I am a big supporter of eating locally grown foods.  For my area, that means access to fruits and vegetables, grass-fed meats, and dairy.  I've been trying and trying to buy from my local farmers first before I ever go to the grocery store.  And I'll admit, it's not been all that convenient and I don't always make it out to the farm.  Sometimes it seems expensive, but only because I'm buying in bulk most of the time. 

Ask me if it's worth it.

YES. Food tastes better.  Our health is better.  We have friendships with the folks that grow the food we eat.  We have SEEN with our own eyes how our food is grown or raised.  My kids have tasted the experiences of farming responsibilities and have memories to share with their kids.  And my kids eat more fresh foods, because they know where it came from, or they got to pick it themselves.

Now, we don't have a farm.  We live in the city limits.  Life is busy for us, just like everyone else.  We have the good fortune of living where we can keep a few chickens in the backyard and there's enough room for a raised garden bed and container pots.  We're no where near the economic standing of "financially set for life".  HA!  Truth be told, my husband was laid off from his job a year ago.  We've been living on trust in the LORD and His blessings this whole time.  Being financially challenged hasn't changed our minds about eating locally grown foods.  Having no insurance stresses the importance of eating better, I'll tell ya.  Doctors visits can eat up a two week's worth of groceries.

I've learned to cook smarter, extend the freshness of foods by putting them up in the freezer, and water-bath canning.  I can REALLY make a whole chicken stretch into several meals. I've gotten good at that.  I enjoy using my slow cooker more, knowing I'm going to turn a delicious hunk of grass-fed meat into 2 or 3 meals, 4 if I really plan it out right.

Do I have anymore time in my week for putting up foods?  Heck no!  I have to make time to do it. I have to say to myself, "No TV tonight!"  or "No laptop time until I knock this out."  I get my kids involved in the process.  Oh let me tell you, if you have a booger picker in your family, use their skills for shelling peas and pecans.  Booger pickers are the best helpers; they naturally love going after those hard to reach pieces.   Just make sure they wash their hands first.

Do I buy organic only?

NO. The farmers I know use smart, sustainable agriculture methods to make the best of their farms that goes beyond organic.  I've learned from them, the price of the permit of being certified "organic" costs more for the consumer.  It's better to find on our food labels, "pasture raised", "grass-fed", "no hormones", "low pasteurized", "not homogenized".  That's good enough for me.

When I go into the grocery store, not everything I need is available to me organically.  I tend to reach for the better product and vote for it to stay on the shelf with my dollar.  Processed foods, no matter if they're made with organic ingredients, are still processed foods.  I limit how many of them make it into my cart.  I've always enjoyed reading the backs of food packaging.  I don't have so much interest in the FDA label, as I have the list of ingredients and where the food was made and distributed.  You'd be surprised how something that is "whole grain healthy" and costs 70 cents more, came out of the same plant as the generic food.  And maybe there's only one ingredient that sets them apart.

Enough of my rambling on, what about you? How do you feel?  Where are you coming from?

Kellogg's told us as kids how to eat a well balanced meal; bowl of corn flakes with milk, sunny side up-egg, toast, glass of juice.  Who's mother ever served them that complete meal? Not mine.

From the age of nine, I had the good fortune of being raised by my grandparents.  Now my Memaw knew how to make bacon & eggs, hashbrowns & egg, biscuits, sausage & sausage gravy, waffles & bacon, pancakes & bacon, toast & bacon.  That woman would make me any of the above, every morning.  Yes, I was spoiled rotten.

In Memaw's pantry, we rarely had a box of cereal on hand.  If we did, it was plain cornflakes that required half the sugar bowl poured over them to help choke'em down.  Then, it was a race to eat them before they got soggy.  Needless to say, I wasn't a big cereal eater as a kid.  However, somewhere along the way, maybe in my 20s, I learned to eat stuff like Honey Nut Cheerios, and sweetened cornflake cereals.  And today, I feed them to my kids.  My kids eat box cereals most mornings.  I usually eat toast, maybe an egg, DEFINITELY coffee.   Serving up a hot breakfast, such as the ones my grandmother made for me, is reserved for weekends.

I'm just being honest here.  I am no where near the perfect mother.  Even with the blessing of being at home with my kids,  I'm still a working mom, without the paychecks.  I tend to put more focus on lunch, making healthy snacks available, dinner and the occasional dessert.  That's just the way I roll.

So before I start wiggin' out about planning breakfast and arranging recipes and shopping lists, I wonder about you.

Do you REALLY care about making breakfast?  Would you REALLY follow a breakfast menu?  And what do you REALLY eat for breakfast most days?  What does your family usually eat?

