Greek Style Sauteed Veggies

Posted on January 2, 2019 by Cat

Green Beans

by Cat, Dec 2018 (photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons)

This year for Christmas Day dinner I wanted to go Greek, and do a roast leg of lamb with my lamb spice rub. But what veggies to serve with it? Since green beans are a frequent side dish for Christmas Day dinner, I decided to start with that, and add other Mediterranean veggies: artichoke, zucchini, spinach or other greens, and of course garlic and onion, sautéed.

It was delicious! and especially great with lamb. Read on for my recipe.

See also: 1. Sides and Condiments Menu; 2. Mediterranean Menu Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Whey Protein Smoothies

Posted on January 1, 2019 by Cat

Fresh whey, from cheese-making

For more than 20 years, I’ve been making a smoothie every morning. For the protein, I originally used a soy protein powder, but I developed a food sensitivity to it, so I switched to a whey protein powder. But I developed a sensitivity to that, and to all the others I tried. I realized the problem was the high temperature used to dehydrate the protein substance into a powder; that heat denatures the protein resulting in changes in the 3-D structure of the amino acid chain, so that the protein was no longer recognized as “safe” by my immune system. e

What was I to do? I switched to a combo of cottage cheese and whole coddled egg for the protein. Then one day I spotted something new on my grocer’s shelf: Bob’s Red Mill Whey Protein Powder. Bob’s Red Mill is a company I knew well from my years living in Portland – a company that takes pride in not denaturing its products, nor adding questionable ingredients. I’d been using their sweet dairy whey as a sugar substitute for years without any sensitivity issues because it is processed at low temperatures. So I grabbed a bag of the protein powder and added it to my smoothie. Wonderful! no sensitivity issues! And delicious, too.

See their great smoothie and shakes recipes on their website (BobsRedMill (dot) com; disguised for security)

So here’s a collection of their recipes (1) from my latest bag of their whey protein powder, adapted slightly for my needs. Give one a try!

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Tom and Jerry Holiday Beverage

Posted on December 30, 2018 by Cat

Tom and Jerry Bowl Set

By Cat, Dec 30, 2018; photo, right, from ebay (3)

During the 1950s and early 1960s, my parents owned Al’s Bar in downtown Bigfork, Montana. There were three bars in our tiny village, and at Christmas, all served a popular beverage to celebrate the Christmas holiday: Tom and Jerry. But each bar’s recipe was a bit different. Ours was the only bar that used a traditional serving set that included a beautiful big white glass bowl and matching mugs that said “Tom and Jerry” in Christmas-red color on the sides (similar to those in the photo, right).

Each customer got his/her first mug-full for free each year. Dad was quite proud of the liquor mix recipe he created, and Mom was equally proud of her batter that she had to mix up several times each day throughout the month of December. And I got to lick the beaters.

For an interesting video about a bar in Great Falls Montana that still serves Tom and Jerrys, check out KBZK’s video (1).

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Baked Trout

Posted on December 5, 2018 by Cat

Rainbow Trout

By Cat, Dec 5, 2018 (Photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons)

During the winter it is hard to find fresh wild-caught fish like salmon, so I sometimes cook a fresh trout such as rainbow or steelhead. Unfortunately these are usually farm raised, so I only do it once a month. Tonight I felt like doing something different with a good looking steelhead fillet piece (about 5 oz), rather than looking it stove-top in my cast iron pan. It’s quite cold outside so I want to bake it, to warm my kitchen.

I came up with my own recipe, using several on allrecipes.com (1) for ideas. It serves one, but can be easily multiplied to serve a crowd.

See also: Fish and Seafood Menu

Continue reading →

Posted in Alcohol, Citrus, Fat or oil, Fish, Herbs | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Boron for Health

Posted on October 30, 2018 by Cat

By Cat, July 2012 (duplicated on catsfork.com, Oct 2018); Image, right, from Amazon (1)

Growing up in the 50s and 60s, I am very familiar with the 20 Mule Team Borax ads for the TV show “Death Valley Days” hosted by Ronald Reagan (long before he became president).

But this posting is not so much about borax’s cleaning abilities, but rather about its health benefits when taken internally. Remember that borax is not a soap or detergent, but rather a salt of borax (sodium borate), mined from the deserts of California and Turkey. A box of 20 Mule Team Borax  is pure enough to ingest. According to Walter Last, it is 99% pure (990g/kg borax), and is safe to use; it is the legal standard for agricultural grade borax.

The majority of information on this and related pages is a paraphrase of Walter Last’s The Borax Conspiracy. However, I’ve added a few notes of my own or from other sources – see numbered references throughout the article. I’ve also saved his article as a pdf file, in the event his article is lost: Borax as a Supplement (pdf), a pdf version of this page (originally Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 on my old health website), but without my notes.

