A Trolley Full of Calories

Probably it is a trait found more in woman. Inquisitiveness. But then you could say it’s because we are just more interested in certain things.

Standing in line at the Supermarket for instance. I don’t know about you, but I always look at what everybody else has in their trolley,and in the few seconds it takes to look, I build my opinion about them,which I must admit isn’t always noble. Maybe because there are more and more people buying things who are having difficulty fitting in the food lines.

Yesterday the very overweight young woman in front of me put a large packet of Florentines,a delicious,toffee type cookie of fruit and nuts coated with a heavy layer of milk chocolate on one side. (Yes I will post the recipe) Plus a jumbo pack each of M and M’s, and Maltesers, a one kilo bag of refined sugar and a bottle of red wine. (Nothing against a glass of red wine of course)

There are people out there,like my blogging colleague Joe Felso who have started counting calories,and I wonder why more people can’t do it, for we all Know what obesity brings us, and it isn’t as though the food that make us fat is cheap.

Why can’t the food stores scan the calories as well as the price.

In Switzerland all medical care must be paid for. It is very good but very expensive,and health care insurance costs rise each year. We now have thousands of families in the county where I live alone, who can’t afford health insurance or pay for a doctor to treat their sick children, because others can’t discipline their eating habits and are making themselves chronically ill which we all have to pay for.

I think it is time Insurance companies gave some kind of bonus to people that could verify a certain weight loss over a years period,then there might be an incentive to count calories and eat healthier.

Birchermuesli, Perfect Food For The Olympics

Although I vowed I wouldn’t watch any of the Beijing Olympics, I found myself sitting in front of the television,excusing myself by saying I had to wish Roger, who was carrying the Swiss Flag,Happy Birthday.

The Swiss have now managed to win a bronze medal,so I am now committed to watch us beat the Chinese !

I live in the land of the original Birchermuesli.Nothing out of packets for me. It is the perfect food for watching the Olympics on TV. Nourishing, quick,easy and you don’t get a bad conscience looking at all those perfect bodies,because it doesn’t need to have many calories. It usually tastes better though for a good lashing of cream and sugar, brown of course.

Dr.Bircher-Benner 1867-1939, pioneer of whole food health and Birchermuesli introducer, might raise his eyebrows at mine, but basically it is the same as his, which is still served in the sanatorium he founded in Zürich.

You need;

A cup of dry rolled oats

soak in

2-3 cups of fluid, milk, milk/creme, milk/yogurt, or evaporated milk as preferred for about 30minutes.

add

2 apples,grated unpeeled,

1tablespoon of lemon juice (optional)

a handfull of chopped nuts (I like pecan or walnuts),

lots of berries, whatever you have,raspberries, blueberries,strawberries,etc

2 bananas sliced

other fruit if liked, peaches,plums,apricots,mango,chopped. (oranges or pineapple don’t combine well)

Sweeten with honey,brown sugar,or molasses.

Add more fluid if too dry, and serve with whipped cream if you are not counting calories.

In Switzerland Birchermuesli is often eaten with wholemeal bread and butter as a complete meal.

En Guete and let the best man (or woman) win.

As Sour as a Lemon

I am a bit sour because I didn’t think of it myself.
For years now if a recipe called for a few drops, or spoonfull
of lemon juice I would cut a lemon in half and squeeze.
I did know if I rolled it back and forth on a hard surface first juice would flow more freely, and I have always done this.
Of course after cutting, the lemon wouldn’t last too long.

Today I read that if you stuck a needle into it (Presumably a fine knitting needle) the exact amount needed could be sqeezed out and the lemon would remain closed and fresh much longer.

Now why didn’t I think of that.

How to make Dandelion Soup

Everyone seems to love Dandelions.
I saw this Recipe in the Le Menu. Try it if they aren’t all picked.

Dandelion Soup

1 Bunch of Spring Onions, chopped
1 Handfull of Dandelion Leaves,chopped
2 Soup spoons of Semolina
600ml of Vegetable Bouillion
100ml of double cream
Salt and Pepper to taste.

Fry Onions lightly in Butter,add Semolina and Bouillion.
Cook slowly in pan half covered by lid for 15 minutes.
Mash together if possible with a mixer.
Add cream and heat,add finely chopped dandelion leaves.
Add salt and pepper as liked.
Serve in warmed bowls,decorated with a swirl of cream and what else-
a small dandelion and leaf

Mothers Day

The sun is shining.Birds are singing.Our garden is already full of flowers. It is a good day.Especially as I am about to be spoilt. Why?
Because it is Mothers Day in Switzerland,and I am one.
I have grown out of the role of course,my daughters have long turned into my friends,which is I suppose as big a compliment as any mother could wish. But I am getting more today. An organised Brunch in the garden and a big bouquet of wild flowers like the ones they used to pick when they were small.

If you are celebrating in your country today.
Happy Mothers Day.

The Euro 2008 and the Potato

You might think the Euro and Potatoes have nothing in common but you would be wrong.

