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!

Cookie Diet? Seriously?

I'm sorry, I can't believe that there's anybody out there even prescribing a "cookie diet," yet it turns out there are quite a few: Dr. Siegal's Cookie Diet, Smart For Life, and the Hollywood Cookie Diet are a few of the most popular programs.

You heard me right: eat pre-packaged cookies (engineered with substances such as glycerine and protein powder) and then have a token "sensible dinner" of lean protein and veggies—all for 800-1,200 calories a day.

Duh, if you take in fewer calories than you burn, you're going to lose weight, but intakes that low can send your body into starvation mode and throw off your metabolism. I am not a fan of single-ingredient diets or diets that require you to purchase special products.

I wish there was a way to convince people that the best way to lose weight ("and keep it off!") or improve their health is by learning how to make small effective changes that can lead to the results they want. You can't get that from a flippin' cookie.

This Wall Street Journal article takes a look at this weird eating plan.

That said, a well-balanced "cookie" makes a much better snack or quick breakfast than a candy bar or pastry. Check out this recipe for a no-bake breakfast cookie you can make ahead and grab on your way out the door. Homemade almost always beats pre-packaged.

Consumers Crave All-Day Breakfast

Living in New York, I think I take it for granted that if I really want, I can get an egg-white omelet or a belgian waffle or oatmeal any time of day or night I want. Unfortunately, not everyone is so lucky.

There are, naturally, many people who would like to be able to get breakfast all the time. According to recent restaurant surveys, nearly half of US consumers report wanting full-service restaurants to offer breakfast fare all day and about a third would like limited-service restaurants to do the same.

As noted in Technomic's "Breakfast Consumer Trend Report," consumers in general find breakfast food comforting, but women are even more into the idea of being able to get breakfast at lunch and dinner. I guess I can see that.

Also interesting, apparently the purchase of breakfast sandwiches is on the rise. I don't know why I find this so interesting or amusing exactly...maybe because I've always thought of, like, bacon-egg-and-cheese-type breakfasts as hangover food (at least for me, though it's fortunately been a long, long time...).

Even though you could joke that a lot more people are probably drinking a lot because the economy sucks, I think it's also true that a savory breakfast is very comforting and makes people feel like they're getting a good, solid start to their day. I guess you could also say that in times like these, you need to feel like you're getting off on the right foot in at least some respect.

It could also be, too, that breakfast tends to be cheaper than other meals.

Cottage Cheese Pancakes?

Last night, I set out to make sweet potato pie. As I was gathering ingredients, I realized I was short on a few things, so I ended up adapting the recipe to make a vegan version. It came out tasty, but the texture is fluffy—like vaguely sweet whipped sweet potato something-or-other. It's totally its own thing.

I used up most of the flour we had left while making the crust, and am thinking that maybe next time, I'll just buy whole wheat flour, since I'm usually cooking for myself and Chris and he doesn't mind whole wheat products. Of course, we'll make our Christmas cookies family-friendly (read: traditional) with regular flour, but for everyday stuff, it's, like, why not get the extra nutrients in whole grain products?

While procrastinating on a piece I'm writing for work, I came across this recipe for Cottage Cheese Pancakes. I'm not really into pancakes because they make me sleepy, but these sound really good. Plus, the combo of protein and complex carbs is a great way to ward off the yawns...

Ingredients

• 1 pound low-fat cottage cheese
• 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup oatmeal
• 2 egg yolks
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 6 egg whites
• 
  
• (brush nonstick pan lightly with vegetable oil)

• 
  

Preparation

Mix cottage cheese, flour, oatmeal, egg yolks, honey, milk, vanilla and cardamom in large bowl. Beat whites in another large bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into cottage cheese mixture in 2 additions.

Preheat oven to 200°F. Heat large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Brush with oil. Spoon batter onto skillet by 1/3 cupfuls, forming 4-inch-diameter pancakes. Cook pancakes until bottoms are brown and bubbles form on top, about 3 minutes. Turn; cook until bottoms are brown and pancakes are cooked through, about 4 minutes.

Transfer to plate and place in oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining batter.

A new take on an old favorite

For years, I have been a loyal lover of oatmeal. It's nice to have a reliable go-to food for busy mornings. Oatmeal is especially convenient because it's easy to make and is packed with lots of nutrients like iron (great for people like me who aren't gonna get it from steak), fiber, and calcium.

