Shop Talk--I'm not boiling lasagna noodles anymore!

I'm all for cutting corners in the kitchen. Don't get me wrong, I do love to cook but the way I see it, life's too short to do those mundane cooking steps you really DON'T have to do. Like...Making chicken broth from scratch (not necessary). Like bringing dried beans back to life (hello canned beans!) Like boiling and draining lasagna noodles.

I've tried those really thin no boil noodles that came out in the supermarket over a year ago, but they just aren't the same. Here's what you can do using the regular squiggly edge type lasagna noodles in your lasagna and SKIPPING the icky boiling step:

I first add a cup of bottled marinara sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Then I drizzle 1/4 cup of water over the sauce. Lay 3 uncooked noodles in the pan. Then add half of whatever filling layer you want to add topped with 1 more cup of marinara with 1/4 cup more water drizzled over the top. Lay 3 uncooked noodles down then add the remainder of the filling and top with 1 more cup of marinara drizzled with 1/4 cup of water. Lay 3 uncooked noodles down and top with your last cup of marinara and drizzle with 1/4 cup of water. You can sprinkle cheese over the top if you would like. Coat one side of a sheet of oil with canola cooking spray and lay it on top of the baking pan to cover it well. Bake in 400-degrees oven for 1 hours. Remove the foil and bake 10 minutes more.

This magical equation is my gift to you--You don't have to spend time boiling that water or steaming up your kitchen draining those noodles or burning your fingers trying to pull them out of the strainer. It's rather liberating and it sure adds one more reason to make lasagna this time of year (as if we need another reason!). And the best part? Today's lasagna leftovers become tomorrow's luscious lunch!

--Elaine Magee

Related Topics: Find a Recipe, Quick Healthy Recipes

Dietary Advice for Santa

If I had a few moments with Santa...I might bend his ear about how he might try to trim down so that as he ages, so he is putting less strain on his joints. Easier said than done (don't I know it)...and trust me, I'm not "all about" the BMI tables. I just consider other lifestyle factors helpful for assessing disease "risk" like:

• waist size (last I checked, Santa wasn't exactly doing well on this)
• regular exercise (don't know if Santa chases his reindeer or Mrs. Claus around the North Pole)
• making smart, healthy food choices (that you enjoy) most of the time
• eating when you are hungry and stopping when you are comfortable (so as not to over-eat)

I might also inquire as to his fiber intake (Santa has a LONG ride ahead of him and taking potty breaks aren't exactly in the Christmas Eve schedule...so I would suggest Santa UP his fiber and water intake to keep his intestinal tract humming along!)

Santa also needs endurance on Christmas Eve so I would also remind him to HYDRATE and maybe even Carbo-load (with whole wheat blend pasta) the day of Xmas Eve...so he has the energy (and the temperament) to keep on going through the night with toy deliveries.

He might also want to pack a thermos of hot coffee or light hot cocoa (made with skim or lowfat milk) to give him a kick of caffeine toward the end of the night. The coffee might be better because the warm milk might make him TOO comfortable and put him to sleep.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL...AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

Related Topics: Healthy Holidays, 10 Ways to Lose Weight

Technorati Tags: santa, healthydiet, weightloss, caffeine, fiber,

Santa's Broken Ankle

Heard Santa has a broken ankle...that can't be a good thing! Don't you think we take bones for granted? Here they serve this pivotal purpose in our bodies and we don't really know they're there or appreciate them until we've broken one.

Well...as we age we become more aware of our bones. Because they age along with us! After a certain point in our life (around age 30-35)...they have reached their peak growth and density and then it's downhill from there. The trick is slowing down the decent. Here are a few tips from my book, THE CHANGE OF LIFE DIET AND COOKBOOK...from the chapter BOOST YOUR BONES NATURALLY:

You want to make sure you get enough calcium coming IN (via foods you choose) and you want to make sure a minimal is going out. To do this you want to maximize calcium absorbers and minimize calcium depleters (diets high in protein, caffeine, and sodium).

Get your calcium anyway you can. A few servings of lowfat or skim dairy products (yogurt, milk, cottage cheese, cheese, etc..) will get you there fast but there's also calcium fortified orange juice for those of us that don't exactly drink milk as a beverage.

