How Fat is your Fat Tuesday?

Photo from https://www.facebook.com/buschs

Somehow, I spent 18 years in Michigan, home to a large Polish population, and never consumed a single Pączki.  Now that I live in Brooklyn, which also has a sizable Polish community, I still haven’t tried them.  I keep forgetting to travel to Williamsburg to seek them out because Mardi Gras always sneaks up on me.  Have you had your Pączki yet today?   Pączki, for the uninitiated like me, are essentially donuts filled with fruit or sweet cheese.  They are eaten in Eastern Europe and places with lots of eastern Europeans to celebrate Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras before the austerity of Lent begins.  An article on Huffington Post reports that paczki were created to clear out all of the “bad” foods from pantries like lard and sugar before Lent.  This article also reports that one can now find lower-calorie versions, gluten-free paczki, and a baked-not-fried version:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/11/paczki-day-2013-polish-doughnut-diet_n_2662549.html 

Frankly, the low-fat and low-calorie paczki sound ridiculous and defeat the entire purpose.  Pączki are meant to be eaten once a year, and indulging in some greasy sugar bombs before Lent won’t make your cholesterol, blood sugar, or weight shoot up overnight.  Of course, it’s wise to know exactly how much you’re going to indulge.  Nutrition information for pączki varies greatly from brand to brand.  Calorie counts range from 320 to more than 500 per donut, fat from 9 to 38 grams, and anywhere from 25 to 75 grams of carbohydrates.  I wouldn’t recommend having more than one, but enjoy each and every sticky bite!

 

Meatless Mondays: Potatoes

4 different kinds of potatoes from the farmers' market

Do you remember the Atkins days when potatoes were beyond passé?  “Too starchy!”  “Carb bombs!”  Poor, maligned potatoes.  Like everything, potatoes can be very good for you in moderation.  Did you know that potatoes have a moderate amount of protein and vitamin C?  Spanish colonizers noticed that the soldiers who ate potatoes were less likely to develop scurvy than those who didn’t because of the vitamin C in the potatoes.  It is also a decent source of folic acid and very high in potassium.  With the skin, a medium potato (about 6 ounces) has 4 grams of fiber.  Potatoes are virtually sodium- and fat-free and will only set you back 168 calories.  Waxy potatoes have a little bit less starch and calories, but are still rich in potassium and fiber.  Compare that to 2 slices of ciabatta, which has 260 calories, a lot of salt, and hardly any fiber or one cup of cooked white rice, which has 205 calories and negligible fiber. 

Did you know that potatoes are in the same botanical family as tomatoes and eggplants?  The nightshade family is so named because these plants can produce neurotoxins.  Potatoes’ neurotoxin is called solanine, which is made in the green parts of the plant and any green spots on the potato itself.  Light exposure hastens solanine production, which is why most guides tell you to store your potatoes in a cool, dark place.  All potatoes make solanine, but the government regulates how much is allowed to be present in potatoes for sale.  In order to feel any effects of the solanine, you’d have to eat 3 pounds of potatoes or 2.4 pounds of the skins.  A child would feel the solanine by eating 1.5 pounds of potatoes of 1.4 pounds of the skins.[1]  Just to be on the safe side, throw away sprouted potatoes or ones that are all green. 

Have you looked at the varieties of potatoes out there to buy?  Potatoes originate in South America, where they have been cultivated since at least 500 B.C.  Check out this website for more history of the potato:  http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/PotatoHistory.htm  Or read this Smithsonian article about the role of the potato in creating today’s civilization:  http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/How-the-Potato-Changed-the-World.html.  Or look at the National Geographic photo feature of some of the more unusual potatoes one can buy in South America:  http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/07/food-ark/potato-variety#/1.  My favorite is “Makes the Daughter-in-Law Cry.”  In New York, Cornell University certifies 70 different kinds of potatoes.  At my farmers’ market, I’ve seen about 20 of them. 

