Eating Better

Growing up, in a family that had been through the Great Depression  was  an education.  An education in frugality .   Recently,  we enjoyed a wonderful rotisserie chicken from the supermarket.  It was enough  to feed  three of us, with a little left over on the bones.  We put that away, hoping to get perhaps  a few scraps left over. But after working on it with a simple fork, I was able to pull off another  4 oz of meat.  In many homes, that might have ended up in the garbage .   Look.  Pulling meat off a chicken carcass isn't much fun, and it can even be a bit messy. But 4 oz of meat is 4 oz of meat. And that's another lunch , or even more.  The same holds true for  the Thanksgiving turkey .  Many carve  the main meal's meat off the turkey  and perhaps even keep some large chunks of meat for later in the week, as leftovers. But I'd be willing to bet that most of the turk...

Busy lives = no time. Save tons of time, with soup! All you need are these: Microwave oven Broth: I use low fat, low salt, packaged broth.  Veggies: Frozen veggie mixes are fine, or cut up some cabbage, cauliflower...or leftover veggies. Protein: Perdue Short Cuts, leftover rotisserie chicken, premade/frozen turkey or pork meatballs. Carb:  Corn, grain, pasta, rice. All can be leftovers. Place items in microwave safe container, mw, until everything is done. (Depends on your  microwave instructions, power.

Would you believe, that this is about a cup of pasta? Well, it is. With another cup of diced tomato and about a cup and a half steamed broccoli. As anyone knows, one cup of cooked pasta can seem like nothing. But add two cups of vegetables, and you now have a 3 cup feast. For full disclosure, I did embellish the meal a bit, by spraying it with a little extra virgin olive oil and sprinkling on a couple of tablespoons of grated parm. And that's it! It also works with things like rice and even mac and cheese. Adding a handful of green peas and some canned mushrooms to cooked rice can volumize it, lowering the nutrient density, while providing satisfying meal volume. Adding some green peas or chopped bell pepper to mac and cheese will accomplish the same goal. And that is, to reduce calorie density. Yes, volumizing is a kind of cheat. But it's a good cheat. We are often guided toward the way we eat, by our eyes and our perception of satiety. You know what I mean. Seeing...

You read the title correctly. For years we've been told to act our age. But we also need to eat our age. And here's why... First, a word about metabolism. As we age the metabolic SCHEME doesn't change. But the EFFICIENCY of our metabolism does change. As we age, some key enzymes and substances that allow the metabolism to function efficiently decrease. Try to think of it like a car. Newer, more recent models will function more efficiently than older, less efficient models. Two cars of vastly different age will still get you where you are going, because their engines still burn gasoline, and that internal combustion causes the pistons to move, turning the crankshaft which then turns the wheels. But an older car will not get you to your destination as efficiently. It may waste gasoline or it may break down. In much the same way my 74 year old body will still take carbohydrates and turn them into energy, but it won't do so as efficiently. What does this mean? S...

Yes, you read that right. Mussels. . .tender, plump and tasting of the ocean.  They're low in calories, provide almost no carbs, and they're easy to obtain and prepare. Although the tendency for most fish and seafood is toward wild-caught, when it comes to mussels, I prefer farm-raised. This shellfish, grown on wires or ropes will have little to no sand or grit. Wild-caught always will. It's your choice. With any bivalves, I prefer to allow them to purge themselves, for about an hour, in cool water. Very simply, take the mussels and place them in a pot that holds plenty of water and cover them to the top. I recommend that the water be changed every 15 minutes for the hour, then you can go ahead and cook them. If there is any sand or grit, it is likely to be expelled by the shellfish when taking in fresh clean water. Pour off all the water from the pot, except for about a cup. Put it on high heat and allow that water to come to the boil. Place a top on the pot, a...

Whoa! I know what you're thinking. . .set a formal table, for my morning corn flakes??  No, not FORMAL, but at least use: Utensils . Eating with fingers/hands is not mindful and is associated with greater caloric intake.  Plates/Bowls . Eating out of a box, takeout carton, ice cream container or out of plastic packaging is not conducive to mindfulness. Neither us eating popcorn out of a family bucket, in the darkness of the movie theater. Table/Chair . Eating over the sink or while standing at the counter (or with your head in the fridge) only leads to overeating, because it disconnects ingestion of food, from the concept of "meal." No need to get carried away. But eating should be EATING. Sitting at the table and using utensils and plates makes it so. 

Sometimes we just feel like having a quick lunch. But quick doesn't mean skimping on flavor, nutrition or ingredients. The photo ID used for this blog entry is of a simple lunch made from a pita loaf, hummus and fresh tomato. For complete disclosure, I also added a Sprinkle of 2% shredded mozzarella cheese. This dish came together in less than 5 minutes. I slid it into a hot fry pan Brown the pita, and it was done! This is only one of many quick lunches is possible to make. One that I made last week, was a simple sandwich on rye made with canned tuna in water and just a couple of teaspoonfuls of Buffalo mayonnaise. I've also made some great lunches with veggies only! Look. It's not hard to cook quickly. The only limit is your own imagination. Most things can be made from whatever's in the fridge or pantry.

