Why does food have to be so complicated?

Recently I was reading a book on gardening and learned how easy it was to grow peanuts. I then thought, if I grow peanuts what can I make with them? How about peanut butter? So I looked up a recipe for natural peanut butter and I was surprised, the only ingredient - peanuts! Of course it did say you could add salt, sugar or honey to taste, but even that wasn't necessary. That got me thinking. Why is store bought food loaded with tons more ingredients than necessary? I will tell you why in one word- SHELF-LIFE.  Maybe you could also consider making sure to pay tribute to the corn, soybean or palm industries, by including hydrogenated soy bean oils, high fructose corn syrup or palm oil. Then maybe Monsanto/giant farms would get their cut. However, if you make your food yourself and plan to eat it in short order, then shelf-life does not matter and you can make your food healthier and less complicated. Lets take a look at some traditional foods that most of us buy and compare them to homemade versions and compare ingredient lists.

Regular Peanut Butter vs. Homemade Peanut Butter

Roasted Peanuts                                     Roasted Peanuts (Organic is even better!)
Sugar                                                     Sugar, Honey or Maple Syrup (Optional)
Salt                                                        Salt
Molasses
Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils (Mostly Soy)
Mono and Diglycerides
(Here is an article that explains fairly well what these last two are and whether they are healthy or not)

Regular Apple Butter vs. Homemade Apple Butter

Apples (most likely not organic)              Apples (I insist on organic, because non-organic apples have a lot of pesticides in them. Apples are notorious in absorbing pesticides. Non-organic apples are about as bad for you as a can of soda in one report I read in a consumer magazine.)

Sugar                                                    Sugar (I use about 1/2 the sugar the recipe calls for, apples really do not need much or any sugar with them. The sugar free apple butters have a nice tart apple taste that I love. I sometimes use organic sugar here.)

Cinnamon and Cloves                           Cinnamon and Cloves (Organic is even better!)

High Fructose Corn Syrup                    A pinch of salt (probably helps in the cooking process)

Apple Cider Concentrate

The question here is why we need the extra sugar in HFCS? Isn't regular sugar enough, more than enough? Apples as I said before, have a lot of natural sugars that are healthy, why all the extra sugar then? I mean almost all apple juices, organic or not, are no sugar added for this reason. Then you say, why HFCS? I know there is some debate about it being just a bad for you as sugar, so why should you care whether your food contains that or real sugar? Because you should care about the amount of sugars period in your food, no matter what source they come from. They ARE all bad for you in large amounts over time. Look I am guilty of eating a lot of processed sugars, I know I need to improve in this area. I do not want to be part of the growing numbers of Type 2 Diabetes cases in this country. And finally if you do not want the possibility of your money going to Monsanity (Monsanto) then do not buy products with HFCS.

Regular Ketchup vs. Homemade/Organic Kethcup (also Spaghetti Sauces)

Tomato Concentrate                                    Tomato Paste
Distilled Vinegar                                           Distilled Vinegar
High Fructose Corn Syrup                           Cane Sugar
Salt                                                             Sea Salt
Spices                                                         Allspice and Cloves
Onion Powder                                             Onion
Corn Syrup                                                  Water
Tabasco Sauce
Natural Flavoring (Unspecified)

So whats wrong with the ingredients in traditional ketchup on the left side? Lets go down the list shall we? All is good until we hit HFCS. Not the best way to get your sugar as I mentioned above. Cane sugar is still sugar, but its a better source of sugar. Besides you cannot have the ketchup flavor you know and love without sugar. They also use onion powder instead of real onions, who knows where the onion powder onions come from. One can only hope they are made from real onions. I guess that part is not so bad. Then the extra corn syrup. Why? Why more sugars?! Honestly? Oh, thats right we need as much corn product in there as we can. It may be ketchup but it still owes a large part of its existence to Monsanto/the corn industry, lol! Ok Tabasco sauce, no big deal. Natural flavoring, thank goodness not artificial, but we still don't know what it is, so we still have to call it mystery food. I don't know about you, but I don't like mystery foods.

