Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Chinese New Year Recipe

Elk Grove resident Lyna Vo provided me with this delicious sounding egg roll recipe.

Egg Rolls

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 pound mushrooms
1 pound carrots
1 pound yam
1 pound of noodles
2 cloves of garlic
A little salt, pepper
2 teaspoons sugar
Egg roll wrappers

Steps:
First, shred the carrots, cut the mushrooms into small pieces, chop the garlic and cut the noodles. Add salt, sugar and a little pepper. Put the beef into bowl and mix everything together. Put mixture into egg rolls wraps and seal with water on fingertips.
After that, put oil in a pan on high heat. Once oil is heated, cook egg rolls for about 2-5 minutes. When cooked, take out of pan and cool on plate.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Crocker Walk-About Tour Give Downtown Art Lovers an Enjoyable Lunch Break

The Crocker Art Museum in downtown Sacramento will resume its mid day one-hour art walkabout through downtown Sacramento.
If you work downtown, and want to do something educational and entertaining on your lunch break, take a tour of local public art.
The tour starts at noon on the museum steps.
“Public Art Walkabout tours are a great way to exercise your mind and body while learning more about Sacramento,” said Christian Adame, manager of lifelong learning at the Crocker Art Museum. The program was piloted in September 2009 before going on hiatus during winter.
Tour dates are:
Thursday, March 25
Permanent Collection Artists
Thursday, April 8
Conservation of Public Art
Thursday, May 13
Public Art & Architecture
Thursday, June 10
The Crocker Family Legacy


Public Art Walkabout tours are presented in collaboration with the Sacramento Metropolitan Art Commission. Reservations are required. To register, call (916) 808-5499 or email education@crockerartmuseum.org.

Uncooked to Order- The Raw Food Diet

It makes sense if you really think about it.
Eat the food nature intended to give us- uncooked, in their natural state.
The raw food diet claims that cooking food over 116 degrees Fahrenheit rids food of healthy enzymes.
Most healthy eaters know that cooking the heck out of vegetables makes them less nutritious, so it makes sense that eating them raw would be the best way to get all the nutrients.
But I had never heard about these enzymes cooked food eaters are lacking until doing research on raw foods prior to the Raw Foods workshop at the Elk Grove Library.
I certainly didn’t want to miss out on these important enzymes, so I did some research.
Turns out, many medical professionals say that our bodies naturally make these enzymes that raw food dieters say are missing from cooked food.
But I decided to recreate some of the raw food recipes at home anyway.
I made the vegetable gazpacho and the mock-tuna salad that I sampled at the workshop.
The mock-tuna uses almonds, avocado and seaweed (various other ingredient too, but those are the main flavors). And it’s OK. Edible, but I wouldn’t want to eat this type of food for long.
The gazpacho is good, but not for a soup. It would be good on crackers or maybe mixed into mashed potatoes. It’s just too strong too eat as a soup alone. I might mix it with some lentils and vegetable broth, or if you eat fish, pour it over baked fish.
Since raw food requires no cooking, you’d think preparation would be a breeze.
Turns out, it’s a little more detailed than simply slicing a banana and some apples.
I used a food processor, a blender, measuring cups and some knives.
To get full from the raw food diet you must include nuts, avocados and other healthy proteins and fats.
Nuts tend to be a source of contention for raw food purists. Nuts should be soaked first to activate the enzymes, according to some, but I didn’t soak the almonds I used for the “tuna.”
Raw foodies have created many recipes that are meant to be a copy of something most people would consider “normal food.”
I like that Lori Easterwood said she heard from the owner of Sac’s only raw food restaurant, The Art of Food. He said everyone eats raw food; some just eat more than others.
Many people enjoy salad and fruit, which is raw.
I think I will incorporate more raw fruit and vegetables into my diet, but exclude copycat meals, because they don’t live up to the real deal.
This workshop was very interesting. The food is healthy, whether you believe raw food diet claims or not. I just wished I liked it more.
Salad anyone?