Living to Cook, Cooking Well to Live Well

What's for Dinner?

2008-05-04T08:49:00.004-04:00

I can still remember those being the first words from my children's mouths when I came home from work. But I always had an answer, even if they didn't especially like it. Somehow, planning the evening meal was something I always did, and way in advance of the time to prepare it.

I spend some time as a "lifestyle" consultant, helping people seeking to live a healthier lifestyle in whatever ways my talents and training allow. It has only recently occurred to me that in this frantic world, too many people, even and sometimes especially those trying to get healthier, just don't plan their evening meals! And apparently, that's when dietary disaster can occur. They may go out for dinner - and really have no idea what they are eating, or choose a convenience food that is loaded with hidden extra calories.

So what are good strategies to avoid these mishaps?

For people employed full time, it must start on the weekend. Take time to put your dinner menus on paper. Look at your week ahead. For nights when you know you'll need an "instant" dinner, plan something to be made ahead after you shop but also consider what you may already have in your freezer that could be a quick meal.

Here's an example: I work until 8 pm every Monday. My husband is willing to wait and have dinner with me when I get home. He'll have a big salad late in the day, and then "get dinner ready." That means I took something from the freezer, that was previously prepared in large quantity but frozen to 2 person portions. He will have it ready for final assembly when I get home. A favorite is spaghetti with meatballs and sausage (recipe to follow). The sauce and meat will be hot, the water will be ready for the pasta, and he'll have prepared a large salad for me when he prepared his own. While I'm eating my salad, the pasta cooks and dinner is on the table 15 min later. There are many dishes like this, I'll feature them over the next several entries.

Meatballs and Sausage Sauce

Meatballs:

2 lbs ground beef, the leanest you can find(I can get 93% lean)

2T Parmesan cheese

old (dried out) bread or commercial breadcrumbs(plain or Italian flavored)

1 to 2 T brown mustard

1 egg

3T fresh parsley, snipped

1 T onion powder or more to taste

salt and pepper

Soak the bread ( 2 to 3 small slices, or 1 to 2 old rolls) in warm water. Let it get very soggy, then squeeze out excess moisture. If you are using bread crumbs, use about 3/4 cup and add warm water to make them gooey. Mix either thoroughly with the other ingredients above. The mixture should be very moist, if not, add water or your meatballs will be hard and dry.

Finely chop 1 onion, 2 stalks celery and 1 peeled carrot in a food precessor, or by hand. Heat a little olive oil in a large, heavy bottomed pan and saute the veggies until soft. Add 4 or 5 cans of crushed tomatoes in puree (buy the cheap ones) and stir well, bring to a simmer. Add 2 T garlic powder (or more, to taste), 1/4 cup dried basil, 2 to 3 T oregano, 3 bay leaves and a shake of parsley.

Put in a heaping tablespoon of sugar, then bring to a simmer, stirring frequently. Into the simmerring pot, add small meatballs made from the meat mixture, stirring occasionally and carefully until the meatballs cook and get firm (no, you don't have to brown them). Then add a pound of lean sausage (I prefer Longhini pork sausage, it is quite lean and very good, but may be hard for you to find. Chicken or turkey sausage is fine, but it does need to be tasty). Unless the sausage links are very small, cut them in half before adding to the pot.

Let the pot simmer for an hour or so, then taste. You will probably want to add some salt and pepper, and may more herbs and garlic.

Let simmer a couple more hours, then cool and put the pot in a refrigerator for a day or to to "age." Freeze in portions for your family. For adults with hearty appetites, I allow 2 meatballs and 1 sausage per serving, and lots of sauce to really cover the pasta. If you spot the bay leaves, remove tem.

The active cooking time for this recipe is actually no more than 30 minutes, and you have made several dinners.

It always amazes me when people order meatballs and spaghetti in a restaurant! It is so easy to have at home, and the sauce is way better than most restaurant versions.

Flank Steak

2008-04-24T10:31:00.002-04:00

I don't avoid beef, but I'm careful to choose cuts wisely. One cut many people don't know what to do with is flank steak. Relatively inexpensive at $6.99 a pound of almost no waste meat, it is also easy to prepare.

It usually has very little exterior fat, what may be on it can easily be cut off with kitchen scissors. I like to marinate it in barbecue sauce for at least 24 hours, then simply grill it. It is important not to overcook this cut, it will get tough if you do. I like to cook it to medium rare on the thicker end, which means the thinner end will be medium well. Let it rest for a few minutes (remember it will keep cooking), then slice it diagonally. A little A1 or bottled horseradish sauce go nicely. With half the calories per ounce compared to beef tenderloin, it is a wise choice indeed.

Beef. Sometimes it's what's for dinner.

Spring, Glorious Spring

2008-04-24T10:19:00.002-04:00

This is the second straight week of true spring weather. Spring often skips us in Connecticut, but not this year. It means my yard clean up is on schedule, and I'm anxious to start planting. I do have some lettuce in the garden, and one pot of Primroses on the deck. This weekend I will buy herbs, and put them in pots on the deck also. Fresh herbs add a lot to summer and fall's harvest.

But the most exciting thing about spring is the bike riding.

My training partner Laura and I have had some delightful rides already. The memory of last fall's very last bike ride, with the lowering sun, incredible fall colors and the visit from the starlings along the way helped me endure cardio workouts in the gym during the winter. The reality of the first ride was true to the sparkling memory of last year. We discovered that we've kept our leg strength and I have maintained a good max heart rate - necessary for biking our hills. Our endurance is increasing with each ride, as we begin training for this year's Danskin Triathlon. And we give thanks for every beautiful spring day we have had to make our riding absolutely glorious.

Dinner Tonight

2008-04-08T08:22:00.003-04:00

Yes, we probably eat more fish than the average American, but no, there is no meat we totally avoid (I don't consider animal organs meat, we never east those). Very nice looking lamb chops were on sale at the supermarket yesterday so we will be enjoying them tonight. In preparing a meat like chops, the important step is removing the exterior fat. Yes, the butcher tries to tell you its necessary for taste, but that not true! A nice marinade and careful grilling produce tasty results.

Marinated Lamb Chops

This recipe is derived from one in The Best of Bon Apetit. Even people who claim they don’t like lamb enjoy these chops. The ingredients in the marinate remove any "gamy" taste from the chops, and ensure tender results. This works best with thick cut loin chops or thick cut rib chops.

In the blender combine(this will marinate up to 8 chops easily):

2 large cloves of garlic
1 t oregano
¼ c olive oil
1/4 cup sweet wine (sherry, Madeira or Marsala)
¼ c lemon juice
1 medium onion
2 T fresh parsley
2 T fresh mint or 2 t dried.
· Trim the chops of as much outside fat as you can, they will be tender, juicy and flavorful without it.
· Blend ingredients until pureed, pour over chops in a plastic bag, marinate several hours, overnight is best.
· Grill to medium or medium rare or your preferred doneness.

My favorite side dish for lamb chops is roasted potatoes:

Soak red potatoes in water, then scrub the skins and let them dry. Just before cooking, cut the potatoes (skin on) into chunks. Place in a heavy plastic bag and add 2 t. good olive oil. Close the bag and mix the potatoes and oil. Just 2 t of oil will coat up to 6 potatoes. Line a shallow dish with foil. Put the potatoes in the dish, and arrange skin side down, so they will brown nicely. Sprinkle with Kosher salt (regular will not work as well) and some dried rosemary. Cook in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes, until browned and soft inside.

Dinner with Girl Friends

2008-04-07T11:17:00.002-04:00

Friday night I had a number of "fitness" friends join us for dinner. We had Vodka sauce on penne as the main course, a lightened version that tastes as good as the original. Everyone loved it.

Vodka Sauce
1 onion, finely chopped
1/4 lb prosciutto, chopped
6 oz vodka
10 garlic cloves, chopped or put through a garlic press
2 cans San Marzano Tomatoes, chopped in the food processor, or by hand ( you may use other canned tomatoes, but the flavor of the San Marzanos is superior) or 3 – 4 lbs fresh tomatoes, peeled (buy the reduced ones that are over ripe)
8 leaves snipped basil (more if you’d like, I do use extra)
1 t. dried sage (or 1T fresh, snipped)
2 cups fat free half and half
2T fresh snipped parsley, 1 t dried oregano
2 small cans, or 1 medium can tomato paste
8-12 oz. sliced fresh mushrooms, optional

Sauté garlic and onion in olive oil, add prosciutto, mix in and sauté for another 3 minutes. Add the vodka, sauté 3 min, and then light with a long match while stirring. I've never tried omitting this step, but you probably could, just saute the meat a bit longer. After the flames subside, stir in the plum tomatoes, basil, fresh parsley, oregano, sage and pepper to taste. Cook 30 minutes or longer, uncovered most of the time. Add tomato paste and heat through. Add mushrooms (optional) and cook until tender. Add the half and half; do not boil after this addition. Serve over penne for a traditional presentation.
For fancier serving, remove some sauce before adding the half and half and put some of the red sauce on the top of each serving (add some hot sauce to this also, if you’d like).

I also made some foccacia, very easy with store bought pizza dough. Use a pound of purchased dough, spread it in a circle on a baking sheet, or, even better, a pizza stone. Pierce in several places with a fork. Cover it with plastic wrap and then a towel, let it rise for several hours.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Brush some good extra virgin olive oil on the dough, then sprinkle on some Kosher salt, oregano and rosemary (dried). You may also finely chop a tomato and put it on top also. Bake for about 20 minutes, check it after 15. Let it rest on the counter for a few minutes before cutting it up. Serve with some olive oil and good balsamic vinegar on the side, for dipping.

A nice big salad, with a low fat dressing made the meal complete.

And More Salmon

2008-04-02T07:28:00.002-04:00

This poaching mixture is my husband's favorite.

In a bowl, combine:

1/4 cup lite soy sauce (less if its too salty for you)
1/4 rice wine vinegar (it may be in the vinegar or oriental food section)
1/4 cup white wine, chicken broth or water
a few drops sesame oil (just a few, its very flavorful)

Brown the skinless fillet ( for 2) on both sides, put in a dish that just holds it. Add the liquid to the pan to heat it, then pour it over the fish and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes until done. Pour off the cooking liquid and reduce it in the pan. Pour the reduced liquid over the fish and serve.

More Salmon

2008-04-01T11:47:00.001-04:00

It doesn't get any easier than this!

Oh So Easy Sweet-Spicy Glazed Salmon
From Cooking Light

Salmon fillet for two, skin removed

2T brown sugar
3T low sodium soy sauce
3 T Dijon mustard
3 T. rice vinegar

Combine all but the salmon in a sauce pan, stir and heat to dissolve the sugar. You may do this ahead.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Spray a baking cooking dish with Pam. Smear a little of the sauce on one side of the fish, place it sauce side down in the pan. (You may do this ahead also). Put just a little more sauce on top, bake at 425 for 12 minutes for thick fillets, less if they are thin. Remove from oven, turn on broiler. Spread the rest of the sauce on top of the fish and broil for 3 minutes, about 3 inches from the heat. Serve and enjoy!

Salmon, Salmon, Salmon

2008-04-01T07:54:00.002-04:00

Other than Swordfish, which is expensive, full of heavy metals and becoming scarce, I consider Salmon the King of fish. This inexpensive and versatile main dish is full of omega 3 fatty acids, beneficial to our health. The less expensive is farm raised, which according to most sources is fine to eat, except that from Scotland, where the feed is contaminated.

