Living La Vida Low GI

The Light Liam

2012-01-09T08:58:00.000-05:00

Years ago, when I worked for Corel, this was my favorite breakfast at our in-house cafeteria. The Liam sandwich was named after a fellow employee who ordered this special nearly every day.

The original Liam is made with a toasted bagel, cream cheese, a thick slice of tomato and loads of crispy bacon. This morning, I felt the urge for my old favorite and made a light version instead. If you are counting calories, this one checks in at around 200 calories. Serve this with some fruit on the side and it makes an excellent light and yummy start to your day.

The Light Liam

1 Bagel thin (choose something with a decent fiber content to counteract the sugar from the processed grain - mine has 4 gr of fiber per bagel)
2 T cream cheese
1 slice ripe tomato
S & P to taste

Toast bagel thin in oven or toaster. Spread with cream cheese. Top with tomato and salt and pepper to taste.

Crockpot "refried" beans

2012-01-03T18:41:00.000-05:00

Today I decided to give a nod to Meatless Monday. I know today is Tuesday, but it is the first day back from the Christmas holidays so in my mind it is Monday. You are just going to have to go with me on this one.

If you have ever read my blog, you know of my love for the humble black bean. I cook with them a lot. Black beans are chock full of vitamins, fiber, have a low GI value (around 35, even when mashed) and are an inexpensive source of easily digested protein. Last night I was riffling through the cupboards and found a long lost bag of dried black beans. I had been reading a new favorite blog - 100 Days of Real Food - and had read an article about crock pot refried beans. I figured that black beans would work so today I gave it a try. I am happy to report that the beans worked out really well. I will be making these again with pinto beans soon.

Tonight I served the beans on toasted low carb flour tortillas (to toast, place tortilla on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 until crisp, about 8 minutes), sprinkled with cheese and topped with sauteed orange and red peppers. Everyone, including the kids, raved about them.

Crock Pot "Refried" Beans (adapted from this recipe at 100 Days of Real Food)

1 lb. dry black beans (pinto will obviously work well too)
Water to cover
1/2 medium onion, quartered
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 t ground cumin
1/4 t chili powder
S & P to taste

Empty beans into a large bowl. Rinse well and remove any rocks, seeds, funky beans, etc. Cover with cool water and let soak overnight.

In the morning, drain the beans. Place the beans in a slow cooker and add enough water to completely cover the beans by one inch. Add onion and garlic. Turn cooker on high and cook 8 hours or until tender.

Drain remaining liquid from beans (trust me, there is lots of juice under those beans!) and set aside. Remove large pieces of onion and discard. Mash beans with potato masher, adding reserved liquid as you go, until they reach your desired consistency. Season with cumin, chili powder, and salt and pepper to taste and enjoy.

P.S. These come out at 309 calories a piece as I served them (also to note that they are low in sugar, very high in fiber and vitamin C and high in vitamin A.)

Cal: 309
Fat: 12.1 g (19%)
Carbs: 35g (12%)
Fiber: 16.5g (66%)
Sugars: 2.2 g
Protein: 13.8g

Nutritional analysis from Calorie Count.

A is for apple and absolution

2011-12-28T10:09:00.000-05:00

I woke up today dreaming of baked apples. Well, actually I dreamt of grey hairs, heart attacks and baked apples (in that order). Strange, I know, but it all sort of makes sense if you know the back story.

This year has been a tough one for me on my path to good health. I have been on this journey for nearly three years and have done incredibly well up until the beginning on 2011. I have managed to get my fasting glucose down 10 points (well out of the danger zone - yay me!) and my joint aches and pains had disappeared. My dark circles had (mostly) vanished and my skin was looking pretty darned good for a 40-something Mama of two. Then I fell off the wagon about this time last year and when I fell, I fell off hard.

I have been thinking a lot about my general health and well being for about six weeks or so. In addition to falling off the healthy eating wagon last year, I suffered from some low level depression that most definitely part of the reason for the fall. I have emerged (mostly) from the depression but still fully immersed in the old eating habits. As a result, the joint aches and pains are back, my dark circles are frightening and I am struggling to get into the dress pants that I bought last Christmas. Add that to the grey hairs that I can hardly seem to keep at bay, the cold that was making my chest itchy and sore and then the dream starts to make sense.

So this morning, after about six weeks of contemplation, I have decided that I need to forgive myself for the last year and move on. I am a work in progress after all, right? I could continue to wallow in the pity that was 2011 but that won't make me better. I just have to face the consequences and move forward. Apparently that is where the apples come in (I think anyway).

So, since I woke up renewed AND dreaming of baked apples, it was baked apples for breakfast this morning. While the apples were baking, I made a quick batch of low sugar granola and served that over the top. Number One Son and I loved this but Number Two was only so-so on it (to be fair, he hates apple peels). Note that I baked the apples with just a touch of maple syrup which increases the sugar by 3 gr per serving to an already fairly sugary dish (the apples are full of natural sugar but it is natural so I am going with it). You could omit this and I am sure these would still taste fantastic. I am going to try that later in the week and report back. In the meantime, if you are wanting to start your new year off with a virtuous meal, this might be just the one.

Enjoy!

Baked Apples with Granola (serves 2)

2 apples, cored and cut in half
2 t maple syrup
2 T low sugar granola

Preheat oven to 350. Places cored apples, cut side up, in baking dish. Drizzle with maple syrup. Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes or until soft. Top with granola and serve warm.

Chicken Marbella and Couscous

2011-10-07T18:44:00.000-04:00

How long has it been since I blogged?

That was the question that I asked my cooking club this morning. I have been seriously uninspired in the kitchen lately (thus the lack of blogging) but hosting cooking club made me get my act together. I pulled this recipe out of the vault - its an oldie from the Lincoln Heights Dinner Club. It is super easy (just marinate and bake) and despite that fact that I forgot to buy prunes and used raisins instead it was really good. I would note that this isn't a particularly low GI meal (lots of sugar in the dish from the fruit and the brown sugar) but it is a nice once in awhile treat.

Chicken Marbella (from AllRecipes)

3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup pitted prunes, halved (or raisins, which I found out was a good substitute!)
8 small green olives
2 tablespoons capers, with liquid
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 (3 pound) whole chicken, and cut into pieces (remove skin if you wish - we didn't)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, for garnish (or 1 teaspoon dried parsley added to marinade)

In a medium bowl combine the garlic, prunes, olives, capers, olive oil, vinegar, bay leaves, and oregano. Mix well. Spread mixture in the bottom of a 10x15 inch baking dish. Add the chicken pieces, stir and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

When ready to prepare, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Remove dish from refrigerator. Sprinkle brown sugar on top and pour white wine all around chicken.

Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, spooning juices over chicken several times as it is baking. Serve on a platter, pouring juices over the top, and garnish with parsley (note that we used dry parsley in the marinade instead of fresh).

Fruited Couscous (Adapted from AllRecipes)

2 cups vegetable broth
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup golden raisins
2 cups dry whole wheat couscous
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted

Pour the vegetable broth into a large saucepan, and bring to a boil. Add the butter, apricots and raisins. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, and stir in the couscous. Cover, and let stand for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with toasted almonds and serve (note that you can also sprinkle with cinnamon if desired).

Homemade Ricotta Cheese

2011-04-23T17:22:00.004-04:00

I was on the phone with my BFF the other day and said to her "I am making cheese". The phone went dead silent and then she said "you are MAKING cheese?" Yes indeed, I made cheese and it was so easy. You need all of three ingredients and a couple of hours to produce ricotta with no stabalizers, gumming agents or preservatives. It is dead simple and the outcome is delish.

Ricotta Cheese

9 C whole milk
1/2 t salt
3 T lemon juice or white vinegar

Add milk to a large pot and set over a high flame. Heat until the milk reaches a rolling boil, stirring occassionally to prevent scorching. When the milk reaches a boil, take it off the heat and add lemon juice. Stir to combine. Let the mix sit for two minutes. Stir to seperate the curds from the whey (you will see it happening as you stir).

Pour the mixture into a strainer that has been lined with three layers of cheese cloth or a fine cotton tea towel which has been set over a large bowl. Cover the cheese and let strain for one hour. If the cheese is still too wet, wring gently inside the cheese cloth/tea towel. Discard whey. Place cheese in a storage container and refrigerate.

Cheese!

Low Sugar Granola

2011-04-23T10:25:00.004-04:00

Last week, Daniel had Spring Break. Because David was still in school, we decided to enrol Dan in Spring Break Camp. Every morning, I dropped David off at school and then had 60 minutes to kill before bringing Daniel to camp (which was just around the corner from David's school). What do you do with 1 empty hour and a 4 year old? Breakfast naturally.

Every morning last week Daniel and I ate at a different local restaurant. One morning we ate at a sandwich and salad cafe which offered a really spartan breakfast menu. Daniel choose granola topped with fruit and milk. He devoured it. I told him that morning that we could try making our own granola (you know how unhealthy traditional granola is) and this is what I came up with.

When analyzed against Bear Naked Fruit and Nut Granola, mine comes in at about the same per serving (1/4 cup) for calories (140), carbs (16 gr) and fiber (2 gr). Where it really shines is the sugar, where I have halved the amount per serving (mine is 3 gr to their 6 gr). This makes the fiber to sugar ratio pretty appealing for a grown up snack and an overall decent choice for kids anytime.

Low Sugar Granola

2 C rolled oats
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t salt
3 T canola oil
1/4 C agave syrup
1 t vanilla
1/2 C walnuts, chopped
1/2 C almonds, slivered
1/2 c raisins

Preheat oven to 325. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, toss oats with cinnamon and salt. Set aside. In a small bowl, whisk oil, agave and vanilla with a fork until well blended. Pour wet mix into bowl and mix with hands to combine. Pour mixture onto baking sheet and spread evenly. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and stir well. Return pan to oven and bake an additional 5 minutes. Remove from oven and stir in nuts and fruit. Return to oven for an additional 2 minutes or until nuts are fragrant. Remove and let cool. Pack into air tight container and enjoy.

Carrot Oatmeal Cookies

2011-02-01T13:25:00.012-05:00

Since Christmas, I have been trying to wean myself off of sugar. It is so hard with the holiday goodies still around the house (yes, still!) so instead of fighting the urge to have a treat with the kids I decided to make my own healthier treat. Again, I find myself with loads of carrots (see this carrot cookie recipe) so I did a little internet search and found an easily modifyable carrot cookie recipe. At first bite, my family didn't really like these, but after a minute or two, we all started grooving on these cakey and not too sweet treats.

Carrot Oatmeal Cookies (adapted from this recipe at 101 Cookbooks)

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 cup rolled oats
2/3 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)
1 cup shredded carrots (about 2 medium carrots)
1/2 cup dark agave syrup
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 t ground ginger

All ready to go

Preheat oven to 375F degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, ginger and oats. Add the nuts and carrots. In a separate smaller bowl use a whisk to combine the agave, and oil. Add this to the flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Coming together

Drop onto prepared baking sheets, one level tablespoonful at a time, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. Bake in the top 1/3 of the oven for 10 - 12 minutes or until the cookies are golden on top and bottom.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

I'm back and I brought dinner with me

2011-02-01T12:36:00.008-05:00

Hello internet. Have you missed me? I have missed you, but I have been spending lots of time with you doing other things mostly work related. In fact, I have been working nearly round the clock this month and have hardly had a spare minute to blog. But, we still have to eat around here, even when I don't have a chance to write about it, so I have a lot of good new recipes to post. Let's get things rolling with last night's dinner masterpiece.

I will freely admit that as a child I ate my share of crummy stuffed bell peppers (sorry Mom!). They were mostly bitter green peppers filled with tasteless meat and rice. I really hated stuffed pepper night when I was a kid. And honestly, when I stared at the pile of red bell peppers that my hubby came home with a few nights ago stuffed peppers didn't immediately pop into my head. But when searching for a dinner that would use a substantive amount of them I kept running across stuffed pepper recipes. Clearly the universe wanted me to make stuffed peppers, but they needed to be something yummy and that my kids would actually eat.

I surfed over to my favorite food blog, Kayln's Kitchen, and low and behold, Kalyn had just what I was looking for. These were, without question, the single best stuffed peppers I have ever eaten. Period. Chris and I ate them with a side of green beans. For the kids, I could have served the filling over or along side pasta and it would have been delicious. Please make these....you won't be disappointed.

Italian Stuffed Peppers (adapted from this recipe at Kalyn's Kitchen)

6 red peppers
1 pound lean ground beef
1 pkg. (5 links) Italian sausage, casing removed
1 cup diced onion (1 medium onion)
1 cup diced red pepper (tops of peppers)
Salt and Pepper to season meat
1 1/2 cups grated low fat mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1 1/2 cup tomato sauce (I used Classico Tomato Basil)

Preheat oven to 375. Cut tops off red peppers, making a deep enough cut that you have some red pepper to chop for the filling. If needed, "square" off the bottom of the pepper to make them stand up. Clean out inside of peppers and wash if needed.

In very large frying pan, cook hamburger and sausage until lightly browned. Drain meat, reserving about 1 T of oil in the pan. Set meat aside. Add peppers and onions to the hot pan. Cook 3 - 4 minutes or until just starting to soften. Add pepper and onion mix to the meat. Add about 1 cup tomato sauce, just enough to barely moisten the mixture. Season mixture with salt and pepper to taste. Let mixture cool slightly, then mix in cheese.

Choose a glass or metal pan barely big enough to hold all the peppers standing up. Spray the pan with nonstick spray. Stuff each pepper with meat/veggie/cheese mixture, using a large spoon , piling it up on top and pressing in tightly until you use all the filling. Place peppers in pan touching each other. Top with an additional spoonful of tomato sauce. Bake, covered with foil about 30 minutes. Take off foil and bake about 20 minutes more, until cheese is melted completely and top is slightly browned.

Turkey Pot Pie

2010-12-02T09:40:00.007-05:00

WARNING! This recipe (if eaten with the crust) is not low GI friendly. But it is really good so sometimes I have to make a pot pie and just deal with it. I can't eat nuts and berries all the time, can I?

So this year hubby and I decided to go out to Thanksgiving supper. I love Thanksgiving and all of the cooking, but when there are only 4 of us it seems a waste to cook all morning and then clean all afternoon. So out we went. But I couldn't not make something Thanksgiving-y, so a few days before the actual event I roasted a turkey breast for supper. We had loads leftover so I made this with some of the leftovers. I actually made the filling, froze it and then pulled it out when I was ready to use it. When you freeze pot pie filling, be sure that before you top it with the crust that it is heated thru (that's right, thaw it and heat to bubbling before you top your pie).

Turkey Pot Pie (serves 6)

1/4 C butter
1/2 C onion, chopped
1/2 C mushrooms, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
3/4 C frozen peas
1 T garlic, minced
1/3 C flour
1/2 t dried sage
1/2 t dried thyme
1 1/2 C prepared turkey gravy
1/2 C turkey stock (or chicken stock or water)
1/2 C milk
2 T dry sherry
3 C cooked turkey, cubed
S & P to taste
1 recipe Single Crust Savory Pie Dough (follows)

Preheat oven to 425.

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in all veggies except peas and saute until tender but not browned (about 5 minutes). Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in flour, sage and thyme. When well blended, add gravy, stock and milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in turkey, peas and cook until veggies are tender, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in sherry. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

Pour mixture into a deep dish pie pan or other baking dish as desired. Top with pastry. Seal and crimp the edges. (Note: If you like lots of crust - like I do - do not trim the excess pastry from the pan. Simple turn the pastry under, press to seal the edges and crimp as you normally would). Pierce the crust with a fork or cut slits in the pastry to allow for steam.

