A FRIDGE FULL OF FOOD...

Doctor's Kitchen Monday: New Diet Study Linking High Fat & Carbs to Reduced Heart Efficiency

This preliminary study points towards a link between a diet high in fats and carbs, like a typical western-style diet high in fast foods (burgers & fries) is linked to short term reduction in exercise tolerance and cognitive thinking.

Not good. Not a surprise, either.  More motivation to eat clean.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090811143548.htm

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/fatty-foods-affect-memory-and-exercise/?apage=3

Doctor's Kitchen Monday: Edamame Succotash with Brown Rice

 

Look at all that great food for work one night last week...and then it was so horribly busy I never got a chance to eat a bite of it all night long. Oh well. I ate the succotash for breakfast the next day so at least I got to enjoy it!

 

I make this dish fairly often because it's great for you and super quick to put together, works perfectly for lunch, dinner, or work lunch, and is a great "getting closer to vegetarian" dish for us meat eaters.  Gene says he really likes it but he'd like it better with a bunch of chicken in it.  I tell him that defeats the purpose of eating a vegetarian dinner once a week for our health. He thinks chicken is vegetarian. :-)

Click below for the recipe.

Doctor's Kitchen Monday: "There's Chicken in my Spaghetti"

 

Chicken, a simple substitution that has much less fat in it than beef in spaghetti, still has all the taste of meat and and the healthy goodness of the tomato sauce.  A perfect dish for the crockpot, it's also easy to throw into a roaster to cook it low and slow while leaving it alone for the afternoon.

I first had this at the soon-to-be in-laws of my friend, Shawna, 20-something years ago.  I'd flown to Calgary to attend her wedding and we got snowed in, blizzarded in I should say, at her wonderful in-laws where we were served this for one of the dinners. 

Let's talk the weather in Canada for a second, shall we?  I'm from Missouri, although I have lived in Washington (state) and Utah but that still didn't prepare me for Canadian "spring".  The wedding was in April and I remember Shawna saying about clothes "wear whatever you would normally wear in spring".  Hmmmm...what she meant to say was "wear whatever you'd wear for Missouri winter". Although we get a few snows over the winter, our snow is usually gone within a few days. I wasn't prepared for snow that stayed on the ground until almost summer and the freezing temps that accompany that snow. At the time I freaked out in my light sweaters and khakis but now I look back and smile and am warmed by the memories of spending time with my dear friend and the hospitality of her new family.

This dish is my entry this week in Ruth's, of Once Upon a Feast, wonderful Presto Pasta Nights, hosted this week by Graziana of Erbe in Cucina .  Be sure to drop by her "place" on Friday to see all the wonderful pasta dishes rounded up this week.

Doctor's Kitchen Monday: Glenna's All Day Spaghetti 3-Meat Sauce (Low & Slow w/Lots of Veggies)

 

In keeping with the goals I've mentioned before of dieting and reining things back in my life, I've been thinking I'm going to start posting more of my daily menus, of course hoping it will inspire me more and more to keep fighting the good fight when it comes to food. As in REAL food, not processed crap.  Sure, there will be days when I eat out or drive through a "thru" or screw up (translation: soda!)  but all in all I'm feeling pretty rejuvinated. It's amazing to me how many of our choices in life, bad choices in life, are made because we feel bad.  Do you know what I mean? I'm finally, after months of respiratory infections and fighting my asthma, starting to feel like myself again.  The odd thing to me is how much feeling better has perked me back up in terms of not only my attitude but in my food choices and what I'm physically able to do.  I'm not "living" on sugar and caffeine anymore.  Isn't it the ultimate irony that when the body feels crummy we tend to take the easiest way out and feed it crap from a box or a window when that's the most important time we should be concentrating on healthy, vibrant, nutritious foods?  Crazy but human. It's just too easy these days to grab bad food when we feel bad and save cooking for when we feel better.  Sad, but true.

