Since I have gone back to get my Master's in Holistic Health and Nutrition Education I have become even more determined to only buy organic foods. I have always grown an organic garden and preserved my extras for winter - but it's not enough. I would buy organic when convienent, but if it wasn't there - I thought fresh fruit was still best. I can't believe I was so naive - the stuff I'm learning about how many pesticides are put on these plants - and how deep it penetrates - you cannot wash it off - scary.
Anyway I have started buying all organic and my grocery bill has really gone up - even with the garden right now. So I had to do a paper for school on where to buy organic in my area - a tool for my professional toolbox that I will use with clients. As I was researching this, I stumbled across CSA's (Community Supported Agriculture). I had heard of CSA's before but for some crazy reason thought they were only out in CA. Well - there are a ton of them right here in my area - and some still have openings for this year.
What you do is buy a share of the harvest and get weekly deliveries. Most of them have several delivery spots around the metro area - some deliver right to your door - and some you have to drive out to the farm to pick up. Some have financial assistance if you can't afford it and some will let you trade some labor for part of the cost. Many of them have activities on the farm that you can come to.
And some of them offer eggs and meat - and I even found one that offers baked goods - including some that are gluten free and casien free.
The costs of the ones I looked into appeared to run right around $500 for a box big enough for 2 adults and 1 small child. The number of weeks they deliver is between 16 and 22 (this is only based on the ones I found). That's like $28 a week.
Anyway - I thought I would share the idea in case there were others out there like me who want to buy organic but wish it were more affordable. Here is a link to a website where you can put in your zip or state and see what's in your area: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/
Even if they are all full in your area for this year - you might want to investigate them and get on a list for next year.
I'm going to put all of the ones for my area in a spreadsheet so my future clients can compare based on what works best for their family.
Hope that helps someone!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Thursday, June 14, 2007
al fresco Natural Sausages
Like many families that don't eat gluten, we avoid most sausages and hot dogs due to the nitrate content. Since we also avoid pork (which I don't think I've mentioned much on this blog) - those factors really eliminate most sausages. For the most part I haven't missed them - they tend to be fatty anyway. But once in awhile as a treat, sausages are tasty. I have fond memories of special breakfasts that included maple syrup and sausages - yum! Spaghetti and other Italian dishes have more flavor when prepared with sausage instead of plain ground meat. And I grew up in Wisconsin - summer isn't summer without brats on the grill!
I have tried a few of the nitrate free sausages and they're Okay - but nothing that I felt like blogging about. And then Bzz Agent invited me to sign up for a new campaign for Al Fresco Natural Sausages. OMG, yummy is the best way to describe them! Almost all of the varities are gluten free - the exception is the fresh Mango Chipolte flavor - the rest are all gluten free. Most are casein (dairy) free as well - they have the full nutrition information on their webpage. My bzz kit included coupons for 2 free products so I picked up two this week and we tried them both and loved them. Andy specifically asked me to write them up on the grocery list for next week!
The sausages are all made with lean, skinless chicken meat, and never contain any artificial ingredients or preservatives. And they have 70% less fat than pork sausages. If you are a pork avoider like my family, you might want to visit the website before choosing which varieties you want to try - some are in pork casings.
The website has a lot of great information including recipes and more information about the company as well as frequently asked questions and nutritional information on each variety. They also have a where to buy feature. I was surprised to find they were available in several stores in my area including Super Target. I can't believe I had never noticed them before.
We tried the Sweet Apple and Sundried Tomato flavors. Both were yum and yet they were very different from each other. The Sweet Apple was sweet and you could taste the maple syrup in it. This would be great with pancakes or waffles for breakfast. The Sundried Tomato was more of an Italian Flavor and would be good with pasta.
The price wasn't too bad either. $3.99 for a 12 ounce package. That may be more than traditional sausages, but for an all natural product with so much flavor, I think it is a great value.
