What Do I Do With All Those Green Tomatoes!?

...and why don't they RIPEN during the SUMMER, like they're supposed to? 

Check out this tasty looking recipe I found online for Sugar Free Green Tomato Relish, at the FarmGirlFare blog (which is phenomenal, by the way!!) 

My plan is to follow the recipe with 1/2 the apple cider vinegar, and add some whey to lactoferment the relish.  You know me, Nourishing Traditions, and kitchen experimentation ;)

I knew I bought that 12-pack of mason jars for a reason! 

("Um, Kate, they only sell them in 12-packs...")

I'm a Renegade and So are You

Do you love high quality butter, grass fed meats, and raw and fermented food?  

Then you just might be a food renegade.

In related news, we took a trip this weekend to Karabin Farms in Southington, Connecticut.  They raise their own hormone free and fantastic livestock and have fresh, local dairy and eggs.  We had their handmade italian pork sausage.  OMG!  So good!  (They also have amazing produce, pick your own apples, hayrides, etc. and are very family friendly).

I called today to confirm and they have soup bones at $2/pound and beef shanks at $2.95 per pound - all organic, grass fed and hormone free.  Soup's on!  Recipes to follow!

Diet-Scape Learning Curve

How Did I Get Here?

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you may recall that I started low carb on a whim after reading a discounted diet e-book called Neris & India's Idiot Proof Diet and Cookbook.  I got the book for $2 or something, and loved the book's humor and attitude.  Basically, I read that book through the night, and started my new diet the next day, and ended up very quickly in ketosis.  The ketolysis process was expedited by a stomach bug that decreased my hunger and – because I spent much of a full week retching and wretched – forced me into what was essentially a liquid fast broken up by a few occasional triscuits.  I certainly was ingesting fewer than 20 grams of carbs each day.  By the time I felt better, I was already through the nasty carb-flu symptoms.  In fact, I don't think I even noticed them, as they were completely overshadowed by the stomach bug. 

I lost weight. 

I started to wonder why I was losing weight.  From N&I, and from a previous, half-hearted attempt at Atkins, I knew what carbs were, where to find them (and not find them) in food, and I had a vague understanding that carbs turned into fat by some metabolic process.  However, I didn't really understand digestion and metabolism and hormones, and all of the other things that go into the equation.

So, I began to do research.  I did a lot of internet research in the beginning: haunting PubMed and trolling around the Frontline: Diet Wars webpage to get a feel for what the diet-scape looked like, and what the various diet practices were predicated on.  I watched the movie, Fathead.  I learned about ketogenesis, and that the key to the low carb diets was this ketogenesis.  I learned that ketogenic diets have successfully been used, for decades, by credible physicians at top-level hospitals, to treat epilepsy in children.

This spurred me to read books by some of the diet gurus I had learned about online.  I've read so much:

• The Low-Carb Comfort Food Cookbook (Eades M.D., Mary Dan, Eades M.D., Michael R., Solom, Ursula)
• The New Atkins for a New You (Westman, Dr. Eric C., Phinney, Dr. Stephen D., Jeff S. Volek)
• Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution, Revised Edition (Atkins, Robert C.)
• Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats (Fallon, Sally)
• Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It (Taubes, Gary)
• Protein Power: The High-Protein/Low-Carbohydrate Way to Lose Weight, Feel Fit, and Boost Your Health--in Just Weeks!  (Eades, Michael R., Eades, Mary Dan)
• The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram your genes for effortless weight loss, vibrant health and boundless energy (Primal Blueprint Series) (Sisson, Mark)
• Good Calories, Bad Calories (Taubes, Gary)     
• The New Evolution Diet (De Vany PhD., Arthur)
• The Vegetarian Myth (Keith, Lierre)

I started to understand that there was a very long history associated with the diet-scape, and that some of it was pretty darned ugly.  There is compelling evidence that bad politics allowed bad science to be the foundation of our modern-day standard American diet, and that Americans, today, are more obese than they used to be, suffer from more chronic health issues than ever before, and are dying, in higher numbers, from diseases like heart disease and cancer.  Tragically, more and more young children are extremely obese are diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes (that's the reason why T2 is no longer called "adult onset" diabetes).  Our health is imperiled and this terrifying trend starts young.

Although I appreciated the simple rules provided by Atkins and N&I, I started to worry about some of the low carb faux-foods that I was bringing into my diet: fake sugar and oddly processed starches to be precise. 

