Make you Fink on Friday

I used to buy fruit juice, I used to drink Coca Cola and other softdrinks and soda, I used to make cordial…

But then I discovered some facts about the ingredients used in all these drinks, ugly facts.

They have shit in them like aspartame, sucralose and high fructose corn syrup instead of suger. All of the above are pure poison!

So I switched to water, good old tap water. For a fizzy beverage sparkling mineral water became my drink.

But water can be boring…

So, spice it up a little.

fruit infused water

Image: Flux and Flow

Some interesting recipes to spice up your water. Homemade is better than commercial poison. Use your fruit and vege, scrapes can be used too. For example, when I have pineapple, the skin goes to make pineapple water.

Check out Flux and Flow for more ideas.

Update

Parents are warned to steer clear of sugar-filled ‘healthy’ drinks

Parents’ efforts on healthy eating ‘undermined’ by marketing campaigns and lack of government interest

Many ‘healthy’ drinks for children contain nearly as much sugar as Coca-Cola. Photograph: Melissa Lomax Speelman/Getty Images/Flickr RF

Nutritionists and health campaigners are calling on parents to avoid supposedly “healthy” fruit drinks during the hot summer – asking them to give thirsty children plain water or milk instead.

The calls come as new health research puts sugary drinks, and particularly the fructose in them, at the heart of the “diabesity” epidemic affecting young people in Britain. Some 67 health charities, medical royal colleges and public health bodies are asking the government to consider a health tax on sugary drinks, along the lines of those already successfully introduced in France and four other European countries.

Read more

Opinion…

And the governments are just not interested; too much money to lose in corporate donations.

Monday Moaning

This is a reblog from:Angies Grapevine

Your Banana May Contain……..

It’s becoming harder and harder  to know whats in and on our food!

Soy sauce may contain gluten;  ice cream may have tree nuts in it, salad mix may be tainted with E. coli.

But there are some foods that are so pure, so uncomplicated, that they are just what they are, right?

Like bananas.

NOT!

As Science Daily reports, scientists have come up with a new spray they say will prevent bananas from ripening into brown mush for almost two extra weeks.

What’s the big deal you ask?

Well, let me tell you,  the spray is made from chitosan, which is derived from the shells of shrimp and crabs.

Can you imagine the simple banana carrying a warning label “This product may contain shellfish byproducts.” If sprayed this lovely yellow, handy fruit would be  off-limits to hard-core vegans and to people who suffer from shellfish allergies.

The chitosan-based spray is not available commercially yet, so no bananas are being treated.

Personally I think they should leave well enough alone, bananas are great just the way they are, when they get too ripe their great for baking, smoothies and face masks

Opinion:

I agree with Angie,they just can’t leave well enough alone.

One of the purest foods and they are going to stuff it up just like the rest.

It appears that chitosan is already in our world:

“Chitosan has a number of commercial and possible biomedical uses. It can be used in agriculture as a seed treatment and biopesticide, helping plants to fight off fungal infections. In winemaking it can be used as a fining agent, also helping to prevent spoilage. In industry, it can be used in a self-healing polyurethane paint coating. In medicine, it may be useful in bandages to reduce bleeding and as an antibacterial agent; it can also be used to help deliver drugs through the skin.

More controversially, chitosan has been asserted to have use in limiting fat absorption, which would make it useful for dieting, but there is evidence against this.

Other uses of chitosan that have been researched include use as a soluble dietary fiber.” – Wikipedia

From WebMD:

“Chitosan is POSSIBLY SAFE for most people when taken by mouth short-term (up to six months) or applied to the skin. When taken by mouth, it might cause mild stomach upset, constipation, or gas.”

Warnings on the same site for pregnant and breastfeeding women, also for people with shellfish allergies. If you take warfarin, don’t take chitosan as it could increase the blood thinning.

POSSIBLY SAFE:

That means they don’t know. If you read about the myriad of uses, the fact that they don’t know is worrying.

Chitosan absorbs fat. Many things we eat/take are absorbed by the fat, if the fat is not present then vitamin deficiencies (A, D & E) may occur; similarly oral contraceptives may be less effective.

Change the World Wednesday – 13th Jun

Last weeks challenge was great, my contribution was minimal, for reasons given in the post.

A common theme I found that ran through some participating posts was veges and fruit in the fridge. Not all veges and fruit should be in the fridge, that’s why they waste.

But first, an idea.

If you find you have surplus veges or that some veges are becoming tired (I loved REWinn’s ‘deflated cucumber‘, how apt) or seem beyond redemption without the aid of the compost heap; make a verdurette. Now there is no recipe for this. A verdurette is merely a blended mixture of aromatic greens with rock salt. Basically it is a vege stock that can be used whenever you need stock, but because it’s salty, you don’t need added salt to the dishes. This also keeps well because the salt is a preservative. You can visit Soup Maker Recipes for more info. Another great write up on verdurette can be found on Kitchen Garden Recipes.

Fruit & Veges

General rule, keep fruit out of the fridge. If you cut fruit, example use a half a lemon, put the unused half in the fridge. Apples and apricots can be refrigerated, but don’t refrigerate avocados, bananas, peaches, nectarines, pears, plums and tomatoes.

Most veges are kept out of the fridge, leafy veges in the fridge (out of plastic) onions, potatoes, pumpkin – out, carrots – in. Once again, cut veges – in.

Check these links Fresh Food Central for some more ideas, and Vegetarian Times for info on ‘gas releasers‘, you’ll see why this is important to consider.

