More Nautical Stuff and Another Spice Blend

I am sure you will not be surprised to hear that we were on the boat again. Our to-do list currently has 78 items on it. Thankfully many of the items are small and 17 have already been accomplished. Still… there is a lot left to do. It is funny somehow when you enjoy sail you only remember the part you love and not the work. However I will say that the good definitely outweighs the bad when it comes to sailing.

Monday night after work Dan replaced the pump on the toilet. I went to the boat with him for moral support. Talk about a dirty smelly job. No wonder he had no desire to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a plumber. :-P Can’t I say I blame him one bit after being onboard while he was doing this plumbing job. Here is the new pump in place.  Next up... breaking out the steam cleaner.

After he had his job taken care of it was my responsibility to clean the head (nautical speak for boat bathroom) and the bilge. We get all the fun don’t we? ;-) We could have paid someone to do this stuff but really that just seems incredibly wasteful and lazy to both of us so we did it ourselves. Sometimes I think neither one of us has good sense. LOL

Sorry I haven’t been posting much but the wifi speed at the marina is not the best. I have been calling the wifi provider and hopefully they will do something about it soon so that I can get back on a regular schedule. I tried uploading a few photos to Facebook on Tuesday and they timed out. *argh* The slow connection is extremely frustrating. I am trying to just go with the flow but I can honestly say I feel a little odd being so out of the loop electronically. On the bright side our friends Christine and Tim also had wifi problems and those have now been resolved so I am hoping that ours will also be resolved quickly.

The food recently has been nothing much to speak of. We have been eating leftovers and quick meals, nothing really worth sharing. I do need to get back into the kitchen soon and make something interesting if for no other reason so I don’t get bored. Dan will eat anything as long as it tastes good and doesn’t mind repeats one bit. I am the one who needs to change things up in the food department.

What do we eat when I am not in the mood for cooking? Since there is definitely a pattern to what I do I thought I should share it with you. We almost always have a salad with both lunch and dinner. These can be anything but I typically combine: raw greens, veggies, fruit and nuts or seeds and sometimes quinoa.

I also gravitate to soup a lot since that is easy and reheats extremely well. Beans make a very filling and nutritious addition to soups and stews. If you want to make it more hearty you can serve the soup/stew over quinoa and not only it is more filling but you have then covered your bases in terms of essential amino acids. I just love quinoa which you probably guessed based on how often you see us eat it.

Dinner on the boat was a simple meal that I could make easily given the limitations of using a propane stove. I brought cooked quinoa, a sweet potato and kidney beans from home. I made the Mexican spiced tomato and bean sauce on the boat. Cooked a small spaghetti squash in the oven. Our dinner was spaghetti squash and quinoa topped with the Mexican tomato and beans to which I added diced sweet potato. This was easy to make because I now also keep a Mexican blend of spices on board that includes: dried minced onion, powdered garlic, no-salt seasoning, cumin seeds, paprika, oregano, cinnamon and cocoa powder. With the spice blend and little hot sauce dinner came together quite quickly.

Next I am going to make an Indian spice blend to keep on board and I should be able to make a decent variety of meals from standard pantry items. At least that is my plan we will see how well it works on in practice. However so far the Southern Italian and Mexican spice blends have been very handy as well as not taking up much room which is very important on a boat.

After dinner we lounged around the boat for a little while and then cleaned up and headed for home. We have been spending almost every night on the boat. It is fabulous being about to sit in the cockpit every night and enjoy the lights twinkly on the water. Now I can’t imagine why we ever had a boat that was over an hour away from home. What the heck were we thinking? ;-)

Happy Thoughts:

• The boat smells much better since the toilet has been fixed. Dan got major points from me for resolving that problem so quickly.   Having scented candles on board also seems to help.

• We are making good progress on our boat to-do list. While we would rather be sailing than doing work be both also want to get everything taken care of sooner rather than later. Not to mention it is incredibly relaxing being at the marina. We both love sitting in the cockpit, sipping tea and looking at the water. Additionally we have nice boat neighbors and that helps make the work part a lot more palatable.

