You may recall our new cast of characters here at OLAC including Charlotte's beloved Lady.
As it turns out Lady is a liar.
I reported before that Lady was a Pearl-White Leghorn hen. Lets just say that wasn't quite accurate.
Now, I know what you're thinking "uh, oh. Is Lady a fella?" the answer is no (well... I don't think so, chickens are tricky that way) though for a while I was worried that was the case too.
You see, Lady was once a pretty lil fluffy yellow chick. However, much to Charlotte's dismay, she quickly dispensed with her yellow plumage and replaced it with beautiful white feathers. But that was only the first molt, this week I began noticing that Lady, a chicken who was supposed to be a Pearl-White Leghorn, aka a very white bird, has a suspiciously reddish head/neck/shoulders. Not to mention the fact that her supposed creamy white legs were awfully slate colored.
Since I know essentially nothing about chicken breeds I presumed this meant that she got mixed up with one of the Cornish X Rocks that our friend had ordered along with our chicks. This was reasonable, as Cornish X Rocks start out fluffy and yellow, and end up white. This is a problem though because all of those chicks were male.
While I don't know much about chickens I do know that males don't lay eggs.
Luckily one of the other prominent features of Cornish X Rocks is their stocky legs. Something which Lady thankfully lacks.
When I discussed my confusion with Garrett the Chicken Man, he said that Lady's very un-Pearl-White Leghorn features are actually hallmarks for Araucanas. This comes as something of a surprise because Mango is an Araucana and she looks, to be blunt...nothing like Lady.
As it turns out though, Araucana's are bred for the egg colored trait, not for uniformity in their plumage.
Since Lady is probably going to end up with a buff/yellow head and neck, Charlotte is pleased. But she was even more excited to hear that Lady is likely to give us blue, green or even yes...pink eggs.
If she turns out both once being a fluffy yellow chick and then later laying pink eggs we're going into the chicken breeding business and marketing Lady's offspring as Princess Chickens, perfect for little girls.
Showing posts with label chicken. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chicken. Show all posts
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Eat Your Colors: Eggs
Britt keeps up with the food hippie stuff more than I do, but I have heard from time to time that the new trend in deciding on what type of diet one should be eating is to "eat your colors."
The main intent of this notion is that each color in a food represents a different vitamin or mineral and that by eating a variety of colors you are also consuming a variety of necessary nutrients.
This seems awfully simplistic but as a ceramic artist I am accustomed to the visual cues that certain mineral oxides display in a given clay body or glaze recipe. While these days we order mined or purified forms of minerals (red iron oxide, cobalt, potassium carbonate etc.) from specialty shops, in the initial stages of glazing ceramic objects early peoples had to rely on the naturally occurring mineral deposits found in trace amounts in the materials around them.
In fact, the first glazes weren't even applied to the ceramic objects at all, but rather each object was given a vitreous, glossy surface simply by the ash from the wood used to stoke the fire achieving such high temperatures that it began to melt and left behind trace minerals such as calcium and potassium, which when left to cool, hardened to a glassy finish.
Because of my background in ceramics as well as my identity as a Catholic I have a intimate understanding of the hidden inner essence of things which are often only hinted at by outward appearances.
That being said, the thing which finally convinced me to foot the bill for cage-free eggs wasn't animal rights, wasn't ecology, but rather it was the fact that factory produced eggs have less food in them.
Sure, a dozen cage-free eggs is still 12 eggs as much as a dozen industrial eggs. But within each egg which came from a chicken who was allowed to actually walk around and maybe even scratch around to eat a bug or two there is a substantially larger amount of nutrients.This became most evident to me when I compared a run of the mill, industrial egg to one of the cage-free eggs we purchased. The color difference was striking, the yolk of the industrial egg literally paled in comparison. It was yellow, barely yellow, where as the cage-free egg was what one might call orange.
According to Real Food University , which sites studies from two articles published in Mother Earth News, an egg produced by a pasture raised chicken versus an egg produced in an industrial egg factory contains:
Sure enough, the rolling lush green hills littered with frolicking chickens which I had imagined was an utter fantasy compared to the actual practice of cage-free egg production. Now, don't' get me wrong, when given the option between a cage of chickens huddled unhealthily close together who are never allowed to walk around or even touch solid ground and the crowd of chickens I saw milling around the floor of the vast barn complex, I'd gladly choose the latter, however its still not quite the ideal I had in mind.
