Lindsey's Senior Pics ... Taken Friday 03-26-10

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My Daughter's First Trip to Cow Town By Herself

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Stuffed Patty Pan Squash

Now It's Time to Make PASTRAMI

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Supposing you made that ten-pound corned beef brisket (as outlined below) ... cut it in half after it has completed its brining process. You can freeze one half of it, or go ahead and cook it right away for supper.

But let's take your other five pound half, and turn it into pastrami.  Shall we?

Trim the five-pound half for pastrami to leave about 1/8 inch of fat on it. 

Now here's the spice mix, and it's very important:

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp paprika 

1 teaspoon garlic powder 

2 pinches cayenne pepper

2 TBSP ground coriander (this is really a signature flavor of pastrami right here!)

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes 

3 TBSP coarse black pepper (very, very integral to the pastrami!)

So now we're going to combine all of our powdered spices to a large platter, and then coat all sides of our brined brisket.  Be sure to pat all the spices on there real good, and get the spices as evenly as possible on all sides. 

Then sprinkle a little hot pepper flakes on there, and then coat that course black pepper all over it, too.  Make sure it sticks real good.

Preheat your oven to 240 F ... it's important to go with a very low, slow oven.

Lightly oil some heavy-duty foil ... a nice large piece ... and fold up all four sides and wrap your brined brisket into a nice tight package.  

I use coconut oil for dang-near everything in the kitchen ... olive and sesame are close seconds.  

Then flip over your wrapped brisket, and wrap it again.

And then, yes, wrap it again ... and again ... and again ... and again.

You are going to wrap your brisket real tight for a total of SIX times ... that's SIX layers.

Oh, by the way, only the first piece of foil needs to be oiled. 

So anyway, now you're going to have this tight package, and that beef is going to be encased with all those delicious spices. 

You are going to slow roast it for 5 hours ... using a casserole pan ... and after it has slow roasted

for five hours, you are going to set it out (unopened) until it cools.

And then, very important, you have to let it chill in the frig overnight. 

Twenty four hours is even better. 

Then you can finally unwrap it.

At this point there is a couple of things you can do with it, outside of the obvious:

1) If you don't want it as spicy ... you can wipe off the rib and slice it like that.

Or,

2) Leave the spicy rub on it, and put it in a hot oven for 15 minutes at 400F ... and that will kind of seal the crust on, and give your hot pastrami to slice.

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Make Your Own Corned Beef Brisket

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Corned Beef (or Venison) Brisket

For 10 Lb Brisket (or adjust for your size brisket)

1 1/2 gal water

1 cup + 2 Tbl Tender Quick 

4 beef boullion cubes

3 Tbl mustard seed

3 Tbl celery salt

3 Tbl coarse black pepper

1 full bulb garlic, clean all cloves and dice

1 meat injector needle

Bring all ingredients to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, then cool the brine.

Immerse meat in brine mixture. 

Keep at a refrigerated temperature (40- 45 degrees)

First 4 days - inject meat everyday

Next 8 days - inject meat every other day

Drain meat for 1 day and continue to refrigerate (or freeze) until you're ready to cook.

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Sourdough Boule

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Sourdough Boule

(This recipe is easily doubled or halved ... I actually half it ... 
to make four smaller-sized loaves.)

3 cups warm water
1.5 TBS granulated yeast
1.5 tsp kosher salt (or other course salt)
6.5 cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour (measured with simple scoop-n-sweep method)

Add water to a five-quart resealable, lidded plastic food container (not airtight ... i actually use a crisper for lettuce) ... add yeast and salt .. don't worry about getting it all to dissolve.

Add all of the flour at once ... and mix ( i do it by hand) ... if it gets too hard to stir, then i reach in with very wet hands and press the mixture together.

DO NOT KNEAD. You just want the dough moist; with no dry patches.

This step is done in a matter of minutes ... like, literally ... and will yield a dough that is wet and loose enough to conform to the shape of your container.

Cover with the lid ... not airtight ... and allow the dough to rise at room temp until it begins to collapse (or at least flatten on the top.)

Relax.  You don't need to monitor doubling or tripling of rise action.

You can use the dough any time after this period.  But I refrigerate immediately and wait till next day to bake because cold wet dough is less sticky and easier to work with ... but if you want to make a loaf right away that's okay.

Sprinkle a pizza peel (i use a small hand-held chopping platter) with cornmeal to prevent loaf from sticking to it when you slide it into your oven.

Sprinkle the surface of the cold, wet dough with flour.  Pull a glob up about the size of a grapefruit and cut/tear off.  Make sure your hands are floury.  Stretch the glob into a kinda-like ball ... and pull the sides down to the bottom all the way around.

