Her: "Ooh, you get that. Is that better than this?"Anyway, we had a discussion of butter versus margarine - she having used a margarine for years that had a low salt content, but finding the product no longer available and having heard that margarine is not good for you. She was wondering if she should change to butter.
Me: "We like it."
Her: "I never know which to get."
Me: "Yes, they tell you that all that saturated fat in the butter is bad for you, but that the margarine is equally bad. Very confusing."
Her: "Exactly."
The Husband and I go through this debate every couple of years. A health tidbit will be discussed on TV about one or the other and we'll go through the process of switching to the lesser of the two evils, only to find another tidbit that assures us our first choice was much healthier. I truly believe that neither is good for you, but I can't live without!
The latest - margarine is one molecule away from being plastic!
For a while we were taking a page from our good friends, Anna and Jacques - using butter, but cutting it with olive oil to make it somewhat healthier. It also helps to make the butter spreadable when stored in the fridge.
1 pound of butterIt's very good, but I am by nature a lazy person. All fine and dandy when the stuff is there, mixed up, in my fridge. Not so dandy when there's none left and I have to haul out the processor and get mixing (doing it by hand is time-consuming; ooh, I wonder if it would work if I melted the butter first - sorry, thinking out loud). It's also very messy!
1/2 c olive oil
- Mix completely and store in fridge
Her: "So why do you buy that kind?"Yes, we buy and consume the almost plastic product! Having a pound of the stuff last for a month tells me that we're not over-consuming in that department. I use it for everything (including popcorn - but I add even more olive oil to it as it's melting), except for baking. There, I use butter!
Me: "It's got olive oil in it, it's not so salty and we find we like it."
Her, putting down the package of butter and the container of margarine and picking up the sale item: "I'll give it a try."
Me: "I hope you like it."
I guess I stand in both camps.
Where do you stand in the Butter Versus Margarine debate, People of Blogland? Do you change sides depending on the latest health trends/reports? Have you noticed a decline in your butter or margarine consumption over the years? Does anyone remember the margarine that came with a color package, taking the product from white to yellow?
*For a history of margarine (which is fascinating and, whoa, who knew margarine was that old), check this out: http://www.butteryspreads.org/historyofmargarine.php
*To give equal time to butter, here's a link: http://www.dairygoodness.ca/butter/the-history-of-butter
We are butter people. We used to be "I Can't Believe etc." people, but then all the talk about trans-fats came out. So I switched us to butter, thinking it's the most natural product. It doesn't need fancy machines or stabilizing chemicals, just milk and a churn.
ReplyDeletePlus, it tastes amazing! There's nothing like a slice of toast oozing with puddles of melted butter to ease you into the day.
For baking, it's butter all the way. Can you imagine a shortbread cookie made with margarine? Blech!
When I pan-fry something, I use half olive oil and half butter, to get the browning benefits of the butter. OMG scallops pan-fried with butter - HEAVEN!
No, I'm not being paid by the International Butter Board, hehe.
You should be paid by the Butter Board - what a great bit of advertising there, Lu. I so want a piece of toast with butter now!
DeleteThe marg we use claims to have no trans-fat - sometimes I wonder! I'm very skeptical when it comes to what companies do and what they tell us. On a side note - brilliant program on CBC last night about child labor in the chocolate fields of the Ivory Coast and what 'Fair Trade' really means. One never knows!
FYI - I can not imagine a shortbread made with margarine! And now I want a shortbread cookie!
Shed Spread Country Crock Light. I don't know whether it's good for me, bad for me, or meh for me, but I know it works for me. All of the flavor, fewer calories. And it's spreadable. One of the things I hate about regular butter is how hard it is. (I am way too lazy to mix it with olive oil. Maybe if some company did it first, I'd think about it.)
ReplyDeleteFor cooking, it's regular margarine, Mazola or olive oil - depending on the need.
You know, a company should think about doing the butter/olive oil spread thing - I bet lots of people would buy it! There's probably some issue between the butter people and the olive oil people or else why wouldn't someone have done it already?
DeleteI think that as long as you're happy with what you're eating, it's all good. Perhaps those with heart issues or high cholesterol should be more conscientious - but the rest of us...moderation is the key!
I'm mostly a butter person, especially when baking. However, with LG's health concerns, we've had to watch fat and sodium. I've discovered a spread called Bestlife (you can google it) and I use their "Buttery Baking Sticks" in the butter dish. He puts it on bread, potatoes, etc, and I use it when sauteeing onions and mushrooms. It's made from palm fruit and soybean oil and has very little in the way of chemical additives. A tablespoon has 4% of sodium for the day but that's less than a lot of other spreads. When I buy butter for baking, I get the unsalted variety.
ReplyDeleteNow, if I couldn't get Bestlife? I'd be a butter girl all the way! Natural is better even if there's fat involved. ;)
LG is an example of what I was saying to B.E. - someone who has to read the labels and choose carefully. And margarine has come a long way (I'm still out on believing whether or not margarine is one molecule away from plastic).
DeleteThey don't sell 'bestlife' here in Canada, but we certainly have a variety of 'better' margarines on our store shelves!
I asked a doctor friend which marg was best. He said it was a no brainer: Becel. His daughter researched it recently
ReplyDeleteYes - I remember the plastic bags of white marg with a big red spot that had to be massaged forever to make yellow marg - and it tasted awful. Red to yellow - hmmm.
Now I have to do some research before I decide butter or marg. Thanks for the tips. I use canola or olive oil for cooking and short bread made with a good quality marg isn't bad at all.
One molecule from plastic?? Ack!
We used to be Becel fans, but have found the PC brand less salty, Connie!
DeleteGood luck with the research :)
I am a Country Crock kind of girl, except for baking. When I bake, I use butter. ALWAYS.
ReplyDeleteI like Country Crock cuz I can get it in "light" or "Omega-3" if I feel the desire to change it up a little bit. I don't think I'm going to check out the website you offered because I' pretty sure I don't really want to know. I tend to fall in the ignorance is bliss category as well. :)
That's kind of like the brand we buy, Erika - you can get it in 'light', 'olive-oil blend' (the one we usually go for), 'omega 3', 'low salt', eetc. It's good to have variety :)
DeleteAnd the history of margarine is quite fascinating - I had no idea it was such an old product (thought it had been invented around wartime because of the cost of butter and providing for the troops - no, back in the late 1800s). I also didn't know there was such a thing as the Margarine Act! Or that at one time it was under prohobition! All very interesting facts - can't remember reading anything about the ingredients, but then again when there's historical reference, that's what I focus on.
Glad to see you, my friend - hope all is well in your world :)
A history lesson I can take. I'll check it out. I'm sorry I don't get here as often as I should. I miss you though.
DeleteNo worries, Erika - good to see you whenever!
DeleteButter all the way! I subscribe to a "whole foods" diet as much as possible--eating foods as close to their whole food state as possible and avoiding processed foods as much as possible, too. In theory. Easier said than done, but I'm trying my best.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, we rarely use butter to begin with... really just in baking and sometimes the kids like it on their pasta. Other than that, I cook with olive oil.
A good philosophy, Christine! And it really is getting much easier to buy 'whole' compared to years ago. Also easier to buy 'local', with so many Farmer's Markets staying open all year round.
DeleteAs for our margarine use - it really is minimal. I use olive oil for a lot of my cooking. I hear that coconut oil is making a surge in the 'oil of choice' category for health conscious people. Haven't really looked into it - always thought coconut oil wasn't the best for your health. Off to check it out now that I've reminded myself of it!
Glad you stopped by :)