Fake Food Free

“The key to not making a mess when you bake is to put each ingredient away as you use it.”


I have no idea why these words stuck in my head, but they did. The one thing I can always remember baking with my grandma was chocolate chip cookies. They were on the agenda every time I came over. It was during one of these baking sessions that she told me the above tip. I put it into practice each time I bake and she was right. I’m left with a much smaller mess at the end and as a result I think of her.

Friends, I tell you these words and this story because my grandmother passed away yesterday. While it is a sad day and there will be more to come I have no doubt that she is in a heavenly paradise with the Lord.

So I’ll be taking a break from the blogging world for a few days as I travel to the States. Don’t go too far, I should be back late next week with regular posts. See you then.

God Bless!

I took these photos at a mall here in Brazil on a holiday called “The Day of Children”. They had the coolest set up of a little bakery/kitchen and they held sessions throughout the day. Each session offered the chance to create a different food and the kids were given all the gear including the cutest chef hats and aprons.

We watched the children become completely mesmerized as the leader explained what they would be making. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. It was such a great reminder of how much children actually like cooking and how learning those skills can affect their health and future.

I don’t have children of my own, but I know the importance of learning how to cook and bake. Why? Well, like most of us, my family taught me the basics. My mom, grandmothers and great aunt all provided me with the skills I needed. My mom had a cake shop in our house and I was able to help at an early age. I think I’ve taken this love of food and cooking to a whole new level, but that is where it started.

I love that new programs are being developed and efforts being made to get kids back into the kitchen. I just completed an article for a client about the importance of family meals and cooking together is a big part of it.

I’ll be honest. I am always completely amazed when people say they can’t cook. I guess this is because I equate cooking with making any meal. If you can throw yourself a salad together you are cooking in your own way. It is about putting together a great meal. It doesn’t mean you have to be any good at it. The failures in my kitchen overwhelm me sometimes. It just saddens me when I hear people have never learned to simply make a grilled cheese.

Cooking and baking for me goes way beyond just having food. It is a huge component of health. I realized long ago that I would never be able to maintain a healthy weight if I ate out all the time. Over the years it has become a source of peace and stress release for me as I moved from the all-in-one boxed meals during the college days to baking my own chicken as a grown up.

So tell me where your love of food and cooking comes from? Is it about health for you too?

I'm not sure if it is obvious or not, but I’m trying to find a bit of a balance with my blog. My goal is to provide you with thought provoking health information related to fake vs. real foods. In addition, I’ve really fallen for this world of food blogging and it has helped me gain a renewed love of cooking which had been wavering since my move abroad due to various barriers.

So my plan is to feature a few real foods with recipes each week along with plenty of posts about health and wellness. Have some thoughts? Tell me what you think in the comments today. I’m open to all suggestions and opinions.

Now on to today’s subject – Black Beans!!

Black beans are so popular these days they seem to be a staple in most of our kitchens. I happen to love them. I have them in anything from salsa to salads to my scrambled egg omelets.

We can’t forget that they fall into that category of black foods which offer so many health benefits. In addition, to the protein and fiber those rich, dark pigments provide us with unique set of disease fighting antioxidants.

I’ve had a black bean burger recipe sitting out on my counter forever. I finally got around to trying it late last week and they were so great! They were featured in the August issue of Shape magazine and I highly recommend them.

They tend to have a bit of a summer feel, I know, but they could be just the lighter fair you are looking for among all the heavy comfort food around at the moment.

I followed the recipe pretty closely, however, I used white onion instead of red and I also cooked them in a little olive oil. The recipe had a pico de gallo with it, but I just used some of the same ingredients to make my own salsa. I also skipped the tortillas that the original recipe called for.

Black Bean Burgers
Slightly modified from a recipe at Shape.com

1 tbsp olive oil
16 oz. cooked black beans
1/3 cup onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup panko bread crumbs
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp salt
Dash of pepper

Sautee the onion and garlic in a little olive oil until slightly browned and tender. Mix all ingredients in a bowl, mashing the black beans as you combine everything together (I had to add about a tablespoon of water for moisture). Shape into 4 patties and cook in skillet coated with olive oil until browned on each side and heated through. Top with salsa.

For the salsa, simply chop the following ingredients and toss together with lime juice, salt and pepper.
Tomato
Onion
Avocado
Jarred jalapeños
Cilantro

If you’ve kept up with current health news over the past year you’ve probably come across all the hype about the need for 8 – 8oz glasses of water a day being a myth.

Happy Saturday! I hope you are all having a lovely weekend. I hear it is snowy in many parts of the US so I thought a picture of warm sunshine might cheer you up if you aren’t too fond of it. I would love to see some snow about now and I am hoping for a white Christmas during my time home in December.