Bake in the preheated oven for 35 - 40 minutes or until browned and bubbling. Remove from oven and let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Single Crust Savory Pie Dough

1 1/2 C flour
1/2 t salt
4 T shortening, chilled and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
8 T butter, chilled and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
4 T water

Add flour and salt to food processor. Pulse a few times to evenly distribute salt. Add shortening and butter. Using 1 second pulses, process until the flour is pale yellow and resembles course meal. Sprinkle water into bowl. Pulse 4 or 5 times or until the mix comes together. Turn out on plastic wrap. Form into a disk, warp tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes (or up to 2 days).

When filling is ready, roll the pie dough into a sheet large enough to cover your pie and proceed as directed above.

Hot, steamy and soooooo yummy!

Curried Sweet Potato Soup

2010-11-30T19:51:00.006-05:00

I made this soup about a month ago and have been meaning to get a post up since then. I am so busy these days that I haven't had much time to blog. Things just seem to be getting busier, so I decided to just hunker down and get some recipes posted.

This soup was made in response to an overflowing bowl of sweet potatoes that sat on my counter for about two weeks. Those spuds just sat there almost taunting me "Make something new! Make something new!" Finally I gave in and this soup is the result. Enjoy.

Curried Sweet Potato Soup (serves 4 - 6)

3 small sweet potatoes (or 3 C cooked)

1 T flour

1 T butter

3 C homemade chicken stock

1 T dark agave nectar (or brown sugar)

1/4 t ground ginger

1/8 t ground cinnamon

1/8 t ground nutmeg

1/2 t curry powder

1/2 t salt

1 C milk

Heat over to 400. Slice sweet potatoes horizontally. Place on cookie sheet cut side down. Bake in hot oven about 30 minutes or until soft.

While the potatoes are cooling, melt the butter in a heavy sauce pan over medium heat. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is a light caramel color. Add broth and agave syrup and bring to a boil. Scoop the potato pulp into the stock mixture and add spice. Stir to combine and turn heat to simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes. Using an immersion blender, blend soup in the stockpot until smooth (or use a blender and process in batches). Add milk and heat to desired temperature. Ladle into warm soup bowls and serve.

Beautiful Baked Meatballs

2010-11-29T21:05:00.005-05:00

I have been craving meatballs lately. I don't really want the spaghetti, but I really, REALLY want meatballs. Maybe it is the weather? Am I anemic? I don't know and I don't care because I just want meatballs.

Tonight I gave into my craving (full disclosure: I had some out last week but they were only fair) and made my beautiful baked meatballs. This recipe is my compromise between proper meatball technique (frying then simmering in sauce) and easy (baking then coating with sauce). It combines the ease of baking with the slow cooked flavor of fried. They are an excellent quick no-fuss meal and were so good. They were exactly what I have been craving.

Beautiful Baked Meatballs (makes 5-6 generous servings)

1 pound ground beef
3/4 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1/3 C whole grain bread crumbs
2 T flax seeds (optional, but very good for you and you won't even notice they are there - promise!)
1/3 C milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 t crushed garlic
1 T Italian seasoning blend
1/2 t seasoned salt (or salt and pepper)
1/2 C Romano cheese (with additional to sprinkle on top of final dish)
2 C of your favorite marinara or spaghetti sauce

Heat oven to 425. Spray baking dish with non stick coating spray and set aside.

Place both meats in a large bowl and set aside. Add breadcrumbs, flax seeds, milk, eggs, garlic, seasoning blend, seasoned salt and cheese to bowl. Stir to combine well. Combine the bread and the meat mixtures and mix well (but lightly) with your hands.

Using an ice cream scoop, portion you meat mixture into 15 good sized meatballs. Arrange meatballs in baking dish so that there is a small amount of space between each meatball.

My little meaty soldiers all in a row.

Pour the marinara over the meatballs to fully cover. Bake, uncovered, for 35 minutes or until firm and bubbling.

All dressed and ready for the oven.

Serve with a side of pasta (Dreamfields, of course!) and enjoy.

Waste Not Want Not Chicken Stock

2010-11-08T08:39:00.009-05:00

When we started buying organic protein, I was overwhelmed at the price. $17 for a whole chicken? Really? After I got over the sticker shock, I realized that if I utilized the entire bird, $17 wasn't too bad after all. For that $17, I get one dinner (for 4), two lunches and 6-8 cups of chicken stock (which will turn into 2 family dinners worth of soup later). When I start to do the math on a per serving basis (in this example, $1.22 per serving) the price becomes a lot more palatable.

As I make a lot of soup during the fall and winter (I love making soup: dump in ingredients, stir, walk away), chicken stock made from the carcass was the logical thing to do. I used to purchase Trader Joe's Chicken Broth, which contains 600 mg of sodium per 1 cup serving. That is 25% of your daily sodium intake in one cup of soup! My stock has no added sodium, although I suspect there will be some small amount of sodium present due to residual seasoning. The broth is flavorful and colorful, the later from the addition of onion peel (yes, the peel). You can either strain off and use just the stock or you can pick the carcass and use the meat (I only do this when I am making chicken noodle soup but I leave the decision up to you).

Waste Not Want Not Chicken Stock (makes approximately 8 cups)

1 chicken carcass (from a roasted chicken)
2 medium carrots, roughly chopped
1 onion, unpeeled, roughly chopped
8 cups water

Add chicken carcass to large stock pot. You want to totally submerge the bird in water, so if you may need to break the carcass in pieces depending on the size of your pot. Add the carrots, onions and water. Set over high heat and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium. Cook at a low boil for 1 hour. Remove from heat and let cool. Once cooled, strain the liquid from the pot into a large zip top bag. Label and freeze for later use.

The SG Challenge Part 2 - Pumpkin Black Bean Chili

2010-10-31T20:29:00.020-04:00

A few weeks ago I asked everyone to vote on what new black bean recipe I should make. The winner was Pumpkin and Black Bean Chili and I was ready to go with the recipe. Then summer reappeared. Now, I am not complaining about 75+ degree days in October, but that is definitely not chili weather. Yesterday, fall finally arrived and tonight so did the chili.

You'd never know that there is pumpkin in this chili if you didn't see it go into the pot. The remaining ingredients alone would make a fairly light flavored chili, so that is where the pumpkin comes in. It adds a richness and a depth of flavor to the pot that would be sorely lacking without it.

The recipe is adapted from this recipe found at Taste of Home.

Pumpkin and Black Bean Chili (makes 8 - 10 generous servings)

1 medium onion, diced fine

1 yellow bell pepper, diced fine

1 1/2 lb ground turkey

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 T olive oil

1 C low sodium chicken stock

2 cans (or 4 cups) black beans, rinsed

1 can (15 oz) solid packed pumpkin

1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

2 t dried parsley flakes

2 t chili powder

1 1/2 t dried oregano

1 1/2 t ground cumin

1 1/2 t salt

1 t black pepper

In a large skillet, saute onion, pepper and turkey until cooked through, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Transfer to slow cooker.

Be sure to cook off all of the liquid from the onions and peppers.

Add the remaining ingredients to the slow cooker. Stir to combine well.

Everybody in the pool.

Cook on low for 5 - 6 hours or until heated through and bubbly. Serve with sharp cheddar cheese and sour cream, or to taste.

The SG Challenge: Turkey Black Bean Burgers

2010-10-13T18:11:00.014-04:00

After my last post of how to cook black beans, my friend, SG, asked what I did with them once I cooked them. I pointed her to a number of recipes on this blog; Lentil and Black Bean Salad, Quick and Easy Turkey Soft Tacos, even The Amazing Black Bean Brownies. I started thinking about these recipes and the other that I make using black beans and I decided I needed to try something new. It was time to break out of my black bean rut and find some new and interesting recipes. I have dubbed this recipe search (drum roll please.......) The SG Challenge.

I found this little gem on the Taste of Home website. I made it tonight and it was a hit. Even the kids ate them, although they both initially resisted because they could see the red bell pepper in it (shame on me - I thought I diced it finely enough). Chris and I both loved them too. One note on the TOH recipe, theirs makes 4 servings. I found that with one lb of turkey I got six good sized burgers. As we ate them, these come in at 335 calories (including the whole grain sandwich thin and all of the toppings) and only 247 m of sodium.

Turkey Black Bean Burgers (makes 6 patties)

3/4 C black beans
1 egg white
1/2 C zucchini, finely shredded
1/2 C red bell pepper, finely diced
1 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t pepper
1/4 t salt
1 pound ground turkey
1 T olive oil

In a small bowl, coarsely mash beans. Add all remaining ingredients and mix lightly. With a wet hand, shape lightly into 6 patties. In a large skillet, cook burgers over medium heat for 4-5 minutes per side or until a meat thermometer reads 165 and juices run clear.

Serve as desired (we served on sandwich thins with mayo, mustard, chili sauce (Chris), lettuce, tomato and onion. Yum!)

I am Full of Beans

2010-10-08T10:11:00.008-04:00

Congratulations. If you are reading this, you are thick skinned enough (or just down right curious) to keep reading after you saw the title of this post. But the title is perfect; I am full of beans, both literally and figuratively.

I have mentioned on this blog before how much I love beans. I cook with beans all the time. Beans are an inexpensive, versatile source of protein and fiber and are sooooo good for you. We eat so many beans in this household that I used to buy them in cans by the case. Then I started reading labels.

It turns out that beans, like almost every other processed food, start as health food and in the hands of food processors become junk. We eat mostly black beans, so I will give you a little nutritional comparison using them:

Bush's Best canned black beans (regular) - 1 cup

Calories: 210

Sodium: 860 m (36%)

Trader Joe's canned black beans (low sodium) - 1 cup

Calories: 220

Sodium: 350 m (15%)

Home cooked black beans (no salt) - 1 cup

Calories: 227

Sodium: 2 mg (0%)

So then, you can see what my problem is with canned black beans. You think you are making a healthy choice for your family by serving them beans, but in every cup you are giving them nearly 900 m of sodium in a food that is naturally sodium free. Why do food processors do that? It makes me so mad!

Now that I know the truth about canned beans, I won't use them anymore. Instead I cook my own and freeze them in 1 can size portions. Beans are insanely easy to make and freeze beautifully. Go ahead and give it a try.

Freezer Black Beans (makes 12 cups cooked, or 6 2-cup portions)

Note that I make 2 pounds at a time because my large pot holds 2 pounds fairly well. Increase or decrease the amount you make as your pot demands.

2 pounds dried black beans, picked over

water to cover and cook

Add dried black beans to a large bowl and cover with cool, fresh water. Cover with a tea towel and let sit overnight.

In the morning, drain the water from the bowl and rinse the beans in cool water. Add the beans to a large pot and cover with as much water as you can get in the pot. Cover and set over high heat. Once the pot comes to a boil, boil until just tender (not mushy), about 45 - 60 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the beans rest until they are cool enough to handle. Once cooled, drain beans and gently rinse with cold water.

Pack your cooked beans in 2 cup portions (this is roughly equivalent to one can of prepared beans) in zip top bags and freeze.

Homemade Almond Milk

2010-10-06T10:27:00.008-04:00

A few months ago I noticed a change in my husband. He started eating salad, lots and lots of salad. Then he began asking for almond milk. We tried lots and lots of different brands and finally decided to make our own. Making our own almond milk isn't any cheaper (it runs about the same price as commercially prepared), but the almond pulp that remains behind is an excellent baking ingredient (I use it instead of almond meal - it is the same texture, but removes some fat and flavor from the meal - all of which is good in my baking) so it is cheaper for us in the long run.

Before you decide to give almond milk (or any other alternative milk product) a try, it is important to understand the differences between the various kinds of milk. Here is a handy chart that I found on a a blog called Noshtopia.

What you will notice from this chart is that cows milk wins, hands on, on the protein front. If you are using milk as your main source of protein, then stick with the moo juice. However, if you are getting enough protein from other sources, then non-dairy milks have lots of advantages. For us, choosing almond milk (it wins for this family on taste) means lower calories, carbs and sugar while still providing us with plenty of calcium. It is also easy (and fun) to make. I hope you give it a try.

Almond Milk (make approx 7 cups)

2 C water (to soak almonds)
2 C raw organic almonds
6 C filtered water
2 T agave syrup (or 4 pitted dates)
pinch salt, if desired

Add almonds to bowl and cover with 2 C water. Refrigerate almonds and let them set overnight.

When you are ready to make the milk, drain the almonds and rinse with clear water. Add 1/2 of the almonds to a blender along with 3 cups of filtered water and 1/2 of your sweetener of choice. Turn your blender on liquefy and process for 2 minutes.

Once the milk is blended, pour your mixture into a nut milk bag which has been set over a large bowl (if you don't have a nut milk bag, use a few layers of fine cheesecloth). Slowly squeeze the almond milk out of the bag. Keep squeezing gently until there is no milk left in the bag (you will have almond pulp leftover). Repeat the blending/squeezing with the second half of the ingredients. Pour milk into a pitcher and taste. If needed, add a pinch of salt to taste.

Cover with plastic wrap and store in refrigerator. The almond milk will keep, refrigerated, for 4 days.

Here's a nifty YouTube video (its not me, but they do a good job explaining the process)

The problem with breakfast

2010-09-30T09:10:00.006-04:00

I think we can all wrap our heads around eating low-GI during most of the day. Eat lots of fruits and veggies, lean protein, whole grains, etc. It isn't too much of a stretch to eat a salad for lunch instead of a sandwich or to switch out some broccoli for your nightly potato. Breakfast, on the other hand, can be quite a challenge.

When you think about it, almost all of our "quick serve" breakfast options are loaded with highly processed grain (which immediately turns into sugar in our bodies). Cereal, toast, muffins, pancakes, waffles....they are all just a bowl of sugar waiting to hit your stomach. So what should we eat for breakfast if we have to eliminate almost everything off of the breakfast list?

Here are some of my favorite low-GI friendly breakfast options:

- Sprouted grain toast with peanut butter with fruit on the side
- Plain yogurt with fresh fruit and nuts
- Fresh fruit smoothie made with yogurt and seasonal fruit
- Flax and Bran Morning Glory Muffins
- Slow cooked oatmeal (never instant!) with milk and nuts.

Embracing the change of season yesterday, I decided to make myself a veggie scramble for my AM meal. This is a favorite during the fall and winter. It takes about 10 minutes to make from scratch. If you are pressed for time, saute up your veggies in advance (or use last nights leftovers - almost any veggie is good in this). This cuts the prep time to around 3 minutes. I generally serve this with one piece of sprouted grain toast, but had a whole grain, high fiber sandwich thin in the house so I used it instead. It was delish.

Veggie Scramble (serves 1)

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 t olive oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 oz cheese of choice (optional)
S & P to taste

Heat medium saute pan over med-high heat. Add olive oil to coat pan. Add peppers and onion to pan and cook until crisp tender, about 5 - 6 minutes. Add egg to pan and stir to combine. Cook until egg is just set, about 2 minutes. Top with cheese, add S & P as desired and serve.

The sweet tooth is on the loose - Soft Ginger Carrot Cookies

2010-09-27T12:45:00.015-04:00

Maybe its that time of the month, maybe its because its Monday, maybe it is because it is raining cats and dogs. Whatever it is, I need MORE cookies today. I have an abundance of carrots in my fridge, so I decided to use some of them to whip up a batch of Soft Ginger Carrot Cookies. They are perfect with a cup of tea on a chilly fall day. Mmmmmm....

