DANGER!

High Fructose Corn Starch is used in just about all processed, packet foods, colas, baked goods, fruit-flavoured drinks and even some flavoured yoghurts! It's a lot cheaper than ordinary sugar and extends shelf life, but that's where the advantages end.
It's well known that cancers thrive on glucose but recent studies at UCLA have shown that fructose too can cause a rapid increase in certain cancer cells. (HFCS is made by converting some of the glucose in corn to fructose)
HFCS can also worsen diabetes, affect the immune system, increase weight (more than ordinary sugar) and even speed up the aging process. It's wise to be wary of artificial sweeteners in 'diet' foods too. Even though the vested interests may maintain they're safe, they should surely be obliged to PROVE they AREN'T dangerous.

If you buy processed foods and drink lots of colas you may be consuming unhealthy amounts of HFCS. Yet another reason to buy fresh food only.

P.S. ACCORDING TO THE LATEST FIGURES, ONE IN THREE OF AMERICAN CHILDREN BORN SINCE 2000 HAVE EARLY ONSET DIABETES (IN THE POORER CLASSES, THE FIGURE IS ONE IN TWO)!

To find out more, Google HFCS and check out some of the sites.

APRICOT AND OAT CAKES

Despite strong competition for tasty nibbles, these easy-bake cakes were very popular at the Kingdom Végétale charity fair in Boulogne-sur-Gesse:

INGREDIENTS

100g softened butter
3 tbsp sunflower oil
175g soft brown sugar
225g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
40g oatflakes
60g ground oatflakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
200g dried apricots stewed and pureed (drain off excess liquid into a jug before pulverising)
grated rind of 1 lemon to sprinkle over the apricot layer (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 180˚C/350˚F.

Combine the butter and oil with the sugar then mix in the flour followed by the rest of the dry ingredients. Line a 20cm x 30cm shallow baking tin with greaseproof paper. Spread half the mixture evenly into the tin and flatten well. Spread the apricot puree on top then finish with the rest of the oat mix. Flatten really well.

Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes until firm to the touch and slightly browned. Mark out into squares in the tin and leave to cool. Carefully remove from the tin, lay on a board and cut out the squares. Decorate with a little icing sugar.

Enjoy with a cuppa or pour some of the leftover apricot juice over the top of each square and finish with a blob of cream, or even custard, for a tasty desert.

We're frequently advised to reduce salt in our diets but it has a myriad of other uses in the home. If we want to get away from those toxic cleaning fluids displayed in colourful containers in the supermarket - expensive as well as dangerous - let's not forget the virtues of simple salt.
Here are a few useful tips:
Pour salt and hot water down your sink to prevent grease from building up.
Mix salt with soda water to clean and deodorize the inside of your fridge.
Keep a bag next to your cooker to put out accidental fires; it forms an oxygen-excluding crust and extinguishes the flames. Never use water, particularly on grease fires.
Add a dash of salt to fresh flower water - they will last longer.
Repair small holes in plasterboard walls - mix 2 tablespoons salt with 2 tablespoons cornflour then add enough water to make a thick paste. Fill the holes and leave to dry.
To ease bee stings, immediately dampen the area then apply a teaspoonful of salt to reduce the pain and swelling.
For mosquito bites, a saltwater soak is good and you can also use a poultice of salt and olive oil
And outside:
To deter patio weeds, pour salt in between the cracks, sprinkle with water or let the rain do the rest.
These are just a few. There's loads more info here on The Salt Institute website.

The French Week

To all our customers and readers -

As a correspondent for The French News, I was very sad when it folded at the end of 2008, a victim of the credit crunch. But now the team are back and this time they'll be producing a weekly. I was happy to be contacted again by the editor, Miranda Neame, and hope to be producing a variety of regular articles and reviews for the new paper. I'll be doing the occasional veggie recipe too.
Miranda really likes the EnFamilleBio weblog and may, from time to time, be using material from this site.
If anyone is interested in taking advantage of the introductory subscription special offer, please let me know and I will email a copy of the form to be completed and sent to The French Week offices in Castillonès. The special offer is from just €0.75 per issue (French addresses only) and lasts until august 30. It will, of course, also be available from certain newsagents.
Sue
p.s. I'm always pleased to hear about newsworthy items, so please drop me an email or call if you come across anything you think might be interesting. Thanks.

A GREAT BURGER from Sue

You're doing a barbecue and don't want to dish up a shop-bought veggie burger for those guests who don't eat meat. Well, there are several tasty alternatives you can rustle up in your own kitchen and they'll tempt the meat-eaters too, so make sure your veggie friends get in first. Here's one I really like:

By the way, the flat semi-circular things on the right are slices of giant puff-ball!