Phew! All that on just one cup of coffee…

Almost a post in its own right.

Oh, the smell of freshly brewed coffee pervading the house, that in a very short time will be responsible for precious moments of transient bliss!

This week’s Change the World Wednesday challenge.

It will be, by necessity brief, I am snivelly and miserable and running on coffee and Coristina-D;

It’s another repeat challenge, but revisiting old themes keeps them to the fore.

This week refuse to use plastic produce bags. Instead, opt for reusable versions such as cotton mesh which are available at many stores, small canvas totes which you may have around … or no bag at all (not all produce needs to be bagged).

Or …If you routinely avoid plastic bags, please commit to a no-plastic week … yep, no plastic … nothing which is plastic, which comes in plastic packaging and, of course, no plastic bags.

Public Enemy No. 1

Plastic Bags

Many of us have little option. For example I shop in a supermarket for convenience. I shop, and get a frete (like a taxi, but not a taxi) home. I pay R$10  ($5) for the privilege. To go to the sacolão (fruit & vege shop) I have to walk there and back, but remember you can’t carry much when one hand is controlling a walking stick. So I am encumbered, and the supermarket, one stop, does me nicely.

But it comes with a price. Plastic bags for everything. Bananas, plastic bag; potatoes, plastic bag; onions, plastic bag; lemons, plastic bag; ad nauseum. I can’t avoid it, shop/produce security is cited. I do, however, get my goods and their plastic bags packed in old cartons rather than use checkout out bags to compound the problem.

I don’t usually have my reusable shopping bag with me, because I stop of at the supermarket on route from work to avoid an extra bus fare. One hand for the walking stick and the other free to grab the handrails in the bus, because once the driver has your money he becomes a closet Formula One driver; and the chances of ending up on the floor are high. So it is impractical to be otherwise loaded, even with a shoulder bag to control as well.

But I do take my egg carton to the local shop for eggs; one bag saved. When I buy one item, I refuse the plastic bag and carry it home in my hand; another bag saved. Actually, one shop has stopped offering them to me; they think I’m crazy, but I have explained my reasons.

Some good news though. São Paulo, a city of 20 million, has just banned plastic bags in ALL retail outlets effective next year and Rio de Janeiro (12 million) is going to follow suit.

Now for a pet peeve…

*Jumps on his tangent and rides off*

You will probably have noticed that when I use the word ‘fruit‘ in this post, I have used the singular. Why? You may well ask. Because the word ‘fruit‘ does NOT HAVE A PLURAL; it is a singular collective noun. If you want a plural, you should use a quantity, pieces of fruit, pounds of fruit. etc.

Yes, I am an English teacher; yes, I am a grammarian; yes, I love my language and love to see it used correctly. BTW, in the main only Americans use ‘fruits’. In English, the plural is used, but only when your are referring colloquially or derogatorily to a group of homosexual males collectively.

Food for thought.

Change the World Wednesday – 1st Feb

Back into the swing of things. It’s good to have our CTWW back to fill our Wednesday mornings. But right now, I need more coffee. BRB

Back

Now, where was I?

Ah yes, here we go, this week’s Change the World Wednesday.

.

.

.

This week (and throughout the month), experiment with left over fruits and veggies by either blending them into smoothies or making soups. Fruits and veggies are very heart-healthy and finding creative uses for them instead of tossing them out is very earth-friendly (especially the ones which are slightly tired – check your refrigerators for these culprits). Be sure to come back and tell us about your efforts … and offer recipes if you wish.

Vitamina banana com aveia

I very rarely have leftover fruit. I love juice and vitaminas (smoothies in Portuguese), one of my favourite vitaminas is banana com aveia (banana, milk and porridge flakes). Last year, as I have mentioned, I had a bumper crop of passionfruit. I had passionfruit juice coming out of my ears. What fruit I didn’t manage to drink, I gave away to neighbours. This year, I had one lousy passionfruit growing above my front door. Last week I noticed it had begun to yellow; I felt it to see if it was ripening and it fell off in my hand. It duly ripened fully in the fruit bowl and has since met its fate in the blender.

Veges…

Vegetables are another story. Now that I live alone, it is not practical to have a stockpot. But when I was with my family, there was always a stockpot on the stove.

Vege offcuts and peelings, raw bones, chicken carcass & skin and cooking water all went into the stockpot for a boil up and reduction.

It’s all very well having a stockpot, but what to do with it.

Fat was scooped off the top and used for cooking, de-meated bones went to the dogs, stock went into dishes or became soup or made gravy, meat and suitable vege pieces became soup. The leftovers went on the compost; I was able to do this because I had a big compost heap away from the house, although it isn’t generally recommended that you throw cooked food in the compost. The stockpot was the only cooked stuff we threw out there.

So, nothing was wasted.

The only veges that didn’t go in the stockpot were cabbagey things (because they tended to make you fart a lot) and lettucey stuff because it turns slimy.

So now, practicality dictates that all goes on the compost. Bones go to the neighbours’ dogs; they love them. Now that I have my Lixo (rubbish in Portuguese) he gets bits and pieces too. Oh, I haven’t mentioned here; last week a little ginger tabby about 3 or 4 months old followed me home from the botequim (neighbourhood bar). I named him Lixo because he was dumped from a sack like rubbish in the park late at night. You can read about him on Life is a Labyrinth.

There you are, until next week. Don’t forget Make you Fink n Friday, already planned, this week it’s a doozy!

NB: ‘doozy’ for our American cousins is Aussie & NZ slang for really good; I could have used ‘bottler’ which means really, really good.

.