The Most Basic Essential Foods

[Talbot]

I buy powdered goats milk in UK as I am allergic to Cows products (other than the meat!)

It is relatively easy to source in UK. I have yet to find it elsewhere,

Anybody know different?

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Nutella: Palm Oil is extremely bad for your arteries. .

Nutella was marketed in Australia as having the goodness of Hazelnuts. Its only got 13% nuts. The rest is sugar and crap.
Its has now been forced by court to change its plug to: "Nutella, with premium hazelnuts and the goodness of milk...."
Nutella is one of my pet hates showing what I believe is the nutritional lies of the western world that slags off protein, meat and animal fat and extols the non-existent value of sugar especially fizzy drinks and children’s foods.


Nutritional Information


Quantity per 100g
Fat, total 30.3g- saturated 10.0g
Carbohydrate 54.7g- sugars 54.4g


Trans Fats

In Australia Ferrero reformulated Nutella in 2006 to reduce trans fat to less than 0.5%. This was done by substituting hydrogenated oil to palm oil which is a form of edible vegetable oil.

[pressuredrop]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Nutella: Palm Oil is extremely bad for your arteries. Possibly one of the worst foods you ccan eat. Take real nut butter and add cocoa if you like, you can get almost any kind of nut butter without the added palm oils.

the problem with the oil in nutella is that it is fractionated palm oil(what ever the hell that means).... this and other questionable ingredients are why i will not eat nutella

but...

expeller pressed palm oil and coconut oil are 2 of the healthiest oils you can eat, (that and olive oil are the only ones i will eat), stay away from solvent (hexane) extracted vegetable oils such as corn oil, canola oil, and peanut oil...

the myth that saturated fats are responsible for clogging arteries has long been disproven. it is the highly processed and nutritionally dumbed down foods (mass produced oils, flours, sugars, HFCS, MSG... bottom line - processed foods) that are responsible for most of the common curable ailments (diabetes, heart conditions...) that plague western diets.

for those seriously interested check out the Weston A Price Foundation and read "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration" available online here..
Weston Price: Nutrition and Physical Degeneration; Table of Contents

[Ofer]

Is nutella really that bad for you?

apparently there is a difference in nutella depending on it's country of MFG.

The US version is the only one in the world that uses Modified Palm oil

from the nutella US site...

Is the Palm Oil in Nutella® a hydrogenated oil?

No. The palm oil is naturally extracted from the fruit of the palm. This palm oil is adjusted to assure the best consistency for easy spreading by reducing the level of saturated fat.

Ok I'll admit not sure what it all means but maybe there is an expert among us.

[GordMay]

Don't worry about deciphering the specific type of oil in the food, or what's been done to it.
Look at the nutritional label to see how much saturated and trans fats are in there.
The first and primary fat to avoid is the trans fat. Make sure the foods you buy have none.
Saturated fat is the second-most important one to avoid.

[JanetGroene]

Did I miss peanut butter? It keeps for years, does not need refrigeration and in dire circumstances just eat it by the spoonful out of the jar. Dried beans are great but lentils cook faster so they are a plus when time and/or fuel are in short supply.

[Ofer]

Originally Posted by JanetGroene

Did I miss peanut butter? It keeps for years, does not need refrigeration and in dire circumstances just eat it by the spoonful out of the jar. Dried beans are great but lentils cook faster so they are a plus when time and/or fuel are in short supply.

I have "Almond or peanut butter" on the list. I like almond butter better but I am sure it's not as widely available as peanut butter.

Yeah Lentils are a must i love them! I even tried sprouting them and that was great.

[hellosailor]

Janet, when peanut butter is kept open at room temperature for long periods, there is a potential problem with aflatoxins growing and all the manufacturers and agencies recommend that it be refrigerated after opening to minimize the problem.

Information about Health & Aflatoxins in foods such as peanut butter

Considering that last year there was a major problem (salmonella?) with contamination at a US peanut butter plant, this old camping staple probably needs a bit more attention than it used to get. And I'm assume the "healthier" natural PB with less salt and preservatives in it needs all the more care.

[zeehag]

if one has nuts and a processor, one is able to make any kind of nut butter one would care to eat. i can imagine what macadamia nut butter would be like with some bananas in between two slices of fresh bread.....

[Astrid]

i can imagine what macadamia nut butter would be like with some bananas in between two slices of fresh bread.....

That sounds almost sinfully wicked.

[avb3]

Here is a link to a company that produces a nut like spread from peas. It's plant is just a few miles north of my home town, and I have tried it.

It is not peanut butter, but it is pretty good, and a great substitute.

Looking at the ingredients, I suspect a person could figure out pretty quickly how to make this from dried peas, one would think.

[zeehag]

sounds like nutella joined the ranks of skippy and jif- the non-nut nut butters,,LOL...eeewwww-- too sweet and nasty--is easier to make own...
i am reallly getting into the imaginary flavors of the macadamia butter and bananas...mmmmmmmmmmmm...gotta do that--is waay tooo goood sounding to be bad..LOL

[SweetSerenity]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Look for some old cookbooks, which will include the staples AND how to make them keep without refrigeration AND recipes, which you will definitely require if you have little to no experience with this.

The New Settlement Cookbook (about 100 years worth of versions, older is better for this) is one priceless source. There are others for campers and sailors, and the USDA provides tons of information about keeping and canning foods, some very up to date, others pre-WW2 and suitably more primitive.

I would agree the Settlement cookbook is excellent-- I grew up with that book...another I would recommend is the Fanny Farmer cookbook...

[boatman61]

I wonder if she's related to Fanny Cradock the UK cook from the 50's...
I love Marmalade...
12 Seville oranges
2 lemons
1.25kg unrefined golden granulated sugar
Using a small, particularly sharp kitchen knife, score four lines down each fruit from top to bottom, as if you were cutting the fruit into quarters. Let the knife cut through the peel but without piercing the fruit.
Cut each quarter of peel into fine shreds (or thicker slices if you like a chunkier texture). Squeeze each of the peeled oranges and lemons into a jug, removing and reserving all the pulp and pips.
Make the juice up to 4 litres with cold water, pouring it into the bowl with the shredded peel. You may need more than one bowl here. Tie the reserved pith, squeezed-out orange and lemon pulp and the pips in muslin bag and push into the peel and juice. Set aside in a cold place and leave overnight.
The next day, tip the juice and shredded peel into a large stainless steel or enamelled pan (or a preserving pan for those lucky enough to have one) and push the muslin bag down under the juice. Bring to the boil then lower the heat so that the liquid continues to simmer merrily. It is ready when the peel is totally soft and translucent. This can take anything from 40 minutes to a good hour-and-a-half, depending purely on how thick you have cut your peel. (This time, mine took 45 minutes with the organic oranges, just over an hour with the others.)
Once the fruit is ready, lift out the muslin bag and leave it in a bowl until it is cool enough to handle. Add the sugar to the peel and juice and turn up the heat, bringing the marmalade to a rolling boil. Squeeze every last bit of juice from the reserved muslin bag into the pan. Skim off any froth that rises to the surface. (If you don't your preserve will be cloudy.) Leave at a fast boil for 15 minutes. Remove a tablespoon of the preserve, put it on a plate, and pop it into the fridge for a few minutes. If a thick skin forms on the surface of the refrigerated marmalade, then it is ready and you can switch the pan off. If the tester is still liquid, then let the marmalade boil for longer. Test every 10 to 15 minutes. Some mixtures can take up to 50 minutes to reach setting consistency.

[Chef Mike]

The PaleoDiet cuts out all of the processed nastiness. Mark's Daily Apple is a great resource.

Chef Mike