Pie!

Pie before

I can't believe it's been almost one year since I last made apple pie. I use a sweet ginger crust, which is very easy to work with (you can't overmix it - very useful for creating lattice because you can re-roll it as many times as you need).

Pie after!

Still Growing

I just popped into the backyard to toss a mushy pumpkin into the compost bin when I discovered our broccoli is still growing! Exciting - especially considering that I'm in NY and it snowed at the end of October...

This reminds me to spread the word about Winter Sun Farms winter CSA. I just joined for the second year, because I loved it so much last season - fresh frozen local produce all winter, and fresh eggs too! Check out their website to see if they are in your area.

How are you celebrating Food Day?

Monday, October 24th is the very first annual Food Day! Food Day seeks to raise awareness of issues pertaining to food and to bring people together, "to push for healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way." The holiday was founded by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (nutrition advocacy organization and publisher of the fantastic Nutrition Action Healthletter).

The 6 goals of Food Day are as follows:

1. Reduce diet-related disease by promoting safe, healthy foods

2. Support sustainable farms & limit subsidies to big agribusiness

3. Expand access to food and alleviate hunger

4. Protect the environment & animals by reforming factory farms

5. Promote health by curbing junk-food marketing to kids

6. Support fair conditions for food and farm workers

Sound good? Great! So, What can you do to celebrate Food Day? Anything pertaining to real food - it's up to you! Organize a healthy dinner with friends, teach someone a new vegetable recipe. Check out this page for more ideas.

Purslane Salad (with beets and tomatoes)

This week I decided to pick up some purslane while at the farmers' market near my office. Too bad I didn't do this a few weeks ago, before I pulled up (and threw out) a ton of purslane growing in my vegetable garden! At the time I didn't realize what it was. Purslane is a weed, you see, and well, that being the case, I'm sure it will invade my garden again soon enough.

I've also been hearing the buzz about purslane being high in alpha-linolenic acid (an omega-3 fatty acid), and while the nutrient database I use at work (NDSR 2011) says the n-3 content is no higher than that of spinach, this study says otherwise.  In either case, it's packed with other nutrients - and just plain delicious.

I made a purslane salad with beets and tomatoes, dressed with basil-infused olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. So simple...and next time I'll think twice before tossing out those weeds.

Banana Bread with a Boost

I love banana bread! This afternoon I decided to play around with a new recipe. While baking is more precise than cooking, you can still tweak recipes and end up with delicious - and healthful - baked goods.

I started looking at this recipe from the Food Network and this recipe from Allrecipes.com. I mostly followed the Food Network version, but made several substitutions to eliminate saturated fat, boost protein and add omega-3 fatty acids: 

Instead of 8 tablespoons of butter, I used 5 1/2 tablespoons of canola oil.

Instead of 2 cups all-purpose flour, I used:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup nonfat dry milk powder
• 1/2 cup ground flaxseeds

Instead of 1 cup white granulated sugar, I used 3/4 cup brown sugar (less sugar but more flavor).

I also used less than the 1 teaspoon salt called for by the recipe - probably around 1/2 tsp.

The result? Yum! - delicious, hearty, moist.

Garden 2011

This is the second year of our garden. We planted slightly less, but I think we will end up producing more edible vegetables (last year we were not able to eat much of the cabbage or broccoli due to whitefly infestation).

This year we have 6 tomato plants. The two plants to the far left and far right sides I found spontaneously growing in the main garden bed and transplanted. I'm not sure what variety of tomato they are - I guess it will be a surprise!

 In the main garden bed we have eggplant, cucumbers, bush beans (which have already started producing!), zucchini (that's the huge one in the center) and broccoli. We also planted spinach seeds, but they didn't do so well - we'll see if they come back but I'm not going to count on it.

I really wanted to plant swiss chard as well, but never got around to it.  I may start some in a large pot to have well into the fall.

Inaccurate Nutrient Calculations (and statements) are Everywhere

Lately, I've been reading several articles about the national restaurant menu labeling legislation passed in March and the abundance of professional opportunities expected to arise in the upcoming months. Specifically, I'm referring to Section 4205 of H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act, which mandates that restaurants and food vendors with more than 20 locations make calorie and nutrient information readily available to consumers. (What, you haven't read the whole bill?)

