Entomophagy

[sandrachameleon]

In much of the world, people have enjoyed eating insects for thousands of years. Insects are nutritious, espcially when gutloaded. Raising insects is environmentally friendly and relatively easy. They require minimal space per pound of protein produced, have a better feed to meat ratio (Efficiency of Conversion of Ingested Food (ECI) rating) than any other animal you can raise, and are very low on the food chain.

ECI ratings are derived by comparing the weight that an organism gains after eating a quantity of food. Chickens, which produce 38 to 40 pounds of meat from 100 pounds of feed, earn an ECI rating of around 38 or 40. By comparison, beef cattle and sheep get ECI values of 10 and 5.3 respectively. In other words, 90 percent of a steer's diet and 95 percent of a sheep's diet is "wasted". ECI values for insects: 19 to 31 for silkworm, 16 to 37 for the pale Western cutworm, and up to 44 for German cockroaches.
Think of all the land, feed produce, water and pesticides used to raise beef vs raising insects!

Ive had crickets prepared in several ways - all were good. Larva are my favorites - often they have a nutty or sweet flavour.

One way to prepare larva and crickets prior to cooking is to put the crickets or mealworms in a plastic bag and put them in the freezer until they are dead but not frozen. Fifteen minutes or so should be sufficient. Then take them out and rinse them under warm water. Cricket's heads, hind legs, and wing cases can be removed according to personal preference.

Insect flour

Spread your cleaned insects out on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Heat over to 200 degrees F and dry insects for approximately 1-3 hours, until they are brittle and crush easily. Put them into a coffee bean or spice grinder, and grind them till they are about consistency of wheat germ. Use in practically any recipe!​

Stir Fried Cricket Curry Over Rice
Ingredients:

3-6 cups cooked Rice
dash of Curry Powder
Vegetable Oil
1 Can Coconut Milk
a couple cloves of Garlic
One Half Onion
1 or 2 Chili Peppers
Various seasonal vegetables (peas, carrots, bok choy, whatever)
3 Dozen Crickets​

Directions:

Heat oil in a skillet or wok. Add onions and peppers; heat and stir until onions are brown. Next, add the garlic then add the vegetables and crickets and stir rapidly. (put hard veggies like carrots or potatoes in first or cut them thin to ensure they get cooked properly). When all of the vegetables and crickets are finished cooking, add the coconut milk and the curry. Stir until everything is well mixed. Serve over rice.​

Chocolate Chirpie Cookies
Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1/4 cup insect flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 12-ounce chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup dry-roasted crickets​

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. In small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. In large bowl, combine butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla; beat until creamy. Beat in eggs. Gradually add flour mixture and insects, mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded measuring teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes.​

Grasshoppers Delight
Ingredients:

1/2 cup grasshoppers
1 cup snack mix
1 cup white chocolate​

Directions:

Deep fry crickets or grasshoppers (Heat up some oil or grease. When it sizzles, put in bugs. Cook until crisp. Lay them out on a paper towel to drain and cool.)

Melt the white chocolate according to instructions on the package. After it is melted, stir in hoppers and snack mix. Put the mixture on wax paper. Then let it sit until solid (or put in the freezer for a quicker treat)​

Mealworm Spaghetti
Ingredients:

1/2 lb. roasted yellow mealworms
4 1/4 cups water
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
1 sprig marjoram
1 sprig thyme
2 bay leaves
1/4 onion, chopped
8 oz. dry spaghetti
6-8 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
Olive oil
3-4 tablespoons pine nuts, finely chopped
10 sprigs parsley, finely chopped
1/2 lb. purple basil, finely chopped
1/2 lb. ricotta cheese
1/4 cup whole pine nuts​

Directions:

Boil water, add sunflower oil, salt, marjoram, thyme, bay leaves, and onion. Add spaghetti. Drain when done. Melt butter in saute pan. Add spaghetti. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix basil, parsley, ricotta, oil, and chopped pine nuts with the spaghetti. Heat, but do not boil. Top with mealworms and whole pine nuts.​

Grasshoppers Tacos
Ingredients:

1/2 lb. grasshoppers
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lemon
Salt
2 ripe avocados, mashed
6 tortillas (corn or flour)​

Directions:

Roast medium-sized grasshoppers for 10 minutes in a 350� oven. Toss with garlic, juice from 1 lemon, and salt to taste. Spread mashed avocado on tortilla. Sprinkle on grasshoppers, to taste.​

Bug appétit !

