Buffal-oh-no!

This has nothing to do with Greek cooking, but relates to my attempts at healthy eating.  I have seen several comparisons saying that buffalo meat is healthier for you than beef.  I had never seen buffalo in our grocery store before, but there it was today so I decided "Let's give it a try!"  It was ground buffalo meat, so I was going to use it like a hamburger patty.  When I opened the package, it did not smell good.  I am usually the one who is very sensitive about bad smells, but even my husband thought it did not smell good.  He wouldn't eat any of it.  I decided it was just the "smell of buffalo" and cooked it with some onions and ate it.  It didn't taste as bad as the pre-cooked smell led me to believe so I hoped all was fine.  Then I decided to look on the internet to see if buffalo was reported as having a bad smell.  I didn't find a lot of information about that, but there were some comments about it having a "different" smell.  Still worried, I called the grocery store and spoke with the manager of the meat department.  He admitted he had never eaten or smelled buffalo meat so he went to get some from the meat case.  He agreed that it smelled bad and said I could return it and get my money back.  Well, by now I was too worried to eat any more of it, so that's what I did.
You know what is going on now... I am waiting to see if I get sick from spoiled meat!  Why was I so trusting that was just the smell that went with buffalo?
At least in relating this to traditional Greek cooking --- if I had stuck with traditional Greek cooking, the rule is to eat very little meat.  I should have followed that rule today - or have been a vegetarian for the day.  I am saying to myself, "Just stay well.  Just stay well."
Hopefully my food choices after this one will be less "adventurous" .  New is okay.  Spoiled is not!
Healthy eating, everyone!

First Potato Harvest 2011

When I watered the garden earlier today I found some Yukon Gold potatoes that could be harvested and cooked.  Talk about fresh - I washed them off and immediately cooked them!  Absolutely delicious!  After I boiled them I added a little butter, sea salt, and freshly ground pepper.  I guess Greek cooking would have used olive oil instead of butter, but I stuck with butter for this freshly picked harvest.
These potatoes are actually the first of anything that I have harvested from my garden this year.  I planted both Yukon Gold and Adirondack Blue.  I'll be sure to post a picture of the Adirondack Blue potatoes when they are ready.



Hopefully the blueberries will be ready in a week or two.  Usually we can start picking them late in June.  I anticipate more potatoes over the next few weeks.  The hot, dry weather seems to have delayed my green beans, tomatoes, and cucumbers.  I just hope the plants can survive the weather long enough to produce something.
 

Adjusting What I Eat

I have not made any fancy recipes for the past few days.  However, that doesn't mean I won't head in that direction soon.  I really like Greek salads so I have been eating those for lunch quite a bit.  I also love Greek style yogurt, so that has been my snack of choice.  Just by semi-following the Greek diet for less than a week now, I have lost a little weight and feel good.

Here are some of the basic things that I am trying to do:

• Consume more olive oil 
• Consume more legumes and fresh fruits and vegetables
• Replace white bread, highly processed cereals, and white rice with whole grains
• Increase consumption of fish
• Reduce consumption of meat and meat products
• Consume dairy products in a moderate amount, especially focusing on Mediterranean cheeses and Greek style yogurt
• Have a glass or red wine now and then with dinner.

I am not much of a wine drinker, but when I looked at wine in the store a week or two ago, I found a red wine labeled "Cupcake."  Yes, I had Cupcake wine with my dinner once or twice this week.  Most reading this will be glad to know I am not writing about "The Art of Drinking Wine!"

Flag Day

It's Flag Day!  A beautiful day to have the U.S. flag on display.

Here's mine! 

Have a wonderful day.

My Adventure into Greek Cooking

I decided to give myself a healthy challenge and will be trying to learn "The Art of Greek Cooking" - the healthy and traditonal form of these foods.  I have a steep learning curve because there is no one Greek in my family and I have no idea where this will lead in terms of my abilities and preferences.  I have seldom even tasted any Greek food.  Besides being an adventure for me, many of us have heard that the traditional Mediterranean Diet is a very healthful one so I'll be checking out that aspect as well.
So far I have made a rice dish that included things like ginger, garlic, oranges, and figs.  Unfortunately, my rice did not cook completely. (I seem to have this problem and it is usually with either rice or hard boiled eggs - that gives you an idea of my lack of culinary skills.)  I think this rice recipe will be very good once I master the technique.  On my second attempt I made briam/briami (potatoes, summer squash, zucchini, tomatoes, and Ricotta cheese) which I really liked.  I know you add lots of olive oil to everything!  Maybe I am getting the hang of this after all!
Anyway, I will share names of cookbooks and other resources that I have used and would love suggestions from any readers.  If I manage to create my own version of some recipes, I will include those as well.  When I can remember, I will try to photograph some of the food before I eat it!