The bottom of your loaf will look like a collection of bunched ends ... this entire process should take no longer than 30-60 seconds.

Put the round loaf on your pizza peel (or chopping block thingy) ... let it sit there for 40 minutes or so ... don't need to cover it ... you might not see much rise, but don't worry cause it'll rise in the oven during baking.

About halfway through the dough's resting period ... turn on your oven to 450.  Place a baking stone in there (i use a large cookie sheet) ... and also place an oven-proof bowl of water in there (i use a stainless steel bowl) or you can use your broiler platter thingy.

Once your 40 minutes is up, dust the top of your ball with flour and then slash the top of your loaf with an X or a whatever ... by this time your oven has been pre-heating for about 20 minutes.

Don't worry if your oven is not at full temp.

With a quick jerk of your wrist, plop that dough right onto your hot baking stone (or cookie sheet) ... steam is essential in the baking process.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until the crust is nicely browned and hard to the touch.

Don't worry about dark crust ... or hard as a rock crust ... because you used wet dough there is little risk of drying out the interior of your loaf.

When you remove the loaf from the oven, it will sing (make popping/crackling noises.)  Allow to cool completely, preferably on a wire rack, for best flavor, texture and slicing.

The perfect crust may initially soften, but will firm back up when cooled.

Store the remaining dough in the frig ... and use it over the next 14 days ... make sure you keep it in a lidded container that is not airtight ...

When your dough container is empty don't wash it!  Just re-mix another batch.  The aged dough stuck to the sides hydrate and incorporate into the new dough (just scrape it down into the rest.)

This is the easiest, bestest dadgum bread in the world ... and people are going to think you are an artisan, old-world breadmaker ... I can't believe I'm sharing  ... argh.

 :-* Enjoy! :-*

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All in One Bowl: Enjoy the Nutritional Power Food Punch of Chili

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Chili once had the unfortunate reputation of being a greasy, fat-ladened dish that no health-aware individual would ever be caught consuming.

Thank goodness times have changed!

This hearty comfort food has become a classic in homes all across America ... and who can blame us! It's easy to make ahead of time, reheats well, and requires little effort to prepare. It provides maximum taste at a minimum budget so it's perfect for a cozy winter night dinner or a large party crowd. But the best part of chili is that underneath all that fun, and great taste, lies a bowl of true nutrition.

This crowd-pleasing stew is a fiber super-star!

Check out any nutrition label and you'll find legumes at the head of the class. Just one cup of cooked kidney beans provides 45.3% of the recommended daily intake for fiber. They are also low in fat and provide a storehouse of vitamins and minerals, not to mention being packed with protein.

The base of any chili recipe includes one of our most popular and versatile foods: the tomato. This brightly colored fruit contains high amounts of lycopene, a carotenoid responsible for red pigment in any fruit, also known to be a powerful antioxidant that decreases the risks of many forms of cancer and heart disease. Lycopene is four times more bioavailable in organic, cooked tomatoes than in raw.

Despite its ability to make us cry and perhaps tinge the breath with unfriendly potency, the onion will most definitely lend an excellent taste to your chili. Fortunately, it is also associated with providing a number of healthy benefits to its users. In fact, onions are said to have therapeutic, antibacterial, and anti-fungal properties, along with plenty of chromium which supports healthy blood sugar levels and benefits cardiovascular health. This phytonutrient scientifically known as Allium cepa has also been guilty of supporting our gastrointestinal health, protecting against many cancers, and boosting bone health. It's no wonder this highly regarded vegetable is a part of the cuisine in nearly every culture of the world.

Chili powder begins with a tasty blend of spices including that famous, and sometimes feared, chili pepper. Ah, that pungent plant spices up your chili powder with a substance called capsaicin - which is the pepper's fiery active ingredient that fights inflammation, is a natural pain reliever, contains cardiovascular benefits, can clear congestion, is great for your blood, and boosts immunity. So with caution, load up your chili with lots of spice and warn your taste buds!

There are just as many variations of chili as people in the world ... so experiment, and create your own version adding extra fresh veggies, garlic, different spices, some grass-fed beef. I have been known to even add chocolate!

You never know, you may just be ready for the next chili cook-off!

Enjoy and Have Fun!

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Is This Not Beautiful?

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A friend of mine's place.

In the Texas Hill Country, 

between Cherokee (Hwy 16) and Valley Spring (Hwy 71) 

to Llano.

Is this not beautiful?

