Category — Tuesday Tidbits

Just another reason to stock up on those hearty leafy greens you see in the market these days: People who eat about 1/1/4 c. daily (that’s a little more than 1 serving) have a 14% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Eaten raw or cooked, leafies like spinach, bok choy and kale contain antioxidants (possible anti-inflammatories), magnesium (linked to lower diabetes risk) and alpha linoleic acid (may cut insulin resistance). A one-two-three punch in your favor!

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Icky. Poo.  They can be nasty, or they can be not-so-bad, but most of us would agree that the away-game is not ideal.  Here’re some ways to minimize your contact with all those germies.

1. Avoid the middle stall.  It’s used the most, believe it or not, and so it accumulates the most bacteria.  Hot tip – the first stall tends to be the cleanest.
2. Don’t put your purse on the floor.  If there’s not hook or shelf, keep it on your shoulder . . . one study found that 1/3 of pocketbooks placed on restroom floors had fecal matter on the bottom.  You don’t want to bring that home with you, do you?
3. Flush-n-go.  That forceful public bathroom flush can aerosolize germs in the toilet bowl . . . so get out before they land on you!
4. It may go without saying, but for goodness sakes, wash up when you’re done – that stall door latch you must handle to get out is one of the germiest places evah.

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Maybe you’re working out regularly, and that’s awesome . . . but don’t you get bored?  If your routine feels dull, chances are your body’s gotten used to it too, and that’ll impact your fitness level.

Keep it fresh with a jar full of “workout wildcards.”  Write down 20 different routines on slips of paper (get ideas from magazines if you like) and put ‘em in a jar.  Pull one from the jar anytime things are getting, shall we say . . . too routine!

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Yowza.  Did you know that the average American is eating 5 times as much food dye as s/he did in 1955?  It’s in flippin’ everything – yogurts, cereal, ice cream, you name it.  [Read more →]

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It’s good to have a few little sauces up your sleeve . . . for those times when you’re staring at a piece of fish, or a chicken breast, and you’re uninspired (or unable) to make something special out of it.  Just sauce it up.  You’ll feel better. [Read more →]

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You’ve seen them at the market, right?  Touted as being a great way to rid your produce of pesticide residue, dirt & bacteria ?  But they cost money.  Are they worth it?  [Read more →]

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I’m a total information hound at heart . . . it wasn’t an accident that I chose to become a litigator – it was my jobto take in as much info. from as many sources as possible and cull through them to present a cogent, persuasive argument.  And now, in my new role as schlepper-in-chief, I’ve set my sights on recipes, cooking apps and nutrition information. 

I do find that sometimes I’m on information overload.  Years ago when I was learning about meditation and the Relaxation Response, I remember my marvelous mentor telling us that sometimes you need to take a break from media.  That it can help calm the body and quiet the mind.  It works, you should try it.  For at least a few minutes.

But when you’re done with all that relaxing stuff, and you need more sources in inspiration and information, where can you turn?  To satisfy your cooking needs, here are some great lists of cooking apps for your iPhone:

• top 5 iPhone Thanksgiving recipes apps
• one blogger’s take on the top 5 cooking apps
• recipe apps for vegetarians and vegans!
• Chow.com’s top cooking apps to download
• recipe apps for dieters

You’ll see Jamie Oliver’s app coming up again and again on these lists – I bought it a while ago and it is that good.  Fun, beautiful, easy to use and with tasty recipes. 

Bon appétit!

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Mmmm. . . the weather’s getting colder.  If you’re anything like me, you’re thinking more about tucking into big bowls of carbohydrates.  Potatoes?  Pasta?  Preferably with some sort of artery-clogger as an ingredient or topping?  Sign. Me. Up.

But alas.  The pounds weight (get it?) for no one.  And your heart has no idea if it’s August or October, so let’s keep ourselves in check – at least most days of the week.  Here’re some easy swaps that can help you do just that.

Instead of cream, try cornstarch.  Get some of the richness, body and mouthfeel of cream without all the calories and fat.  And if you need more?  Add your cornstarch with with some fat-free evaporated milk – use this instead of heavy cream, for instance.  I’d recommend amping up your spice to compensate for the bit of flavor you’ll lose with this sub.

Instead of potatoes, try cauliflower.  Seriously!  Mash it up – and for 53 fewer calories per half-cup then taters, your thighs’ll thank you. 

Instead of butter, try fat-free Greek yogurt.  Also a great sour cream sub!  You can swap this one almost 1:1 in recipes.  And using the non-fat variety saves you 750 calories and 58 g. of sat. fat per half-cup!?  Zoinks.  With that kinda savings, you can budget in a chili-cheese dog on Saturday.

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