Rethinking Eating

 Can people rethink the way they eat? Can those good fruits and veggies be treated the same way as potato chips and candy? Surprisingly the answer is yes.It starts with both adults and kids and it leads to a healthier life overall.

Regular contributor Pete Wells, who also struggles with weight problems wrote this fascinating piece in yesterday's New York Times Wednesday Food section. Humans ave a tendency to eat foods that give them a dopamine or "happy feeling hit".It's called hedonic hunger where the tastiest and often bad ,over processed foods are craved and eaten.Yet the same theories can be applied to healthy eating too. Neuroscientist Dana Small , one of the world's top neuroscientists of food decisions learned that er own choices led her to almost developing Type Two Diabetes.Not wanting to become a diabetic she went on a diet.It wasn;t a good experience for her.All the diets she had been on were nothing more than joyless deprivation. She had to rethink eating which  she did. She looked for the sweetest priest raspberries which are low glycemic and rich in fiber.  She applied hedonic eating to healthy eating and it paid off. She followed the Raspberry Principle and made foods that she'd be excited to cook and eat. There were chicken and tofu stir fries, generously spiced with turmeric coriander ,cumin and garlic.

Anybody can be retrained to think how to eat. In England, British food journalist, Bee Wilson, founded TastEd,a non-profit group, dedicated to training teachers to show students to sniff, poke prod and ogle fresh fruits and veggies along with the all important tasting them.Ms. Wilson says "Kids have never been taught that broccoli, apples or lettuce is something they might enjoy."They've been told to eat five a day and that was it.That doesn't;t make a child want to pick up any produce and eat it. Nutrition campaigns show these good foods as chaste and the campaigns haven't changed since the 1950's.It's changing .Dr. Emmaue J. Ezekial an oncologist and bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania suggest healthy eating and the occasional scoop of ice cream. It;s showing that moderation is they key to healthy eating.He nixes soda yet promotes alcohol, saying that three to four drinks a week are fine. Doing this can reduce stress, anxiety and depression.There is also mindful eating or analyzing what you eat.The secret tot his is eating slowly and concentrating on the taste and texture of the food being eaten jam Chozen Bays who has written two books a bout it suggests eating slowly, fully chewing and savoring before taking another bite. It turns out that after the third bite a tasty food like chocolate loses its' appeal.

People CNA be taught to eat right.It just takes a shift in mindset to do so.Healthy eating is within the human range .It's just up to the eater to follow this.

Crepes With An Asian Twist

 An elegant dish for Mother;s Day is a dish filled with delicate crepes.They're a lovely and lighter alternative to French toast and pancakes and can be filled with everything form meat to cheese. to sweets. They can also be filled with berries and flavored cream for a sweet brunch or dessert.

Regular contributor Genevieve Ko gave a recipe for them in today's New York Times Wednesday Food section. Hers take on an Asian vibe with the addition of pandam cream. Pandam is used by the Laos people, the Hmong people from Southeast Asia.It;s combining heavy cream with the pandan leaves. The plant sort of resembles a leek with it's long verdant leaves but their taste s sweet. Some compare the flavor to almonds vanilla  and coconut ,Pandan extract is also used to  give the cream a verdant color., Ms. Ko';s inspiration for this comes from Diane Moua, owner and chef of Diane's Place in Minneapolis She is a Hmong herself and her eatery reflects that,especially in the lush brunches.Where to get Pandan extract? Target sells it and the spice giant McCormick also offers it .It can be found in any grocery store however on line stores such as Amazon sell a wide variety of extracts and even powdered leaves. Keep in mind the recipe can be varied to include Chantilly cream and even cocoa flavored and rum spiked creams too,

As for the crepes, Ms. Ko assures that there's no need for a fancy crepe pan. Home chefs can use a non stick skillet or a well seasoned cast iron pan. To make the whole process a bit more relaxing set it up like an assembly line. The batter (which should be chilled overnight for best results) should be in a container with a spout or a bowl.Use a ladle or an ice cream scoop to pour onto the pan. Make sure there is oil for the pan to cook the crepes in as well as a rubber spatula and finally a plate for the finished ones.The crepe pan should be heated first and then brushed with either melted butter (for a better taste) or grape seed oil. As soon as the batter is poured in swirl it around into a thin round. Set the skillet back down over the open flame and when the crepe's edges turn brown , nudge them away from the pan with the spatula. I'ts then time to flip them over.It's time to transfer them to the plate when golden spots start to appear.For relatively good crepes use Ms. Ko's recipe of creating a batter of flour milk and egg. Instead of butter use whole coconut cream from the can for a tropical taste that will match the pandam's.

Elegant crepes with an Asian vibe make for a different Mother's Day treat.thy'd be perfect as part of a brunch or simply for dessert with macerated strawberries.It's a lovely way to celebrate Mom.

Cinco de Mayo at Taco Bell

 Of course May fifth has to be Mexican food day. For a quick bite there's Taco Bell and they've just dropped their new Spring menu. There's some good stuff

I wine t toerhe to celebrate Cinco de Mayo and was pleasantly surprised by their new menu. One item that caught my eye was their brand new mini Taco salad.

This is an adorable cup that reminds of the bigger taco salads I used to get  at Casa Maria's at the Garden State Plaza back in the  early1990's . Chicken and guacamole are mixed with veggies ,lettuce and fiesta crunchy strips in a creamy dressing.The shell is just two bites of goodness.

Taco Bell has also brought on tasty looking chicken nuggets that are coated din crushed tostitos and dusted with their fiery El Diablo sauce.They've also combined the nuggets with nacho chips.Another must try is their avocado ranch stacker.This looks like a delicious mix of avocado and chicken along with cheese. Do I try the caramel and fudge empanadas? Maybe but the dirty sodas look a bit more interesting. They're sodas and lemonades with fruit syrups added.Tha'ts definitely going to reordered ,maybe even on my next visit.