We usually roast potatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper, and maybe some rosemary, so our preferred potatoes are the waxy type.  If I were to mash potatoes, I would select Russets or Idahos.  The picture above is of Adirondack Blues, Carolas, Red Sunsets, and another pink one whose name I’ve forgotten.  I’ve also liked German Butterballs and La Rattes.  Every once in a blue moon, I’ll make mashed potatoes with regular red potatoes, boiling them with their skins and with a clove or two of garlic.  I like my mashed potatoes pretty rustic, with lots of butter and salt.  Even though I'm from Michigan, I'm not much of a potato salad person.  However, I've been told that waxy or medium-waxy is the way to go for a non-mushy potato salad.  Tomorrow, I’m making curried red lentils with potato and chicken in my slow cooker using starchy russets. I'll let you know how it turns out and if my kids will deign to consume it. How do you use potatoes?  What’s your favorite kind?  Have you found a way to tell whether a potato is starchy or waxy just by looking at it in the store?

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[1] Rinzler, Carol Ann.  The New Complete Book of Food:  A Nutritional, Medical, and Culinary Guide., 2 ed.  New York, NY:  Checkmark Books; 2009.

Scooped by the New York Times

I was researching and preparing a post about gluten sensitivity and celiac disease, but today's New York Times has a great article that says just about everything I was going to say.  Check it out at http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/gluten-free-whether-you-need-it-or-not/?hpw. 

At the last two big dietitian conferences I've been to, there have been hundreds of companies marketing gluten-free this and gluten-free that.  Celiac disease diagnoses are on the rise, and everyone knows someone who is gluten-free either because of celiac or autism spectrum disorder or any number of other reasons.  Knowing people who have true wheat and gluten allergies, this proliferation of gluten-free products definitely makes their lives easier, but it's not necessary for everyone.  I appreciate that the journalist makes clear that a gluten-free diet is not necessarily healthier, especially if you don't have a gluten-sensitivity or celiac disease.  The journalist also highlights research that makes a pretty compelling case for a true gluten sensitivity.  It isn't all in my head. 

As for my own gluten-free experiment, I confess to having half of a grilled cheese sandwich on Saturday (and a small glass of wine -- oops!), so it's only been 3 days of "clean" living for me so far.  I haven't noticed any changes yet.  February is a pretty hard month to give up wheat and alcohol.  I was probably the only person in American not drinking beer while watching Beyonce and that little football game on Sunday.  Then there are the Oscars drinking games.  Valentines Day.  Holiday weekend away with friends.  You get the idea.  I haven't figured out what to do about my youngest daughter's birthday, which is at the end of the  month, either.  She'll want a cake of course. I've made wheat-free cookies, but I don't feel ready to tackle a wheat-free birthday cake.  She's old enough now to be more discriminating in her treats, so she'll not be happy with a substandard substitute.

What do you think about the gluten-free movement?  Is it a trend?  Or is it another example of activists being ahead of science?  Any good gluten-free birthday cake recipes to share?

Meatless Mondays: oranges

Have you gotten tired of oranges yet?  This time of year, it seems like the only fresh fruit available in the dead of winter that doesn't cost as much as a year's college tuition are mealy apples, hard pears, and citrus.  When I first moved to New York, I was obsessed with clementines, which are a sweet, seedless, easy-to-peel cousin of the tangerine.  I probably would have fallen hard for them even if they weren't introduced to me by my boss at the time, a woman I idolized and at whose swank Chelsea (the neighborhood in Manhattan, not the town where I grew up) apartment I was thrilled to finally see.  Fifteen years ago, these five-pound boxes of sunshine were an absurdly priced $10 per box, but I bought them even when I couldn't really afford them because they were just. that. good.  They seem to be more widely available these days, and they come from all over the world now.  Back in the day, the best clementines were from Spain.  I've seen them lately from California and Morocco, but I think the Spanish ones are the most reliably sweet. 

My current citrus obsession is blood oranges.  I first had these when I was an exchange student in France, and I couldn't believe that a citrus fruit could be so gorgeous and have such a complex flavor.  Unlike the naval oranges I grew up with, blood oranges aren't pure sugar; they can be just a little bit bitter.  The peel is sometimes bruised with burgundy, sometimes it's all orange.  The flesh looks like the Vermilion Cliffs in northern Arizona:  orange, pink, wine, and, of course, blood red variations make everything else seem dull by comparison.  Blood orange juice makes the prettiest cocktails because the juice is more rose-colored than orange. 

