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Over the last couple of months, there have been multiple recall alerts for products containing contaminated hard-boiled eggs. The chief culprit causing the recalls is Listeria monocytogenes, a particularly nasty little bacteria that grows in cold environments. In other words, Listeria grows in the refrigerator, in cold water, anywhere it’s cold. It’s one of the few bacteria that is not killed by heat, making it even harder to control. So why now and what does it mean for you? Are all eggs suspect?
 Let’s start with some facts:
- Listeria is the leading cause of death from food-borne pathogens, accounting for 20 to 30% of all food poisoning deaths.
- We all carry Listeria in our intestinal tracts, but at benign levels.
- It’s the third most common cause of meningitis in newborns, when pregnant moms eat contaminated food.
- Eggs are not the only source of Listeria; cheeses, raw milk, ice cream, raw vegetables, raw meat and chicken are all potential sources.
- It can grow in temperatures as low as 32 degrees F, the temperature at which water freezes.
So why are we seeing so much of it now? Because more and more commercial producers are not observing proper cleaning procedures. In the case of hard-boiled eggs, the eggs are boiled and peeled by machine, then thrown into buckets of water and shipped to wherever they’re finally packaged or processed for use in pre-made salads, egg salad sandwiches, egg salad and a host of other items. This current recall involves over 1 million eggs from one commercial producer that were shipped for further handling in 34 states. So if one egg processed by this one producer gets shipped to a, say, Wal-Mart packaging plant in Milwaukee, the infection isn’t limited to Wisconsin; it’s shipped all over the country for us all to enjoy.
Unfortunately for us, the means of detection and prevention are lengthy and costly. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it can take 24 to 48 hours for cultures to grow and 5 to 7 days for final reporting to come through. The eggs aren’t held during that time, so by the time anyone gets notification of an infection, the eggs are already in salads in your grocer’s refrigerator section.
Don’t throw the eggs out with the bathwater quite yet, though. Remember that eggs are only one source of Listeria; anything not properly cooked but stored in standing water, especially cold standing water, is a potential home for Listeria. So here are some tips for steering clear of Listeria:
- Defrost frozen raw meats, chicken, vegetables, etc, packaged, in the refrigerator. Do NOT defrost in standing water, either in the refrigerator or on the countertop.
- Thoroughly wash cutting boards, knives, hands and kitchen surfaces before handling anything else after working with raw meats, chicken, vegetables or eggs.
- Don’t reuse your cutting board without washing with hot soapy water. Wash carefully if cutting chicken or raw meat and then vegetables.
- Cut non-animal proteins first, then animal proteins.
- Cook foods thoroughly.
- Buy local and as fresh as possible. Foods from large, commercial producers tend to have the biggest threat.
- If you’re pregnant or preparing food for someone who is, avoid uncooked, undercooked or raw animal proteins (including cheese) until the baby is born.
Remember – following the guidelines above isn’t a guarantee you won’t suffer from
infection, but it’ll definitely cut down your risk.
 Many thanks to NomNomist.com for providing us this great recipe!
Ingredients:
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups shredded potatoes
- ¼ cup minced onion
- ¼ cup shredded carrots
- 1 bay leaf
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 1/2 package cream cheese
Directions:
- Combine broth, potatoes, onion, carrots, bay leaf, seasoned salt and pepper.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 10-15 min.
- Remove bay leaf.
- Reduce heat to low.
- Stir in cream cheese.
- Heat, stirring frequently until cheese melts.
 When you’re with someone, meals can sometimes be a source of contention, from the fact that your significant other hates your favorite food to the fact that he likes to plaster everything with ketchup.
One of my chief pet peeves is kitchen cleanup and paper plates.
In the age of dishwashers, you would think doing dishes would be easy, but when there’s someone else you’re cooking for (or with), there’s always the dilemma of the dishes – I think it’s genetically impossible for guys to actually put dishes in the dishwasher or to wash them in the sink. But heaven forbid if you don’t put things into the dishwasher his way or you don’t put dishes away fast enough … because apparently his arm is broken too.
I once had a boss who was SO obsessive-compulsive that he had a diagram for how he wanted the dishwasher filled and if it wasn’t filled correctly, he would insist his wife take everything out and start over. He even had the diagram posted on the inside of the cabinet above the dishwasher! We won’t even talk about his refrigerator/freezer diagram.
And for some reason, men hate paper plates. I’m not sure what that is, but they would rather have their food on a rigid surface instead of a paper plate. They will eat food directly out of the wrapper or the pizza box, but don’t EVER suggest a paper plate.
