Sweeten the deal? Maybe. Maybe not.

I don’t know about you but of late, I have been seeing way too many sugar debates – sugar substitutes, ‘real’ sugar, ‘false sugar’, white sugar, brown sugar, corn sugar…The list goes on.

Today, I am just going to explore what I am seeing and what I should be consuming. While I doubt I am going to come up with an answer, I hope to be a little more well-informed. If that’s your goal too, join me on the journey.

In Well+Good, a recent article addresses the on-going sugar substitutes debate. In the article, the author tells us about ‘erythritol’ – that belongs to a ‘category of carbohydrates called “sugar alcohols,” which are either extracted from plants or manufactured from starches’.  According to the author, sugar alcohols sweeten the deal because they contain less calories but can be stressful on the GI system because they dont digest the same way as other sugars do.

The good news is that some of these sugars are plant-based – At least, they are natural!

It is common knowledge, however that the government has approved not only natural but also artificial sweeteners. Most of us are familiar with at least a few of them – Aspartame (NutraSweet and Equal), Saccharin (Sweet N Low), Sucralose (Splenda), Acesulfame K (used in food and beverages) and Neotame (used in soft drinks and low-calorie food).

So, there are natural and artificial sweeteners. And along with that, rumors about artificial sweeteners causing cancer. We’ve all heard that, right?

Like that’s not distressing enough, we now have corn sugar thrown in the mix.  So, what about corn sugar?

What I remember about corn sugar is a recent commercial: ‘Corn sugar or cane sugar. Sugar is sugar. Your body can’t tell the difference!’.

Oblivion is king. All along, I thought corn sugar is probably a different kind of sugar – probably healthier?

Little did I know that corn sugar is pretty much what we know as high-fructose corn syrup!  Uh-Oh. So much for it being such a Sweet Surprise! In 2010, the Corn Refiners Association submitted an application to the FDA seeking approval to change the labeling of high fructose corn syrup to “corn sugar” (which was supposedly denied).

Honestly, for me, this is all semantics. As consumers, all we are interested in is the truth – What sugar should we consume on a regular basis? Is corn sugar better, worse, or the equal of cane sugar? Are they nutritionally the same?

I remember a CNN Dr. Sanjay Gupta feature (a few years ago) on high fructose corn syrup where he suggested that pretty much most processed food contains this product (and even the animals we rear for food are fed corn), which has led to obesity and diabetes issues amongst populations that consume more processed food. So, should we attempt to control our corn-sugar intake like we do processed foods? 

As I continued to do my research on this topic this morning, debating in my head which sugar I should choose to keep at home, I came across something even more startling – A 60-minute ‘overtime’ feature on ‘Sugar as a Toxin’. According to this news clip, Dr. Robert Lustig, a California pediatric endocrinologist believes the consumption of added sugars has plunged America into a public health crisis. In his much-watched online lecture, ‘Sugar – The Bitter Truth’, Lustig declares a war on sugar and tells viewers about not only table sugar, honey, syrup, sugary drinks and desserts, but also just about every processed food where sugar is often hidden: yogurts and sauces, bread, ketchup, cereals, and even peanut butter.

So, does that mean cutting out on sugar completely?

Or not.

As would be expected, the sugar industry spokespersons tell a different story. As quoted in a recent article on Oregon Live:

“Almost every cell in the body uses glucose for energy,” said Adam Fox of the Sugar Association. “And cancer cells also use glucose to grow. That does not especially implicate sugar, because rice, pasta, potatoes, virtually any carbohydrate out there, breaks down into glucose. There’s no reason for the sugar molecule to be pointed at as some special problem.” 

For a layperson, so many different varieties of sugar and so many different opinions on consumption can be confusing. With having processed food all around us – so cheap and so accessible – most of us are now hard-wired to crave sugar. Is it even possible to go cold turkey?

In 2009, the American Heart Association (AHA) ‘recommended limiting the amount of added sugars you consume to no more than half of your daily discretionary calories allowance. For most American women, that’s no more than 100 calories per day, or about 6 teaspoons of sugar. For men, it’s 150 calories per day, or about 9 teaspoons. The AHA recommendations focus on all added sugars, without singling out any particular types such as high-fructose corn syrup.’

