edukatorz.com

We’ve often heard about howAmerica’s poor tend to have unhealthy, fast-food-based diets, compounding health problems for those who can least afford the necessary care. This is silly. There are extremely cheap and healthy sources of energy that take little time and less effort. Here are two things that you should be making and enjoying, whether you’re poor or not:

1. Tofu

Fresh tofu is way, way tastier than store-bought stuff. Plus, if you’re like me and like super-firm tofu, you can make it as firm as you want it (most store-bought varieties are too soft for my taste) – or go the opposite direction.

For a 1/2 cup serving of tofu, you’re getting about 10-11 grams of protein, 227mg calcium, 5g fat, 1-2mg iron, and 94 calories – that’s less than 1/3 of the calories in the same amount of ground beef, and with beef you’re only getting twice the protein.*

Making tofu requires kitchen stuff you already have, an acid like lemon juice, and a whole bunch of soybeans. Soybeans are incredibly, unbelievably cheap. Like $10-20 for five pounds of the stuff. Overall, homemade tofu’s a winner.  I could explain how to make tofu but that sounds boring, so check this out: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Tofu

2. Seitan

Slightly more expensive than tofu, but totally delicious, seitan is usually called a “vegan meat substitute.” This is silly. It is a delicious spongey-textured substance that, yes, can be used in place of meat in recipes, but it’s really nothing like meat. It’s like seitan. Therefore, omnivores can and should add seitan to our rotation of protein sources, if for nothing else, than for variety.

Seitan gets its awesomely weird texture from its main ingredient, Vital Wheat Gluten. This is the gluten from wheat, obviously – basically what’s left when you wash the starch out of the wheat.

Vital wheat gluten is a protein powerhouse. In one, JUST ONE, ounce of the stuff you get 21 GRAMS of protein. You only get 4g of carbs and 104 calories.

This recipe is easy enough to explain so I’ll just go ahead and do it here. Boil a big pot of water with a few tablespoons molasses and soy sauce. Take 2c vital wheat gluten, throw in some herbs (powdered ginger, garlic powder, marjoram, oregano, you know, whatever), a couple tablespoons soy sauce, and mix it with 1c of water (add more as necessary). Knead it up for a few minutes, slice it, and throw it in the pot for an hour or so.

Happy eating!

*This is in no way intended to imply that the Edukatorz don’t like beef. I’ll have my burger rare, still mooing if possible, thank you very much.

Cocktail fans will have heard by now of the traumatizing bitters shortage that has been in effect for several months. If you aren’t keeping up with your drinking news, however, this will probably sound completely ridiculous: there is a serious shortage of bitters. Really.

Angostura Bitters in Trinidad is the main producer of standard cocktail bitters in the world. Back in November, they had some kind of dispute with the company that produces their characteristic brown bottles that brought all production to a halt. While limited production has resumed in recent months, the dispute lasted long enough for pretty much everyone to run out of bitters. Catching up with distribution is going to take a while, even when they return to full production capacity (which should be soon now).

Now when we say Angostura is the main bitters producer in the world, we mean it to the fullest extent. No other bitters company operates at the same volume of output. While there are some high-end, smaller bitters companies, it’s pretty much impossible to find a direct substitute for Angostura. This is because making bitters requires a complex blend of a whole lot of different spices, and the varieties are endless.

So, what do you do when you can’t find a bottle of Angostura to make this delicious Manhattan cocktail we recommended last week? You can try to substitute with a different brand. You’re going to want to look for whiskey barrel-aged varieties. They’re going to be different, but serve a similar function. Versions that call themselves “aromatic bitters” are generally made for sipping, not mixing, but some might work out all right. For the industrious drinker, though, we recommend making your own.

If you want to try to make bitters on your own Dr. Bunsen Honeydew has a fool-proof recipe for you.

Ingredients:

1 bottle of booze (Anything with a high proof will work, we prefer vodka or Everclear)
2 Sliced Lemons
2 Orange Peels
3 sticks of Cinnamon
2 Tablespoons of Chopped Fresh Ginger
3 Tablespoons of Whole Cloves

Steps:
1. Combine all the ingredients in a Mason Jar or some other container.
2. Let the ingredients soak in the booze for 3-4 weeks.
3. Strain the concoction and put the liquor into a separate jar.

Now you have citrus-y bitters.

If you’re more adventurous we’d recommend trying one of these recipes.