The Paleo Diet

Recently, a friend of mine has been looking into the “Paleo Diet.” I heard about this diet in an anthropology class.  Personally, I think it is weird.  Then again, I think being strict vegan is weird.

So what exactly is a Paleo Diet?  It is a diet based foods eaten during the Paleolithic age.  The gist is this is what our ancestors ate so it must be good.  According to the research, humans weren’t designed to eat dairy or grain products which this diet disallows.

Like other “research” I have read related to food, I find a lot of it designed to try and convince people that this or that is bad/good for you.  I will link several website regarding the Paleo Diet and none of them agree on what is the best things to eat.

One site Paleodiet Foods lists foods that are supposedly in the diet.  Looking down the list I have to wonder who much top sirloin (encouraged), extra –lean hamburger (encouraged), diet-sodas (in moderation) and beer (in moderation) paleolithic man had.

On Paleo Diet food/shopping list stresses the importance of grass fed beef and other “exotic” meats such as venison, buffalo, bear, etc. and has a link to Fossil Farms where one can get these meats special order. 

On the other hand, at Paleo Diet Lifestyle the story changes and they insist you eat large portions of fat and while technically a dairy product which are discouraged, butter is encouraged as a good fat source.

In the article I read for the anthropology class – The New Age Cavemen and the City even these guys couldn’t agree on what or how to eat their foods.

I find this diet too confusing to follow with too many contradictions between the so-called experts.

In the comment field below, please feel free to give me your opinion and thoughts about the Paleo diet.

Someone Actually Eats That!?!

A friend of mine posted an interesting photo on Facebook.   And, my first thought was:  EWW!

The photo was a can of pork brains in milk gravy. (This link is not to my friend's photo but a blog about the item.) Just the name of it is enough for me not to try it.  But even if I were so bold, and I’m not, the stuff has 3190mg of cholesterol…. It’s just heart stopping!

This photo made me realize there are a lot of foods that many of us haven’t tried or won't try. 

Here is a list of foods that may or may not be good. I’ll never know because I’m too cowardly to try them.

•  Birds Nest Soup :  Authentic bird’s nest soup is made from a cave swallow’s nest.  This swallow secretes an adhesive-like substance that holds the next together.  Yes, bird spit is the secret to bird’s nest soup.

• Chicken Feet:  The first time I saw chicken feet in the meat section of the grocery store, I was curious as to why they were there.  Then I found out that people actually ate them.  I’m not sure why.

• Rattlesnake:  I’ve been told that it tastes like chicken.  Trust me!  I’ll never find out.

• Poutine:  I first heard of poutine in a comic strip, so I had to look it up to see if it was real.  It is real and it’s not as strange as some other foods listed, but the combination doesn’t appeal to me.
•  Headcheese:  It’s not cheese.   It is head.  

•  Haggis:  I know it is popular in Scotland.

• Rocky Mountain Oysters:  Also called prairie oysters.  I first heard of these when I was a teenager.  After 35 years, I still haven’t and won’t try them.

In the comment section below, give me your thoughts, comments or lists of other strange foods you may or may not eat.

African Peanut Stew

I used to get "the recipe of the day" from allrecipes.com.  I still have a backlog of recipes I have yet to try.  This particular recipe for African Chicken Stew has been a favorite of my husband's since I first made it several years ago.

I did make some slight modifications.  First, I use chicken breast instead of a whole chicken.  I use a cup of chicken broth instead of water.  And, I don’t use canned garbanzo beans.  




African Peanut Stew



After searching the web some, I’ve found that there are several different ways of making this recipe.

This recipe for African Chicken Peanut Stew adds tomatoes and cilantro.

This Vegetarian African Peanut Stew uses sweet potatoes and spinach.

And if Spicy African Peanut Stew is your thing, add some garam masala.

Emeril Lagasse has his own version called African Peanut Soup that uses ground turkey.

In the comment section below, please give me your thoughts and comments  of what you might think of this dish.

Mmmmmm Tomato Soup

One of my favorite soups is tomato.  I’ve tried different recipes with various forms of success.

While visiting my friend Chef Joey at his restaurant The Green Gourmet, I had the pleasure of trying his version of Tomato Basil Soup.  It was so good that I asked him if I could please have the recipe.  