So, choosing the middle-ground and consuming sugar in moderation seems to be the way to go?

Maybe. Maybe not. Tell me what you think!

Let someone else take care of dinner!

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Grain Power! Coming to a store near you.

In India, we eat a lot of different lentils and grains. Partly because we are an agrarian economy and also because a majority of population is vegetarian (although that’s slowly changing!), and grains are a great source of protein. 

Since I continue to be vegetarian 10 years after moving to the US – I am still a big lentil-and grain-person! If you were to look at my pantry shelves, you will see a whole lot of different grains on it – different colors, textures and sizes!

I saw a recent Bon Appetit article called ‘Grain Trust’ and I thought I should first write about the grains that they’ve discussed in their article – and probably add to that.

Most of these grains and lentils are available at several regular and specialty grocery stores. In this blog, my intention is to share their packaging (that’s really the only reason I have a Cook Aunty store), and links to a recipe each that you can use to cook them. I havent tried all the recipes, so if you try them – do comment. 

Here we go:

• Red Quinoa: Full of iron and lots of fiber too! [Red Quinoa with Butternut Squash, Cranberries and Pecans]
• Basmati Rice: Long-grain rice, perfect for salads and pilafs [Herbed Basmati Rice]
• Black Barley: Hearty and chewy Ethiopian grain, ideal for soups and stews [Black Barley, Fennel and Radish Salad]
• Pearled Barley: Adds body and richness to soups or salads [Barley and Black Bean Salad]
• Black Rice: Chinese heirloom grain with cancer-preventing antioxidants [Black Rice Risotto]
• Spelt: Sweet, nutty variety of wheat [Curried Spelt Salad]
• Bulgar:  Parched, crushed wheat [Lentils with Bulgar Wheat and Caramelized Onions – uses green lentils too!]
• Israeli Couscous: Pasta-like granules made from semolina and wheat flour [Israeli Couscous with Asparagus, Peas and Sugar Snaps]
• Spanish Lentils: Pardina lentils with a nutty flavor, hold their shape when cooked [Spanish Lentil Soup with Chorizo]
• Black Beluga Lentils: Glisten when they cook, great in soups and salads [Feta, Lentil and Cilantro Salad]
• Red Lentils:Turn golden when they cook, best in soups and purees [Mom’s Everyday Red Lentils]
• Moong Dal – Yellow: quick-cook, easy to digest lentils that are skinned, split and flat [Moong Dal – Indian]
• Moong Dal – Whole Green [Sprouted Green Gram Vegetables]
• Chana Dal: Sweet and nutty flavor, made by splitting chickpeas [Yellow Lentils with Spinach]
• Toor Dal: Mild, nutty flavor, sometimes sold with an oily coating that needs a quick rinse [Dal Fry]
• Black Lentils: Strong earthy flavors, used in curry [Dal Makhani – Low Fat]
• Kala Channa: Rust-colored chick peas with a nutty flavor. Needs marination for it to cook well [Snack/Starter]
• French Green Lentils: Great in salads, hold their shape once cooked, rich flavor [Sausage with French Green Lentils]

I am sure I missed a few!

So many grains out there….and so many ways to cook them!

Power to the grain. Happy cooking.

A food program that worked for me!

In 2008, I lost 16 pounds in 6 weeks and kept it off until I got pregnant. Today, someone who met in last in 2008, asked me (like many others who have in the last few years) – How did you do it?

So, here goes.

No, I did not starve myself. I admit that the first week was hard, but completely worth it.

My first rule was self-control. The secret, small portions. And the second rule – Keep trying, don’t give up.  It’s all about telling yourself how sexy you would actually look if you were to wear a bikini on the beach this Summer!

These are my suggestions:

1. First Week: Go on a fruit detox for the first three days. Eat all the fun fruits you want. The latter part of the week, continue a fruit diet, but add to it pulses (Indian pulses, Ethiopian pulses..). This is the hardest week. Forget about eating outside. Try and pack your own lunch to work, and give yourself a treat at the end of this week – How about some cereal and milk?

