Bare Fruit

Our family loves fruit in all its forms, including dried.

My struggle with buying dried fruit is that it often has added sugar and preservatives.

Short of drying fruit ourselves (which we do sometimes), our only option was preservative laced dried fruit -- until now.

I came across Bare Fruit the other day and it is nothing but bake-dried organic fruit.  No added sugar or preservatives.

We bought the dried mangos, but the Washington based company also sells dried cherries, pears and Fuji, Granny Smith and cinnamon apples from Washington State.

The taste is fantastic and you can feel good knowing that only organic fruits are entering your body.  Find them at a grocery store near you or on Amazon.com.

Bug Bites on Produce

I had the fortunate opportunity to work on an organic vegetable farm two summers ago and learned so much about different types of vegetables, how to grow them and how to harvest them.  It was an experience I will never forget and often cherish.

One of the things I learned is that in the absence of chemicals (synthetic fertilizers and pesticides), bugs are free to roam.

Bugs, while controlled through natural efforts, still got through and enjoyed the same vegetables I do!  Their consumption was especially evident on the larger leaves of the Swiss Chard and Kale -- tiny and large bite holes.

In the grocery store, traditional produce, some of which is genetically modified (a whole other issue) and laden with chemicals, is flawless in appearance.  We live in an imperfect world.  But it is in the imperfection that what is true and real is found.  So visually "perfect" food is a signal of something not being right.

What I learned on the farm is to actually look for a few bug bites when shopping for produce -- and they will only be found on organic produce.

If the bugs will eat it (and not die), then its safe for humans too -- and tastier I might add.

So I was pleasantly happy when I opened a container of Earth Bound organic baby spinach the other day and saw a leaf with several small bug bites.  It's natural and fresh.

Next time you are looking for your vegetables in the grocery store or farmers market, seek out the organic variety, look for a few bug bites, and enjoy an affordable luxury.  It's a dance with nature that will have you looking for more.

Please share your organic produce experience and what vegetables make you happy.

Organic Packaging Surprise

I wanted to make some fresh hummus for lunch today and reached for a can of garbanzo beans (chick peas).

We don't have many canned items in our house because they leach BPA into the food, but we do have some canned beans (in case I miss the 12-hour window of soaking time) and some tomato products (really just an excuse for not getting around to canning them last fall) on hand.

I was met with two options of garbanzo beans when I opened the pantry.  I don't know the reasons, perhaps I picked up the non-organic one by accident, but I had one can of organic garbanzo beans and one that was not -- by the same grocer brand name.

I thought a bean is a bean, except one is organic, right?  I was surprised by what the labels disclosed.

Organic Canned Garbanzo Bean Ingredients

In the organic beans I found the ingredients:

• Organic Garbanzo Beans
• Water
• Sea Salt

Traditional Canned Garbanzo Bean Ingredients

In the traditional beans I found the ingredients:

• Prepared Garbanzo Beans (they never say what "prepared" means)
• Water
• Salt
• Calcium Chloride (Firming Agent)
• Disodium EDTA

The only other significant difference was in sodium.  The organic garbanzo beans had 100 mg per serving versus a much larger 330 mg of sodium in the non-organic beans.

This helped make clear that decisions are not simply as easy as organic or not.  Organic or not also affects the handling and packaging too.  And organic clearly wins.

I pledge to read labels more carefully when shopping.

As for pricing, the non-sale prices were $.88 for the non-organic beans versus $1.25 for the organically grown beans.

Vitamix Makes Hummus
in About 15 Seconds

If your interested in making a great hummus dip, here was my recipe for today:

• 15-ounce can of organic garbanzo beans drained and rinsed and placed in blender/food processor
• 1/2 cup filtered water (more or less depending on how smooth you want the final product)
• 1 larger organic clove of garlic
• 1 Tablespoon organic lemon juice
• 2 Tablespoons of organic olive oil
• Sea salt (to taste)
• 2 small pieces of fire-roasted red pepper (optional)

*blend until smooth

Enjoy!

