Save Your Fork… There’s Pie

People should not throw wedding receptions on Daylight Saving Time switch overs. Or at least not the day after. We went to a wedding reception last night and stayed out far too late and drank far too much. There were drink tickets and the G&T’s were being made with premium gin and an 8 to 1 ratio of G to T. There was much dancing and eating of cake and sushi, not to mention the spitting out of little tiny quiche upon the discovery of the bacon contained therein.

This morning, after little sleep, combined with too much booze and too much dancing (there’s nothing like a gay wedding for good tunes on the dancefloor), I’m feeling a bit rough around the edges.

Ever since I can remember, a hangover demands a salad. My body just wants something fresh and crisp and cold. I have the makings of an excellent salad in the kitchen, of course, but moving from a reclining to a standing position causes me to emit loud “Urrrnnnnggghhh!” noises reminiscent of Lurch from the Addams family.

The quick lunch choices in our immediate vicinity are few. Two burger joints, two sub places and a roti place which, while I typically adore the roti place, didn’t sit well in my brain today.

We opted for subs, assuming we could get a passable salad.

This is what I want to know - why do all salads have meat in them now? Sure, there have always been salads that contained meat; cobb salad, chef’s salad, chicken salad… But there used to be a time when you could just get a decent green (or house) salad and you knew to expect some lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and maybe something fancy like some grated carrots or some sliced olives. Subway doesn’t make a salad without a protein accompaniment. Even the “veggie delite” contains strips of the soy veggie patty they use for their veggie delite sub. Quiznos is the same.

In looking up other fast food places on the Intarwebs, it appears that Wendy’s does actually offer a meatless side salad, but all of their gourmet salads contain meat. Same for MacDonald’s.

When did this happen? Why is there no option for just a big fresh green salad? Why must every damn thing include a dead animal in it? Even the healthy stuff like salads aren’t safe from the hunks of chicken. I blame this on the carb-counting freaks who wanted the fixin’s of a sub, without the bread. What about those of us who want the fixin’s of a salad, without the meat?

I guess later I’ll have to stifle my moans and yawns and drag myself into the kitchen to make a decent salad. A nice BIG salad, Elaine Benes-style. Apparently no fast food chain wants to sell me one.

Denial – not just a river in Egypt.

A recent study of obese adults indicated that 75% of them claim to have healthy eating habits, while 40% claim to exercise vigorously 3 or more times a week. Doctors are not sure whether the study participants are in denial, or if they simply don’t know what constitutes a “healthy diet” or “vigorous exercise”.

“There is, perhaps, some denial going on. Or there is a lack of understanding of what does it mean to be eating healthy and what is vigorous exercise,” said Dr. David Schutt of Thomson Medstat, the Michigan-based health-care research firm that conducted the survey.

The survey found that 28% of obese participants ate two or more snacks per day, compared with 24% of the normal-weight participants, but no records were kept of exactly what any of the participants were eating, or how much.

“In my experience,” explains consumer health advocate Mike Adams, “very few people truly understand what it means to follow a healthy lifestyle. Most consumers suffer under the dangerous misimpression that processed, factory-made foods can somehow be healthy, even though they are stripped of nutrition and laced with chemical additives,” he says. “Part of the problem is that the FDA allows food companies to make ridiculous health claims, such as claiming that chocolate milk powder, made primarily with processed sugar, is good for kids’ bones because it contains a tiny amount of supplemental calcium.”

So are the “festively plump” among us fudging our numbers a bit (mmm.… fudge!), or are we wearing magic rose-coloured glasses that lower the calories and increase the nutritional value of a chocolate éclair to that of an apple? Speaking from personal experience, while I eat extremely healthy meals, admittedly, I have a tendency to eat crappy snacks, such as cookies, pretzels or potato chips. And while I hit the gym for an hour or so most days (something that didn’t happen before I moved into a building with a gym), I used to think of myself as an “exerciser” when I really wasn’t, unless you count a stroll around the block with the dogs.