• The fur children are starting to get used to mommy being gone more during the day and are much less panicked when I get home. This makes me feel less guilty about leaving them home. Realistically I know that they spend most of their time sleeping during the day but I see feel bad leaving them by themselves.

• The weather on Tuesday was absolutely magnificent. We had temperatures in the upper 70’s with a gentle breeze. It was one of those days where you just couldn’t get enough time outside.

Signing out:

Now I need to get productive. I have lots to do at home before I head back to the marina to meet Dan for dinner. Oh yeah, I also have more work to do on the boat but that doesn’t even bother me since I will be on the water. Talk with you again soon.

Tofu Spice Rub & Thoughts on Which Studies to Put into Practice

Monday wasn’t bad in terms of getting things accomplished but I was a little more rushed than I prefer. I listened to the last day of “The Great Health Debate” which lasted longer than any of the prior days. However it was nice to hear Dr. T. Colin Campbell talk about health. I am going to summarize my thoughts on the debate and get those posted as soon as I can. Much to my surprise the “experts” agreed on more points than I expected.

It was almost 2pm before I was finished listening to the audio and then it was time to write the post I put up on Monday. I didn’t actually start dinner until about 5pm. Nothing like planning right? I was craving tofu and decided to make it with a spice rub I used with pork loin in the past. This rub is good but unusual spice rub that I think you will like. It can be altered and will outline that in the comments. Here is what I did:

Spice Rub for Tofu
Enough for two 14 ounce blocks of tofu

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon coriander seeds
½ teaspoon fennel seeds
½ teaspoon cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (this amount is approximate)

Directions:

Combine the cumin, coriander and fennel seeds in a pan and heat over medium, shaking the pan periodically to toast all seeds. Heat the seeds until the coriander begins to turn a light brown and you can smell the spices. Next place the toasted seeds into a spice grinder and add the cocoa powder. Grind the seeds until they are a powder.

Use half of the spice rub to coat a 14 ounce block of tofu that you have cut into 6 pieces. Bake the tofu until it is the texture you like.

Nutritional information for ½ the spice rub:

Amount Per Serving
Calories 8.7
Calories From Fat (44%) - 3.85

Total Fat - 0.46g
Saturated Fat - 0.06g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 2.57mg
Potassium - 43.07mg
Total Carbohydrates - 1.39g
Fiber - 0.72g
Sugar-  0.03g
Protein-  0.44g

Comments:

This spice rub worked really well with tofu, better than I expected actually. If you want to change it up a little you can add ½ tablespoon freshly grated ginger or ½ tablespoon of espresso powder. I have added both of those in the past and they work well with these spices. If you eat sugar a little brown sugar in the mix is also good. If you add the sugar you need to be careful that the sugar doesn’t scorch while the tofu is baking.

Valentine’s dinner was tofu with the spice rub and roasted fingerling potatoes, broccoli and raw grape tomatoes. When the potatoes and broccoli were cooked I tossed them in fresh lemon juice and then added Italian seasoning and freshly ground black pepper. The tomatoes were added for temperature contrast and nutrition. There is a nutritional synergy that takes place when you combine broccoli and tomatoes which I try to keep in mind when planning meals.

Thoughts on “Scientific Research”:

Laura asked a great question that I wanted to share with everyone and then discuss my thoughts on the topic. Her question was: “You already share quite a lot of research-type info, but being a science person I always want to know more...for example, why you will or won't incorporate certain results/recommendations into your diet.” I thought this was a great starting off point for a conversation about “science”.

This question came up on the last post where I talked about the vitamin K2 in hard cheese being reported to have anti-angiogenesis properties. However there is also science that shows that dairy is tumor and metastases promoting. For me it comes down to what or who to believe.

If T. Colin Campbell had been the only one to discuss the tumor promoting effects of casein I wouldn’t know what to do since there appears to be science on both sides of this argument. However in the book “Life Over Cancer” there is also a discussion about the impact of casein on tumor growth (it starts on page 68). The doctor explains that dairy is bad for a number of reasons, these are:

• Dairy is high in cholesterol which is a problem in terms of cancer. High cholesterol is associated with metastases as well as making tumors more resistant to chemotherapy.

