Author Archives: Toxic Foodie

About Toxic Foodie

Hey there, I’m Amanda. I’m a 20 something, food-loving, and super busy UC Davis undergrad. Even though I would love to tell you that Toxic Foodie is all about my healthy cooking adventures with my loving boyfriend and spunky best friend, it’s not. With Toxic Foodie I hope to expose the truth about those mysterious ingredients in frozen and processed food, that most busy and broke college students eat weekly or maybe even daily. I also plan on sharing current food safety news as well as the knowledge I’m gaining in my very first food toxicology course. Toxic Foodie is not supposed to scare you or tell you what you should or shouldn’t eat; it’s supposed to encourage you to pay attention to what you’re really putting in your mouth. Please click on About Me to read more!
Apr30

Worry Free Cookie Dough!

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“Stop eating the cookie dough!!”

I know lots of you love, love, love cookie dough, but you also know it’s bad for you … why?? Because you put yourself at a higher risk of Salmonella poisoning.

 Salmonella

Salmonella is one of the three most common forms of food-borne disease in the United States.The most common sources of this bacteria are undercooked meat and poultry, raw milk, and raw eggs. However, other foods if contaminated can also carry Salmonella (Hint: contamination can occur when the food is handled by someone who has intestinal salmonellosis or if the food comes in contact with another food containing Salmonella).

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The key to controlling Salmonella is adequate cooking. It’s safest to cook meat to 165 degrees F at home or 155 degrees F in restaurants. It is also very important to keep other foods away from raw meat … this means please, please, please use separate cutting boards!!

It only takes a few cells to make you sick and it can last up to a week.

So, if you’re craving cookie dough …

I have a “less-risky” alternative for you to try!!! Use any of your favorite cookie recipes but replace the eggs with coconut oil! And if you don’t like the subtle taste of coconut oil you can also try apple sauce, but coconut oil is my favorite! (Tip: you can also replace the butter)

Apr4

What’s in your tap water?

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Finally … your Toxic Tip of the Day!

Want to know what’s in your tap water?

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Check out your water supply with EWG’s National Drinking Water Database. Visit this link and type in your zip code to see your city’s drinking water quality report! Then … investigate all the contaminants found in your tap water. Warning … pesticides and/or other toxins may exceed the health or legal limit in your area!

Meaning … It might be time to invest in a water filter!!

For example, in Davis, CA, 11 chemicals, such as manganese and arsenic, are found in levels that exceed health guidelines.

Related articles

Feb21

Aflatoxin Anyone?

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Hey guys, here’s a much needed …

Toxic Tip!

Keep grains, nuts, and cereal in a cool and dry place. Widespread mold, known as Aspergillus flavus, can grow in many grains, nuts, and cereals–especially in warm and damp conditions. This mold produces a toxin known as aflatoxin before and after harvest. Thankfully, you need to ingest high concentrations of this toxin to get aflatoxin poisoning. However, this poisoning has been linked to causing liver damage and tumors. It’s the most potent natural carcinogen because it intercalates into DNA. In addition, this toxin is highly heat stable and low doses of it over many years may lead to cancer. Eeeek … we have to be careful peanut butter lovers!

That’s it for today!

Photo Credit: Flickr user mrsdkrebs

Photo Credit: Flickr user mrsdkrebs

And remember … eat naturally colorfully! 

Nov11

Persimmon 411

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Hey Guys, here’s another article that I wrote for LolaBee’s a few weeks ago! Enjoy!

Extra, extra read all about it—persimmons are now in season!

PERSIMMONS

Although native to China, persimmons have since spread to Japan and California…and for a good reason too—persimmons are rich vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants! More specifically, persimmons contain the nutrient catechin, which is known to have anti-infective, anti-inflammatory, and anti-hemorrhagic properties. In addition, fresh persimmons contain antioxidants such as vitamin A, beta-carotene, vitamin-C, lycopene, lutein, zeaxanthin, and cryptoxanthin—together these fight oxidative stress, which plays a vital role in aging and disease. And lastly, persimmons are rich in B-complex vitamins, potassium, manganese, copper, and phosphorus.

