Brown, Green, and Red. Is there a difference?

There is a broad variety of lentils, but here are the most common kinds of lentils we see in stores:

Brown Lentils - This is by far the most common variety of lentil, and probably the one that you see at your local grocery store. They can range in color from khaki-brown to dark black, and generally have a mild earthy flavor. They cook in about 20-30 minutes and hold their shape very well. Common varieties are Spanish Brown, German Brown, or Indian Brown. The blackest and tiniest lentils you find are usually Beluga lentils, which have a rich and deeply earthy flavor.

Green Lentils - These can be pale or mottled green-brown in color with a glossy exterior. They have a strong, somewhat peppery flavor. Green lentils generally take the longest to cook, upwards of 45 minutes, but they keep a firm texture even after cooking. This makes them ideal for salads and other side dishes.

Red Lentils - With colors ranging from gold to orange to actual red, these are the sweetest and nuttiest of the lentils - to our mind, at least! They're somewhere in the middle in terms of cooking time and are usually done in about 30 minutes. They tend to get mushy when cooked through, so they're perfect for curries, or for thickening soups. A few varieties are Red Chief and Crimson, and you'll often find them in Indian or Middle Eastern markets labeled as masoor (red lentils) or channa (yellow lentils).

Do you have a favorite kind of lentil? What do you like to make with them?

Lentils Part 2 with Tasty Recipes

Lentils can help keep your digestive system working “regularly”, help you keep blood sugar levels healthy, and help you keep healthy cholesterol levels. How? The fiber they contain is both soluble and insoluble. Fiber also helps keep you fuller longer, which helps you eat less. While you can buy canned lentils, they are so easy to cook from dried that I really encourage you to give it a try. Here’s a basic recipe:

• 1 cup washed and drained lentils
• 3 cups water
• Sea salt and pepper

Bring lentils and water to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until tender, about an hour. Drain excess liquid if needed. Add seasonings to taste. While lentils are for more than just soup, it can be a great place to start. Here are a couple to get you started: Hearty Lentil Soup and Lentil Soup with Smokey Ham. And here are some “more than soup” ideas:

• Turn lentils into a salad with chopped veggies and a favorite vinaigrette dressing. Try this over a bed of baby spinach leaves with a slice of hot crusty whole grain bread. Get started with this Lentil and Couscous Salad with Arugula.
• Stew or simmer lentils and serve over whole grains, like in this Red Lentils with Garlic and Onions.

• Cook up this delicious Slow Cooker Chickpea and Lentil Stew while at work one day.
• Stuff cooked and seasoned lentils into pita bread with sprouts and veggies for a great sandwich.
• Roll them up in whole grain tortillas with avocado slices and fresh tomatoes.

• Make Lentil Walnut Burgers on whole grain buns.
• Mix them with hot cooked grains.
• Serve them over hot cooked pasta.
• Turn them into a non-meat loaf.
• Make them into a bean dip or spread, like this Red Lentil and Sweet Potato Hummus.
• Serve them as a bed for steamed or sautéed veggies.
• Try them as Lentil Tapenade.
• Try them curry style. Here’s a recipe for Lentil Curry with Cashews and Yogurt

Facts on Lentils

Lentils are the world’s oldest cultivated legume, appearing on the scene somewhere in the neighborhood of 7000 BCE! The name comes from the fact that the shape of a “len”til looks like the “len”s of an eye. And, like eyes, lentils vary in color ranging from black to brown to reddish orange, coral, gold and slate green. They’re easy to prepare and cook more quickly than many other legumes. Different varieties have different textures and are generally used in different types of recipes. For example, brown and green lentils hold their shape well and are great for casseroles, salad, or to ladle over grains or potatoes, whereas split red or yellow lentils disintegrate easily when cooking and are perfect for soups and stews. Adding lentils to your diet is a tasty way to improve your health. Consider that they are high in fiber, packed with plant protein, low in fat and low on the glycemic index, which means they don’t cause a spike in blood sugar after eating. The USDA Nutritional database shows that one cup of cooked lentils contains:

• 220 calories
• 17 grams of protein
• Less than 1 gram of fat
• 15 grams of fiber
• 0 cholesterol
• Iron, phosphorus, folate and plenty of other good stuff

Cornbread Muffins

With all these post about yummy honey, I decided that it would be great to have a recipe to go with that honey. If it is one thing that I like to eat with honey, it is cornbread. This recipe is very simple and you should be able to find the ingredients in your food storage/pantry since they are pretty common things to have around always. 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup yellow corn meal

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups milk

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/3 cup vegetable oil (I use coconut oil)

3 Tablespoons butter, melted

2 Tablespoons honey

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease or paper-line 18 to 20 muffin cups

2. Sift together flour, sugar, corn meal, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate small bowl, combine milk, eggs, vegetable oil (coconut oil) and butter; mix well. Then add to flour mixture and stir just until blended. Add honey in last and mix well. Pour into prepared muffin cups filling 2/3 full.

3. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool slightly. 

They taste the best warm.

Serve them with some yummy honey butter or whatever you like to eat cornbread with. Enjoy, they are delicious! And BE CAREFUL, they are also very addicting! 

Store what you Eat

Hey - it's a scary thing to try to figure out how to feed yourself, much less a family with what is sitting (or not sitting) in your cupboards and maybe a pantry.   Here are my top 10 ways to just get STARTED ...

1.  PLAN:  Get a notebook and write down your plans; your goals; your wish lists.  Keep it simple. 

2.  DOUBLE UP:  Buy double the ingredients of a few meals each week so that you have a "meal in the cupboard" for back-up.

3.  SCRATCH:  Learn to cook from scratch.  I can't say this often enough ... learn to cook from scratch.  This could be the difference between starving and not ... commit to stop paying someone else to cook and package meals for you. 



4.  RELATIONSHIPS:   Make it a family effort when possible.  Bring your children into the experience.  Squash that pride and show up to learn from the "older" women in your family, neighborhood or church.  Ask questions, take notes and learn from their mistakes so you don't have to repeat them. 

5.  TOOLS:  Use a basic food storage calculator to figure out the basics of what a human needs to "not starve."

6.  MODIFY:  Now modify the calculator's results to match what your family EATS.  Remember the little things like seasonings and spices that make meals more palatable.


7.  FUN:  Get on Youtube and Google and teach yourself HOW to do things you don't know how to do.  Technology can be such a blessing!

8.  GADGETS:  Include the simple gadgets you'll need to help you cook your foods. 

9.  GARDEN/CANNING:  You'll be healthier if you can grow gardens & bottle foods.  Make every effort to learn how to do this.  Not all at once; just work it in.

10.  KNOWLEDGE:  Be an eager, humble learner.  Those who know HOW will survive and thrive!


COMMIT to START where you ARE ... lots of little bits can make a HUGE difference!

"No one is responsible for my choices but me.  If I'm unprepared it's because I chose to be." - Robin

Local Raw Honey - Dutson Honey



Dutson Honey Beekeepers in Deseret, Utah
Gary Dutson-with Nephew's Garrett & Chris Dutson - 2nd & 3rd generation Dutson's
Chris is Gary's right hand man in the current production & health of the hives

DUTSON Honey Company

Quality Honey since 1935

For over seventy-five years, we have been producing pure natural honey with all the goodness that Mother Nature intended.  Dutson Honey started in 1935 by Ormus L. “Moose” Dutson and his new bride, Winona; when they bought 100 bee hives from Nephi E. Miller, a true pioneer of beekeeping in the West.  The business later became a family business with the help of his sons, June L., Gill and Gary.

From the start, the Dutson's moved their bees to Southern California to spend the winter months in the orange groves and then they would move them back to Utah for the summer and fall.  Loading and unloading truckloads of bees was very hard work.  This hard manual work was greatly reduced in the early 1960’s when the Dutson’s placed their bee hives on pallets and loaded and unloaded the trucks with forklifts.  The Dutson's were the first in Utah and one of the first in the nation to pioneer this method of moving bees.

In the early 1960’s the Dutson’s started moving their bees to Central California to pollinate almond orchards.  The almond pollination has grown into a very important part of our bee business.  After nearly 50 years we are still working with the Livingston Farmers Association, a group of farmers in Livingston, California.

In 1972, the Dutson’s expanded their beekeeping business into the great Peace River of British Columbia, Canada around Fort St. John and Dawson Creek.  Dawson Creek happens to be mile “0” of the Alaskan/Canadian highway.  We would drive from our home in Deseret, Utah to the Canadian border and we would be just halfway to Dawson Creek.  We had to fight with bears for our honey – they loved it!

At the present time Dutson's places over 3000 beehives in 10 counties throughout Utah helping farmers with pollination throughout the summer months.  They've also begun moving some hives to South Dakota for the summer as well.  Dutson's try to move our bees to areas that produce extra nice honey.  For years they have catered to family and church groups. 

NOW ABOUT THIS HONEY:

This honey was produced in a variety of valley's and fields throughout Utah.  

Floral source:  This honey is mostly clover & alfalfa honey.

Unpasteurized:  This honey has not been pasteurized.  Pasteurization kills many enzymes and destroys some of the natural goodness of honey.  The honey is natural just like Mother Nature intended.

Natural granulation:  Because this honey is not pasteurized, it will granulate.  It is a sign of its purity.  It will also store better than cooked or pasteurized honey.  To liquefy, place the honey bottle in a small container of water and gently heat until liquid.  This procedure is better than using a microwave which will destroy some of its food value.

