Sugar Alcohols: Maltitol

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Maltitol, is a polyols made from high maltose corn syrup. It has 90% of sugars sweetness and approximately 3.0 calories per gram. The calories in Maltitol is not much of an improvement from sugars 4 calories per gram, but because it is a polyols, it uses less insulin to digest. This makes it lower in carbohydrates and safer for diabetics to consume. Like most polyols, it does not to promote tooth decay.


All though it is considered the safest of sugar alcohols, excessive consumption may have a laxative effect. Some people have considerable trouble tolerating even small doses of Maltitol. Studies have shown this may be due to the fact that in some people, the digestive process extracts considerable amounts of sorbitol. My friend wrote to me about his encounter with maltitol, and said he was in significant discomfort.


For most people Maltitol in small doses is harmless, how ever it does have a laxative effect close to Sorbitol and other polyols. Low carbohydrate diets are advised to avoid maltiol, due to the low reduction from calories to sugar. While diabetics may find some relief in the lower hypoglycemic levels of maltitol, they should be concerned with the amount ingested.

Reference links

Sugar Alcohols: Sorbitol

Monday, June 16, 2008

Sorbitol is a sugar alcohol with two thirds the calories of sugar, and 60% of sugar's sweetness. It like many sugar alcohols is not fully absorbed in the digestive process, keeping insulin levels lower then sugar would. It also does not promote tooth decay.



Sorbitol is used as a bulk sweetener, it is often used for the texture or taste it can add to food products. It has been used in a variety of products reduced in calories, sugar, or fat. Sorbital has been used for almost half a century already, it occurs naturally in a wide variety of fruits and berries.


Sorbitol has been declared as GRAS for food product use by the FDA and is approved for use by the European Union and others, including Australia, Canada and Japan. Sorbitol has many other uses apparently, in addition to food products it can be used in medications such as the following.

SORBITOL ORAL - This medication is used as a laxative to treat occasional episodes of constipation.
or
3% Sorbitol Urologic Irrigating Solution- indicated for use as a urological irrigating fluid with endoscopic instruments during trans urethral procedures requiring distension, irrigation, and lavage of the urinary bladder. It may be used for lavage of an indwelling catheter to maintain patency.

However Sorbitol has some serious down sides and dangers. It has been linked to or believed to be linked to all of, and not limited to, the following.

• dehydration
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• diarrhea
• rectal bleeding
• vomiting
• weakness
• dizziness
• persistent urge to empty the bowel
• flatulence

sorbitol in quantities as low as 10g per day causes diarrhea - brought on by the so-called osmotic purge happening in the gut.

Sorbitol is a polyalcohol sugar and is neither digested nor absorbed by the small intestine. It passes through to the colon where it drives an osmotic purge (2). This means it passes through the lining of the intestine causing fluids (mostly water) to pass through in the opposite direction via osmosis. Bowel motions become watery and lead to dehydration and over time, other consequences like malabsorption of nutrients.

Link: http://www.foodintol.com/food_intolerance/hot_ibs.htm

Sorbitol may even be hazardous to diabetics, child development, and may even cause fetal damage in pregnant woman.

It is important to remember that Sorbitol is a NATURAL substance our body uses every day. How ever introducing anything, no matter how beneficial, in large and unnatural amounts is dangerous. It just so happens that sugar alcohols occur in extremely small amounts naturally and increasing them threw artificial means, can be dangerous. This is not to say never use it, I am just trying to say maybe it's better to solve the sweet tooth with natural fruit then with a sugar free cake.

Links: reference

Sugar Alcohols: Xylitol

Monday, June 9, 2008

Xylitol, can be considered one of the better Sugar Alcohols on the market. It is one of the most common polyols found in our natural food supplies. This Sugar Alcohol is often made from foods like fruits, berries, mushrooms lettuce, hardwoods, and corn cobs.

Our body actually produces some of this substance naturally in digestion and is considered a regular part of metabolism. The human body can even produce up to 15 grams of Xylitol depending on our diet.