Photo Credit: Flickr User Monica Arellano-Ongpin

Although this fruit resembles the beauty of a tomato and provides nutrients to compete with many other healthy fruits, most of you have probably never tried a persimmon, and some of you may have tried one and had a bad experience. But fear no more, you simply have to know the difference between the persimmon varieties to really enjoy this lovely fall fruit.

First, persimmons should only be eaten when ripe and soft. If eaten before its ripe stage, the fruit will be very bitter. When the fruit is ripe, the skin will appear transparent and should be smooth with an overall orange coloring; if not, let it ripen on the counter until it reaches a bright coloring overall. The two varieties in market are Fuyu and Hachiya. For those of you who have had a bad experience with persimmons it was probably because you bit into an unripe Hachiya persimmon…so, let’s get to know these varieties a little more closely.

Photo Credit: Flickr User Lars Plougmann

Fuyu Persimmons (Sharon fruit) are short and firm. They’re crisp and sweet with a pleasantly firm, mango-like flesh, and the skin can be eaten or peeled just like an apple. It’s a non-astringent variety, unlike other persimmon varieties. Fuyu tastes great in fruit salads, salsas, or baked in a coffee cake. These tomato-looking persimmons are the better variety to eat fresh.

Hachiya Persimmons are longer and more “peach-shaped.” They need to be eaten when very soft and very ripe—“smooshy” to the touch. They are best when eaten chilled or scooped with a spoon. However, this variety is an astringent variety and if eaten before it’s completely ripe, you will have one of the most mouth puckering experiences of your life—it’s bitter and chalky and tastes similar to industrial strength cleaner. It can actually numb your lips and tongue for a short moment. But, this can all be avoided by waiting for the fruit to become super ripe, by soaking the persimmon in salt water or by freezing it. Furthermore, this variety is most commonly used for cooking as opposed to eating fresh. They make great persimmon cookies, coffee cake, chutney, jams, and puddings.

Photo Credit: Flickr User Yasuo Kida 

Second, you need to know…

How to eat a persimmon

Step 1: Wash. Step 2: Cut off leaves, in the same way you would if you were cutting off the leaves of a tomato. Step 3: The skin can be eaten but if you want to peel, immerse in hot water briefly. Step 4: Cut the persimmon into any shape you desire for serving, or eat whole. Step 5: Persimmons can be consumed fresh or cooked. Persimmons can be cooked as a jam, marmalade, compote, and makes a delicious sorbet.

Photo Credit: Flickr User bgreenlee

Ways to serve persimmons:

  1. In a salad. Whip up this delicious and colorful fall salad: Romaine lettuce, pomegranates, persimmons, Asian pear, almonds, and Gorgonzola cheese.
  2. As a salsa. Persimmon salsa tastes great over grilled fish or chicken.
  3. Cooked into chutney with apples and raisins.
  4. Used in a drink. You can make a persimmon margarita, smoothie, or tea.
  5. In a dessert. Persimmon cookies, tart, pudding, coffee cake.
Related articles (Recipes and more!) …
Oct16

Too Ripe or Not Too Ripe

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Hey everyone… here’s another newsletter article I wrote for LolaBee’s a few weeks ago. Don’t forget to go to lolabees.com to read more!!!!

But for now… let’s discuss how to make sure your fruit is enjoyed exactly the way you like it!

Ethylene

Everyone likes their fruit a different way, some like them ripe and sweet, while others like them not-so-ripe and crunchy… did you know that you can actually manipulate the ripening process of your fruit to make sure it’s the perfect taste and texture!

Let’s start with understanding the process of fruit ripening… it’s time for some toxic science!!