I learned from Julia Child's The Way to Cook that the best way to cook Salmon is poaching. Not only does it ensure a moist dish, but by changing the poaching medium, you can create many different flavored dishes.

This recipe is from the book, and one of my favorite ways to enjoy this fish. This serves 2.

1 small carrot, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 celery hearts, finely chopped
1 t (dried) tarragon (or other herb, if you prefer)
2 t. dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste
white wine (you could try broth or water, but I never have)
About 3/4 lb "Boneless" salmon steaks, or fillets cut from the thick end, skin removed (have the fish dept do this)

Saute the veggies in a few drops of olive oil, until softened a bit, do not brown. Add the tarragon and parsley and some salt and pepper.

Place the salmon in a baking dish in which it just fits. Top with the veggie mixture, pour in wine until it comes to the top level of the salmon and pop the dish in a 350 degree oven. Bake about 1/2 hour, until the salmon is cooked. Remove the salmon and place on a dish, cover it to keep it warm. If you used the boneless steaks, remove the skin. Pour the cooking liquid into the saute pan and reduce it to 1/4 cup or so. Cut the fish in half, pour on the cooking liquid and serve.

This makes a spectacular presentation, if your friends like salmon, it's great for company. You can put this together ahead and refrigerate it, then just pop it in the oven (it will need a bit longer to cook if it starts out cold).

A Vegetarian Delight

2008-03-27T08:31:00.003-04:00

First, I confess. We've been traveling again. We can't take vacations anymore because although we both work part time, we are working because we have a passion for what we do, so it doesn't feel like work. So we take trips. We went to Florida and enjoyed biking every day in the glorious weather, even when we got caught in the rain at Myaka State park, we laughed and raced the 7 miles back to the car.

My friend Naina has kindly provided me with a simple recipe for an Indian chick pea dish that I've had at restaurants many times but couldn't find a user friendly recipe to prepare. Her recipe is delightful, healthful, cheap and so good that although I didn't plan on having it last night, we did. Peter walked in while I was preparing it and once he got a whiff of it's savory aroma, he talked me into it. With dishes like this one, I prefer to let them "age" a day or two in the fridge. The amounts are guesses, she didn't give me any.

one large onion, or two smaller ones, chopped
1 or 2 cloves garlic, crushed. Omit this this if you are a garlic phobe.
3 or 4 tomatoes (buy the marked down mushy ones, they are perfect), chopped
about one inch of fresh ginger, peeled and diced

Heat a heavy bottom pan, add a few drops of olive oil and saute the onions, garlic and ginger. Let the onions brown a bit. Add the tomatoes and saute another 2 minutes.

Sprinkle 1 to 2 T of tumeric and 1 t garam masala on the mixture, stir to distribute the spices.
Now add 2 small cans of chick peas, stir and cook on very low heat. Add salt to taste, it will probably need some. I ended up putting in about 1/2 t. more of the garam masala. If you want to make this even more economical, and eliminate a lot of the gas from the beans, start with dried chick peas, soak a half pound in water overnight, then rinse well, cook about an hour in water before adding to this dish.

The flavors are so lovely this goes well on brown rice. Naina prefers Basmati rice, my favorite is Jasmine. We loved this dish, but I am thinking of finding a "filler." Indian restaurants often put potatoes in this, but I'm thinking about a small eggplant- less calories and more fiber. I use it in Chili and once it's cooked up, no one knows it's there, but it does lighten up the dish.

Most supermarkets should have Garam Masala in the spice section. In contains many spices in a blend, making the job much easier.

Hungerless Eating

2008-02-24T14:42:00.003-05:00

Hungerless eating is another common bad eating habit of many overweight people. We eat because food is put in front of us (for example, at work, when someone brings in treats). We engage in "mindless" eating, such as eating while watching TV, when we can easily consume a lot of food, without noticing how much, or even thinking about fullness. We eat as an emotional response to something, sometimes sadness or joy, but sometimes boredom.

If you are struggling with weight loss, always, always, think before you eat. Are you hungry? Separate wanting to eat from true physical hunger. When you are really, really, wanting to eat but you know you are not hungry, find something else to do. Easily said, not easily done. Call a friend, read, do a crossword or other type of puzzle, have some water or diet soda (I know it's not great for you but it can be a good crutch), munch on a raw veggie, or go for a walk if you can. Very often, when you resist that hungerless eating urge, it goes away after a while.

For me, not starting to eat if I am not hungry has pretty much become habitual. I no longer seek food just for the sake of food. But I still struggle with the other kind of hungerless eating: stopping when I am full. I suspect it will be an ongoing struggle. It helps me to know I need to be always conscious of this pitfall.

(Bad) Eating Habits

2008-02-18T13:37:00.003-05:00

The next few entries will concern some detrimental eating habits that many overweight people have developed over time.

One of mine was the habit of "cleaning my plate" at every meal and whenever I snacked. Yes, I was raised in a home that required plate cleaning, probably because my parents were children of the depression. No one in India or anywhere else will starve if you don't clean your plate.

Saiety in eating is very complicated. It takes about 20 minutes for the stomach to send a message to the brain and get back the feeling of fullness. One way to help get the feedback is to slow down your eating. It's easy to say, hard to do. If you are trying to cut down on your portions, enlist the support of whomever you share your meals with, tell them you need help in slowing down. Solicit suggestions from your meal partners on how to make the pace of eating more leisurely.

Try this: after each bite, put your fork down on the table. Now this isn't easy either. I have discovered it is somewhat easy at a dinner party, when there is a lot of table conversation, and also when we dine out with friends.

Some of us rush when we are especially hungry. What I've learned, however, is that real hunger makes the meal taste its best! So when you are "starving" take the time to really savor each bite. As your plate gets emptier, think about your feeling of fullness. For me, fullness and saiety were not the same thing. Fullness came first, especially when I was eating something I really enjoyed. Reaching saiety involved cleaning my plate; it was what I was required to do, long after I stopped eating with my parents.

Think about how you might work on breaking this habit. Put less on your plate, and/or, as it empties, think to yourself "Am I full?" It's OK to leave some food there and throw it away.

Calcium and Vitamin D

2008-02-02T08:13:00.000-05:00

I'm away in Aruba, getting plenty of vitamin D but I do want to complete the Osteoporosis story.

You basically need the equivalent of 3 glasses of milk a day. A yogurt counts as a milk, as does cheese. But you need to check labels on dairy products other than milk.

By law, all milk in the US is fortified with vitamin D. If you look at a milk label, you'll see the % Calcium and % vitamin D are very close. Now check your favorite yogurt and frozen yogurt. You may see Vitamin D, you may not. There is no requirement that milk products are made from fortified milk, so check the label. It is worth having a discussion with your MD about vitamin D, and remember that the National Osteoporosis Foundation now recommends 1000 units a day.

What about calcium supplements? There are two kinds: the more expensive calcium citrate and the much less expensive calcium carbonate. Calcium citrate can be absorbed with or without food, calcium carbonate needs stomach acid to dissolve, so it needs to be taken with a meal. Both are fortified with some D. If you are using a cheap calcium carbonate, as I do, make sure you take it with food. But do this little check first: put one in a glass and add some white vinegar. It should dissolve in 30 minutes. If it doesn't, it will not dissolve in your stomach.

I hope this diversion has been useful. Consider it part of the owner's manual.

Medication Failure and Vitamin D

2008-01-24T09:26:00.000-05:00

It happens: women are put on osteoporosis medications and don't seem to respond. The reasons are varied, but a somewhat common one has recently come to light.

Adequate vitamin D in your diet does two things: it is necessary for the absorption of calcium and it is necessary for the final step in bone hardening. It was discovered recently that some women are poor absorbers of vitamin D and need more than the formerly recommended 400 units a day. In fact, the National Osteoporosis Foundation has changed their recommendation on vitamin D intake from 400 to 1000 units daily. Poor vitamin D absorption has certainly been one of the causes of medication failures. The other is tied to lack of weight bearing exercise. Medication slows the breakdown of bone, but the ideal scenario for improved density is adequate calcium and vitamin D, and weight bearing exercise to stimulate the osteoblasts. Other vitamins also play a role, but the good news is that if you are eating your veggies and fruit, you are getting them. The AMA also currently recommends that all adults take a multi vitamin daily. Isn't it nice to know that the heart healthy diet is also good for your bones?

Not all primary care physicians, many of whom treat osteoporosis, are aware that some people are poor Vitamin D absorbers. If you are diagnosed with Osteoporosis and have been taking calcium and D faithfully, ask your physician to do a simple blood test for your Vitamin D3 level.
Avoid waiting 2 years for a repeat bone scan that shows no improvement before having your D level checked. If you are diagnosed and are just starting calcium and D, ask your physician to do a blood test in 3 months to check your D3 level.

This vitamin D absorption problem has got the endocrinologists just a bit at odds with dermatologists. Fifteen minutes of sunshine (northern sunshine in the winter doesn't count), just on your hands and face, is adequate Vitamin D intake. So wait just a little while before putting on your sunscreen, and take advantage of the best way to get your D.

The Short Story About Your Bones

2008-01-23T10:45:00.000-05:00

Our bones are very much living tissue. Your entire skeleton is replaced every 7 to 10 years. In the bones, cells called osteoclasts break down bone, while osteoblasts build bone. When these are in balance, bone density remains stable.

The greatest gain in bone density occurs between age 12 and 20. With adequate nutrition, and physical activity, we hit adulthood with excellent bone density. People who are weightlifting during this time start out with wonderfully strong bones. Density stays pretty much stable until menopause, unless other factors contribute to loss or gain. Bone loss can be caused by smoking, excessive alcohol, inadequate nutrition, eating disorders, excessive exercise - to the point of menstrual cessation- and a sedentary lifestyle. Further bone growth can result from good nutrition, and an active life that includes weightlifting. Bone growth is influenced by hormones, especially estrogen, and that makes menopause a risky time for some people. During the first 3 to 5 years after menopause, you can lose 3% to 5% of your bone density EACH YEAR. If this happens, you will have Osteoporosis.

Wayne Wescott, PhD., did some interesting studies on weightlifting and bone density. People weightlifting during adolescence gain much more bone that those who are not weightlifting. And during the decades up to age 50, modest bone growth can still occur in weightlifters. During the decade from age 50 to age 60, a very small (less than 1%) increase in density occurs. But, wait. Compare that to the 3% to 5% loss, each year, that occurs without weightlifting, and you now can see why lifting at this time is so important. In some people, weightlifting and good nutrition can help regrow bone that has thinned, but if the bone loss is substantial, medication is a good idea too.

How do weightlifting and medication help bone density? The medications (Fosamax, Actonel, Boniva, etc) work only on the osteoclasts, so they inhibit the breakdown of bone. Exercise stimulates the osteoblasts, so it stimulates the growth of bone. It is weight bearing exercise that has this effect. Many people believe that walking alone will stimulate bone growth, this is only true if you are quite heavy or walk 20 miles a day. Bones need intensity, not lots of repetition, to stimulate growth. An exercise that helps stimulate growth at the hip is a side lying leg lift. You benefit more from doing 15 repetitions with 10 lbs on your ankle than you would from doing 45 repetitions with no weight. Do not jump into an unguided exercise program if you have osteoporosis, because the wrong exercise can hurt you. If you don't have access to a gym, or your gym does not have knowledgeable trainers (and many know nothing about osteoporosis), buy both Miriam Nelson's book, Strong Women, Strong Bones and Osteopilates by Karena Lineback. Work with someone watching you to observe that your form is correct. You want to do exercises not just for the sake of your bone density, but also to improve balance, the key to preventing falls.

