Who's the Dum Dum here?

Apparently I find it quite hard to strive for a more just life, keep my sons in one piece, become more "food secure," AND blog about it. Since I don't have much of a readership (sorry, Mom), I'm not going to feel too guilty...

Especially because I have built a chicken coop since I last wrote--almost all by myself. Thankfully my neighbor is not afraid of chicken wire! She led us safely through that dark tunnel of high school farm memories.

Neither of my children died tragically during the construction, but all of us unraveled as our two found it easy to sneak candy with CORN SYRUP while Mom was wielding the drill. (Should have told the bank a long time ago: No Dum Dums for us! Or at least hidden them before I had a chance to throw them away!)

The children are getting wiser. B read the New Yorker cartoons while I did the dishes tonight. (Not that he laughed. Has he caught on already?) Seriously, I have had to manage my increased craving of farming adventures with my increased need to be a more creative and diligent parent. (I actually thought I was doing pretty well. Can't rest on those laurels!)

So we spent the last few weeks with a very aggressive, angry 5 year old hopped up on corn syrup. Bad news and horribly depressing, but OVER til next time. One week after the last DUMDUM, we have our lovely, loving child back.

The coop still needs a door.

Thought of the Day: Home Economics 101

Did you have Home Ec. in high school? I’m beginning to think that we have done/are doing a disservice to most of our kids and families by not teaching everyone Home Economics. True Home Economics: how to run the economy of the home. How to make, cook, grow, buy, contribute and build community relationships—things that make a healthy, ethical (more local) economy possible.

Did we feminists throw the baby out with the bath water by arguing that we women didn’t need to know these things? We would “work,” of course, and pay other people to tend to our basic needs. What happens when we can’t work, or choose to raise a family and work within the home economy? Well, we have to educate ourselves.

Kitchen Freedom: I love the Vita-Mix!

I have missed posting, but I have had some other writing that was actually for a deadline! Not just for my enjoyment and/or your two minutes of distraction.

What I have been dying to write is an ode to my new vita-mix! I have been wanting this super-blender for several years, and since I'm a little frugal I have only now decided that I can't live without it.

What surprises me most (besides the way it beautifully shreds a coconut) is how free I feel with it in my kitchen. I know longer have to base my juice/coconut milk/nut butter choices on which inane supplier has the least precentage of unlabeled corn processing agents in its products! :)

Now, I'm like, who cares! I bought a bag of organic lemons, scrubbed the skins with baking soda, peeled them, dropped them into the vitamix with some water, agave, and ice cubes, and LEMONADE! My son actually proclaimed me the best chef ever, because I made him delicious lemonade. Go figure! He doesn't even know how much fiber and other goodness he was getting, because the vitamix is so powerful it basically turns the whole lemon into a slightly pulpy liquid.

I will rave about this machine and what it can do another time, I guarantee!

Until then,

Lemonade:
1 and 1/2 peeled lemons
3 cups of water
1 cup of ice
1/4 cup agave nectar

Blend on high for 30 seconds (in a vitamix if you decide you don't need to buy a working dvd player or a modern tv!). I don't know about other blenders. My practically defunct cuisinart would just make chunky lemon soup out of this mixture.

Chocolate apologies!!! (Old post edit!)

I'm sure I will lose all credibility here, but I have to correct myself: Equal Exchange dark chocolate bars do NOT have soy lecithin. They may have changed the recipe since we last ordered, or my memory failed me. (I'm sure that wasn't it!)

These chocolate bars are amazing: Allergy-friendly, fair-trade, & organic!

PS They cost an arm and a leg...good for weight management!

Corny pecans!

My youngest son and I had a bad reaction a week and a half ago. Until today, I had not been able to figure it out. I had a hypothesis, but the evidence has been unfurling throughout the week.

I knew that MY reaction came from pecans. I ate them, and I felt the lump in my throat growing. (I used to think everyone had that practically permanent lump in their throats!) I started to worry, but thought I would wait it out and see how it would go.

These pecans had been in the freezer for at least six months. THERE WAS A REASON! I must have eaten a few once (the bag was almost full), questioned their safety, and thrown them in the freezer. Should have labeled them "TOM ONLY."

I DO know that nuts are often coated with zein (it's an edible film), but it's one of those things you can kind of forget. Well, today I researched zein. Surely if the concept takes up more space in my brain I won't be able to forget!