Soft Ginger Carrot Cookies (makes 30)

1 C whole wheat pasty flour
1 C almond meal
1 t ground ginger
1 t baking powder
Pinch ground nutmeg
Pinch salt
12 T butter (1 1/2 sticks), room temperature
1 egg
1/3 C dark agave nectar
1 t vanilla extract
1 1/2 C shredded carrots (about 3 small carrots)
1 C chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, almond meal, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg and salt. Set aside. In a stand mixer, beat butter for two minutes on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add agave, vanilla and egg and beat an additional minute. Slowly add dry ingredients and mix until combined. Stir in carrots and nuts.

Using a medium-sized cookie scoop (approx 2 T per scoop), scoop out dough onto cookie sheet. With a wet palm, gently flatten each cookie. Bake 14 - 16 minutes or until firm and lightly golden brown. Remove to wire rack to cool.

Each cookie has 116 calories, 0.5 g of sugar and 1 g of fiber. Compare these to Land O Lakes Carrot Cake Cookies at 196 calories, 17.7 g of sugar and 0.7 g of fiber.

Low Sugar Chocolate Cake Cookies

2010-09-27T08:28:00.008-04:00

The last 6 weeks have been insane for me. My Mom was here visiting (hi Mom!), we went to NYC together, I was working lots of hours, David went back to school, Mom went home, we went on vacation, Daniel went back to school, etc, etc, etc.... I am not really sure how I got thru the last month and a half, but I do know that it involved lots of sugar.

Generally speaking, I don't worry too much about the occasional times when I am off of my eating plan. I think that is why I have been able to keep it up for nearly two years. I just get right back on the clean eating wagon and move on. But, when you have been on a 6 week bender like I have been, its a bit hard to kick the need for sugar. That is why I needed cookies this weekend.

The sugar cravings have been getting to me since I started back on the refined carbs and I have been dying for a cookie in the evenings. I decided to stop sabotaging myself by making some not-too-bad-for-me treats. These are a soft, cake like drop cookie which are an adaption of a cookie I found on chefnilson.com. They are soft and chewy and not too sweet. Chris finds them a little too bland (i.e. he wants more sweetener), but the boys and I like them as is. If you want to sweeten these up, just add a bit more agave and you should be fine.

I did a quick nutritional analysis of these cookies and compared them to Oreo Cakesters. A 59 gr serving of my cookies is 3.3 gr of sugar and 2.8 gr of fiber and a similar serving of Oreos delivers a whopping 24 gr of sugar with less than 1 of fiber. While my cookies aren't health food (there is butter and sweetener in them after all) they are a fantastic substitute. Enjoy in good health.

Low Sugar Chocolate Cake Cookies (makes 24 cookies, or about 8 servings)

Cookie
2 egg whites
3/4 C almond meal*
3/4 C whole wheat flour
1/3 C agave nectar
1/4 C cocoa powder
1/2 t vanilla extract
1/4 C butter, softened
Glaze
1/4 C grain sweetened chocolate chips
1 T butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350. Like baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Add egg whites to a clean large bowl. Whip until soft peaks form. Gently add the remaining cookie ingredients to the bowl and fold to combine (the dough will be the consistency of thick paste.)

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto parchment lined sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 7-8 minutes or until set. Do not over bake. Remove to wire rack to cool.

While the cookies are baking, prepare glaze by adding butter to chocolate chips in a heat-proof bowl. Microwave for 15 seconds. Stir to combine.

When the cookies are cool to the touch, drizzle with glaze and enjoy.

* The almond meal that I used was the leftovers from making almond milk. I am sure standard almond meal would produce a similar cookie.

Saucy and Spicy Overnight Beans

2010-09-06T19:25:00.023-04:00

Chris has been craving baked beans. I made some a few weeks ago and he has been begging for them since. I love cooking beans - they are cheap, easy to make, incredibly good for you and can be made in a multitude of ways. I was going to make my usual beans up this weekend, but decided to give a little shout out to Saucy Mama and whip up a batch using a few of their products. The resulting beans were delish. You should give them a try!

Saucy and Spicy Overnight Beans (makes 12 side dish servings)

4 oz bacon, diced

1/2 large onion, diced

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 C strong black coffee

3/4 C ketchup

1/2 C molasses

1/3 C dark agave nectar (or 1/2 C brown sugar)

1/4 C Saucy Mama Chipotle Mustard

1 T Saucy Mama Hot Wing Sauce

2 T red wine vinegar

2 T worchestershire sauce

juice of half a lemon

1/4 t liquid smoke

1/4 t dried oregano

1/2 t chili powder

5 C water

1 lb dried navy or great northern beans, picked over

Heat a medium frying pan over med-high heat. Add bacon and fry until most of the fat is rendered, about 5 minutes. Add onions and saute until soft, about 5 minutes more. Add garlic and saute approximately 30 seconds or until garlic is fragrant. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine all the remaining ingredients except beans and stir until smooth.

Add dried beans, onion/bacon mixture and the sauce to a large crockpot. Set the pot to high and cook 12 hours (or overnight) or until the beans are tender. If you like, season with salt and pepper to taste before serving, but I didn't find they needed either.

I served our beans tonight with grilled sausages and crisp slaw. It was the perfect Labor Day dinner.

Smoky Turkey Patties a la Saucy Mama

2010-08-31T20:49:00.004-04:00

This is a recipe I have promised for awhile. It's a take-off of a Rachel Ray recipe that I have made many times. Rachel serves her patties on generously buttered white toast. I serve mine on buns (for guests), in a low carb warp (for me), or just plain (for the family). I had some patties frozen from the last batch I made, so tonight I served them in a whole wheat low carb wrap with some spring greens and a quick sauce made from some of my Saucy Mama goodies. Enjoy.

Smoky Turkey Patties a la Saucy Mama

1 lb lean ground turkey
1 T paprika
1 T grill seasoning (I use Montreal Steak Spice)
1 T dry parsley
1/2 small yellow onion, grated fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T extra virgin olive oil.

Heat griddle or non-stick pan over high heat. While pan is heating, mix all burger ingredients gently. Form 4 patties with the mix. Place patties on hot pan and cook until no longer pink, approximately 5 minutes per side. Serve as directed above or in a whole wheat tortilla with a dollop on Saucy Mama sauce and spring greens.

Saucy Mama Sauce (makes scant 3/4 cup)

1/2 C good quality mayonnaise
3 T Saucy Mama Chipotle Mustard
3 T red pepper jelly

All all ingredients to a small bowl and mix to combine.

Here's the sauce with some carrots as a dip - yummy.

Let the games begin!

2010-08-24T18:03:00.006-04:00

I went to the office today and came home exhausted (full disclosure - I went to the office exhausted!). Let me tell you, nothing perks me up more than finding a HUGE box of goodies waiting for me in the dining room.

I am entered into a Food Blogger contest being run by the nice folks at Saucy Mama. They have asked 50 food bloggers to review their products and come up with creative ways to use them. Well now, that sounds right up my ally, doesn't it?

The following products arrived at my house this afternoon: Lime Chipotle Marinade, Hot Wing Sauce, Sweet Onion Marinade, Cracked Pepper Marinade, Chipotle Mustard and Jalapeno Stuffed Olives. In keeping in the spirit of this blog, I have checked the ingredient list and there is no HFCS or other weird chemicals in the products. A few (Lime Chipotle Marinade, Hot Wing Sauce and Cracked Pepper Marinade) are a bit high on sodium, so my challenge will be to use them sparingly while getting good flavor from the product and keeping the overall sodium content of the dish reasonable. Further, I need to put there recipes together within the next month. I can't wait to see what comes out of my kitchen in the ensuing few weeks. Stay tuned everyone ......

Oh, and by the way, the first person who comments on this post either on the blog or via Facebook wins a selection of tasty Saucy Mama products from me to you. Who will be the first?

More salad....Classic Italian with Creamy Basil and Romano dressing

2010-08-17T22:47:00.006-04:00

Tonight I made the kids and Chris Italian sausages (organic, from the farmer's market of course!) with steamed broccoli for dinner. Mmmmmm.....those sausages smelled so goooooood. But alas, while staring at the four lovely, grease covered links I thought about my daily intake of veggies. Basically, it was non-existent, unless you count the red pepper hummus I had while lunching with the kids at Target. No chicken/fennel/greasy goodness for me tonight. Tonight I need salad.

Since the house was full of Italian yumminess, I decided on a classic Italian salad. I had all the greenery fixings, but lacked a substantial dressing. I sat for a moment and started dreaming about my favorite Italian salad - the house salad at Ledo Pizza. Ledo makes this yum, yum, yummy Romano Cheese and Herb salad dressing. Could I replicate it with what I had in the fridge. I was about to find out.

Here is what I came up with from the available fixings in my fridge and pantry. It isn't quite Ledo pizza dressing, but it was close and tasted pretty darned good.

Creamy Basil and Romano Dressing (makes about 1 1/4 cups)

1/2 C good quality mayonnaise

1/4 C buttermilk

1/4 C fresh basil leaves

1/4 C grated Romano cheese (parm would be good too)

1 t dried Italian seasoning blend

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/4 t seasoned salt blend (or salt and pepper)

Add all ingredients to a food processor and blitz until basil is finely minced.

Here's the salad all dressed. It includes romaine hearts, grape tomatoes, red onion and a few pieces of salami wrapped in low sodium provolone. Yum.

The not too bad for you Everything Cookie

2010-08-06T18:19:00.010-04:00

I have had the worst sweet tooth lately. I am having a hard time keeping my hands out of the cookie jar, so today I decided to whip up something that I could feel not too bad about eating. I found a recipe on a nice blog called Healthy Endeavors and adapted it to what I had in my cupboard. Here is what I came up with.

Everything Cookie - makes 40

1 C organic rolled oats
1 C spelt or whole grain whole wheat flour
1 C almond meal
1/4 C shredded coconut
1/4 C raisins
1/4 C grain sweetened chocolate chips
1/4 C chopped walnuts
1/2 t salt
1/2 C agave nectar
1/2 C canola oil
1/2 t vanilla

Heat oven to 350. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl and set aside. Mix wet ingredients in small bowl. Combine wet and dry ingredients and stir to combine.

Form 1" balls of dough and place them on cookie sheet. Press down with your hand or the bottom of a glass to flatten cookie. Bake approximately 12 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

A serving of 2 cookies (35 grams) is 169 calories, 2.5 g of sugar and 1.5 g of fiber. Not too bad when you compare these cookies to a similar serving of Chips Ahoy (40 grams) with 190 calories, 13 g of sugar and 1g of fiber.

(And, BTW, even my oldest, who hates coconut, liked these. Go me!)

Chocolate Zucchini Bread - yum!

2010-07-19T18:07:00.008-04:00

I read a wonderful blog called Kalyn's Kitchen on an almost daily basis. Kalyn blogs on South Beach diet recipes, so her recipes generally fit into my eating plan. She bakes on a regular basis and yesterday's post made me drool - Chocolate Zucchini Bread (I love all things chocolate AND zucchini).

Now, Kalyn, being a South Beach enthusiast, bakes with a lot of Splenda. I don't use Splenda because it tastes gross and leaves a bitter aftertaste. When I looked at her recipe, I realized there was very little liquid in it, so agave nectar would work well as a replacement. I also decided to give the bread a little nutritional boost by replacing half of the whole wheat flour with almond meal. The resulting bread is yum, yum, yummy and the texture is perfect.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread (makes 12 generous servings)

2 eggs

1/2 C light agave nectar

1/2 C dark agave nectar

5 T canola oil

1 t vanilla

1/4 C buttermilk (or make your own with 1/4 t white vinegar added to 1/4 C milk)

1 1/2 C grated zucchini (about 1 large zucchini)

1/2 C almond meal

1/2 C whole grain whole wheat flour

1 t baking soda

1/4 t baking powder

1/2 C cocoa powder

1/4 t salt

3/4 C chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F/175C. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick spray and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the eggs, agave, brown sugar, oil, vanilla, and buttermilk. Stir in the grated zucchini. Set aside.

In a larger bowl, mix together the flour, almond meal, baking soda, baking powder, unsweetened cocoa powder, and salt. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir just enough to combine. Then fold in chopped walnuts.

Scrape the batter into loaf pan that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Let bread cool in the pan, then slice and serve.

Another quick dinner idea

2010-07-13T19:04:00.015-04:00

Today I ran into my friend Stephanie at Trader Joe's. She wanted to know what was in my cart as she was needing inspiration for her dinner. Unfortunately, I had just walked in the door so I only had a few things in the cart to share with her. I did, however, tell her what sorts of things I typically serve in the summer to make meal prep as quick as possible.

My summer meals tend to be easy things that I can slap on the grill (or George Foreman) and serve with a side of whatever is in the fridge. Ground meat is a staple protein in the summer, as are boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Tonight I went with the later.

Here is my dinner tonight, which is a total throwback to the 90's. I whipped up some Roasted Red Pepper Aioli a few weeks ago and my family has been immersed in the land of big hair and high waisted jeans since then. We have eaten a few recipes worth and it is a hit every time I serve it. BTW, the aioli is good as a dip with veggies or in most sandwiches or wraps. It was particularly good with a smokey chicken burger recipe that I made last week. Stay tuned for that recipe.

Chicken and Roasted Red Pepper Sandwich (serves 2)

1 large boneless skinless chicken breast, butterflied and pounded thin

1 large tomato, sliced

1 C spinach leaves, washed and dried

salt and pepper to taste

2 T Roasted Red Pepper Aioli (recipes follows)

2 buns, toasted or other bread of choice (I used TJ's Whole Wheat Tuscan Pane - thanks for the tip Stephanie)

Heat BBQ, George Foreman Grill or grill pan over high heat.

While the cooker is heating, liberally season your chicken breasts with salt and pepper. When the grill is hot, add chicken and cook until done (4 - 7 minutes, depending).

While the chicken is cooking, toast your bun or bread and set aside.

When chicken is done, remove to plate to cool. Begin assembling sandwich by spreading 1 T of the aioli on the bun. Next, layer 1/2 C spinach and 1/2 of the tomato on the bread. Top with 1/2 of the cooked chicken and the top layer of bread.

Roasted Red Pepper Aioli (makes approx 1 cup)

1 C good quality mayonnaise

2 large jarred roasted red peppers

1 large garlic clove

salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients to food processor. Pulse until garlic and peppers are smooth and the mixture is well combined.

A shout out to Wendy part 3 - Easy Limeade in a Hurry

2010-07-13T15:42:00.009-04:00

Here's another one Wendy. This was inspired by the beautiful limes in my fruit bowl and my kids whining about not getting soda. Two minutes later they were happily slurping down this quick and much-better-for-them-than-soda limeade. It is light and refreshing. Enjoy.

Easy Limeade in a Hurry

(makes 1 serving)

1/2 lime, scrubbed clean

1 T light agave syrup (or to taste)

1 1/2 C sparking water

Crushed ice

Squeeze lime juice directly into serving glass. Add agave syrup and mix well, Add crushed ice and sparkling water. Stir to combine. Garnish with lime slice and enjoy.

A shout out to Wendy part 2 - My favorite quick summer breakfast

2010-07-13T15:26:00.007-04:00

OK Wendy, here's more for you. This is disturbingly easy, but sometimes we need to be reminded that good food can be simple. This is my favorite summer breakfast, especially when the fruit is ripe and delicious. Every time I have this for breakfast, I hum the Summer Fruit jingle from the early 80's ("Summer, summer fruits, it wouldn't be summer without them...Fresh from the tree...Taste 'em and see."). See if you aren't moved to hum the same tune when you try this.

