SHUT UP and EAT!

Time to Quit Complaining about Our Food and Do Some Healthy, Delicious Eating... Grab a Fork!


Grass Fed Burger Recipe
(From Cindy and Bob in Fort Worth)

Grass Fed burgers with red onions and mushrooms:
For two burgers:
 2 TBSP olive oil
 1/2 sweet red onion, sliced super thin
 1 portobello mushroom 1/4 inch slices
 1/2 cup good red wine ( pinot noir, merlot…you choose)
 ground pepper (lightly)
 Pinch of sea salt ( add after wine or mushrooms)
 
  Heat saute pan, add cool oil, when heated, saute
  onions 2-3 minutes. 

  Add mushrooms, cook additional 2 minutes. Add wine,
  pepper and salt to taste.
  Cook until wine is reduced.

  Ladle over Beef patty, on split grilled Kaiser roll.

 Cowboy Beef and Black Bean Chili. 
(Takes about 2 hours to prepare)

Ingredients:
2 pounds Grass-Fed ground beef
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1-1/2 cups chopped onions
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 medium yellow bell peppers, chopped
1 large jalapeño pepper, seeded, finely chopped
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves, crushed
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, crushed
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes, undrained
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) chili-seasoned or zesty-style diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (14 ounces) ready-to-serve beef broth
12 ounces dark beer
1/3 cup tomato paste
1 tablespoon honey
2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, rinsed, drained
Chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
Instructions:
1. Brown ground beef in stockpot over medium heat 8 to10 minutes or until beef is no longer pink, breaking up into 3/4-inch crumbles. Remove from stockpot with slotted spoon. Set aside. Pour off drippings.
2. Heat oil in same stockpot over medium heat until hot. Add onions and garlic; cook and stir 3 to 5 minutes or until onions are tender. Add bell peppers and jalapeño; cook and stir 4 to 5 minutes or until peppers are tender.
3. Return beef crumbles to stockpot. Add chili powder, cumin, oregano, thyme and red pepper; cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, broth, beer, tomato paste and honey; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 45 minutes. Uncover stockpot; continue simmering 30 minutes or until thickened to desired consistency, stirring occasionally. Stir in beans; cook 5 to 10 minutes or until beans are heated through. Season with salt and black pepper, as desired. Garnish with cilantro, if desired.
Makes 8 servings.

TEXAS SALSA MEATLOAF
Ingredients
2 lbs. Grass-fed ground beef
¾ c. Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 egg
1 tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. black pepper
½ tsp. ground cumin
¾ c. salsa (your preference)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Combine all ingredients by hand, mixing very thoroughly. If mixture seems too dry or crumbly, add more salsa to increase moisture.
Shape mixture into a loaf and place in glass baking pan. There should be no need for a loaf pan here, although you can use one if you’re a strict traditionalist.
Bake for approximately 90 minutes, until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. Allow to rest for 20 minutes before carving.
Glaze (optional)
½ c. catsup
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp. Tabasco (or other hot sauce)
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 ½ tbsp. Honey
Mix all ingredients together and baste loaf every 15 minutes after the first 10 minutes of cooking. Serve with extra glaze on the side for dipping and drizzling.

HOPE Y'all Enjoy!
 

I'd Like to Buy the World A...Glucose Meter

The 1971 Soda Pop commercial filled our hearts with love and made the makers of diabetic supplies rich.

So, what are you drinking right now? Did you know that recent studies show that the average person drinks 50 gallons of soda a year? That is a little more than 533 twelve ounce cans per year and comes out to a daily average of nearly 18 ounces per day. Soft drinks are one of the largest single sources of calories in the diet of every American accounting for up to 7 percent and for teenagers, even higher at approximately 13%. What does this mean? To put into perspective, these numbers reflect roughly 60,000 EMPTY calories per year...calories that provide little or no nutritional value, but are often stored as sugars in our bodies.

Soda is one of the largest contributors of caloric intake in society today. As we all know, extra calories mean extra weight and that leads to health problems. Problems related to the heart, tooth decay, and Type 2 Diabetes (formerly called "Adult Onset").

OK, so nobody ever said that soft drinks were a health food. But a highly debated 2004 Harvard study concluded that in addition to the bad things we already know about sodas, they may be directly contributing to the nation's increase in diabetes. Since 1980, the incidence of type-2 diabetes has more than doubled  according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and now represents about 6% of the total population. AND,  about the majority of that increase has come in just the last 10 years.

