Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Is there some conspiracy to keep us eating crap?


Whatever happened to oatmeal, cream of wheat, wheat germ? Do we really need Kellog, Post and General Mills and all of their additives? Why are these natural alternatives not even mentioned in this report?

Play CBS Video Video Healthy Snacking
Dr. Jennifer Ashton showed Jeff Glor some nutritious snacks that are high in antioxidants.
Photo
(CBS/The Early Show)
NEW YORK, Aug. 19, 2009
Unlikely Foods Pack Antioxidant Punch

Research Finds Whole-Grain Cereals, Popcorn Loaded with the Disease-Fighting Nutrients
(CBS) Vegetables are known to be a great source of antioxidants, but new research suggests some foods you might not think of are packed with disease-fighting antioxidants, such as whole-grain cereals and snacks, such as popcorn.

Antioxidants reduce inflammation and stress on cells to help prevent or slow the process of cellular aging, CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton explained on "The Early Show" Wednesday.

Ashton said, "Antioxidants were known to be in fruits and vegetables, green tea and red wine, but this is the first time researchers have measured the antioxidant content in these foods, finding they're full of them."

The University of Scranton (Pa.) study by Joe Vinson, a professor of chemistry, found almost all whole-grain breakfast cereals and many common, grain-based snacks contain substantial amounts of polyphenols, a form of antioxidants that is thought to have major health benefits. Ashton said antioxidants are linked to benefits for many health issues, from heart disease to cancer.

Ashton explained some cereals with raisins, in addition to the whole-grain content, were the highest in antioxidants. The researchers also found that cereals with added cinnamon or cocoa also had high rates of antioxidants due to the polyphenols in cinnamon and cocoa.

Ashton added, "You want to make sure that you choose cereals that don't have a lot of extra sugar, and artificial ingredients that will counteract the good of the antioxidants."

As for snacks, popcorn had the highest antioxidants, followed by whole grain crackers.

Ashton said popcorn -- as long as it's not loaded with butter -- is a good source, Ashton said.

But can these foods and snacks replace fruits and vegetables?

Ashton said "no," adding the key is a balanced, well-rounded diet.

"Though this research found that whole grain products have comparable antioxidants per gram to fruits and veggies, they are often different kinds and you should eat a wide variety of healthy foods," Ashton told CBS News. "Sorry, you still need to eat your vegetables."

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Kind of off-topic but I wish I had written this:

Huffington Post Katherine Goldstein First Posted: 08-13-09 01:45 PM Updated: 08-13-09 01:54 PM
On The Today Show, Matt Lauer hosted dietitian Elizabeth Ward to discuss how to make "healthy" food choices on a road trip. Virtually the only measure Ward used to evaluate what was healthy was how many calories is in it.
She started out with breakfast at McDonalds, stating she was a big proponent of eating eggs. She recommended scrambled eggs and an English muffin. (This item doesn't actually appear on the menu, but these ingredients are served at McDonalds -- maybe she was suggesting making a special order, or throwing out the rest?)
For the record, scrambled eggs at McDonalds, which one could easily mistake for being comprised of well, eggs, actually contain the following:
Pasteurized whole eggs with sodium acid pyrophosphate, citric acid and monosodium phosphate (added to preserve color), nisin (preservative). Prepared with Liquid Margarine: Liquid soybean oil, water, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, salt, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, soy lecithin, mono-and diglycerides, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate (preservatives), artificial flavor, citric acid, vitamin A palmitate, beta carotene (color).
She goes onto recommend Burger King, Taco Bell, KFC Grilled Chicken and processed and packaged snacks.
While Ward and Lauer tout the value of eating fruit as a healthy snack, for the most part this dietitian throws her support behind the idea that processed fast food, filled with additives, preservatives and factory farmed meat is good for us, as long as it doesn't exceed a certain number of calories.
My favorite thing to eat while traveling, food I made at home and bring with me, was not mentioned as an option.
For a full list of what Ward thinks is healthy to eat, check out her USA Today article.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

The pizza gods have answered my prayers

Dade City finally has a place that sells a pizza that is so good I will actually buy it when I don't feel like making my own.

Francesco's New York Style Pizza opened two months ago on the edge of downtown Dade City where Manolo's used to be. Emily and I decided to give it try for lunch today after getting very good reviews from the owner of the book store across the street.

During a brief chat with one of the owners, I learned that the pizza chef is from Italy and they make their dough and sauce from scratch. The menu included pizza, stromboli, calzones, hot and cold subs, pasta and dinner entrees of chicken, veal or eggplant parmesan, chicken Sorrentino and Veal Sorrentino.

