New Home

Hey all, I just wanted to let you know that this blog is moving to

http://keepingitrealfood.wordpress.com/

Cheers!

Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein Recall

In recent food-recall news, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, a flavoring agent used in foods ranging from soups to hot dogs, is being recalled after a batch produced by Basic Food Flavors of Las Vegas tested positive for Salmonella.

Though the risk of infection is considered low (cooking is supposedly affective enough to kill the contaminants in this case), Salmonella can still cause serious illness in children, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems. Better safe than sorry. The recall includes products manufactured since September 17, 2009.

For some more info, here's an article that was in today's Times.

For a list of recalled foods, visit the FDA's website.

Caravan of Dreams

Last night, I sat down for dinner at Caravan of Dreams, a vegan restaurant in the East Village with a group of other NYC bloggers. Megan of Runners Kitchen organized the outing, and it was so nice to meet Katherine, Lindsey, Liz, Irina, and Jacqui.

It was a treat to spend a night out talking shop with a bunch of ladies with similar interests!

My photos turned out pretty awful, so check out Megan's blog for some quality photo documentation.

As a teaser, here's a pic of the tasty salad that came with my ginger stir-fry entree. This place is a must-try for vegans and non-vegans alike. I can't wait to go back!

National Nutrition Month

As you may or may not know, March is National Nutrition Month. Created by the American Dietetic Association, this annual education and information campaign is designed to shed some light on making informed food choices and developing good eating and physical activity habits as well as recognizing the committed dietitians who work hard to help people lead balanced, healthy lives.

This year's theme is "Nutrition from the Ground Up." Take it as a reminder to start with the basics. Talk with a dietitian, take advantage of fitness and health opportunities in your community, stock the kitchen with healthy staples like whole grains and fresh produce. Little tweaks and shifts in attitude can lead to bigger changes.

This month, I intend to focus on treating my body less like a robot and more like a living, breathing being—mine. That involves saying no to things I don't need to take on and leaving enough time to rest and de-stress so I don't have to rely so much on caffeine (sorry, diet coke) to keep me going.

So whether you decide to take up yoga or running or to start bringing your own lunch to work or cutting back on meat, enjoy the investment you make in yourself this month!

For more info, visit the National Nutrition Month at ADA's website.

Delhi Heights

For some reason, it's hard to get good Indian food in Manhattan, so Chris and I finally got around to heeding the advice of those in the know and headed out to Jackson Heights for lunch today.

We went to Delhi Heights on 74th Street, where we had ourselves a delicious meal of chili paneer, daal tadka, raita, rice, and naan. At the end of the meal, we ordered masala tea, which is brewed right in the milk. We could also have opted for the $9.95 buffet, so perhaps we'll have to go back another time.

Despite eating until we were a little more than satisfied, we still had quite a lot of leftovers to take home. Even better. But man, I'm glad I went to the gym this morning! It's not so much that the food there is "heavy" or the portions are oversized—it's just so good it's hard not to eat more than you need to!

Vitamin B-12 Deficiency

Vitamin deficiencies are something few of us have to deal with. Following a typical western diet allows a healthy person to more than meet their basic nutritional needs, provided they make sure to include enough fruits and vegetables. However, people with certain allergies, intolerances, or other conditions may experience vitamin or mineral deficiencies as a result of their illness.

I spent a little time this evening reading up on vitamin B-12 deficiency after a friend said his doctors suggested it as a potential cause for symptoms that could be related to his recently-diagnosed celiac disease. One of the main deficiencies seen in people with gluten intolerance or sensitivity is B-12, often due to associated malabsorption issues.

B-12 is found mostly in animal products, such as meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, milk, cheese, and eggs. A lot of cereals are fortified with it, and you often see it added to soy milk and "fake meat" products. So while it's slightly more difficult for a vegetarian to meet their B-12 needs, it's by no means impossible.

Symptoms of B-12 deficiency include:

Anemia

Nerve Damage

Paralysis

Supplements may be needed for a period of time to correct the problem. It's just another reminder to bring up concerns with your doctor and not to overlook the diet.

I had a professor who once said that the only disease a vitamin can cure is a deficiency of that vitamin, and while most of us don't have to worry about that, some people do. A lot of people pop multivitamins like candy even when they don't need them, but supplements were created for a reason.

Alex's Chili

It would have been nice if my school had cancelled classes before I woke up for lab, but oh well. At least now I can get some backlogged work done and maybe take a nap later. This week has been a little too busy, and I used up all my cooking-as-procrastination points yesterday, so I have no excuse not to cross a few things off the to-do list. Oh well, at least I have some kick-ass chili and cornbread to look forward to.

After receiving an email from my friend Alex about this amazing-sounding chili the other night, I just had to try making some myself. It sounded much livelier than the sweet potato and black bean chili I'd been planning on making. Unfortunately, my beloved sketchy markets were out of a lot of things, so I had to make a few adjustments.

Alex’s recipe:

First I braised a lb of chicken and set that aside and put in 2 3/4 cups of onions with chili powder, garlic and then added a red and yellow pepper, a full jalapeno, and then tomatoes, blackstrap molasses, tyme, basil, cumin, chicken stock, masa harina, and then garbanzo, adzuki, black and kidney beans… it was good with or without the chicken. Very satisfying. I placed it over brown rice and a small amount of jalapeno cheese.

My make-do interpretation:

¼ cup olive oil

1 large onion

4 cloves garlic

2 jalepeno peppers

1 red pepper and 1 orange pepper

1 can each black beans, kidney beans, pink beans (low sodium)

1 32-oz can crushed tomatoes

2 tbsp blackstrap molasses

¾ boullion cube dissolved in ¾ cup boiling water

1 cup leftover tomato sauce

a few sprigs of thyme

cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper to taste

Directions:

Chop the onion, garlic and peppers (including jalepeno) either by hand or in a food processor. Sautee for a few minutes.

Add the beans, tomatoes, boullion, crushed tomato, tomato sauce, molasses, and spices. Bring to a boil and then turn heat down and cover.

Simmer for an hour or so.

Chris got in on the act and whipped up some cornbread, which we threw in the bowl and poured the chili over. There was also some cheddar cheese involved. It was the perfect thing on a miserable day...

Meatless Mondays to Come to New York City Schools?

This week, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer released a report titled "A Blueprint for a Sustainable Food System," in which he proposed several health-promoting measures for New York City schools. As ways of addressing the fact that one in five NYC kindergarten children is obese, Stringer suggested the following measures:

• Require Food Curriculum in Public Schools
• Expose City Students to Farms and Gardens
• Institute Meatless Mondays in City Schools

For more info, check out NYU's Wagner Food Policy Alliance blog.

There have been both positive and negative responses to the "Meatless Mondays" proposal, in particular. I, for one, am in favor of it—as long as the food being served includes real vegetables and whole grains rather than just pizza, french fries, and ketchup. For example, vegan chili is incredibly easy to make in large quantities for cheap and is packed with nutrients.

