Fight Back Fridays: The Daffodil Principle

Some time ago, a friend sent me a copy of The Daffodil Principle If you've never seen it, I've linked up to a version of it on YouTube -- and I'd encourage you to watch it.

It occurred to me when I was considering what to post for Fight Back Fridays that "The Daffodil Principle" really embodies our philosophies regarding food... eating... and fighting back against conventional nutrition.

Before you stop reading and chalk us up for the biggest saps you've ever met, I'm going to ask you to give it a chance. Think about it.

I haven't been Eating Consciously for my entire life.
Neither of us have -- in fact, it's probably only been in the past two or three years that we've really made the decision to make serious changes to the way we think about food & eating.

We also didn't change our eating habits in one fell swoop.
No -- making changes to our diet has been a series of baby steps. I think one of the first stages of our transition occurred when we became conscious of how many servings of fruits and vegetables we were getting in a day. When we decided to opt for more (and better) servings of veggies, we started eating more leafy greens, broccoli, and other crucifers. Then, we took a look at the quality of the grains we were ingesting. We switched to whole wheat pasta, brown rice, and started trying out alternative grains like quinoa, spelt, and millet. We started reading labels. I started reading books and articles.

We changed the oils we were consuming. We ditched nasty fats like canola and vegetable oils. We embraced extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, and red palm oil. We banned margerine from our refrigerator and welcomed back lard and bacon fat (from uncured, nitrate-free bacon).

We went BACK to eating butter and full-fat dairy. We started buying organic milk. And now we've switched (almost entirely) to non-homogenized milk.

We're still in process. It's a journey. And we approach it step-by-step, daffodil-by-daffodil. We know we won't change the way the world works in one day. Or even a lifetime. But, we persist -- thoughtfully -- and focus on the every day work of things. We've begun to really THINK when we put together a meal. What's in this meal? What's nourishing me? And when we make choices that are contrary to the wisdom we've acquired, we're doing so consciously (not unconsciously, as we did for many years).

These days, we're working on the sugar. We've all but abolished high fructose corn syrup from our diet, and we're working on getting rid of processed nastiness altogether. We're not perfect. We still eat some conventional manufactured sugars, and we still bow down to our Sweet Teeth every now and again, but we've started the switch to a higher concentration of natural sweeteners like maple syrup, raw honey, and sucanet.

We're moving forward. And it's a Beautiful thing.

Join us -- You can start by checking out all the great stuff at Food Renegades' Fight Back Friday Event.


©BURP! Where Food Happens

Rejected By Burp!: Curried Na'an Grilled Cheese

First off, thanks to everyone who voted for us in the Marx Foods Blogger Recipe Challenge: Morel Edition! Victory is sweet... but not nearly as sweet as our readers and supporters!

Our Morel & Leek Strata with Lemon Thyme Biscuits was a real winner. But, not every recipe that comes from the kitchens of Burp! fares quite as well. Sometimes we hit on a bummer. This is one of those occasions.

It all started when we gathered in the kitchen to come up with an entry for Panini Kathy's Grilled Cheese Pageant (great round-up, btw -- check it out!). Simple, right? Yeah... well...

From the start, I want to be clear that it wasn't so much that this recipe concept TASTED bad. No, on the contrary, it was a delicious combination of flavors. But the concept was lacking in... how shall we say?... elegance... due primarily to a bit of... seepage.

The idea behind the sammich was simple. Let's take classic flavors from Indian cuisine (namely curry, na'an, onion relish, and hot mango chutney) and combine them with a decidedly French flavor (St. Andre cheese) to create the ULTIMATE grilled cheese experience.

First -- the onion chutney (which really IS a great idea).
First, you take one thinly sliced red onion... and add a spritz of lemon juice.
Sprinkle with a bit of paprika, some cumin, and a dash of cayenne pepper.
And allow to steep for at least an hour at room temperature... at which point, you should taste it. It kicks serious butt. Pair this with all your favorite foods (and Indian dishes). You won't be disappointed.
Once your onion relish is ready, you can haul out the na'an. We cheated a bit and chose the curry flavored na'an from Trader Joe's (it was a week night, after all). Which is pretty good... but feel free to make your own.
Then, you'll want to slice up a bit of St. Andre triple cream. Truly decadent cheese... and completely worth the extra calories. I promise you.
Spread your na'an with a bit of hot mango chutney and top with the St. Andre. Get your hopes up... waaaay up... all out of proportion.
Then add a generous portion of the onion relish. Take a big whiff of everything altogether. It's heavenly. Remember, you have HIGH HOPES for this sammich.
You set it gently in the panini press... and put the cover down.
And that's when tragedy strikes. You never really thought about the fact that the St. Andre is a fairly delicate cheese. Or about the fact that it's a triple cream -- so it's heavy on the side of FAT. AND you've now exposed it to a great deal of unnecessary heat.... VOILA!
The cheese in this sammich drools out. It seeps like a bad dam. The heat of the panini press was too much for it, and it made what could have been an otherwise lovely grilled cheese into a ... grilled oil sammich with mango chutney and yummy onion relish.

Sadness ensues.
After sufficient mourning time, we pick ourselves back up again and proceed into the kitchen. Surely this grilled cheese sammich concept can be saved... and so, we begin again. Which is what Burp! is all about.


©BURP! Where Food Happens