Continue reading →

Posted in Health | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Roast Buffalo (Bison), several recipes

Posted on October 29, 2018 by Cat

American Bison

By Cat, Oct 2018 (Image, right, from Wikimedia Commons)

The following recipes are adapted from a flyer on Cooking Bison at my local grocery store. Bison is a very healthful meat, and tasty too. It is not as fatty, and has more protein per ounce, than beef. Generally, bison insist on pasture grass and will not eat corn/soy (GMO) feed. They may eat alfalfa which could be GMO, so buy from a rancher you trust.

Continue reading →

Posted in Alcohol, Beef, Buffalo, Braised, Citrus, Fat or oil, Flour, Leafy Veggie, Onion family, Pseudo-grain, Roasted, Root Veggie, Seared, Starch, Stock, broth, Vine veggies | Leave a comment

Spaghetti & Meatballs, with Grain-Free Spaghetti

Posted on October 29, 2018 by Cat

Heirloom Tomatoes

By Cat, Oct 2018 (Photo right, from Wikimedia Commons)

Spaghetti and meatballs has been a favorite for me since childhood, though not something my parents knew how to make. Dad had a friend in Great Falls, Montana whose wife was Italian. They came to Bigfork every year for vacation, and she brought a big batch of her homemade dish to give to us.

I’ve always used spaghetti pasta when I make this dish, but this recipe (from Mercola (1)) that uses thin-sliced carrots and zucchini instead of pasta sounds interesting. As usual, I’ve adapted some of the ingredients for my own preferences. I’ve not yet tested this version.

Of course, you could use real spaghetti pasta; cook it according to package directions.

See als0: 1. Casserole menu; 2. Italian meatballs (Polpette) Continue reading →

Posted in Baked, Beef, Buffalo, Boiled, Eggs, Fat or oil, Fried, Herbs, Leafy Veggie, Onion family, Pork, Root Veggie, Salt, Simmered, Spices, Vine veggies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Using Selenomethionine for cats

Posted on October 26, 2018 by Cat

Charlie & Cloe

By Cat, Oct 2018 (Photo, right, by Cat)

I’ve been updating my article on Beware of Toxic Sodium-Selentie in Pet Food as I try to find a source of cat food that uses Selenium-Yeast (Se-Yeast) instead of the toxic sodium selenite form.  Unfortunately, while the rules for pet food allow Se-yeast in dog food, they do not allow it in cat food, so I’m stuck.

My naturopath (1) suggested giving my cats some of the L-selenomethionine supplement that I take for myself – since it is an organic compound found naturally in certain foods such as “Brazil nuts, cereal grains, soybeans, and grassland legumes” (2), it is not a toxic form of selenium.

He suggested I  use the recommended amount of selenium for people, to determine the amount for my cats, based on weight, and then give them appropriate amount of SeM that will provide that amount of Se. Recommended daily allowance for humans is  200 mcg selenium for a 150-pound human, or 1.33 mcg Se per pound of human or cat.

My cats weight about 12 pounds each, so they need about 16 mcg Se per cat, which can be found in 40 mcg SeM. How did I determine this?

  • The molecular weight of SeM is 196 grams/mole, of which the selenium is 79 grams/mole. That means that in one 200 mcg capsule of SeM, there is about 80 mcg elemental selenium.
  • My cats each weigh about 12 pounds; that means 1 cat needs 16 mcg selenium (as 80 mcg Se/200 mcg SeM) mcg/cat) each daily.
  • So one capsule containing 200 mcg Selenium will serve the 1 cat for about 5 days, or 2 cats for 2.5 days.

I’ll see how much water is needed to dissolve one capsule of SeM, and will then mix that into their food.

References

  1. Dr Steven Gordon, ND, Whitefish MT
  2. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selenomethionine
Posted in Pet Health | Leave a comment

Cocktail or Seafood Sauce

Posted on September 29, 2018 by Cat

Horseradish roots

By Cat, Sept 2018 (image, right, from Wikimedia Commons (1))

Cocktail sauce has long been my go-to condiment for deep fried prawns and/or French fries. And now that I know how to make my own catsup (by lacto-fermentation), I love my cocktail sauce all the more. After a conversation about cocktail sauce with a friend who owns the Old Bridge Pub and Sub here in Bigfork, I decided I’d add my recipe here.

It was my Dad who first introduced me to horseradish, when he grew it in our garden. My first taste of it, freshly shredded into a bowl, brought a painful scrunched up look to my face, and whimpering sounds from my throat. But when I learned to add it as a flavoring to other foods, I began to see its merit.

Posted in Citrus, Flavoring, Root Veggie, Vine veggies, Whisked | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Good (Healthful) vs Bad (Not-Healthful) Fats and Oils

Posted on July 20, 2018 by Cat

By Cat, July 20, 2018 (Image, right and below from The Real Skinny on Fat (1))

Check out the infographic (1), below (or see pdf version: GoodBadFats-infographic).  I do have a few comments about items in this infographic, also below.

See also: 1. Foods (About) under Fats; 2. Good Fats for Cooking; 3. GoodBadFats-infographic (pdf) Continue reading →

Posted in Fat or oil, Health | Leave a comment