Healthy Hoff Contest!!!

Hey Everybody!

First person who can tell me why my apples have a white, stubborn, residue on them, wins a  

Healthy Hoff Hat!

Here's what I know:

• I washed my apples in a salt bath as I normally do
• Residue appeared after the bath
• Soaking in white vinegar did nothing
• Scrubbing with soap and water lifted it a bit
• I have no idea what it is, but I will be the judge of all answers and the most reasonable WINS!

Good Luck!
The Hoff

Hoff's Sweet Potato Burrito

Hoff's Sweet Potato Burrito
Yields: 6 Burritos

Photo Courtesy:

ncpedia.org

Ingredients:

• 1 Sweet Potato
• 1 Sweet Onion - halved
• 1 cup Brown Rice
• 2 cups Water
• 1 can Black Beans - rinsed and drained
• 2 tbsp Bragg's Liquid Amino Acids
• 1 tbsp Cumin
• 1 Lime - halved
• 6 Whole Wheat Soft Shell Tacos

Directions:

1. On a tin foil lined baking sheet, place Sweet Potato and Onion (cut side down).  Fold up tin foil around each and bake in oven for 1 hour at 400 degrees.
2. In a rice cooker, add Rice, Water and juice from 1/2 of the Lime and set to cook.
3. Once Rice has cooked and the rice cooker switches to "warm," stir in black beans and allow to warm, while Sweet Potato and Onion continue to cook.
4. After an hour, poke Sweet Potato with a fork to ensure it is soft and ready, cut in half.  If peel does not readily come off, scoop Sweet Potato out with a spoon and add to rice cooker.
5. Using a fork to steady the Onion, cut up enough for personal taste (refrigerate the rest for another meal) and add to rice cooker.
6. Add Bragg's Liquid Amino Acids, Cumin and juice from the other 1/2 of Lime to rice cooker and mix well.
7. Assemble burritos and enjoy!

Bon Appétit!
The Hoff

How Do You Wash Your Veggies?

As soon as I get home from the store or Farmer's Market, I throw all fruits and vegetables into a salt bath.

I fill up the sink with cold water and grind sea salt into the water.  I say grind because you're supposed to use sea salt powder, but I can't find that anywhere.  You can't use the whole sea salt because it will take forever for the salt to dissolve.  So, I say ground sea salt is the next best thing.

Then I throw everything into the bath and let it soak for about an hour.

You will see a film appear on the surface of the water - this is the germs, pesticides, waxes and general dirt lifting off your precious cargo.  You may need to take a vegetable brush to certain items such as potatoes.

Next, wash each item off in cold water and either dry with a paper towel or allow to air dry before tucking them into their new temporary living arrangements.  In the summer, I like to throw my produce into a dish strainer to dry.

When I'm short on time or only have a few things, I will spray each item down with 100% white vinegar, let sit for a few minutes and then rinse with cold water.  I keep a spray bottle filled with vinegar for such tasks.

Be sure to remove those pesky stickers before soaking - once wet, they can be a pain to remove.  I just learned that those stickers are edible - I don't care, I still don't want to eat them.

Now your fruits and veggies are readily available at a moments notice!  One less dreaded chore to slow down your meal preparations - trust me you're going to love it!

Be Clean My Friends,
The Hoff

P.S. You may have noticed that I had my watermelon and cantaloupe in the bath.  You may not eat the rinds of these types of items, but once you cut into the rind, you drag whatever was lurking on the outside all the way through your produce via the knife...that guy who didn't wash his hands after using the facilities and fondled each melon in search of the perfect one, those spiders that crawl into the crates during transit, the mice...need I go on?  And to that I say eww.

Quick & Easy Lunch

Here's an idea for a quick and healthy meal that requires no prep, travels well and is cheap: 

Lentil Rice Soup

You can use any Lentil Canned Soup, but I'm partial to Progresso's Lentil Soup, the pop top makes it convenient to assemble this meal at work or on the go.  Add to this one Minute Rice Ready to Serve Brown Wild Rice cup.  Heat & Enjoy!

For you fiber conscious folks, you'll get 15 grams in one meal!!!!

Just remember a bowl and spoon!

Pair this with the Hoff's No Salad Salad and your tummy will be satisfied until snack time.

And if you work in a meat locker like I do, soup in the summer won't seem so odd.

Bon Appetit!

The Hoff

Event: Blue Pike Farm August Events Calendar

Re-post Courtesy of Blue Pike Farm

Blue Pike Farm 

Calendar of Events: August 2011

East 72nd Street, Cleveland OH 44114

August 4th, 4-7pm
Fourth Annual  BBQ & Peach Festival at the Farmers Market at Blue Pike Farm.

