Monthly Archives: October 2013

Halloween Treats – An Alternative Viewpoint

by Miraholidays, substitutions, Uncategorized

In just a few days it will be Halloween. It's a fun holiday, I admit. After all who doesn't like playing dress up and running around collecting treats. When the kids were little it was a month-long anticipation-fest. Deciding what to be, making costumes, participating in the neighborhood Boo Bag festivities, choosing which treats we would give out and then ::drumroll please:: the big night.

How many kids?

For whatever reason over the last couple decades we wound up living in areas where our house was part of the local Halloween central. I'm talking, literally, hundreds of kids. In a wide variety of diverse settings:

A small, rural town in Vermont where the houses on Main Street were hard hit by the hordes that came from all over town, and I mean the entire town
A high density Texas suburb where kids pretty much stuck to their own neighborhood but there sure were a lot of them — when your houses are on 7,00-10,000 square foot lots with 2-3 kids in most of the houses, well, you get the picture
A small rural Connecticut town where our street was THE place to be. Van-loads of children from our town as well as van-loads of children from surrounding towns all descending on our doors — some of the kids employed a technique called ‘double masking' where they wore one mask on the way down the street and the other mask on the way back, hitting all the houses both ways to try and get EVEN MORE candy

But it's always fun to see all of the kids and their costumes and their excitement. I love this time of year and have so much fun with it. However as the years went on and I learned more about what's really in our food I became less and less enthusiastic about what is, after all, the main purpose of Halloween for many kids. The sugar fest. I began to look for alternatives that did not add carcinogenic chemicals to their little bodies, no artificial colors, flavors, or other additives which, after all, are not real food.

Alternative treats

Over the years I spent a fair amount of money on organic, natural treats but the year we hit over 300 kids I stopped. It just got to be more than our budget would allow. So I started handing out treats of a different kind. And the funny thing is… the kids loved them. I had thought that they might prefer their candies and sweets. But really they got so much of that at other houses. Plus due to the sheer volume of trick-or-treaters, everyone was braced for the onslaught and the neighbors mostly purchased small candies. There's also only so many different kinds of snack-size or fun-size treats available, so the contents of the bag looked very similar from house-to-house. At our house, rather than getting the same thing that they got everywhere else, we were giving them something fun and new.

What sorts of things did we give out? It's amazing what you can find:

glow in the dark bracelets
glow in the dark rubber duckies (these were very popular surprisingly)
Halloween themed hacky sacks
fake creepy things – bugs, spiders, bats, and snakes
Halloween frisbees

There's also a number of strategies for swapping out the candy once the kids have collected it. Here's a great list from the Holistic Mom's Halloween Roundup.

The real food philosophy

Alternative treats and swapping out can be a great way to be able to participate in the holiday without compromising the health of the kids.

I love the dress-up part, and admiring all the costumes that come to my door. With the bigger kids I always ask them to do a trick to “earn” their treat. I've had kids tell me jokes, do hand-stands, make silly faces, it's hilarious. One time I asked a young man, “What do you say?” He looked at me rather puzzled and softly said, “Please?” To which I laughinly replied, “What about Trick-or-Treat, smelly my feet?” He laughed and I gave him a double helping.

I love the excitement and the fun of being outdoors at night. It's a special time of year. But when it comes to the sugar overload and the negative ingredients I'm no longer a fan. I want to to be as true to my real food philosophies as I can.

In the meantime, if you have any alterntive suggestions or know of a place selling great Halloween swag, let me know, there's still time to swap out the sweets or to plan for the year ahead.

Eating On The Road

by Mirahealth, Uncategorizedroad, snacks

I'm off unexpectedly off on another trip. Thanks to my friend Trudy Scott I found out about Author101 in Las Vegas and was able to work it into my schedule. I'm so excited to be going to this conference and thrilled to be learning more of what I need to know as an author to help get the word out about my book and it's important message.

One of the not so fun parts of traveling is trying to figure out what to eat when you're on the road. As someone who eats gluten free and is very mindful of additives and GMO it's not always easy to find good food on the road. Especially in an airport. There are small changes happening though. There appear to be more salad bars, some with organic greens, there are options for fresh fruit, and I was pleasantly surprised to find a veggie juice bar in Philadelphia on my last trip.