Check out their website today by clicking here. I have to play with the link feature now that I have figured out it is there and how to use it.
I have tried a few of the nitrate free sausages and they're Okay - but nothing that I felt like blogging about. And then Bzz Agent invited me to sign up for a new campaign for Al Fresco Natural Sausages. OMG, yummy is the best way to describe them! Almost all of the varities are gluten free - the exception is the fresh Mango Chipolte flavor - the rest are all gluten free. Most are casein (dairy) free as well - they have the full nutrition information on their webpage. My bzz kit included coupons for 2 free products so I picked up two this week and we tried them both and loved them. Andy specifically asked me to write them up on the grocery list for next week!
The sausages are all made with lean, skinless chicken meat, and never contain any artificial ingredients or preservatives. And they have 70% less fat than pork sausages. If you are a pork avoider like my family, you might want to visit the website before choosing which varieties you want to try - some are in pork casings.
The website has a lot of great information including recipes and more information about the company as well as frequently asked questions and nutritional information on each variety. They also have a where to buy feature. I was surprised to find they were available in several stores in my area including Super Target. I can't believe I had never noticed them before.
We tried the Sweet Apple and Sundried Tomato flavors. Both were yum and yet they were very different from each other. The Sweet Apple was sweet and you could taste the maple syrup in it. This would be great with pancakes or waffles for breakfast. The Sundried Tomato was more of an Italian Flavor and would be good with pasta.
The price wasn't too bad either. $3.99 for a 12 ounce package. That may be more than traditional sausages, but for an all natural product with so much flavor, I think it is a great value.
Check out their website today by clicking here. I have to play with the link feature now that I have figured out it is there and how to use it.
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Some cool new software!
I had to purchase the Food Processor Nutrition and Fitness Softward by Esha Research for my classes I am taking. It is the coolest!
I can put in what I eat on a daily basis - or my child eats - and get a print out of what nutrition we are getting - and then I can play with it and see if I changed one thing or another how that effects it. I can also search for products and find their nutritional breakdown - and they have practically every product ever made in there.
One of the things I'm having the most fun with is entering in my own recipes and finding out the nutrtional content, calories, fat, etc.
This is going to be so valuable to use when I start doing this for a living.
I can actually print out nutrition labels for the homemade jam and jelly that I make to give away now.
I can put in what I eat on a daily basis - or my child eats - and get a print out of what nutrition we are getting - and then I can play with it and see if I changed one thing or another how that effects it. I can also search for products and find their nutritional breakdown - and they have practically every product ever made in there.
One of the things I'm having the most fun with is entering in my own recipes and finding out the nutrtional content, calories, fat, etc.
This is going to be so valuable to use when I start doing this for a living.
I can actually print out nutrition labels for the homemade jam and jelly that I make to give away now.
Friday, June 01, 2007
The price of GFCF
Eating GFCF certainly is more expensive - I don't think anyone will argue with that.
In the past I have never really kept track of the cost because it was just something we had to do. While I knew you could deduct the price difference of the foods, I also knew that getting enough to actually write off on your taxes was probably not going to happen - you are only able to claim a percentage of your medical and only if you itemize (which we do). But last year between the dentist and specialists we had a lot of medical expenses and could have claimed some of them if we had added the food on, but I hadn't kept track.
So this year I started saving my grocery receipts and tracking the cost in an excel spreadsheet. I missed January - I didn't start until Feb. 1 when I realized how close we were to being able to claim some medical expenses last year.
I am only tracking the foods that we buy that are GFCF. Not the extra cost of the foods that have nothing artificial in them or are organic - that's not legal unless you have to buy them because that is the only choice. I am sure if I tracked that cost as well it would be huge. I am tracking total costs because I believe that doing this diet as a family is beneficial therapy for my son and the reason that he eats so well. If we got audited I think I could get the doctor to sign for that. Dan thinks we should only track the foods that only Andy eats and a third of the ones that we all eat.