Most people think of oranges as being a great source of vitamin C, but it's also rich in folate and potassium.  Vitamin C supports your immune system and helps to build collagen, which supports your skin.  Folic acid is essential for proper cell division and growth, and potassium can help to regulate blood pressure.  Oranges are also high in soluble fiber, which can help lower cholesterol and fills up your belly to keep you full for longer.  As with most fruits, it's better to eat the whole fruit than to drink the juice if you're watching your weight or your blood sugar.  One eight-ounce glass of juice can be equivalent to 3-6 whole oranges.  A medium-sized orange has 62 calories plus 3 grams of fiber compared to a cup of orange juice, which has 110 calories and no fiber. 

My favorite way to eat oranges is just peeled and popped into the mouth, but I sometimes get fancy and slice them up into salads.  My husband is anti-fruit in savory dishes, so I haven't explored other ways of eating them.  Cooking will destroy the vitamin C, but there are some classic recipes that call for cooked oranges.  I'm thinking crepes suzette, duck a l'orange, etc.  I've also had some cooked citrus in Asian food.  How do you eat oranges?  Or are you ready to never see another orange again and dying for the first strawberries of spring?

No Fun February

Welcome to Free February!  Because it is the shortest day of the month and so many people have slowly relinquished their New Years resolutions by now, February seems like a good time to buckle down and focus on reinforcing healthy habits.  For probably the first time, my brother-in-law has inspired me.  Every February, he eschews alcohol, meat, and other vices, in order to correct the excesses of the holiday season.  I don't feel like I really have any excesses to compensate for, but I do like the idea of challenging myself for a discrete time period.  A blog I used to read did something similar, calling the experience "No Fun February."  I'd like to think of these forthcoming 28 days as something other than "no fun."  That's hardly inspiring or optimistic, and I'm framing this experiment as a challenge feel better, lighter, and maybe even richer.

Because we all know that making your intentions public is a great way to ensure accountability, I hereby endeavor to free myself from a reliance on the following for the next 28 days:

• alcohol
• white bread, pasta, and crackers
• Amazon

OK, so Amazon isn't really a bad food habit, but it's kind of scary how easy it is to one-click your way to a big credit card bill while justifying it as "education" or "research." As to the other "free-froms," I'm thinking of February as being a mini cleanse and coining my own term:  Free February. 

There is a place in a balanced diet for wine, beer, and cocktails, but I'm finally realizing that I just don't need the extra calories.  I'm going to try to follow my own advice to my patients to eat my calories rather than drink them.  A five-ounce glass of wine has 125 calories, but I think my glass holds more than 5 ounces.  ;-) A four-ounce cocktail, such as a cosmo, has 213 calories.  My unwinding-after-work drink of choice, a manhattan, is a little bit better at 130 calories, but it's usually followed by a glass of wine or beer with dinner.  This after-work or dinner drink has become a part of my daily dinner/evening routine.  It probably isn't all that good for me, so I want to see if I can do without it and feel better.

My favorite cocktail, the Manhattan.  I'll miss you!

Bread, pasta, and crackers are not in and of themselves bad for you, but my family has been eating a lot of cheese with that bread, pasta, and crackers.   These simple starches are great sources of energy to fuel my long runs, but they offer little else nutritionally besides calories.

I also suspect that I might have a bit of a gluten intolerance.  Please don't think that I'm jumping on the gluten-free bandwagon, but I want to do an experiment whereby I eliminate gluten as much as possible from my diet to see if it makes my tummy feel better.  As any student of the scientific method knows, one cannot manipulate more than one variable if one wants to determine an effect.  That's why I'm only going gluten-free and not also dairy- or casein-free, meat-free, or--horrors!--caffeine-free this moth, too.

A pediatrician I used to work with believes that it takes four months to clear the gluten antibodies from the body.  Celiac disease support group sites report instant relief to 3-4 weeks to feel better.  I'm going to try for the four weeks of February to see if it changes anything.  Do you know how prevalent gluten is?  I'll devote an entire post to the challenges of gluten-free eating later.      

I've recruited at least one friend to join me in freeing ourselves from greediness.  We run together, so we'll be able to check in and commiserate over the lack of wine in our lives for a measly month.  Earlier this week, as we enjoyed bread, triple cream cheese, and a bottle of wine, then rehashed the horror that was our half marathon last Sunday, she told me she was actually looking forward to Free February.  Do you want to join us in Free February?  What do you think you could do without for four weeks?

