils to suit your taste.

    Uses for Coconut Oil Beyond the Kitchen
    Besides its versatile culinary use, coconut oil is also a staple in body care. I love coconut shampoo as well as using it as a moisturizer. I don’t have the time and space to cover everything that you can use coconut oil for, but one thing I want to try in the future is to make this Homemade Natural Deodorant by Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking, using coconut oil.

    Sources of Coconut Oil
    You can buy Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil online from Amazon. They carry Aloha Nu and Nutiva, which are two of the most highly recommended brands. (Below are links to Amazon, which will earn me a teeny weeny commission if you decide to purchase them through this link. Much thanks for the support!) Whole Foods carry their own 365 brand of organic coconut oil as well.

    Wrap Up (And A Favor)
    So in closing, this is probably the most I’ve ever talked about coconut in my entire life. And I hope it served to encourage you to consider this nut as a healthy addition to your life. Of course, all things in moderation, yes? I’d love to hear the different ways you’ve included coconut into your kitchen and elsewhere!

    So, I’ve been thinking about how best to use my time blogging these days. I’d love to write helpful articles, and honestly, writing about food-related posts/recipes is not my strength. But I thought I’d tackle it anyway. But only if they are helpful. Well, are they? I’ll be asking more questions like this in the coming posts, and probably do a survey at some point to better cover issues that are relevant to you, my dear reader, that are also dear to me. Thank you so much for journeying here with me.

    Coconut Series: Baking With Coconut Flour (And A Simple Coconut Bread Recipe)

    May 11th, 2010 · Vina Barham · Nourishing Food, Nutrition + Health, Real Food + Eating Well 2 comments - Tags: ,

    Photo By Elena's Pantry

    There is so much to love about coconut. Perhaps that’s why we call it the “Tree of Life” in the Philippines. You can get so much use out of this one giant nut (yes, it’s a nut, hence coco-nut.) Even after you eat the yummy flesh and drink the juice, you can still get use out of the coconut husk by drying it up and using it to scrub and polish your wooden floor (if I remember correctly!). I have fond memories of cleaning our house with it. I grew up living so “green” without even knowing it. Anyway. Moving on.

    Benefits of Coconut
    A lot of people are looking for gluten-free alternatives these days, and I’m surprised that coconut flour has not been picked up as a superfood option. Compared to wheat bran, it has twice as much fiber. And why is fiber good for you? From the book Cooking with Coconut Flour: A Delicious Low-Carb, Gluten-Free Alternative to Wheat by Bruce Fife:

    • High-fiber foods are generally lower in calories. By simply adding high-fiber foods to your diet will lower your calorie intake. Fiber absorbs fluids so your stomach will also feel full sooner, which mean less calories for you to consume. 
    • Good bacteria in our intestines get their primary nourishment from fiber. When we eat a lot of fiber, the good bacteria will dominate your  digestive tract. We need these good bacteria to produce vitamins, improve nutrient absorption and overall promote good health. 
    • Coconut fiber, specifically has been found to expel intestinal words. In some parts of the world, it is a traditional practice to eat coconut meat as a way to get rid of parasites in the body. 
    • Fiber reduces many factors in heart disease. It helps reduce cholesterol, blood pressure and increase insulin sensitivity. Coconut flour, in particular, has a positive impact on blood lipid levels and will lower your LDL (bad) cholesterol while increasing your HDL (good) cholesterol. It improves antioxidant status and reduces oxidative stress.
    • Dietary fiber helps moderate swings in blood sugar by slowing down the absorption of sugar into the blood stream. Coconut fiber has been shown to be very effective in moderating blood sugar and insulin levels. Which makes coconut flour a really good alternative in baking, since often there will be some sugar involved.
    • Fiber also cleanses our digestive tract by sweeping along parasites, toxins and carcinogens with it. This helps prevent toxins from getting lodged in our intestinal tracts. It also readily absorbs fluids, and are found to soak up to 20 to 50 percent of carcinogenic compounds.  
    • Coconut is a good source of many trace minerals. Coconuts generally grow in mineral rich volcanic soil, compared to grains that are mostly grown in mineral depleted soil. Coconut also does not contain phytic acid, like wheat and other grains. You don’t have to worry about soaking, sprouting or souring before using it in your baking needs.

