Links to traditional foods diet, part 2

[Jessica]

Dianna, I'm not sure that I would fry foods in olive oil. It definitely has a different taste.

[Triss]

I guess I could find out easy enough... and have benedryl on hand

[barleychown]

the coconut oil is pressed from the coconut itself...so if you are allergic to the nut, you probably are to the oil. However, coconut oil is in makeup and bath products...so maybe you have already been exposed?

Dianna, olive oil has a very low smoke point...not a good thing for frying.

[Dianna]

That's right. I seem to remember all of y'all telling me that one time in the lounge during a discussion about olive oil. Hmm. Wonder what I am going to do with the oil now that I have already bought it?

Guess I am back to peanut oil until I find some coconut oil to try...

[barleychown]

It works fine for other uses, and for lower temp cooking, just not frying.

[Triss]

I saute with olive oil all the time.  I really like it and also use it on salads.

[Jessica]

Some info I found on coconut oil.  Dianna, this says that coconut oil lowers cholesterol.

http://www.coconutoil.com/litalee.htm

[Tina]

Yes, thank you. That helped clarify some of the other reading I have done lately.

[Dianna]

Thank you, Jessica. I will study it a bit tomorrow...

I very seldom saute anything, Triss, but I could use it on salads...

[Jessica]

Do you grill at all, Dianna?  I slice up some potatoes and put them in a pie tin with olive oil and a little butter and some onion and put it on the grill.   I can't wait for grilled food!

[bayou girl]

dianna, we use olive oil when we are making anything with chicken except stir fry. then we use sesame oil.  i use different oils for different things.  and have nearly every kind on hand.  but not so much canola (not impressed) and no coconut.  i'm not a fan of coconut oil, mostly because of living on guam.  but that is another whole different story for another thread.

[Tina]

Here is a link to a very long, dry breakdown of fats:

http://www.westonaprice.org/The-Skinny-on-Fats.html

Boring reading, but good for info.

It is good info. I want more charts or something to compare types. I went looking and there are some but they still don't tell me all I want to know in a form I can best judge from.
I am eating fewer fried food as I age. Part of that is availability of anything good outside my house. The rest is hating to clean up after frying in my house; spatters, drips, and the lingering smells. Grease travels in steam and sticks to walls, cabinets, etc and makes them sticky then the ever-present dust sticks to that. I get tired just thinking about cleaning it all.
I have been researching peanut oil. It has mixed reviews. It is good at lowering bad cholesterol and elevating good. But it has 'sticky' things in it that cause plaque to build up on arteries in animals. I read these same reviews in several different articles. So I would use what I had in the house sparingly if I really wanted to fry something then look for an alternative the next time I was shopping. (My answer to Dianna).
Coconut oil (which is chock full of the bad stuff the the last years of medical science says are not heart healthy without a lot of scientific proof) tends to not build up the plaque. I am going to try that when I find it and see how it works for me.
If I find it digestible I may even fry some taters on occasion. My problem with canola isn't only the taste. It causes me to have some digestive issues that keep me in the 'library' longer than I want. It goes right through me in a most uncomfortable way. And that is as personal as I want to get. I hope the coconut oil works for me.

[Dianna]

Thank you for sharing your results on the research of peanut oil, Tina. I guess I will pass on that. I have enough problems with plaque now...

I will be looking for the coconut oil, too...

[Jessica]

I read that coconut oil helps with digestive issues, Tina.  I am hoping so because me and fried foods do not get along.  I hope this makes a difference.  I really have some bad digestive issues. I could use all the help I can get.

[bestofour]

is corn oil bad or good?  I've forgotten what I've read.  I don't fry a lot of food but either I'm used to it or olive oil doesn't leave much of a taste when cooked.  My grands who are super picky eaters have never mentioned tasting anything weird in my food. 

Now that I'm thinking about I don't fry anything unless you call scrambling egg whites frying.

Do you grill at all, Dianna?  I slice up some potatoes and put them in a pie tin with olive oil and a little butter and some onion and put it on the grill.   I can't wait for grilled food!

I cut up potatoes, onions, peppers and add frozen green peas add a little water and put in aluminum foil and douse with olive oil, curl up the edges of the foil and put on the grill.  So good.  I might do that tonight with talapia.

[Jessica]

I have done them in aluminum foil packets too.  Pie tins just are easier for me because I don't have to worry about poking a hole.  I love potatoes this way.

I don't fry much food either, Sheri.  We have had company and decided that we would deep fry onion blossoms and mushrooms and things like that but on an every day basis, I never really fry.  I guess I fry some breaded shrimp once in a while.

[bestofour]

You're so smart Jessica.  I've never thought of using pie tins.  I keep them so I have a bunch.  I'm going to  try that tonight.  It's warm enough to grill here.  Are you jealous?

[Jessica]

I am jealous, Sheri.  I just pick the pie tin up and shake it once in a while so they cook evenly.  The bottom ones are still always crunchier but they are my favorite!

[bestofour]

I like the bottom ones too.  Do you add any water?

[Jessica]

No.  I just put olive oil and some pats of butter, onion and sometimes some garlic or lawry's seasoning.

[bestofour]

it's making me hungry.

[Jessica]

Me too.

[Jessica]

Sarah's dinner post in the What's For Dinner thread made me think of this.  When I was at the food co-op yesterday, I looked at all of their meats, cheese, milks and so on.  They had organic ground beef for 6.99/lb.     I need to find a different source if I want to go that direction.

[barleychown]

I never EVER buy beef from the store. They rip you off big time...and it's NOT grassfed beef, so it's mostly wasted money.

[Jessica]

I wish I would have paid better attention to what it exactly said but I don't remember.  It said prairie raised or something like that.  I will look again next time.  Sarah, do you get yours from a local farmer?  I am going to go to the local butcher and see what they have.