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Agriculture
Chair: Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
- Max Baucus (D-MT)
- Michael Bennet (D-CO)
- Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
- Bob Casey (D-PA)
- Kent Conrad (D-ND)
- Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
- Tom Harkin (D-IA)
- Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
- Pat Leahy (D-VT)
- Ben Nelson (D-NE)
- Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
- Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
- Thad Cochran (R-MS)
- John Cornyn (R-TX)
- Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
- Mike Johanns (R-NE)
- Dick Lugar (R-IN)
- Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
- Pat Roberts (R-KS)
- John R. Thune (R-SD)
Appropriations
Chair: Daniel Inouye (D-HI) Ag Sub-Committee
Chair: Herb Kohl (D-WI)
- Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
- Dick Durbin (D-IL)
- Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
- Tom Harkin (D-IA)
- Tim Johnson (D-SD)
- Ben Nelson (D-NE)
- Jack Reed (D-RI)
- Robert Bennett (R-UT)
- Christopher Bond (R-MO)
- Sam Brownback (R-KS)
- Thad Cochran (R-MS)
- Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
- Arlen Specter (R-PA)
Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions
- Chris Dodd (D-CT)
Agriculture
Chair: B Collin Peterson (D-MN)
V. Chair: B Tim Holden (D-PA)
B Joe Baca (D-CA)
- John Boccieri (D-OH)
B* Leonard Boswell (D-IA)
- Bobby Bright (D-AL)
B* Dennis Cardoza (D-CA)
- Travis Childers (D-MS)
B Jim Costa (D-CA)
- Henry Cuellar (D-TX)
- Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA)
B Brad Ellsworth (D-IN)
- Debbie Halvorson (D-IL)
B Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD)
- Steve Kagen (D-WI)
- Larry Kissell (D-NC)
B Frank Kratovil (D-MD)
- Betsy Markey (D-CO)
B Jim Marshall (D-GA)
P Eric Massa (D-NY)
B Mike McIntyre (D-NC)
- Walt Minnick (D-ID)
B Earl Pomeroy (D-ND)
- Mark Schauer (D-MI)
- Kurt Schrader (D-OR)
B David Scott (D-GA)
B Zachary Space (D-OH)
- Timothy Walz (D-MN)
- Frank Lucas (R-OK)
- Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
- K. Michael Conaway (R-TX)
- Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE)
- Virginia Foxx (R-NC)
- Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)
- Sam Graves (R-MO)
- Timothy Johnson (R-IL)
- Steve King (R-IA)
- Robert Latta (R-OH)
- Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)
- Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)
- Jerry Moran (R-KS)
- Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)
- Phil Roe (R-TN)
- Mike Rogers (R-AL)
- Jean Schmidt (R-OH)
- Adrian Smith (R-NE)
- Glenn Thompson (R-PA) *=House Organic Caucus member B=Blue Dog Democrat
Appropriations
Chair: Dave Obey (D-WI) Ag Sub-Committee
Chair: P Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
- Sanford Bishop (D-GA)
* Allen Boyd (D-FL)
- Lincoln Davis (D-TN)
*P Sam Farr (D-CA)
*P Maurice D. Hinchey (D-NY)
P Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)
P Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
- Jack Kingston (R-GA)
- Rodney Alexander (R-LA)
- Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO)
* Tom Latham (R-IA) *=House Organic Caucus member
P=Congressional Progressive Caucus
Education and Labor
P Chair: George Miller (D-CA)
- Jason Altmire (D-PA)
- Robert Andrews (D-NJ)
- Timothy Bishop (D-NY)
P Yvette Clarke (D-NY)
- Joe Courtney (D-CT)
- Susan Davis (D-CA)
P Marcia Fudge (D-OH)
P Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
P Phil Hare (D-IL)
- Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX)
P Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
- Rush Holt (D-NJ)
- Dale Kildee (D-MI)
P Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
P Dave Loebsack (D-IA)
- Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
P Donald Payne (D-NJ)
- Jared Polis (D-CO)
- Robert Scott (D-VA)
- Joe Sestak (D-PA)
- Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH)
P John Tierney (D-MA)
- Dina Titus (D-NV)
- Paul Tonko (D-NY)
P Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)
- David Wu (D-OR)
- Buck McKeon (R-CA)
- Judy Biggert (R-IL)
- Rob Bishop (R-UT)
- Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
- Michael Castle (R-DE)
- Vernon Ehlers (R-MI)
- Luis F Fortuno (R-PR)
- Brett Guthrie (R-KY)
- Peter Hoekstra (R-MI)
- Duncan D. Hunter (R-CA)