In comes Val, our new Transylvanian Naked Neck, and her lovely large brown eggs. Because we were saving some to give to the priests who serve our parish we actually had yet to eat any of Val's eggs until this morning. Charlotte eagerly helped crack them and was excited to make breakfast with me, however we only had two of Val's eggs to the third egg I added to the skillet was one of the cage-free eggs we had bought. The difference was stunning, in fact I had flashbacks to the day we compared industrial eggs to cage-free eggs. The difference was so stark that while our typical breakfast conversation is Charlotte asking for more "yellow egg" (yolk) today she was asking for another bite of "orange egg."
Why are Val's eggs so much deeper in color? Because not only is Val not confined to a tiny cage, not only is she allowed to walk around and scratch up the dirt to eat bugs and rocks (both of which have a wide array of mineral contributions to her diet) but she also gets to see the light of day. Whether you care about humane animal practices, if you care about your food you'll quickly realize that a happy chicken, is a productive chicken, in both the quality and quantity of her eggs.
I can only imagine what it would be like to compare Val's egg to an industrial egg, it would be like seeing a yolk's ghost.
Moral of the story? Don't just eat your colors. Eat vivid, deep, rich colors, because there's more food in there than their pale counterparts.
The main intent of this notion is that each color in a food represents a different vitamin or mineral and that by eating a variety of colors you are also consuming a variety of necessary nutrients.
This seems awfully simplistic but as a ceramic artist I am accustomed to the visual cues that certain mineral oxides display in a given clay body or glaze recipe. While these days we order mined or purified forms of minerals (red iron oxide, cobalt, potassium carbonate etc.) from specialty shops, in the initial stages of glazing ceramic objects early peoples had to rely on the naturally occurring mineral deposits found in trace amounts in the materials around them.
In fact, the first glazes weren't even applied to the ceramic objects at all, but rather each object was given a vitreous, glossy surface simply by the ash from the wood used to stoke the fire achieving such high temperatures that it began to melt and left behind trace minerals such as calcium and potassium, which when left to cool, hardened to a glassy finish.
Because of my background in ceramics as well as my identity as a Catholic I have a intimate understanding of the hidden inner essence of things which are often only hinted at by outward appearances.
That being said, the thing which finally convinced me to foot the bill for cage-free eggs wasn't animal rights, wasn't ecology, but rather it was the fact that factory produced eggs have less food in them.
Sure, a dozen cage-free eggs is still 12 eggs as much as a dozen industrial eggs. But within each egg which came from a chicken who was allowed to actually walk around and maybe even scratch around to eat a bug or two there is a substantially larger amount of nutrients.This became most evident to me when I compared a run of the mill, industrial egg to one of the cage-free eggs we purchased. The color difference was striking, the yolk of the industrial egg literally paled in comparison. It was yellow, barely yellow, where as the cage-free egg was what one might call orange.
According to Real Food University , which sites studies from two articles published in Mother Earth News, an egg produced by a pasture raised chicken versus an egg produced in an industrial egg factory contains:
- 1/3 less cholesterol
- 1/4 less saturated fat
- 2/3 more vitamin A
- 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
- 3 times more vitamin E
- 7 times more beta carotene
- 4 to 6 times as much vitamin D
Sure enough, the rolling lush green hills littered with frolicking chickens which I had imagined was an utter fantasy compared to the actual practice of cage-free egg production. Now, don't' get me wrong, when given the option between a cage of chickens huddled unhealthily close together who are never allowed to walk around or even touch solid ground and the crowd of chickens I saw milling around the floor of the vast barn complex, I'd gladly choose the latter, however its still not quite the ideal I had in mind.
In comes Val, our new Transylvanian Naked Neck, and her lovely large brown eggs. Because we were saving some to give to the priests who serve our parish we actually had yet to eat any of Val's eggs until this morning. Charlotte eagerly helped crack them and was excited to make breakfast with me, however we only had two of Val's eggs to the third egg I added to the skillet was one of the cage-free eggs we had bought. The difference was stunning, in fact I had flashbacks to the day we compared industrial eggs to cage-free eggs. The difference was so stark that while our typical breakfast conversation is Charlotte asking for more "yellow egg" (yolk) today she was asking for another bite of "orange egg."
 | |
| I'll give you 1 guess as to which 2 are Val's |
I can only imagine what it would be like to compare Val's egg to an industrial egg, it would be like seeing a yolk's ghost.
