When Recipes Attack: Potluck Carmel Apples

 

Everyone who cooks knows that sometimes things go wrong in the kitchen.  Sometimes, we can figure out why.  "Oh yeah, I did leave out the salt."  Sometimes, the recipe we follow is at fault (I find mistakes in lots of online recipes).  Sometimes we don't know what happened.  I always try to salvage cooking mistakes, especially ones with expensive ingredients or ingredients I don't use a lot, but sometimes you can't.

Today was a day when I'm not sure what happened, but I managed to salvage it.  I wanted to make caramel apples for a potluck tomorrow.  I've made caramel apples before, but I saw a recipe on a blog that used maple syrup and sounded delicious.  Since I've made them before, I decided to try it and I didn't plan a back up recipe.  Big mistake!   Using a new recipe for a potluck is a bad idea.

Anyway, I followed the instructions and yum, it looked delicious, but I did kind of thing it used a lot of butter.  I didn't think it would ever come together, but it eventually did.

However, even after cooling for hours, this is what my apples looked like.

 

Nothing I would ever bring to a potluck.  Yuck!  It just never got thick enough.  I even put it in the fridge and it was still sloshy.  I sliced this one and ate it.  The caramel tasted divine.  I didn't want to throw it away (plus, I don't normally keep sugar or flour around, so I didn't have anything else to make without going to to the store). 

It was like this was destined to happen.  My mom just bought me a crockpot with three bowls (for dips) last month.  I hadn't even opened it yet.  Since the caramel was a great dip, I decided to crack that baby open and put caramel in two bowls and some warm water with a squirt bottle to drizzle chocolate in the other. I filled one of my fall bowls with peanuts and I was set.

The real problem with this idea is that the apples need to be sliced and sliced apples turn brown.  I think everyone knows the trick to squirt lemon juice (yucky flavor) or lime juice (better flavor) on them to prevent them from turning.  I use citric acid.  I can and make cheese, so I always have a little citric acid on hand.  It's a powder.  If you dissolved a teaspoon in a cup of water, you can just soak the apples that liquid for a minute or two and they won't brown for a few days, give or take.  In my experience, it works better than lemon or lime juice (the citric acid is what makes those citric fruits work too).  I think because I literally dunk the entire slice in it and I never really have enough lime juice to do that. Plus, I can't taste the citric acid on the apples at all.  If you lick the actual powder, it tastes like a lemon.  The use it sour candy for the sour flavor.

Chi-Chi-Chi Chia Brownies

Delicious Chia Brownie

Chia seeds are popular today and being showcased as a superfood. It comes from a plant called Salvia hispanica and is found in southern Mexico. I first really was intrigued about it when I read Born to Run, which is about a tribe of Mexicans called the Tarahumara who run for hundreds of miles without rest or injury. It also started the craze for those silly looking five finger shoe (some people swear by them, but they do look silly). In it, one of the reasons the Tarahumara are so atheltetic is because of the iskiate they drink.

The Aztecs were said to use iskiate like drinks to sooth sore joints and stimulate saliva flow. They believed a small amount of chia seed could sustain you for 24 hours. It does fill you up, because as it gets wet it turns from something the size and consistency of course ground pepper to the something the size and consistency of bubble tea bobas. They form their gel in your stomach, which helps keep you full.

They are also nutrient packed. These seeds have more omega-3 than flax, and they have antioxidants to boot.They provide fiber, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, niacin and more. They are 23% protein by weight. They also don't go rancid like flax and don't need to be ground to be absorbed.

I made myself some iskiate after I read the book. You just put about 1 tablespoon of chia seeds (they are the exact same things you probably slathered on a chia pet at some point in time) and flavor it (the Tarahumara use lime or lemon) and let it set for about five minutes, at least. It turns into a gooey gelatinous substance. Like thick water. I used a fruit punch mix to flavor mine.

This is my tropical punch iskiate.

I have a problem with textures. I didn't like iskiate at all. I grabbed my bottle and went for a run...and ended up gagging on the stuff. Yuck. I did find some uses for chia seeds that I didn't totally hate. I made my favorite overnight oat recipe. Oats are supposed to be a bit thick, right? I added a tablespoon of chia and let it set overnight. Those were gooey in a wonderful way. I made my favorite chocolate pudding recipe and added some chia seeds. That was also gooey in a wonderful way.

Chia pudding: better eat it before it sprouts (or not, chia sprouts are good too).

