More Reasons to Stay Fit

It looks like overfat is on its way to becoming the leading cause of cancer. Wow!

Santa Monica Farmers Market Haul

pistachios
red grapes
broccoli
short cucumbers
orange pepper
purple pepper
Blue Lake green beans young and tender
daikon sprouts
Chinese broccoli
cabbage

Veggieful Breakfast

A friend/colleague/client asked me if the pictures on this blog were of my actual portions. AB, the answer is sometimes yes and sometimes no. Here is a picture of what I actually had for breakfast this morning. It includes a bed of raw spinach (1.5 cups loosely packed), 2 whole eggs, 1/4 cup white onion, 1 cup broccoli and 1 cup zucchini cooked in olive oil and pasture butter. The plate is 11".

The green sauce is roasted tomatillo, a very easy recipe of chunks of tomatillo with onion, roasted with olive oil, dried herb mix, ancho and cayenne until soft but not crisy. Once it cooled, I blended it with a bit of lemon juice. You can make a big batch because it freezes without losing texture.

Should We Tax Soda Pop?

I really like slate.com's coverage of food issues. Interesting, thought provoking article with lots of other links to follow.

Fiber Bomb Follow Up and Reader Questions

One of our clients tried the Fiber Bomb recipe and had the following comments and questions. Keep 'em coming!

Question:

This made about 12 large and 16-18 small muffins. I think next time I will halve the recipe. I cooked them at 350 degrees for about 45min. (I will cook longer next time).

2 ripe bananas
3 eggs
2 grated pears
2 handfuls: frozen blueberries and 1 handful of frozen raspberries
2-3 handful nuts: almonds
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cups oat bran (Trader Joe’s)
1 handful whole ground flaxseed meal (Bob’s Red Mill)
1 handful whole grain steel cut oats (Bob’s Red Mill)
1 tsp baking soda (optional)
1 tsp baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tsp agave
12 oz cup of plain Greek yogurt

Next time I will use less blueberries and no raspberries. I felt like they needed salt. What do you think it needs? Can I add a pinch of salt? Per muffin would be so minimal.

Also, I found LARABARs. Not sure if you are familiar with them......but they have no added sugar, unprocessed, raw, non-gmo, gluten, dairy and soy free, vegan and kosher. I love the apple pie bar. I looked at the ingredients list: dates, almonds, unsweetened apples, walnuts, raisins and cinnamon. Are these good?

Answer:

I don't think a bit of salt would hurt anything in the fiber bomb, and salt is known to add flavor to baked goods. I agree about the raspberries too - they tend to get mushy with all the hearty grains.

We have frozen fiber bombs before and they're fine when thawed, if slightly mushier in texture. In that case, they're great broken up and added to some yogurt, for example.

As for Larabars, they're a decent product that can be used in a pinch or while traveling. But as always I'm wary of any food in which the digestion process has been started for me. Under normal circumstances, a piece of whole fruit with raw unsalted nuts or seeds is always better.

More Comments:
The fiber bomb can also be made in a loaf pan. Insert a butter knife in the middle when you think it is done. The knife will have some stuff sticking to it, but shouldn’t be wet. Then you could slice it and freeze with wax or parchment paper between the slices.

Also, if anyone knows of other bars that don’t have added sweeteners or any of the MSG ingredients, please let us know.

Grilled Veggies

I am a morning person, so if I know I'm working out at night, I cook in the morning. I grilled a bunch of veggies and they're just lovely. If you're feeling ambitious, marinate them in some fresh squeezed citrus juice first. Make sure you pat them dry before putting them on an oiled grill to reduce spattering. Of course I dumped chipotle all over them.

Rave: Frozen Wild Caught Albacore Steaks

from Trader Joe's. I sprinkled them with Cajun seasoning and a little extra cayenne, smashed some garlic in a pan, and gently fried them in olive oil. Fast and fantastic.