The Healthy Cooking Coach

Brown's Orchard

I love knowing where my food comes from. I like it even more when I know it comes from my state, region, or bioregion, and from a small family farm.

Where will my food come from?
In late 2002, when my husband and I first contemplated a move from Ohio to Arizona, I thought we’d have to get all of our food from California. I imagined a higher food bill and lack of contact with the people raising my food. I thought I’d have to give up eating locally grown produce and grassfed meats. I thought I’d be eating all anonymous food.

I was wrong….and that was a good thing! I found year round farmers’ markets in Phoenix and more grassfed meat suppliers than I previously had in Ohio. 

Photo credit right: Brown's Orchard

Although some of the farmers’ markets fill in with produce from California, Washington, and Oregon when their supplies run low or they don’t have certain foodstuffs, I do have access to some locally grown veggies and fruits throughout the year. Some of it is organically grown and some of it is chemical free, though not certified, which doesn’t bother me. In many cases it costs less than organic produce sold in natural foods stores and supermarkets.

Eating grass in Arizona
In the case of grassfed meat, I have access to beef, lamb, bison, chicken, turkey, and sometimes pork here in Arizona. Thanks to irrigation and selection of the right kinds of grass, farmers are finding their livestock can thrive in the desert. This also costs less than grassfed meat sold at Whole Foods and other natural foods supermarkets. When you cut out the middle man, it usually costs less and you have the pleasure of talking to the people who raise the meat, telling them how much you like it, getting cooking tips, and seeing picture of their farms or taking farm tours. I love it.

Brown’s Orchard
A couple of months ago I met the owners of Brown’s Orchard at the Old town Farmers Market in downtown Scottsdale. The first trees were planted in their orchards in 1963. Ten years ago they abandoned use of chemicals, fungicides, and herbicides. They have 5 varieties of pears and 12 varieties of apples, two of my favorite fruits. You can picnic under the fruit trees, pick apples and pears, sip fresh unpasteurized, unfiltered apple cider (hard to find nowadays!), and relax.

Photo credit right: Brown's Orchard

Their You-Pick-It option is available Thursday through Sunday,  8 am to 5 pm, August through mid November or the first frost. If you don’t want to pick fruit, they have a selection of fruit for sale in their cold storage rooms. Perfect for making apple sauce, fruit roll ups, or dried apple chips. I have recipes for these in The Garden of Eating: A Produce-Dominated Diet & Cookbook.

Photo credit right: Brown's Orchard

Lambs on pasture
If you’ve been reading my blog you know about the benefits of grassfed meat. Grassfed meat contains more vitamin, minerals, and antioxidants than organic (grain-fed) meat and reduces the risk of e-coli to undetectable levels. This makes it safer to consume grassfed meat rare or raw, which is how I like it, unless I’m making a stew which requires long slow cooking to render the meat rare.

The lambs raised on Brown’s Orchard are beyond organic. Although they’re not certified organic, they don’t use chemicals, pesticides, antibiotics or genetically engineered plants on their orchard. They employ a rotational pasture system that makes the pasture, the fruit trees, and the lambs healthier than what you’d find on most industrial organic farms. For more on this, check out Jo Robinson's book, Pasture Perfect (formerly titled Why Grassfed is Best).

They don’t give the lambs grain, which ensures a healthier meat that’s. Organically raised meat usually comes from animals fed organic grain, which is free of pesticides and herbicides, but it’s still grain, which is not a natural food for ruminant animals.

These lucky heart healthy lambs are not only raised on pasture all year round. They get to graze the 36-acre orchard eating their fill of windfall fruits from June to November. The trees feed the lambs while the lambs fertilize the soil, the way Joe Saliton, the father of the grassfed meat movement, does it on Polyface Farm. The lambs get plenty of sunshine, fresh air, and exercise and they’re never confined in a barn or feed lot.

How does it taste?
Deeeeeeeeelicious! I love lamb and this particular variety didn't dissapoint me. I took home two tiny lamb loin chops, which looked more like riblets to me.

I seasoned them with finely ground sea salt and pepper and seared them in a little bit of bacon fat in a cast iron skillet (coconut oil, ghee, clarified butter, or palm shortening would also work), cover the skillet and cooked them a few minutes on each side to medium-rare. I used the press test and knife rather than a timer.

Since the chops were so small I served them with a couple of fried eggs, my usual side of leafy green or mixed vegetables and fruit. This is my kind of breakfast, paleo diet perfect. That’s broccoli and icicle radish in the picture.

The fried eggs might look funny with a generous sprinkle of ground black pepper, turmeric, and sea veggie flakes, but they taste great to me that way. Eating meat and veggies might sound strange for breakfast but to hunter-gatherers, the typical American morning meal of toast with jam, granola (candied grain) with milk, french toast, panckes, waffles, or doughnuts would seem equally if not more strange. It's all a matter of perspective!

Lamb lover’s options
At Brown’s orchard you can buy Leg of lamb, lamb chops (rib, loin, and sirloin), rack of lamb, shoulder roast, shanks, ground lamb, liver, heart, kidney, and tongue. If you don't know what to do with these cuts, especially liver and other organ meats, subscribe to my blog. I plan to post more recipes using the cuts most people shy away from.

You can pick up lamb at the Brown's Farm or visit them at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market at 1st & McKinley, from 8 am to 1 pm, at the Old Town Farmers’ Market in Scottsdale (check web site for hours), or on Sundays in Tucson at St. Philip's Plaza Farmers Market at River & Campbell from 9am to 1pm.

For Printable Coupons & Directions to the farm, click here.

Raw Fish & Raw Meat

Raw foods are the rage right now. But when people talk about the benefits of eating raw food, they’re usually promoting raw vegetables and fruits. Sushi lovers promote raw fish, but raw beef and lamb?

Who’s eating raw meat?
Usually the people promoting the eating of raw meat have studied the works of Dr. Weston A Price. They belong to or follow the work of Sally Fallon and Mary Enig or Aajonus Vonderplanitz, they follow a paleo (short for Paleolithic) diet, or they’re from Europe and they grew up eating steak tartare, carpaccio, or similar preparations. Many raw meat enthusiasts belong to the Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation or the Weston A. Price Foundation.

