Whole Foods for a Whole Year

Super Foods to the Rescue!

noreply@blogger.com (Maryalene) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 13:55:00 +0000

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!)

noreply@blogger.com (Maryalene) — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 22:28:00 +0000

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.....

noreply@blogger.com (Maryalene) — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:42:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Maryalene) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 22:03:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Maryalene) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 22:02:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Maryalene) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 12:57:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Maryalene) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 02:26:00 +0000

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. :-(

The Perils of Dining Out

noreply@blogger.com (Maryalene) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 01:57:00 +0000

Someone linked this article on a message board I visit:

http://men.webmd.com/features/16-secrets-restaurant-industry-doesnt-want-you-know

Feeling confident that I have been eating whole foods when we eat out has been a challenge for me. Although I have been trying to stick with salads for the most part, I am also cognizant that most, is not all, restaurant salad dressings probably don’t fit the whole foods category.

In addition, I feel very self-conscious about asking if the restaurant’s food is made from fresh, whole ingredients. I guess I am afraid of looking like one of “those” people – you know, the high maintenance, demanding type that makes the waitress want to spit in your food. And when I do ask, my questions are usually met with a blank stare. I’ve learned that the blank stare probably means ‘frozen-rama, no fresh food here.’ The places where fresh food is the norm seem to want to enthusiastically share that information with you.

I’ve long suspected that the food served at most chain sit-down restaurants is simply a dressed up version of fast food. And even before starting my whole foods regimen, I have found it very frustrating that restaurants do not provide more nutritional information. I can certainly see where it might be logistically difficult to print all the nutritional info on the menu, but in the internet era, there doesn’t seem to be any good reason why it can’t be posted online.

Several years ago, I religiously entered my food in a nutrition tracker to count calories, carbs, etc. After a visit to Famous Dave’s, I emailed them for the info on my salmon salad. The very nice response (and it was very pleasant) I received was ‘sorry, we don’t have that information available.’ Part of me wonders if the real problem is not that restaurants don’t want to share the nutritional information as much as it is that they don’t want to be bothered to calculate it.

But back to the article above - it’s really disappointing to see that Panera Bread which I always considered to be a rather whole, healthy alternative is not above using artificial coloring in some of its food. The moral of the story: it’s not safe to assume that any restaurant is on the whole foods bandwagon. We don’t have a Chipolte in our area yet, but I hear that one is in the works. I’ll be sure to pay them a visit.

Blue and Gold and Uniq

noreply@blogger.com (Maryalene) — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 22:29:00 +0000

Last night was the Blue and Gold Banquet for my son’s Cub Scout troop. We were instructed to bring a salad, beverages and a dessert. The latter would be judged in a contest to determine whose creation was decorated the best in the scouting theme.

Now I must admit that I am not horribly creative, and my past attempts at being creative usually end disappointingly. But the fact that I would undoubtedly be let down by my dessert didn’t deter me. I scoured my cooking magazines and found a recipe for a Uniq Fruit and Cream Cheese Tart in Cooking Light:

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1696581

I imagined that I could make the tart and use blueberries and Uniq Fruit to make the shape of a Boy Scout Emblem on it.

Once at the store, I was amused to see that Uniq Fruit is what used to be known as Ugli Fruit. I can only imagine that the sales for Ugli Fruit were disappointing. Now that the fruit has been deemed Uniq, they will undoubtedly be flying off the shelves.

Back home, I first made the Uniq Fruit and Lemon Marmalade that is needed for the tart. Then the graham cracker crust and, finally, the filling. Once the tart had chilled, you were to layer it with Uniq Fruit and melt some of the marmalade to brush over the fruit. This is where it all started to go wrong.

First, I realized that I made the emblem wrong. Instead of having the side flourishes arching over, I had them pointing up. I tried to fix it but the end result looked something more like a deformed anchor or arrow instead of the Boy Scout Emblem. Then I filled the misshapen symbol with the Uniq Fruit. I took a small taste of the marmalade before melting it and found it to be incredibly bitter. Not sure if I didn’t get all the white pithy part off or what. So I opted to leave off the marmalade, and my creation was complete.

