Food Friday (Shirataki Noodles)

Love pasta?

Feel guilty about the carbs, gluten and calories?

No more!

According to www.housefoods.com you can “make your favourite pasta dishes without the guilt thanks to

Tofu Shirataki noodles.  Made from a blend of pureed tofu and the root konnyaku, a member of the yam family, this noodle substitute is easy to prepare and is only 20 calories and gluten free!  Available in macaroni, spaghetti, angel hair and fettuccine shapes, it can be used anyway you would use regular pasta”.

Shirataki noodles can be found in the Tofu section of most grocery stores.

According to www.asianfoodgrocer.com “Shirataki needles were once Japan’s best kept weight loss secret.  Thanks to the new low carb craze, the noodles are out of the bag now.  Shirataki means “white waterfall” – a pretty name for a noodle.  We like to think of them as little miracles of science”.

These noodles contain no fat, carb, net carbs, sugar, or any other weight loss enemies.  As mentioned above these noodles are made from the yam-like konjac plant and loaded with glucomannan – a water-soluble dietary fibre.

Not everyone is enamoured with Shirataki noodles.  Like sushi and beer, Shirataki noodles have an acquired taste.  Before you ship these Asian noodles off to diet food island try the recipe below, or substitute the noodles in any other Asian noodle recipes.  Some people think the noodles taste rubbery, probably because they didn’t parboil!  Before you use Shirataki noodles, rinse and parboil them to get the right texture.  Simply bring water to boil and add a pinch of salt (optional).  Quick boil the noodles for 1 – 2 minutes, then drain and rinse.

Note:  One of my TOPS group ladies has tried these and deemed them as “not pasta, but not bad”.  She did mention that they “smell funny” right out of the bag and need to be rinsed well and dried thoroughly to get the “right pasta feel”.  I have not tried them myself.

SHIRATAKI CHICKEN VEGGIE SALAD          

2 teaspoon vegetable oil

8 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast

2 carrots

1 medium onion

1 clove pressed garlic

¼ pound snow peas

1 package (16 oz) Shirataki noodles

1 tablespoon Soy Sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1.  Heat large frying pan, preferably non-stick, over high heat

2.  Add 2 teaspoons vegetable oil to coat the pan

3.  Add 8 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast, slivered.  Stir fry 2 to 3 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Remove from pan.

4.  Heat 1 teaspoon oil in same pan.  Add 2 carrots, cut into matchsticks, 1 medium onion, cut into thin wedges, 1 clove garlic, pressed and ¼ pound snow peas, trimmed and halved lengthwise.  Stir-fry 2 to 3 minutes or until tender crisp.  Remove from pan.

5.  Add 1 package (16 oz) Shirataki noodles drained and coarsely chopped, and 1 tablespoon Soy Sauce to same pan.  Cook and stir for 3 minutes.

6.  Turn into large bowl.  Mix in chicken, vegetables, 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon Soy Sauce and 2 tablespoons sesame oil.

7.  Cover and refrigerate until chilled, stirring occasionally.

Makes 4 servings.

Per serving:  187 calories, 16g protein, 6g fat, 14g carbohydrates, 774mg sodium, 39mg cholesterol.

Thursday's Random Thought (Menus listing calories and exercise)

Scenario:

You have just been seated at your favourite restaurant.  You have been looking forward to this meal and ordering your favourite menu item all week.  When the waitress hands you the menu you notice that there is a something different in the way it looks.  Your favourite items are still listed but listed beside each item is the amount of time it would take to burn off that meal by taking a brisk walk.

Would that information make you rethink you ordering choice?

Would you still order that dessert if you knew that it would take two hours of brisk walking to burn it off?

In the U.S. “by law, retail food establishments that are part of a chain with twenty or more locations nationwide must disclose the calories content of each menu item.”  However, the majority of studies show that providing information on calorie count does not lead to fewer calories ordered or consumed.  In the first study of its kind, researchers at Texas Christian University have discovered that out of group of 300 study participants, those ordering from a menu that displayed the amount of exercise needed to burn off the calories in each food, ordered significantly fewer calories than those ordering from a menu not showing either calories or exercise-costs.

The study (in a nutshell) went something like this;

GROUP ONE – (99 participants) - ordered lunch from a menu without calorie or exercise labels.