What did people do historically?
Although most recent hunter-gatherers (including Eskimos) ate most of their meat cooked––typically roasted over fire or baked in pits––many tribes ate some cuts raw. It’s unclear whether this has any nutritional basis, but the long tradition of eating some raw meat is preserved in some civilized cuisines. Some famous raw foods include Middle Eastern Kibbeh, French Steak Tartare, Italian Carpaccio, Korean Raw Beef, Spanish Ceviche, Hawaiian Lomi Lomi, Japanese Sushi and Sashimi (the last four all being raw fish).

My introduction to raw meat
I was introduced to raw meat when I was a child. My mother loved French food, including Steak Tartare. She said my fondness for it started when I was in second or third grade. She would pick out a high quality steak from a small meat market in Corrales, NM, where we lived, and have the butcher grind it up. He’d wrap in butcher paper and the story goes that I would open up the package in the car and start eating it on the way home or I’d start eating it before she had a chance to cook it. I have vague memories of this. I don’t recall our ever making steak tartare from

When I was in my teens she bought fresh, clean, gourmet, natural the meat from Keller’s Farm Store in Albuquerque, NM. The place is still in business (30 to 35 years later).

I don’t recall eating much raw meat in high school except for one occasion. I had a conventional birthday party with pizza, cake, and ice cream with my friends when I turned 16, then I had a private birthday party with my mother and her friend Marie Lackits, an accomplished French cook. I put in my request for steak tartare, Caesar salad, and chocolate mousse. Marie added twice baked potato to the menu, although the first three dishes were my favorites!

At the time I thought raw fish (sushi) sounded gross, so I missed out on numerous opportunities to enjoy sushi and sashimi when my mother would have picked up the tab. In college I finally tried it and loved raw fish but I didn’t eat it many times because I went vegetarian and then vegan and macrobiotic the summer after my sophomore year of college. I followed meatless diets for more than 12 years so meat and fish (raw or cooked) were not on the menu.

Finally, after numerous failed attempts to make those diets work for me, I returned to an omnivorous diet, this time emphasizing eggs, fish, poultry, meat, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, healthy oils, and limited amounts of beans and grains. I ate some of these animal foods raw and thoroughly enjoyed them. In fact, once for at least three months my husband and partner in eating experiments ate all of our meat and fish raw. During that time I developed this recipe. I’ve only made it with salmon but you could try it with other varieties of fish.

For more ceviche recipes, check out these links:
Ceviche Recipes from Around the World  (this one has cool pictures!)
More Ceviche Recipes (only one pictures here)
Raw Paleo Recipes (with pictures!)

To learn more about ceviche, click here

For step by step instructions for making ceviche, click here

I still enjoy raw meats, although I eat more raw beef and lamb (for economy) than fish. FYI: I use 100% grassfed beef and lamb from farmers I know, not anonymous meat from a collective meatbank, and the meat is frozen for several weeks before I thaw it and season it.

For one of my Steak or Lamb Tartare recipes, click here

Do you have a favorite raw meat or raw fish recipe? If so, send it to me. Chef Rachel at The Garden Of Eating Diet dot com and tell me where you found it and what you like best about it.

Salmon Ceviche with Tomato & Onions & Avocado 

Prep: 30 minutes/ Marinating: 6 to 9 hours/ Yield: 6 servings (4 for larger portions & fewer meals)

Ceviche is made from raw fish marinated in an acidic solution, which kills potential parasites and pathogens while it pickles and predigest the fish. Every Latin American country adds its own special touch to the dish with different mix-ins and garnishes.

If possible, buy sushi-grade fish from a seafood market; it’s flash frozen at 10˚ F or 20˚ F below zero and retains an excellent texture after thawing. This makes a delicious breakfast, lunch, or dinner served over salad greens with a side of fresh fruit.

Note: If tomatoes are out of season where you live, replace them with 12 soaked, sliced sun-dried tomato halves in the recipe below. If you're cooking for one person, cut the recipe in half and add avocado just before serving each portion.

Fish and citrus juice
1 1/2 to 2 pounds wild salmon fillets (preferably sushi-grade), rinsed, cut into 1-inch cubes, and skinned
3/4 to 1 cup lemon juice or lime juice (about 4 lemons or 5 to 6 limes)

Vegetables and seasonings:
3 large or 4 medium-size red or orange tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced (about 4 cups)
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard or 2 teaspoons paprika
1/4 cup minced fresh dill weed or 1 tablespoon dried
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotlé or black pepper
1/2 teaspoon finely ground, unrefined sea salt (double if desired)
Finely ground unrefined sea salt or wheat-free tamari soy sauce, to taste

Garnish:
2 medium-large avocados, halved, pitted, peeled and sliced
Additional lemon or lime juice

1. Place salmon in a glass pie plate or shallow bowl. Add lemon juice, toss to coat, and cover the bowl with a lid or a plate. Refrigerate for 6 to 12 hours, turning fish twice with a non-metallic spoon to evenly marinate it in the juices. When ready, the fish will appear almost translucent, inside and out.
2. Drain the fish in colander and discard the juices. Pat fish dry if desired. Combine the vegetables and seasonings in a large glass bowl. Add the salmon and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours before serving.  Add sea salt or tamari soy sauce to taste. If mixture feels dry, add additional lemon juice. Slice avocado and toss with fresh lemon or lime juice to prevent oxidation.
3. Serve salmon over salad greens and garnish with sliced avocado. Cover and refrigerate leftovers in a glass bowl or jar and use within 48 hours.

1 serving: 321 calories, 24 g protein, 17 g carbohydrate (6 g fiber), 18 g fat, 50 mg calcium, 237 mg sodium

Variations:

*  Omit salt. Add 1 cup of packed, raw dulse (a purple sea vegetable) to the fish in step 2. Be sure to sort the dulse to remove shells and small stones, then snip the dulse into small pieces with kitchen shears.

*  Replace mustard, paprika, and dill with 1/3 cup minced fresh basil and 3 finely minced garlic cloves.

*  Replace salmon with fresh tuna, bay scallops, true cod, or sea bass.

Whipped Cream Sweetened with Stevia

As a child I remember Cool Whip® non-dairy whipped topping. My mother spooned it over Jell-O, added it to Jell-O parfaits and pumpkin pie and who knows what else. I only remember that it was a staple food when I was growing up. In my early teens, I folded Cool Whip® into no-bake fruit yogurt pies that my aunt taught me how to make.

We didn’t know any better. I’d probably never had real whipped cream when I was introduced to the artificial stuff. If I had and if someone had showed me how easy it was to whip cream the old fashioned way, I believe I would have enjoyed helping my mother make it and I would have made it that way by the time I was in sixth grade, when my mother allowed me to play in the kitchen ( baking) anytime I wanted—without having to ask permission or have supervision.

