Holsteinballs, Chocolate Stout and Other Adventures in Vermont Cuisine!

Pumpkin Lane. What a lovely name for a road! Little did I know when I decided to see where it led, that I would find myself face to face with my dinner choice. Well, OK, not technically this evening's dinner, because clearly the ground beef I'd made into meat balls earlier in the day was not from any of the Holsteins that stopped, stared and then posed for a picture. It was an idyllic farm scene - rolling green hills, cows happily grazing on grass and enjoying the hay that had been put out for them. Across from the field sat a large, white farmhouse. The front lawn was filled with pumpkins of all sizes, green and orange, with a sign that said 'Self Serve'. Adjacent to the driveway was a large sign announcing that this was the 'Snug Valley Farm'.

Hmmm, that's familiar, I thought to myself. Why does that name seem so familiar?

At first I figured it was because I'd been compiling a list of local farms to contact for my research project, but then I realized that, in fact, I'd opened a package of hamburger meat with the Snug Valley label on it earlier in the day to prep for dinner. So there I was, standing face to face with these adorable, curious cows who had stopped grazing on grass to come say hello to me. And it dawned on me that this was probably the closest I'd ever been to seeing my protein dinner choice before it ended up in cellophane. It wasn't a traumatic experience, particularly since I didn't see the cows being slaughtered, but rather saw them enjoying a cow life. And they weren't in one of those horrible CAFOs where most beef cattle spend a good chunk of their life standing around in cramped paddocks, where the ground is a bed of dirt and feces and they are fed diet high in corn and given loads of antibiotics (to treat them for illnesses related directly to their living conditions and diet, ironically).

But this did give me pause for thought about my dinner and its origins. And that, is in fact, precisely what the first few days of my Locav-or-ganic Challenge have given me - more to think about, at every meal. Beyond the obvious questions that you'd expect when taking on a challenge like this, such as 'where am I going to find local meat?' and 'how am I going to survive without chocolate', after only three days I've found myself asking other questions, such as:

'Is eating locally, sustainably raised meat really worse for the environment than eating a diet that is, perhaps, void of meat but full of processed foods and foods that have been shipped from distant fields?'

'How many meals do I really need to eat each day?'

'What is my body telling me about my changing diet, now that I'm eating way more meat and no refined sugars, and minimal gluten?'

Yes, it's most definitely been an interesting few days. My first day, Sunday, I decided to go for a 10k run before eating anything. Or maybe I did have an apple, but not my usual oatmeal breakfast that's for sure! I got through the run, had my almond milk shake (as per my rule, the almond milk was 'stocked food' that I'd brought with me to Vermont). Then, mid-afternoon I decided to dive into making something out of the local ground pork I'd purchased at the co-op the day before. I quickly decided to make burgers - tossed in some onions, spices, an egg and some local, homemade garden ketchup, pattied them up and put them in the oven to bake. About 20 minutes later the fire alarm went off. Oops - so much fat was jumping out of the baking dish I was rather taken aback. I can't recall the last time I'd cooked anything with so many fat drippings. I topped it with some onion and more homemade ketchup, made a nice garden salad with it and then dug in. Wow. The burger was soooo delicious - I think this was partly because the meat was juicy and full of flavor, partly b/c that ketchup I bought as so yum!

In the evening I went to Vermont's state capital, Montpelier, to meet up with a cohort in the local food movement (yes, I need friends!). We enjoyed a pint of local, organic beer at the Langdon St. Cafe, then he needed to grab a bite to eat. I wasn't the least bit hungry and didn't want to burden him with finding a place that served local food in any case, so I watched him eat. Then we went to another bar and I enjoyed a local(ish) chocolate stout. Woohoo ! Myth # 1 debunked - You can 'go local' and still have your chocolate...and in alcoholic form nonetheless!