Moral of the story? Don't just eat your colors. Eat vivid, deep, rich colors, because there's more food in there than their pale counterparts.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Chicks (and one Chicken)
List of new
characters in Our Live Active Culture:
Val:
An 8 month old Buff Transylvanian Naked Neck (sounds salacious, no?). She was
procured for free from a family who is thinning their flock a bit. Since
getting Val she has survived temperatures as low as 14F and all the while has
dutifully supplied a large brown egg 5 out of 6 days. Val was promised to us on Valentine's Day (hence her name) but we picked her up Saturday.
The rest are chicks which we received Tuesday, though they arrived early Monday morning to our friend's house from McMurray Hatchery (a great resource for chicks with incredible service and excellent breeding stock by the way.)
 | |
| Charlotte finalizing names |
Lady: A 5 day old Pearl
Leghorn who happens to be Charlotte’s favorite, this coincides well with the
fact that she is the prototypical chick: fluffy, cute and most importantly
yellow (Charlotte’s favorite color). Eventually she will become white, but
Charlotte need not know that yet. I have also been warned by Britt’s brother
(who has raised chickens most of his rational life) that she may end up suffering
from a bit of a “Queen of the Roost” complex. She is also predicted to be our
most prolific layer of large white eggs, so it may be a title well deserved, but
only time will tell.
Biscuit: A 5 day old
Rhode Island Red who is also generally yellow, but has a blushing of red on her
top “coat”. Biscuit is somewhat unmemorable other than the fact that her name
was inspired by the story of the Little Red Hen (in Britt’s southern version
the hen makes biscuits instead of bread *shrug*) and therefore is one that
Charlotte often recalls. She is supposed to grow up to be the largest chicken,
in close contention with Lady. I am interested to see how she’ll turn out as
Rhode Island Reds are enormously popular chickens because of their strong
capacity to produce large brown eggs as well as meat.
 |
| Bird's Eye View (hyuck, hyuck) |
Betsy: A 5 day old
Barred Rock, she is one of two black chicks but since the other has no feathers
on its neck she is easy to discern. Betsy is probably the most docile of all
the chicks, she still is energetic, but compared to the rest she is markedly
more subdued. She will eventually become black and white…checkered (for lack of
a better word) which is the very definition of “barred”. Barred Rocks are
another popular dual purpose (eggs and meat) breed.
Mango: A 5 day old Buff
Araucana, by far the largest chick of the batch, Mango stands nearly a full
head taller than her brood mates. She is likely to continue to distinguish
herself even after everyone’s height averages out because of her pastel colored
eggs. Because the exact tone of the egg shell depends both upon the individual
chicken as well as the individual egg we’ll have to wait in anticipation to
find out if she’ll lay pink, green or blue eggs.
And Finally, after much
suspense…
Pesto: A 5 day old
Black Transylvanian Naked Neck. She was the star of the teaser comic book cover
featured in last post. At the end of day 2 (after being shipped from Iowa, and
then taken home in a home-made pet crate along with her 4 brood mates from our
friend’s house to her new home at an undisclosed location) Pesto looked a lot worse
for the wear. She was gasping and lethargic and frankly looked like she would
likely die in my hands, let alone survive another day. However, after deciding
to leave her be and give her some rest and then having a discussion with
Charlotte about the possibility of her death, followed by night-time prayers
beseeching St. Brigid (patroness of chickens) to spare Pesto if it be God’s
will, Pesto seems to have made a full recovery and is just as chipper and
chirpy as her friends. Praise God!
Other than the fact
that it would be sad to lose any of the chicks, Pesto was the one I was most
looking forward to, Naked Necks are actually incredibly versatile birds who are
great layers, decent meat birds (with the added benefit of having less feathers
to pluck when it comes to dressing). However, because of their looks (which I
find entertaining rather than offensive) they aren’t as popular as they should
be. Maybe that’s part of the allure too, I have a certain penchant for “heirloom”
and “unique” livestock and crops (just wait till you hear the list of seeds we ordered…)
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Recipe: Turkey Gizzard Pot Roast
This is a gizzard.
"Um... I see the picture, but... seriously, what's a gizzard?" You may be asking yourself.
Its kind of like a birds set of teeth. I know, it looks nothing like that, but let me explain.
A gizzard is a unique lil organ than many (all?) birds have to assist them in the digestion of their food. As you may or may not know, birds don't have teeth and as such tend to simply swallow their food whole or at best, cracked in twain. If the birds tried to digest such large pieces of hard food, such as seeds, they would at best hardly get any nutrients from it, and and worst have a killer case of constipation. So birds will go eat small bits of rock and gravel which they will temporarily store in their gizzard where this muscular organ effectively "chews" the food that the bird has already eaten by grinding it amongst the bits of gravel. Neat, eh?
