There's good in all vegetables

The poor poor vegetables we've blacklisted: potatoes, carrots, celery, corn, and iceberg lettuce. And what have they done to deserve this ill treatment? Well nothing, they're just being themselves. Seriously this is a great article I read on these blacklisted veggies. I hope that we start seeing more information like this come out. What a concept, instead of only eating expensive "superfoods" maybe we should eat a well balanced variety of foods. Even non- superfoods have wonderful nutrients to offer us. Just a thought.

Where in the world is Elizabeth Root?

Did anyone else watch that show?

I have to apologize to all my awesome, loyal Belhaven market customers. I have missed the market for 3 straight weeks. I have had 2 graduations (1 out of state) and my husband's 30th birthday party at our house! It has been a very busy month. I do feel like I've caught up on my housework, as much as I can anyway. I'm ready to come back to the market & I'll be at Belhaven June 7th.

The food industry is misleading us again...

This article was shocking to me. I personally have checked restaurants online menus to find the healthier selections before I eat out. And working in the food industry myself I am always honest with customers. If you are going to make something that is high in fat & calories you need to tell people. The thought occured to me, if they are going to lie about the "healthy options" how much are they lying about the "traditional meals". Shame on those restaurants.

Yet another reason to cook & eat at home.
-If you prepare the food then you know what is in it.
-If you eat at home you are less likely to overeat.
-Plus I've mentioned before the spiritual connection I believe exists from preparing your own food.

Environmentally Friendly

Now don't we hear a lot about this subject these days. And it is a complex one. I'm not an expert on the environment by any means, nor am I ready to leave all my modern conveniences behind, but I am trying to do my part to be more aware & responsible. Recently some bad news has come out concerning plastics, especially when they are heated. And it does make sense to me if you take a bunch of chemicals and form a product, some of those chemicals could be harmful. But I know firsthand in a medical setting plastics are necessary. More research should be done for sure.

Well I'm also trying to make more environmentally friendly decisions with my business. In addition to buying my ingredients from local sources and using some organic ingredients, I try to use biodegradable, natural materials for my packaging. I use paper plates for my cake, 100% cotton string, and cellophane bags. Here is more information on cellophane.
I try to make responsible decisions and right now it seems like cellophane bags are safer for the earth & safer for my customers. My labels are not biodegradable, but I'd like to find some that are. I also print my brochures up on 100% recycled paper.

I have spent some time & more trying to use more earth friendly goods. And I'll continue to research & be aware of products I use in my business.

Pollan makes Sense

Ok, it's Friday! and I should be baking. I really am going to be up till like midnight & get up at 4:30 to get ready for the market.

So I'm only posting this b/c I was so inspired. We all have times in our careers where we get tired and discouraged, even those of us blessed to do what we love. I've kinda been having one of those times. I don't have time to do what I need to do. I don't have the facility that I would like to have.

But when I came upon this article today I remembered why I'm struggling to bake healthy goods. I wanted a job that would allow me to have time to feed my family healthy food, and I wanted to help other families eat healthy foods. When my dream of becoming a registered dietician became too difficult to obtain Daniel supported me in my desire to sell healthier baked goods to the public. I wanted to provide healthy baked goods that were fun: Sourdough & Peach Cakes should be available in whole grains too!

When we both had real jobs we ate out much more often & ate many more convenience foods. And now that business is so busy for me I am struggling to continue to provide healthy meals for our family. But the struggle is worth it! I know first hand from working in the transplant lab the consequences of an unhealthy diet: overweight... diabetes... losing a kidney.

So I ran upon this article this morning about Michael Pollan's books

In general, I'm inclined to stick with the tried and true when it comes to food," he said. "And let the novelties be tested for a while. I think we need to begin to spend more on food, both in terms of money and in time. I know that's not a popular message. People like their convenience foods. But this experiment of outsourcing our food preparation to corporations has failed us. I mean, it's left us really unhealthy, really unsatisfied. And I think it's undermined the family life and undermined the community.

This article was really the inspiration I needed. Daniel & I both work hard, and sometimes we fall asleep bone tired. But I can rest easier knowing that I'm doing all I can for the health of my family. Food is not all there is to the health of our family, our faith comes first. But there is a spiritual element in food preparation. Preparing our meals makes me more appreciative of the blessings we have. God has blessed me to be able to do something that I believe in so much. I pray that I will have a positive effect on other's health.

New happenings!

This spring has been very exciting for me!

The market has been hopping, the weather is gorgeous & we have had some wonderful entertainment. Thanks to all my loyal customers & to my new customers willing to try out my whole grain goods.

