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According to a 2005 study, the OMNIheart study found a way to improve on the DASH diet -- cut the carbs. But you wouldn't know it from any of the DASH-related websites, which still recommend the same number of servings of grain per day. You might think that family doctors would start handing out prescriptions for OMNIheart instead of DASH to their patients with high blood pressure... But no. Maybe they're all on the South Beach diet now. Maybe the OMNIheart study was a waste of US taxpayer dollars.
According to the OmniHeart paper and the original DASH paper, the macronutrient profiles of the diets stacked up like this:Control DASH OMNI
CarbOMNI Protein OMNI Fat Barnard Carbohydrates 48% 55% 58% 48% 48% 75% Fat 37 27 27 27 37 10 Protein 15 18 15 25 15 15
DASH and OMNIheart diets were all markedly better for the heart than control, but the lower-carb Protein and Fat diets did significantly better. Protein was best. But wait! Fat looks like Control here. And it did better? Distribution of macronutrients must not tell the whole story. And then there's Neil Barnard's 2006 trial of a high-carb vegetarian diet that improved triglycerides much more than any of the OMNIheart diets. Of course, Barnard's trial started with diabetics with worse triglycerides, and ran three times as long as the OMNIheart trial. So comparing it to DASH and OMNIheart is a bit like comparing apples to oranges. Still -- the very-high-carbohydrate diet is very effective at improving metabolic syndrome risk factors. It clearly does not cause the blood sugar, inflammation, and cholesterol problems that low-carbers have warned us about.
How can this be? If cutting carbs is a good idea, how can increasing carbs be a great idea? Which side is wrong? Maybe neither side -- there's more to the story. Barnard's diet has a lot of whole grains. And by whole, I mean entire. Not degermed, defatted, polished, ground, cut, rolled, folded, spindled, or mutilated in any way. His diet is very high in low-glycemic-index foods. It is very low in fats, and exceptionally low in saturated fats. He had to cut out animal foods entirely to get there.
It has been well-known for some time that the glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) of foods can predict their effect on blood sugar, cholesterol, inflammation, and heart health. But I didn't see any of this discussion in any of the studies. The two things the Barnard and OMNI Fat diets have in common are better carbs and less saturated fat than the Control diet.
Wouldn't you like to see these two diets in a cage match? Or else, can someone who has access to all of the data analyze the GIs of the meals and GLs of the diets to look for the correlation?
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Carbs don't tell the whole story
Friday, April 04, 2008
Baked cod with garlic ginger oil
Last night for dinner, I made a bunch of dishes "match", like they really belonged together in the same meal. Even though they were really just a bunch of things I pulled out because I decided they needed to be eaten.
- 1 pound of mahimahi fillets
- 1 spaghetti squash
- 1 pound of fresh broccoli
- Leftover rice
- A green salad
I started with an idea approximately like this recipe for baked fish, but didn't really feel like using jerk- or Cajun- style seasonings again. I knew the kids insist fish is only good with ponzu sauce, and that spaghetti squash always seems to come out too watery and crisp or else overcooked and mushy. I had a moment of discouragement and panicked. Some part of me reached about 20 years back, to a time when my only seasonings were powdered garlic, powdered ginger, and soy sauce. Since then, though, I've learned a few things.... If that sounds too good to be true, it's the "something like" talking. Actually, I had already dressed the fish with powdered garlic and ginger before I realized flavored oil would be better and just as easy. The waiting in steps 8 and 9 was not as relaxing as you might think, as I spent the time shouting at the kids to clear and set the table instead of playing with the accumulated toys, newspapers, and junk mail. I didn't actually do step 6. Instead, I scraped the squash into a large bowl and left the oil in the skillet until the broccoli was ready. I had thought I might serve the squash in the bowl, but the bowl was cold by serving time and I served the squash in the skillet. It's a nice-looking skillet. Sometime during step 10, I checked the fish, panicked, and turned the oven up to 400°F. I didn't make the rice myself -- my husband had made it to go with his Red Stripe chili the night before. And did you notice the salad was MIA? I discovered a lettuce shortage during step 8. But it's the thought that counts. I chopped up extra broccoli. Fish baked this way is just about foolproof (why did I panic?), and looks smashing on a bed of spaghetti squash. The kids didn't even complain about it (much). The spaghetti squash was seconds-worthy, the broccoli was just as good as always and maybe a little better. The rice was as good as it had been the night before, and nobody asked about the salad. This was a successful 50-minute weeknight meal. If I had known what I was doing, I probably could have done it more quickly, but I still would have had to allow time for the fish to thaw.
You can finish baked spaghetti squash in a pan to drive out extra water and control how much it cooks. Lemon juice is really good on fish. Ponzu sauce has citrus and sweetness in it. You need oil to finish baked spaghetti squash in a skillet. You can use the same oil to dress the baked fish, and broccoli tastes good with a little bit of oil, too.
So I came to my senses and did something like this:
Baked Fish Dinner with Garlic Ginger Oil
Recipe By: Family Nutritionist
Serving Size: 4
Cuisine:
Main Ingredient:
-= Ingredients =-
3/4 pound raw fish fillets
1 teaspoon Lemon juice
2 tablespoon Olive oil
1 clove garlic
1/4 oz Fresh ginger
1/2 pound Spaghetti Squash
2 cups Broccoli florets
4 cups Romaine
1 tablespoon Low-sodium soy sauce
2 cups Cooked brown rice
Serving: 3 oz fish, 1/2 cup each broccoli, spaghetti squash, and rice, 1 cup romaine (346g), Calories: 279: Fat: 8g : Sodium: 208mg
Protein: 20g, NetCarbs: 28, K: 754mg
SatFat: 1g, PolyFat: 1g, MonoFat: 5g, Chol: 37mg
TotCarbs: 31g, Fiber: 3g, Sugars: 1g
Calories: 28.0% from fat, 44.4% from carbohydrates 07.2% from protein
DASH: Vegetables: 3.0: Fruits/Juices: 0.0: Dairy: 0.0: Grains: 1.0: Meat/Fish: 1.0: Seeds: 0.0: Fats: 1.5: Sweets: 0.0
USDA: Vegetables: 1.5: Fruits/Juices: 0.0: Dairy: 0.0: Grains: 1.0: Meat/Fish/Seeds: 1.0: Fats: 1.5: Sweets: 0.0
Edited on 7 April 2008 to correct errors in nutritional information and to add the rice, which I had left out of the original posting.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Red Lentils with Bengali Spices
One day, when I had run out of dinner ideas, I decided to do something with the red lentils I'd had in my pantry for months. Of course I had no idea what to do with them, which is why they had been sitting for so long. But a quick online search turned up several recipes. Some call for cooking the lentils no more than 10 minutes, while others call for more than 30 minutes.