You an also grind them or add them whole to salads, in cereals and even add them to baked goods. I find in baked goods, they give an extra nutty crunch, so if your baked good would taste good with a nutty flavor, add a little chia and see what happens.

I added 1/2 cup to my favorite brownie recipe and it was delicious.

Chia Brownies (From Alton Brown's brownie recipe)

• 1/2 cup chia seeds
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup of sugar (make this lighter with 1 tablespoon of sugar and 3 bananas...it works)
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 8 ounces of melted butter
• 1 and 1/4 cups of cocoa
• 1/2 cup of flour
• 2 tablespoons of vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Butter and flour your brownie pan.
3. In a mixer, beat the eggs until fluffy and light yellow. And the sugar (bananas too). Add remaining ingredients and mix.
4. Pour batter into pan. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until edges are brown.

Nutrition Facts

---

Amount Per Serving (makes 16)

Calories: 195
Total fat: 6.75 g
Protein: 3.6 g
Total carbohydrate: 39 g

• Dietary Fiber: 8.4 g
• Sugar: 30.9 g

With banana instead of sugar, it's 172 calories, 6.75 grms of fat, 31.2 grams of carbohydrate, 8.85 fiber, 21 grams sugar and 3.75 grams of protein.

Eat Like the Animals: Pachyderm Potatoes

Before I start the recipe for this post, I am going to put my two cents in about the influx of sweet potato fries to every fast food restaurant and burger joint in town. Personally, I think sweet potato fries are more tasty than regular potato fries. Regular fries don't have a lot of flavor to me. They basically taste like grease. That doesn't mean the sweet potato fry is healthier.

Many call the sweet potato a super vegetable. It is a little "healthier" than a white potato, but not much. A 100-gram baked portion of white potato has 92 calories, 21 grams of carb, 2.3 grams of fiber, 2.3 grams of protein and 17% of the RDA of vitamin C. A 100-gram baked sweet potato has 90 calories (not much less), 21 grams of carbs (the same), 3 grams of fiber (not really much more), 2 grams of protein (about the same) and 35% of the RDA of vitamin C and 380% of vitamin A. The vitamins are why it's called a super food. However, if we look at the overall makeup of both of these potatoes, both should have the same effect on our waistlines. Both actually like they could make a healthy addition to a diet, right?

Then you fry them. I think baked and boiled any potatoes are great. However, that is not what is being advertised as healthy. I call these attempts by fast food companies health-washing their products. "OMG, they have sweet potato fries. I heard on Dr. Oz that sweet potatoes were good for me, so I can eat these with my burger and be healthy." I was at a gourmet burger place the other day and I heard a woman at the next table say, "I really like regular fries better, but I want to go with the healthy choice, so I'll have the sweet potato fries."

Here's a comparison of two different Burger King small fry products that have the same serving size. Sweet potato fries: calories: 290, fat: 16 g, sodium: 530 mg, carbs: 36 g, fiber: 3 g, protein: 2 g. Regular fries: calories: 349, fat: 15 g, sodium: 480 g, carbs: 49 g, fiber: 4 g, protein: 4 g. I bolded the greater value. Looking at this, I would be hard-pressed to say which one is the healthier choice. Neither is healthy. If you're craving fries, you might as well go for real fries.

Anyway, enough with the rant. Here is my healthy kids recipe.

 Pacyderm Potatoes

(serves 4)

Elephants are the heaviest land mammal and have to eat a lot to stay healthy.  They are herbivores and spend up to 16 hours a day eating plants.  An adult elephant eats 300–600 lbs. of food a day.  That’s more than a person weighs!

Elephants at the zoo get all kinds of fun treats from watermelons (which they squish with their feet and then eat), to apples and sweet potatoes.  A lot of our animals, from primates to parrots, like sweet potatoes.  Some of the parrots like them cooked, but most of the animals eat them raw!

• Olive Oil, for tossing
•  4 sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4-wide inch strips
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• ½ teaspoon paprika

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Line a sheet tray with parchment paper or spray with non-stick spray.
3. In a large bowl toss sweet potatoes with just enough oil to coat. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika.
4. Spread sweet potatoes in single layer on prepared baking sheet, being sure not to overcrowd.
5. Bake until sweet potatoes are tender and golden brown, turning occasionally, about 20 minutes.
6. You can also try parsnip fries or carrot fries.  Some people prefer the taste of sweet potatoes, but if you don’t, try baking “real” potatoes this way too for a healthy “real” French fry.

