Cancer and Nutrition/Using Supplements

Your Craving Is My Command
The Wild and Wacky World of Cheffy
Cancer and Nutrition Part III/Supplements
Somewhere in the hills of South Carolina


Just want to offer a quick intro this time. Thanks to all for the 
feedback concerning the past few newsletters, they have been a lot of 
fun to write, mainly due to the fact that cancer is something that 
Cheffy is very adamant about. Thanks, I love you all. There were 
about 100 new people added to the mailing list since our last issue, 
if you wish to be removed from this list please send me an email with 
remove from mail in the subject box. Thanks.

Jamie is doing good, she is still adjusting to having the port in her 
chest but her spirits are high and she is eating pretty good…(too bad 
my arm isn't longer, I'd have to pat myself on my back…ha ha) Since 
December her cancer markers have dropped from 173 down to 61…
yippppppeeeee!!! We are pretty ecstatic…thanks for the prayers.

Mailbag

Supplements

I have received a couple emails asking about the use of supplemental 
vitamins. 

There is no crediting scientific evidence that I could find that says 
that additional vitamins, dietary supplements or herbal remedies can 
help us in our fight against cancer or keep it from metastasizing 
(invading distant sites). If you'll pardon the cliché, "the best 
offence is a great defense", one of the best ways to be able to cope 
with cancer and any effects of treatment is a good, well balanced 
diet. In some cases, the use of vitamins and dietary supplements have 
counteracted the effect of cancer treatments and proving that 
sometimes too much of some vitamins and minerals were just as 
detrimental as too little. As far as fortifying a diet I think that 
protein drinks etc. are good for you, but like I said, and keep on 
saying, I am not a physician, dietician nor a nutritionist, please 
consult with a professional if this is a concern of yours. We use 
powdered milk as a dietary supplement, adding it to an array of 
dishes to boost calcium and other beneficial vitamins and minerals in 
Jamie's diet.

As stated in the prior newsletter, vitamins C and E and beta-carotene 
is thought to work as antioxidants; molecules that block the 
formation of free radicals and thus lower the risk of heart disease 
and cancer. Numerous studies have shown that people who eat lots of 
fruits and vegetables, the major sources of many antioxidant 
nutrients, have a lower risk of heart disease than those who do not. 
Similarly, a lot of research indicates that people whose diets are 
produce-poor have a higher risk of several kinds of cancer.

While those studies strongly support the recommendations of the 
National Cancer Institute (NCI) to eat at least five servings of 
fruits and vegetables a day, they do not prove that isolated 
antioxidants in the form of supplements provide disease protection.

Scientists have also been turning up evidence suggesting that large 
doses of vitamins E and C and beta-carotene, a substance the body 
converts into vitamin A, may prevent chronic illnesses such as 
cancer. These nutrients are thought to "mop up" unstable chemicals in 
the body known as free radicals that can damage tissues and 
contribute to disease. I can not emphasize enough that if these or 
any other nutritional questions are a concern of yours, please seek 
professional advice. If upon receiving professional advice you have 
further questions I would be more than happy to try to help you.

Simple Basics for the Happy Heart

Here are just a couple tips that make our heart happy and those free 
radicals unhappy campers…

Baked not fried- Cut down on oil! Sure some us can't live without 
some of our fried foods, (like my brother, whom has heart ailments 
and loves his buffalo wings). But for some, it can be the difference 
between life and death. If you need to use oil as in sautéing try 
using spray oil; there are many on the market that make a good 
substitute for other oils.

Steamed instead of boiled- Don't boil your darned vegetables!! Not 
only do you lose a good part of the flavor, you are also losing 
important vitamins, minerals, enzymes and happy, disease fighting 
properties that Mother Earth provides for us.

Don't Panic-Eat Organic- To avoid going into the genetic engineering 
debate, let me kindly ask you to eat organic foods. They are 
healthier not only because they provide more minerals, vitamins and 
phytochemicals than commercially grown foods but they are not 
allowing toxins; such as pesticides and herbicides and other 
unhealthy man-made gunk into our bodies. As far as eating organic 
meats and poultry, it is the same case scenario. The free range 
varieties of meat, game and poultry that are on the market are not 
only better for you, they taste better and are not filled with growth 
hormones, which effect cancers such as Jamie's. Personally we do not 
eat meat at home for this reason. At times we will venture to 
our "whole foods" market to purchase organic meat, but for the most 
part we stay away from it. Sometimes Jamie can be pretty comical 
about how her diet changed; when we go into the grocery store she 
taunts me when we pass the meat sections, mooing like a cow or 
clucking like a chicken, it is pretty comical.

Read labels- I cannot stress this enough. I know that it is hard to 
decipher what the labels say, and I plan on making this a topic in 
the next newsletter. As a general guideline like my friend Bruce Rose 
from Rosewood Farms Soy Plant says, "…if you have trouble pronouncing 
it, it probably isn't good for you…"

OK…enough rambling…how about some happy recipes?

