The Kitchen: Not so Scary

July 29, 2013 / ktbuchs87

I have talked a few times about cooking. Clearly, I love all aspects of food. I love the buying, prepping, cooking, eating, and nutrition that food gives me. I probably wouldn’t write this blog if I wasn’t passionate about food and all that it entails. I want to talk about the kitchen yet again and make a simple, yet important plea: Get back in your kitchens people!

This past week, I read about how Dr. Mark Hyman worked with a family that had major health issues due to obesity. In short, this family relied on packaged, processed meals or fast food for the majority of their diet. They admitted that they really didn’t know what to do in the kitchen and it was so much easier to just open a package than to cook their own food. I have heard a lot of excuses about why people do not cook their meals: too busy, don’t like to cook, too long, they’re bad at cooking, etc. I have even heard that people really don’t know what to do in the kitchen, so this article didn’t totally shock me. Then I really started thinking about it. As we rely more and more on packaged food or restaurants, there is an entire generation that is missing out on learning how to cook. Children know how to work the microwave like a pro, but can’t boil water and make pasta.

I don’t want to sit here and play the blame game on this issue. In all honesty, blame can probably be evenly distributed to all concerned parties. The parents, food companies and industry, eating establishments, pretty much all the usual suspects. I’m not going to waste my time here demonizing anyone, as plenty of other people have done that for me. What I really want to get across is the importance of bringing the slowly disappearing tradition of cooking back. As Dr. Hyman stated in his article, it could be one of the keys to getting healthier.

When you eat a meal out or pop a store-bought dinner in the microwave, you really don’t know all the ingredients that go into that food. That can be a very dangerous game to play. McDonald’s recently released an ingredient list for their french fries and it wasn’t pretty. It had 17 ingredients, with one of them being an anti-foaming agent. Last time I checked, french fries only need about three ingredients (potatoes, oil, and salt) and none of them were an anti-foaming agent. Yes, McDonald’s fries are like crack and taste good. They are also really easy to obtain, but they do absolutely NOTHING good for your health. It is really simple to make your own french fries right at home and they will be a whole heck of a lot better for you. Plus, you will get the satisfaction of creating something with your own hands that does not contain 17 hard to pronounce, dangerous ingredients. This can be applied to so many other meals as well. Some of the food that you are paying other people to make for you, can easily be made at home for less money, have better health benefits, and be much tastier dishes. Below is the ingredient list and nutrition facts for a Lean Cuisine BBQ Chicken Enchilada. Another simple dish that shouldn’t have more than 5 or six ingredients, has a huge ingredient list. Do you really want to be ingesting some of those ingredients or would you rather know exactly what is going into your food and you by making it yourself?

Ingredient list for Lean Cuisine BBQ Chicken Enchilada

More than just eating better and healthier food, cooking at home can be valuable time spent with your family. Kids get to spend quality time with their parents, learn new things, and create something the whole family can enjoy. Even if you don’t have kids, cooking with your spouse can be a great time to catch up on your day while preparing a delicious meal to be shared and cooking with friends is a fun way to share stories as well as recipes. Your kitchen can give you so much more than just good health, it can give you good memories and lift your spirits. It is fairly simple to learn how to make quick meals and there are so many benefits that can be gained. I’ve said it before, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel in the kitchen. You don’t have to be creating new and fancy meals every single night or slave over a hot stove preparing dishes with exotic ingredients. Find a few recipes (maybe one of mine, I post a new recipe each Wednesday!) that you can handle and really learn how to make those well. Once you have those few dishes down, you can branch out to others, or tweak the recipe with new flavors or ingredients. By just having 3 or 4 core recipes under your belt, you can improve your eating habits and your health.

The kitchen isn’t scary, it might seem intimidating, but it is just begging for you to come in and learn how to prepare delicious, healthy food. Don’t let an entire generation grow up without learning how to make at least one meal without the help of boxed food. Cooking is an important aspect of a healthy and happy life, and I hope that my blog helps that just a little. Most of my recipes take less than 20 minutes to make and are made of simple ingredients that are easy to find and use. I don’t want to intimidate you with my meals, I want to invite you to join me in the kitchen and cook up a healthier life!

Turmeric Scented Mushrooms and Brown Rice Noodles

July 24, 2013January 27, 2016 / ktbuchs87

This was a meal that was really easy to put together and I made it with stuff that I already had in my kitchen. Those are pretty much the best meals ever, minimal work and minimal shopping. Not that I am lazy or anything… This dish also is packed with good for you spices and vegetables. Turmeric is a powerhouse of good things as is spinach and mushrooms!