But hey, I'm back, and today I made my new favorite all day spaghetti sauce that's actually packed with, yes three meats, but also tons of fresh veggies and isn't overloaded with fat.  This sauce is not your average hamburger and tomato sauce sauce. It has three meats:  sirloin (chunks and ground), pork chops, and Italian sausage.  It's finished out with five vegetables and a host of seasonings. Normally, I'm not a huge meat eater, not because I don't like the taste but because I don't like the texture. This one is different.  From being simmered so long, the meat has the softer texture of a really good slow-cooked chili or vegetable beef soup.  With about a 40 minute prep, if you can handle two pots at once, it's a great recipe to throw into the crockpot to finish simmering while you work during the day, or sleep to us nightshifters.

This is my entry for this week's Presto Pasta Nights, created by the very cool Ruth of Once Upon a Feast, and hosted this week by Patsy of Family, Friends, and Food.  Check out both blogs on Friday to see the round-up of great pasta dishes across the blogs this week.

Mama Always Said "Eat Your Vegetables!"

 

This is now my favorite secret weapon for getting all my veggies in each day which is harder than it looks, as we all know.  Four is no problem but when you try to up it to six or eight servings it's more of a struggle unless you're really on your toes.  This is one of those quick, easy, flexible soups that is making its way into my home lunches and work lunches with ease.

On this particular day I used bagged frozen vegetables of green beans, carrots, peas, and corn, but I've also used a mix of broccoli and cauliflower, lima and green beans, and whatever I happen to have in the freezer.

I like this soup because it's super quick, only 3 ingredients really and they're right there in the pantry all the time, very filling, and it tastes good on top of sneaking in an extra 2 servings of vegetables. 

Quick Veggie Pasta Soup lunch for ONE:

Recipe by Glenna Anderson Muse

In a medium sauce pan, bring to boil:

1 15 oz can no fat, low sodium chicken or vegetarian broth plus 1/2 cup water

Add in 1 cup frozen vegetables of choice

Season to taste with salt & pepper, and Cavender's if you have it.

Simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Add in 1/4 cup alphabet or other tiny pasta

Simmer for an additional 5-8 minutes.

Top with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese if desired.

Serving:  1

Calories per serving:  225    Carbs:   29      Fat:  1    Protein: 9  Fiber:  5.5

Weight watchers points:  4

 

Congratulations to Ruth on reaching her 100th Presto Pasta Nights!  This week's historical round up will be posted tomorrow on Ruth's blog Once Upon a Feast at www.onceuponafeast.blogspot.com.  Go say "Hi!" to Ruth and see all the great pasta dishes from week.

Doctor's Kitchen Monday: Cake Doesn't Have to Bad for You: Banana Crumb Snack Cake

Tried a new cake recipe the other night. This is Banana Crumb Snack Cake from Taste of Home Magazine, Aug/Sep '08, page 59.  I'll show you two recipes on it. The first will be exactly from the magazine. The second will be how I modified it to be more heart healthy for Gene.

Review of the cake itself?  Gene said it's good but not quite as good as my other banana cake recipe but I think that might be because he didn't like the crunch of the brown sugar/almonds on top, and my other recipe is all white flour.  So this cake isn't the recipe I used to use for wedding cakes back when I had the business but it's still very good and a lot better for you.

Hmmmm...that doesn't really sound like a glowing recommendation but seriously, it's a very good cake for every day and stands up well by itself without the cream cheese frosting that most recipes call for as the topping.

Doctor's Kitchen Monday: Making Better Choices

Forgive this pic. I took it with my phone's camera and it does not take quality pics. But it did well enough to make the point for me.

We went to St. Louis for the weekend with friends and had a great time but, as usual, I ate much too much junk food and soda. Soda, my personal nemesis. Love Coke.  It's addictive to me, as if the other coke were still in it.

Anyway, my point here is that I got up late and had some errands that absolutely had to be taken care of. So out and about town I had several choices for lunch: burgers, pizza, chicken, pasta.  In a strip mall that has one of what used to be one of my favorite pizza joints, McSalty's, I decided to forego the drive-thru and take a 20 minute break. 

McSalty's, I often forget about them even though 20 years ago the eatery was a staple of mine, as it still is of many. What makes them different?  A wonderfully crispy whole wheat crust.  So although I had pizza for lunch in the big sense, in the nuts and bolts sense of the one slice & salad special,  I had lean protein, cheese, whole wheat crust, and a  lovely salad with tomatoes, sprouts, and an olive oil dressing.  I drank unsweetened iced tea instead of soda.