2. Second-Third-Fourth Weeks: Eat 4-5 times a day. Strive to have at least 3-4 servings of fruits and vegetables. Replace breakfast with watermelon or even a mango (130 calories). For lunch, stick to cooked pulses, with some greens. For dinner, replace a few meals with cereal, or have some low-sodium, low-fat soup with veggies, maybe some spinach soups. Try to get iron, calcium and protein in your diet. A walnut (has Omega), pistas, almonds, cashews once in a while is a good thing. Do not eat out more than twice a week, and even here, don’t have food that is oily or fatty (for example, avoid Chinese noodles, coconut milk or creamy gravies)

3. Fifth and Sixth Weeks: By now, its easy. Maintain the same diet. Maybe, split a tiny piece of brownie and have a spoon of icecream…Eat out no more than twice a week…Slowly add the restricted items in tiny quantities.

I did not exercise as much as I should have, but I still lost the weight. In the first few weeks, I played a round of tennis, went bowling once, took salsa lessons, and brisk walked for 20 minutes. In other words, kept active. In the last three weeks, I did not do much except light work-outs at home and 20 minutes of brisk walking during week-days.

Things that I completely cut down on in the first three weeks and slowly started including back in my diet were:
1. Pasta (started whole wheat pasta after 4 weeks)
2. Rice (started boiled rice after 4 weeks)
3. Oil (little oil after two weeks)
4. Sugar (still trying to stay away from sugar)
5. Cheese (fat free cheese shavings, few slices of pizza has light cheese on it in 3rd week)
6. Bread (started whole wheat bread after three weeks)

I am vegetarian and do not have any meat. Perhaps, that would be different for many of you. A change in diet however, often boosts energy levels.

It’s been a couple years since the baby, so my plan is to get back to this program soon and shed all my fat off again….and hopefully keep it off!

Happy Losing!

Psst. BTW, if any of my NYC-NJ readers want to lose weight, my way or any other way, and would like some help, visit Cook Aunty – Customized and affordable eat-at-home meal plans always work!

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My little Bavarian food exploration!

Fair warning: I am no expert. I am just an interested individual, curious about cuisines. And, this is a fresh take on a cuisine that I thought I would never eat.

One of the best things about traveling is experiencing the food. When it came to Germany however, the thought of not finding anything to eat was most concerning. Don’t let that surprise you – It’s because I am picky vegetarian – and because I was told that all that Germans eat are meat and potatoes. Dull and boring? So wrong. So-so wrong.

Germans definitely love their meat and potatoes, but there is so much more to that cuisine than that. And, there are so many other regional and multi-cultural influences that even those who do not really like meat and potatoes would do just fine. To top that, restaurants accomodate dietary restrictions, servers speak English and provide English menus.

On my recent road trip to South-West Germany with my better half and 2.5 year old toddler, I quickly realized I was not going to need my mac-n-cheese/pasta packs and my traditional ‘theplas’ (We don’t often admit but but first-generation picky-vegetarian Indian-Gujaratis don’t really travel much without them!) that I had carried all the way from NYC. Most of the cities we visited offered salad options and pizzas. Little pizza parlors had accompanying fresh produce sections where one could pick up fruits and easy-to-nibble vegetables.

Much to my surprise and contrary to what I had read before traveling to Germany, the bigger cities had not only Italian and French restaurants, but also Turkish/Mediterranean kebob houses; and Thai, North and South Indian and Mexican food options.

Their open-air food markets are also a delight! The main food market in Munich dated back to 1950’s, was clean and well-preserved with beer and (huge!) pretzels on the premises – and tons of fresh food! Sellers were eager to offer samples of olives, cheese and fruits.

There were several stalls with fresh produce – clearly a vegetarian’s paradise along with meat options…

Austrian wines were also available for purchase on site!