For Grown-ups: In 2011, the average American ate 29 lbs. of French fries. Over 70% of these fries were from fast food restaurants.  Potatoes, by themselves, aren’t bad.  Sweet potatoes are a little more nutritious, but not much.   Sweet potatoes are not significantly lower in calories or higher in fiber.  The main reason French fries are bad for you is that they are deep fried.  Deep fried sweet potatoes are just as bad, and oven-baked regular potatoes are just as healthy.   Note that most processed potato products (like frozen French fries) have already been fried before you buy them.  It’s best to slice up your own!

Nutrition Facts

---

Amount Per Serving (makes 4)

Calories: 134
Total fat: 9.1 g
Protein: 1.2 g
Total carbohydrate: 12.4 g

• Dietary Fiber: 2.0 g
• Sugar: 5.1 g

Eat Like the Animals: Maned Wolf Munchies

This is another in my zoo animal series.  It's a project I did this summer that centers around teaching kids what the animals eat and encouraging healthy eating habits.  

This treat is designed for a canid.  The maned wolf is the largest canid of South America, resembling a large fox with reddish fur.   I was really surprised when one of the maned wolf keepers told me they love peanut butter. I guess it makes sense.  My greyhound loves peanut butter, and she descended from wolves (also, she loved this peanut butter covered popcorn). Kids also love peanut butter.  Adding chocolate makes it even better!

There was one little complication when I added this treat to class for kids to sample.  We all know that peanut allergies are being reported more every day and some kids are violently allergic to peanuts.  I was very careful when I made this to use new utensils and pans to make some plain popcorn for the kids with allergies.  However, I didn't think about having to segregate the peanut allergy kids away from the kids enjoying the peanut butter snack.  One father said if his son even touched peanut butter, he would react and left me with an epi pen.  I know how to use an epi pen (and so did the kid), but gees.  That's a lot of scary for a summer treat.

For the second class, even though the kids enjoyed this treat a lot, I just made regular popcorn. 

Maned Wolf Munchies

(serves 8)

The maned wolf is the largest canid in South America.  They don’t look like a normal wolf.  They look like a fox on stilts!  They like to eat all kinds of things in the wild from rabbits, birds and fish to sugarcane and fruit. 

The wolves in the zoo eat a variety of foods, but they really like peanut butter. They would love this yummy snack (without the chocolate chips). 

•  8 cups popped lightly salted popcorn
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• Melted chocolate chips (optional)

1.  Place popcorn in a large bowl. 
2.  Heat honey and peanut butter until smooth and a little runny.  Add vanilla.
3. Pour the peanut butter mixture over the popcorn and stir to coat.
4. Spread out on to a cookie sheet to cool.  Drizzle the chocolate over the top.
5. Snacks don’t have to be sweet.  If you want a savory treat, try tossing popcorn with paprika, onion powder, garlic powder and salt or curry powder and turmeric.   You can even use ranch dressing mix or taco seasoning.  For a sweet alternative, try dusting with al istle cinnamon sugar or just tossing with some vanilla.  You can even add nuts or dried fruit to your popcorn to spice it up.

Honey may be natural, but it’s still a sugar.  Use it only for a special treat!   Popcorn is loaded with healthy fiber and air popped popcorn is a great snack.  One cup of popcorn without any butter, oil or toppings is only 30 calories.  Most movie theater popcorn is popped in oil.  A small, unbuttered popcorn at the movies typically has more than 650 calories.  A large has a whopping 1,200, which is more than half the food you need for an entire day.  Microwave popcorn often has added salt, oils and butter.

Nutrition Facts

---

Amount Per Serving (makes 8)

Calories: 158
Total fat: 8.5 g
Protein: 5.1 g
Total carbohydrate: 18.1 g

• Dietary Fiber: 2.2 g
• Sugar: 8.7 g

Removing the honey makes it only 125 calories and 9 grams of carbs.  The stuff is more sticky and popcorn ball like with the honey, but taste great with less or with just peanut butter.

You Got Peanut Butter in my Protein Bar

I've been training for a marathon (aside from neglecting this blog) and I mentioned that I sometimes make my own protein bars to use when I'm running.  I really can't stand traditional protein bars or running "fuel."  Cliff bars make me gag.  Gu or sports gels make me throw up.  Besides, if you read the ingredients on these things, they are full of super fake stuff (mine are not 100% whole food, but at least a little closer).  I have a soft spot for Luna bars, but they are delicious (s'mores flavored Luna bars got me through college). 

My bars are more of a cookie, so they don't pack quite as well as traditional bars. They are solid enough to fit in a running pack, even if they do break a little.  I cut them into brownie shapes, but you can cut them more into a traditional bar shape too.

