I have never been a fan of most fish in a can. I eat tuna, but only when it is there, I don't make it and I don't order it. I like fish, but I don't like it when it is overly fishy and I guess you could say I am particular about my fish. I can't take the fish oil supplements for the same reason, the fish burps make me sick. So, I have been trying to find more ways to get Omega-3's in my diet and cheaply. I can't spend $16 a pound on Wild Salmon every week.
So, I turned to sardines. I had them once fresh grilled over open coals and I loved them. I couldn't find them fresh anywhere so I figured I would give the inexpensive cans a try. I made a pasta salad mixed with chopped sardines, not bad, but not still too fishy for me. Then I found a can of smoked sardines, I sprinkled some lemon and salt and pepper and made it into a sandwich, again, not bad for a few bites, but that was all I could handle. Finally, I found some fresh and the price was pretty good, so I bought it and I filled them with parsley and garlic and covered in Dijon and sprinkled with lemon. They looked beautiful and they tasted good, but again their fishiness pervaded.
The next time I have a fire over open coals I will have to try them again, until then I am giving up on Sardines and will have to continue to search for inexpensive ways to get my Omega-3s.
P.S. One up side is my 6 year old loved them, he made every sardine meal into a sandwich and would ask for more.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Nutrition News
I just came back from the big Dietitian's conference. It is the place to be in the nutrition world. I have come back with new knowledge and motivation to share with others. I learned the importance of Vitamin D supplementation, we are just not getting enough from the sun. I learned about restaurant menu labeling laws that should be hitting your local chain restaurant soon, although probably not any kosher ones as it only effects restaurants with 20 or more locations. I learned about new healthy products that are hitting the stores and new computer and smartphone apps to help us make better choices.
There is meallogger a new website where you can use your phone to take a picture of your food and write a description so that your dietitian can accurately assess your food intake. There is fooducate, an iphone app that allows you to scan a bar code in the store to tell you what is really in that food and give you alternative healthy choices. It is amazing what everyone is coming up with to help educate the consumer, but I wonder who will actually benefit from these programs. They are affordable and seem to be easy to use, but only the already interested health nut would probably take the time to use any new app that will take them more time at the grocery store.
We need to figure out ways to reach a wider audience to improve the health of our nation. I met quite a few dietitians working in supermarkets. They work to help consumers find healthier choices by putting a healthy start in front of healthy choices. They offer food demos in the stores to help teach people how to cook with healthier foods and they are there to answer consumer questions. I do believe that one of the best places to educate consumers about health and nutrition is in the supermarket where they are shopping and choosing the food for their family. That is why I take all my clients to the supermarket, it is vital in learning how to eat right, first you got to shop right.
There is meallogger a new website where you can use your phone to take a picture of your food and write a description so that your dietitian can accurately assess your food intake. There is fooducate, an iphone app that allows you to scan a bar code in the store to tell you what is really in that food and give you alternative healthy choices. It is amazing what everyone is coming up with to help educate the consumer, but I wonder who will actually benefit from these programs. They are affordable and seem to be easy to use, but only the already interested health nut would probably take the time to use any new app that will take them more time at the grocery store.
We need to figure out ways to reach a wider audience to improve the health of our nation. I met quite a few dietitians working in supermarkets. They work to help consumers find healthier choices by putting a healthy start in front of healthy choices. They offer food demos in the stores to help teach people how to cook with healthier foods and they are there to answer consumer questions. I do believe that one of the best places to educate consumers about health and nutrition is in the supermarket where they are shopping and choosing the food for their family. That is why I take all my clients to the supermarket, it is vital in learning how to eat right, first you got to shop right.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Family Dinners
I recently read an article about reducing obesity rates through family dinners. It seems the effectiveness depends on socioeconomics. At my house, like many, the kids eat early, sometimes I eat my first dinner, and then the parents eat later. In my case this is mostly due to the fact that my husband gets home just in time to put them to bed and in many cases the husband does not even get home in time for that. We don't really have much choice to have dinner together. But the other night, my husband came home a little earlier. Not in time for the kids dinner, but just after, so he ate while the kids were getting ready for bed. The kids had already eaten the same dinner he was eating, rather poorly I might ad, but all of a sudden they wanted more. They wanted what their father was eating. So he gave them a few bites and they kept asking for more, when only twenty minutes earlier after only a few bites of dinner they got up and said done. For my kids, at least right now, obesity is not the worry. I mostly focus on getting them to eat a healthy balanced meal. With three kids with different tastes, this is not an easy task. So, I could not believe how well they ate when it came from their father's plate.