It's Cinco de Maio.Ceelbrate with some good and fun Mexican food. Some of the best are at Taco Bell.

A Global Barbecue

 This is the time for that all American past time - barbecuing.Yet sometimes barbecues can be  - well - bland. It time to do the American thing and take from other cultures to create an interesting and tasty cook out,.

Spices can make ordinary meats like chicken and beef sing. One is Berbere spice ,an important ingredient in Ethiopian and Eritrean cooking.It's a fiery blend of chili peppers, fenugreek,garlic ginger basil and nigella to name a few. It gives a flavorful lift to sometimes bland chicken meat. A great recipe is chicken wings or legs with it along with caramelized lemons. It;s just rubbing the legs and thighs with the spice and then grilling for eighteen to twenty minutes  until crisp. Serve it with pita or a slaw , the last a staple in Ethiopian cooking. Hamburgers can also get spiced up with this.Use one to two tablespoons per pound of beef .The flavor is a smoky flavor. Serve on a bun with tomato and red onion slices. Keep in mind that ribs can also benefit from this smoky blend.Rub  the mixture ion the ribs and then cook for two to three hours. Another spice blend is the Indian garam masala. This is a fine blend of cinnamon,mace , star anise and chili along with other ingredients such a as asafetida - a type of dried latex, coming from a rhizome. Garam masala is an excellent rub and marinade for chicken. Use it as a marinade that will also include Greek yogurt and lemon.

Hot dogs come from Germany yet there are other wursts that are just as delicious >Bratwurst is one and can be turned into a curry wust thanks to the addition of a curry sauce . You can do the same with a regular hot dog.The sauce is a m ix of curry paste, coconut milk and tomato paste. The spices that give it zing are ginger root, and chicken broth.Sugar and cinnamon temper the hotness of  the sauce. Slather it on like you would chili sauce. Another German wurst that's out of the box is weisses wurst or white wurst, made of finely ground veal and pork combined.It' seasoned with lemon parsley and various spices> Even though it's traditionally boiled it can be grilled on a low heat. Serve on a pretzel roll with  sweet mustard. Can Italian sausage be grilled on an open flame? Yes! These are great grilled  along with sliced bell peppers. Add the two together on a good hero roll for the ultimate barbecue.Serve with a tomato salad for a tasty side. An international pleaser is a salad Nicoise from Marseille. It might seem like a glamorous meal buts is an easy salad made with not just lettuce but also hard boiled eggs ,tuna fish and boiled potatoes String beans are also added in this vinaigrette drenched salad. 

A barbecue  can be elevated with some international flair. Add spices for a tasty rub or use a different kind of sausage to eat. Think outside of the box for a Provencale salad. it makes for a fun outdoors meal.

Foodie Food Poisoning

 I;'ts a night off whileI recoup. 

More on Monday.

That Fizzy Stuff

It's warm weather time and with it comes thirst.Nothing beats that old school classic, a bottle of frosty Coke.Or a tall glass full of ice and whatever fruity Fanta you love.

Here's the question of the week what is your favorite soda? Mine is diet Pepsis however bad that is for me.I just discovered Poppi a prebiotic good for you soda.I like their cherry lime flavor and want to try the others 

So what's your favorite fizz? Let us know here

Campus Sweeties

 Most universities and colleges are known for their educational programs and spotrts team.. Yet there is one school that is known for it;'s sweet treats and the students who bake them. It's a great place to unwind and enjoy a break from intense studies and exams.

New contributor and finance writer Ron Lieber wrote this article on Carleton Collge in yesterday's New York times Wednesday Food section. This is a small liberal arts college in Northfield ,Minnesota, forty miles south of Minneapolis. A college like this, which emphasizes the humanities and the arts in a small town setting somehow should have an on campus kitchen where students can come and bake.,It attracts students and local alike, most taking the variety of different chocolate chips cookies from the classic to the oatmeal to spiced double cowboy along with butter chocolate chips  and the loaded cowboy ones. Yet there are other treats that baked there. Seraphina Shott  has baked her great grandmother's shredded apple pie recipe along with the family recipe of buttermilk biscouits baked in a cast iron skillet.Bakers leave the extra flour and other ingredients behind so other campus bakers can also bake a fun snack. Another house rule is that any leftover baked goods have to remain in the house for other students to enjoy. 

This is not a new concept for Carleton College which began in 1877 . It started over a century ago in 1922 when Candace Kelley Moses, or Dace or Dacie moved in to the house that was eventually named for her. She first worked for the treasurer's office  and then for the library until 1969 when she retired in 1969 at the age of sixty-sixFor a while she had a kind of salon where she even  welcomed an  cappella group The Singing Knights who practiced there. She baked for them and in return named their 1967 album "Dace and KNights" She also served Sunday brunch to the "Carls' as they students call themselves. To reduce her workload students came to help her , They helped with chores along baking such treats as bran and beef muffins served with either coffee or juice.. when she died in 1901 she left her house to the college;s alumni association (her husband and son had already passed) Dace Moses House is also used as a guest house run by Carleton students Luis Olvedo and Sean Zheng along with bring supervised by  fellow student Holly Ketchner. All three live in the house with Holly upstairs and the men downstairs.They have their own spins.,Mr Olvedo makes his grandmother;s tortilla while Mr Zheng brings an Asian flair to their breakfasts.

Candace Kelley Moses would be proud of the tradition and legacy she created. There will always be fresh baked treats for students and visitors. Her house is a great house , full of sweetness and memories for future alumni.