Xylitol is also promoted for tooth care, it is believed that regular use of small amounts can help protect your teeth. It has been identified that using gum or candies made with Xylitol can stimulate saliva, witch in turn, helps keep your teeth in good shape. Some even claim that it can kill bacteria in your mouth it's self.

The daily recommendation for Xylitol is 12 to 15 grams. This however INCLUDES what your body makes naturally. Most gums and candies made of Xylitol contain .7 to 1 gram, in it's self.

The real warnings you need to know are simple. DO NOT EXCEED 15 GRAMS A DAY. Failure to comply will cause side effects. It is said that consuming 400 grams would be highly toxic to humans, and there are great concerns on the processing techniques used to mass produce Xylitol.

In lab tests, Xylitol will kill a rat 50% of the time in a dosage of 16.5 grams of Xylitol for every 1000 grams of rat. Medium rats weigh 100-120 grams, or say .25 pounds. That means, to kill a 100 gram rat, you need only to get the rat to consume, 1.65 grams of Xylitol.

There is great debates on the conclusiveness of the published MSDS for Xylitol, critics say they are inconclusive and not been proved safe for consumption. The FDA has however labeled Xylitol as GRAS for human consumption. Please note these concerns are aimed only at the MASS produced versions and not the naturally occurring substance made plants or by your body.

Resources Link: Here

A Bit More on Sugar Alcohol

Sunday, June 1, 2008

The more I read on Sugar Alcohol, the more I need to look up, here is my basic summaries on what I have discovered so far.





Sugar Alcohol 101

Sugar Alcohols are natural occurring chemicals found in foods, most commonly starches and sugars. Their chemical make up closely resembles that of both sugar and alcohol, but the substance does not contain either one. It is technically a group of carbohydrates called Polyols.

The production of these "Polyols" depend on what form of Sugar Alcohol you want. Some are extracted and some are refined from different assortment of plants and berries. Their common uses include that of bulking agent, flavoring and sweeteners.

Sugar Alcohols, once ingested are incompletely absorbed from the small intestine into the blood. This is why they are considered low carbohydrate and advertised to have weight loss and blood sugar benefits. This slow and incomplete digestion may also lead to diarrhea, bloating, cramps, and gas. This is often effected by the amount eaten and the severity greatly varies from person to person, and by types of Polyos used.

Sugar Alcohols have been determined to not decay teeth, they are considered unfermentable carbohydrates. Simply put, they do not produce the sugar acids that eat away your teeth.

For the most part, Sugar Alcohols seem to be "safe for consumption" due to the fact they are natural substances we eat in common fresh produce and grains. The dangerous part comes when people start to ingest abnormal amounts of them. The more low carbohydrate and sugar free products we eat, the more we add chemicals to our bodies in unnatural amounts.

I still have a whole lot more on this subject, and it would seem that Sugar Alcohols need to be broken down and identified by their subgroups and individually to determine the effects, benefits, and hazards of use. As it seems not all Sugar Alcohols are equal and some are much more hazardous then others.

I hope to have the dieting and blood sugar article done this week, but I will be out of the house and heavily medicated a few days. That may postpone the heavy writing until the week after.

References Link

Sugar Alcohols?

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

A friend of mine asked me the other day what I knew about Sugar Alcohol. He seemed quite optimistic at the claims made on the effects for weight loss and blood sugar. As it turns out most people don't know or don't understand properly what Alcohol Sugar is or what it does. As my concerns in nutrition cover weight loss, sugar levels and carbohydrates, I looked a bit deeper in to the topic.

Sugar Alcohol is a low calorie sweetener or flavoring commonly used to replace sugar or improve tastes of artificial sweeteners. They do not contain sugar or alcohol and are considered safe for consumption. Common examples are: Glycerol, Erythritol, Xylitol, Ribitol, Mannitol, Sorbitol, Isomalt, Maltitol, and Lactitol.