I learned that they would all probably eat better and more of the healthy food if we all ate together as a family.
It was nice to learn, but unfortunatley, the reality is still the same, my husband gets home too late to eat with the kids and I am scrambling to get everything done for dinner and bed and homework for all of them that I can barely sit down either. At least I know what I want to strive for, maybe one day we will make it.
I learned that they would all probably eat better and more of the healthy food if we all ate together as a family.
It was nice to learn, but unfortunatley, the reality is still the same, my husband gets home too late to eat with the kids and I am scrambling to get everything done for dinner and bed and homework for all of them that I can barely sit down either. At least I know what I want to strive for, maybe one day we will make it.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Making It Your Own
My kids love any meal that starts with "Make your own". Make your own pizza, sushi, tacos, salad and of course sundaes. It gives my young children the opportunity to choose exactly what they want in their meal and get creative. They love it as an activity, it gives them a sense of control and I love it because they eat it.
On pizza night, I make dough or buy a prepared dough, they each get a ball to roll out on their own, if I am in a rush I do this part ahead. I then cut up all our favorite toppings, broccoli, mushrooms, spinach and olives. I put out a bowl of tomato sauce and some shredded cheese. They take it from there piling on the vegetables on their pizza, sometime even eating a piece of broccoli in the process. For our Mexican meals, I usually make beans, half I leave whole and half I mash and saute with onions as re fried beans, I make veggie meat and sauteed onions with peppers. I put out cheese, guacamole and salsa and everyone makes their own. Some prefer the whole bean some prefer it mashed, this way everyone gets what they want. Sushi night is fun too, they choose from the fake crab stick, avocado, cucumber and honey roasted peanuts, put it in the middle and roll. They just eat whole without even cutting it. Finally, salad is a great make your own food too. Growing up we had salad in my house every night, but between all the different tastes of my brother and sister the only way to do it was make your own. We had a big bowl of lettuce and then an assortment of chopped vegetables and toppings for everyone to choose their own.
Allowing kids to get involved in the kitchen is an important opportunity to teach good nutrition and get young children to try new foods. When my kids make it, they eat it.
On pizza night, I make dough or buy a prepared dough, they each get a ball to roll out on their own, if I am in a rush I do this part ahead. I then cut up all our favorite toppings, broccoli, mushrooms, spinach and olives. I put out a bowl of tomato sauce and some shredded cheese. They take it from there piling on the vegetables on their pizza, sometime even eating a piece of broccoli in the process. For our Mexican meals, I usually make beans, half I leave whole and half I mash and saute with onions as re fried beans, I make veggie meat and sauteed onions with peppers. I put out cheese, guacamole and salsa and everyone makes their own. Some prefer the whole bean some prefer it mashed, this way everyone gets what they want. Sushi night is fun too, they choose from the fake crab stick, avocado, cucumber and honey roasted peanuts, put it in the middle and roll. They just eat whole without even cutting it. Finally, salad is a great make your own food too. Growing up we had salad in my house every night, but between all the different tastes of my brother and sister the only way to do it was make your own. We had a big bowl of lettuce and then an assortment of chopped vegetables and toppings for everyone to choose their own.
Allowing kids to get involved in the kitchen is an important opportunity to teach good nutrition and get young children to try new foods. When my kids make it, they eat it.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Adventures With My Pressure Cooker
This article is cross-posted on joyofkosher.com
What is round, eco-friendly, and full of hot air? Not Al Gore. A pressure cooker! A pressure cooker is a pot with a locking lid that creates an airtight seal to suppress the steam created when food heats up. It allows liquid to boil at 250°F rather than the usual boiling point of 212°F. The higher temperature reduces the cooking time for most foods and the steam tenderizes the ingredients making it an ideal cooking method for soups, stews, rice and beans.
I’ve heard pressure cookers are a convenient cooking tool, but I didn’t know much about them. I also heard scary stories about exploding pressure cookers! Last year, at a nutrition workshop, I met a colleague who was raving about her pressure cooker. It was easy to use, cooked foods in half the time and safe, she explained. It was time to investigate. I learned that the stories of pots exploding were decades old, when manufacturers used inferior materials to save money. The days of exploding pressure cookers are over, the modern pressure cooker is filled with safety mechanisms that provide all the advantages of pressure cooking without the risk of sauce on the ceiling.
