Fat Frog Diary

My grandfather was born and raised during the Great Depression. Consequently, he was one of those incredibly frugal men who lived well below his income because he "didn't need much." He drove a POS car until it became a classic, then an antique, then he sold it for ten times what he'd bought it for. He even had his own garden until he was too old to tend it properly, but his neighbors all had gardens and felt sorry for the lonely old widower and brought him extras from their gardens for free! When he died, he left my Mom a small fortune. One thing grandpa did very well was save money on food. He rarely threw anything out. He composted his organic garbage right back into his garden, washed out his cans and took them to a steel mill that happily bought all his cans long before "recycling" was even a word. Even his soups were recycled. Grandpa kept several containers stacked neatly in his freezer. Three were for cooked meats he shaved off the bones and save...

In the same way as my comments on Feb 4 concerning mayonnaise, the same thing has happened in the salad dressing market. The so-called "diet" dressings can be higher in sugar and carbs because they're supposed to be lower in fat. Yet at the same time, the "regular" dressings are so loaded with chemicals and preservatives as well as carbs, the choices are very limited unless you like vinaigrettes. I happen to like creamy dressings, though I've learned that dipping my fork into a small cup of 2 T of dressing (average serving size on bottled dressings) and then stabbing a forkload of salad means I get a much tastier mouthful than pouring the dressing over the top and hoping it's still around when I get to the last fork full. Imagine having fresh dressings to dip your veggies into, and I don't mean just for a bowl of salad. Imagine taking a small sealed container of this with some celery, green pepper strips, and fresh broccoli when you need a snack. Y...

This recipe comes from the Food Network and Giada De Laurentis. They did not provide a calorie or carb count, so I made a guess at approximately 93 calories and 10 carbs per serving. I also substituted sour cream for the creme fraiche. (Sorry, Giada honey, not all of us are rich.) Also, I HIGHLY recommend you grind up the rosemary extra, extra fine, especially if you have to use the dried version like I did. Picking rosemary out of your teeth is never a cool look.

Okay, if you're on a low carb diet, I'm sure you've now seen that regular old mayonnaise is lower in carbs than the so-called "light" mayo. (Hey, they took out the fat, so they had to put sugar in to compensate.) Perhaps this is why when I followed slavishly the "diet rules" and ate only "diet foods" I actually gained weight! Making my own mayonnaise to eliminate all those interesting and unpronounceable chemicals the commercial producers put in seems like the logical next step in my freedom from fat. Here's my recipe for mayo, done with several common kitchen appliances. (I'll be using the food processor, but you can use what you have, okay?) I can't wait to try these!

Even I am stunned by the ingenuity of these garden ideas. I'm going to try some! http://green.yahoo.com/blog/greenpicks/251/grow-your-own-food-in-a-bag-in-a-truck-anywhere.html Tin Cans? How about those big-ass coffee "cans" made of plastic I have by the ton? I'm so trying this. Lena

Did you know? Millions of acres of genetically engineered (GE) crops have been planted in the United States.Nearly two-thirds of the products on our supermarket shelves contain genetically engineered ingredients.Consumer polls show that 80-95% of Americans want GE foods to be labeled - mainly so that we can avoid buying them!The British Medical Association has called for a global moratorium and/or ban on GE foods and the New England Journal of Medicine warned that, the allergenic potential of GE’s is uncertain, unpredictable and untestable. Why we try to eat mostly organic foods We had a very dear friend visiting over the Christmas holiday and she was surprised at the number of organic food items we have around here. “Organic Coffee!” she said, surprised.It got me thinking about why we eat organic foods. I’ve been eating natural and healthy food since college. I was ill in my freshman year and the school doctor suggested I eat a bit more carefully. I guess coffee and cigarettes was...