Healthy Thursday

I am a creature of habit when it comes to eating breakfast. For starters, I always eat breakfast. I awaken hungry and I am ready to chow.

My normal routine begins with berries. Raspberries, blackberries and blueberries are my favorites. Then I move to eggs. I pour a generous amount of olive oil into a small frying pan, crack two healthy eggs into the pan, add pepper and occasionally chopped spinach and/or chopped tomatoes. For a real splurge, I toss in a little cheddar cheese. I then scoop out about a tablespoon of almond butter onto my plate and cover it with cinnamon. That breakfast is completed by a mug of steaming dark roast coffee with a little cream.

That is my breakfast at least six out of seven day a week, often all seven. 

May is National Egg Month. Eggs are good for us!

Eggs have long been vilified for their high cholesterol content. However, new research states we may have been all wrong. 

While it’s true that just one egg yolk has 200 mg of cholesterol, eggs also contain additional nutrients that may help lower the risk for heart disease. In addition, the amount of fat in an egg, about 5 grams, is mostly monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat. It’s also crucial to differentiate between dietary cholesterol and cholesterol in the blood, which are only weakly related. 

Eggs also boost brain health. When you eat the whole egg, yolks are a very good source of vitamin B12. This vitamin energizes the brain and provides crucial protection by eliminating potentially toxic compounds and promoting long-term nerve health and function. 

Egg yolks are also one of the few excellent sources of choline. Choline is the main building block of the nervous system function. Its importance cannot be overstated. 

Research has shown that eating eggs daily for breakfast is an effective strategy to help control body weight. The healthy fats found in eggs help increase feelings of fullness and satisfaction. This cuts down on snacking between meals. 

And yet another boon, eggs are rich in the antioxidant lutein, which fights free radical damage. Lutein also helps protect existing brain cells, helps create new ones, and improves neuroplasticity (the brain’s capacity to keep developing, changing, and healing itself). 

As I see my mother getting old and struggling so much with her memory and the processing of daily tasks, I want to take intentional steps to try to keep my brain as healthy as possible. 

If you are now not convinced to eat eggs, you really do need to start eating your eggs because your brain obviously needs them.

Matcha is Hot

I love food and I love trying new things. When I was out to breakfast this week, one of the spring specials was matcha multigrain pancakes. 

Matcha means “powdered tea”. When you order traditional green tea, components from the leaves get infused into the hot water, then the leaves are discarded. With matcha, you are drinking the actual leaves.

Unlike green tea, matcha preparation involves covering the tea plants with shade cloths before they’re harvested. This triggers the growth of leaves with better flavor and texture. The leaves are then dried and aged in cold storage, which deepens the flavor. The dried leaves are stone-ground into a fine powder. 

Because matcha is made from high-quality tea, and the whole leaves are ingested, it’s a more potent source of nutrients than steeped green tea. In addition to providing small amounts of vitamins and minerals, matcha is rich in antioxidants called polyphenols, which have been tied to protection against heart disease and cancer, as well as better blood sugar regulation, blood pressure reduction, and anti-aging (yes!). Bring on the matcha, baby! 

On the downside, because you are consuming whole leaves in matcha, you may get three times the caffeine than a cup of steeped tea, about the same amount in a cup of brewed coffee. Matcha aficionados say that compared to the caffeine buzz from coffee, matcha creates an “alert calm” due to a natural substance it contains called l-theanine, which induces relaxation without drowsiness. Just to be safe, however, it is best to not consume matcha at least six hours before bedtime. 

Matcha is hot with chefs right now, not just as a beverage, but as an ingredient in both sweet and savory dishes, i.e. the green pancakes I had for breakfast this week. 

They were actually really delicious; topped with Greek vanilla yogurt, granola, fresh blueberries and house-made warm berry compote. These, along with a hot mug of coffee with creamy cream, was a delightful breakfast indeed. 

Matcha is often associated with meditation, which is likely one reason it is becoming so popular, as meditation is becoming more mainstream. Meditation often has a negative connotation. It is misunderstood. 

Meditation is a means of quiet calming, for letting go of biases and seeing what is, openly and clearly. It is a way of training the mind so that you are not distracted and caught up in its endless churning. 