Turmeric Scented Mushrooms and Brown Rice Noodles

1 package of mushrooms, sliced (you can use whatever mushrooms you would like, I used baby bella)
2 cups fresh spinach leaves
zest and juice from 1 large lime
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp dill
1/2 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp sesame oil (or more olive oil)
Salt

1. Prepare your brown rice noodles according to the package and set aside while you put everything else together

2. In a large skillet or wok, heat your olive oil and sesame oil on medium high heat. Add the turmeric and toast for about 1 minute. Next add your mushrooms and sprinkle with a little salt. Turn the heat down to medium-low and cook until they are soft and brown. Add the garlic, onion, rice vinegar, lime juice and zest and dill. Saute for about 3 minutes, then fold in the spinach and cook until the leaves have wilted down. Put your noodles in a bowl and cover with mushroom stir fry!

This meal was good the first time around, but it was even better as leftovers. That extra time really let the flavors come together deliciously. It also tastes just as good cold as it does hot, so try it both ways! Enjoy!

Calories in, Calories out

July 22, 2013 / ktbuchs87

It is a simple idea, which makes it so attractive/popular to the general public. In one way or another we have been told that losing weight really boils down to taking in less calories than we burn. There are of course other factors, but this is the major key to all our weight loss dreams… or is it?

We are slowly, but surely, learning that the science of nutrition is far more complex than we once believed. As our understanding grows, scientists are finding that calories might not be the only key to losing weight. As recently as last May, researchers discovered that the calorie count in almonds (one- ounce serving = 160 calories) was actually lower, at 129 calories per serving. Yes, we may all rejoice that they overestimated the calories rather than underestimated, but the more important part of this study was the reason the calorie count was lower. They found that the body could not completely break down the almonds and use their full energy as fuel. This discovery has lead many scientists to believe that the current method of determining calories might not be the most accurate.

If you have been reading my blog for any period of time, you know that I am a firm believer in the individualization of nutrition. What works for me and my health might not necessarily work for you and your health, and scientific researchers are starting to see this as well. I am not a huge supporter of religiously counting calories and making sure I am eating a set number for each meal, mostly because when I did do this I never felt any healthier. I always felt like I was being deprived and this led to overeating. I understand that for some of you out there, counting calories is the easiest way for you to achieve your optimal health, but I want you to also think about the kind of calories that you are putting into your body. It’s not just a number, it is the benefits that those calories gives your body that really count to feeling your healthiest.

Look at it this way, 300 calories worth of food at McDonald’s is going to make you feel a lot different than 300 calories worth of fresh fruits and vegetables. Both foods have 300 calories, but the fresh foods will provide your body with far more vitamins, minerals and nutrients that you can use to fuel you throughout your day. Your body will also use those calories in totally different ways. While the fat and sodium content of your Happy Meal might get stored as fat in your body, the vitamins and minerals from fruits and vegetables can be used to instantly nourish your body and help you function. Don’t get me wrong and think that only eating fruits and vegetables will provide you with the best health, there are so many foods out there that could help you be as healthy as possible.

Nutrition facts for McDonald’s cheeseburger

Nutrition facts for 3 stalks of broccoli

The message I really want to get across is that the amount of calories you put into your body is only a piece of the puzzle that makes up your health/weight loss. I don’t think that this is insignificant, as making sure you eat enough is highly important, but I do believe that there is so much more to feeling (and looking) your best. When you eat a meal, concentrate on how it makes you feel afterwards. Do you feel sluggish? Like you have ton of energy? Do you feel hungry only an hour after eating a meal or were you so stuffed that you didn’t feel like eating the rest of the day? The kinds of food you eat will give you much more information about your health than an arbitrary number on the back of a package. As nutrition research progresses, I hope we see a major overhaul in the way we view food. Food is much more than a number, it has the potential to truly shape our health. As Hippocrates so famously stated, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”

Chili-Spiced Polenta with Avocado Sauce

July 17, 2013 / ktbuchs87 / 4 Comments

On Friday’s in our house, I usually try out a new recipe. I usually have a little more time to make dinner and it’s fun to try something new! I have made polenta before, but I forgot how easy and how delicious it really is! This is a pretty simple meal to throw together and it tastes fantastic!

Chili-Spiced Polenta with Avocado Sauce

For Polenta:

3 1/2 cups water
1 cup cornmeal
1 tsp chipotle chili powder
1 tsp cumin

For Avocado Sauce:

1-2 medium avocados
juice and zest of one lime
1 tbsp fresh cilantro
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp water

1. First prepare your polenta. This can be done ahead of time so it will be ready come dinner time! Bring the 3 1/2 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan. While pouring the cornmeal into the water, keep whisking so that no lumps form. Turn heat down to a simmer. Keep stirring the polenta every so often scraping the bottom of the pan so none sticks. The polenta will be done when it is nice and thick and no longer sticks to the side of the pan. Add your spices and pour the polenta into an oiled bread pan (or whatever dish you have handy. Just make sure it has high enough sides so polenta won’t pill over) and place pan in fridge to set.