Up Next: Medication Failure

Osteoporosis and You

2008-01-22T12:53:00.000-05:00

Most of this information is from the National Osteoporosis Foundation Website. A great and easy to read book on the subject is Miriam Nelson's Strong Women, Strong Bones.

Breast Cancer gets all the press. That's why we think about it, have mammograms, and as a country have cut the death rate from this disease tremendously.

But, if you are a 50 year old woman, what are your mortality and morbidity threats? Breast Cancer doesn't make it to the top 6 (so keep having your mammograms).

Number one is heart disease, two is Lung Cancer (less women get it than breast cancer, but it's far more deadly), number 3 is stroke, the brain's form of heart disease, number four is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, mainly emphysema, and fifth is complications of accidents.

All of these diseases have a very preventable common cause: smoking. But I'm not getting on that horse right now.

I want to call your attention to number 5, because you might have assumed it was automobile related. Rarely, yes. But mostly, this category is filled with people who die from the complications of an osteoporosis related fracture, probably at the hip. Do you take as many steps to prevent and monitor for this disease as you do with breast cancer?

If you are a 50 year old woman the chance is 50-50 that your bones are already thinning. Your risk of developing full blown osteoporosis is higher than your combined risk for breast, uterine and cervical cancer. Half of all 50 year old women will have an osteoporosis related fracture in her lifetime. The most common fracture sites are spine (700,000/yr in US), wrist, and hip (300,000 a year in US). Sad fact: in the United States, the majority of osteoporosis is still diagnosed when someone breaks a bone.

What are the risk factors for osteoporosis? Family history, smoking, small frame, poor diet, including excessive "dieting" (in terms of Calcium and Vitamin D), use of steroid medication, excessive alcohol use and uh,oh, a sedentary lifestyle. The lifestyle (diet and exercise) factor is especially crucial at 2 times during our life: during adolescence, when potential bone density gain is the greatest, and during the first 3 to 5 years post menopause, when bone density losses can be the greatest.

Who doesn't lose their bone? People who drank milk (for teens, it is still the best source of Calcium and D) and were active. They have lots of bone "in the bank." And people who are exercising, especially weightlifting, during and after menopause and being mindful of their calcium and vitamin D intake. And sadly, these seem to be little known facts of life.

Can you change your own picture? Stay tuned, because I'm off for my own workout today!

Is Alli an Ally?

2008-01-20T15:45:00.000-05:00

Reading the Sunday paper, I noticed ads for Alli, the latest weight loss drug. It was sold for years as the prescription product Xenical, and it didn't sell very well. Why?

The drug is not systemic acting. It blocks the breakdown of some of the fat you eat, so that your body can't absorb it. Which means the fat remains in your intestine and is excreted basically unchanged. The problem is, our bodies weren't designed to handle this scenario, so it is sometimes excreted at an inconvenient time, over which you may not have control. The drug didn't do very well as a prescription product because once physicians learned what the side effects were, they were extremely reluctant to prescribe it. They were not about to give patients a drug that caused (sometimes)uncontrolled oily stools. If you want a cheap preview of what it might do to you, buy some doritos or potato chips made with Olestra. We can't break down Olestra so it goes right through us. At one sitting, eat 2 or 3 "servings". Hours later you'll know what Alli can do as the undigested fat is excreted (often preceded or followed by very smelly gas).

If you want to review the efficacy of the drug, google "Xenical" and read the studies done with the prescription version of the drug. People in supervised programs lost 12 or 13 lbs over a years time. (Without the Xenical they lost a little over 6 lbs).

Now wouldn't it just be easier to look at the fat in your diet and try to cut out 1/3 of it out without adding in something else? Cut out the mayo in favor of mustard, use yogurt instead of sour cream on your baked potato, skip the butter on your bread, find some lower fat salad dressings. The cheap (and painless) way to be in the 12 lb group.

Last Night's Dinner

2008-01-17T08:22:00.000-05:00

I pulled some boneless center cut pork chops from the freezer and decided to try something new, if I could find a recipe that sounded good and could be easily made. I searched Epicurious.com and came up with too many to look at, so I searched through the first few pages. I found a keeper: Pork Chops with Apple/Onion Sauce

I made enough sauce for 4 servings because I wanted to have brown rice with this dish, so I wanted extra sauce. Some up front notes: I was doubtful about the garlic in this recipe, but left it in (the result does not scream GARLIC, but if you're skeptical, leave it out). Measure the herbs and spices carefully, it was the perfect blend and nothing was overpowering. The apples were the primary taste, with just 1 teaspoon of curry, the dish does not taste heavily of it. The next time I make this, I will make at least a double recipe and freeze the extra before adding the fat free half and half (the original recipe called for heavy cream).

For 2 people who love sauce:

12 - 14 oz boneless center cut pork chops, trimmed of fat, soaked in milk
1 medium apple (any of the sweeter varieties, I used empire), cored and chopped
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped or put through a garlic press
1/4 cup white wine (I think you could eliminate this, but I had it on hand)
1/2 cup to 3/4 cup fat free chicken broth
2 T honey mustard
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 to /3 cup fat free half and half

Saute the apple, onion and garlic in a few drops of canola oil, until the apple just softens a bit. Add the herbs and curry, wine, mustard and chicken broth, simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Start with 1/2 cup broth and add a little more if the mixture gets dry. If you want to set some aside to freeze, do it now. Add the half and half and simmer a few minutes. The mixture will look grainy. Pan fry or grill the pork, serve with generous amounts of sauce on the pork and whatever side you are serving, if desired. We ate every scrap!

Side Dishes

2008-01-14T14:20:00.000-05:00

For a healthy dinner, imagine your dinner plate in 4 quarters. The meat/fish part is one quarter, the starchy side is another and your vegetable should be about half. I usually have about a cup and a half of veggies (green) with my dinner. I treat winter squashes and other starchy vegetables as a starchy side, not a vegetable. Try baking some acorn squash (without fat), and then add some lemon juice and a tablespoon of brown sugar.

Although whole grains are probably better for you than white starches, it is important to have and enjoy a good tasting dinner. Why would anyone eat lots of what they don't like? I'm not crazy about plain brown rice, but when I have a meat or fish dish with a tasty sauce, I'll cook brown rice for a side dish and let the sauce improve the flavor. I see nothing wrong with having potatoes occasionally, as long as they are not loaded up with calorie laden fat. I've already posted a recipe for fat-free mashed potatoes. I'll cook baked potatoes sometimes, topping them with fat free plain yogurt (and some salt and pepper). That dish you need to try to appreciate. It is hard to tell it's not sour cream when it's all mixed into your potato. Good salsa makes a nice topping for baked potatoes too. I also like oven roasted red potatoes. Cut up the potatoes, put them in a plastic bag and add (for 2 people) 2 t. olive oil. Press all the air out of the bag and move the potatoes around in it to coat them with the oil. Layer a shallow pan with foil, give the foil a quick spray of Pam, and put the potatoes in the pan in a single layer. Arrange then cut sides up, so they will brown nicely. Sprinkle them with some Kosher salt and dried rosemary. Bake at 400 degrees until browned and cooked through, about 45 minutes. For another yummy potato dish, slice potatoes and an onion, mix together with some Dijon mustard and a little "seasoned" salt and pepper. Cook sealed in heavy duty foil in the oven.

Don't be afraid of pasta, just don't eat a huge dish of it. If you like the whole wheat kind, all the better. I confess I can't sell it to my husband, so we eat regular pasta. What goes on it does matter. A homemade tomato sauce with low fat meatballs (more about this later) and perhaps a small piece of lower fat sausage with a nice big salad makes a great change of pace dinner. I am astounded at the number of calories in jarred sauces, so I never use them (OK, so I'm really a snob about sauce, and it has to be homemade).

I will occasionally use a boxed rice, sometimes doctored up a bit. The problem with the boxes is they tend to be high in sodium and usually have some trans fat, so use them only in an emergency or when really needed. For company, if I want to have a fancy but lightened up wild rice type side dish, I'll cook boxed wild rice without added fat, then add some (raw) bean sprouts and chopped tomato. To give this a wonderful earthy taste, add 1 to 2 teaspoons of truffle oil just before serving. Truffle oil is olive oil with a tiny piece of a truffle in it, sold at specialty shops or online. It's pricey but goes a long way.

When I make Thai dishes, I like to serve them over Jasmine rice. Yup, its white, but wonderfully delicious with those recipes. Just gotta have variety.

More Boneless Chicken Breasts

2008-01-11T17:01:00.000-05:00

This recipe for Middle Eastern style chicken breasts is adapted from Cooking Light. The
mixture of spices is just right for my taste, you may want to try playing with them if it's not quite to your liking. None of the spices scream from the dish, nor is it overly spiced. This dish goes together very quickly.

Ingredients
2 teaspoons olive or canola oil
2 ( 6 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, soaked in milk all day (optional)
1 1/2 cups chopped red potato, par boiled, well drained
1 cup chopped Vidalia or other sweet onion
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons curry powder
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups or one medium can chopped tomato
1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro (optional)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

In a heavy bottomed large frying pan, brown the potatoes and finish cooking them in a little olive or canola oil. Add the chopped onion and garlic and all the spices, cook 2 minutes, then add the tomatoes. Stir and cook for a couple of minutes, then stir in the spinach, salt and pepper and cilantro, if desired. Keep the mixture warm.

Reduce the vinegar a bit by boiling it in a sauce pan, or, if you have some really nice balsamic vinegar, this step is not necessary.

Cook the chicken breasts by grilling or pan frying in cooking spray. When they are cooked, make several diagonal slashes in them. Place some of the vegetables on a plate and top with a chicken breast. Drizzle the chicken with the vinegar and enjoy this one-dish meal.

The Mysteries of Heart Disease

2008-01-09T14:47:00.000-05:00

At the request of my sister, Kathryn Mackel, also a blogger and a published author- she's the one responsible for getting me started blogging- I am reading Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes. It will eventually promote a specific type of diet for weight loss and maintenance, but I haven't gotten that far yet. Some of what Taubes says is accurate, some raises good questions, but some is blatantly untrue, and like anything in print, including this blog, it needs to be looked at carefully. On page five, he says "It took the AHA ten years to give public support to Keys hypothesis that heart disease was caused by dietary fat, and closer to thirty years for the rest of the world to follow." The AHA has never, and does not now, claim that heart disease (often labeled CAD for Coronary Artery Disease) is caused by dietary fat. It does, however, name (high) cholesterol as a RISK FACTOR for developing CAD. The other known risk factors it cites are increasing age, a family history of heart disease, hypertension, smoking, obesity, diabetes and a sedentary lifestyle. High HDL is even recognized as a "negative" risk factor. The AHA goes on to cite other "contributing" risk factors, but never singles one out as a sole cause, nor does any medical institution make that claim. Go to their website for more information (google AHA, you'll find it and many others).