Red lentils, with their skin removed, split the way split peas are split. They cook very quickly. I concluded that, if you want the lentils whole, you should cook them for no more than 20 minutes. If you want a pureed texture, cook them for 30 minutes or more. They are also called pink lentils or masoor dal. They turn from red to yellow during cooking, which really surprised me.
I picked a recipe called Bengal Red Lentils with Spices, which called for Bengali Panch Phoron, a simple five-spice mix. I didn't have all the spices, but I didn't let that stop me. I substituted butter for usli ghee (clarified butter), and used a bit less. I substituted a little jalapeno for the green chilis, and cayenne powder for the dried red chilis. I left out the Nigella entirely. Instead of Fenugreek seeds, I added just a little imitation maple flavor (which is mostly fenugreek) to the finished dish.
From the moment I started frying onions, tomatoes, and ginger in a little butter, the kitchen filled with a wonderful smell. When I started frying my panch phoron substitute, the whole house became fragrant. My children asked me if I had some Indian food. Not quite, but something a little bit like it. What I came up with is not authentic Bengali cooking, but it is a quick, delicious dish that features some flavors from Bengal. If it becomes a regular on our menu, I may even buy some Nigella or Fenugreek for even more flavor. And the next time I visit an Indian Restaurant, I'll look for Bengali specialties like Red Lentils with Panch Phoron, to find out what I have been missing.
-= Exported from BigOven =-
Red Lentils with Bengali Spices
Based on a recipe from Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking by Julie Sahni, this recipe is adapted to use ingredients which are common in many parts of the US.
Recipe By: Family Nutritionist
Serving Size: 8
Cuisine: Indian
Main Ingredient: Lentils
Categories: Vegetarian, Advance, Vegetables, Side Dish, Main Dish
-= Ingredients =-
~~ Boiling the dal ~~
1 1/2 cup Red lentils (masar dal)
1/4 Jalapeno peppers
1/2 teaspoon Turmeric
4 1/2 cup Water
1/4 teaspoon Salt ; or to taste
~~ Tomato-Onion paste ~~
1 tablespoon Unsalted butter
1 cup Onion ; minced
1 cup Tomatoes
1 tablespoon Fresh ginger ; grated or crushed
~~ Perfumed Butter ~~
1 tablespoon Unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon Cumin seed
1/2 teaspoon mustard seed
1/2 teaspoon Fennel seed
1/2 teaspoon Nigella seed ; (also called onion seed, black sesame, black cumin, kalonji)
1/2 teaspoon Fenugreek seed ; (imitation maple flavor contains Fenugreek)
4 Bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne ; or crushed red pepper (piquin)
2 teaspoon garlic ; minced
-= Instructions =-
1. Pick, clean, and wash the red lentils. Add to a deep pot with chilies, turmeric, water, and salt.
and cook the red lentils, chilies, turmeric, salt and water. Put the ingredients in a deep pot; bring to boil. Stir often to make sure they do not lump together. Cook over medium heat for 20 minutes, or until tender. The lentils will turn yellow.
2.While the lentils are cooking, heat butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions and fry until golden brown (about 10 minutes). Add the tomatoes and continue frying until the tomatoes are cooked. Add the ginger, and continue cooking until the mix is a uniform thick pulp, about 8 minutes. Add the tomato-onion paste and salt to the cooked lentils.
Serving: 2/3 cups (215g), Calories: 167: Fat: 4g (21% of Cals): Sodium: 84mg
Protein: 10g, NetCarbs: 20, K: 304mg
SatFat: 2g, PolyFat: 1g, MonoFat: 1g, Chol: 8mg
TotCarbs: 25g, Fiber: 5g, Sugars: 1g
DASH: Vegetables: 0.5: Fruits/Juices: 0.0: Dairy: 0.0: Grains: 0.0: Meat/Fish: 0.0: Seeds: 0.9: Fats: 0.8: Sweets: 0.0
USDA: Vegetables: 0.3: Fruits/Juices: 0.0: Dairy: 0.0: Grains: 0.0: Meat/Fish/Seeds: 0.9: Fats: 0.8: Sweets: 0.0
** This recipe can be pasted into BigOven without retyping. **
** Easy recipe software. Try it free at: http://www.bigoven.com **
Friday, March 14, 2008
Greens -- an introduction
Fresh Greens
I was just reading 5 Super Ingredients by Melanie at dietriffic. She just discovered an Asian green called Choy Sum, and gave a stir-fry recipe. She says she means to add more greens to her diet. It's a good idea. People have been eating greens for a long time, but where meat and carbohydrates are cheap, people seem to start leaving greens off their plate, which is a shame. Greens are the green leaves of non-heading herbaceous plants, eaten as vegetables. They are generally rich in vitamins A, B (including folate), C, E, and K, as well as antioxidants and have varying amounts of the minerals magnesium, calcium, potassium, and iron. Heading cabbages (red and green), iceberg lettuce, and Belgian endive are pale by comparison and so are not treated as greens. They don't develop nearly as many nutrients.
Serving Size
Fresh raw greens, torn or sliced, are fluffy, but will compact when you cook it. To get a half-cup serving of spinach, you'll need to eat a full cup of raw spinach salad, or a quarter cup of well-cooked spinach. Collards, kale, and other, more sturdy greens, won't compact quite as much as spinach will.
Preparing Greens
Very young greens are tender and can be eaten with their ribs, veins, and stems. Sturdier and more mature greens may have tough or bitter stems and veins, which need to be torn or stripped out. Large Romaine lettuce can be torn away from the thickest, whitest portion of its stem. With sturdy collards, grab the stem with one hand, wrap your other hand around the leaf, and strip it right off the vein.
Greens grow close to the ground, so they can be sandy or muddy. If you've got just 4-5 leaves of Romaine for your salad, you can give them a quick "shower" under running water. If you've got a couple pounds of greens, give them a bath in a large bowl or your well-cleaned sink. Agitate the leaves, let the dirt settle, scoop out the leaves, rinse the sink, and do it again. Check the bottom of the sink for dirt and sand. If you got it all, you are done.