Truth be told, the stereotypes are true: Traditionally, German food specialties include sausage, bread, potatoes and cabbage/sauerkraut. And you get to wash it all down with several big glasses of dark beer. Lucky are those who genuinely like beer. You will have a blast at a beer garden such as the famous Hofbräuhaus.

But, I bet you didn’t know – yogurt-like curd cheese, asparagus, mushrooms and pumpkin are very much a part of their diet!

As also expected, German food is much influenced by the cuisine of the neighboring countries – There are French influences (goose liver, hot black pudding, coq au vin, snail soup, crepes), Swiss influences ( veal), and Italian influences (egg-based noodles and stuffed meat ravioli).

To experience some real Bavarian food in Munich, we went to a popular local restaurant called Fraunhofer Wirtshaus – that dated back all the way to 1874. Just as Birge Amondson from About.com Guide described it, this restaurant had a cozy and down-to-earth atmosphere and drew in an interesting mix of people, from locals and tourists, to students, and actors from the adjacent theater.

We were greeted by a friendly, young, English-speaking server who seemed extremely accommodating. The food – both meat and vegetarian options were plenty.

Clearly, Germans like their red meat. They also probably eat every part of the pig, and roast knuckle, sausage, tongue, ribs and belly are common delicacies.  They also treat the meat in different ways – grilled, roast, boiled and braised etc! And just like the humongous sizes of beer and pretzels, the portion sizes in most restaurants are fairly decent.

Here’s what a Bavarian meal could look like:  Roast Pork, Potato Dumpling and a Cabbage Salad…and beer.

While food varies widely across regions of Germany, I took a photo of the menu that the restaurant I visited had.

First impressions –

– The stereotypes are true. Meat and potatoes!

– Cabbage, cabbage everywhere: White or red cabbage, sauteed into a ‘salad-side’ preparation

– Big on bread: Breaded dumplings, bread hors oeuvres, black and white bread, and bread on the table!

– Potatoes: Baked, mashed, in salads, as sides, and as dumplings

But look at some of the other options – Stuffed peppers, creamed mushrooms, beans, egg salad and other salads, fruits..and what you don’t see on the menu but is served – spaghetti in tomato sauce! Even my vegetarian toddler didn’t go hungry!

And desserts!  Germans eat their sweets with their coffee, and not so much after meals – but the desserts are pretty darn good – cookies, cakes and fruit tarts!

Finally, no German food experience is complete without the famous Black Forest Cake! We drove half-way around the Black Forest to look for the authentic cake…and finally found it in a quaint and absolutely delightful town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Baden Wurttemberg….that we know we just might visit again.

Until next time, reader. Ciao.

Things that make you go, Oooh!

I get easily fascinated by unique, new and interesting things.  Partly because I am culturally inquisitive, and because I often come across things that I completely clueless about, and also because I like to buy things and use services that make my life happier and also easier.

Since I am learning and un-learning the food game, this post is about kitchen items that make you go, Ooh, yeah – I want that!

The Monday Mug 

Okay, so this is really neat. We all hate Mondays, dont we! This mug start off with a tired face, and when you pour coffee into it, it becomes a happy face – Ha! Now, that would make me smile every Monday morning.  If someone ends up buying this one, tell me if the cup truly does that! I am so sold, if it does!

Eco-Gadgets 

Not sure how practical it is to have lemons and ketchup power our digital clocks, but I would just have one at a party to start an eco-conversation! This clock replaces battery power with lemon power! One lemon powers a digital clock up to a week!

Pancake Pen

Would you pay $10 to make your life hassle-free? For this gadget, hell ya.Say hello to ‘ NO MORE MESS’.  Mix your batter right in the bottle – Fill pancake moulds, create your own shapes or just pour batter. It’s a win-win, all the way.

Taco Plates 

I own taco-holders, but would love to trade them for these taco plates. Most useful if you want to have a taco-dinner-n-movie night! Anyone ever use these? Are they sturdy enough?