While the study doesn’t conclusively prove why people are obese, it is an indicator that doctors need to look more closely at the situation. If the respondents are telling the truth, then medical professionals need to spend more time looking at genetic causes of obesity, but if the respondents genuinely are in denial about the quality and quantity of the food they’re eating, far more work needs to be done on teaching people healthy eating habits and how to tell the difference between an apple and an apple turnover.

This post originally appeared on FitFare, part of the WellFed Network.

Greg thinks I’m a bit of a weirdo for laying claim to a section of shelf space in the closet to create a pantry. After Hurricane Katrina, although we are nowhere near New Orleans, or any hurricane, earthquake, tornado, flood, forestfire or landslide danger zone, I got all “emergency preparedness” crazy. Because shit could still happen. It might be another big power outage, like we had in ‘03, or an icestorm or an attack by Tara. Or, more likely, it could be an influenza pandemic that shuts the whole city down.

During “the SARS”, I was going for allergy shots every week, and had to do the whole handwash, mask, questionnaire deal just to get in to see the nurse (my doctor’s office is inside a hospital), so I’m familiar with the protocol. And the paranoia. That was bad enough, but a flu pandemic would be even worse.

Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks of these things. The Toronto Star is reporting on a conference held by Canadian Grocers to ensure that grocery stores and supermarkets are prepared for something such as a flu pandemic. Turns out, most of them really aren’t.

So, because I don’t want to find myself crawling down the empty aisles of the local Price Chopper, wracked with fever and hacking up a lung while fighting some other flu-infected soul for the last can of soup or a box of crushed soda crackers, I’m making a pantry. Not a huge one, not one of those “six months of rations” kind of things that you saw people doing for Y2K, but enough food to get us through for a week or two after the stuff stored in the kitchen cupboards runs out. It doesn’t need to be emergency rations specifically, just extra stuff that we normally eat that we’ll use when we run out. Nothing paranoid, just a pantry.

How many of you keep a pantry of some kind, and if so, what do you keep in it?

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It’s true. That’s not just something made up by the cereal companies. Yet this most important meal is often overlooked or neglected by the majority of North Americans as we rush to get out the door each morning.

The way I see it, our problem is two-fold. First, we are over-scheduled and under-organized and just don’t have the time (or don’t think we have the time) to sit down each morning for breakfast. We rush and hurry and end up grabbing something supremely unhealthy like a donut or a granola bar. Secondly, North Americans just don’t think of their first meal of the day as being “breakfast” unless it looks like a Denny’s Grand Slam.

I mean, stop for a minute and think of your favourite breakfast foods. There’s probably some eggs, bacon, of course, pancakes, waffles, toast… Now who wants to get up and cook that for their family each and every morning? My Grandmother used to, but only because she had to, and just recently she admitted to me that she, the woman who inspired my love of food, hates cooking with every fibre of her being – mostly because of having to get up every single day for 50 years to cook breakfast! If my Grandmother, with her pancakes shaped like Mickey Mouse isn’t up to cooking breakfast, then what hope is there for the rest of us?

Here’s where I get all psychological, because breakfast is a state of mind. It’s all about how you look at it. We need to be able to look at non-traditional breakfast foods and figure out a way to incorporate them into our morning menus. As Time for Timer pointed out in that ABC public service commercial back in the 70s, a healthy quickie breakfast is better than no breakfast at all.

Here’s orange juice and milk and fruit,
Just waiting to be taken,
And bless my soul,
Right here’s a bowl,
With one cold piece of steak in.
A hard-boiled egg, a chicken leg, or cheese or luncheon meat,
or a peanut butter sandwich, any time of day’s a treat.

So to keep your Mom from grumbing,
And stop your stomach rumbing,
And keep your legs from stumbling when you play,
You’ve gotta eat some kind of breakfast every day!

