Why?? If you can understand what you are eating, make good choices, you will have a healthier body!
Oh, my goodness. Let me tell you what happened to me a week ago! I was prepping food for our yearly family week. Family week is when all 5 of our kids, spouses, grandkids and of course Woody and me, get together at a far away place- (hint- people can’t leave for the day and drive back and forth to work!) We tried staying at mom’s cabin one time and lost half the people on a daily basis. Now, the rule is that we go at least a 4-5 hour drive from home! Anyway, I digress.
There I was, creating the popular Texas Caviar-aka Cowboy Caviar- aka Grandma’s Salsa. The recipe is simple, wholesome as well, I believe. I dumped in the drained Black Beans, Black Eye Peas, White Shoe-peg Corn and canned Diced Tomatoes. Red onion, celery, and cilantro leaves were chopped and stirred in. To that mixture, I added a drop each of Black Pepper Oil, Lime oil, and Cilantro oil. The dressing was all that I had left to add…Wait a minute!!!! Those tomatoes had a very oily sheen??? What in the world was wrong with those tomatoes? I read the ingredients on the can. There, in plain sight were the words. Soybean Oil! WHAT??? Why put Soybean Oil into tomatoes??? Another ingredient was SUGAR! I was shocked, dismayed and totally angry! #1. Angry At myself for not reading the ingredient label. #2. Angry at myself for not noticing the oil before I combined the ingredients. #3. Angry with the company for adding things so completely unnecessary to diced tomatoes.
Lesson learned. Read the label! How about sticking to Simple Ingredients? If you can read all the contents in one breath then it is probably an ok product. If you can’t pronounce the names of the ingredients maybe you should let it sit on the shelf at the grocery store!
So-called “ultra-processed foods” are the new norm. These foods include substances not normally used in culinary prep. Ultra-processed foods contain artificial colors, sweeteners, emulsifiers and other synthetic additives. Did you know that sugar is added to 74% of packaged foods? That is shocking to me. Even worse is the fact that sugar has 61 different names. It is almost impossible to know the total amount of sugar in your food unless you are a chemist or scientist!
Other products in these “ultra-processed foods” are Emulsifiers- substances added to improve the texture and mixability of the food. These emulsifiers have been shown to negatively impact the health of your gut microbiome and possibly promote weight gain.
Let’s stick to Simple Ingredients. Get into the habit of reading labels. Stick to raw food as much as possible. Simple is really better. Happy clean eating!!
By the way, here is my recipe for my famous “Grandma’s Salsa” (Cowboy Caviar)
Ingredients:
- Black Pepper Oil
- Lime Oil
- Cilantro oil
- (Drained) Black Beans (1 can)
- (Drained) Black Eye Peas (1 can)
- (Drained) White Shoe-peg Corn (1 can)
- (Drained) Canned Diced Tomatoes (1 can) Or use fresh chopped tomatoes!
- Red Onion (1/2 cup)
- Celery(1/2 cup)
- Cilantro Leaves to taste
- Italian Dressing (8oz)
To Prepare:
Drain the beans while chopping the onion, celery, and cilantro. Mix beans,vegetables and diced tomatoes. CAREFULLY drip a drop each of the Lime and Black Pepper oil and a toothpick tip of Cilantro Oil (insert a toothpick into the orifice) You can add more but I find a drop or less is perfect! Stir everything together, pour the Italian Dressing (not creamy) into the mixture. Refrigerate. We use this as a salad mixed with Cottage Cheese, as a dip with chips or simply as a salad beside a great burger! Enjoy!!!
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