One of the main concerns of people unfamiliar with vegetarian eating is protein. Nine times out of ten, the first question is, "WHAT ABOUT PROTEIN?" Contrary to popular belief, once you know what to do (key word: nutrition education), it's incredibly easy. And anyway, as a country, Americans get much more protein than we technically need. One meal without animal protein is not going to cause your kids to shrivel up and die.

Wal-Mart holding its own against Whole Foods?

While it's hardly news that Wal-Mart has become a huge purchaser of organic milk and dairy products, few people think of the superstore giant as a place to buy organic and local produce. In this Atlantic Monthly article, Corby Kummer takes a look and conducts a few blind taste tests.

His overall takeaway?

IN AN IDEAL WORLD, people would buy their food directly from the people who grew or caught it, or grow and catch it themselves. But most people can’t do that. If there were a Walmart closer to where I live, I would probably shop there.

Most important, the vast majority of Walmarts carry a large range of affordable fresh fruits and vegetables. And Walmarts serve many “food deserts,” in large cities and rural areas—ironically including farm areas. I’m not sure I’m convinced that the world’s largest retailer is set on rebuilding local economies it had a hand in destroying, if not literally, then in effect. But I’m convinced that if it wants to, a ruthlessly well-run mechanism can bring fruits and vegetables back to land where they once flourished, and deliver them to the people who need them most.

Aspartame, by any other name...

While I am by no means a fan of artificial sweeteners in theory, in practice, I am a compulsive gum-chewer and definitely reach for a can of diet soda a few times a week. The dangers of aspartame are not an alien topic to me. Some people smoke; I gnaw on carcinogens. We can't all be perfect.

I am pretty ticked off, though, about aspartame's new name change. Now called Amino Sweet (because it's sweet and made from two amino acids), it is being marketed as a natural sweetener. Seriously? A substance (created in a lab) initially intended to be a drug that happened to be sweet enough to be a food additive does not sound natural to me. Also, it makes it harder for people with allergies to avoid unless they know about the switch.

This article, the tone of which I find a bit alarmist and grating though informative, offers a history of aspartame and details about its PR makeover. After reading it on my mom's blog, I had to repost.

And take a look at the Ajinomoto press release.

Healthy Cocktails?

It's finally Friday, and if my body could talk (vocal chords aside), it would say, "Get this girl a drink!" Preferably, a sparkling red wine—my new favorite.

While a little bit of any kind of alcohol can be good for you, "health" isn't exactly one of the words most of us think of when we hear "cocktail." However, in recent years, health-conscious concoctions have become pretty trendy.

Personally, I'm more of a wine drinker and think the idea of trying to make cocktails into health drinks is pretty silly, but I did go to bartending school, so I can see the fun in coming up with new recipes. Maybe if I ever get around to having that dinner party I've been wanting to have, I'll whip something up. Here are a couple ideas from Women's Health.

Cheers!

In Honor of Fashion Week

Earlier this week, the New York Times ran a piece about (surprise, surprise) the casting of young, super-thin models in favor of older girls with healthier BMIs.

You can read it here.

There was something about it that rubbed me the wrong way. At first I thought it was the model they profiled, then I thought maybe it was just the choppy flow of the article. I realize, though, that it's more likely that I'm just sick of hearing the same thing.

Part me of me wonders, "Why print the same old thing year after year after year?" Has it really gotten any better or worse? If you're going to tell me about the size of fashion models, rather than print one woman's complaints, why not write about a few models who died of anorexia this year or devote an article to shows whose designers insisted on having girls who've gone through puberty on their runway?

New Blog

Good morning! Just wanted to let you know that I recently became the Daily Plate Food Blogger for All Access Internships, a site that was created as a resource for dietetics students.

I'll still be posting here regularly, but you can read even more (and see more pictures) on All Access. You can view the blogs here.

And please follow if you're interested! There are lots of really great bloggers writing on all different hot topics in the field of nutrition. For a change, I'm just the recipe gal who posts about eating and cooking well, which I'm finding to be really fun. It's making think I'd like to write a whole cookbook or some kind of cooking/nutrition hybrid.

Anyway, that's still a long time away. Got to get my degree first!

Weight Loss Surgery for Teens

In the Science section of today's New York Times, there was an article about getting weight loss surgeries such as lap-band and gastric bypass procedures. The piece told the story of one girl who, now 20, had a gastric bypass when she was 14, going from 404 pounds to 175. She was the first

A 2007 study, which used data from 2000 to 2003, showed that, although rare, bariatric surgery in children and teens was on the rise. It is estimated that it will continue to rise, becoming almost as common in children as in adults.

While I think options are an important thing and that as time goes on, and that it may become easier to address and avoid some of the complications that result from weight loss surgery, I worry that people would come to see it as a quick fix rather than as a major life-changing procedure.

You don't just get up off the operating table and go eat a burger. It takes a long, long time to adjust to being able to eat a much smaller volume of food, and there are also many nutritional anemias and deficiencies that can develop post-op, depending on the type of surgery you've had and how it affects the digestion and absorption process. In children who aren't done growing, there is some concern about longterm effects.

Read the full article here.

Happy Love!

Every February, we get to read new versions of the same old article about aphrodisiac foods. This year’s Love Drugs parade did not disappoint. I think that by far, my favorite article was Vegetarian Times’ “Feast of Love,” which pictured a group of four enjoying a romantic dinner of Roasted Vegetable Linguine with Fresh Torn Basil, Feta-Stuffed Peppadews, Pineapple-Fennel Salad with Ginger-Sesame Dressing, Crispy Kale Leaves, and Chocolate-Nutmeg Pots de Crème.

The pictures are the best part. Models trying to look dewy-eyed and, yes, love-drugged, as they gesture to the serving platters and lift forks to each other’s mouths. They appear to be in a house with glass walls, as well. It’s nearing sunset. Of course.

Quite appropriately, the following article is about five different ways to prepare oats, encouraging the reader to “Rekindle your relationship with a heart-healthful favorite.” Yeah, I know they mean one’s relationship with oats, but come on—I can’t be the only one imagining the Feast of Love folks waking up on the living room floor, covered in baby oil or something and saying, “Hey, guys, let’s go make some oats! Happy love!”

While I believe that if you eat well and take care of yourself, you’re bound to have better stamina and enjoy overall, um, benefits, I don’t think there are any magic foods that can suddenly turn your average Joe into a sex machine (check out this NYTimes article on the subject). The only genuine aphrodisiac I’d associate with a meal is one’s mate offering to run you a bath so you can relax while they do the dishes.

I considered writing a parody article, complete with recipes like baked asparagus (thought to “stir up lust”) with almonds (which can evoke arousal in women) and ginger (stimulates the circulatory system so the blood flows efficiently to you know where!), and figs (a powerful female sex symbol) stuffed with tapenade, but I just couldn’t get my act together.