I was featured in the Madison County herald; here is a link for anyone that missed it & is so bored they want to read about me:) I don't know how long they'll leave it up. Thanks to the market director, Kay for putting the paper in touch with me.

Also I am now selling some bread & goodies to Negazio. This is a wonderful import & specialty store located on Pear Orchard across from Indian Cycle. It is family run and they have a wonderful selection of imported meats & cheeses, pasta, olives... So if you're dying for a ginger chewie during the week or you need some fresh bread stop in and see Lisa and Jay.

Grocery $ are too high!

Everytime I hear about how high groceries are I cringe. I buy groceries for our family & I buy ingredients to bake for the market. And with gas up and medical expenses up we don't need anything else to go up.

Until now I haven't been very affected by price increases. My organic stone-ground flour has stayed about the same (at this point anyway). The dried fruits I use have always been fairly high, I buy unsulfured because sulfur present in most dried fruits inhibits the yeast. I use other higher end ingredients because they taste better, such as fresh ginger in my cookies and aged Asiago cheese in my Asiago bread. I figure if my customers want a run of the mill cookie they'll buy it at Sam's where it is cheaper.

But egg prices going up is starting to be problematic for me. Also milk prices have gone up 30- 40%. This is frustrating to me; I really want to offer the best prices I can to my customers but still bake quality healthy goods. My bread prices range from $4- $7. More expensive than the grocery perhaps but my bread is homemade, fresh, and delicious. And buying more expensive groceries is still cheaper than eating out!

So what are some tips for saving money on groceries:

• be like my Granny & PopPop shop the sales , having a deep freezer would be helpful
• buy in bulk: you can get healthy grains, fruits, sweeteners, ect at our local coop Rainbow for far cheaper than buying them individually packaged (the items are sold in bulk bins but you get as much as you want)
• buy less packaged drinks: I love my new aluminum water bottle as soon as I drink the water from it I refill it and stick it in the fridge. I grab it on my way out the door if I'm going to be gone for awhile. Although it was $20, I'll save that and more since I'm not buying bottled drinks.
  
• buy seasonal produce: La strawberries are in season and can be found for reasonable prices at farmers markets.
  

I pray that these grocery price increases do not continue. But our economy is strong and we are still far better off than many people in the world.

Oatmeal Pecan Bread

I try to cater my bread to different tastes. I realize that everyone doesn’t like a hearty robust whole wheat. Last market season I had a Honey Oat, 100% whole grain of course. This was my version of a milder whole grain bread. I have improved on that bread & am introducing the new Oatmeal Pecan. It is creamier than my honey oat, but still mild and lightly sweetened with MS honey. Roasted pecan add a nutty richness to the creamy mildness. This bread has something yummy for everyone!

Ingredients: organic stone-ground white whole wheat flour, organic stone-ground whole wheat flour, MS honey, organic thick rolled oats, roasted pecans, dried milk powder, orange juice, canola oil, egg whites, salt, yeast

Phony Egg Claims

I came upon an article today that was distressing. This article about eggs that was pretty good, she didn't quote many actual studies but it was a decent piece. At the bottom she said that:

As for fortified eggs from hens whose feed is enriched with extra omega-3 fatty acids-- a fat that is good for your heart, your brain and your joints -- they may not be all that they're cracked up to be. Lab tests commissioned by the Center for Science in the Public Interest found that some of the eggs, said to have come from hens that had eaten feed rich in omega-3s -- contained less of the beneficial fat than advertised.

This was shocking to me as I have been using (a lot) of these high omega 3 eggs in my baked goods. They do cost more & I have been passing that cost to my customers believing that I was baking a healthier product. So it sounds to me after doing more reading that they need to do some more studies before it can be proved that high omega 3 eggs are better for you.

I have been buying most of my eggs from a local vendor at the market. His chickens are truly cage free (or pastured) & are treated more like pets. So I'm supporting the local economy, getting a great fresh product, and the chickens are very happy. It seems to me that happy free range chickens would produce healthier eggs than conventional chicken "farmers" who stuff the chickens in little cages, feed them hormones & antibiotics to keep them producing.

Here's a great article from Mother Earth News (yes does sound a bit hippy:) On the last page they reference several studies that support the health benefits of pastured eggs over conventional. Here's a few:

• A 1999 study by Barb Gorski at Pennsylvania State University found that eggs from pastured birds had 10 percent less fat, 34 percent less cholesterol, 40 percent more vitamin A, and four times the omega-3s compared to the standard USDA data.
• In 2003, Heather Karsten at Pennsylvania State University compared eggs from two groups of Hy-Line variety hens, with one kept in standard crowded factory farm conditions and the other on mixed grass and legume pasture. The eggs had similar levels of fat and cholesterol, but the pastured eggs had three times more omega-3s, 220 percent more vitamin E and 62 percent more vitamin A than eggs from caged hens.

