First to go, as part of our 2011 resolution of removing hydrogenated vegetable oil (artificially made trans fat to you and me) from my family's food chain, is the humble cup a soup.
A quick filler on a cold day, I was stunned to discover they contain hydrogenated vegetable oils as they are a dried product.
The packaging says, "Contains no artificial colours or preservatives" - a shame then that they contain man made trans fats, which the human body thinks are low colesteral and doesn't break them down as fast as natural trans fats.
These man made trans fats are proven to serve no beneficial purpose to the human body and are banned in Denmark, who have seen a staggering 40% drop in heart disease cases since they were banned.
Hydrogenated vegetable oils are only allowed into the food chain of the UK, due to the financial argument, in that they are cheap and keep the cost of food manufacturing low.
I'd rather not pay with clogged arteries thank you.
Commonly known as "trans fats" in short, HVO/trans fat take much longer for the body to remove, which increases the risk of fat clogging arteries and causing heart disease.
It astounds me why the powers that be openly promote skimmed milk and the reduction of dairy products in our daily diet, yet when faced with the evidence that naturally occuring trans fats, only used to account for 2-5% of saturated fats consumed, and that natural trans fat also produces two acids essential to human cells, and the human body could remove the fats relatively quickly....
Why are governments around the world, permitting in the use of HVO/trans fats, that now make up 30-40% of our saturated fat intake and DO NOT naturally produce the two acids essential to the make up of human cells?
Denmark have led the way in removing HVOs from their food chain, in the few years this has been done, Denmark's health has improved. A staggering 40% reduction in coronary heart disease!
Factor in the links with HVOs to diabetes, Alzheimer's Disease, liver disfunction, infertility. Not to mention the current studies into the links to cancers of the prostate and breast cancer!
Banning HVOs in several countries is not being brought in, for one simple reason... MONEY!
It is cheaper to use HVO to cook with than the natural, healthier option.
Once again, big business rules over the nation's health, disgraceful!
In future posts, I shall be highlighting everyday products that most of us use, that contain HVOs (Hydrogentaed vegetable oils) and removing them where ever possible from the food chain in our home.
About trans fat ]]>Prawns on their own are dry, don't taste of much, etc. Instead of wasting your money on 1000 island dressing and the like, try this:
Take 2 parts salad cream, mix it with 1 part tomato sauce (I use heinz out of a glass bottle as the "squeezy" bottle is normally alot thinner than the glass bottle stuff) mix well together, spread on one side of a muffin/teacake/bap, add prawns, add a lettuce leaf and maybe some cucumber, then scoff before someone else can eat it.
]]>Using the correct ingredients, I have now tried to make the sponge with a hand whisk and metal spoon, a food processor, an electric whisk and a combination of all of them, mixing butter and sugar with food processor then folding in flour and eggs with a spoon.
I have tried the oven on gas mark 4, 5, 6 and 7, at the centre of the oven (always recommended for baking cakes)Â and at the top of the oven
I have tried 7 inch and 10 inch baking tins.
All have had the exact same results, the mixture is cooking but not rising.
Any ideas where I am going wrong with my victoria sponge would be most welcome. Thanks.
If anyone can suggest a use for our deep fat fryer I will try it, I think I am going to have to give up on this and find it a new home (for free of course) which is a shame, as many people use them and say they are great to have around the kitchen?
]]>I have been looking out for some weighing scales, for a long time now. I have had some digital weighing scales that were ok I suppose, they took any size of container, but kept switching themselves off, leaving me with the job of keep setting them back to pounds and ounces each time I turned them back on.
Passing a shop in a local indoor market, that sells old style items, I spotted these traditional weighing scales and nipped in to ask how much they were.
Â
I haggled the price of £12 down to just £8, along with some advice about a German brand of old camera that is particularly hard to get hold of and second hand ones were normally bought for spares, for a higher price, one of which she had in a basket outside her shop!
All I need to do now, is to use my traditional weighing scales and increase my knowledge of baking.
]]>Tiffin - means a light meal or snack - it comes from the old Empire British India.
Things you will need:
Now your instructions:
First, melt your butter in a pan (careful not to burn it) - add in and mix your sugar, cocoa and syrup.
Next, crush up your plain biscuits, it can be digestives, rich tea, etc, any kind you want, then add these to your mixture.
Remove your stodgy mix from your pan and place in a suitable cooking tin (I use an oblong loaf tin) - flatten it down.
Now take your chocolate and place it in a mixing bowl, placing the bowl over the top of a pan of boiling/simmering water (make sure the bowl is larger than the diameter of the pan!) and melt it.
Pour the melted chocolate over the top of your mixture, leave it to set.
When set, cut into whatever size you want.... then scoff!
Hey presto... chocolate tiffin!
For something different, try adding fruit or cinnamon
Here at the building site* we usually buy Warburtons bread. Not only is it cheaper at our local garage (fresh delivery every other day and is delivered on the same van as Asda and Tesco's deliveries!) it is 10p per loaf cheaper and has been for about three years, it also has the added bonus of being wrapped in greaseproof paper!
When I was growing up in the 1970s, I was lucky enough to have a mum who baked regularly. Back in those days it was customary for most sliced loaves to come wrapped in greaseproof paper - the habit has stuck with me, as now I empty the wrapping of crumbs, seperate the joiny bit, fold it up and place it in my kitchen drawer.
I don't need to pay £2 - £3 for a roll of what I throw away every other day!
* Building site: unfinished extension on our house
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