If you've been holding off visiting the Blue Pike Farm Farmer's Market this summer, now is the time to give in to your basest urges for award winning BBQ ribs. Wild Bill's BBQ will be back to reprise his summer of 2010 success. Peaches from Woolfs Family Farms, Peach Cobbler from Lucy's Sweet Surrender, special treats from Kevin's Creative Cuisine and more. It promises to be the most exciting event of the summer one.

August 20th, 9am - 12pm
BugFest 2011 at beautiful, pastoral idyllic Blue Pike Farm.
Free and open to the public.

Do you know what's been bugging you this summer? Want to know what, if anything to do about it?

Join us, fellow buggees at the 2nd Annual Bugfest at Blue Pike Farm. Romp with us through the beneficial bug habitat at Blue Pike Farm in search of creatures large and small.

Dr. Mary Gardiner, PhD of the OHIO AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER and several of her graduate students will conduct a morning workshop about good bugs and bad bugs in your garden. Dr. Gardiner will also present some preliminary findings on her team's research on predatory insect populations in urban gardens and farms, honey bee colony health and other concurrent research. Blue Pike Farm regularly collaborates in various research projects with O.S.U. and C.S.U. students and faculty.

Bring your favorite bug samples for identification, a magnifying glass and a bug net if you have one plus a comfortable chair too.

Reservations are limited and required. Write to blue.pike.farm@gmail with "bugfest reservation" in the subject line.


FOOD PRESERVATION WORKSHOPS

Blue Pike Farm and The Charmed Kitchen are teaming up to present a series of food preservation workshops in August.

The three different sessions will be held on Tuesdays  Aug 2, 9 and 16th from 6:00 P.M. until 8:30 P.M. at beautiful, idyllic Blue Pike Farm at 900 E. 72nd St., Cleveland, OH. Each session will repeat on the following Saturday (6, 13, 20th)  from 10:00 A.M.until 12:30.

All three sessions will cover the information you need to get the most out of your garden and summer produce specials. From canning basics to freezing, you’ll learn how to safely store many fruits and vegetables. You’ll also get recipes using fresh, frozen and canned produce. Learn how to make super salsa and pie fillings and much more. Each participant will take home a sample jar of the days product.

Pickle Barrel - (August 2nd & 6th)  From old-fashioned crock pickles to pickled peaches this class will teach all you need to know to make tasty pickled products for home and gifts. You’ll get to taste several pickled products and learn how to use them in cooking. You’ll get recipes for cucumbers and other pickles. You also learn how to make tasty relishes including one that uses up all those green tomatoes. There will also be recipes for home.

Preserving Fruit and making Jams: (August 9th &13th) Preserving fruits and making homemade jams and jellies can be very rewarding and fun, too. You’ll learn the basics of preserving fruit and making jams, jellies, preserves, conserves and marmalades. There will be food to sample in class and everyone will have a jar of preserves to take home. Recipes included.

Totally Terrific Tomatoes: (August 16th & 20th) Tomatoes are powerhouses of nutrition and very versatile. Fresh, cooked or dried they can be used in salads, sauces, soups and more. In class we will learn how to make the most of this tasty food. You will also learn how to preserve fresh tomatoes by dehydrating, freezing and canning. Plenty to sample in class and recipes for home.

Each session is $30.00 with discounts for Blue Pike Farm 2011 CSA members and BPF email recipients.


Blue Pike Farm is the first farm started in Cleveland in the 21st Century and is located at 900 E. 72nd St. in the hood at the gateway to the beautiful St. Clair / Superior neighborhood. Blue Pike Farm has been internationally recognized as the 'best' farm on E. 72nd St for 5 consecutive years.

Free eBook: The Seven Secrets to Being a Cool Vegetarian

Get your free eBook courtesy of The Cool Vegetarian, just by supplying your First & Last name and email address.  I received my link to download the book within a few minutes.

Photo Courtesy: thecoolvegetarian.com

Quick Meal Idea: Teriyaki Salmon

I used to enjoy this super quick, lost cost meal during my Prescetarian days (a vegetarian who eats fish).

This meal feeds two for dinner or makes a great work lunch for two days.

Ingredients:

• One Bag Uncle Ben's Brown Ready Rice
• One can Green Beans (rinsed and drained)
• Two packets of Bumble Bee Teriyaki Salmon

A Meal For Two:

1. Cook Rice according to package
2. Divide Rice into two portions (one package is about 2 cups)
3. Heat Green Beans divided into two portions
4. Heat Salmon
5. Plate and Eat!

For Lunch:

1. Divide Rice into two containers (I like Pyrex or Anchor Hocking glass containers)
2. Top with Green Beans divided into two portions
3. Top with Salmon, allowing the marinade to flow over the Green Beans and Rice

No need to heat any of this ahead of time.  Simply heat the meal all together once lunchtime rolls around.

Bon Appetit!
The Hoff