His description of heart disease and what happens in a heart attack is fuzzy, and reflects old thinking that was once widely prevalent even in the medical community.

CAD is really a disease of the lining of the blood vessels - the enothelium - of the arteries of the heart. As we get older (and sometimes even in young people), we develop some arterial plaques. The placques are pockets of lipids on the endothelial walls, covered with solid cells that form a cap, so that the lipid core is completely enclosed under the cap. Very rarely does a plaque get so large that it completely occludes an artery. In fact, many of the larger plaques are more stable and less dangerous than smaller plaques, probably because the cap on them is thick. Most MIs occur when an unstable plaque ruptures, releasing the internal lipid into the bloodstream and setting off a cascade that forms a clot. The clot then occludes the artery completely, cutting off blood supply to part of the heart. This is a myocardial infarction. The same thing can happen in the brain, causing a stroke. The first line of treatment is usually the administration of a clot-dissolving drug in the ER, after a blood test for cardiac enzymes confirms that an MI has occurred. By the way, this is the reason why, should you ever suspect you are having a heart attack, you need to get to the ER - NOT your doctor's office -right away.

An interesting development concerning the statins, a class of drugs consistently proven to reduce the risk of MI and stroke, is the recognition that their effect is likely due to more than their effect on lowering cholesterol. A newly recognized risk factor for CAD is arterial inflammation, and the statins reduce arterial inflammation. Arterial inflammation and how to measure it was totally unknown when the statin studies were initiated. They may have even more, as yet undiscovered, effects on endothelium stabilization.

The cause of arterial plaques is still not completely understood, but most adults have some. The plaques do contain cholesterol. Anything that can cause damage to the endothelium contributes to the formation of plaques, and you do not have to have "high" blood cholesterol to form plaques, although epidemiological studies suggest that the after a certain level, people with higher cholesterol are at higher risk for MIs. High blood pressure causes damage because of excessive shear force on the arteries. High insulin levels associated with pre diabetes and Type 2 diabetes injure the endothelium. Cigarette smoke contains many chemicals that get into the blood stream and damage the endothelium. The fact that family history predisposes you to heart disease suggests an as yet undiscovered genetic link. Heart disease is multi factorial, it certainly does not have a single cause.

It is true that the effect of limiting cholesterol in your diet has a varying effect on what happens to blood cholesterol. Some people can have a substantial reduction, some people have none, and more recent thinking (but limited solid research in humans) suggests that blood cholesterol levels may be effected by lowering intake of trans and saturated fat, and also refined carbohydrates, especially sugar and sugar or high fructose corn syrup laden food products. It is a very complicated issue, and the answers wills not be known for a long time. Another important issue is that each person is individual. If you look at the effect of exercise on raising HDL, the studies show an overall modest but positive effect. If you could look at the individual results for people in the study, however, what you would see is almost no effect for some and dramatic increases for others. So, the effect of exercise on HDL for you really depends on your heredity. I exercise moderately, except when I'm training for an event. When I started exercising many years ago, my HDL went from 40 to 70, lucky for me, and thanks to my parents. But I have friends with low HDL who exercise vigorously, even to being marathoners, with no effect on their HDL. And eating monounsaturated fat can also raise HDL.

Many physicians are now taking a point of view with which I disagree (they have no evidence and neither do I). They are taking the position that when it comes to LDL, lower is better, not considering the possibility that there may be an optimal "low" value. What leads me to believe that this thinking may be flawed comes from considering other physiological systems. We know there is such a thing as blood pressure that is too low, because it becomes symptomatic. And there is such a thing as blood sugar that is too low, because it is also symptomatic. We don't know if there is such a thing as LDL that is too low, since we don't know what the symptoms are, if any. It is possible that they will appear over time.

Further complicating the issue is the fact that cardiologists have now recognized that LDL is not a single entity, but that there are different kinds, and some kinds of LDL seem to be more atherogenic than others.

Coronary Artery Disease is multi factorial. We don't know all the factors involved in its cause. But, the American Heart Association has not named dietary fat as THE cause. They do still recommend cutting dietary cholesterol and saturated fat, but they also recommend smoking cessation, achieving a healthy weight, controlling diabetes and exercise. Readers, beware.

Time to Contemplate Your Readiness to Change

2008-01-08T13:02:00.000-05:00

If you are as miserable as I was over 12 years ago, you probably want to change your body. I wanted to change my body for a long, long time. And I had tried, many times. I knew the results I wanted would not come overnight. I also knew there was no sense in making lifestyle changes that I couldn't live with for the rest of my life. I knew there would be lots of work involved. For many people the work is not just around what they eat, but where it comes from. It is very difficult to eat well if you eat out a lot, you need to face the fact that planning, shopping and cooking may be part of your lifestyle changes. And you may need to change your role in your family, especially if you are a woman with children, and especially if you also work outside your home. I work with a lot of women who struggle to find time for the gym, but their husbands don't seem to have that issue. (Sorry to any men I offended, I know you are not all that way). Last night one of our (gym) members told me "I asked my husband whether he wanted to take Megan to CCD class or pick her up." This mom gets to the gym at least 4 times a week. Be honest about your barriers, especially when it comes to exercise. I am convinced that if you are not willing to make your journey toward better health the most important thing in your life for at least 6 months, your chances of success are not good.

Here's some specific points to ponder: Why do I want to lose weight? Is it about how I look or how I feel? I remember asking a reporter who didn't need to lose a lot of weight, why she was so desperate to lose it. She thought and replied "Because I'll have more power." Think about that answer, she wasn't talking about physical strength, and I believe she was greatly mistaken.

Am I willing to make exercise part of my life? Will I schedule it in ahead of other things and ask family members to help me out with chores that get in the way?

Am I willing to plan, shop and cook, or help out as needed with all of these?

Will I be satisfied with a slow rate of weight loss? Can I celebrate my lifestyle changes immediately and wait for the scale to show changes?

Do I realize that weight loss will not necessarily make my other life problems go away?

Can I embrace my lifestyle changes as a journey toward health, and not an exercise in deprivation?

Can I ask my Higher Power for help?

If you are ready, hop in with me. I'm still on the journey and you are welcome to join me. Please feel free to figure out how to post comments because I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Pork Chops with Tomato Sage Sauce

2008-01-08T12:42:00.000-05:00

This recipe is from Cooking Light

This is so fast and easy that dinner can be ready in less than 30 minutes. As with other sauces, I encourage you to make a lot and freeze it for later use. I discovered this recipe this summer, so I have only made it with fresh sage and garden tomatoes. I was very fortunate with tomatoes in '07, I had San Marzano Plum Tomatoes that were prolific, and didn't ripen all at once. I always grow herbs in pots on my deck, they are pretty much no-fail. I did harvest and freeze some whole sage leaves to use throughout the winter. The sage flavor is very subtle, but makes this sauce distinct tasting.

4 teaspoons chopped fresh sage, or 1 t. dried

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 (4-6 ounce) boneless or bone in center-cut loin pork chops, soaked in milk. Trim off all the outside fat and you have a nice lean cut of meat. Well trimmed pork loin has no more fat than skinless chicken breasts.
Cooking spray
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup chopped seeded fresh tomato, or a bit more if you'd like. You could use canned tomatoes but even if I din't have my own garden tomatoes, I would use "Campari" tomatoes, available in most supermarkets.
Preparation

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with a little olive or canola oil. Add the tomatoes, garlic, salt and pepper and cook a few minutes. Add the sage, and white wine, cook uncovered so a little of the water evaporates. You may make extra of the sauce and freeze it.
Pat the pork dry, grill or pan fry until just done. Top with some sauce and serve.
Yield
4 servings (serving size: 1 chop and sauce)

Chicken Breasts with an Eastern Flair

2008-01-05T09:03:00.000-05:00

Indian Spiced Chicken Breasts

This wonderfully spiced Chutney is very east to make and freezes well. If you decide you like it, make a good sized batch and freeze it in serving sizes for quick dinners. Although the spices have a definite eastern flair, the dish is not hot, but rather somewhat sweet and sour. The pepper in the chutney is a small (about 2 inches long) yellow pepper found in most supermarkets. You could always add heat to this if you’d like, with some red pepper sauce. A good pairing would be brown rice, put some chutney on it.
Chutney:
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped shallots
1 minced seeded Serrano Chile (one small yellow pepper)1/2 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 cup coarsely chopped seeded tomato
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
salt and pepper to taste

To prepare chutney, heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and Serrano; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add ginger and garlic; cook 30 seconds, stirring frequently. Add tomato, vinegar, sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Uncover and simmer 5 minutes or until mixture is thick. Set aside, and keep warm.

Chicken:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon curry powder 1
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, flattened and soaked in milk or yogurt all day, pat dry before cooking.
1/2 teaspoon salt

To prepare chicken, heat 2 teaspoons oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add coriander, curry, cumin, and black pepper; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Turn up the temperature a little then cook the chicken breasts until just done, then turn off the pan, cover and let sit 5 minutes. Serve the sauce on the chicken and on rice if you'd like.

The Cooks Kitchen

2008-01-04T12:43:00.000-05:00

It's time to pause for an inventory.

There are some essential tools and basic ingredients a good cook needs to have in the kitchen. These are suggestions that make it possible to almost always prepare a meal.
Aside from the standard pots and pans, you need:
· A gravy separator
· Some “disposable” non stick frying pans. Most don’t stay non stick forever so buy the cheap ones in the supermarket or discount store and toss them when the surface gets frustrating. Try to keep one hidden and use it only for lower heat cooking, like frying eggs, and it will never lose it’s no-stick ability.
· Heavy duty kitchen shears for everything from cutting meat to snipping herbs.
· A food processor: many good recipes call for lots of chopping and the processor does the work.
· A good blender, it should have the power to chop ice (when placed in the blender with liquid).
· The right cleaning tools. A plastic scrubber is essential, avoid abrasive cleaning products on your good pans they will “pit” the surface. A brush with a long handle to get into bud vases and drink storage containers. Also, if you have copper, do not clean it with anything but copper cleaner, a paste type is best. The same goes for silver and brass.
· One of those rubber discs for opening jars.
· Kitchen forceps (a large pair of tweezers), for putting small garnishes on anything, and reaching to the bottom of small jars.
· Fresh Curly Parsley. It keeps 3 or 4 weeks in a plastic bag and the dried stuff is not an acceptable substitute in a recipe that calls for fresh. This is a very mild herb, use it freely.
· Good, brown mustard, Gulden’s or Dijon. Don’t use that yellow stuff in these recipes even if you do like it on your hot dog.
· Plain, nonfat yogurt. It can be used to add moisture to a recipe, to thicken a sauce and to mellow out a soup. It is sometimes a marinade ingredient.
· Non or low fat cottage cheese. It’s the secret in tasty no fat mashed potatoes and an emergency source of protein.
· Butter, olive oil or canola oil—what do I use? Don’t bother with margarine, its flavor is inferior to butter and it’s no better for you. If you like the taste of olive oil, the richest tasting is “extra virgin”, it’s made from the first pressing of the olives. “Light” olive oil refers to a lighter taste, not less calories. All oils have the same number of calories: 120 per tablespoon. Canola is basically tasteless, therefore best for baking, or whenever you do not want the olive oil flavor. Both oils are sources of monounsaturated fat, a little bit of which is essential in a healthy diet.
· Fresh lemons. A dash of fresh lemon juice zips up many recipes, and a squeeze enhances the flavor of many veggies (try it on spinach and brussel sprouts). There is no substitute.
· A TUBE of tomato paste. Many recipes call for 1T of tomato paste, and it should not be skipped. Once the tube is open it will keep in the refrigerator for a long time. A squeeze of tomato paste enhances beef and pork stews and gravies, giving them a richer (not tomato-ey) taste.
· Good fresh garlic. Buy cloves that are firm to the touch, don’t buy more than you need for a week or two.