To quickly chop a big pile of greens, stack a few up, roll them around their central veins, and slice them into ribbons with a chef's knife. You can turn the mass of ribbons sideways if you like and slice them into rough rectangles.
Most types of greens don't need to cook long -- five minutes or less for very tender young greens, 10 minutes for most sturdy large-leafed greens, 20 minutes for really tough, mature leaves, and longer for certain greens that contain a lot of oxalic acid.
Lettuce is a members of the daisy family. Many Western varieties have been bred for mild flavor to be used in fresh salads, while many more bitter Asian varieties have been bred for use in cooking. They all belong to the same species. People have been eating lettuces for over 4000 years. The darker green loose-leaf lettuces have lots of vitamins and minerals and a mild flavor. A popular way to serve lettuce in the US is in a green salad.
Endives, Radicchio and Escarole are all related to chicory, another member of the daisy family. Most are more bitter than lettuces. While Radicchio and curly endive are used in fresh salads, escarole is usually served served as a cooked green or as a soup.
Spinach, Chard (Silverbeet), Beet Greens. Chard and Beets are different varieties of beet, while spinach is a close relative. These greens have a mild flavor. Young leaves are used fresh in salads while older leaves are cooked.
Amaranth Greens are related to spinach and chard, and are usually eaten cooked.
Spinach and Amaranth leaves contain a fair amount of oxalic acid, which can cause problems for people susceptible to gout or kidney stones
Kole greens like collards, kale, turnip and mustard greens, rapini, Chinese mustard, choy sum, bok choy and kai lan are all the same species as turnips, and are closely related to cabbage and broccoli. Most of these are served cooked, although young mustard greens are can be eaten raw in salads.
Arugula or Rocket is in the same family as cabbages, has a peppery taste, and is often used like lettuce
Taro, Kalo, Dasheen, malanga, cocoyam -- varieties of colocasia and xanthosoma have been grown around the world for thousands of years. The greens contain needles of oxalic acid, and must be cooked for a long time before they can be eaten. These greens are popular in the Caribbean and Polynesia
Weeds or uncultivated greens Other greens, such as dandelion, lamb's quarters, miner's lettuce, and purslane, are collected wild and are not as likely to show up in the supermarket. Some of these greens contain even more vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants than supermarket variety greens.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Caribbean Flavor: A Big Pot of Greens
A variety of greens are popular in the Caribbean, some of which actually require long cooking. But many greens can be cooked in 10 minutes.
While the Southern US pot of greens is often finished with vinegar, this version uses fresh lime juice and a little allspice for a bright, tropical flavor. Use chard (which is like a sturdier spinach leaf) or cruciferous greens such as kale (the sweetest), mustard or turnip (both of which have a mustardy snap that dissipates during cooking), or collard (which can be slightly bitter) for a hearty dish. Don't throw away the cooking liquid. That "pot liquor" is tasty and delicious.
This is my own interpretation of two tasty-sounding recipes -- Carribean style Greens and Island Collards. If you can't take the heat, leave out the jalapeño.
Caribbean-Inspired Greens
Recipe By: Family Nutritionist
-= Ingredients =-
2 lb Collard Greens ; (or kale, mustard, or turnip)
1/8 pound Bacon ; or other smoked meat
1 cup Onion ; finely chopped
1 small Jalapeno peppers ; (red) stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
1/8 teaspoon Allspice
1 tablespoon Water
1 dash Black pepper ; freshly ground
2 teaspoon Lime juice ; or lemon juice
-= Instructions =-
Wash the greens well in several changes of water. Remove the thick rib from the center of the leaves; chop coarsely.
Chop the bacon into small bits, add to a large pot, and cook 5 minutes. Pour off any excess fat. Sauté onion, pepper, and allspice until softened -- do not brown.
Add the damp greens to the pot. Cover and cook until wilted, about 10 minutes. Add a little additional water, if necessary. Stir often. Drain, if necessary.
Stir in the lime juice and serve.
Serving Size: 0.5 cups; (151g) Calories: 82: Fat(g): 4 (49%of Cals): Sodium (g): 75
Protein: 4g, NetCarbs: 5, K: 239mg
SatFat: 2g, PolyFat: 1g, MonoFat: 2g, Chol: 5mg
TotCarbs: 9g, Fiber: 4g, Sugars: 1g
Food Group Serving(s)
DASH: Vegetables: 1.0: Fruits/Juices: 0.0: Dairy: 0.0: Grains: 0.0: Meat/Fish: 0.0: Seeds: 0.0: Fats: 0.9: Sweets: 0.0
USDA: Vegetables: 0.5: Fruits/Juices: 0.0: Dairy: 0.0: Grains: 0.0: Meat/Fish/Seeds: 0.0: Fats: 0.9: Sweets: 0.0
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Perfect Chipotle Meatloaf
At The Perfect Pantry, Lydia writes about Dry bread crumbs, in chipotle meatloaf. I love chipotles, and meatloaf is always a favorite at our house, so this recipe sounds promising. Lydia's suggested serving, though, supplies more than we generally need -- 5 1/3 ounces of meat, 400 calories and 1037 mg of sodium (close to my daily limit of sodium). 581 mg of that sodium comes from the 1 1/2 teaspoons of added salt, 158 mg from the ketchup, 116 from the bread crumbs, 56g from the romano cheese (I assume 2 Tablespoons grated is a fluffy half an ounce), and only 27 mg from the chipotles in adobo sauce (assuming a tablespoon is 14mg of chipotle with adobo).
The recipe is still a good one, if I increase the servings to 10, eliminate the added salt, and switch to low-sodium kethup. Each portion now contains 3 1/3 ounces of lean meat, 240 calories, and 175 mg of sodium -- better for my family!
I compared Lydia's meatloaf to my standby recipe, which has 3 1/3 ounces of ground turkey, 195 calories and 99 mg of sodium. Adding a proportional half tablespoon of chipotles in adobo and one tablespoon of romano cheese would add 9 calories and 30 mg of sodium, for a total of 205 calories and 135 mg of sodium. My recipe is slightly lower in fat because turkey is a leaner meat, and lower in sodium because oats are less salty than breadcrumbs. Because I already have dried chipotles on hand, I'd be just as likely to use them, maybe adding a little cumin nad oregano as well. That would give me about 108 mg of sodium per serving. These small difference might not be important to you unless you are watching your blood pressure or coddling your kidneys.
Turkey Meatloaf
This tasty meatloaf is quick and easy to prepare and low in calories, fat, and sodium. The kids love it.
