BOTTOMLESS PIE: with fruit harvest right around the corner, this a great way to use up all those luscious berries and tree fruits. Simply place all that fruit into a deep dish Pyrex or even long lasagna pan . Cover with skimpy sugar that has been combined with 1-2 tbs of cornstarch. Cover with one thin rolled pie crust. Bake at 400 degrees until fruit is soft. Faster, tastier and much lower in calories!

BAG THE BROCCOLI: When you shop you buy with greatest intentions but you get busy and that broccoli cintinues to sit in crisper getting yellow and losing it nutrients. So I suggest that evening while you’re watching TV or just talking on a phone, Use this time to cut it up into small pieces. Then place in colander, pour hot water over them, drain and toss into zip-lock bags and freeze. It saves money, vitamins and your time.

LUMPY GRAVY: nothing is more embarrassing than lumpy gravy when you have dinner guests. I assure there is a simple way to correct this dilemma. We usaully make gravy out of flour paste or roux , either way you could get lumps in the gravy. However using a large fine mesh strainer and your problems are over. Simply strain and reheat. For a little darker gravy, you can a few drops of soy sauce or Gravy Bouquet.

Unlike people, inanimate objects often have a second life. There was clever demonstration of this in a recycling commercial when an deliriously happy aluminum can went bananas over its second life as a baseball bat. I know homo sapiens who have never reached this pinnacle of joy in their first life.

Thrift stores and antique shops are evidence that a second life may excel the first one. I have a sister who lives just to frequent her next thrift store. To her, they are simply treasure chests with front doors.

The older the article the more interesting is the discovery. As you examine these demoted discards, you can’t help but wonder about the previous owner and who might have possessed it. Did they love it? Did they hate it? Nonetheless, where ever such a shop exists filled with such irresistible paraphernalia, sisters from everywhere will surely found them. The value of these items are purely imaginary. They could be a childhood reminder or merely something with a heart on it…. bingo! it has a buyer.

While some fools are out panning for gold, others looking for rare coin or stamps, the chef looking for rare old edition cookbooks. However, my sister, who is nearly 80 stays fit just to be ready on a moment’s notice to embark upon a undiscovered used treasure emporium. We have built her a special room to store her mountain of indescribable collectables. We have named it
the Resurrection Room where everything is enjoying a second life with the exception of a rather worn-out check book.

Do you realize even ordinary things around your kitchen may also have a second life. How is it, we must retain that lovely tin canister we got at Christmas. Consider the life of any ordinary container, it is new or simply reused? This is why the frugal housewives give away her casseroles in Madware as she never expects for it to be returned. While you have an entire drawer full of lids and bottoms which simply do not fit each other. Be advised, this game of unmatched lids is the manufacture’s revenge for those who have strayed from buying their brand.

After a short period of usage , the honey moon with these polymer playthings is over. They crack when the food inside is frozen. After several days of normal use they just give up and quit like they are supposed to. In those immortal words of Pasty Cline “ I fall to pieces” Now revised to “They fall to pieces” Have you noticed today’s containers never seem to reach old age?

As a devout storage fanatic, I look for a ways to beat the system. I do jars and coffee cylinders but my real jewel in plastic recycling has been cottage cheese containers. Boy! talk about tough and long lasting. While I am getting all that great calcium, I am getting some extra. Becuase what ever these cottage cheese tubs are made of, they find them superior to over-priced plastic domes of disaster. Here is resurrection right under your nose!

Yes, there really is life after cottage cheese! And your first life could be getting extended with better bone density and a sensible form of protein. Secondly, there’s all that loose change you saved by reusing cottage cheese tubs!

If a leopard can change spots, then Cookie Monster must have the ability to cut down on eating cookies. However, eating fewer cookies and eating more vegetables simply isn’t going to work. No matter how many famous people appear on Sesame Street, cookies, like words in the dictionary, will forever be on children’s minds. Once the die has been cast, nutrtional habits are hard to establish.

After all, you don’t see the Girl Scout administrators bowing down to a better alternative and selling fruit-filled cookies or bags of roasted nuts. No such change is going to happen soon. Fundraisers in school are notorious for consisting of cakes, candy and cookies. When schools had their soda vending machines taken away, there was a large outcry from the parents. For schools to depend on junk foods to pay for athletics is like having a fast-food place right across the street from school.

The wholesome eating concept can only be achieved by introducing entirely new characters on Sesame Street . While teaching was the original intent of Sesame Street, it has now evolved into a business empire with the fuzzy characters earning more dollars than the average commodity on Wall Street. Big Bird and all of his friends are the core of most childrens’ imaginary world. With a lot of motivation and careful imaginative writing, perhaps some true lessons upon the necessity of good nutrition might surface. It is nutrition that provides us with a balance, and without balance we are just like wobbly, confused wind-up toys who cannot evaluate their own choices. Perhaps a new medium will come along to help point the way to eating less cookies and more vegetables.