After all, I was making cream puffs, beignets, crepes, apple crumble, and a wide assortment of cookies and cakes from scratch on my own in seventh grade. Surely I could have poured heavy cream into a bowl, turned on my trusty hand mixer, and added a little sugar (or honey if someone had suggested that) and served that over berries for dessert if someone had shown me how. Thank heavens I know how now!

Ever wondered what’s in Cool Whip or taken the time to read the label?  If so, I hope you decided never to eat the synthetic stuff again.

According to Wikipedia, Cool Whip is synthesized from water, corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated coconut and palm kernel oil (CPKO), sodium caseinate (a milk derivative), vanilla extract, xanthan and guar gums, polysorbate 60 (glycosperse), and beta carotene. In some markets, such as Canada and the United States, Cool Whip is available in an aerosol can using nitrous oxide as a propellant.

Amazing that it ever got passed off as non-dairy because it contains a milk derivitive, sodium caseinate. Jewish people who keep kosher consider Cool Whip® dairy and not parve. This means they won’t eat it at the same meal as meat. Personally, I don’t think anyone should eat Cool Whip–––at any meal, ever! It’s not real food. 

Although I prefer to follow a mostly dairy-free diet, I do eat milk products on occasion. Turning heavy cream into whipped cream takes less time than driving to the store. Once you try it, and I hope you will, if you tolerate trace amounts of milk protein, you won’t want to eat store bought imitations.

Freshly whipped cream keeps its shape for several days in the fridge. To stabilize the texture for even better results, you can stabilize it with unflavored gelatin (see tips below) or agar agar powder (not the flakes).  You’ll find so many delicious ways to serve it.

 Whipped Cream with Stevia 

Hands-on: 5 minutes/ Cooking: 0 / Yield: 4 cups; 8 or more servings

By using a tiny amount of stevia I can reduce or eliminate the need for caloric sweeteners. If I do add sweetener, I prefer raw, locally produced honey. I enjoy spooning the whipped cream over fresh berries or folding it into my favorite Chestnut Chocolate Mousse. For an even lower carb dessert, serve whipped cream on it’s own in parfait dishes or custard cups garnished with cocoa nibs. See tips below for Stabilizing Whipped Cream.

Shopping tips: If possible buy cream from a local, raw dairy. Barring that, look for cream labeled Rbgh-free or Rbst-free, which means the cows weren’t on drugs. Avoid ultra-pasteurized cream; it's harder to whip (but not impossible), and the texture isn’t the same. It helps to use a metal bowl and to put the beaters and bowl in the freezer for 15 or more minutes before using if you do use ultra-pasteurized cream.

Ingredients:
16 ounces (2 cups) hormone-free heavy whipping cream, chilled
1/4 teaspoon pure stevia extract powder (a brand with nothing added to it)
1 to 3 tablespoons light colored honey, optional
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or alcohol-free vanilla flavoring (double if desired)
1/4 cup cocoa nibs for garnish, optional

1.  In an impeccably clean glass or metal bowl, beat the cream with an electric mixer on low speed, then slowly increase the speed. Set the mixer so it goes as fast as possible without splashing. Don’t start on high or the cream will go all over the place.    
2.  As the cream thickens, turn up the speed up. As it gets foamier, start checking for a soft peak, which is what you want. The peak should bend over at the top when you remove the whisk. As it gets thick, slow down, because if it goes too far, it will clump and separate and turn into butter.
3. Add the stevia and vanilla and beat briefly to distribute. Taste, then add 1 tablespoons honey, and repeat. Taste and add additional honey 1 tablespoons at a time as needed for your tastes. Note: Beat only enough to combine, or until stiff peaks form, as you prefer.
4. Divide the mixture between 8 wine glasses, custard cups, or parfait glasses or spoon into a wide mouth jar or a bowl with a lid.  Cover and refrigerate unused portions and use within 5 days.

Variations:

 *  Stabilized Whipped Cream: If you want whipped cream to keep the best texture and you plan to store it for more than a few days, try this. In a small saucepan, sprinkle 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin over 1 tablespoon cold water and allow to soften for 5 minutes. Heat until the gelatin melts. Add to 1 cup (unwhipped) whipping cream, whisking until gelatin and cream are well blended. Chill for 1 hour. Beat with electric mixer (as described above) until cream is thick and holds its shape. It will thicken even more as it sets in refrigerator.

*  Stabilized Whipped Cream with Agar Agar Powder: In the variation above, replace unflavored gelatin with 1/3 teaspoon agar agar powder (not the flakes). Proceed as directed above.

Dairy-Free Ranch Dressing

I wasn’t big on salads or any other vegetables as a child or teenager. I don’t recall my mother putting much effort into making three square meals or many vegetables but I do recall that I preferred ranch to vinaigrette when I was served salad in a restaurant. 

During my vegan years I made creamy dressings and dips from tofu, but they suffered from a beany after-taste. Store bought tofu and soy milk based ranch dressing tasted better than my renditions, but still lagged  behind my memory of ranch dressing.

For years I've been making delicious, creamy salad dressings and dips using cashew butter or tahini. I've enjoyed them and so have most of my friends, cooking students, and clients.

During one of my yogurt- and kefir-making phases, I made a fantastic yogurt-based ranch dressing, using a recipe from Melinda & Robert Blanchard’s cookbook, At Blanchard’s Table, as a starting point with ideas from other recipes I found on-line.

My cooking students loved it. Even people who don’t usually like ranch dressing loved it and so did their kids. It wasn’t dairy free, but I figured it was a huge improvement over store bought brands made from refined polyunsaturated vegetable oils (soy, corn, safflower, cottonseed, and canola oil), partially hydrogenated oils, MSG, and other unsavory ingredients.

Although I eat dairy products on occasion, they’re not a part of my daily diet, so I still pondered what I to use to make a dairy free version. I didn’t want to use tofu. For many of my cooking students, clients, and friends, dairy products are completely off limits (due to allergies, food intoleranes, autoimmune disorders, and other reasons).

For a while I was stumped. Then I found a recipe for Dairy-Free Ranch Style Dipping Sauce in the October/November 2008 issue of Living Without Magazine. It used blended cashews as the base along with mayonnaise. I followed the recipe to the quarter-teaspoon the first time. I liked it but found it too thick, a little too rich (I use full fat mayo, not the lite stuff), and thought it needed adjustment. So I combined my former yogurt ranch dressing with this recipe to create what you see below.

