Cookus Interruptus is part of the recently approved King County “Communities Putting Prevention to Work” grant tasked with developing a whole foods certificate program for school nutrition staff in King County (and hopefully statewide).

The work starts this fall; workshops for school staff will begin in 2011.  Cookus Interruptus will be doing curriculum development; planning workshop activities (including hands-on cooking!), creating learning materials and training workshop teachers.  We are very proud to be a part of implementing this program.  You’ll be hearing us brag about it more in the future.  Here’s to better school lunches for our children!!!

Close to 100 people have donated to help keep Cookus Interruptus production going.  Yee haw!  Our goal is to get 10% of our subscribers or 1% of our monthly viewership to donate.  We’re well on our way!  Only 300 more supporters to go!  Help us prove that high-quality, entertaining education is needed and wanted on the web!

Yup.  That long list of ingredients turns out to be simple cheese quesadillas school-lunch-ized.  I make quesadillas with a sprouted whole wheat tortilla, some grated cheese, cilantro and jalapenos plus a little oil or butter for the pan.  Stunning how such a simple dish can be made so complicated….

Just My Opinion by Steve

We should all take the train more.  Just my opinion. A perfect example is the Seattle to Portland run. After considering the time it takes to get to and from the airport it only takes a couple hours longer than flying.  The drive is faster, but it’s Interstate 5 all the way.

I took that trip on the train last month and it was exquisite.   Small foot print.  Amazing scenery. There’s even a dining car. Warning: I heard that if you don’t buy a business class ticket, and the coach if full, they’ll put you on the bus.  Yikes!

If we all start taking the train more often, they’ll start building more tracks.

(Enriched wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, ribflavin, folic acid), water, partially hydrogenated soybean oil with artificial flavoring, artificial coloring, citric acid, baking powder [sodium bicarbonate, sodium aluminum sulfate, cornstarch, monocalcium phosphate, calcium sulfate], salt, dextrose, dough conditioners [wheat flour, salt, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (soybean, cottonseed and/or canola oil), L-cysteine, ascorbic acid, fungal enzyme], wheat gluten, xanthan gum, calcium proprionate, potassium sorbate), Cheddar Cheese (Pasteurized part skim milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes, cellulose gum [anticaking]), Cheddar Flavored Mozarella Cheese Substitute (water, partially hydrogenated soybean oil with citric acid, milk protein concentrate, casein, modified food starch, contains 2% or less of the following: sodium aluminum phosphate, salt, cheese blend [cheddar, blue, and semisoft cheese {Pasteurized milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes}, water, whey, salt, citric acid}, lactic acid, disodium phosphate, sorbic acid, nutrient blend {magnesium oxide, zinc oxide, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin and vitamin B12}, paprika annatto blend, [natural extractives of annatto seeds and paprika with soybean oil, mono-, di-, and triglycerides, other flavors, tocopherol, and potassium hydroxide], romano cheese flavor [cheese {milk, culture, rennet, salt}, milk solids, disodium phosphate], mozzarella cheese type flavor {cheese {milk, culture, rennet, salt}, milk solids, disodium phosphate}, provolone cheese flavor {milk, culture, rennet, salt}, milk solids, disodium phosphate, sodium glutaminate, salt, cheese flavor {maltodestrin, acacia gum, 1,2-propolyene glycol, trisodium diphosphate, sodium polyphosphate], beta carotene [partially hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oils, corn oil, beta carotene, tocopherol], vitamin A palmitate), water, tomato paste (31% NTSS), Shredded Mozarella Cheese Substitute: (Water, partially hydrogenated soybean oil with citric acid, milk protein concentrate, casein, modified food starch, contains 2% or less of the following: sodium aluminum phosphate, salt, lactic acid, disodium phosphate, sorbic acid, romano cheese flavor [cheese {milk, culture, rennet, salt}, milk solids, disodium phosphate], mozarella cheese type flavor [cheese {milk culture, rennet, salt}, milk solids, disodium phosphate], provolone cheese flavor [cheese {milk, culture, rennet, salt], milk solids, disodium phosphate, sodium glutaminate, salt, cheese flavor {maltodextrin, acacia gum, 1,2-propylene glycol, trisodium diphosphate, sodium polyphosphate}], nutrient blend [magnesium oxide, zinc oxide, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin and Vitamin B12], beta carotene [partially hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oils, corn oil, beta carotene, tocopherol], Vitamin A palmitate), salsa seasoning (salt, sugar, dehydrated onion and garlic, dehydrated jalapeno pepper, citric acid, xanthan gum, spice, dehydrated cilantro, potassium, sorbate), vinegar, releasing agent (water, mono and diglycerides, polysorbate 60 and lecithin, acetic acid, citric acid, potassium sorbate, propyl gailate, sodium benzoate and polydimethylsiloxane), cellulose gum.   CONTAINS MILK, WHEAT, SOY.