No one is saying that our thirst for the carbonated "sugar shots" are the sole cause of the nation's growing number of jello butts and spare tire bellies. But, it is hard not to correlate the huge increase in diabetic incidence to the rise in obesity.

The bottom line here is that you need to analyze everything you eat and drink. You do not have to give up sodas entirely, but enjoy them responsibly and save them as a rare treat...as they were originally intended.

SOME EXTRA INFO ON SODAS, OBESITY, and DIABETES:
Diet Sodas Linked with Health Risks  

Zero calories, same great taste (and heart risks)

And a Companion Piece from the Wellness Tips Blog
Diet Intervention for Overweight and Obese Kids 
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CORN - The GOOD, The BAD, The UGLY

Corn…Just the thought of it makes my taste buds tingle. Eating fresh roasted corn on the cob, (swimming in butter!) is one of my most vivid childhood memories. I used to accompany my grandfather (a “black land” farmer in central Texas) to pick those golden ears of corn, right from the cornstalk. I still love a roasted ear of corn. But, in the current health climate, corn stirs many to thoughts of villainy and hatred. So, I have decided to pull down my sombrero and throw my serape over my shoulder as we take a look at the “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” surrounding corn. (Hopefully, there are a few Clint Eastwood fans out there)

THE GOOD

Corn, in its natural form, actually has a lot of nutritional as well as health benefits.

For starters, it is high in fiber which fosters lower cholesterol and is beneficial to a healthy colon thus, helping to fight colon cancer. That golden ear is also rich in folate, providing  B12 and B6 vitamin compounds, integral to the generation of new cells, a big deal before and during pregnancy. Eating moderate amounts of corn has shown to be helpul in the treatment of diabetes, renal dysfunction, constipation, and hemorrhoids.
Also, it contains beta-cryptoxanthin, which helps promote healthy lungs and may even assist in the prevention of lung cancer…

THE BAD

As we have learned, corn, in and of itself can be very beneficial. The “bad” is how the crop has invaded nearly every part of our life through the use of its many chemical properties…or, actually, the chemical change of the inherent properties.

“Big Ag” is synonymous with large scale food production. In the last 50+ years, chemists have discovered literally hundreds of uses for the chemical compounds found in corn and few of them are healthy for us. We have already learned that our meat industry relies heavily on corn as a quick fattening feed for livestock and that a diet of corn is unhealthy for the animal and thus, humans. It doesn’t stop there. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is used in nearly any packaged or processed food product you can name. But, it doesn't stop there. As an example, let’s grab a cheeseburger, fries, and a soda…remember, every ingredient listed has some form of corn in it:

THE BUN: HFCS, WHEAT GLUTEN, MONOGLYCERIDES, CALCIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE, CALCIUM SULFATE, ASCORBIC ACID, CALCIUM PROPIONATE (PRESERVATIVE)

THE CHEESE: HFCS, MONOGLYCERIDES, CALCIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE, CALCIUM SULFATE, ASCORBIC ACID

THE MEAT: GRAIN FED, IRRIDATED, and possibly treated with a variation of CHLORINE

THE FRIES: HFCS, not to mention the oil used in deep frying

THE SODA: HFCS, DEXTROSE, CARAMEL COLORING, SACCHARIN, GLUCOSE  

Nearly every one of these products, especially HFCS have shown the potential for causing severe health risks in laboratory testing. 

THE UGLY

Where to begin? Let’s start with corn seed. Over the past 20 years, corn has become a genetically modified and engineered crop. The largest producer of GE seed is the Monsanto Company with an estimated 90% market share. Genetically Engineered seeds are resistant to bugs and various crop diseases. While it is true that these advances in seed genetics have radically boosted harvest yields, it is the murky veil of secrecy and heavy handed tactics they use for corporate protection that are disturbing.

The non-profit Center for Food Safety listed 112 lawsuits by Monsanto against farmers for claims of seed patent violations.. The Center for Food Safety's analyst stated that many innocent farmers settle with Monsanto because they cannot afford a time consuming lawsuit. Monsanto is frequently described by farmers as "Gestapo" and "Mafia" both because of these lawsuits and because of the questionable means they use to collect evidence of patent infringement.

