The Dirty Dozen

There is so much talk about our food everywhere - where it comes from and what is in it. But even our best efforts to buy food that is safe and healthy for our families and environment can be difficult if we don't understand the lingo. Sometimes it is hard to know what words to even trust... natural, organic, free range, fresh, grass fed, cage free, locally sourced, pink slime(!??)... it can really make your head spin!

Unfortunately, I do not have this all figured out to share with you today. But, I do have something that will at least help when buying produce! Have you heard of The Dirty Dozen and The Clean Fifteen? The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a non-profit that advocates for policies that protect global and individual health. They conducted a survey that tested the amount of pesticides in produce from 2000 to 2009. The results are two helpful lists.

The Dirty Dozen are produce that should always be bought organic, and the Clean Fifteen are produce that do not have to be bought organic. (although they do say all organic is best, when you can!) This is important information because even small traces of pesticides have been found to have adverse effects on our health - especially for children.

The Dirty Dozen

Apples

Celery

Strawberries

Peaches

Spinach

Nectarines (imported)

Grapes (imported)

Sweet Bell Peppers

Potatoes

Blueberries (domestic)

Lettuce

Kale/Collard Greens

The Clean 15

Onions

Sweet Corn

Pineapples

Avocado

Asparagus

Sweet Peas

Mangoes

Eggplant

Cantaloupe (domestic)

Kiwi

Cabbage

Watermelon

Sweet Potatoes

Grapefruit

Mushrooms

I'll definitely be keeping these lists on hand for future grocery shopping! Choose organic when you can - it's good for your family's health and good for the planet!

What I Eat For Breakfast... Everyday!

(Ok - except on the special occasion that my husband is cooking pancakes)



Non-Fat Greek Yogurt - calcium for healthy bones and protein for energy. We choose greek yogurt because it is made with pure, natural ingredients and less sugars.

Healthy berries for antioxidants! Blueberries are a SUPER FOOD because they help reduce belly fat and risk factors for cardiovascular disease!

Homemade "World's Healthiest Granola" (made by Jeannie - recipe to follow in another blog) - for fiber and protein.

Dash of cinnamon - regulates your blood sugar, a mild anti-inflammatory, good source of fiber, manganese, iron and calcium!

(not pictured) 1 cup of skim milk.

It's your body - you only get one! Be proactive in taking the best care of it you can!

Our Love of Pancakes!

Since today is Shrove Tuesday, I could not let the day pass without sharing my family's great love of pancakes with you!! Even as a little girl - it was such a treat to have pancakes for breakfast and my mom would make pancake animals for my brothers and me! Or they were encouraging us to create our own animals out of the pancakes before we ate them! So when I recently saw this picture of these elaborate pancake animals - I just had to share it with you!!

And now that I am grown, cooking pancakes happens to be my husband's specialty! He takes great pride in his pancakes and they are each made with a measure of love!


We love to add in fresh blueberries when they are in season!


In fact, pancakes are what Al made for our daughter, Erin, for her last meal in the US - the summer she was leaving to travel around the world for a whole year doing missions. She could have had anything and what did she request? Her daddy's pancakes, of course!


If we MUST eat pancakes anywhere other than our kitchen, we love Cracker Barrel's Pecan Pancakes as a special treat! They are wonderful!!

Basically - We FLIP over pancakes!! How about you?

Birthday Cookies

Last Friday was my birthday and so many people made the day and the weekend very special for me. My daughter Erin sent me a funny E-Card, I received beautiful topiaries from my Winget Art studio friends, and I was so excited when this HUGE cookie bouquet arrived from my dear childhood friend Meredith. Aren’t these cookies adorable? I love the little frogs and they were tasty, too! Thank you to everyone that made my birthday such a happy one!

Alexa's Cake

The other night my youngest son Sam’s friend, Alexa, came over for dinner. She brought the most beautiful spice cake with her. It was so lovely with the white icing and walnut décor; I had to take some pictures to share! I almost hated for Alexa cut into it, but glad she did – it tasted as wonderful as it looked!

Fresh Tomato Pie

One of my designers at the studio, Audrey, made a tomato pie for everyone to have for lunch today. It was wonderful as she used homegrown tomatoes, onions, and basil from her father's garden. It was so delicious I wanted to share the recipe with you all.

Fresh Tomato Pie
Ingredients:
1 pie crust
5 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and sliced
1/2 medium onion, chopped
4 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
salt and pepper to taste
parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top

Directions:
First, brown the pie crust according to directions on the package. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Then, mix tomatoes, onion, basil, salt, and pepper together and place in pie crust. Mix mayonnaise and cheddar cheese together and spread over the top of the pie. Then sprinkle parmesan on top. Bake pie at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes.

Enjoy!

For more recipes from the Winget Studio, please visit our new recipe page on our website!

Happy New Year!

Today Al and I celebrated the coming of 2008! His culinary specialty is breakfast so he made pancakes for us this morning… it was a comforting way to start the New Year! For dinner we had the feast of Hoppin' John, a traditional meal acclaimed by some as beginning in the streets of Charleston, SC as it was hawked by a man known as Hoppin' John. Miss Sarah Rutledge of Charleston is also known for serving this meal that everyone "came a-hoppin' for" and first published the recipe in her 1842 cookbook, The Carolina Housewife. Each part of the meal is said to bring a specific favor in the coming year. It is surely to be a good one for me as I ate plenty of black eyed peas for luck and pork for good health! ...pork for good health?? Not superstitious ourselves, we still always have a good time toasting the New Year with this traditional southern meal.

Happy New Year!
Susan

A Christmas Cake

Today at the studio we had a visit from our friend Po who owns one of my favorite restaurants in our neighborhood, Lui Lui's. It is always a wonderful treat when the studio orders lunch from there, as we often do, and Po has become a dear friend over the past several years. She is always sharing wonderful things with us beyond her Chinese cuisine, like the lovely orchid she brought the studio this fall. Today she brought a delicious cake for the holidays. It was absolutely gorgeous, so I wanted to share a picture with you all. The butter cream icing wasn't so bad either! We all enjoyed it tremendously- what a special treat!   ~Susan

A very sweet treat...

After lunch today, we had a special treat to celebrate Audrey’s birthday. She is one of my graphic designers here at the studio. Her grandmother, Joy, made a wonderful blueberry coffee cake for her to share with us. Joy is known by her family and friends to make delicious desserts, and this one is Audrey’s favorite. All of us at the studio enjoyed the cake so much, I wanted to share the recipe with you!

Bon Appetit!
Susan

Joy’s Blueberry Coffee Cake

Ingredients:
2 Eggs
1 1/2 Cups of Butter
2 1/2 Cups of Sugar
2 1/2 Cups of Self-Rising Flour
1 Cup of Sour Cream
2 Cups of Blueberries

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix the eggs, butter, sugar, flour and sour cream together. Then, lightly sprinkle the blueberries with a pinch of extra sugar. In a regular bundt cake mold, pour in a third of the batter and then a layer of blueberries. Repeat the layering step two more times. Bake for 1 hour or until lightly browned. Enjoy!

Be creative! Instead of blueberries, try apples, bananas, or crushed pecans sprinkled with cinnamon. Or add chocolate syrup for an extra moist cake!