For those of us who seek God’s heart (and really, don’t all of us, in some way?), it is simply a path to declutter our thinking and focus on what God desires for every one of us – peace, trust, freedom.

The truth is, if preparing and sipping matcha tea becomes a way for you to slow down and be in the moment, the benefits will most likely far exceed the antioxidants it provides because meditation has its rewards. It has been shown to reduce cortisol, a stress hormone, lower inflammation, curb impulsive eating, lower blood pressure and boost self-esteem. 

Personally, I recommend the green pancakes. They most certainly decreased my stress level and boosted my self-esteem, if only for the moment. 

Butter the Biscuit, not the Burn

Today I made Saturday morning pancakes. Yum. They are fluffy and crispy with real butter slathered over them, topped with warm maple syrup. Occasionally I put blueberries in the batter or pecan chips, or both. But today, was plain ol’ wonderful pancakes.

I was getting a bit fancy with the flipping, and one pancake got caught on the edge. I quickly scooted it back over and managed to burn my thumb on the lip of the skillet. Ouch! I’ve always heard that the kitchen is the most dangerous place in the house ~ burns, cuts, slips on wet floors, small fires, er….I mean, that’s what I’ve heard.

As soon as I burned my thumb, I went to the sink to run it under cold water. I immediately thought about cooking with my mama when I was young. I enjoyed that and have good memories. When a burn occurred in those days, we were instructed to put butter on it. I did that on several occasions.

Butter on a burn could have come from two schools of thought. One, cold butter from the refrigerator may have been assumed to be good for the skin. Two, it is believed that people thought butter would be a good moisturizer to perhaps prevent the skin from blistering.

I found out that butter is good at removing tar from burns when the tar has stuck to the skin. Years ago, this was one way that workmen would get burning tar off of their skin. It’s likely it was therefore assumed butter is useful in all burns. Now, specifically designed creams are used for removing burning tar.

According to the Dermatology Clinic at UAMS, it is very important to immediately cool the skin after receiving a burn. This helps stop the damage from the burning process. Putting butter or other greasy ointments on a burn may actually make things worse, since the grease will slow the release of heat from the skin. It can actually cause more damage from the retained heat.

I believe there is an analogy in there somewhere!

When we are hurt or ‘burned’ by someone, we should simply let it go; rinse it in cold water. Applying butter or greasy ointments of anger and revenge will only hold in the heat and delay our healing.

Let cool, clean water quell your burns, douse your lips and quench your sizzling thirst. It is always, always, always the better choice.

Leave the butter for the biscuits.

 

Doorbell! Pizza Delivery

It is Friday, which almost always means pizza at my house. That tradition has been ongoing for at least 25 years. That is a lot of pizza. But that is also a lot of family time and love and memories made.

My oldest son, Andrew, the Yale Divinity School student, and his lovely bride, Lindsey are scraping along like newlyweds usually do, especially when one is a full-time student. A couple of months ago I had the idea to find a pizza delivery shop in New Haven, Connecticut, who would allow me to order the pizza from Ohio, pay for it by credit card on the phone, and have it delivered hot and scrumptiously to Andrew and Lindsey.

I found (with Andrew’s help), an authentic little place. The first few times I called, I had to go through the logistics of ordering from far away; the phone numbers of all parties, the delivery address, the ordering address, the credit card number, etc. Now when I call, the owner answers in his rushed, raspy Italian voice, apparently recognizes my voice, and says “ya, ya, ya, large Margherita pizza to…”

Since they are far from home, we like the idea of having pizza “with” them on a Friday night. It does not happen every Friday night. They often have plans or are in Manhattan for the weekend. But when it works, it is fun.

I have a small book entitled “Little-Known Facts about Well-Known Stuff”. In this book, I found this little nugget about pizza.

According to the staffs at the Domino’s Pizza locations in and around Washington, D.C., if there is a marked increase in the number of late night deliveries to the White House or the Pentagon, it usually signifies that a major news announcement of national importance will follow in 48 to 72 hours.

Here is another fun fact. The record for the most pizzas delivered nationwide in one evening was set on June 17, 1994, as O.J. Simpson fled in his white Ford Bronco down the Los Angeles freeway and Americans couldn’t take their eyes off of their TVs.