He said to me, “This recipe is so easy, you don’t even have to write anything down.  Here is all you need:”

• Pour some olive oil and cover the bottom of the soup pot.
• Add a chopped onion, stir while frying them until the onions are clear but don’t brown them.
• Then add the secret ingredient… a can of tomato juice.
• Then add a handful of chopped fresh basil.
• Finally, use an immersion blender.

Sounds too easy, right?  Easy and very good and I made this at home recently.  My husband loved it so I know it is a winner.  I think I will continue using this particular recipe from now on.

Here are a couple of other alternatives for making tomato soup:

The recipe presented in this video calls for whole tomatoes and straining afterward to rid the soup of chunks.  It also uses a lot of butter and heavy cream.

This next recipe from The Food Network for Homemade Tomato Soup is also rather fatty.  This recipe does use olive oil for the vegetables rather than butter, but still uses heavy cream and butter.  In this recipe the cook is using canned tomatoes. 

In the comment section below, please feel free to tell me your favorite recipe, suggestions, and other thoughts about tomato soup.

Restaurant Food

When you are as health conscious as I am about what you put into your body, restaurants come up short in most cases.

Fast foods from restaurants like McDonalds™, Burger King™, and Taco Bell™ are full of sodium, fat and other preservatives that are usually unpronounceable.

Some of these fast food places offer healthy alternatives.  However, the healthy part is that most of these alternatives don’t have as much fat but are still loaded down with sodium and preservatives.

Chain restaurants such as Chili’s™, Applebee’s™, and Texas Roadhouse™, are as bad as the fast food places when it comes to fat and sodium levels.

Diatfacts.com gives a list of many restaurants, the foods they offer and their nutritional values.

Look at McDonald’s Asian Salad™ without the chicken and dressing –low calories and low sodium.  However, many people don’t eat it plain without the dressing or the chicken.  Big difference with the chicken but no dressing the calories aren’t so bad but the sodium levels are huge.  If you add the dressing the sodium levels go even higher. 

Now look at a Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad from Chili’s Bar & Grill™.  It’s worse than the one you can get from McDonald's™.

It is hard for the health conscious to eat out.  That’s why when we went to Florida we visited a friend of mine and his restaurant in Delray Beach, The Green Gourmet.  I will be writing a feature story on Chef Joey Giannuzzi and his wonderful restaurant soon.

What makes the Green Gourmet special?  Organic foods, alternatives to salt, and a chef who cares about his patrons on a personal level.  I’ve even walked away with one of his recipes that I will be sharing soon.

While not many areas have a restaurant like the Green Gourmet, there are ways of getting “healthier” alternatives at the chains.

When ordering:

• Ask that no extra salt be used when preparing your dish.
• When ordering a salad, ask for the dressing on the side and don’t use as much of it.
• Ask for just a simple vinaigrette for a dressing  instead of the heavier dressings.

In the comment section below, please feel free to tell me about your favorite restaurant or healthy alternatives you have found for eating out.

               

For the Love of Cookies

I love the way the house smells after baking cookies. 

I have tried various recipes through the years, and the best by far is the one that my mother-in-law gave to me when I first started dating my husband.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 – 2 1/2 cups of flour	1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) of butter	3/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of white sugar	1 package of vanilla instant pudding
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract	2 large eggs (slightly beaten)
1 bag (12 ounces) of chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375̊

In a small bowl, mix the flour and baking soda together and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the butter, brown sugar and white sugar together.  Then add the instant pudding and the vanilla. When the batter is smooth and creamy, add the eggs.  Add in the flour mixture until everything is well blended.  Finally add the chocolate chips.

The fun thing about having a recipe like this is the versatility.  You can use other things with your chocolate chips like walnuts or pecans.  Or, you can substitute other items peanut butter chips or raisins.

Usually I add to the chocolate chips.  This time however, I used a trail mix of chocolate and peanut butter chips, raisins, peanuts and M&Ms®. 

I also use homemade vanilla extract.  It's really easy to make your own vanilla extract. I found vanilla beans for a good price on Amazon.com.

In the comment section below, tell me your favorite cookie or recipe, or other comments on cookies or baking cookies.

Pot Roast Stew

I like pot roast.  I just dislike making pot roast.  Okay, the truth is I don’t like waiting for a pot roast to finish doing its thing in the oven. I have found that the best alternative is to make stew out of the pot roast.