If you have additional ideas for improvement on this recipe, please let me know.

 Dairy-Free Ranch Dressing

Prep: 20 to 30 minutes        Yield: 2 to 2 1/cups

There must be as versions of ranch dressing as there are people who make it. Susan Vess who’s article “Kabobs for Kids” in the October/November 2008 issue of Living Without Magazine inspired this recipe below. I made some alterations to her recipe to create this creamy dip and salad dressing. Try it with a tossed green salad (you may need to add a dash of water to dilute), a blanched vegetable tray, or to make tuna, turkey, chicken, or egg salad.

Shopping for mayo: When shopping for mayo, look for a product with the simplest and fewest ingredients, one free of hydrogenated oil, as well as soy, safflower, cottonseed, corn oil. If you use canola make sure it’s organic to avoid GMOs (genetically modified organisms). Look for Omega 3 Mayo or grapeseed oil mayo in natural foods stores or make your own mayo at home using olive oil. I prefer Vegenaise Grapeseed Oil Mayo tastes great (look for it in the refrigerator section of natural foods stores). It contain grapeseed oil and trace amounts of soy protein but amounts to less than 1 gram per serving (far less soy than if I had used tofu as a base) and otherwise has very pure ingredients. Of course you could make your own mayo using light olive oil.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup raw cashews (whole rather than tiny pieces)
1/2 cup boiling water
1/4 cup cold water; 1 to 4 tablespoons additional water as needed to thin

3/4 cup homemade omega-3 mayo or Grapeseed oil Vegenaise 
1/4 cup minced scallions (white and most of green part) or 1 tablespoon freeze-dried onion flakes
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley or 1 tablespoon dried
1 tablespoon creamy yellow mustard, dijon or creamy white mustard
1 ½ teaspoon each minced fresh tarragon, dill, and oregano or ½ teaspoon of each dried
1 ½ teaspoons minced or pressed fresh garlic or ½ teaspoon dried (double if desired)
1 tablespoon lemon juice or raw apple cider vinegar (double if desired)
1 teaspoon honey or agave nectar (double if desired; omit if mayo contains sweetener)
½ teaspoon finely ground, unrefined sea salt, or to taste (Celtic, Lima, Si, or Real Salt®)
1/4 teaspoon finely ground white pepper

1. Combine the cashews and boiling water in a blender or Vita-Mix and blend until smooth and  the consistency of cream.  Add 1/4 cup cold water and blend again.
2. In a medium bowl combine the mayo, scallions or dried onion flakes, parsely, mustard, tarragon, oregano, dill, garli, lemon juice, optional honey, sea salt, and white pepper. Add the cashew cream and whisk to combine. Add additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time as needed to thin. Taste and adjust salt as needed.
3.  Pour into a widemouth jar or empty salad dressing bottle. Label, date, and refrigerate.
4.  Cover and chill for at least 1 hour before serving for optimal flavor. Use within 3 weeks for best results. Note: I'm not sure how well this freezes. Let me know if you try it (Be sure to use a widemouth jar and leave an inch of space below the lip in the jar.)

Variation:

*  Yogurt Ranch Dressing: Some people who don't tolerate milk tolerate yogurt because the lactose has been pre-digested by the friendly bacteria. If you fall into this group, look for yogurt without added milk solids or non-fat dry milk powder.

Replace 3/4 cup cashews, 1/2 cup boiling water, and 1/4 cup cold water with 1 cup plain, full-fat yogurt, then increase mayo to 1 cup in the recipe above. If possible use raw milk yogurt. Yields 2 1/2 cups.

A Better Barbecue Sauce

If you follow a paleo diet, a moderate- to low-carb diet, or low-sugar diet, you may be wondering what to use in place of conventional barbecue sauce or ketchup. Most bottled brands and most recipes found on line and in cookbooks and magazines are loaded with sugar, which is one of the most hazardous and ubiquitous foods in the typical American diet.

The inspiration for my barbecue sauce
Ten years ago I tinkered with one of my favorite barbecue sauces from a macrobiotic cookbook, Fresh From a Vegetarian Kitchen by Meredith McCarty.

Photo credit: Shannon of NourishingDays.com

Meredith's recipe started with a tomato-less carrot and beet sauce that I’d made dozens of times. I loved the recipe and it served me well when I avoided tomatoes, but eventually I added them back to my diet. Since most people eat tomatoes and tomato sauces, I figured a remake that my friends, clients, cooking students, and acquaintances would be more likely to make a tomato-based version of that sauce.

I substituted unsweetened tomato paste and homemade Bone Building Broth. I reduced the amount of vinegar and soy sauce and listed sea salt as an alternate ingredient. I replaced brown rice syrup with stevia with the option of adding a little honey for additional sweetness. I replaced sesame oil with olive oil. I increased the amount of onion (I love onions; did you know onions contain one of the same antioxidants found in wine? You’ll never be pulled over for driving under the influence of onions). I replaced cayenne with ground chipotlé (smoked dried jalapeno pepper powder), one of my favorite seasonings.

Beyond barbecue sauce
The result is a recipe that’s been popular with people who like barbecue sauce and even people who usually don’t. You can spread this versatile sauce liberally over a wide range of foods at the table. I like to use it the way people use use ketchup or tomato sauce, meatloaf, burgers, steaks, roasts, chicken, turkey, pork chops, even salmon.

Photo credit: Shannon of NourishingDays.com

I even use my Better Barbecue Sauce to replace tomato sauce when I want red sauce with meatballs. (I skip the pasta and simply serve the sauced meatballs over blanched broccoli, cauliflower and carrots, or as a side dish with a green salad or cooked green leafy or mixed vegetables.)

Using stevia cuts the amount of sugar calories and carbs in the recipe. Even if you add the optional one or two tablespoons of honey you’ll still end up with a much less caloric, much lower sugar sauce than what you’d find in stores.

Reduce, reuse, recycle
The Bone Building Broth comes from meat or poultry bones that I stash in the freezer whenever I cook meat or poultry (I store meat bones and poultry bones in separate bags to avoid flavor mixing). Once or twice a month I brew up a batch of bone broth (technically it’s a stock, not a broth, but I liked the alliteration of Bone Building Broth so I kept that name). I strain the mixture, chill it, and freeze whatever I don’t think I’ll use within a week or two.