Lord knows, we grown-ups likewise have our own “Cookie Monster” appearing in TV commercials a dozen times a night. They pay for programs and keep the local HMOs busy with a fresh supply of patients. The few mentions of obesity and cancer that appear in media reports are a mere whisper among the roar and repetition of junk food hawkers. Faithful fans of Cookie Monster can easily snack on an entire bag of Keeblers in a single night of watching television. Apparently, “SS Cookie” made his impact on these consumers some 20 years ago and they are merely imitating the monster consumption quota of their beloved childhood character. What do you suppose is our major reason for stuffing ourselves?

The danger of rancid fats has been greatly overlooked in media health warnings, yet they are this country’s major cancer producers. Perhaps just a few precautions could help you avoid the claws of menacing peroxidized(rancid) fats.

We have 4 basic groups of fat which are in our foods. While some are desirable and recommended, others are man-made convenience fats. Yet, no matter how virtuous they are, all fats are subject to rancidity and need to be protected. (OR… and we need to be protected from them.)??

A. Saturated Fats: are natural in foods such as butter, beef, bacon, eggs, sausages and lard. They are more stable than the oils but will spoil in due time. Unlike processed fats, they are broken down by the body.
B. Polyunsaturated Oils: are chemically unstable. They contain a number of loose carbon bonds in the atomic structure. When exposed to heat and light, they will quickly create harmful free radicals. The higher the unsaturated level, the more potent the danger. Your oil label will tell you precisely the type of oil and the percentage.
C. Monounsaturated: seems to be the healthy choice of the day. Most common are olive, avocado and nut oils. They are more stable than polyunsaturated oils and provide needed essential fatty acids. This is probably why the Mediterranean diet has fewer incidents of heart disease.
D. Hydrogenated Processed Fats: such as margarine and most of the fats which are used in deep-frying in restaurants. Of late, the name trans fats was added to this group. Recent studies have shown these are not healthy and may contribute to heart problems.
E. Omega Oils: from fish have been shown to be the most beneficial of all oils. Such oils improve blood flow and prevent blood cells from sticking together and preventing premature clots.

Understanding our choices of oils and fats will help us create a healthier lifestyle. However, how we manage these fats is crucially important. Avoiding rancid fat is the key preventive measure for keeping your body’s free radicals at bay. Free radicals are merely carcinogenic substances which appear in excess in highly unhealthy foods (from fats). If they are not removed, they will cause permanent damage. This is why fresh fruits and vegetables are crucial in cancer prevention.

What are the common causes of rancidity:

l. BOTTLED OIL: you opened and placed in the cupboards. As soon as you open the top, it begins to oxidize. It will not be noticeable by smell. This will go bad much faster than fat from meat. Your choices are store it in the refrigerator or add your own BHT.
2. OPENED DRESSINGS: mayonnaise, salad dressings, tarter sauce and peanut butter. To begin with, don’t buy big sizes and write the date on lid on when you opened it.
With mayonnaise, always buy smaller. (If you can’t find a pint size, buy the quart size and split it into two pint-size jars). Seal tightly and mark last used date on the label. Secondly do not remove mayo with used tool. If mayo spread to side of the jar, REMOVE this with rubber spatula; this is potentially very carcinogenic.
Peanut butter will also go bad after some time. Same rule–don’t remove with a dirty spoon or knife.
3. MEATS: can become carcinogenic. Ground beef is the worst offender. The process of grinding mixes blood with fat, and the broken red blood cells release iron and copper, speeding up this oxidation process. Keep bacon and other cured meats well wrapped, noting when they were opened. Any cured meats with discoloration or a sticky-like appearance should be dumped. Nitrates in them are carcinogenic, so limit your usage.
4. NUTS, CRACKERS and COOKIES: While nuts are very good, rancid nuts are deadly. Buy nuts only where you can trust their freshness if consumed within a week. However, most nuts maintain quality if chilled. Crackers and cookies should never be purchased in factory outlet stores; your chances of rancid fats are high. The same goes for some bake mixes; although the date is safe, they may have been stored in a hot warehouse.
5. BARBECUE SMOKE: the final and worst offender. It seems that when meat fats melt over charcoals then return to the meat, a highly dangerous chemical called ”Hetercocyclicamines” is created. Breathing the smoke is equally dangerous. Trimming fats from the meat before barbecuing is helpful.

It will, of course, be impossible to mention every possible means of ingesting rancid fats, but we do have a trump card in this game to stay cancer free. Our ace is, and has been, nature’s own weapon against mass destruction of our cells—anti-oxidants. They are readily available in pill form but better yet in leafy green vegetables and those red fruits.

You have a clear choice in staying healthy: avoid rancid fats, limit sodium nitrate products, and eat foods that are high in anti-oxidants. Both CSPI and USDA can offer many great anti-oxidant food choices. I would appreciate any question or new information on the subject. Rancid fats have been ignored and need to be properly publicized. Any notes will be posted. Information resources are available upon request.

The world is waiting for science and technology to bring us that magic pill to slow down obesity and fight cancer. Well it has arrived! I suggest they go to their nearest grocery store or Farmer’s Market where a myriad of colors and shapes beg to be taken home and enjoyed. These unpaid doctors have offices open 24/7. Their medication is delicious, easy to ingest and the bill for feeling so good is pathetically small.