I admit I use paper plates often. I’m not advocating paper plates at every meal, although some days it ends up that way. When I cook a full meal for myself, I pull out the real dishes. But would it hurt to have a meal on a paper plate once in a while? A sandwich perhaps? If you buy the right kind of paper plates, you can use them for almost every meal and not worry about the plate disintegrating in front of your eyes, dumping your food on the floor with the slightest movement.
I’m still trying to figure out why there’s such an aversion to paper plates when you’re single, but seriously … lighten up, guys! A paper plate is definitely better than eating that pizza directly from the box!
I’m starting a new series that will include excerpts of my new book, “20 Reasons To Be Happy You’re Single,” available online and in bookstores late summer 2012!
You know the look … Every time you’re with friends/family/acquaintances/random people, and you’re discussing marital status, they give you those sad eyes, showing their sadness at your pitiful state. Usually, the look is followed by comments such as, “Well, you’re still young – you have time” or “The right person is just waiting for you – keep looking!”
Why? Is it really a horrible thing to be single? Must the true road to happiness always go through being in a relationship?
I see so many people who are single and hating it. And you can tell – there’s a matching site for any preference or lifestyle; it’s like all the yentas in the world have ganged together to bring all the lonely souls together for profit.
But really, is being single all that bad? I don’t think so; actually, this is my second time being single (the first was as a single parent) and I have to say I’m quite enjoying myself. Seriously - why are we upset about it? Those who are single want to marry and those who are married can’t wait to be single again. So why not embrace singleness and find reasons to love it?
I didn’t have to look far to be happy about being single. I was married the first time at 20 and was married to him for 15 years. When he left, I had a 4-year-old to raise (on my own), bills to pay and work to do. I didn’t have time to embrace being single – I was just too busy.
Then, after seven years of being a single parent, I truly did find the man of my dreams. But as perfect as he was for me (he actually did accept me for who I was), I still had to face that in every relationship, no matter how good it is, you’re still giving part of yourself in exchange for the love of that person. Or at least you have to endure the endless teasing when you do something the other person thinks is either “stupid” or “strange,” like my love for my electric lawnmower and Barry Manilow.
Unfortunately, my great marriage ended when my lovely husband died. I never anticipated being single again, or at least not until I was much older. However, I found myself at 46 single and now living completely alone, single again. **sigh** But that’s not really a bad thing. After railing at the unfairness of it all for about a year, I began to settle into single life quite nicely. I realized that all the things I had given up to be happy with another person (including when I was a single mom) were actually things I love about being single.
Over the next few weeks, we’re going to look at some of the things that make being single great – like having sole control of the remote and the kitchen. I have my ideas, but I’d love to hear yours! Please email me at laurie@lonelygourmet.com with your favorite reasons to be single and they may be included in an upcoming post!
123RF Stock Photo
 Get your veggies in with this tasty vegetable pie!
Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup chopped fresh broccoli
- 3 TBS chopped red onion
- 3 TBS chopped sweet red pepper
- 3 TBS diced tomato
- 3 TBS chopped celery
- 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup Bisquick
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp pepper
Directions:
- Place 1-inch of water and the broccoli in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 3-4 minutes, until the broccoli is tender but not mushy.
- Combine the veggies in a small pie plate prepared with cooking spray.
- Sprinkle with cheese.
- In a bowl, combine the egg, milk, Bisquick, salt and pepper; pour over the cheese.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
 It’s weird. There are a ton of products on the market that tout “natural” flavors added but are they really “natural” or are they fake? How can you tell the difference? Does it matter? And what does it have to do with food allergies?
I regularly get newsletters from a variety of grocery and food manufacturing associations, including information on the latest “breakthroughs” in food additives. Most of the time, it’s scary stuff and I post it on my Twitter feed (@lonelygourmet), but this morning’s article on natural food flavorings just poked through a little more sharply than most.
It appears International Foods And Flavorings is developing a new line of food flavorings, made from “natural” ingredients, that would mimic the flavor of mushrooms. Um. Ok. Further, the article quoted their North American chief executive officer, Kevin McDermott, as saying that food companies are looking at adding flavor profiles that can be used for things more than just mushroom flavoring. Again – um. Ok. (IFF Adds New Culinary Herb And Mushroom Flavor Lines)
This is the problem with processed food – it can list “natural” flavors in the ingredients list and on the front of the box or container, but do you really know what that flavor is? What would mushroom flavoring substitute for besides mushrooms? And what if you’re allergic to mushrooms? If the flavoring made from mushrooms or something similar is used as something else, you’ll be allergic to that flavored item.
