Humongous is the New Small

Jeff and I were at the theater today and he ordered a small soft drink. (Sigh....)

When he walked up with his "small" drink, I was shocked. I grabbed it and said, "You HAVE to photograph this!"



I asked him if he was going to drink it all even though he wanted a smaller size. He looked at me like I was telling him what to do, not asking. Okay, maybe I was passively suggesting that he didn't have to drink it all. He said next time he'll order this same size and if we are with a group of people who want soda, too, he'll order three or four empty cups. I wonder how that would go over....

He told me that when he stopped in at a coffee shop yesterday for a mocha the cashier asked what size and he said, "Small." He said the cashier asked why he would just want small when for a few cents more he could get a much larger mocha.

Just because you can get more for less, doesn't mean you should. On that note, I can't believe McDonald's is currently advertising all soft drinks for $1. In this case "more" is just more sugar, calories and chemicals that our bodies suffer from. We get NO nutrients from soda!

"Super-sizing" our portions is undoubtedly super-sizing us!

When I did a search hoping to pull up the actual dollar drink ad, I found instead a bunch of blogs of people who are really excited to be getting this good deal....

Hide Your Twinkies, Stockpile Your Sodas: It's a Sugar Shortage!

Can you imagine a land where soda doesn't flow freely and donuts are boot-legged for three figures?

Well, folks, we may be entering a sugar crisis. How do I know? I watched this video clip starring guest Marion Nestle.

My dream has come true: my husband may have to eat fruit instead of chocolate, juice instead of soda, ice water (gasp!) instead of ice cream...

Parents may have to give their children fruit and vegetables as snacks instead of ice cream and chips and Twinkies........

.....like this poor little girl (photographed in my hometown!) that someone brought to my attention recently:



I don't typically post pictures like this, but the image has been stuck in my mind for days and it's an important one. A child does NOT gain this kind of weight normally. I read a statistic recently that out of all children born after the year 2000, one in three are expected to develop diabetes. This is NOT normal! Sugar and junk food have EVERYTHING to do with this! Kids don't gain this kind of weight eating healthy meals. Parents not only have the power to help their children eat healthy, it is a responsibility. In my opinion, the amount of junk food that kids are typically allowed to eat is a form of child abuse. Kids are getting addicted (physically and emotionally) to sugar at an early age and gaining weight and developing early on-set diabetes. WHAT?! Not my kids. This topic is open to discussion, and as always, there are certain exceptions here, but not many. The number of overweight children in the US is staggering, not to mention that roughly 1/3 of all Americans are overweight.

We have a national health crisis on our hands (heart disease, obesity, diabetes, to name a few) and the fact that there may be less sugar available for those outrageously cheap prices really blesses my heart.

"Yes, I'll have shrimp with a headache on the side, please."

I had a really bad experience recently.

I was exploring the harbour of City B- and met my cousin at a fabulous little Italian restaurant. The bruschetta was out of this world and made with fresh ingredients. The romaine lettuce in my salad had been grilled and was delicious. It came with three giant shrimp. I love shrimp and have never had a problem with it.

However, while I was eating, my head burst into the most massive headache I have ever experienced. I don't get headaches. The only time I've ever gotten headaches is due to caffeine withdrawal or a bad case of the flu.

Not knowing why my head was throbbing, I finished my salad and the shrimp and headed out on foot to continue exploring the city. My headache grew worse. I knew it wasn't in any way caffeine-related because the back of my head hurt as much as the front. After barely making it through a museum, Jeff and I decided to head home. He mentioned that I could be dehydrated. It's possible, I thought, as I glanced at the pedometer which read 12.75 miles.

We added to the mileage by running several blocks of the city to make the train. Once we reached the train station, I felt like I was going to pass out if I didn't have water. I walked to the front of the train and asked the conductor if he had any water. I was delirious and desperate. He opened his personal cooler and pulled out an ice cold bottle of water. I felt like I was witnessing a miracle. It was as if he was expecting me....The water was nice but my headache raged on. I tried closing my eyes but it made noises louder and more aggravating. I felt bad for Jeff. There was nothing he could do even though he kept asking.