In my early fifties, I competed in a pizza-eating contest. I did not win, but I gave an impressive effort. The competition was with high school students. I was the only “old” one, so I did quite well!

Americans eat approximately 100 acres of pizza a day or about 350 slices per second.

The highest-grossing single-unit independent pizzeria in the nation, Moose’s Tooth Pub and Pizzeria, is in Anchorage, Alaska. Its annual sales are approximately $6 million.

The pizza at Moose’s Tooth must be pretty darn good. I consider myself quite the connoisseur so I would love to try their’s. I am wondering if they deliver to Ohio…

Soft Pretzel Month

One of April’s national month titles is “National Soft Pretzel Month”.

My husband and I love, love, love warm soft pretzels. He is a bit of a “plain jane” when it comes to eating. He loves the original pretzel with no dipping sauces or toppings. Perhaps he is better defined as a purist. I tend to love any flavors, any toppings and any and all dipping possibilities.

Auntie Anne’s, based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was founded by Anne Beiler and her husband, Jonas, in 1988. The chain now has 1,500 locations, including 400 international locations. They are located in shopping malls and Walmart stores, as well as non-traditional retail spaces such as universities, parking/rest areas, airports and military bases.

Here are a few fun facts I discovered about Auntie Anne’s Pretzels:

Anne was a high school dropout. She was raised in Pennsylvania by Amish parents, and started selling her homemade pretzels at farmers markets. She had an eighth grade education, but earned her GED at the age of 50, long after her success had been cemented. I love that.

Auntie Anne’s has made enough pretzels to circle the earth about 50 times. That is a lot of dough.

Every regular size pretzel receives a nice little butter bath after being baked. Um…yum.

Leftover pretzels are given to those in need. At the end of each night, the unsold products are sorted, bagged and sent off to be donated with help from a company called Food Donation Connection. Love that, too.

In 2005, “Auntie” Anne and Jonas Beiler, the company founders, sold Auntie Anne’s in order to fully devote themselves to their original vision of opening a family-counseling center. I really, really love that.

Sometime this month, do yourself a favor and go to Auntie Anne’s. Not only are they incredibly delicious, but their story is great and the good work that is coming from the business is quite literally, changing the world.

Because I believe in attempting to stay healthy and fit as I am aging, I will try to limit my visits to Auntie Anne’s. Otherwise, my body may begin to look like a cheddar stuffed pretzel dipped in hot salsa cheese. Just sayin’.

A small pitcher of Kindness

I love to go out to breakfast with my boys. They are all adults. One is married and she is a real gem . I love going out with them anytime, but breakfast together is really special. It may be that it is the break of a new day or it may be the sweet comfort of lingering over cups of hot coffee. I’m certain it is many things, but for sure, it is truly wonderful.

About twice a month I have breakfast with my middle son, Christopher. He has orthodontic appointments at an office a couple of miles from my house. It is a perfect opportunity to meet for breakfast afterward.

Christopher is a graphic designer and we often talk about the importance of good design and how good design affects nearly everything we do. That may be how well the cup holder works in our car or the way a box opens or the lettering on a sign or the way a conference room is set up. Design is everywhere!

Often we talk about the importance of ‘good design’ within a company framework; the way that Apple is run or the way P&G is run or the way a restaurant is run.

For example, not only does Christopher love Chick-fil-A for their spicy chicken sandwich and delicious waffle fries, he loves the company design; the way they run their business. They excel at customer service.

We all know how it goes there. After they serve you and you say thank you, what do they say? “My pleasure.”

For a flower lover like me, I take notice that on the tables inside the restaurant, there are always fresh flowers in a vase. Nice touch.

I have known two young people who worked at Chick-fil-A. They both loved their jobs. How many high school students can say that about working in food service?

When an atmosphere is created to truly serve others, it shows. And if the food is reasonably priced, it is win-win.

S. Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A said: “Food is essential to life, therefore make it good.” He also said: “How do you identify someone who needs encouragement? That person is breathing.”

Mr. Cathy found a way to encourage people every day, with friendly, respectful service and good food.

Today we ate breakfast at Northstar, a family favorite. The motivation behind this blog post is a very simple thing that happened there this morning.