Would it be better serving to write out breakfast plans for the weekend?

I need to know these things about you, if you're the type that likes menu plans.  PLEASE SHARE your honest thoughts with me.

Read on and I'll meet you in the Comments section.

Hey, Jill!

Your Meaty Red Sauce inspired me to ask for help. I have been trying to develop a recipe for a spicy (meatless) marinara/spaghetti sauce using canned tomato products, and I just can't get it right. My favorite jarred/canned sauces are Prego original, and Trader Joe's Tuscano Marinara. The best-tasting version I've made is not even close to either one, and is definitely missing something (not bay leaf--my experimentation has shown me I don't care for it.) Any suggestions from you and your readers would be greatly appreciated--thanks in advance for the help!

I'm including my current version below. It's based on a Hunt's recipe I found on their site ( http://www.hunts.com/recipes/recipePrint.jsp?action=recipe&recipeid=2579&view=RecipeCard ) I love their idea for making it in the crock pot because it doesn't pop all over the stove (or me) and I don't have to keep running into the kitchen and stirring it.

Slow Cooker Marinara

• 1 large Onion, chopped or 1/3 cup dehydrated
• 6 cloves Garlic, pressed
• 4 (14-15 oz) cans Diced Tomatoes, with liquid, or 2 (28-32 oz) cans whole tomatoes, pulsed in food processor till chunky
• 1 (15-16) oz can Tomato Sauce
• 3 (6 oz) cans Tomato Paste
• 2 tablespoons dried Basil
• 1 tablespoon dried Oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried Parsley Flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Salt

Combine ingredients in a 4- or 5-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on low six hours.

Yields approximately 2½ quarts or about 12-14 servings

From Baba D.

Hi there!

I have a question...lately I have seen alot of recipes calling for "Parmigiano Reggiano" cheese. Where do you get it from, and what companies make it?

Thank you for your help.

Baba D.

photo from Wikipedia

Hi Baba,

Parmigiano Reggiano is THE Italian Parmesan cheese made in Northern Italy.  You know you have a real wedge of it by the name stamped in the outer rind.  (As shown in the picture to the right.) Parmesan made anywhere else can only be called Parmesan.

Parmigiano Reggiano does cost more than other Parmesans but it's flavor is worth every penny.  It's not overly pungent like other Parmesans.  In fact, it's wonderful at room temperature, thinly sliced and eaten with apple slices.  It keeps very well in the frig.  I try to use it only on dishes that will allow its flavor to come through, i.e. on top of fresh pasta, simple pizzas, salads and with fruit.

When shopping for Parmigiano Reggiano, look for wedges with its name stamped on the side in the rind.  Take time to examine the wedge.  The outer rind is eatable but HARD to grate; I have to use a Microplane zester to make use of it all.

Look for a wedge that has been cut from the middle of the cheese wheel.  It will have 1/2-inch rind edge that's dry looking , but the rest will be milkier in color, softer and easier to grate.  You'll soon see the difference when you compare it to a wedge that was cut from the bottom or top of the cheese wheel.

If you live near a specialty grocery store, I fondly call them foodie marts, they will carry true Parmigiano Reggiano.

Now, I'll throw this next piece in for free - I've found other young Parmesans, not from Italy, that taste just as good and cost less than Parmigiano Reggiano.  I've learned through tasting that the longer the cheese is aged, the more pungent it becomes.  Some cheese labels will say on the label "Aged at least 10 months" or "Aged 18 months or longer."

My family and I enjoy the Wisconsin cheese, VERDACCIO Parmesan Cheese, Aged at least 10 months.   I buy it from Brookshire's, our local grocery store.  When left out to warm to room temperature, we happily eat it with sliced apples.  It's a great hard cheese to have on a fruit & cheese tray, grated over broiled French bread slices, over baked potatoes, on lightly flavored pasta dishes, and mild soups.

Parmesan cheese aged 18 months or longer is very strong.  It can stand out among stronger tasting ingredients.  It's perfect for lasagnas, baked pastas with thick tomato sauces, baked on top of pizza with stronger tasting toppings.  I wouldn't hesitate to use it for these dishes.

Now you know all that I know.  I hope I've been some help to you.  Let me know how your shopping experience turns out.  And let me know how you like the Italian brand over other Parmesan makers.

If you have questions about particular food items, how to cook something, or you need help finding an old, old recipe, just holler!  I'm never too far from my iPhone or laptop.  Sometimes, it takes me a day or seven to get back with you with an answer, but I will get back with you.  Use the Contact Form to reach me from SDR or reply to any of the weekly newsletters and I'll get your questions.