Now that you've had your biology lesson for the day I'll let you in on the question of the day "So what?". So what? I got 15lbs of turkey giblets for a rockin price thats so what!
First of all, I freakin love turkey. Secondly, growing up I have fond memories of going to the store and getting a package of fried chicken gizzards. I don't know if its because I live in a less ethnically diverse part of town now, or if that was some now antiquated hold over from the Wild West but they're tough to get right now. (Incidentally, here is a great lil recipe for Fried Gizzards in Buttermilk Brine to appease either your curiosity or in my case, nostalgia.)
At Sprouts turkey giblets were for sale for $1.99/lb which isn't terrible for meat in general, and certainly isn't bad when you consider the fact that the organs are nutrient dense (especially livers). However, thanks to a little perseverance, the owning of a food-safe bucket and asking nicely, we were able to get 15lbs of turkey giblets for a mere $0.99/lb. Not too shabby and its also edifying to know that we're stocked to fulfill one of our Catholic patriotic food rules, namely using "cheap cuts of meat."
Inexpensive, nutrient dense, delicous meats? Whats not to love? Well, since the gizzard is a muscular organ used to grind food it has a tendancy to be very tough, plus there is a significant amount of connective tissue. What do you do with tough meat full of connective tissue? Did anyone say potroast?!
Without further ado: Turkey Gizzard Pot Roast.
Ingredients:
2-3lbs Turkey Gizzards
2 tablespoons Coconut Oil
1 cup Poultry Stock
1 teaspoon Poultry Seasoning
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1lb Sweet Potatoes
1 large Onion
4 stalks of Celery
In a 4-6 quart cast iron dutch oven brown Gizzards in hot Coconut Oil. It is important that you use a cast iron dutch oven because the lid needs to be heavy enough to create a hot, stewing atmosphere inside of the pot without letting heat and moisture escape.
Combine the 1cup Poultry Stock (since we had some left in our bucket o' giblets I just used 1cup of blood) Poultry Seasoning and Salt. Pour over Gizzards and bring to boil.
Meanwhile, peel and cube Sweet Potato, cut Onion into wedges and cut Celery at a bias.
Add half of vegetables to meat. Place in 300 degree oven for 3 hours or until tender, adding water occasionally if necessary.
At this point all of the sweet potatoes should have effectively broken down and, along with the now liquified fat and connective tissue from the gizzards, created a delicious gravy.
Add remaining vegetables and return to oven for 30 minutes or until sweet potatoes are fork tender. Serve on a platter and enjoy the deliciousness that ensues.
Due to the nature of organ meats, gizzards actually have a somewhat beefy taste (eg. minerally and mildly metallic) I won't pretend that this is a recipe that would fool anyone into thinking that they actually were eating beef pot roast but I do think that this is a splendid way to introduce "cheap cuts" of meat into your family's diet without having to convince anyone to eat it.
Its kind of like a birds set of teeth. I know, it looks nothing like that, but let me explain.
 |
| (photo credit) |
Now that you've had your biology lesson for the day I'll let you in on the question of the day "So what?". So what? I got 15lbs of turkey giblets for a rockin price thats so what!
First of all, I freakin love turkey. Secondly, growing up I have fond memories of going to the store and getting a package of fried chicken gizzards. I don't know if its because I live in a less ethnically diverse part of town now, or if that was some now antiquated hold over from the Wild West but they're tough to get right now. (Incidentally, here is a great lil recipe for Fried Gizzards in Buttermilk Brine to appease either your curiosity or in my case, nostalgia.)
 |
| (photo credit) |
Inexpensive, nutrient dense, delicous meats? Whats not to love? Well, since the gizzard is a muscular organ used to grind food it has a tendancy to be very tough, plus there is a significant amount of connective tissue. What do you do with tough meat full of connective tissue? Did anyone say potroast?!
Without further ado: Turkey Gizzard Pot Roast.
Ingredients:
2-3lbs Turkey Gizzards
2 tablespoons Coconut Oil
1 cup Poultry Stock
1 teaspoon Poultry Seasoning
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1lb Sweet Potatoes
1 large Onion
4 stalks of Celery
In a 4-6 quart cast iron dutch oven brown Gizzards in hot Coconut Oil. It is important that you use a cast iron dutch oven because the lid needs to be heavy enough to create a hot, stewing atmosphere inside of the pot without letting heat and moisture escape.