I had sat down with Nourishing Traditions and much of what the authors discussed made an impression on me.  This was the first time that I learned about the danger of grains and the anti-nutrient properties of some of their components, including phytic acid.  NT convinced me that I needed saturated animal fat to be healthy, and had to avoid certain fats (including certain oils that are produced in pretty horrifying ways).  NT started to get me thinking about the contrast between traditional ways of preparing foods and the food that I purchased from the grocery store on a regular basis.  I wondered about lactofermenting vegetables to preserve them; consuming raw, unprocessed fresh dairy products; and buying organic produce and grass-fed, pastured meat products without nitrates or other additives or preservatives.  I lactofermented my own salsa (it was good and a little fizzy).  I started making and drinking kefir water for its pre- and pro-biotics.  In short, I started to care about eating WHOLE FOODS, and avoiding processed foods as much as possible.

I started learning about theories of Ancestral Health.  In particular, I read about Primal, Paleo and Evolutionary diet and fitness.  I found that primal appeals to me.  It just makes sense on some inner "Aha!" level.  Primal mimics what our Paleolithic ancestors ate and how they exercised.  There has been no evolution since Paleolithic times, and we are born physiologically identical to our Paleolithic ancestors.  Their remains and other significant evidence show that they were vibrantly healthy, had large brains, well-developed musculature, and good teeth.  They ate meat, eggs, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds.

I'm not completely Primal, though.  I eat small amounts of products that contain very small amounts of processed sugar, like dark chocolate.  Most significantly, I eat dairy every day (in the form of cream and cheese) and that is decidedly un-Primal. 

So, that begs the question…

What Do I Eat?

• I do not eat grains.
• I eat the highest quality meat and non-starchy vegetables that I can get my hands on. 
• I enjoy eggs that are high in omega 3 fatty acids. 
• I eat some nuts, including almonds, pistachios, macadamias and occasionally cashews, about 3-4 times per week. 
• I cook with organic butter, virgin coconut oil, olive oil and sometimes lard. 
• I do my best to avoid bad fats; I certainly don't keep them in my house. 
• I try to eat avocados and coconut products several times a week for their healthy fats (and because they are tasty). 
• I do not eat legumes. 
• I eat 30 grams of 60% dark chocolate every single day. 
• I rarely eat fruit, and when I do, I eat no more than 1 cup of berries in a given day, and I make sure that I eat them with fat.  I never drink juice.
• With the exception of the sugar that is in the dark chocolate I eat daily, I generally don't eat sweetened foods or drinks. 
• I generally eat foods that are found in the perimeter of the grocery aisle. 
• I usually avoid things that have to be processed by the liver, including caffeine (exception is the chocolate and 1 cup of coffee in the a.m.), fructose, alcohol (I occasionally have a slightly alcoholic drink), and I don't take drugs like Tylenol unless I really need them.  This way, the liver can spend less of its time removing toxins from my body (because I'm not consuming those toxins) and more of its time breaking down my stored lipids into their constituent parts and making me healthier and thinner.
• I drink boatloads of water. 

Happy / Diversifying Fats / "Nourishing Traditions"

I just left my desk for a moment to run to the ladies room.  On the way, a coworker approaching from the opposite direction stopped me and said, "Kate, you look amazing!"  She continued, "you've lost a load of weight."  It was so spontaneous and honest!  It was so nice to hear!  I've been feeling crappy for a while, and this immediately elevated me to a happy state.  Even before the compliment though, I noticed that today was a headache and grump-free day.  I feel more like myself.  What have I changed!!?

Well, I am still taking the progesterone.  The MD got back to me, and told me that, yes progesterone can cause headaches and that is probably what is going on at the moment.  It should stop once I'm off of the progesterone.  The MD told me I could go off of it if I really needed to right now.  I only have a few days left, so I am going to stick with it.  She said that there is really no way to know whether the progesterone will cause headaches again when/if I have to take it next month. 

I had a high-fat, high protein meal last night for dinner, and frankly, I felt amazing afterwards.  I made meat, veggie and cheese-stuffed eggplant, with raisins, middle-eastern spices, and almonds.  It was flipping fantastic.  I had a hardboiled egg for breakfast today, and leftover eggplant for lunch.  (I'm telling you, this recipe was a killer.  I took care to use a few different fats – lard, organic butter, EVOO – to make sure I get the benefit from each one, ala Nourishing Traditions.  I'm going to post it once I clean it up a bit.  The procedure I used is a little confusing, and would benefit from being streamlined.  These would make GREAT meatballs.  My family loved the recipe, even Picky Daughter Who Disdains Mama's Creative Cooking.)