The pizza we got had a lovely crip crust even after the drive home in a box (I had to bribe Emily not to eat a piece before we got it here so I could take the picture) and had just the right amount of cheese and sauce.

I don't know if anyone from my town reads this blog, but if they do, I highly recommend Francesco's and hope people will stop in and give this place some business so they are open when I need them.

They are open Monday through Thursday, 11a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The address is 14418 7th Street, Dade City

352-518-0009 or 518-0348.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Don't believe everything you read

My one faithful reader, Ryan Kelly, has asked me quite nicely to update this blog - so I am trying to get back to our regularly scheduled programming and to stop whining about our governor, Charlie Crist.

I am writing this particular post for two reasons. One is because they have sirloin tip roasts on sale at Sweetbay this week for $1.99 a pound.
I usually buy what is on sale and fell for this cut of meat a few weeks ago when it was on sale at Publix. I have not had a lot of success cooking sirlion tip roasts but it was a price I couldn't refuse. Thinking that maybe it was me, I searched the internet high and low for recipes. I came across one titled Herb-Rubbed Sirlion Tip Roast here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Herb-Rubbed-Sirloin-Tip-Roast/Detail.aspx

The author of one review seemed to have shared my past disappointment and found a way to take advantage of this economical cut.
"This is the First sirloin tip roast that I have made that turned out to excel in flavor and texture. I have tried many times before to make a tip roast with them all ending up to be tough and dry. Your recipe produced comments by all, that it tasted just like prime rib! It was tender and juicy and flavorful. It turned out excellent!"
There were 414 mostly glowing reviews. I figured that many people couldn't possibly be wrong, could they? In a word, yes, yes they could.

The other warning is this, if you see a recipe that proclaims itself to be the best one ever, proceed with care.
I love lasagna. I like it with ricotta, I like it made with cottage cheese. I like it with bechamel and without bechamel, with meat and without. Ever searching for another way to make it I came across this recipe here: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/the_best_lasagn/
This recipe has been reposted several places and is always accompanied by page after page of rave reviews.

With much anticipation, I decided to disregard my apprehensions as to the ingredients and make this dish.
Very rarely do I follow a recipe exactly as it is written, maybe it's just against my nature to follow orders, but when I made this lasagna I followed the instructions to the letter.

I just asked William if he remembered that lasagna and he asked, with fear in his voice, "You're not thinking about making that again, are you?"
It was inedible - even Jack, my Irish Setter, wouldn't eat it.
Tomorrow I will post a recipe for a lasagna that was truly exceptional - in a good way.

Grilled Eggplant Lasagna
Now I feel like I need to add a disclaimer:

Saturday, April 18, 2009

The things you do to get a kid to eat fruit

When Ryan is home, my main goal besides trying to make him smile, is to try to fatten him up.

Food has always been a big issue for him, he has a lot of sensory-motor issues and didn't learn to chew until he was about nine years old.

Most fruits, and vegetables are on the "won't touch it with a ten foot pole" list and I think the only way we have avoided scurvy is because he absolutely loves my spaghetti sauce.

He won't drink juice or smoothies. To try and get a little fruit in him this morning I made oatmeal blueberry muffins to go with the couple of hot dogs he had for breakfast.

Hot dogs for breakfast? When you have an autistic kid, you learn to go with the flow.


Oatmeal-blueberry muffins



Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup rolled oats

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda


1/4 teaspoon salt

1 beaten egg

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup cooking oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 tsp cake spice or nutmeg or cinnamon

3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Directions:

Grease twelve 2-1/2-inch muffin cups or line them with paper bake cups; set aside.

Stir together flour, rolled oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture.

Combine egg, milk, brown sugar, oil, and vanilla in another bowl. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy.) Fold blueberries into the batter. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each three-quarters full.

Bake in a 400 degree F oven for 16 to 18 minutes for 2-1/2-inch muffins or 10 to 12 minutes for 1-3/4-inch muffins or until done. Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes; remove muffins from cups Serve warm. Makes 12 to 15 regular-size or 36 small muffins.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Lazy chicken fajitas

Didn't feel much like cooking yesterday but I always want to eat :)

Mexican food is always a hit around here so I made chicken Fajitas. I had chicken tenders in the freezer from a buy-one-get-one-free sale the other week and green and red peppers leftover from my trip to the produce stand.

I was so lazy, in fact that I bought grated Mexican blend cheese and canned refried red beans and Rotel diced tomatoes with lime juice and cilantro to go with them.