We just need to expand our minds past the eggs and bacon cliché and think about what else we like to eat. A favorite breakfast dish in our house is a simple sauté of shitake mushrooms, tofu and spinach served over brown rice. In most homes, that would be dinner, but it’s a solid protein and fibre-rich meal to start the day.

We also need to be able to make breakfast a priority. That means sitting down, all together, and eating a meal to start the day. Remember, breakfast doesn’t have to be eggs, pastry and five different cuts of pig. It can be as simple as a piece of fruit, or as complicated as a 20-item buffet, but for people watching their weight, breakfast is imperative, otherwise your metabolism slows and you burn the food you do take in less efficiently.

Getting your whole family to the breakfast table can require organizational skills that many people don’t believe they have, but it’s actually quite easy. By planning your meals a week at a time, you can ensure that you have all the necessary ingredients on hand. It can also help you to figure out what can be prepared the night before, or which leftovers can be converted into a breakfast meal. When I make quinoa to serve with trout for dinner, I always make extra so I can just reheat it in the morning and serve it with fruit and maple syrup. All it takes is a half hour a week with a pen, paper and grocery list. Well that, and a bit of time set aside each morning to prepare the meal.

Here are some tricks:

Ah, red sauce and pasta. The weeknight fallback of those with no time to cook. It’s an easy option that usually makes everyone in the family a happy camper. But your average jarred sauce atop white pasta is often compared nutritionally to ketchup on white bread. When a sauce is as easy to make as this one, there’s no reason not to have some on hand. This recipe makes about 8 to 10 servings, so it’s simple to make a big pot and then freeze in single serving containers to make those rushed dinners a snap.

The added vegetables are a great source of vitamin C and the tomato base offers up a healthy dose of the much-coveted lycopene. The sauce is very low-fat with only a bit of olive oil used at the beginning to sauté the onion and garlic.

Paired with a whole wheat pasta and a multi-grain roll, this hearty sauce far outshines the jarred variety found at the supermarket.

Vegetarian Bolognese Sauce

3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 sweet onion, medium dice
1 pkg prepared TVP (equal to 1.5 pounds ground meat)

1/2 each: red, green yellow and orange bell pepper, diced
1/2 medium zucchini, sliced and quartered
3 cups sliced mushrooms

1 16oz can crushed tomatoes
2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp dried oregano
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, sweat garlic and onion in olive oil until soft. Add TVP and stir well. Add crushed tomatoes, salt and pepper, and spices. Stir well and add vegetables, all at once.

Allow to simmer over medium heat, stirring every few minutes or so to prevent burning until the vegetables have softened and the sauce is more liquidy (it will look very dry at first, but as the mushrooms release their liquid, the sauce will loosen up). Adjust seasonings to taste and allow to simmer on low for about half an hour.

Remove bay leaves and serve over whole grain pasta. Makes approximately 8 - 10 servings.

This post originally appeared on FitFare, part of the WellFed Network.

It seems no matter where you turn these days, people are drinking green tea. Even the large soda manufacturers have caught on to the trend and are selling the stuff, with ads plastered all over prime time television for versions of the drink.

So what exactly is it about green tea that has people talking? Turns out, there are a variety of health concerns that are thought to be eased, or even cured, by green tea, such as:

- cancer
- rheumatoid arthritis
- high cholesterol levels
- cardiovascular disease
- infection
- impaired immune function

There are also people who believe that enough of the stuff will help you lose weight. And that it helps prevent tooth decay.

The difference between green tea and black or oolong tea is in the processing. Green tea is steamed, which prevents the catechin polyphenol, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a powerful anti-oxidant, from being destroyed. EGCG has been shown to inhibit the growth of cancer cells, lower LDL cholesterol levels and inhibit the formation of abnormal blood clots.

Black tea, on the other hand, is fermented, and the leaves lose the EGCG compound in the process, making it a tasty beverage, but not necessarily one with outstanding healing properties.