I'll be honest; I've not tried coconut milk on its own.  A sweet friend of mine, Cheryl, uses quite often and she makes an incredible chicken dinner using it.  I really need to get her recipe and share with you. Anyhoo.

So now, I'm wondering if you've ever tried coconut milk.

• What do you know about it?
• Do you use it regularly?
• How do you use it in your cooking?

I could always Google 'coconut milk' and its uses, but I'm REALLY interested in knowing what YOU know about it.

If you're looking for a creepy, cool Halloween idea for your table setting, try making eyeballs with Swan gourds.  The kids really got into this art project and had a blast!  I did, too.

Keep an eye out for Swan gourds at your local farmers' market or the grocery store.  I recommend picking gourds with the most dark green color you can find, and the smoother the better.

• Use a sheet of newsprint to cover your table.
• Craft acrylic gloss paints, black, blue, white/silver, and dark red
• small paint brushes
• small fan to quickly dry the paint

Start with a base coat of white for the eyeball area and dark red for the neck of the Swan gourd.  Allow each coat to thoroughly dry before painting the next layer.

Paint the iris and pupil of the eye next.

Finally, add fine lines with the dark red paint for the blood vessels in the eye.  The more vessels the better it looks.  Practice making fine lines on the newsprint with your brush, before starting on the gourd.  It helps.

HAVE FUN!

I just wanted you to see the differences in the yolks from chickens that eat grains, mixed grain & grass & insects, and chickens that only feed on grass and insects.

Their flavors are as distinctive as the colors indicate.  The bottom yolks shown are FAR BETTER than the flavorless yolk at top.  And that's all I've got to say about that.

Have you ever considered having chickens?

I keep 3 chickens in my backyard and they are so easy to care for.  They consistently give back.  I live within the city limits and my neighbors love to hear their soothing clucks.  I have a very small yard, so three chickens is just enough to keep the weeds down and the harmful insects out.  They only need shelter at night, a watering can and a small feed trough for supplemental feedings.  They get plenty of sunshine, bugs (their favorite meal) and exercise on their own.

If you're in a place in your life where you would like to raise chickens.  I recommend these two sources:

Build a Chicken Coop
Easy To Follow Step-By-Step Plans For Building Your Own Chicken Coop

Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens: Care / Feeding / Facilities
Everything you need to know to raise one chicken or one hundred.

It's rare of me to make personal journal posts on Simple Daily Recipes, however, I REALLY wanted to share some photos with y'all.

A few weeks back the City Manager of Sulphur Springs, Marc Maxwell CALLED ME asking if I would do a cooking demonstration for our local Main Street Farmer's Market.  As maturely and calmly as I could, I said "YES!" It wasn't until I hung up with Marc that I remembered - I can't cook and talk at the same time!  Oh pickles!

Marc asked if I would bake Spinach Feta Bread on location and fill the air with fresh baked bread.  This particular recipe would bring attention to the vendors selling spinach and homemade feta cheese.  Again, I said, "Sure!"

This was such an opportunity for me and SimpleDailyRecipes.com.  You see, YOU know of me, but my own home town doesn't have a clue I'm here.  This was my chance to get the word out around town.

Seeing how I've NEVER cooked in public before, especially baking bread outdoors, I called on my facebook friend and cookbook co-author of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, Zoe Francois, for help.  Zoe was a real sweetheart, giving advice and support with every question that came to my mind.  Zoe advised me to bake loaves ahead of time, then warm them on location to have ready to give out as samples.  She's so smart.

Four days before kick off, I quickly learned how to calculate large amounts of ingredients and determine my expenses.  I created a classy looking flyer that promoted Simple Daily Recipes and sent it off for printing.

Three days before, I made all the doughs.  Besides Spinach Feta Bread, I prepared the Onion Rye Bread on page 63 of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.  (That was an excellent choice!)

The day before the cooking demonstration was baking day.  I started at 7:30 in the morning and finished packing up everything by 8 0'clock that evening.  I ended up with 18 loaves of Spinach Feta and uh, I think 14 loaves of Onion Rye.

Packed and ready for the Main Street Farmer's Market.

I can confidently say that I can make bread with my eyes closed now.  And it's no problem Showing others how easy it is to make Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

I had a wonderful time at the Main Street Farmer's Market.  My dearest friend, Kim Sellers (shown in first photo), stayed by my side.  Kim was an excellent promoter.  She's the Nutritionist at the local hospital and knew most of the people walking by.  When I would finish demonstrating the bread, Kim would step in and talk about the food blog.  It was as if we rehearsed, yet we had not considered one word. Totally smooth, full on smokin'!

