In Defense of Food and a yummy recipe

Do you know Amanda? Crazy talented blogger (Through the Looking Glass) and dear friend, she has retired from the blogging world and although I would wish her to pull a Brett Favre (I mean, before he re-retired, but the un-retirement is what I am speaking of) I am thrilled to have her putting her two cents in here.
-Mavis

I think the list needs to be re-written. You know, the list of things you don’t talk about in polite company. Sure, religion, money and politics can be polarizing, but tell me this: Have you ever walked into a room of moms and started tossing around theory as to what children should/shouldn’t eat? Be careful – that’s a Playtex sippy flying towards your head!

I read Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food a month ago and haven’t been right since. And by “right” I mean I haven’t been able to take a spoonful of Mrs. Richardson’s fudge straight from the jar, nor have I been able to let my kids eat their fourth fruit snack of the day, without severe guilt. Let’s say it rocked my world. Let’s say what I read is now permanently emblazoned in my mind and I can’t go back to the days of hot dogs and McDonald’s runs, pretending I don’t know I’m basically feeding my kids toxic sludge with a side of mini Madame Alexander doll.

Stop. Put down that sippy and think before you hurl it at your computer screen. I am not the enemy. I’m not going to say anything you probably didn’t already suspect. HFCS (that’s high fructose corn syrup, for those of you who aren’t food Nazis… yet) is killing us. We’re fat. Don’t sugar coat it – yum, sugar-coating… acknowledge that as a country we have never been sicker, fatter, less mobile, and more likely to die of weight –related issues. We even eat health food that comes packaged and processed so it can live in our pantry until 2019. Some kids go days without seeing a vegetable only to break the streak with a healthy dollop of sugar-infused, chemical-laden ketchup on their fries (or their mac and cheese – it happens).

Here are the basics - Pollan says adhere to these three rules and your life will be forever changed:

Eat food

Mostly Plants

Not too much

Did you just say, “Huh?” Is this confusing in its simplicity? Was for me, at first. Basically, “eat food” means don’t eat anything your great-grandparents wouldn’t recognize as food. No margarine, nothing with HFCS, nothing with trans fats (anything that says partially hydrogenated _______ oil), and nothing that has ingredients you don’t recognize. Are you eating margarine because you think it’s better for you than butter? Oh dear, oh love, you are so behind the times. Margarine is death knell. Butter is where it’s at. Sure, butter has saturated fat, but haven’t you read a New York Times lately? Saturated fat is now in. All the cool kids are eating it.

Next, mostly plants. Well, that about says it all. Meat? Okay. Bread? Some. But the mainstays? Plants. Anything that can grow in a garden is a free for all. Oh, and Pollan has plenty to say about all of us eating pineapple shipped in from Peru in the middle of January. He encourages eating in season, he encourages eating local, and he encourages organic. Yep, that “cha-ching” was the sound of your monthly grocery budget getting bigger. But in theory, you won’t mind, because at the same time you will be getting smaller and healthier. See how that works?

Not too much. Hmm. Tricky. See, I’m an eater. Doughnuts, chicken breasts, air-popped popcorn, you name it; I can eat it all and in big doses. I blame my Italian heritage for my bottomless pit-of-a-stomach. But what I am slowly figuring out, especially four kids later, is that I can’t eat as much as I want whenever I want. There it is – the harsh reality. The older you get, the more you’re fighting your metabolism as well as your urge to go to great lengths to stay skinny. Is all that deprivation really worth it? Nah. Just watch what goes in the boca. Too much = muffin top. You already knew that; don’t shoot the messenger.

So there it is; everything you never wanted to know about what you’re eating and what you’re feeding those little angels. Sure, we’re all older and stretch-marked and our glory days feel like they’re behind us. But what of those little perfect people, fresh out of the wrapper and ready to thrive in the world? Take stock of your kitchen. Eye your pantry like it’s hiding a dirty secret. Try shopping without buying pre-prepared foods. Make things from scratch and marvel at your talent. From scratch is so vintage, and everyone knows vintage is all the rage.

So you just finished reading and are wondering, "Now what?" I'm not suggesting you go all macrobiotic or anything, but try starting where I did: After reading the label on my "100% Whole Wheat Bread" from the grocery store, I was less than surprised to read "sugar", "corn syrup" and a bazillion chemicals and preservatives I can't pronounce.

I've started making my own Whole Wheat bread for my family. It's not remotely difficult, takes way less time than it should, and has five ingredients - no preservatives. I can't tell you the places I feel tingles when I whip up warm, pillow-soft bread for my family each Monday. It makes me feel like a rock-star, my house smells like carb-heaven, and I feel so domestic and darling I practically spend the afternoon in my apron, just to prove my point. Try it. You'll love how it makes you feel, though be prepared for the initial few weeks of eating bread for every meal because it's so much more delicious than anything you're used to.

Foolproof Whole Wheat Bread (taken from The Domestic Art cookbook)

*I halve this recipe because the full amount sends my KitchenAid into cardiac arrest after kneading for ten minutes
2 T. yeast
7-11 C. whole wheat flour
1/2 C. warm water
2/3 C. honey
pinch of sugar
2/3 C. oil
5 C. hot water
1 T. salt

Sprinkle yeast in water, add sugar, but don't stir. Combine 5 cups hot tap water and 7 cups flour in large bowl of mixer. Add oil, honey, and salt, and mix until well blended. Add yeast, then 4-6 cups flour. Add flour only until dough begins to leave the sides of the bowl. Knead on low for 10 minutes. Coat bread pans with spray or butter, then turn dough onto oiled surface and divide into 4 equal portions and shape into loaves. Place dough in pans, put in a warm place and let raise until doubled in size. Bake at 350* for 35-40 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

**A few tips: This bread is absolutely delicious, it is dense and moist, and I've compared it to half a dozen others and think it's the best. I use a standard KitchenAid and my dough hook attachment. After my dough has been kneaded, I roll it out on an oiled surface (or use a Silpat non-stick mat) and roll it into a rectangle. Then, since I halve the recipe, I slice the dough down the middle, making sure the length of the dough doesn't surpass the length of my bread pan, then I roll it up like a cinnamon roll dough and plop it in the pan (seam-side down). This assures a perfectly sized, uniform-looking loaf. Also, I stick my loaves, uncovered, in the micro to raise and it works like a charm.

-Amanda

***If you need some better clarification on what bowl when, warm vs. too hot, Amanda has left a clarifying comment in, of course, the comments.

Thanks Amanda. Friends, thoughts?

~mavis