    If I haven’t convinced you yet to check out the benefits of adding more coconut in your diet, you can read this article written by Mary Enig, Coconut, In Support Of Good Health In the 21st Century (stuff that we Islanders have known for years!). Moderate use in conjunction with a varied diet of healthy foods is key. I personally want to focus on getting more nutrient-dense superfood in our diet instead of thinking about all the food we shouldn’t eat. And coconut is one of those superfood that I’m more happy to consume. If you’ve never tried coconut ever, give coconut milk a go and check out my Easy Peasy Curry recipe I shared last week. Today, we’re going to look at the goodness yumminess of baking with coconut flour. And we’re going to keep it simple too (for mamas like me who are culinary-challenged!)

    Cooking With Coconut Flour: The Basics
    Perhaps one of the reasons why coconut flour has not yet gained popularity is that it is quite difficult to work with for those who are not familiar with it. Most of our recipes in baking are designed for wheat flour and other similar grains. We can’t simply substitute coconut flour in our recipes and get the desired results. I would highly recommend buying Bruce Fife’s book Cooking with Coconut Flour: A Delicious Low-Carb, Gluten-Free Alternative to Wheat. He has a lot of great simple recipes that you can build on. Before I share a simple coconut recipe adapted from this book, I want to highlight a few things about using coconut flour:

    • Coconut flour lacks gluten. Which means you need to use more eggs that a regular recipe would to hold together your baked goods.
    • Coconut flour is highly absorbent. Which means you need to add a little bit more water/liquid to the recipe.  A general rule of thumb if you are trying to substitute some coconut flour in place of wheat flour is to add 1:1 ratio of coconut flour to liquid.
    • Because coconut flour is highly absorbent, you need to keep the liquids in the recipe to a minimum. Using butter or coconut oil keeps it from drying out. 
    • Sugar is an essential ingredient in baking with coconut flour. You can reduce it, but don’t omit. 

    Okay, let’s get on to baking!

    Simple Coconut Bread Recipe
    This recipe is from Bruce Fife’s book I’ve linked to above. I highly recommend it!
    Ingredients:

    • 6 pastured eggs
    • 1/2 cup butter or ghee
    • 2 tablespoons honey
    • 1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
    • 3/4 cup coconut flour
    • 1 teaspoon aluminum free baking powder (or you can omit)

    Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients (by hand or using a mixer) until there are no lumps. Pour into a greased 9×5x3-inch pan and bake for 40 minutes. Remove from pan and let it cool on rack. Yum!

    The Coconut Series: Why I Heart Coconut Milk And An Easy Peasy Curry Recipe

    May 4th, 2010 · Vina Barham · Nourishing Food, Nutrition + Health, Real Food + Eating Well 9 comments - Tags: , ,
      

    Photo By DePaula FJ

    I grew up in the land of coconuts. We enjoyed “buko,” the Filipino term for coconut, in all forms imaginable. We ate buko ice cream, drank buko juice, used buko milk in all kinds of dishes, and had plentiful of buko type desserts. The best way to eat a coconut is to eat it fresh: chop the fruit open, drink the yummy juice and grate the coconut flesh to eat.

    So why is coconut so good for you?

    Two Words: Lauric Acid. From the Weston A Price website: 

    The lauric acid in coconut oil is used by the body to make the same disease-fighting fatty acid derivative monolaurin that babies make from the lauric acid they get from their mothers= milk. The monoglyceride monolaurin is the substance that keeps infants from getting viral or bacterial or protozoal infections. Until just recently, this important benefit has been largely overlooked by the medical and nutrition community.

    You can also read more on the various health benefits of coconut from the book, Eat Fat, Lose Fat, written by Mary Enig and Sally Fallon. Here, the authors attempt to correct the common (and mistaken) assumption that tropical fats and oils (coconut and palm) are unhealthy and that they contain healthy saturated fats that we need more of.

    For a more global perspective on coconut oil, you can read this excerpt from the Asian Pacific Coconut Community on experts findings on the health benefits of coconut oil.

    Since coconut oil is mostly absent in most American kitchens, let’s start with something more familiar: coconut milk.

    Why I Heart Coconut Milk

    Because it’s so yummy. Now, I’m not talking about the thin, watered-down, low-fat anemic version they sell at Trader Joes (yes, I am biased). We’re talking creamy fatty milk. I often use Chaokoh Thai Coconut Milk that you can get at your local Asian store. But recently, I discovered a BPA-free, organic option with Native Forest Coconut Milk. You can get it online via True Foods Market and Amazon (both of which I am an affiliate of, but I highly recommend these brands.) You can mix it with pineapple juice and lime for a non-alcoholic version of pina colada. You can use it to boil glutinous rice with a little bit of honey for a sweet dessert. But best of all, you can use it to make curry!