Summer Fruit Yogurt Parfait (makes one generous serving)

1 C organic, plain yogurt (YES, use PLAIN yogurt. Do not use that sugar sweetened junk that the store tries to pass off as yogurt.)

1 C fresh fruit (I used strawberries and blueberries, but any berry or stone fruit is good)

1 - 2 T chopped nut of choice (I used walnuts)

Drizzle of agave syrup

Add yogurt to bowl. Top with fruit and nuts. Drizzle agave syrup over top. Enjoy immediately (I dare you to make it to the table without trying it first!)

A shout out to Wendy - a quick and easy healthy dinner

2010-07-13T14:51:00.013-04:00

My friend Wendy is looking for quick and easy healthy meal ideas. Here is my shout out to her. This is actually what we ate for dinner last night. It was quick, easy and healthy. I served it to the kids with a quick, fresh fruit freeze (one peach, one cup strawberries, 1 1/2 cups chopped ice and 1 cup no sugar added fruit juice, all whirred up in the blender). They are yummy.

Quick and Easy Turkey Soft Tacos
(makes 8)

1 lb. ground turkey
3 heaping T homemade taco seasoning
1/2 t salt
1 C cooked black beans (if you use canned, rinse well)
3/4 C prepared tomato or marinara sauce
1/4 C water
8 low carb or whole wheat tortillas (I used Carb Balance by Mission)
Taco toppings as you like (we used shredded cabbage, no-salt added salsa, yogurt - the kids got shredded cheese)

Brown turkey in large skillet over medium high heat. Add taco seasoning, salt and black beans. Stir well to combine.

Once well mixed, add tomato sauce and water. Simmer for 10 minutes or until flavors are well combined.

Serve as directed above with your favorite taco toppings.

Fresh Peach "Milkshake" (aka Smoothy)

2010-06-21T17:45:00.006-04:00

I am lucky. My children are still at an age where I can successfully lie to them when it is appropriate to do so. Tonight, they requested cereal for dinner. Since this is a non-meal in my opinion (cereal, by its very nature, is heavily processed and therefore not good for you) I wanted them to have something healthy to go with it. I made them Fresh Peach "Milkshakes" to go along with their dinner and they were delighted.

I can usually get away with calling a smoothy a milkshake when the fruit is sweet and super ripe. My kids can easily sniff out yogurt in the mix if I am using frozen or not quite ripe produce. Since my fruit bowl is over-flowing at the moment, I knew I would be able to pull it off today.

Everyone enjoyed the "milkshakes" tonight without question.

Fresh Peach "Milkshake" (makes 2)

3 small, very ripe peaches, pitted and peeled
1 C chopped ice
1 C whole milk plain yogurt
1/2 C 1% milk
1 T agave nectar (to taste as the sweetness of your fruit demands)

Add all ingredients to blender and mix well to combine.

Lentil and Black Bean Salad

2010-06-21T17:00:00.010-04:00

This recipe is similar to Penny's Brown Rice Salad in flavor, but features lentils instead of brown rice. Lentils are packed with fiber and protein, so this would be an excellent vegetarian main course.

Lentil and Black Bean Salad (makes 12 servings)

3 C cooked lentils
1 15-oz can of reduced sodium black beans, well rinsed
1 medium red onion, diced
1 medium red bell pepper, diced
1 large zucchini, diced
2 T dried parsley
1 C olive oil
juice of one lemon
2 T cider vinegar
1 T Dijon mustard
1 1/2 t ground cumin
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Mix first 6 ingredients in large bowl. In a jar with a tight fitting lid, add next 6 ingredients and shake well to combine. Pour over salad and toss lightly. Add salt and pepper to taste.

The Salad Days of Summer

2010-06-09T12:50:00.016-04:00

Today I hosted Cooking Club. The idea behind cooking club is simple: get a few like-minded Moms together, plan a menu, meet at a rotating house and cook together. At the end of the morning, you have dinner all prepared and have you spent a lovely morning hanging out with the girls.

Usually the Club makes an entire meal: protein, starch, veggie and sometimes desert. As summer is now upon us, I wanted to switch things up a bit. Today we made a weeks worth of salads and sides.

The first two receipes are tried and true, old standbys for me. I love them both. I hope the Cooking Club ladies and everyone else enjoys them.

Penny's Brown Rice Salad
(Note: I always switch up the veggies in this salad, but keep the rice/bean/dressing ratio the same)

2 C cooked beans (black, kidney, pinto, etc.)
3 C cooked brown rice
4 green onions, sliced
2 stalks celery
1 small red onion, diced
1 small zucchini, diced
1/4 C canola oil
1/4 C lime juice
1 T white vinegar
1 t chili powder
1 t cumin
1 t sugar
1/2 t salt
1/4 t black pepper

Gently mix the rice, beans and veggies in a bowl. In a seperate bowl, add the remaining ingredients and mix to combine. Pour dressing over salad and toss.

Couscous Salad with Feta and Artichokes
(Pictured above with the addition of tomato, chick peas and crushed pita chips )

1 1/2 C dry couscous, prepared according to package directions
1 can artichoke hearts, rinsed, drained and chopped
6 oz. crumbled feta cheese
1/3 C chopped fresh herbs (basil, parsley, dill -- whatever you have on hand)
juice of one lemon
1/2 C olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Add couscous, artichokes, cheese and herbs to large bowl and toss to combine. In a seperate bowl, add lemon juice, olive oil and seasonings and mix. Combine salad and dressing and serve as is or with additions mentioned above (also excellent with chicken).

Grilled Marinated Zucchini

1 1/3 C olive oil
1/3 C red wine vinegar
3 cloves garlic
3/4 t Italian seasoning blend
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 C Parmesean cheese
3 zucchini, washed and sliced thin

Add all ingredients, except zucchini, to bowl and mix well to combine. Add zucchini to bowl or plastic bag and pour dressing over. Marinate in refregerator for at least one hour. Heat grill or broiler to high. Grill or broil for 3 - 5 minutes per side or until browned and tender. Serve as is or topped with additional cheese.

In addition to these recipes, we also made:

Homemade Bleu Cheese Dressing
Homemade Caeser Dressing

Apricot Strawberry Salsa

2010-06-08T12:01:00.004-04:00

Last night I made mexican-seasoned chicken breasts (boneless skinless checken breasts seasoned liberally with homemade taco seasoning, sprinkled with salt and grilled). I have lots of chicken left over and I needed something to go with it (BTW, last night I turned my chicken into quesadillas with grilled peppers and onions in a low-carb tortilla). I dug into my fridge today and came up with this. It's yummy.

Apricot Strawberry Salsa (makes 4 cups)

1 lb fresh apricots, seeded and diced
1/4 lb strawberries, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped fine
2 T fresh parsley, chopped (or cilantro, if you have it)
zest of one lime
juice of one lime
2 T red onion, chopped fine
1 T olive oil
pinch cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients to bowl and toss to combine. If this will sit for longer than a few hours, reserve strawberries and add right before serving.

Here it is in all of its glory, served over a seasoned chicken breast with quick sauteed zucchini and avacado.

An interesting twist on slaw

2010-05-27T18:57:00.004-04:00

In an attempt to expand my salad green repertoire, I purchased a bag a pre-shredded green cabbage at Trader Joe's a few weeks ago. I figured since salad is all about the crunch for me (and since raw cabbage is so crunchy), that throwing a handful or two of cabbage into my salad mix would be a good way to get a nice dose of Vitamin C in my diet without trying (cabbage is LOADED with the stuff).

That experiment proved pretty successful except for the fact that my pre-shredded cabbage started turning brown after about 2 days in my fridge. What is a girl to do with an almost full bag of shredded cabbage? I could have made cole slaw, which I do love, but I just wasn't in the mood for it that afternoon. Instead, I decided to dive into the fridge, pull out whatever sounded good, and start making a salad. The result was so good that we have eaten it once a week for the last three weeks running. Tonight I served this with cheese toast made with sprouted grain bread and unsweetened iced tea. If sugar is a real issue for you, you can skip the raisins, but they were a nice addition. Plus, there is so much other good stuff going on in this salad that I didn't worry about it. Enjoy.

Fruit and Nut Bleu Cheese Slaw (makes 2 generous portions)

3 C shredded green cabbage or packaged cole slaw mix

scant 1/3 C raisins

1 large apple, chopped (unpeeled)

1/2 C bleu cheese dressing

2 T chopped walnuts or sunflower seeds

Add all ingredients except nuts to bowl and toss to combine. To serve, spoon onto serving dish and sprinkle with nut of choice.

A shout out to Ange

2010-05-13T11:42:00.002-04:00

I am posting this link on the Saltiest Foods in America as a shout out to Ange. Please read it - its shocking the amount of sodium in restaurant foods. I won't tell you how many of these atrocious meals have passed my lips in the past, but I guarantee they won't in the future.

http://eatthis.menshealth.com/slideshow/30-saltiest-foods-america#title

Also, I highly recommend getting yourself on their email list. They email me a new health and nutrition article every few days and they are enlightening.

Why do we buy pre-made salad dressing?

2010-05-13T09:39:00.007-04:00

The longer I continue this clean eating experiment, the more mystified I am at our collective buying habits. This morning I made bleu cheese dressing and it took all of 3 minutes to whip up the batch. Why in the world did I ever buy the pre-made, highly processed, junk laden stuff before? There is absolutely no reason to buy the processed junk when it is so easy to make at home.

As you can see, my fridge currently contains 3 salad dressings, all homemade. The bleu cheese is in the large container at the rear. The other two are recipes already posted (buttermilk ranch and classic cobb dressing).

Bleu Cheese Dressing (makes approx 3 cups)

3/4 c mayonnaise
1/4 c milk (or half and half)
3/4 c sour cream
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 T white wine vinegar
1 T dried parsley
1/4 t black pepper
1/2 t salt
6 oz crumbled bleu cheese

Add all ingredients, except cheese, to a bowl and whisk to combine. Add bleu cheese and toss gently. Pour into storage container and refrigerate until ready to use. Keeps up to 2 weeks in refrigerator.

Sometimes I get it right...Apple Banana Pineapple Cake with Mascarpone Cream Frosting

2010-05-11T18:49:00.009-04:00

Last night my husband chewed me out. "You NEVER buy dessert anymore! What is the problem? I keep asking for some dessert. Buy some d**n dessert!"

He's right, I don't buy dessert anymore. I don't eat it (I am not that virtuous - I eat dark chocolate and almonds if I need a sweet fix) and he doesn't need it. He has been begging me for months to bring him a cake, a pie, anything really, but I have resisted.

After the confrontation last night I promised him I would make him a sweet treat tonight. I had intended to make a Gluten-Free Banana Walnut Cake, but in the spirit of cleaning out my fridge/pantry (in anticipation of moving), I realized mid way through the recipe that I didn't have everything needed. OK, time to improvise. I think I am getting good at this improvising thing, because this turned out pretty good. Even David, who is suspicious of anything that looks remotely healthy, gave this cake a huge thumbs up as he shoved this entire piece into his mouth in one bite.

Score one for Mommy.

Apple Banana Pineapple Cake (serves 20)

1/2 c dark agave nectar (or honey)
1/3 c canola oil
3/4 c mashed banana (about 2)
3/4 c unsweetened applesauce
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 t vanilla
2 t fresh squeezed orange juice
1 t orange zest
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour (make sure it is whole grain)
3/4 c almond meal
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1 t baking soda
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 c crushed pineapple
3/4 c walnuts, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Line 9 x 13 pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine agave and oil. Cream until light. Add banana, applesauce and beat until mixed well. Add eggs, vanilla, orange juice and zest. Mix until combined. Add all dry ingredients and stir until smooth. Add pineapple and nuts and mix gently to combine.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool for a few minutes in the pan, then lift out using parchment paper and allow to cool completely.

To serve, cut into squares and frost liberally with Mascarpone Cream Frosting.

Mascarpone Cream Frosting (makes 4 cups)

6 oz mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
3 T agave nectar (or honey)
1 t vanilla (or vanilla powder)
1 c heavy cream, chilled

Mix first three ingredients in small bowl until well combined. Set aside. In a large bowl, whip heavy cream until firm peak form. Add cheese to cream and mix lightly to combine. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.

The perfect low GI summer salad - the classic Cobb

2010-05-06T18:58:00.003-04:00

Today was cooking club and as I was the host, I got to choose the menu. We made the following:

1. Classic Cobb Salad
2. Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup
3. Good for You Zucchini Muffins (basically this recipe, but swap out 3/4 C of almond meal for the white flour)

Here is the Cobb Salad recipe that we made:

Classic Cobb Salad (serves 8)

1 head iceberg lettuce, washed and chopped
8 cups arugula, washed
2 small heads of romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
1 lb grape tomatoes
3/4 lb bacon, fried, drained and chopped
4 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
8 hard boiled eggs, chopped
4 small avocados, diced
2 cups crumbled blue cheese
2 cups (approx) Cobb Salad Dressing (see below)

Mix lettuces together. Add dressing, to taste, and toss to combine. Arrange in large salad bowl or plate.

Arrange remaining ingredients in strips on top of the greens and enjoy.

Cobb Salad Dressing (makes approx 3 cups)

1/2 C water
1/2 C red wine vinegar
1/2 T sugar
2 t freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 T + 1 t salt
1 1/2 t pepper
1 1/2 t Worcestershire sauce
1/2 t dry mustard
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 C olive oil
1 C canola oil.

Add all ingredients in large jar or other container and blend well. Mix before serving.

My Polyface Beauty (or Don't Hate Me Because I Live in Virginia)

2010-04-28T13:04:00.006-04:00

This morning I roasted off this beautiful bird straight from Polyface Farms. Yes, my foodie friends, THAT Polyface Farms!

For those of you who don't know about Polyface Farms, Joel Salatin and his farm are rock stars in the sustainable, organic, holistic food community. Salatin has written a number of books (of which we own 3: Holy Cows and Hog Heaven , Family Friendly Farming and You Can Farm.) They have been featured in The Omnivore's Dilemma and the movies Food Inc. and Fresh.

We recently discovered that we live within Polyface's 4-Hour "foodshed" and therefore could join their buying club. Yippee! I picked up my first order the morning after I arrived home from California and this bird was in the batch. Isn't it lovely?

This will be dinner for the hubby and kids tonight while I am out eating a decidedly-less organic dinner with the MOMS Club girls. But hopefully there will be leftovers for me for lunch tomorrow.

Simple Roast Chicken

1 3-4 pound organic chicken
1 lemon, cut into quarters
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1/2 t dried rosemary
1 T olive oil

Preheat oven to 350. Place chicken in baking dish. Place lemons in cavity. Sprinkle with herbs and olive oil. Rub chicken to evenly coat. Roast for 45 - 60 minutes or until juices run clear.

(BTW, I took a small bite of the bird and it was amazing. God Bless you Joel.)

Decisions, decisions....

2010-04-27T23:02:00.010-04:00

Tonight was salad night at our house. I had intended to try a recipe for Cafe Rio Creamy Tomatillo Dressing that I found online at a great blog called Kalyn's Kitchen. In order to make it, I needed to make a Buttermilk Ranch dressing first, as the Tomatillo dressing using it as a base. So, after making both dressings my kids informed me that they would not, under any circumstances, eat their chicken tenders with anything other than Honey Mustard. Of course, I was out of that so made yet another dressing for the table.

All of these were good, but the Tomatillo is especially nice. If you prefer, you can use a pre-made ranch dressing as the base (but homemade is much better for you.)

Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing (adapted from this recipe at Simply Recipes)

1 c buttermilk
1 c mayonnaise
1 t lemon juice
1/4 t paprika
1/4 t mustard powder
1/2 t salt
1/8 t black pepper
1 t dried parsley
1 t dried dill (or dill/lemon mix)
1 green onion, sliced
Add all ingredients to food processor or blender and process until smooth.
Makes about 2 cups. Keeps for a week, covered in the fridge.

Cafe Rio Creamy Tomatillo Dressing (adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen)

2 c prepared Ranch Dressing

1 small bunch cilantro, large stems removed (about 1/2 cup chopped cilantro)

2 large or 4 small tomatillos

1/2 t minced garlic

2 T lime juice

1 t green tobasco sauce

Add all ingredients to food processor or blender and process until smooth.

Makes about 2 1/2 cups. Keeps for a week, covered in the fridge.

Quick Honey Mustard Dressing (My kids eat this stuff by the boatload. They dip anything and everything into it and I bet they would eat it by the spoonful if I let them.)

2 c mayonnaise

3 T prepared mustard

3 T honey or agave nectar

Add all ingredients to a bowl and whisk to combine.

Makes about 2 cups. Keeps for one week, covered in the fridge.

Frosted Sugar Free Oat and Walnut Cookies

2010-04-25T11:58:00.008-04:00

So I am finally back at it in the kitchen and decided that we needed cookies. Yes folks, sometimes you just need a cookie. But in the spirit of taking care of myself I have attempted a sugar free cookie. There is nothing synthetic or fake about these cookies and they are pretty decent. They are an amalgum of two recipes: the cookie are adapted from a recipe in Baking with Agave Nectar and the frosting is a modification of a frosting from a neat-o blog called Simply Sugar and Gluten Free. Enjoy.

Frosted Sugar Free Oat and Walnut Cookies (Makes 28)

Cookies
1/2 C firm tofu
1 T water
1/2 C butter
1 C dark agave nectar
1 t vanilla
1 C sprouted spelt flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t cloves
1/2 t nutmeg
3 C rolled oats
1 c walnuts, chopped

Preheat open to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

Add tofu and water to a food processor and pulse until pureed smooth. Set aside.

Add butter, agave and vanilla to bowl and mix with hand mixer until fluffy (about 1 minute). Add tofu and blend well. Add remaining ingredients and mix well to combine.

Drop batter by heaping tablespoons onto prepared baking sheet and flatten with the back of a spoon. Bake until lightly golden brown (about 12 - 15 minutes). Remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Eat cookies plain (Chris' preference) or frost with the following tart frosting (note that Chris wants more agave next time, but I like it as is):

Frosting
4 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1 t dark agave nectar
1/2 t vanilla
pinch salt
1/2 C cold heavy cream

Whisk cream cheese, vanilla, agave and salt until smooth and light. In a seperate bowl, mix heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Stir 1/4 of the stiffened cream ino the cream cheese mixture. Gently fold the remaining cream into cheese mix until combined. Refrigerate until ready to use.

On life, death and honoring oneself

2010-04-21T17:07:00.027-04:00

Sorry to everyone for not blogging much this month. I have been busy - spring break, house hunting, MOMS Club, etc. I find I am on the computer a lot but never with enough time to actually put two thoughts together let alone write them down.

With our impending, unwanted move comes a lot of stress. And when I am in a stressful situation, I can easily slip back into unhealthy habits. I have been eating terribly these last few weeks and finally realized it a few days ago when I realized that not one single fruit nor vegetable had passed my lips the entire day. Seriously - not one bite of anything good and healthy for me. And when I thought about it, I realized how poorly I felt.

Light bulb.

I realized that I had been eating these last few weeks out of stress, not to nourish myself. It's funny really, since I actually knew it all along (I can rationalize eating or doing anything I want - I am a reasonable intelligent person after all.) I recalled so many instances of me thinking "Oh, just one meal of (insert toxic food here)" or "I know I shouldn't eat (sugary substance) but once won't hurt". For some reason I was making excuses for my poor behaviour while actively engaged in it. I was acting just like my kids when I ask them to put their toys away and they ignore me.

I decided that I needed to get back on the wagon and start treating myself right. I was energized, ready, confident that I could tackle the challenge. And then I found out that Elise died.

Elise is a friend from high school who suddenly passed away on Monday. I haven't spoken with her in years, but somehow her sudden passing has really thrown me for a loop. I have lost classmates to chronic disease and to accidents, but Elise just died. She went to bed and didn't wake up in the morning.

Oh sweet Jesus.

Initially I wasn't too upset about Elise, other than to be worried about friends who were closer to her. I processed her passing ("Oh, how sad.") and then I said to Daniel "let's get donuts this morning!". We then trotted off to have a breakfast of donuts and biscuits and anything else greasy and toxic we could bet our hands on. While at breakfast I kept thinking "stop! stop! stop!" but was somehow powerless. We ate our fill and when done, I actually thought I might get sick (and to be honest, I didn't eat all that much). Yuck.

It's now 48 hours later and I have had a bit of time to sit and think about the last few weeks and more importantly, the last few days. Why was I so upset about Elise (did I mention that I have burst into tears 3 times since Monday?) What made me treat myself so poorly? What can I take away from this?

Elise was a bit of a lost soul. She wanted so much to be loved and accepted that she made life choices that I found dangerous and therefore couldn't approve of. To anyone on the outside, Elise has quick to laugh and always so elegantly put together. But I know to herself, she was never quite good enough, smart enough or worthy of attention. She thought that she was utterly unloved yet so many of us are rattled by her passing. This discord between the inside and outside perceptions got me thinking.

A lot of thoughts have been rattling around in my head, but mostly I have been wondering about why we don't honor ourselves more. What is it inside of us (or me or Elise really) that makes us think we are somehow not worthy of treating ourselves properly. For me, it is how I treat my body. I didn't start nourishing myself with food until I was 40 years old. I have periods where I completely abandon my resolve and eat like a 15 year old. Elise had a pattern of entering into seriously unhealthy relationships that lead to a whole host of problems (and who knows, possibly her death). Why?

For someone who has a reasonably healthy level of self-esteem, I don't know what the answer is.

I also wondered if we do not honor ourselves by treating ourselves well, are we thereby not honoring God? What I mean by that is if we are not taking care of ourselves, are we then unable to reach our full potential as God as designed for us? I haven't thought this one entirely out yet, but my gut tells me that if we are not striving to be exactly who God meant for us to be, then we may be on the path to losing Him. That is beyond frightening for me.

So then, where am I at 48 hours later?

Well, I am shaken for sure but I am also resolved. Resolved to continue on the path to good health in all of its forms (eating right, sleeping well, loving my family more, etc.) I owe it to myself. I am worthy of being treated right. Elise was too. I am just sad that she never realized it.

Smokey Sweet Potato Hash Browns with Eggs and Bacon

2010-03-28T14:17:00.004-04:00

One of the first things I did when I switched to a low GI way of eating is to swap out sweet potatos for regular spuds. Sweet potatos are lower on the glycemic index (between 40 and 90, depending on preparation) then their white fleshed counterparts (between 60 - 98)and are chock full of vitamins A and C and fiber. I try to incorporate them into our diet at least once per week.

I was in search of a new sweet potato recipe that I could incorporate into our dining routine that is made with pantry/fridge staples. This is what I came up with. Chris ate this and all I heard was "mmmmm....mmmmm....mmmmm...." coming from his direction. That's when I knew I had a winner of a dish.

Smokey Sweet Potato Hash Browns with Eggs and Bacon serves 4

4 slices thick-cut bacon, diced
1 large onion, diced
1 pound sweet potatos, peeled and grated
1/2 t paprika
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t black pepper
4 eggs

Heat large skillet to medium high. Add bacon and fry until browned and crisp, about 8 - 10 minutes. Removed bacon to a paper-towel lined plate to drain and reserve. Pour bacon drippings into a heat-proof bowl and reserve.

Add 2 T of bacon drippings to pan and heat over medium-high. Add onions and fry until soft, about 4 minutes. Add sweet potatos, paprika, garlic powder and pepper. Fry, stirring often, until soft and warm (about 15 minutes.) Remove from pan and set aside.

In the same pan, add 1 T bacon grease. Crack eggs into pan and fry over medium heat to desired doneness.

To serve, spoon has browns onto serving plate. Top with one fried egg and sprinkle with cooked bacon.

Sometimes I even amaze myself - No Sugar Onion Marmalade and Turkey Bistro Burger

2010-03-18T20:23:00.010-04:00

OK everyone, here it is. This is my "I-cannot-believe-I-made-this-myself" onion marmalade recipe. It makes a small batch and could easily be doubled, quadrupled, etc. It is AMAZING. I could have eaten it by the spoonful without the burger.

No-Sugar Onion Marmalade (makes 12 servings)

2 slices of bacon, diced
1 1/2 pounds onions, sliced thin
2 t olive oil
1/2 t salt
2/3 C dark agave syrup
3/4 C red wine
1/4 C balsamic vinegar

Heat a large, non-reative skillet on medium. Add bacon and fry until the fat is rendered. Remove bacon from pan and drain on paper towel. Keep bacon for another use or discard.

Increase heat to medium-high. Add onions, olive oil and salt. Place lid on pan and let cook, undisturbed for 15 minutes. Remove pan, stir and continue to cook, sitrring every few minutes, until onions are golden brown.

Add the remaining ingredients. Cook over medium-high heat until reduced but still viscous (test by running your spoon thru the onions - if it leaves a long valley it is done.)

A nutritional analysis reveals that this is not a low cal food (so it unfortunately can't be eaten all the time) but is is low in sugar and has a good sugar to fiber ratio. Here's the analysis:

Amount Per Serving

Calories - 99
Calories from Fat - 7
Total Fat - 0.8g (1%)
Trans Fat - 0.0g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 113mg (5%)
Total Carbohydrates - 20.5g (7%)
Dietary Fiber - 1.0g (4%)
Sugars 2.5g
Protein 0.6g
Vitamin A 0%
Vitamin C 7%
Calcium 2%
Iron 2%

Are you drooling yet? You should be.

As you can see, I served the onion marmalade on a turkey burger with the crumbled bacon and bleu cheese. Later in the week, I served it with grilled slices of tri tip and also mixed it into my vinegrette and used it as a salad topping. Delish!

My yummy and healthy submission for the Feasting on Art Recipe Contest

2010-03-16T19:04:00.021-04:00

A few days ago I submitted a recipe to a recipe contest - a first for me (for those who have asked, I submitted my marinara recipe to Taste of Home). This got me thinking that maybe there were other contests out there that might appreciate my particular take on healthy eating. My search for such contests lead me to a lovely blog called Feasting on Art.

The fine folks at Feasting on Art are seeking submissions which utilize the ingredients depicted in the painting Strawberries by Renoir (http://www.feastingonart.com/2010/02/feasting-on-art-recipe-contest.html). Inspired by the painting and a recent muffin recipe that I ate (not made) whose primary ingredient was almond meal, I starting thinking about cake. Mmmmm....cake. I don't eat much cake these days and it would be wonderful if I could use the flourless muffin recipe, strawberries and lemons and come up with cake. A good tasting, delicious and not-too-bad for you cake at that. A tall order, to be sure, but I was up to the challenge.

I started by researching sponge cakes make with almond meal (a sponge is about all I am up for at the moment - I don't have time to frost anything these days). I found a few, even one on a low GI blog, but these all used granulated sugar. That is a no-no for me, so I made a few calculations, tweaked the proportions and put together this recipe. This is my first shot at this cake, and I have to admit that it is a winner right out of the gate. I highly recommend you try it. Even my kids gave it two-thumbs up.

(My apologies in advance to our friends at Feasting on Art - my photography skills are sorely lacking, but the recipe is delish - so I hope that makes up for my dismal picture).

Almond Lemon Sponge with Agave Cream and Strawberries (serves 8)

Sponge
1/4 C butter, softened
1/3 C light agave syrup
4 eggs, divided
3/4 C flour
1/2 C almond meal
rind from 2 small lemons, grated
juice from one small juicy lemon (or use two if the lemons aren't very juicy)
pinch salt
2 1/2 t baking powder

Agave Cream

1/3 C heavy whipping cream

1 T light agave syrup

Heat oven to 400 f. Lightly grease and flour one 9" round cake pan. Set aside.

Beat butter in a medium bowl with a hand mixer until fluffy, about 1 minute. Add agave syrup and 4 egg whites. Whip until well incorporated and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the remaining ingredients and mix to combine.

Pour batter into prepared cake pan. Bake until lightly golden brown (around 15 minutes). Do not overbake.

While the cake is baking, prepare the Agave Cream by beating heavy cream and agave syrup to soft peaks.

Let cake cool into pan. When cooled, cut into 8 slices. To serve, garnish with Agave Cream and fresh sliced strawberries.

The nutritional analysis on this recipe is as follows (includes agave cream and two strawberries per slice as garnish)

Calories -236
Calories from Fat -116
Total Fat - 12.9g (20%)
Saturated Fat - 5.7g (29%)
Trans Fat - 0.0g
Cholesterol - 115mg (38%)
Sodium - 106mg (4%)
Total Carbohydrates - 26.3g (9%)
Dietary Fiber - 1.6g (6%)
Sugars 1.6g
Protein 5.6g

If I made the same recipe using all white flour and sugar (instead of almond meal and agave), we would be looking at 252 calories, 36.5g of carbs, 1.1g fiber and 16.3g sugar. Vastly different, especially where the sugar is concerned. Compare this to a similarly sized lemon square, and you will save 22g of carbs and 33g of sugar per serving. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

Making small changes for a big impact

2010-03-08T12:42:00.010-05:00

Awhile back, I was chatting about a friend about my new way of eating. I jokingly said "I am a bit obsessed!" and she quickly agreed. I was a taken aback by her hearty agreement, since I really was kidding when I mentioned my obsession. She pointed out that the change in my diet was so radical that she couldn't imagine doing what I had done. I protested, saying that the changes to my way of eating were not radical at all. But in retrospect, she was right.

Since that time, I have wondered how I managed to get to where I am today. In truth, I still struggle, particularly when we are out of town or celebrating, but otherwise, I stick to my eating plan fairly religiously. How then, given my history with "diets" and my generally laziness where food is concerned, have I been able to change so radically and more importantly, remained so committed and happy about it? I am fairly certain my success has to do with making incremental changes.

Rome wasn't built in a day and neither was the size of my ass. It took me 40 years to get to where I was at, so I reasoned that it would take quite awhile to get myself to a point of good health. Once I came to peace with the fact that living a healthy lifestyle was a long-term proposition, making changes to my diet became easier. I came to realize that eating healthy is something that I have to do for the rest of my life, so finding ways to make the change sustainable was of utmost importance.

In looking at my then current diet, I decided to find small ways where I could make an immediate, lasting impact and worry about the "big" changes later (little did I know that the "big" change is really just an accumulation of little changes). I changed one habit at a time, slowly over the course of a number of months, so that there was no huge shock to my body or to my psyche.

Here is a list of small changes that I have made to my diet. While incomplete, you might find some easy solutions for yourself or a gaping whole in my plan. Either way, please let me know what you think. I love to hear feedback.

