KFC Famous Bowls

What will they think of next?

A little bird sent me an article on the next new thing at KFC (formerly known as Kentucky Fried Chicken). The article sent came complete with a color photo. This photo didn't seem to do this new dish justice because it rather turned my stomach (and not in a good way). But I kept reading in spite of my newfound nausea!

It's called KFC Famous Bowls and from the looks of it, it starts with a layer of mashed potatoes or rice, then sweet corn and bite sized pieces of popcorn chicken, all topped with a drizzle of gravy and a sprinkle of a three-cheese blend. The picture I saw went with the mashed potatoes for the base of the bowl. I guess after looking at the picture, I realized I would want to layer my own food thank you very much. And, I don't think the gravy drizzle helped it visually either. And while I might want some hot gravy on my mashed potatoes, I don't think I want it on my corn or chicken or cheese. Maybe that's just me.

This totals almost 700 calories, with 31 grams of fat and 9 grams of saturated fat, 2110 mg sodium and 27 grams of protein. The only good news is the mashed potatoes and corn add up to 6 grams of fiber. Clearly the popcorn chicken isn't doing the bowl any nutritional favors. Because believe it or not, KFC's gravy and mashed potatoes aren't big fat gram or calorie contributors. The total fat would be lower if they used roasted chicken or even the chicken strips chopped up, I suspect. Two chicken strips add up to 260 calories, 16 grams of fat and 4 grams of saturated fat.

But there you have it,in all its glory. The "new" thing at KFC. I think we would all be better off ordering something else, like the Honey BBQ Sandwich with 300 calories, 6 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 920 mg sodium, and 22 grams protein.

~~Elaine

Related Topics: Fast Food that Won't Supersize You, WebMD Video: Fast Food Survival

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Barley is Like Brown Rice on Steroids

You've seen it listed next to oatmeal as being a whole grain boasting great amounts of soluble fiber. You've thought about using it the next time you make soup. But you just haven't tried it, have you?

How can you argue with trying a grain that has 8 grams of fiber for every 1/4 cup of raw barley!

Well, I finally did it! I made a commitment and bought a bag of pearl barley and there's no stopping me now. I've been playing around with it the past week or so and I've learned a few things:

* Barley is like brown rice on steroids, the kernels cooked are much bigger than brown rice.
* Barley takes much longer to cook (about an hour for 1 cup of dry barley).
* Barley takes more liquid than brown rice (3 cups of water per 1 cup of dry barley)
* Barley has a bite to it. If you want it to be especially tender, try soaking it overnight or for 5 hours (2 cups water to 1 cup dry barley) then brng it to boiling and cook for 15 minutes. [I haven't tried this yet but this is what the Bob's Red Mill package suggests]
* You can add flavor to barley by boiling it in broth (chicken, beef or vegetable) and throw in some chopped onion, minced garlic and herbs as desired.

I've started adding cooked barley instead of cooked rice to recipes like cold rice salads, warm casseroles, soups and stews.

If you have found a fun way to add barley, do let us all know!

~~Elaine

Related Topics: FDA OKs Heart Health Claim for Barley, Beer, Beef & Barley Stew

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Taste Test: New Yogurt Smoothies

The other day I was reading labels in the yogurt section for a book I'm writing--I was looking to see which yogurts were fortified with vitamin D, but that's another blog.

Anyway, I couldn't help but notice that there are now about 4, count them 4, new yogurt smoothies on the market. When did this happen? How did I miss this? They come in pretty plastic bottles in all shapes and sizes and flavors. The idea of "drinking" yogurt may not appeal to some, but it is a nifty way to work in a serving of yogurt when you are at your desk working or in a car or riding a bus. The key is keeping it ice cold! It tastes better this way.

With so many yogurt smoothies to choose from, I bought the strawberry flavor of the three brands that had some fiber in it, so I could give this new product category an old-fashioned taste testing!

I decided if I was drinking a smoothie down, I would want there to be some fiber in it. It would be more likely to be digested a little more slowly this way and might have a more sustained effect on appetite and may encourage lower blood sugars for some. It's all good, trust me. All three also contain "live and active cultures" too.

Okay, on with the results!

Stonyfield Farm Light Smoothie: Strawberry
This one tasted the best to me and my tasters. It seemed to have a stronger cleaner strawberry flavor. For sweetener it uses "erythritol" which the label describes as a "natural sweetener", along with naturally milled sugar, and strawberry juice from concentrate. This is what the Wikipedia Encyclopedia says about it:

Erythritol is a natural sugar alcohol, (a type of sugar substitute), which has been approved for use in the United States and throughout much of the world. It is 70% as sweet as table sugar and excellent-tasting, yet it is virtually non-caloric, does not impact blood sugar, does not cause tooth decay, and is absorbed by the body, therefore unlikely to cause gastric side effects unlike other sugar alcohols.