Red Pepper and Mushroom Frittata

This is a spinoff of a recipe I used to do when I was the Chef at 
Spring Grove Farm Bed and Breakfast, and dedicated to my friend and 
our Garde Manger Chef at work, Dawn. I made this for Dawn a few weeks 
ago and I told her it was a good one for me to put in the newsletter.

5 egg whites

1 roasted red pepper, cut into strips

½ onion, small dice

1 cup of mushrooms (any mushrooms suffice, I really like to use shii-
takes)

1 T minced garlic (or a lot more if you ask Cheffy)

2t each basil, thyme

Salt and White Pepper

Non-stick oil spray

I usually make this in an 8-inch pie tin, but have made it in a 
variety of utensils, such as an ovenproof sauté pan.

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees

Sauté you vegetables and garlic in a frying pan with a little bit of 
cooking spray until the onions are translucent. Allow to cool. (Very 
important step, the heat from the veggies can break down your egg 
white meringue)

Separate the eggs, discarding the yolk

In a metal bowl, whisk the egg whites until they attain stiff peaks

Gently fold your cooled vegetable mixture into the egg whites

Fold in some cheese if you desire (Dawn and I used a goat cheese mix 
that our boss had made using chevre, sundried tomatoes, walnuts and 
basil…mmmmm)

Spray your ovenproof dish and add the meringue mixture.

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes

Sprinkle some cheese on the top and bake for another 5 minutes (or 
more depending on your oven)

To check if you dish is done insert a knife in the center if the 
knife comes out clean your frittata is finished.

Chungachungabam Baby!!!!! Mmmmmm!!!!!!!

Stuffed Mushrooms

This recipe has a little Cheffy twist to it that I love…usually I 
like to make these with foods that are not all that great for you 
like chorizo or some other sausage…for the sake of being happy and 
healthy, I left chorizo out of the recipe. This is also great with 
different seafoods…I love making this with crab or even imitation 
crab is really good with this recipe.

24 thin slices of white or wheat bread

24 medium sized domestic button mushrooms (I really like using 
Cremini mushrooms for this dish)

1 cup of whole wheat bread crumbs (fine)---(can be substituted with 
your favorite bread crumbs, I suggest wheat bread crumbs for this 
recipe because of the nutritional value)

¼ cup of finely chopped parsley or basil,( preferably basil, most of 
you know how Cheffy feels about parsley)

1 minced clove of garlic (or chungabam it with about 8…just an 
opinion…LOL)

About 4-5 teaspoons of margarine

About 2/3-1 cup of mozzarella (part skim milk mozz is preferred for 
the happy heart stuff)

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees

With a rolling pin flatten out your thin slices of bread and cut out 
rounds with a 1½ inch dough cutter. Press these little buddies into a 
miniature muffin pan and bake for about 20 minutes, maybe more, maybe 
less depending on your oven. You just want them to be somewhat 
crispy, a light brown color.

Wash the mushrooms and pat dry with a paper towel. Remove the stem.

Add the stems, garlic, parsley, bread crumbs, half of the margarine 
and a dash of salt and fresh ground pepper into your food processor 
and pulse it until all the ingredients are incorporated.** Add a 
little bit more margarine if necessary. You want your final product 
to be like stuffing, adjust your seasonings as necessary.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Spoon a little bit of the mixture into your mushroom caps. Place the 
mushroom caps into the little happy bowls that you made with the 
bread. Top with a dash of the mozzarella. Place on a cookie sheet or 
a sheet pan and bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes.

Boy Howdy…. these things good……

**Cheffy Notes- Aside of the fact of not using sausage. I like to 
substitute my butter with a dash of Texas Pete and a little bit more 
acid, like a white wine or lemon juice….the acid adds a little bing, 
the Texas Pete adds a little bang, and cheffy adds a little bada bing 
bada bang into your life….ain't I the nice guy????

Never mind, don't answer that…hee hee

OK…

Y'all know how much Cheffy likes to run his mouth, so I better quit 
while I am ahead…

Sorry about the lack of recipes, next one will have quite a few in it 
along with discussing the science behind reading food labels.

As always, bless all that send the cards, letters, and kind words to 
Jamie and me, you don't know what kind of a difference you make in 
our lives, and please remember all of those that suffer from this 
dreadful disease.

Please click on this link to donate a free mammogram, it is a great 
program that assists underprivileged women in getting mammograms. I 
am in no way, shape or form affiliated with this site, I just think 
they are doing something that is awesome and we all can lend a 
helping hand for free…thanks.

http://thebreastcancersite.com

We have quite a few new people joining the Wild and Wacky World of 
chefmike in this edition and I appreciate all for joining and I hope 
that I can add some inspiration into your lives just as y'all add to 
mine…

Here's to hoping that Peace and Serenity find its way into your lives 
today and everyday…

Peace, Hugs and Cookies,

Michael