Recipe By: DASH Eating Plan fact sheet, 2003
-= Ingredients =-
1 pound ground turkey ; lean
1/2 cup Quick oats ; dry
1 large Egg ; whole
1 tablespoon dehydrated minced onion
1/4 cup Low-sodium catsup
2 teaspoon no-salt added Seasoning ; italian, curry powder, etc.
-= Instructions =-
Preheat oven to 375°F
Mix all ingredients together and bake in loaf pan for 30-40 minutes, or until internal temperature is 165°F
Cut into 5 slices.
Nutritional Summary
Each (1/5 of loaf; 123g) serving contains:
Cals: 194, FatCals: 100, TotFat: 3g
SatFat: 2g, PolyFat: 0g, MonoFat: 1g
Chol: 130mg, Na: 98mg, K: 116mg
TotCarbs: 10g, Fiber: 1g, Sugars: 3g
NetCarbs: 9g, Protein: 22g
Food Group Serving(s)
DASH: Vegetables: 0.1: Fruits/Juices: 0.0: Dairy: 0.2: Grains: 0.0: Meat/Fish: 1.1: Seeds: 0.0: Fats: 0.0: Sweets: 0.4
USDA: Vegetables: 0.1: Fruits/Juices: 0.0: Dairy: 0.2: Grains: 0.0: Meat/Fish/Seeds: 3.4: Fats: 0.0: Sweets: 0.4
Monday, January 28, 2008
Chipotle and Red Hubbard Squash Soup
I picked up a beauty of a 2-pound red Hubbard squash in November, and it has been hanging around my kitchen ever since. Obviously, it's a good keeper, but Autumn is long gone, and I've been thinking about a smoky soup flavored with chipotles, those smoke-dried jalapeños I like to pick up at The Spice Corner in Philadelphia's Italian Market.
Red Hubbard Squash, center row
Hubbard squash has a tough shell of a skin, so I baked the squash at 350F for about an hour while I helped out with a science fair project. At that point, it was easy to cut the squash open (watch out for the escaping steam), scoop out the seeds and strings, and peel the skin. Maybe, if I had let it go longer, I could have scraped the flesh out of the skin.
I discovered that the red Hubbard squash has a very orange firm, mild-flavored flesh, not very pumpkiny at all, drier than most winter squashes, with a flavor something like roasted chestnuts, though not as sweet. Perfect for those family members who are not big winter-squash fans. That 2-pound Hubbard gave me about 4 cups of cubed squash, weighing 1 1/2 pounds. I modified a recipe for the Ritz-Carlton's Chipotle Carrot soup (from the Philadelphia Inquirer's former Sunday Magazine). I added white beans and a little bit of cumin.
The chipotles in their soaking water smelled like Lapsang Souchong in the kitchen. The squash and cumin added a warm note. The soup was delicious with a sides of cooked kale and vinegared red cabbage slaw. But I learned a lesson -- three chipotles is just a bit too much for the young children in the house. I served them emergency rations of cheese on bread, and ate their leftover soup myself. So the official version of this recipe now calls for only one chipotle. If I want more heat, there is always Bufalo.
Chipotle Squash SoupThis rich, smoky soup is made from mild-flavored Hubbard Squash, and is delicious served with cooked greens.
Recipe By: Family Nutritionist
-= Ingredients =-
1 whole Dried chipotle ; (3 if you can take the heat)
2 teaspoons Olive oil
1 medium Onion ; diced
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 1/2 pound red Hubbard squash, cubed
4 cups low-sodium Chicken broth ; warmed
15 1/2 fluid oz Canned White beans
pepper ; to taste
-= Instructions =-
Break stem(s) from pepper(s) and remove seeds. Soak dried peppers in enough warm water to cover.
For 1 1/2 pounds squash (about 4 pounds cubed), start with a 2-pound Hubbard squash. Bake squash in 350 degree oven for at least one hour, or until skin is tender . Halve squash, scrape out seeds, and peel with a paring knife or scrape flesh from skin.
Heat oil over medium heat and add onion, stirring frequently until caramelized, about 10 minutes. Add squash and peppers and their liquid. Add broth, bring to boil and reduce to simmer, covered for 30 minutes or until squash and onions are tender.
Drain beans. Add 1/3 to 1/2 to soup. Puree soup in until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Add remaining beans. Serve hot with cooked greens.
Quick-cooking variation:
Substitute 1 1/2 pounds of canned pumpkin or winter squash for the 1 1/2 pounds of Hubbard squash. Cook soup for 10 minutes before pureeing.
Nutritional Summary
Each (1 cup; 240g) serving contains:
Cals: 107, FatCals: 15, TotFat: 1g
SatFat: 0g, PolyFat: 0g, MonoFat: 1g
Chol: 0mg, Na: 207mg, K: 451mg
TotCarbs: 18g, Fiber: 4g, Sugars: 1g
NetCarbs: 14g, Protein: 7g
Food Group Serving(s)
DASH: Vegetables: 1.1: Fruits/Juices: 0.0: Dairy: 0.0: Grains: 0.0: Meat/Fish: 0.1: Seeds: 0.1: Fats: 0.1: Sweets: 0.0
USDA: Vegetables: 0.6: Fruits/Juices: 0.0: Dairy: 0.0: Grains: 0.0: Meat/Fish/Seeds: 0.5: Fats: 0.0: Sweets: 0.0
Nutritional information in this post calculated using bigoven. Food Group Servings calculated in EXCEL using http://www.mypyramid.gov/ and DASH diet references
Friday, January 25, 2008
Healthier choices: Veggies need salsa
Kids like to dip. And I don't like bottled ranch dressing. I hate to see them slurp it up as though it were a side dish. It makes me feel like a 
bad parent.
So I decided on a dip that, when I see them slurping it up, I can simply ask them to pretend to be civilized and use a spoon. Salsa. It's tomatoes and vegetables. Commercial salsas are often full of salt, but salsa is quick and easy to make. Use fresh or canned (no-salt added) tomatoes, any peppers (sweet to hot) you like, onions for flavor, a little lime (or lemon) juice, and cilantro, if you like it. Stir it up for a chunky salsa, or process in the blender for a smooth one. This will keep for a few days to a week in the refrigerator. Broccoli will do a really good job soaking up the tomato juice. Kids will probably prefer the onions chopped fine.
Salsa
Make this low-salt salsa from fresh tomatoes in season or canned tomatoes in the winter.