However, if you want to make the soft pink dessert tacos that just weren’t subtle enough, it’s very easy:

*In a bowl or food processor, blend together 1/3 cup low-fat ricotta, a handful of raspberries, a teaspoon of vanilla, and sugar to taste.
*Heat two small soft tortillas in a skillet in a little butter or put in the oven to warm up. Sprinkle brown sugar on the inside.
*Spread the ricotta-raspberry mixture down the center of each tortilla and fold over as you would a taco.
*Broil for one minute
*Garnish with dark chocolate shavings (optional)

Last year, Chris and I stayed home and cooked, and we talked about doing that again this year, but we decided to make reservations at Pure Food and Wine instead.

This morning I fueled up with what I’ll call the “Brangelina Special”: Oats with bananas cooked in, along with a little cocoa powder and then topped with cinnamon and a spoonful of almond butter. I got my B-vitamins, potassium (both good for sex hormone production), phallic symbolism, passion-inducing-nut flavor, and feel-good chemicals all in one shot.

New Obsession

Sweet potatoes with goat cheese—who knew? I was starving the other night after yoga, so in addition to my veggie burger with avocado and tomato and leftover brussel sprouts, I microwaved a sweet potato and tucked a generous amount of goat cheese in. It was absolutely delicious—makes me wonder why people bother with sour cream and butter and all that other usual stuff.

"Let's Move" Gets Moving

Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" initiative, geared at raising "a healthier generation of kids" and fighting childhood obesity. This week, she announced the campaign to much enthusiasm. While "Let's Move" doesn't cover food marketing to kids, it does offer a comprehensive plan to address factors that contribute to childhood obesity. One of the main things is to get kids to eat less and move more as well as to ensure that healthier food is served in schools.

On the Whitehouse.gov site, a release was posted detailing the plan:

Let’s Move is comprehensive, collaborative, and community-oriented and will include strategies to address the various factors that lead to childhood obesity. It will foster collaboration among the leaders in government, medicine and science, business, education, athletics, community organizations and more. And it will take into account how life is really lived in communities across the country – encouraging, supporting and pursuing solutions that are tailored to children and families facing a wide range of challenges and life circumstances.

You can read more about it here.

Garlic Soup Part 2

Here I go again with the garlic soup. Maybe it's the snow day and the illusion of more time to get my work done, but I've been cooking all kinds of things today: roasted peppers, marinara sauce, and now I've got some garlic soup simmering on the stove. Chris is on hummus duty later on, he says.

This time, I'm attempting to make a more brothy garlic soup than last time, so I omitted the cubed potato I added last time as a thickener. I'm also taking pictures this time!

Here's the revised recipe:

Ingredients:

* 1- 2 tbsp of olive oil
* 2 heads garlic
* 1 small shallot
* 1 small sweet onion
* 1 can white cannelinni beans
* salt and white pepper to taste
* fresh thyme and/or a sprinkle of dried rosemary
* 3 cups vegetable broth

Directions:

* Peel the garlic and place the cloves in a roasting pan or dish. Coat with a tsp or so of olive oil and cover. Roast for about 40 minutes at 350.
* Add remaining olive oil to soup pan and heat. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the onion and shallot. Cook for about a minute.
* Add the beans and then the vegetable broth. Bring mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook about 20-30 minutes.
* When the garlic cloves are done, add them to the soup. Stir.
* Blend thoroughly with a hand mixer or blender. I used an immersion blender.
* Return to stove. Season with salt if desired, and pepper. Throw in some fresh thyme.
* Cover and cook over low for another 20 minutes or so.

Serves 2-3

How Far Should You Go To Avoid Processed Foods?

A few years ago, everyone was carb-phobic. Before that Americans went to great lengths to avoid fat. Could processed goods be the next "fear food?"

I found this post on a nutrition blog I follow particularly disconcerting because the person writing in with a question was wondering whether they were better off getting their vitamin D and calcium from supplements after finding out that soy milk is a processed food.

Fortunately, the RD who runs this blog advised that a completely "unprocessed" diet isn't exactly practical and that where the line is drawn between processed and unprocessed is somewhat arbitrary. She points to these points from Michael Pollan's Food Rules as a way of offering guidance:


1. Don't eat anything your grandmother wouldn't recognize.

2. Don't eat cereal that changes the color of your milk.

3. Eat more food that comes without packaging.

4. Look for foods with fewer than 5 ingredients in the ingredient list.

5. Avoid things made with ingredients that you don't recognize as food.

6. Eat more whole intact grains and less flour.

7. Eat most of your fruit whole and unprocessed.

8. Eat at least some of your vegetables raw every day.

PS—speaking of Michael Pollan, he was on Democracy Now today—definitely worth a listen!

Fake Meat Article

Some of you guys who've been to my apartment or out to eat with Chris and I are familiar with the whole "fake meat" thing. Check out this article I wrote for RestaurantGirl.com!

Here's a teaser:

If you’re a vegetarian, chances are dining-out is a challenge. You scan the menu for something that doesn’t involve animals or fish and those dishes tend to be few and far between. Oftentimes you’re left to decide between several side dishes and something well-intentioned like a seasonal vegetable plate or pasta that totally misses the mark. It’s unfortunate, but it’s reality. Unless of course, you head to a strictly vegetarian or raw restaurant, but those tend to be a snooze.. Which is why we eat in a lot of the time. It’s so much easier to heat up some soy chicken nuggets, cut them up to toss with a salad or even make a barbecue “riblet” sandwich (yes, you can even find vegetarian ribs), but eating out can be a different story.

To read the full article, click here.

And stay tuned for more writing-related announcements!

Probiotics—Too much of a good thing?

As of late, I find myself hooked on ginger kombucha. If you haven't tried it, you really should. It's delicious. A raw, probiotic beverage, it is thought to support (according to the label):

Digestion
Metabolism
Immune System
Appetite Control
Weight Control
Liver Function
Body Alkalinity
Anti-Aging
Cell Integrity
Healthy Skin & Hair

The main attraction to me is that it tastes really good. Oh my goodness, it's addictive. It also doesn't suck that it's packed with B-vitamins (hard to get if you don't eat meat) as well as folic acid. It also contains organic acids and antioxidants along with 1 billion Lactobacillus Bacterium and another 1 billion S. Boulardii. That's per serving, which means that each 16-ounce bottle houses 4 billion bacterium.

These little organisms are a few types of the "good" bacteria that we need in our system, and among the casualties that result from antibiotic use.

I have a friend who swears that kombucha is her hangover cure, and I can see why. B-vitamins aid in the carbohydrate metabolizing process and dilates blood vessels. A lot of people find they restore energy and stamina, as increased blood flow allows the energy to flow through the body.

Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, this kombucha stuff is expensive! It's easy to spend three to four bucks on a 16-ounce bottle, though Chris brought one home for me last night when he went to Whole Foods, where they were on sale for $2.50.