In order for the costs to be tax deductable, you do need a medical reason to be buying the more expensive foods. Just doing the diet because others have told you it helps autism isn't enough. You need a signed statement from your doctor.
This morning I updated my spreadsheet and so far this year between Feb. 1 & June 1 - the price difference comes to $328.95! That's a lot of money in 4 months and like I said that doesn't count the organic fruits and veggies.
If you are not keeping a spreadsheet, I suggest you do - the price difference might be more for some of you. I did it fairly - I didn't compare it to generics - I could have put the price of bread as a lot more, but I priced the bread in the store that we would have bought if we were able to buy regular bread and it wasn't the cheapest. I did the same with all products. Some things I would have bought generics, but many I wouldn't have.
In the past I have never really kept track of the cost because it was just something we had to do. While I knew you could deduct the price difference of the foods, I also knew that getting enough to actually write off on your taxes was probably not going to happen - you are only able to claim a percentage of your medical and only if you itemize (which we do). But last year between the dentist and specialists we had a lot of medical expenses and could have claimed some of them if we had added the food on, but I hadn't kept track.
So this year I started saving my grocery receipts and tracking the cost in an excel spreadsheet. I missed January - I didn't start until Feb. 1 when I realized how close we were to being able to claim some medical expenses last year.
I am only tracking the foods that we buy that are GFCF. Not the extra cost of the foods that have nothing artificial in them or are organic - that's not legal unless you have to buy them because that is the only choice. I am sure if I tracked that cost as well it would be huge. I am tracking total costs because I believe that doing this diet as a family is beneficial therapy for my son and the reason that he eats so well. If we got audited I think I could get the doctor to sign for that. Dan thinks we should only track the foods that only Andy eats and a third of the ones that we all eat.
In order for the costs to be tax deductable, you do need a medical reason to be buying the more expensive foods. Just doing the diet because others have told you it helps autism isn't enough. You need a signed statement from your doctor.
This morning I updated my spreadsheet and so far this year between Feb. 1 & June 1 - the price difference comes to $328.95! That's a lot of money in 4 months and like I said that doesn't count the organic fruits and veggies.
If you are not keeping a spreadsheet, I suggest you do - the price difference might be more for some of you. I did it fairly - I didn't compare it to generics - I could have put the price of bread as a lot more, but I priced the bread in the store that we would have bought if we were able to buy regular bread and it wasn't the cheapest. I did the same with all products. Some things I would have bought generics, but many I wouldn't have.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
GFCF Strawberry Cheesecake
I was making a cheesecake for work today and decided to experiment and see if I could make a gfcf one for home as well. I made it exactly like the one I made for work except I used the Toffutti fake cream cheese in place of the cream cheese and made it strawberries instead of blueberry. The gfcf one was a little thinner when I poured it in the pan, but they cooked up the same and it tasted great.For the crust, I took some gfcf crackers, gorilla munch cereal and enjoy life cereal (a granola type) and put them in the food processor and ground them up fine and then mixed with some melted gfcf margarine. I pressed them in the bottom of a springform pan and baked for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.
Beat 2 packages (8 oz) Toffutti Better than Cream Cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 eggs and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Pour on top of crust. Crush some fresh strawberries (about a half cup crushed) and put on top and then swirl into the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes or until set in the center. Turn oven off and allow to cool. Chill before eating.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Making Gluten Free Bread Crumbs
Gluten Free Bread Crumbs can be very expensive - just like everything else gf! I throw the ends and weird cut slices of bread in the freezer. When I accumulate a lot (or run out of bread crumbs and need some) - I thaw them and make bread crumbs.
I took the bread slices out of the freezer yesterday morning before work and left them sitting out all day in a roasting pan.
Put the dry bread crumbs in a food processor or blender - make sure they have cooled down before doing this step.
Process until they are fine bread crumbs. Store in a glass jar. They should keep for many months.