In short, we look forward to the advantages of Sugar Alcohols as a substitute to sugars because it's not known to cause weight gain, raise your hypoglycemic levels, or decay teeth like sugar.

Even thought all sweeteners and food products are extensively studied before FDA approval, we still need to be concerned with how much we use because it's a newly approved product, there are some known side effects, and a lot of claims are still in debate.

**Please note that Alcohol Sugars have not been "approved" as a whole, but some forms have been approved for limited use. The FDA official stand is "generally recognized as safe" and others as approved food additives.

I am always cautious of "new products" as some are ban after they have been approved for years. After all at one time we all painted our homes with lead and asbestos was the next big revolution in construction.

I am currently doing research in to the following topics of Sugar Alcohol: Pros, Cons, Warnings and Interactions, Sugar Alcohols with Dieting, Sugar Alcohols with Diabetes. There will be new articles and information found on this topic within the next few weeks.

References.

Fast Food Lifestyle?

Sunday, May 25, 2008

So many Americans have a fast food and take out life style. We don't want to waist time cooking or doing dishes, so we get fast food or go out to eat. A lot of people know how bad fast food is and try to avoid the items we think are the worst. We get grilled chicken and salads in stead of burgers in hopes to avoid eating the most naughty items.

Sadly, the clear choice isn't always so clear. Fast food does a good job of making the most healthy of meals the worst pick on the menu. The following web pages will help you decide what the least damaging food is when you pull up to that window.

http://www.menshealth.com/eatthis/index.php
Eat this, No that, this web site lists the best and worst picks of fast food and chain restaurants. They even cover some Supermarket picks, drinks, and more.



http://www.fatcalories.com/
This one is a fast food calculator and nutritional information guide, but it has some political messages and the owner clearly hates Rush Limbaugh. If that doesn't bother you, then I suggest checking out their combo calculator. It will let you know just how much damage your about to do and how to avoid the worst of it. They also have this one to help you find the best foods and this one to let you compare the choices side by side.


http://www.calorieking.com/foods/
This site is a calorie calculator that has fast food, deli, pizza, and store bought products. they are all conveniently categorizes with drop down or fill in searches.

I hope this helps in making your fast food choices a little more healthy every day, and remember 33% of all litter is fast food waist. Don't add to the problem, dispose properly and recycle!

Lack of Variety Makes a Diet Hard

Saturday, May 24, 2008

In Spain obesity is a fairly new issue. I know there has always been over weight people in every country of the world, but here it was never a wide spread health problem.

The Spanish diet is heavy on fish and olive oil. Rarely does a traditional Spanish recipe call for butter or cream, even frying they use olive oil. In fact the Mediterranean diet is considered one of the most healthy in the world.

This is a great thing! Well it's great unless you need to be on a calorie restricted diet. Because they are not used to the need of food that is light or sugar-free, they are considered specialty items. This means to buy some thing like tofu or ground turkey you need to travel, or buy an alternative of super lean cuts of beef and chicken from the butcher. In both cases your paying a premium price every time, if you can get it at all.

My only recourse in this matter is to do it myself. This means more investments I don't want to make. I need to find and purchase a meat grinder, an ice cream machine, a crock pot, a grill, and an oven. They are investments I can't afford to make, but can't afford not to.

The real down side is large upfront payments in a time when we have no income. The up side is we both enjoy to cook and they will pay for them selves over time. We can't afford to go off the diet, but we can't afford paying top dollar for meats, produce is costing enough as it is.

It's a hard decision to put out money when the wallet is tight, and it will take some deep consideration and bergen hunting to make this plausible. I will give updates as the week goes on, I need to start window shopping. If you have any suggestions on these items, please let me know. I'm quite open to on line shopping as well as going on foot to stores.

Food Rookie: French(ish) Onion Soup

Thursday, May 22, 2008

One of the foods I truly enjoy is a bubbling hot crock of French onion soup. Unfortunately, like most of my favorite French recipes, it loaded with butter and fats. That's why I have devised a healthy and easier version of the soup. I can't call it French onion soup, but I can say it's smiler in taste, and so much less fat and calories.