Think about all the labor that goes into making  the ingredients that food manufacturers use.  You can’t make Cheddar Flavored Mozarella Cheese Substitute in your kitchen.  Even the many ingredients that make up the highly processed “dough conditioner” are highly processed.

What is this?  Anyone want to take a guess? (Hint: it’s something that is regularly served in the school lunch program.  No I’m not kidding)

Drew a number out of the orange bowl and came up with #27!  Susan wins the t-shirt.  Her entry:

“Oh the joy of eating the super food kale, is to see my son it, raw,  inhale”

Thank you everyone.  Our best turn-out ever.  Stay tuned.  I have a gorgeous book on canning and preserving to give away next month.  And if you’re bummed about not getting the t-shirt, visit Bo’s site and order one.  He deserves your business.

Top ten superfoods! Nutritious foods you must include in your diet!  My curiosity is piqued by such claims.  I usually bite and scan the list.  But why are we so enthralled by the magical nutrients concept?  Carefully chosen daily food can heal.  I’ve experienced it.  But how do we really know which foods have the most nutrients?  How can I tell if my broccoli is chalk full of vitamin C without sending it to a lab?  Do I have to carry “Bowes & Church’s Food Values of Portions Commonly Used” in my shopping cart to get feel I’m getting the maximum nutrients for my dinner?

This from Michael Pollan’s article Our National Eating Disorder: “So we’ve learned to choose our foods by the numbers (calories, carbs, fats, R.D.A.’s, price, whatever), relying more heavily on our reading and computational skills than upon our senses. Indeed, we’ve lost all confidence in our senses of taste and smell, which can’t detect the invisible macro- and micronutrients science has taught us to worry about, and which food processors have become adept at deceiving anyway. Most processed foods are marketed less on the basis of taste than on convenience, image, predictability, price point and health claims — all of which are easier to get right in a processed food product than its flavor. The American supermarket — chilled and stocked with hermetically sealed packages bristling with information — has effectively shut out the Nose and elevated the Eye.”

When I first read this it sank in deep.  I mean, I teach for the nutrition department at a university.  Am I enabling this disorder?
I made a decision.  When students or participants ask me if they get more nutrients from their broccoli when it is steamed or if it is raw I ask them, “Which way tastes best?”  That’s right.  I’ve come to believe when a food is at its peak of flavor (fresh, in season, not too many miles on it, not under or over cooked) you are likely getting the most nutrients.  When enjoyment is added to the equation, I bet the absorb-ability of nutrients triples.  Raw broccoli tastes nasty to me, blanched is nice, but blanched with some groovy sesame dressing to dip in– now that’s a dish worthy of a smile.  Numbers be damned.

I was introduced to Bo’s site Eat More Kale by one of our viewers.  Bo, who resides in Vermont, became a farmer’s market sensation with his made-one-at-a-time soft cotton t-shirts.  You’re going to want one.  Here’s Jane wearing one (and munching on the appropriate leaf):

How to enter:

Add a comment that is a  second line to the phrase “Oh the joy of eating the super food kale”. Your  line has to rhyme.  For example the entry could read “It keeps my complexion rosy, never pale”.  You get it. Extra points that don’t count if you incorporate a rhyming word that hasn’t already been used. Only ONE entry per person please.  I’ll delete multiples…

We’ll draw a winner on July 14th.  The winner will be able to choose any t-shirt from Bo’s site (men, women or children sizes, lots of earthy colors, several designs) and he cheerfully agreed to mail the shirt to the winner directly from Vermont. You might want to check out Bo’s you tube video on Screen Printin’ 101.  Scary fun.