Recipe By: Family Nutritionist
-= Ingredients =-
15 ounces Tomatoes ; unsalted, petite diced
1/2 cup Onions ; chopped fine
1/4 cup Cilantro ; chopped
1 cup Peppers ; small dice
1 tablespoon Lime Juice ; or to taste
-= Instructions =-
If the tomatoes are too juicy, drain some of the juice.
Mix ingredients together in a bowl. For a smoother salsa, blend in a food processor.
Refrigerate for an hour. Add salt if you need it.
Serve with baked corn tortillas or vegetables
Nutritional Summary
Each (1/2 cup; 96g) serving contains:
Cals: 24, FatCals: 2, TotFat: 0g
SatFat: 0g, PolyFat: 0g, MonoFat: 0g
Chol: 0mg, Na: 7mg, K: 196mg
TotCarbs: 5g, Fiber: 1g, Sugars: 1g
NetCarbs: 4g, Protein: 1g
Food Group Serving(s)
DASH: Vegetables: 1.1: Fruits/Juices: 0.0: Dairy: 0.0: Grains: 0.0: Meat/Fish: 0.0: Seeds: 0.0: Fats: 0.0: Sweets: 0.0
USDA: Vegetables: 0.5: Fruits/Juices: 0.0: Dairy: 0.0: Grains: 0.0: Meat/Fish/Seeds: 0.0: Fats: 0.0: Sweets: 0.0
Nutritional information in this posting calculated using bigoven. Food Group Servings calculated in EXCEL using http://www.mypyramid.gov/ and DASH diet references
Monday, January 21, 2008
Food and Mood
What happens when a 9-year old eats a bowl of cereal, runs around for 2 hours in the snow, and then tries to tackle a science fair project? Sudden negativity. Ready to quit the science fair. Convinced that her hypothesis is stupid. Resistant to looking at the graphs we have just made in EXCEL. Refusing to paste the data into her science fair notebook. Contrary and combative. Angry and nearly in tears.
We slogged on like this for an hour before I said to myself "Blood sugar," and declared it to be lunch time. "It is not lunch time, and I am not hungry," she said, so I boiled her an egg, which, predictably, she complained about. But she ate it, with a little orange marmalade, and was soon all smiles and ready to finish her lunch. Afterwards, she had a good attitude, was able to draw some conclusions about the data, and made much better progress on her project.
No surprise, really. Food for thought, though. We've been in the habit of starting the day with grains. Cold cereal or oatmeal with 8 ounces of milk and perhaps a fruit or 6 ounces of orange juice. But, after running around for two hours in the cold, my daughter had run out of energy.
So this morning, I decided to change the balance a little. Add a boiled egg, reduce the oats a little, don't forget the fruit, lose some sugar. First thing in the morning, though, it seems a child's blood sugar is low. No honey? No marmalade? Contrary, combative, angry, and nearly in tears. Eventually, she ate the experimental breakfast, and had the energy to run errands all the way until lunch time, without even stopping for a snack, though she did say she was hungry. Not the same as running around for two hours in the snow and then tackling a science project, but worth thinking about, all the same. Tonight, She boiled 4 eggs, and intends to have one in the morning. With a little orange marmalade.
Of course, I never get grumpy when my blood sugar runs low. Never.
| Oatmeal Breakfast | Oatmeal and Egg Breakfast |
|---|---|
1/2 cup Quick oats, prepared with water 1/4 cup raisins 1 cup skim milk | 1/4 cup Quick oats, prepared with water 1/4 cup Raisins 1 cup Skim milk 1 hard-boiled egg |
| Each 435g serving contains: Cals: 329, FatCals: 22, TotFat: 2g SatFat: 1g, PolyFat: 1g, MonoFat: 2g Chol: 5mg, Na: 156mg, K: 856mg TotCarbs: 65g, Fiber: 5g, Sugars: 25g NetCarbs: 60g, Protein: 15g | Each 426g serving contains: Cals: 302, FatCals: 18, TotFat: 2g SatFat: 1g, PolyFat: 1g, MonoFat: 2g Chol: 5mg, Na: 154mg, K: 828mg TotCarbs: 60g, Fiber: 4g, Sugars: 25g NetCarbs: 56g, Protein: 14g |
| Food Group Serving(s) DASH: Vegetables: 0.0: Fruits/Juices: 1.0: Dairy: 1.0: Grains: 1.0: Meat/Fish: 0.0: Seeds: 0.0: Fats: 0.0: Sweets: 0.0 USDA: Vegetables: 0.0: Fruits/Juices: 0.5: Dairy: 1.0: Grains: 1.0: Meat/Fish/Seeds: 0.0: Fats: 0.0: Sweets: 0.0 | Food Group Serving(s) DASH: Vegetables: 0.0: Fruits/Juices: 1.0: Dairy: 1.0: Grains: 0.8: Meat/Fish: 0.3: Seeds: 0.0: Fats: 0.0: Sweets: 0.0 USDA: Vegetables: 0.0: Fruits/Juices: 0.5: Dairy: 1.0: Grains: 0.8: Meat/Fish/Seeds: 1.0: Fats: 0.0: Sweets: 0.0 |
Nutritional information in this posting calculated using bigoven. Food Group Servings calculated in EXCEL using http://www.mypyramid.gov/ and DASH diet references.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Lentil Soup with Saffron Yogurt
I have a dollar bag of saffron that I picked up on a whim at The Spice Corner in Philadelphia's Italian Market. I tried a pinch in some recipe or another, but really couldn't taste the saffron. So I was intrigued by Heidi Swanson's Lively Up Yourself Lentil Soup recipe. It seems so plain, so unseasoned, except for a dollop of saffron-infused yogurt. I usually season lentil soup with hambone, celery, carrot, caraway, and cloves.
She suggests 6 to 8 servings from this soup. Six servings gives 288 calories (30 from fat) and 25g net carbs. You also get a total of 1 cup vegetable (onions, greens, and tomatoes) and 21g of protein, which is what you'd get in about 3.3 oz (uncooked weight) lean meat. Add a slice of whole grain bread to round things out and a couple more servings of vegetables, and it's a full meal. And it will fill you up. Depending on how much liquid you cook off, the serving size will be about 1 1/4 to 1 3/4 cups.
If you split the pot 10 ways, you'll get 173 calories (18 from fat), 15g net carbs, and 13g of protein, equivalent to about 2 oz (uncooked weight) lean meat, and about .6 cup of vegetables, from approximately 1 cup of soup, which is still nearly a main-dish sized portion.
