Bacon and banana birthdays September 15, 2008

If any of you have children, you will understand that some kids have an odd taste in food. My youngest daughter is 3 today and I was asking her what she wanted for her birthday dinner. Her response to me was “bacon.” Not quite what I was expecting….I proceeded to tell her that she needed to eat something else besides bacon and she told me she wanted bananas. Bacon and bananas. What kind of birthday meal is that? I was trying to think of what I could possibly make with those ingredients. Not much came to mind, by the way. So, I decided to tackle it 2 different ways. I used the bananas to make chocolate chip-banana bread. It’s just like banana bread, except for the chocolate chips and it’s fierce! One of my favorites. I decided to leave the bacon alone, at least for her and I would juice it up for the rest of us. I mixed 1C brown sugar, 1 tsp. black pepper and 1 tsp. cayenne altogether in a bowl and sprinkled it on top of raw bacon on a sheet pan. Pop it into the oven until it’s crispy and you’ll have some killer bacon. If you think that may be too spicy for you, cut the cayenne back a little, but it’s supposed to have a kick!

I would love to know what some of your favorite birthday food requests have been. Especially the moms. I think the bacon and banana birthday is gonna go down in our family history as one of the oddest, that’s for sure!

How do you feel about organic? September 4, 2008

I was reading one of the new cookbooks that I got for my birthday, and in it there is a chapter about organic foods.  It got me wondering how important organic food is to everyone or if its something that “other” people do, but you don’t mess with.   To be honest, I find myself somewhere in between an organic goddess and totally ignorant.   I realize there are certain foods that should be purchased organically, but I also don’t subscribe to the entire lifestyle.  Anyway, in this cookbook, which is called “The Sneaky Chef” there is a chapter about organic foods and which ones are the most important to buy organically.  I thought I’d share that with you.

Apparently there is a list referred to as “The Dirty Dozen.”  This list contains the most heavily contaminated foods by pesticides and residues.  Because these foods have thinner skins than others, they absorb the pesticides easier.  The foods you should buy organically are:  Peaches, strawberries, apples, spinach, nectarines, celery, pears, cherries, potatoes, sweet bell peppers, raspberries and grapes.  Keep in mind next time you go to the store that many of the foods we eat on a regular basis are heavily contaminated.

On the flip side of that are a list of foods that are the least contaminated due to their thick skin or coating.  They are:  Sweet corn, avocados, pineapples, cauliflower, mangoes, sweet peas, asparagus, onions, broccoli, bananas, kiwis, and papayas.  Those have officially made the safe list.

Again, I’m not a huge organic promoter, but I do realize the importance of buying some foods this way.  I thought you may like to have a list to have handy next time you head to the store.