Super Foods to the Rescue!

I’ve been reading a lot about Super Foods lately – those nutritional dynamos that are supposed to cure everything from heart disease to irregularity. The problem with Super Foods is that everyone has a different list of what constitutes “must haves” for your diet.

My interested in Super Foods was originally peaked a while back when I read an article on ABC News that listed their Super Foods recommendations. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to dig up the link or remember all their recommendations. I do know that Brazil Nuts were on the list because it prompted me to head to the local peanut shop and pick some up.

Then, as I have been slowly working my way through my overflowing magazine rack, I came across articles in Fitness and Body+Soul Magazines about their picks for foods that are Super.

Fitness Magazine tells me that grapes, pumpkins, corn, honey, mushrooms, cabbage, eggs and pistachios should all make regular appearances on my breakfast/lunch/dinner plate. I must admit that after searching for Super Foods online, this list seems somewhat unusual. For one thing, the foods seem so, well, ordinary. It seems like most of the online lists include such exotic fare as acai, goji berries, kale and tofu. By comparison, corn seems a bit ho hum. I think those of us focused on healthy eating sometimes want to re-invent the wheel, and it takes the fun out of it to think that such “boring” stables as corn and cabbage could in fact be super.

Also, I’ve often heard that corn isn’t much more than a filler so it was surprising to see it make the Fitness list. However, they back up their claim by stating that corn is full of fiber, Vitamin B, sterols and folate. So I guess I need to give those ears a little more respect.

As for Body+Soul Magazine, the cover of their March 2008 issue promises “45 Super Foods for Long Life.” Not sure exactly where the 45 foods come from since they don’t actually provide a list. However, they do provide 10 key categories of foods to achieve longevity: healthy greens, whole grains, berries, olive oil, tomatoes, nuts, red grapes, fish, tea and herbs and spices. Within each category, they provide examples which may add up to 45 foods but I’m too lazy to count right now.

The article accompanying Body+Soul’s list can be summed up as eat more plants, eat less sugar, get your omega 3’s, get fresh and eat consciously. Sounds like solid advice for us all.

What a difference a day makes...(sing along with me!)

Well, I am back from my unintended leave of absence. It is amazing how quickly you can break habits. I thought I was doing so good at updating the blog, but then I missed a couple days and then a couple days turned into a couple weeks which turned into a month and more. But here, I am – back and ready to go!

I’ve learned two things in that last month or so. The first is that my house seems to set the tone for both my eating and my state of mind. When the house is disorganized, my eating seems to get sloppy, and I lose all productivity. It gets to the point where the chaos takes over, and I become immobilized, not knowing where to start. And instead of planning my food, I end up doing everything on the fly. So sometimes I eat things I would rather not because I didn’t plan other options.

Disorganization seemed to be the theme for March. For whatever reason, I could not get my act together. With the table piled high with paperwork and baskets of laundry littering the house, I simply could not get myself going. It’s like driving in a rut and not being able to get out. Ugh!

The other thing I’ve learned is that this blog is great motivation to eat whole foods. Now, I didn’t completely blow it during March but I definitely got a bit lax about my whole food eating. No binging, but a girl scout cookie here and a couple mini eggs there. That sort of thing. When I know I am not going to get online later in the night and have to account for my eating, it’s a lot easier to justify some junk food here and there. So I am renewing my commitment to keep journaling about my food here to keep me honest with myself.

We’ve had a cold and dreary March here in Michigan. It is easy to blame the weather for my lack of motivation and poor eating habits, but that would probably be a little unfair to the weather. In reality, there are probably a number of reasons, not excluding laziness and a lack of self-discipline, which led to my dismal month.

But I must say what a difference a change in the weather makes! The sun has been shining, the windows are open, and I feel fan.tas.tic! I’ve been decluttering in anticipation of a garage sale later in the month, and it is invigorating to box up all this stuff and know it’s moving on out. Today, we cleaned up the yard, and I spent a little while sitting outside just soaking up the rays. I always note with some amusement that when it is 60 degrees in the fall, we are shivering, pulling on the sweatshirts and turning on the heat. But when it is 60 degrees in the spring, we are opening the windows and breaking out the shorts and T’s.

On the food front, today has been a pretty good day. I started it off by cooking some rolled oats to have with coffee. Lunch was leftover salmon and quinoa from dinner last night. I will admit that I had some of the boxed mac ‘n cheese and hot dogs that I made the kids for dinner. I was going to make some fancy pasta dish with the whole wheat pasta I had in the pantry, but then I decided who was I kidding – they probably wouldn’t eat it, and I wasn’t all that hungry. Alas, it was a poor choice, and the clean plate ranger in me couldn’t bear to throw out what they didn’t finish. As soon as I get off the computer, I am making us strawberry ice cream with the farm fresh milk in the fridge and berries I froze last summer.

Cheers!

And the pics.....