Here's my version of Heidi Swanson's lentil soup, using diced tomatoes instead of crushed (which, in the US, is a puree).
Recipe By: http://HeidiSwanson.com
Serving Size: 12
Cuisine: American
Main Ingredient: Beans
Categories: Vegetarian, Meatless, Soup
-= Ingredients =-
2 cups Lentils ; (Black Beluga or green French), picked over and rinsed
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion ; chopped
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
28 ounces Low-salt diced tomatoes
2 cup water
3 cups Chard ; or other leafy green (kale,etc.) rinsed well, deveined, finely chopped
~~ Saffron Yogurt ~~
1 pinch Saffron ; 30-40 threads
1 tablespoon water ; boiling
1/8 teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup Plain low-fat yogurt ; Greek, if possible
-= Instructions =-
Add the lentils to 6 cups of boiling water. Simmer for 20 minutes. Drain.
Combine saffron with 1 tablespoon boiling water, soak for a few minutes, add a pinch of salt, and stir into the yogurt.
In a heavy soup pot, then saute onion in oil with salt until tender. Stir in lentils, tomatoes, and 2 cups water and heat to a simmer. Add the chopped greens and cook briefly.
Serve with saffron yogurt.
Heidi Swanson suggests: garnishing with crunchy fried shallots, pan-fried butternut squash, a poached egg or cooked whole grains; substituing chive-infused cream for the saffron yogurt; adding seasonings such as smoked paprika, toasted cumin, or crushed dried chilis to the soup.
Based on a recipe by Heidi Swanson at http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/lively-up-yourself-lentil-soup-recipe.html
Nutritional Summary
Each (1 1/2 cups; 347g) serving contains:
Cals: 288, FatCals: 30, TotFat: 3g
SatFat: 1g, PolyFat: 1g, MonoFat: 2g
Chol: 1mg, Na: 125mg, K: 1040mg
TotCarbs: 47g, Fiber: 22g, Sugars: 10g
NetCarbs: 25g, Protein: 21g
Food Group Serving(s)
DASH: Vegetables: 2.0: Fruits/Juices: 0.0: Dairy: 0.1: Grains: 0.0: Meat/Fish: 0.0: Seeds: 1.7: Fats: 0.5: Sweets: 0.0
USDA: Vegetables: 1.0: Fruits/Juices: 0.0: Dairy: 0.1: Grains: 0.0: Meat/Fish/Seeds: 3.3: Fats: 0.5: Sweets: 0.0
Nutritional Summary
Each (1 cup; 208g) serving contains:
Cals: 173, FatCals: 18, TotFat: 2g
SatFat: 0g, PolyFat: 1g, MonoFat: 2g
Chol: 1mg, Na: 193mg, K: 624mg
TotCarbs: 28g, Fiber: 13g, Sugars: 6g
NetCarbs: 15g, Protein: 13g
Food Group Serving(s)
DASH: Vegetables: 1.2: Fruits/Juices: 0.0: Dairy: 0.1: Grains: 0.0: Meat/Fish: 0.0: Seeds: 1.0: Fats: 0.3: Sweets: 0.0
USDA: Vegetables: 0.6: Fruits/Juices: 0.0: Dairy: 0.1: Grains: 0.0: Meat/Fish/Seeds: 1.0: Fats: 0.3: Sweets: 0.0
Nutritional information in this posting calculated using bigoven. Food Group Servings calculated in EXCEL using http://www.mypyramid.gov/ and DASH diet references.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Healthier Choices: Adapting for diabetics
What do you do when people you care about develop high blood sugar or diabetes? Invite them over for a meal of macaroni cheese, pierogies, and lima beans? Give them a gift basket full of your famous home-baked Christmas cookies and your home town's best artisan chocolates? Yes, I did serve them that high-carb meal, followed by cake and ice cream. It was my child's birthday dinner. I still feel guilty about it. At Christmas, though, I skipped the cookies and made them a nice basket of their favorite cheeses.
What should I serve the next time they are over? Surely, most of the things I've been eating for the last couple of years are pretty good. The DASH diet is pretty well balanced, not too high in blood-sugar boosting refined sugars and carbohydrates, right?
I asked some questions at the Diabetes discussion group at bigoven.com. What do you know? The very first recipe I posted here, a delicious, hearty, one-pot, balanced, healthy meal is not really so well balanced for diabetics. I was told the recipe was high in "net carbs" (total carbohydrates - fiber), because it has so many potatoes, and the serving size really represents an awful lot of food for one meal.
So I used an EXCEL spreadsheet to help me figure how many servings of what food groups I would get by fiddling with ingredients and quantities, and used 
to figure the nutritional information. I used the EXCEL spreadsheet to help me replace half of the potatoes with rutabaga, and then reduce the number of vegetable servings from 4 to 3 while leaving the meat unchanged. This took a little bit of fiddling and weighing of rutabagas. I used BigOven's nutritional links to help me get to and save information about how many cups of diced rutabaga I can get from half a large rutabaga.
After I was done fiddling with the quantities in the recipe, I updated my recipe in Bigoven to reflect the decisions I had made. Then I used Bigoven's nutritional calculator to tell me how I had done. Success! The original recipe had 367 calories in an enormous, 2-cup serving, and included 55g of carbs with 9g of fiber for a 46g of net carbs. The revised recipe has has 257 calories in a 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cup serving, features 3 half-cup servings of vegetables, 33g of carbs and 7g of fiber for 26g of net carbs. The group told me I was now on the right track.
Blackened Beef with Greens, Red Potatoes, and Rutabaga
Here's the diabetic-friendly version of the Blackened Beef recipe I have been working on. If you use , you can download it.
-= Exported from BigOven =-
Blackened Beef with Greens, Red Potatoes, and Rutabaga
Recipe By: Family Nutritionist
Serving Size: 6
Cuisine: American
Main Ingredient: Beef
Categories: Diabetic, Low Fat, Saute, OnePot Meal, LOW SODIUM, DASH, Main Dish
-= Ingredients =-
1 pound lean top round of beef
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
2 medium red potatoes ; cut into quarters about 1 inch thick (about 2 cups)
1/2 medium Rutabaga
2 cups Onions ; finely chopped
1 1/2 cups low fat low salt beef broth
1 1/2 cups water
2 cloves garlic ; minced
2 large carrots ; cut into rounds about 1/4 inch thick (1 cup)
3 cups kale ; stems removed, coarsely torn into pieces
-= Instructions =-
Briefly put the beef in the freezer to freeze partially in preparation for slicing thinly.
