Blog.EmealsForYou

Maybe it’s a generational thing; the inability to ask questions to become more informed regarding things that effect our health. We have been conditioned over the years to accept what is presented. No. I am not talking about the doctor/patient relationship; although it fits the pattern. What gets to me is our inability to ask simple questions at our grocery stores about the foods they offer us. We go blindly through the pre-packaged meat cases, selecting what “looks” good. Do you really know what had been added to that package to make it look more appealing? Is there gluten added, how about water and more importantly salt?

My eyes were recently opened when I took that NJ trip a few weeks ago. The one where I cooked for a non-fish eater, a non-meat eater and the one that was gluten intolerant. Looking for an easy way out for the travel day dinner I asked my mother-in-law to pick up a couple of rotisserie chickens from Sam’s Club for the non-gluten eater of the group. The rest of us were more than happy to sample some of the fine NJ pizza we missed. Checking with Sam’s Club deli section I learned that both wheat gluten and corn syrup had been added. Who knew? I wound up doing what I advocate most times, buy a chicken, sprinkle it with salt and pepper and douse on some olive oil. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour and you have a pretty darn good chicken. But I digress; the lesson here is without asking we would have served the Sam’s bird and found out later that we had contributed to a huge headache for the non-gluten eater.

Another example of this is a conversation I had with my local sausage maker. Cincinnati is the home of Findlay Market, supposedly the nation’s oldest open-air farmer’s market. Kroeger’s & Sons Meats has about 45 different types of sausages on display. I asked the owner whether they made a sodium-free sausage, unfortunately they don’t. In our discussion about salt in meat products she told me she had recently asked the local Kroger (national chain) store about the additives to their meats. She was surprised to hear they added both salt and water to their meats. The lesson here is how many of us on some sort of restrictive diet or just being healthier have just assumed meat was meat; nothing added.

Ask the question; what’s in it? What has been added to make it look pinker, to make it moister or just to add to the weight? You’ll be a bit healthier and a lot happier.