I was walking toward my gate in Philly. Next to the Dunkin Donuts and across from the Philly Cheesteak count I saw a display of veggies and a juicer! I was amazed and delighted. I stopped and spoke with the woman behind the counter, telling her how excited I was to see a veggie juice bar (instead of the all-fruit-added-sugar smoothies that seem to be everywhere). She smiled and told me I was the third person that morning to tell her that. I ordered a carrot, cucumber, celery, greens and lemon juice. She asked me if I wanted a little ginger (I hadn't seen the ginger), I said yes and off she went to juice it all up. While some of those veggies would have been best quality if they were organic (to avoid pesticide load), it's important to remember that we don't want to get over-stressed about things like that. Just the ability to have fresh juiced vegetables in an airport is a big deal as far as I'm concern. It's a great start and one which will hopefully catch on and keep growing. I happily paid for my juice and went to my gate to wait for my flight.

So here I am one week later, back at gate 16 heading out, this time to Las Vegas. When I travel I look at my trip and decide how much food I'm bringing with me. Because I'm loaded down with conference supplies this time there's not much room for while-I'm-in-town-food, but there's definitely always room for on-the-road food. Here's what I'm taking with me this time: road snacks

Seaweed snacks are great. I find them mildly addictive, salty, great flavor, and just a little crackle. When I was in here last week several people saw me eating this "green stuff" and wondered what it was. I was engaged in reading my book when first one person and then a few more asked me what I was eating. I told them and offered them a taste. Two people actually tried it and decided that they liked it! That was kind of fun.

A hard boiled egg. A great source of protein easy to eat and in it's own protective container.

Mixed nuts and seeds that I've roasted in coconut oil and seasoned with Kelly's. This is an amazing seasoning which is made from organic garlic, hawaiian sea salt, and organic nettles. It's mouthwateringly delicious and I use it on my snack mixes but also on salads, greens, roast meats, baked potatoes and more.

Carrot and celery sticks. Wrapped in a damp paper towel (to prevent them from drying out) this is a great crunchy food for on the road and helps me get at least a little more veggie into my day.

A Raw Crunch Bar. These are my new favorite snack bar. Made from raw ingredients they've got some sweetness to them but are not overwhelmingly, cloyingly sweet like many protein bars. They're still a treat food as far as I'm concerned but I wouldn't go so far as to put them in the candy-bar-masquerading-as-protein category.

Coconut water powder. I know, it's kind of funny. Coconut water, just add water. I haven't tried this yet but plan to once I'm on the plane. I find travel to be very dehydrating. But you can't bring liquids on the plane with you. And aside from plain water or tea they don't sell any liquids that I want. I'm not a gatorade fan and certainly not interested in all the juices, power drinks and more. So I'm going to give this a try and see if they electrolyte balance helps and how it tastes.

If you plan ahead it's possible, and less expensive, to eat healthy when you're on the go. I'd love to hear your travel food tips, please share them below.

Shellac: A Horrifying Additive Probably In Your Halloween Candy

by Miraadditives, ingredients

With Halloween just around the corner, there will be a huge assortment of candy going into goody bags and candy dishes all over the country.

Candy corn, malted milk balls, milk duds, jelly beans, chocolate covered nuts and fruits, and more are all part of the holiday festivities.

In addition to the potential for artificial colors and chemical additives, these treats also come with a little something extra. A “natural” ingredient that falls into the GRAS (General Recognized As Safe) category — Shellac.

In the interest of helping you to understand what's really in your food, I wanted to explain exactly what shellac is and where it comes from.

Most of us tend the think of shellac as something found in furniture polish. It can also be found in personal care products such as hairspray or shampoo, in cosmetics like mascara, or even in perfumes. Shellac also has the potential to be used in dentures.

It also appears in the above-mentioned foods as well as some others. Sometimes hidden on the label (because food manufacturers would prefer that you not know what's in your food) it may be referred to as “confectioner's glaze,” “confectioner's resin,” “candy glaze,” or even simply “natural glaze.”

So what is shellac? It's essentially the insect version of castoreum*. Harvested from trees where the female lac bug lays down cocoon-like secretions, it is scraped off the trees (often along with bark and insect parts) and heated until it liquifies.

It's strained and then allowed to cool in thin sheets. This is then reconstituted with denatured alcohol when manufacturers are ready to use it to give foods that shiny coating. Because these secretions, or resin, are not harvested until after the female has died (according to web research) The Vegetarian Society has determined that it is a vegetarian product. Vegans, on the other hand, do not consider it to be an acceptable food-product because it is produced by an insect.