    My Curry Recipe I Can Make With My Eyes Closed

    Can I just say that I can eat curry everyday of my life? Okay, maybe not everyday but I just don’t tire of it. It is my default dish when I don’t know what to make for dinner. My poor husband. :) I use premade (Mae Ploy) curry paste I get at our local Asian market.  You can make your own if you’d like with the help of a tutorial at Thai Food and Travel.  Be warned! This recipe is not exacting. I’m a notorious eye-baller. I don’t measure anything and sort of just do as I feel like it. You can omit the fish sauce and palm/cane sugar but it makes for a more authentic taste in my opinion. Add a little bit at a time until you figure out the taste you are going for.

    Ingredients:

    • 2 tbsp coconut oil (or butter)
    • 1 small onion, chopped
    • 1 tsp grated ginger
    • salt and pepper
    • 2 tbps or more of curry paste 
    • 2-3 lbs chicken pieces (I prefer dark meat)
    • 2 cans of coconut milk (14 oz)
    • 2 tbsp fish sauce
    • 2 tbps palm/cane sugar
    • Garnish: green onions, red pepper, cilantry

    Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add onions and cook until translucent. Season with S & P. Add ginger. Cook and enjoy the fragrance. :) Add curry paste and mix. Push onions to the side. Brown chicken in the middle for  a few seconds. Mix together with onions and cook for several minutes. Turn down heat to low and let it sit for a minute. Add coconut milk. Stir to mix. Add fish sauce and cane sugar to your liking. And you are done!

    I like to add garbazo beans and carrots for some reason. You can garnish with green onions, slivers of red pepper and cilantro. Serve on rice. Yum. I hope you enjoy it!

    Next week, I hope to continue writing about the wonders of coconut and share some recipes using coconut flour. Yum! Also, I’d like to ask if there’s anything you want me to cover in particular. I’m here to serve

    This post is part of Fight Back Friday and Real Food Wednesday.

    An Experiment In Mindful Lunch-Ing (And 5 Nourishing Lunch Ideas For The Week)

    April 27th, 2010 · Vina Barham · Nourishing Food, Real Food + Eating Well 2 comments - Tags: ,

    Photo By Slimmer Jimmer

    We all talk about how breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And of course we all make a big deal about dinner. But what about lunch? Some of us rush through the day that lunch gets bumped around, or we just completely forget about it. I’ve done it myself. I plan for what we are going to eat for morning and night, but mid-day? I often just see what’s in the fridge and figure out what I can throw together. And we end up eating a mish-mash of leftovers that didn’t quite satisfy, and thus snacking our stomachs full until dinner time comes.

    Maybe we need to make a big deal about lunch, just as we do the two other meals of the day. Maybe it would help us slow down some more, pace ourselves for the second half of the day, and get us into a more mindful groove as the day comes to a close. The next two weeks, I’ll be working on preparing our lunches as thoughtfully as I do our dinners: plan ahead and prepare it with loving care. Would it make any difference? I’ll let you know.

    In the meantime, here’s 5 super nourishing lunch ideas I’m hoping to do this week.

    1. Italian-American Tuna Melt

    2. Cold Quinoa Salad with Radicchio, Chicken and Pine Nuts

    3. Sherried Sardine Toast

    4. Black Bean and Goat Cheese Quesadilla

    5. Chef Salad With Fennel, Apple, Blue Cheese and Roast Beef

    What about you? How are you feeling about lunch? Any nourishing lunch ideas and tips you’d like to share?

    Introducing Tinola, The Goodness of Fermented Fish Sauce and Why You Should Try It

    April 20th, 2010 · Vina Barham · Nourishing Food, Real Food + Eating Well 7 comments - Tags: ,

    Photo By Pinot and DIta

    Updated on 04/23/2010: See bottom of post for recommended fish sauce brands.

    I love Tinola. This was a staple growing up in the Philippines and even now when my mom or sister cooks it, I feel like I’m back home. I’m fighting a cold right now, and a bowl of Tinola with some warm rice could do the trick.

    But before I share with you this yummy recipe, let’s talk about fermented fish sauce and why you need to try it.