Simply Delicious Chicken Breasts

2008-01-04T11:36:00.000-05:00

CHICKEN BREASTS WITH CHIVE AND MUSTARD SAUCE

Roasted garlic mashed potatoes, a recipe already posted, is a perfect accompaniment; the potatoes will soak up the sauce. Or if you prefer, brown rice would be nice also. This recipe is fancy enough for company, and very easy to assemble at the end.

For 4 servings (although I love this sauce and this is what I make for 2 of us, because I want some on my potatoes):

2 t. butter
Four 6 to 8-ounce skinless, boneless chicken breasts, pounded to an even thickness and soaked in milk up to one day. Pork loin steaks work very well too.
Fine sea salt (or Kosher, or regular) and freshly ground pepper
3 small to medium chopped shallots,
1/2 cup brandy, apple brandy, pear brandy, or Kentucky bourbon( Jack Daniels is best)
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/3 cup fat free half and half
2T minced chives, fresh or freeze dried

Heat the butter in a heavy bottomed pan, add the shallots and sauté until they are soft.
Add the burbon or whiskey or whatever you are using* and let it cook until most of the liquid is evaporated. Take care, it could flame, although it has never happened to me.

Add the white wine and simmer for a minute or two, then add the mustard, blending well. Cook until heated through. You may stop at this point and put the sauce away or even freeze it for later use.

To complete the sauce, add 1/3 cup fat free half and half and the chives to the pan. Keep the sauce warm. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cook the chicken breasts by grilling (consider a George Forman Grill) or pan frying with a spray of Pam. If you have soaked them in milk, dry them off first with a clean towel. Do not use a paper towel, it will stick to the meat.

Place the chicken on a platter or plates and top with the sauce

*I have tried this with apple juice but the result is too sweet for me. The burbon gives it a slightly nutty taste. Experiment with other moisture if you don’t like the whiskey taste. The final product is alcohol free, it evaporates quickly from both the whiskey and wine.

Chicken and Pork Fundamentals

2008-01-04T11:11:00.000-05:00

GRILLED MEATS

Plain cuts of meat are usually best if grilled. To make things interesting, marinate the meat or make a sauce. Grilling meat well is an art, and every grill is different so you have to get to know your grill very well.
Here are some general guidelines: if at all possible, especially with thicker cuts, bring meat out of the refrigerator at least a couple of hours before grilling, it will cook more evenly. Preheat the grill on high heat, grill the first side on high or medium (chicken breasts on medium), turn and reduce the heat a little. Especially if you have thick meat, when it’s almost done, turn the heat off and let it sit in the grill with the lid down for a couple more minutes. This step helps cook the meat more evenly.
Remember that grilled meat keeps cooking for a while, even after it’s removed from the grill, so it needs your attention at all times. If you are having a dinner party, try to have everything else pretty much ready before you grill the meat.

Chicken Breasts and Pork Tenderloins

Buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts and pork tenderloins in large quantities when they are on sale. Trim off the fat, flatten the chicken breasts if you want, and freeze. Marinades for them are limited only by your imagination. A great basic one is Italian dressing and soy sauce. One of my favorite marinades is Oak Hill Farms “Vidalia Onion Salad Dressing”and some soy sauce. I have only been able to find this dressing at Costco and I would never use it in a salad, but it does make a great marinade. Add other herbs, garlic, onions, fruit juices, mustard and the possibilities are endless. Don’t worry about the fat in your marinade, most of it cooks right off with grilling. Almost any marinade you come up with for chicken is also great on a pork tenderloin or loin. Always make extra chicken breasts, as they make great sandwiches, as do leftover slices of pork tenderloins.

Consider eating leftover chicken and pork right from the refrigerator or just warmed up to room temperature. I think reheating, even in the microwave, changes the taste of meat.

Another good idea when working with boneless chicken breasts or pork loin steaks is soaking them in milk for up to a full day. It will tenderize the meat and keep it moist. This works especially well if you are using a sauce on the meat rather than a marinade.

What a Difference a Day Makes

2008-01-04T07:44:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was an anticipated and dreaded day, now happily behind me. I have had a sinus infection pretty much since mid September, and after agressive medical treatment and a CAT scan, it was determined that my right maxillary sinus was totally blocked. My only option was surgery.

So around 1 PM yesterday, Dr. Stock went into that sinus and cleared it out. We suspected a polyp, but he found a whole colony. The first few hours post surgery were not fun, but I was home by 5 PM and eating some oatmeal by 6 PM.

This morning the awful burning sensation is gone, and my drainage is clear, so I'm off narcotics and onto Ibuprofen. I kinda have to lay low for a while so I hope to catch up on some recipes. I'm looking next at boneless, skinless chicken breasts, a great source of protein with almost no fat, and also as tasty as my recipes and your imagination can make them.

Greek Scampi

2007-12-31T07:32:00.000-05:00

This recipe is from Cooking Light. It is a quick main dish but good enough for company. Do not try to cook this ahead with the shrimp in it, the shrimp will get rubbery. This dish has wonderful contrasts: sweet shrimp and tomato, sour lemon juice, and tart feta cheese. You may use sea scallops instead of shrimp.
Add them to simmering sauce, put in feta, cover and cook 6 minutes.

Serves 2, may be doubled or tripled but you’ll need a large frying pan. You may make the sauce ahead and freeze it in serving sizes. I had wonderful San Marzano plum tomatoes in my garden this year, so my freezer has lots of this sauce in it, ready for a quick meal. We had it last night for our family Sunday supper with my step son, his wife and our beautiful granddaughter, who loves shrimp!

For 2 people:

½ -3/4 lbs. raw shrimp, cleaned (use 7 of the 21-15 per pound size per person)
Few drops olive oil
4 cloves garlic (or less, to taste), minced or put through a garlic press
¼ cup fresh snipped parsley (don’t use dried)
6 medium to large ripe tomatoes, chopped
juice 1 lemom
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup chopped feta cheese

Have all ingredients prepared and ready to add to the pan.

Have the pasta cooking, or make the sauce ahead. To make sauce, heat a frying pan then put olive oil in it and add garlic. Stir around 30 seconds, then add tomatoes, bring to boil, add lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes to reduce the sauce a bit. Keep the heat up, and lay the shrimp on its side in the pan. Cook about 1 minute, turn the shrimp over, scatter the feta cheese around the pan, cover the pan and lower heat. Cook 3 to 4 minutes more (the feta will not melt completely a few small chunks will remain). Serve over pasta.

A low cal but full of flavor dinner, complete it with a big salad.

No Guilt Leftover Turkey

2007-12-26T14:28:00.000-05:00

With the last remnants of Christmas day removed from my kitchen floor, I'm now ready to turn my efforts to the leftover turkey. What ever I can nicely slice from the breast, I'll wrap tightly for sandwiches. With the rest, I'll make a delightful turkey salad, with one of my favorite low fat substitutions for moisture.

I'll use my food processor to cut the turkey into small chunks, then add some celery, onion powder and salt and pepper to taste. But to avoid the many calories of mayonnaise, I will use mostly non fat plain yogurt for moisture, and just a small amount of light mayo. I don't even bother telling anyone what's in it, unless they are concerned about a high calorie salad. Put together this way, you do not taste "yogurt," you taste the turkey. I use this same recipe for chicken and tuna salad, also. And I put plain non fat yogurt on my baked potato. If you were blind folded, you would probably think it was sour cream. Try it!

I did make sure all the desserts left with my guests, so all that's left is, in fact, just some turkey. I didn't tell anyone at the table that the potatoes, turnip, dressing and gravy were fat free. But judging by their quick disappearance, they were enjoyed by all.

And I did have one lovely serving of "Death by Chocolate." It was worth the calories.

Two Nights Before Christmas

2007-12-23T19:45:00.000-05:00

December 23 and I'm just staying away from the cookies. I managed to keep them out of my house. I'm not usually a big sweet lover, but if I start on cookies I could just keep going. I am giving myself permission to have dessert tomorrow night (Christmas Eve with extended family), and on Christmas, when my immediate family is here for dinner. After a number of years I've noticed something that never, never used to happen: when I have given myself permission in advance, about half the time I actually end up not wanting the dessert, or maybe just a taste.

For us now, the greatest joy in Christmas is our children and 3 wonderful grandchildren. They are fun ages, 3, 4 1/2 and 7, all big personalties brimming with fun.

As we celebrate the birth of our Savior, I will remember as I have for many years, to be thankful for my personal visits from the Holy Spirit, which still sustain me as I continue to seek a healthy life. It seems each year brings more to be thankful for. I certainly didn't know, just one year ago, when I decided to do my first Triathlon in 2007, all the many joys it would bring me. I'm more fit, and a bit trimmer. I have a new confidence in myself, and for the firts time know the difference between training and exercising. I have a passion for riding my bike outdoors and drinking in the wonders of this earth, riding behind my dear friend and training partner Laura. And I have precious new friends, with whom I will journey in 2008 to the Danskin Triathlon in Webster, MA.

Thank you, our Loving and Wonderful God, for all that you have given me.

The Four Habits of Healthy People

2007-12-20T08:47:00.000-05:00

The are many ways to lose weight, although some are definitely better than others. What matters, however, is keeping it off. Research show that only about 5% of people who take off substantial amounts of weight manage to keep it off.

So the smart people who publish the Harvard Medical Newsletter wondered, "What do the 5%, years later, have in common in terms of health habits?" The answer is in a way, not much, but in another way, profoundly revealing:

1. They exercise. Yup. In fact the greatest predictor of long term weight loss success is exercise. Our bodies were designed to work hard, and we must do it periodically to be healthy.

2. They eat breakfast. More on this subject later, but bet you knew it'd be here with the healthy habits.

3. They eat a "food pyramid" diet. At least 50% of their calories come from carbs, about 20% from protein and about 30% from fat.

4. They monitor themselves regularly. This may mean weighing, or, as I do, use that pair of jeans that you should be able to slip into easily. Especially for women, the scale may lie, but the clothes don't.

Don't wait to make these your habits. Give yourself the best Christmas present of all. And ask for help when you need it.

The Turnip

2007-12-19T08:19:00.000-05:00

If you are a New Englander, yellow turnip, which is actually a rutabaga, is part of your holiday meal with turkey. This rock hard, wax coated, big yellow vegetable can be challenging just to cut up! But there is a way to do it easily. Peel it with a knife, then stab it several times. Put it on a plate and microwave it for 3 minutes, several times, turning it after each 3 minute segment. Do a total of 15 minutes, then let it sit for a while. It will now be soft enough to cut easily, finish it off by boiling as usual.

