Posts from — April 2009

Breast cancer is a very real and frightening experience for many many people.  Tonight is the first annual “My Girl’s Gala Fashion Fundraiser for Breast Cancer Research”.  This fantastic event is co-sponsored by My Girl’s Radiation Cream by radiantLIFE, CVS Caremark/CarePlus and Masona Grill and is hosted by Shreve, Crump & Lowe in Boston.  All proceeds go to the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center for breast cancer research.

Good nutrition is critical in the fight against cancer.  For this reason, Indigo Rabbit has been invited to support the effort by presenting an estimated 500 guests with delicious and healthful Indigo Rabbit cookies, all-natural, chock-full of phytonutrients, and free from High Fructose Corn Syrup and hydrogenated oils.  Visit radiationcream.com/events.html to learn more.

A good guide for the astute label reader is this – the Calories from Fat should be less than 1/3 the total number of Calories per serving.  That means that if an item has 100 Calories per serving, there should be 30 or fewer Calories from Fat per serving.

Now, beneath the Total Fat line, the label will further detail the number of grams of Saturated Fats, Unsaturated Fats, and Trans Fats. 

Saturated Fats come from high fat animal products, such as cheese, whole milk, butter, fatty meats, lard etc.  Avoid Saturated Fats as these can lead to high blood cholesterol and heart disease.

Unsaturated (mono- and poly-) Fats are found in vegetable oils, olives, most nuts, avocados, and fatty fish.  These fats are good for your body in moderation as they are necessary for gland health, brain cell function and digestion.

Trans Fats are found in Hydrogenated Oils, and you know how I feel about those – see entry dated 04/03/09.

On every nutrition panel, the first line item highlights Serving Size. 

Be honest with yourself here.  My cereal bowl in the morning certainly contains more than 1 measured cup full of cereal.  I need to recognize that all data reported in the nutrition panel on the side of my cereal box reflects analysis based on 1 cup (considerably LESS than what I’ve served myself). 

Another example – I read the nutrition label on a packaged frozen chicken pot pie at the grocery store recently.  When I looked closely, I noticed that it stated a serving size as 1/2 of the pie, i.e. that tiny box was meant to contain TWO servings.

Who buys a small chicken pot pie and doesn’t eat the whole thing?

It’s important to pay close attention to this very first item on the Nutrition Facts panel, because all further information is linked to the specific amount of food listed.

I do not want to personally prepare 3 meals a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks each year.  I don’t know anyone who does.  If you or someone at home has a food allergy, there are ways to stay safe when another person is at the stove.

1. Many restaurants now have nutrition information on their websites.  If this is not the case with your favorite place, ask the manager (off peak hours) to share this information with you.

2. Speaking of “off peak hours”, you’ll have better success communicating your specific needs when your waiter isn’t being pulled in ten different directions at once.  Enjoy your restaurant visit during less busy times.

3. Make sure you communicate your specific dietary requirements very clearly.  If you’re not confident that you’re being understood, respectively ask to speak with the manager to ensure that you are.

4. Depending on the allergy sensitivity, you may need to investigate any cross-contamination possibilites that might exist in the kitchen.  Does the chef use the same pans/grills, etc. to prepare all foods?  For fried foods, is the same oil used to cook all menu items?  OR, you could just avoid fried foods!

5. It’s typically acceptable to bring along special snacks or alternative items if you’re uncertain in a new place.

6. Trust your gut.  Always ask for further clarification or replacements if something doesn’t seem right.

Adding pureed vegetables to your regular dishes is a terrific way to boost the nutritional impact of your favorite foods.  Steam your veggies and put them in a food processor or blender and you’re ready to go.

Add whatever veggies you like to soups, pasta sauce, meatloaf, meatballs, even pizza sauce.  Get creative, and once the kiddos realize how they can get those veggies in their bellies and not even taste them, they might even help with the pureeing.

A key note here.  This approach is not meant to “train” little ones to eat their vegetables only under conditions where they can’t detect them.  This is simply a fun and easy way to introduce the notion that veggies are a wonderful part of the eating experience and can be incorporated into the foods we love in imaginative ways.  It’s a spring board for those kiddos in our lives who are less than enthused about the world of carrots, zucchini, sweet potatoes, broccoli, spinach, etc.

If you or someone you care about (and buy food for) has a food allergy, it is critical that you become a skillful label reader.  Here are a few tips that can be very useful on your next shopping trip.