Small Changes for a Big Impact

Read food labels
Eliminate white foods from your diet (a biggie with a large caveat, but a good way to get started)
Change your bread to whole grain, or better still, sprouted grain
If it contains HFCS, trans-fats or MSG, don't eat it
Incorporate more fruits and veggies into your diet
Replace sugar with agave syrup or other low-gi sweetener of your choice
Give up soda (try iced tea or water with lemon instead)
Limit the sodium content of processed foods to no more than 5% per serving
Look for healthier alternatives to your favorite foods so that you don't feel deprived (for instance, my kids eat Kashi TLC bars instead of NutriGrain bars and we all enjoy natural peanut butter instead of Jif or Kraft)
Cut out the junk foods (chips, crackers, candy, etc.)
Replace sweetened yogurt with plain yogurt that you sweeten yourself (try 100% fruit jam or fresh seasonal fruit)
If you can easily make it yourself, don't buy processed (for instance, seasoning mixes or bread crumbs)

The post that started it all - Sprouted Lentil Burgers

2010-03-07T14:03:00.005-05:00

In an attempt to be virtuous, I am removing my last frozen sprouted lentil burger from my freezer today. I will eat it for dinner while my children dine on left over pizza (don't judge me - I was sick and single parenting last night, so pizza was the best I could do). As I now have 5 official followers (**yippee**) I thought I would post this to the blog. I first posted this on FB a few months back. It was such a hit that the blog ensued. If you haven't seen this yet, enjoy. If you have, enjoy again.

Sprouted Lentil Burgers (Makes 4)

½ C dried lentils sprouted 3-4 days (this amount should fill at least ¾ full a large mason jar)
1 large bell pepper (I used yellow)
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
2 T olive oil, divided
2 T butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
1 ¼ C bread crumbs, divided *
1 t tarragon leaves
½ t oregano leaves
Pinch hot pepper flakes
1 T parsley flakes
S and P to taste

Sprout lentils 3 – 4 days or until sprouts are 2 – 3 times the length of the bean. If you need instructions on sprouting, here is a good youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-1V4vtV8Yo&feature=related (BTW, you don’t need a sprouting lid for your mason jar. I just cover mine with an old piece of nylon stocking (clean, of course!) or a thin dish towel). Add sprouted, cleaned lentils to a food processor and pulse until lentils are ground, about the size of corn meal. Set aside in a large bowl.

In the food processor, add the bell pepper, onion and garlic cloves. Pulse until the same size as the lentils. Add 1 T olive oil into a frying pan. Fry pepper, onion and garlic mix over med-high heat until soft and golden brown (about 8 minutes).

Meanwhile, prepare bread crumb mix with ¾ C bread crumbs, parsley flakes and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and put into pie pan or other shallow bowl as this is the breading for your burgers.

Add pepper mix to the bowl of ground lentils. Add the following ingredients to the bowl: butter, egg (I used egg whites, but a regular egg would do fine), ½ C bread crumbs, tarragon, oregano, hot pepper flakes and salt and pepper. Mix well. Divide mixture into 4 and gently shape into ball-sized patties. If the mixture is too wet to hold its shape, try squeezing a little bit of the liquid out of the patty before you form it. Dredge patties well in bread crumb mixture and set on a plate. Chill in refrigerator (or freezer) until set, at least one hour.

When ready to cook, add 1T olive oil to pan and heat to med-high. Fry patties until golden brown on heated through, approximately 6 – 8 minutes. Serve on sprouted grain toast with shredded carrot, lettuce and lime-mayo sauce.

(NOTE that these freeze well, but must be thawed completely before cooking)

Lime Mayo Sauce

4 T mayo
1 t lime juice
S & P to taste

Mix well in small bowl. Serve over sprouted lentil burgers.

Finally about bread crumbs

2010-03-01T09:04:00.008-05:00

While I generally eschew processed foods these days, there are several that I still use. My rule for buying processed is 1) is it useful? 2) is it healthful? and 3) is it hard to produce at home? If the item doesn't fit all three tests, then it stays on the shelf at the store. Things like yogurt, most condiments, peanut butter and the like pass my test and are regularly found in my shopping cart. The one thing that you will never see me purchase is bread crumbs.

Store bought bread crumbs mystify me. Why in the world would I pay good money for something that I can get for free? For free you say? Yes, for free. Besides free, they are better for you too (but more on that later).

We all buy bread and how many of us actually eat the heels? No one in my house does. Even when I bring (gasp!) white bread into the house, I cannot pay my family to eat the heels of the bread. I used to throw them away, but then it dawned on me.... BREAD CRUMBS!

Here's what I do: When we are at the end of a loaf of bread, I keep the heels in the bread bag and chuck the whole thing, bag and all, into the freezer. When my freezer is getting full of empty bread bags (or I run out of bread crumbs) I pull the bags out of the freezer and dump the frozen bread bits into my food processor (the blender works too). Five minutes later, I have an overflowing large zip-top bag full of free bread crumbs (about $5 worth if you purchased them at the market). I tuck the zip-top bag into my freezer and I have bread crumbs ready whenever I need them. Viola!

Now, I know that a $5 savings every month or two isn't going to impact my bottom line, but its the principal that does it for me. Besides the $30-odd dollars a year that it saves me, making my own bread crumbs is better for me too. I can hear you all saying "Oh Julie Anne, PLEEEEEZE! They are bread crumbs for heavens sake!" Yes, you are right, they are only bread crumbs, but I am still putting them in my mouth. I used to buy Progresso Plain Bread Crumbs. They contain the following:

Bread Crumbs (Enriched Flour [Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid], High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil [Soybean and/Or Cottonseed and/Or Corn and/Or Canola], Water, Salt. Contains 2% Or Less of: Yeast, Honey, Molasses, Sugar, Wheat Gluten, Whey, Soy Flour, Whole Wheat Flour, Rhy Flour, Corn Flour, Oat Bran, Corn Meal, Rice Flour, Pnotato Flour, Butter, Dough Conditioners [Mono- and Diglycerides, Sodium and/Or Calcium Stearoyl Lactylate, Soy Lectchin, Calcium Carbonate], Yeast Nutrients [Ammonium Sulfate, Calcium Sulfate, Monocalcium Phosphate], Vinegar, Nonfat Milk, Buttermilk, Lactic Acid, Calcium Propionate and Pnotassium Sorbate [Preservatives], Sesame Seeds), Oat Flour, Sunflower Seeds, Egg.

BLECK! Why bleck? Let's look at what is in here. Sugar occurs 5 times - yes, really - 5 times, in the ingredient list (high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, honey, molasses and sugar). There is hydrogenated oil in here too. Read no further - you don't want to eat this stuff. Instead try making your own from bread that you already have (nutrition caveat: buy good bread!) and your pocket book and your body will thank you (and you will feel virtuous too.)

Making something good better

2010-02-23T08:58:00.005-05:00

I know I promised you all discussion about bread crumbs. I know, bread crumbs are fascinating, but will you forgive me if I put them aside for another few days to discuss my experiment last night?

For the last year or so I have been trying to convince my family that muffins are not cake with some blueberries thrown in. That is what they were used to and that is what they want. I have been pretty successful at convincing them, in part due to my Flax and Bran Morning Glory Muffin. They are packed with all sorts of good things: carrots (or zucchini), apples, walnuts, flax seed meal, bran. All of the things set my Mommy-heart a flutter. It has been a staple in this house for a number of months, and while David is still unconvinced, I have Chris and Daniel fully on my side with this one.

But, despite my family's love of these new muffins, they aren't exactly health food for me. They are muffins after all, and contain flour and sugar, both in the form of brown sugar and raisins (ahh, the raisin - you know why kids love 'em - they are little pellets of pure sugar!) Last night I decided to experiment with the recipe to see if I could get the sugar content down (I will tackle the carb content later - maybe gluten free flour?). They were pretty successful and Daniel and I both had them for breakfast this morning.

Here is the new and improved recipe:

Julie's New and Improved Flax and Bran Morning Glory Muffins

3/4 c unbleached white flour
3/4 c whole wheat flour
3/4 c wheat (or oat) bran
3/4 c flaxseed meal
2 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 t cinnamon
2 medium zucchini (or carrots), shredded
1 c walnuts, chopped
3/4 c dark agave syrup
1 c unsweetened applesauce
4 egg whites
1 t vanilla

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Toss in zucchini and nuts. Set aside. Combine wet ingredients in small bowl. Add to dry ingredients and lightly mix. Divide batter between 18 prepared muffin tins. Bake at 350 for 15 - 18 minutes or until set.

Here is the nutritional info for these muffins:

Serving Size 84 g
Amount Per Serving
Calories 177 (Calories from Fat - 64)
Total Fat 7.1g (11%)
Saturated Fat 0.5g (3%)
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 232mg (10%)
Total Carbohydrates 25.8g (9%)
Dietary Fiber 4.1g (16%)
Sugars 2.0g
Protein 5.4g

Nutrition Grade B
* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

By removing the brown sugar (subbing with agave) and raisins, I have removed 10.4 grams of sugar from each muffin. I have also removed 21 mg of cholesterol per serving by switching to egg whites (instead of whole eggs - you can't taste the egg yolk, so why bother?). Not too bad in my opinion. BTW, if you would like the original recipe, I am happy to share it. Just shoot me an email.

As for the taste, these are super moist due to the zucchini and applesauce. They taste very much like a bran muffin with goodies inside BUT they are not very sweet. They are perfect for me (taste-wise) but the kids liked them with honey butter on top (although Daniel took most of the honey butter off). Give them a try and let me know what you think.

Cut Your Carbohydrate Footprint

2010-02-22T09:05:00.005-05:00

This morning I sat down to write about homemade breadcrumbs. I found this little gem in my inbox, so instead of breadcrumbs, I thought I would pass this along. When you read this, pay special attention to the comparisons they make to other foods. Those will shock you. (And BTW, I will do breadcrumbs tomorrow.)

From our friends at Men's Health (http://eatthis.menshealth.com/node/108647).

Fight back against diabetes--and obesity--by eliminating sneaky sugars from your diet

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Americans consume an average of 82 grams of added sugar a day. That's more than you'd find in six Breyers Oreo Ice Cream Sandwiches. But truth is, a good part of the excess sweet stuff isn't coming from ice cream or cookies or even soft drinks--it's coming from the sources we'd least expect. Open your pantry and start scanning ingredient lists. We're willing to bet that nearly every food you buy contains at least one of these blood sugar- spiking elements: modified food starch, maltodex-trin, cane sugar, crystallized cane juice, evaporated cane juice, honey, tapioca syrup, brown sugar, brown rice syrup, barley, or anything with "ose" at the end of it. Food manufactures have an arsenal of empty carbohydrates at their disposal, and they're not shy about using them to make everything we eat taste like candy. Read on for eight of the most surprisingly sugar-riddled foods in your pantry.

Cereal

Just because your favorite cereal doesn't have a cartoon character on the box doesn't mean it isn't still loaded with sugar. Not even heart-smart logos and bloated health claims can salvage the contents of boxes like Post Raisin Bran, General Mills Basic 4, or Multi-Bran Chex, all of which have more sugar than the same-size bowl of Froot Loops. Stick to cereals with high fiber to sugar ratios ensure a wholesome start to your morning.

Eat This! - Post Shredded Wheat Original
(1 cup)
170 calories
1 g fat
0 g sugars
6 g fiber

There's one ingredient in this box: whole wheat. Either eat it as is or add cinnamon and ground flaxseed--together they will give your blood sugar the smoothest ride possible.

Not That! - Kellogg's Smart Start Original Antioxidants
(1 cup)
190 calories
0.5 g fat
14 g sugars
3 g fiber

The numbers don't lie; this box has more blood sugar-spiking impact than Apple Jacks and about the same as Frosted Flakes. That's because sugar in its various forms shows up no fewer than 10 times on the ingredient list.

Wheat Bread

American palates are used to the relatively bland flavor of white bread, which is why so many of us have trouble accepting wheat's more robust and earthy tones. But instead of allowing our taste buds to work through the new flavors on their own terms, manufacturers use sugar to mask wheat's true identity and make it more familiar to those unaccustomed to eating whole foods. The result? Aside from perpetually confused taste buds, these sticky loaves of "wheat bread" are spiking our blood glucose levels nearly as badly as the white loaves we're trying to leave behind.

Eat This! - Food for Life Ezekiel 4:9 Bread Sprouted Grain(2 slices) (JA note: I eat Sprouted Grain bread, although this one isn't my fav)
160 calories
1 g fat
0 g sugars
6 g fiber

If you were to find a loaf of bread that had been fossilized for 1,000 years, it probably wouldn't be much different from this one from Food for Life. Looking to shave a few more calories? Try Nature's Own Sugar Free 100% Whole Grain Bread. It uses a small shot of sugar alcohol to give it a light sweetness while capping the energy load at 50 calories a slice.

Not That! - Sara Lee Hearty & Delicious 100% Whole Wheat Bread(2 slices)
240 calories
3 g fat (1 g saturated)
10 g sugars
6 g fiber

Ten grams of sugars isn't uncommon for full-size sandwich breads, but it is more sugar than a single Twix bar. In this loaf, Sara Lee reaches dismal heights with a combination of brown sugar, molasses, and raisin juice concentrate. That last one might sound healthy, but your body won't be able to tell it apart from pure table sugar.

Crackers

Yes, even crackers are now sweetened. It's not that there's an extremely large amount of sugar going in, but ironically the most sugar is being added to crackers that are made almost entirely from refined grains. The result is a one-two punch to your pancreas: First, manufacturers strip the cracker down to nothing but fast-digesting starches, and then they finish it off with a nice dose of corn sweeteners. In a healthy body, the resulting flood of glucose will be met by an equally massive tide of insulin, but as your body edges closer to diabetes, the insulin won't be able to keep up. Switch to an unsweetened cracker to flush this whole volatile scenario out of your body.

Eat This! - Triscuit Thin Crisps Original(15 crackers)
130 calories
5 g fat (1 g saturated)
0 g sugars3 g fiber

A cracker as it should be: nothing but whole wheat held together with a little oil and seasoned with salt. The Thin Crisps are perfect for those who aren't fans of Triscuit's usual heavy design.

Not That! - Wheat Thins Reduced Fat(16 crackers)
130 calories
4 g fat (0.5 g saturated)
3.5 g sugars
1 g fiber

Wheat thins are held together with three different sweeteners and a sprinkling of cornstarch, which basically affects your blood glucose in exactly the same way as pure sugar.

Nutrition Bars

Few foods create more nutritional anxiety than the still relatively new concept of meal replacement bars. Should you be looking for high protein? High fiber? What's the ideal amount of calories? Unfortunately, sugar seems to be the one thing that all meal replacement bars have in common. And to get around it, they hide the sugar under highfalutin monikers like crystalline fructose, brown rice syrup, or--in Powerbar's case--C2 MAX Carbohydrate Blend. Your goal: Eat only those bars that earn the large majority of their calories from protein, fiber, and healthy fats. That will ensure your blood sugar stays at safe levels.

Eat This! - Odwalla Sweet & Salty Almond(1 bar)
220 calories
11 g fat (1 g saturated)
8 g sugars
6 g fiber
7 g protein

This bar has every one of the big three essential elements: protein, fiber, and healthy fats. These are the nutrients responsible for filling your belly and keeping your internal sugars in the healthy range. Now you know why we call almonds a superfood.

Not That! - Powerbar Energize Tangy Tropical Fruit Smoothie(1 bar)
220 calories
3.5 g fat (0.5 g saturated)
30 g sugars

Yogurt

Here's an interesting fact: Milk is the only animal product to be naturally sweetened. That's probably why most people don't think it's odd to lift a creamy spoonful of yogurt to their lips and get a dessert-like blast of flavor in return. But the truth is that nature's treats are more subtle. In fact, if you haven't been skimming ingredient lists, you might never have tasted real, unadulterated yogurt. The stuff you've been eating is a candified version of the real thing, and it's probably jacking your blood sugar ever higher with each cup you eat.