By recycling bones left from chicken, turkey, beef, pork, and lamb, I save money ($150 or more per year) and re-use something most people toss out. In the process I create a broth that’s rich in calcium, gelatin, and glucosamine sulfate and has multiple culinary applications. The calcium content of the broth will be higher (than the numbers indicate below) and the flavor richer if you use Bone-Building Broth rather than water. I didn’t have my broth analyzed so I don’t have figures for that but I’ve read that a cup of Bone Broth can contain as much or more calcium as a glass of milk. Mine probably has more because it’s usually thick and gelatinous like soft Jell-O.

I’ll post the recipe for my Bone Broth later this month. If you already own my book, The Garden of Eating: A Produce-Dominated Diet & Cookbook, you can follow the recipe in their using poultry or meat bones. If you don’t have Bone Builing Broth on hand (you can’t buy it any stores that I know of), you can substitute homemade chicken or turkey broth, chicken or vegetable broth from a natural foods store, or pure water. If you use store bought broth, look for a product with the simplest and fewest ingredients and the lowest sodium content. If the product contains salt (and it probably will), reduce or omit the salt in the recipe until after you’ve cooked and tasted it.

Consider making a double batch because this sauce taste so good and it freezes well. But don’t just take my word for it. Shannon of NourishingDays.com recently tried my recipe and made a post about how much she and her husband enjoyed it. You can read it here. She also took the two gorgeous pictures included on this page. She has some great recipes, tips, and menu planning ideas on her blog. I encourage you to bookmark her site. You can win a copy of The Garden of Eating if you follow the rules for the giveaway on her site.

Better Barbecue Sauce

Prep: 20 minutes/ Cooking: 20 to 30 minutes/Yield: 2 1/3 cups; 9 servings

This mild, slightly smoky sauce contains less sugar, less sodium, and fewer calories than conventional barbecue sauce. Consider making a double batch because it taste so good and it freezes well. The calcium content will be higher and the flavor richer if you use Bone-Building Broth, but it will still taste good with water, homemade stock, or store bought broth.

A special note about ingredients: Look for a brand of tomato paste that’s free of added sugar and salt. Look for ground chipotlé pepper powder in the spice or ethnic section of natural foods stores, gourmet markets, and hispanic grocery stores, or order it on-line from Penzey’s.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil or unrefined coconut oil
1 cup minced fresh onion
1 teaspoon unrefined sea salt or 2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce (reduce by one-half or more if using salted broth)
3 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 teaspoon) or 1 teaspoon garlic granules (not powder!)
1 teaspoon ground cumin (preferably ground fresh)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/3 teaspoon ground chipotlé (smoked dried jalapeno pepper powder)
1 teaspoon dried, crumbled basil
1 teaspoon dried, crumbled oregano, optional
1 (6-ounce) can salt-free, unsweetened tomato paste
1 1/4 cups water or homemade chicken or vegetable broth or stock (from The Garden of Eating) or preservative-free chicken or vegetable broth, such as Imagine Foods or Pacific Brand
2 tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar or 3 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 teaspoon stevia extract powder (a brand with no fillers and no FOS)
1 or 2 tablespoons honey, agavé nectar or sorghum syrup

1. Heat oil and onions in a 1-quart saucepan over medium heat. Stir until tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add herbs and spices, stir, then add remaining ingredients. After adding liquid, whisk until smooth.
2. Bring to a low boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer with the lid ajar or cover with a spatter screen, and cook until thick, 20 to 30 minutes, stirring periodically.
3. Pour sauce into 1or more wide-mouth glass jars. Cover when cool, and refrigerate. Freeze what you don’t plan to use within 2 weeks.

1/4 cup (made with filtered water): 45 calories, 1 g protein, 6 g carbohydrate (1 g fiber), 2 g fat, 12 mg calcium, 119 mg sodium

FYI: That's a generous serving for only 6 grams of carbs

Variations:

*  Shortcut: Replace fresh onion with 1 tablespoon dried onion flakes in step 1. Heat oil, add onion flakes and spices, then remove from heat. Whisk in remaining ingredients, then return to medium heat. Bring to a low boil, reduce heat, and simmer util thick, 20 to 30 minutes.

*  Cajun Ketchup: Replace the garlic, cumin, mustard, chipotlé, basil, and oregano with 2/3 to 1 tablespoon mild, salt-free Cajun spice blend. Replace honey with maple syrup.

Recipe excerpted from The Garden of Eating: A Produce-Dominated Diet & Cookbook by Rachel Albert-Matesz & Don Matesz (Planetary Press, 2004).

Note: If you order this book from our secure on-line server at www.TheGardenofEatingDiet.com, you’ll receive it more quickly than if you order from on-line book sellers.

The Soda Solution

You want to reduce your risk of developing degenerative diseases, including tooth decay, gum disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, macular degeneration, osteoporosis, heart disease, and dementia, right? Then one of the most important things you can do right now is give up soda and other sugary drinks and encourage your family members to do the same.  This one step can dramatically reduce the amount of sugar you consume. You’ll save money and resources and free up more room in your refrigerator and pantry for more health-promoting foods.

FYI: Artificially sweetened beverages aren't the answer, they have their own side effects. This will dramatically reduce the amount of sugar you consume. You’ll save money and resources. You’ll also free up more room in your refrigerator and pantry for more health-promoting foods.

Sobering Soda Stats
The average 12-ounce can of soda contains 10 teaspoons of sugar (usually as high fructose corn syrup. A typical 20-ounce bottle of soda contains 17 teaspoons of sugar––5 teaspoons more than the USDA’s recommended daily upper limit for sugar consumption for the average person.

U.S. soda consumption doubled between 1970 and 1999. During the same period obesity among children in the U.S. increased by more than 100% over the same period. Today’s teenagers today’s now drink more soft drinks than any previous generation. They also drink 40% less milk than previous generations.

Research published in the Lancet showed that drinking one soda or sugared fruit drink per day could more than double your child’s chances of becoming obese. Regardless of how much children exercise, researchers at Boston’s Children’s Hospital found that every sugared soft drink consumed daily increased a child’s Body Mass Index (BMI), a measurement of obesity. As if that’s not enough reason to can the pop, consider this:

A Harvard School of Public Health study linked soda consumption with obesity in adults. Looking at tens of thousands of female nurses over eight years, researchers found that women who increased their consumption of soft drinks from less than one a week to one a day gained an average of 18 pounds. Researchers also found women who drank soft drinks daily had twice the risk of diabetes compared to those who drank little or no soda.

