Thankfully, it seems that more people are taking notice of the disastrous effects of the Obesity epidemic. And in particular, the effects it is having on our children. You know, those small people we are training to grow into sensible adults. Well, if we keep feeding them the products that the, mostly, UPF manufacturers are suplying in our supermarkets, this AIN’T GONNA HAPPEN.
The problem we all have of course, is that most of the advice we get from those people who have been researching and testing trials of the effects are coming, unfortunately, from people most ordinary people tend to ignore. I can understand, I often ignore things I don’t want to know or hear about myself. Less now that I am older and look in my mirror and see a body that is very different from when I was years younger. Much of this is caused by my own lifestyle of course, added to the natural effects of aging. But this just serves to annoy the heck out of me, particularly as I know I can do something to correct what I have done to myself through those years.
I hope that my future articles will reach those people like me, who want to do something, but for whatever reason, can’t quite make it. Every post I will list a recipe that you can buy at the supermarket, but can easily make for yourself and avoid the millions of ingredients that were never included in our food BEFORE the UPF manufacturers started to believe they had the right to entice the general population to forget how we all ate back in the day.
I watched an interview with one of these people a while ago and he admitted that yes, Ultra Processed Food is not very good for our health, but like so many others in officialdom, he feels it is the responsibility of the population to eat sensibly. But, if the government said (as the Brazilian government have done already, and a couple of European governments, also, that these foods need to be restricted, then of course they would do as they were advised. Well, sadly, the governments make too much money from the results of these bad foods, medical costs for those who now suffer from Diabetes, Heart disease, Kidney disease etc, to want to go against the UPF food manufactuerers. So for me, now, I will be posting every week with UPF style foods that you can make at home, perhaps not as quickly as calling in the takeaway bars on the way home from work, but at least easily and in enough quantity to make it worthwhile in both better health for us and particularly for our chldren.
I have been checking out some of the programmes etc, online and can recommend Ultra Processed People by Chris van Tulleken, who actually put himself on the diet so many people are now following and has publicised the results. SCAREY!!
I believe most people would prefer NOT to become Obese, Diabetic with the usual conditions that come with these diseases, so from now on I will be not just writing about my vegetable growing. Which I still find exciting (and will be posting photos when I get my ipad back from the repairers). Meanwhile with each post I write now, I will be including a take away meal that you can make at home. Maybe, as I do, you can make enough to freeze part for another meal and so cost no more than if you had actually bought it from a takeaway bar. Well, I managed to find one that may not be a simple as I thought, but part of which you will certainly be able freeze for a future meal. I chose Chicken McNuggets to start. Mainly I think because I wrote about Sausage and Mash in a previous post and wanted something most children seem to love. so, here goes.
Chicken Home Nuggets
Ingredients
Chicken breasts, skinned,minced. Or chicken mince.
Sauce, Tomato sauce, garlic powder, Brown sugar, salt, Dijon mustard, Worcester sauce, Chinese black vinegar, rye whisky optional, vinegar. Combine all with extra salt, flour. pepper, celery salt, water. SImmer for about 15-20 minutes till thick and sticky. Result should be a thick bbq sauce which your chicken will love.
If whole, chop chicken beasts into small chunks, then grind , or just use chicken mince, I probably will. Form into small nugget sized patties, dredge in Cornstarch/water mix, then flour/baking powder/soda mix, then eggs beaten/whisked in water till fluffy.
II know this sounds a lot, but once your bbq sauce is mixed up, you can freeze/chill what you don’t use for your next meal, or freeze nuggets till next meal. Heat oil to approx 375 degrees, then drop in battered nuggets, fry 5-7 minutes till nicely browned then place on wire tray to cool. Plate up with home made chips, veggies, whatever veggies you like. Me I like to cook a potato in oven or microwave, but finish in oven as I really favour baked potato. Sometimes I like chips, but baked potato is easier, especially after a long day.
I took this recipe from Joshua Weissman’s Utube recipe. Not as good as his of course, but easy to make at home. Also being able to make in large enough quantities to freeze for future meals, not as expensive or time consuming, as you’d expect. So, give it a go, And enjoy!
Not sure what I’ll do for my next post, but something easier I think, although I’m looking to find an easy, quick Sushi recipe. To be honest though, I think I would probably cook today’s meal on a weekend so I can take my time for the first attempt. Also, I’m off to find other quick meals that our kids will like as much as we do. One of my granddaughters really likes Sushi, which is why I’m going to be looking at that recipe.
Let me know how you did? on email hilary@affordablehydrogreens.com or gosportgal@gmail.com