Here are a few things I really enjoyed reading this week. I hope you will too.

The Tangled Noodle had a really great post about cultural identity, ethnicity and food. It was a reminder to me how food can be a comfort and in some ways defines us. Sometimes I think this is forgotten when it comes to health. Food is such an important part of our lives we can’t remove it we should embrace it and work on developing a healthy relationship with it.

Back to the Fridge brought up an interesting question about the cost of food, wondering if it is still cheaper to eat-in with current times. My take is that for unhealthy foods, those dollar menus may make eating out less expensive, but for wholesome, healthy foods it is still less expensive to eat at home. Eating at home is one of the main ways my husband and I save money for travel.

That’s Fit had a what I consider a rather saddening post about the rise in prescription medications among children for obesity related conditions. I wish so much this was a problem that as a society we could get under control. Changes are moving in the right direction, but I fear we have a long way to go.

The ACSM released their predictions for the Top 20 Fitness Trends for 2009. Looking at the list not a whole lot has changed from last year, but this is a positive thing in my opinion. It is nice to see that we’ve come across tools and exercises that have staying power like the stability ball and group cycling. I’m definitely glad that number 1 and 2 will continue to be a priority.

I’ve really gotten into the pumpkin craze and have been amazed at all the recipes floating around. I still tend to lean towards sweet with my pumpkin and butternut squashes so I continue to look for more savory recipes.

I found this one for butternut squash, but I didn’t have it on hand at the moment. I decided to try it with pumpkin instead since I had some already roasted and waiting to be used.

I loved the combo although I think next time I will caramelize the onions before throwing them in. They needed to be more soft and tender.

Savory Pumpkin Side
Modified from Amazing Butternut Squash

2 cups roasted pumpkin puree
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup onion, finely chopped
1 egg
1 tsp brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ c crushed crackers, cereal or bread crumbs
2 tbsp grated Parmesan
1 tbsp butter, melted

Mix first 6 ingredients in a bowl until combined well. Transfer to a baking dish. Mix butter, Parmesan and crumbs and sprinkle on top of pumpkin mix. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F for about 35 minutes or until bubbly.

Did your favorite grocery store make the top 10? I got this article from Health Magazine yesterday. Top 10 include:

Whole Foods
Safeway
Harris Teeter
Trader Joe’s
Hannaford
Albertsons
Food Lion
Publix
Pathmark
SuperTarget

If you are located near a Trader Joe’s let me say I am so jealous and I hope you have counted your blessings. I love that store and have only been able to go when I travel. I keep telling my husband we should base our next move on their locations!

We had a SuperTarget near us when I was in undergrad and I loved that too. I was always able to find unique and fun things there. I was also able to visit a Harris Teeter while traveling in Alexandria, VA and really liked it.

What’s your favorite?

1. Pomegranate juice
2. Red wine
3. Concord grape juice
4. Blueberry juice
5. Black cherry juice
6. Açaí juice
7. Cranberry juice
8. Orange juice
9. Tea
10. Apple juice

I was looking through some of my magazines this past weekend and came across this article about a recent study that looked at the antioxidant level of popular drinks and juices.

After my post about my fortunate access to açaí I had to write a post about this. I was so amazed to see it so far down on the list. However, I was very happy to see red wine up there and to know that cranberry juice made the top 10. I love cranberries!

Normally I like to go back and read through a study when I find research like this which brings me to one my biggest pet peeves in the research world. I understand that it is a money making business, but the prices of access to research journals are absolutely ridiculous.

What good are you doing for society when you produce great research, but no one can find it due to it costing a fortune? It does make me miss the days when I worked for academia and had free access to just about any research journal I wanted.

Anyway, I thought I’d also give a little update on açaí. I had heard that it is really caloric. Now, I know a ton of foods that have nutrient benefits that far outweigh the calorie content, meaning it is worth it because they are so healthy.

They often sell little packets of natural fruit pulp here to be made into juices. A friend of mine bought one pack of pineapple and one pack of açaí. This was just natural pulp, no sugar or anything.

The pineapple had 60 calories. The açaí…250 calories!! That is just in the berry itself. I found it quite amazing. The health benefits are probably worth it and I’m not giving it up, but I might need some extra time at the gym!

Did your favorite natural fruit juice make the list?

By the way, I didn’t have access to the whole research article, but here is the abstract if you want to take a look.
Comparison of Antioxidant Potency of Commonly Consumed Polyphenol-Rich Beverages in the United States

Photo by Emily Roesly, morguefile.com