Eat This! - Stonyfield Farm Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt, Plain(1 container, 5.3 oz)
80 calories
0 g fat
6 g sugars
15 g protein

At the very least, you should convert to plain yogurt and sweeten it at home with real fruit, but if you want to do one better, switch over to creamier Greek yogurt. It has three times as much slow-digesting protein as the regular version.

Not That! - Yoplait 99% Fat Free Cherry Orchard(1 container, 4 oz)
170 calories
1.5 g fat (1 g saturated)
27 g sugars
4 g protein

The marketing brains at Yoplait are hoping that by painting 99% Fat Free on the label, they will divert your attention from the ingredient list, which exposes this yogurt for the dangerous snack that it is. By using more sugar, than fruit, they gave this cup as much sugar as three Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls.

"Healthy" Drinks

Few people truly realize the dramatic effect that sugary beverages have on blood sugar. Bottlers wrangle you in with overblown promises of increased energy, improved immune function, or instant and long-lasting stress release, but what they neglect to tell you is that the sugar in most of these drinks far outweighs any unproven health benefit that might result from sucking down a bottle. At best, you'll feel a placebo-like boost, but you can be certain that inside your body there's a frenetic rush to cope with the unnatural influx of glucose. The reason is simple: Sweetened drinks don't provide the safety net that real food does. There's no fat, fiber, or protein, which leaves nothing but a torrent of pure sugar sloshing through your body. Want a real health drink? Water and tea are your best bets.

Drink This! - Honest Tea Just Green Tea(16 oz)
0 calories
0 g fat
0 g sugars

Think that green tea is too simple to be a bona fide antioxidant powerhouse? Wrong. It does more good for your body than any smart or functional beverage on the market.

Not That! - Snapple Protect Antioxidant Water Tropical Mango(20 oz)
150 calories
0 g fat
30 g sugars

New rule for choosing a beverage: Read the ingredient list before you read the claims on the front of the bottle. If you did this with Snapple's Tropical Mango Antioxidant Water, you'd realize straight away that it is made from water and sugar. That makes those antioxidant and electrolyte claims on the front label absolutely meaningless.

Tomato Sauce

Have you ever been to an Italian restaurant and had the waiter come by with a cup of sugar and ask if you'd like some sprinkled over your spaghetti? No, of course you haven't. So why would you let the food scientists at Ragu or Prego add sugar to your marinara? The answer is you wouldn't, not if you knew they were doing it. Half a cup of spaghetti sauce ought to have around 5 grams of sugar--that's how much you'll find naturally in the tomatoes. Any more than that is cause for concern, especially considering how many Americans rely on bottled tomato sauce for easy weeknight meals.

Eat This! - Classico Tomato & Basil(1/2 cup)
50 calories
1 g fat
5 g sugars
380 mg sodium

Classico makes some of the best sauces on the shelf, but that doesn't mean the company is without fault. Even they sometimes succumb to the low standard of high sugar levels. Not this jar though--the only sugars here are all natural.

Not That! - Newman's Own Tomato & Basil Bombolina(1/2 cup)
90 calories
4.5 g fat (0.5 g saturated)
12 g sugars
620 mg sodium

All considered, this jar has 72 grams of sugar--42 of which don't belong. The culprit is the 10 added teaspoons of sugar, which hold down a spot on the ingredient list between soybean oil and salt.

Copy Cat Recipe

2010-02-20T19:05:00.004-05:00

Tonight I tried to copy a restaurant recipe that I love. There is a fairly new restaurant in town called Chop N Chicken and they make these yummy concoctions called Chicken Chops (you can see them here: http://www.urbanspoon.com/u/menu/1478650?p=0). They are delish. I tried to make my own version and was only partially successful. Sorry folks, but there is no photo as these were snarffled up too fast (we were starving). Here is the recipe that I used (scaled to one portion).

1/4 C brown rice uncooked (or about 3/4 C cooked)
4 oz cooked chicken, chopped
1/2 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
3 T cooked black beans
1 T avacado, mashed
1 T sour cream
4 T salsa
1 C lettuce, chopped
3 T tomato, chopped

Cook brown rice per package directions and set aside.

Assemble ingredients on a dinner plate in the following order: brown rice, lettuce, chicken, beans, cheese, avacado, salsa, sour cream, tomato. Serve immediately.

This essentially like a Mexican chicken salad with brown rice as a base.

Everyone in my house ate them but they had no pizzaz (tasted almost flat). Perhaps I needed Pico de Gallo instead of salsa for a nice fresh bite or a bit of lemon juice to brighten things up. I think this could be a very good recipe if I can figure out what is lacking. Any thoughts?

BTW, here is the nutritional analysis on one portion as detailed above (from http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php).

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size - 379 g
Amount Per Serving
Calories - 594
Calories from Fat - 126
% Daily Value*
Total Fat - 14.0g (22%)
Saturated Fat - 6.1g (31%)
Cholesterol - 107mg (36%)
Sodium - 561mg (23%) (NOTE: I use no salt added salsa, so my sodium amt is much lower)
Total Carbohydrates - 67.0g (22%)
Dietary Fiber - 9.8g (39%)
Sugars - 4.7g
Protein - 50.1g
Vitamin A 19%
Vitamin C 12%
Calcium 22%
Iron 25%
Nutrition Grade A-
* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Sugar May Be Bad But This Sweetener Is Far More Deadly

2010-02-17T19:26:00.002-05:00

Sugar May Be Bad But This Sweetener Is Far More Deadly

Did you know that our consumption of HFCS increased 1000% percent between 1970 and 1990? Those HFCS ads, which tell you that "it is fine in moderation" are technically correct, but it is in everything that we eat, so it is impossible to eat it in moderation. Avoid HFCS at all costs!

(BTW, this is a far more scientific and detailed explanation about fructose and how it is digested than I made in the post about Agave Syrup. Its very interesting stuff. That whole point: Eater Beware!) - JA

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/sugar-may-be-bad-but-this_b_463655.html

Study after study are taking their place in a growing lineup of scientific research demonstrating that consuming high-fructose corn syrup is the fastest way to trash your health. It is now known without a doubt that sugar in your food, in all it's myriad of forms, is taking a devastating toll.
And fructose in any form -- including high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and crystalline fructose -- is the worst of the worst!

Fructose is a major contributor to:

Insulin resistance and obesity
Elevated blood pressure
Elevated triglycerides and elevated LDL
Depletion of vitamins and minerals
Cardiovascular disease, liver disease,
cancer, arthritis and even gout

A Calorie is Not a Calorie

Glucose is the form of energy you were designed to run on. Every cell in your body, every bacterium -- and in fact, every living thing on the Earth--uses glucose for energy.
If you received your fructose only from vegetables and fruits (where it originates) as most people did a century ago, you'd consume about 15 grams per day -- a far cry from the 73 grams per day the typical adolescent gets from sweetened drinks. In vegetables and fruits, it's mixed in with fiber, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and beneficial phytonutrients, all which moderate any negative metabolic effects. It isn't that fructose itself is bad -- it is the MASSIVE DOSES you're exposed to that make it dangerous.

There are two reasons fructose is so damaging:
1. Your body metabolizes fructose in a much different way than glucose. The entire burden of metabolizing fructose falls on your liver.
2. People are consuming fructose in enormous quantities, which has made the negative effects much more profound.

Today, 55 percent of sweeteners used in food and beverage manufacturing are made from corn, and the number one source of calories in America is soda, in the form of HFCS.
Food and beverage manufacturers began switching their sweeteners from sucrose (table sugar) to corn syrup in the 1970s when they discovered that HFCS was not only far cheaper to make, it's about 20 percent sweeter than table sugar.

HFCS is either 42 percent or 55 percent fructose, and sucrose is 50 percent fructose, so it's really a wash in terms of sweetness. Still, this switch drastically altered the average American diet.

By USDA estimates, about one-quarter of the calories consumed by the average American is in
the form of added sugars, and most of that is HFCS. The average Westerner consumes a staggering 142 pounds a year of sugar! And the very products most people rely on to lose weight -- the low-fat diet foods -- are often the ones highest in fructose.

Making matters worse, all of the fiber has been removed from these processed foods, so there is essentially no nutritive value at all.

Fructose Metabolism Basics

Without getting into the very complex biochemistry of carbohydrate metabolism, it is important to understand some differences about how your body handles glucose versus fructose. I will be publishing a major article about this in the next couple of months, which will get much more into the details, but for our purpose here, I will just summarize the main points.
Dr. Robert Lustig[i] Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco, has been a pioneer in decoding sugar metabolism. His work has highlighted some major differences in how different sugars are broken down and used:
　
After eating fructose, 100 percent of the metabolic burden rests on your liver. But with glucose, your liver has to break down only 20 percent.

Every cell in your body, including your brain, utilizes glucose. Therefore, much of it is "burned up" immediately after you consume it. By contrast, fructose is turned into free fatty acids (FFAs), VLDL (the damaging form of cholesterol), and triglycerides, which get stored as fat.
The fatty acids created during fructose metabolism accumulate as fat droplets in your liver and skeletal muscle tissues, causing insulin resistance and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Insulin resistance progresses to metabolic syndrome and type II diabetes.

Fructose is the most lipophilic carbohydrate. In other words, fructose converts to activated glycerol (g-3-p), which is directly used to turn FFAs into triglycerides. The more g-3-p you have, the more fat you store. Glucose does not do this.

When you eat 120 calories of glucose, less than one calorie is stored as fat. 120 calories of fructose results in 40 calories being stored as fat. Consuming fructose is essentially consuming fat!

The metabolism of fructose by your liver creates a long list of waste products and toxins, including a large amount of uric acid, which drives up blood pressure and causes gout.
Glucose suppresses the hunger hormone ghrelin and stimulates leptin, which suppresses your appetite. Fructose has no effect on ghrelin and interferes with your brain's communication with leptin, resulting in overeating.
　
If anyone tries to tell you "sugar is sugar," they are way behind the times. As you can see, there
are major differences in how your body processes each one.

The bottom line is: fructose leads to increased belly fat, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome -- not to mention the long list of chronic diseases that directly result.

Panic in the Corn Fields

As the truth comes out about HFCS, the Corn Refiners Association is
scrambling to convince you that their product is equal to table sugar, that it is "natural" and safe.

Of course, many things are "natural" -- cocaine is natural, but you wouldn't want to use 142 pounds of it each year.

The food and beverage industry doesn't want you to realize how truly pervasive HFCS is in your diet -- not just from soft drinks and juices, but also in salad dressings and condiments and virtually every processed food. The introduction of HFCS into the Western diet in 1975 has been a multi-billion dollar boon for the corn industry.

The FDA classifies fructose as GRAS: Generally Regarded As Safe. Which pretty much means nothing and is based on nothing.

There is plenty of data showing that fructose is not safe -- but the effects on the nation's health have not been immediate. That is why we are just now realizing the effects of the last three decades of nutritional misinformation.

As if the negative metabolic effects are not enough, there are other issues with fructose that disprove its safety:

More than one study has detected unsafe mercury levels in HFCS[ii].
Crystalline fructose (a super-potent form of fructose the food and beverage industry is now using) may contain arsenic, lead, chloride and heavy metals.
Nearly all corn syrup is made from genetically modified corn, which comes with its own set of risks.
　
The FDA isn't going to touch sugar, so it's up to you to be proactive about your own dietary choices.

What's a Sugarholic to Do?

Ideally, I recommend that you avoid as much sugar as possible. This is especially important if you are overweight or have diabetes, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure.
I also realize we don't live in a perfect world, and following rigid dietary guidelines is not always practical or even possible.

If you want to use a sweetener occasionally, this is what I recommend:
　
- Use the herb stevia. (JA note: Stevia is fine, but can have a bitter aftertaste.)
- Use organic cane sugar in moderation.
- Use organic raw honey in moderation.
- Avoid ALL artificial sweeteners, which can damage your health even more quickly than fructose.
- Avoid agave syrup since it is a highly processed sap that is almost all fructose. Your blood sugar will spike just as it would if you were consuming regular sugar or HFCS. Agave's meteoric rise in popularity is due to a great marketing campaign, but any health benefits present in the original agave plant are processed out. (JA note: Yes, it is almost pure fructose, but if that is the extent of the fructose that you consume, you should be fine - and it has been shown to produce a lower surge in blood sugar (GI) due to how it is digested than other forms of sugar. From glycemicindex.com:
FoodName : Organic Agave Cactus Nectar, light, 97% fructose (Western Commerce Corp., USA)
GI (vs Glucose) : 10
Serve Size : 10
Carb per Serve (g) : 8
Glycemic Load : 1
Time Period of Test : 2h
Subjects Used in Test : Normal
Reference : Sydney University’s Glycemic Index Research Service (Human Nutrition Unit, University of Sydney, Australia), unpublished observations, 1995-2007. )
- Avoid so-called energy drinks and sports drinks because they are loaded with sugar, sodium and chemical additives. Rehydrating with pure, fresh water is a better choice.
　
If you or your child is involved in athletics, I recommend you read my article Energy Rules for some great tips on how to optimize your child's energy levels and physical performance through good nutrition.

[i] Robert H. Lustig, MD: UCSF Faculty Bio Page, and YouTube presentation "Sugar: The bitter truth" and "The fructose epidemic" The Bariatrician, 2009, Volume 24, No. 1, page 10)[ii] "Why is the FDA unwilling to study evidence of mercury in high-fructose corn syrup?" 20 Feb 2009.

Dr. Joseph Mercola is the founder and director of Mercola.com. Become a fan of Dr. Mercola on Facebook, on Twitter and check out Dr. Mercola's report on sun exposure!
　

Your mother always told you that soda was bad for you

2010-02-15T22:11:00.002-05:00

This is one of the many reason why I gave up (mostly gave up, that is) drinking soda last year. Note that sugar is the probable culprit (yet again).

Sugary soft drinks linked to pancreatic cancer: study
(Found this here: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/100209/health/health_drink_cancer)

Mon Feb 8, 10:35 PM

WASHINGTON (AFP) - People who drink at least two sugary sodas a week have an increased risk of developing cancer of the pancreas, and researchers suspect the culprit is sugar, a new study shows.

Analyses of data collected on 60,524 Singapore Chinese adults showed that people who drank two or more sugar-sweetened soft drinks a week were at greater risk of developing pancreatic cancer compared with individuals who did not, the study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention says.

No link was found between drinking juice and pancreatic cancer, which is one of the most rapidly fatal cancers in adults, with less than five percent of patients surviving five years or more after being diagnosed with the illness.

The study was the first to look at the role fizzy drinks and juice play in the development of pancreatic cancer in Asians, whose diet and lifestyle are becoming more and more Western, the study says. Previous studies had looked at Europeans and Americans.

Participants in the study who consumed two or more sodas per week tended to be younger men who smoke, drink alcohol, eat higher-calorie diets and are less physically active.

They also ate more red meat, the study found.

The findings of the study were adjusted for other dietary factors which have been linked with pancreatic cancer, such as consumption of red meat.

"But the adjustments did not change the link between soda and the risk of pancreas cancer," said Mark Pereira of the University of Minnesota's division of epidemiology and community health, one of the authors of the study.

"We suspect sugar is the culprit, but we cannot prove it from this study," Pereira told AFP, adding that the researchers only looked at carbonated sugar-sweetened beverages, not sports drinks or diet soft drinks.

"A typical serving of soda is 20 ounces and contains 65 grams of sugar. By comparison, a typical serving of orange juice is eight ounces and contains 21 grams of sugar," Pereira said.
Fizzy drinks are "the leading sources of added sugar in the US diet" and greatly contribute to hyperglycemia, or high blood sugar, and hyperinsulemia -- when the amount of insulin in the blood is higher than normal -- the study says.

