Food on the Oprah Show Wednesday

I don't know how many of you saw the Oprah show yesterday, but it was all about food, what we're eating and where it comes from. Michael Pollan, a journalist, who has written a number of books on food, was on the show. I'm not sure if he was just on to promote his new movie "Food, Inc." and book "Food Rules" but he had a few interesting things to say and I thought I would share my take on the rhetoric.

There is a legitimate concern in this country that we are buying more and more processed food, convenience food, that have too much sodium, fat and sugar, and lead to the increasing health problems of Americans, such as Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Obesity. Michael gave these statistics: "In 1960, 18% of national income was used for food while only 5% on health care. Today, we spend 9% of our income on food and 17% on health care." He stated, "The less we spend on food, the more we spend on health care." I found this very interesting. I think all of us are witnesses to the fact that when you buy foods such as produce, we tend to spend more. The alternative, processed foods, are much more affordable. We also have to spend more time preparing and cooking these foods so many busy families opt for the fast food or microwave options. He believes there needs to be a big shift in our thinking as we look at food and make decisions in the grocery store or elsewhere. His attitude is "Pay for real food now-or pay the doctor later."

Some of Michael's food rules:
1: Eat food.

2: Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food.

7: Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce.

13: Eat only foods that will eventually rot.

39: Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.

My recommendation is to shop the perimeter of your grocery store for the most part which consists of the produce section, dairy, meat, eggs, and grains, (also frozen foods (choose "whole foods" here, limiting meal foods) as much as possible. Entering the aisles for rice, pasta, cereal, and other non-perishable "whole foods". I think with a little education, we can learn to cook quick, easy meals that are affordable but with "better" food choices. The point of this blog is to help you in that department. With that said, I think there are times when quick, frozen meals and fast food are lifesavers and can be part of a healthy diet but looking at our waist lines and the statistics ("Average American eats fast food 4x's a week."), we do it way too often!!

Something he pointed out as well, which I think is important to mention, is that food labels can sometimes be misleading. The front of a food item will tell you the item is fat-free but it does not state that it is calorie-free and that trips up people. Calories may be higher in the product because they've increased the sugar to make up for the lack of fat. Carbs and protein have calories too, not just the fat, so it's important to look at the back of your label.

If you want to get more information on the episode you can go to Oprah.com.

Oh, another part of the show was highlighting Alicia Silverstone's "The Kind Diet". I'm not going to say much other than it is a pretty strict vegetarian diet that I can respect but not recommend.

Get Your 5 a Day!

I'm sure you've heard of the 5 a day program/recommendation. We are encouraged to get at least 5 servings of fruits and veggies each day. The recommendation is to get 2-4 servings fruit and 3-5 servings of veggies. For most of us, the fruit recommendation is doable, I would imagine. But the veggie goal, on the other hand, is a little more difficult to attain. We don't tend to eat veggies at all meals so it requires careful planning to add to lunches or snack and then we may still have to load ourselves up at dinner. Occasionally, we may have an omelet or eggs at breakfast with a few veggies added, but probably only on the weekend.

Well, here's a great sandwich which you can add to your vegetarian repertoire which easily gives you your recommended servings of vegetables.

Mediterranean Sandwich

baguette/french bread/sub/crusty roll/bolillo, etc
provolone slices
green peppers, sliced
roasted red peppers (in jar)
fresh basil leaves
tomatoes, sliced
red onion, sliced
Kalamata olives, sliced (black Greek olives)
Avocado, sliced
Olive oil, small drizzle (optional)
salt (optional)

(My husband also likes to drizzle Balsamic vinegar and really you can add anything you like but above ingredients are part of the original recipe.)

This sandwich is heaven in bread. We love it!

Authentic Mexican

Here is a recipe from my mother-in-law. Most Mexican women do not use recipes so I'll try to do my best with the measurements.

Chipotle Meatballs

For meatballs:
1 lb extra lean ground beef
1 egg, raw
oregano
basil
garlic powder
salt and pepper
1 egg, boiled, use egg white only, if you prefer
rice, cooked (small amt used in meatballs, the rest for side dish)

For sauce:
3 or 4 cans or boxes 8 oz tomato sauce, already seasoned kind or plain
1 can chipotle peppers, use very small amount unless you like it very spicy (I only use 1 or 2 peppers and remove seeds so it's not too hot for the kids)
splash or 2 of olive oil

For rice: (optional, Mexicans make rice and/or beans with most meals)
white rice, uncooked (amt according to serving size, follow package)
corn, frozen (to taste)
chicken broth

Possible starch sides: Potatoes, chopped into medium chunks or spaghetti pasta
corn tortillas

For meatballs, put meat into bowl, add raw egg and all seasonings. Mix. Then take handfuls of meat and add some chopped egg and rice to each meatball to glue it altogether and give it a good flavor. Once all the meat is used; set meatballs aside.

For sauce, add all the ingredients in a large pot and heat over med to med-high heat until very hot. Then add meatballs to the sauce and if you'd like to eat them with potatoes, add chopped potatoes as well. Cover it. Heat until meatballs are cooked completely and potatoes are soft. (You can use a pressure cooker if you have one and it cooks very quickly.)

Right before serving food, heat stack of(about 5) corn tortillas in a plastic sack (produce bags from the grocery work well) about 45 sec - 1 min in microwave and eat with the meal.