There is much debate on exactly what quantity is needed to benefit from the polyphenols in green tea. Some studies say as little as two cups per day, others as many as ten. Remember that green tea is not completely caffeine-free – the average 6 to 8oz cup of green tea contains 30 to 60mg of caffeine, compared to over 100mg in an equal amount of coffee. However, it is easily digested by most people not prone to caffeine-induced insomnia, and is considerably better than consuming coffee or soda.

One of the most popular ways to consume green tea in North America is sweetened and iced. Most drink companies have some bottled version of an iced green tea available, but it’s simple to make at home. Here is the version most favoured in our house, flavoured with honey, lemon and ginger. It’s just slightly sweet, and very refreshing on a hot summer day.

10 cups cold water
1/4 cup loose green tea leaves
1 herbal lemon teabag
1 oz fresh ginger, sliced
1/4 cup honey
up to 1/4 cup sugar

Bring water to a boil. Remove from heat and add green tea leaves, lemon tea bag and sliced fresh ginger. Allow to steep for about an hour.

Strain tea into a pitcher. Add the honey and stir well. Add the sugar, a bit at a time, to taste. Place in fridge and allow to cool before serving.

This post originally appeared on FitFare, part of the WellFed Network.

It’s difficult enough for the average person to figure out what foods are healthy and nutritious. When you have a food-related illness, the not-so-simple task of grocery shopping becomes a complete nightmare. And sometimes, there is no consensus by doctors and nutritionists as to which foods will best serve an individual’s needs.

Such is the case for diabetics. On the same day that the Globe and Mail newspaper ran an article about a diabetic endocrinologist who put himself on an uber-Atkins style no-carb, high-fat diet, a peer-reviewed study was released indicating that a vegan diet is the best bet for diabetics, even better in fact than what is known as the Standard Diabetic Diet which includes counting carbs.

Dr. Richard Bernstein, an endocrinologist afflicted with Type 1 diabetes created a diet that has significantly helped his own diabetes.

Flying in the face of guidelines set by the American Diabetes Association (and, by extension, the Canadian Diabetes Association), the 72-year-old advocates a radical decrease in blood-sugar levels through major carb-cutting. So major in fact, that one could say Dr. Bernstein “out-Atkins” Atkins, recommending a sustained ultralow-carb diet, rather than easing diabetics off and back onto their bread baskets.

Dr. Bernstein’s diet calls for little to no carbs and large portions of meat and other proteins. Reporter Lorne Rubenstein states that Bernstein’s diet had him eating more eggs in a week than he had previously eaten in six months.

While Bernstein’s diet seems to work for him and his patients, a link between diabetes and high cholesterol levels is well-known. In What to Eat, nutritionist Marion Nestle states, “…if you have diabetes or other such conditions, you are likely to be even more susceptible to the cholesterol-raising effects of eggs.” Since many diabetics also have high cholesterol, Dr. Bernstein’s diet seems to fly in the face of logic.

At the opposite end of the spectrum is the recently-released study which shows that a vegan diet offers the most opportunity for improvement of symptoms for diabetics.

The researchers found that after 22 weeks on the diet, 43 percent of those on the vegan diet and 26 percent of those on the standard diet were either able to stop taking some of their drugs such as insulin or glucose-control medications, or were able to control their condition with lower doses.

The vegan dieters lost 14 pounds (6.5 kg) on average while the diabetes association dieters lost 6.8 pounds (3.1 kg).

An important level of glucose control called a1c which gives a measure of how well-controlled blood sugar has been over the preceding three months, fell by 1.23 points in the vegan group and by 0.38 in the group on the standard diet. It was also found that LDL or “bad” cholesterol also fell by 21 percent in the vegan group and 10 percent in the standard diet group.

The vegan diet places no limits on calories, carbohydrates or portion sizes, all issues that diabetics had to regulate quite carefully.

From a health perspective, the vegan diet definitely comes out on top over an Atkins-type regime full of fat and cholesterol. Dr. Bernstein’s diet may also be difficult for most diabetics to adhere to once they get carb cravings they are not allowed to satisfy.