Fruit ripening is caused by a ripening signal, a burst of simple hydrocarbon gas known as ethylene gas (H­2C=CH2). Picking the fruit causes a rapid production of ethylene, which signals it to ripen.  Ethylene “turns on” processes that develop and alter the characteristics of fruit. Chlorophyll (the stuff that makes fruit green) is broken down and new pigments are made so that the fruit skin changes color; acids are broken down bringing the flavor from sour to neutral; the degradation of starch produces sugar; and the “glue” between fruit cells is broken down, resulting in a softer fruit. Other enzymes also break down large organic molecules into smaller ones, releasing a sweet fruity aroma. 

Long story short, ethylene induces enzymes to turn an acidic, starchy, green hard, non-aromatic, unripe fruit into a sweet, colorful, soft, aromatic, ripe fruit.

Now let’s go over how to store our fruit in order to keep it fresh…

There are two main types of fruits, climacteric (continues ripening) and non-climacteric (does not). When storing your fruit, you need to know which type it is. Climacteric fruits such as apples, apricots, avocados, bananas, cantaloupes, figs, guava, kiwis, mangoes, nectarines, peaches, pears, plums, and tomatoes, all continue to ripen after being picked, which is accelerated by ethylene gas. Non-climacteric fruits such as, cherries, grapes, citrus fruits, pineapples, and berries (all kinds) ripen only while still attached to the plant.

Non-climacteric fruits will not improve in flavor, so it’s best to keep them in the fridge in order to extend their life.  In other words, your berries will not get sweeter with age, but your nectarines might! Thus, climacteric fruits, like nectarines, can be stored at room temperature to continue ripening (for your liking). Some climacteric fruits produce a lot of ethylene, and others are very sensitive to exogenous ethylene, so don’t store different fruits together, especially not in a closed container.

So, the good news is, you can store your fruit depending on how you like it. Don’t keep your fruit in the produce bag if you don’t want the fruit to ripen too fast–keeping the fruit in the bag will increase the concentration of ethylene gas thus causing the fruit to ripen faster.  Refrigeration will also slow ripening, but if you take your fruit out of the fridge a few hours before you eat it will increase sweetness–letting the fruit get to room temperature on your counter will make it be sweeter, more aromatic, and better tasting or in my words, yummier.

You can also use heavy ethylene producers to your advantage. If you bought pears, apples, or avocados that are too unripe for your liking, you can put them in a closed paper bag with a banana to help them ripen faster. The paper bag helps stagnate and build up the ethylene concentration from the banana in order to induce ripening for the other fruit!

Enjoy!

 

Sep3

Your Very Own Organic Shopping Guide

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Hey all, here’s a quick, organic post that I hope you’ll enjoy! I recently wrote a newsletter for LolaBee’s that is very similar to this post, and I wanted to share. You can see the full version of the article on the LolaBee’s website on their Community Blog.

Here it goes …

The 411 on:

Organic Shopping

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recognizes 4 different categories of organic labels, and it’s important to know which is which.

Below is your very own organic label guide!

(click on picture to print)

And there’s more …

Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones.  Organic produce means that the produce was grown without synthetic pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, genetically modified seeds (GMOs), or use of sewage sludge.

And lastly, organic is not a nutritional or health claim. “Organic” refers to agricultural production methods that meet certain criteria.  In general, organic production methods are sustainable, practice ecological-based management that promotes biodiversity, reduce dependence from off-farm inputs, and emphasize soil and water conservation– however, these practices are much more likely when practiced by local, organic, small farms as opposed to conventional, organic, large farms.

Also, something else to add to your organic shopping guide, the clean 15 and dirty dozen!!!!

Visit my old post, How to Shop Pesticide Smart to learn more.

(click picture to print)

So, I leave you with this, support your local farmers! Visit farmers markets and … 

Happy Organic Shopping!