If you promise not to laugh, here’s a picture:

Needless to say, I didn’t win the decorating contest.

Forgive me for I have sinned

noreply@blogger.com (Maryalene) — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:49:00 +0000

I ate a paczki on Fat Tuesday. And not one that could have conceivably been made from scratch in some quaint bakery somewhere. No, this one came out of a supermarket box flaunting an ingredient list that proudly listed artificial flavors and colors out the wazoo. So I hang my head in shame and come here to confess my error.

For the uninitiated, a paczki (pronounced poonch-key) is a traditional Fat Tuesday treat from Poland. Our region has a large Polish population so paczkis are all the rage here. They are 400-900 calorie concoctions stuffed with cream, fruit or jam. Here’s a news article where you can see them in all their fattening glory:

http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=87205

Now, the really ridiculous thing about me eating the paczki was that I didn’t even really want it. I didn’t come home, see the paczki and think ‘ooh, that looks so good! I can’t help myself; I must have it!” Nooo, it was more like “Oh, look a paczki; I suppose I should have one since it is Fat Tuesday.” And it didn’t help that my darling daughter was in the background yelling, ‘Oh go on and eat it mom! It’s Fat Tuesday!” Yes, I must hang my head in shame. I was peer pressured into eating the paczki…….by an eight year old.

I don’t think I have ever so instantly regretted eating something as I did that paczki. And to add insult to injury, it wasn’t that good either. But I guess this is a good opportunity to put that Japanese Proverb to work: “Fall down seven times, stand up eight.”

Fat Tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (Maryalene) — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 22:38:00 +0000

Well, for those of us who observe Lent, today is Fat Tuesday – the last day to pig out before we begin 40 days of self-deprivation.

I must admit that I have never been a fan of the term Fat Tuesday. Hearing it always makes me think that Fat Tuesday should be riding around with Fast Eddie and Big George in a Cadillac doin’ da Boss’s bidness. But perhaps I have just seen too many gangster movies.

Now normally, Fat Tuesday is a processed party and a high fructose feast in our house. We have pizza rolls and candy and pop and chips and usually gorge ourselves sick. Yes, very attractive I know, but it’s the sad truth. This year, we’re trying to moderate our celebration. The kids do want McDonald’s so we will probably indulge them in that. Otherwise, I bought some fair trade chocolate over the weekend and baked peanut butter cookies and sugar cookies last night.

Speaking of the cookies, my baking mojo seems to have left me. I made bread earlier in the week and forgot to add salt. Then my peanut butter cookie batter turned out very dry and crumbly last night. And to top things off, I got sidetracked adding flour to my sugar cookies and added too much. None of these were fatal mistakes, but they definitely detracted from the finished product.

As for Lent, it has been difficult to pin down just what to give up this year. Most of the items I would normally abstain from – pop, candy, fast food – have already been largely eliminated from my diet. Thinking back to the more traditional Lenten fast, individuals use to be much more rigorous than we are nowadays. The Great Lenten Fast prescribed to by the Orthodox faith seems to be the most limited with meat, fish, eggs, dairy, wine and oil all prohibited. In medieval times, prior to modern refrigeration and food preservation processes, it is hard to imagine what was left to eat other than bread and water.

After some review, I finally settled on eggs as being my main Lenten sacrifice. I eat eggs daily for breakfast so it will involve some hardship for me to eliminate them from my diet, and the fact that people have traditionally fasted from them during Lent appeals to me as well. It is my understanding that the term Shrove (or Pancake) Tuesday is derived from the practice of families making pancakes to use up all their eggs prior to the start of Lent. I made French Toast and eggs for breakfast this morning and will probably make pancakes tonight for dinner and to freeze.

While I was researching Lenten fasts, I came across the following article that may be of interest if you too are observing Lent. It appears to be written from an Anglican perspective and offers some food for thought:

http://maggidawn.typepad.com/maggidawn/2005/02/giving_it_up_ii_1.html

On the Homefront

noreply@blogger.com (Maryalene) — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 17:15:00 +0000

Cue the sappy music because I really must sing my husband’s praises for a minute.