As a pseudo-vegan with a recently diagnosed diabetic friend, the vegan-positive study is great news to me. I don’t have to worry too much about having that friend over for dinner now, and hopefully I’ll be able to lend a hand as he transitions to a healthier style of eating.

This post originally appeared on FitFare, part of the WellFed Network.

I’m posting this mostly for who requested the recipe. Note that a few things are interchangeable depending on your tastes.

Black Forest Fruitcake

3 cups finely diced candied cherries
1 cup cherry brandy
1/3 cup margarine
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup cocoa
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds
extra liqueur for brushing

In a medium bowl, combine the cherries and the cherry brandy and mix well. Cover the bowl and set aside overnight.

Preheat the oven to 300F. Line muffin tins or mini-muffin tins with baking cups.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the margarine and sugar together. Beat until fluffy and then beat in the egg. Sift together the cocoa, flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the batter and mix until well blended. Add the nuts. Drain the cherries, reserving about 1/4 cup of the brandy; add both cherries and the 1/4 cup of liquid to the batter.

Spoon the batter into the baking cups, filling about 3/4 full. If desired, press a candied cherry into the centre of each one. Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cakes comes out dry. Transfer the baking cups to a wire rack and brush the top of each fruitcake with the additional liqueur. Store in an airtight container to cure the cake, brushing with liqueur about once a week.

Yield: 12 muffin sized cakes and 12 mini-muffin sized cakes.

Notes and substitutions:

cherries - you could use dried cherries for this, in which case, I wouldn’t think you’ve have to drain off the liquid. Because candied cherries are in a syrup, they don’t absorb the liqueur as much as the regular dried fruit, so not draining the stuff makes for a big wet mess.

nuts - pecans could easily replace the almonds depending on your preference.

booze - Kirsch or Creme de Cacao would work just as well, maybe better.

There’s nothing like a tasty glass of pond slime to get you started in the morning.

You’ve probably seem them in the supermarket, those bottles of icky green stuff, slotted in with the fancy juices and smoothies. With names like Green Goodness, Extreme Green and Green Energy, they are marketed in such a way as to make you feel super-healthy and pious after drinking one. But are they really the wonder food they’re made out to be?

First, it’s important to note that in all of the products I tested, the primary ingredients are various types of juice; apple, banana and mango top the lists, although some include pear, kiwi, pineapple, and even green tea. But the ingredient that we’re concentrating on is the one that gives each product its distinctive sludgy green colour – spirulina.

Spirulina is a type of blue-green algae, of which there are approximately 1500 species. It is named for its coil-like shape. According to Wikipedia:

Spirulina is a low fat, low calorie, cholesterol-free source of protein containing all the essential amino acids. It helps combat problems like diabetes, anemia and atmospheric pollution. It also helps combat ‘free radicals’ which can lead to ailments like cancer, arthritis, cataracts. Moreover, the gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) present in spirulina dissolves fat deposits, helps prevent heart problems and reduces “bad cholesterol”. The National Cancer Institute, USA, has additionally announced that sulfolipids in spirulina are remarkably active against HIV. Regular intake of spirulina increases anti-viral activity, stimulates the immune system, reduces kidney toxicity, improves wound healing and reduces radiation sickness.

However there is little scientific evidence of the nutritional value of spirulina and blue-green algae and there are many respected sources, such as The Berkeley Wellness Letter who believe there are none. Moreover it has been suggested that such supplements can be easily contaminated with microcystins and heavy metals (see above link). A court in California deemed thirty health claims made by one supplement producer to be false. From the ruling: “[The] defendant’s advertising as to the need for and benefits from defendant’s product imply that there is some reliable scientific basis for the claims such as would be reasonably expected by potential users. There is not.” (more details of court ruling). At this point all claims regarding the health and nutritional benefits of spirulina and blue-green algae should be viewed with skepticism.