I walked up to the coffee area to get a fresh refill and picked up the large, metal container that reads “Half & Half”. As I picked it up to pour into my mug first, before I add the coffee (an old trick I learned from my sister), it was empty. I went to the counter and asked if it could be refilled. “Oh yes” the friendly young server said. She took it from me and within five seconds, handed me a delicate little white glass pitcher of cream. “Here you go” she smiled, “Take this to use right now while I fill the larger decanter of cream.” It may have been only another minute or two but she didn’t want me to have to wait even that long.

Needless to say, I was impressed. Those things matter.

Who knows? Maybe she respected me because I am ‘older’. Perhaps she thought I looked like I needed a little TLC. It could be that she thought Christopher was cute and she was trying to impress his mother. Lots of variables.

However, I am going to trust that Northstar simply believes in stellar customer service, that they realize people pay a bit of a higher price for premium food and organic eggs and a warm, lovely ambience.

I am going to believe that they have a business model that is, as Christopher would say, “a good design”.

It could be that as I am aging, I am understanding the value of being treated well and with respect. So when I see it in action, it is refreshing and appreciated.

It’s funny how those things become more important. They always have been but you sure do notice when you are 60+.

I am happy to pay a little bit more for organic eggs, with a side of kindness.

 

 

Cabbage Forever

National Cabbage Day is observed annually on February 17. With St. Patrick’s Day exactly one month away, National Cabbage Day is a great way to test out some recipes with cabbage, a staple ingredient for Celtic holidays.

The word cabbage comes from the French word caboche, meaning head. The cabbage family is varied and includes Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, kohlrabi and kale. Cabbage is an ancient food with origins in Asia Minor (now Turkey) and eastern Mediterranean.

French explorer, Jacques Cartier was the first to bring cabbage to the Americas. I think that is far too snooty a name to bring such a common thing to America. Personally, I think he brought watches.

Cabbage is very versatile and can be eaten raw, steamed or sautéd. It is also a culturally diverse food, popular in Asian, German, Irish and Latin recipes.

And lastly to boost cabbage love, it is low in calories, only six per leaf. It has no fat or cholesterol, is low in sodium and carbs, and is a good source of Vitamin C.

I have very fond memories of my mother grating a head of cabbage to make coleslaw. She made homemade dressing with mayo, sugar, vinegar and a little salt and pepper. It was so good! We usually had this on chili night or with barbecue sandwiches.

Often I hung around the kitchen with my mama. I always had an interest in cooking and she was a great cook. I learned much from her.

On cabbage grating supper nights, she always gave me the core of the cabbage. Sprinkled with a little salt, it is crunchy and delicious!

For one of our family’s Christmas gatherings this year, my sister included Asian Slaw on the email menu request list. I volunteered. It had been many years since I had made it.

I found a great recipe and it was gobbled up quickly. I have been making it every other week since. Mike completely loves it. He believe it is helping him lose weight. He has lost 10 pounds, so that may be true.

Of course the base ingredient in Asian Slaw is grated cabbage. We actually have been adding in a bag of cauliflower pearls, too. The slaw also contains toasted sliced almonds and toasted sesame seeds and a great homemade dressing. In case you are interested, the website is called Genius Kitchen. You are welcome for the plug, GK.

For far too long, cabbage has been in the background, in the shadows. It has been the red-headed stepchild of broccoli and the wind beneath the wings of kale.

Let’s give cabbage the love it deserves. We should keep the sophisticated word caboche and see how many people flock to Whole Foods to purchase this new French wonder.

 

Healthy Thursday

About twice a month, I meet Mike after work for dinner at Cooper’s Hawk. We were first introduced to the restaurant by Mike’s cousin and his wife. We met them for dinner at the Kenwood location about a year ago and had a great time. Nice atmosphere, great menu selection and decent prices.

Mike and I meet at the Liberty Centre location, close to his work and close to home. We meet early, 5ish, and get in and out in about an hour and a half. It’s not too busy at that time and we are home before 7:00.

Post-holidays, we are both trying to watch our food intake and up our exercise regime. When we meet at Cooper’s, we share a meal. They are great about splitting the meal perfectly onto two warm plates.