Insulin is produced by the pancreas and helps regulate blood sugar.

If the findings of the study are confirmed, then cutting out sugar-sweetened sodas would be a way to reduce the risk of developing pancreatic cancer, and this would be "important due to the poor prognosis and minimal effect of conventional treatment methods" for the cancer, the study says.

The data analyzed for the soda study came from the Singapore Chinese Health Study, which enrolled more than 63,000 Singapore Chinese who lived in government housing estates -- as nearly nine in 10 people in Singapore do -- and looked at their diets, physical activity and medical history, among others.

Emerging from a carbo-enduced coma

2010-02-14T14:15:00.003-05:00

Well, I am back from a 10-day vacation with the family to our house in Florida. It was wonderful there; I got to spend time with my Dad and Alba, had loads of fun at Disney and other attractions in the area and worked my butt off keeping the house in tip-top shape. As I usually do, I let the good eating go by the wayside while on holiday (this is how I keep going on this lifestyle - allowing myself the freedom to eat whatever I feel like every now and again). However, I am now feeling the effects of all of my over-carb consumption and it is time to get on the wagon again.

After Chris dug me out this morning (quite literally), I hit the store. Here is what I came home with.

Fruits & Veggies
Mini-Pearl Tomatoes
Crushed No-Sugar-Added Applesauce
Pre-chopped Mirepoix
1 bag Champs Elysees Salad Mix
1 bag Romaine Salad
Organic cut butternut squash
Baby Bella mushrooms
Asparagus
Haricot Vert
Yellow onions
Strawberries
Fuji apples
Anjou pears
Avacado
Lemon

Meat
Low sodium sliced turkey
Celebrity Healthy ham
Conventional 80/20 ground beef
Conventional ground turkey
Organic chicken tenders

Dairy
Gouda cheese
Tillamook kosher/vegetarian cheddar cheese
Cream cheese
2% Milk
Whole milk organic plain yogurt

Breads
Kashi TLC crackers
Multi grain 6gr fiber per slice bread
Sprouted flourless whole wheat bread

Treats (sadly not for me)
French baguette
Sweet potato chips
Bananas
Oatmeal cookies
Dark chocoalte/peanut bar (OK, maybe some of this is for me!)

I will let you know as the week progesses what comes of this shopping trip. I've already made lunch with it (ham and cheese paninis on baguette for the boys - mine on sprouted bread - with strawberries and milk to drink). I am thinking butternut squash soup (I am still trying to figure out the GI on this - anyone?), chicken parmigiana (with my homemade marinara), maybe a meatloaf or something else with the ground meat. Stay tuned.

Balsamic vinegrette --- yum!

2010-02-01T11:28:00.004-05:00

I love salad. I have always loved salad. And being Italian, I like vinegrette on my salad (although I would never say no to bleu cheese). I have been making my own vinegrette for years now. Not only is it better for you, with no HFCS or preservatives, but it costs pennies on the dollar and can be whipped together with pantry staples in no time flat.

This is my standard, go to vinegrette receipe. Note that I like my vinegrette to be very tart. You may find that you prefer the standard 3-1, oil to acid ratio instead of this very tart version. If so, add a bit more oil to your taste.

Julie's 3 Vinegar Vinegrette

1 T Dijon mustard

1 clove garlic, minced

1 T parmesan cheese (optional)

1/4 C balsamic vinegar

1/8 C red wine vinegar

1/8 C rice wine vinegar

3/4 C olive oil

1 t seasoned salt, or salt and pepper to taste

All all ingredients to a glass or other sealed jar. Shake well to combine.

As usual, I ran my recipe thru a nurtitional analyzer. It comes up at about the same number of calories as regular bottled balsamic (I used Wishbone as a baseline) but is 64% lower in sodium and contains no sugar. What more can you ask for?

The virtues of homemade marinara sauce

2010-01-29T19:50:00.011-05:00

I love to make marinara sauce. I have done it routinely for a number of years now, but really started in earnest last year when I decided to give processed foods the boot. I made a HUGE vat of it today. Every time I make marinara sauce I am amazed at how easy it is to make and wonder why I ever used store bought before.

Here is my recipe:

Julie's From Scratch Big Batch Marinara (makes 22 cups)

24 C chopped tomatoes (fresh or no salt added canned*)
3 medium onions, chopped fine
1 large head of garlic, chopped fine
3 T olive oil
1/4 C dried parsley
1 T dried Italian seasoning blend
1 T salt
1 T pepper
1 t red pepper flakes (optional)

Lightly saute onions in olive oil to soften, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook one minute more. Add tomatoes and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and add remaining ingredients. Simmer, covered, for one hour. Puree with hand blender to desired consistency.

I used to buy Hunts Traditional, so I decided to run my recipe thru an analyzer to see how they compare. Hunts contains the following:

Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste), High Fructose Corn Syrup, Salt, Corn Syrup, Soybean Oil, Dehydrated Onions, Sugar, Tomato Fiber, Spices, Citric Acid, Natural Flavor.

My recipe:

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 125 g
Amount Per Serving
Calories : 36
Calories from Fat : 14
% Daily Value*Total Fat: 1.5g 2%
Cholesterol : 0mg 0%
Sodium : 223mg 9%
Total Carbohydrates : 5.5g 2%
Dietary Fiber : 1.6g 6%
Sugars : 3.4g
Protein : 1.1g
Vitamin A 19%
Vitamin C 26%
Calcium 2%
Iron 2%
Nutrition Grade A
* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Hunts:

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 126 g
Amount Per Serving
Calories : 50
Calories from Fat : 10
% Daily Value* Total Fat 1g 2%
Saturated Fat : 0g 0
Trans Fat :0
Cholesterol : 0mg
Sodium : 620mg 26%
Total Carbohydrate : 10g 3%
Dietary Fiber : 2g 8%
Sugars : 8g
Protein : 2g
Vitamin A 8%
Vitamin C 25%
Calcium 2%

My sauce wins on calories, sodium, overall carbs, sugar and vitamins A and C. They win on calories from fat and dietary fiber (only marginally on both counts). I will let you be the judge, but I call mine the winner (and BTW, it tastes really good).

* Use fresh whenever possible. Apparently we now have to worry about BPA in our canned goods and tomatoes, due to their acidic nature, cannot be packaged in a non-BPA can. (BPA has been linked to obesity, infertility, premature puberty, among other things {sounds like these folks have been reading my medical records!}). I am trying to source out non-canned tomatoes for future use.

A very useful article on shopping

2010-01-28T18:30:00.001-05:00

I read this article about a year ago. It was very helpful in relearning how to shop. This is now second nature to me, but I thought you might all enjoy it.

http://www.experiencelifemag.com/issues/january-february-2009/healthy-eating/how-healthy-people-shop.html

I have more to say on their Dirty Dozen list, but I am swamped tonight. More on that later.

A Cautionary Word on Agave Nectar

2010-01-27T08:41:00.001-05:00

I discovered Agave Nectar very early on in my research on low gi / whole foods way of eating. As far as I can tell, agave is as close to the perfect sweetener as you can get. I have tried other sweeteners: brown rice syrup, honey, date sugar, maple syrup, stevia, aspartame, but they all have some drawback. Some taste great, but were refined. Some have a bitter aftertaste. And other, while natural, cause my blood sugar to soar. Then came agave. Hallelujah!

Agave is low on the glycemic index scale (around 27), tastes good and you can use it in almost anything. Baking with agave can be a challenge because it does not give a good crumb to baked goods as does refined sugar (for instance, if you make chocolate chip cookies with agave, you get soft and chewy instead of crispy) and you must remember to reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe. But, if you can get past these obstacles, it is wonderful stuff.

The reason that agave is the perfect sweetening choice for me (and anyone with diabetes or other sugar related issues) is that is has a high fructose to glucose ratio. Fructose is digested slowly by the body as compared to other sugars and it therefore does not cause the immediate sugar surge into the bloodstream. This is what I want to avoid at all costs. However, just because the glycemic response is low to agave nectar does not make it a health food. Here's why.

Most carbs that we eat are glucose. When we eat that glucose, it enteres the bloodstream and the body releases insulin to regulate it. Fructose is not processed in the bloodstream, hence the reason for the slow glycemic response to eating it. Sounds great huh? Well, yes and no. Fructose gets processed in the liver. If too much fructose enters the liver, the liver struggles to process it and what it can't process it converts to fat. That fat then gets sent off into the bloodstream as the dreaded triglycerides. Oh no.

The upshot of this is that while low on the glycemic index, agave nectar is not a "free" food. As with any sweetener, we should be judicious in how we use/eat it. I wouldn't recommend eating a whole pan of brownie receipe that I shared last night (although you might want to) because your liver will surely have a hard time processing it.

Knowing all that I do about agave nectar, it is still my sweetener of choice. I use about 1/2 t in my coffee every morning, use in in place of honey in savory recipes, and I substitute it for sugar routinely in baking. However, I don't bake a lot. I try to avoid sweets altogether. But, as in all things, I strive for balance (I am SUCH a libra) so using agave in the occassional pan of brownies is the way to go for me. Now that you know when I know about agave, I will let you all draw your own conclusions.

While the cats away, the mouse will make BROWNIES!

2010-01-26T20:16:00.002-05:00

So my husband is traveling, again, and I am craving something sweet. I decide that this is the perfect time to try something for desert that he would be dubious about. So tonight I made brownies. But not any brownies; I made Black Bean Brownies.

I can almost hear the air being sucked out of the room. Did she say Black Bean Brownies? GROSS! Nope, I swear they are anything but gross. They were actually pretty freaking amazing if I do say so myself.

I made this from a new cookbook, Baking with Agave Nectar, by Ania Catalano. Santa brought it for Christmas and so far, it rocks.

THE AMAZING BLACK BEAN BROWNIES

4 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 C butter
2 C soft cooked black beans, drained well
1 C walnuts, chopped
1 T vanilla extract
1/4 C instant coffee powder
1/4 t sea salt
4 eggs
1 1/2 C light agave nectar

Preheat oven to 325. Line 11x18 baking pan with parchment and spray lightly with cooking spray. Set aside.

Melt chocolate and butter in microwave for 1 1/2 - 2 minutes. Stir with spoon to melt chocolate.

Place the beans, 1/2 C walnuts, vanilla and a few spoonfuls of the chocolate mixture into a food processor. Process on high for 2 minutes or until thick and smooth. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix 1/2 C walnuts, remaining chocolate mixture, coffee powder and salt. Mix well and set aside.

In another bowl, beat eggs with electric mixer until light and creamy, about 1 minute. Add agave nectar and beat well. Set aside.

Add the bean mix to the coffee mix and stir until blended well. Add the egg mixture, reserving 1/2 C. Mix well. Pour batter into prepared pan. Using electric mixer, beat the remaining 1/2 C egg mixture until light and fluffy. Drizzle over brownie mix. use a wooden toothpick to pull the egg mixture through the batter, creating a marbled effect. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes or until set. Let cool in pan completely before cutting into squares (they will be soft until refrigerated).

Why write a blog anyways?

2010-01-26T16:09:00.000-05:00

I got an email a few days ago from a friend urging me to write a blog. Why write a blog I though? Who in the world would care about what I eat and how I feed by family other than those who know and love me? Well, apparently my posts on Facebook about our way of eating were enough to inspire her and she thought I should share with the world. Will anybody want to read my ramblings? Who knows, but I am putting it out there.

Here's my story: I am Julie Anne, a 41 year old SAHM with two active boys and a husband who works hard (and a lot, I might add). In October of 2008 I turned 40 and it blew me out of the water. Its not like I didn't see it coming, but I was really blown away by what it meant. My husband, great guy that he is, whisked me away for a celebratory vacation to Lancaster County, PA. As we usually do, we snapped loads of photos. When I got home, I had a good look at those photos and was mortified at what I saw.

Now, for those of you who don't know me, I have been heavy my entire life. Varying degrees of heavy, to be sure, but always heavy. Well, when I looked at the photos of my 40th birthday I realized that I hadn't been this heavy since before my first child was born. I looked old, tired and fat. Delightful.

Still reeling from the sting of my birthday photos, my doctor suggested a blood panel as I was now officially in my 40's. Being the good patient that I am, I submitted and had the blood drawn. No surprise, I had massively elevated insulin, borderline high fasting glucose and, despite my overall low cholesterol, high triglycerides (in ratio that is). Combine that with the high blood pressure that I developed when I was pregnant with my second child, the doctor politely told me that I was a ticking time bomb.

Now, I am not so stupid to not realize that someday, sometime, youth would no longer be on my side and I would start to feel (and see) the effects of my seemingly unhealthy relationship with food. But, I had no idea it would happen this fast. It sounds so cliche, but really, where did the time go? How did this happen? Well heck, it HAS happened. Now what? I certainly cannot die right now. I have two small kids at home. Something has to change, but what?

For the next three months, I read, read, read and read all I could about food science and nutrition. Then I looked at my diet, honestly assessing what I was eating. From what I could see, I ate no more than anyone else that I know (thin or not). OK, so if it is not how much I was eating, obviously the problem was what I was eating. I was eating a standard American diet - cereal for breakfast, sandwich for lunch, pasta or potatoes and meat for dinner. It seemed to me that every around me ate exactly the same sorts of things that I did, but I was (literally) twice the person that they all were. Obviously my body doesn't act like everyone else's.

In my research, I came across something called the Glycemic Index. This measures the effects on the breakdown of carbohydrates on blood sugar levels. I will spare everyone the details (Google it and you will find loads of information) but the upshot is that with people who have elevated insulin (me) have much better control of that insulin (or insulin response really) when eating foods that are low on the GI scale. Moreover, some recent studies have suggested that eating low GI can help to reduce the risk of Type 2 Diabetes (which is coming next for me, for sure) and coronary heart disease. Other studies have shown that eating high GI carbohydrates is associated with increased risk of obesity. Hmmmm....maybe this low GI thing is worth checking out.

In addition to learning about the Glycemic Index (and its cousin, the Glycemic Load - again Google it), I did a lot of reading on our food supply in general. I was shocked to learn how much of our food contains non-food (specially chemical additives, sugar, stabelizers, etc.) Reading a grocery food label these days is akin to taking a science exam. What in the heck! I had no idea. I felt like I had been duped. Not only was the diet that I grew up on intrinsically bad for me, but the food that I purchased at the grocery store wasn't even food at all. OMG, something has to change and it has to happen now.

So now, here we are, 1 year in to a low glycemic, whole food eating experiment. It hasn't been easy, but you know, it hasn't been all that hard either. A word of caution (or explaination really). I am not on this diet (and by diet, I mean way of eating) to lose weight. If I happen to lose some weight (which I have), that's great. If I don't, that is OK too. I know that either way, I am doing something good for myself by chosing to eat in this manner. With this blog, I hope that I can inspire you with what we as a family have done to better our health. I am not crazy-militant about it, but I try as best I can to feed myself and my family good, honest, healthy meals, but, if we eat processed foods occasionally, that is OK. I don't beat myself up about it. I simply understand that last year at this time we would have been eating almost all processed foods and know how much better off we are now. I strive for balance. I strive to honor my body and those of my family. I know that we are on a path to good health and hope that I might, in some small way, help you to get there too.

(BTW, here is my disclaimer: I am not a doctor, scientist, or medical professional. Any information on this blog should be interpreted only as those of my un-scientific personal opinion. Before you change your eating habits, please consult your physician.)