Monday, August 27, 2012

What's In Your Peanut Butter?

Take a look at this ingredient list for a prominent brand of peanut butter I found at Pathmark. I thought I was eating peanut butter, why is there added sugar in it? Just because the label says organic does not mean the ingredient list is healthy.

Always check ingredient list before buying an item.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Dark Vs. Milk Chocolate

Lately I've been addicted to dark chocolate - the darker the better. The other day I waltzed into Duane Reade and found myself in the chocolate aisle. Normally I go with anything coconut but this time I tried the Godiva 85% cacao bar. After paying for it I realized I was better off walking to the Godiva store a block away from work which would give me a much bigger selection but alas I must now wait until this bar is done. 


The high cacao content was pleasantly surprising. It is strong, of course, and I can eat no more than a block at a time but it almost has a rum-my taste in the end. It leaves this almost dry sort of feeling in your mouth but not the kind you want to quench. 

The nutrition list is not excessively bad either for a chocolate bar. 
Notice the 0% sodium and 14g of carbs per 4 blocks? Sugar is also at a respectable 5g per 4 blocks. The iron content was most astonishing - a solid 40%! On the flip side, this chocolate is extremely high in saturated fat.

Now compare this with the Godiva chocolate pieces nutrition I found on caloriecount.com

220 calories per 3 pieces with sodium, a high carb content and 19g of sugar! To give you an idea - 19g of sugar is equivalent to 5 teaspoons of sugar! 5g on the other hand is a little over one teaspoon. And I can almost guarantee no one eats only 3 pieces at a time. So each additional 3 pieces = 5 additional teaspoons of sugar.

I guess both chocolates have their evils but considering the amount of benefits dark chocolate provides, I shall go with the lesser of the two.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Malaysian Orange Shrimp

Monday night, Andrew pulled yet another winner! With all the delicious cooking he has been indulging in lately, I sometimes think he should be the one writing on this blog instead of me. Although I'd rather he spend his free time making me delicacies while I share them with the world :)

He made this dish with shrimp but tofu or chicken can be used as good substitutes. 

For the shrimp:
8-20 jumbo shrimp or tiger prawn deveined before marinating
1 teaspoon minced orange zest
3 tablespoons soy sauce (divided)
2 cloves garlic (minced and divided)
1 inch ginger (minced)
1 stalk scallion (the green part only, cut into thin threads for garnishing)
1 tablespoon of red chilly pepper or to flavor
2 bell peppers (1 red and 1 green) cut into strips
1/2 red onion cut into strips
1 carrot grated to medium strips
Cilantro to flavor

For the sauce:
1/2 cup freshly-squeezed orange juice
1 tablespoon minced orange zest
1 inch of ginger (minced)
3 tablespoons chicken broth
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon rice vinegar or white vinegar
5 teaspoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon corn starch
Salt to taste

1 cup rice or Asian noodles

Preparation:
  1. Mix soy sauce, garlic, red chilly pepper, ginger, oil and shrimp  and allow to marinade in the fridge for 1 hour
  2. Prepare the orange sauce by mixing all the sauce ingredients together
  3. Bring the wok to medium high heat and add oil, soy sauce, garlic, bell peppers, orange sauce and shrimp, add carrots after 2 minutes
  4. Allow to cook until shrimp is finished
  5. Garnish with scallions and cilantro to flavor
  6. Serve with rice or Asian noodles

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Berry Mango Oat Smoothie


After dinner last night, Andrew took Sophie for a walk which meant I was left with the clean up. Sensing a possibility of getting a head start on my breakfast; I decided to whip up a delicious smoothie. It is so power packed and keeps you full for a long time! This morning, I carried it to work and by the time I was done, I was totally stuffed. The best part is you can store them in the fridge for a day or two so making extras work. 
I know what you are thinking - oats in a smoothie?!!?! Trust me, it is good. Just try it once and if you don't like it, empty it down the drain. I promise that will not happen. 

2 tablespoons organic plain yogurt
1 cup organic fat free/low fat milk
Handful raspberries
Handful blueberries
5-6 chunks of frozen mango
1/3 cup rolled oats
1 tablespoon chia seeds

Optional:
1-2 dates
Handful sliced almonds
1 banana

Blend everything together and serve in a tall glass.

Monday, August 20, 2012

Assortments

This weekend was hard - after receiving her second set of shots, my daughter - Sophie - spiked a fever. The rest of Friday and most of Saturday was spent in trying to make her comfortable. No sooner did the fever break she went ballistic again - this time she was teething. I would do anything to take her pain away, the poor little child looked exhausted and worn out by the time she finally managed to eat something (thanks to Orajel) and get some sleep.