My sweet husband and I most certainly are horses of a different color. I say tomato; he says tomatoh - well, not really, but you get what I’m saying, right? I, of course, have fantastically wonderful ideas but my husband doesn’t always quite understand where I am coming from, and he often tells me so. And well, in all fairness, maybe sometimes (just sometimes!) he can be right – such as the time I decided it would be great fun to deliver phone books as a side job.

So when I told him that I was eating nothing but whole foods for the year, I expected maybe a knowing smile and a figurative pat on the head or perhaps a roll of the eyes and a sigh. But he really didn’t say much, and I didn’t give it another thought.

However, I have found over the past month that my husband has been exceedingly supportive about my experiment. For example, we received a very nice popcorn maker from his dad for Christmas. While my husband has perfected the art of making movie theater style popcorn which consists of all kinds of flavorings not found in nature, he always asks if I want him to pop me a batch of plain popcorn first. In addition, when it was his turn to pick our Sunday dinner restaurant, he went out of his way to find an eatery that cooks from scratch with fresh ingredients.

Finally, with yesterday being the Super Bowl (great game, by the way!), my husband picked up some chips and salsa for a game snack. Of his own volition, he read the labels and brought home chips and salsa (http://www.gardenfreshsalsa.com/) that he knew I could eat. It totally warms my heart that he was thinking of me.

So that’s my great guy. :-)

And I would be remiss if I didn’t extend my condolences to the New England fans and my congrats to the New York fans. Being Detroit Lions fans, we didn’t have a horse in the race (and probably never will) but it sure was a fun game to watch.

Fundraisers = Food I Can't Eat

noreply@blogger.com (Maryalene) — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 03:20:00 +0000

I have decided that I am destined to spend the rest of the year buying school fundraiser items in which I will never be able to partake. It is apparently a requirement that all fundraiser food items must be “fake food.”

Today was pick-up day for subs from the PTO sale – pretty sure these are a no-no for me. I had some last year and they were quite good, but they are made at a commercial factory. My parents picked them up for me so once I get them, I’ll have to see if they have an ingredient list on the label. But I’m guessing that my family will be scarfing down Super Bowl subs while I am eating….well, I don’t know what I’ll be eating.

And then there are the Girl Scout cookies. When I got the order form, I thought ‘oh, please for the love of all that is good in the world, please let one of them be all-natural!’ I’d even go for the Shortbread! But alas, no. Every single stinking cookie has artificial flavors in it. Darn them all!

Finally, I picked up a Little Caesar’s order form for the choir trip to Ireland that I am (knock on wood) hoping to join. We’ve bought these pizza kits in the past, and I must admit to a tiny Crazy Bread/Cinnamon Stick obsession. But none for me this year. I don’t even have to read the label to know that. Bummer.

However, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that we did do one food fundraiser earlier this year that I think I could probably eat. A family in our parish owns an orchard and also a pie making fundraiser operation. They bring the apples and ingredients, and your organization brings the labor. It is really quite the operation. You set up one night and then make the pies the next day.

Everything is made from scratch. The crust does use shortening which might be questionable, but otherwise, the pies consist of apples, sugar and cinnamon. The crusts have shortening, flour and vinegar. Fantastic pies! Huge too! Our school does this fundraiser once a year, and it is always a big success. Wish I could find a link to the farm to share but they don’t seem to be online.

Anyways, this is just my small whine for the day. I’ll still buy the subs and the cookies for the rest of the family, and I’ll admit that I feel a bit bummed that these items are off-limits. But I won’t dwell on it too long. Instead, I just need to remember that the headaches are gone, I feel great and I’ve dropped 15 pounds since the beginning of the year. Whoohoo!

