Face palm

You know you've been sewing too much lately when you cut pie crust strips on the bias so they bend better.

Tuesday Ten: 10 foods I want to integrate in my diet

I'm going to start a new feature here on Made From Scratch called the "Tuesday Ten" - each week I'll make a list of ten things related to frugal living, sustainability, or healthy living in general. Continuing my nutrition theme, this week it's ten foods I want to integrate into my diet.

Eating right is an evolutionary process for me. I feel like I eat well most of the time, but when I don't eat well, I really don't eat well. I've decided that I need to put more structure into my diet again, which means more meal planning. But that's a topic for another post. Here are ten foods that need to be in those meal plans:

1. Sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of several vitamins, including vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B6, and copper. It's also a good source of dietary fiber and has powerful antioxidant properties, which help fight against free radicals, unstable atoms or molecules that damage other cells by stealing their electrons. Free radical damage can lead to cancer. How will I eat them? Maybe sliced up and baked or fried like chips, or baked and mashed with honey and a bit of brown sugar.
2. Avocado. Avocados are a great source of potassium and folic acid. Potassium helps keep blood pressure low, while folic acid helps keep skin healthy. It also guards against anemia and decreases the risk of birth defects. How will I eat it? Besides making guacamole, avocados go great on salads. 
3. Whole grains. I already eat almost exclusively whole grains - whole wheat bread, brown rice, oats - but the reason I'm singling it out is because I want to start using at least half whole grain flour in my baking, and I would like to start baking my own whole grain bread. The bread I buy (without any artificial ingredients) is $4 to $5 a loaf, and it would cost way less to make it myself. Whole grains are rich in fiber, b vitamins and iron. Eating adequate fiber can help with weight management because it keeps you fuller longer, and b vitamins are important for a healthy immune system. As a woman, it's imperative that I get enough iron in my diet. In addition to bread, rice, and oats, I also eat cereals high in whole grains (yeah... the expensive ones).
4. Raisins. I've mostly overlooked raisins since childhood, but they're another good source of iron. They spice up oatmeal and bread and make a tasty and healthy snack on their own.
5. Yogurt. The trick for me and yogurt is that it can't be plain - I've tried and I can't stomach it. So I'm going to have to find flavored yogurt without any artificial flavorings or added sugar. I'll edit this post when I find that elusive brand. The benefits of yogurt include those probiotics you hear so much about - active "good" bacteria that aid digestion and the immune system. In addition, since yogurt is dairy, there's a good helping of protein, calcium, and potassium, all in a low-calorie package. I'm going to try out yogurt for lunch, mixed with oatmeal and fresh fruit.
6. Asparagus. Asparagus is full of vitamins and minerals. It's also an antioxidant and helps lower blood pressure. How will I eat it? Sauteed, steamed, or perhaps cut up and added to home-made pizza.
7. Spinach. Spinach is a power vegetable. It's a low-calorie, nutrient-rich food, full of vitamin K, vitamin A, magnesium, folate, iron, calcium, vitamin C, vitamin B2, potassium, and vitamin B6. Spinach is a good source of protein, fiber, and even omega-3 fatty acids, which reduce inflammation and guard against heart disease, among other things. Omega-3s are also a big reason why number seven is...
8. Fish. The reason I don't eat much fish is because it's expensive! But I want to try and eat fish at least once every other week. Salmon is my favorite kind of fish which has a lot of omega-3s, but tuna and other small oily fish also fit the bill. Try to avoid eating big fish like shark or swordfish, as they can contain high levels of mercury. Fish makes a great main dish, with rice or pasta and a salad. Speaking of salads, salmon salads are yummy (with spinach - hey!), as well as tuna sandwiches for lunch.
9. Blueberries. Blueberries are a great antioxidant, and studies have also shown they can help preserve vision and short-term memory loss. But I don't want to get too specific here...
10. Fruit! Fruit is amazing. It's nature's candy, and there's no better way to satisfy your sweet tooth than with fresh fruit. Fruit is full of vitamins and nutrients and works especially well on an empty stomach, so it's a good choice for breakfast. Some of my fruit favorites that I want to eat regularly: bananas, oranges (I love making fresh orange juice for breakfast on the weekends!), strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, pineapple, grapes.