Corn Zipper

I found this at my local TJ Maxx. Yes, I do shop there – They often carry some amazing kitchen gadgets. I picked up this Corn Zipper because it looked interesting – and I am glad I bought it.  If you ever shop at a farmer’s market, trust you-me, fresh corn is always so tempting to pick up.  This one is easy to hold, and so easy to zip the corn off the cob. It really works!

Spagetti Measure

I always make too much spagetti. Do you think this could help? Aha. Just might.

Avocado Slicer and Pitter

My love for avocado is relatively new but growing. The last time I cut an avocado however, I swore I will never try to cut one again. But I spoke too soon. I saw this amazing gadget at Williams Sonoma the other day, and I am itching to buy it now. It’s like a 2-in-one gadget that comes with a pitter on one side and a slicer on the other. No more using the knife to take the pit out or to cut the avocado into thin presentable slices.  OMG, child’s play.

Herb Scissors

I always used my kitchen cutting board and a knife to cut fresh herbs. Last year, I watched my girlfriend use a pair of scissors to cut cilantro with-immense-ease. Since then, I have been looking for a good herb-scissor, and finally found one! Chop-chop 🙂

Peeler 

When I was younger, my mother often pushed me in the kitchen to hone my cooking skills. Just as line cooks get to do everything in the kitchen except really-really cook, my job was to cut vegetables. Even that, my friends, is an art. This Kuhn Rikon peeler is so small and so easy to use, I highly recommend it. It’s the BEST tool to peel potatoes, and it has a potato bud remover to remore the ‘eyes’ of the potato. One of the BEST out there. Now only if I had such user-friendly tools growing up…

The BBQ Fork 

Sturdy enough to lift your turkey and long enough to keep you safe from the flame. A few years ago, my mom and I picked up a BODUM fork  from Italy just because it looked cool – and I had no idea what to use it for for the longest time – Yes, you guessed it right. I don’t grill meat, I am vegetarian. I used it sometimes to pick up my cooked spagetti! Now, I know better – maybe, I will now be creative and use the fork to grill…umm, potatoes and corn!

Bottle Cap Catcher

I have mistakenly walked barefoot on an bottle cap so many times that it hurts to even think about it. Now, with a toddler in the house, I have even more reason to keep caps off the floor. So – – It may not seem like a big deal to some of you, but to me, it is!

Cook Aunty covered by Bergen County Times!

New In-Home Cooking Service for New Jersey Residents

 Email This Article To A Friend!Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone come into your home for a couple of hours and create delicious and nutritious meals for the entire week?

One of the reasons I love producing Bergen County Times is because it provides a vehicle for all of us to share products and services that enhance our lives or just plain help us while we all run around like crazy. A friend told me about a new service available to Bergen County residents named “Cook Aunty” –which is a registered cooking service where they send chefs to client’s homes when they request home-cooked meals for a week. What seems to set them apart is their attention to dietary preferences and/or restrictions. I invite you to check out their site at the link below and come back and tell us what you think. Happy New Year!

http://www.cookaunty.com/home

               

 Email This Article To A Friend!Tags: cook aunty, in-home cooking service

Gourmet vs. Every Day Meals

Got Milk? Get Real.

One of my favorite authors and also my mentor, Jon Steel was one of the lead strategic planners on the famous ‘Got Milk’ campaign (yeah, the ones with the milk mustaches!) in 1993. While this post is not about Mr. Steel, about account planning in advertising or about any of his fantastic books, it IS about milk. Because his campaign has often been credited with greatly increasing milk sales in California and was licensed for use by milk processors and dairy farmers, it sets up the stage beautifully for this article that discusses the concept of ‘real’ milk.

Yesterday, I got a little booklet in my mail where there was an advertisement about ‘Old-Fashioned Home Milk Delivery’ from a company that delivered milk in glass bottles, right at my door. This kind of service hits home – I remember growing up in India, we often had milk in glass bottles delivered home every morning.

In the ad was a statement that seems relevant to this discussion: ‘Your child shouldn’t drink milk that contains chemicals most ‘modern’ farmers give to their herds’.

Oh? You mean that milk that we get in our local grocery stores? I have been drinking that milk the last ten years I have been in this country. Something wrong with that?

