Give Up Fast Food in 2010!

Posted on January 7, 2010

fast-foodGive up fast food in 2010! This simple New Year’s resolution could add years to your life…and subtract inches from your waistline.

Why give it up? These frightening numbers and percentages of a daily 2,000-calorie diet might offer some insight (values taken from Eating for Pregnancy: The Essential Nutrition Guide and Cookbook for Today’s Mothers-to-Be).

  • McDonald’s Big Mac Hamburger : 600 calories (30%), 33 grams total fat (51%)
  • McDonald’s Large French Fries: 540 calories (27%), 26 grams total fat (40%)
  • Burger King Double Whopper Sandwich: 980 calories (49%), 62 grams total fat (95%)

In 2004, after watching Morgan Spurlock’s documtary film, SuperSize Me, in which Spurlock follows a 30-day period of eating only at McDonald’s, my family decided to give up fast food for good (yes, even my two kids…and yes, even at highway rest stops). We have not been to a fast food joint in 5 years, and we honestly don’t miss it.

According to Wikipedia, Superszie Me “…documents this lifestyle’s drastic effects on Spurlock’s physical and psychological well-being, and explores the fast food industry’s corporate influence, including how it encourages poor nutrition for its own profit. Spurlock dined at McDonald’s restaurants three times per day, eating every item on the chain’s menu. He also always “super-sized” his meal if given the option—but only if it was offered. Spurlock consumed an average of 20.92 megajoules or 5,000 kcal (the equivalent of 9.26 Big Macs) per day during the experiment. As a result, the then-32-year-old Spurlock gained 24½ lbs. (11.1 kg), a 13% body mass increase, a cholesterol level of 230, and experienced mood swings, sexual dysfunction, and fat accumulation to his liver. It took Spurlock fourteen months to lose the weight gained from his experiment.”  Source: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Size_Me)

Please make getting healthy a goal for 2010…and start by saying NO to all fast food for everyone in your family. Sure, it’s convenient and cheap…but it’s also packed with calories, saturated fat, trans fats, cholesterol, artificial this-and-that, and other stuff that’s bad for your health and impossible to pronouce. It takes a bit more planning and legwork to have healthy food on hand, but it can be done.

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My 5 Favorite Cookbooks of 2009

Posted on December 7, 2009

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My 5 Favorite Cookbooks of 2009

Like most professional cooks, I have hundreds of cookbooks that I’ve amassed over the decades. But unlike most professional cooks, my home changes every three to four years. You see, my beloved husband is a Foreign Service Officer, so whenever he gets a new assignment, I pack up the family and we head overseas for an exciting new adventure. Honestly, I love exploring unfamiliar foods and cultures (which makes all of this moving insanity worthwhile), but inevitably, on moving day, our shipment is grossly overweight, and it’s my cookbooks that are first to go. Leaving Manila in the summer of 2008, I donated more than 200 cookbooks and hundreds of back issues of food magazines to a local cooking school. They were thrilled, and I avoided paying thousands of dollars on overweight shipping costs. You’d think I’d learn to cut back on cookbooks, but no…new ones appear on my wish list every year.

This year was a good one for cookbooks, including my own completely revised second edition of Eating for Pregnancy: The Essential Nutrition Guide and Cookbook for Today’s Mothers-to-Be released in June 2009. I cook from this book ALL the time…this past week I made the hummus, chicken curry, black bean soup, chicken salad, and fruit-filled granola. I was, in fact, doing double duty: cooking for a friend, who is on a low-iodine diet for her upcoming thyroid cancer radiation treatment, and cooking for my father, who is on a low-sodium diet. My family reaped the delicious benefits (even in their lunch boxes). Bottom line: you don’t have to be pregnant to cook from this book….and, you can modify the 150 recipes (including lots of new Asian-inspired vegetarian and vegan recipes) to suit your family’s needs and taste buds.

So, what do I recommend for the cook in your life this holiday season? Here are five of my favorite cookbooks from 2009. Happy Holidays from my kitchen to yours!

Gourmet Today: More than 1,000 All-New Recipes for the Contemporary Kitchen by Ruth Reichl (Editor) Retail: $40.00 ($23.40 amazon price) This cookbook delivers on all of its promises, producing flavorful dishes for every occasion, from family meals to formal dinners. Reichl’s charmingly honest voice (which shines through in her poignant memoirs), and a collection of 1,000 plus professionally tested recipes from the Gourmet test Kitchen, makes this the PERFECT addition to anyone’s cookbook collection. It’s especially timely as November sadly saw the last issue of Gourmet Magazine, a publication I’ve subscribed to for decades.

