EDIT, DELETE & SUBSTITUTE
In minds crammed with thoughts, organs clogged with toxins, and bodies stiffened with neglect, there is just no space for anything else. ~ Alison Rose Levy
MASTER EDITOR
In these times of nutritional weirdness, it seems that half of the people you meet — and their kids — have an allergy or intolerance to a specific food. From peanuts to gluten, some of these can be downright dangerous to health and well-being, or at least to good digestion. I’m going back to all of my preparations and indicating which comply with the following restrictions:
- VEGETARIAN Contains no meat, poultry or fish.
- VEGAN Contains no meat; poultry; fish; eggs; cheese, butter or milk products from animals.
- WHEAT-FREE Contains no wheat or wheat products like wheat flour.
- GLUTEN-FREE Contains no gluten or food products with additives containing gluten, like wheat flour, wheat pasta, some cheeses, wheat starch or protein wheat substitutes. If a preparation is Gluten-Free, it is also Wheat-Free.
Give me a few days to get to all of them. For details on how to substitute ingredients, go to the INFORMATION tab at the top and click on SUBSTITUTIONS for ways to omit things that contain foods forbidden to your particular restriction, like bread crumbs or sugar.
NONE of my preparations contain msg, high-fructose corn syrup or refined salt. When possible, I incorporate food products with no added salt or low salt levels. I use either sea salt or kosher salt, without free-flowing additives. I stay away from refined sugar as much as possible, using sucanat (unrefined sugar made from sugar cane), honey or agave nectar.
More lunchbox suggestions:
- Cook Hard-Cooked Egg one night and whip together Egg Salad the next morning for a classic sandwich.
- Whole grain crackers, a nice change from breads, with a small cup of almond butter.
- Instead of a sandwich, try a slice of crusty French bread, some mild cheese like havarti, and sweet sopresetta or hard salami sliced thin from the deli.
- Pack a Hard-Cooked Egg in it’s own container.
- Encourage drinking water at lunchtime, available at no charge in all schools.
- Sweeten iced herbal tea — made the night before and refrigerated — w/agave nectar or honey and add to thermos. Or hot tea! Why not?
- Baked apple, made without butter, can be eaten cold.
- Regular or Greek yogurt in a container with honey, nuts, dried fruit, granola or preserves (with no added sugar) on top.
A WORD ABOUT YOGURT
The wonderful bacteria that is the good inside of yogurt is inherent to all plain yogurt. There’s no need to spend extra money on brands with health claims because those claims are just a load of turkey breath. You can’t go wrong with any plain yogurt, economically or nutritionally. Also, added chemicals and sugars negate plain yogurt’s inherent nutritional value. Add your own flavorings to plain yogurt and taste real rather than artificial flavors.
UPDATE ON LUNCHES
A few days ago, I gave suggestions for what to pack in a lunchbox headed for school. Today we’re making Egg Salad, a perennial favorite for lunchtime sandwiches, or an light and easy dinner. Egg salad is best whenconsumed within 8 hours of its making, so transform your Hard-Cooked Eggs into egg salad in small batches. One egg will make enough egg salad for one adult-size or two child-size sandwiches.
Peel the egg by rapping the large end on countertop or plate. This will break the air bubble inside allowing the shell to release easily from the egg white. Peel and place egg in small, round-bottomed bowl. With a pastry cutter – or fork and paring knife using a two-handed slicing motion as if cutting meat – chop the egg to a chunky consistency.
Add a small green onion, finely chopped. If you like a more delicate oniony flavor, use the green part; if you like a heartier flavor, include the white part. For young kids, you may want to omit raw onion. Add celery – a small, tender stalk from the middle of the bunch – finely chopped. Also optional: chopped cilantro. A dash of salt & white pepper, mix lightly with a fork and you’re almost done.
If you are making egg salad to be used at a later time, it can be stored dry in an airtight container in the refrigerator at this point. Just before serving, add mayonnaise (or mayo and plain yogurt for less tang), sunflower seeds and blend well.
If making a sandwich with bread or toast, slice with a bread knife using a back & forth sawing motion. To prevent the egg salad from oozing out, do not press downward with your hand or the knife. Deli men have told me that slicing a sandwich diagonally will hold together better than slicing parallel to the crust. As a small child, I always liked my mom to cut my sandwiches into quarters. Hold together sandwich halves (or quarters) with a toothpick.