Combine the 1cup Poultry Stock (since we had some left in our bucket o' giblets I just used 1cup of blood) Poultry Seasoning and Salt. Pour over Gizzards and bring to boil.
Meanwhile, peel and cube Sweet Potato, cut Onion into wedges and cut Celery at a bias.
Add half of vegetables to meat. Place in 300 degree oven for 3 hours or until tender, adding water occasionally if necessary.
At this point all of the sweet potatoes should have effectively broken down and, along with the now liquified fat and connective tissue from the gizzards, created a delicious gravy.
Due to the nature of organ meats, gizzards actually have a somewhat beefy taste (eg. minerally and mildly metallic) I won't pretend that this is a recipe that would fool anyone into thinking that they actually were eating beef pot roast but I do think that this is a splendid way to introduce "cheap cuts" of meat into your family's diet without having to convince anyone to eat it.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
I'm a Winner! - Update
So we received our wonderful drawing from Reading (and chickens) the other day and its, well... awesome.
(note, just so you aren't confused, the drawing is the second image)
(note, just so you aren't confused, the drawing is the second image)
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
I'm a winner!
So I was over at Reading (and Chickens) the other day and noticed an awesome little contest that she was putting together in which there was a drawing for some goodies inspired by nothing more than the goodness of her heart. The goodies were sweet, but I was much more interested in getting one of her trademark drawings, so I do what any sensible person would do: pretend like the drawing included a custom drawing and put my name in the proverbial hat. (its like a situational red herring) Since she's a nice lady, and since I was the only person who was in that particular part of the drawing that I made up, I won!
After many attempts to get me to email her I finally sat down and composed the following. It was so absurd that I figured I'd share it with you all (and posting here fulfills my part of the contractual obligation at the end of the email) So without further ado: my email to Reading (and Chickens):
Thanks for graciously accepting my entry into the drawing drawing that weren't even aware you were having. And to boot I won!?!?! woohoo!
My wife seems to think a portrait of me would be fun because I'm kind of the personification of a cartoon character as it is. (fat beardo who is often holding either a baby, a dachshund or both)
However, a fun project that I sometimes subject my family and friends to is the aesthetic version of mad libs (don't have a name for it yet, maybe you can assist in that avenue). Essentially you ask 3 separate people for 3 separate words which you them must incorporate into an image (or object for that matter, but the internet hasn't come so far as to be able to deliver things of the 3rd dimension through fiber optics...yet)
To give some semblance of sense to the would be image it is permissible (read:recommended) that you give the prospective word giver a category to refine their seemingly random word choices.
To further complicate things, other individuals can supply the categories as well.
Since that is highly convoluted, lets set a scenario:
(cast of characters: Artist: a woman who percievably loves reading and chickens, Person 1: her husband a man who loves women who love reading and chickens, Person 2: her son, lover of reading sentences which include exclamation marks, Person 3: Joey, [as noted above] a fat beardo who is often holding either a baby, a dachshund or both)
Artist (to person 1): Give me a category of nouns.
Person 1: Things you'd find in the back of the fridge.
Artist (to person 2): Tell me something you'd find in the back of the fridge.
Person 2: That sticker that explains how the fridge works.
Artist: Hm...very accurate, thank you.
Artist: now give me a category of verbs
Person 2: things you'd do to a penguin
Artist (to person 3): Tell me something you'd do to a penguin.
Person 3: um.. cuddle it, I'm not sure there are any other possible answers to such a question.
Artist: touche', now give me a category of places
Person 3: places you'd never want to work
Artist (to person 1): Tell me a place that you'd never want to work
Person 1: hog rendering plant
Artist: *begins diligently working on a drawing of Joey cuddling a fridge sticker at a hog rendering plant*
See? Isn't that ingenious? It has all the esoteric class of fine art, but all of the shenanigans of blog art.
(rereads the above email)
Ok, on second thought, just post and illustrate the above email, that would be super entertaining.
I'll post it on my blog if you post it on yours!
After many attempts to get me to email her I finally sat down and composed the following. It was so absurd that I figured I'd share it with you all (and posting here fulfills my part of the contractual obligation at the end of the email) So without further ado: my email to Reading (and Chickens):
Thanks for graciously accepting my entry into the drawing drawing that weren't even aware you were having. And to boot I won!?!?! woohoo!My wife seems to think a portrait of me would be fun because I'm kind of the personification of a cartoon character as it is. (fat beardo who is often holding either a baby, a dachshund or both)
However, a fun project that I sometimes subject my family and friends to is the aesthetic version of mad libs (don't have a name for it yet, maybe you can assist in that avenue). Essentially you ask 3 separate people for 3 separate words which you them must incorporate into an image (or object for that matter, but the internet hasn't come so far as to be able to deliver things of the 3rd dimension through fiber optics...yet)
To give some semblance of sense to the would be image it is permissible (read:recommended) that you give the prospective word giver a category to refine their seemingly random word choices.
