Thursday, July 7, 2011

Apple cranberry croustade and chemical milk

Potato oat flatbread with bean sprout and pickled apple salad
Food Diary (July 07, 2011)
Breakfast: Rolled oats with sunflower seeds
Lunch: Potato oat flatbread with bean sprout and pickled apple salad
Dinner: Pasta with cauliflower, grilled sausages

I had potato oat flatbread again and this time I shallow fried it. Shallow frying was quicker while baking takes longer but uses less oil. I liked both equally, if I have time I will definitely bake it. The positive thing about using oats is that even if the flatbread is not cooked thoroughly it still tastes delicious. When using flour, the flatbread has to be cooked thoroughly otherwise there will be the unpleasant raw flour taste.

I am not sure if bean sprout and pickled apples is a great combination but the salad was refreshing and nutritious. And I happily finished everything. I pickled unripe apples so it was bit sour.

And the coconut oil shortbread cookies were great. The cookies were made with coconut oil instead of butter. Perhaps I can call these tropical shortbread instead of Scottish shortbread.  



Today's Favourite Photo
Apple cranberry croustade with cornmeal crust



Today’s Favourite Blog
A glass of milk can contain traces of 20 painkillers, antibiotics and growth hormones, according to a study from the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. The results were based on 20 types of cow's, goat's and sheep's milk purchased in Spain and Morocco. The highest quantity of medicine was found in cow's milk. Although the doses of the drugs were too small to have any affects on milk drinkers, the existence of so many different additional ‘ingredients’ raises questions about the milk production chain and process. 

I recall reading long time ago that milk is one of the items that has the highest amount of additional ‘ingredients’. So in terms of choosing organic and inorganic items, perhaps milk should be one of the items on top of the list. This is my view and certainly not an expert opinion.

I also read that the price of antibiotics for human use was increasing because of increasing demand from the livestock industry. Just a thought, in case humans don't have access to antibiotics, perhaps they can drink milk instead!

24 comments:

  1. What a beautiful salad! I love the colors! Hmmm about the milk, it's kind of scary..especially kids drink milk. We buy organic but who knows what that means... sometimes the more you know the scarier it is...

    ReplyDelete
  2. The salad looks amazing - beautiful photo.
    I've read all sorts of articles about milk and always now buy organic - but even so - ugh!
    Mary

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gorgeous photo of your lunch...so pretty. I'd love to try your flatbread. How disturbing about the chemicals in milk...ugh.

    ReplyDelete
  4. That croustade looks amazing and fresh! Interesting facts about milk, and disturbing! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  5. An awesome plate of food!! Those colors on the salad are like a palette and the croustade looks tempting!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. sheesh! all that information on milk is slightly scary :S

    btw, that salald looks beautifull!

    ReplyDelete
  7. That's a super looking meal!
    What's pure these days? Everything we eat seem to have some kind of chemical in it. Drinking the milk by itself may not be harmful but what of the accumulated stuff we get from other foods, I mean, we don't live on milk alone. Boy! We're all a bunch of walking chemical cupboards! Scary.

    ReplyDelete
  8. bean sprout and pickled apple salad looks amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Your potato oat flatbread looks so tasty!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Very scary stuff about the milk. I appreciate all the interesting tidbits you share with us

    ReplyDelete
  11. That's a lovely picture of potato flat bread. Looks yummy too :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Nami: I totally agree with you when you say "sometimes the more you know the scarier it is."

    Inside a British Mum's Kitchen: the innocent and nutritious milk - unfortunately there are some question marks!

    Lizzy: thank you!

    Caroline: you are welcome

    Malli: thank you, and welcome to my blog
    cakewhiz: it is a bit scary but good to know I suppose

    ping: super:) The chemicals are pure, they usually are not contaminated with food:) Lot of things are contaminated but I suppose if we avoid the heavily contaminated stuff we won't be a full "walking chemical cupboards"! As you allude, its difficult to avoid. We might as well consciously include chemicals in our diet!

    peachkins: thank you

    yummychunklet: thank you

    Maris: you are most welcome, happy to share any useful info I come across

    Anncoo: thank you

    ReplyDelete
  13. Sounds like your day was full of delicious eats! Those flatbreads look awesome! And the salad does admittedly have quite a strange combo...but it still sounds good.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I must try this potato flatbread out! It looks so amazing and I love that you deep fried it! Yum! The featured blog was great today!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wow!!! I love the big photo! It looks wonderful and very cheerful :-)
    How do you pickle apples? They look yummy (especially since they are sour, I adore sour food). I would be interested in doing it... I love pickling, preserving etc. but have never seen the pickled apples recipe.
    The tropical shortbread looks lovely too! (Good name idea!).
    The milk information doesn't surprise me for once. I try to buy only organic (or free range) milk, eggs and meat (chicken, beef, pork) because even if I didn't care for the taste (and I do, the difference is huge!) and the ethical side (I eat dead animals but I don't want them to suffer more so that I can stuff myself with cheaper meat), I know that because of the industrial rearing conditions the animals get ill all the time and have to be given antibiotics to survive. It is very simple and disgusting. When I have a choice: pay 50% more for a delicious chicken breast coming from a happy and healthy animal, I never hesitate. I think most people don't realise how what they eat was reared...
    Thank you for raising the subject. I think if everyone knew what happens in the barns and chicken farms the industrial farms would slowly start to disappear (by the way, I have heard by 2012 in the whole EU chicken farms without floors - e. i. with cages - will be forbidden).

    ReplyDelete
  16. The salad does look great.
    We switched over to organic milk about a year ago and not only is the flavor better (I don't know why), I feel a whole lot better about it.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi There, This is looking absolutely delightful. A very well made post with beautiful pictures. Loved the new combo of ingredients and the recipe is so nicely made and presented. Its always fun to see ur appetizing recipes. Saving this recipe of urs and wud love to give ur version a try on the coming weekend. Have a wonderful week ahead….Thanks & Regards, Sonia !!!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Potato Oat Flatbread? Looks and sounds amazing. I must try this! Have a fantastic weekend

    ReplyDelete
  19. gorgeous color on the salad. I never make anything with coconut oil .. find the smell too strong! But it looks delicious .. so may be I should give a try too.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Joanne: it was a day of a lot of eating also:)

    Kitchen Belleicious: thank you. The flatbread was actually shallow fried, deep fried would be nicer and crispier I suppose!

    Siss: thank you! I thinly sliced the apples and added enough apple cider vinegar to cover it. You can use any vinegar. I did a quick pickle for 30 minutes, it was not enough, ideally many hours or overnight, or even days. Carrots and cauliflower pickled this way is fantastic also. I didn´t know about the plans to make drastic changes to how poultry is raised, its great news.

    Cher: good to hear

    Erica: Thank you

    kankana: thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  21. apple tart looks delish!!! ahhh that potato oat bread must have been soo good, since u ate it twice in two days heehee. i do that with food that i love too. hahaha but i usually end up gobbling it up before there are leftovers...:)

    ReplyDelete
  22. I think its not just milk you get these, even meats of farmed animals and even chicken eggs contains chemicals now adays

    ReplyDelete
  23. Thank you for the quick pickling recipe! I will definitely try it with apples! It sounds so original!!!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Thank you because you have been willing to share information with us. we will always appreciate all you have done here because I know you are very concerned with our. Treating Chemicals for Boiler

    ReplyDelete