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Homemade Vanilla Extract

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I make my own vanilla extract for baking!  It makes such a difference in homemade cookies ... and in, well, everything! The process is long, but soooooooooo worth it. (also easy)


I use:

1 bottle of vodka 

6 organic vanilla beans

Slice the vanilla beans length-wise ... almost all of the way ... from top to bottom ... I keep them connected at the one end  ... don't ask why, I just do.

Drop the beans into the vodka, and if any of the seeds stuck to your knife you will want to scrape them off and put them into the vodka as well.

Put the lid back on the vodka and put bottle into a dark cabinet that isn't going to experience a lot of temperature changes.  

It needs to sit for 6 months.  

I check it every month to sort of shake it up.  

After 6 months it is ready for use!  

I use this as gifts for people that I know love to bake (I get dark brown bottles and pour my extract into it.)

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The Truth About "Healthy" Processed Foods

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Should we buy food with natural, health claims on the label? 

These days, we are seeing more and more health claims that go beyond the usual.  These claims include “trans fat-free,” “gluten-free,” “heart healthy,” and foods/drinks spiked with vitamins ... such as these Vitamin Waters. 

We see whole-grain Pop Tarts and Tyson chicken with misleading labels such as “raised without antibiotics.”

We see natural sweeteners called Sweet Fiber. 

We see whole-grain Cheerios that are still full of sugar. 

Now you can get “health food” like salads at McDonald’s ... but with salad dressings that have more calories than a Big Mac. 

And we also see antioxidant-spiked junk food and ginkgo-spiked energy drinks. 

What should we make of all these marketing claims? Do they provide any benefit? 

In Michael Pollan’s new book “In Defense of Food,” he rails against the notion of “nutritionism” ... the idea that we can single out nutrients from whole foods, add them back to processed food, or take them as supplements, and achieve health benefits. 

His point is very well taken. 

We must be very careful to avoid the marketing ploys of the food industry ... which wants to trick us into eating more junk food by putting it in friendlier packaging. 

Make no mistake. 

These foods are still wolves in sheep’s clothing. 

We need to be very wary of any food that comes in a package, box, or a can. 

That is not to say that there are not some good whole foods that are available in boxes, packages, or cans. 

However, most of what is available in the marketplace is simply not real food. 

I remember reading an article about a food scientist who worked for a large food industry company.  His job was to invent and create new foods in the laboratory by mixing food and chemicals to create certain tastes and flavors that mimic real food ... or that stimulate appetite and satisfy our need for various tastes. 

Think of these as “Frankenfoods.” 

Anyway, this guy became quite sick from handling these compounds and chemicals everyday. 

And, at the time, I was shocked to read the very careful and deliberate marketing ploys used to gain a foothold in our increasingly health conscious market. 

The advice to the food industry was clear:  Modify packaging and ingredients in food just slightly to give the impression of health, while continuing to provide poor-quality, nutrient-poor, calorie-dense foods. 

For example, Tyson Foods cleverly labels their chicken as “produced without antibiotics that impact antibiotic resistance in humans,” meaning they did use antibiotics ... just not ones that cause problems in humans.  They hope. 

Who are they fooling? 

Another article stated something to the effect that innovation in the food industry will continue in areas of “perceived” health and wellness, convenience, and ethnic products. 

Read that carefully. 

“Perceived” health and wellness ... not actual health and wellness. 

As long as you make people think they are getting something healthy, that is good enough ... even if it is the same old junk food. 

Other new junk foods include allergy-free junk foods and energy drinks. 

There was also an article about Lean Pockets. This company now offers whole-grain pocket sandwiches, which are still full of chemicals and processed food, but now have a few more flecks of fiber to give the illusion of a health food. 

There is even an ad for something called Vegi Pure, a compound designed for cholesterol reduction that puts plant phytosterols in sugary junk food! 

So what’s the bottom line? 

If it has a label, do not eat it ... or, at least, please eat it very minimally and only occasionally. 

We have to be very cautious as consumers to recognize label claims for health benefits on processed foods ... which sprinkle miniscule, non-therapeutic amounts of healthful ingredients into otherwise poor-quality, high-calorie, nutrient-poor foods ... giving us the illusion that we are doing something good for ourselves. 

I encourage you to eat food that comes from a farmer’s market and not from a food chemist’s laboratory ...  and you will not have to worry as much about all these functional food claims. 

Here is what we need to be eating more of: 

Whole, real food such as vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, seeds, whole grains

Lean animal protein like small wild fish, deer and poultry, and whole omega-3 eggs.

Small amounts of grass-fed, antibiotic and hormone-free beef or lamb. 

Food scientists tend to make us think that we need all these special ingredients in foods to stay healthy. 

But they are just extracting them from real, whole foods .... so why not start with the whole food in the first place? 