In the midst of all this, cooking was the last thing on my mind. Heck, we did not even go grocery shopping until 5pm yesterday! Despite the chaos in our life, Andrew (my amazing chef husband) managed to make me an awesome dinner last night - salmon glazed with agave and orange salsa! This is not the first time he made this awesome creation - this time it was my request that he make it. Famished and exhausted, I did not even have the sense to take any pictures but luckily I had taken a picture the last time he made it. The recipe, however, is elusive. The chef wants to keep his creation a secret but I am not the one to be deterred. Hopefully, shortly I can lay my hands on it so I can share it here. Yesterday I shied away from the french fries and the bean salad but kept the salad. 


The Costco salmon fillets are a super awesome deal and if you go through salmon the way we do, that's your best and cheapest bet!

On another occasion, Andrew pulled out another winner: a super duper tofu stir fry. Recipe still pending, drool not! :)





Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Zucchini Choco Bread

This past weekend promoted a lot of experiments. First the oatmeal rice, then some mung salad and finally I topped Saturday night off with a delicious zucchini chocolate bread. Last weekend I bought 2 locally grown zucchinis with the intent to bake so being able to put them to use felt good. Before, however, I plunged into dessert I thought wise to eat some dinner so after putting Sophie to sleep and sending the husband off to see The Bourne Legacy, I decided to take some time for myself and enjoy the evening in my way. Btw, how hot is that new guy from The Bourne Legacy! I first saw him in Mission Impossible and his fast, fiery movements were a welcome respite from Tom Cruise's histrionics.

Anyway, back to the bread. This is a slight variation from the banana almond bread I made a week or so ago. This time, I used no sugar and again no oil and of course no flour. Instead of sugar, I used chocolate chips and, much to my chagrin, I did not have any semi-sweet so had to make do with milk chips. The end result was a tad sweeter than I would have preferred but ah well...it still worked out nicely. 


2 cups grated zucchini
2 1/2 cups almond meal
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup semi-sweet/milk chocolate chips
3 ripe bananas
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt




  1.  Preheat oven to 300 F.
  2. Add all dry ingredients and then all wet ingredients.
  3. Either use a hand mixer or your hand. Make sure to mix everything very well. 
  4. Lightly spray a baking pan and add the mixture to it. 
  5. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a fork comes out clean. 

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Oatmeal Rice

Dinner plans on Friday fell flat on our faces. About 10 of us gathered to celebrate a dear friend's birthday but about half hour before the scheduled dinner at Chinese Mirch; the restaurant called me to say their server had crashed and they could no longer honor my reservation! Last minute calls to several restaurants ensued and we ultimately ended up at Son Cubano. Thanks to Chinese Mirch, as my other friend put, we were treated to mojitos. And since she and I were on a long alcohol hiatus due to our pregnancies, the mojitos were extra special.

After a long and fun night of food and drinks on my one cheat day of the week, I woke up late on Saturday and headed off to the gym after a quick breakfast of peanut butter sandwich. One thing led to another and before I knew it, it was 5pm and lunch was still elusive. Taking advantage of my old room mate's presence who had dropped by, with her husband to see Sophie, I made some oatmeal rice. It was the first experiment of the day, which I thought, went very well. Val (my old roomie) might beg to disagree, LOL!



2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 cup oatmeal
Whatever veggies you can find - I used carrots, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, peas (in proportion with the oatmeal)
2 green chillies
Salt to taste
1 cup water
1 tablespoon chia seeds (optional)
Cilantro to garnish (optional)

1. Heat coconut oil on medium heat. Coconut oil will burn quickly so be careful to not overheat.
2. Add oatmeal and let it fry.
3. When oatmeal starts to turn brown, add the veggies one at a time.
4. Add green chillies, salt and chia seeds.
5. Once veggies start to turn soft, add 1 cup water so the oatmeal looks slightly soggy.
6. Mix for a minute or two more and turn off stove.
7. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Bottle Vs. Boob

At some point all new mothers have contemplated on this issue - we've fought tears, argued with ourselves and ultimately swayed one way or the other or perhaps a mixture of the two. Truth be told, it is hard. It is so hard - so difficult - to breast feed your child that I really hold all mothers who do it in high regard (myself included). 

Image courtesy: Time

Men (or women who haven't yet experienced it) must wonder what is so difficult about breast feeding your baby. Its your child so we wonder it must come naturally, shouldn't it? As a new mother, I should want to hold my child close and feed her. So why is there such a big deal about it? For several reasons. 

Firstly, as a new mother not only are you exhausted to the point of no return but also nervous because it is no longer about you. It was not a simple operation you just went through where life, as you know it, comes back to you. This time, your procedure has yielded you a tiny life dependent on you for her every move. She needs you to look after everything she does and as a first - time mother half the time you don't know what the hell you're doing.

Secondly, your own hormones are raging out of control. I don't know if its things falling back into place or new things erupting or something else science has yet to learn but you're on the edge, every minute of every day. A slight comment or a slight remark has the potential to send you flying (usually on your spouse; poor fellow who himself is suffering from lack of sleep).