Traditional Spaghetti Sauces vs. Homemade/Organic Spaghetti Sauces
Tomato Paste                                       Tomato Paste
Water                                                   Water
Sugar                                                    Sugar
Salt                                                       Sea Salt
Extra Virgin Olive Oil                            Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Dehydrated Onions                               Onions
Spices                                                  Fennel, Basil, Oregano, Black Pepper
Romano Cheese                                   Garlic
Soybean Oil
Natural Flavor

The recipe I found was for making your own pasta sauce with garden tomatoes and a canning supplies. I compared that to a name brand pasta sauce that is consumed by many regularly. Not too bad here. However, here the things in the name brand sauce that concern me (other than the obvious not organic). Soybean oil: why soybean oil? Its a widely grown plant that is used in everyday products. There is a huge soy industry, just like corn. However, when one thinks of soy, their first impression is not always bad. I mean you can buy organic soy milk and that is supposedly good, right? Well now there is a lot of research to suggest soy is not really good for us. You could read lots of papers on the subject, but here is one article that suggests why. A little bit of soy may not be bad, but if we are finding in food product after food product in our diet, then we should really start to get concerned. After that my only concern again are those mystery natural flavors.

Traditional Store Bought Grape Jelly vs. My Homemade Grape Jelly

Concord Grapes                                                  Organic Concord Grapes (my garden)
Fruit Pectin                                                          Ball Fruit Pectin Powder
High Fructose Corn Syrup                                   Sugar
Corn Syrup
Citric Acid
Sodium Citrate

Wow what a difference in the ingredient lists here. First, let me say I used to consume a lot of the most common store brand of jelly. However, a few years ago I finally taught myself how to make jelly from my grapes, that have been growing on my family property for ages. Don't ask me why it took so long. However, when I made my first grape jellies, although they were bright pink instead of purple, they tasted exactly the same. Imagine that. I know its a lot of work to make jelly, but you do not have to make it yourself, if you do not want to, just find someone who makes them locally or look for store organic brands with as few ingredients as possible. 

Problems with the common store bought jelly:: lots of sugar in the form of HFCS and CS. You know what I have said earlier about these two, so no need to repeat here. The last two ingredients seem to be present for shelf-life purposes, but they do not have to be included in homemade jellies and jams. Although, I could not find any real evidence to suggest they might be harmful to your health. I didn't think there would be, but I looked anyways. Thought I might learn something new, but I did not. My suggestion, to avoid the last two ingredients, simply to eat more simply. Why does our food need to be full of so much extra stuff?

I just looked at a few sauces and spreads here, but you could go on forever on this topic and do tons more research. I will not do it all for you here, but at some point we all need to become our own health advocates and do some of this research ourselves. Find something you buy often and compare it to an organic or more natural version or a homemade recipe and see how it stacks up. That might be a good place to start making a change, then move on to another item. These kind of changes can seem overwhelming, but just start small and work your way up.

The point of this post is to get you to understand the basic point here. A lot of our commonly consumed grocery items have way too many ingredients, more than they really need. Many of them are for shelf-life, which is useful I admit (unless you make it yourself in small batches), but some are just for appearance (like Subway and their yoga mat breads).  These extra ingredients do not often benefit our health. We may not see it right away, but we can see it in childhood obesity epidemics and in the rise of cases of certain diet related diseases (mostly in older folks). So, yes this IS IMPORTANT! Take charge of your health and diet now! 

If you are like me you will start making more of your own food and maybe start gardening more, so that you can have a hand in knowing where your food comes from, it will be local and organic (if you choose).

Wild Edibles List for the Mid Atlantic

Here is is a list of wild edibles I have tried or am familiar with, with pictures, harvest dates and areas to find them.

Wild Ginger - Asarum canadense

This plant is found in most eastern woods from early spring to late fall. It flowers in late April or May, but can stay green and leafy until early October. I find wild ginger at local public parks that have fairly wooded sections. I use the stem for its ginger-like flavor. It harvest a few leaves with most of the stem present and I wash the leaves of dirt and cut the stems off. I guess you can use the leaves for something, but my experience is with the stems. I cut the stems up into smaller pieces if I plan to eat them or leave them in larger pieces if I plan to steep them. The key to identification is to look for heart shaped leaves that create a ground cover. The leaves and stems will also be somewhat velvety with tiny hairs covering their surface. If you find the flowers then there is no doubt you will know you have wild ginger. There is really no other flower like it. Wild ginger is one of the only plants in its family to be present in the US (outside of the rainforest really). I use wild ginger to make syrups, spreads, and ice cream. Thanks to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, and their wonderful wild ginger ice cream recipe.