I start with a nice pot roast, cut it up into nice little chunks and coat them with a little bit of flour.

Then I get my vegetables ready.  Now here is where you can get creative, because you can add whatever vegetables you like.  I generally use potatoes, celery, onions, green beans and carrots.  I cut them up in nice chunks.

In a large stock pot, heat up the olive oil.  Add about a clove of garlic and sauté for about 30 to 60 seconds before adding the meat.  After you brown the meat, pour in the broth and stir until the broth starts to simmer.  Add the vegetables, herbs and soy sauce then bring to a full boil stirring occasionally.   Then let simmer 25 to 30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

Ingredients for my recipe:

Pot roast cubed up	32 ounces of low sodium chicken broth
2 or 3 large potatoes	1 large onion
3 or 4 stalks of celery	2 or 3 carrots
1 can of unsalted green beans	Ground black pepper
2 cloves of garlic minced	2 tablespoons of olive oil
Fresh basil	Fresh oregano
3 tablespoons of soy sauce	1/2 cup of flour

Here is the finished product

There are of course other ways of making beef stew.  At Allrecipes.com you will be able to find many different styles of stew including this "Hearty Beef Stew" and a "Vegan Stew."  Since flour is a source of gluten, I found this Beef Stew at Gluten-Free Goddess. 

However, If you don't want to turn your pot roast into beef stew, then try this pot roast recipe.

In the comment section below, please feel free to post your recipe, preferences or other comments about pot roast or stew.

Is This Really Good For Me?

One of the most important things that a lot of people don’t do when they shop for groceries is read the labels.

If you are person who has certain food allergies, needs to watch cholesterol or sodium intake, counting calories, or just want to know what you are eating, it is important to learn how to read the food labels.



Food Label Image from MSWord clip art



Start with the serving size.  How much is a serving?  Then look at the calories per serving.  Most breads list the serving size as one slice.  So, if a slice of bread has 160 calories, two slices would be 320 calories. Remember to look at the calories from fat.  If a food item has 150 calories and 140 of those calories are from fat, you might want to rethink eating it.

The next thing you want to pay attention to are thing you really want to limit in your diet.  That is fats, cholesterol, and sodium.  You want to limit your fat intake to no more than 58-78 grams of fat per day.  Keep the saturated fat down to 16 grams or less and your cholesterol to less than 300 mg per day.  (This is for a 2000 calorie per day diet.)

Many people get too much sodium in their diets.  The recommended sodium intake for sodium is 2300 mg per day.  The human body only requires 1500 mg per day that is less than a teaspoon of salt. Look at your food labels and calculate how much sodium you are taking in per day.  Are you surprised?

Now look at the good stuff, the vitamins and minerals that the food provides. 

Compare the percent (%) of daily values.  A value of 5% or less is low so you want things like sodium, sugars and fats to be less than 5% and vitamins and minerals to be higher.


This video from the American Diabetess Association shows how to read the "Nutrition Facts"

For more information about reading food labels, go to the American Heart Association’s website article Reading Food Nutrition Labels or the Mayo Clinic’s website article Nutrition and Healthy Eating.

In the comment section below, please feel free to discuss your opinions on nutrition labels and if you read them.

Tastes from Africa

On Monday, our campus had the pleasure of being able to try some wonderful tastes from Africa.

Each of the samplings of the foods were presented with a recipe card.  I’m will try my hand at each these dishes as I found each of them to be delicious.  While I enjoyed each of the samplings, my favorite was the Doro Wat (a chicken stew) from Ethiopia.

These recipes were presented with each of the samplings:  (click on the recipes for a larger version)

In the comment section below, please feel free to tell about your favorite African dish, comments or other suggestions.



Cilantro Shrimp on Rice

Whenever I am away from home, I look for restaurants that serve something different.  International type places rock, and I’m sure to find something I’ve never had before.  Such was the case when I stopped at Zaytina in Washington D.C.  They serve innovated Turkish, Greek and Lebanese foods. One of the things I ordered was Garides Me Anitho that is a dish comprised of sautéed shrimp, dill, shallots, mustard, and lemon juice.

This was so good that I had to figure out how to make it myself.  So over time I have experimented and worked out a dish that is my own. Though based on the above dish, it is different and just as tasty.