I took the bread slices out of the freezer yesterday morning before work and left them sitting out all day in a roasting pan. 
When I got home from work last night, I cut the bread into cubes and put in the oven at 250 degrees - the amount of time in the oven will vary according to the moisture content of your bread. You want to make sure that the bread crumbs are nice and dry when done - but don't burn them! I left mine in the oven about 2 hours and they were still a little moist - so I turned the oven off (it was still hot) and left them in over night. This morning they were perfect.
Put the dry bread crumbs in a food processor or blender - make sure they have cooled down before doing this step.
Process until they are fine bread crumbs. Store in a glass jar. They should keep for many months. I use these to coat chicken and in meat loaf and meat balls.
Saturday, May 05, 2007
There's a new gluten free bakery in town
I had heard rumors for several months now that there was a new gluten free bakery in St. Paul and that their products were really yummy. No one seemed to know the name or where it was at. I tried googling gluten free and St. Paul a few times but only came up with Bittersweet Bakery, which I already use and love. But finally last week, my googling paid off and I found the new bakery: http://www.cooqiglutenfree.com/index.shtm
Today after swimming, we ventured out to visit Cooqi and see if they are as good as Bittersweet. Their hours are more friendly for us - a two parent working family. They are open every Saturday until 4 and Wednesday through Friday until 6. It was easy enough to find at the corner of Marshall and Cretin. It is a very attractive shop and very kid friendly. My son was immediately drawn to the play kitchen and started making pretend muffins and cakes while we waited our turn. The products were very beautifully displayed and prices were marked on a chalk board that is so common in cafes. The gal that waited on us was very pleasant and friendly.
They had a tables to sit at and eat and they sold coffee as well. It was kind of a coffee shop and bakery combination.
The list of ingredients were not printed out or listed where you could see them and the employee behind the counter didn't seem to know her ingredients very well. When I enquired if the products we were buying were dairy free as well as gluten free, she seemed to think that eggs were dairy. When I corrected her, she stated she knew they weren't but some people think they are - well, I don't care what some people think - eggs are not dairy - I wasn't asking if they were vegetarian. Luckily Andy is not super sensitive to dairy in baking so I'm not worried about a reaction - but they really should have the ingredients listed or a more knowledegable staff. If you don't know what dairy is and isn't, how can you answer questions about what is in the proucts?
They had a better selection of breads than Bittersweet - a white sandwich bread, a whole grain bread with and without seeds and focacia bread. The bar, cupcake and cookie selection seemed about the same as Bittersweet. We purchased one loaf of sandwich bread, 2 brownies and 1 cupcake and left $15.98 poorer.
The brownies were super yummy - much better than the ones at Bittersweet and on a par with the ones I make myself. The brownies were $2.50 each compared to $2.00 for a brownie at Bittersweet. The cupcake was fine - about the same as the ones at Bittersweet - but much more expensive ($2.50 vs. $1.20 at Bittersweet). The bread was not as tall as what we purchase at Bittersweet - we had a loaf at home to compare it to. The bread from bittersweet is 3.5 inches tall and Cooqi's is 2.5 inches. It had a better texture to it - you could actually eat it without toasting it without it crumbling apart. The flavor was good. I like Bittersweet's better, Dan thought it was a toss up and Andy liked Cooqi's better. It tastes a lot like the bread I used to make from the Bob's Red Mill Mix. But at $7.95 a loaf, it is $1.20 more than Bittersweet's bread. They did have lots of bread available and you did not have to pre-order it like you do at Bittersweet. They also gave you the option of buying the bread frozen for 50 cents cheaper.
The conclusion for us is that we will probably continue to give Bittersweet most of our bakery business. I make good bars and cookies so for us, the bread is the deciding choice and Cooqi's bread is smaller and more expensive. However, if we want focasia style or can't get to Bittersweet or a store that carries Bittersweet's products, we will go to Cooqi. For those of you who live in St. Paul and not between the two bakeries like we do, Cooqi is a great choice.