Well, not really – I havent really been sick from it (although I have always been slightly lactose-intolerant all my life), it tastes fine to me, and I have always thought of milk as a good source of calcium. Of course, many would disagree about my local-store-milk-choices, starting with my friends with kids who only buy organic milk for their toddlers. Is it because organic milk is the real thing? Are the benefits of organic milk worth the cost?

May be, may be not.

Organic milk loyalists believe organic milk is real milk.

Uh-huh. What does that even mean?

The easy and the most common answer I got to this question was: Real Milk comes from real cows.

No kidding. Cows are cows. What the heck do you mean by ‘real cows?’.

To explore this further, I ran a few online searches. One website that caught my fancy was the one that is run by the California Milk Processor Board, which continues to use the ‘Got Milk’ tagline in its campaigns. Another one suggests Americans should go for the ‘real thing, and boycott the counterfeits’ – but not consume raw milk. A third website focuses on health benefits of ‘raw milk‘, instead. And, not surprising, on the other end of the spectrum, were numerous articles that suggested that adults dont even need milk in their diet, and how 60% of adults cannot even digest milk. An animal liberation website also affirmed that milk will make you sick.

In this post, it is not my intention to debate whether adults should drink milk or avoid it altogether. That’s a personal choice.

The issues I want to discuss are – What is real milk? Are all organic brands similar and should I stop drinking my local grocery store milk?

There has been much debate about these issues.

Based on my initial reading and research, one thing I can gather is that local-grocery-store-brand milk comes from cows that are given growth hormones (such as rBST), antibiotics and pesticide-treated feeds  (cottonseed, bakery wastes, soymeal, chicken manure) to push them to produce more milk and at scheduled times. The milk from these cows is also ‘ultra’ pasteurized and homogenized, with additives that may make it lose its authenticity.

I get that. There are some books and movies that talk about this at length. But what makes organic milk any better?

I ask that because I have read some not-so-great reviews about organic milk too. For example, in Horizon Organic Milk: Is it all lies?, the author asserts how the word ‘organic’ has been ‘raped by the agricultural industry’. He also asserts that hormones will always be present in milk, and Vitamin 3 is added to all milk. Furthermore, claims such as ‘no pesticides’ and ‘no antibiotics’ are not approved by FTC/USDA (and are being cracked down) because these elements are never added to or present in milk anyway.

Undoubtedly, many organic milk advocates will not agree with these ideas because the former are not just focused on what is added to the milk but also on the contextual raising of and living conditions of the cows that produce that ‘organic’ milk – i.e. Cows that are not treated with antibiotics, cows that are given organic feed, and cows that are grass-fed with access to pasture.

That’s a fair thought. Perhaps that may make (as my husband claims) organic milk tastes better than the regular stuff. Still, I dont feel a difference. I am not a milk connoisseur.

So then – are all organic milk brands the same? That’s up for debate too. Many of the organic companies that started on smaller, organic farms are now state-of-the-art industrial plants (i.e. Horizon, Stoneyfield, Aurora) and inevitably have forsaken the pastoral ethos that defined their very existence. Thing is – Can organic production be replicated on a large scale, and can it then hold on to its authenticity?

This 2006 Business Week cover story breaks this down well and asks some thought-provoking questions –  Do organic consumers ‘think’ that they are supporting a different kind of ethic? Do Horizon’s 8000+ cows in the Idaho dessert really have ‘access’ to pasture – and if so, how much?

We don’t really have any relevant and ‘true’ resources to answer these questions, although as consumers, we rightfully should.

For now, organic or not, I am planning on paying attention to my milk. And based on the suggestions that the Natural Resource Defense Council puts forth, I am going to execute on the following:

• Avoid buying milk with the growth hormone – rBTST. This is easy, because most of the big chains (Kroger, Walmart etc) have already taken steps to remove these products off their shelves
• Buy low-fat milk, because toxins accumulate in milk-fat, so low-fat milk would lower the chemical dose
• Try the local milk brand that asserts their milk is from 100% grass-fed cows