Barbecuing? Don't Forget the Vegetables

If you are a vegetarian, you probably have already discovered the magic of grilled vegetables. The rest of us probably need to be reminded of this wonderful way to cook veggies!

There's something about the grilling, whether on an outside or indoor grill, and those tasty grill marks, that takes the flavor of vegetables to a whole new level.

Once you grill vegetables, you can serve them tossed together and served over pasta or rice (as a main dish) or you can serve them as a side dish on a kabob, as garnish on the plate, or toss together in a bowl.

Here are some tips for grilling some of my favorite veggies (these work great served over pasta too)

* Grill bell pepper over direct medium heat until evenly charred on all sides (10 minutes). Turn every 3 or 5 minutes.

* Coat small zucchinis (cut in half lengthwise), asparagus spears, mushrooms (cleaned and dried), and vine ripened plum tomatoes (cut in half), lightly with canola or olive oil -- brush lightly or use a light spray of olive oil cooking spray. Season with salt if desired. Grill over direct medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes, turning after about 3 or 4 minutes.

~~Elaine

Related Topics: No Excuses: Eat your Fruits and Veggies, Spice Up Your Summer BBQs and Picnics

Taste Test Tuesday: Pick Your Poison - Yellow, Blue, Pink or White

When in restaurants and cafes and you need to choose your sweetener for your hot/cold tea or coffee, you usually have a choice. There's the yellow bag (Splenda), the pink bag (Sweet 'n Low with saccharin), the blue bag (Equal or NutraSweet), or of course the white bag (the real white stuff, also known as sugar).

Everyone I've noticed has a certain color bag they are looking for. My husband, daughter and sister prefer the pink bag, one of my friends yells for yellow, while another friend of mine packs the little blue bag in her purse just in case they don't have any where she's going.

I guess it all comes down to what alternative sweetener you are used to, what you think is the safest choice and which one tastes the best to your particular set of taste buds.

I just did the finger test. You lick your finger and dip it straight into each colored packet. In between each packet I cleansed my palate with some iced green tea.

This is what I thought:
PINK packet (Sweet 'n Low) = intense sweet flavor, only a slight possible aftertaste for me but my daughter thought this one did not have an aftertaste.

BLUE (Equal) = sweet flavor, very desirable, no aftertaste for me but my daughter thought it did have a little aftertaste.

YELLOW (Splenda) = This one tasted closest to real sugar to me and it didn't seem to have an aftertaste (which surprised me because when I bake with it I definitely notice that there's something different). My daughter still liked Sweet 'n Low the best.

Bottom line: I think each person has a different taste perception and is sensitive to various aspects of each one.

What's your color?

~~Elaine

Related Topics: Is Sucralose Safe?, Are Artificial Sweeteners safe?

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Make 1/2 Cup of Ice Cream Seem Like More

Who here (raise your hand)thinks 1/2 cup of ice cream is a reasonable sized serving? I'm used to this amount as a serving but I'm guessing plenty of you out there think 1/2 cup is a joke, right? This is the size of a normal scoop of ice cream which is about the size of two large eggs.

Go ahead, find that 1/2 cup measuring cup and take a gander at what amount of ice cream this really translates into.

In case this doesn't seem like very much ice cream to you, we have ways of making 1/2 cup of ice cream seem like more:

* Serve your ice cream in a cute little dish (1/2 cup will fill it up fine)
* Top your ice cream with lots of fresh fruit like blueberries and sliced strawberries over vanilla or raspberries over chocolate ice cream.
* Enjoy your ice cream with an extra small spoon, so you are savoring each little bite and there will be more bites per dish than if you used a big spoon.
* Choose light ice creams that are truly satisfying! If it doesn't taste awesome, a small serving will not seem as satisfying.
* Precede or follow your small ice cream serving with a nice cup of hot or cold green tea or another no calorie beverage. The liquid in your stomach may help give you a feeling of fullness and taste satisfaction.