Yesterday, I headed to Burlington at noon, enjoying a leftover pork burger and salad just before I headed out on my trip. My afternoon was spent meeting folks at UVM - the university has been collaborating with Hardwick's Center for an Agricultural Economy on several local food projects. Two of the staff members took me for a tour of the Intervale - 350 acres of farmland in the city limits (adjacent to the unviersity) that have been preserved in a land trust and that serve to feed residents of the city through various means. There are community garden plots, a number of CSA operations, incubator farms, small scale farms. I even saw pigs on one piece of land!

In the evening I hung out with a self-proclaimed clean energy geek that showed me around town (on bikes of course!), then took me to a pizza place called American Flatbread with a twist - all the doughs are made from organic wheat and the restaurant endeavours to source its ingredients from local and/or organic suppliers. Close enough for me to be acceptable, given the circumstances. We shared the vegetarian special which had a potato leek sauce. Also enjoyed some beer brewed on the premises. Next, my new friend took me to a meeting he was attending of the Burlington Permaculture group. Seriously, I should be living in this city!! To round out the evening, I did some grocery shopping at the City Market, a co-op grocery store with a full line of foods.

Today, as I've already related, I made meatballs, or Holsteinballs, as I've decided to call them after my accidental viewing of the alive version of my meal. Dinner was rice pasta (also from stocked food), which was a last resort after I searched the town high and low for spaghetti squash (this was why I'd ventured down Pumpkin Lane in the first place!), with organic marinara sauce, meatballs and salad. Lunch was a pork burger and salad. Breakfast was a protein shake.

OK, so clearly I'm not a purist, but my diet has changed significantly nonetheless over the past few days and already I've noticed some very interesting things

First, I've been waay less hungry/inclined to eat than usual. I'm not sure why this is - I suspect it's because I've cut sugars and most carbs out of my diet (partly b/c this locav-or-ganic deems that necessary, partly b/c I've been reading up on the GI Diet, Primal Diet, etc.), while at the same time increased my 'happy' meat consumption significantly.

Secondly, I enjoy eating meat. I didn't think I did for a long time, so my dinners were often tofu stir-frys, omelettes and the like. Now that I'm eating more meat, I find myself looking forward to trying new recipes out and so far I've been rewarded with delicious meals!

Thirdly, I'm not sure I'm spending more money, overall, than I would be if I was eating my normal diet. This is partly b/c I am not eating as much for lack of hunger, and partly because I'm not going to grocery stores and picking up items I don't need. However, I have also made the observation that my 1.25 lbs of ground pork cost me $8.00. Not sure how that compares to conventional meat here in the States, but I made four burgers from that meat, and think $2 for one serving of meat is pretty decent. If I were to guess, I'd say the salad and other ingredients for my burger and meal were approximately $2 , so....$4 for a meal does not seem v. expensive to me.

In a nutshell, I am thoroughly enjoying this new locav-or-ganic experience tremendously. I've previously dubbed it a challenge, but the truth is that it is really a remarkable opportunity - an opportunity for me to try new recipes, to meet the people (and cows) who make it possible for me to eat daily, to try new food and drink, to listen more closely to my body and give it things that make it feel good, to visit unique grocery stores and restaurants, and to become more engaged and connected with every meal I prepare. I'm looking forward to more adventures in local food and am SO glad that I am temporarily living in Vermont, which is far ahead of the the rest of the States and Canada with respect to developing its local food systems!


Below are the before and after pictures of my sustainable & local Holsteinballs meal.

Soy Good, Soy Bad?

This week I finally got to meet my two new roommates for the coming year. They are, in short, fantastic! They've both JUST come back from teaching in Korea and one of them became a vegetarian while she was overseas. She was so excited about coming back to Canada, where there are an endless sea of soy-based products - veggie burgers, veggie dogs, soy milk, tofu, etc. I think in Korea, at least my understanding, is that they have soy milk, tofu, tamiri, and other soy foods, but nothing that's processed/manipulated to appeal the Westerner that wants the familiarity of cow's milk or meat, but wants the apparent health benefits of soy. Oh, and they want the food to be in a convenient for (e.g. soy burgers, which take 2- 4 minutes to cook!).