• Additionally dairy boosts estradiol which stimulates tumor growth particularly of hormonal cancers like breast, ovarian, uterine, and cervical. I should mention that eating a high-fiber, vegetable-rich diet lowers estradiol.

• Dairy contains calcium which binds with your vitamin D stores which you don’t want. Vitamin D appears to be crucial for controlling cancer cell division (growth).

• The saturated fat in dairy increases the likelihood of blood clots which is a problem for many with cancer.

• Milk/dairy contains lactose (milk sugar) which can raise blood sugar.

• The casein in dairy accelerates the growth of tumors and metastases by fueling IGF-1.

When I compare this to the idea that vitamin K2 may be good I decided to avoid the cheese and get my K2 elsewhere. I can’t say that either Dan or I are looking forward to consuming natto. The idea of a slimy gelatinous product doesn’t appeal to either of us but if it helps our health then we are going to find a way to consume it. I will keep you posted on what works and doesn’t work in regard to getting natto into our diet.

Since Doctor Block (who wrote “Life Over Cancer”) has been treating cancer patients in his facility for 30 years I tend to put more stock in his findings versus a research scientist like Dr. Li. I am not saying Dr. Li is wrong but Dr. Block being in the trenches with 1,000’s of patients gives me the feeling he has more experience with what works on people as compared to in the lab.

This was rather a long winded answer on why I am not jumping to add cheese to our diet. However I hope it gives you some insight. One thing that used to confuse me was all the apparently conflicting “science” around nutrition. I think part of this is the fact that we tend to look at food in a reductionist manner. What I mean by that is hard cheese is recommended for the vitamin K2 it contains however that isn’t all that is in cheese. When you look at cheese in its entirety I think there is more bad than good. I hope that makes some sense.

I will try to write a review of “Life Over Cancer” this week. This book is one of the best, if not the best, that I have read regarding cancer. If you are worried about cancer I would recommend you see if your library has a copy. I think you will find it is worth owning. I use it as a resource quite often.

Happy Thoughts:

The week is starting off well so far. Here are my happy thoughts at the moment:

• Tuesday has been much more relaxed than the prior 8 days. Both Dan and I had appointments with the internist today. The lab results were excellent except one thing I want to work on. I will share details with you very soon, maybe tomorrow if I have my new plan in place that quickly. I was thrilled that our blood glucose levels were 75 and 87. Nutrition really makes a huge difference. ;-)

• Dan worked from home Tuesday morning since appointments were at noon and 12:20. It was nice to have him in the house even if he was upstairs in his home office. I also loved spending time riding with Dan riding to the appointment and in the exam room. We always have a friendly battle or how has better numbers. Yes we are that geeky. LOL

• Since we had quite a bit of time together today I had a chance to discuss getting to the gym in the morning again. I am happy to say Dan has agreed that we need to get back on our morning schedule and that he plans to be home early enough that we can go tomorrow before work. I am looking forward to starting my day early at the gym tomorrow. Who said that? *looks around* ;-)

• I am also thankful for this sweet little angel. This is one of the rare pictures of Binky’s big brother Massimo (aka Masi) with his eyes open. Masi was very happy when we came home from the doctor and turned on the electric blanket as you can see from the look on his face. He is such a precious baby and I am very thankful to have him in my life.

• The weather service is predicting temperatures to reach 70 on Friday. Woo hoo! I may have to change my schedule so that I can enjoy my Friday rather than running errands. I can’t wait for spring to get here. Dan and I were discussing putting in a garden bed in the backyard this spring if we can find a spot with enough sun. I am definitely getting spring fever. LOL

Signing out:

Being out of the house for hours today means I am behind at home. I need to log off and get some laundry done and make something for dinner. Talk to you again tomorrow.

Quatre Epices

Those of you that have been reading for a while know that I like my spice blends. I think spices add so much flavor to food. They are invaluable when you are trying to reduce your salt and fat intake. If you missed them you may want to check out the blends I posted for curry powder, ras el hanout and dukkah.