Eastern Redbud - Cercis canadensis

Redbuds grace us with their lovely magenta colored pea flowers in the early spring. You can spot the trees from far away because of their flower color. The flowers are edible as a salad garnish. However, if you let them go to seed they produce seed pods similar to peas, but more delicate. You can eat the pods just like you would snap peas or edamame. These trees are common forest trees near forest edges (as they tend to be smaller and more understory-like) or you can often find them planted as neighborhood trees (planted for its great spring flower color, its small size and it is native, so local utilities often give a subsidy to homeowners to plant them). Look for them in public parks or in neighborhoods lining streets and medians.

Spicebush - Lindera benzoin

Spicebush is another understory tree. It is found often along trails. It is a member of the Laurel family which also includes sassafras and cinnamon. These spices usually come from the barks of the trees. However, the berries of spicebush can also be consumed. The berries can be crushed and added to a variety of recipes from sweet to savory. They are similar in flavor to allspice or a spicy cinnamon almost. I have a recipe for spicebush chocolate chip cookies, where the berries are crushed up and just added into the cookies along with the rest of the ingredients. That is just one way they can be used. To look for spicebush go to any public parks with wood trails and look along the trail edges for these small trees. They will have smooth light gray bark, bright green smooth plump ovular leaves and in the fall they have elongated red berries.


Garlic Mustard - Alliaria petiolata

This invasive plant is common in forests and semi-wet forest areas. It is a ground cover. It is marked by a rosette of serrated leaves. Rub the leaves and you will get oily fingers that smell of mustard and garlic. The flowers are on long stalks and are tiny white and four-petaled. If you have ever seen a mustard plant the flowers of garlic mustard are typical of that family.  Garlic mustard spreads rapidly and you will find huge stands of it. Harvesting is easy as the plants can be yanked right out of the ground roots and all. Then you can use the leaves and stems to make pesto and hummus, among other things. I find this plant common in most public areas, unfortunately because it is invasive. Pull lots of these guys, eat them and make a dent in the invasive garlic mustard population. Its all for a good cause.

Wild Grape - Vitis riparia

Wild grapes, look a lot like concord grapes, but often with a smaller fruit size. Sometimes you will also find escaped concord grapes growing wildly as well. These grapes will grow in and around all kinds of vegetation and are usually found near forest edges or trail edges. They are often found growing in public parks. While not invasive yet, they do grow in a lot of places and are not hard to find. You can use them like regular grapes, but the fruit is usually small compared to the size of the seed, that you would need a lot of fruit to make anything. You also need more sugar as these grapes are not often as flavorful. I like to find wild grapes and mix them with a small amount of store bought concord grapes and this usually does the trick. These grapes can be used in any recipe you would use regular grapes in.

Wineberry - Rubus phoenicolasius

Here is another invasive plant. It looks like a raspberry and indeed is a close cousin to it. It however, produces large magenta flowers with yellow pistils and stamens. I has tri-foliate leaves, with one large leaf at the end (resembling an ivy leaf) and two smaller leaves about an inch further up the stem on either side (these leaves are almond shaped). The berries are born in hairy conical pods that pop open to reveal the sticky fruit when ripe. The plants have characteristically hairy (not really spiny like blackberry or black raspberry) red stems and branches. The berries have a nice juicy tart flavor. They are great fresh. I love to plop them in yogurt, cereal and granola. I also use them for a wineberry coffee cake. Virtually anywhere you use raspberries you can use wineberries (wine raspberries). By eating this delicious fruit you are reducing the vectors of its spread. Eat these for a good cause! Find these in any local public park. They are invasive, so they are not hard to find.