This soup is extremely easy to make, the instructions and measurements are just rough guidelines. Experiment with this, I know it may sound crazy but the mix of onions, sauce, and beefy broth smothered in cheese is just hard to mess up. It's a tasty soup and even better the next day.

You can find detailed information on the soup including calories, nutrition, and serving size on my health blog : link here

French(ish) Onion Soup Base:

Ingredients

200	gram onion
50	gram leek, light green and white parts
300	ml vegetable broth
400	ml warm water, with one beef cube dissolved (I use Knorr brand)
10	ml Worcestershire Sauce
2	teaspoon butter

Directions

1. Slice onions and leek thin, in to half moons.
   
2. In hot pot add 2 tea butter, spread, or olive oil. When it's melted add 150 grams of onions and the leek.
   
3. Saute until transparent stirring occasionally, if they begin to brown, reduce heat, add broth and simmer until tender.
   
4. Add in water and broth then bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minuets.
   
5. Add reserve onion then return to boil, add Worcestershire Sauce Return to simmer for 15 minutes.
   
6. Adjust flavor with additional broth, and Worcestershire Sauce, as needed.

French(ish) Onion Soup Finish:

Directions

1. Toast your favorite bread, and layer it in center of bowl.
2. Shred or thinly slice cheese.
3. Poor hot soup over bread
4. Cover with cheese
5. Place in oven or broiler, and melt or brown the cheese as desired
6. Enjoy!

Please note, nutritional information of soup does not cover bread and cheese, so choose wisely.

Herbal Garden: Prepping for Basil

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

It seems my preparation work for basil will be almost identical to that of Rosemary. The only difference is that fort basil I need to pick up some liquid plant food, and be sure to get a good rich compost soil.

Because it can take some time to germinate seeds or root clippings for basil, I am going to look for seedlings. If I fail to find them, i will try a late start with germinating my own seeds.

Basil prefers a well draining soil just like rosemary, so more broken pots to help my plants grow. It's a great way to release stress, and your recycling! I never thought I could have so much fun smashing ceramic and not worry about feeling guilty.

Just remember if your breaking items like this, wear eye protection. You may look funny, but loosing an eye would look worse. You can feel free to use old plates or cups, this is a good use for many old items. Be sure anything you use is non- toxic, last thing you want to do is kill your new plants.

Now the hardest step of getting ready for basil, picking the kind! It just so happens that there is a large amount of species to choose from. After talking it over and looking more closely at each kind, we have settled on Sweet Basil.

Here is a little deeper look in to the kinds and what they are used for thanks to GardenAction.

Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilcum) - the most popular variety in the UK used in Italian style dishes and salads. It grows to a height of 75cm (2ft 6in)

Cinnamon Basil (Ocimum basilcum) - form Mexico, with a cinnamon flavour. It grows to a height of 45cm (18in).

Lemon Basil (Ocimum citriodorum) - mild lemon flavour, commonly used with fish. It grows to a height of 30cm (12in).

Purple Basil (Ocimum basilcum purpurea) - similar to sweet basil, but with purple leaves. One of the more tender varieties. It grows to a height of 75cm (2ft 6in)

Red Rubin Basil (Ocimum basilcum) - similar to sweet basil but very darkly coloured leaves.
HHA. Ht. 75cm. A much deeper colour than purple basil. It grows to a height of 75cm (2ft 6in)

Thai Basil (Ocimum sp.) - very spicy, used in Indian cooking. It grows to a height of 90cm (3ft).

As always you can find more information on Basil from my reference links.

Herbal Garden: Prepping for Rosemary

After doing some reading on this wonderful herb, I have decided to skip the seeds and try to find a seedling or cutting to root myself. I was happy to find well of information on how to grow and tend to rosemary. The planting season has already begun, so I need to get read to start growing as soon as possible.

The first thing I need to do is find a good sunny spot on the terrace. I have lots of clay pots that we wanted to discard. I will use some to break and make a draining layer at the bottom of my growing pot. This will save me the time and money of finding stones or spacers for a drainage layer.