For those of you that don’t speak french quatre epices translates to “four spice” and the name makes sense since that is what the blend contains. Classically it contains white pepper, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. It is used in processed meat and pate. It is also wonderful with game meats and wine based stews. In my prior life I used it to make pate, sausages, terrines and beef stew. I realized yesterday that I had not used this in ages and decided it was time to find out what uses it has in a vegan diet. Needless to say you can expect a seitan sausage and vegan pate very soon. ;-) Here is how you make the spice blend.

Quatre Epices
Makes about 2 tablespoons

Ingredients:

1 fat tablespoon white peppercorns
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (I use approximately ½ of a whole nutmeg)
½ teaspoon ginger, ground (dry not fresh)

Directions:

Toast the white peppercorns and cloves until you smell the aroma. Now cool the spices before grinding. I place them in a coffee grinder I have reserved for spices but you can use a mortar and pestle if you like to do things old school, it does work but taste longer to get it finely ground. Add the nutmeg and ginger and stir to combine. Store in an air tight container, I use an old spice bottle that I have cleaned well.

Comments:

If you like french food the flavors of this spice will be very familiar to you. I think it works well with mushroom and think I am going to try it as a seasoning for marinated tofu. If you make a vegan beef stew try adding a teaspoon or two of this to the dish. It will make the flavor much more complex. This spice plays well with both white and red wine.

Unrelated note:

Today is Friday so that means I need to take care of my usual errands. Assuming all goes well I will be back to make something using this spice blend. I also have a raw salad with sumac that I want to work on today or tomorrow. 

I hope you are all having a great day. I do love my Fridays even when they are hot and humid like today. Nothing, not even sticky weather, can ruin my mood on Friday. Be back later.

Curry Powder

Today started on a funny note that resulted in my idea for dinner, curried ravioli stuffed with almond feta. Let me tell you how I ended up making curry powder today.

To say that I am not a morning person doesn’t give you an accurate picture of me in the morning. I am one of those people that doesn't mentally wake up until hours after I first open my eyes. Since giving up my 2 double shots of espresso to start the morning I move even slower than normal. I basically sleep walk through my morning.

It was darn cold this morning so I decided to make oatmeal. I grabbed the cinnamon and ginger to get those in the bowl first and something didn’t look quite right. You guessed it; I combined cinnamon and turmeric instead. After I noticed what I had done and washed the bowls I have been thinking of curry all day. I finally decided to make a vegan version of the curried pasta in “The Professional Chef”.

Here is the recipe for curry powder I will be using tonight in my ravioli dough.

Curry Powder
Makes about 1 ounce

Ingredients:

¾ ounce cumin seeds
¼ ounce coriander seeds
1 teaspoon whole mustard seeds
4 small dried chilies
1 tablespoon cinnamon, ground
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 tablespoon ginger, ground

Directions:

Place cumin, coriander, mustard and chilies in a heavy saucepan and cook over medium heat until the spices begin to lightly brown, or you can smell them.

Remove the spices from the heat and allow to cool. If you want a mild curry powder break the chilies in half and shake out the seeds. For a hotter curry leave the seeds in the chilies. Place all the toasted spices in a spice ground (or coffee mill) and process until they are fine. Combine the ground toasted spice with the cinnamon, turmeric and ginger. Store in a closed container.

Nutritional information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 165.99
Calories From Fat (39%) - 65.56

Total Fat - 7.83g
Saturated Fat - 0.71g
Cholesterol- 0mg
Sodium - 42.69mg
Potassium - 735mg
Total Carbohydrates - 26.52g
Fiber - 11.58g
Sugar - 1.25g
Protein - 6.52g

Comments:

The beauty of making your own spice mixes is that you can change the proportions to suit your taste. I like to leave some of the seeds in the chilies to give the curry a little more “zip”.