Another website indicates that spirulina can enhance weight loss, however, it is important to note the quantity of the algae required – 8.4 grams per day. The daily recommended intake is 2000 – 3000 mg, and the green smoothies contain anywhere from 600mg per serving to 1700 mg. Obviously, if one is consuming the green drinks for the benefits of the spirulina, you’ve got to drink an awful lot of green guk to get the benefit, which might, calorie-wise throw your diet plans off course.

The other concern with blue-green algae is that it may be contaminated with heavy metals, although spirulina is normally farmed and not prone to the same contamination.

Vegetarians and particularly vegans also need to be aware that while spirulina is a source of protein containing all essential amino acids, the vitamin B12 has been found to be unusable by humans, so vegans should not turn to spirulina, either as an ingredient in prepared foods, or as a supplement, to meet their B12 criteria.

Ultimately, you should drink the green drinks because you actually enjoy them, and not for any outstanding nutritional benefits they may offer.

Arthur’s Green Energy
325ml serving, 230 calories
Package claim: source of 13 essential nutrients, equal to 2.5 servings of fresh fruit and vegetables
Ingredients: apple juice, banana puree, passionfruit juice, prune plum puree, spirulina, soy lecithin, wheat and barley grasses, vitamin C.
Spirulina content: No reply from manufacturer.
Taste test: sort of orangy in colour, grassy smell, green, almost grassy taste.

Bolthouse Farms Green Goodness
450ml serving, 280 calories (note – serving sizes, ingredients and nutritional claims vary between US and Canadian products)
Package claim: contains 7 essential nutrients
Ingredients: concentrated apple juice, concentrated pineapple juice, mango puree, banana puree, kiwi puree, spirulina, lime juice, broccoli, green tea, spinach, barley grass, wheat grass, ascorbic acid, odourless garlic, tamarind puree, lemon juice, Jerusalem artichoke, natural flavour.
Spirulina content: 620mg per serving, 2 servings in a 450ml bottle (according to Bolthouse’s customer service person). My bottle says 450ml is 1 serving.
Taste Test: slightly acidic, probably from the pineapple juice. An earthier taste than the rest. “Vitamin” aftertaste.

Booster Juice Whole Food (available only in Ontario)
355ml serving, 170 calories
Package claim: A delicious way to stay “whole”!
Ingredients: spring water, banana puree, pear puree, pear juice, mango puree, orange juice, spirulina, lemon juice, aloe juice, kelp, ascorbic acid, natural flavour.
Spirulina content: 1700ml
Taste Test: smells sweet, almost candy-like. Spring water makes it more like a juice than a smoothie. Favourite for taste.

Happy Planet Extreme Green
325ml serving, 190 calories
Package claim: none
Ingredients: pure apple juice, organic banana puree, passionfruit puree, organic plum puree, organic lemon juice, spirulina, chlorella, alfalfa, kelp, spinach, stinging nettle, dulse.
Spirulina content: No reply from manufacturer.
Taste test: smells heavily of apple and banana, taste is sweet, but also tangy.

This post originally appeared on FitFare, part of the WellFed Network.

Yes, it’s that time again. Apologies to those of you who are oldtimers over at my regular journal, as you’ve likely seen the fruitcake story a few times over the years. (Hey, you got a break from it last year!) In any case, I’m baking fruitcake this week. Recipes under the cut at the end.

Every year there’s at least one of them. The fruitcake-hater. They’re a timid lot. Someone, at some point in time, has put “the fear” in them. In many cases, it was years ago; some manufactured atrocity handed out at the office, or Great-Aunt Bertha’s dry stale creation that’s been handed back and forth from branch to branch of the family for a dozen years or more.

I take my work as a fruitcake missionary very seriously. The thrill of the challenge of fightin’ words laid down with a combination of stubbornness and trepidation; it must have been what brought the religious zealots back to the south seas islands again and again for the chance to convince the heathen natives that clothes really were better than running around naked. Fruitcake really *is* better than no fruitcake, you just have to trust me.

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