It is exciting to live in an area where we have more than one gluten free bakery to choose from. Next week I am going to venture over to Minneapolis to check out Madwoman Foods' bakery. Andy loves their pizza, so I really need to check out their other products - even if they are not as conviently located.
Cooqi - if you are reading this - list the ingredients and price list on your website and print out the ingredients on fliers that patrons can take with them. You have a beautiful shop and I hope you thrive. We need all the gluten free businesses we can get.
Today after swimming, we ventured out to visit Cooqi and see if they are as good as Bittersweet. Their hours are more friendly for us - a two parent working family. They are open every Saturday until 4 and Wednesday through Friday until 6. It was easy enough to find at the corner of Marshall and Cretin. It is a very attractive shop and very kid friendly. My son was immediately drawn to the play kitchen and started making pretend muffins and cakes while we waited our turn. The products were very beautifully displayed and prices were marked on a chalk board that is so common in cafes. The gal that waited on us was very pleasant and friendly.
They had a tables to sit at and eat and they sold coffee as well. It was kind of a coffee shop and bakery combination.
The list of ingredients were not printed out or listed where you could see them and the employee behind the counter didn't seem to know her ingredients very well. When I enquired if the products we were buying were dairy free as well as gluten free, she seemed to think that eggs were dairy. When I corrected her, she stated she knew they weren't but some people think they are - well, I don't care what some people think - eggs are not dairy - I wasn't asking if they were vegetarian. Luckily Andy is not super sensitive to dairy in baking so I'm not worried about a reaction - but they really should have the ingredients listed or a more knowledegable staff. If you don't know what dairy is and isn't, how can you answer questions about what is in the proucts?
They had a better selection of breads than Bittersweet - a white sandwich bread, a whole grain bread with and without seeds and focacia bread. The bar, cupcake and cookie selection seemed about the same as Bittersweet. We purchased one loaf of sandwich bread, 2 brownies and 1 cupcake and left $15.98 poorer.
The brownies were super yummy - much better than the ones at Bittersweet and on a par with the ones I make myself. The brownies were $2.50 each compared to $2.00 for a brownie at Bittersweet. The cupcake was fine - about the same as the ones at Bittersweet - but much more expensive ($2.50 vs. $1.20 at Bittersweet). The bread was not as tall as what we purchase at Bittersweet - we had a loaf at home to compare it to. The bread from bittersweet is 3.5 inches tall and Cooqi's is 2.5 inches. It had a better texture to it - you could actually eat it without toasting it without it crumbling apart. The flavor was good. I like Bittersweet's better, Dan thought it was a toss up and Andy liked Cooqi's better. It tastes a lot like the bread I used to make from the Bob's Red Mill Mix. But at $7.95 a loaf, it is $1.20 more than Bittersweet's bread. They did have lots of bread available and you did not have to pre-order it like you do at Bittersweet. They also gave you the option of buying the bread frozen for 50 cents cheaper.
The conclusion for us is that we will probably continue to give Bittersweet most of our bakery business. I make good bars and cookies so for us, the bread is the deciding choice and Cooqi's bread is smaller and more expensive. However, if we want focasia style or can't get to Bittersweet or a store that carries Bittersweet's products, we will go to Cooqi. For those of you who live in St. Paul and not between the two bakeries like we do, Cooqi is a great choice.
It is exciting to live in an area where we have more than one gluten free bakery to choose from. Next week I am going to venture over to Minneapolis to check out Madwoman Foods' bakery. Andy loves their pizza, so I really need to check out their other products - even if they are not as conviently located.
Cooqi - if you are reading this - list the ingredients and price list on your website and print out the ingredients on fliers that patrons can take with them. You have a beautiful shop and I hope you thrive. We need all the gluten free businesses we can get.
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