I once heard an investor say that if you look around the room and can’t figure out who the dupe is, it’s you.

When I go to the grocery store, I feel like I am the unwilling recipient of the dupie award. Sometimes I can’t help it, (at least not without paying a cost that I don’t have enough years left to make good on.) But most of the time I can, and so can you.

I would like to make this a rant about packaging, because I hate over packaging and who doesn’t like a good rant? But instead I’m going to make it a rant about a specific bit of packaging that has no upside. If you purchase the product it houses, you are being shanghaied, paying too much and doing harm to yourself, the environment and others in the process. O.K. Since I am all on my moral high horse, I admit I have purchased this product while travelling, but I’m not proud of it. I have since taken the Faucet Fanatic pledge never to repeat those moments of blithe disregard in the name of convenience or anything else. What am I yammering on about? Bottled water. Sounds innocent doesn’t it? Well here are the facts:

If you buy a 16.9 oz bottle of water, you are paying 2000 to 10,0000 times more for it than water from the tap. That’s 7.50 a gallon, on the low side. – And you thought gas was high.

It takes 3 – 7 liters of water to package 1 liter of bottled water. Am I the only one who thinks there is something wrong with this?

But wait! Wasting massive amounts of water to put water in a bottle is not bad enough. The US uses over 1.5 million barrels of oil in water bottle manufacturing those bottles. That’s enough oil to run 100,000 cars for a whole year.

And no those bottles do not just get recycled. Only PET bottles can be recycled. That’s about 1 in 5.

It takes about 1000 years for plastic bottles to biodegrade and they produce toxic fumes if they are incinerated. Upside? None. Are you ready to take the Faucet Fanatic pledge?

Lastly – NO bottled water isn’t better for you.

According to Slate, “The bottled water industry grossed a total of $11.8 billion.” Stop. Seriously, what part of this is a good idea? Oh wait, I know, the part where some multi millionaire fills his pockets with cash and the rest of us choke and die on the fumes.

Just in case you get glassy eyed about numbers let me repeat that is 11.8 billion dollars.

We live in a world where 783 million people do not have access to safe water. We spend 11.8 billion on something we can fill our cups with from the tap. – Lets do it.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/business_insider/2013/07/12/cost_of_bottled_water_vs_tap_water_the_difference_will_shock_you.html

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126833795

http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/pablo-calculates-the-true-cost-of-bottled-water.html

http://thewaterproject.org/bottled_water_wasteful

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/tap-water/faq-20058017

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/19/health/upwave-bottled-water/

Leftovers are great, but sometimes they just don’t taste as good the next day.

And that’s how I “invented” this amazing coconut and brown rice pudding. And because I really like alternative ideas for breakfast, it’s been dubbed a breakfast pudding!

It’s really perfect for breakfast, because it’s made from breakfast-y ingredients – like eggs and milk and coconut, which I think goes with just about everything.

Of course, you don’t have to use only leftover brown rice. But if you do have some cooked brown rice sitting in the fridge, this is the perfect way to use it the next day.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked brown rice. If you don’t have 2 cups worth of brown rice, that’s fine, just adjust the amount of milk you’re using.
• 3 eggs
• 2/3 cup organic milk (or less if you have less rice)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla flavoring
• Cinnamon
• 1/4 cup flaked, unsweetened coconut — or more if you like coconut as much as I do!
• Brown sugar for the topping
• Optional extras to mix in: raisins, goji berries or slivered almonds

1. Put your cooked brown rice in a baking dish, and fork it around to separate the grains.

PAN SIZES: I use either a one-quart size one or an 8×8 glass dish. The difference is that in the one-quart size, your pudding is taller and takes longer to cook. (If you have the extra time, the one-quart taller one tastes even better.)

2. Beat the eggs and pour over the rice.

3. Stir in the milk, vanilla and coconut and mix everything well. The mixture should be creamy and not “soupy.” If it looks a bit too loose, add more coconut to the mix.

4. Top with brown sugar and cinnamon and a sprinkle of coconut.

Bake at 375 till the pudding is set and a toothpick or knife inserted in the center comes out clean. For the taller, one-quart dish, it should take around 50 minutes, for the 8×8 pan, around 30 minutes.

Serve warm topped with some pure maple syrup. And enjoy!