To further complicate things, other individuals can supply the categories as well.
Since that is highly convoluted, lets set a scenario:
(cast of characters: Artist: a woman who percievably loves reading and chickens, Person 1: her husband a man who loves women who love reading and chickens, Person 2: her son, lover of reading sentences which include exclamation marks, Person 3: Joey, [as noted above] a fat beardo who is often holding either a baby, a dachshund or both)
Artist (to person 1): Give me a category of nouns.
Person 1: Things you'd find in the back of the fridge.
Artist (to person 2): Tell me something you'd find in the back of the fridge.
Person 2: That sticker that explains how the fridge works.
Artist: Hm...very accurate, thank you.
Artist: now give me a category of verbs
Person 2: things you'd do to a penguin
Artist (to person 3): Tell me something you'd do to a penguin.
Person 3: um.. cuddle it, I'm not sure there are any other possible answers to such a question.
Artist: touche', now give me a category of places
Person 3: places you'd never want to work
Artist (to person 1): Tell me a place that you'd never want to work
Person 1: hog rendering plant
Artist: *begins diligently working on a drawing of Joey cuddling a fridge sticker at a hog rendering plant*
See? Isn't that ingenious? It has all the esoteric class of fine art, but all of the shenanigans of blog art.
(rereads the above email)
Ok, on second thought, just post and illustrate the above email, that would be super entertaining.
I'll post it on my blog if you post it on yours!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Sustainable Patriotism
I recently heard a story on NPR regarding the first televised presidential address, despite economic woes and post-war needs for revitilization President Truman's address was about food, well... more about eating.
During his address he recommended (well...recommended like the guilt inducing recomendation of a stern grandmother) to the American people that they should adopt a few simple eating rules so that those in Europe (and America for that matter) would have enough to eat as nations rebuilt after the war.
The food rules he suggested were:
1- No meat on Tuesdays.
2. No poultry or eggs on Thursdays
3. Save a slice of bread every day.
4. Public eating places will serve bread and butter only on request.
I was intrigued by these rules as soon as I heard them. Partially because I already ascribe to a modified version of them (fasting on Fridays etc.) Also, having grown up in Colorado during a decade of drought I am familiar with a similar "by request" imposition at restaurants in an attempt to conserve water.
As a patriot (not a nationalist, mind you, a patriot) I am deeply interested in the notion of growing toward not self-sufficiency but community sufficiency. While doing some more research on President Truman's food rules I stumbled across an article which expanded on the fruits of reducing the national consumption of meat by means of reducing the household's consumption of meat.:
"If every family will reduce voluntarily its consumption of meat, whether it now has meat on the table three, four, five, or six days a week, the nation will achieve a maximum saving of meat and reduce the demand for grain to feed cattle and hogs. This will also produce a downward pressure on meat prices, and help curb living costs."
I know that the news is rife with the pros and cons of the dreaded "austerity measures" that certain countries (including our own) are seeking to adopt but frankly as the old cliche' goes "all politics is local". If every family utilized less resources and also shared the surplus resources with those in their community there would be ample food(/shelter/housing etc.) to go around, regardless of the unemployment rate, the threat of double dip recession or whatever politician jargon is currently a "threat to the nation's future."
That being said, we have come up with our own, amended and expanded, food rules list so that we can reduce our own consumption and allow for less fortunate members of our community to have enough when we have more than enough. I'm not a big bumper sticker slogan guy but "live simply so that others may simply live" is just too poetically true to be ignored.
Anyway here they are, the Catholic, Patriotic, Sustainable Family Food Rules:
1- No meat on Fridays.
2- No poultry or eggs on Wednesday.
3- Use "cheap cuts" of meat for at least 1 meat meal each week.
4- Monday is soup/stew day.
5- Make only enough food to feed the family at each meal.
6- Treats only on feast days or important family holidays.
The break down of our motivation for these food rules is relatively simple.
First of all, we already ascribe to a meatless fast on Fridays as our form of Friday penance. While our diocese does not require meatless fasting it is a nice way to nod to tradition as well as share in sacrifices of our brethren around the world who are obliged to the meatless fast.
