Dumping Grounds for the Earth

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

Today, in honor of Earth Day, I want to tell you about a quick, easy, and free fertilizer for your garden. It's rich in nitrogen and nearly everyone has access to it. What am I talking about? Coffee.

I'm not suggesting you dump your precious ground coffee on your plants. What I'm suggesting is that after you brew, sprinkle a the brewed grounds on top of the soil. This creates a slow-release nitrogen for when you water your plants. It's easy, basically free, and reduces waste or need to purchase fertilizers, and it's all-natural... as long as your coffee is all natural.

It's important to me to buy organic coffee, since coffee beans are not only treated with pesticides, but fungicide is also applied. The benefits are still there if you don't have organic grounds, just steer clear of using grounds from flavored coffee. I'd hate for you to serve your family parsley that tastes like chocolate hazelnut.

Not a coffee drinker? Still want to reap the benefits of this fertilizer? Call your neighborhood Starbucks to find out if they offer the Grounds for Your Garden program. Starbucks has long been known to practice social responsibility, and according to their website "[They] introduced Grounds for Your Garden in 1995, which offers customers complimentary five-pound (2.27-kilogram) bags of used coffee grounds to enrich garden soil."

Enjoy your Earth Day everyone! I'm off to the Fresh Market to buy produce, since they just posted that they will have some good organic sales for Earth Day on their Facebook!

Nonstick Edition...

Nonstick pans are known as a great alternative to using excess fat when cooking. Are they?

If you haven't heard of the dangers of nonstick cookware, rest easy once you learn that DuPont HAS! They have known of all the risks and dangers of their Teflon products for awhile. Every major news source has been on it- ABC, NPR, BBC, The New York Times.

Diabetes, organ damage, and raised cholesterol are just a few maladies linked to nonstick surfaces. The most recent articles report nonstick chemicals as a possible cause of thyroid disease.

Bird owners have been warned not to use their pans with pet birds in the room after a 24-year-old Amazon parrot dropped dead due to the off-gassing of a heated Teflon pan. The company also advises users never to heat the pan above 500 degrees.

Dupont routinely tests the blood of their workers, specifically females, and follows their pregnancies and birth outcomes. They have even relocated workers who are of child bearing age, removing them from factories.

A town downriver from a DuPont plant in West Virgina had their water supply tested by the company. This water was found to be contaminated with plenty of the chemical abbreviated to PFOA or C8. These water tests and blood test results were illegally hidden from the public. Following the pollution and poisoning of this town and their people, a class action lawsuit was filed. Dupont agreed to shell-out up to $343 million, settling out of court to take care of their wrongdoing. The agreement

A plaintiff in this case, Bucky Baily, was born to a Dupont Factory worker. I swear his name is not fictitious and neither is is face. Sad but true, his mother worked at the West Virginia factory, and her pregnancy was one that was "watched" by the company. This is not the same face he had at birth. Unfortunately, back then it was worse. He has had surgery after surgery to correct the birth defects.


Alternatives To Teflon

There are many great alternatives to Teflon. Williams Sonoma carries a line of bakeware called GoldTouch. It's nonstick coating is made from ceramic. This line is pure genius and works wonderfully.

I really love my cast iron skillets. I couldn't live without them. They are good for so many purposes and even offer the benefit of adding iron to your food! Women of childbearing age know how important this extra iron is... whether you are menstruating, pregnant, or nursing. Iron also supports proper brain development in children.

Enameled cast iron is expensive, however a good option if you want something pretty and easy to clean.

Pyrex also makes fabulous bakeware. I absolutely love their pie trays and loaf pans. The wonderful thing about glass cookware is that it holds it's heat well. When you have something you want to cook in the middle without burning it, glass can help you achieve this result.

Some options that I haven't tried are silicone bakeware and the Green Pan line, a "safer" nonstick found at Target. I am still weary of those options, so let me know if you have any good insight on it.

Needless to say, Teflon, if you can't take the heat then GET OUT OF MY KITCHEN!

Want to learn more?

http://www.ewg.org/node/8735

http://www.ewg.org/node/8735

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/07/dining/07pans.html?_r=1&scp=9&sq=teflon&st=cse

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3697324.stm

Egg Venture

I love eggs.

My love for eggs began as a child... my father would make me cheese omelettes for dinner when "the cupboard was bare." Weekend mornings always started with eggs, buttered toast or English muffins, sausage or bacon.

In college, my nutrition teacher shared that an egg is the most complete natural protein, since an egg is a whole life form. Some may not want to think of it that way...but I find it fascinating!

I start most days with eggs. My husband loves them, and my son gobbles scrambled eggs with cheese! I've made some mean egg custard, and custard pie... I've started perfecting a yolk-rich ice cream base. Egg salad is a quickly devoured lunch food, and deviled eggs are a special treat.

The dog's favorite snack- a single raw egg cracked over his crunchy food.

With all this egg-sperience, I've noticed differences in eggs... specifically pertaining to the yolk. Yolks vary in appearance. They can be pale, tall, round or flat. Using recipes that called specifically for egg yolks, I noticed that some yolks broke more easily than others. I was sure that this was indicative of quality. To my surprise, the "organic" yolks broke more easily than the Eggland's best, or the 4 grain brand. I did some research regarding this yolk variance. After reading up, I learned that this could be due to old hens, too much corn in their diet (which also can make them sick), or just an old egg.

Pastured, and truly free-roaming chickens who gets plenty of sunlight for vitamin D, exercise and nutrition from grass, bugs and worms from the earth have shown me the healthiest eggs. These chickens yield eggs with strong, round vivid orange yolks that stand tall, albumen or whites that are firm and clear, and shells thick and hard... these are all signs of fresh, healthy eggs.

Pale yolks that burst easily, flatten in a dish or bowl, aren't centered when the egg is cracked, and thin egg shells are all signs of a bad egg, from what I've read and found in my own kitchen. I've wasted lots of money on "organic eggs" that were no better in quality, freshness and taste. The worst part of the organic egg industry is that confinement of the chickens, de-beaking and feeding of synthetic amino acids are all legal and accepted practices for certified organic poultry and eggs.

(Pastured eggs on the left, Eggland's Best on the right)

I'm leading my family towards eating healthier foods, and I hope that I can teach my boys to become "ethical eaters." My husband and I are both recovering vegetarians, so I strive to only buy meats and animal by-products from well-treated animals, free of hormones, unnecessary antibiotics and ideally pasture-raised, cruelty-free. Cruelty-free meat is probably an oxy-moron... but ideally before slaughter, the animal led a happy, low-stress life.

I am so lucky to have found a small, local farm that offers me their eggs. They are the best eggs we've ever had! And from very well-treated, truly free roaming chickens.

Interested in finding similar eggs in your area? Be creative... try localharvest.org, craigslist.org, or see if you have a local chapter of the Weston A Price Foundation. They will help you find farm-fresh eggs, from chickens who are treated as pets, and and not a business.