10 ounces = 130 calories, 3 g fiber, 9 g protein, 40 g carbohydrate (19 g sugar), 0 g fat
vitamin B1 = 4%
vitamin B2 = 15%
vitamin B6 = 2%
vitamin B12 = 8%
Calcium = 25%
Magnesium = 4%

Yoplait Nouriche Light SuperSmoothie: Strawberry
My tasters did like this one. It was thicker than the other two,a bit more like "drinking yogurt" than the others. It had some subtle flavors that you could taste other than strawberry, perhaps I was tasting the various and sundry vitamins and minerals added? The nutrition label does read more like a vitamin mineral supplement label than a yogurt label.

11 ounces = 170 calories, 5 g fiber, 10 g protein, 33 g carbohydrate (18 g sugar), 0 g fat
vitamin A = 25%
vitamin D = 25%
vitamin C = 25%
vitamin E = 25%
folic acid = 25%
B1, B2, B3, B6, B12 = 25%
Calcium = 30%
Magnesium = 25%
Zinc = 15%
Iron = 15%

Yoplait Light Smoothie (contains Splenda): Strawberry
This one had a definite artificial sweetener flavor or after taste but it didn't taste bad. The other tasters and I just liked the other brands better.

8 ounces = 90 calories, 3 g fiber, 6 g protein, 18 g carbohydrate (9 g sugar), 0 g fat
vitamin A = 15%
vitamin D =20%
Calcium = 20%
Folic Acid = 4%

Do you have a favorite yogurt smoothie?

~Elaine

Related Topics: French Women's Diet Secret: Yogurt, Peanut Butter Cup Smoothie

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Constipation - It's all about the poop

Instead of "pillow talk," in my world it's more like "poop talk". This morning I had just made my oblilgatory two bag lunches for my daughters and sent one daughter off to high school and I had a few minutes before taking my other daughter to junior high. So, I did what any other computer dependent professional does, I checked my email.

One of them was from a writer who interviews me often and this morning she
had an interesting question for me:

What are some of the symptoms of a lack of fiber? Constipation...and?

To which I quickly responded:

That's the only 'symptom' I can think of. Your poop won't have as much buoyancy if you aren't eating enough fiber too (literally your poop will tend to sink in the toilet) and your movements might be more painful or difficult to pass. The fiber holds onto some water as it forms into stools and this makes your stools softer and easier to eliminate.

Before I had a chance to step away from my computer I got her response:

Thanks for the quick reply about poop, I appreciate it very much Elaine!

I wrote back:

I can talk about poop before my morning coffee--I'm a health professional (LOL).

To help us all get that wonderful fiber, here a some tips I put together in Why You Need More Fiber -- and 6 Easy Ways to Get It.

~Elaine

Related Topics: 6 Foods and Tips for More Fiber, FDA OKs Drug to Treat Constipation

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Tips for New Cooks - Pasta

On Monday I shared bread tips, on Wednesday is was chicken and today it's time to talk about pasta. Gotta love any food whose hardest instruction is boiling water. Cooking the pasta is the easy part; it's the sauces that can get tricky. The good news is there are lots of convenient ways to dress your pasta these days; bottled marinara, store-bought pesto, flavored olive oils with pre-shredded Parmesan cheese, etc.

* Make sure you add plenty of water to your large saucepan or stockpot for
boiling the water. Pasta needs lots of space to move around. And bring your
water to a full, rolling boil before you add the pasta.
* You can add a tablespoon of oil to the water to help prevent the pasta
from sticking together but it isn't mandatory.
* Adding some salt to the water is optional too, but some people add it to
add some flavor and to help the pasta absorb the sauce better.
* Only add one type or shape of pasta to your boiling water. If they are
different shapes, they will probably have different cooking times too.
* Pasta should be tender but still slightly firm to the bite (called al
dente). If you cook the pasta beyond this, it will still work out, the
texture will just be softer and potentially mushier.
* Drain the pasta in a colander in the sink and only rinse your pasta with
fresh water if you are making a cold pasta salad. The starch that is sitting on the outside of your pasta can help the sauce stick a little better. If you rinse your pasta, the starch will rinse away.
* Make your pasta a meal by using a sauce, and adding vegetables and/or cheese for a vegetarian option. For a meat option, add grilled or roasted chicken or other meat to the pasta and sauce. An easy option is to use frozen cooked shrimp,just defrost in the microwave and they're ready to add to your dish. Stuffed pasta like ravioli and tortellini is an easy way to make your pasta dish seem more like a meal. Just cover with sauce and you are good to go!