Need helping kicking the soda habit?
Are you afraid your children, friends, spouse or significant other will complain if you just say, “No!” and refuse to buy any more soda? Are you wondering what to drink or give them for a treat?

Nothing beats filtered water. You really can get used to it and even enjoy it straight up. Besides filtered water, you can make and drink hot or cold herbal tea (I love iced Red Zinger or hibiscus tea), which can look and taste a bit like fruit punch, particularly if you sweeten it with a dash of liquid stevia. Read on to learn how much of a dash I mean. If you’re looking for something a little fancier and more fun that can help your family members kick the soda habit, consider making a healthier soda alternative at home.

Homemade soda without the sugar
For a soda-like drink, you can mix sparkling mineral water with a squeeze of lemon, lime, or orange juice or a dash of your favorite fruit juice. For a sweet taste you can add a dash of plain or flavored liquid stevia. If you hvaen’t liked powdered stevias, try the clear liquids. I think you’ll like them. My favorites are made by Wisdom Natural Brands. They're based in Mesa, Arizona. They make a Grape, Apricot Nectar, Valencia Orange, Lemon Drop, Peppermint, English Toffee, Chocolate, Chocolate Raspberry, Root beer, and Vanilla Crème. I’ve tried about half of them. I especially like Root beer and Vanilla Crème flavored stevia in sparkling mineral water. They just came out with a berry and a hazelnut liquid stevia, which I’m hoping to try this month.

How much liquid stevia should I add?
The biggest mistake people make with stevia is they use too much. Remember stevia can range for 100 to 300 times the sweetness of sugar. It’s not an artificial sweetener. It’s the extract of a leaf native to South America. If you want to read more on stevia, it’s history of safe use, and learn how to use it to replace caloric sweeteners in cooking and baking, you’ll find info and charts in my latest book, The Ice Dream Cookbook: Dairy-Free Ice Cream Alternatives with Gluten Free Cookies, Compotes & Sauces, which you can order from my web site for speedy delivery.

When adding liquid stevia to beverages, start with 1 drop for ever 2 ounces of liquid. That means 4 drops for an 8-ounce cup or glass of water, sparkling water, or tea. Stir, taste, then add another drop or two if you need it.

Do-it-yourself sparkling mineral water
Why buy sparkling mineral water or club soda when you can make it at home for a fraction of the cost of store bought versions and avoid the plastic bottles, plastic chemicals, and plastic waste?

My friends Kenny & Brenna turned me on to their soda making machine. They used it to make honey sweetened lemonade, then I turned them on to flavored stevia so they’d have more options and something fun for the kids to enjoy as a treat without  sugar calories. They got their soda maker from Soda Stream, the global leader in home carbonation with soda makers in more than 10 million homes worldwide.

SodaStream manufactures and distributes five home soda makers that turn fresh water into sparkling mineral or soda in seconds. The machines are lightweight, easy to operate, and come in a variety of styles.

I chose the Penguin model because it features a glass, rather than plastic, carafe. I got it as part of a Penguin Starter kit, which consists of a Soda-Club Penguin Machine, 2 Soda-Club glass carafes with screw on tops, 2 jet carbonator cartridges, and a user-friendly instruction booklet (I really like that part!). I gave it a big thumb up! I can't wait to use it in my cooking classes this summer.

BTW: I don’t recommend the Soda Stream's soda flavorings because they contained artificial flavorings, sodium benzoate, sucrose (sugar), and the artificial sweeteners sucrulose, Splenda, and Acesulfame Potassium, along with artificial colorings. Their unsweetened, natural flavors essences (berry, orange, and lemon-lime) are free of added sweeteners, so you might want to try them. Although I don’t think you’ll need them if you keep lemons, limes, and oranges in the house and/or liquid flavored stevia.

What does it cost?
The Penguin Starter Kit runs $199.99. Some of their other models start at $89 but they use plastic (polycarbonate) bottles, which I prefer not to use. The company will recycle your spent carbonator cartridges. You can exchange the empty carbonators for full ones at an authorized retailer or by ordering online at Soda Club. You can click the previous link or the banner on the left side of this page under the pictures of my cookbooks. Spare carbonators are also available to ensure you’ll never run out of fizz. The price for replacement cartridges depends on how many empties you send back. Each Soda Stream carbonator adds fizz to up to 60 (14.5 oz. size) or 110 (33 oz. size) one-liter bottles.

Is it worth it?
If you love or once loved soda, if you’re spouse, significant other, or children have a thing for soda, if you've been buying soda or sparkling mineral water, and you’re serious about improving your health and reducing environmental waste, then I think it’s worth investing in a Soda Stream Soda Maker and some liquid stevia. If you're fine with filtered water, iced herbal tea, or water with a squeeze of lemon, lime, or orange, then you're probably doing well without a soda maker.

The Growth of Grassfed Meat

Interest in 100% grassfed meat is growing. In the past six years I’ve seen two articles about it in Mother Earth News. The April/May 2009 issue has an excellent feature on “The Amazing Benefits of Grass-Fed Meat.”

The lead paragraph says that converting cropland to perennial pastures produces healthier meat, builds better soil and combats climate change. This is one of the best articles I’ve read on the the environmental benefits benefits of raising cows on pastureland.

Photo right: Pastures at Double Check Ranch, Winkelman, AZ

Grassfed––good for animals, people, and the planet
We could literally transform American agriculture by switching from conventional factory farming of livestock to grass-feeding. According to Richard Manning, author of eight books, including Rewilding the West and Against the Grain, “A conventionally farmed corn or soybean field is a source of global warming gases, but a perennial pasture is a pump that pushes carbon back into the soil where it increases fertility. Even though we harvest meat from the pastures each year, still the soil grows richer and holds more carbon. We get all these benefits thanks to solar energy, plant photosynthesis and natural cycles of grasslands and grazing animals”

The vegetarians were wrong
So many people blame cattle ranching and meat eating for problems that aren’t inherently due to either of those practices. Vegetarian authorities have given us erroneous information about the effects of meat eating on the environment. They didn’t tell us, because they probably didn’t know, that grain farming causes more environmental and habitat destruction than raising cows and other ruminant animals on pasture.

Raising cows on grass could cut carbon emissions
 “…using figures for animal and perennial crops reported in the recent Scientific American article “Future Farming: A return to Roots?” we can get a rough idea of what effect the grassfarming revolution could have on global warming. Production of high-input annual crops such as corn and soybeans release carbon at a rate of about 1,000 pounds per acre while perennial grasslands can store carbon at roughly the same rate.”

