This preparation originated as a Weight Watchers snack recipe that I found on the WW Mobile app from my iPhone, and is only 2 WW Points+ per serving. We’ve made it twice now, once for us at home and once for a party we attended during the Labor Day weekend, it went over really well, you can tell when the plate gets cleaned before the party ends. I doubled the recipe for the party version which I built on top of a round party platter. The photos in this piece show the normal sized portion which is enough for eight servings.
This spread is a perfect new addition to any football tailgating tradition.
Farmacology arrived in my mailbox and I immediately got excited about the opportunity to snuggle up with this book, as the subject matter is right up my thought pathway and in tune with my permaculture and permacuisine projects. In Farmacology Miller documents her visits to seven family farms and describes what she experienced and learned at each including topics about health, wellness, healing, and beauty. The core of her hands on agricultural farm experiences and the specific aspects that each farm utilizes are translated into alternative health and wellness practices. Experiencing the relationships that the family farmers have established with their environments, Miller has taken what she learned and has translated it to health and wellness treatment procedures and therapies that follow in tune with the balances of nature that the farms have established.
A synopsis of what Miller learns and then teaches us from each family farm:
Jubilee Biodynamic Farms – She starts out living with a vegetable farmer in Carnation, Washington State who shows us how the principles he uses to rejuvenate his soil through crop rotation, good tilth, and rotating cows in fields apply just as well to our own bodies. At Jubilee Biodynamic Farms we also discover the direct links between healthy soil and healthy humans. We also learn about the cycles and five steps to perfect tilth, in particular I will highlight the first step which is to “Invest in Farm-Fresh”; meaning that the only way to be a part of the farm cycle is to eat the food that has been grown in a sustainable eco-cycle permaculture model. Just because you buy a food item that has an organic label on it does not mean it supports a farm-fresh system.
Rockin’ H Ranch – Next, she visits with a beef farmer at the Rockin’ H Ranch in Norwood, Missouri who shows how a holistic cattle-grazing method can grow resilient calves and resilient children. One eye-opening experience for Miller occurred in the ranch kitchen after dinner one night when Dawnnell, the farmer’s wife offered her a tall glass of fresh Jersey cow raw milk. Much to her chagrin and suffering from a history of lactose intolerance, Miller dutifully and without hesitation took the humble offering from Dawnnell in a polite manner and loved the milk to the last drop. She woke the next morning and did not suffer any of the typical systems that occur after she drinks processed milk.
Heartland Egg and Arkansas Egg – On her third adventure, Miller visits with an egg farmer in Arkansas who introduces us to the counter-intuitive idea that stress can keep us productive and healthy. We discover why the stressors associated with a pasture-based farming system are beneficial to animals and humans while the duress of factory farming can make us ill.
Scribe Winery – Next she visits with a vintner in Sonoma, California, who reveals the principles of Integrated Pest Management and helps us understand how this gentler approach to controlling unwanted bugs and weeds might be used to treat invasive cancers in humans.
La Familia Verde Urban Farms – Of all places she travels to an urban setting to visit with a farmer in the Bronx who shows us how a network of gardens offers health benefits that extend far beyond the nutrient value of the fruits and vegetables grown in the raised beds. For example, did you know that urban farming can lower the incidence of alcoholism and crime?
Morning Myst – In her last account she visits with an aromatic herb farmer in Fruitland, Washington State who teaches us about the secret chemical messages we exchange with plants—messages that can affect our mood and even keep us looking youthful.
If you are remotely interested in health, wellness, permaculture, permacuisine and want to learn more about how the soil around us can bring us back down to earth, then you should get a copy of this book. I had many an “A-ha” moment while reading this one, and I plan to learn more from the reference section that provides a multitude of resources to keep me busy for the next few months as I dive deeper into the world of organics, food, soil, and cuisine.
Now for the contest! Win a copy of Farmacology!
I can now offer one copy of this book to a winning reader! Yes, that’s right; William Morrow publishing has offered to deliver one fresh copy of this book to anyone with a U.S. address. If you want to enter my contest all you need to do is one or all of several things, the more you do the better your chances of winning:
Comment about this blog post right here on the CCR blog,
Share the link to this blog post on your blog,
Send a Tweet to all your Twitter followers linking to this blog post and including me in your Tweet,
Share this on your Facebook page and let me know that you did,
Like or comment on the update on my Cajun Chef Ryan Facebook page,
The contest ends at midnight Eastern Time U.S. on Sunday, September 8, 2013.
The winning entry will be announced on Monday, September 9, 2013!
On Monday, September 9, 2013 I will then collect all the entries and put them in the order in which they were received, and then I will use a random number generator to select the winning entry. Your email address will be necessary when entering the contest so that I can contact the winning entry and then obtain the correct U.S. mailing address which will be given to a representative of William Morrow / Harper Collins who will expedite the shipping to the winning person!
Unless you are getting your food from your own yard or a noble local farmer CSA or weekly basket program, or even the local farmers market, then you probably have no idea that those grapes you bought at the grocery most likely came from Argentina and quite possibly have been sprayed with uncontrolled pesticides and fertilizers.
While I cannot say I totally know where all of my food comes from, I do know this, the food that I grow in my yard is safe to eat, totally organic, and will not cause me to get sick, or to die for that matter.
Got sprouts? Better watch out if you bought them from the grocery!
Got green onions? Better watch out of you bought them from the grocery!
Got packaged/bagged/processed lettuce? Better watch out of you bought them from the grocery!
Got apples? Better watch out of you bought them from the grocery!
While it is typically safe from a statistical point of view to eat all of the foods I mentioned above, at some time in the recent past (2-3 years) each one of those food items has been linked to foodborne illness outbreaks in the US or European markets. Individuals have become sick, and still some have actually died for eating these contaminated food items.
Here are a few snapshots of our home garden.
The basil in full glory including purple, Greek, common, and Thai basil
Raised bed of basil in the front yard
The spearmint patch along with some oregano too
Spearmint and oregano bed in front yard
The pansies in full bloom, with some chives and aloe in small pots too
Pansies in the front yard
Chew On This!
MBA Healthcare Management and Aria Cahill have produced the infographic below which covers food borne illness and gives several ways to prevent getting sick by cooking and prepping food more safely.