- John Kline (R-MN)
- Kenny Marchant (R-TX)
- Tom McClintock (R-CA)
- Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)
- Thomas Petri (R-WI)
- Phil Roe (R-TN)
- Todd Russell Platts (R-PA)
- Tom Price (R-GA)
- Mark Souder (R-IN)
- GT Thompson (R-PA)
- Joe Wilson (R-SC) P=Congressional Progressive Caucus
I know the conventional wisdom is that fiber fills you up, but this is just freakin' impressive. Yesterday I woke up and went slightly overboard when making my breakfast. Usually I eat about a cup and a half of oatmeal or quinoa. 3/4 c. dry grains, plus water, plus heat. Yesterday I used 1/4 c. amaranth, 1/2 c. quinoa, and 1/4 c. millet. Then I added 3 c. of water. (Whereas quinoa requires 2 c. water per 1 c. grains, millet and amaranth require something like 3 c. water per 1 c. grains.) It was a big meal - 680 calories, 24g protein, and 13.4g fiber. (For flavor, I just add brown sugar and cinnamon.)
I felt full but comfortable. About 4 hours later, I wasn't really hungry but I was bored so I ate a peach. Several hours after that, I ate a pint of strawberries and made a cup of coffee. But it really wasn't until an amazing 10 hours after I ate the quinoa/millet/amaranth mixture that I actually got hungry. I grabbed a handful of walnuts and ate a nectarine. I had planned on eating green beans for dinner but it was getting too close to bed time and I wasn't in the mood to cook (if you call trimming green beans and tossing them in a pot of water cooking).
Usually, I get so hungry within an hour or two after breakfast that I can barely make it until lunch. If I start work at 8am, typically I'm the first one out the door for lunch at 11am. Maybe I should be eating more whole grains for breakfast in the future?
My philosophy about cooking is: if you start off with great ingredients, you don't need to do a lot of food preparation. And while complicated recipes often taste very good - so do many simple ones. Usually my approach to cooking is to ask myself: "What is the least amount of work I can do to make this food ready to eat?"
As kids I'm sure most of you were told to eat your greens and your grains. I sure was. Whole grains are a good source of B vitamins, Vitamin-E, magnesium, iron and fiber, as well as a myriad of valuable antioxidants not found in some fruits and vegetables. ~Why whole? All grains are composed of three parts: bran, germ and endosperm. Most of the antioxidants and vitamins are found in the germ and the bran.
However not all grains are created equal: all grains contain complex carbohydrates and various vitamins and minerals, but unrefined (whole) grains such as brown rice, quinoa, and oats are an even better source of fiber, selenium, potassium, and magnesium.
(Quinoa and its close cousin, amaranth, are two very old, high-protein plants. They were held sacred in ancient Inca and Aztec cultures. Both now hold great potential for self-sustaining gardens in the northern hemisphere. Quinoa (and amaranth) should be promoted by farmers and small growers as they both come closer to meeting the genuine protein requirements of the human body than either cow's milk or soybeans. They are high in the amino acid lysine, which is lacking in most cereals such as wheat, sorghum, corn and barley. Olé! - promoted by Asinus Asinum Fricat)
OK, if you want to eat quinoa in most of the world, you probably won't be eating locally. There is some modest production in the United States in the Rocky Mountain region of Colorado and to a lesser extent in California, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington State, but for the most part, quinoa is imported from the Andean nations of Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, where the grain originated.
Although it might not be local, you can still feel pretty righteous eating quinoa. It has outstanding nutritional value, is gluten-free, and in many cases is organically produced by fair-trade co-ops of indigenous Quechua and Aymara farmers in the Andes.
So follow me below the fold for a longer look at this excellent edible...
So does this quinoa stuff grow in the United States? Does anyone know about production? I get premade stuff of quinoa and I'm starting to experiment with handling it on my own. It's yummy ... but it seems to only come from Ecuador :-(
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