As of May 2008, Monsanto is currently engaged in a campaign to prohibit dairies, which do not inject their cows with artificial bovine growth hormone from advertising this fact on their milk cartons.

When the Federal Trade Commission did not side with Monsanto on this issue, the company started lobbying state lawmakers to implement a similar ban. Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolfe attempted to prohibit dairies from using labels stating that their milk does not contain artificial bovine growth hormone, but public outcry led the Governor to step in and reverse his secretary's position, stating: "The public has a right to complete information about how the milk they buy is produced”. (SOURCE)

Monsanto has also been loathe to release the results of their ongoing lab studies on their products, saying only that both their seeds and the previously owned ARTIFICIAL BOVINE GROWTH HORMONE (rBGH) pose no risk in the food chain. However, independent research is beginning to show that genetically modified corn may be a leading cause of organ damage. (Huffington Post)

In closing, It is clear that an ear of corn has numerous nutritional as well as potential health benefits; that making chemical changes can be unhealthy; and that owning the monopoly on a product can lead to deceit and corruption.

Monsanto and the food giants should heed the warning made famous in a TV advertisement for one of

THEIR first corn by-products: “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature!”

HEALTHY BEEF - ITS IN THE GRASS

Warning! This is an Author’s Rant and an exercise in Self Indulgent Pontification
 
When are we (the consumer) going to wake up? All of a sudden “big box” food retailers are jumping on the healthy food bandwagon…sheesh! Everyone from Walmart to Costco and all the big regional grocers are selling organic beef…. and then expect us to pat them on the back for looking out for our well being.

THE FACTS:

Cattle are grazing animals, which makes them "ruminants". This means cows have a chemical in them, rumen, that turns a non-protein substance (grass) into protein (meat). A grain only diet increases the acidity of the animals digestive system which increases the risk of E. coli infection. Combine this with the animals being confined in large numbers and you have a breeding ground for multiple forms of disease or infections....which means that the animals must be given multiple doses of various anti-biotics to keep them healthy and eating. Furthermore, the animals are given growth hormone implants to speed weight gain which, some researchers believe, is creating a higher risk of cancer in humans who eat conventionally raised beef. Suffice it to say this is why the large feedlot system that provides the overwhelming majority of our beef is making us more susceptible to disease and sickness.

Background and comparison:

CONVENTIONAL BEEF
This is the major form of meat sold. It goes by a several labels, “corn fed”, “grain fed”, etc, etc. Like I mentioned, 99%...did you get that(?) 99%...of the beef sold in the U.S. came from a feedlot. A typical feedlot has anywhere from a couple of thousand head of cattle to as many as 250,000 (some feedlots are even larger) in pens at any given time. The cattle are confined and fed large quantities of lots of interesting things….corn and other grains, out of date candy, and animal litter (poop!) to name a few. Sometimes, though less likely after the “Mad Cow Disease” scare, other animal parts or ground bones.

ORGANIC
(There are varying forms of organic labels, see left sidebar under "FACTS" to learn more)

Organic, hmm, that’s good, right? Well, some may argue yes, but, I say no.
I will quote Jo Robinson of EAT WILD to tell you why:

“When you see the organic label, you know the food is going to be free of pesticide residues, synthetic hormones, genetically modified organisms, and a long list of questionable additives. Few consumers realize that many of the largest organic producers raise their animals in confinement and feed them grain, just like ordinary commercial producers. Feeding large amounts of grain to a grazing animal decreases the nutritional value of its products whether the grain is ordinary grain, genetically modified grain, or organic grain.”

“Similarly, meat from a cow raised in an organic feedlot operation has the same increased risk of E. coli infection as meat from an ordinary feedlot operation…"


GRASS FED
The term “grass fed” refers to animals raised in open pastures of tall, waving grass. The results of which lowers the level of saturated fats and cholesterol while raising levels of both omega-3 fatty acids (thought to help prevent heart disease) and CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), a polyunsaturated fat that scientists believe helps fight obesity, diabetes and cancer. Furthermore, grass fed meat has vitamin E and beta-carotene both of which help fight all manner of disease and ailments. 

LETS RECAP
Forcing animals who are meant for grazing to eat large amounts of grains is detrimental to the nutritional value of their meat. Simply put the meat has more of the things you don’t want in your diet which could lead to increased health risks.