When you mash it, just add a bit of milk. It doesn't need butter, honest. Why take a nutritional powerhouse and turn it into a fatty side dish? Put some fat free gravy on it and enjoy without guilt. Remember, each tablespoon of butter is 100 unnecessary calories.

Make a nice leafy green salad with lots of other vegetables in it for color, and your dinner is complete. I used to make lots of other dishes and have lots of leftovers. Now, just some turkey will be leftover.

And go ahead and have a yummy dessert. Make something so good it worth the calories. Give the leftover dessert away so it can't tempt you on the 26th and thereafter!

Cranberry Relish/Chutney Worth Every Calorie

2007-12-18T08:39:00.000-05:00

This is actually a very simple recipe. The crystallized ginger is probably in the spice section (usually in a spice jar) in your supermarket. A full recipe makes a lot. I made the full recipe and froze it in two containers, I'll only need one Christmas Day.

CRANBERRY SAUCE WITH CRYSTALLIZED GINGER

This easy recipe puts a different twist on ho hum cranberry relish. It’s so good your family may want it on their toast the next morning, if there is any left over. It has no less calories than the stuff from the can, but it’s much more worth the calories!

2 12-ounce bags cranberries
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup orange juice
1 cup water
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup (about 2 ounces) minced crystallized ginger

Combine first 6 ingredients in heavy medium saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil until cranberries pop, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Cool. Mix in crystallized ginger. (Can be prepared 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Delightful Stuffing/Dressing

2007-12-18T08:29:00.000-05:00

Wild Rice Dressing

With very little fat, and some interesting flavors, everyone will enjoy this stuffing

4 cups water
1 cup wild rice
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 lb crusty white bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 6 cups, or use prepared bread mix for stuffing
1 T butter
2 cups diced (1/3 inch) onion
2 cups diced (1/3 inch) celery
2 cups diced (1/3 inch) apple
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried, crumbled
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh marjoram or 1/2 teaspoon dried, crumbled
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried, crumbled (If you used prepared stuffing mix, you don’t need the herbs).
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup dried cranberries (5 oz)
1 cup turkey stock or chicken broth, or enough to make the stuffing nicely moist
Bring water to a boil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan, then add rice and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, until rice is tender and most grains are split open, 1 to 1 1/4 hours (not all liquid will be absorbed). Drain well in a colander and spread out in a baking pan to cool completely.
Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over moderate heat, then cook onion and celery, stirring, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add apple and cook, stirring, until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in herbs, pepper, and remaining teaspoon salt and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and toss with rice, bread, and dried cranberries.
Increase oven temperature to 450°F and spray a shallow 3-quart baking dish (13 by 9 inches).
Spread stuffing evenly in baking dish and drizzle with turkey or chicken stock, until it is at the moistness level you want. Bake, covered tightly with foil, in upper third of oven until heated through, about 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake until top is browned, 10 to 15 minutes more.
Cooks' notes:
• Rice can be cooked 2 days ahead and cooled, uncovered, then chilled, covered.
• Stuffing can be assembled (without drizzling with stock and melted butter), but not baked, 1 day ahead and cooled, uncovered, then chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before proceeding.

Fat Free Potatoes

2007-12-18T07:53:00.000-05:00

This recipe is my version of an idea from The Almost Vegetarian Cookbook. I have made a few changes to simplify it even more.

· Peel (you may skip the peeling if you’d like) and cook potatoes as usual. Drain in pan. Red potatoes or Yukon gold are especially good.
· For each potato cooked, add 1 T no fat cottage cheese and 1 t. skim milk (bring these to room temp first).
· Whip potatoes with an electric mixer, add more milk if needed and salt and pepper to taste. You may also use a masher.
To make these more flavorful, add roasted garlic. You need one large clove garlic per potato, more if you’d like.
· Peel the cloves and wrap securely in aluminum foil. Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes (or adjust roasting time if you have something else in the oven at a different temperature).
· Once you remove the garlic from the oven, keep the foil on and tightly sealed until you add the garlic to the potatoes.
You may make this dish ahead of time and reheat before serving, you will not lose any flavor. Always make extra, they are great leftover.
Don’t tell anyone these are fat free, they won’t be able to tell the difference.

If you are garlic phobic and want some added flavor, put a little ground rosemary ( 1/2 teaspoon per 4 potatoes) in before mashing or whipping.

Fat Free Gravy

2007-12-18T07:50:00.000-05:00

There is no reason to avoid having some luscious gravy on your holiday turkey, potatoes, dressing and even those turnips. There is every reason to avoid making traditional gravy, which contains all the fat, usually a considerable amount, of the meat drippings.

To defat the drippings, buy a gravy separator. It looks a bit like a measuring cup, but the spout begins at the bottom and extends past the top. Put the drippings in the separator and wait just a minute for the fat to settle on the top. The separator then allows you to pour off the fat-free drippings from the bottom, stopping in time to avoid the fat. If you are concerned about a lack of gravy volume from this step, add some (reduced) canned low salt broth or even some prepared fat free jarred gravy. Combined with your home cooked drippings and favorite seasonings, the final product will taste homemade.

You can also cook the neck with some onion and celery, reduce the liquid, and add this to your fat free dripping.

Christmas Dinner

2007-12-18T07:41:00.000-05:00

Some simple modifications, which do not take away from taste, can lighten up your Christmas dinner. We're having roast turkey, per husband Peter's request.

Making a great turkey is challenging because the breast cooks before the legs and can dry out. There are two ways around this, brining, which draws salt and sugar into the meat (google "brining turkey"), which I won't do this year; and keeping the breast moist by putting some stuffing or even plain bread over it. Using your hands, separate the skin over the breast from the meat, then cover it with at least 1/2 inch of stuffing or some bread slices. Roast as usual. You won't have the picture perfect looking bird, but it will taste great. Be sure to let the turkey "rest" at least 15 minutes before carving.

Next entry, fat free gravy.

The Skinny on Fats

2007-12-16T10:09:00.000-05:00

OK. Saturated is bad, no? People are changing their minds on that. Does your cholesterol intake raise your blood Cholesterol? Canola, olive, safflower, corn are all equally good fats, Yes? And what are those omega 3 fats? Trans fats are bad? How do I find them?

You could go crazy trying to keep up with all the confusing stuff coming out about fat. Here are some useful, simple, facts:

1. Eating cholesterol does not raise blood cholesterol. Blood cholesterol is strongly related to how much Saturated Fat and refined carbs you eat. Cholesterol is made in our liver, and is essential for life (a component of many hormones). Eating eggs and shrimp, both high in cholesterol is fine, and even a good idea. Avoiding the removable fat on most meat is a good idea, as is limiting refined carbs, like sugar and white flour. Notice I said "limiting," not eliminating.

2 Trans Fats are bad actors. There are small amounts in natural products, but the biggest sources are man made. They are made from vegetable oils, to make them stable at room temperature. Our bodies are probably not designed to handle a lot of them. Older margarines, solid Crisco, and Cool Whip come to mind as having a lot of trans fats. But there is a lot hidden in prepared foods, labeled as "partially hydrogenated" soy or other vegetable fat. Read labels, you want to avoid these if you can.

3. Most fats that are liquid at room temperature are better for us, but the healthiest is actually extra virgin olive oil. It is made from the first pressing of the olives, and not chemically extracted. It is not suitable for baking because of its taste, next best is Canola oil, a tasteless oil with a high smoke point, so it's good for cooking and baking. For lower temperature sauteing you can use olive oil. Make your salad dressings with it. The bottled dressings may say "olive oil" but you don't know what kind.

4. Omega3 and omega6 fats are "essential" fatty acids. We need them but our body cannot make them from other fats. Fatty fish like Salmon have abundant amounts, as does Olive oil. Flax seed oil is another good source, so is Cod Liver Oil (both as supplements). If you use primarily extra virgin olive oil and eat some fish every week, you probably get enough. The latest buzz is about the ratio of omega 3 and omega 6. That's way too complicated for us. The ratio in olive oil makes it a superior fat to Canola, however.

Quick and dirty summary: avoid or limit fats that are solid at room temperature. Extra Virgin Olive Oil should be your #1 fat, Canola when you need to use higher temperature's. Eat some fish every week, especially Salmon if you like it. Read labels to try to stay away from anything "partially hydrogenated."

Treating Type 2 Diabetes

2007-12-16T07:01:00.000-05:00

Merry asked a great follow up question. Since the Pima ancestors did not develop Diabetes, is it possible to reverse the disease? The answer is yes, but you need to adopt a lifestyle akin to generations ago.

Dr. Garber said that exercise is the most important treatment for overcoming insulin resistance. Combined with a healthy diet of whole grains, lean protein, fruits and veggies you can conquer the disease.
Avoid what I call "empty" carbs: too much sugar, too much white flour, too much white rice, etc. Carbs should deliver more than just calories.
Eat the fruit, don't drink the fruit juice. The fruit has all the vitamins and minerals, but fiber too, and it makes you feel fuller. Eat the grain as close as possible to how it was grown. Old fashioned rolled oats can be cooked in a bowl in the microwave in about 2 minutes, add some milk or better yet a fat and sugar free yogurt and you have a quick hearty breakfast. There are many good whole grain cold cereals, become a label reader. Don't avoid whole eggs, they are low in calories, and loaded with high quality protein. Have them with some whole grain toast or whole grain English muffin. Lunch is easy, a sandwich on rye or whole wheat. Use mustard and just a little light mayo. I have the luxury of being home at lunch time most days, and I make myself a burger from 93% lean beef.
This blog will contain lots of calorie reducing hints over time.

Now to the exercise part. Merry says she and her husband walk a lot, and they live in a rural area with no easy access to a gym. You are off to a good start. You need to kick up the intensity in your walks, so that when you return you are sweaty. Can you add some good sized hills? Pick up the pace of the walk over time so that you are working harder. You should have enough breath to talk, but not enough to sing. I do "intervals." For you this would be walking at a good pace, then walking even faster until you just get to the edge of breathlessness, then resuming your former pace. Do an interval every 5 to 8 minutes, it will increase your fitness level quickly. When spring returns, try some biking in a hilly area, the intervals will be built in! You need a minimum of four 45 minute sessions of pretty intense cardiovascular work every week. For someone with insulin resistance who is not yet diabetic, this is the treatment for you, too. For people who have access to a gym, look at the cardio machine you are on. It will likely show "METs." This stands for metabolic equivalents and you want to work up to a steady state over 8 METs.

Now to weight lifting. Of course it can be done at home but you will need to get a good trainer to help you get started. The trainer should be willing to help you create a home program and then have you work it on your own, perhaps returning every two to three months to change the moves and increase the intensity of your resistance work. Be sure the trainer shows you a stretching routine too. Great equipment is cheap and easy to use once someone gets you started. I would recommend some resistance bands with handles, a Swiss or resistance ball, and some and hand weights. Make sure you get the right size ball for your height. You can use it for so many moves. A great leg building move is to lean into the ball against a wall and do some squats with good form. You can also do a lot of "core" work with the ball, too. In a gym, the same applies to personal training. A trainer should be willing to develop a program of a lot of multi-muscle moves, using a variety of equipment. Make sure they properly explain muscle fatigue so that you know what it feels like. Research shows that if you truly fatigue a muscle or muscle group in the first set, 90% of the training effect is in that first set. For health purposes, one set of any given exercise is all that is necessary, but a good program would have you working a given muscle group with more than one move. A good trainer should explain exactly what is being worked in every recommended move.