Confused? Me too. Here’s a little example that might help bring it into focus: A child goes to school and drinks chocolate milk every day. Suddenly, he starts developing hives, usually after drinking the milk. Parents and school nurse determine the child is allergic to milk, so they stop him from drinking milk. Problem solved? No. He breaks out in the same rash after eating chocolate, so is he allergic to chocolate? Nope. When the rash returns after eating tortilla chips, the parents decide it’s time to take him to get allergy tested and BINGO – the child is allergic to corn, which includes the corn syrup in the chocolate milk, the chocolate and the corn in the chips. Now what can he eat? Certainly not much in the way of processed food.
The same would hold true if you’re allergic to anything – if you’re allergic to flour and have a gluten intolerance, you would definitely have to stay away from most processed food, since wheat germ, semolina and other flours are included in almost all processed food. Have a mold allergy? It can be triggered by almost anything that has cheese, mushrooms, yeast, etc in it.
The number of food allergies suffered by children and adults alike has been skyrocketing, mostly due to food additives in processed food, where what “should” be one thing is used as another and mushrooms are just the latest.
Want to avoid being a victim of these hidden flavorings? Eat real food … seriously. Don’t substitute mushroom flavor for mushrooms – eat mushrooms! Don’t substitute corn syrup for sugar – just use sugar, if you must. And especially, don’t eat processed food. Know where your food comes from, keep the ingredient list down to one or two, and eat as close to the natural form as possible. In the end, you’ll feel better, it’ll cost you less overall (if you include medical costs from all the health problems you’ll avoid) and you won’t run the risk of hidden allergens.
Here’s my take on a wonderfully flavorful dish with all the wonderful Greek tastes:
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup uncooked rice
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 2 TBSP milk
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1/2 lb ground beef
- 2 TBSP chopped onion
- 1 small tomato, diced
- 1/4 cup artichoke hearts, diced
- 1/4 cup black olives, sliced
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp basil
- 1/4 tsp crushed pepper flakes
- 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
Directions:
- Cook rice according to package directions; drain.
- Combine egg, milk and half the cheese; stir into rice.
- Transfer to a small greased baking dish or ramekin.
- In a skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until cooked through; drain.
- Stir in tomatoes, artichoke hearts, olives and remaining ingredients.
- Pour mixture over rice and heat through.
- Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
- Serve.
Serves 2.
Guest Joseph Baker brings us a wonderful post on how to cook healthy on a family budget:
 Families that cook together, stay together. This may be a cliché, but meal time has traditionally been the hub of family bonding. By taking active roles in planning, shopping, preparation and cleanup, family members pass down some of life’s survival skills along with favorite recipes and have fun doing so.
Sunday Meal Planning
Sunday afternoon is a convenient time to organize the meal plan for the week. The food section of the newspaper highlights new recipes, fresh produce in season, local farmers markets and nutrition trends. Circulars contain a wealth of local coupons and weekly sales flyers. By taking advantage of sales at local grocery stores in conjunction with the coupons, planning the week’s meals on a budget shouldn’t be too difficult. Decide together what meals the family would like for a 7-day stretch based on the sale items.
List the main ingredients necessary to prepare each meal. Have the children search through the flyers for the best coupons and sales.
Shopping Time
Organize grocery shopping for the same day each week. Arm yourself with the shopping list and coupons. At least one supervising adult should be in charge of the children on a shopping expedition. Split up the list for each child to retrieve food items. Stay flexible enough to take advantage of non-advertised specials and deals. Have a BBQ chicken leg dinner instead of the planned Wednesday BBQ chicken breasts since there is a $2.00 off coupon on the package of legs. Even though the chicken breasts are sale advertised at $1.99/lb, the legs come out to only $.79/lb.
Putting the Groceries Away
Every member of the family should be involved in this organizational skill teaching task. Everything should have a place and every family member should know where everything is kept. That way no one has to search for an item when meal prep time is at hand. Always rotate older packages to the front and new packages to the back. Check expiration dates.
Meal Preparation
With a master list of the week’s meals, it is easy to get a handle on meal preparation and delegating tasks. Certain family members will become adept at particular meals and jump at the opportunity to prepare them. However, the ingredients that go into cooking benefit from extra hands preparing them for the dish. Delegate responsibilities and rotate the work load.