    The Goodness of Fermented Fish Sauce, or Patis
    Surely most of us are familiar with the health benefits of fish. Fish oil has become the most popular dietary supplement in the US. For those of us who (try to) subscribe to Weston A. Price’s philosophy know that fish broth will cure anything, at least according to a South American proverb. It contains the high nutritious minerals of bones and cartilage as electrolytes, which is very easy to assimilate. And plus think of all the omega-3 you can be getting. But let’s face it, few of us eat that much fish in any given week. I know I don’t.

    Enter Fish Sauce. Or affectionately known to Filipinos as Patis. They call it Nuoc Mam in Vietna, Nam Pla in Thailand, Burma and Lao, Trasi in Indonesia, Belacanin Malaysia, and Teuk Trei in Cambodia.

    What Soy Sauce is to East Asia is Fermented Fish Sauce to Southeast Asia. Many Americans are familiar with soy sauce, thanks to the popularity of Chinese and Japanese cuisines, but fish sauce? What?

    I grew up with this staple sauce that graced many of our meals year round. It naturally adds saltiness to any meal, so less salt is used. But it’s so much more than just making your food salty. The flavor doesn’t really end up tasting like fish though. I can’t really describe it. It’s just good.

    Photo By FootosVanRobin


    And because fish sauce is fermented, it offers health benefits you wouldn’t even imagine. I mean, think about it. Fish fermented until all of what’s left is its goodness.

    Marketman from Market Manila writes about the process of fermentation:

    … a relatively simple process of fermenting small fish (or shrimp), usually dilis (sometimes fish in the mackerel family) or other plentiful fish that travel in large schools, with a brine mixture of water and lots of salt. This is allowed to ferment naturally outdoors for up to 24 months (though much less for mass produced patis) until such point that that a protein called hydrosylate is formed. The pungent liquid is siphoned off and the first batch of liquid (the fish sauce equivalent of extra virgin olive oil from the first pressing of olives) is considered the finest quality fish sauce… That liquid is then “aged” in sunlight until it achieves the ideal amber or caramel color, aroma and taste. But lots of factors can subtly alter the quality of one’s patis – the fish you start with, the manner in which fermentation is undergone (vats, heat, etc.) and the care with which the first liquid is drawn off.

    So there. You curious to try it yet? My husband won’t go near it because of it’s smell. So be forewarned. But once you get past this, oh my word, a new dimension to your cooking will have opened up. Especially if you haven’t yet discovered the world of Southeast Asian cuisine besides Phad Thai and Pho. Seriously. You need to.

    Simple Tinola Recipe
    Here is a delicious recipe to try, if you’ve never tried fish sauce.

    Ingredients

    • 2 tbsp Olive Oil
    • 2 tbsp Ginger, peeled and jullienned
    • 1 clove garlic, minced
    • 1 medium sized yellow onion, sliced
    • 3-4 lbs of chicken pieces, dark meat is best
    • 2 tbps of fish sauce
    • 5 cups of water, or chicken stock
    • 1 stalk lemon grass
    • 2 small unripe papaya or l chayote, chopped (if you can’t find it at your asian grocery, you can substitute zucchini

    Heat a large sauce pan to medium. Add olive oil. Saute garlic and ginger until fragrant. Add onions and saute until a little bit translucent. Add chicken pieces and brown them on all sides. Lower heat and cook for five minutes, stirring.

    Add fish sauce and water. Bring to a simmer. Add the Lemon Grass and Chayote (Zucchini) pieces. Cover and simmer for at least 1 hour over low heat or until the chicken falls of the bones.

    Serve over a bowl of warm rice. I usually add a spoonful of patis right before eating. If you want, you can garnish with green onions, cilantro or hot sauce. Whatever suits you.

    Yum!

    P.S. You can find fish sauce in most asian groceries. I’ve never bought it at Whole Foods but I have a suspicion they may carry it as well.

    This post is part of Pennywise Platter and Fight Back Friday

    { Per one reader’s question, I researched a little bit more how to find a good quality fish sauce. Labels from imported products may not sufficiently provide nutritional information so look for fish sauce with a clear, reddish brown color and without sediments in the bottom. If the color is dark or muddy, the fish sauce is probably lower grade. It should have the smell of the sea, not pungent fish smell (I didn’t know this before!) It also shouldn’t be overwhelmingly salty. Tra Chang and Golden Boy are two fish sauce that are supposedly 1st grade fish sauce. Both are recommended by native Thai cooks as well as well-known American food experts, Mark Bittman and Martha Steward.

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