Ras El Hanout - Middle Eastern Spice Blend

This Middle Eastern spice mix has no strict formula. Some recipes contain as many as 50 ingredients. My version contains all the standard ingredients plus a few of the more unusual spices. Some recipes also contain lavender and rose petals.

Ras el hanout is stirred into soups and tagines for color and flavor. It is also added to couscous and rice. It is frequently combined with oil and rubbed over meat and poultry as a marinade. It also makes a nice rub for seitan.

If you like Middle Eastern food, like we do, this spice blend will find its way into many recipes. Once you make it you will wonder how you made Middle Eastern food without it.

Ras El Hanout
Makes about 3 tablespoons

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons of coriander
1 ½ teaspoon of cumin
½ teaspoon of green cardamom seed, from approximately 10 pods
½ teaspoon of fennel seed
½ teaspoon of black peppercorns
1 teaspoon of turmeric
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of paprika
¼ teaspoon of kosher salt
½ teaspoon of powdered ginger
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon of cloves

Directions:

Toast coriander, cumin, cardamom, fennel and peppercorns over medium heat until you can smell the spices. Combine all spices in a spice grinder and process until fine.

Comments:

The aroma of cardamom is so intoxicating. I love this particular blend of spices. It is very unusual but also very obviously Middle Eastern. If you have never tried I suggest you make a batch of it to use in rice or couscous. I may use it tomorrow with some roasted potatoes.

Dukkah

Dukkah is an Egyptian ground seed and nut mix that is flavored with spices. They use it with olive oil on bread. I have also read that it can be used on salads or with vegetables. I love the idea of having another “little something” that I can add to food. I am a bit of geek when it comes to sauces, salsas, chutneys and flavored salts. Dukkah seemed like something that would fit right in at our house.

As my husband and I age we both have come to appreciate Middle Eastern food of all sorts. I think it is the spices that have appealed to us the most. Our friend from Cairo has mentioned dukkah a few times so I decide to find a recipe and give it a try. There are so many different recipes that it was a challenge to know what was traditional and what had been Americanized. All the recipes included sesame seeds, cumin, coriander, black pepper and salt so that is where I started. Then there seemed to be two schools, one that added hazelnuts and one that added dry roasted and crushed chickpeas. I found hazelnuts to be more appealing.

Sesame seeds are a good source of many vitamins and minerals, namely: manganese and copper, calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, vitamin B1, and zinc. The little seeds also contain lignans that are said to reduce cholesterol and blood pressure.



Dukkah
makes about 1 cup

Ingredients:

1/3 cup hazelnuts, skinned
2/3 cup sesame seeds
2½ teaspoon coriander seeds
4 teaspoons cumin seeds
½ teaspoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

In a dry skilled toast the hazelnuts until you can smell the nut aroma. Move the hazelnuts to the food processor and pulse until they are a little larger than the sesame seeds.

Put sesame seeds into the skillet and over medium heat toast until lightly golden, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and add seeds to the hazelnuts in the food processor.

In the same pan, toast coriander, cumin and black pepper until they begin to color and become fragrant, about 2 minutes. Move the toasted seeds to your spice grinder and processor until they are all broken, about 15 seconds. Move the seeds to the food processor.

Add all the above ingredients to a food processor (or mortar if you are going to hand grind) and let cool completely. When the mixture has cooled, add the salt and pulse (or grind in mortar) until the mixture is coarse.

Store in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator so the nut and seed oils do not spoil. Bring to room temperature before serving. Serve with olive oil and bread.

Other possible uses for dukkah:
- Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil over vegan feta and sprinkle with dukkah
- Roast new potatoes and toss with dukkah when you remove them from the oven
- Toss dukkah into a potato salad that was made with a lemon vinaigrette
- Use as a rub on seitan or tofu
- Toss hot whole wheat spaghetti with extra virgin olive oil and garlic and finish with dukkah and fresh minced parsley.

Comments:

Dukkah has much more flavor than I expected. It also has a nice crunchy texture and more of a saltiness than I anticipated. I imagine using this in place of finishing salt which would result in an overall reduction of sodium ....... which would be a good thing. Dukkah will be a regular item in our house from now on.