Vitamin D is a calcium enhancer (vitamin D is fortified into many products like orange juice, some yogurts, margarines, breakfast cereals and milk but these are the foods that contain vitamin D naturally: fish liver oils, oysters, mackerel, most fish, eggs).

Plant estrogens possibly suppress the removal of calcium from the bones. Soy contains two types of plant estrogens and flaxseed contains one type (lignans). Whole wheat products contain lignans too and you'll find plant estrogens also in certain fruits and vegetables likes apples, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, grapefruit, oranges, pears, raspberries, strawberries, and more.

Magnesium helps your bones by increasing calcium absorptions in the intestines and it helps the body use vitamin D which also helps your bones. You find magnesium in plant foods (nuts, seeds, beans, soy, dark green veggies like broccoli and spinach, and potatoes, whole grain foods and also meats, seasfood, and milk (but in smaller amounts).

Keep those bones strong Santa! This should help prevent any further breaks and bumbles!

Related Topics: Top sources of calcium, Osteoporosis

Technorati Tags: santa, brokenbones, osteoporosis, calcium

On the Lighter Side...I'm no Martha Stewart

I am so grateful to be able to work in my wonderful kitchen--I'm glad some of you said you liked it too!

It's the first really nice kitchen I've ever had...I've had the type of kitchen (before) where I would have to quickly borrow someone elses kitchen if there was any kind of photographing or filming going on...because my kitchen was small and shall we say...not very photogenic.

I actually designed this kitchen (with my architect friend) with the intent of using it for a possible cooking show but also because I spend a lot of time in my kitchen and I wanted it to be a kitchen that inspires me and one that my family would enjoy being in. I went into extreme debt for this kitchen by the way, and there are days when I actually regret building it, to be honest (only because the debt isn't a monkey on my back--it feels like a big bad APE doing cartwheels.)

But having a kick ass kitchen is just about the only thing Martha and I have in common. My old literary agent usually to call me "a middle class Martha with a microwave"...That pretty much sums it up. I have a microwave and I'm not afraid to use it! But I have to say, I do love to lighten her recipes. They seem to be well tested and well done because I can step in and make them over (to be lighter in calories and fat and using smarter fats and carbs) and they usually work out the first time! This weekend I did a makeover on her Twice Baked Potatoes (I think it was her recipe, I got it from her website). They worked out perfectly! I love when that happens on the first try.

I was reading someone's comment on my post about the potato bar and they said something about how they were relieved that I didn't put the sour cream in a fancy serving dish but just plopped a spoon in the plastic container...the first thing that popped into my head was, "you better believe I just plopped a spoon in the container--I'm no Martha!"

Related Topics: Healthy meals for busy families, Holiday decorating

Headaches and Migraines: Tell Me What to Eat Tuesday

When I blog on Tuesdays (I like the alliteration) I will include some info from one of my books for you. You see, I wrote a 7 book series that covers an assortment of medical conditions with diet/lifestyle components....It's the TELL ME WHAT TO EAT series. It covers all sorts of topics and the newest is TELL ME WHAT TO EAT IF I HAVE HEADACHES AND MIGRAINES

I don't know about you but this is the time of year when my allergies seem to hit me right between the eyes, literally. I swear it's the neighbor's HUGE pine tree that "blooms" this time of year. And I mean blooms! It has thousands of those miniature pine cone seeds that blanket everything within a 1 mile radius with a thick yellow dust. This yellow dust gets everywhere...And I mean everywhere (don't make me go through the laundry list of unusual places I've found it). Mainly though it gets on your shoes and on your car which means "in" your car eventually. Which is a perfect place for you to suck in that pollen as you breathe, in that self contained environment.

One of the symptoms of allergies (any time of year) can be headaches...So without further ado, here is some info from TELL ME WHAT TO EAT IF I HAVE HEADACHES AND MIGRAINES:

Allergies don't cause headaches per se, but the allergies can cause sinus congestion, and the congestion can lead to headache pain. Keep in mind that treating your allergies will generally not relieve your headache pain; the two must be treated individually.

According to the results of a recent study, the people who ate the most trans oleic acid (a monounsaturated fat found mainly in meat, butter, milk and cheese) were almost three times more likely to have hay fever compared to people who ate the least trans oleic acid. Researchers don't know why this would have an affect on hay fever, but s suspect that this type of fat may increase oxidative stress on the immune system.