Anyway, I just have to wonder if you can get too many probiotic bacteria from food. Supplements are a different story—I think when you're taking supplements, it easier to take too much. However, to be on the safe side, I try not to drink kombucha on a day when I drink kefir (a probiotic fermented milk drink) or eat a lot of yogurt. I've read that it's very hard to overdo it because we need billions of these bacteria, but I'm a classic hypochondriac.

Do You Need More Vitamin D?

Every few years, one vitamin or other will shove the reigning champion out of its throne and become the new Big Deal Vitamin. For a while, it was Vitamin E, but more recently, Vitamin D has been in the limelight.

Vitamin D is made in the body from sunlight (supposedly dietary cholesterol plays a role as well), and it also exists in fish and fortified milk. Among its "healing" properties, vitamin D is thought to help build strong bones, strengthen the immune system, and reduce the risks for conditions like diabetes and cancer.

According to a 2008 report in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, about half of adults and kids in our country are deficient.

A lot more doctors have begun to test patients' levels, and in the past year-and-a-half, and people are spending over five times on vitamin D supplements than they were several years ago. Should you join in?

It's still a little early to tell, and many doctors worry that taking too much could do more harm than good. In this New York Times article, Tara Parker-Pope details a few recent studies that show some possible benefit to making sure people get adequate levels of vitamin D. However, it's possible to do things that help you get more vitamin D, such as exercising outdoors or even just taking a walk around the block during the day. You can also drink milk. Remember when people used to drink that instead of soda?

Stretching Leftovers

Hope you've all enjoyed the weekend. Though I did find some time to see friends, go out to dinner, and to a play this weekend, I spent a lot of time doing homework and cleaning. I also have a few upcoming writing gigs I'm prepping for.

It's tempting when I get busy to just eat on autopilot. While it's great—and important—to have healthy go-to's, the same old stuff can get boring. So this week, I experiment by seeing how many ways I could use the whole wheat couscous I made on Tuesday afternoon.

The first night involved a tomato-zucchini-eggplant-chickpea stew. Then the next day for lunch I threw a bunch of leftover veggies in a pot to simmer down and cooked some lentils and added the couscous at the end. Amazing. It also worked really well in a salad as well as in a soup that Chris made.

Something I was reading this afternoon you might find interesting is this post on Marion Nestle's blog, Food Politics, about the proposed New York penny-and-ounce soda tax. Check out the guide she links to. It's very informative. I'm personally in favor of it, though I don't know how well it will go over with people who regularly buy sugary drinks. For example, some believe it may drive more people to drink alcohol, which also has a lot of "empty" calories.

Thoughts?

Slim Shots?

I get really ticked off when I see advertisements for diet products. So of course I had to snap a photo while waiting for the F train recently.

If Spain is considering banning diet commercials before 10 p.m., why can't we start taking some measures to lower the number of times a day we're bombarded by these kinds of images and ideas?

I examined the smaller print on the ad, and of course, it said that most people ate between 12.5 and 30 percent less when they took these "slim shots." Appetite suppressants and anything that claims to have "all natural" or "safe" ingredients in it freak me out. Their need to state that makes me feel like they're hiding something.

Let's take a look at the ingredients. These contain oat oil and palm oil, along with water, "natural and artificial flavors, aspartame, and beta carotene color." That's it? I don't know, something just seems off to me...

So how does it work? Here's what it says on the website: "SlimShots™ triggers the body’s natural appetite control mechanism, the ileal brake, satisfying users for long periods of time and in turn, allowing them to eat less, without sacrifice and without depriving them of their favorite foods."

What's more, I don't think appetite should be suppressed in the first place. It's important, instead, to try to understand our appetites—what is our body trying to tell us? How can we give it what it really needs? It exists for a reason! Clearly, attempting to rein our appetites in has gotten our culture nowhere. In fact, you could almost say that as a whole, we've become so out of touch with our appetites that it seems to be out of control. Scary stuff.

I wonder what it would take to get people to realize that there is no magic bullet for weight control, and that "weight control" is no way to talk about how you eat. It implies a power struggle—one we don't need to partake in. Still, I suppose healthy living and conscious eating don't sell as much ad space.

Cooking Ahead and Homemade Oatmeal Energy Bars!

I have a weakness for energy bars. I know they're overpriced and that many are basically glorified candy bars and provide far more vitamins and minerals than I probably need from a snack, but when in unfamiliar territory (like a road trip) with no snacks in my purse, I'm very apt to reach for a Clif Bar when my stomach starts growling. I actually don't buy them that often, but that's because I try to always have something to eat with me.

Now that classes have started again, I have to get back in the habit of carrying around food to get me through eight-and-ten-hour stretches. For better or worse, this requires some planning—and cooking!—ahead. Yesterday I had a few free hours, so I decided to make my own damn energy bars.

Here is the recipe I came up with, based on various other recipes I saw online. They're pretty moist, and intentionally so. If that's not your thing, you can cook them a little longer or use a tiny bit less milk. Enjoy!

Baked Oatmeal Energy Bars

Ingredients
• 1.5 cups rolled oats (I used 1 cup rolled oats and 1/2 cup steel-cut oats)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or other nut)
• 3/4 cup dried fruit (I used 1/4 cup chopped dried apricots, ¼ cup chopped dried dates, and ¼ cup raisins)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/4 cups skim or soy milk
• 1 egg or egg substitute (I used Ener-G Egg Replacer)
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350*
2. Mix dry ingredients.
3. Mix wet ingredients.
4. Pour wet into dry. Stir to combine.
5. Pour into a 9×9 baking dish either coated in cooking spray or lined with parchment.
6. Bake for 40 minutes.
7. Cut into 9 squares.

Makes 9 servings . Each bar is about 125 calories with 3 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein.

Notes:
• If you want it sweeter, you can add ¼ cup brown sugar, maple syrup, honey or molasses, but I thought the mellow sweetness from the fruit was plenty.
• You also might want to add a scoop or two of protein powder to the mix for extra energy!


I also made a big pot of zucchini, eggplant and chickpeas in tomato sauce last night along with some whole wheat couscous. It travels well and tastes good and provides a lot of protein, fiber, and some veggies, among other necessities. Good stuff.

Back to Winter

It's snowing in New York this morning. I guess it's back to the winter weather.

One good thing about being in grad school and working mostly from home is lazy weekday mornings. Or sort of lazy. I'll go to the gym in a little while once it's less crowded and then finish up some notes for class before I have to leave, but for now, I'm just hanging out in my bathrobe, playing around on the ukulele and just enjoying being able to take the morning at my own pace. It's so rare I get to do that, and I know a lot of people who would agree.

Sometimes when I have an article due or something it's different, but today I'm enjoying a short respite between writing assignments. Of course, even slow mornings require fuel. Today, I made a bowl of oatmeal with banana cooked in and added a tablespoon of almond butter. If you've never tried it, you have to! I got the idea from the lovely Jade Sylvan, who blogs over at Boston Massage Therapy's Boston Healing Blog. All you do is stir the almond butter into the oatmeal until it melts in. Sooo good. Even better, it actually keeps me full until lunchtime!