These studies are enough reason for me to pay a few more dollars per dozen eggs.

Malted Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins

I'll admit in the spectrum of healthy breakfasts this isn't in the bran muffin category. But it's not down with the doughnuts either!

These muffins are very yummy. Most of the sweetness is from the barley malt (in malted milk powder). Although sweet enough to be considered a treat they are 100% whole grain and full of healthy ingredients like fresh bananas, dark chocolate chunks, and cage free eggs.

Ingredients: fresh bananas, belgian dark chocolate chunks, organic stone-ground barley flour, organic stone-ground spelt flour, organic stone-ground white whole wheat flour, malted milk powder, cage free eggs, organic cane sugar, buttermilk powder, canola oil, melted butter, baking powder, vanilla, salt

Nutrient information- 1muffin: 277 kCal, 43g carb (2g fiber, 22g sugar) 10g fat (4g sat fat, 3g monounsat fat, 1g polyunsat fat) , 6g protein

• keep in mind these muffins have a lot of dairy which is high in natural & unrefined sugar

• **approximate calculation- not actually tested**

Loaded Potato Bread

So you read this and thought: potatoes don't belong on a healthy food blog. Well yes they do. The USDA says:

Potatoes are an important source of complex carbohydrates. In addition, they contain vitamins C and B ₆ , iron, potassium, and trace minerals such as manganese, chromium, selenium, and phosphorus. Potatoes are low in sodium, are virtually fat free, and provide fiber when the skin is eaten.

Here's another article I ran across about why potatoes are healthy. So great eat some baked potatoes right. Well eating them in whole grain bread is another great idea. I've had grocery store (not fresh, blahhh) potato bread so I wasn't expecting the addition of fresh mashed potatoes to be a big deal.

• Potatoes give the bread a soft & moist texture.
  
• Eggs add a bit more rise
• Fennel lends a subtle herby note
  
• Sesame seeds top it off with a nutty crunch

Of course it’s 100% whole grain. To experience the full effect try it for yourself!

Ingredients: organic stone-ground white whole wheat flour, mashed potatoes, Mississippi honey, eggs, buttermilk powder, canola oil, sesame seeds, egg white, roasted sesame oil, salt, yeast, fennel

All about the fiber

I'm introducing my Double Yum (bran) Muffins. Bran in parenthesis b/c some people are afraid of healthy things like (bran). Males age 14-50 need 38g fiber/day and females that age need 25g fiber/day according to the US dietary guidelines. These muffins with 6g fiber will help you get there. Let's quickly review why we need all this fiber.

According to the American Dietetic Association fiber is important because it:

• lowers bad (LDL) cholesterol
• helps our GI move things along normally
• slows digestion & makes us feel full
• can prevent & help manage these diseases: Diabetes, heart disease, & diverticulitis
• may prevent cancer
  

These muffins are really good & good for you. They are have a roboust whole grain taste with bits of sweet and tart apricots. The addition of fresh spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, & cloves) kicks the flavor up a notch. With a double dose of bran: high fiber wheat bran and heart healthy oat bran, not to mention the additional fiber from the dried apricots & flax seed.

Ingredients: organic stone-ground white whole wheat flour, dried unsulfured apricots, oat bran, succanat, wheat bran, organic stone-ground spelt flour, cage free eggs, blackstrap molasses, canola oil, dried buttermilk powder, flax seed, mechanically pressed palm oil, organic cane sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, cloves

Nutrient information- 1muffin: 204kCal, 8g fat (1.5g sat fat, 3g monounsat, 2.5g polyunsat) 33g carb
( 6g fiber, 14g sugar), 6g protein
**approximate calculation- not actually tested**

Fats can be very confusing

Today I was not supposed to be spending hours researching the best fats to cook with. But my plans to be productive were altered when I was stumped by a recipe. I'm working on a new muffin recipe for the market. I am going to have Double Yum (Bran) Muffins in less than a month. So I'm starting to work up a recipe. This usually begins by me selecting a recipe after searching for a lengthy time period. Then I change it so much it becomes more my recipe than anyone elses. So this recipe is a "6 week bran muffin" (I will not have the batter around for 6 weeks:). Because I do so much baking it will be handy to have a batter that is good for longer than a week.