“Swisspatat” the Swiss Potato Industry Organisation says it does.
It is the Worlds best loved vegetable, and Football is the best loved sport. These bind.

Therefore Swisspatat want to widen the horizons of Football Fans with Potato Recipes
from the participating Euro countries, menu ideas and theme evenings are being arranged to waken the interest of fans for other cultures.
Whether “Swedish Potato Pot”, Tschech”Potato Packets”,or “Drunken Potatoes” from Portugal.
Tubors tie.
Infos can be found under http://www.kartoffel.ch

Mince and Macaroni

Yesterday we were invited to a friends’ Restaurant.He is a very good cook,in fact he graduated from the famous Ecole Hôtelière in Lausanne.That doesn’t stop him cooking plain,and inexpensive food well.
So he made something for us which he knows my husband loves. A dish that just the title will start every Swiss abroad drooling.

G’HACKETS und HOERNLI mit AEPFELMUES (minced beef and macaroni with apple sauce)

Very quickly made, thrifty, filling, and delicious.

Now no Chef tells you his exact recipe,but I will let you Know the basics and you can experiment with the gravy.

400,gr. of minced beef, if possible minced twice.
2 large onions chopped finely
1 clove of garlic,crushed
1 laurel leaf.
2 tablespoons of flour
1 liter of beef or vegetable boullion
salt and pepper
oil to fry.

Fry meat quickly at high temperature,add onions and garlic, salt and pepper. Fry lightly together.
Sprinkle and mix with flour.
Add warm bouillon and cook gently for five to ten minutes.

400gr, Macaroni, if possible fresh, cooked in lots of hot salted water
2 large onions fried in plenty of butter or oil.
Pour over cooked macaroni before serving.(Optional,as unhealthy but good)

Enough peeled and sliced apples to make quantity of sauce desired.
Cook in very little water with sugar if liked.
Sieve or mash.
Add some ground cinnamon to taste.
Serve seperately.

En Guete

Food or Fuel?

Last year approximately 100,000 tons of grain was used to make biological fueI.
I love the colour green, but I love a fresh loaf of bread more.

1 Swiss Frank per day, per person.

Worldwide at least a billion people must live on this amount. That hardly pays for basic food.

The price for grain is exploding because it is being used for bio fuel.

The price of rice rose by 75% in the last two monthes. The price of corn rose over the last twelve monthes by 120%. One of the causes being merchant speculation.

It takes 200 kilo of corn to manufacture enough Ethanol to fill a 95 Liter tank. With this amount of corn a person could feed themselves for a year.

2102 Million tones of grain was harvested in the world in 2007. Half of it was used for animal food and biological fuel.

Work the rest of it out for yourselves.

Can we let this go on?

How to make a Dandelion Pizza

From my earlier Dandelion post you will have read that Dandelions are good for you.
A salad made with the young leaves, picked before the plant starts to flower and mixed with an Aceto Balsamico salad dressing tastes really delicate and willl do wonders for your liver.

Salad might not be for you, but try Dandelion Pizza.

Roll out a round of Pizza pastry,
Spread with Tomato Sugo,
Cover with cut pieces of Mozzarella Cheese (about 100gr.)
Sprinkle with crumbled bits of Pecorino Cheese (about 50gr.)
Lastly cover with 3-4 slices of Parma Ham,and freshly milled pepper.

Bake for 15-20 minutes at 2oo° C

Make a salad dressing with 1 Tablespoon of Aceto Balsamico,preferably rosso,and 2Tablespoons of Olive Oil. Salt and Pepper.

Mix with 50gr. of clean dry Dandelion leaves.
Spread over cooked hot Pizza,and serve immediately.

En Guete

Dandelions are good for you but don’t wet the bed.

Yesterday I saw a Dandelion in bloom for the first time this year.

What a promise it made of warm weather and blue skies.

It reminded me of my childhood when we played in the fields and got the milk of the plant all over our hands and clothes.

Our Mothers were angry because the stains wouldn’t come out, and we feared that we would really wet the bed-for that’s what they said about picking Dandelions.

We didn’t have Coke in those days,but my Grandmother used to buy something that looked like it from the Lemonade Man who came around twice a week. It was called Dandelion and Burdock and I thought it was horrid.

I knew then that Dandelions were not poisonous,but I certainly didn’t want to swallow them in any form.

Now I know that there is hardly a plant growing in our fields that is more versatile, and like many spring flowers detoxifying.
From the first leaves you can make a delicate salad.Cooked the leaves are a bit like Spinach.

If you have a lot of patience you can even make a type of sparkling wine.

Roast the roots in Autumn and you can use them to replace Coffee grains. You can also make a kind of savoury paste if after grating them you mix them with Olive Oil.

The flowers are also known as “Poor man’s Saffron” and gives a Risotto a new note.

Dandelions are probably the first flower that children learn to love. Not only for their colour in a bunch but as a plaything when they are in seed.

Did you know that the seeds of a “Parachute” if blown into the air can travel up to 10 Kilometers.

Just the things for gardeners.