MILLET BURGER WITH CAULIFLOWER

As you will see this is an American recipe. Trying to find a truly comprehensive chart of cups to grams is well nigh impossible, so I take a teacup and use that throughout. It seems to work!

I cup millet, washed and soaked for 8-12 hours then drained
3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups small cauliflower florets
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 egg beaten (optional)
1 cup sesame seeds

Put millet, cauliflower, water and salt into a medicum saucepan and bring to the boil. Cover and cook until the water is absorbed (approx 30 mins).
Add melted butter and stir in well, use a masher if you prefer. Allow to cool.
Add the egg, if using. Stir in thoroughly.
Roll mixture into balls, flatten into burgers (you choose the size you want) and coat with sesame seeds.
Lay carefully on a close mesh and barbecue, turning once. You may prefer to cook them in a frying pan with a little oil - less of a risk of them breaking up.

Serve with the usual sauces or relishes - pesto is great with these.

LET'S GO NUTS by Sue

Nuts are high energy foods - they contain quality protein as well as carbohydrate and fats. I know most of us baulk at the mention of fats, but its fuel that we use up in our daily lives, it's only bad news if we eat too much of it and particularly if it's saturated. Nut fats are good because they're unmodified and help to regularise blood lipids and protect us from cardiovascular deterioration. The 'slow burn' of nut calories dampens hunger pangs and can help in weight loss in a natural diet and alongside exercise.

For veggies, vegans and fruitarians, nuts provide not only high quality protein, but the carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals that make up a healthy diet, and when eaten 'sensibly', there are no downsides to nuts.

Nearly all nuts, with the exception of coconut, contain Vitamins B1 (Thiamine), B2 (Riboflavin) and B3 (Niacin). They are also high in the bioflavonoid resveratrol, which is found in red wine and thought to help prevent plaque forming in the arteries. Peanuts, in fact, have more resveratrol than grapes. And that's not the only reason they're stars among nuts; studies have shown that even small amounts of peanuts in the diet can achieve a healthy reduction in LDL 'bad' cholesterol.

Why else are PEANUTS so beneficial? They're particularly high in protein with 25g to a 100g serving. They're a great source of energy with 50g of fat (mostly monounsaturated and polyunsaturated) and 16g of carbohydrates and they also contain niacin (Vit B3) and Vitamin E.

ALMONDS are an excellent food too. They 'burn' slowly in the body and help to normalise blood sugar levels. They contain around 20g of protein, 20g of carbohydrate and 52g of fats including omega 6 and omega 3, and are a good source of calcium, natural magnesium and niacin.

BRAZILS are noted for their omega 3 content (about 7% of the total 66g of fats). They contain around 14g of protein and 10g of carbohydrates per 100g serving and some calcium. They are also a good source of magnesium and particularly of selenium.

CASHEWS are high in carbohydrate - about 45g to 100g - high in magnesium (only slightly less than almonds) and have around 17g of protein. They are a great sustaining food.

The amino acids in HAZELNUTS mean they are a source of high quality protein - 13g to every 100g. They contain 17g of carbohydrates per 100g and 62g fats and are a good source of calcium, second only to almonds.

For more info on more more nuts check out the Natural Food Guide to Common Nuts.

EARL GREY TEA LOAF - YUMMY AND SO SIMPLE TO MAKE from Sue

The prep is done in a trice, then just let the oven do the rest.

Ingredients
75g each of raisins, sultanas and currants
1/2 pint earl grey tea (using a bag)
250g/9oz self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
200g/7oz soft light brown sugar
1 egg beaten

Soak the fruit overnight in the tea (leave the teabag in).
Pre-heat the oven 180˚C/Gas 4.
Drain fruit and add sifted flour, baking powder and spices. Mix in well.
Add sugar and egg and mix in.
Gradually add the juice from the soaked fruit (minus teabag!) until you get a nice gooey mix that will flop rather than pour into a 450g/1 lb loaf tin lined with greaseproof.
Bake for approx one hour. Check the cake is cooked by putting a skewer into the middle. If it comes out clean, the cake is ready. Leave to cool for ten minutes.
Place an oval plate over the loaf-tin and reverse. Peel greaseproof off the cake and reverse onto a wire rack. Leave to cool.

The cake is delish on its own, with butter or, if a bit gooey, with a glob of cream. Leaf likes it like that.
Enjoy!