Fire-Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Cancer Fighting Eggs

I own and have read a copy of the late David Servan-Schreiber's (MD, PhD) book, "Anti Cancer:  A New Way of Life."

One of my many takeaways was the powerful anti-cancer combination of Turmeric, Virgin Olive Oil and Black Pepper.

David says of olive oil, (pg. 112) "olives contain an abundance of antioxidants such as acteosides, hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol, and phenylpropionic acids.  The direct effect of such molecules is to limit the initial development of cancer.  Particularly when it is virgin, olive oil also contains secoiridoids and lignans, both known antioxidants that have been linked with slower progression of cancer."

Of turmeric, he writes (pg. 114) "No other food ingredient has such a powerful antiinflammatory effect.  The principle molecule responsible for that effect is curcumin.  In the labratory, curcumin inhibits growth in a large number of cancers:  colon, prostate, lung, liver, stomach, breast, ovarian, brain, and leukemia, for example.  It also inhibits angiogenesis and forces cancer cells to die (through the process of cell suicide known as apoptosis.  In mice, curcumin prevents the development of several types of tumors caused by chemical carcinogens.  Additionally, curcumin inhibits the growth of human tumors when implanted in mice."

He mentions that Indians consume and average of 1/4-1/2 a teaspoon of turmeric each day and experience 1/8 as many lung cancers, 1/9 as many colon cancers, 1/5 as many breast cancers, 1/10 as many kidney cancers, and 1/50 as many prostate cancers as Westerners of the same age.  He cited this database.

BUT, here is the key.  He writes (pg. 116), "..when [turmeric] is not mixed with pepper or ginger -- as it has been in curry -- turmeric does not pass the intestinal barrier.  Pepper increases the body's absorption of turmeric by 2,000%.

So what do my eggs have to do with it?  Well, I was using organic (cage free) eggs and organic extra virgin olive oil anyway when I fried an egg. And I also always use fresh cracked black pepper.  After reading this book, I simply add a good does of organic turmeric to the mix and I have cancer fighting eggs!

Turmeric is not overpowering, so it doesn't alter the taste of the eggs much.  The most notable difference is the distinct yellow color.  But I am proud to explain to visitors why their eggs are yellow.

Try it at home and enjoy your own cancer fighting eggs and let me know how you liked them.

Add virgin olive oil, fresh cracked pepper and turmeric to other dishes as often as you can and pick up a copy of the anti-cancer book.

Organic Candy Canes

In a mental lapse, I purchased "regular" candy canes at the grocery store for our son who has been asking for this seasonal treat.  Our son, who's body knows better than my mind, promptly vomited up the sweet treat he so desperately wanted -- as he does with all "junk" food.

My wife gave me the "I can't believe you would give that to him" look and I set out to find an organic candy cane -- or create one myself.

Fortunately I discovered some distributed by Tru Sweets that were available at our local health foods store (Harvest Health Foods) and were on sale for $2.99.  Another option would have been The Natural Candy Store.

I compared the ingredients in the two boxes of candy canes to discover this list of 11 ingredients in the first:

• Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Natural Flavor (Peppermint), FD&C Red 40, Vegetable Derived Glycerin, Soybean Oil, Calcium Carbonate, Carnauba Wax, Soy Lecithin, Modified Palm Oil, Petrolatum.

And this list of ingredients in the organic candy canes:

• Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Organic Brown Rice Syrup, Natural Peppermint Flavor, Red Beet Juice for Color.

Labels are important and in my rush of shopping I failed to read this one.  We all know and understand what is in the organic candy canes.  But there are at least two ingredients in the regular candy canes that are banned in other countries for having possible long-term side effects (Red 40 and Petrolatum).  I think it's worth the extra couple of dollars to get a quality product.

On a final note, in addition to being organic (and tasting great), the candy cane box indicates they are also Gluten Free, Vegan and Kosher.