Other food-grade uses for shellac include the coating found on some pharmaceuticals and supplements. A coating of shellac can be used to create the enteric coating on pills. Another use includes adding the shine back to apples in order to replace the natural wax coating lost when the fruit is cleaned before shipping.

Although research reveals that some people may suffer from allergic dermatitis from contact with shellac, there appear to be no other highly significant health issues, but rather a strong, “ick” factor. There is a vegetable alternative to shellac. It is called zein and is a corn-based protein. It is important to note that in order for this to be an acceptable solution it would need to be from organic corn as most corn is highly contaminated with GMOs. Zein can be hard to identify on the label as it is also frequently referred to as “confectioner's glaze.”

If eating shellac (and potential bug parts) is a concern for you I suggest you contact the manufacturer of any product with confectioner's glaze, confectioner's resin, candy glaze, or natural glaze on the label to identify its origin.

*I refer to this item as “beaver butt.” It's the anal gland secretion of beavers, used to flavor foods with vanilla, raspberry or strawberry flavoring. However, on the label, it always appears under the term “natural flavor.”

Kitchen Tips

by MiraUncategorized

I recently discovered a new kitchen tip. I'm geekily excited about this new tip. Let me explain.

I live in Texas. It's insanely hot here for many months of the year. After moving here I began to understand the concept of a “summer kitchen.” An outdoor space where you can cook and not worry about heating up your house. At our house that's the barbeque grill, but I do a lot of cooking inside anyway. So I'm always looking for ways to maximize the use of my oven. If I'm going to roast a chicken there are other things going into that oven so I can squeeze as much in there taking advantage of the heat as possible, without having to turn on the oven any more than is truly necessary.

My newest kitchen trick? I just discovered that you can cook eggs in your oven. Well…yes, we all know that we can cook eggs in the oven. But it turns out you can hard cook (can't say boil if you're not boiling, now can you?) eggs in the oven. 325 degrees for 30 minutes. They come out great. And the best part? They peel like a charm. For me the peeling is often a problem as I get my eggs from a friend who raises pastured eggs. Often I get them within a day or two of laying. And in my experience, the fresher the egg the harder it is to peel. But it turns out when they are baked they peel perfectly. Every. Single. Time. I love it!

Then I started thinking about other kitchen tips and tricks and decided to share a few of my favorites here with you.

2. Baking Rice – this is a great way to make rice without having to watch the pot or be as concerned about sticking. When I make rice in the oven I have never had it stick. 1 cup of brown rice + 1 3/4 cups of boiling water or broth + a pat of butter + a pinch of salt. When the water comes to a boil, add the other ingredients, cover, and slide into the oven to bake for 25 minutes. Perfect every time.

3. Cutting Round Vegetables – cut a small slice off the “bottom” and you'll have a flat surface to help keep the vegetable from rolling. Sounds silly but it took me a long time to figure this one out. I used to cut everything in half and then cut from there. You get a nicer presentation and more even pieces if you cut off a small slice.

4. Ice coffee or tea – when making coffee or tea take your leftovers and freeze them in ice cube trays. Then when you need to cool down your drink (a necessity in the summertime if you live in Texas — or any place hot) you can cool it down without diluting it. Delicious!

4.a. This goes for wine as well. You can freeze that last little bit to use for sauces. [Unless you're making vinegar, then it goes
into the vinegar pot.

5. Back to eggs – crack eggs on the counter, not the edge of your bowl. You'll be less likely to get shell fragments in your dish if you do that.

6. Stacked Baking – when you need more room in your oven consider putting one baking sheet on the shelf. Then put a raised cookie cooling rack sideways across the baking sheet. You have just created another space for another baking sheet. I use this all the time, especially during the holidays when trying to get as much as possible into the oven.

7. Order of operations – this is so important it probably should have gone first. Write things down. If you're cooking multiple things in your oven write down how long everything takes to cook, what temperature, and then figure out when things need to go in and out of the oven. When you're cooking for a big family dinner, for a party, or doing a once-a-month cooking spree this is very helpful to maximize your oven time.

8. Crockpots outside – in the summer you can plug your crockpot in on a screened in porch. This way it doesn't heat up the house but sits there cooking away until dinner time. I do recommend that it's in a screened space though to prevent any unwanted visitors from checking out your delicious crock.