Containing such profound things like anti-oxidants, lycopene, isoflavones, beta carotene and folate. More benefits from vegetables are mentioned daily with promises of weight reduction, greater disease resistance and energy.

Nonetheless , this get well, stay well food group (vegetables) is neglected by moms and ridiculed by presidents and pompous movie stars while the food industry would have us eating them in altered states or drowned in fat and salt. We can choose to accept this or you can join me in an educational effort to create change in attitude and practice of better eating habits. In short, we need to have a “Coalition Against Cruelty to Carrots ” which will include the entire kingdom of our crunchy life-saving edibles.

When something is this good, this available and comes from the earth specifically to sustain us, how can we continue to mock their value?

Perhaps it’s the ridicule that truly irritates me and we should not accept such subliminal message sent by the drug companies. Their message is so offensive, it’s necessary to express my repugnance. The following ad is just one of many bad raps these cruciferous unsung heroes have suffered.

The commercial portrays a woman sitting at a desk pretending to chomp on entire stalk of broccoli, then later chomping on carrots while engaging in another activity. Declaring that if we eat as much fiber as is recommended by the USDA, we wouldn’t have time for anything else. Excuse me! but no one nibbles on a full size stalk of raw broccoli to receive a portion of daily fiber. A normal intelligent person would place a trimmed broccoli into their microwave and within minutes enjoy a sensible serving of needed fiber. There would be plenty of time for a real life afterwards.

Unfortunately, such images sell lots of products for the drug companies while creating negative images for children looking for excuses to dislike their vegetables. Whatever nature spent months nurturing in the soil, it was just destroyed in a 30 second commercial.

The reason the general public has not become excited over vegetables and all their health benefits is they have never been given star treatment publicity. No PR, no image building, and no actual appreciation has been expressed.

Who better to change America’s attitude towards veggies than Hollywood!

After all they parted the Red Sea and brought a lost girl back to her home in Kansas. Miracles happen on the screen and we are in need of one of those miracles right now. As children are acquiring diabetes and become fatter and nothing and is slowing down the epidemic needs every possible tool.

Here is force which to get every kid in America to eat veggies like candy and choose milk over soda. In essence, they have more influence than any other medium on earth. They can mold our human species into mere numbers without opinion. Children are their selected prey. Instead of living examples, they create heroes of animated non-humans. So why not apply this power to slow the collision course of today’s unhealthy children.

Lets think scenario. Due to an unknown phenomenon, Hollywood has grown a heart and sense of moral duty. They have begun to denounce junk food. Their characters are eating oatmeal instead of pop tarts. Around town, streets are lined with McVeggie food stands. The only pizza allowed must be covered with 70% vegetables. Toys resembling people are given out instead of artificial beings. And at the local movie marquee proudly displays Hollywood’s newest box office hit “The Global Vegetable Summit” a film where all the world’s vegetables meet in Geneva Switzerland to protest the abuse, the alteration of their content, and the ridicule they have endured for so long.

The fiber flaunting participants were interviewed the noted American journalist Katie Carwrec. Their messages were convincing and ominous. They warned of a complete breakdown of the medical community if humans did not listen to their warning. That our fast food meals were simply ticking time bombs–that Darth Vader was now masquerading as a Triple Burger. French Fries were merely evil mutations of a once natural potato and they were powerless to warn you. But without funding and imagination and damn clever animation, the vegetable family seems doomed and simply left inside some plastic bag to decay.

Educational awareness is way behind while Disneyland and Shrek toys are all over the place. Whether any one will take me seriously and help me to change attitudes toward the eating of vegetables is probably a pipe dream..

Realistically there’s no help from Hollywood or my local TV. Networks have trashed all my letters and appeals. However if anyone to has empathy to my cause they might just write a to movie producerssoliciting their involvement and local TV networks to stop airing these unhealthy foods promoting our health crisis.

I’m a grandmother whose been writing letters and articles for 20 years because I care, now with the help of the Internet perhaps my concerns will be shared.

To learn the benefits of photochemicals (nutrients of found in produce) you can visit http://ohioline.osu.edu. For calories of most fast foods you can find that on www.cspi.org along with many other food facts. However, I hope you’ll visit your local Farmer’s Market in your neighborhood, a place where cruelty to carrots never happens. No doubt, later that day some quite contented veggies will be swimming around in a big vat of homemade soup just as their ancestors did long before the birth of fast foods.!

Written by a consumer activist of Sacramento… hsdell@lanset.com who writes a bi-weekly blog and published mega-vegetable pizza book.

Anytime you travel, you get hungry and you grab the closet thing that’s edible. So come prepared , along with sufficient bottled water, pack up peanuts, pistachios and cashews. By buying in advance, placing them
into short plastic tubs about size of half pint of potato salad. Purchased in 1 lb bags, nuts are not expensive. Nuts will provide needed nourishment while you are in the middle of nowhere. Trust me, they are hunger heroes.

A picnic cooler should go with you on shopping trips in hot weather as food is vulnerable to spoilage in the warm temps. You can easily make ice in plastic milk cartons or water jugs. Always place in an upright position after filling. Another equally good idea when you are going to a park or family outing. Chilled food can save lives.