Getting ahead

Are you a meal planner?  Do you make a grocery list on the weekend and coolly and calmly get dinner on the table each night?  I wish.  Every few months, I start out with the best of intentions, poring over my cookbooks and bookmarked web pages, listing everything that I want to make, eliminating the things that my husband and kids probably won't touch, then making a week's menu.  Even with the menu and grocery list, I rarely feel less stressed out about mealtime, and often, I don't follow the plan.

This weekend, I tried a different strategy.  Rather than make a menu and grocery list, I thought of some key ingredients that take a lot of prep time or benefit from pre-cooking.  With a few shortcuts in the refrigerator, I hope to have a better cache of ingredients with which to pull together quick meals or to add to recipes I've bookmarked for "sometime."  I washed and dried a few bags of greens.  I made a batch of dal.  I roasted one huge butternut squash and froze chunks of another.  I made a mushroom stroganoff and boiled noodles for vegetarian lunches this week.

The butternut squash might turn into coconut curry pumpkin soup (http://www.loveandlemons.com/2012/11/19/coconut-curry-pumpkin-soup/) or get tossed with fusilli and goat cheese.  The pre-washed chard might be added to smoothies or sauteed for a vegetable side at dinner.  I may add some leftover short ribs to the dal to make it more appealing to the kids and husband or keep it vegetarian and serve it with brown rice.  It did feel like I spent hours in the kitchen this weekend, but I was able to talk to my family while washing greens, show my middle daughter how to peel a humongous squash safely, and enjoy my time over the stove instead of feeling resentful about another chore to get through after a long day at my paying job.  Just knowing that so much of the grunt work was done while I was relaxed and spending semi-quality time with my family will almost motivate me to try it again.  Maybe even before Spring.

What do you do keep ahead of the "What's for dinner?" conundrum?  Do you subscribe to a meal planning service like the Six O'Clock Scramble?  Do you the Dinner A Love Story food diary method?  Or is more ad hoc at your house, like it usually is at mine?  

Meatless Mondays: Mushrooms

Better late than never.....

I'm really trying to resist calling them "magical," but mushrooms really are a nutrient powerhouse.  These fungi are low calorie, low fat, low salt, yet high in fiber.  Mushrooms have even more potassium than bananas and are rich in copper, selenium, riboflavin, and niacin.  Mushrooms are purported to be vegetarian sources of vitamin B12, usually found only in animal-based foods, and vitamin D, which is found naturally in very few foods.  The USDA nutrient database indicates that mushrooms don't contain the active form of B12, and contain only inactive vitamin D.  Some of these inactive vitamin forms might convert to active forms, but vegetarians shouldn't rely on mushrooms to meet these nutrient needs.

Do you wash your mushrooms or do you wipe them clean?  The fear has always been that mushrooms will absorb washing water, which will alter how they cook and dilute their flavor.  I've always been firmly in the washing camp.  Alton Brown, of Good Eats fame, did an episode in which he compared the weight of washed and wiped mushrooms.  There was no weight difference between the two batches, yet the washed mushrooms looked cleaner.  I feel validated.  

Cooking mushrooms in water will leach out the riboflavin and niacin, water-soluble B vitamins.  To retain the nutrients, either incorporate the cooking liquid into your meal or eat them raw. 

Most recently, I took advantage of mushrooms' high levels of glutamic acid (the natural form of MSG) to bring umami to Smitten Kitchen's mushroom bourguignon.  Are you a Smitten Kitchen http://smittenkitchen.com/ fan?  Her blog and cookbook are beautifully photographed examples of what a curious and adventurous home cook can create.  Deb Perelman, the author, used to be vegetarian, so she always includes rich, complex vegetarian mains and side dishes.  The two pounds of portobello mushrooms quickly cooked down to a luscious, rich meal that even my steak-loving husband enjoyed.

The only change I made to her recipe was to add some swiss chard at the end of the cooking period to beef up the nutrition.  (Sorry, I can never resist a good pun.)  Those are the sort of sad green bits in the picture above, which added vitamin K, vitamin C, and even more fiber to the dish. 

In the summer, I know it's cliched, but I enjoy grilled mushrooms, both the enormous portobellos and the smaller button or criminis on a shish kebab.  Although I'm not as much of a fan of raw mushrooms, a spinach salad just seems incomplete without them.  How do you use mushrooms?  Are you a washer or a wiper?