this is interesting:)

[pushylady]

I would convert to butter, but you can't spread it!
I bought 2 brands of "spreadable" butter and they weren't!

 

[mom2salemisis]

Originally Posted by stampit3d

You`ve made a convert...I`m switching to butter!
Linda

hehehe i went grocery shopping today! I never realized how small the actual butter section was!!!! theres only a few kinds of actuall butter its crazy... anyway ...i bought 3... lol no more plastic with my toast!!!!!

 

[mom2salemisis]

if you are really desperate you can always make your own butter i guess lol i have done this alot of times. my kids think its cool.

 

[russian blue]

Originally Posted by maverick_kitten

and its true!

i am always a little suspicious of these sort of warnings so checked out snopes and its true http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/butter.asp

At least part of the story is true.

This is from the Snopes website (http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/butter.asp):

Although a great deal of the information given in the e-mail is valid, one bit of intelligence is nothing more than hyperbole tossed in by the author in an effort to make his point more strongly. The claim that some comestible is but a "single molecule away" from being a decidedly inedible (or even toxic) substance has been applied to a variety of processed foods.

[Collected via e-mail, 2005]

I was told that the difference between Cool Whip and Styrofoam is one molecule... is this true???

These types of statements (even if they were true) are essentially meaningless. Many disparate substances share similar chemical properties, but even the slightest variation in molecular structure can make a world of difference in the qualities of those substances.

Some of the "Butter vs. margarine" mailings circulated in 2005 had this preface tacked onto them:

[Collected via e-mail, 2005]

Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys. When it killed the turkeys, the people who had put all the money into the research wanted a payback so they put their heads together to figure out what to do with this product to get their money back. It was a white substance with no food appeal so they added the yellow coloring and sold it to people to use in place of butter. How do you like it? They have come out with some clever new flavorings.

Contrary to the claim, margarine was not invented as a turkey fattener — it was formulated in 1869 by Hippolyte Mège Mouriès of France in response to Napoleon III's offering a prize to whomever could succeed at producing a viable low-cost substitute for butter. Mège Mouriès' concoction, which he dubbed oleomargarine, was achieved by adding salty water, milk, and margaric acid to softened beef fat. By the turn of the century, the beef fat in the original recipe had been replaced by vegetable oils.

In 1886, New York and New Jersey prohibited the manufacture and sale of yellow-colored margarine, and by 1902, 32 U.S. states had enacted such prohibitions against the coloration of the spread. (Folks got around this by mixing yellow food coloring into the white margarine.) In 1950 President Truman repealed the requirement that margarine be offered for sale only in uncolored state, which led to the widespread production of the yellow margarine that has come to be the norm.

 

[yasmine]

Originally Posted by sharky

When can I come for dinner at your house ..

 

[kaleetha]

*shudder* I absolutely despise margarine in the first place... I eat either Tillamook or Land 'o Lakes when I can't get the organic Lifeline butter that they offer here. To the spreaders of yummy yellow stuff, let butter soften a bit and it's just as easy to spread as margarine.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Originally Posted by Yosemite

I've never liked or eaten margarine. Butter is a natural product and like anything else, eaten in moderation it's better for you.

We do not count calories at our house, but we also eat a large variety of fruits, vegetables, meats, etc. and fortunately none of us are overweight. I often wonder if it is because we don't eat fast food or pre-packaged foods - everything we eat is made from scratch and it doesn't take a lot of extra time to eat right. It's all in the planning and pre-preparation.

Do you give lessons? I'm doing horrible with this wonderwoman worker/housekeeper routine!

 

[KitEKats4Eva!]

Good Lord I had no idea. Plastic???

 

[jazzy]

Interesting. Never knew that.

 

[kateang]

Originally Posted by Yosemite

I've never liked or eaten margarine. Butter is a natural product and like anything else, eaten in moderation it's better for you.

We do not count calories at our house, but we also eat a large variety of fruits, vegetables, meats, etc. and fortunately none of us are overweight. I often wonder if it is because we don't eat fast food or pre-packaged foods - everything we eat is made from scratch and it doesn't take a lot of extra time to eat right. It's all in the planning and pre-preparation.

can i come too?

 

[vespacat]

Actually, that is not entirely true.

I use a low-fat margarine that is non-hydrogenated and has no trans-fat.

It is a "margarine" spread, and consists mostly of water.

 

[nebula11]

Originally Posted by Mom2SalemIsis

(i also smoked my LAST cig last night.. i have done it before i can do it again!!!!!!)

Don't mean to Hijack this thread....But good luck w/ that......

John and I are quitting very soon........

Ok back to the plastic....

 

[dawnofsierra]

This really is interesting! Thank you for this information!

 

[python]

Originally Posted by yasmine

Most baking recipes call for Margarine...so keep that in mind also!

Just substitute the same amount of butter for the margarine. If I'm baking I prefer to use butter anyway. I often make Scottish Shortbread and you have to use butter for that. Margarine wouldn't work.

I don't know what brands of margarine you have in the USA but over here in the UK we have one called Flora that boasts that it "promotes a healthy heart" as it's high in Omega 3 oils. When my husband had a heart attack 2 years ago, he was told never to eat butter again and to use this Flora. He was also told the most cheese he should eat is one thin slice a week

Now it seems that advice is going out of the window as now the med profession are saying eat more cheese and dairy products as it protects the heart

I think if we followed all the so-called dietary advice we'd all die of starvation

 

[rosehawke]

I can't remember the last time I ate margarine. I've bought and used nothing but butter for at least 15-20 years. What changed my mind was when I was on some diet or other and noticed that (at least for the brands I was using) butter was actually a calorie or two lower than margarine. Why on earth was I using margarine when it didn't taste anywhere near as good

? Land O' Lakes butter for us

!

When buttering toast, slice a couple of pats and put them on one piece of warm toast then put another piece on top. The butter softens up within a few moments to make it more spreadable. Also you can just pop a few pats into the microwave for a few seconds, although this takes some experimentation with time and power settings to get it just right, soft without being liquified.

 

[kbak]

I eat organic, so margarine is not a part of my diet! My mother tho, was big into margarine because it was so much cheaper than butter. So, we grew up on margarine. The age of information has now given us the info we need to make informed decisions.