Aug16

LolaBee’s Please

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So, as you may know, this summer, along with my many other jobs, I’ve been interning at LolaBee’s Harvest, a San Francisco based online farmers market and food delivery service. And I’ve been loving every minute of it! So, bear with me, here’s a short paragraph about my amazing job …

LolaBee’s Harvest

LolaBee’s Harvest is a San Francisco based online farmers market and food delivery service that sources local, organic produce and pastured meat, dairy, and eggs from farmers and artisans all over the Bay Area. LolaBee’s stands out from other produce delivery companies because they offer the freshness and quality of a San Francisco CSA while offering custom ordering and the ease of home delivery. LolaBee’s helps San Francisco residents get the farm fresh local, organic products they need to nourish their families … my boss’s motto is: “Eat Thoughtfully.”

And this is why I love my job!!!

The food we pack each week is delicious and nutritious … Oh and did I mention, no pesticides or GMO‘s!!! Perfect for us toxic freaks! ;)

Now the main reason for my short, yet sweet post is … I have some new blog posts for you … but they’re not exactly on my toxic foodie blog. For the past month and a half, I’ve been writing the weekly newsletter for LolaBee’s, which means, most of my articles go up on their fabulous blog. So, you have a lot of reading to do … click on the links below to catch up on your toxic knowledge.

Tofu to the Rescue

Why We Go Nuts Over Olive Oil

Hop on the Kale Train

Dry Farming with Two Dog Farm

New To The Market This Week

Photo Credit: Alyssa Singer (Co-Worker and Friend)

And remember, eat naturally colorfully!

Jul21

Busy Bee and D4D!

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My non-blogging summer goes a little something like this:

I’m working three different jobs/internships in three different cities. There is not one day that I don’t drive my little, red Civic at least 120 miles! I’m tutoring two “precious,” loud teenage boys, working for an online farmers market delivery service in San Francisco called LolaBee’s, and I’m planning the 5th Annual 5K Fundraiser for Dogs4Diabetics (D4D).

Now, I know what you must be thinking, why don’t I still have time late in the night to quickly write a post … well … I’ll admit it, when I finally get the chance to relax, usually around 12 am, I tend to spend my time reading the addicting Fifty Shades series … And I know you secretly are as well!!

On another note, what I really want to share with you today is a little different than my usual toxic knowledge. I wanted to take this time to share with everyone why I want to be involved in D4D and why you should too.

My baby brother, Dylan, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at age 6. He is the strongest, bravest person I know! Dylan not only has to monitor his blood sugar throughout the day, measuring his food intake and pumping his insulin, but he also has to estimate the impact of physical activity and stress on his body’s blood sugar chemistry. It’s tough!!!

A little over a year ago, he was gifted a Dogs4Diabetics service dog, and let me tell you, he was ecstatic!!! And for a good reason too, Celeste, his dog, is a miracle. She is on alert 24/7 and has the ability to sense changes in blood chemistry that occurs as Dylan’s blood sugar begins to rapidly drop–which can result in seizure and even death in a matter of minutes.

Whether she is alerting at a SF Giants baseball game or waking my parents up at 4 am because my brother’s blood sugar is dropping, she is always by my brother’s side. They complete each other and support each other through thick and thin. Which is why I’m so passionate about planning the 5th Annual Walk!

To learn more about D4D, please visit their site at dogs4diabetics.com.

And lastly, here’s a quick description of the walk, see below:

5th Annual Walk for the Dogs

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Heather Farms Park/Sports Basement Parking Lot

(1881 Ygnacio Valley Rd.)

Registration 8:00AM

It’s that time again! It’s time for the annual Walk for the Dogs! Mark your calendars for Saturday, August 11th and come out and join our canine heroes for a morning of fun! You can now register online on the D4D website. The registration fee is $30 and will include a 2012 5th Annual Walk T-shirt, a complimentary raffle ticket, and a goodie bag. If you haven’t joined us for this event in the past, we will have entertainment, refreshments, prizes, our amazing dogs and other furry friends!

Don’t want to register?? Not in the area?? You can still donate to this great cause! We are also tax-deductible, Employer ID #20-2250869.

Thanks for stopping by, and remember, keep your diet naturally colorful!

Come back soon, I’ll be sharing a little something, something about my other internship, LolaBee’s, the online farmers market delivery service in San Francisco.