Cooking with protein powder isn't that hard.  I normally replace 1/4 of the flour a recipe calls for with  protein powder (whey works best for baking) for a first go and see what happens.  If they still work well, I replace more the next time until I find the right combination of flour and protein powder.  Protein powder tends to make baked goods denser and drier (which is perfect for on the go foods), so you might also have to adjust the liquid in your recipe too.

There is some argument on blogs that cooking with protein powder denatures the protein and makes it worthless.  Protein has to be denatured to be absorbed by our guts anyway.  Though I'm sure a little is destroyed, you're getting almost as much as you would if you ate it "raw."  Denaturation changes the way a protein folds, and it's true that the folding can have an impact on the protein's action in the body.  Take medications, for instance.  Heating insulin, a protein, can ruin it.  However, medications that are proteins (like insulin) are injected and don't go through the gut.  That's the reason we don't have an oral insulin product: our gut would denature the protein like it does all proteins we eat.  The good news is that denaturation doesn't change the amino acid components of the protein.  It's those components that your body needs to build muscle and carry out life, not the "protein" itself.

Commercial protein bars (and most of the eggs, meats and other things we eat for protein) have been cooked too, so it's a moot point.

Everything Protein Bars

(Makes about 24)

• 1/2 cup wheat flour
• 1/4-1/2 cup protein powder (whey works best) [I use 1/4 cup, but 1/2 makes a really dense cookie]
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter)
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons of canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups of rolled oats
• 1/2 cup of peanuts (you could use sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds or another nut here)
• 1/2 cup dried fruit (I used cherries)
• 1/2 cup tablespoons cup good quality dark chocolate chips

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 13 by 9 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, protein powder and baking soda.  In a large bowl, mix brown sugar, peanut butter, eggs, oil and vanilla together until blended.  Slowly add flour mixture.
3. Stir in by hand oats, peanuts, fruit and chocolate chips.
4. Spread into coated baking dish.  The "dough" is pretty stuff and doesn't pour easily.  It should be a bit stiffer than a cookie dough.  
5. Cook for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Nutrition Facts

---

Amount Per Serving (makes 24)
[nutrition will vary based on the powder you chooose, pre-protein powder values in bold, so add yours on to those values]

Calories: 200 [195]
Total fat: 11
Protein: 6.6 g  [5.0]
Total carbohydrate: 29.4 g

• Dietary Fiber: 2.8 g
• Sugar: 17.2 g

For comparison, the Cliff Bar I have here is 250 calories, 44 grams of carbs and 10 grams of protein.  My favorite Luna bar is 180 calories, 27 grams of carbs and 9 grams of protein.  These are a little bit less protein packed, but way more delicious.

Eat Like the Animals: Orangutan Bites

I've been working on a project at my local zoo for the past few months that centers around teaching kids what the animals eat and encouraging healthy eating habits.  Kids tends to imitate what their families do, but they also love animals and want to imitate them.

Most of the animals eat fresh produce everyday. I've taken animal treats and diets and created recipes around them, and added some fun facts about the animals.  A few of the recipes have been adapted from other sources.  Some are original.  It was fun to get a list of what the animals liked and think of something I could make with it.  I'll share a few of them over the next few weeks.

Great Apes eat pretty much all fruits and vegetables, so they are easy.  Like us, each one has preferences and foods they just don't like, but overall they eat everything.  This recipe is based on something I saw on Pinterest. It looked like great ape diet, and most of the apes like bananas and strawberries (some like pineapple), so I adapted it for them.  They don't eat chocolate, but kids can have chocolate.  I want to make healthy eating accessible and not make everyone feel guilty about having something delicious every now and again.

The Pinterest photo linked to this recipe on Oh She Glows.  Hers are made in cups.  The photo I saw used toothpicks.  I liked the look better, but toothpicks aren't safe for kids.  I used disposable lollipop sticks instead. 

Orangutan Bites

Orangutans are native to Indonesia and Malaysia, orangutans are currently found only in the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra. Orang means person and hutan means forest.  The spelling ending with an “g” has fallen out of favor, as the g would not be pronounced.

Most great apes are largely herbivorous.  The orangutan is the most herbivorous of all great apes.  Nearly 90% of orangutans’ diet in the wild comes from fruit. 