I will need to buy new soil, the old stuff that is in the pots are from when my boyfriend moved in about 7 years ago. I wouldn't be surprised if they were from the former tenants and he just never bothered to throw them away. Still, the clay pots littering our terrace are plentiful, and some in good condition, so they are ideal for what I want.

Most sites recommend using a sandy soil, because rosemary likes to stay well drained. Well, that's not hard in Madrid, I will pop out and get that from the local market square. They don't feed a lot so I won't worry about fertilizer for this first season in fresh soil. It should be more then enough to sustain it's self.

The terrace is open so the air circulation is good, and it gets 6 -8 hours of sunlight a day. That fulfills the other plant requirements for rosemary. The last thing I need to do is find some thing to elevate it on, so that it gets enough sun over the rail. At least until it is tall enough to fend on it's own. Rosemary does grow a bit large it would seem from the descriptions, so I have make some more room out there.

If you would like more information on the requirements of rosemary please feel free to visit my resource links.

I do have to note that I found this article from about.com to be the most clear and useful.
Rosemary - You Can Grow the Herb Rosemary

Herbal Garden Selection

I was looking threw some things to find out what the best choice of herbs would be for our living arrangements. The two that I found best fulfilled my requirements was Rosemary and Basil, Not only do we enjoy to cook with them, but they also grow well in our climate.

It would seem these two spices have great insect repelling qualities, and do not attract predatory wasps . While Rosemary will attract bees during pollination periods, it should not be prolonged or excessive. These two plants are speculated to be especially good at repelling mosquitoes and flies. We plan to cook out on the terrace this summer, so they sound just right for what we need, and they should grow well here in Madrid.

Now the trick is finding a place that I can find started plants or seeds. I need to read up on how to grow and care for these two particular spices still. I do know that they are grown locally to our climate, but I have not yet taken time to learn how to do it myself. I hope to have more information for you this week.

To learn more on insect qualities of spices, please feel free to look threw my reference links.

Herbal Garden Project

Sunday, May 18, 2008

A while back I was talking about my bulk shopping and my friend Sangria brought up the home growing suggestion. I know it would be hard to make room to grow produce, and the laws about growing on your terrace would make it difficult to try. I have considered the alternative of growing my own herbs.

The considerations I have for this project are not nearly as complicated as most. I will need to pick herbs that can grow easily in the Mediterranean climate. Preferably ones that have the beneficial qualities of insect repelling. I would want them to be herbs we like to use, and that can be brewed for teas.

The things I will need to avoid are any herbs that attracts wasps and predatory insects or bees past pollination periods. We have both pollen and bee allergies to consider in my household. Our terrace is small and it would be hard to share with wasps. We don't mind the occasional hard working bee though.

With the laws here, i can only grow in pots, I cant make any troff. They have to drain elevated so I cant make any dirt or sand patches on to the ground. It also has to be a moderately low moisture plant that can withstand full or partial sunlight, and hopefully doesn't grow to large. Living on the fourth floor it also should not be a plant that drops any heavy or hard bits such as large fruits or nuts.

I will look in to this more another day, tomorrow is my first dentist visit in Spain. I will most likely not be up to working on anything after that one, but I don't plan to be out of action long.
If you have any tips or information on good things to grow in sunny Madrid, Spain that may help, please let me know.

Diet Update and Todays Menu

Thursday, May 15, 2008

It's been a few weeks and I thought I would take a moment to give you an update on how the weight loss and home rehabilitation have come along. So far in 3 weeks we have lost a little over 4 kilos (10 pounds). Our walking has made it up to 10 minutes every other day, and we have weaned down the need for some of the pain killers.

I still have him on a loose 1,000 calorie diet, that I let vary up to 100 calories on days he walks. With mothers day and some Madrid holidays within the last weeks, we did cheat about 4 days. He watched how much he consumed, but still ate a lot of food and sweets you wouldn't on a diet. This lead to one week with out weight loss, but no weight gain.