As much as I despise my kitchen (zero counter space among other things), I’ve always been quite happy that our house has a separate pantry area. Growing up, we didn’t have a pantry per se, and food was just stashed in the cupboards. I like that I have someplace where all our food items can be kept together and easily accessible.

The pantry is off the kitchen at the top of the stairs leading to the basement so there really is no good way to take a picture. But you get the general idea. It is definitely not a “crunchy” pantry by any means. My family still eats a lot of processed, packaged junk. But we’re working on it.

The fridge is a little sparse since the pic was taking before I went shopping. But this is the cleanest it’s been in ages, I had to take a pic for prosperity's sake.

The Pantry List

Well, I had my list nicely organized into two columns to save space but apparently Blogger doesn't like that and it won't format right. So this is just going to be one looooong list.

This is based upon my family’s current, actual eating habits. As much as I wish I could say that we eat all sorts of uber-healthy twigs and nuts type foods, we really don’t…at least not yet. This doesn’t represent what I have on hand right now, but what I should have when my pantry is well-stocked. I’m hoping to use it as a reference list when planning my shopping trips. The items with asterisks are foods that I am still working on finding a good natural/whole foods variety.


Pantry Staples

Cereal
Rice Milk
Pasta, whole wheat
Pasta Sauce*
Soup, as on sale*
Brown Rice
Peanut Butter, Natural
Popcorn
Preserves
Almonds
Walnuts
Olives
Oats
--Rolled
--Steel Cut
Tuna


Baking Supplies

Flour
--All-Purpose
--Whole Wheat
Baking Powder
Baking Soda
Vanilla Extract
Baking Cocoa
Yeast
Cornstarch


Spices and Seasonings

Basil
Cinnamon
Cumin
Ginger
Nutmeg
Oregano
Paprika
Parsley
Pepper
--Ground
--Peppercorn
Rosemary
Salt
--Iodized
--Kosher
Thyme
Bay Leaves
Sage
Taco Seasoning*
Chili Seasoning*


Fruits and Veggies

Apples
Grapes
Bananas
Garlic
Onions
Potatoes
--White
--Sweet
Carrots
Celery
Canned, as on sale
Frozen, as on sale


Condiments

Pickles
BBQ Sauce*
Ketchup*
Mayonnaise*
Mustard*
--Yellow
--Dijon
Soy Sauce
Worcestershire Sauce
Vinegar
--Balsamic
--Red Wine
--White Distilled
Lemon Juice
Salad Dressing*


Freezer

Whole Chicken
Chicken Breasts
Chicken Parts
Ground Beef
Beef Roast
Pork Roast
Pork Chops
Kielbasa
Fish
Chicken Broth
Breakfast Sausage, ground*
Bacon*
Sandwich Meat*(in fridge)


Dairy

Butter
Cheese
Cream Cheese*
Eggs
Milk
Heavy Cream
Sour Cream


Breads

Whole Grain Bread*
English Muffins*
Flour Tortillas*
Pretzels
Crackers*
Bagels*


Beverages

Coffee
Tea
Red Wine
White Wine

Oils and Sweeteners

Oil
--Extra Virgin Olive
--Vegetable
--Peanut
Honey
Molasses
Maple Syrup
Sugar
--Granulated
--Brown
--Confectioners'

A Visit to the Pantry

On Saturday, I gutted my pantry and refrigerator.

For a variety of reasons, I haven’t been on a “real” shopping trip in about a month. Fortunately, we have a well stocked freezer and pantry so that hasn’t been much of an issue. However, when I took out some pork chops for dinner on Saturday and realized that we were down to two chickens, a small turkey, two pounds of ground pork and a pound of ground beef, I decided that it was time to start thinking about shopping.

I started through the pantry to figure out what we needed and decided the whole thing was a disaster. I rearranged the shelves and chucked some stuff so old that I couldn’t even begin to guess when I bought it. It always kills me to do that too – so many missed cooking opportunities - all because I’m not organized enough to know what I have on hand.

Things were particularly brutal in the refrigerator. I probably pulled out about 12 jars that were past prime. I emptied out the food and washed out the jars for recycling (please wait while I pat myself on the back). Then I pulled apart the fridge shelves and washed them. I won’t tell you how long it’s been since that’s been done. Found some really, *really* disgusting gunk under the produce bins. I mean **really** disgusting. Bleh!

But it all looked so pretty that I had to take pics. I’ll put them up later when I have my camera handy.

After all that work (and it did take hours), I never made it to the store. Now, three days later, I still haven’t been shopping but I did decide that I should make up a pantry list. I’ve always wanted to do one, but it’s seems like such a daunting task. However, with a little help from my friend Google, I was able to find a lot of other people’s pantry lists and used them for inspiration.

And voila, my pantry list is done! But I'll have to post it later since Blogger doesn't like how I formatted it in Word. Darn technology!

