By Mike

The NY Times “Well” Blog has a list of 11 nutritious foods you aren’t eating, with some good information about each. I’d like to give my own take on each:

1. Beets: While you’re babies might be eating pureed beets out of a jar, most Americans are probably more familiar with beets in their pickled form (at least I am). While not as healthy as plain, boiled beets, I can attest to their tasty vinegary flavor, especially with some added salt (but only a little for taste). On the other hand, Stacie loves beets fresh from her father’s garden, boiled and sliced. Personally, I think they taste and smell like dirt, so I’ll stick with the pickled variety.
2. Cabbage: I must say that I love cabbage, but it does wreak a little havoc on the GI system. I enjoy the flavor, whether raw, boiled, fried (in Halushki), as cole slaw, or in most Asian recipes. Stacie will agree it’s one of our favorite veggies.
3. Swiss chard: I’ve never heard of it, hence why we don’t eat it. We’ll have to check it out, but perhaps they should just change the name as “chard” doesn’t sound very appetizing.
4. Cinnamon: Not sure why this made this list, unless the author means that people don’t choose cinnamon as a flavor enhancer over sugar more often. Cinnamon has a bite if you use too much, so you probably need to experiment first to see what your tastebuds can handle.
5. Pomegranate juice: To me (an uneducated lay-person), this sounds like the next big fad. I won’t discredit the value of fruits, but many companies are placing pomegranates at lofty levels of near-miraculous benefits. However, Pomegranate-flavored Smirnoff Ice (alcohol) isn’t too bad (although definitely NOT healthy).
6. Dried plums/prunes: I can see why people dislike prunes, but I was on a little prune kick a few months back. Eating a serving of prunes (about 5-6) each day left me feeling more full than normal, but I will admit that you need to get a fresh bag where the prunes are moist. Dried-up prunes just aren’t very appetizing.
7. Pumpkin seeds: I admit that as a child, my parents would bake pumpkin seeds in the oven, and I would gag from the smell. And I know that the insane amounts of salt people put on these seeds probably negates most health benefits, so if you like pumpkin seeds, try eating them plain or with a minimum of seasoning.
8. Sardines: I’ll eat basically anything, but even I avoid sardines mostly because they’re not cleaned well. I hate biting into some strange bone (that beady string thing) or internal organ. If the factory would take the time to clean these little fishies more, and not add so much sodium and other preservatives to the can, then I think more people would eat them.
9. Turmeric: See “Pomegranate juice” above. Since no one has truly nailed down the cause of cancer, I can’t see how anyone can say that something is good at preventing cancer. And as with cinnamon, you need to test out the usage of this spice or else you could get a shock when biting into your food.
10. Frozen blueberries: I’ll admit I dislike eating foods that pop, like peas, grapes and blueberries. Perhaps I had a bad experience when I was young and something undesirable resided inside the fruit and now I’m afraid of what might pop out. Either way, I can’t deny the healthy qualities of blueberries. And you’ll find that frozen blueberries are much cheaper than fresh ones (although they won’t ever thaw back into a regular fresh blueberry. It’ll be less “full”).
11. Canned pumpkin: I think people are put off by the texture of canned pumpkin (at least Stacie and I are), but if you can get past the pastiness of it and like the strong flavor, then have at it!

_{Photos by lukekb, Roland, and Lisa Norwood,}

As you know, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Starting your day with a good breakfast can help energize you and provide you with a lot of key nutrients. With that in mind, I like to test products to determine which ones measure up in the morning.

Product Tested:

Curves Cereal Whole Grain Crunch

Nutrition Comparison

Calories: 100 cal per 3/4 cup are comparable to many other “run of the mill” cereals.

Sodium: It has 180 mg of sodium, but only 2 grams of fiber. It is a good source of many nutrients though, which is a good thing!

Initial Thoughts

It was crunchy! It tasted like a mix between Total Cereal and Special K. I expected to be hungry an hour after I ate it, but it kept me satiated for about 3 hours.

Overall Rating

On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being “gross, take it off the market” to 10 being “yum! Can I get stock in this company?”), I would give the cereal a rating of 7 for being better than cardboard, but still needing some more oomph to make the flavor pop. Also, it could use more fiber to make it a more filling and healthy breakfast.

One of the best parts of Saturdays during the summer is our local Farmer’s Market. Each Saturday (when we are free) during the summer, my husband and I enjoy walking to the Farmer’s Market, checking out the produce and purchasing some of our favorite foods. Not only do we support our local farmers, but we also support our bodies by getting exercise and purchasing healthy foods.

Our farmer’s market is open on Saturdays from May through October each year; based on your location and the types of produce available in that area, your farmer’s market may be open during different months/seasons than ours. Check out your city council’s website or your local newspaper for more information.

A great website to peruse is Local Harvest, which is a website to help you find organic and local food. Once you enter in your location (city/state, zip), you can find several great resources in your area:

• Farmer’s Markets
• Eco-friendly restaurants (restaurants using locally grown produce)
• Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs), in which you can buy a “share” in a farm, and then receive a bag of produce from that farm weekly during the produce season
• Farms
• Grocery stores with locally grown produce
• Online store (if you would like produce shipped to you)

Take some time this summer to buy local produce and support your local farmers! It’s a great way to get your fruits and vegetables!!!

When cooking, how often do you substitute an ingredient because you realize that you don’t have it? I typically make sure I have all of the ingredients before I cook a meal or bake a dessert, and if I don’t have an ingredient, I don’t make the item!

Let’s take an example: Jane is making a low-fat cheesecake recipe that she found. However, she realizes that she picked up regular cream cheese instead of low-fat, so she uses that instead. She also decides to use regular sour cream instead of low-fat. Before you know it, Jane substitutes regular fat products instead of low-fat–and her recipe is no longer low in fat. Although this might sound silly–and you may think “I’d never do that!”, be cautious when you are cooking and try not to substitute high fat for those low-fat items.

_{Comic by Nick}

Are you plagued by the Fast Food Devil? Do you feel like you can’t get enough of Fast Food? What DO you do?

My husband loves fast food–KFC, Taco Bell, Arby’s, and Wendy’s are a few of his favorite places. Before we had our “no eating out on weeknights” rule, we would sometimes stop by a fast food restaurant after the gym (I know, it defeats the purpose!). Luckily, we examined our finances and determined that we wouldn’t eat out during weeknights–just weekends, and for only one of the three meals during the weekends (so Friday night, once Saturday, and once Sunday were acceptable, if we chose to).

During that rule-setting time, we also decided that we were going to limit our fast food consumption to UP TO ONCE A MONTH. That’s right–only once a month. I am sure my husband craved his fast food, but he never complained. I would always let him choose where we went to eat fast food, and sometimes I would order something on the menu, other times I would make myself food at home (as we often got our food “to go”, I could then still eat with him). Over the past year, our stops at fast food restaurants has dwindled from once a month to less than 3-4 times a year.

Now, I’m not saying that fast food is necessarily bad for you–you CAN order food on the menu that can be healthy and low in fat. However, if you are plagued by wanting that Spicy Baconator (TM) from Wendy’s (substitute your favorite item from your favorite fast food restaurant here) all of the time, then consider making fast food a treat rather than a norm. Your body will thank you.

Photo by Ebruli