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Health is the FIRST of All Liberties

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Whenever a Government Becomes Destructive ... Health Freedoms Diminish 

Every week seems to bring yet another new issue calling for action to stop the FDA from taking one step after another which will further erode our safety, and restrict our access to products and information, we should have a natural, God given right to.

It is past time for "we the people" to demand agencies to look after our interests first, and those of industry second. We seem to have forgotten that government rules only with the consent of the governed, and only has rights that we grant it.

Sadly, we have been granting our rights away for so long that some agencies feel they can take them away at will. As a result, we are seeing the results of our actions, or inactions, in losses of basic freedoms and rights across the board.

The FDA is a glaring example. They have become their own law unto themselves, reaching beyond their mandate and charter ... and getting away with it because we, and our elected officials, let them dupe us.

From its inception, the FDA was a deceptive creation which has always served industry, and big money, at the expense of the little people. It was created that way, and any ideas to the contrary are merely a deliberate illusion.

"The FDA 'protects' the big drug companies, and are subsequently rewarded ... and while using the government's police powers they attack those who threaten the big drug companies.

People think that the FDA is protecting them.

It isn't.

"What the FDA is doing and what the public thinks it is doing are as different as night and day."  

Dr. Herbert Ley, Former U.S. FDA Commissioner

We are losing the war with our present approach ... fighting a never-ending series of battles where, even if you win most of the skirmishes, you lose the war because every single victory they achieve, every covert insertion of wording into bills that slips by, every power they arbitrarily take and get away with, limits our freedoms and choices and increases their powers.

What we need to do is tear it down and start all over with an agency that is largely of, for and by the people ... one where our health and our rights come first and serving industry comes second. Such an agency should be made up of a majority of citizens beholden to no agency or agenda other than protecting and serving our health ... with a minority of representatives coming from both the mainstream and alternative medicine.

Somehow we have been brainwashed to think that it is un-American and unpatriotic to oppose the actions of our government, or its agencies, and that we are supposed to believe that every action and utterance is for our good and not to be doubted as gospel truth ... no matter how outrageous the information we are fed:

global warming, harmful vitamins, forced vaccinations, 

genetically modified foods, acceptable levels of contamination ... 

the list is endless.

As our freedoms have become eroded more and more by the greedy, and the powerful, to the point that our forefathers would scarcely recognize what we have become ... we have increasingly heard that to oppose these loss of freedoms makes us traitors.

In fact, just the opposite is true: we are traitors to our country, and to ourselves, when we fail to oppose tyranny.

We were founded on the principles of standing up to tyranny and oppression of our natural God given rights ... and it is expected of us, nay it is our duty, to take action when the government no longer is responsive to the people who gave it the right to govern in the first place.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed 

by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, 

and to institute new Government..."

It is time for us to return to our founding principles and, as patriotic Americans in the spirit of our founders, start taking back control of our lives and our rights.

The issue of the freedom of our bodies and our health is a great place to start.

If we fail to act, we will find that we have condemned ourselves, and our future generations, to less freedoms in a greatly diminished and unhealthy world.

"In health there is freedom. Health is the first of all liberties." 

 Henri-Frederic Amiel, 1828-1881

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Understanding Seeds

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It is important to understand the main types of seeds.

* Heirloom seeds (also called Heritage seeds) will reproduce the same every generation. These are the seeds you can save and replant on a continual basis.  Most of us assume all seeds are like this.

* Hybrid seeds are the product of two unique plants and the seeds will gradually revert to the dominant parent over subsequent generations. While providing more variety, these must be purchased again each season to obtain the same crop.

* Genetically Modified (GMO) seeds are patented, requiring a license fee and certain pesticides. Some GMO crops are designed to produce sterile (terminator gene technology) seeds. GMO seeds mix both plant and animal matter in ways that nature never intended.

GMO companies like Monsanto are part of the pesticide industry and they have been aggressively buying up seed companies for the past 20 years. Corporations prefer fruits and vegetables that are picked before ripening and have tougher skin in order to survive shipping. However if given a choice, consumers lean in the opposite direction, towards those with more delicate skin and flavor.

Farmers of generations past dedicated their entire lives to producing seeds for plants that would grow well in their local area, only to have them go extinct due to commercial interests.

"Fair Trade" alliances such as CAFTA and Codex Alimentarius seek to irradiate, patent and/or genetically modify all seeds. The new Iraqi Constitution only permits farmers to plant Monsanto GMO seeds. 

However, seed diversification is essential if we are to withstand food viruses such as the one that caused the Great Potato Famine in Ireland in the 1840s.