In case you are curious, zein is the most prevalent protein in corn, making up 3.6% of its dry weight. I know this because a lab at the University of Illinois is heralding its comeback for many more uses (think compostable dishes and plastic wrap-type films). Apparently when extracted from corn, zein is a great water barrier!

These nuts must have been coated with zein... The real revelation, though, is that now, I know for sure, that my littlest boy, too, has the corn allergy. I racked my brain thinking of any other new food we ate that day. Nothing but the pecans! Poor boy, he was miserable all night...I guess it's good to know.

By the way, we aren't allergic to pecans. We ate raw organic pecan butter all summer with no problem. I had some left in the fridge that I hadn't eaten since fall. I ate a lot of it for breakfast and I feel fine...totally normal.

"Food Security"

I woke up today thinking I would start a casual conversation about food security...ha! Who was I kidding?! Boy, do I have a lot to learn...but I have to say FOOD SECURITY on the household level has been my primary, no primal, objective since we discovered our multiple food allergies. (God, how naive I was, as an employed Westerner having such easy access to food all my life...)

According to the Rome Declaration on World Food Security (World Food Summit, 1996), "food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life." (from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's website) This seems to be the prevailing definition for many.

If you haven't stopped reading, yet, you'll know why this calls me. We're seeking justice here on an individual level for ourselves, for our families, and for every individual and community around the world. Safety from contaminants, poisons, and allergens (!), freedom from the constrictions of poverty, freedom from the global domination of agri-business. I think I'm starting to get my head around it.

At this point, "food security" is intensely meaningful to me on a gut level, but intellectually and practically it's complex. It will need days, weeks, years, a lifetime, to parse out. Hang in there, readers, we are in for a long and wild ride!

CSF: Consumer Supported Fishery!

I'm shifting focus a little, partly because it is February, and it's a little too early to start tilling the soil...or laying the ground in a truck bed. But, mostly, I have to write about the CSF because I have such joyful memories of the Maine mussels I cooked from the Seacoast Winter Farmers' Market last weekend. I am lamenting the fact that our next farmers' market isn't until February 13th.

Consumer Supported Fishing is an awesome idea! I missed the shrimp subscription, but next year, I'm on it. You get local shrimp every week in January and February--shrimp you know is local and ethically acceptable. And it's at a great price!

Having shrimp right now might make me forget that we are eating potatoes, carrots and frozen spinach every single day!

P.S. Click on the title of this post to get to "nhseafood.com"!

Imagining a new farm future...

As you can see from the comment on my last post, Ian is a super-gracious guy...AND he has a truck farm. Do you even know what a truck farm is?

The truck farm is literally a farm in the back of a truck. I'm going to attempt to link to Ian's short video about the truck farm on his website to give you the idea. (Click on the title of this post to go to "wickedelicate.com.")

By the way, my kids think this is the coolest thing...they might be disappointed if we get a garden planted in the ground! Just kidding, they are way excited about digging in the dirt. And as we saw last summer in our friends' gardens, they will eat anything that comes right off the plant. (They might regret that choice they made to eat the banana peppers but not the handful of raspberries growing by the side of the street in New Jersey. Mmmm...)

So, if we can't find appropriate land/decide on appropriate land for the community garden, I'm off to buy a used pick-up truck (Can you believe that Brian E.?). Might have to take a trip back to see some friends in central PA, and maybe Exeter will have a roving community garden. Can you imagine the possibilities? We could at least make the rounds to all the local preschools!

Ian's truck farm is also a CSA. He lives in something of an urban food desert and sells small shares to neighbors. I also think the truck farm would be great for someone who is unsure whether they will be moving across town mid-season. Take the farm with you! Might it also be possible to take it on a summer trip...we could have some good tomatoes if we showed up in Atlanta for a couple weeks this summer!

My imagination runs wild, I hope yours does, too...

A Shout Out to Ian Cheney

Today is a big day: Ian Cheney is in town! I just wanted to take a minute to publicly offer my thanks...:) Michael Pollan laid the groundwork with The Omnivore's Dilemma. Then King Corn really broadened the conversation about the "corny" issues in our U.S. of A. Corn's abundance in practically every food product--fresh, frozen, canned, and packaged--on the market is what makes living with corn allergy/intolerance hard. And then the ethical issues of a monoculture like corn! They abound...but today I'm thankful AND excited to hear what projects Ian is up to now!