Here is a sample of the meal plan we used today, this is a 1,000 calorie base and was filling even for me. I did however eat an additional yogurt and soup to reach the calories I should have in the day.

Breakfast:

• Chocolate Puffed Cereal 30 grams (1cup) with 120 ML light milk (195 kcal)
• 2 cups Spanish Coffee with 120 ml light milk (35 kcal each 70kcal total)

Lunch:

• Mixed melody Couscous (240 kcal)
• 50g ginger chicken with soy sauce (130 kcal)
• Mixed Sauted veggies (60 kcal)

Dinner:

• Large Green Salad with Toppings (85 kcal)

Snack:

• 3 cups popcorn (air popped) with Parmesan cheese (120 kcal)

Snack: (100 kcal)

• 1/2 a turkey and cheese toasty 80 kcal
  
• 30 gram apple 16 kcal
  
• 20 gram tomato 4 kcal

*Note: Turkey and cheese toasty, made on light bread with low fat sliced deli style turkey and reduced calorie and fat cheese. Thin tomato, onion, lettuce and a small amount of brown mustard were also added. This is a great spot to fulfill your higher calorie needs by using whole wheat bread and eating a whole apple.

Food Storage: Bread

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Bread has to be one of the foods that people waist more of. We often discard the crusts, toss out the ends, and allow half our loaf to go bad before we finish it. It's a shame that so much food goes to waist when stored correctly it can last so long and be used in so many stages of freshness. Here is some advice on the ways to store bread and the things you can do with your excess.

Bread Storage
If your not the kind of person or family who can eat a whole loaf of bread quickly, store it in the refrigerator. Refrigerating bread can add days on to it's freshness, and keep away the mold even after it becomes stale. For families who need even longer, try dividing the loaf in half. Package one of the halves in to portions, wrap in paper and foil then freeze. Place the other half in the refrigerator for use.

When freezing a whole loaf of bread, you can place paper between each slice and freeze together. Bread is easily defrosted by unwrapping and toasting, allowing to sit a few moments, or microwaving on low for a few seconds. You could also pack the frozen bread slices in your lunch pack. It will help keep the food cold, and will be defrosted and ready to eat by lunch. Freezing bread in pre-measured portions is a great way to help you keep track of your food and loose weight.

If you choose not to refrigerate or freeze your bread, then keep it wrapped well, out of sunlight and extreme heat, and away from moisture. Bread that goes stale can be used, bread that becomes molded must be discarded.

Bread Uses
There are many uses for the parts of the bread that many people consider undesirable. For example the ends and crust of bread can be dried and made in to bread crumbs. If bread becomes stale it can be used as garlic bread, croutons, bread crumbs, or even stuffing. If you keep a small bag or container in the freezer for bread scraps you can save the small amounts and make large batches over time.

*Look later this week for recipes that work well with older bread or crusts.

Is Cooking Efficiently Gorse?

Friday, May 9, 2008

A short time back I did a "Food Rookie" on making stocks and broths. As it turns out a few people thought the idea of saving the tidbits of vegetables was disgusting. Truth be told, all those packaged soups you buy are made of scraps. Restaurants and dinners employ the same method too.

Just today I came across an article in the Culinary Review on being an efficient chef. One of the guidelines was saving the scraps for stock. I worked in a very nice three star restaurant when I was a younger. The first thing you learn in a kitchen is that nothing goes to waist. The food industry is a 100% return business. That means you need to make up 100% of the cost on each ingredient purchase in order to make a profit.

As you can imagine, that would mean taking simple shortcuts like making stock and broth from scraps. Saving yesterdays bread for today's garlic bread and croutons, and yes many places reuse unopened packages of condiments. If you want some more incite to the things an efficient cook saves check out my article on stocks and broths and this article on the Culinary Review.


