Healthy Cooking by design

Why is portion control so important?  I suppose it depends on whether you are trying to burn all the calories you take in each day, or have extra ones to store away for later.  Even as I write this, I am enjoying 1/2 cup of oats, cooked, and topped with measured amounts of butter, brown sugar, bannana, etc.  Instead of feeling frustrated at the thought of measuring my breakfast (or approximating it because I’ve made it so many times), I find security and peace of mind knowing that I will burn all the calories I eat today and still be a size 7 tomorrow.

Imagine you bought fertilizer for your lawn, but it did not come with directions for proper application.  You would wander your yard, scatter the amount you thought was right, and hope for the best.  Through trial and error (and watching the results), you would discover what did not work well, but would probably not get the maximum benefit without the directions.  It is the same with food.

Most companies selling food are not only trying to make money, but are unconcerned with your health or the long-term results of eating their food.  I like to think of them as used car salesmen.  I evaluate each company individually to see how much they know about what they are selling, and how accurately they represent that information.  The Center for Science in the Public Interest, has some great lists of the best and worst foods.  Here are just a couple of their examples of restaurants not understanding (or caring) what they are selling, and consumers not understanding (or caring) what they are eating:

• Chili’s Big Mouth Bites with French fries (four mini bacon cheeseburgers with fried onion strings): 2,350 calories, 38 grams saturated fat, 3,940 milligrams sodium.  That’s about two days worth of RDA for most people.
• Olive Garden Tour of Italy, with lasagna, chicken parmigiana, and fettuccine alfredo: 1,450 calories, 33 grams saturated fat, 3,830 milligrams sodium.  If you’re over 40 or have high blood pressure, that’s more than twice the sodium you should have in an entire day.
• Ruby Tuesday’s “Fresh Chicken & Broccoli Pasta.” It sounds healthy, but its 2,060 calories and 128 grams of fat make it the equivalent of two 12-ounce sirloin steaks, two buttered baked potatoes, and two Caesar salads. (CSPI calls this dish “Angioplasta.”)
• Cheesecake Factory’s “Chris’ Outrageous Chocolate Cake.” This 1,380-calorie menu item is the equivalent of eating two Quarter Pounders plus a large fries—for dessert.
• Starbucks Venti White Chocolate Mocha and Blueberry Scone would provide 1,100 calories—or about as much as one would find in a Burger King bacon double cheeseburger, medium fries, and medium Coke.

Most of us realize that our desires will drive us to an unhealthy place unless control or restraint is applied.  We easily recognize this with the number of hours we (or our children) watch television, the amount of candy we eat in a day, how much money we spend frivolously out of our paychecks, etc.  Most adults don’t really live by “if it feels good, do it”.

Once we decide that we want to use portion control when eating, the question is how.  You could check out Mayo Clinic’s slide show on Portion Control for Weight Loss, Web MD’s article on Portion Control and Weight Loss, or look at The Portion Plate - an actual plate that shows portion guidelines.  You could also search a particular food in Calorie King’s Food Database and they will tell you the appropriate serving size, allow you to select other serving sizes, give you the nutritional information, as well as the amount of exercise needed to burn those calories.

Most of us have never been taught this information and yet it is foundational to good health and maintaining a healthy weight.  Once you get used to seeing and using healthy portion sizes, it is easier to see that both at home and in a restaurant, we serve and eat a lot more food than we need.

Special photo thanks to loleia at stock.xchng.

I constantly challenge myself to learn.  Whether about being a better mother, wife, Christian, or healthy cook.  Not only do I want to know more information, I want to apply it practically.   One of my favorite ways to learn about healthy foods is my library.

When I have a client for whom I am creating recipes, I tend to study what they like or need in their diet.  Recently I have learned more about Columbian food, gluten-free food, and diabetes-friendly food.  And when I don’t have something specific I’m trying to learn more about, I just go for generally nutritious and natural foods and healthy cooking methods.

I typically go to my library’s section on cooking and start browsing titles.  Ones that sound like my style of cooking and eating, I pick up and thumb through.  If I find ingredients that are too expensive (black truffle mushrooms), things my family wouldn’t like (squid), or cooking methods I wouldn’t use (deep-fried) then I put it back.  Otherwise, I look further.  If I find it in line with what I believe is healthy, or see several recipes we would probably like, I check it out and take it home.

I read it in my spare time (ok, I have to TAKE time), write down any recipes I’d like to try and then return it.  I always keep the name of the author with the recipe in case I like it and pass it on so they get the credit.  Well, I’ve got to get back to looking through the small stack I brought home from the library yesterday…

Some people who are trying to eat healthier make lists of foods to avoid - no McDonalds, no fried foods, no candy bars, etc.  I tend to go the opposite route.  My husband might say I am ALWAYS going the opposite route…but that’s a story for another day.

Years ago, I found a list of the healthiest foods to include in your diet.  At mealtimes, I would look over the list and see how many foods I could include in that meal.  So instead of trying to avoid certain foods and suffering through eating my second choice, I am looking for ways to include healthy ingredients and making them my first choice.  And by linking the good result I want in my body with the foods that will give it to me, it makes it easier to take the viewpoint that it really is my first choice.

One of the great lists on the web is at Worlds Healthiest Foods.  They have a fantastic list of healthy foods to include in your diet.  Another good list is the Glycemic Index of foods.  I try to include lots of foods from the low glycemic index category, some from the intermediate GI cagegory, and very few from the high GI category.  This Glycemic Index from Former Fat Guy is a simple and easy to read chart.  I hope some of these ideas make it easier to look for good foods to include in your diet.

I have several friends who have removed gluten from their diets.  I cannot imagine how difficult it is to eat a variety of healthy grains, breads, and cereals when gluten is excluded.  So, I was very excited when my friends at U.S. Mills Company sent me samples of their new Erewhon brand (prounounced Air-wahn) gluten-free cereals.   I thought I’d pass along my thoughts.

The Cocoa Crispy Brown Rice was the first one opened at my house.  If you have kids, you can relate.  Even our child who would choose white puffy bread over whole wheat really enjoyed it.  She said that it was not Cocoa Krispies, but it was still really good.  She’s eaten it every morning since then - I guess that says it all.  If you read the box, you’ll see that its made by toasting the actual grain of brown rice and uses all organic, natural ingredients.  Tastes good and is good for you - my favorite combo.

The cereal I tried first was the Strawberry Crisp.  It’s brown rice and corn flakes with bits of real strawberries.  The flakes stayed crisp and the strawberries rehydrated in the the milk and actually tasted like fresh diced strawberries.  The cereal is “lightly sweetened” and with a few slices of banana, it was just perfect for me without any added sweetener.

Finally, I tried the Corn Flakes.  Now if you eat gluten-free, you may already eat pounds of corn flakes.  I still think these are worth your time to try.  First let me help you remember how simple an ingredient list on the side of a box can look - organic milled corn, and sea salt.  Think of these corn flakes as a blank canvas that you get to complete each day to fit the mood you are in.  I can easily envision a different fruit, nut, or sweetener for every day of the week.  And I would most certainly make the recipe on the box for Crisp Macaroons and eat those for breakfast on the go!  I think these flakes would make a fantastic topping for oven baked chicken or a Mexican casserole, crushed and lightly sprayed with butter flavored canola spray to make them brown and toasty.

And even if you don’t need gluten-free, they are delicious and so are the wide variety of whole grain, natural, and organic products from U.S. Mills.