The most enjoyable meals are the ones the kids make on their own leaving the cleanup to the parents. Small children can prepare cold sandwiches with chips or a bagged salad. Hot meals like spaghetti, meatloaf with baked potatoes, hotdogs with baked beans are easy for older children to help prepare.
Table Setting and Dish Washing
When children are preschool age, they learn to set the table with mom or dad always eager to act grownup. The outdoor meals with paper products allow for more child independence. Before you know it, your child will handle this task automatically. Same goes for clearing the table at meal’s end. Young children learn by copying the actions of an older sibling or parent. Washing dishes and putting the kitchen back in order are more enjoyable tasks when shared with another person.
Splitting up the various tasks involved in putting a family meal on the table makes meal time enjoyable for all. Rotating the tasks teaches each family member what is takes to serve a nutritious meal every day. Learning to use coupons and monitoring the weekly sales at the grocery stores will keep the family within budget.
 I love lasagna; when I was pregnant with my daughter, the only thing that settled my stomach, the only thing I craved was lasagna. So I came up with a quick, easy way to make lasagna that you can do for as many as you need. I’m not putting in any measurements, because it’s that flexible.
Ingredients:
Lasagna noodles
Marinara sauce (your favorite, with or without meat)
Ricotta cheese
Mozzarella cheese
Parsley
Directions:
- Cook desired amount of pasta according to package directions, enough for 3 rows in whatever dish you’re using. Make sure it’s just al dente, not mushy.
- Drain pasta.
- Spray the inside of your dish with olive oil cooking spray.
- Spoon a thin layer of marinara on the bottom of the pan.
- Add 1 row of pasta.
- Top with dollops of ricotta cheese and spread.
- Sprinkle parsley.
- Add a layer of thinly-sliced or grated mozzarella.
- Spoon a thin layer of marinara.
- Add 1 row of pasta and repeat.
- When you dish is full, with one last layer of pasta, spoon copious amounts of marinara over the top, cover completely with mozzarella and garnish with parsley.
- Bake at 350 until the marinara is boiling and the cheese is melted.
- Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes to cool and settle.
- Enjoy!
123RF Stock Photo
First off, week one of the new diet has paid off in a big way with a 5-pound weight loss. I know, overall, it doesn’t seem like much, but my clothes are already fitting better and I don’t feel as tired and lethargic as I had been. I still haven’t gotten a whole lot of exercise in, but that’s coming. How did I do it? No special “diet” per se, just lots of fruits and vegetables, lots and lots of protein. Oh, and I had 2 major fails with a bag of Reese’s minis and a 3 Musketeers bar. Ok – that part wasn’t so good, but for the most part, it was a success!
As for exercise, I have double impetus. Not only do I just need to get out and exercise, but I need to Get My Rear In Gear. But, you say, isn’t that the same thing? Not at all! This year, the Colon Cancer Coalition is putting together 5k races across the US in support of those impacted by colon cancer – Get Your Rear In Gear. The event in Austin will be March 4 and I need to start training!
You might think that colon cancer is something older folks get, but that’s just not the case. As with most cancers, it doesn’t recognize sex, age, ethnicity, religion or nationality. It’s estimated that in 2012, there will be 103,170 new cases of colon cancer and 40,290 new cases of rectal cancer. Combined, colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States and 51,690 will lose their battles this year.
Colon cancer is one of the most easily detected forms of cancer, yet most don’t catch it until it’s spread. Annual colonoscopies can be your best place to start, but if you experience any unusual symptoms, like bleeding, a visit to your gastroenterologist would be in order. It’s important not to be squeamish about the whole process – would you rather suffer a few moments of embarrassment or endure even longer treatment that will leave you tired, sick, without hair and possibly dead? Think about it.
Here in Austin, the Get Your Rear In Gear 5k is being held March 4 and is sponsored, in part, by Austin Gastroenterology, a great physician-owned practice. They’re staffed with kind, professional folks who make you feel comfortable in all stages of your visits and recognize how uncomfortable it can be. There are 5 locations around Austin, so look them up and make your appointment today!
In the meantime, visit the Colon Cancer Coalition’s site (http://www.getyourrearingear.com/events/list/2012/austin-tx-2012/), if you’re in Austin, and if you’re not, http://www.getyourrearingear.com/events/ to find your city’s race dates and times.
Oh – and Get Your Rear In Gear!
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Let’s start with some facts:
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