WHAT ARE GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS (GMO’S)?

Scientists have been introducing genetic material into organisms to alter, create and affect changes in living plants and animals. These changes create specific, desirable traits that might never evolve naturally and could be extremely dangerous.

Collectively called recombinant DNA technology, this practice changes the core genetic make-up of organisms. This genetic manipulation gives scientists the ability to create any trait that they wish, or suppress natural traits they don't want.

From bacteria and fungus, fruits and vegetables to animals, genetic manipulation is becoming more and more common in our society. There are several reasons this unnatural genetic manipulation may affect you. One, it is usually not clear which foods have been genetically manipulated. Two, we do not know the long term health effects caused by consuming GMO’s. Initial research has shown that short-term reactions can be severe.

The bio-chemical industry is fiercely going after two crops in particular, corn and soy, because of their high demand for use throughout our processed goods and biofuel industries. But the list of GMO products on the market today is long and growing and the USDA has declared that these products don't need to be labeled with GMO content information unless the product has been determined to present the threat of causing allergic reactions in humans.

In 1996, animal tests (conducted after the danger was inflicted on humans), proved that there was a severe danger from genes spliced from Brazil nuts and soybeans. The danger: allergic reactions so severe that the individuals could suffer anaphylactic shock, possibly leading to death.

HOW ARE GMO FOODS TOXIC?

Genetically modified foods affect the human physiology. A study of people in the Philippines reported that their bodies developed antibodies to Bt toxin] body=[Bacillus thuringiensis: soil dwelling bacteria, naturally produced on dark plant surfaces and in the guts of some caterpillars; it's used as a pesticide.]" style="cursor: pointer; background-attachment: scroll;">Bt toxin (a soil-dwelling bacteria that is used as a pesticide.) What this means is that the human body processed these engineered traits into their guts and reacted to them. These same consumers of the GMO corn in the Philippines also developed a resistance to the antibiotic ampicillin. This antibiotic resistance is something that science hadn't foreseen. This is indicative of questionable experimentation and not enough testing.

HOW TO ELIMINATE TOXINS FROM GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS

• Whenever possible, eat all natural foods. Shop your local farmers market for fresh, locally grown organic foods.
• Use only organically grown fruit and vegetables. Corn, popcorn, yellow squash and zucchini to name a few are often genetically modified.
• Grow your own fruit and vegetables if you can.
• When shopping for meat and dairy products, be sure to look for hormone and antibiotic-free, organic, or free-range information on the label.
• Avoid canola and cottonseed oil. Instead use organic sources of grape seed oil, virgin coconut oil and olive oil.
• Check your condiments for organic ingredients.
• Aspartame is a genetically modified sweetener and is very toxic. It’s best to avoid all products that contain this substance.

Information taken from Global Healing Center, online.

Turkey Tetrazzini

Disclaimer about this photo: This is a 7 inch plate! I've found we all eat less if we use smaller plates.

So, tonight I wanted to use up some of the turkey I had frozen from Christmas (I bought a 24lb turkey, so we had a lot left over!) I was searching the web for recipes and found one I liked and adapted it to Wildtree. It was a real hit with my family; hope you enjoy it too!

INGREDIENTS:
8 oz. prepared spaghetti
1/4 C Butter Grapeseed Oil
1 t minced garlic
1/2 C finely chopped onion
pepper to taste
1/4 C unbleached flour
1 1/2 C prepared chicken broth using Wildtree's Chicken Broth Base
1 C skim milk
1/2 C grated Parmesan cheese
2 C chopped cooked turkey

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease baking dish. Prepare spaghetti to al dente and drain.

Over medium heat, saute onion and garlic with some black pepper. When onions are translucent, stir in flour. Mix in chicken broth and milk. Cook and stir until the mixture come to a boil. Add Parmesan cheese and remove from heat.

Mix chicken broth mixture and turkey with spaghetti and pour into prepared baking dish. Grate a little Parmesan on top. Bake 40 minutes or till bubbly and lightly browned on top. Enjoy!

I served this with roasted broccoli. My 8 year old tried it and said it was better than french fries :-) From an 8 year old, that's high praise! Here's how I do it: Toss fresh broccoli with Garlic Grapeseed oil (just a few tablespoons), sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Pour into a single layer in a jelly roll pan and roast at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

For my family, eating healthy isn't just about eating low-fat. It's about eating all-natural using organic, fresh ingredients. It's easier than you'd think with Wildtree in the pantry!

Bon Apetit!
Stacy

Cheesy Potato Soup

Ingredients:
6T butter
1 1/2 C chopped onions
1 1/2 C chopped celery
1-2 t salt or to taste
1/2 t white pepper
1T Wildtree California Garlic Pepper Blend
4 C prepared Wildtree Chicken broth
7-8 potatoes peeled & diced
6 oz sharp cheddar
4 T all-purpose flour
2 1/3 C milk
crumbled bacon or chopped parsley for garnish

Directions: Melt butter in large pot over medium heat. Saute the onions and celery in the butter for 5 to 10 minutes or until tender.

Stir in prepared Wildtree Chicken broth, salt, pepper & California Garlic Pepper Blend and then simmer until potatoes are tender. Add the cheese and stir until melted.