So my recipe calls for shortening. Normally I would say no way and switch out for canola oil- my choice for heart healthy cooking. But this is a longer sitting batter so maybe some shortening might help the texture of my muffin. I have some Spectrum organics "mechanically pressed organic palm oil" . They call their product " a healthy, trans-fat free alternative to traditional shortening". Is it? As someone that has had some nutrition classes I know saturated fats are healthier than hydrogenated fats found in conventional shortening. I searched a good bit and the best I could find was Dr. Andrew Weil saying that palm oil contains vitamin E and is better than the evil palm kernal oil. And this product has 6g sat fat/ 1Tbsp. So in the quantity that I'm using it in my recipe each muffin will have 0.75g sat fat. That is really not much at all.

If you read my post on butter being not so bad for you then you understand my confusion over the choice of fats. In the nutrition realm it is agreed on that Trans fats are bad bad. I don't use any of those. Saturated fats are out of favor, but in baking they have their place. Butter is great for flavor and texture; too much of it is too many calories... weight gain... lots of health problems in general. And there is some conflicting research out there concerning what fats are the best for you. Chocolate has a high quantity of saturated fats and it is "good for you". There is a good bit of research showing that omega 3 fatty acids are good for our hearts, brains, ect. So I am choosing to use fats that are high in these: such as canola oil and flax seed.

I'm using canola oil for the remainder of the fat in the recipe. I chose that oil because it has a good amount of omega 3 fatty acids. The spectrum website is slightly confusing on this matter. Of course they would like me to buy their walnut oil for my baking (considerately more expensive than my canola) but their is little difference in the omega 3 fatty acid content of walnut and canola oil. I can tell you this because of several hours I spent digging up the facts! The USDA database rules again!

Grillin on a Sunday!

This is food related b/c we were on our way to the reservoir to grill with some friends when Barley (aka Hearth Leaven Loaves's beloved mascot) decided to show out. This picture is especially funny when you compare it to other pictures of Barley. I put one in just for comparison sake of course. This is his puppy expedition pack, a Christmas present from Auntie Becca! Anyway he looks so different with the wind blowing his ears & abundant fur back, and with his eyes all squinty.


So we took Barley to the reservoir to grill with friends. We all had a great time and enjoyed the gorgeous weather. I really hope the good weather follows us into April to kick off the market right! I'm working on new recipes right now. I have most of them listed on my current products page. I don't have posts for most of my new products b/c I'm still trying perfect my recipes. They should be appearing soon.

Change is a comin'

I really am working in my market off-time, see Cadillac vs. newbie if you don't belive me:) After some time to think about it & some more baking comparison tests I have decided to try something new.

I am changing the brand of flour I use for all of my baking! This is a pretty big deal, but I have done some research and spent time on the decision. I will be using War Eagle Mill's flour instead of King Arthur's flour. Here are some of my reasons:

1. I like to bake for your family like I do for my own- for health reasons stone ground flour is superior to modern flour processing.
2. WEM flour has a fresher flavor
3. WEM is a local establishment & I like to shop local when possible

King Arthur has good flour, and if I have problems with War Eagle Mill then I would switch back to King Arthur.

So all my bakery products now in addition to being Whole Grain contain Organic Stone-ground flour. I'm excited about being able to offer my customers a healthier, higher quality product.

**Another change I'm making is the incorporation of more spelt flour in my baked goods. I tried spelt last season and liked it so I have continued to experiment with it. Look for it in the ingredient listings of my cakes, cookies, and muffins.

Rosemary Fig

This bread was probably my #1 seller last market season. It is different, but also familiar. I'm sure we all know someone that has a fig tree. I wish I had one, one day in my dream yard with my muscadine vines, wonderful garden, every herb you could want...









Figs are a much loved fruit in Mississippi. So I took a hearty whole wheat bread and added dried fig pieces and fresh rosemary leaves. The resulting bread has been popular. It is one of my favorites. I love this bread with dinner, but I am told that it makes a wonderful peanut butter sandwich. The rosemary is subtle in this bread, there is enough to taste but not to overpower.



Ingredients: organic stone-ground whole wheat flour, water, chopped figs, malted barley syrup, dry milk powder, orange juice, Mississippi honey, butter, rosemary, egg whites, salt, yeast

Cake Time!

I know this cake may not look like a big deal to some people but it is the prettiest cake I've ever made! Unfortunately I baked it a bit too long and it was a little dry. But didn't the icing turn out good? This cake was for my mom's birthday a few weeks ago. I baked a chocolate malt cake & frosted it with a malt milk buttercream icing. Oh and the hearts were part of the cake batter I baked in a mini heart pan.

I'm fairly certain I will not bake this for the market. If these kinds of baked goods were around me on a regular basis I would be in trouble. It was a whole grain batter, but not lowfat and not healthy fats either. It was really fun to make the cake. I'm glad both of my parents birthdays fell on market off-time so I could make their cakes from scratch.