Thickness:   This honey is between 15-16% moisture which is somewhat thicker than honey you generally buy in the store.  Again, our honey is natural, straight from the hive.

This honey comes from areas that are mostly free of insecticides.  This is better for everyone, including the bees.

Color and taste:  The color and taste of the honey varies with different floral sources and even different years.  What is the best is a matter of individual taste.  We try to place some of our beehives in areas where they can produce some lighter and milder honey which many people prefer.

* Blogger Note:  This is by far some of the BEST honey I've ever had.  Contact us to get some yourself. 

Are we eating FAKE Honey?

A study conducted for Food Safety News shows that at least 75% of the honey sold in the U.S. is actually not real honey, according to Food & Drug Administration standards.  In order for honey to be deemed "honey" in the United States, the honey must contain pollen as it naturally would.  While the FDA has a strict rule on what is and what isn't considered real honey, they actually dno't bother to check the honey sold, and so many people are consuming fake, nutrient-depeleted honey. 

Here are some additional, somewhat disappointing details provided by the article:

In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration says that any product that’s been ultra-filtered and no longer contains pollen isn’t honey. However, the FDA isn’t checking honey sold here to see if it contains pollen.

Ultra filtering is a high-tech procedure where honey is heated, sometimes watered down and then forced at high pressure through extremely small filters to remove pollen, which is the only foolproof sign identifying the source of the honey. It is a spin-off of a technique refined by the Chinese, who have illegally dumped tons of their honey – some containing illegal antibiotics – on the U.S. market for years.

Food Safety News decided to test honey sold in various outlets after its earlier investigation found U.S. groceries flooded with Indian honey banned in Europe as unsafe because of contamination with antibiotics, heavy metal and a total lack of pollen which prevented tracking its origin.

Food Safety News purchased more than 60 jars, jugs and plastic bears of honey in 10 states and the District of Columbia.

The contents were analyzed for pollen by Vaughn Bryant, a professor at Texas A&M University and one of the nation’s premier melissopalynologists, or investigators of pollen in honey.

Bryant, who is director of the Palynology Research Laboratory, found that among the containers of honey provided by Food Safety News:

•76 percent of samples bought at groceries had all the pollen removed, These were stores like TOP Food, Safeway, Giant Eagle, QFC, Kroger, Metro Market, Harris Teeter, A&P, Stop & Shop and King Soopers.

•100 percent of the honey sampled from drugstores like Walgreens, Rite-Aid and CVS Pharmacy had no pollen.

•77 percent of the honey sampled from big box stores like Costco, Sam’s Club, Walmart, Target and H-E-B had the pollen filtered out.

•100 percent of the honey packaged in the small individual service portions from Smucker, McDonald’s and KFC had the pollen removed.

•Bryant found that every one of the samples Food Safety News bought at farmers markets, co-ops and “natural” stores like PCC and Trader Joe’s had the full, anticipated, amount of pollen.

And if you have to buy at major grocery chains, the analysis found that your odds are somewhat better of getting honey that wasn’t ultra-filtered if you buy brands labeled as organic. Out of seven samples tested, five (71 percent) were heavy with pollen. All of the organic honey was produced in Brazil, according to the labels.

HONEY WITHOUT POLLEN

Here is a list of the honey tested by Food Safety News

that showed no traces of pollen. Analysis showed that

the absence of pollen was consistent regardless of the

size of the jar. In some cases, the stores where the

honey was purchased are not listed because the same

brands can be found in many different outlets.  It's shocking really ...

•

American Choice Clover Honey

•

Archer Farms Orange Blossom Honey

•

Archer Farms Organic Classic Honey

•

Busy Bee Organic Honey

•

Busy Bee, Pure Clover Honey

•

CVS Honey

•

Fred Meyer Clover Honey

•

Full Circle Pure Honey

•

Giant Eagle Clover Honey

•

GE Clover Honey

•

Great Value, Clover Honey

•

Haggen Honey, Natural & Pure

•

HT Traders Tupelo Honey

•

Kroger Pure Clover Honey

•

Market Pantry Pure Honey

•

Mel-o 100 % Pure Honey

•

Natural Sue Bee Clover Honey

•

Naturally Preferred Fireweed Honey

•

Rite Aid Honey

•

Safeway Clover Honey

•

Silver Bow Pure Honey

•

Stop and Shop Clove Honey

•

Sue Bee Clover Honey

•

Thrifty Bee Honey

•

Valutime Honey

•

Walgreen MEL-O honey

•

Western Family Clover Honey

•

Wegman Clover Honey

•

Winnie the Pooh, Pure Clove

 

 

The simplest solution to this is to purchase local raw honey from a local beekeeper if at all possible.  Be careful, be smart, be ready! 

There is no panic in being prepared!   Robin