It's abundantly clear to me that menu calculations must be conducted by someone with both nutrition and culinary expertise. Let me provide an example:

Last week, I received nutrition information from a vendor to use in my calculations of a patient's food record (this vendor supplies certain types of meals to the hospital). Here's the info I was sent for one meal (fish and mixed vegetables):

350 calories 

3.5g total fat
116.20 calories from fat
5.90g total carbohydrate
31.40g total protein

What's wrong with this picture? Well, let's start with the basics: fat has 9 calories per gram, protein and carbohydrate each have 4 calories per gram. Clearly, the item above must have more than 3.5g of fat if the fat is contributing 116.2 calories (116.2/9 = 12.9 g of total fat is more likely to be the case). However, if you multiply all the macronutrients (fat, carb, protein) by their calories, I still don't end up with 350 total calories:

Goodbye Pyramid, Hello Plate

The Food Pyramid is dead, but don't mourn it - I certainly don't! Especially the most recent (indecipherable) vertically-striped version...

Today, the USDA introduced its new symbol to accompany the 2010 Dietary Guidelines: MyPlate. (wow, that makes so much sense - we eat on plates!)

I like the visual of MyPlate much better than MyPyramid. It's very similar to the visual I draw when teaching the plate method of healthy eating. Overall, MyPlate is definitely an improvement. However, I'm not sure how I feel about the dairy being stuck out there in right field - it seems too much like an afterthought.

Also, Marion Nestle points out in her recent blog post, protein is a nutrient, not a food. Today, my nutrition director, Dr. Wahida Karmally, observed that many people think they are only eating protein when consuming meat; they don't know they are eating fat and cholesterol too. Calling that section of the plate "protein" seems to reinforce this misconception - not to mention there's plenty of protein in dairy (just go for low-fat and non-fat varieties, of course!).

So, what do you think?

Interview: The Small Change Diet

My book review and interview with Keri Gans, MS, RD, CDN, author of The Small Change Diet, is featured as SuperKidsNutrition.com's Book of the Month!

I highly recommend this book to anyone struggling to make diet or lifestyle changes. The word "diet" doesn't really belong in the title. Check out the review and interview to find out why!

Happy National Nutrition Month!

March is National Nutrition Month! This year's theme is "Eat Right with Color."

There are so many delicious colors to choose from! Tonight, I made Green Pizza (ok, there's a bit of red in there too).

Ingredients:

Frozen whole wheat pizza dough
Tomato sauce (homemade)
Low-fat mozzarella cheese
Frozen chopped kale
Chopped bell peppers
Ground flax seeds (added to the crust when rolling out)
Olive oil (to mist the baking sheet)

Yum! And, no, I did not slave away on this - I got home from work at 6:45 and we were eating it by 7:30pm. However, if you remember to put the dough in the fridge to defrost during the day (unlike me), you'll be eating in 30 minutes instead of 45.

Interview: Living Skinny in Fat Genes

Check out my book review and interview with Dr. Felicia D. Stoler, author of Living Skinny in Fat Genes: The Healthy Way to Lose Weight and Feel Great - SuperKidsNutrition.com's featured Book of the Month!

Winter CSA

This year my husband and I joined the Wintersun Farms winter CSA for the New York City area. We've had 2 pickups so far, and I am truly loving it! (If you are not familiar with CSAs, this post has some info). Each month we receive frozen vegetables and eggs from Hudson Valley farms. Last week we received:

Chopped Kale (12 oz)
Raspberries (6 oz)
Crushed Tomatoes (24 oz)
Pureed Butternut Squash (16 oz) 
Broccoli Florets (12 oz)
Edamame (12 oz)
Fresh Pea Shoots
Eggs (1 dozen)

In December we received:

Green Beans (12 oz)
Blueberries (8 oz)
Crushed Tomatoes (24 oz)
Pureed Butternut Squash (16 oz)
Diced Bell Peppers (12 oz)
Corn (16 oz)
Fresh Pea Shoots
Eggs (1 dozen)

I can't wait to make butternut squash soup and more tomato sauce...already ate most of the kale. It was delicious with minimal seasoning - just a tad of salt, pepper and garlic powder. I am waiting for inspiration for how to use the raspberries and blueberries - such a treat this time of year!
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Playing video games can be good for kids...

...if they're playing the right ones, that is! For a while now, I've followed the research on video games developed to increase physical activity (ironic, isn't it?) and fruit, vegetable and water intake among adolescents.

For a full recap, you'll have to read my masters' thesis, but for now, let's focus on two of my favorites: Escape from Diab and Nanoswarm: Invasion from Inner space. The latest research on these two games will be published in the January 2011 issue of American Journal of Preventive Medicine, but you can read the abstract online: Video Game Play, Child Diet, and Physical Activity Behavior Change: A Randomized Clinical Trial by Baranowski et al.