You want the numbers...

I've had several customers request nutritional analyses on my bakery goods. So I analyzed my Toffee biscotti recipe using my nutrition software. If you are interested go to the Toffee biscotti post.

It wasn't as easy as it should have been, but I'm fairly confident that it is a good approximation. I would have analyzed all my recipes already if not for several obstacles:
1. my items are handmade so the portions aren't exact
2. the bread doesn't come pre-sliced
3. my analysis software does not contain all my specialty ingredients in its database
4. I am not required by law to have nutritional information b/c I am a "mom & pop" operation, to have real nutrition info I would need to have my food sent off and physically tested

All that said I'm glad to provide some information. On my biscotti I have listed the information for a serving size of 1 large biscotti (or sometimes 2 small) equal to 1/12 the recipe size. And when I get the bread analyzed I will list the numbers for a portion of the bread- your slices may be bigger or smaller than mine. But hopefully my analysis will be helpful.

Cadillac vs. Newbie

Huh? Let me clarify. I'm doing a comparison test between two types of flour.

In one corner we have my old favorite: King Arthur traditional whole wheat flour. I started using this flour b/c another baker told me this was "the cadillac of flour". I have found that this is true. I get very consistent results with my bread using King Arthur. I have never bought any rancid flour, even buying from the grocery store. I usually order directly from them so my flour is fresh, additionally I have been treated very well by their customer service.

In the other corner we have my new discovery: War Eagle Mill organic whole wheat stone-ground flour. So why change a good thing? Well I have long been interested in stone-ground flour because it is supposed to have better nutritional value & flavor than roller milled flour. There is all kinds of information to be found, I never have found any firm comparison on the matter. The National Heart Foundation does briefly discuss the matter. I have used stone ground flour before, but I never had an affordable source for quality flour. That is until I found War Eagle Mill, now I'm willing to give it a try.

So I'm pitting these flours against each other in a run of sourdough bread. This is the easiest bread to test with, because I typically run 2 separate batches simultaneously.

1. Setting up the starter dough:

KA- looks redder
WEM- more golden hue, slightly bigger bran fragments (very slightly), upon tasting is slightly sweet













2. Preparing the bread dough:

KA- typical results for this bread- flour/water proportions perfect
WEM- this flour was wetter, I had to considerately more flour to bring the dough consistency to where I like it to be. Also I had to knead this dough for longer than the KA to get enough gluten development.


3. Bread dough rising:

KA- seemed to have a better rise as you can see from these profile shots
WEM- still rose, just not as much as KA







4. Baking

KA- browned more, perhaps more tannins in bran of flour (gives red color)
WEM- once baked the two loaves seem to be the same size






5. Slice & Taste

KA- seemed to have a more sour taste?
WEM- looks identical to the KA slice, doesn't appear to be a big difference in cell structure (holes in bread)


So at this point from the wetness of the dough and the sweeter taste the WEM flour seems fresher and that is a good thing. But as far as gluten content the KA flour may have a greater amount, and gluten is vital to the bread rising.





Now I'm really not convinced either way. I like supporting a local mill especially if their flour is fresher. But I don't want to sacrifice the quality of my bread. So more tests to come.

Joy of Cooking!

So when Daniel & I got married I disregarded his cook book collection for the most part. I didn't mean to be a snob, but really what did More Swamp Cooking & Manifold Destiny (cooking on your car engine) have that I might want to cook?


I'm not sure why but one day I opened Daniel's The Joy of Cooking. I had never heard of this cookbook, in my parents home the 70's edition Betty Crocker, The Mississippi Cookbook, and Bells Best were the everyday cookbooks. I fell in love with this cookbook. To this day it is one of my favorites. Why? 1) It has great basic recipes for new cooks- oven fried chicken, mashed potatoes, etc. 2) It has a recipe for almost every food you can think of- lamb ribs, boston baked beans, asparagus soup. 3) There are great write ups on many culinary subjects, for example a heading about different cuts of roast and how they should be cooked differently.

Well I was thinking of buying a copy for a gift. So I go to Amazon and there is controversy in the Joy of Cooking land. Apparently there is dispute about which edition is best. My beloved cookbook is the 1997 edition. Who cares about trifling editions? Well apparently some people really don't like 97' because ice cream, drink recipes, and short-cuts such as condensed soups were left out. Well those changes suit me fine because I buy ice cream and don't like condensed soups. I'd prefer to make my own sauces, for those that like these things there is the all new 2006 75th Anniversary edition. I decided after much research that this may be a better gift for my occasion.

Any comments? please tell me if you have an opinion on this.