Monday, April 9, 2012

My yummiest meal yet :D

"We are living in a world today where lemonade is made from artificial flavors and furniture polish is made from real lemons."  ~Alfred E. Newman

This is by far the best Easter I have had ^_^ I spent the entire day in the kitchen (about 4 hours) and chit chatting with my family. I wanted to have a "summer" themed easter dinner, you know the burgers, corn on cob, and fries. But I didn't want to buy everything made and highly processed so I'll tell you a little bit about all the food I made (;

Starting with the burgers. The meat I purchase isn't your everyday factory produced and packed meat. As you guys know I live in Florida, and there's a Whole Foods in my area. Well this Whole Foods carries a meat produced by a farmer in Georgia who has an animal welfare number of 4! Click to learn about the numbers (: This means that the cattle he raises to slaughter and sell to the public eat grass, they do not live in the disgusting conditions slaughterhouse cattle live in, they are able to walk around, and do not live in cages or crates. Due to a personal health condition I have, my doctor recommended that I eat red meat once a week or at least once every 2 weeks. However, I never ate it because it disgusted me, I did not know where that meat came from, how the cattle was treated, or in what conditions it lived. Now back to the farmer, while regular slaughter houses kill 400 cattle an hour, this farm kills 4 cattle an hour. These cattle are not hung by a conveyor belt and taken around the slaughterhouse to "increase productivity" by having people rip it apart faster than the eye can see; they are slaughtered the same way they used to be before these factories took over and completely changed the way meat is produced: one by one. This really alters the taste of the beef, and how it looks raw. It does not come all bloody and squishy looking at all! :D Now back to my food, I tasted a [cooked] sample of that meat at Whole Foods about 2 weeks ago and it was unlike anything I've ever had! This is my second week making a different dish out of it and I have not gotten a single tummy ache like I used to with other meats. My body would just reject them and it was not a nice experience. Oh and I forgot to mention that its 90% lean, 10% fat with 20 calories per serving and a low percentage of cholesterol (I think 5%...I can't remember).

How did I make these yummy burgers? Really simple:

Click for the original recipe (:
1 1/2 pounds of beef ($10.43 the Friday before Easter)
3/4 teaspoon Organic pepper ($1.79 on sale)
3/4 teaspoon Sea Salt (we had some at home)
3/4 cup of dry bread crumbs ($2.19)
1 egg

I added all the ingredients to the beef about 1 hour before cooking and I let it sit in the fridge so it could absorb the flavor. Then I made 6 equally sized burgers and cooked them on the stovetop because I don't have a grill to make them outside....they still came out delicious(; The hamburger bread I used was one that came frozen, it was called "Sprouted Wheat *something*" I don't remember the name but it brought 6 buns, and they were soooooo good :O ($3.49 for 6)


Then came my sweet potato fries. I had NEVER made homemade sweet potato fries from actual sweet potatoes! As opposed to the meat, I have no idea where my sweet potatoes are from, I know it said it on the label at Whole Foods but I can't remember XD I went online (AllRecipes.com) and found a simple recipe for "Baked Sweet Potato Sticks," but I altered the recipe a bit:

Click for the original recipe(:
I used 4 organic sweet potatoes rather than 8: $2.29 per pound, 3 pounds, $6.87 total
2 tablespoons of olive oil (we had at some)
1/2 teaspoon of paprika for every 1 tablespoon of olive oil (we had at home)

I added the olive oil and paprika, threw in the sweet potatoes after I cut them up, and mixed them in the bowl with washed hands. It took 2 cookie sheets to fit all the potato fries, 40 minutes in the oven, and after I served them there were no leftovers (;


And finally corn on the cob. BJ's Wholesale now has a program called the Farm to Club Program, where they sell locally grown produce to the public. When I saw this at the store I even tweeted a picture (;


My corn came from Plant City, Florida, and it was SO different from any other corn I've had from other stores. I'm not sure if they used chemicals to grow it but oh goodness it was delicious (; Here's what I did:

I used 6 corn on the cobs ($3.49)
6 cloves of organic garlic (we had at home)
A pinch of sea salt

I cut the corns in half giving me a total of 12 little corns. I put them in water, boiled the water, and let them cook for 20-25 minutes in the garlic. It was delicious, only 2 pieces were left ^_^

So what was the grand total for this home cooked meal? Is it really expensive to eat healthy as most people think? Let's do math:

Natural beef: $10.43
Dry Bread crumbs: $2.19
Organic pepper: $1.79
Hamburger buns: $3.49
Organic sweet potatoes: $6.87
Locally grown corn: $3.49

A total of: $28.26 for 6 people, that's $4.71 per person, try going to a restaurant or cheap fast food and fill up 6 hungry tummies with food that's good for their bodies and will not make them sick for $28.26 (;

And that was my meal, I still cannot believe it was $4.71 per person! I feel so accomplished and happy that I was able to make this food and that they actually enjoyed it. Little by little my parents are changing their eating habits as well and they're bodies are different, they have more energy, and they want to learn more about these foods. They see the change in me and how great I feel, how I don't need medicines anymore, and they want to be that way too! I still have a lot more to learn, but I will share every step of the way with you, and you can teach me what you know. Never stop learning (:

Thank you for reading! ^_^

Stay healthy <3

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