Are You a Super Efficient Cook? - The Culinary Review
Food Rookie: Stock and Broth

Food Storage: The Yellow Onion

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Yellow or brown onions are common ingredients in most cooking. Onions are best know for their strong flavor that can even be sweet. These culinary staples are enjoyed both raw and cooked all across the globe.

Onions if selected correctly and stored well, can last a significant amount of time. This makes them prime candidates for bulk purchases. While there are many kinds of onions, we will focus on the yellow and brown for storage and selection in this topic.

Knowing how to select an onion is the first step in insuring you have the finest product available with the longest shelf life. To select a quality onion you should look for the following traits.

What to look for:

• Firm
• Tightly closed
• Paper dry skin
• Heavy for size
• Smooth
• Well formed
• Even colored
• Soft sheen to skin

What to avoid:

• Sprouting
• Dark spots
• Powdery spots
• Green spots
• Softness
• Blemishes
• Mold
• Bruises

After selecting you onions it is important to know how to store them. Though onions can be easily kept in the refrigerator, it is not necessary. Onions can be stored in any cool dark area, it is best to keep them spaced and out of sunlight. We have in the past suggested using the sock method in the past.

Once an onion has been opened, simply wrap tightly and keep refrigerated. If at any point sprouting does occur, trim the sprout and discard the onion. The green stems that grow from onions can be used as a substitute for scallions, as they are edible with a soft onion flavor.

Alternative storages are freezing, pickling, and canning.


resources: fruitandveggieguru.com; produceoasis.com; homecooking.about.com; makethemost.com; melissas.com;

Food Storage: Celery

Friday, May 2, 2008

Celery is a cooking basic. It's an extremely versatile aromatic vegetable that is enjoyed both hot and cold around the world. Celeries ability to be used in almost every dish makes it a good choice to buy in bulk. Here is advice on the selection and storage of celery to help ensure you get the maximum out of your purchase.

Celery Selection
Celery is commonly sold in two forms, in loose bunches normally accompanied by leafy tops and celery hearts. The hearts are a term for celery that has been trimmed of it's leaves and exterior ribs.

Celery that is light green will be more tender and and flavorful. Darker green stalks will be tougher but provide more nutrition. No matter what color your prefer here is what you should know about selection and storage.

What to look for:

• Tight bunches
• Sturdy
• Crisp
• Even Colored
• Healthy Green leaves and stems
• Glossy finish
• Firm

What to avoid:

• Limp
• Brown
• Spotted
• Yellow
• Bruised or broken

Celery Storage:
To store fresh celery simply wrap in loose plastic bag and place in refrigerator crisper. This should hold the celery for two weeks. If it begins to wilt, simply soak it in ice water a few moments before you use it.

You can also freeze celery if needed. Cut in to pieces and then blanch for three minutes before freezing.

Resources: makethemost.com; fruitandveggieguru.com; tonytantillo.com; fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov

Food Rookie: Sugar Free Marinara Sauce

Saturday, April 26, 2008

This is a really quick and simple way to make a rich and creamy or chunky tomato sauce with out adding sugar.

Ingredients

• 1 table spoon olive oil
• 1/2 a carrot - chopped fine (25 to 50 grams)
• 1 small onion -chopped fine (50 to 75 grams)
• 2 cloves of garlic - minced (3 if you really love garlic, 1 if you don't)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tea spoon crushed hot pepper flakes (optional or adjust to likening)
• 1-1/2 table spoon Italian seasoning (oregano, basil, thyme, marjoram, sage, savory, and rosemary)
• 1 can tomato product. (pured, ground, diced, or sauce.)

Feel free to use additional seasoning, including salt and pepper to taste. Pasta sauce has a large amount of personal variations, that are added to the basics. It's a great, easy, and cheap way to hone your seasoning skills.

Directions
In hot sauce pan (or pot) add the olive oil, coat well the pan by rolling it around the bottom. Add bay leaf and seasoning in to oil. Do not let it burn!

Once seasoning is infused in to oil, or looks like it's getting to hot, add carrots and onions.
If they appear to be sticking or burning before softened, add water or broth one spoon at a time as needed. Move the vegetables often, when they appear to be getting soft or the onion becomes clear, add the garlic.