GROUP TWO – (99 participants) – ordered lunch from a menu listing only calories

GROUP THREE – (102 participants) – ordered lunch from a menu with labels as to the minutes of brisk walk needed to burn the calories of each food.

All of menus listed the same food and beverage options.

THE RESULTS:

The researchers found that the Exercise-listed group ordered and consumed significantly fewer calories than the No-Calories-listed group.

However, they found that the No-Calories-listed Group and the Calories-listed groups did not differ significantly in the food calories ordered and consumed.

The groups were all under the age of 30 and the researchers do not want to generalize, but in the groups of young men and women studied listing exercise times to burn off the menu items made a BIG difference in the their choices.  The researchers chose “brisk walking” since everyone can relate to the activity.  They plan on continuing their research with other age groups to see if the results are similar.

Would it make a difference to me?  I think it would because I am on this journey.

Would it make a difference to someone else not concerned about their weight?  In my opinion, whether that person is overweight or not, if they are not concerned going in that number on the menu is probably not going to make a difference in their ordering (despite the study).

Would it make a difference to you?

So, you think you know?

After I’ve been on a diet for a while I start to become complacent about certain things like calorie counts and portion controls.  The food scale begins to get dusty on top of the fridge and accurate portion sizes become “guesstimates”.  Then I have the nerve to wonder why that pesky little indicator on the scale starts to travel in the wrong direction again.

The same thing happens in my TOPS group.  We can always tell when members are getting complacent because our “overall gains” for the week start to outweigh (pun fully intended) our “overall loss”.

This week I decided to throw a couple of quizzes out to the group.  I find quizzes are a fun way to refresh some the information we need to make good choices.  Especially fun when there are prizes involved!!

Sorry, I can’t give out any prizes here but if you want to take the quizzes for your fun and enlightenment, let’s go …

All answers will be given following each quiz

QUIZ ONE:  CALORIES

(from www.3fatchicks.com)

1.  To start your morning off right, which breakfast has the least amount of calories?

1. Two scrambled eggs with cheese
2. A glazed donut
3. One cup of granola cereal

2.  Which of these delicious appetizers boasts the lower amount of calories per serving?

1. Shrimp cocktail
2. Chicken lettuce wraps
3. 12 chips with salsa

3.  Those four fun-size Snickers you just grabbed from the receptionists candy jar cost you how many calories?

1. 120 calories
2. 324 calories
3. 500 calories

4.  You ordered the chicken.  Now which side dish should you choose if you want to continue with your low calorie dinner theme?

1. One bowl of broccoli soup
2. Half a cup of rice pilaf
3. Two slices of garlic bread

5.  Which movie-theatre treat should you nosh on to avoid calorie-overload?

1. A medium-size buttered popcorn
2. One salted pretzel
3. A 5-ounce pack of red licorice

6.  Which alcoholic beverage packs the highest amount of calories at happy hour?

1. White Russian
2. Budweiser
3. Glass of red wine

7.  To avoid turning your snack into a mini-dinner calorie-wise, which should you choose?

1. Half a cup of cottage cheese
2. Two stalks of celery with peanut butter
3. A handful of tortilla chips

8.  Which Chinese food favorite will set you back the most calories?

1. Orange Chicken
2. Broccoli Beef
3. Vegetable Chow Mein

9.  While in a fast food drive thru, which item should you choose if you want to spare yourself some major calories?

1. McDonald’s Quarter Pounder™ with cheese
2. Taco Bell taco salad
3. McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets™

10.  To finish off your meal, which tasty dessert has the least amount of calories?

a.       A slice of apple pie

b.      One serving of chocolate pudding

c.       Two Rice Krispies™ treats

ANSWERS:

Question 1

Two scrambled eggs with cheese = 300 calories

A glazed donut = 380 calories

One cup of granola cereal = 400 calories (and don’t forget about the milk)

Question 2

Shrimp cocktail = 1 serving is 125 calories

Chicken lettuce wraps = 4 wraps equals 630 calories

12 chips with salsa = 270 calories

Question 3

Four fun-size Snickers = 324 calories (81 calories each)