~~Elaine

Related Topics: Easy Ice Cream Sodas, Make It Yourself Frozen Treats

Technorati Tags: icecream, portionsize, servingsize, diettips

Taste Test Tuesday: Multi-Grain Flour Tortillas

No more whole-wheat tortillas that taste like cardboard. Some higher fiber tortillas taste better than others, that's for sure. The low carb ones are particularly bad tasting in my opinion. But there is a new multi-grain tortilla in town, Mission Multi-Grain Flour Tortillas, and me thinks they got it right this time!

And when they say "multi" grain, they mean it! The third ingredient is multi-grain flour and just look at all the grains represented.

The first five ingredients are:

* Whole-wheat flour
* Water
* Multi-grain flour (cracked wheat, wheat bran, rye flakes, wheat flour, barley flakes, triticale four, corn flour, oat flakes, barley flour and rice flour)
* Vegetable shortening (soybean oil and hydrogenated soybean oil)
* Brown sugar


Yes I know the fourth ingredient is vegetable shortening, which includes hydrogenated soybean oil. But there is still only 1 gram of saturated fat per 4 grams of total fat in each tortilla. It's a step in the right direction folks! And what can I say, they taste great and even my two teenagers seem to love them. We've been making skillet pizzas with them and sandwich wraps and quesadillas.

Each tortilla contains:

140 calories
5 grams protein
23 grams carbohydrate
4 grams fat
1 gram saturated fat
0 gram trans fat
1.5 gram polyunsaturated fat
1 gram monounsaturated fat
0 mg cholesterol
5 grams fiber
460 mg sodium
10% daily value for calcium too!

~~Elaine

Related Topics: No Sweat Summer Meals, Make Some Mexican Food

Celebrity FIT Club Needs an Overhaul

Somehow the other day, I found myself watching Celebrity Fit Club for the first time. (That show where "overweight" celebrities lose weight with the help of a doctor, personal trainer, and psychologist).

Maybe what drew me in was the fact that Marcia Brady (Maureen McCormick), a teen icon from my youth (My favorite show growing up was The Brady Bunch--need I say more), was on one of the teams. Okay, that's a lame excuse.

But I found myself completely disgusted at the absolute obsession with weight loss (especially because they had celebrities on who didn't look that overweight and weighed like 120 pounds or something like that). If it were truly Celebrity "FIT" club, the emphasis would be on fitness, not pounds. Why not measure muscle mass or stress test results or blood lipid values or lung capacity instead of pounds lost?

While on the elliptical machine at my gym, watching E! Entertainment and all the TOO THIN celebrities in Hollywood right now, I found myself wondering, why don't they have a Celebrity FIT Club that helps all the celebrities who are scary thin get healthy -- where pounds gained would be the goal. Imagine that! That would really give that psychologist something to do. Seriously though, they would need a well trained team to tackle the sobering issues that would come up if they were to take on those celebrities and the reasons why they are so underweight.

Just a thought!

~~Elaine

Related Topics: What is a Healthy Weight?, Get Fit!


Technorati Tags: celebrityfitclub, bodyimage, diet

Taste Test Tuesday: Fig Newton Minis

Fig Newtons have gone cute! Fig Newtons Minis are baked with 100% whole grain (the first ingredient is whole grain wheat flour) and they come in these cute little packets that can be thrown into your purse, backpack or lunch bag.

The one-bag serving contains 2 grams of fiber which is better than zero that's for sure. The minis are fortified with calcium (15%), vitamin A (15%), Iron (15%), and vitamin B-1 through B-6 (around 15% each). And a serving adds up to 130 calories.

What about the sugar?

Ah, there's the rub. The second ingredient listed is figs and the third and fourth ingredients are sugar and corn syrup. A good portion of the 14 grams of sugar per serving listed on the label, comes naturally from the figs. This isn't the case for the Strawberry Newtons Minis, which list high fructose corn syrup as their second ingredient and sugar and corn syrup as their third and fourth ingredients. Keep in mind that although the box says "Naturally flavored" under the word "strawberry", it does not say "naturally sweetened."

On the Fig Newtons Minis ingredient list, it isn't until the sixth ingredient that you get to soybean oil and the seventh, which is partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil. Each serving contains 3 grams of fat (.5 of which is saturated and according to the label, 0 grams of trans fat).