Anyways, as is my tendency and, perhaps, one I need to rein in, I piped up about the possibility that SOY might not be soy good for us after all. Yes, that's right, soy might not be good. I know that this goes against what most of us have been told. I, for one, jumped on the soy bandwagon back in 2006 when my former nutritionist suggested I have a soy milk smoothie (or almond milk, to her credit) and eat Kashi Go Lean for breakfast (cereal high in protein AND soy). I also ate a lot of soy burgers and tofu. Yeah, I was a soy-eating machine until about 3 months ago when my new nutritionist red flagged the Western soy-based food products that most of us choose to eat as the 'healthy' option, aren't necessarily so healthy.

She then went on to explain the many reason why soy is not such a great choice - at least not in the quantities and forms that us Westerners are eating it - in processed foods and without fermentation (in Asia, soy is often fermented). I'll be honest, I kind of tuned out. It's not that I didn't want to listen or that I didn't believe her, it's just that I have become so inundated by conflicting advice about what to eat and what not to eat that I can't really stuff any more facts into my head. That being said, after our meeting I spent a bit of time reflecting on what I knew about soy - which didn't take long, because I don't really know much about it. I did, however, know one thing and that one thing alone convinced me that my new nutritionist was probably right about soy being bad.

The one thing I know about soy is that it is the second favorite commodity crop of the big food processors. Soy, along with corn, make up a vast majority of the typical North American's diet. We don't realise it, but every time we open a box of cereal, jar of peanut butter, bottle of pop, package of hamburger meat, or basically any food that's been processed to any extent, we are consuming corn or soy, or maybe both. No, no, I know there aren't sobean sdancing around in your peanut butter or corn poking out of the hamburger meat, but I bet there's soybean oil in your PB and I bet the cow that became hamburger was fed a diet high in corn. Soooo, yes, Soy and Corn - a large proportion of our protein and carbs comes from these two crops - it's just been disguised by the food industry to create the illusion of endless choice at the supermarket. Really, what we're eating is soy and corn that have been modified by scientists. Yum.

Anyways, this is the one thing I knew about soy from all of my readings about the food industry and this, in itself, was enough to give me a loooong pause for thought about the whole 'soy' debate. In the end, here's what my head produced as a conclusion:

'If the huge food processors, which you know are just trying to make $ and get rid of AMerica's surplus crops, are doing everything they can to get sneak soy into food products, it stands to reason that they are also behind the push to make soy-based products appealing to the masses as well. In fact, it would be much easier for them to just make us believe that soy is good for us - then they can spend less money figuring out ways to slip small amounts into familiar foods and just develop a whole new line of processed soy foods that are purportedly healthy for us'

This isn't rocket science, it's food science and marketing. And I'm skeptical of food scientists - it's their job to 'make' food that's supposedly better than mother nature's. I'm also skeptical of marketers, but who isn't?

So, where does that leave me and soy? Well, OK, I still eat soy. In fact, I had a tofu stir-fry tonight. But I have completely cut out soy milk, soy burgers and all boxed cereals. I've never been a big consumer of processed foods, but I am moving further and further away from even the innocuous food products that we don't necessarily considered 'processed', like Kraft Peanut Butter. I figure, the less processed foods I eat, the less I have to wonder how much corn or soy I've eat in a day!

I am a big believer in moderation - I don't think one can veer TOO far off the mark of being healthy and happy, so long as they live in moderation. The trouble with this, when it comes to food anyways, is that it's hard to practice moderation of soy or corn when it's slipped into almost everything we eat. So, I've decided to reduce my intake by reducing the number of processed foods I buy, which wasn't a large percentage to begin with. In some cases, however, I've just replaced one procesed food with another. For example, my soy milk is gone, but now I drink almond milk. Who knows, maybe the nut growers are also conspiring to feed us an abundance of nuts that aren't good for us!

