A field in Gettysburg

Yesterday morning, I got up a little late.  I considered not going to the farmer’s market since I still had some vegetables left over from the previous weekend.  But as I thought about it, I realized I could not go a week without quark, the creamy fresh cheese made from cultured buttermilk.  And so, I made the journey to the farmer’s market after all.  I ended up getting some sheep milk cheese, heavy cream, and berries in addition to the quark, so it was productive.   I’m preparing a post on quark.  It is something you can make at home, if you are so inclined.  In the meantime, here are a few links that I found interesting:  some local farms I love,  a coconut milk cooking contest, misconclusions drawn from studies, nutrient deficiencies,  supplies for preserving food, and why local food is awesome.  See below for all the links.

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The types of sweeteners you will find in my house - none artificial

I don’t eat Sweet and Low, Equal, or Splenda. I don’t believe they are food. They are chemicals that are masqueraded as food. Geared towards those who want to have their cake and eat it too, these artificial sweeteners supposedly provide all the sweetness of sugar without the side effects of calories. Eat yummy food and keep your waist trim!

Well, my first thought is that they taste awful. Even Splenda, which has marketing materials talking about how much it tastes like sugar, tastes awful to me. I can taste them in anything. Gross.

Secondly, maybe we shouldn’t be eating empty calories (like that which is found in refined sugar and to a lesser degree all the other natural, minimally processed sugars – honey, maple syrup, etc) to such excess that it causes weight gain. Maybe it should remind us that sugar is a treat, something to be used in small amounts and/or infrequently. I bake with sugar and eat it, but I try to use unrefined sugars when I can, and I also try not to bake sweets every week or eat them every day. In fact, I find the less sweets I eat, the less sweets I want to eat!

With all of this already in mind, today I checked out The People’s Chemist and learned some truly awful things about Splenda.

From the article:

Splenda contains the drug sucralose. This chemical is 600 times sweeter than sugar. To make sucralose, chlorine is used. Chlorine has a split personality. It can be harmless or it can be life threatening.

Guess what one Splenda is? It was discovered when its creators were trying to design a new pesticide, so that should tell you something. Go read the rest of the article to get the full scoop.