The pressure cooker provides many advantages over traditional cooking methods. For the busy home cook working under pressure (I couldn’t resist), the main advantage is that food can be cooked in a fraction of the time. A thick pea soup in just 20 minutes, a richly flavored chicken soup in half an hour, corned beef in 45 minutes (instead of 4 hours), dry beans in less time than an episode of The Office and risotto in 20 minutes (without stirring)!
Since the food is being cooked for a shorter period of time, it is less likely to lose vitamins and minerals and will retain color and flavor better than a microwave or slow stovetop cooking. The pressure cooker will save you up to 70% cooking time and with three kids, I can use all the extra time I can get. Less time with the stove or oven on also means a lower gas or electric bill and a cooler kitchen. The pressure cooker is particularly popular in countries where the cost of fuel and electricity is very high, and judging from my last bill, we qualify!
I went to the store and the choice was between two well reviewed models, the Cuisinart CPC-600 1000-Watt 6-Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
and the Fagor Splendid 6-Quart Pressure Cooker. I selected the Fagor and I have been very happy with my purchase. Some models have more than one pressure setting, meaning the cooking temperature reached inside will vary depending on the pressure setting. The amount of pressure is measured in (psi) or Pounds of Pressure Per Square Inch. I typically use the high setting, because I want to cook everything as fast as possible, but depending on what you are cooking you can adjust the setting easily. The Fagor also features a triple safety system, which includes a safety locking handle to prevent accidental opening under pressure, a dual pressure control valve, and two independent over pressure release valves to avoid pressure build up. The pot is even dishwasher safe making clean-up a breeze.
and the Fagor Splendid 6-Quart Pressure Cooker. I selected the Fagor and I have been very happy with my purchase. Some models have more than one pressure setting, meaning the cooking temperature reached inside will vary depending on the pressure setting. The amount of pressure is measured in (psi) or Pounds of Pressure Per Square Inch. I typically use the high setting, because I want to cook everything as fast as possible, but depending on what you are cooking you can adjust the setting easily. The Fagor also features a triple safety system, which includes a safety locking handle to prevent accidental opening under pressure, a dual pressure control valve, and two independent over pressure release valves to avoid pressure build up. The pot is even dishwasher safe making clean-up a breeze.Because a pressure coker needs space for steam to be created and room for the pressure to build, never fill your cooker more than two-thirds full. First, bring the contents of the pot to pressure and then cook the allotted time. Most models (like the Fagor) have an indicator that shows when the pressure is up and automatically locks into place. When the time is up you can let it come down naturally by turning off the heat or you can switch to the fast release method, which lets out all the built up steam and pressure in an instant, like a tea kettle or Mel Gibson.
The pressure cooker is great for quick meals that taste like they took hours to make. Healthy dinners filled with beans and vegetables and/or meats and poultry that you can throw into a pot and let the pressure cooker do the work. It can even be used to steam vegetables or potatoes. Although I use a rice cooker for rice, a pressure cooker can make an amazing risotto, without the constant stirring that makes my head spin and my hands ache. I am tempted to buy a second pressure cooker just for dairy, if only to make risotto with parmesan cheese. I bet it willalso make a fantastic alfredo sauce and a delicious cream soup.
The pressure cooker does magic with dry beans, which are much lower in sodium than the canned version. Beans are a healthy high fiber food that can be cooked in so many different ways. Now, I make all my beans in the pressure cooker and I freeze leftovers. I soak the beans the night before (which helps remove dirt and other impurities and reduces the GI effects) and then boil for 10 minutes. If you forget to soak the beans, just cook for an hour. Generally, the rule of thumb is three cups of water for every one cup of beans. Do not add salt in the cooking process, you can add salt later, but a bay leaf, garlic or onion packs a savory punch. I didn’t believe it at first, but it really works. Twenty minutes later and my Heart Healthy Veggie Chili was ready to serve.
If you haven’t opened the pressure cooker you got for your wedding or are ready to take a chance and buy one, here are a few of the recipes that I made with my pressure cooker that I think you will love:
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice
Now it is time for me to start a new year of pumpkin memories. I will have to get my kids to help me make the pumpkin muffins, filled with whole wheat flour and pumpkin for extra vitamins and fiber it is a great breakfast, even with a smal amount of chocolate mixed in. This year maybe I will try some pumpkin soup. Next week we will go pick out pumpkins with the granparents and then carve it and make fresh roasted pumpkin seeds. Can't get much better than that.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
After a summer at home cooking in the kitchen, the kids are ready for prime time. Here is their debut, making honey cake for Rosh Hashanah. The full recipe can be found here.
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