My wife created this great expression one day, when we were filling our trash bags for collection. We had clam shells, lobster shells, shrimp shells and shells from mussels. Gourmet Garbage.   Just for now, let's drill down and think about the idea of gourmet garbage. Basically, it's trash that speaks for the food that you eat. In our case, it showed that we ate quite a bit of shellfish. What else would be in gourmet garbage? Well, how about  skins, peels and stems from fresh vegetables? How about peels and rinds from fresh fruits? Or even shells from escargot. Pizza boxes, boxes that held frozen prepared dinners, or boxes used to make mac and cheese are, in my opinion, not gourmet garbage. They also speak of a diet that's high in fat and sodium. Sometimes we don't eat shellfish. Sometimes we have bones from lamb chops or the occasional T-bone steak. Sometimes it's the frame or skeleton from fin fish. Or even the shells from pumpkin seeds or ...

One of the great culinary prizes of summer is shellfish. In all its iterations, whether bivalves or crustaceans, Seafood is King, in the summer! The easiest types of seafood to make are clams and mussels. Buy them fresh from your supermarket, and make sure you trust the people behind the seafood counter. That doesn't mean you need to have a long-standing merchant relationship with them, but if you bought seafood or shellfish from them in the past and they've done a great job, they'll be your go-to fishmongers. Bring mussels and clams home and keep them cool. Before you cook them, let them sit in several changes of cold water, for about an hour. This will encourage them to take water in and spit sand out, so you'll have a grit free meal. In a stainless steel or enamel pot, put about half an inch of water and bring it to the boil. If you have a mixture of clams and mussels as we often do, put the clams in first. Clams have thicker shells and are more reluctant...

Like several of my other blog posts, this one isn't strictly about dieting. It's not even about healthful eating. In fact, it has little or nothing to do with the topics I generally post on. It does have to do with discipline. Right now, America and the rest of the world is going through something hitherto unknown In our lifetime. A pandemic. Despite my nearly total lack of respect for politicians, most have been doing a fairly good job in flattening the curve and moving the virus away from us and getting people back to normal life. But the story that popped up on AOL News several days ago speaks to one of the reasons why Americans are now and probably will remain unhealthy, for many years. There's a total lack of discipline. This is only one example, but typifies the American attitude toward anything that requires any sort of regimentation or structure. I'm not going to say a whole lot about this, but it just makes me sick.

You know, we all see life from our own perspectives. Like most people who watch TV and observe the media, I noticed that there is a lot of attention paid to issues that women have with dieting and healthful eating. And I think that's a really good thing! But men have issues, as well. One thing is men's portions. Our culture and the society in which it exists, associates men with larger portions. Words like king-size, for example. There are any number of cuts of prime rib. The largest size and the one that's most often ordered by men is the standard cut or sometimes double thick cut. Smaller cuts are named after female icons, such as the queen cut or princess cut. Men are associated with larger portions, even with frozen dinners. I don't know if it's still available, but one of the manufacturers of frozen dinners produced a line called Hungry Man. Not hungry woman, but Hungry Man. The serving sizes of each of the items was larger. Now I don't know if ...

At the ripe old age of 74, I've certainly seen and most likely participated in any number of diets. Including fad diets. Many fad diets. Lately, there's a lot of talk about something called intuitive eating. I still don't know very much about it, but it seems to be guided by logic, rather than mere number crunching. While most fad diets rely upon some measurement or distorted measurement of some nutrient or calories, intuitive eating depends more on good, healthful choices, eaten in moderate portions, guided to a great extent by mindfulness or slow eating, as well as a measure of hunger versus fullness. This last attribute is, perhaps, the most important. Many of us of my generation were taught to clean the plate. Much of that, of course, was generated by parents who did not have reliable refrigeration open to them. Food was prepared freshly, served quickly, and anything else needed to be thrown away. Nowadays, of course, we have reliable refrigeration, as well ...

So you want to eat better! It's a terrific goal, from a health and culinary perspective! You've increased your fiber, identified lean protein, gotten more dairy, and included more fruits. But if you're like many people, you're sticking with identified Super Foods or foods that I call the poster children. The meal in the picture above, while absolutely delicious, is a poster child for healthful eating. When people think of fish these days, the first image that comes to mind is salmon. Loaded with great protein and the right fats, salmon is a natural. And its plate companion, broccoli, is another poster child for the word veggies. It's got fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, and antioxidants. So who could ask for more? From a nutritional perspective, there's probably not much of a need to ask for more. But from a daily eating perspective, sticking with the poster children which I define as identified representative items, can be boring. And I mean boring. Try...