How did they taste?

The 100% whole grain Fig Newtons were tasty and moist and each packet holds a small but surprisingly satisfying portion.

~~Elaine

Related Topics: Not So Healthy "Health Foods", Healthy Travel Treats

Technorati Tags: fignewtons, fignewtonminis, fiber, cookies

Typical Fast Food Seems to Make Us Eat More

Does Changing Portion Size and How Fast Food is Eaten Discourage Gorging? A new study sheds some light.

Eating large amounts of food at a rapid rate is defined as "gorging." This sounds rather close to another certain -ing word (usually attached to the word-purging) and that word is "binging."

No matter what you call it, eating large amounts of food at a rapid rate is not a healthy thing. You want to eat in a slow and mindful way so food is enjoyed and your brain is aware of the eating process and is given time to tell your stomach when it is comfortable and satisfied. No good can come from eating large amounts of food fast. Not only are we likely to take in excessive amounts of calories but I worry about the mental ramifications after someone eats large amounts of food fast-their possible "guilt" and feeling bad about themselves, not to mention possible temptation to purge after these times (which opens the door to eating disorders and all that that includes).

Well, a new study from the Children's Hospital in Boston, used teens age 13 to 17 years and exposed them to three types of fast food meals (all including chicken nuggets, french fries, and cola). Once, lot of fast food was served to them at one time. Another time, a lot of fast food was served in smaller portions but almost at the same time, and a third time where a lot of fast food was served in smaller portions over 15 minute intervals. They looked at how many calories were consumed by the teens in these three situations.

It didn't seem to matter how the large amount of fast food was served, the teens still ate about half of their daily calorie needs in that one meal. The researchers suggested that certain factors related to fast food may be promoting excessive calorie intake:

* fast food being low in fiber
* high in palatability
* high in calorie density
* high in fat content
* and high in sugar in liquid form

My suggestion is to choose fast food options high in fiber (it exists!) that have a lower calorie density and a lower fat content and completely avoid sugar in liquid form. This means choosing fast food restaurants that have these types of offerings.


~~Elaine

Related Topics: Teens and Binge Eating, Fast Food Tips

Technorati Tags: eatingdisorders, binging, fastfood, healthyfastfood

Taste Test Tuesday: Pillsbury Doughboy Goes Sugar-Free

They're a bit pricey (over 4 dollars for 12 "ready to bake" pre-formed cookies) but the words SUGAR FREE caught my eye.

Was it my imagination or was the Pillsbury Doughboy looking trimmer? If he still had that fun-to-poke belly, it was hiding behind that Sugar Free Chocolate Chip Cookie he was holding.

In order to get the complete "tasting" experience of this new cookie, I had no choice but to taste some of the raw cookie dough. Although the dough wasn't as good as other cookie dough I've tasted (light and regular), it did taste like it had some potential. I baked the tray of cookies in my toaster oven and the family dug in. The last few cookies are still sitting on the kitchen counter the next day (which tells you something).

How did they taste?

They tasted "okay". The texture was similar to what you would expect but the flavor was kind of a let down. My daughter said it tasted like oatmeal with dark chocolate in it. Strangely, I can see why she said that. This might be a helpful treat to someone with diabetes because it looks like these cookies are completely sugar free - even the chocolate chips.

What's In There?

There are 16 grams of carbohydrate per cookie and 0 grams of sugar. In addition to Splenda, each cookie contains 6 grams of sugar alcohol per (maltitol powder is the second ingredient for the dough and lactitol is used to sweeten the chocolate chips) and remember that sugar alcohols can have a laxative effect in larger doses (they can have an effect in smaller amounts in some people with IBS).

There are 90 calories per cookie and 4 grams of fat, 1 grams of which is saturated and 1 gram of which is trans fat. The big surprise for me was the 3 grams of fiber per cookie.

~~Elaine

Related Topics: Sugar Fix, Cookies for Breakfast

Technorati Tags: pillsburysugarfreecookies, sugarfree, cookies, diabetes