Who Eats Bugs and Some Recipes For Them

Mexico eats Grasshoppers and will buy them by the pound and they are fried before they are consumed.

Ants are ground up and used as a butter in Columbia.

June beetles, grasshoppers, ants, mole crickets, water beetles, katydids, locusts and dragonfly larvae are fried, boiled and sautéed with other vegetables in the Philippians.

Asia's favorite is the Water bug in which they will roast and served whole.

Some restaurants in their Washington D.C. are already incorporating bugs in their cuisine. One restaurants favorite is the chocolate chirpy chips. Recipe is below.

Farmers are even telling us that if we eat these bugs they will spend less on pesticides.

Bugs! 

They bring about some emotional disturbances in people and in others they are just considered to be bugs. The movie industry has taken off with the emotionally charged patrons by showing horror movies about all kinds of bugs crawling, eating and just wreaking havoc on the screen. Those who are not afraid of bugs keep telling us they are just bugs and to get over it! Well, have you considered eating those bugs? Seriously they are very high in protein, Calcium and Iron and a few other nutrients that we need.

Did you know that many people eat insects as their main source of food? There are some that you cannot eat because they cause some allergic reactions and can make you sick, but I had listed some of the ones that are eaten and eaten regularly by other places such as Thailand, Africa and other nations of the world. No siree, bugs will not take over the world!

I think the tide is changing for the bugs. We will control them because we will harvest and eat them in many delicious dishes. They are even chocolate covered.

These are some of the yummy bugs that are edible: Dung Beetle, Tarantula, cicadas, locusts, mantises, crickets and grasshoppers, giant water bug, pupae of silk moths and other moths and butterflies, wasps' and bees' larvae and termites.

Bugs have a high amount of Protein, Calcium, Iron and fat. The highest nutrition Bug is the Water bug coming in at Protein: 19.8 grams, fat: 8.3, Carbohydrates: 2.1, Calcium: 43.5 and Iron: 13.6. These are more nutritious than a glass of Milk and don’t have the side effects that milk has!

The next one that is the highest in these things are the Red Ant, Dung Beetle, Grasshoppers, and Silk Worm Larvae. You can read all of the ones listed here and more on the Insect Nutritional Chart

You would be surprised at how many nations thrive on just eating bugs. From Africa to Thailand and the West is just getting in on the practice.

Bugs will not take over the world now!

What Do They Taste Like

Raw yellow jacket larvae have a sweet, nutty flavor, deep fried greater wax moth larvae tastes like bacon, crickets deep-fried have a crunchy, tangy flavor,

Dry roasting a pound of honey bees (about 3,500 bees) in an oven at low heat for eight hours can be used as flour.  

Just think of the possibilities and someday eating insect popcorn, using crickets as a new treat at your local theater.

Some Recipes I Found For Your Pleasure

Chocolate Chirpy Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

two eggs

1/2 cup dry roasted crickets

1 12-ounce bag chocolate chips

1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 375°F. In small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, combine the butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla; beat until creamy. Beat in the eggs. Gradually add the flour mixture and insects; mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Dropped by rounded measuring teaspoonful onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for eight to 10 minutes.

Note: Recipe can easily be doubled or tripled depending on supply of crickets available.

Stir Fried Grubs for Your Garden Salad

Herb-Grub Garden Salad

Ingredients: 

1 bag of mixed spring lettuce 

4-5 Palm Weevil Larva (fresh) 

½ lemon 

¼ cup olive oil 

¼ cup hearts of palm 

1 quartered beef tomato 

½ sliced red onion 

2 tsp. capers 

Pine Nuts 

Salt 

Pepper

Directions: 

In large bowl place washed lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and hearts of palm. Pre-heat sauté pan. When hot add 1 tbs. oil, capers, and live larva. Add lemon and salt. Sauté until golden brown. Remove from heat chill larva in sauce. Add to salad the remaining olive oil, and lemon juice. Pour cooked larva with sauce over the lettuce and garnish with pine nuts.

Chocolate Covered Crickets

Chocolate Covered Grasshoppers

Ingredients:

• baker's chocolate

• candied crickets

Directions:

Melt baker's chocolate in double boiler.

Fill molds halfway with chocolate, add grasshoppers, and fill rest of the way.

A tasty surprise in every one!

Hot-Cicada Nacho Grande

Ingredients: 

1 lb. of Large Corn Chips

1 cup of dry-roasted Cicadas (can substitute crickets) 

2 tsp. fresh chopped cilantro 

¼ cup of fresh jalapeño peppers 

½ lb. shredded cheddar cheese 

¼ cup black olives (sliced) 

1 tsp. chili powder 

1 tsp. olive oil 

Salt

Directions: 

Place dry-roasted Cicadas (or crickets) into small bowl. Add olive oil and chili power. Toss lightly with pinch of salt. On microwavable plate put small layer of chips followed by ¼ cup prepared Cicadas, olives, jalapeños, cilantro and cheese. Repeat until there is a mountain of chips. Place into microwave for 45 seconds to melt cheese. NOTE: Coolbugstuff.com has prepared Crick-ettes that can be substituted for Cicadas.


© Debra K. Allen a.k.a Lady Guinevere
I researched and wrote this article. Please do not copy and paste any part of this article, picture included for your own use. I will find you and report you for stealing.  It is my right to change any information therein at any time and/or change the location of my article. 

Eat Your Food

To eat or not to eat, is that a question we should be pondering?  The media is so confusing.  One side of the equations imparts in us that we can drink or take a pill that will magically give us our daily nutrients.  The other side stresses that eating food is good for us and that we should all be on some kind of diet.  Then there is yet another side where food is great and it brings friends, family and others together in the great social settings that people want and need.

My take on all this is to just eat and be watchful of how your body reacts to certain foods.  Not everyone and not everytime and every food or ingredient acts the same way to each individual.  It is important for us to get back the basics and really know your own body.  I know, some people have told me that they can’t do that because it would take much more time then they really have or want to learn these things about themselves.  Some of us have forgotten what we learned in biology or chemistry in high school.  I will try to shed some light on that to reacquaint you with some of these basic concepts.

Chemicals in foods react with other chemicals in food and start a chain reaction in the human body.  Those that are synthesized or made from other non-human substances do not do a body good.  It has been proven time and time again that they have nasty little side effects, while the natural approach does not.  One simply cannot get all their nutrients from a bottle or a pill.

The articles included here will be about everything from human biology, some chemistry, gardening (where it all starts for a better you), information on specific nutrients, spices, and other food substances to recipes and even some lore and legends about food.

Don’t just pick up a bottle of pills or drink some magical potion that is said to have all the nutrients that you are missing in it. 

Go ahead and Eat Your Food