Unexpected Trans Fats - Not So Yum

noreply@blogger.com (Maryalene) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 02:39:00 +0000

Earlier this week, we had hamburgers for dinner. I had mine sans bun and with cheese and sautéed mushrooms on top. It was quite yummy. However, as we were preparing them, my husband began to sprinkle the usual McCormick’s Montreal Steak seasoning on top. He turned to me and asked if I could have some or if it didn’t meet my new rigorous eating guidelines. I said I didn’t know why not since it was just spices, but I took the container and looked at the ingredients just to be sure.

Imagine my surprise to see partially hydrogenated soybean oil listed above natural flavors and extractives of paprika on the ingredients. The small asterisks next to the oil led me to a note which said “adds an insignificant amount of trans fat.’

Now I can only imagine why oil is included in a spice rub – perhaps to keep the salt and spices from sticking or maybe just to extend the shelf life. Regardless, it would never have occurred to me that trans fats would be found in this innocuous bottle sitting on the pantry shelf.

While the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) does not require trans fat less than 0.5 grams per serving to be listed on nutrition labels, this has caused some controversy among health-conscious folks and organizations. The American Heart Association suggests limiting trans fats to no more than 1% of your daily calories, which for most people would be 2-2.5 grams a day. Since small amounts of naturally occurring trans fats can be found in meat, milk, pomegranates, cabbage and peas, there is little room left over to have the .5 grams that may be lurking undeclared in packaged food.

So although I didn’t specifically rule out partially hydrogenated oils and trans fats as part of my eating criteria, I skipped the Montreal Steak Seasoning and stuck with good old-fashioned salt and pepper for my burgers, thankyouverymuch.

Tummy Troubles

noreply@blogger.com (Maryalene) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 14:33:00 +0000

First, I must say that I am super excited to see my first comment on the blog. Yea! Hi Brooken!

Now, the sick fairy has been visiting our house for the last week or so. It’s been a bit of an odd bug. No fever, but our tummies have been queasy and our bodies ache all over. As seems to be the natural progression of illness in our family, it hit the kids first and then moves on to my husband and me. Fortunately, it seems to be a short-lived. I started to feel out of sorts on Saturday, and I am hopeful that I will be back to my old self by tomorrow. For today, I seem to be ok as long as I am sitting, but it all goes bad if I try to get up and do something.

I must say that I am the only one in the family who has not yet lost my lunch as a result of this bug (knock on wood). That may be because I haven’t had much an appetite or because I haven’t been up to actually preparing anything that might upset my stomach. There are not a whole lot of quick whole food options in our household. My diet for the last two days has consisted mainly of apples, 100% apple juice and the occasional spoon of natural peanut butter when I felt the need for something more substantial.

Last night, I thought I was feeling better and made up some Crispy Apricot Pork Chops and Steamed Potatoes with Thyme. Both were quite good, but let me tell you that I regretted it after I finished eating.

For those interested, here are the recipes, compliments of Everyday Food Magazine (http://www.everydayfoodmag.com/) :

Crispy Apricot Pork Chops

Ingredients
Serves 4
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for baking sheet
2 multigrain sandwich bread
4 bone-in pork loin chops, (about 8 ounces each, 3/4 to 1 inch thick), patted dry
Coarse salt and ground pepper
4 teaspoons apricot jam

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly brush a rimmed baking sheet with oil; set aside.
2. Tear bread into large pieces; place in food processor. Pulse until large crumbs form. Drizzle with oil; pulse once or twice, just until crumbs are moistened (you should have about 1 1/2 cups crumbs).
3. Season pork chops generously with salt and pepper; spread one side of each chop with 1 teaspoon jam. Dividing evenly, sprinkle breadcrumbs over jam, and pat them on gently.
4. Transfer pork, coated side up, to prepared baking sheet. Bake until crust is golden and pork is opaque throughout (meat should register 150 degrees.on an instant-read thermometer), 14 to 16 minutes. Serve immediately.