~~Elaine

Related Topics: WebMD Video: Pantry Makeover, Carb Lover's Survival Guide

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Tips for New Cooks - Chicken

On Monday I shared some bread baking tips, today I'm sharing chicken tips.


Chicken Basics

* Cooked chicken should not be left out at room temperature for more than 2
hours. You can play it safer though and use 1-2 hours as your guideline.
When it comes to raw or frozen chicken, don't leave them at room
temperature, if you can help it, and use raw chicken (stored in the coldest
part of your refrigerator) within 2 days. Check the "purchase by" date when
buying fresh chicken to get the latest possible date.
* Thaw frozen chicken in the refrigerator or if you have to, use the defrost setting on your microwave and watch it carefully.
* Rinse raw chicken pieces with cold water and pat them dry with a paper
towel (which you then throw away) before you begin your recipe.
* Clean everything that comes in contact with raw chicken or the juices from
raw chicken with hot soapy water.
* Chicken should always be cooked throughout. You can check for doneness by
making a slit in the thickest part of the chicken piece to visually see if
it is cooked through to the middle but also to see if the juices from the
chicken run clear (not pink).
* If you are marinating your chicken, don't use the marinade that came in
contact with your raw chicken as basting sauce during cooking or dipping
sauce after cooking. Put some of your marinade (before adding it to the
chicken) aside for this.

~~Elaine

Related Topics: Grill for Fun, Not Food-Borne Illness, WebMD Video: Turkey Safety

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Tips for New Cooks - Bread

There are few basic things I want you all to know as you bravely go forth
into the wonderful world of recipes. What I've attempted to assemble is some of the basic info that you might not find anywhere on the recipe or in the cookbook. I'm hoping to "fill in the blanks" for you, so to speak. Let's start with bread.

Yeast Bread Basics

Basically most bakery products that are cakey or bready are made with yeast
or baking powder or baking soda. If you are following a recipe that calls
for yeast, here are some basics you should know:

* Yeast feeds on sugars and starches in the dough. When it grows, it
produces carbon dioxide which makes your dough rise with air bubbles.
* Too much heat, sugar or salt can kill the yeast though, so follow recipe
instructions carefully.
* In order for yeast to grow, it needs a warm (but not hot) environment.
This is why recipes often call for warm milk or water in the list of
ingredients.
* There is usually some sugar called for in yeast bread recipes, to feed the
yeast. And the salt called for is for taste and to help control the yeast
growth.
* Bread machine yeast and rapid-rise yeast are specially formulated for the
bread machine by becoming active more quickly and they can be mixed in with
other dry ingredients.

Bread Machine Basics

* Baking bread in a bread machine usually involves yeast, flour, and liquid.
Sugar is usually added to provide the yeast some food and the salt is added
to help control the yeast activity and for taste.
* You add the ingredients to the bread machine pan in the order recommended
by the machine manufacture or in the recipe.
* Bread machine yeast and rapid-rise yeast are specially formulated for the
bread machine by becoming active more quickly and they can be mixed in with
other dry ingredients.
* The mixing and rising all take place within the machine. But the baking
can be done in the bread machine or you can press the "dough" cycle and then
when the first rice is over, the bread machine will stop. You can then take
the dough out of the pan and place in a loaf pan. Let it rise and then bake
in the oven.

Quick Bread Basics

* Quick breads are breads like muffins and biscuits that are "quick" to make
because they don't involve kneading or any rising time.
*Usually baking powder or baking soda is added to the dry ingredients in the recipe to create bubbles in the batter or dough as it bakes. How it works is that the baking soda, for example, is combined with an acid like cream of tartar, buttermilk, yogurt or vinegar in the batter. Together they produce bubbles from the carbon dioxide gas that is produced, allowing the dough or batter to rise as it bakes. It reacts immediately when moistened so it is usually mixed first with dry ingredients and last with the liquid ingredients.
*Baking powder contains the acid (cream of tartar) and the baking soda together. Once they are moistened, they react together to produce the bubbles of gas.


~Elaine

Related Topics: Bread Recipes, Clean Kitchen, Better Food

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CALLING ALL NEW OR NOVICE COOKS!