Question 4

One bowl of Cream of broccoli soup = 570 calories

Half a cup of rice pilaf = 155 calories

Two slices of garlic bread = 300 calories

Question 5

A medium-size buttered popcorn – 1000 calories

A salted pretzel = 370 calories

A 5-ounce package of red licorice = 560 calories

Question 6

White Russian = 4.5 ounces is 404 calories

Budweiser = 12-ounces equals 145 calories

Glass of red wine = 6 ounces equals 170 calories

Question 7

Half a cup of cottage cheese = 100 calories

Two stalks of celery with peanut butter = 220 calories

A handful of tortilla chips = (12 chips) equals 260 calories

Question 8

Orange Chicken = 1 dish equals 480 calories

Broccoli Beef = 1 dish equals 150 calories

Vegetable Chow Mein = 1 dish equals 260 calories

Question 9

McDonalds Quarter Pounder™ with cheese = 510 calories

Taco Bell’s taco salad = 870 calories

McDonald’s six piece McNuggets™ = 260 calories (without the high calorie dipping sauces)

Question 10

A slice of apple pit = 450 calories or more

One serving of chocolate pudding = 160 calories

Two homemade Rice Krispies™ treats = 140 calories

QUIZ TWO:  GOOD TO KNOW INFO

(from www.aarp.org/health)

1.  Which typed of diet has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease?

1. Atkins Diet
2. South Beach Diet
3. Paleo Diet
4. Mediterranean Diet

2.  Which of these best describes the Mediterranean Diet?

1. Very low carbohydrates (no rice, pasta or bread), high protein and fat from meat, eggs and other sources
2. Plenty of fish, vegetables, fruit and dairy, whole grains, olive oil and other healthy fats, moderate wine consumption
3. Restricted carbohydrates, including fruits; encourages healthy fats, vegetable and low fat proteins
4. Includes meats, vegetable, fruits, roots and nuts, excludes grains, legumes, dairy products and potatoes

3.  What happens to the body when you eat doughnuts?

1. A rapid spike in blood sugar
2. A burst of energy, followed by a sluggish feeling
3. A release of insulin, which causes the blood sugar to plummet
4. All of the above

4.  Which of the following is considered a “healthy” fat by nutritionists?

1. Saturated fat, which is solid at room temperature and comes from animal sources
2. Trans fat, found in processed packaged foods
3. Monounstaurated fat, found in plant based foods and oils
4. Partially hydrogenated fat, chemically altered by adding a hydrogen atom to an unsaturated fat

5.  Why is fatty fish an important part of a healthy diet?

1. It has omega-3 fatty acids that are important for brain health
2. It lowers your risk of certain cancers
3. It is low in calories and high in protein
4. All of the above

6.  Which of these eating habits is not linked with losing weight and keeping it off?

1. Chewing gum
2. Snacking often
3. Eating out
4. Drinking water

7.  What drink may lower risk of an early death?

1. Diet sodas
2. Coffee
3. Prune Juice
4. Water

8.  Which of the following can be a diet buster?

1. Consuming low-fat dairy
2. Sleeping at least seven hours a night
3. Choosing food labeled “fat-free”
4. Meditating a few minutes each day

9.  Eat this not that.  Which of the following food switches make the most sense for health and weight loss?

1. Steel-cut oats instead of instant oats with sugar
2. Unbuttered popcorn instead of potato chips
3. A small piece of dark chocolate instead of a milk chocolate candy bar
4. All of the above

ANSWERS:

1. (d) The Mediterranean Diet
2. (b) Plenty of fish, vegetables, fruit and dairy, whole grains, olive oil and other healthy fats, moderate wine consumption
3. (d) All of the Above
4. (c) Monounsaturated fat, found in plant based foods and oils
5. (d) All of the above
6. (c) Eating Out
7. (b) Coffee  * This answer was a puzzler to me because I assumed it would be water.  The explanation given was “older adults who drink two or three cups of coffee per day (regular OR decaf) have a 10% lower risk of premature death then those who drink no coffee at all.
8. (c) Choosing food labeled “fat-free”
9. (d) All of the above             

Food Friday ... Be warned!

Consider yourself duly warned!

This post has absolutely no business being on a diet/healthy eating blog.  But sometimes things are just too delicious to ignore.  I mean “delicious” in the sense of gossip – NOT eating.  Of course in this case you can make up your own mind.

But as I mentioned right off … consider yourself duly warned … just reading this post could subliminally add calories to your daily count.  Conduct yourself accordingly and please, do not blame me for any subsequent cravings.  Proceed with caution ...

Friday, June 7, 2013 is “National Donut Day”.  Appropriately, almost every newscast, on their ‘lighter side’ segment had the story about the newest phenomenon to hit the streets of New York – the Cronut.