(Makes about 20)

• 20 – 1″ pieces from about 1/2 small pineapple
• 2 large bananas, sliced into 20 bite sized pieces
• 10 small to medium sized strawberries sliced in half
• 6 tablespoons cup good quality dark chocolate
• 2 tsp coconut oil (you can use another oil, but coconut oil is best)
• Chopped peanuts (optional)

1.  Slice fruit and assemble into stacks.  Push a Popsicle stick through the fruit and freeze until frozen.
2. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper, wax paper or a silicone mat. 
3. Melt the chocolate with the oil in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time until melted.  Stir in between 30 second intervals.
4. Remove the fruit from the freezer.  Dip the fruit in the chocolate.  Let the excess drip off for a minute.  You can sprinkle or roll in nuts and then place on the sheet to harden. Remove from the sheet.
5. These can be stored in the freezer for a couple of weeks.  Let set for about 5 minutes before serving.

For Grown-ups: A little bit of treat food (like chocolate) isn’t bad.  Fun can be healthy and still be good and fun!  Our animals get treats too!

The actual calorie counts for this recipe are as follows, but I didn't include them in the handouts.  I think it's more important for kids to focus on what they eat rather than how much they eat.  However, grown-ups like me like these treats too.

Nutrition Facts

---

Amount Per Serving (makes 20)

Calories: 41
Total fat: 1.5 g
Protein: 0.2 g
Total carbohydrate: 7.7 g

• Dietary Fiber: 0.9 g
• Sugar: 5.4 g

Exercise: How Much Is Enough?

Two of my favorite physician bloggers have both weighed in on a heavy topic and I wanted to discuss it myself.  One of the physicians who supervises Biggest Loser contestants on the shows presented some research on some of the contestants and determined that intensive exercise programs, like Biggest Loser, can actually reverse disease like diabetes, hypertension and improve other health markers.

• Dr. John M - Did you Hear Any Real World Messages from Biggest Loser Science
• Yoni Freedhoff - Biggest Loser MD, Deluded, Unethical or Clueless

This study confirms what I've come to believe from observation of many people with heart disease.  You hear those miracle stories of people who stop taking their diabetes medications because they have started running or signed on to some bootcamp program.  As Dr. M says, this study confirms that exercise CAN improve health markers.  In my personal experience, it doesn't have to be quite as intensive as "The Biggest Loser."  People can hardly find four hours a day to exercise.  If it has to be four hours a day, we're all in big trouble.

I think the problem with some people and exercise is intensity.  Dr. M hits on this.  I was watching Dr. Oz the other day and he was saying that things as simple as parking at the back of the parking lot can cure obesity.  There's also the book 10,000 Steps a Day to Your Optimal Weight, which says taking small steps, like Dr. Oz speaks of, will end in your ultimate goal weight.

My personal opinion of this low intensity exercise is that it doesn't produce results if you're already diseased, though little steps like that may be part of an overall picture that will prevent disease.  If you're diseased, it takes more.  Just the other day someone was telling me, "I've been walking on the treadmill 20 minutes a day like my cardiologist said for months.  I haven't lost any weight.  I give up."  It's hard to convince someone about the benefits of exercise when they don't see results.  When I queried this person further, I found out he walks, but not enough to really sweat.  He does a very low intensity walk because he says it's uncomfortable, not painful, to go any faster.

Sometimes I think our bodies are out to get out us.  Mine seems to love sitting on the couch and eating Doritos.  It seems happy when I do this, but my brain knows the end results.  I'm a distance runner.  Whenever I push it, I can feel it.  My body says, "Whoa, slow down.  Don't go this far."  The human body has perfected homeostasis.  It wants to stay the same.  We have to fight that.  That's why exercise is "uncomfortable." 

That being said, exercise shouldn't be painful.  If you have chest pain or pain while exercising, of course don't push it.  "No pain, no gain" is a myth.  Muscle aches after exercising are normal, but real pain tends leads to injury.  Injury leads to giving up exercise.  How do you know how hard to push?  How do you find that limit between uncomfortable and pain?  That will be different for every person and every medical condition.  Listen to your body and your physician and make the decision. 

Back to the study. Obviously, I think moderate or intense exercise is important.  Do I really think four hours a day is needed?  I've seen results from much less.  I think consistency is more important than duration.  Thirty minutes to an hour three times a week is what is recommended currently and, for most people, 30 minutes of moderate to intense activity is enough to see results in my anecdotal experience.

Let's be clear: most Biggest Losers contestants are more diseased than most of us.  We are a fat nation, but contestants on that show are outliers.  They are morbidly obese. Maybe they do need the intense intervention. Maybe there's a point where you can damage your body so much it won't ever bounce back to "normal."  I would like to see what happens to the Biggest Losers when they get back to the real world.  Do they still exercise four hours a day?  How much does it take once the weight is off? I have a feeling we'd find that it takes much less.