Cook 2 minuets, then add tomato, stir frequently or it will easily burn. Make sure the heat is low and simmer about 10 minuets if your going to blend (recommended to blend) continue on the directions. If you want a chunky sauce, continue cooking 15 minutes until sauce is to your likening.

Remove from fire and with with a stick blender, puree until smooth. You can also do this in a stationary blender or food processor, but be careful it's hot!. The color will lighten, don't be alarmed, it's supposed to do that =)

Return to pot and simmer 5 more minuets.

Blending smooth is optional, but makes a rich thick and creamy sauce!

*Note: The entire pot of tomato sauce is from 200 - 250 Kcal. To lower the calories use less oil, and more of the broth / water method to cook. You have to watch the pot more carefully, but you can save 40 kcal by using 2 tea spoons of oil over 1 table.

Food Storage: The Carrot

Friday, April 25, 2008

The carrot is a healthy favorite for many people of all ages. It is an essential part of cooking and can even be a substitute to sugar in some recipes. This sweet, brightly colored veggie has even teethed many of our children.

Adding to value of the common carrot, is the fact it stores easy, and there for is a good choice to buy in bulk. This article is to help your carrots last to the maximum limits at the best possible quality. I have below information on selection and storage of the carrot, I hope you find it useful.

Selecting a Carrot
When selecting carrots you need to consider what you will use them for. Young carrots, especially carrots with greens still attached, tend to be sweeter. The extra sweetness will come at the cost of storage life though. Baby carrots are rarely young carrots, most often they are regular carrots cut up in to "baby" size portions. Larger carrots are often more then sufficient for your cooking and snacking needs. They also come in bulk sizes more regularly and are available year round.

Here are some tips in selecting carrots of all kinds.

Signs of a Healthy Carrot:

• well shaped
  
• smooth
• firm
• free of blemishes

Signs of a Healthy Carrot:

• cracked
• moldy
• discolored or green ends
• Holes
• bristly appearance
• blistering
• darkened and water-soaked skin
• soft or flabby

Storage of carrots:

Remove any green tops, the longer you store them with the leaves the more moisture and nutritional value they will loose.

Store in perforated plastic bags, and place in refrigerator. The crisper is preferred as carrots like moist cool storage to stay fresh.

Do not store neat fruit as ethylene, a gas produced by ripening fruit, will cause the carrots to become bitter.

Alternative Storage:

Canning- Canned carrots must be processed in a pressure canner.

Freezing - To Freeze Carrots they must be blanched.

Resources Links: urbanext.uiuc.edu; extension.umn.edu; ohioline.osu.edu

Learning to Live: Nutrition

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Last week I began to map out meals and snacks to help us loose weight and start a healthy lifestyle. As always we have the challenge of frugality, limited access, and a language barrier now added to my new challenge of nutrition control.

After planning out a few days worth of meals and snacks, I was amazed how much can fit in to a strict calorie, and carbohydrate restricted diet. I was just as amazed to see how hungry you can still be after eating all that food.


This is the first week of the diet and I expect to be hungry, after all it takes time for your body to adjust and stomach to shrink down a bit. To help make this transition easier, I went to the web. Here I found recipes for food that would fit in to our meal plans, or at least I thought I did.

After plugging the recipes in to some calorie counters, you would be surprised the differences that come up. It seems a lot of people miscalculate the calories, often leaving out the cooking agents like butter and oil, or misjudge the serving sizes.

This has lead me to create my personal menu challenge. I am making one menu 3 meals and 2 snacks that add up to 1,000 calories a day and a second menu that adds up to 1,600 calories a day. For people who read this and don't know me personally, 1,000 calories is NOT a healthy amount for any one to eat, unless you are under doctors orders to do so.

I will post more on my menus, nutrition tools, and recourses in upcoming posts this week for any who are interested. I am not looking to make this a dieting blog, but I will keep health and nutrition a topic.