Tonight we ordered pistachio crusted grouper, which came with “Betty’s mashed potatoes” and asparagus. “Betty’s” potatoes are traditional style with bits of red skin and lots of butter and salt. Yum. When the plates are delivered, we smile politely and say thank you. Then we do the switching. I scoop my half of potatoes onto Mike’s plate and he pushes his asparagus spears onto mine. Perfect. I don’t want the carby potatoes and he doesn’t want the greens.

The slippery slope at Cooper’s is that pre-meal, they bring out the most wonderful round loaf of warm, soft pretzel bread with a small glass bowl of lovely, real butter. Again, yum. When the server came to the table and asked if he could bring us “the bread”, I said: “No, but thank you. It is too good and too tempting.” At the exact moment I spoke, Mike said: “Yes, please.” Great.

The bread appeared moments later and I held fast. Mike sliced away at it and it smelled like heaven. I tried to focus on my glass of ice water with lemon. Fascinating.

I do have a point to make. The point is that we share the meal and we try to squeeze in some heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. There is much controversy and information floating around about the pluses of omega-3s and the pitfalls of omega-6s. I am in constant research mode about these things and will write of them again in the future. But for now, I urge you to increase your omega-3s by eating more eggs, walnuts, brussels sprouts, spinach and fish. And to decrease your omega-6s by avoiding canola, sunflower and safflower modified cooking oils found in most processed and fast-foods.

The other slippery slope is that when you eat a mostly healthy dinner at 5:00, by 8:30 you are often grazing around the kitchen for a snack. That is where Mike is better than me. He is usually okay for the rest of the evening. I sometimes sabotage and negate my earlier healthy choices by eating half a can of mixed nuts, still not a bad snack choice, if I would eat only a handful. I then quench my salty palate with a cold glass of chocolate almond milk. Again, not a terrible drink choice, but too many nuts and a large glass of chocolate almond milk add at least an additional 400 calories and 20 grams of sugar to my evening food intake. Crap! All of that after so smugly ordering asparagus and grouper! I do not need the extra intake of nuts and chocolate milk. It is simply a habit that I need to break.

I am going to work on Mike’s habit of pretzel bread and mine of evening snacking. Sigh, yet another discipline.

On the other hand, we enjoyed our time out and a little date night is well worth warm pretzel bread indulgement.

National Sandwich Day

Today is National Sandwich Day. It is (apparently) observed every November 3. The sandwich is thought to be the namesake of John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich. The claim is that he was the inventor of the sandwich, one of America’s most popular lunch items.

There is a belief that Lord Sandwich was a conversant gambler and did not want to take the time to have a meal during his long hours playing at the card table. When hungry, he would ask his servants to bring him slices of meat between two slices of bread. The practice become a habit well-known to his gambling friends. They soon began to order “the same as Sandwich”, and from this, the sandwich was born.

There is another form of this practical eating style, popular in the West Virginia mines. It is called a pepperoni roll. It is a representation of Italian-American identity in West Virginia. Often, this is simply pepperoni rolled into plain, white bread. An easy hand-held food engineered for on-the-job consumption by miners.

The Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where copper mining was once important, has a similar item called pasties (pronounced PASS-TEE, not PAY-STEE), a meat and potato stuffed roll. Pasties are thought to have their origin in the tin mines of Cornwall, England.

In this time of gluten-free and grain brain and whole wheat half-truths, the sandwich has taken a bit of a backseat. Bread has become a bad guy. However, we cannot deny the love of the sandwich. Countless mornings I remember making my boys peanut butter and jelly (or brown sugar) sandwiches for their lunch bags. It is still a favorite of Andrew’s. And how easily does “soup and sandwich” roll off of our tongues? The sandwich definitely has its place in food history. Always will.

Sandwich is a village in Kent, England. I am glad that Mr. Montagu was not living in some other village at that time such as: Nether Wallop, Thrumpton, Mudford Sock, Affpuddle, Over Peover, or Blubberhouses (names of real villages.)

It could sound really weird to order a hot thrumpton, extra saucy, an over peover and a mudford sock to go. Yummy.

Anyway, sorry about your gambling habit, Earl of Sandwich, but thanks for the genius idea.

Out of necessity comes creativity.