 

[codiwatkins]

WOW I am so tempted to try one of these..... hmmmm I wish someone would just make it without me knowing it has bugs in it!! haha then I would for sure try it

 

[sandrachameleon]

If you've ever had apple juice, fruit cider, hot dogs, canned fruit, etc You've already eaten bugs and just didnt know it.

 

[Lizardlover]

AWESOME Sandra im gonna try the stir-fry recipe.

 

[codiwatkins]

If you've ever had apple juice, fruit cider, hot dogs, canned fruit, etc You've already eaten bugs and just didnt know it.

wow really?? what like worms in the fruit??

 

[NewOwner]

wow really?? what like worms in the fruit??

In most / or lots of fruits such as apples and pears etc.. fruit fly eggs are already laid / layn? in the fruit.. that why if you leave it a while, itll grow some flies! cause on lots of fruit there already there

Hotdogs - Face it, the butcher cuts off everyhing good leaving off the "Holes" ears.. snout..etc, im always told they use the "Crap" piecees of pork or beef to make the wieners.

Apple juice - There not gonna waste apples just because theres a lil tiny hole in it! its a business they only throw it away if they HAVE to!

 

[dodolah]

wow really?? what like worms in the fruit??

some insect parts (such as bettles, etc) that got grind during the process.

I heard some rodent hairs as well
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,906490,00.html?promoid=googlep

 

[sandrachameleon]

Strawberry jam, spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, chocolate, canned goods, juice, dried beans - all these things have what the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) calls "natural contaminants" (standards arent much better anywhere else - everyone eats bugs).

Most of the apples used for juice or cider are the ones that were not nice enough to sell as whole fruits. Bruises, worms, scab, etc.

On average there are at least 5 Drosophila and other fly eggs per 250 ml or 1 or more maggots per 250 ml of canned fruit.

Most flour has ground up bits of grain worm or moth in it. Plus a few mouse and rat hairs and poop pellets.

There's an average of 225 insect fragments and 4 rodent filth units per 225 grams in most noodle products (macaroni, for example).

For chocolate, the average is 60 or more insect fragments per 100 grams when 6 100-gram subsamples are examined AND the average is 1 or more rodent hairs/poops per 100 grams in 6 100-gram subsamples examined.

Peanut butter has about 30 or more insect fragments per 100 grams, and 1 or more rodent hairs/poop pellets per 100 grams

Cinnimon is allowed to have an average of 400 or more insect fragments per 50 gram, and an average of 11 or more rodent hairs/excreta per 50 grams

Want to know more about the gross stuff in processed food? Do a goodle search on Stored Product Insects or Natural Food Contaminants. Or check out this guide which lists what are the permitted levels of insect and rodent filth permitted in food in the USA http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/dalbook.html

 

[Syn]

Sandra you beat me to posting something like that. I believe there is a limit on how much "natural contaminant" you can have, though!

I am tempted to try at least one of these, but there aren't any feeders that I can say I trust.

 

[hallenhe]

I am tempted to try at least one of these, but there aren't any feeders that I can say I trust.

Come on, all the chameleons will tell you they're delicious (until you go and ruin it by cooking them, destroying the "wiggly" factor).

 

[Lathis]

My husband is the cook in our family. I showed him the cricket recipes and all he said was "just no"

I'm going to have to cook em myself, I guess!

 

[sandrachameleon]

University of Winnipeg - bugs on the menu

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/crickets-on-campus-winnipeg-chef-to-add-insects-to-university-menu-1.3007755?cmp=rss
The Executive Chef of Diversity Food Services at the University of Winnipeg is experimenting with adding bugs—crickets and mealworms—to items on the menu. Chef Ben Kramer has been looking at ways to include protein-rich and sustainable bugs in recipes for several months. “The flour is kind of the gateway in. It’s the safest way, because we’re dealing with a generally pretty squeamish clientele,” Kramer said of using cricket flour to make items like naan bread. Diversity Foods has a mandate to be organic, sustainable, and to use local foods whenever possible; crickets are an excellent source of protein that take much less space and time to farm than traditional protein sources like beef. Kramer is working on a protein bar with crickets and this week has a naan pizza on the menu that is made with cricket flour and topped with mealworms. “For me, the goal is to raise awareness, get people thinking about the impact of the food we’re buying and consuming,” said Kramer. “Raising insects has a dramatically smaller impact on the world than almost any other food.”

 

[Lathis]

I eat a lot of gas station food. That fills my bug parts quota.