Very easy chicken fajitas
Ingredients:
1 1/2 - 2 lbs chicken tenders or boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into strips
2 large green peppers cut into strips
1 large red pepper cut into strips
1 large red onion cut into strips
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 Tbs oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
salt and pepper
a couple dashes of hot sauce (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 4:50.
Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, cumin, salt pepper and hot sauce.
Put the chicken, peppers and onion in a big glass bowl or baking pan. Pour the marinade over the chicken and vegetables and marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
If you marinated the chicken, etc., in a bowl pour into a large baking pan and pop into the oven for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes or until the chicken and vegetables are cooked through and slightly browned.
Serve folded inside large warm flour tortillas with cheese, shredded lettuce, a spoonful of the diced tomatoes and sour cream with a side of refried beans.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Desperately Seeking Sweet and Sour Pork

When the twins were little and we were living in Tarpon Springs, on weekends we used to get takeout from a Chinese place a few miles away in Holiday.

All William would order was sweet and sour pork, chicken or shrimp.

Over the years, I have expanded his culinary horizons, but last night I decided to surprise him by making my own sweet and sour pork.

I have made versions of this in the past, skipping the battering and frying of the pork but frankly, it was nasty. This version was so good I wish there was some left this morning because I could eat it again right now. It is very important to use sushi vinegar or rice wine vinegar and brown sugar not granulated white sugar and distilled white vinegar, it makes all of the difference in the world.

I usually make pork or chicken egg rolls to go with Chinese dishes but decided to give a vegetarian version a whirl. William says now he doesn't want his egg rolls any other way.


Sweet and Sour Pork

Ingredients:
2 lbs pork tenderloin

2 - 3 Tbs soy sauce

1 1/2 tsps cornstarch

Sauce:

1/2 cup light brown sugar

4 Tbs ketchup

4 Tbs dark soy sauce

1 cup reserved pineapple juice

1/2 cup rice wine (and only rice wine) vinegar

2 Tbs cornstarch dissolved in 8 tablespoons water

Batter:

2 /3 cup flour

2/3 cup cornstarch

2 egg whites, lightly beaten

2 Tbs vegetable oil

2/3 cup warm water, as needed


Vegetables:
2 carrots

1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 20 oz can of pineapple chunks in juice

Oil for deep-frying.

Directions:

Cut the pork into 1-inch cubes. Marinate in the soy sauce and cornstarch for 20 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine the sugar, ketchup, dark soy sauce, salt, water or juice and vinegar. Set aside. In a separate bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in the water. Set aside. Peel the carrot and chop on the diagonal into 1-inch pieces. Cut the bell peppers in half, remove the seeds and cut into cubes. Heat the oil for deep--frying to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. For the batter, combine the flour and cornstarch. Stir in the egg white and vegetable oil. Add as much of the warm water as is needed to form a thick batter that is neither too dry or too moist. (The batter should not be runny, but should drop off the back of a spoon). Dip the marinated pork cubes in the batter. Deep-fry9 in batches, taking care not to overcrowd the wok. Deep-fry the pork until it is golden brown. Remove and drain on brown paper . (If desired you can deep-fry the pork at second time to make it extra crispy. Make sure the oil is back up to 375 before you begin deep-frying again). To prepare the sweet and sour sauce, bring the sauce ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the carrot, green pepper, and pineapple. Bring to a boil again and thicken with cornstarch mixture, stirring. Check the sauce one more time and adjust seasonings, adding salt and/or vinegar if desired. Serve hot over the deep-fried pork. Serve the sweet and sour pork over rice.
Almost Emeril's Vegetarian Egg Rolls

Makes 8 - 10 egg rolls
Ingredients:

2 Tbs good quality toasted sesame oil


2 Tbs corn oil


1/2 head of green cabbage, shredded


1 cup julienne carrots

12 oz sugar snap peas, minced
1 Tbs corn starch

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/8 - 1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 package of egg roll wrappers

oil for deep frying
Directions:

In a skillet over medium-high heat, heat the sesame and canola oil. Saute cabbage for 2 minutes. Add carrots and peas. Cook an additional 1 minute.
Whisk together cornstarch and soy sauce until smooth. Stir into vegetable mixture. Cook until sauce comes to a boil and is slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
Lay the egg roll skins on a flat surface and lightly brush edges with water. Place approximately 1/8 of the filling at one end of each skin, leaving a 1/4-inch border at the top and sides. Roll wrapper over filling, tucking in the ends after the first roll.
When the oil is hot, about 350 degrees F, fry the egg rolls until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the fryer and drain on brown paper.