Asian Dumplings: Mastering Gyoza, Spring Rolls, Samosas and More by Andrea Nguyen Retail: $30.00 ($19.80 amazon price) Who doesn’t LOVE a delicious dumpling? A Taiwanese friend of mine living in the Philippines, Tina Wong, taught me how to make authentic pork-and-cabbage Chinese New Year’s dumplings. We would make batches of them (literally hundreds) for our families, and then sit down and stuff ourselves silly for lunch. Nguyen’s illustrated step-by-step technique makes dumplings and other wrapped delights attainable for the home cook. I have this lovely book…and can’t wait to cook from it during the holidays. I can already hear the oohs and aaahs.

Weber’s Way to Grill: The Step-by-Step Guide to Expert Grilling by Jamie Purviance Retail: 24.95 ($16.47 amazon price) The perfect gift for the grill-hunk/babe in your life. Comes complete with techniques, tips, recipes, and tons of other info to make grilling fun, tasty, and easy…everything it should be. My grill-hunk-husband will be thrilled to find this tome under the tree.

Bite-Size Desserts: Creating Mini Sweet Treats from Cupcakes and Cobbles to Custards and Cookies by Carole Bloom, CCP Retail: $24.95 ($16.47 amazon price) When all you want is a sweet bite to end the perfect meal…make one of Bloom’s delectable confections. Her Double Lemon Meringue Tartlets and Chocolate Espresso Pots de Crème will leave everyone’s taste buds swooning. For me, this book will be an indispensable tool for all of the coffees, teas, cocktails, and formal dinners I will host when I’m entertaining overseas. Thanks Carole!

Cooking Light: The Essential Dinner Tonight Cookbook: Over 350 Delicious, Easy, and Healthy Meals by the Editors of Cooking Light Magazine Retail: $29.95 ($19.77 amazon price) A go-to book for everyday cooking. The Cooking Light test kitchen is a trusted source for healthy, tasty recipes, and most of them are quick and easy. The Chicken Enchiladas with Salsa Verde were a hit with my family, and they also loved the Corn Chowder (I substituted bacon for the hot-smoked salmon). A great book for all busy cooks.

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Sweet Gratitude: The Perfect Gift

Posted on December 6, 2009

sweet-gratitude1Looking for a holiday gift for a teacher, co-worker, boss, aunt, or friend that says Happy Holidays and Thank You at the same time? Judith Sutton, author of Sweet Gratitude: How to Bake a Thank You, has created the perfect solution. I buy her book by the dozen (no kidding) and give them to teachers, doctors, co-workers, and as hostess presents ($15.95 for a hard-cover cookbook with whimsical watercolor illustrations is a lot cheaper than a bouquet of flowers, and it lasts longer too! http://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Gratitude-Thank-You-Really-Important/dp/1579652611). When it comes to super-size thank yous…for the friend who took care of my spunky blonde labradoodle for a week…I give the book along with a delectable confection I baked from it.

Honestly, I’d be hard pressed to choose a favorite recipe. Those I return to repeatedly include the Little Lemon Loaves, Devil’s Food Cupcakes, Very Special Fudgy Brownies, Melt-In-Your-Mouth Coconut Macaroons, and the Chunky Chocolate Chip Cookies. With Judith’s permission, below is a deliciously crisp gingersnap to indulge yourself and others. To quote from her recipe notes: “…A friend who never bakes asked for the recipe as soon as he tasted them and then made them at Christmas. They keep and ship well—slip them into your holiday gift boxes or other care packages, or into the kids’ lunch boxes.” http://www.sweetgratitude.com

Judith Sutton’s Spicy English Gingersnap

Makes about 96 cookies
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of ground allspice (optional)
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
12 tablespoons (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar, plus about 1 cup for rolling
½ cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
¼ cup dark molasses

  1. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, if using, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl.
  2. In a large bowl, bear the butter and both sugars with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the egg, blending well, then beat in the molasses. On low speed, beat in the flour mixture in two additions. Cover and refrigerate until the dough is firm enough to shape, about 2 hours. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 1 day; it can also be frozen, well wrapped, for up to 2 weeks. Thaw in the refrigerator before using.)
  3. Put the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two heavy baking sheets (if you don’t have heavy baking sheets, reduce the baking time by a minute or two).
  4. Put the sugar for rolling in a small shallow bowl. Using about 1 level teaspoon of dough per cookie, roll the dough into scant 1-inch balls, then roll the balls in the sugar, coating well, and place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
  5. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, switching the position of the baking sheets halfway through baking, until the cookies are flat and crinkled and the edges are very slightly browned. Let cool on the baking sheets for 1 to 2 minutes, then transfer the cookies to racks to cool completely. (The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days.)

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