Of course, I left out tons of delicious and healthy vegetables and other items, but I only wanted to include those foods that I'm not already eating a lot of. Most of the things on this list are relatively expensive compared to other things I could be eating, particularly the fruit. But as my mom always says, expensive compared to what? If I can start substituting fruit for dessert, homemade sweet potato chips for tortilla chips - you get my drift, my diet will be ten times better and I know I'll feel healthier and have much more energy.

The main sacrifice that eating well requires is preparation time, not money. After logging every thing I buy at the grocery store for five months, I spend far less on fruits, vegetables and dairy than dry foods and eating out. All it takes is the will power to cook and plan ahead, which I try to cultivate every day, with varying success. But the more you cook, the more fun it becomes, and I look forward to adding these ten foods to my meals!

Photo credit: Flickr user Darwin Bell.

Purse Construction: Day One

First things first: cutting the fabric. I cut off the tape from my cardboard mock-up and used those pieces as my pattern pieces. I cut the front piece in half to cut the front and back on the fold.The purse has four layers: the satin, then stiff interfacing, then felt, then the flowered canvas lining.

Sewing together the lining pieces took no time at all. Then I decided to stitch the satin onto the interfacing since most of the pieces will be gathered or pleated onto it.

I tried simply gathering around where the front leather decal would go, but it wasn't laying the way I wanted so I eventually took out all the gathering stitches and decided to pleat the front into place. Here's the front with the pleats pinned before I sewed them down:

It seems that my sewing machine won't play nice with the faux leather, so all the leather has to be stitched by hand. It's slow work, but great practice, because I'm not very good at it. Hopefully by the end of this project my handstitching will have improved.

This purse is the first thing I'm making under my own brand name, 1801. I went to Things Remembered to get an 1801 metal plate made for the front of the purse. Unfortunately, the one I wanted cost $37 - more than the fabric! But it was the best choice, so I went with it. Looking at it on the front of the purse, I know I made the right decision.

This weekend I will be away in Las Vegas for my 21st birthday (woo!), so I'll keep the blog updated on my progress next week.

Book Review: Food Rules by Michael Pollan

First off, this is not a nutrition manual or a diet book. Food Rules is a collection of guidelines for how we can both enjoy our food and eat well without making drastic lifestyle changes. It is a celebration of food, real food, and makes the reader think harder about our relationship to food and where it comes from. Michael Pollan sums up his food philosophy in seven words:  

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

The beauty of this little book is in its simplicity. Aside from the introduction and acknowledgments, the book consists of 64 food rules, which are a witty and memorable combination of scientific advice and the kinds of common sense adages repeated by your grandmother.

Pollan's goal is to make choosing what to eat uncomplicated again, in an age where we don't see "foods anymore but instead look right through them to the nutrients (good and bad) they contain." The rules (which he prefers to call "personal policies") help guide the reader in a broad sense to follow his food philosophy.

Rule #1 is "Eat food," and all other rules stem from it. By "food" Pollan means real food, not the highly-processed "edible food-like substances" found in the middle of the supermarket. Rule #3 refines this: "Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry."

Other memorable rules include #11, "Avoid foods you see advertised on television," #20, "It's not food if it arrived through the window of your car," and #51, "Spend as much time enjoying the meal as it took to prepare."

Food Rules: An Eater's Manual. 112 pages, Penguin 2009

Salmon cakes

Tonight's dinner came together in a somewhat eclectic manner. I got home late from a long day of class and meetings so I wanted something quick and easy - so waiting for my frozen salmon filet to thaw was out of the question. But then I remembered that I had a can of salmon in the cupboard, so I decided to make salmon cakes. Here's what I did:

I scraped out the can of salmon into a bowl and added probably around a half cup of crushed Triscuits (the only sort of cracker I had around). Then I added dill, lemon pepper and lime juice to taste. If I had an onion I would have added that too, but they tasted great regardless. Then I whipped an egg and added it to the bowl and mixed everything together. At that point I formed salmon patties and cooked them over medium heat on a skillet coated with oil, a few minutes per side.

For garnishes I steamed some asparagus and served the salmon cakes on a bed of chopped tomato, avocado and more lime juice. Simple, but delicious!