The same German study also noted that, particularly in women, hay fever risk decreased as vitamin E consumption increased. High intakes of the fish oil EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) also seemed to lower risk of hay fever as well.

Related Topics: Headaches and migraines, Allergy triggers

Hot Kitchen Gadgets

What's new in the kitchen this Christmas? That's the question I asked the department manager at my neighborhood Bed Bath & Beyond store. Apparently anything related to tea or juicing is 'hot" right now. Those could be considered health-conscious trends so I took that as a good sign. As I strolled through the department, with my 20% off coupon close at hand, this is what I found to be "new" or at least worth mentioning:

#1 JUICER

The manager told me their best selling juicer was the "Jack La Lanne brand juicer for $99.99, to which I couldn't help but reply, "He's still around?" If the fitness and body building guru that I remember from my youth (the 60's and 70's) is indeed still "with us" then I would say score 100 points for juicing! (Jack was a juicing advocate back in the day too as I recall.)

#2 GEORGE FOREMAN GRILL (THE NEXT GENERATION)

This sounds more like a Star Wars episode than an appliance, but apparently George Foreman is the EverReady bunny of the appliance world. He keeps going and going and going. This new generation grill is the original George Foreman grill on steroids with 100 square inches of cooking surface. Grilling indoors during the winter can keep you slimmer and your cholesterol lower. This baby will run you about 100 big ones (dollars).

#3 SILICON BAKEWARE

This year silicon seems to be everywhere and I'm not talking about the playboy mansion kind of silicon either. Silicon bakeware must be selling because this year there are quite a few more brands and options available. You can even buy a silicon madeleine pan (sea shell looking cookies) for $9.99. They are popular because they are safer to handle out of the oven and they are easy to wash. I highly recommend the mini muffin pans because it's hard to find mini muffin papers and those mini muffin pans can be a bear to clean. Muffins are a great snack to have on hand for holiday drop-bys!

#4 SILICON BASTING BRUSH

I told you silicon was everywhere! Actually these basting brushes are awesome. The silicon threads stay separated and it coats a surface with liquid very well thank you. It's dishwasher safe so cleaning the brush between uses is easy peasy. They are heat resistant to 600-degrees so I think it can handle just about every basting situation. And the best part is you don't have to pick the brush hairs out of your food or between your teeth like you do with the traditional pastry brushes. The brand I saw ran about 7 bucks a brush.

#5 KITCHEN AID SILICONE GRABBER

Again with the silicone! You know how the flat and square silicone hot pads are kind of hard to hold then bend so you can grab the pot or pan from the oven? Well Kitchen Aid literally molded this grabber to resemble exactly what your hand does when it is gripping a pot or pan. It's hard to explain the shape...like the toe part of two shoes connected in the middle. They come in various colors and sell for about 8 dollars.

#6 QUICK & EASY MICROWAVE SPLATTER SCREEN by Miracle Ware

If you use your microwave as much as I do, certainly you've dealt with exploding entrees or sauces that seem to spit in your microwave. I'm not one for using plastic wrap to cover my bowls and plates in the microwave, so a splatter screen is the perfect solution to cover bowls at least. This one has little tiny holes so your food is still well ventilated. It's a bargain at $2.99.

#7 ORKA ICE CUBE TRAY

I know, I know...an ice cube tray? But this is an ice cube tray unlike any I've ever seen or touched! That's right, touched. You see these ice cubes are shaped like ovals and the bottom of each ice cube section has a soft pad that is, dare I say it--silicone-like?... so you can press (release) just as many ice cubes out as you need. I would have totally bought one but I have one of those refrigerators with an automatic icemaker in the door and have become unabashedly ice cube maker dependent.

#8 SALAD BLASTER container by Guateplast S.A.

I'm all about fitting some low cal, nutrient rich salads into our day and this doo-ma-jiggy can help make it happen. The Salad Blaster includes a 26-ounce plastic container for the salad (shaped like a rocket ship) with a 2-ounce container on top for the salad dressing. Basically you store the dressing on top and when you are ready to eat it, you press the top container and the bottom part of the dressing container pops off and the dressing oozes down onto the salad compartment. The rocket shaped container then allows you to shake it to "dress" your salad. I like this for one main reason…you can only fit 2 ounces of dressing in the dressing container! That's what I call convenient portion control. It's not made out of the most crack-resistant plastic but I guess that's what I should expect for $3.99.