Chocolate and Bacon, Coming to a Yoga Studio Near You?

My friend Leah is awesome for sending me this article from the New York Times about the increasing inclusion of food in yoga practice.

Could you dig eating a three-course meal on your steamy yoga mat (otherwise known as the live active yoga culture mat)? I don't know about you, but I'm usually one of the first people rolling that thing up, in a hurry to get myself to a shower! But I'll come right out and say it—I am not one of those folks who really gets into the chanting and the om-ing and the moaning on the exhale. I like to get back out into the real world before the endorphins wear off. And anyway, I usually have someplace else to be.

If I had a bunch of friends at my studio it might be different, but it's unlikely I'd even have time to stick around. However, the yogis at Exhale Spa's Friday event, seemed pretty comfy sitting cross-legged on the floor after class for some pasta, wine and chocolate.

This is, perhaps, my favorite part of the whole piece:

“It’s a little weird to sit on a sweaty yoga mat and eat soup,” said one woman, not pausing as she spooned up a smooth, cinnamon-spiked butternut squash purée from a bamboo bowl. “But people are used to doing some weird things in yoga class.”

Joy Pierson, the chef at the nearby Candle Café, a vegan restaurant that supplied the meal, sat cross-legged at the front of the room, encouraging everyone to breathe in slowly. “Ssssmell the squassshhhh waaaafting through the air,” she intoned.

Oh wow.

In addition to exploring the controversy of food in yoga, the article also goes into the "yogier than thou" attitude which often fuels food-based judgments. "In yoga and foodie circles alike," writes author Julia Moskin, "contemplating the awesome significance of every bite taken — its flavors, its implications, its history — often seems to lead to moral judgments about others."

It's a cliche for a reason: a lot of yogies are vegetarians. That's one of the first things many teachers advise. However, many believe that you don't have to be a vegetarian to practice yoga.

So where to draw the line? I feel like it's a decision you have to make for yourself. While I can get on board with the notion of showing compassion towards all beings by abstaining from eating meat, I think it's very easy to take a restrictive diet too far, and that a lot of people do. However, enjoying food can—and should—be just as important as eating what you need to live. If pork is what does it for someone, it it really fair to make them feel alienated?

Still, Moskin begs the question: Can bacon be yoga?

I don't know, but I think the answer lies within one's personal philosophy of what yoga means to them and its function in their life. I can't help but sound like my mother, who is a hypnotherapist, when I say, "To each their own," but I honestly believe that. I guess it's true, what my mom says: "The crystal does not fall far from the family cluster."

On Functional Ingredients

In an earlier post, I mentioned a class project in which we have to produce a cookie with a functional ingredient: Omega 3. In general, I'm very much opposed to the ways food companies try to make junk food sound like health food and suggest that their products are a superior source of xyz nutrients to the actual food sources.

However, I think this assignment will be useful in that it might help me and my group get a glimpse into the mindset of a food manufacturer trying to produce and sell a product that will make them a lot of money. I'm a little too jaded to honestly believe that any of them could really be in it to promote good health...I think having a little taste of what goes into that process might give me some good ammunition for talking clients into eating real foods instead of getting all their vitamin C from, say, fortified soda.

Check out this article from Consumer Reports for more on functional foods.

Annoying Yogurt Commercials

On the list of reasons I do not own a TV and prefer to download my 30-Rock through Netflix:

*Cable Bills
*Bad Reality TV
*Yogurt Commercials

Many of you who know me in person have heard me rant about how much yogurt commercials annoy me, especially the ones with women in them, which is basically the only kind of yogurt commercial you see anymore...

It's the way they target women by either exposing or alluding to various insecurities and then shove them this product specifically engineered for them so that they can indulge in their base desires or meet their embarrassing needs while still fitting into the socially-acceptable female behavior mold.

Don't even get me started on the whole "yogurt is the official food of women" thing. It's a shame because I love yogurt—the good, plain, real-food version—but it nags at me that there are these big companies out there trying to get me to buy more of it. The fewer calories, the better! Because all women are "supposed" to be on a diet, right?

I know that plain, nonfat or low-fat yogurt you buy in a big container doesn't sell as well as these cutely packaged, super-sweet weight-management products, but seriously, why can't we just treat yogurt as what it is—A nutritious food that fits very nicely within a balanced diet?

Here are a few commercials that especially tick me off:

Snacks Now Account for a Quarter of Daily Calories

Ask pretty much anybody, and they'll likely tell you that they snack between meals. I know I do.

This study, which examined snacking trends between 1977 and 2006, found that not only are more people eating more snacks but that today's snacks are more calorically dense than they were in 1970's.

In 2006, 97% of people reported consuming snacks on a regular basis, up from 71% in the 1970's. The total contribution of the snacks to daily calorie consumption also rose from 18% to 24% during that time. That means the average American now gets about a quarter of their calories from snacks.

Given the popularity of the "six small meals" eating pattern a lot of people say they adhere to, that's not a surprising figure. However, it's safe to assume that something's a little off, since people overall are consuming more calories per day. It seems that many forget about the operative word: small. Instead of eating snacks in place of meals, a lot of people are eating three regular-sized meals and snacks. No wonder there's an two-thirds of the population is overweight. It's hard to ignore food when it's shoved in your face 24/7.

It's really all about balance, but it's hard to tune in to your personal hunger cues when there are tons of opportunities to eat stuff you don't need in places that weren't thought of as appropriate places to eat thirty years ago. Would your grandmother have eaten in a store? Make sure you carve out some time for yourself every day to sit down for even just a couple minutes and focus simply on eating. Enjoy it. Though it might often feel like we're expected to be running around on all cylinders all the time, it really is important to slow down and take care of ourselves.

$1 Oatmeal

Some of you know how obsessed I am with oatmeal, so you can bet I get excited whenever Jamba Juice starts offering their steel-cut oats for a dollar. Now through February 2nd (far as I know), on Wednesdays you can get 'em for a buck.

What's pretty funny is that I've never actually gotten around to trying their oatmeal. I usually eat breakfast at home, and though oatmeal makes a good snack as well, it's not usually something I think of grabbing. Why pay for something I can make at home for practically nothing, you know?

Once in a while, though, it's fun to try new things. The different flavors (Plain with brown sugar, Fresh Banana, Blueberry & Blackberry, Apple Cinnamon, and Berry Cherry Pecan) range in calories from 220-340 and are cooked in soy milk. Supposedly the fruit is fresh, even though you'd think with fresh fruit you'd see more vitamin C on the nutrition information label. While I'm not the hugest fan of pre-sweetened stuff, it's fine once in a while. And anyway, if sugar in your oatmeal is your idea of a treat, then you're probably not someone who has to worry about consuming too many added sugars.