The biggest challenge may be finding a good trainer to get you started. Here are some questions to ask: Are you Certified and by what agency? Some major certifying groups are the YMCA, American Council on Exercise (ACE), AFAA, ACSM, and others. They should provide references. Ask if they have successfully worked with people with Type 2 diabetes and what kind of results were achieved. A trainer who comes to your home is expensive, but a good one is a great investment. It is very important that all weightlifting/resistance training be done with proper form. Proper form will prevent injuries and make sure you get the most from your time and effort investment. You are not "bodybuilding" in the way the big bulky guys do. You do want to build muscle strength and endurance.

Don't expect overnight results. Once you get to a good intensity with Cardio and weight lifting, microscopic changes start to occur, but over a period of months. You will actually make more and better functioning insulin receptors. Your muscle cells will build more capillaries, bringing more insulin and glucose where you need it. And, of course, you will increase your total muscle mass. Because of this, don't be a slave to the scale. Judge your results by your shrinking or changing size, let your clothes talk to you. When someone who is effectively weightlifting shows a one pound loss on the scale, they have likely lost a pound and a quarter of fat and gained a quarter pound of muscle.

That's a lot to absorb.

Go to Fitwatch.com and calculate your daily calorie needs. Use that as a guide in menu planning. Make your endeavor the most important thing in your life for the next 6 months, so that it becomes habit. And ask for God's help, I certainly did. Nourish your mind, body and spirit. Attack this awful disease like your life depends on it, because it does.

Type 2 Diabetes

2007-12-15T13:28:00.000-05:00

Unlike Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes is initially not due to an insulin shortage, but rather to the body's cells inability to use insulin and glucose. The hormone insulin is like the key to a lock that opens the door of the cell to let glucose, the cell's fuel, into the cell. Long before blood sugar rises, the lock mechanism becomes dysfunctional. Insulin is not as able to easily unlock it, and glucose cannot get into the cell as easily. The pancreas reads this slight rise in blood sugar and puts out more insulin to "flood" the locks with keys. But the locks are no longer perfect and the extra insulin only helps a little bit. In time, as the locks become more dysfunctional, blood sugar rises more and the extra insulin isn't enough. Once the fasting blood glucose passes 126, a diagnosis of Diabetes is made.

This dysfunctional lock and key analogy is known as Insulin Resistance, and it is the underlying disorder in Type 2 Diabetes.

Why cells become insulin resistant is not fully known. Certainly heredity is a factor in many people. One way to tell if you may have the insulin resistance gene or genes is to look at your body type. The type known as "apples", big middles but thin arms and legs, usually have this predisposition. Apples, unfortunately, cannot afford to carry even 20 lbs of extra weight, partly because all the weight goes right to the abdomen, and much of it is under the abdominal wall. This "omentum" - meaning in the abdomen - fat is all around the internal organs, a dangerous place for fat to be. My husband is an apple, and works at keeping Diabetes away.

Obesity is a known cause of insulin resistance, as is a sedentary lifestyle. Remember the Pimas, whose ancestors did not develop Type 2 Diabetes in spite of having the genetic predisposition. The combination of obesity and a sedentary lifestyle is a double whammy. It's where I was at age 48, with a fasting blood glucose of 115. Now,many pounds lighter and quite fit, it is usually 80. I think we need to consider Type 2 Diabetes, and other disorders as well, as lifestyle diseases.

At the same program at Baylor that I mentioned earlier, Dr. Garber told us the most potent treatment for insulin resistance is exercise. How intense? I asked. Hmmm. Let me make it easy, he said, you gotta sweat. Recent research has quantified the intensity issue, which I'll explain later. But weightlifting, or resistance training in some form needs to be part of the solution. Personal trainers who train people to help them lose weight emphasize the importance of weightlifting 2 to 3 times a week. Even if you don't need to lose weight per se, but want to help your body overcome insulin resistance, weightlifting must be part of your routine. A very recent discovery may reveal part of the reason why its so important. The cells in our bones that build bone are known as osteoblasts. Osteoblasts are stimulated when they are "pulled on" by muscles working against resistance. So weightlifting helps prevent and treat osteoporosis by stimulating osteoblasts. But the recent discovery is that osteocalcin, which is a hormone produced by osteoblasts, directly lowers blood sugar. A Pharmaceutical Company is probably trying to figure out how to make osteocalcin and test whether it can be administered orally to lower blood sugar. But a Personal Trainer will explain to Diabetics and Pre-diabetics that weightlifting lowers blood sugar. The other benefit of weightlifting is building of more muscle, metabolically very active tissue, to help you burn more calories even when you are doing nothing!

Merry, I'm almost finished answering your question! The practical "how to" stuff is next.

A Lesson from Some Native Americans

2007-12-15T12:03:00.000-05:00

To help us understand Type 2 Diabetes, let's take a lesson from the Pima Native Americans in the Southwestern United States. Their story teaches us about the intersection of heredity and lifestyle.

The Pimas currently have the highest rate of Type 2 Diabetes in the world. They now become diabetic at relatively young ages, can have severe disease, and therefore suffer from the many complications: heart disease, diabetic neuropathy (loss of sensation, beginning in the limbs but progressing upward), diabetic nephropathy (kidney disease), all of which can contribute to severe, uncontrollable infections, which can lead to amputations or even septicemia (an infection in the blood) which often leads to death.

I learned about this group of Americans when I was doing a (Glucophage related) preceptorship with Alan Garber, MD, at Baylor Hospital in Houston. He is one of the top 3 Diabetologists in the United States. When he told us about this unfortunate group of Native Americans, I asked a very important question: did their great-grandparents have the same incidence of Diabetes? No, he said, they had none.

Then here is the intersection of heredity and lifestyle. The Pimas have a genetic pre-disposition for Type 2 diabetes, which their great- grandparents also had. But, think about their great-grandparents lifestyle: they were hunter-gatherers, gardeners, and in fact worked physically hard every day. They ate what they grew, gathered, or hunted. They did not drink alcohol, and none of them were overweight.

God made us in his image. We have a magnificent body. But he meant for us to read the owners manual, part of which you are reading now.

I love working with training clients who want to take charge of their wellness, especially those with Type 2 Diabetes or those on their way to the disease. You are in charge, but you need to find out HOW to help yourself. Your physician doesn't have time to tell you, and he/she may not explain it very well either. There are diabetes-educators, but they are not as brutally blunt as I usually am. There are many people who don't want to make the necessary lifestyle changes, and would prefer to be "sick" and let medicine try to "treat" them. It's your choice. I love the body God gave me (which has not always been the case), and I care for it well. One thing I've learned over the past 14 years is how absolutely terrific I can feel when I take care of me.

Coming up next: so just what is Type 2 Diabetes?

Type 2 Diabetes

2007-12-15T10:39:00.000-05:00

Merry sent me a very important question about Type 2 diabetes and how eating well and exercising can help combat this terrible disease. I want to tell the whole story in the blog, it will take a few installments.

First, I'd like to qualify myself so that readers can feel confident that I am giving sound information. I have a bachelors degree in Chemistry, and I've taken lots of college level biology, including Anatomy and Physiology. For most of my (full time) working life, I was in sales and sales management with Bristol-Myers Squibb. I sold many Cardiovascular and Diabetes products, including Glucophage, the first insulin sensitizer to come to the market in the US. So I had lots of training, and I attended many (physician delivered) lectures on the topic of Type 2 diabetes.
As a personal trainer, I have worked with some clients who are diabetic and pre-diabetic to help them combat the disease. I am always looking for articles on exercise and diabetes that are research based.

Let's start at the beginning. The only thing Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes have in common is high blood sugar. They are not at all related diseases. We now know that Type 1 is caused by a virus that someone gets that causes the body's immune system to make antibodies to it's own beta cells in the pancreas. The immune system destroys all the beta cells, which are the cells that make insulin. This happens quickly, so the onset of the disease is unpredictable and sudden, and blood sugar rises dramatically in a short period of time. Type 1 diabetics do not make any insulin, and before it's discovery in the 1920s, they died within a year of getting this disease. They must take insulin daily, and balance the amount of insulin with their food and exercise, not an easy thing. We are close to finding a cure for this disease. Less than 10% of people with diabetes have Type 1. To avoid complications in both types of diabetes, good control of blood sugar is very important.

Roasted Asparagus

2007-12-14T17:27:00.000-05:00

For anyone like me, remembering the disgusting, slimy, green goop called asparagus that came from a can years ago, the discovery of fresh, roasted asparagus was a real find. It was Julia Child in The Way to Cook, who taught me that even thick spears can be delightful. So here's the scoop on this wonderful vegetable. If you can find skinny spears, you need just cut off the woody ends, soak them in water to clean them, dry them on a clean cloth towel, and roast. If the spears are thick, and I actually like them better when they are, cut off the woody ends then peel the bottom half with a potato peeler. Wash and dry as above. Lay the dry spears sideways in a heavy plastic bag. Add 1 teaspoon good olive oil and a few drops (and I mean a few drops, it has a strong taste) of sesame oil. If you'd like, add a bit of soy sauce or balsamic vinegar. Push all the air out of the bag and seal it. Now gently roll the asparagus in your hands, so the spears get evenly coated with the oils.

Line a shallow baking dish with foil, and lay the spears in the dish. You can do this several hours ahead and leave them on the counter.

Depending on the temperature of your oven, they will roast nicely in 15 to 25 minutes. (You may have something else in the oven at the same time). Last Saturday, when I removed the tenderloin to rest, I put the oven back up to 400 degrees and popped in the asparagus. By now I was gently heating the gravy, and starting to microwave the potatoes I had made a few days before. All that was left was to slice the meat when the asparagus was ready. Because we'd had soup and salad, and some dessert was in the offing, I didn't serve any rolls. Learning not to make too much food took me a while. The asparagus is delicious left over, I prefer not to heat it but sneak cold spears out of the refrigerator and into my mouth.

Fat Free Potatoes

2007-12-13T15:16:00.000-05:00

Serving family style at our dinner party, I notice the other women taking very small servings of potatoes and gravy. Hmmm. "Both the potatoes and gravy are fat free, and therefore, quite healthy and naturally low in calories," I say. "How can that be?" came the question.

You already have the gravy recipe. The potatoes are very simple, and can be made in quantity and used as needed over a one week time period.

I don't even peel. Soak the potatoes in water, then scrub the skins. I like to use either red potatoes or Yukon gold. Cut them up, add salt and water and boil as usual.

For each potato used, peel 1 clove of garlic. Lay the garlic in doubled over aluminum foil, wrap tightly and put in a 325 degree oven for 25 minutes, or 350 for 20, or 400 for 15 minutes. Keep it tightly wrapped until you add it to the potatoes. Do not overbake it.

Drain the potatoes and add 1 T lowfat cottage cheese and about 1 teaspoon low fat milk per pototo. Add the garlic and whip it all up with an electric mixer, or mash manually. Taste for salt and pepper. The roasted garlic adds interest but does not scream GARLIC. It is, however, optional. I make enough of these for a few meals, removing what I need for a meal and microwaving until they are hot. They are great on top of Shepard's pie. Do we even really taste butter and/or cream in potatoes? I had them when we went to a friends for Thanksgiving and they were no better, but I ate less, not wanting all the extra calories. Get the fat=flavor equation out of your head because it just isn't true!