Related Topics: How to Choose Healthy Holiday Gifts, Making Over Your Kitchen

On the Lighter SIde... Baked Potatoes

Well folks, I did what I often do on weeknights around 5 pm...I called my husband at work and asked what he had for lunch. Is this some type of obsession I have for him (or food)??? Not exactly, it's my way of deciding at the last minute what to make for dinner. You see if he had tacos for lunch, I rule out all things Mexican. You see?

He said "chicken breast strips from Popeyes"...I'll have to lecture him later about that (hee, hee). Anyway, I decided to use that 5 pound bag of Idaho potatoes sitting in the dark corner of my kitchen pantry and pull together a "Potato Bar". This my friends, was actually easier than I thought it would be.

Anatomy of a Potato Bar:
I threw 4 potatoes into my microwave/convection oven and set it to sensor cook for "hard vegetables". Then I preheated the oven to 400-degreese (I'll explain why I did this later). I ran off the to the grocery store while they were cooking and bought a few items I was missing (shredded reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese, fat free sour cream--a staple in my house but I happen to be out, and green onions). When I got back to my kitchen, the potatoes were tender and the oven was preheated. I rubbed a wee bit of canola oil on the outside of each potato and set them on a baking sheet and let the outside crisp up a bit in the hot oven for 15 minutes.

I opened up the bag of cheese, put a spoon in the nonfat sour cream container, chopped the green onions, and put out the pepper grinder and whipped butter or less fat margarine (either one has less fat, around 7 or 8 grams of fat per tablespoon than stick butter or margarine. I even had time to steam a little broccoli and saute some mushroom slices (which I bought already sliced)--in case anyone was going to want to get a little fancy with their potato.

About 20 minutes after hitting home from shopping, I was yelling, "dinner's ready!" (about 5 times) before we were all seated at the table enjoying our personalized potatoes. I will definitely be repeating potato bar night in weeks to come (after all that 5 pound bag of potatoes is now a 2 1/2 pound bag).

Related Topics: Low carb diets deny calories, Mashed potatoes

SHOP TALK or Happy Accidents

This week was a grocery shopping week like no other. I write a national recipe column (called THE RECIPE DOCTOR, not so coincidentally) and three out of every four columns include a food photo to go with the recipe column. I scheduled a food shoot in my kitchen for Thursday and I was breaking in a new food photographer (don't worry I didn't scare off the old photographer with my healthy cooking, he moved out of the area...at least I don't think I scared him off...)

This photographer gave me a set price for him to come over and then we would shoot as many food dishes as I had whipped up that day. Being the thrifty columnist that I am, I was determined to get 4 months worth of food photographs (doing the math that's about 12 total pictures). I promised to feed him well and give him a doggy platter to go home with.

Needless to say I was cooking for DAYS! Which means I was grocery shopping for DAYS! Hundreds of dollars later (and I mean HUNDREDS) and hundreds of dishes later (that I had to wash)...I met my goal. We actually photographed 12 dishes in about 2 1/2 hours. This new photographer was fun to work with too, I told him to have fun with this and if he wanted to do something creative, to go for it. Far be it for me (the cook, dishwasher, and very cheap food stylist) to interfer with artistic expression.

While "plating" (that's shop talk for arranging the food on the plate hopefully in an attractive way) one of the desserts, we had what the photographer called a "happy accident". I was trying to artistically drizzle hot fudge sauce on the plate before I placed the slice of candy cane cheesecake on top. I had tried one time and it wasn't quite what we had in mind. Then the photographer was convinced he had "the touch" and then tried twice with even worse results. I knew what I had to do then...I whipped that spoon around in that small bowl of hot fudge and with all the drizzle confidence I could muster, I plopped the hot fudge on the plate and to our complete and utter surprise, my supposed drizzle of hot fudge had miraculously plopped itself onto the plate in the shape of a heart!

So there you go...a happy accident. Too bad this was the picture for the Christmas column and not the Valentine column!

Related Topics: Holiday Recipes Makeover, Light holiday eating

SHOP TALK - The ADA Convention

I'm on my way home (still on the plane) from the national American Dietetic Association convention in St. Louis and I have all sorts of thoughts racing through my sleep-deprived head.