What the heck is a cronut you ask?  Well, let me explain …

The cronut is a croissant-donut hybrid.  The brainchild of French chef Dominique Ansel and is served exclusively and sparingly at Dominique Ansel Bakery in Soho.  Although the actual recipe is a deeply guarded secret he does acknowledge that it has “loads and loads of butter, along with cream injected through multiple layers with a syringe-like pastry tip and a glaze on top that encircles the hole in the middle”.  Each cronut is then fried in grapeseed oil for 30 seconds.  He only fries nine at a time as this leaves the outer layers crunchy but the inner bites doughy.  Then he rolls the sides in sugar and adds dried, candied rose petals.  Apparently there will be a flavor of the month as in May he sold rose-vanilla and for June Ansel switched to lemon-maple with glaze and cream to match.

My teeth are starting to hurt!

One customer was quoted as saying, “it’s a little bit of heaven.  Definitely worth the calories.”  Chef Ansel is not giving up the calorie count on this new treat. 

I don’t even want to contemplate that number!

Only 200 to 250 are made each morning as it takes three days to complete the process of making a

cronut and the bakery sells out within an hour.  The bakery opens at 8 a.m. and the lines have started to form two hours ahead of time.  Pre-orders are allowed but you must order them at least two weeks in advance.  Reservations for orders of 100+ must be placed months ahead of time.  At this time purchases are limited to 2 per customer with a price tag of $5 per cronut. 

For those customers who sleep in and don’t make it to the bakery in time to get their cronut fix they can still pick one up off the “cronut black market” or on Craigslist where scalpers are asking up to $40.

“Cronut” is already a registered trademark but that has not stopped copycats from starting to mimic his creation.  Enter “DIY Cronuts” or “Copycat Cronuts” into a search engine and you will be sure to get all kinds of hits; “Doissants” seem to be leading the way, but there is also a knock-off using Pillsbury Crescent Rolls and an ordinary oven.

My BFF is in NYC this weekend … I really hope she does not bring me back a Cronut … sad as it is to admit – I’d eat it!

Thursday's Random Thought (Good for the mind & the waistline)

There has been so much information around lately about activity helping brain function (previous post).  I found the following posted on Facebook and thought I’d share.

* My only comment was “It may improve brain power but obviously not spelling … bicyclling?

 Just a few examples of actual calories burned …

23 1/2 Hours

When my daughters were younger they were very involved in organized sports.  For anyone who has children you know that this is both very time consuming and very expensive.  Why did I do it?  Truthfully, I supported them as long as they wanted to participate because I never wanted them to have to fight the weight battle like their mom.  The best consequence of that is that they are both very healthy and fit young women who happen to still enjoy physical activity.  The other by-product is that they are my best support system in trying to become more active myself.

My youngest has recently developed an issue that requires some physical therapy and has been told to limit her activity at the gym.  Not wanting to give up on her own fitness level she has taken to walking … everywhere and anytime she can.  So I need to thank her for sharing the following internet find with me.  I thought it was informative and interesting enough to share here.

Dr. Evans goes through the information pretty quickly in the video so let me recap some one the important points.

Walking has the biggest impact on and has the biggest return for the time investment on your health and fitness.

Walking makes the biggest difference to your health.

Walking is beneficial for so many different health problems.

Patients with knee arthritis who walked for one hour three times a week reduced their rates of pain and disability by 47%.

By walking, older patients reduced progression of Dementia and Alzheimer’s by around 50%.

Patients at high risk of diabetes, when coupled with other lifestyle interventions, found walking reduced progression to Frank Diabetes by 58%.

Post menopausal women who walked 4 hours a week had a 41% reduction in the risk of a hip fracture.

In patients suffering from depression, 30% were relieved with a short walking program and then it bumped up to 47% as walking time increased.

The best outcome is in overall quality of life, which encompasses all of the above.  It’s really about making your life better and walking has been shown again and again to improve quality of life.

The best thing you can do for your health is to spend half an hour being active.  It has been proven that obesity and no exercise is a very bad combination, being responsible for the most negative consequences of obesity from a health point of view.  If the obese person increased their activity - even if they did not have a weight loss – the activity made a significant difference.  Their overall health was much, much better and the exercise annihilated many of the negative consequences of obesity.