The rest of us?  I doubt it takes four hours.  In my experience what fits into your schedule is most important.  I've seen people lose lots of weight with intense programs (not as intense as Biggest Loser), only to put it back on when they couldn't keep up with it.  When they can't keep up, they just quit.  Would they have still put the weight back on if they'd modified their schedule? Maybe instead of a daily 2 hour bootcamp, a daily 30 minute workout?  I've found that keeping it up over time is the most important factor.

Keeping it up means always pushing your limits.  Like I said before, your body likes to stay the same. You have to keep pushing because your body adapts.  Pretty soon, you won't feel uncomfortable anymore, and we'll be in the same spot.

One Kale of a Mac and Cheese Recipe

Generally, eating dairy and kale together isn't the best idea.  As long as you get calcium in your other meals, you'll be alright.

I am surprised I haven't written about kale before.  Since I started experimenting with kale last spring, I've grown to like it.  Kale is one of the healthiest vegetables you can eat.  One cup contains only 35 calories and 5 grams of fiber.  Protein accounts for 16% of it's calories.  It also has vitamin B6, magnesium, copper, potassium, iron, manganese, vitamin A, vitamin C and vitamin K (important to remember for those on Coumadin).  Vitamin A, C and K are extremely important to health.  Plus, the high fiber content can help lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease.

Kale contains oxalates which block the absorption of calcium, so don't eat it with every meal. Generally spacing out your greens and dairy (eating them at different meals) is enough to prevent problems, but people with certain conditions should avoid oxalates all together. Some research has shown that people who have had oxalate kidney stones in the past should restrict dietary oxalate, but other studies have found dietary restriction does nothing to prevent stones.  Talk to your physician if you have kidney stones.

Kale can taste bitter, but it's not as bitter as some other greens (like mustard greens).  When it's cooked well, it's earthy and a little tangy.  When picking kale, pick bunches that are crisp, not wilted.  The more vibrant in color, the better.  Kale should be stored in the refrigerator.  My supermarket has bags of kale (near the bagged spinach) that I love. The bags are already trimmed and that makes it super easy to add a handful of kale to anything.  If you buy kale in bunches, you need to trim the greens from the stems.

Doesn't that look yummy?

Since I started to try to like kale, I've been tossing it in everything.  Today, I decided to make a healthy mac and cheese by tossing in a few cups.  The more times you can expose picky eaters to a vegetable in a non-threatening manner, the more likely they'll try it some other way later.  So, maybe people who think kale is ok in this will be more apt to try kale greens later.  I still don't like straight kale greens, but maybe someday I'll get there.

You could use whatever mac and cheese recipe you want, and just add the wilted kale after you make it.

Kale Mac and Cheese
3 cups of kale, chopped
2 cups of cheese (I used shredded cheddar, separate a handful)
1/2 pound of pasta (I used whole wheat twists)
1/4-1/2 cup of vegetable broth
1/3 cup sour cream
Salt and pepper to taste

The consistency of the blended sauce.

1. Cook pasta.
2. Wilt the kale with the vegetable broth. Basically, put them both in a saucepan until the kale wilts and gets a little tender. 
3. Drain the broth and set the kale aside.  Return the broth to the saucepan.
4. Add the shredded cheese to the saucepan and simmer on low until it's melted.  Add salt and pepper.  Remove from heat and add the sour cream.   
5. I had planned to leave the kale in big chunks.  When I tasted the sauce, the texture was not nice.  So, I added the entire sauce contents to my blender and blended it to make a smoother consistency with smaller chunks. 
6. Mix the sauce and the pasta together in a over proof dish.
7. If you like boxed mac and cheese, you can go ahead and eat it now.  I like baked mac and cheese.  For baked, just top the pasta with the reserved handful of cheese and cook it for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Even non-kale lovers told me they liked this dish.  You can taste the kale, but you can also taste the yummy mac and cheese.  This dish is really not a whole lot lower fat or calories than regular mac and cheese, but it has the benefits of the added kale. 

Nutrition Facts

---

Amount Per Serving (makes 6)

Calories: 322
Total fat: 15 g
Protein: 15 g
Total carbohydrate: 33 g

• Dietary Fiber: 5 g
• Sugar: 9 g

It's Pi Day, Pi Day, Gotta get down on Pi Day

Happy Pi Day.  I thought I'd share my dinner. I made a pizza pi.  It's a little brown for most people, but since it was just for me, and I prefer my cheese to be extra brown, I made it extra brown.  Just in case you want to see the raw deal, I took a photo of that too. 