However, grass-fed meat contains more monounsaturated fat (good fat), less cholesterol and fewer calories. It also has health promoting vitamin E, beta-carotene, vitamin C, health promoting omega-3 fatty acids and disease fighting CLA.

So, when it comes time to grill that steak or some juicy burgers, think GRASS!


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BACK TO THE (FOOD) FUTURE

It wasn't all that long ago that our fruits and vegetables were only available for consumption based on the season. Today, when we go to the grocery we literally have a plethora of foods to choose from. Any time of the year, we can buy produce that was once available for only a few short weeks out of the year. Fresh berries or squash in December, and corn on the cob, green beans, or even watermelon in February!

How, you ask? Because much of our produce comes from other parts of the world where growing seasons are opposite of ours (or even year long). Places such as Mexico, Chile, India, and the Pacific Rim, ship enormous amounts of commodities to the U.S. While this allows the consumer to buy tomatoes in January, it doesn't necessarily translate into nutrition and certainly not to flavor or taste.

Produce is at its highest nutritional value when it is ripe. But the fruits and vegetables we now buy must first travel a very long distance to get to the store, which means they are picked before being truly "ready to eat". While the produce may gain color and appear to ripen on its journey to the supermarket, nutritional value, which is delivered through the living plant, is lessened. Once picked, a vegetable or fruit will cease to gain nutrition, and (here’s the real kick in the pants!) nutritional value will actually begin to decrease with each passing day!


Obviously, nutritional value and taste are not the real concerns for the large commercial fruit and vegetable farms. In the days when fruits and vegetables were locally grown all that really mattered was taste and everyone  just knew they were good for you. But today, with harvesting handled by machines and the produce literally shipped worldwide, other factors take priority.   Uniformity of size, ability to "hold up" during shipping and eye appeal are really all that matter. While these factors are important to the grower's bottom line (profits), they actually provide less of a health benefit to the consumer. In fact, there are some who will argue that unripened food can be a detriment to health.   

So for your health's sake, go back to the future when you're shopping for produce. Find your local farmers market, or better yet, a farm stand on the road right in front of the farm where the fruits and vegetables are grown. You just won't believe the taste when you do!

If you live in the big city check your local listings or search the internet for farmers markets and health food stores that sell locally produced food in your community. And by all means, support your community fruit and vegetable growers by buying your produce ripe, locally grown, and freshly harvested. Your taste buds will thank you.

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HUH(?) A GREEN ORGANIC...NEXT DOOR?

  I'm sure most of you are here because your brain went "What?"....."Organic Green Cow Next Door"(??)....and your curiosity got the best of you, eh? Okay, I will explain, but first:

IT IS "ALL THE RAGE": Eat Healthy, Buy Local, Natural Food, Organic, Green, Farmers Market. These and other buzz terms are everywhere; in the news, at the coffee shop, magazines, etc, etc. But, what does it all mean? How do you know which food, grown or produced by which method, is really good for your well being?


I own and operate a ranch in central Texas and I raise cattle. Grass fed cattle. But, this blog is not about my ranch, our cattle or life on a ranch (although I will write about such from time to time). Instead, I will be giving you my opinions on food and the various production methods. the articles will be based upon my personal experiences as a sustainable "ag" producer, as well as those of my friends and mentors in the agricultural business; plus, some actual scientific data, to guide you through the maze of truths, half-truths, and outright falsehoods associated with the “organic, healthy, natural food” movement. In addition I will add information on where to find farmers markets, interesting facts, some interviews, guest articles, photos and other fun tidbits.

There is a growing awareness in our society that our current commercial food supply chain is coming up short on the healthy side of life. More and more people are exploring ways to eat healthier foods AND to know just where that food came from. Many are migrating to local farmers markets, produce stands, and even a few large national retailers who sell “natural or organic” foods. Most believe that they are eating healthier foods and possibly helping save the planet in the process. But, are they really healthier? Are “natural/organic” foods really better for you and does their production ease the ecological burden on “Mother Earth”?

Questions and more questions. Is your head spinning? I will try to answer these and other questions that arise in the coming posts. But first, the answer to the question that brought you here...

There is one simple truth to the natural food movement. The freshest, most flavorful food is that which is grown closest to where you live. Whether it is in a large metropolis or small town chances are there is a farm or ranch nearby that offers the fruits of their labor to the local public. Hence, “The Organic Green Cow Next Door”.


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