I chose wisely and that's the key, not never eating pizza again or never eating out again, but being smart about where I go and what I order.  I have to keep reminding myself that it's not about all or nothing, it's about better and best.

Doctors Kitchen Monday: Donating to the The Coalition for Women with Heart Disease in our Friend Sherry's Name

Lia Huber of Swirling Notions has hooked up with Clos Du Bois to initiate a wonderful tribute to our wonderful friend Sher Cermak of What Did you Eat? who passed away on July 20th recently of a massive heart attack.  Clos Du Bois has agreed to match funds that we raise up to $10,000 which means we have the chance to raise up to $20,000 in Sher's name!

To donate, please click here:  Women Heart through Swirling Notions(not on the graphic to the left).  My link will take you to Lia's posting where she explains step by step and has the links so that all donations we make are credited to Sherry and so that we can have an idea of the total donated.

WomenHeart is the only patient-led national non-profit organization that educates and advocates for the 8 million American women living with heart disease. With 16,000 members and 50 local support groups, WomenHeart gives women heart patients and physicians a platform to spread the common message of early detection, accurate diagnosis and proper treatment so all women can lead healthier lives.

Thanks, Lia! That's a wonderful idea!

Doctors' Kitchen Monday: "Weight Loss with a Low Carbohydrate, Mediterranean, or Low Fat Diet" Study

       

By now, I'm sure most everyone has heard or read the news that a new study has come out in The New England Journal of Medicine (July 17, 2008, volume 359) saying that low carb diets are more effective for weight loss than low fat diets.  That's  what all the headlines are saying.  BUT, that's not exactly what the study concluded.  What the study actually concluded was:

"Conclusions Mediterranean and low-carbohydrate diets may be effective alternatives to low-fat diets. The more favorable effects on lipids (with the low-carbohydrate diet) and on glycemic control (with the Mediterranean diet) suggest that personal preferences and metabolic considerations might inform individualized tailoring of dietary interventions. "

To me, that's saying something slightly different than what the headlines read. It's saying that low carb diets may be more effective as an alternative to low fat, that low carb did have show a better lipid profile, specifically Mediterranean diet showed a better glycemic profile, and that (to me this is the important part ) is that your diet should reflect your health needs and goals.

The reason why I make such a distinction is because I feel very strongly that although a lot of diet basics are the same: Eat less, exercise more, eat fresh wholesome foods, I get the willies when any headline comes out saying "This is the one and only way you can lose weight" or "This diet is the one and only one that works" which is the impression I got from most of the articles I read ABOUT the study before reading the study itself, which to me, confirmed common sense: we eat to live and that means we have to make our diet line up with our particular health needs.

For the complete text of the study, click here:  Weight Loss Study.

I found the study's definition of the three diets extremely interesting especially since the way the study defined them differed from how I automatically defined them from my own experience and knowledge.

Doctor's Kitchen Monday: The Mediterranean Diet

"One of these things is not like the others...." in that you've already seen it:  the yogurt-creamed gazpacho.  The night Lynn and James came over for dinner was an all-out Mediterranean Diet pleasure and one of the first days in a long time that I actually did get all 8 of my fruit/vegetable servings (with one to spare!) in for that day and all 8 glasses of water we're supposed to get each day.

The water count is fine. I can deal with that.  But the veggie's and fruit servings are, let's be honest, more difficult in our society.  I've been diet diary-ing for a lot of years and there are lots of days when Gene and I only get one or two servings max.  Think about it.  Say you have eggs and toast for breakfast, a hamburger (or other fast food sandwich), fries, and soda at work (which is certainly not unheard of), and then you come home tired, not wanting to cook and have a piece of chicken with some potatoes or rice, maybe some bread, and some quickly heated up corn, peas, or green beans. What's that leave you with?  A barely edible canned veggie at dinner and the ass-berg lettuce and anemic tomato on your burger. That's really not enough vegetables, and taking a multi-vitamin, the panacea of our generation, doesn't cut it either. It's better than nothing but not much unless you're taking pharmaceutical-grade supplements.  You just don't know what you're getting and the body processes them better when they come out of real food.