Fasting on Wednesday is also something traditionally Catholic in honor of St. Joseph. Rather than extending an additional meatless day outright Britt and I have been discussing options for other small sacrifices we can make. This one may actually be more difficult than the meatless Fridays because a substantial amount of our protein comes from chicken, turkey and eggs. With that in mind though, it should make the fast more efficacious both spiritually and secularly.
Rule 3's adoption on the other hand was strongly influenced by my (albeit brief) research into the Truman food rules. From the article I mentioned earlier: "...suggested also that housewives buy the cheaper cuts and grades of meat, rather than choice steaks and chops, to bring down prices and reduce waste...75 per cent of the cheaper meats were not being used on the average American dinner table. If the housewife will make greater use of the cheaper cuts we will have about 25 per cent more use of the entire animal. This will help feed starving Europe and cut our meat bills at home. All that is needed is for the housewife to learn how to cook the cheaper cuts. They are fully as nutritious as the choice cuts if properly prepared. Unskillful cooking will, of course, produce unpalatable dishes. It is time the American housewife learned how to cook the cheaper cuts." Beyond the sustainability and economy of using the whole animal, our self-education regarding Whole Food diets has shown that some of the "less desirable" cuts of meats are in fact more nutrient dense than others. Boneless, skinless chicken breast for example is actually pretty weak when it comes to chicken options. My housewife has already begun some of this by making wonderful, nutrient dense bone broths from our "left over" bones. I'm sure she is also eager to investigate other ways to incorporate "mystery meats" into our regular diet.
Which brings us to soup/stew Mondays. Part of the reason is that if we are making these splendid broths from bones, fat, celery trimmings, carrot tops etc. we might as well take advantage of them and get a fully gamut of meals out of our food (stay tuned for a future post about how to make an entire week's worth of dinners from one roast chicken!). The other thing is that soups and stews are notorious ways to make a little bit of food go a long way. If you start with a nutrient dense bone broth, you needn't add any meat, or if so, very little and the rest (beans, carrots, potatoes etc) end up acting as texture and filler more than needed mineral and nutrient contributors.
Rule 5 has a loose association with the Truman food rules in that rather than "saving a piece of bread" each day, we only make enough food to feed us each day, thereby saving bread (or meat or veggies or whatever) because its not even set on the table. This has an added benefit of healthful portion control and digestive health. We should eat until we are no longer hungry, NOT until we are full.
The final rule is probably the most sensible, but strangely the most difficult. Americans love treats, snacks, novelty foods, easy foods, appetizers etc. But frankly a lesson I know from our Catholic fasting practices is that feast days are always more delicious and celebratory when they are special...go figure. The interesting thing is that our Faith is all about feasting, in fact a big feast is one thing we're all looking forward to for eternity. So this rule boils down to no special treats (beer, ice cream, cake, going out to eat etc.) unless it is Sunday, a feast day or a very important family holiday. By abstaining from those special treats day to day we allow them to remain special when the time for celebration comes.
Finally, beyond consuming no more than our share of resources, saving money, reducing the strain on our farm/graze lands, there is a wonderful side effect that our family is looking forward to: aid in planning. Britt mentioned that she is undertaking the Plan-It-Don't-Panic meal planned challenge. How much easier is it to know that Friday will be meatless, Wednesday won't use eggs or chicken and that we're having soup on Monday? It just becomes a game of fill in the blank after that.
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During his address he recommended (well...recommended like the guilt inducing recomendation of a stern grandmother) to the American people that they should adopt a few simple eating rules so that those in Europe (and America for that matter) would have enough to eat as nations rebuilt after the war.
The food rules he suggested were:
1- No meat on Tuesdays.
2. No poultry or eggs on Thursdays
3. Save a slice of bread every day.
4. Public eating places will serve bread and butter only on request.
I was intrigued by these rules as soon as I heard them. Partially because I already ascribe to a modified version of them (fasting on Fridays etc.) Also, having grown up in Colorado during a decade of drought I am familiar with a similar "by request" imposition at restaurants in an attempt to conserve water.
As a patriot (not a nationalist, mind you, a patriot) I am deeply interested in the notion of growing toward not self-sufficiency but community sufficiency. While doing some more research on President Truman's food rules I stumbled across an article which expanded on the fruits of reducing the national consumption of meat by means of reducing the household's consumption of meat.:
"If every family will reduce voluntarily its consumption of meat, whether it now has meat on the table three, four, five, or six days a week, the nation will achieve a maximum saving of meat and reduce the demand for grain to feed cattle and hogs. This will also produce a downward pressure on meat prices, and help curb living costs."