I am starting to wonder if I need more and better fat in my diet.  Heretofore, my focus has been on increasing protein and lowering carbohydrates.  I have been eating a lot of dairy, and getting fat from there, as well as from the protein I eat.  Truthfully, though, the animal protein usually ends up being lower in fat, just because I like chicken and fish, and because red meat tends to be more expensive than poultry, so I buy it less frequently.  I wonder if I'm not getting enough fat, especially healthy saturated fat.

I've started reading Nourishing Traditions.  Reading this book has been a learning experience for me.  I saw interviews with its authors, Sally Fallon (from Weston A. Price Foundation) and Dr. Mary Enig, on Tom Naughton's documentary, Fathead.  I also saw a link to this book on Mr. Naughton's website, which I enjoy reading.  So, I picked NT up and started to go through the book.  Well… it is so much more than a book about low-carb (its actually NOT about low-carb, particularly...although it discourages refined sugar consumption, it encourages the consumption of fruits, unrefined sugars, and sprouted grain products, which are starches).  It is really a book about returning to traditional foods and methods of food preparation, for the purposes of eliminating toxins from the body and of getting the maximum nutrition out of the food that we eat.  The recommended way of eating is, well, a little intimidating.  Here are a couple of things that I have picked up so far, that I have been incorporating into my diet:

1. Diversifying fats: I have begun to diversify the fats that I use when cooking, where before I relied mostly on olive oil, supplemented periodically with cheap, salted butter.  The authors of NT really take the time to explain the benefits and risks associated with consuming various types of fats.  Here's what I remember: animal fats are very high in stearic acid; fresh, organic butter contains healthy medium chain triglycerides; coconut oil contains significant quantities of lauric acid; olive oil contains health oleic acid; and flaxseed oil contains a good amount of omega-3 fatty acids and has an appropriate balance of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids.  So, when I made my low-carb brownies the other night, I used coconut oil and butter together.  When I made my eggplant last night, I used butter, lard and olive oil.

2. Eating organic: Although NT recommends that all of your foods be of the highest possible quality, organic, free-range, cage-free, animal products from animals fed on pasture, that is really hard to do and super expensive.  They give really good reasons for that.  I'm going to put my toe in to these waters, and make sure that my eggs and dairy are organic, that my meat is hormone and antibiotic free, and that my onions and potatoes are organic (not that I eat potatoes…but my family does).  Apparently, the stuff they spray on non-organic onions and potatoes to keep them from sprouting early can be harmful. 

Here are the two things that make me nervous: 

1. Lacto-fermentation: I am not a shy cook, by any means.  The daughter of a professional chef knows many food preparation methods and has a number of handy tricks up her sleeve, gastronomically-speaking.  However, lacto-fermentation (pickling, culturing, etc. without pasteurization) is something that I am just not trained to do.  Honestly, I made crème fraiche a few months ago (this is a product of lacto-fermentation), and I was a little scared to eat it (you take heavy cream, add buttermilk and salt, and let the mixture sit out at room temperature to culture for about 8-12 hours, it thickens and sours and is like a lighter version of sour cream).  I did eat it, and it was delicious.  I would probably eat it again.  Even if I would eat it, I don't know that I would feel comfortable feeding it to my child.  Pickling is something that people have done for millennia – my grandmother even periodically makes her own, homemade, crock pickles (very Polish).  However, it doesn't mean that the prospect of allowing certain foods to sit out unrefrigerated for long periods of time is something that I am comfortable with.  I would like to try this out, but I am a little hesitant.  (And I have very clear memories of my mother being horrified by Babci's pickles).  I am going to try to make NT's salsa recipe, and feed it to my husband.  The high salt and acid content in the recipe makes me a little more comfortable with it, and I can probably get my husband to eat it.
2. Raw milk and raw milk products.  Well, let's just say that this is pretty non-negotiable in NT, as the authors decry pasteurization.  I would personally try raw milk products like butter and cream, I suppose.  However, I would not want to give this to my child.  I have heard horror stories of raw milk tainted with e-coli, and e-coli is scary stuff.  But, if you want to try to make their pickles… a lot of those recipes require the use of whey, which is produced from making curds and whey from lacto-fermenting raw milk.  Plus, I've had raw milk cheeses before, and they are awesome.  Ever been to France.  OMG.  Raw milk goats cheese...just a little stinky + good, crusty bread = pure heaven!  As a general rule, I do love to experiment...  I am thinking that I will come around.