Another thing I love about it is that you can add almost anything to it. Fruit, nuts, wheat germ, and lots more. I've even eaten it with ice cream. Sometimes I put protein powder in it when I need a little boost, and another favorite mix-in is pumpkin.

A friend was telling me recently that she likes to mix a tablespoon of almond butter into her oatmeal after it's cooked. "Tasty protein!" she raved. I tried it this morning, and wow. The almond butter does something cool to the texture of the oatmeal or the oatmeal does something cool to the texture of the almond butter. Whatever it is, it's awesome.

The Most Important Meal of the Day

This morning I was running a little late, so I decided to pack my breakfast to take to work. I did have a glass of juice before I went out the door, as I needed something in my stomach after an early workout.

Still, I felt really light-headed and slow as I walked to the subway, wondering how the hell my friend who claims to only have juice or coffee in the a.m. doesn't, like, pass out. It's worth noting that I had not yet had any caffeine either...

Though I will probably never know what it's like not to be hungry in the morning, there are people who just aren't—or choose to skip breakfast in an effort to "save" calories. However, there is a lot of evidence to support the notion that breakfast is the most nutritious meal of the day for both kids and adults.

Research shows that children how eat breakfast perform better in school and have less trouble concentrating than those who don't eat in the morning. It also helps protects kids from becoming overweight adolescents.

As for adults, studies have shown that adults how eat breakfast weigh less than people who skip breakfast because it keeps them from overeating later in the day. This meal plays a big role in many weight loss and weight control programs.

Most importantly, you need to get off to a good start in the morning. I don't know about you, but I need serious fuel in a.m. because when I'm up, I'm up, and I tend not to stop going until I crash at night.

I'm sure we've all heard the rhetorical question that goes, "You wouldn't try to drive a car without putting gas in the tank, would you?"

It's true though. Anyway, now that I'm at my desk enjoying some Greek yogurt with berries, wheat germ, almonds, and agave nectar, I'm a happy girl.

The McGriddle kind of weirds me out

Has anyone tried the McGriddle sandwich from McDonald's? It is, essentially, a sandwich composed of egg, sausage, and American cheese encased in two pancakes with syrup already on the inside.

Chris has a friend who's shooting a commercial for the McGriddle tomorrow, and it got me to thinking...

I mean, true, it makes a plate at your local pancake house (where they'll give you a short stack alongside your omelet) or diner look like a deconstruction of this thing, but...what would you call the McGriddle then? A construction?

A friend suggested to me once that there are no new kinds of art, to which I replied, "I don't know. Maybe it's not so much about finding new kinds of art anymore as new combinations or new ways to use art." I cited fleece vests made of recycled bottles as an example. It made sense at the time, but then, a lot of things made sense in 2006 that don't make sense to me now. Like Yellowtail wine in a juice glass, like coffee in the middle of the night in a kitchen with a broken clock.

The McGriddle is kind of like that fleece vest, a recombination, familiar components put into a new context.

I'm just sayin'—the McGriddle weirds me out a little. It does cover all the sugar-fat-salt bases (one blogger said the only downside was that it made their fingers shiny. Well all right then) so I can see the base appeal (sneaky flavor design to lure consumers?), and I'm sure it tastes all right going down. It just seems like stoner food, not breakfast.

The thing that really weirds me out, though, is the M branded on the top. Very Zorro.

Learning to Love Soy Milk

I've never been a huge fan of soy milk, but this morning, I tried using some of the Whole Foods 365 Organic Vanilla Soy Milk in my oatmeal instead of water. It actually came out all right. The consistency was a bit gluey for my taste, but overall, it added a nice mellow flavor and a natural sweetness. 

I don't know if I'd use it in oatmeal again, but the soy milk definitely has a lot of important vitamins and minerals. For example, one cup provides half the daily value of Vitamin B12, something that's hard to get if you don't eat much meat. The soy milk has also been fortified with Vitamins A, D, and E, among other things. It also has a lot of calcium. I'd much rather get that stuff from real food instead of supplements (albeit fortified real food).

I'll have to play around with it, see what it tastes good in to me. I'm planning to buy a blender soon so I can start making smoothies. I know I've been saying that for weeks now, but because of the warm weather lately, I've been craving this frozen blueberry/strawberry/banana/yogurt smoothie I used to make when I had a blender—or access to my mom's!