The rate of return seems to decline after 20 to 30 minutes of walking a day.  So from a health perspective thirty minutes is the most beneficial.

24 Hours - 1/2 hour = 23 1/2 Hours

We see big differences when somebody goes from not doing anything to doing something.  In the case of high blood pressure it was found that under 10 minute walking made no significant difference, an 11 minute to 20 minute walk resulted in a 12% reduction in rates of high blood pressure (hypertension) and at over 21 minutes walking, a 29% decrease of rates in high blood pressure.  So the authors calculate that with every 10 minute increase in your walking, there's a 12% reduction of likelihood of getting high blood pressure.

“Somebody has to do something;
it’s just incredibly pathetic that it
has to be us'

         Jerry Garcia, lead singer for the 'Grateful Dead'

                                                 

                                “Walking is man's best medicine”

                                     Hippocrates, father of modern medicine

Who is Dr. Mike Evans and what are his qualifications for making the claims about walking?  The following is from his website.

My name is Mike Evans. I am a family physician at St. Michael’s Hospital and an Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of Toronto. I also run something called the Health Design Lab at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute. My interest is engaging users and people with varied skills, particularly creatives, and mushing them together with researchers and clinicians to re-invent patient education. My recent YouTube release of “23 and 1/2 hours: what is the single most important thing for your health?” is a good example. With over a million views in the first month I think others also thought it was worthwhile. One theme that I see emerging is the need for clinicians to become part-time “curators” of the best health information for their patients, which is what My Favourite Medicine is all about…

When I started in medicine I was most interested in getting things right, what we in healthcare call “evidence-based medicine”. I chaired the provincial guidelines initiative, started a critical appraisal column in Canadian Family Physician, sat on the Canadian Expert Drug Advisory Committee, and chief-edited Canada’s top selling primary care textbook of medicine. Then I got into more of the research on how to improve practice and became the Scientific Officer for Knowledge Translation at the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and became a funded research scholar in Family Medicine. The general theme was there is no “magic bullet” and that multi-faceted interventions work best. I became increasingly interested in the patient-facing parts of these trials.

Food Friday (Skinny Cow Banana Bread)

Okay ...

I know this supposed to be a blog about losing weight and after yesterday's post I do feel like a a bit of a hypocrite -but every once in a while you just have to succumb and have something that sweet.  It takes the sting out of it a little bit if it is not sinful in the calorie department (just in the taste department).  So when I came across this Skinny Cow Banana Bread recipe I thought I'd share it here.

It's pretty low in the fat and sugar department and does use the "light" version of Sour cream.  And!  It contains fibre.  I'm sure if I share all but one slice (the one for me) it will disappear soon enough and then it won't be able to do too much damage on the scale.

Don't tell anyone its low cal/low fat and they'll gobble it up!

Skinny Cow Chocolate Caramel Banana Bread

Yield: 1 loaf (16 servings)     Prep Time: 20 min      Cook Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated white sugar

2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter

2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 medium)

1/2 cup egg whites (or 2 large)

1/3 cup light sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 packets Skinny Cow* Milk Chocolate Dreamy Clusters Candy, chopped

Directions:

1. Place rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, soda and salt.

2. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the sugars, butter and applesauce. Mix in the banana, egg whites, sour cream and vanilla. Blend in the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Stir in the chopped candy, reserving a few pieces to sprinkle on top.

3. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the reserved chocolate pieces on top.

4. Bake for 1 hour (checking at 45 minutes on how much the top has browned... place a piece of foil loosely on top of the loaf if it has already browned nicely on top). At one hour, draw a toothpick or a sharp knife into the center of the loaf to check for doneness. It should come out fairly clean- if not, bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes until done.

5. Cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes, then turn out on a wire rack to cool completely before cutting and serving.

Nutritional Information per serving: (Using the Spark People Recipe Calculator)

Serving size: 1/16th of the loaf

Calories per serving: 113

Fat per serving: 3.8g

Saturated Fat per serving: 2.4g

Sugar per serving: 16.5g

Sodium per serving: 180.9g

Fiber per serving: 1.5g

Protein per serving: 1.4g

Cholesterol per serving: 7.1mg

Carbohydrates per serving: 22g

WW POINTS per serving:

Points Plus Program: 3 Old Points Program: 2

Source: http://www.recipegirl.com/2013/02/01/skinny-chocolate-caramel-banana-bread/