1. No matter how many times you’ve purchased a particular food item, always review the ingredient listing as sometimes manufacturers modify formulations.

2. Make sure you carefully read that ingredient listing, especially any body faced items or items listed in parentheses.  Allergens can hide there.

3. All food items manufactured after January 1, 2006 (domestic or imported packaged food regulated by the FDA) are required to state information pertaining to the top eight food allergens in the product (milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy and wheat).  If you suspect a food item is older than that, use caution.

4. Some allergens may not be labeled.  Currently, food producers are not required by law to include information regarding cross-contamination risks.  Indigo Rabbit voluntarily posts such warnings on all cookie packaging.

The FDA is planning to mandate new guidelines for gluten-free labeling of food items so that individuals with Celiac Disease can enjoy greater confidence in making food buying choices.  Even though such guidelines are not yet policy, Indigo Rabbit already voluntarily tests its gluten free varieties to meet and exceed the standard of 20 parts per million gluten.

5. Bottom line – if a food label is unclear to you, contact the manufacturer.

Here’s a recipe my kids and I love.

3/4 cup flax meal (1/2 cup flaxseeds before being ground up in my coffee bean grinder)

2 mashed ripe bananas

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup canola oil

2 large eggs

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

You can also add dried fruits or chocolate chips if you like (about 1/2 cup)

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Beat banana, sugar, oil and eggs at meduim speed of a mixer until well-blended.

3. Combine dry ingredients and gradually add to wet mixture, beating until well-incorporated.

4. Stir in mix-ins’ if desired.

5. Pour batter into loaf pan coated with cooking spray and bake at 350 for 55 minutes or until inserted toothpick or knife comes out clean.

6. Cool 10 minutes in pan on wire rack.  Remove, cool some more and EAT.

We love it plain or with a little butter. 

Enjoy!

We hear about these healthy fats on the news, in our favorite magazines, on-line, everywhere.  Omega-3 fatty acids are useful in our bodies for cell health, regulating heart rate and carrying fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) and oxygen into our cells.  They help maintain healthy skin and hair (who doesn’t want that??), protect our organs and provide a sense of satiety after meals.  A diet high in Omega-3’s will have more lean muscle, lower body fat and better health. 

The best place to get these fatty acids is from fish, flax, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, canola oil and soy. 

Flax is a favorite of mine.  You can find flax seeds, which are about the same size and shape as sesame seeds but have a more toasted color.  If using the seeds, make sure you grind them first so your body can absorb all those nutrients – a coffee bean grinder works great.  I like to sprinkle this flax “meal” on my cereal or yogurt.  I even mix it into turkey burgers and meatloaf and bake it into my banana bread! 

Flax oil is also available in stores and can easily be mixed into salad dressing, ketchup and even smoothies – the kids will never know!  Don’t heat the oil form, though.  Heating flax oil rids it of its nutritive benefits. 

A common adult “dose” of flax meal is 1 1/2 tablespoons per day.  For the oil, a guideline is to use 1-2 tablespoons per 100 pounds of body weight per day.  Kids can take in a bit less than these amounts.

Give flax a try.  I’d love to hear other ways people incorporate it into everyday dishes, so let me know your fantastic ideas.

Here’s a great idea for snacking – especially on the go.  Stash washed grapes or blueberries in the freezer.  They make terrific candy-like munchies, chock full of phytonutrients!

I had a wonderful opportunity tonight. 

The Junior League of Worcester, MA sponsors an annual event called “Kids in the Kitchen”.  We invite girls from this urban area to Girls Inc. where we cook together and learn how to care for ourselves and our environment.  My partner (Amanda Graves of “Amanda Cooks”) and I teamed up to introduce new foods and food preparation techniques while discussing healthful alternatives to unhealthy foods the girls encounter every day. 

When making chicken enchiladas, as we did tonight, we discovered the best tortillas to include based on the data we discerned from comparable nutrition panels.  We discussed whether frozen or canned corn was better to include in our salad.  We wondered about whether fruit juice or “fruit flavored drink” was a wiser selection.  We talked about how many foods are marketed to kids by way of brightly colored commercial images on packaging and how devastating the health effects can be, especially when we noted how much sugar and trans fats were in these items.

I commend the girls at Girls Inc. for their eagerness to learn and their appetite for new things – especially the young woman who claimed she would never touch a vegetable and then devoured her salad and asked for seconds.  Thank you for your poise – and for thinking I was 25 years old!