Black Cherry - Prunus serotina

These are common wild cherries that on first inspection look do not look like the kind you would want to eat. They are small and multiple grow on one flower peduncle (that is a flower head with multiple flowers) instead of the single cherry on one long stem. However, while these fruit may be small and contain a large pit, they are worth eating if you have the time to work with them because they are free and easy to find. They grow wild along wooded edges in many public parks. Use them in many of the same recipes you would use any other kind of cherry. If you make jams and jellies you do not necessarily need a cherry stoner, but if you plan to use the whole cherries in making pie filling you would need to pick up a tool like that. A stoner can be a simple hand tool or a machine that you hand crank to remove the pits of from the cherries.

White Mulberry - Morus alba

Here we go collecting mulberries from around the mulberry bush or tree that is. These trees can be small understory edge trees or grow fairly large in open spaces. The leaves may or may not have lobes, you will find some of both on the same tree, but they all will have serrated edges. The bark is smooth gray and the fruit look a lot like black or boysenberries, although not of close relations. Mulberries belong to the same family as the Common Fig below and what we typically call Monkey Brains or Osage Oranges (the softball size green fruits with a maze of ridges on them). The white mulberries are consider somewhat invasive in many places. The red mulberries not so much. The red are also edible, but a little harder to find because they are not invasive. White mulberries are everywhere, go to any fairly wooded public park and look along the forest edges, you might very well find a white mulberry tree. While there are many trees, fruit do not usually develop on the trees until they are fairly large (7-10 years+). So look for larger specimens, if the trees are not in fruit yet; those will be the trees that are likely to produce fruit this season. The fruit can then be used in pies, jams, jellies, sauces, tarts, ice cream and anything else you can think of. Once again eat up on the white mulberry and help stop the spread of this weedy tree.

Blackberry - Rubus fruticosus

 

Blackberry thickets can be found in many public parks. Thickets will appear in older meadows and on forest edges where the forest is still fairly young. The berries of the blackberry look a lot like those of the black raspberry and both are edible, but if you want to tell them apart, here`s the difference. Blackberries generally have larger individual druplets as they are called or you can think of them as berry-lets, although they are not true berries (but aggregates of drupes (botanical term). Examples of true berries are blue and huckleberries. Blackberries also retain the torus when they are plucked from the branch, black raspberries do not. That little white dome left behind when you pluck a raspberry, that is the torus. You will notice that the raspberries have that cavity and blackberries do not. Blackberries can be used in any number of desert and even dinner recipes. Some of my favorite uses for blackberries are cereal, granola, yogurt, ice cream, tarts, muffins, smoothies and sauces for chicken dishes.

Black Raspberry - Rubus occidentalis

See blackberries above. Also note the more dome shaped fruits in this photo. These plants can be found in much the same areas as blackberries. I have these planted in my yard, but also forage for them at a local park.

Wintergreen - Gaultheria procumbens

This is an herbaceous ground cover found in more acidic woodlands, usually those with lots of pine trees and thus pine needle detritus on the forest floor. Wintergreen have thick, waxy and shiny dark green leaves. The leaves are smooth edged. The flowers look like blueberry flowers. These are members of the blueberry family. The fruits are bright red blueberry like fruits. These plants are also often called teaberry. The leaves can be brewed into a tea and exude a wintergreen smell when crushed. The berries can be steeped and used for flavoring in many recipes or used whole for muffins and tarts, etc. I have found these plants on Patuxent Research Refuge at the NWVC, however you cannot harvest them there because of refuge wildlife conservation guidelines. I have also found them throughout coastal Maine in many public places. The key is finding an acidic woodland, heavy with pines and other conifers and you should find wintergreen.

Paw Paw - Asimina triloba

Paw Paw is the only member of its family found within the continental US. The rest are tropical species. It is in the Pond Apple family. In the spring the trees produce large (for a tree species) beautiful dark red flowers. These flowers are visited mostly by zebra swallowtail (host plant of swallowtail). The leaves are light green and very large, some of the largest leaves you will see in the forest. The bark is a smooth light gray. The trees themselves are understory sized. They prefer bottomland habitats. They do grow along the Patuxent River. The fruits look a lot like mangoes. They taste like mangoes and bananas with the consistency of baked potato. Scoop out the pulp and make it into a great custard pudding or pie, etc. Find these trees growing in bottomland/wetland areas at public parks.