Photo right: Cows at home on the range at Double Check Ranch, Winkelman, AZ

“...if we could convert half the U.S. corn and soy acres to pasture, we might cut carbon emissions by roughly 144 trillion pounds, and that’s not even counting the reduced use of fossil fuels that would also result. That’s not a bad side benefit to a transformation that makes sense on so many other levels,” asserts Manning.

Grassfed Meat in Arizona
Here in Phoenix I can now get 100% grassfed meat from my friends Kenny & Brenna (aka The FishHuggers), from Anya & Harry Owen of A Bar H Farm (in San Simon), and now from Paul & Sarah Schwenneson of Double Check Ranch in Winkelman, AZ. I don’t buy grassfed meat from natural foods stores because it costs more (they have to add their mark up to cover their overhead) and because I’d rather support small family farms in the U.S. Why buy grassfed meat from New Zealand or some other faraway place when I can get it from ranchers who raise it in my state or region?

Photo right: Winter at Double Check Ranch, Winkelman, AZ

I met Paul Schwenneson of Double Check Ranch at the downtown Phoenix Public Market in late March. I took home a package of chuck roast, bone-in beef short ribs, and a dozen pasture raised eggs. I was excited to try it because no two suppliers of grassfed beef taste the same. Each one has a slightly different flavor based on the breed of cattle, the type of grass and other foliage it eats, the age at slaughter, and how long it’s aged.

I made some delicious scrambled eggs, a spice rubbed roast, and Teriyaki Short Ribs (recipe below) with their products. I particularly liked the bone-in ribs because they're outside my usual repertoire of recipes. I would definitely make them again.

Double Check Ranch
Their natural beef is raised 60 miles north of Tucson. It’s a family-run operation where three generations of the Schwennesen family live and work. They raise the cattle on their own land and their neighbors’ ranches, where they’ve have been producing wholesome grass-fed beef for more than a decade. Their cattle live on open range and eat only range and pasture grass. They never receive growth hormones, antibiotics, or animal byproducts. They live in familiar surroundings their entire lives.

The Doublecheck difference
Double Check Ranch's distinctively lean beef is dry aged for 14 days, a process that tenderizes it and gives it a full-bodied flavor. The animals lack the heavy marbled fat found on grain-fed animals. This is the kind of meat your grandparents and great grandparents probably ate.

Unlike most ranching operations, the people at Double Check Ranch maintain control of the entire life and death cycle of their animals, including custom cutting it in their own packing house to ensure that the meat is healthy, lean, clean, wholesome, and local. It’s Beyond Organic.

To visit Double Check Ranch at a Farmers’ Markets in Phoenix & Tuscon, click here

Teriyaki Short Ribs         Serves: 4 to 5

I found this recipe in The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook: Healthy Cooking and Good Living with Pasture-Raised Foods by Shannon Hayes. I’ve tried at least four recipes from the book and so far I’ve enjoyed them all.

This recipe is adapted from a similar dish called “Korean-Style Oven-Browned Short Ribs” from Bruce Aidells and Denis Kelly’s excellent book The Complete Meat Cookbook. It's easy to prepare and extremely flavorful. This is a great recipe for those on a budget. It requires minimal preparation, and it’s kid-friendly.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup tamari soy sauce (I used reduced sodium tamari)
1 tablespoon ground (dried) ginger
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives
3 cups water (I use filtered water for all cooking, drinking, ice and beverages)
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or unseasoned rice vinegar
1 head garlic, cloves peeled and left whole
3 pounds beef short ribs (could be up to 4 pounds)
4 tablespoons unrefined sesame oil (I prefer Eden brand)

1. In a large Dutch oven, whisk together the tamari, ginger, honey, water, and vinegar; add the whole cloves of garlic.
2. Add the short ribs. Bring the pot to boil over high heat, turn the heat to low, and simmer, covered, for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until the meat is fork-tender. If you start to run out of liquid, add 2/3 cup water. Remove the ribs and keep warm, but continue to allow the broth to simmer, uncovered on the stove. Note:I raised the heat to cook the pan juices down to syrupy consistency and about 1 cup in volume.
3.  Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450˚F.
4. Place the ribs on a roasting pan, meat side up, and brush with sesame oil. Roast for 15 minutes, or utnil the edges become crispy. Serve in warmed shallow bowls with a few spoonfuls of broth poured on top. Note: I made the sauce so thick that it worked as a glaze for the meat and the parboiled vegetables I served it with.
5.  Reheat the leftovers in a heat-proof Pyrex or Corningware container in a toaster oven at 250˚to 300˚F for 10 to 15 minutes, until warm.

Why I Said Goodbye to Soda

Sugar blues
When I was in ninth grade my dentist, Dr. Harnick, helped me wake up to the damage I was doing to my health with all the sugar I was consuming. He urged me to read Sugar Blues by William Dufty and Lick the Sugar Habit by Nancy Appleton. I became acutely aware of the damage done by refined flour, sugar, and fast food, but I didn’t know what to put in my diet if I took out all the processed foods and beverages I was accustomed to eating.

Soda blues
Not knowing any better, I replaced regular soda with diet soda. My first semester of college, I went to the student health center complaining about burping and stomach pains. The nurse asked me if I was doing anything differently.  I said I was drinking four to six cans of diet crème soda a day, an increase over what I’d been drinking at home.

Just give it up
The nurse thought the soda might be the cause of my problem and she was right. I gave it up immediately—all soda, regular and diet. No more burping. No more soda induced stomach aches. No regrets. The next semester I gave up artificial colorings and flavorings, refined sugar, chewing gum, fast food, and deep fried food. In the process I saved money, lost weight, and improved my overall health. I haven’t missed soda (or fast food) in the years since then.

Fast forward 25 years
It was February, 2009. I was having dinner with my friends the FishHuggers, Kenny and Brenna and their three kids. Kenny offered me a glass of homemade honey-sweetened lemon soda made from water they filtered at home using the Multi-Pure Home Drinking Water Filtration System I sold.

He and Brenna ran filtered water through their home carbonator, mixed it with fresh lemon juice, and the local honey Kenny sells at Farmer’s Markets in Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Ahwatukee, Arizona, and Albuquerque and Santa Fe, NM.  I loved it.