9. Saving Jars – I save jars all the time. They're great for storing spices which I buy in bulk, fabulous for filling with last little bits of leftovers (rather than in plastic), and in a pinch make a great lidded containers for protein shakes. But I don't like all of the labels on them and peeling them is messy, messy, messy. Until I discovered this trick. After you've emptied the container rinse it (but don't run it through the dishwasher yet). Fill it with boiling hot water and let it sit for about 2 minutes. For the majority of the jars I've ever dealt with this loosens the glue and the label peels right off. There is a bit of glue left on the jar but this washes off pretty easily. Then run the jar through the dishwasher and voila! Another great storage container.

10. Lemon Dust – I love to use lemon flavoring in a lot of things, for baked goods, for sauces, to sprinkle over roast chicken. I make my own very easily. When juicing a lemon (which I do almost every day – it's an alkalizing addition to water) first peel the lemon. Then cut it in half, squeeze half into your glass and save the other half for the next time. Take the peels and lay them out on a plate allowing them to air dry. When they are dry I collect them in a jar. When the jar is full I run them through my food processor turning them into dust. A pinch at a time, it's a delicious addition.

If you have a favorite tip or trick, I'd love to know about it. Please share in the comment section below.

photo: cyclonebill

Fabulous Real Food Breakfast Ideas

by Mirabreakfast, change, health

Breakfast, the best way to start your day

For many people breakfast is an afterthought. A cup of coffee and a bagel on the way out the door. Or possibly nothing at all. But it seems that conventional wisdom about breakfast being the most important meal of the day may be true.

Studies show that eating breakfast, and what you eat, impacts your blood sugar. It also tends to have an effect on food choices throughout the rest of your day. Skipping breakfast is not a good idea. After all, when we examine the word, it means breaking the fast. For most of us, it has been at least 10 hours if not more since we last ate. Choosing a bowl of sugar-bomb cereal in milk, or a carbohydrate rich muffin or bagel can have a negative effect on your blood sugar; possibly leading to candy cravings later in the day. You deserve to feel well and you start by supporting your body with a real food breakfast.

What not to eat for breakfast

The cereal aisle at the grocery store is huge and cereal manufacturers would like you to believe their overprocessed, often high sugar, offerings are a healthy choice. Nothing could be further from the truth. While the milk you eat the cereal with may provide a small amount of protein, it's certainly not enough to get your metabolism going. What you are getting is an over-processed, sugary product. While cereal is debatably better than not eating I’m here to tell you that it is not better by much. Your body will still feel the effects metabolically and it will not be supportive of your blood sugar.

Grab-and-go fast food options are another no-no. I have never been a fan of that idea because the food is fatty, over-processed, chemically-laden and very few of these places offer a truly healthy start to your day.

Breakfast bars are another common, highly processed, item put forth as a potentially good idea. Unfortunately, these tend to be candy bars in disguise. So while the front-of-package labeling may try to convince you that this is the perfect portable option, when you read the label you'll see that they are often high in sugar and don't have very much protein.

Good rules to follow

Starting your day the right way is easy. Here are the quick tips you need to know:

First and foremost it is important to start your day with breakfast. Don’t skip.
Eat protein, your body needs to refuel after the “fast” of sleeping.
Get fiber, supportive to your digestive system it also helps sustain you as your blood sugar balances out with this first meal of the day.
Limit sugar. Too much sugar (think cereals, syrups, muffins, etc) will cause a spike in insulin and then your body begins the blood sugar roller-coaster.
Avoid simple carbohydrates (pancakes, toast, boxed cereal) your body will digest them too quickly and they are not supportive of blood sugar stability.

Break away from the box

Because of the excellent marketing job by cereal manufacturers, we often think of breakfast as coming in a box. Or there's an association with certain foods for breakfast like bagels, pancakes, or waffles. But you don’t have to have what is considered “breakfast” food for breakfast if you don’t want to.

It's interesting how many people are fans of breakfast for dinner. But what about having dinner for breakfast instead? Of course, if that's something you're not ready for yet, below are some easy to make, tasty, and nutritious breakfast recipes to start your day.

A Mediterranean style breakfast would include olives and avocados which provide healthy fat, fresh fruit, hard-boiled eggs for protein, cucumber, and tomato salad with olive oil and fresh herbs. While this meal would typically come with bread or pita and either butter or labneh (a thickened yogurt cheese), you can simply skip that or serve the cheese by itself.
Sauteed greens, like kale, collards, or cabbage, with mushrooms, red onion and pine nuts sauteed in coconut oil is a fabulous veggie-rich start to the day. Add protein, either lentils, a chicken breast, or a couple of eggs, and a tablespoon of sauerkraut for a delicious start to the day.
Many people who don't like to eat breakfast find that smoothies can be a good way to start their day. Either by having a smoothie bowl 0r one of these superfood smoothies.
If you're looking for a really easy way to start your day there's always this crockpot breakfast casserole. Let your crockpot do all the work while you're sleeping. You wake up to a healthy breakfast.
If you still really want to have pancakes for breakfast you can bump them up a notch with the tasty recipe below