I know that the news is rife with the pros and cons of the dreaded "austerity measures" that certain countries (including our own) are seeking to adopt but frankly as the old cliche' goes "all politics is local". If every family utilized less resources and also shared the surplus resources with those in their community there would be ample food(/shelter/housing etc.) to go around, regardless of the unemployment rate, the threat of double dip recession or whatever politician jargon is currently a "threat to the nation's future."
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Anyway here they are, the Catholic, Patriotic, Sustainable Family Food Rules:
1- No meat on Fridays.
2- No poultry or eggs on Wednesday.
3- Use "cheap cuts" of meat for at least 1 meat meal each week.
4- Monday is soup/stew day.
5- Make only enough food to feed the family at each meal.
6- Treats only on feast days or important family holidays.
The break down of our motivation for these food rules is relatively simple.
First of all, we already ascribe to a meatless fast on Fridays as our form of Friday penance. While our diocese does not require meatless fasting it is a nice way to nod to tradition as well as share in sacrifices of our brethren around the world who are obliged to the meatless fast.
Fasting on Wednesday is also something traditionally Catholic in honor of St. Joseph. Rather than extending an additional meatless day outright Britt and I have been discussing options for other small sacrifices we can make. This one may actually be more difficult than the meatless Fridays because a substantial amount of our protein comes from chicken, turkey and eggs. With that in mind though, it should make the fast more efficacious both spiritually and secularly.
Rule 3's adoption on the other hand was strongly influenced by my (albeit brief) research into the Truman food rules. From the article I mentioned earlier: "...suggested also that housewives buy the cheaper cuts and grades of meat, rather than choice steaks and chops, to bring down prices and reduce waste...75 per cent of the cheaper meats were not being used on the average American dinner table. If the housewife will make greater use of the cheaper cuts we will have about 25 per cent more use of the entire animal. This will help feed starving Europe and cut our meat bills at home. All that is needed is for the housewife to learn how to cook the cheaper cuts. They are fully as nutritious as the choice cuts if properly prepared. Unskillful cooking will, of course, produce unpalatable dishes. It is time the American housewife learned how to cook the cheaper cuts." Beyond the sustainability and economy of using the whole animal, our self-education regarding Whole Food diets has shown that some of the "less desirable" cuts of meats are in fact more nutrient dense than others. Boneless, skinless chicken breast for example is actually pretty weak when it comes to chicken options. My housewife has already begun some of this by making wonderful, nutrient dense bone broths from our "left over" bones. I'm sure she is also eager to investigate other ways to incorporate "mystery meats" into our regular diet.
Which brings us to soup/stew Mondays. Part of the reason is that if we are making these splendid broths from bones, fat, celery trimmings, carrot tops etc. we might as well take advantage of them and get a fully gamut of meals out of our food (stay tuned for a future post about how to make an entire week's worth of dinners from one roast chicken!). The other thing is that soups and stews are notorious ways to make a little bit of food go a long way. If you start with a nutrient dense bone broth, you needn't add any meat, or if so, very little and the rest (beans, carrots, potatoes etc) end up acting as texture and filler more than needed mineral and nutrient contributors.
Rule 5 has a loose association with the Truman food rules in that rather than "saving a piece of bread" each day, we only make enough food to feed us each day, thereby saving bread (or meat or veggies or whatever) because its not even set on the table. This has an added benefit of healthful portion control and digestive health. We should eat until we are no longer hungry, NOT until we are full.
The final rule is probably the most sensible, but strangely the most difficult. Americans love treats, snacks, novelty foods, easy foods, appetizers etc. But frankly a lesson I know from our Catholic fasting practices is that feast days are always more delicious and celebratory when they are special...go figure. The interesting thing is that our Faith is all about feasting, in fact a big feast is one thing we're all looking forward to for eternity. So this rule boils down to no special treats (beer, ice cream, cake, going out to eat etc.) unless it is Sunday, a feast day or a very important family holiday. By abstaining from those special treats day to day we allow them to remain special when the time for celebration comes.
Finally, beyond consuming no more than our share of resources, saving money, reducing the strain on our farm/graze lands, there is a wonderful side effect that our family is looking forward to: aid in planning. Britt mentioned that she is undertaking the Plan-It-Don't-Panic meal planned challenge. How much easier is it to know that Friday will be meatless, Wednesday won't use eggs or chicken and that we're having soup on Monday? It just becomes a game of fill in the blank after that.
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