Folks crowded around the booth, drawn by the aroma of fresh bread, excited to taste the crispy loaves.  I talked and baked and talked and baked and talked some more.  So many good people, friendly faces, and all happy to learn of SimpleDailyRecipes.com.  It was a fantastic experience that I will never forget.

I cannot close without saying thank you to Charles and John, our dear husbands.  They took turns watching all the kids while Kim & I rocked the farmer's market.  THANK YOU Charles & John!

Maggie being a mom at Windy Meadows Family Farm

Windy Meadows Family Farm is run by a the friendliest family.  Tucked within the tall pines and peaceful country side, you'll find Windy Meadows in Campbell, Texas, North of interstate highway 30, off highway 50.  They sell the healthiest chickens and freshest hand picked chicken eggs you will ever eat!

From their site:

The Mike and Connie Hale Family and their children have raised pastured chicken and grass fed beef and lamb on their 40 acres of  Windy Meadows Family Farm  in North East Texas for nearly twenty years.  Their concerns for food safety for their own children led them to the decision for raise natural meats without added hormones, antibiotics or feed stimulants. They now have a state-inspected poultry processing facility on their farm that produces pastured chicken and sausage for taste-discriminating palates in the Dallas area. Their customers fall into two categories: those who want pastured meats because they are raise in a more responsible manner, and those who simply want the best-tasting chicken.  Some of the chicken raised by Windy Meadows Family Farm grace the tables of some of the finest four-star restaurants in Dallas that are seeking  locally grown and responsibly raised nataural meats.  Their chicken is available at several loctions in the Metroplex, including several buying clubs and farmers markets.

I'm fortunate enough to live down the road from their farm.  I drive out on Mondays, I call first, and pick up my usual order (3 whole chickens, 2 dozens eggs, and bag of chicken soup bones).  For everyone living near downtown Dallas, one convenient place to get their pastured meats is from the Texas Meats Supernatural at the Dallas Farmers Market booth in Shed 2.  Look for the wood cabin.

The first thing I noticed after buying my first order from Windy Meadows was the minimal amount of fat on the whole chickens.  I slathered that first chicken with butter, smoked salt & fresh ground pepper, stuffed it with a cut lemon and few cloves of garlic then baked it at 425ºF for 1 1/2 hours.  Oh ho ho ho BABY!

Very little fat came off that chicken, I had just enough of the juices to make up a scrumptious sauce to pour over mashed potatoes.  It was beautiful, I almost cried when I tasted the difference.  All this time, wasted eating store bought chickens and having to cover it other ingredients to help them to have flavor.  When all along, I could have been serving my family chicken that was raised as God intended.  I'm glad to have Windy Meadows meats within reach.

As for the eggs, same praise is shouted here.  For years now, I've paid extra to have the cage free chicken eggs from the grocery store.  But even their flavor & yolk color does not compare to eggs from chickens raised on fresh grass, roaming around chasing & eating grasshoppers, worms & other insects.  The happy chicken's yolk is a golden orange with notably more flavor you want on your plate for breakfast and in your baking.  You haven't eaten the best quiche, unless it's been made from happy chicken eggs.

Check out Windy Meadows Family Farm website to learn more about them.

If you don't live anywhere near Dallas or Campbell, Texas, that's okay.  You can still find grass fed chickens and their eggs near you.  Go to Local Harvest.org, they have a wealthy database of farms, farmer's markets, CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), food clubs and their own online store.  I recommend joining their newsletter to learn about new farms opening up, festival information and when fresh season crops are available.

SUPER HEALTHY MILK

By Jo Robinson

Most cartons of milk in the supermarket show a picture of cows contentedly grazing on grass. Unfortunately, 85 to 95 percent of the cows in the United States are now being raised in confinement, not on pasture. The only grass they eat comes in the form of hay, and the ground that they stand on is a blend of dirt and manure.

The reason for confining our cows in feedlots and feeding them grain rather than grass is that they produce more milk—especially when injected with bi-weekly hormones. Today's grainfed cows produce three times as much milk as the old family cow of days gone by.

With the current emphasis on quantity, the quality of our milk has suffered. One of the biggest losses has been in its CLA content. CLA or "conjugated linoleic acid" is a type of fat that may prove to be one of our most potent cancer fighters. Milk from a pastured cow can have five times as much CLA as a grainfed animal. To date, most of the proof of the health benefits of CLA has come from test tube or animal studies. But a few recent human studies have produced encouraging results. For example, French researchers compared CLA levels in the breast tissues of 360 women. The women with the most CLA in their tissue (and thus the most CLA in their diets) had a 74 percent lower risk of breast cancer than the women with the least CLA.(Bougnoux et al, Inform, 10:S43, 1999.) If an American woman were to switch from grain fed to grassfed dairy products, she would have levels of CLA similar to those with the lowest risk of cancer. Got CLA milk?