Steamed Potatoes with Thyme

Ingredients
Serves 4
2 pounds red new potatoes, halved if small, quartered if large
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
Coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions
1. Set a steamer basket in a large pot. Fill with enough water to come just below basket; bring to a boil. Place potatoes in basket; reduce heat to a simmer. Cover, and cook until tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Transfer potatoes to a medium bowl. Add oil and thyme; season with salt and pepper, and toss.

Low Carbing It

noreply@blogger.com (Maryalene) — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 22:04:00 +0000

My whole foods experiment has unintentionally become a type low-carb diet. It seems as though all bread products on the market contain some type of additive, filler or coloring.

I did find some Naan (http://www.fgfbrands.com/flat-breads.php) in the store the other day which was advertised as all natural. I had that for dinner and breakfast, and it was quite yummy. But I later found that the dextrin in it is a filler. Technically, it fits my criteria, but I think I’ll pass on buying it again for now.

Which really leaves me with making my own bread products at home – something I haven’t taken the time to do in the weeks past. As a result, I’ve been eating a lot of cheese, veggies, eggs and meat. Maybe not necessarily a bad thing, but my body is craving carbs. I think I’ll bake a potato for dinner tonight.

The Game Rules

noreply@blogger.com (Maryalene) — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 21:43:00 +0000

I’ve been mulling this around in my mind for almost two weeks now, and I think I’ve come up with some basic guidelines:

• No High Fructose Corn Syrup

• No Artificial Flavors

• No Food Colorings

• No Chemical Ingredients

• When in doubt about an ingredient, I’ll avoid the food until I’ve figured out what it is.

My only exception to the above guidelines will be if refusing a food might offend or hurt someone’s feelings. In those instances, I’ll limit myself to the smallest serving possible.

I’m feeling pretty good about eating at home and at work. I have veggies, cheese and nuts stocked up for snacks. I do think that I will try to find a more natural cheese option than what’s in the stores though. There is a local organic cheese house nearby that I need to investigate.

My biggest challenge will be when we go out to eat. Our family has a Sunday dinner and a movie tradition in which we each take turns choosing the restaurant and a movie from our home collection. I foresee a lot of dinner salads in my future.

What exactly is a whole food?

noreply@blogger.com (Maryalene) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 03:17:00 +0000

When I first decided that I needed to cut all the crud out of my diet, my immediate thought was ‘easy, I’ll just eat whole foods.’ I was a bit surprised to discover that there really is no hard and true definition of what a whole food is.

As of this writing, Wikipedia.org - which seems to encompass the collective wisdom of the internet - defines whole foods as “foods that are unprocessed and unrefined, or processed and of course refined as little as possible before being consumed.” Foods that are unprocessed and unrefined I get. But bread, butter and cheese don’t grow on trees and yet I think most would consider those whole foods as well. So my challenge has been to determine at one point does, say a loaf of bread, cross the line from being raw ingredients refined as little as possible to a processed food. Despite all my reading on the subject of late, I’m not sure I quite know the answer to that yet.

To me, it seems like a no-brainer that any item containing artificial flavors, sweeteners or colors are not whole foods. I also tend to think that items with ingredients I cannot pronounce likely fall outside the whole foods category. And despite 7-Up’s assertion otherwise, I have a hard time thinking of high fructose corn syrup as all-natural goodness.

Where I have trouble is the minor ingredients found in many of the items on the shelf that I would consider to be whole foods. For example, does the vegetable coloring annatto in my cheese turn it from a whole food to a processed item? What is the malt flavoring listed in the ingredients of the “all-natural” bread I purchased at the store? And what about the pyrophosphate in the can of tuna?

I am possibly splitting hairs, but I can see where it might be easier to eat nothing other than fruit (www.fruitarian.com) and eliminate the agonizing over ingredients. While I don’t see a fruit diet in my future, it has become apparent that I need to develop some type of “game rules” for myself to guide my eating decisions.

Why I do What I do

noreply@blogger.com (Maryalene) — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 22:16:00 +0000

So why am I doing this?

Well, at its most basic level, it’s because I stopped feeling good about myself late last year. I had a bad October – son in the hospital, missing cat and stressful situations at the office. All contributed to my overuse of everyone’s favorite source of comfort: food. Halloween didn’t help either.