From Bones to Gravy

2007-12-13T08:51:00.000-05:00

If you bone any meat before you cook it, always save the bones, label them, and freeze them. To make a beef stock, you can use beef and veal bones together, or all veal, or all beef. For pork stock, you can use veal and pork or all pork. Most supermarkets sell bones, too. If I see them on markdown, I'll buy them and freeze them. You do want the bones to have at least a little meat on them.

Spray a large pan with Pam, put in the bones in a single layer, and roast at 400 degrees for an hour. Put the bones in a pot, be sure to get any meat juice and browned bits on the bottom of the roasting pan into the stock. Put some water in the roasting pan and scrape up the bits with a spatula.

Cover the bones with water, add a whole bay leaf, one carrot, roughly chopped, 2 stalks celery, chopped and a chopped onion. Use a little salt- a half teaspoon - and throw in a couple of whole black peppercorns. If you have some fresh parsley, throw in a small handful. If you have some fresh sage, throw in 3 leaves. Bring to a boil, then turn it down and let it simmer at least 3 hours. Check for scum on top early on, if you see any, remove it with a spoon. Roasted meast usually doesn't give this off.

Turn off the heat, let it cool, and put it in the refrigerator, in the pot, for at least a day.

When you take it out, there will be solidified fat on the top. Remove the fat with a spoon, then gently warm the stock. Once its liquid again, filter out all the solids (this is a messy job). Put the stock back in the pan and cook it down until it is flavorful. This will take a while, you'll end up with one to two cups of liquid. When it gets toward the end, and "the end" can only be determined by tasting the liquid, add 1T of tomato paste (from a tube, if you have it), and 2T of sweet wine (sherry, madiera, marsala). Adjust with salt and pepper. At this point, the stock can be frozen.

If you want a mushroom gravy, wash some sliced fresh mushrooms and toss them into the stock.

You are now ready to thicken the stock to make it gravy. Put 4T white flour into a jar, add about 3/4 cups water, put the lid on, and shake vigorously. You want the stock simmering, but take it off the heat while you slowly add the flour and water, stirring constantly. You won't use it all, stop when you have the desired thickness you want. Take your time, you can add more but you can't take any out! Bring back to a simmer, then cook about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. The finished gravy can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days. Heat to boiling and serve. Lots of fuss, perhaps, but no fat.

Perfect Roast Tenderlion of Beef

2007-12-13T08:28:00.000-05:00

Don't even think about trying this without a good meat thermometer. Because there can be so many variables (size of roast, its temperature when you put it in the oven, the actual temperature of your oven) the meat thermometer is the only way to be sure of the final temperature.

Many stores will sell you the "butt end" only, which is the best half of a beef tenderloin (the other half has the tail, which tapers down in size, making even roasting difficult). Before trimming, you need about 1/2 pound per person, but you will need to buy the whole butt end. A butt end will serve 8 to 10 people. Sliced up leftovers make wonderful sandwiches.

Tell the butcher you want the roast very tightly trimmed and left whole. If you ask them to tie it for roasting, they may layer fat around the outside. It is a BIG FALLACY that you need fat for flavor.

Use a metal pan, spay it with Pam. Let the meat warm on the counter for at least 2 hours before you put it in the oven. Figure about an hour and a half for roasting, and 15 mimutes for resting the meat after you take it out of the oven.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. This will kill any bacteria that may have wanted to multiply on the surface of the meat. Put the roast in the oven, set your timer for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes, turn the oven down to 300 degrees. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR. Set the timer for one hour. When the hour is up, put the thermometer into the middle section of the meat. If you want to serve it medium, remove it from the oven when the thermometer registers "beef rare", or 145 degrees. Cover the roast with foil and throw some towels (for insulation) on top of the foil. The meat will continue to cook. Check it 15 minutes later, it should be medium. If you want the meat more well done, leave it in the oven longer. If you take it out when the thermometer registers "beef medium" it will be pretty close to well done after resting. After the rest period, the meat is ready to slice and serve. I usually make the slices about 1/2 inch, just right for a serving. Put it on a pretty platter and garnish if you want.

You won't get much in the way of drippings, so if you want gravy, you'll need to make beef stock (recipe coming up).

Saturday Night with Peter's "Girls."

2007-12-12T12:51:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday, we had one of our favorite groups at our home for dinner. Jo Mary and her sister Phyllis, both in their 80's, Ellie, in her late 70's, and Pat. My husband Peter and I enjoy these women tremendously. Every time we gather, I learn so much, and sometimes it is sad or shocking or both. Ellie told us about what happened when she was a child and the mother in a family with young children died: if the father could not afford a full time housekeeper/Nanny, the young children were taken from him the the State of Connecticut and placed in an orphanage! She told us of one man in her neighborhood whose wife died and he quickly moved out of state so he could keep his children with him. Her own mother died when she was young and her father quickly married a widow with children, so she and her siblings could stay with him. It makes me wonder if that happened to my own mother, whose mother died following the birth of her 13th child. She was about 3 at the time (child #12) and grew up as a ward of the state.

Anyway, I wanted to make a really nice dinner for our wonderful friends. Ellie commented that I make everything look easy, but I told her it's all in the planning. We had a store-bought cheese spread with our wine before dinner (I would usually make my own but my time was a bit limited). Our soup was a homemade Lentil soup with a middle eastern flair, it had some finely chopped fresh ginger, a little curry powder, anf a couple of tablespoons of honey. I'll post the complete recipe in my next installment. Our salad was baby spinach and raddiccio, topped with golden raisins soaked for a day in sherry and some toasted pine nuts.

I wanted to roast a tenderloin and serve it with mashed potatoes, a nice mushroom gravy and roasted asparagus, which are so easy. I'll put the recipes in the next blog for ease of printing.

A Diversion

2007-12-10T23:12:00.000-05:00

My sister-in law, my late husband's sister, is having her fourth battle with cancer. Although I did not know her during her first battle, because of this one, I discovered she is a walking miracle. Twenty three years ago, she was diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer which metatisized into her bones. In spite of surgery and Chemo, she had a very slim chance at long term survival. She had Palliative radiation for the bone pain, but her oncologist did not hold out hope for a good prognosis.

The cancer disappeared completely from her body, although her oncologist would not label her "cancer free" for 15 years. She later had two, non related breast cancers (early and cured). Her current diagnosis is endometrial cancer (of the uterus), so she had an abdominal hysterectomy on November 29th, and the following Sunday came to our home to finish recuperating. I got pretty bossy at times, especially about her need to move and eat well. The outcome is that she's recovering very well, and returned home last Saturday. It was a difficult week for all of us. However, we visited the doctor yesterday and she's doing great and is now able to drive.

The whole thing made me wonder what God was teaching me, but I'm still not sure. There were times I needed to ask the Holy Spirit for help, which simply involves me being still and listening. I was calmed but didn't get any explanations, at least not yet.

Did you think I lost all that weight on my own? And when my late husband was diagnosed with lung cancer, and died in our bed 8 months later, I was definitely not alone.

I get much strength from the people I can help: women with osteoporosis, people with chronic low back pain, people struggling to lose weight and people new to exercise. But people who ask for help with no intention of doing anything to change frustrate me mightily. I need lots of help being patient with them, and perhaps waiting until they are ready to make changes.

I want to resume my journey story now, and let the internet help me help others. I hope I can.

The next blog will have a story about Saturday night's dinner party, including some recipes.

The Cooking Angle

2007-12-02T14:19:00.000-05:00

Anyone following this blog up to now is probably wondering about the title. Once the short story of my journal to health is told, this blog will focus mostly on cooking and eating really great food. I have pretty much been a lifelong gormet cook (a Chemistry major in college, so a logical outcome in life). In my contemplative stage pre weight loss, I thought that my passion for cooking might have to be a much smaller part of my life. Of course, I was so wrong. The challenge merely changed: find and create really great recipes that are also health promoting and inherently lower in calories.

In my current role as personal trainer and weight management consultant, I have discovered many people surprisingly clueless about what to eat, especially for dinner. Some people just will not plan, shop and cook. They generally don't succeed at the weight management battle. But for those willing to put in the effort, I'm pleased to provide lots of recipes. I will offer many that can be made ahead and frozen for a quick dinner later, I'll also offer quick and easy last minute stuff. I'll tell you what needs to be in your kitchen all the time so you can always produce a worthwhile dinner. One of my current weight management clients said: "It is easy, now, for me to eat sanely. I love having a tasty dinner to look forward to. Other eating plans had lots of plain, plain, food. And I know I couldn't live with that the rest of my life."

So the eating plan is simple: calculate how many calories a day you need to eat to lose one half to one pound a week. Be honest about your activity level when you make the calculation. And please, please, get on an exercise regime that includes weightlifting. A great site to help with your daily calorie calculation is Fitwatch.com. Although they offer a paid option, all the information you need is in their free site, including the calorie count of just about anything. They also give very detailed nutrition information about all the foods listed in their site, which can be very useful. For example, my sister-in law is staying with us for a while post surgery. Her magnesium is low. A quick visit to the site told me I need to feed her dark green veggies, nuts, oatmeal and other whole grains. What could be easier?

An Important Discovery

2007-11-28T20:48:00.000-05:00

If you read my profile, you know that I am a Personal Trainer. When I started my journey to health, I wasn't. So my concept of "exercise" origionally included only Cardiovascular activities. After the initial 40 pound loss, I felt my rate of loss was slowing, and I didn't think it should. So I started reading about exercise and weight loss and learned that I needed to add some strength training to my workouts. I learned to use the Nautilis circuit at my Y, and strength trained 2 to 3 times a week. It made a difference, bringing my rate of weight loss back where I thought it should be. And another big bonus became apparent: as I became stronger, everything I had to do every day got easier!

We trainers now know from personal experience and research in the field that some weightlifting is essential to promote long term weight loss. Without it, some of what you lose can be muscle and your metabolism depends largely on your muscle mass. A sound weight loss program must include cardiovascular exercise and weight lifting in some form. If you are as desperate as I was to succeed, have a good talk with yourself, commit to exercise, and find a convenient place to make it part of your life. And the best cardiovascualr exercise? The one you enjoy!

Where to Begin

2007-11-28T07:15:00.000-05:00

I started by doing 2 things: calculating how many calories a day I could eat and still loose weight, assuming I was also exercising, and yes, committing to exercising. There are many web sites that can help with the calculation, including Fitwatch.com. My calculation came to 2,000 calories a day, assuming moderate to vigorous exercise at least 5 days a week. The most logical exercise to get me started was deep water walking. I started in the summer so my own pool was available. Later, I went to the YMCA for both water walking and water aerobics. Yup, put the bathing suit on the big bod and trudged down the hall to the pool. I was somewhat relieved to see other women not dissimilar to me in the classes.

With 2000 calories, I did 500 by noon, 500 by dinner time and 1,000 for dinner and after. I know fancy diets tell you not to eat late in the day, or after dinner, but I had to do something I could live with for the rest of my life. So I "saved" some of the last 1000 calories for a snack at night. It worked. The pounds started dropping off and my fitness level imporved. By Thanksgiving, 40 lbs were gone and life was already much easier. And I wasn't struggling with the food part, which I'll explain later.