Calling all beginning cooks! No cooking experience necessary. That's the way I try to write most of my recipes. I've been developing recipes and writing healthful cookbooks since 1989 (my latest is COMFORT FOOD MAKEOVERS) and if there's one thing I've learned, it's to not assume that the recipe reader has a lot of cooking experience. Gone are the days when you can just write, "add just enough flour to thicken"--you need to spell out how much flour to add. You can't say "saute' this" or "sear that"--because most people today don't know what that means, exactly. Even when I give instructions like "beat until soft peaks form" or "broil until golden brown", I try to also give some times so the recipe follower knows what to expect.

I was one of those "taste as you go, never measure anything, this looks like the right amount" type of cooks back in the day. I quickly learned that I have to write everything down when I'm lightening or developing a recipe, describe as much as I can, and not only measure everything, but try to time everything too. This is essential because more and more people are growing up without really knowing how to cook. I try to keep 3 rules in mind when I'm working on recipes for beginning
cooks.

Rule #1
The first rule is to keep things simple and avoid any complicated cooking
techniques.

Rule #2
And although this is tough with certain types of recipes, the second rule is
to keep the number of ingredients as small as possible. If there is a long
list of ingredients, a new cook will likely run in the other direction, or
if they make it past that point and decide to actually attempt the recipe,
they can get confused easily.

Rule #3
My third rule is to NOT become a chef or have a diploma in fancy cooking.
The more I can stay in the mind set of the typical home cook, the better off
I'll be developing recipes for them. I also try to only use the cooking
equipment and appliances that most home cooks have in their kitchen. You
won't find a mandoline or panini press or an indoor grill in my test
kitchen, because the average home cook doesn't have those either (although
I'm ready to cave on the indoor grill). You will, however, find a microwave
oven, hand grater, and slow cooker in my kitchen, because the average
American home usually has them handy.

If you're a new or novice cook, share your success, your failure or your questions. I'm always interested in hearing a new story.

~Elaine

Related Topics: 10 Commandments of Healthy Cooking, Making Recipes Diabetes Friendly

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Family Taste Test

Hey moms and dads, you know how you are always looking for some quick (but healthy) snack items to pack for your child during a soccer game or a swim meet, or in their backpack for an extra long day at school, etc...? Well add another option to your list!

I just noticed and tried the latest in an expanding aisle of breakfast and granola bars, Quaker Breakfast Cookies (Oatmeal Raisin). As I see it, they are a cross between a soft granola bar and a cookie. Each individually wrapped "soft" oatmeal cookie (48 grams of weight) contains 180 calories, 4.5 grams of fat (1.5 grams saturated and no trans), 3 grams of protein; 15 grams of sugar and here's the best part - 5 grams of fiber!

The worst part of this snack is that high fructose corn syrup is the second ingredient in the ingredient list (meaning it was added in the second largest quantity in weight of all the ingredients). The best part is that whole grain rolled oats is the first ingredient and raisins are the third with whole-wheat flour is the fourth ingredient.

These babies do pack a wallop for some of the vitamins and minerals too thanks to some good old-fashioned fortification:

35% Daily Value for Iron
30% Calcium
15% vitamin A
15% vitamin E
15% vitamin B6
15% Thiamin (B1)
15% vitamin B12
15% Riboflavin (B2)
15% Niacin (B3)

My teen's impression of these? They said they were "pretty good." My pickiest daughter chose to pack one today in her lunch as a snack. That says it all.

Do you have any new products you want to tell us about? Do share.

~~Elaine

Related Topics: Fast Food Breakfast, Make Me Some Muffins

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Healthier Junk Food

When you hear the name, "pizza rolls" are you thinking totally processed, totally junk food? I usually do. Last night I was walking past the frozen snack section (on my way to the check-out after grabbing my favorite frozen pesto sauce, if you must know.) and my eye caught on a package that said, Lean Pizza Rolls with 40% less fat." I stopped. I grabbed the bag. And as we speak, I have a serving (6 pizza rolls) baking in my toaster oven.

Granted there is still a long list of ingredients, putting this snack into the "processed snack food" category without a shadow of a doubt. But they did make these puppies with 4 grams less fat and 20 fewer calories per serving. And I just found out (munch, munch) that they taste pretty much the same.

The original pizza rolls have 210 calories and 10 grams of fat per 6 roll serving. Sodium is still present and accounted for though (480 milligrams per serving).

6 rolls (85 grams weight) =
190 calories
9 g protein
25 g carbohydrate
6 g fat
2 g saturated fat
.5 g trans fat
15 mg cholesterol
1 g fiber
480 mg sodium
(4% vitamin A, 6% calcium, 10% iron)

This is all FYI, just in case you are looking for some processed frozen snack food to keep in your freezer for impromptu teen scene snacking or something.

~~Elaine

Related Topics: Recipe: Garden Tomato and Basil Pesto Pizza, Sodas Skip Schools

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