Holiday Season!  For many of us this also means Baking Season!!  Some of these recipes call for a lot of sugar.  In an effort to make our baked goods healthier and still delicious, there is a trend toward replacing some or all of the sugar in the recipe to xylitol, a natural sweetener that has a few things going for it:
●   Xylitol is made from fibers found in certain fruits and vegetables.
●   It has 40% fewer calories than cane sugar and is equally as sweet so it is great for being calorie conscious.
●   It can be directly substituted for sugar in a recipe (a cup of sugar equals a cup of xylitol) making for an easy recipe conversion.
●   Xylitol is very low on the glycemic index scale.  Remember, with glycemic index, lower is better.  Xylitol has a GI score of about 10.  Table sugar has a GI score of about 60.
●   Xylitol is particularly helpful for people who have diabetes, either type 1 or type 2.  The body’s insulin response to xylitol is very different from its response to sugar.

In baking, you can substitute 100% of the sugar with xylitol, or you can do a half-and-half combo.  Xylitol will absorb water a bit more than sugar, so you might need to add some extra liquid, or take your masterpiece out of the oven sooner so it retains its moisture.  Also, do not use it in a recipe that contains yeast.  Yeast won’t metabolize xylitol so it can’t be used as a sugar replacement in yeast containing recipes.  If you are cooking something with sugar sprinkled on top, keep the sugar for that part.  Xylitol doesn’t carmelize like sugar does because it remains stable at high heat.

Yes, baked goods made with xylitol are becoming more popular.  That is good for us.  That is not good for our dogs who might get into those baked goods!  There is a lot of data in the veterinary world about xylitol being toxic for dogs.  In dogs, it can cause blood sugar to drop too low, cause potassium and phosphate to drop too low and can cause acute liver failure, coma and even death!  Xylitol is not toxic to cats, but then again, how often do we slip a cookie or two to the cat under the table?

So, a few words of advice:
●  If you bake goodies with xylitol to be given as gifts, be sure to label them in some way so that someone’s dog does not get into the treats and get hurt!
●  If you have a dog at your house, keep anything containing xylitol away!  Many chewing gums contain xylitol (it’s good for your teeth), and dogs love to find and eat chewing gum.  Eating chewing gum containing xylitol is the most common cause of xylitol poisoning in dogs.

I have a number of patients who use xylitol in baking because they are dealing with diabetes.  I always caution them about the need to keep xylitol away from dogs.  Let’s enjoy the holidays, enjoy the sweet treats, and keep Fido healthy too!

Additional Resources:

Xylitol in dogs

Tips for substituting xylitol for sugar

Xylitol not toxic to cats

Yummy Lemon Cake Recipe

I blogged a few weeks back about the role of the stir fry skillet in helping to keep abreast of the vegetables pouring out of our backyard garden.

As I woke up yesterday to one of the first really-crisp mornings of the autumn season, I turned to my other trusty kitchen companion: the slow cooker.

I pulled a chuck roast out of the freezer in the morning (mine was bison, or course, but beef works just as well) and let it thaw in a pot of water for about an hour. Then, I put it in the bottom of the slow cooker, topped it with some fresh chopped tomatoes from the garden, and poured about 1/3 cup of red wine and a little extra water over the meat and tomatoes.

Meat, tomatoes and red wine are the staples of cooking any roast for me. Roasts come from a part of the animal that can naturally be a bit tough. The acids in the tomatoes and red wine tenderize that meat as it slowly simmers over the course of the workday.

After adding those base ingredients, anything goes. Yesterday, I threw in summer squash, the last of my green beans, chopped onions and carrots.

Then I spent the rest of the day enjoying the aroma as I attempted to stay focused on work in my home office. The chuck roast came out fork-tender, with as much flavor as an expensive steak.

Nearly everyone in my age bracket got a slow cooker as a wedding present umpteen years ago. Through the years, they became an oft-ridiculed part of the culinary scene.

Ridicule as much as you like, but I love my slow cooker.

The past five years, I have made my own version of Emeril Lagasse’s roasted parsnip soup recipe to as a first course of while entertaining during the holidays. Having soup before a big meal helps curb appetite and may prevent you from over indulging as the delicious meal goes on, and on, and on, while you gab and catch up on life with close friends and family.