In a separate small bowl, combine the flour and the milk and stir until flour is mostly dissolved. Pour this into the soup slowly, stirring constantly, until soup has thickened, about 5 minutes. Garnish with crumbled bacon or parsley.

This takes less than 30 minutes to make and is the ultimate comfort food! Enjoy:-)

Venison Stir-Fry

Always a challenge to find different ways to cook the deer that my husband brings home from time to time. Here's a great recipe that I guarantee have even the most discerning eater thinking it's beef they're devouring!

Venison Stir Fry

• 1 lb venison tenderloin cut into small pieces & soaked in teriyaki or soy sauce for 1 hour
• Wildtree Grapeseed Oil
• 3 cups veggies (such as broccoli, green/red/yellow peppers, carrots, onions, mushroom, squash)
• 2 servings prepared brown rice
• 1 egg
• 1/3C Wildtree Kickin' Asian Stir-Fry Sauce

Saute prepared venison in 1 T of grapeseed oil (I like Roasted Garlic) till cooked through. Drain and set aside. Prepare rice according to package directions.

Wipe out skillet (I use a wok-style pan). Add 1T grapeseed oil and scramble an egg. Add veggies and stir-fry to desired tenderness. Add prepared brown rice, venison, and 1/3 C Kickin' Asian Stir-Fry Sauce along with 1T more grapeseed oil. Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes more, then serve. Makes 2-3 servings. Great for lunch the next day as well!

Bon Apetit!
Stacy

Cooking with Grapeseed Oil

Before last March I had never heard of cooking with grapeseed oil. I'd had a grapeseed oil massage at a spa in Killarney, Ireland though and it was amazing! What I knew about grapeseed oil was that it was antioxidant-rich and very moisturizing. That's about it.

Here's what I know about grapeseed oil now: It's lower in saturated fat than olive oil (8% vs. 14%) and is the highest cooking oil in poly unsaturated fat (76% vs olive oil's mere 9%). It's the best oil I've found for sauteing...it's flashpoint is 425 degrees so it doesn't burn as easily as say, olive oil or butter. You can bake with it and use about a third less oil that canola or vegetable because it expands when it is heated. (So if I'm making brownies and it calls for 2/3C vegetable oil, I can get by with 1/2C of grapeseed oil.) GSO is easily digestible and a good source of Vitamin E. Best of all, grapeseed oil makes everything taste better! REALLY!! Salad dressings sing...alleluia, alleluia! LOL It has a much lighter flavor that olive oil and it really does taste great in salad dressings.

Grapeseed oil is made from grape seeds after wine production, so it's good environmentally as well. It's ideal for frying, though I've never deep-fried with it--we just don't deep fry any longer. But I use it all the time for sauteing meats and veggies. I like to toss veggies (sweet potatoes, red potatoes, asparagus, broccoli, green beans, squash, etc.) with a few tablespoons of GSO, salt & pepper, sometimes a little red onion and then spread them out in a shallow baking dish & roast at 425 for 20-30 minutes. Delicious!! Also great to brush on meats before grilling--it locks in the juices as well as adding great flavor.

Wildtree offers the highest quality grapeseed oil on the market today. Our GSO is expeller pressed rather than solvent extracted and we test to be sure that no pesticides or chemicals are found in our seeds. We also offer many infused grapeseed oils, such as roasted garlic, basil pesto, butter (tastes just like the butter flavoring used in theaters and actually makes great popcorn!), jalapeno (love it with quesadillas!), hickory smoke (no nitrates here) and zesty lemon (great with veggies and fish or chicken). These infused oils allow you to flavor your food without adding sodium.

Grapeseed oil is the only oil I use now and I feel very fortunate to have come across it. If you'd like more information on grapeseed oil, recipes or to purchase some from me, visit my Wildtree website.

My first Blog

I've wanted to do this for a long time...and here it is!! A little about me...I love food, good food. I love cooking and baking. I adore all breads in general and muffins in particular. Not the best for me, so I don't make them often. Ah, but when I do...

Last night I had a jewelry party and after much deliberation on what to serve, I settled on a whole wheat flatbread pizza with basil pesto (using grapeseed oil instead of olive), sauteed mushrooms and halved organic cherry tomatoes with crumbled feta & shaved parmesan cheeses. Everyone loved it, and it was very good if I do say so myself. I also made chocolate mousse served over an oreo cookie crust with dark chocolate shavings on top. Yum! Veggies with dill dip rounded out the menu.

Things I don't like about our culture: low-fat everything, huge serving sizes & sugar substitutes. My motto is eat the real thing in moderation. I like desserts (like the chocolate mousse) that are low-sugar. I think that in America we over-sweeten things in general. I have also found that when foods are low in fat, they often have even less healthful things in them that our bodies don't recognize. Our bodies were designed to process fat, not so much the 'other.' I like to read labels and if I don't recognize the ingredients, then I feel that my body probably won't either.

I try to stay away from processed foods, preferring to make my own. Wildtree has made that much easier for me and has saved me much time in the kitchen. I love to keep fresh fruits & veggies handy for snacks, as well as string cheese & yogurt (with no HFCS).

My hopes for this blog is to share information with readers, as well as recipes & links. Love to hear back from readers. I'm always looking for new recipes & healthful eating tips.

Blessings,
Stacy