These two reasons might still be easy to come around to but the last and perhaps the most important reason (for me) is how hard breast feeding is. First I need to make sure she sucks, then I need to make sure she latches on right and then I need to deal with the total agony of chapped, bruised and bleeding nipples. I know most men don't want to hear this but if we are about to judge a mother for giving her child the bottle and not even trying, we need to at least know the real reasons why.

Despite all this, many mothers keep going. I know some mothers who despite their child's inability to latch on have continued to pump and feed their baby. I really admire them (pumping is whole another issue). Why do we do it? Because we know it is important - important for the well being of the child and her overall growth. Science tells us that breast fed babies score an average of 5.2 points higher on IQ tests, are 40% less likely to develop diabetes, allergies, asthma and have better immune systems.

So why am I suddenly going on and on about this? Because of this. Apparently, Mayor Bloomberg has banned free formula milk in hospitals, making it more difficult for mothers to access it with the idea that it will promote breast feeding. I guess the clear answer is yes, it will promote more mothers to try who for one reason or another give up. There are instances of mothers who give up because they think they are not producing enough to fulfill their child's needs in the first few days. This is not accurate, your child's needs in the first few days of her birth equate the size of a marble (regardless of her physical size), steadily growing to a ping pong ball and so on. 9 out of 10 times, this enables a mother to catch up and meet their food needs sufficiently.

The other side of the argument claims it will stigmatize mothers who for one reason or another don't want to breast feed their baby. To them, I have nothing to say. As a mother of a four month old, still breast feeding her daughter, I say you at least owe it to yourself and, more importantly, your baby to try. It is agonizing and it will bring you pain but in the end it is worth it. As President Kennedy once said we don't do these things because they are easy but because they are hard. How long you do it is your decision but if we bring a little life into this world, we should at least try to do the best for them. The outcome, however, may not always be up to us.

Monday, August 6, 2012

What is Maltodextrin?

Last week at Trader Joe's I picked up a packet of crackers after only reading the nutrition information, not bothering with the ingredients. Sitting at work, on a not so busy day, I lazily glanced at what was in my crackers and found most ingredients familiar except one that stuck out like a gloomy cloud on an otherwise clear day - Maltodextrin.


Not knowing much about it, I set out to see what I could find. About 10% of packaged foods in the US use Maltodextrin as a food additive. It is easily digestible and is absorbed rapidly by your body.

In the US, Maltodextrin is enzymatically derived from corn, in Europe through wheat. It is not an allergan and can be used (because its highly processed) by those with gluten intolerance. Maltodextrin can also be used as a sweetner by people with diabetes.

In conclusion: Maltodextrin is not harmful for your body. 

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

My Chia Seed Craze


An Aztec super food, chia seeds have been around for a long time but I discovered them not so long ago. I’ve seen them splashed around in healthy eating articles but never gave much importance until lately when I decided to make myself a green smoothie (more on that later). Like any good researcher, I set out to discover how chias will benefit me and found an astonishing number of reasons. Before I go into those, a little more about the history of chias. (By the way, chias is a term I have coined. The seeds are usually referred to as chia seeds). 

Chia seeds, also known as Salvia Hispanica, are a member of the mint family and native to central and southern Mexico and Guatemala. An Aztec code from the 16th century shows proof that chias were cultivated in pre-Columbian times and were as important as maize as a food crop. 


The chias are power packed with nutrition – one ounce contains 9% of daily protein, 13% of fat and 42% of fiber. They also contain essential minerals such as phosphorous, manganese, calcium, potassium and sodium in amounts comparable to flax and sesame seeds. 

When immersed in water, chias become a bulky gel which helps keep you fuller longer. This brings us to the benefits-
  • Chia seeds are ideal for weight loss as they help fight food cravings
  • They absorb 10 times their weight in water keeping you fuller longer 
  • Chia gel is great way to hydrate the body
  • They help reduce blood pressure 
  • They are the richest sources of Omega – 3 (fats which protect against inflammation (i.e. arthritis) and heart disease). Some evidence suggests they have more Omega – 3 than salmon! 
  • Because chias slow down how fast our bodies convert carbs into simple sugars, they can control blood sugar making it ideal for diabetics
  • They are rich in antioxidants
Word of caution: The brown seeds are immature seeds or weeds. Black, dark gray and white are okay to eat. 

How to Use the Chia:
Chia seeds can be used in a variety of ways – simply add it to your water or yogurt. They can be added to salads, smoothies or soaked in juice. Mull the chia and they can be used in baking to make muffins or breads.

2 Chia Seeds Recipes:

Chia Water:
1/2 cup lime juice
10 cups water
1/2 cup chia seeds   
1/2 cup agave (if you desire a sweetner)

Pour lime juice and agave into the water and stir. Add the chia seeds. Shake or stir vigorously. Serve.

Green Smoothie:
1 leaf kale
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 medium cucumber
2-3 sprigs of parsley
1 ½ cups water/pear juice/coconut water (you can use either one or a mixture)
5-6 pieces of pineapple/banana (if using only water otherwise the kale is overpowering)

Blend everything until smooth and drink immediately.