Watch King Corn when you can, watch it again if you have already. I'll be seeing it again tonight. I'm sure I'll be brimming with excitement tomorrow!

Here is a link to his new website: www.wickedelicate.com
Check it out!

The Community Garden

I think our town is going to start a community garden. I'm totally excited! We just need to find/decide on some land. The idea, though, of a community garden has prompted me to think, of course, "What is the purpose of a community garden?"

On one level, it's a great leap forward toward ethical eating to have people come together and decide that they want to dedicate community space to growing healthy food. Together. It's communal, it's healthy, it says the land is important. It's local, it reduces our carbon footprint...

On another level, is it enough simply to have a garden in a community? Should it serve other ethical purposes? Should we have any goals in addition to feeding ourselves and our families? How else can a community garden feed "the common good"? How can it "nurture" the community in larger ways?

These are the questions I hope our community will discuss in the upcoming months...more to come on how the conversation goes.

Favorite Banana Muffins and the question of chocolate...

These muffins are gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free, and corn-free! Sometimes I add chocolate chips. The thing about CHOCOLATE is that it opens up a whole other can of worms. How and where do you buy chocolate chips that are dairy-free, soy-free, organic, fair-trade, AND free of the ever-present corn alcohol based vanilla extract? The restrictions are so great, it's tempting not to try, but after almost THREE YEARS without any chocolate, here it goes...

Best choice: chop up an organic dark chocolate bar from Equal Exchange and add to the batter! The dark chocolate minis are an awesome treat!!!

Safe choice: Enjoy Life chocolate chips. NO soy lecithin! :) NOT organic. :( NOT fair trade. :(...I'm beginning to see why we didn't eat chocolate for almost three years. Did I mention that?

Incidentally, Tropical Source makes dairy-free, organic chocolate chips. They are not certified fair trade, but they claim their sources employ fair labor practices. I wonder what the term "fair labor practices" means in this instance? I'll have to investigate the international meaning of that term. Is it in the Declaration of Human Rights?

Regardless of your choice: chocolate, no chocolate, soy, no soy, organic or not, fair-trade, less fair-trade, or not fair-trade, these are great muffins!!!


INGREDIENTS:
DRY:
1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup amaranth flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour/starch
1/4 cup potato starch
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
3/4 sea salt
2 t. cinnamon
1/8 t. cardamom

WET:
4 small or three 3 large ripe bananas
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup agave nectar
3 T safflower oil
1 T vinegar (we use brown rice)
2 T water or milk (we use H2O or coconut milk)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Whisk dry ingredients together.
2. Mash bananas.
3. Whisk wet ingredients into bananas.
4. Incorporate wet ingredients into dry ingredients with a spatula.
5. Incorporate chocolate chips if you can handle the ethical implications!
6. Drop a scant 1/4 cup of batter into each muffin cup. (Lightly oil muffin cups first unless you are using silicone.)
7. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.
Makes about 30 muffins.

Amaranth Flour

My first post on this blog has to be about amaranth flour. Seriously, I love it. A whole grain that is high in fiber, iron, and calcium...I put it in everything! (No disclaimer necessary, I don't get any money from advertising amaranth!) For those who don't eat dairy or meat, a good source of iron and calcium is always welcome.

Amaranth flour is on my mind, because I am waiting for some to come in the mail. It's hearty, nutty, and reduces the graininess of brown rice flour in your baked goods. Try it out. (Even if you are not allergic to wheat!) It is a staple in our house: pancakes, bread, muffins. I even use it to make a roux for faux macaroni and cheese. (Do I still need to put the "cheese" in quotes if I call it fake?)

Nu-World Amaranth sells organic, non-GMO amaranth that is grown in the US. I'm sure it would be better to grow a small crop of it for myself and my neighbors, but until that day...

Recipes tomorrow?

Motivation

I'm motivated by my sons, Will and Blake, and by an overwhelming sense of wanting to make it right, the world that is, for them.

This is my drop of water. A tear shed for them. A cleansing for me. And maybe, possibly, slightly, improving someone else's lives by sharing our journey.

P.S. Please tell my husband Tom if I forget to be funny!