Serviceberry - Amelanchier canadensis

These are also small understory trees and of the rose family. They are related to cherries, plums, raspberries, blackberries, apples, peaches, pears, etc. They look similar to blueberries. I once commented about the tree before I knew what they were that I did not understand why blueberries were growing on a tree. They are not closely related to blueberries, they only superficially resemble them. The trees have smooth gray bark; light green finely serrated leaves, white cherry-like blossoms and indigo, navy, purple, deep red colored fruits when ripe. Harvest the fruits and use them in much the same recipes you would use blueberries or cherries and as a matter of fact they taste like a combination of both. They can be found in forest edge habitats at many local parks.

Huckleberry - Gaylussacia baccata

These bushes look a lot like blueberry, but the fruits are a lot smaller and darker colored than blueberries. However, if you find anything that looks like a blueberry it is most likely edible.  Although if you're in doubt, do not pick them. Go with your gut.  Huckleberries can be used in all the same ways you would use blueberries. Both huckleberries and blueberries are found in acidic coniferous woods like wintergreen. I would guess that Ericaceae like acidic woods, because Mountain Laurel (toxic, Ericaceae) is found there as well.

Blueberry - Vaccinium angustifolium

See huckleberry post. These are lowbush blueberries, which are the most common wild variety. They are fairly small. Sometimes you find wild highbush blueberries (larger), but those are mostly the kind you buy at the garden center and plant in your yard.

Apples - Malus domesticus (abandoned orchards)

Wild apples are found mostly where there are abandoned orchards. There are wild crabapples, that are even smaller and look more like cherries, those are not worth eating. Those are different. If you were to look up the history of an area with apple trees, you would likely find that there were orchards there at one time and they have since been abandoned. These apples might look fairly gnarly, but can often be just fine. Wash them thoroughly and cut them open to make sure there are no pests inside. I have yet to find any pests inside of the wild apples I have eaten. They may be good eating fresh, but most of these apples are better used for sauces, pies, apple butters, cobblers and the like. I once found wild apples in a park I was camping in. I picked them and cooked spiced apples right at our campsite. I think you just have to get lucky to come upon a wild apple grove and then keep in mind where it is for future reference. Currently, I know of non in Maryland. The only Maryland apple tree I get free apples from is the one in my backyard.

Common Violet - Viola odorata

Violets are extremely high in vitamin C, more so than oranges. They are great as salad garnishes, the leaves or flowers. The flowers can be made into jelly or a jello-like pudding. They grow commonly in our yards in or along side wooded trails in the spring. Just make sure if you pick them from your yard that your yard is not treated with harsh chemicals. Almost all violet species are edible. Violets can be purple, yellow, white or a combination of the three. They are bilaterally symmetrical flowers. The leaves are heart-shaped and have serrated edges.

Sassafras - Sassafras albidum

These are smaller understory trees. They have three leaf shapes: a leaf with no lobes, a mitten-shaped leaf with one lobe, a mitten-shaped leaf with three lobes. The roots and the twigs can be boiled into a tea that tastes like root beer or black licorice (in my opinion). The plant is related to spicebush or cinnamon and does have an allspice or anise like flavor. Be careful not to consume too much sassafras, as they contain Safrol is which is considered a carcinogen in high doses. These trees are found in healthy woods that are not heavily browsed by deer. Take a look at the woods in your local parks to see if they contain Sassafras.

Highbush cranberry - Viburnum trilobum

These bushes are not cranberries at all, but viburnums (honeysuckle family). They only superficially look like cranberries. Read this website to see the difference between the European and American varieties. If in doubt of which variety you have found, do not eat them. University of Maine

Wood Sorrel - Oxalis sp.

These are another common lawn weed. Again make sure your lawn is not sprayed with harsh chemicals. These plants are often to referred to shamrocks. These are not the same as clover. These are Oxalis and related to Starfruit, whereas clover Trifolium is related to Peas. Sorrel has a small yellow flower with 5 petals. They have a citrus-y flavor. Pick them and use the leaves and stem as a salad green or make a great drink by steeping the leaves in water and then letting the water cool with ice.