Mix the paprika, oregano, chili powder, garlic powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and dry mustard in a small container with a lid and set aside.
Thinly slice the beef across the grain into strips 1/8 inch thick. Sprinkle the strips liberally with the seasoning mix. (Save any leftover seasoning mix to use for other dishes.) Spray the bottom of a large skillet or stockpot with cooking spray and preheat over high heat. Add the meat and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.
Add the potatoes, onions, broth, water, and garlic to the skillet. The blackened spices will float to the top of the liquid as it heats. Cover and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes. Stir in the carrots and lay the kale on top. Cook, covered, until the carrots are tender, about 10 more minutes. Serve from the skillet or transfer to a large serving bowl. Serve with crusty bread for dunking.
Nutritional Summary
Each (1 1/2 cups; 441g) serving contains:
Cals: 258, FatCals: 55, TotFat: 5g
SatFat: 2g, PolyFat: 1g, MonoFat: 2g
Chol: 45mg, Na: 205mg, K: 1228mg
TotCarbs: 30g, Fiber: 6g, Sugars: 8g
NetCarbs: 24g, Protein: 22g
Food Group Serving(s)
DASH: Vegetables: 2.9: Fruits/Juices: 0.0: Dairy: 0.0: Grains: 0.0: Meat/Fish: 0.9: Seeds: 0.0: Fats: 0.0: Sweets: 0.0
USDA: Vegetables: 1.4: Fruits/Juices: 0.0: Dairy: 0.0: Grains: 0.0: Meat/Fish/Seeds: 2.7: Fats: 0.0: Sweets: 0.0
I corrected this posting to reflect corrections I made to the recipe after making it this evening (17 Jan 2007)
Read all of "Blackened Beef with Greens, Red Potatoes, and Rutabaga" ...
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Healthier Choices -- step by step
When it comes to making dieting, some people like to go whole hog. Throw out the "bad food", get on the treadmill, buy a bunch of vegetables and a new cookbook, draw up a menu plan. Never look back. This worked so well for us, I highly recommend it. The parents lost a combined 75 pounds in a year (15 of those "accidentally"), while the kids are learning how to make up a balanced eating plan. Deciding "what to eat" got easier, and we learned a bunch of great new recipes. We cut back on salt and got more active (well, one of us did, anyway). It has been great. I cannot recommend the DASH Diet enough!
Dear B read the DASH book on our recommendation (and even read The DASH Diet Action Plan) but really didn't relish the idea of making such an abrupt change, eating so much more fiber, using new cooking techniques, and eating "weird food" while, at the same time, upping the exercise suddenly. It sounded like a recipe for pain and indigestion. Since the Dash Diet is just what B wants, I countered that it would be illogical NOT to make the change. B was merely amused by my Mr. Spock approach.
Then, B quite sensibly took a very different approach. B is aiming for more energy and improved health. And B will get there -- one step at a time.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Diet -- it's all in the portions
Melanie, at dietriffic, recently offered some tips on making a weight-loss diet work. I know that keeping track of portion sizes really makes things easier. I actually bring measuring cups to the table. These stainless steel cups belong to our "for the table" set. They make it easier to serve everyone the right amount. One cup of rice, one half cup each of two vegetables, a 3-oz serving of meat, and one cup of salad on the side. That's two grains, 2 ½ cups of vegetables, and our evening protein portion. A handy chart on the 'fridge (see below) reminds us what we should be aiming for in a day. Using standard portion sizes makes it all "deal a meal" easy.
source: MyPyramid intake patterns, MyPyramid customized dietary guide, DASH diet guidelines
I know that my 8 year old has had 1 serving of grain at breakfast, two slices of bread at lunch, a granola bar for afternoon snack, and only needs 1/2 cup of rice at dinner. The four-year-old only had one slice of bread at lunch, and so might want a whole cup of rice at dinner (but will probably get full, so I'll start with half a cup). They both get 3 half-cup servings of vegetables at dinner, which is good since the 8-year-old had 10 mini carrots at lunch. The three (or fewer) ounces of meat they will eat with their dinner goes with the bologna or peanut butter they have already eaten today to give them the protein they need.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Green and Orange Ribbons with Fettucini
I really love mustard greens. The young greens are sharp and snappy in salads. Cooked lightly, they retain their bright green color and snappy, mustardy, zing. They are sometimes very sandy, and may need to be rinsed twice in a couple inches of water in the sink. They can be roughly stacked up and sliced into ribbons with a chef's knife
Here's a favorite dish I haven't made in a while -- Green and Orange Ribbons with Fettucini. It's based on a recipe I found in a beautiful cookbook ("Healthy Vegetarian Cooking", published by Barnes and Noble). Strangely, the main ingredient was omitted. And the fat and sodium levels were too high for me. So I made a few changes.
This recipe, with garlic and mustard greens, has a lot of zing. It also has one cup of vegetables and two one-ounce servings of grain per serving. Decrease the sesame oil if you wish to reduce fat even further. A vegetable peeler, mandoline, or the "slicer" side of a vegetable grater can create carrot ribbons quickly. Once everything is sliced, it all cooks quickly, so this dish can hurry up and wait until the "main course" is ready.
-= Exported from BigOven =-
Green and Orange Ribbons with Fettucini
Recipe By: Family Nutritionist
Serving Size: 4
Cuisine: Asian
Main Ingredient:
Categories: Vegetarian, Saute, LOW SODIUM, DASH, Vegetables
-= Ingredients =-
8 ounce Fettucini
1/2 tablespoon Olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoon Sesame oil
3 cloves Garlic ; crushed
2 Carrots ; peeled and cut into ribbons
4 cup Mustard greens ; cut into ribbons
1 tablespoons Low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons Sesame seeds
-= Instructions =-
Prepare fettucini according to package directions.
Toast sesame seeds in dry skillet as you heat it. Remove sesame seeds, add olive oil and garlic -- heat until you smell the garlic. Add carrot ribbons and sesame oil; saute until carrots are tender. Five minutes before serving, add mustard green ribbons and soy sauce. Cover tightly and steam over very low heat.
Toss vegetables to mix, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and serve over fettucini.