So I drowned my sorrows in chips, ice cream and smarties. And while life straightened itself out in November, I kept right on pigging out. I had somehow hit a nice rhythm in my life that included copious amounts of junk food. McDonalds in the morning, McDonalds in the evening – ain’t we got fun!

It wasn’t until I had to retrieve my pair of “fat jeans” from the bag headed to the thrift store that I realized I had a problem. But even more than my weight, I really just felt like crap all the time. My skin, which has never been great, started looking the moon’s surface *all* the time. My hair was oily and stringy no matter what I used on it, and I lost all motivation to do anything productive.

I couldn’t help but notice that a half hour after I sat down with a bowl of smarties that my headache would come back with a vengeance. And less than an hour after a lunch of chips and pop (or soda for those of you partial to the term), I would lose all ability to focus on my work. As I paid closer attention to how my moods changed with the food I ate, I realize that even small amounts of processed foods and candy caused my “brain fog.” Simply put, when I ate crap, I felt like crap.

So here I am eating nothing but natural foods for the next year. I thought about just limiting my intake of processed foods, but I’ve tried that before without success. It’s a bit of a slippery slope for me, and I have no problem justifying a king size Hershey’s as a “small snack.”

While I am hoping the weight will come off too (and I have lost 8 pounds so far), my main concern is my health and my well-being.

The Lion's Den

noreply@blogger.com (Maryalene) — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 22:19:00 +0000

Today is my first day of work since the new year began. Today is really my first big challenge as to whether I can go a whole year without eating artificial, processed foods.

I work in an office. I sit in front of a computer all day for three days a week from 9AM to 5:30PM. Prior to spending the whole day on my hind end in the office, I spend an hour in the car on my hind end driving to work. Yes, I realize that one hour, one way commute significantly increases my carbon emissions and reduces my enviro cred, but that’s just the way it is for the time being.

Anyway, so not only do I spend more than 10 hours a day doing absolutely nothing, I also have to contend with the deadly candy dish of doom. Like so many other office settings, sitting on our rears all day just isn’t enough. We must also be stuffing our face with Hershey’s Kisses, mini-Reeses and caramel corn. It’s a rough job but someone has to do it.

For whatever reason, sitting in front of a computer doing absolutely nothing even mildly physically strenuous makes me ravenously hungry, and I normally find reasons to check the fax machine just so I can walk by the candy dish. But today, I had my steely resolve that I would not succumb to the chocolaty rich goodness. In fact, when my co-worker tried to share M&M’s with me, I shooed her away {insert my pat on the back here}.

And now that it is quitting time, I sit here proud - albeit still ravenously hungry - that I managed to survive the day. For whatever reason, fruits and cheese don’t seem to fill you up the way that only artificially sweetened candy concoctions can. But on the positive side, I did not seem to lose all brain function at 2pm which often occurs after I’ve indulged in a vending machine provided lunch of champions.

In like a lion.....

noreply@blogger.com (Maryalene) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 03:26:00 +0000

Well, this is it. The first day of my year of eating nothing but whole foods – or at least trying to eat only whole foods.

I discovered this morning that it would be easier said than done. While I am trying to change my diet, I am not doing anything radical to change meals for the rest of the family at this time. This morning I made cinnamon rolls and bacon for breakfast. I knew the cinnamon rolls were a lovely concoction of artificial flavors and ingredients, but I thought I could have some bacon with eggs. Wrong! The bacon was maple flavored and contained a handful of items that I could barely pronounce, let alone know what they were. So I skipped the bacon and had eggs and coffee.

Later, I discovered that my store bought bread was less than all natural so I made a couple loaves myself. I was rather pleased with the result.

In the evening, I visited a friend who assured me that it would be virtually impossible to eat any store bought foods without also consuming artificial ingredients or preservatives. We discussed life, love and cats over a light dinner of fruits, veggies and melba bread with cheese spread that was of questionable “naturalness."

More on my eating experiment and what prompted it will come later……