All the same though, it sure beats the standard apple and almonds I usually carry around on busy days. It kind of makes me wish it was Wednesday...

Still, I think Starbucks gets it right by offering customers a selection of things they can add themselves. Mix in your topping(s) of choice, slice a little over-priced Starbucks banana in there along with some milk if that's your thing, and you're golden. Add a latte and the awesomeness is off the charts. Sigh. I wish it was breakfast. And that I hadn't gotten up at 7 a.m. to go to lab.

These Are Just Wrong

Dude, sunflower seeds are not supposed to taste like nachos. Alas, nacho-cheese-flavored sunflower seeds exist. Why?

The Edible Schoolyard Comes to Brooklyn

This summer, construction on the first east-coast affiliate of the Edible Schoolyard Program, developed by Alice Waters of Chez Panisse, is set to begin at P.S. 216 in Brooklyn. The new $1.6 million, solar-powered building will house a kitchen and communal tables where children can share the foods they grow in the garden outside. This photo, courtesy of the New York Times, depicts a rendering of what the garden will look like.

Teachers will use the garden to give students lessons in subjects like math, science, and history. There are also plans for a chicken coop, portable greenhouse, and composting system, outdoor pizza oven, and cistern for collecting rainwater.

While the program does have its critics, I think it's a wonderful idea. I wish we'd had something like this when I was in school. I think we went apple-picking once as a class, and we also had an incubator full of eggs that never hatched, but that was about it.

While I have to nod along when I hear Alice Waters called "a bit of a fruitcake," I admire her stance on the importance of understanding where our food comes from and taking joy in providing loved ones with something delicious that's good for them, and I agree that if we want to change the eating habits of Americans, we need to start with children.

I think teaching kids how to grow a garden and what they can do with what they cultivate is a timely endeavor, especially given the push to develop more urban gardens—you gotta learn sometime and somewhere. Why not in school? Worst comes to worst, they'll grow up to be marijuana farmers in New Jersey or California. One could do worse.

One thing not mentioned in any of the articles I've read about the Edible Schoolyard or Alice Waters is the therapeutic aspect of gardening. Though I have as yet to catch the bug myself, I come from a family of gardeners. My mom could often be found tending to the flowers or vegetables when I was a kid, and the summer my grandfather lived with us after my grandma died, he was out in the sun almost every day, pulling up weeds, trimming, and watering. As my mom put it, "He knew how to mourn."

A lot of people also find it very satisfying to grow beautiful plants. Even Chris has his "babies"—a shell ginger, sunflower, basil, oregano, and aloe plant. I wonder if he sings to them when I'm not home...It's somehow calming to be surrounded by plants. It's also good feng shui, if you're into that.

It Begins Again

Today was my first day back to class after a month-long break. I know I don't post much about my classes—I don't want to sound like a high schooler talking about her day on Live Journal 'cause I've, uh, been there, done that—but I wanted to share this really cool assignment we have in my Food Science and Technology lab.

Each of four groups had to choose a "theme" for a product to develop in class: reduced sodium, reduced fat, reduced sugar, or the inclusion of a functional ingredient. We have to identify current products on the market and create a version that tastes, looks, and feels as close as possible while staying within the constraints of our requirements.

My group was assigned to work with a functional ingredient. While I have mixed feelings about fortified snack foods, my interest was piqued when our professor shared a story about a doctor at another university who's been researching the effects of omega-3-fortified cookies on colitis patients. Only problem is, the cookies don't taste so great. My professor is encouraging us to make a product that tastes good but also delivers a good dose of the desired nutrient.

So we're thinking ginger snaps. Now we just have to locate several commercially-available brands to taste test and mimic. At first, I was really against making sweet stuff because I hate to bake (so f-ing tedious!), but I'm really curious to see how this is going to go. I love playing around with recipe modification.

Fed Up With School Lunch

You guys should check out this great blog, Fed Up: School Lunch Project.

One teacher sets out on an experiment to eat what the kids eat in 2010. Could you eat school lunch every day for a year? Stay tuned!

Mark Bittman on What's Wrong With What We Eat

For my Food Management Theory course, we've been assigned several videos to watch online and write brief commentaries to bring to the first day of class.

I found this particular talk by Mark Bittman (love him) on the over-production and over-consumption of meat and junk food and its impact on our health and the environment especially thought-provoking.

What I like is that he implores the audience to cut back on meat rather than going full-blown vegetarian. He also calls the issue one of "global survival" rather than bringing morals into it. That's a kool-aid I can drink.

Of animals, he says, "The time has come to stop raising them industrially and to stop eating them thoughtlessly" and that "there's no way to treat animals well when you're killing ten billion of them a year."

No sh*t.

I was also very interested by his comments on the USDA and the food pyramid and the fact that many of its developers had/have ties to agrobusiness. In short: there's a reason we're not explicitly encouraged to eat a diet rich in plants and low in animal products and junk food...

Garlic Soup

Cooking has become my favorite procrastination tool. Instead of working on an article I need to turn in tomorrow, I decided to make garlic soup. Garlic is great this time of year when we need a little immune boost. And I don't know about you, but I can always use help keeping the vampires away!

This particular recipe is also a great source of protein and fiber.

Ingredients:

* 1- 2 tbsp of olive oil
* 2 heads garlic
* 1 small shallot
* 1 small sweet onion
* 1 can white cannelinni beans
* 1 potato
* salt and white pepper to taste
* fresh thyme
* 2 cups vegetable broth

Directions:

* Peel the garlic and place the cloves in a roasting pan or dish. Coat with a tsp or so of olive oil and cover. Roast for about 40 minutes at 350.
* Peel and cube the potatoes.
* Add remaining olive oil to soup pan and heat. the oil starts to shimmer, add the onion and shallot. Cook for about a minute.
* Add the potatoes and then the beans.
* Add the vegetable broth. Bring mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook until potatoes are soft—about 20 minutes.
* When the garlic cloves are done, add them to the soup. Stir.
* Blend thoroughly with a hand mixer or blender. I used an immersion blender.
* Return to stove. Season with salt if desired, and pepper. Throw in some fresh thyme.
* Cover and cook over low for another 20 minutes or so.

Serves 2-3

Enjoy. I'm serving this with sauteed zucchini, roasted asparagus, and either whole wheat fusilli with spinach, broccoli and parmesan or whole wheat pita and red-pepper hummus. It's probably great with salad too!

American Obesity Rates Hit Plateau

According to data released on Wednesday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American obesity rates have remained constant for at least 5 years for men and about 10 years for rates of obese women and children.

That's not to say the numbers aren't high, though. An estimated 34 percent of American adults are obese, which is more than double the percent thirty years ago. Perhaps scarier, during the past thirty years, the percent of obese children tripled to 17 percent.