The original recipe is a combination of two soups: roasted butternut squash soup and the parsnip soup, poured side by side in a bowl, and garnished with tarragon oil. It looks beautiful this way, but really, who has time to make two soups? I’m sure it’s delicious when they are combined, but the parsnip soup alone is plenty enough to get taste buds going.  I also omit the tarragon oil because personally I don’t like the taste of tarragon at that much, and it cuts down on added fat.

I eat a lot of butternut squash during the Fall, but rarely do I think to purchase parsnips even though they are readily available this time of year. For some reason, I forget about them until Thanksgiving rolls around and it’s time to make the soup. It’s quite a shame because they are very nutritious and easy to prepare. They have a ton of fiber, vitamins and minerals, especially potassium, and are rich in antioxidants.

I love this recipe because it uses a lot of the same ingredients you already have in the kitchen during the holidays: onions, carrots, celery, and garlic. It’s also a good recipe to learn about parsnips if you are unfamiliar with them.

Parsnips look like carrots but are white. Prepare them just like you would a carrot; and you can substitute them for carrots in recipes for a less sweet, more savory and spicy flavor.

Emeril’s Version:

(I usually double this recipe to have leftovers)
Roasted Parsnip Soup:

• 1 pound parsnip, peeled and roughly chopped
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked white pepper
• 1/4 cup diced ham
• 1 cup small dice onion
• 1/2 cup small dice carrots
• 1/2 cup small dice celery
• 1/2 cup small dice leeks
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar
• 11/2 quarts chicken stock
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 teaspoon freshly chopped thyme leaves
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Tarragon Oil:
• 1/2 cup tarragon leaves
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Place the chopped squash in a medium-size mixing bowl. Drizzle the squash with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil and place the squash on top of the sheet pan. Set the sheet pan into the oven and roast for 30 minutes, or until the squash is lightly caramelized and tender.

Remove the squash from the oven and set aside. Place a 1-gallon saucepan over medium high heat and add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and render the Italian sausage. Cook, stirring often until the meat is caramelized and has released most of its fat, about 3 minutes. Add the onions, carrots, celery and leeks in the pan and sweat, stirring often for 5 to 7 minutes. Add the shallots and garlic to the pan and sweat for 1 minute stirring continuously. Deglaze the pan with the vinegar and add the chicken stock to the pan. Place the squash in the pan with the maple syrup and sage.

Bring the pan to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Continue to cook the soup for 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are all tender. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup to a smooth consistency and velvety texture. Alternately, you can puree the soup in batches using a blender. Taste the soup and re-season if necessary with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Keep warm until serving.
Roasted Parsnip Soup:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Place the chopped parsnips into a medium-size mixing bowl. Drizzle the parsnips with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/8 teaspoon of fresh cracked white pepper. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil and place the parsnips on top of the sheet pan. Set the sheet pan into the oven and roast for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the parsnips are lightly caramelized and tender.

Remove the parsnips from the oven and set aside. Place a 1-gallon saucepan over medium high heat. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and caramelize the ham. Cook, stirring often until the meat is caramelized, about 3 minutes. Add the onions, carrots, celery and leeks in the pan and sweat, stirring often for 5 to 7 minutes. Add the shallots and garlic to the pan and sweat for 1 minute stirring continuously. Deglaze the pan with the vinegar and add the chicken stock to the pan. Place the parsnips in the pan with the honey and thyme.

Bring the pan to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Continue to cook the soup for 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are all tender. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup to a smooth consistency and velvety texture. Alternately, you can puree the soup in batches using a blender. Taste the soup and re-season if necessary with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Add the cream to the soup and return the soup to a clean saucepan and keep warm until ready to serve.

Yield: about 1 1/2 quarts

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/roasted-butternut-squash-soup-and-roasted-parsnip-soup-recipe.html?oc=linkback

My version: To cut down on fat, I use only a touch of heavy cream. Or, you don’t have to add it at all- the soup has a rich, layered flavor even without it. Also, I use a reduced sodium chicken broth to cut down on salt. Most holiday meals have a whole day’s worth of fat and sodium in them, and I still impress my guests with my savvy skills when I serve this delightful variation that starts the meal off healthfully.