Anyways, after writing this blog post I decided to see what the Internet had to offer with regards to the soy debate. Here are a few articles/sites for those of you that want more than the Shannon's Skepticism of the Food Industry to convince you that soy is not good - at least not how us Westerners eat it.

Soy Ploy

Soya Bean Crisis

A Different Conclusion - It Can Be Good

Keen on Quinoa

It's pronounced 'keen-wah'. And it's my new favorite food!

A couple of months ago I decided to go to a holistic nutritionist for dietary advice. I'd been to a regular (normal?) nutritionist a couple of years previous, but figured a different perspective on what one should eat was worth the investment. Well, as it turns out, my new nutritionist had much advice not only on what to eat, but also on what not to eat. Amongst the things she suggested I eliminate: processed dairy, gluten, soy-based drinks and cereals. She also suggested I cut down on my meat consumption.

Well, well, then what's a gal to eat? I inquired, having seen most of three of the four food groups go on the chopping block. Don't get me wrong, I love fruits and vegetables, but one cannot live on these alone - unless the one we speak of is a fruit fly.

Unsurprisingly, she was armed with recipes and suggestions for clean eating. No, I would not have to resort to eating soap. I could enjoy legumes, rice, kamut (I've still not ventured here), squash and other wholesome foods. And to ensure I got all my protein requirements, she suggested whey protein powder for my daily smoothie.

But I would prefer to get my protein from whole foods, I informed her. And as much as I enjoy legumes, I don't want to eat them day in and day out. That's when she mentioned 'qunioa' - actually she raved about it. It's South American in origin, and the Inca called it 'mother food', as it was the staple of their diet. It's the seed of a plant similar to spinach and quite tasteless - it picks up the taste of whatever it is cooked with.

Apparently it's the best source of protein in the vegetable kingdom and packs a punch of amino acids. It's also a really high word score in Scrabble.

I was sold. I went home, hopped onto allrecipes.com and found a recipe that sounded manageable and quite delicious. I wouldn't normally use this blog to share a recipe, but this one is too good to not share. I think I've made it at least six times in the last two months and each batch makes 10 servings...so, yeah, a lotta quinoa! It is an excellent potluck recipe - vegetarians will hold you in great esteem if you show up with a bowl of quinoa salad, and it also goes over well at dinner parties (as you can see by the picture of my friend, Erin, enjoying a spoonful of the good stuff).

Here's the original recipe, which can also be found here:

Qunioa Salad with Dried Fruit and Nuts

• 1 1/2 cups quinoa
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 1/2 cups water
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 3/4 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans

Bring the quinoa, salt, and water to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Once done, scrape into a large bowl, and allow to cool for 20 minutes. Stir in the green onions, celery, raisins, cayenne pepper, vegetable oil, vinegar, lemon juice, and sesame oil. Allow to stand at room temperature for 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend. Stir in the cilantro and pecans before serving.

Here's where I'm going to be one of those annoying cooks and say that you don't have to follow the recipe. The celery and green onions are optional/interchangeable with other things like asparagus or whatever is green and will last a few days in a salad! The fruits and nuts are also interchangeable - throw in some dried cranberries, apricots, almonds or whatever.

As for the oils and such - DO NOT skip on the sesame oil. I would always choose olive oil over vegetable oil. I also enjoy the cilantro very much, but that's a personal taste. I didn't have the spices on hand when I made this the first time, so I threw in some cumin and curry powder and it turned out well. I also did not have lemon juice once and tossed in some maple wine. Oh, and I usually squeeze a bit of honey in (not much, just a bit).

Make this recipe. Seriously. It is GOOOD. Quinoa can be bought at a health food store or the bulk barn. I like to make it with red quinoa b/c it's pretty.