What could be better?  New t-shirt, ode to kale, good times.  Get going! (tell your friends). Bale, dale, fail, gale, hail, hale, mail, nail…

WE HAVE A WINNER.  DRAWING TOOK PLACE 7/14/10.

Just My Opinion by Steve

I recently took 9 van loads  from our garage to a huge community rummage sale. I haven’t felt this good in 2 years. My wife was out of town and I made decisions that will never come to light. I  called her a couple  times to ease her anxiety about losing something essential, and I did so artfully.

You must be proactive about these calls. Call #1 concerned something I knew she would want to keep.  Call #2 was about something innocuous, and designed to make her think that I was being overly cautious. Call #3 was just to say hi.

Lots more could go, but my garage floor is back. Someone could actually park in there. And I can sell the stuff I kept on eBay, after Cynthia registers that it’s still around. But whenever in doubt, throw it out. I’m telling you, I feel alive.  Colors are vivid. The view from one end of my garage to the other is as meaningful as any vista.

If I walk into any restaurant, deli, coffee shop in the United State  there will be a sugar packet caddy.  My choices are  pink, sunny yellow, pale blue, (saccharin, sucralose and aspartame).  Sometimes one has to ask to get the classic white packet.   New to the caddy is happy green.   I was startled to find out the Americans consume 16 pounds per person of zero-calorie sweeteners .  The choice to use them is an attempt to quench the insatiable American sweet tooth without the calories.  Unfortunately there is no evidence that people who consume non-calorie sweeteners lose weight.  In some instances, they gain it.

The new kid in the caddy  comes with an interesting history and another load of false promises.  Truvia or Purevia are trade names for the new zero calorie sweetener.  Once again we are being led to believe that THIS ONE is somehow different, more natural.

Stevia  is an herb native to Paraguay.  The annual plant grows 1-2 feet tall with pale green leaves.  The leaves can be gathered and dried then ground to a fine powder or steeped in water to make a liquid. The chemical substance in the stevia plant responsible for the sweetness is rebiana.  It is said to be 300X sweeter than sugar - one teaspoon of stevia equals the sweetness of one cup sugar.  Plus stevia is low in calories - 1/10 of a calorie per leaf.  Our own Center for Science in the Public Interest seemed nonplussed about the sweetener.  They cited the Scientific Committee on Food for the European Commission which concluded that “there are no satisfactory data to support the safe use of these products [stevia plants and leaves].”   CSPI’s round-up on stevia also cited pro-stevia articles to be fair.  That’s good because other experts felt stevia’s use was perfectly safe,  a suitable sweetener for diabetics.

Because the FDA would not give stevia the rubber stamp as a food, it stayed out of mainstream food products and was only sold as a “supplement”.  The plant came to the forefront  in 2008 when  Cargill and the Coca Cola company teamed up to patent a new no-calorie sweetener using rebiana.  The problem is that this new “natural” sweetener is it not a made by a simple grind or steep of stevia leaves.  Though trade secrets are highly guarded, we do know that  Truvia combines  rebiana with erythritol, a sugar alcohol.  Though there may be a lack of long-term studies supporting human consumption of rebiana, there are plenty condemning ingestion of erythritol.  In studies (true, done with rats) there is an increased elimination of protein in the urine and in some cases kidney calcification.  Read more here from the Quality Systems, GMP, Regulatory site.

The caddies full of pastel packets seem so friendly, so normal, so reliable. Just some innocent granules to sweeten the coffee or tea.  Every few years a new color is added as evidence mounts up against the pink, blue or yellow.  I say stick with the sweeteners where we have lots of history and research about the detrimental affects.  I shake and tear the classic white, light brown or add dab of honey.  Calories be damned.  What do you stir into your ice tea?