2. While your polenta is chilling in the fridge, dice your avocados and place into a food processor or blender, I used my ninja. Add the rest of your ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy.

3. After about 30 min, take polenta out of the fridge. Now you can do one of two things. You can slice up your polenta and eat it cold or you can heat it up. I like it heated up because it gets a nice little crisp to it. Turn oven to 4o0 and line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Place polenta slices onto baking sheet and lightly brush with olive oil. Place in oven and bake for 10 min, flip them over and bake for 10 more minutes.

Once the polenta is done you can top it with the avocado sauce. I also like to put homemade salsa on top. I’ve also topped with pinto beans and corn. You can do whatever you like, it will be delicious no matter what! Enjoy!

Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judged….

July 15, 2013 / ktbuchs87

I like to think of myself as a non-judgemental person. I am a very accepting and open person. I feel that I am pretty empathetic and can easily put myself in others shoes or at the very least try to see things from their perspective. Imagine my surprise then when I realized I judge people constantly. Allow me to explain.

This past week I have read a couple of blog posts that really made me think of how I make snap judgments whenever I pass someone on the street. The first post was sent to me by husband, and it was about how poor people grocery shop. After reading this, I thought about how many times I have been shopping at the grocery store and seen someone else loading up on junk or unhealthy food. I have always thought to myself, “There are so many better options, I wish I/someone could teach them how to be healthier.” In my mind I felt that thinking that was not very judgmental, but that post made me realize it really is. I have no idea where this other person is in their life. I have no idea about their life story. I have no idea what has led them to this place/time/moment. How unfair of me to condemn their eating habits without knowing the full details. One of my main goals is to help people find their healthiest self, no matter what may be going on in their lives. There is no way I can do that by making snap judgments in the grocery store check-out line.

The second post that got me thinking about how judgmental I am was this one by OliveToRun. She talks about another runner she passed a couple of times on her long run and how later she thought about how she would have never guessed he was a runner by the way he looked. Thinking about this, I realized I do the exact same thing. Maybe it’s because I am a runner, whenever I pass people while running I sub-consciously think to myself, “Runner, runner, not a runner, could be a runner, nope, runner, runner….” I never really pay attention to this habit, but boy, what an awful habit. I hate it when people look at me and decide what I can or can’t do based on my appearance. “Well she is tiny, she probably can’t lift very much weight” or “Obviously she is a runner, look at her legs”. These things have been said to my face or in my general vicinity and they always irk me. Since when has the way someone looks contributed to what they are able to accomplish? Yet here I am doing the same thing to other people. It may not be out loud or to their face, but I am still not giving them the benefit of the doubt and judging them on what I think they can do based purely on appearances. When I first started running, I in no way looked like a “typical” runner. I was slow, I could barely huff and puff my way through one mile, and I am sure other people would never have guessed that I was training for a 5K. In my heart and mind though I was still a runner, I was logging the miles and doing the work and I counted myself in the community of runners. Everyone out there pounding the pavement, no matter what they look like, deserves that honor.

Let’s face it, we all are judgmental sometimes. Whether we like to admit it or not, we make snap judgments and place people into categories. In 2001, the International Journal of Obesity published a study about how the weight of a patient significantly affected the attitude of the physician attending. They found that while physicians would order more health tests for overweight patients, they would spend significantly less time with them and they viewed them more negatively than normal weight patients. This is one of the reasons why obesity is such a huge problem. We are quick to judge overweight or obese people and blame them for their problems and we don’t try to offer help or find out what is really going on. How can we expect to help them when doctors’ spend less time with them and view them in a negative light? Who are they suppose to look to for help when people passing them look down on them because of their weight without knowing the full breadth of the issue? Will the AMA recognition that obesity is a disease help or hurt this issue? Only time will tell on that one, but I remain hopeful that we can step out of our judgmental boxes and start to turn things around.

I know that this problem will never be fully fixed; there will always be people out there that will judge others no matter what. I know that I can start to work on myself and learn to look past a person’s food decisions or appearance. If I want to help others reach their optimum health, I have to meet them where they are and work with them and not against them. I really disliked when people made judgments at the beginning of my journey to better health and I dislike when people make comments about my abilities based on what I look like now. I do not want anyone to feel that way, and I really do not want them to feel that way because of my thoughts, words or actions. Instead, we should all work a little harder every day to give people the help and care they deserve and not pass judgments based on appearances.