Cilantro Shrimp and Rice

1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 or 2 cloves of garlic minced

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 tablespoon of butter

1/4 cup  lime juice

1/8 cup Nathan’s™ Coney Island Spicy brown mustard

1/8 cup Goya™ Recaito (a cilantro base)

Optional: Crushed red pepper

• Heat olive oil and butter together then sauté the garlic for about one minut before adding the shrimp (if you like it spicy add the crushed red pepper and sauté for one minute more.
• Sauté shrimp until done
• Add the lime juice, mustard and cilantro
• Simmer for about five minutes
• Serve on a bed of rice

Note:  I like Nathan’s brown mustard, however, any type of brown mustard would work just as well.  I do know from experience (an accident actually) that honey mustard is not the way to go.  Also, fresh cilantro is preferable to some but expensive, and I recommend using the base only because of the cost.  The base is very good and is also low in sodium.

In the comment section below, please feel free to pot your recipe, preferences or other comments about cilantro shrimp.

The Joys of a Cookbook

My first real cooking experience was when I was six and was given an Easy-Bake Oven® for Christmas. But in order to bake that cake I had to follow the “recipe.”  That is I had to pour the mix into a bowl and measure the correct amount of water, stir it up, pour it into the pan and bake it for the correct amount of time.

As I got older, my parents and both of my grand-mothers taught me how to cook different things.  My dad taught me to make milk gravy, something my mother could never quite get the hang of doing. 

As I grew into an adult and had a family of my own, I learned to cook different things by searching cookbooks for different recipes.  Over time, I developed my own style of doing things.  I found not all recipes are the same, as I’ve illustrated in some of my previous posts.  I have also learned that not every cook cooks the same way.  This is one of the reason why I have a shelf full of cookbooks, a file box full of recipes, and a notebook that contains printed recipes from the web.  I also search many websites for different recipes.

Cookbooks are wonderful things.  They not only contain these wonderful recipes, but many also give advice on how to make something, contain photographs of what the end result should look like, lists tables of conversions, and have information about ingredients. When getting a new cookbook, I do look at the recipes, but I also read about the techniques used.

My favorite cookbook is the “Joy of Cooking."  This book is a kitchen bible of sorts. Yes, it does contain many recipes, but it also gives great technique as well.  I’ve learned a lot from reading this book and in my opinion every kitchen should have one.

In the comment section below, please feel free to list your favorite cookbook, comments or other suggestions.

"Don't Eat That!"

Recently ABC News released “5 Foods the Experts Won’t Eat”.  One of the problems I have with this article is that it really doesn’t give a lot of detail as to why these experts won’t eat these foods.  Yes, reasons are listed but not the details.  Personally, I’d like to know more.  By the way, can someone please explain to me why a certain processed yellow cake-like snack food isn’t on the list?

There are, of course, many “expert” opinions about what you should or shouldn’t eat.  However, unless you retain the services of a licensed dietician, you’re pretty much on your own.

When I go shopping, I load up on a lot of fresh vegetable that will keep for a while.   While many people, including my friend Chef Joey, tout the benefits of organic, some people cannot afford the “good” stuff including me.   I will purchase local produce before something that is shipped across the country, because I feel it’s best for the environment and the economy.

While I don’t know what a particular animal was fed before it went to the butcher, I do pay attention as to whether or not it has been injected broth.  This adds a lot of sodium to the meat that isn’t necessary.  I will also spend extra for leaner cuts of meat. 

What I really pay attention to are the labels on boxed, canned and bottled foods.  Everyone should learn to read labels.  Not only is it good for people who have health issues or allergies, but it will also benefit those who are in good health as well.

Our country has a serious problem with food.   Moreover, the best way to get a handle on some of the health issues facing Americans today is for people to stop being so lazy about cooking.  Preparing a meal from scratch may take a little longer to make, but isn’t all that hard to do, and in the long run is much healthier.

In the comment section below, please feel free to express your opinions on eating healthier or tell about some food that you won’t eat and why.  

What's on Your Pancake?

I made pancakes for breakfast this morning.  I don’t make them often, only a couple of times a month. However, as I sat there slathering peanut butter onto my pancake, I wondered what other people might enjoy on their pancakes.