When I was a kid, a friend of mine and I tried to memorize pi to as many digits as we could.  We would quiz each other often about it, but I think we only got to about 30 before that got old.  Today, I only know about 6 without looking (it's not fair to quiz myself today, because I looked up pi to a million digits earlier today).  

In the spirit of my youth, I always celebrate pi day in some way.  Last year I just sported my pi shirt.  I think I was too busy to cook.  This year, I made pizza pi and bought a slice of pi pie.  Yum!

I would have to eat quite few of these to make up the circumference or diameter of a circle.  The pizza is homemade, so at least it's somewhat healthy.  The pie was store bought because I only need one slice.  Having a whole pie around is just more reason for my circumference to grow!

It's Almost Time for Fresh Foods Again

I have to admit that the winter season is kind of depressing when writing about food (which is probably why I have been ignoring this blog).  I haven't given up, and spring is right around the corner.  I've taken a few photos of meals I've been making, but I've been mostly using frozen vegetables (the stuff you get at the store this time of year is pretty sorry) and greens.  It's just not as fun.


Another thing I've been doing is training for a marathon I just finished this weekend.  After my last one, I swore I'd never do another one.  I really do prefer half marathons.  This was the 10th anniversary of the local marathon, so I decided to try it again.  I actually did quite well and I felt great afterwards.

And I decided I want to do it again.  I've decided I have to do the Disney Marathon before I die, so I'm signing up to do it next year.  I plan to do the Goofy Challenge where you run the half marathon on Saturday and then the full marathon on Sunday.  A few years ago, I did all the Disney parks and some rides in 2 days.  This can't be much different, right?

There's not a whole lot written about training for the Goofy Challenge or eating for female, vegetarian athletes.  I'll quite possibly write about that.  The one thing that worries me is that all of the longer runs for this training will be during the busy, Christmas season.  The plus side? When I'm training, I can eat a whole lot more than normal. YES!

RIP Davy Jones

The Monkees were the first thing I really liked as a kid.  I remember watching them when they were on Nickelodeon in the late 80s and thinking, "That Davy Jones is awesome!"  I swore I would marry him someday.  However, my dreams would soon be shattered when the Monkees came to town and I saw that he was an old guy, and not the young boy with stars in his eyes.  I still have a vivid memory of him giving away a coat on Nickelodeon to a little girl who won the contest that I had been trying hard to win.  The coat was too big, and he said that he had a daughter her age and she liked big coats.  I thought, "Wow, he has a daughter my age?"  He was 66  (about twice my age) when he died today of a heart attack.


In the 90s when they did their reunion tours and conventions and the Internet was so new and so fun, I hooked up with a bunch of Monkees fan, my first Internet friends, and followed the band around the country.  From fancy LA stadiums to hole in the wall bars, I saw lots of shows.  I ended up doing a little on the web for them (it was my first foray into Web publishing, which became my real job for a long time after).  In those years (actually, just 2), I talked to Davy a lot.  He was a nice guy.  He could be demanding and had the personality of a true celebrity, but he was also a nice guy.  I often wondered what would have became of him if he hadn't been a "washed up child actor."  I was also often surprised at the effect he had on people.  Wasn't he from the 60s?  Why did people still care?  They did.

I just saw Davy in June of last year with the Threekees  (the loving name for the group of the three Monkees).  He was bouncing around the stage, looking as fit and trim as ever.  He was a bit worse for the 10 years of time between when I saw him last, but I quipped that he would be around forever.  It was the other two that looked the worst.  Shortly after I saw him, all further performances were canceled.  I was glad I made the trip, joking to my friends, "It'll probably be the last Threekees tour ever, unless Nez decides he wants to do a final tour then we'll have one show." 

I guess it will be.  RIP Davy.  You probably didn't remember me from the 90s, but I'll remember you.  I'm glad I made it to one more show.

Cauliflower Chili

This is the Food Network's photo.

I hate cauliflower.  When I got last month's Food Network Magazine, they had a great photo on the cover of a spicy vegetarian chili (here's the recipe).  I love chili.  You can make one pot of chili and have food for a week.  There's chili "burritos" with veggies and a low carb tortilla.  There's chili mac (totally unhealthy, but yum).  I sometimes make a chili and cornbread dish.  You can make frito pies (also unhealthy, but yum).  Top some veggie dogs or make a dipping sauce for pigs in a blanket.  There's no end to what you can do with chili.