Though Dr. William H Dietz of CDC calls the data "promising" and credited the plateau to increased awareness of obesity, he is careful to note that we can't congratulate ourselves jut yet. In a New York Times article, he says, "I don't think we have in place the kind of policy or environmental changes needed to reverse the epidemic just yet."

Dr. Ludwig, the director of the Optimal Weight for Life program at Children's Hospital Boston also stresses that a leveling off is not a free pass to drop the ball on working to prevent obesity. "Until we see numbers improving, not just staying the same, we can't have any confidence that our lifestyle has improved." He even goes so far as to suggest we may have reached a "biological limit" for obesity.

Hm...

I just find it amazing that for a country so obsessed with thinness, we have such high rates of overweight and obesity. I wish my program offered more opportunities to study the psychological aspect. I guess that would be a whole separate degree though. Sometimes I think if it weren't for being so interested in clinical nutrition, I'd focus more on public health and/or food studies. Time for everything, I suppose.

Eat This, Not That!

I'm probably really late to the game on this one, but I just stumbled across the website for Men's Health's Eat This, Not That!

While I'm not a fan of the alarmist tone to the writing, it's pretty interesting stuff. The fact that someone could dream up a 1600 calorie dessert is grotesquely impressive. I also get a kick out of the visuals and how the "worst" foods are dressed up to look hulking and scary, spilling out of their containers and plates.

Kind of makes me think of movie posters for The Blob.

Beef-Free Burgers

Sick of the same old hamburger? Freaked out by all the beef recalls? Courting vegetarianism?

Check out this article for some ideas for beef-free burgers. My favorite suggestions are the tuna burgers and of course, the bean-and-vegetable burgers.

Sometimes at home I like to make weird stuff out of whatever's left in the fridge, and you never know, burgers could be the perfect improv dish...I should probably hold off for a bit, though, otherwise I might end up with a roasted-beet-and-asparagus burger. Um...that's a little too weird, even for me : )

New York Aims to Curb Sodium Intake

Salt made the the front page of Monday's New York Times.

Today, Mayor Bloomberg unveiled the National Salt Reduction Initiative, which aims to cut sodium intake by twenty-five per cent over the next five years, potentially preventing thousands of premature deaths.

High salt levels can raise blood pressure levels, which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. Americans eat an average of 3,400 milligrams of sodium daily, though the amount recommended by the American Heart Association is 2,300 milligrams. Since a reported 80% of sodium is already in the food when consumers purchase it, food companies are being encouraged to lower the amount of sodium in their products.

I don't personally have a problem with this campaign, though I can understand if someone were to say it makes Bloomberg seem like one of those hovering mothers who tells their kids' friends' parents not to give them junk food at sleepovers (I had a friend growing up whose mom used to brag that her kids had never tasted butter—yikes). While I'd also like to see some kind of health information campaign about what sodium is and why people shouldn't eat too much of it, I'm curious to see how this goes.

Now if only the mayor could do something about neighbors having dance parties on Monday nights...

A Few Words on Appearance (and a cute cat!)

This is a tiny bit grim of me to say, but while this picture is really cute, it also kind of reminds me of how some doctors think that people with, say, edema (accumulation of fluid) can "live off their fat" while they're in hospital. Oh dear. I hope I never have to have that conversation. It amazes me when I hear dieticians talk about how little doctors are taught about nutrition. A patient in that position might actually be severely malnourished. Appearances can be deceiving...

I had a long, long talk with Chris yesterday about different causes of obesity and about how although only one percent of obesity can be attributed to genetics, that the other ninety-nine percent is not solely the fault of the food industry. There are so many factors contributing to the ill health of people that it's hard to know where to start or how to address the issue at all. One thing Chris brought up that I found very interesting, though, was medications and the way they affect people's bodies. I don't know if enough research has been done to determine the long-term effect increased use of medication with weight gain as a side effect has caused over the years, but I'd be interested to know.

It's also a good reminder that it's really unfair to assume that someone who is overweight is lazy or eats too much or other snap judgments often made. You never know what's going on with them. It's similar to how it's unfair to call anyone underweight anorexic—they might have Chrohn's Disease, for example.

Simply looking someone over is never enough to give you even a fraction of the story. That's why it's important to actually talk to one another...

Picture brought to you by LOLcats at I Can Haz Cheezburger:

Calorie Counts are Frequently Off

Overall, as I've said many times, I tend to be a fan of calorie labeling in restaurants and other eating establishments because I think they motivate people to think a little more closely about what they want to "spend" their calories on the way we also consider what to spend our dollars on. I've also expressed that I worry that some people could become a little obsessed (who likely would look up calorie content online even if it weren't posted on a menu), and unfortunately, this bit from Time isn't going to help anyone chill out.

Susan Roberts, professor at Tufts, along with Jean Mayer of Tufts' USDA Nutrition Research Center on Aging decided to analyze an array of restaurant and frozen food items, taking care to select the ones dieters might be most likely to reach for. Sure enough, the calorie counts posted on labels and menus were off by as much as 18% for restaurant foods and 8% for frozen foods.

I think the main thing I would take away from the article is that even when an item is said to contain a certain number of calories, your best bet is really to listen to the cues your body sends you. Eating when you're hungry and stopping when you're full, for most people (myself included), sounds simpler than it is in practice, but mindful eating is something to work towards.

For a laugh, you could try practicing on a raisin. The Center for Mindful Eating is a really interesting organization, and their website is worth checking out. You might also want to read this post I wrote last summer for Five Seasons Healing, an acupuncture practice in Union Square.

Heartburn

Greetings from the Bolt Bus. I'm en route back to New York from a whirlwind trip to Boston that included visits to several dietetic internship sites and drinks with a girlfriend and coffee with other people I don't get to see enough and a delicious meal at this restaurant called The Elephant Walk in Cambridge.

In my former life as a Writing and Publishing student, I didn't seem to understand that one could both enjoy food and cooking and write well (I read way too much Bukowski in college, and thought that to have any cred, I needed to live on whiskey and wine and cheap stew and, like, nickel-candy bars and just write all night long about, well, things). But then, I also smoked cigars and wore cowboy boots every day and didn't own a hairdryer and sort of pretended I wasn't an honors student, so there you go. Clearly, it was just a phase. Now, I often do my best creative writing while stirring a pot of soup or waiting for lentils to cook.

The point of this post is to tell you to read Nora Ephron's 1983 book Heartburn. I just read it in one sitting and loved it. Somehow, she manages to turn a novel about a cookbook author who, seven months into her pregnancy, discovers her husband is having an affair into a laugh-out-loud (on the bus!) read.

The Taco Bell Diet?

Okay, have you guys heard about the Taco Bell Diet (aka Drive-Thru Diet)?

I'm serious. Taco Bell's girl Christine is to Taco Bell what Jared was to Subway. By eating from the "Fresco Menu" (a set of menu items with no cheese or sauce which come with a tomato salsa) five to eight times per week, she reportedly lost 54 pounds in two years.