Stock up on Heirloom seeds while you still can.

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Do Not Kill a Fever

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Have you been influenced by modern allopathic medicine's obsession with lowering fever?

I know I have.

Ever since the turn of the 20th century, using drugs to lower fevers has been standard operating procedure for most allopathic medicine practitioners ... you know, "take two aspirins and call me in the morning."

Aspirin-type medications (along with good 'ol Tylenol) may be needed sometimes for pain management and/or reduction ... but when it comes to reducing fever of any type, bacterial or viral, taking an OTC drug to reduce fever is not the way to go.

Suppressing fevers can increase rapid viral replication ... resulting in a berserk effort by an overwhelmed immune system to fight back.  This is known as a cytokine storm which can have disastrous, terrible results.

What Fever Is Actually About

This part may be a tad bit technical for some ... and somewhat contradictory on the surface ... but, basically, fever is the immune system's first alarm response by sending T-Cells to fight antibodies.

The T-Cell attacks can kill bacterial pathogens. 

Fevers are also part of the clean up process for toxic bacterial waste products.

But viruses are not killed by T-Cells as bacteria are ... and viruses are not living microorganisms that rummage about internally looking for food to scavenge, as bacteria do ... a viruses do not have nucleus cells that divide to create more microbes, as bacteria do either.

Viruses replicate.

(That's where the seeming contradiction comes into play ... it really is hard to explain the difference, but there IS a difference between bacteria and viruses.)

But, anyway, when the body's thalamus/thyroid reaction raises the internal body temperature, as in a FEVER, that internal heat can actually STOP viruses from replicating.

Any attempt to reduce fever during a viral influenza attack may actually accelerate the virus's rapid replication process, and produce viral pneumonia or worse.

So ... please leave a fever alone to stop the viral replication process.

Leave a fever alone, period.

Once again, fever is part of our immune system's clean up from bacteria waste products, and/or an attempt to halt viral replication .. a fever is PROOF our bodies are working properly!

Fever Phobia in Pediatrics

The frantic effort to reduce fever in children under six years of age is alarming.  Not only parents, but many doctors fall into this fever phobia phenomena.  And there as a time ... not too long ago ... that I did, too.

There is a Meningitis concern ... so if there are convulsions from the child's rise in temperature ... that should, of course, be checked and ruled out.  However, it must be said, the occurrence of Meningitis is actually extremely rare ... for only 5% to 10% of children under six get febrile convulsions, and those usually last for only a few minutes.

The commonly misdirected concern is that a high fever in a young child can create brain damage, but the actual situation is that other acute (rapid onset) illnesses or vaccinations are the real causes of brain damage ... not the fever itself.

Fever is an effect of a cause, NOT a cause ... fever is a symptom, NOT a disease in and of itself.

The fever phobia has led parents, and maybe some doctors, to alternate Tylenol with Motrin (or any Ibuprofen) in a desperate effort to reduce fevers.  I did it, too ... and I have even recommended it - ha!

This alternating effort has occasionally resulted in more serious damage, I have found out, and sometimes even death.

The American Academy of Pediatrics now advises against these desperate measures to reduce fever ... now they, at most, advise sticking with one medication ... and using conservative doses carefully.

A Blast From the Past - Feed a Cold; Starve a Fever

Remember that one?  Well, there is truth in it.

It is extremely rare that a fever will exceed 106 degrees Fahrenheit (or 41 degrees Celsius.)  But a solid fever (101 and over) needs to be starved ... especially if viral influenza is being experienced or suspected.

The liver is the clearing house for both digestion and detox.  It is recommended  that one fast on very light broths and purified water to assist the overburdened liver during the body's fever process of getting rid of the body's microbe waste materials quicker.

Another Blast from the Past - Sweat It Out

It was quite common for many to observe that by not trying to cool off ... and by actually bundling up more, and allowing the body heat to induce increased sweating ... that the next day the fever broke or reduced significantly.

But, even with that , the notion of the Old Wives' Tale was to break the fever.

What was really happening was that by encouraging the fever to completely take over, the fever did its job and was no longer needed!

Often a fever is accompanied by chills ... even to the point of shivering.  That makes it easy to bundle up and sweat!

But sometimes that is not the case... and if so, then it takes a willful effort to follow the "bundle up and sweat" protocol.

So. please, never mind and forget the "breaking the fever with or without medication" as the ultimate goal.

Let your fever help you heal.

It's the condition of the patient that matters more than the fever ... someone who is very ill without fever should cause more concern than someone running a high fever but resting well while taking in fluids and eating little.

Because as I said ... a fever is PROOF your body is WORKING for you!

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