BYOS
Bring your own stevia. That’s what I did the next week when I had dinner with my friends who are also known as The FishHuggers. I brought a bottle of Sweet Leaf root beer-flavored Stevia liquid. Kenny showed me how to operate his home soda maker. I added my flavoring, poured cups for the kids, then the adults, then I made seconds for everyone.
I did the same thing the next six weekends. I had fun making, drinking, and sharing a healthier version of soda without the sugar, artificial sweeteners, phosphoric acid, and wasted cans or bottles. I found it a refreshing change from plain filtered water, hot or iced herbal tea, and Teeccino––my favorite brewed coffee alternative without the caffeine. I don’t plan to replace water. I think of this home made soda as a treat, something fun to add to my existing fluid intake.

Three weeks ago the FishHugger Family left for New Mexico for the Summer. They'll sell Kenny's wild Alaskan Salmon, 100% grassfed beef, and local honey at farmers' markets in Albuquerque, NM.

Kenny will depart for Alasaka in a few months to for some wild adventures harvesting salmon in the Kodiak Islands. Brenna and the kids will hang out with their extended family and continue to sell their products at the farmers' markets.

That means no more Kenny, Brenna, Zane, Kaleb, or Murphy (for me) for six months. No more Saturday night dinners in their home, and no more homemade soda…or so I thought.

 Last week I decided to order my own Soda Club drink maker to experiment with, to demonstrate in cooking classes, and to blog about. I have cooking students, clients, and associates who still buy and drink soda or other flavored fizzy waters. People often ask me what they can drink or give their kids as a healthier alternative. Some ask me how to break the soda habit. I believe this is it!

It’s here
My machine arrived late yesterday. I plan to assemble it and give a test run this weekend. I’ll write more about it and post pictures as I turn my filtered water into fun fizzy water flavored with different fruits, juices, and flavored stevia liquids. I will also post new recipes as I create them, including a home made herbal root beer.

The Scary Side of Soda

What you don't know about the side effects of soda could be harming your health. Grab a piece of paper and a pencil, and don’t cheat. Take this Pop Quiz to learn about the side of soda that the food processing industry doesn't want you to know. Score your test before looking at the answers, okay?!!

Photo right courtesy of Wikipedia

1.  Americans now consume more of their sugar in soft drinks than in any other form. True or False?

2.  Average per capita soda consumption is estimated at four cans per day. True or False?

3.  Average  per capita soda consumption dwarfs the estimated per capita consumption of milk? True or False?

4.  A typical 12-ounce can of soda contains 9 teaspoons of sugar.

5. Sugar has been shown to suppress the immune system and has been linked to cancer, heart disease, diabetes, hypoglycemia, gout, kidney hypertrophy, retinopathy, obesity, hyperactivity, learning disability, viral, bacterial, fungal, and yeast infections, peptic ulcer, hiatal hernias, gallstones, Crohn’s disease, shortened life span, and  depression.  True or False?

6. Soda provides empty calories. True or False?

7. Most brands of soda pop are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup. True or False?

8. High fructose corn syrup.has been shown to be more very harmful than sugar. True or False?

9. Fruit juices contains more fructose tahn soft drinks. True or False?

10. High fructose corn syrup comes from fruit.  True or False?

11. Phosphorus is a vital component required for bone development. True or False?

12. The ratio of calcium to phosphorus in your body is critical to bone health.  True or False?

13. The combination of sugary and/or carbonated beverages and a magnesium deficient diet can lower your body’s calcium and phosphorus levels, which can weaken your bones.  True or False?

14.  High fructose sweeteners can suppress magnesium levels and trigger the release of calcium from the bones into the blood to buffer the acidity (created by the sugar).  True or False?

15.  Phosphoric acid, which is used as a preservative in canned sodas, is harmless. True or False?

16. Diet sodas are a healthy alternative to sweetened soda pop. True or False?

17. Some researchers have found evidence that the synthetic amino acids in aspartame (phenylalanine and aspartic acid), and the methanol in which they are bound, are potent neurotoxins. True or False?

18.  Some of the mysterious symptoms of Desert Storm Syndrome may have been caused by the copious consumption of artificially sweetened beverages which sat in the dessert sun for days, weeks, or months, and were consumed after their ingredients had broken down into formaldehyde and other toxic substances. True or False?

19.  You can find healthy soda in natural food stores. True or False?

20.  You can safely count the soda you drink as part of your required minimum 8 (8-ounce) glasses of water per day.  True or False?

HOW'D YOU DO?
1. True.

2. False.  Average soda consumption is 6 cans per person, per day in America!  If you don’t drink that much, you may be wonder who’s been drinking yours!!

3. True. Average per capita consumption of milk is (25 gallons), coffee (20 gallons), beer (30 gallons), bottled water (13 gallons), and fruit juice (9 gallons). Soda consumption tops all of those!

4. True.

5.  True.

6.  True.  Soda provides empty calories–– calories that enter your bloodstream without providing vitamins, minerals, protein, or phytonutrients that you need for health. 

7.  True.

8.  True.

9.  False!  Fresh fruits contain less fructose than products sweetened with high fructose corn syrup.

10.   False.  HFCS is usually derived from corn, via high-tech processing.  

11.  True.

12.  True.

13.  True.

14.    True.

15.  False. Phosphoric acid can cause your body to break down calcium from your bones and release it into your blood to balance acidity.

16. False.  Symptoms that have been correlated with consumption of diet soda include dehydration (if  made with caffeine), weight gain, dizziness, gradual loss of vision, headaches, depression, slurred speech, loss of memory, fibromyalgia -type symptoms, vertigo, anxiety attacks, chronic fatigue, heart palpitations, clinical diabetes, seizures, brain, uterine and ovarian tumors, says Dr. Russell Blaylock, author of Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills. 

17.  True.

18.  True.

19.  False. I highly doubt it. If the product contains sugar, isolated fructose, or artificial sweeteners it doesn’t belong in your shopping cart or you stomach. You can make something healthier, more economical, and more ecological at home.
20.  False.  No other beverage can replace water. 

SCORING THE QUIZ: 
*  Start out with a perfect score of 100%.  If you didn’t miss any questions, you get an A+! 

*  For every question you missed, subtract 5 points. 

*  If you missed 1 question, you receive a 95%. Two missed questions yields a 90% (still an A).  Three wrong answers yields an 85% (B+), and so on. 

*  If you missed 4 or more questions, check out Lick the Sugar Habit by Nancy Appleton. If you drink diet soda, check out Excitotoxins the Taste That Kills by Russell Blaylock, then do a web search for information on Aspartame, Nutrasweet®, and other artificial sweeteners.