I know cauliflower are good for me.  It's in the species Brassica oleracea which cabbage, brussels sprouts, kale, broccoli, and collard greens are also cultivers of.  How many times do we hear we need to eat more of those? Kale and broccoli are practically superstars.  It's high in fiber and it has Sulforaphane and Indole-3-carbinol which may protect against cancer.  So, I decided that covered in tons of spices, cauliflower was worth a try.  It's probably important to note that cooking, especially boiling like one would do in chili, may destroy many of the phytochemicals.

I admit, I didn't follow the recipe exactly.  I used a food processor to "shred" my cauliflower.  It wasn't as delicious as the food network photo looks.  Here's my frito chili pie.

I tried to eat it plain, but the texture was a little gritty and weird.  Maybe it would work better if you grated the cauliflower.  The chunks would likely be bigger.  My family and I ate the whole batch, but it's not something I'm in a hurry to make again.

One cup of your average chili has 287 calories, 14.1 g of fat, 30.5 grams of total carbs (11.3g of fiber and 3.0 grams of sugar) and 14.6 grams of protein.  Amy's makes a decent canned vegetarian chili with 190 calories, 6 grams of fat, 29 grams of carbs (7.9 fiber and 6.0 sugar) and 7.1 grams of protein per cup.  This chili has 182 calories, 5.7 grams of fat, 26.3 grams of carbs (9.1 grams of fiber and 5.3 grams of sugar) and 7.5 grams of protein.

So, the chili is slightly better for you than your average chili.  It gets good reviews on the Food Network site and to be fair, it tasted fine.  It just had a weird texture.  I normally make my vegetarian chili with morningstar farms "meat" or rice.  I think I'll take the extra calories and stick with that.  Morningstar Farms "meat" doesn't add much.  It's pretty healthy number wise, but I use it sparingly because I don't like to use Frankenfoods much, and I consider fake meat to be a kind of Frankenfood.  On the other hand, there are clearly Fritos on my plate, and there's no excuse for that.  Nobody's perfect.

Why Paula Deen Has Diabetes

The Lady's Brunch Burger (also known as a Luther)

I do have some healthy eating posts waiting to be written.  For now, I want to talk about Paula Deen.  She's trending on Twitter right now because she's announced she has diabetes.  I for one am shocked!  I mean she created such dishes as these:

Ham Fried Rice, Pineapple and Fried Egg

Krispy Kreme Doughnut Bread Pudding

Sausage Pancake Egg Sandwich

Twinkie Pie

Cheese Fudge (this fudge actually has Velveeta in it)

How can the woman that created Twinkie Pie have diabetes? Ok, seriously, the bigger shock to me is that people didn't think she already had diabetes.

I do believe her when she says that she doesn't eat this way everyday. She has always said on her shows that people should eat her dishes in moderation (and yes, I watch.  I point to that Krispy Kreme Bread pudding every time someone mentions Paula Deen).   Obviously, "moderation" isn't working.  That being said, I don't think the problem is that she literally shovels butter into her face 24/7 and is literally always chomping down on sugar coated pancakes topped in fried eggs.  I think the problem, as it is with most of us, is those sinister sneaky calories that we tell ourselves don't count or don't even think about.

I know it's hard for southerners, like myself, to eat healthy foods even when we try.  My mom is vegetarian and she has never eaten large portion sizes, but she still has coronary artery disease.  It's because we eat bread with every meal here.  We like our sweet tea, and we like our desserts with every meal.  We add a few extra dashes of oil here and there. Even individual portion sizes add up, especially as we age.  We loose some of our basal metabolic rate every year.  As we continue to eat the same (and often move less), those extra 200 calories a day add up (and some southern women drink way more than 200 calories of sweet tea every day).

The dirty little secret about moderation is that most of us, apparently Deen included, don't understand what moderation is.  Moderation isn't having fried chicken once a week, having dessert with just one meal or having Krispy Kreme bread pudding, well, ever.  Those once a weeks add up.  They don't add much if they are just 100 or 200 calories above what you normally eat, but I know most people's "only in moderation" meals are more like 1000 or 2000 calories above what they normally eat.  Eating out one meal a week can easily add 1000-2000 calories to your weekly calorie intake.   I've heard dietitians say just 100 extra calories a day will add 10 lbs of weight to most people in one year.  So, 1000 calories a week?  You're looking at bad news, and most of us who get diabetes won't be sponsored by Novo Nordisk.