Lunchbox Liz

Wheat shows up in the most unexpected places. After a hard day’s ski I crave salty snacks. We picked up a bag of Sea Salt and Black Pepper Boulder Potato Chips. As reading food packages is half the fun, I was amazed to discover that they contained hydrolyzed wheat gluten. What the heck is that? A Google search revealed, “wheat gluten is the protein complex found in wheat endosperm (essentially the inner core of a grain of wheat). This protein complex is hydrolyzed (or "chopped up into shorter chains of amino acids) to yield glutamine peptides” according to the eas.com (Energy Athletics Strength). Not knowing what hydrolysis really means I went to Wikipedia and found that “hydrolyzed Protein is protein that has been hydrolyzed or broken down into its component amino acids. While there are many means of achieving this, two of the most common are prolonged boiling in a strong acid or base or using an enzyme such as the pancreatic enzyme to stimulate the naturally-occurring hydrolytic process.” Apparently this additive can be used as a binder or to enhance flavor particularly in meat. Well it was in my potato chips so my husband couldn’t eat them. More hydrolyzed wheat gluten for me I guess.

Today’s Lunch
Sweet Potato with Fried Onions and Blue Cheese

Bake 2 sweet potatoes: scrub the skins well and prink the skins with a fork. Turn oven to 375 degrees and place the potatoes in a baking dish. Cook for forty minutes or until the outside yields easily to a spoon. Allow to cool for ten minutes.
Chop one onion and cook for five to ten minutes in 1 tbsp coconut oil. Top potatoes with onions and generous amounts of blue cheese and black pepper. Serves 2.