Nutritional Summary
Servings: 4: Serving Size: (203g): Calories: 363: Fat(g): 11: Sodium (g): 175
Food Group Serving(s)
DASH: Vegetables: 2.0: Fruits/Juices: 0.0: Dairy: 0.0: Grains: 2.0: Meat/Fish: 0.0: Seeds: 0.1: Fats: 1.5: Sweets: 0.0
USDA: Vegetables: 1.0: Fruits/Juices: 0.0: Dairy: 0.0: Grains: 2.0: Meat/Fish/Seeds: 0.1: Fats: 1.5: Sweets: 0.0
------------------------------------------
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
A more balanced granola
As I said in my last post, you have to beware of some of those "healthy" recipes, like the nutty high-fat granola recipe recently published in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Why should you beware a recipe like this one? Because, even though the recipe is adapted from a book called "The Healthy Kitchen", each serving is high in calories, fat (including saturated fat) and sugar. For each serving of grain, the recipe provides 404 calories, including 21g (1.5 tablespoons; 6g saturated) of fat and 25 g (2 tablespoons) of sugar.
Looking for better alternatives, I consulted Alton Brown's Granola recipe. It provides 1 serving of grain for 353 calories, with 19 grams of fat and 25g of suger. A minor improvement. Surely, one could do better.
You could eat a Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bar, Oats and Honey flavor. That's 100 calories per bar (which come 2 to the pouch). Each bar has only 3g of fat (none of it saturated), 7 g of sugars. Eat the whole 2-bar pack, and you get close to 2 servings of grain, all for only 200 calories.
Or you could make your own. Most granola recipes taste like a very rich cookie. That's the sugar (white, brown, or honey, it's still a lot of sugar) and the oil talking. What you want to make at home will be closer to the Nature Valley product -- lower in sugars and oils.
What exactly is one serving of grain? According to mypyramid.gov, that is approximately 1 oz serving of bread, or the equivalent. How many cups of dry oatmeal is that? That's a little trickier to figure out. But http://www.mypyramidtracker.gov/ can help.
- Log in to mypyramidtracker, select "proceed to food intake".
- In the text box under "Enter Food Item", type "oats, raw", and click the search button. Under "Search results", click the "Add" button next to "oats, raw", and click the "Select Quantity" button in the other half of the screen.
- Now you'll be able to select a serving size of "1 cup", a "Number of Servings" of 100 (yes, 100) and click "Save and Analyze".
- On the "Analyze Your Food" display, scroll down and click on Calculate MyPyramid Stats to find out that 100 cups of oats is equivalent to 285.7 1-oz servings of grain.
Result: 0.35 cups (approximately a third of a cup) of rolled oats per serving. That's a hassle, isn't it? I keep the results in an EXCEL spreadsheet so I won't have to go through that again. Similarly, I searched on "wheat germ, crude" to find out that a serving of wheat germ is approximately a quarter of a cup. And a serving of wheat flour is approximately .128 cup (2 tablespoons). Why did I look these up? I was looking at a low-fat honey granola bar recipe
-- Low-Fat Honey Granola Bars (foodgeeks.com) --
12 servings
1/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. honey
1/3 cup dark raisins
-------------
That's less than 4 servings of grain in the entire recipe, or just about a third of a serving of grain per serving of grain per bar. I scaled the recipe by 3 and gave it a try. Bah! An oatmeal cookie with a play-doh texture. Wheat flour + liquid (honey) without fat = playdoh.
I'll try to come up with something.
- A crispy, crunchy granola bar that tastes good
- Not much over 100 calories per serving of grain (remembering that a serving of rolled oats contains 110 calories)
- Not overloaded with sugar or fat.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Beware the healthy granola recipe
The Philadelphia Inquirer published an interesting article about how fast-food and convenience-food makers are vying for your breakfast dollar. It criticizes a few popular morning choices (McGriddles, McMuffins, and Starbucks' Venti Caffé Mocha with whipped cream), and offers a side bar (not available online) advocating more nutritionally balanced breakfasts you throw together at home in three minutes or less. Unfortunately, it also offers a Granola Recipe that (to quote the author) makes the denigrated 300-calorie McMuffin "look like diet fare".
Sure, the granola is chock full of natural, wholesome ingredients. But each serving (maybe 3/4 cup) provides over 400 calories. That's a nice snack if you are an iditarod musher, but a bit heavy in the cereal bowl for the rest of us.
By my calculations, each serving (maybe about 3/4 cup) amounts to about
- 1 serving of grain
- about an ounce of nuts and seeds, which counts as 2 ounces of meat (http://www.mypyramid.gov/pyramid/meat_counts.html)
- 21 grams (1 1/2 tablespoons) of fat, 5 grams of which is saturated
- 1 1/3 tablespoons of sugar
- No dairy
- No fruit or vegetables
Instead of this nutty, high-fat granola, I would choose:
- 1 serving of grain: 1/3 cup oatmeal (prepared with 1 cup of water), 1 slice of whole-grain bread, or 1 cup of cheerios (60 - 110 calories)
- 1 serving of dairy: 8 oz skim milk (93 calories)
- 1 serving of fruit: 1/2 cup fruit (40 to 80 calories)
Total: under 300 calories. Save the nuts for an afternoon snack (1/2 oz walnut halves is under 100 calories).
How many calories do you need a day? How many servings of which foods do you need? Find out at mypyramid.gov.
(correction to serving size of rolled oats 4/24/2007)
Sunday, January 08, 2006
First There's the Cookbook
I have this cookbook that's falling apart. Actually, it is the recipe section from the DASH diet book. I decided to scan all the recipes and import them into BigOven. Then I'll print out a new cookbook from the scanned recipes.
Why not just print a copy of the recipes and be done? Because I like the idea of getting the computer to help me create a weekly meal plan by just dragging the recipes onto a calendar. Then I can print out a shopping list and a meal list, post the meal list in the kitchen, take the shopping list to the grocery store, and never be short 2 cups of broccoli at the end of the week again. In theory.
DASH cookbook BigOven
Friday, January 06, 2006
Adventures of a Family Nutritionist
I have become the nutritionist for my family. And I am am trying to convert old recipes and develop new ones that conform to the DASH diet guidelines, and work out the DASH "exchanges" or "Food Group Servings" for the recipes.
I am using Recipe Management software you can get off the shelf. I have used Mastercook, and I have been working with BigOven lately.
I'll be posting here about my experiences getting recipes INTO my recipe databases, getting them OUT again (printing or sharing electronically), and working with recipes once I have them in the database. If all goes well, you'll see some my recipes posted here.