These Fresco menu items are only 20 to 100 calories less than regular menu items, which makes the whole thing sound like marketing to me—a thinly-veiled ploy to get fast-food put on one of those ridiculous "Good Foods" lists.

Granted, when you're on the road and your options are limited, a soft taco is probably a better choice than an order of fries since it will give you some nutrients for your calories, but eight times a week? Oh dear.

While I'm the first to admit that I can be a bit of a food snob (why have McDonald's when I can have homemade hummus with greens and just-roasted peppers on whole wheat pita and fresh fruit on a road trip?), it can be very easy to make small tweaks at almost any eatery (or at home) that can cut calories or enhance the nutritional value of a meal, depending on your needs. Two years is a perfectly reasonable time in which to lose 54 pounds (that's about a half-pound per week), but you don't have to rely on one restaurant to make it happen for you.

Point of this post: If you're concerned about your health, consult a dietician, not a fast-food mascot. I miss that Chihuahua.

Many Parents Overestimate Child's Activity

Tara Parker-Pope recently posted on her New York Times blog Well about a British study that showed how often parents may overestimate how physically active their child on.

In the study, 1,892 British school children were equipped with accelerometers that measured their activity throughout the day. A child was seen as inactive if that activity amounted to less than an hour per day. Though the vast majority of parents described their child as physically active, over 39 percent of girls and 18 percent of boys were actually getting less than 60 minutes of physical activity a day.

Interestingly, it was the parents of children with lower fat mass who guessed wrong about the adequacy of their child's activity, as were parents of girls. I find that fascinating. I imagine that says something to the way we perceive overweight individuals in terms of physical activity as well as something girls and self-esteem perhaps? Just a few front-of-the-mind thoughts that may be worth unpacking...

Sorry, Michael Pollan

As I mentioned in Monday's post, Michael Pollan made an appearance last night at the Barnes and Noble in Tribeca. I'm sure a lot of my classmates and fellow Michael Pollan groupies were present, but I decided, instead, to go see my boyfriend's band, My Cousin, the Emperor play a mellow acoustic show at the Rockwood Music Hall.

Sometimes, you just need a night off. When classes are in session, I often have to miss Chris' shows, so it was nice to be able to sit back and enjoy without having to worry about looming assignments or my alarm clock. Since my school is on break and since my two most regular jobs involve colleges in some capacity, I've had a chance to go out to lunch with friends, visit my family, see movies, and even check out a few museums.

As interesting as I find Michael Pollan's work and as great as I'm sure the event was, I just didn't feel like crowding into a Barnes and Noble to talk about someone else's "food rules." And besides, even if I weren't living in sin with the bass player, I'd still love this band.

I think it's important to make time to do things you like to do rather than always do the things you think you "should" do. Enjoying life is just a part of overall wellness as eating right for your body and sleeping enough.

Takeout or Frozen Meal?

When it comes to lunch at your desk or dinner on a busy or late night, what's a better choice—takeout or a frozen "diet" meal? I don't know about you, but when I was first living on my own at 20, I subsisted mainly on Amy's organic meals and other heat-and-eat dishes. I was so clueless in the kitchen...

In their February 2010 issue, Consumer Reports takes a look at frozen entrees from companies such as Weight Watchers, Lean Cuisine, Kashi, and Healthy Choice.

What they mainly found was that these meals taste pretty good but tend to be too small—many clock in at 300 calories or less. However the magazine points out that this provides a good opportunity for consumers to add vegetables and fruits to balance out the dish. Another downside was that a lot of these frozen items pack a lot of sodium, with 800 mg being a pretty typical amount, though 600 mg is considered a reasonable amount for someone taking in the recommended 2,300 mg or less per day.

Still, Consumer Report considers a frozen entree a much better option than takeout because of their automatic portion control—especially a plus for people trying to monitor their weight in a healthy manner.

Nutrition and Food in 2010

Good afternoon! I was just procrastinating/perusing some of my favorite blogs, and I came across this post on Marion Nestle's blog Food Politicstitled "What's up with food and nutrition in 2010?"

Her top-ten list includes childhood obesity, food safety regulation, food advertising and labels, and sustainable agriculture, among other things. Definitely worth reading.

Also! If you happen to be in the New York area tomorrow night, Michael Pollan will be appearing at the Barnes and Noble in Tribeca to discuss and sign his new book, Food Rules.

An interesting op-ed on fortification

I was just reading this New York Times Op-Ed and thought it was worth sharing.

Author Nicholas D. Kristof discusses his views on the importance of fortification of foods with micronutrients such as folic acid, iron, and iodine. He cites prevention of birth defects as the main reason foods should have important nutrients added to them. He also brings David Dodson,founder of Project Healthy Children in to weigh in on the subject.

I think that Mr. Dodson has a point when he says that it is much cheaper to prevent birth defects than to treat them. A year's supply of folic acid, for example, "costs less than a hamburger." However, I also think this is a good spot to repeat what one of my dietetics professors said: The only thing a vitamin can cure is a deficiency of that vitamin.

As Mr. Dodson puts it, “It’s not a sexy world health issue, but it’s about the nuts and bolts of putting together a healthy population. Putting small amounts of iron, iodine and folic acid in the food supply hasn’t drawn attention the way it does when you treat someone who is sick or in a refugee camp. Until recently, this has been off everybody’s radar screen.”

While I think fortifying foods for reasons such as the prevention of birth defects is a positive thing, packing not-so-healthy foods with nutrients to get people to buy them is dishonest and kind of sleazy.

Welcoming 2010

It's that time again...Every January I dread going to the gym because of how crowded it gets. While I don't want to be a jerk, I have to admit that the New Years Resolution-ers bug me. While exercise is great for your mind and body and if the only time you can get motivated to get moving is January 1st, so be it, but it's, like, why can't we just take care of ourselves all year round? Why wait until January? Why not start a new regimen in, say, September? Why do we listen to the media voices that tell us to indulge like crazy (and feel guilty) all through December and then vow to "get back in shape" once the hangover clears? Oh wait, I remember—it's because balanced approaches don't sell as well.

I'm not a fan of resolutions, especially weight-loss resolutions and other midnight promises that involve restrictive, unrealistic guidelines. While I do think it's perfectly sane and healthy to decide you want to take good care of yourself, I have a big problem with the way our culture pushes the whole "New Year, New You!" thing, pressuring us to buy diet products and workout gear and Finally! Lose! Those! Last! Five! Pounds! I can't open a magazine or click on a health-related website without seeing an ad promising me I can lose x pounds in y days/weeks/months.

Gag me.

That said, I do kind of like the idea that what you do on January 1st can set the stage for a year in which you stay true to yourself and your needs. Judging by my New Years Day, I suppose it's safe to say that I want my 2010 to hold a lot of yoga, ukulele-playing, roasted vegetables, and gatherings with friends.

Hope your 2010 is off to a beautiful, peaceful start!