Milk from pastured cows also contains an ideal ratio of essential fatty acids or EFAs. There are two families of EFAs—omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. Studies suggest that if your diet contains roughly equal amounts of these two fats, you will have a lower risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disorders, allergies, obesity, diabetes, dementia, and various other mental disorders.[1]

Take a few moments to study the chart below showing EFA levels in milk from cows fed varying amounts of grass and grain.[2] The green bars represent omega-3 fatty acids in the milk, and the yellow bars represent omega-6 fatty acids. As you can see, when a cow is raised on pasture (represented by the two bars on the far left), her milk has an ideal ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids. Take away one third of the grass and replace it with grain or other supplements (represented by the two bars in the middle) and the omega-3 fatty acid content of the milk goes down while the omega-6 fatty acid content goes up, upsetting an essential balance. Replace two-thirds of the pasture with a grain-based diet (illustrated by the two bars on the far right) and the milk will have a very top-heavy ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids, a ratio that has been linked with an increased risk of a wide variety of conditions, including obesity, diabetes, depression, and cancer. Much of the milk you buy in the supermarket has an even more lopsided ratio than the final set of measurements because they get no pasture whatsoever.

100% pasture creates ideal EFA balance

Milk from pastured cows offers additional health benefits. (I'm beginning to sound like a TV infomercial: "But wait! There's more!") Besides giving you five times more CLA and an ideal balance of EFAs, grassfed milk is higher in beta-carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin E. This vitamin bonus comes, in part, from the fact that fresh pasture has more of these nutrients than grain or hay. (When grass is dried and turned into hay, it loses a significant amount of its vitamin content.) These extra helpings of vitamins are then transferred to the cow's milk.

There's another factor involved as well. A grazing cow produces less milk than a cow fed a grain-based diet. This turns out to be a bane for the farmer but a blessing for the consumer. The less milk a cow produces, the more vitamins in her milk.[3] This is because a cow has a set amount of vitamins to transfer to her milk, and if she's bred, fed, and injected to be a Super Producer, her milk has fewer vitamins per glass. It's a watered down version of the real thing.

Oh, I almost forgot the best part of all. Dairy products from grassfed cows taste delicious, and they have a bright yellow color that is visible proof of their bonus supply of carotenes. Serve cheese or butter from a grass-based dairy, and everyone will notice the difference. Also, your cookies and cakes will have that rich buttery color that hasn't been seen since Grandma's day. (You do bake, don't you?)

So where can you find milk from pastured cows? All of the dairies listed on www.eatwild.com keep their cows outdoors on grass whenever possible. Some farmers supplement the cows with small amounts of grain. If so, their listing will detail the type and amount. To find a local producer, go to our list of grass-fed suppliers (link) and click on your state. We also have a special section devoted to farmers who feed their cows 100 percent forage-based diets.

Can you find grass-fed milk in the supermarkets? Unfortunately, an organic label is no guarantee that the cows are raised outdoors on grass. If the label does not mention pasture-feeding, you can assume that the cows were raised in confinement and fed a high-grain diet supplemented with hay. Two large organic brands make a point of contracting with grass-based dairy farmers—Organic Valley, a national brand, and Natural by Nature, which is sold in select stores around. (Go to their website to find a local distributor. http://www.natural-by-nature.com)

____________________________________________________________

Jo Robinson is a New York Times bestselling writer. She is the author or coauthor of 11 nationally published books including Pasture Perfect, which is a comprehensive overview of the benefits of choosing products from pasture-raised animals, and The Omega Diet (with Dr. Artemis Simopoulos) that describes an omega-3 enriched Mediterranean diet that may be the healthiest eating program of all. To order her books or learn more about grassfed products, visit http://eatwild.com.

[1] For more information about essential fatty acid balance, read The Omega Diet, a book I co-authored with internationally acclaimed fatty acid expert, Dr. Artemis Simopoulos. The Omega Diet has 24 pages of pertinent scientific references.

[2] The data comes from: Dhiman, T. R., G. R. Anand, et al. (1999). "Conjugated linoleic acid content of milk from cows fed different diets." J Dairy Sci 82(10): 2146-56.

[3] Jensen, S. K., A. K. Johannsen, et al. (1999). "Quantitative secretion and maximal secretion capacity of retinol, beta-carotene and alpha-tocopherol into cows' milk." J Dairy Res 66(4): 511-22.