The Morning After

It’s all good this morning. I didn’t wake up with a sugar hangover although my tummy is a little unsettled. But my mind is clear, and I’m sitting down with a cup of tea to start the day.

I did pause for a moment when I put the leftover Russell Stover candies up, and there was a momentary wish that I could have one of the Hot Fudge Sundae Pop-Tarts my aunt brought over yesterday. But that moment has passed, and I think I am back on track.

Speaking of the Pop-Tarts, it always amazes me that they can be passed off as breakfast food. I guess they are good for breakfast if you are into having a sugar rush at 7am. Out of the seven main ingredients, five are sugar products: sugar, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose and corn syrup solids.

The really scary stuff is when you get to the “contains two percent or less” list. I realize that these ingredients don’t make up the bulk of the tarts, but there are a whole lot of two percent or less ingredients on the label. Some of these things I don’t think I want in my body in any percent. There are no less than nine artificial colors listed on the label. Add to that mono-and diglycerides, sodium stearoyl, lactylate, datem, carnauba wax (sounds like something you’d put on your car), and pyridoxine hydrochloride. And that’s only about half the list.

So I guess you might be wondering why I even have Pop-Tarts in my house. Well, my wonderful aunt, of her own volition, brings them when she comes to watch the kids after school, along with bread, rice milk and other food she thinks we might need. She is very generous and has been such a blessing to our family. However, she doesn’t always bring foods that I would buy and despite conversations, hints and requests, she continues to bring these items. In the spirit of family peace, I no longer try to change my aunt’s buying habits. So I keep the Pop-Tarts and have regulated them to a weekend treat for the kids.

Whole Foods and Holidays

Oh my. Things have been a bit rough here today.

I was feeling pretty good – maybe even a little smug – that I haven’t been tempted by any artificial foods yet this year. I expected some small cravings, perhaps a few longing stares at the Pop-Tarts in the pantry that were provided by well-meaning relatives. But no - none of that. Nada. Nothing. Zilch.

Ah, but then a holiday arrives. Quite the humbling experience. My first trouble started earlier this week when I was in the gas station and noticed that Cadbury Eggs were on sale for 2/$1. Not only that, but you got 200 Speedy bonus points! 200! Yes, the Cadbury Eggs make my teeth hurt, but I do so love them. And Mini Eggs! Mmmm, mmm, mmm. I started to feel a little sorry for myself thinking that this will be an Easter without Mini Eggs and Cadbury Eggs.

But that was the least of my problems. Today, I arrived at work to find that my boss left us each a small bag of chocolates – a piece of Ghirardelli peppermint bark that proudly proclaimed its artificial flavors on the front, Hershey’ Kisses (regular and dark), an Almond Joy and a Snickers. I was downright salivating at the prospect of eating that chocolate. No joke! It was pretty sad and pathetic.

I spent hours (well maybe not hours, but longer than I should have) scouring the internet for the ingredients in the chocolates. Did you know that the ingredient list for Hershey’s Dark Kisses is to be found nowhere online? After some back and forth deliberation, I had convinced myself that the dark kisses were probably all right, and I, er, ate them. I did put the rest of the candy in our office’s community bowl.

So I was feeling pretty good about myself. I had managed to overcome some massive temptation with only a minor deviation (in my mind) from my eating plan. Oh, if only that were the end of the day! But it wasn’t…….

At lunch, I went to the salad bar shop and got myself a salad like a good whole foods adherent. I picked a vinaigrette that I deemed probably had the least possibility of harboring any undesirable ingredients. Then I swung by the local peanut shop to buy my husband some cajun nut mix as a Valentine’s Day treat. While there I picked up some candies for the kids and decided that I should treat myself too.

I picked out some wasabi covered peanuts and some cinnamon roasted almonds. Ok, they were actually cinnamon candied almonds. The peanut shop roasts their own nuts so I deluded myself into thinking that these would be a-ok. Well, after eating them, I decided that was a mistake. The fuzzy headed feeling that was my constant companion last December returned.

So after dinner, I hand out the Cajun mix and candies to my family, and my sweet 5 year old offers me one of his candies. Of course, I can’t say no. Of course! And then my dear aunt left us a Russell Stover’s box of chocolates, and we all had to - *had to* - try a piece.

Now the kids are in bed, and I really feel like crap. But I figure the day is already shot. So what better way to end the evening than to have the last of the sugar-laced grocery store cupcakes that my parents brought over. Yes, it was a bad ending for a day of bad eating.

So there you have it folks! This is why my experiment has to be an all or nothing thing for me. Otherwise, those two Hershey’s Dark Kisses turn into candied almonds which turn into chocolates which turn into sugary sweet cupcakes. The real bummer about the whole thing is that the cupcake probably broke my Lenten fast from eggs. I keep trying to tell myself that St. Valentine’s Day is a big enough feast to eat off-plan, but I know I’m just deluding myself again.

Seem to be pretty good at that today. :-(