Queen Anne's Lace - Wild Carrot - Daucus carota

Believe it or not carrot is the same species as Queen Annes, but a cultivated variety. You can eat the root when the plant is young and not too woody. The root is like sassafras and is very root beer-like. In fact it is often used in making traditional root beers. You can eat the young plants like carrots or use them to make drinks like root beer. Be careful if you see plants like this that are extremely tall, I mean taller than you, they are likely poison hemlock and they are deadly poisonous. When in doubt about the ID of your plant do not eat them. Q.A.L. can be found along roadsides and in fields. They are a common field weed and any piece of land that is slated for sale as commercial property and not likely mowed will probably have Q.A.L. The flowers are large circular clusters of lacey flowers. They have feathery leaves. The plants are about 2 feet tall.

Jerusalem's Artichoke - Helianthus tuberosus

These plants look like sunflowers or coreopsis. They are woodland wildflowers of early fall. They are common in our local woods. The roots are very bulbous and can be cooked in much the same ways you cook potatoes. These plants are members of the aster family.

Autumn Olive - Eleagnus umbellatus

These are invasive shrubs or small trees. The bushes have smooth gray bark. The leaves are dark green on the top and a light silvery green on the bottom. The leaves have tiny little raised dots all over them. The fruits are red when ripe and they also have the silvery raised dots on them. The fruits are edible and can be used in tarts, muffins and jams, etc. Eating them often helps stop the spread of the seeds. These shrubs can be found along forest edges or in shrub habitat in many local parks and woodlands.

Red/Black Chokebherry - Aronia melanocarpa, arbutifolia

These fruits look like serviceberries or cherries. They are closely related to them, as they are also in the rose family. These fruits have a bottom that I describe as similar to the bottom of a soda bottle. They can be black or red depending on the species. Here is more information on the edibility of the two species. Red and Black Chokeberry. Find these small understory trees/shrubs along the edge of forests.

Ground Cherry (Tomatillo cousin) - Physalis longifolia

These are common field weeds. They are fairly unique and easy to identify. They have Chinese lantern like pods that contain a tomato-like fruit inside. When ripe the husks become skeleton-like (like the picture above). The fruits are edible and taste like cultivated husk cherries (ground cherries). The flowers are yellow and lampshade shaped. Use these tiny tomato-like fruits in salads, on brochette, in tarts, etc. Look in the fields of your local parks for these plants. I find these plants in one of my local public parks.

Persimmon - Diospyros virginiana

The persimmon is a smaller tree that grows in more open, younger woodlands. I know of one public park in MD where these grow. The fruits have a sweet delicate flavor. They are difficult to judge the ripeness of and can be really bad if not ripe, but amazing when ripe. Persimmon ripeness. The fruits look like tomatoes superficially. They are pumpkin orange when ripe They grow on trees with leaves that look like this. This will help you ID it during non-fruiting periods. These fruits can be used for pies, tarts, jams and pudding.

Wild Fig - Ficus carica

Figs can grow wild in Maryland. The leaves are pictured above. The fruits are a lovely wine color. The trees are often found growing in open areas and can be very large. The only tree I know of personally is near a wetland area, but they do not always grow in wetland areas. The fruits can be used in jams, jellies, relishes, pies, tarts and other dishes. I really loved a sandwich I had once at a Southport, ME restaurant. It had cooked ham, brie cheese, arugula and fig relish. It was absolutely delicious. I hope to pick some figs this summer and make some of that relish, so I can replicate those sandwiches, but I am sure they wont nearly be as awesome, but I am going to try.

Finally remember these foraging tips:

• Do not pick plants if you cannot 100% positively identify them.
• Do not pick plants on public lands like refuges, where regulations prohibit foraging. Its Illegal!
• Always leave a few for wildlife even if you are in area where foraging is allowed.
• Always wash your foraged edibles real well before consuming them.
• Do not consume lawn edibles if you know that your lawn or the park lawn is treated with chemicals.
• Always try a new wild edible in a small amount first to make sure you are not allergic to it or it will not make you sick in some other way. If your body agrees with it, go back and harvest more.
• Take advantage of edibles this growing season and learn to live closer to the earth.