He did some Google searches and guessed from the research that I was experiencing mercury poisoning from the shrimp. Many others had experienced the exact same thing while eating affected shrimp and some pointed to possible mercury contamination. Weird, but this doesn't prove anything.

I did a tiny bit of looking around at shrimp issues, even though I am finished eating shrimp. There are better ways to get protein in my diet and the risk is not worth taking.

As a disclaimer, I really can't say that the shrimp for sure caused my headache. My point is that because I got such a terrible headache and found some interesting information about shrimp as a result, I'm done eating it....whether or not it was the culprit in my case.

Check out these sites for more information:

http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/fish/seafood/suspicious-shrimp

http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/fish/seafood/mercury-fish/

http://www.epa.gov/fishadvisories/advice/ -According to the EPA, shrimp are low in mercury....


Posts about SUGAR soon!

A Strange & Tasty Snack: Seed-Filled Nori Roll

I used to spend $1.99 for each package of Nori rolls, containing two, thin rolls. Delicious--but I figured I could make them myself.

Oh, yes.

Easy, delicious snack food....I've "used" them in the face of extreme sweet tooth moments and they deliver the chewy, filling satisfaction that I ultimately crave.

I don't love seaweed. I would never eat it by itself. However, as a wrap with hidden flavors bursting from inside, it's more than tolerable. It's really good. The lemon is everything in this salty, sour snack.

To make these, I looked at the ingredients on the wrapper and ascertained how much of each to use. Feel free to toy with it yourself, but here is how I did it:

Healthy Nori Rolls

several sheets of Nori
2-4 sun dried tomatoes (I used the dry kind, so I don't know how the sun dried tomatoes soaking in oil would work...probably fine...)
1/2 C. sunflower seeds
1/4 C. sesame seeds
1/2 lemon
1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
sea salt

I chopped up the sun dried tomatoes after leaving them out all day. (If you use them directly out of the package, they are extremely hard and difficult to cut) I cut them into tiny pieces and set aside. In a food processor I ground up both seeds and added them to the bowl of sun dried tomatoes. Then I added the nutritional yeast and squeezed fresh lemon juice to make the mixture stick together somewhat. Sprinkle a little sea salt to your liking.

I then used the lemon juice to wet the Nori sheets (or lightly dampen with water...but don't soak the Nori sheets or it will all curl up) and I put the seed mixture at one end of the damp sheet and rolled it up tightly.



Seal the end of the sheet with a damp finger to stick the Nori together.

I refrigerated these and ate them for the next few days. They are good and filling. There's nothing I love more than a super healthy, delicious snack.



Enjoy!

Peach Upside Down Cake

Yesterday morning as I sipped my coffee I imagined what a perfect, sweet breakfast would be. As I dreamed of exotic omelets and fancy breads with fresh jams, I glanced down at a lonely peach sitting on my counter. I knew I had to eat it, but I wanted to bake it somehow. It seems like of all my recipe resources, both online and in books, I can't help but gravitate towards my old trusted favorite, Sweet and Sugar-Free.

Sure enough, I found a recipe for a Peach Upside Down Cake. It looked perfect.

As always, I fudged with the ingredients, but the end product delivered the sweet, chewy goodness that I was craving. The only thing I would do differently next time is add more peaches. My gigantic peach went a long way, since I chopped it up into small pieces, but I would definitely add more like the recipe calls for.


Peach Upside Down Cake

Chop 2-3 peaches and toss with a tablespoon of melted coconut oil or regular cooking oil. Sprinkle mixture with cinnamon and put in bottom of small baking dish.



Next, mix 2 tablespoons milk, 1/2 C. fruit juice, 1/4 C. oil and 1 large, beaten egg. Then, instead of adding white flour, I used 1/2 C. brown rice flour and 1/2 C. almond flour. To that add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon baking powder. Add more flour if batter is runny. It should be nice and thick but still pour easily. Beat well and then pour batter over fruit. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 20-30 minutes.