My husband likes to put syrup on his, preferably maple or maple flavored. Because pancakes act like a sponge and soak up the syrup, he makes a little puddle on the side of his plate and then dips his pancakes.   This way his pancakes aren’t weighed down with a bunch of sugar and it cuts the calories.

I did mention that I put peanut butter on mine.  Peanut butter on pancakes has been a tradition in my family for as far back as I can remember.  My dad got me started, and his dad got him started.  I’m not sure where it really began, but it is good. 

Foodies Unite lists 102 Pancake Toppings for National Pancake Day, February 28.

In the comment section below, please feel free to post your favorite toppings, comments or suggestions for pancakes.

Chili

When it’s cold outside and what I really want is something hot to make me feel warm inside.

Chili does the trick for me.  Truth is I like chili most any time of the year.

There are various ways to make chili with a lot of variations in meat, peppers and spices.

My own recipe:

1lb. lean ground beef

1 medium Spanish onion diced

1 can of red beans (I use organic)

2 large tomatoes skinned and diced (or a can of diced unsalted tomatoes)

1 can of unsalted tomato sauce

1 or 2 green chilies seeded and diced

1 tbsp.  crushed red pepper

1 tbsp. chili powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tbsp. cumin

¼ cup of brown sugar.

Brown the ground beef.  Add the peppers and onions when and sauté for one or two minutes.  Add the spices and let cook for another minute before adding the tomatoes.  Let simmer 15 to 20 minutes then add the brown sugar.

Other recipes you might want to try:

·         Vegetarian Chili with Spicy Tortilla Strips

·         Spicy Beanless Chili

·         Kathy’s Easy Not so Spicy Chili

·         Spicy Buffalo Chili

·         White Chili

In the comment section, please feel free to post your recipes, preferences or other comments on chili.

Lasagna

Since both my husband and I are from Italian decent, it shouldn't be surprising that we both love lasagna.

I make two kinds of lasagna:  one with meat and marinara sauce, and one with spinach and Alfredo sauce.

When I have time to do so, I make my own marinara sauce from scratch.  Sometimes I don't have time scratch sauce and use one from a jar which can be just as tasty. 

When I make meat lasagna, I use a combination of pork sausage and ground beef. 

For the cheeses, I usually use a combination of cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese.  Other combination of cheese can be used.

I found this video for baking lasagna without first boiling the pasta. I will have to try this some time. I’m not sure I would try this with an Alfredo sauce though.

Other recipes I have found:

·         Gluten Free Lasagna Recipe

·         Vegan Lasagna

·         Easy Spinach Lasagna with White Sauce

In the comment section, please feel free to post your recipe, preference or other comments on lasagna.

Omelets

Every Saturday morning I make omelets for breakfast.  It took me a long time to figure out how to make omelets.  That is, I always had trouble with the folding part of it.

I used to just take the stuff I wanted to put inside an omelet and sauté it up.  Then I would whip up the eggs and pour them into the skillet with the other stuff and scramble it all together.  But I really wanted to learn how to fold an omelet.

I  purchased an omelet pan similar to this one found at Amazon.com.  However, I usually ended up with a mess on my hands.  Even though the pan was supposed to be non-stick, something always seemed to stick.

I soon discovered that the best pan was my 8” non-stick frying pan.  After a little practice, I can now fold an omelet.

The best thing about omelets is that you can put just about anything you want in them.  I generally add hash browns, sausage and cheese to our omelets.  Occasionally I will use up some left overs that I have. 

Some of the different things I’ve put into omelets are:

·         Fresh vegetables – celery, spinach, tomatoes, onions, green peppers, etc.

·         Left over Kung Pao (not the rice), General Tso, or Hunan Chicken

·         Fried rice

·         Spanish rice

·         Chili

·         Various meats -- Pepperoni, ham, bacon, shrimp, etc.

·         Cheeses – pepper jack, cheddar, mozzarella, cottage cheese, etc.

Follow these links for a variety of different styles of Omelet:

·         Denver Oven Omelet (Gluten Free)

·         Vegan Omelet for One

·         Spanish Omelet using Egg Beaters™

·         Fat Free Delicious Omelet

·         Alice’s Fruit Omelet

In the comment section, please feel free to post your recipe, preference or other comments on omelets.