You can also serve the rice on the side and add the sauce over it.

If you prefer a pasta, omit potatoes and just cook pasta according to directions.

I love this dish and so do my kids!!!

Breakfast Challenge

Breakfast seems to be a challenge for so many for numerous reasons. Something that I do for breakfast which is fast and easy is to have a big bowl of cereal but not just any kind of cereal. I take for example Life cereal(maybe even 2 kinds of cereal like raisin bran also)and I add raisins, pecans, bananas or strawberries (whatever I have in the pantry or is in season at the time, typically just raisins and pecans with skim milk. I actually look forward to it because it is so good!! Plan ahead, buy some cereal and some toppings you like and make it something you enjoy!

If you are exercising first thing in the morning, make sure and get a glass of juice before you begin and keep yourself hydrated with plenty of water. And make sure you eat brk when you're done, don't snack!!!

There's nothing wrong with snacking (healthy snacking) between meals but don't skip meals and graze because then you have no idea the calories you are consuming. They will add up!!

Great Spaghetti Recipe

This is a recipe I made up so it doesn't have exact measurements but I'll do my best.
I feed my family of 2 adults and 4 kids and usually have leftovers for the next day.

1/2 lb spaghetti or thin spaghetti pasta
2 (8 oz) cans spaghetti sauce (can add fresh chopped tomatoes cooked or sauteed in a little olive oil with garlic, depends on time constraints)
2-3 cloves minced garlic (to taste)
1/4 smoked or polish sausage cut into small pieces (horseshoe shape)(can find them made with less fat)
large splash red wine vinegar
large splash olive oil
fresh basil leaves or dry basil to taste
salt and pepper

Heat up the water first and get your pasta going once water boils. Cook pasta for 8-10 minutes. While that's cooking, put the garlic in some olive oil in a skillet over medium heat for just a couple minutes to bring out the flavor. If in a hurry, I just put the tomato sauce in a sauce pan and add the garlic without sauteing it and it still turns out ok but the garlic is more understated. At this point, put the tomato sauce into a medium sauce pan over medium heat and add the sauteed garlic. Then add sausage, the vinegar, olive oil, basil and salt and pepper, all to taste. Let it heat on low until all the flavors have percolated enough and the sausage and basil flavors our pretty strong. It should have a little tangy flavor from the red wine vinegar.

This is not your prego spaghetti, the flavor will be very different but we love it!! My kids eat it up better than any other dish I make. If you need to, add Parmesan, but we like it as is.

Sides: Nice green salad with light dressing and toast with light margarine and garlic powder works great!

Bon Appetit!

Our Weight Loss Goals for 2010

Alright, so we are 2 weeks into the new year and I'm sure many of us made weight loss goals for this year. My question would be: "Are they reasonable?", "Are you trying to lose weight in a safe, affective way?" and lastly "Are these changes something you are able to do from here on out?" If your answers are yes to all of them then you're probably on a successful path to weight loss and good health. That is, if you stick to it.

I don't ever suggest counting calories. It is so unnecessary! But I do suggest you learn to read food labels so you can glance at calories per serving, fat content, kind of fat in food product, sugar, protein, sodium, etc. If you don't know anything about food labels, grab any item out of your pantry and take a look at the label. Get familiar with the label. It's your best friend when you shop! I say this because you can quickly glance at a label and know a lot about the product and you can compare it to other products.

For example, margarine vs. butter, which one should I buy. Well, let's look at the label. Blue Bonnet Margarine has 70 calories in a Tbsp and Challenge brand Butter has 100 calories in a Tbsp. Let's look at the fat now, the Margarine has 8 g fat in a Tbsp which is 12% of your daily value while the Butter has 11 g of fat which is 17% of your daily value. So far, margarine is looking better to me. Now, let's look at Saturated and Trans Fat. Margarine has 1.5 g vs butter 7 g. Whoa, that's a big difference. Margarine wins again. But let's see, margarine does have 1.5 g trans fat vs. butter with 0 g. Saturated fat and trans fat are connected to heart disease so really it's the lesser of two evils you are looking at. The content of saturated fat in butter is 7 g which is 35% of your daily value. This is high so I would opt for the margarine when baking unless butter is absolutely necessary and would not use either, butter nor regular margarine on a regular basis, actually. I would suggest light margarine in a tub for spreading on bread and for use in recipes other than baking as it wins over both of these items with only 40 calories in 1 Tbsp, 1 g sat fat and 0 trans fat!

So Light margarine in a tub wins, in my opinion! Unless you are baking, it works as a fabulous substitute for butter or regular margarine.

Again, you don't have to count calories, nor do you have to restrict your calories too much. A typical woman needs about 1800 calories and men 2000 calories, this varies according to weight, height and activity level. My fear for cutting calories, let's say for a woman cutting down to about 1200 calories when she is like 5'7" would be that #1 she is not getting enough calories to function in a healthy manner, #2 she's starving by 3 or 4 in the afternoon and risks a major binge in the evening, which will just make her feel like a failure for not sticking with the plan. Unrealistic goals are sure fire ways to fail!!! Make small, attainable goals that motivate. For example, I will cut out high calorie sodas and fruit juice and replace them with water or low calorie/or calorie free drinks.