Enjoy piping hot with a mug of coffee or tea!

Flourless Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

I made a mistake.

It's what I get for posting a recipe without trying it first.

I posted the Coconut Flour Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes before I made them, which is a personal pet peeve of mine. Sorry I didn't try it out first! However, when I made them the next day, I made a mistake. I actually forgot to put in the coconut flour. The funny thing about it is that I went out of my way to visit a health food store that I knew would have the coconut flour. I was so excited to try it for the first time. Perhaps I should have been concentrating on my recipe instead of bouncing back and forth between my puzzle and my kitchen.



I was high on coffee which is problem number one, and a little preoccupied trying to find Sumatra (where this particular coffee bean blend originates) on my world map, which isn't actually listed specifically on the puzzle.

I wondered why my cupcake batter was so runny, but figured it must just be different than what I'm used to.



Besides the batter being thin and runny, I was perplexed because I couldn't find my muffin tin. I finally discovered it in the freezer where I have been keeping my delicious Mounds bars. Almond Joys, really. Anyway, the only other muffin tin I have is for tiny little bite-sized muffins. I went for it.



Right before I poured the batter in the greased little muffin slots, I added my organic, frozen raspberries.



Trying to prepare minuscule muffin tins only 2/3 full was rocket science. Keep in mind at this point I still had no idea that I had left out the coconut flour.



I set the timer and sat back down to work on my puzzle. Several minutes later the most amazing fragrance reached my senses. I love the smell of chocolate baking. I was curious to see if the batter was spilling over the tiny muffin tin, so I checked on them. That's when I glanced on my counter and noticed my un-opened bag of coconut flour. My heart sank. The ingredients I used in this recipe are not cheap! I flitted about my kitchen trying to figure out what to do, and then let it go. It was too late, as the cupcakes had already risen quite a bit.

To my amazement, when the toothpick came up dry, I took them out of the oven and each one popped out of the tin easily. I had expected a runny mess.



When they had cooled just enough, I bit into one. Chocolate, raspberries and vanilla filled my mouth and it was perfectly chewy. The honey had caramelized a bit adding a candy-like, crunchy sweetness to the edges. They were divine. After three, I had to leave the kitchen and focus on my puzzle or I could have stood there all day eating each one slowly and decadently.



I plan on making this recipe again using the flour, but also plan on taking notes for how these turned out. I gave Jeff one to sample and after his first bite he said they were too bitter. He eats milk chocolate all day long, so his sweet tooth is calibrated towards much sweeter foods. After two or three more of the little cupcakes, however, he decided they were perfect.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

I'm on a recipe kick.

My sweet tooth steadily rages on, but I am not satisfied with making concoctions I've already made. I need to give my lusty sweet tooth something new to chew on. Enter chewy cupcakes.

I can't help but check out Nourishing Gourmet's blog regularly. She is always coming up with the most exquisite adaptations of a recipe. I love the fun, unusual ingredients she uses like coconut flour and coconut paste. For these cupcakes I will probably use honey instead of coconut paste, but at least I learned something new! I've never heard of coconut sugar paste...

Happy Birthday, Mr. President Obama! If I could knock on your front door and deliver these tasty morsels to you, I would!

Gluten-Free Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes:

1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla (make sure your vanilla is gluten free, if needed)
1/2 cup of honey or coconut sugar paste (maple syrup would work too, I bet)
1/4 cup of coconut oil
1/2 cup of fresh or frozen raspberries
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

1-Grease muffins tins, or put in muffin papers.

2-Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.

3-Add the wet ingredients (but not the raspberries) and whisk well, until all lumps are gone.

4-Fold in the raspberries, and fill muffin tins, 2/3 full.

5-Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the top if firm and a toothpick comes out clean, when poked in the middle of the muffin. Take out of the muffin tins and cool on cooling racks.

Thank you Nourishing Gourmet!