I don't get out much so maybe it's just me but wht happened to the concept of paper toilet seat covers? You know the ones that are a total hassle to lay just perfect on the toilet seat but you do it anyway for fear some sort of germ might be transmitted upon contact. When I was younger I used to do the "snow plow" skiing position which would allow you to go to the bathroom without actually touching anything (I've seen some pretty scary bathrooms). My airplane lacked this travel option and so did the bathrooms in the convention center and St. Louis Airport...Did I miss a toilet seat cover memo or something? Are they not environmentally correct? Just let me know and I'll go back to the snow plow position.

On a more important note though, I met many lovely dietitians in the past four days. These were what I call dietitians in the trenches--working in hospitals or elderly care facilities...I even met a dietitian turned yoga instructor (she was very calm). The fact that they were very genuine and full of heart and soul came across after mere moments of meeting them. I found this completely refreshing! If you have ever been around a large group of dietitians two things will be quickly unmistakable--they can be quite a polite and positive bunch of gals! (I know there are male dietitians too, I'm just generalizing). Sometimes a little too polite and positive if you ask me (but that's another blog). A little Valley of the Dietitian Dolls...(just kidding).

The other thing I noticed was the constant presence of corporate America (for example Ronald from McDonalds made an appearance on the last day and dietitians were taking pictures with him--clearly dietitians who haven't read Fast Food Nation--which I by the way haven't read either). Companies were mentioned as sponsors for every seminar I attended. Some company's name was on the bag carrying our registration materials. There was a HUGE expo filled with all sorts of exhibitors too...Was it my imagination or did the big player food companies get the prime expo exhibit locations? Trust me though I was really happy to see that Coca Cola booth in the the middle of a LONG morning...I was thirsty and tired and and all I had to drink all morning was a warm bottle of water. I may have frightened the lady at the booth when I lunged toward her and frantically asked, "What do I have to do to get a cold diet coke?" I think I would have even taken a picture with Ronald McDonald I was so desperate (just kidding).

Some dietitians I spoke to (the ones in the trenches) questioned how closely tied the association seemed to be to big business. I'm putting words in their mouths but it was as if they were wondering, While it might be wise to invite these companies to the dinner table...it's something altogether different to invite them to the bedroom. Where is that line between dinner and dancing?

Related Topics: Fast food, fat kids, Food companies role in obesity

Favorite Fall Foods - Cooking in Elaine's Kitchen

I know it's Fall when there are more leaves OFF the trees than there are on. I know it's Fall when I need socks or slippers on my feet when working late at night on the computer at the far end of my 50 year old house. I know it's Fall when it's usually dark out way before I've been able to rustle up dinner for my family. But most of us know it's Fall when pumpkin pie become standard fare at our supermarket bakeries and the sparkling cider, sweetened condensed milk and cranberry sauce suddenly get their own end aisle display.

There's something about favorite Fall foods that just speaks to our hearts as well as our stomachs. It's tradition and celebration and comfort foods all rolled into one spectacular season. Can you tell it's my favorite time of year?

[My COMFORT FOOD MAKEOVERS cookbook is almost available and it covers all the comfort food bases--at least I hope so.]

Many of these Fall foods are favorites merely because they are harvested during the fairly dismal months of Winter produce (like apples, cranberries and Winter squash). Other foods/dishes are beloved Fall foods because we generally only have them around this time of year. It's not like we couldn't eat them year round though, we just don't. It's like we have to be reminded about them in magazines, the holidays, or special displays in the store. I ask you, what's wrong with eating pumpkin pie in July? Why can't we make fudge in February?

It feels like the most natural thing in the world to start craving comfort foods and holiday recipes right about the time pumpkins start growing their own head of hair while drooping on our front porches that first week in November. It's as if we are programmed to desire these treasured Fall foods just as the leaves are programmed to turn colors or fall off their branches. We are seemingly powerless to the magnetic pull of favorite Fall comfort foods.

I say enjoy them while the getting is good--just make them healthier and lighter every chance you get! I'm working on a few Fall-ish recipes for an article for the WebMD Weight Loss Clinic so yesterday I made a light French Apple Tart, apple-cranberry warm cider, whole grain less sugar scotchies cookies, and light cran-raspberry sauce. I'm happy to report they all worked out well! I love when that happens!

Related Topics: Anatomy of a Pomegranate, Light holiday eating