Banana-Nut Paleo Pancakes

A delicious, protein rich pancake. Great for breakfast or as a snack

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course Breakfast

Cuisine Paleo

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

2 bananas
2 TBSP (heaping) almond butter
4 large eggs
1 Tbsp butter, divided

Instructions

Blend all ingredients together in a blender
Heat pan and grease with a little butter
Cook pancakes by pouring batter into pan in 1⁄4 cup amounts
When pancake starts to bubble flip and cook the other side
Serve with mashed fruit

Keyword breakfast, paleo, protein

Start with a real food breakfast, it's one of your first steps towards a healthy life.

Sources

Bauer, LB, et al. A pilot study examining the effects of consuming a high-protein vs normal-protein breakfast on free-living glycemic control in overweight/obese 'breakfast skipping' adolescents. Int J Obes (Lond). 2015 Sep;39(9):1421-4.

Kobayashi, F, et al. Effect of breakfast skipping on diurnal variation of energy metabolism and blood glucose. Obes Res Clin Pract. 2014 May-Jun;8(3):e201-98.

Texas State Fair 2013

by Miraunhealthy

The Texas State Fair is going on right now and my husband I decided to take some time off to go check it out. We realized that the only “State” Fair we've been to is the Big E in Massachusetts. And even though we've lived here for several years we've not yet made the journey up to Dallas during the Fair. So the time had come to journey northwards and check out what Texas has to offer.

Like most State Fairs there's the lights and games and noise and the crowds. All of which adds to the general atmosphere that makes up the fair. One of the first sights we saw entering the fair had nothing to do with food but was absolutely adorable and got us started on the right foot. After all, if you start off smiling you're bound to be in a better mood to enjoy the day.

Is that not the most adorable kissing booth you have ever seen in your life?

The fairgrounds are quite extensive and we wandered around enjoying all of the exhibits, the fabulous music (including my new favorite band, The Killdares – a Celtic Rock bank).

As we got closer to the Midway and all of the rides we passed what can only be described as fried food alley. I confess that years ago I would have enjoyed all of the different offerings, these days it truly holds no attraction for me. Atop the smell of fried food was the nauseating aroma of sugar from all of the cotton candy, and sugar powdered treats.

The State Fair bills itself as the Fried Food Capital of Texas and is so enamored of fried food that the program lists the Top Ten of Fried Foods that were submitted for this year. From Fried Red Velvet Cupcakes to Fried Beer, Fried Spaghetti and Meatballs, and, my former favorite, Funnel Cake. I jokingly posted to twitter that you know you're in Texas when they serve Chicken Fried Bacon.

In a nod to those few of us who don't eat fried food there were a few items on offer that were not fried. Namely a Greek Salad and fresh fruit from the Fruiteria (aren't those mango flower pops adorable?)

But of course the Fair isn't just about food. With craft exhibitions, classic cars, modern cars, animal exhibits, a shopping gallery and a fairway full of games there's more to do than can be covered in one day.

Important survival tips learned while visiting the Fair?

Bring healthy snacks, including protein – this may help you avoid some of the junk food temptations
Bring water – staying well hydrated is so important
Bring sunscreen and/or a hat
If you are going to indulge in fried treats remember it's just that, a treat, don't eat fried everything
Wear comfortable shoes

Overall it was great fun. I didn't get to see and do everything that I wanted to, but there's always another year to back and do it again.

Green Tea And Inflammation

by Mirahealth, immune systemgreen tea, inflammation, tea

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I'm delighted to share an article with you written by Dr. Helayne Waldman, co-author of The Whole Food Guide for Breast Cancer Survivors. Dr. Waldman is a holistic nutrition educator in private practice and a consultant to breast cancer clinics and doctors in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Green Tea For Inflammation

Inflammation is your immune system’s natural response to an injury, such as a pulled muscle, or to germs, allergens, chemical irritants, and other threats. Your immune system reacts by releasing white blood cells and chemicals into the bloodstream, which infiltrate your tissues, creating the indicators of inflammation that most of us are familiar with: redness, heat, swelling, and pain.

This is a normal and appropriate response; our bodies need to stay vigilant in order to fend off an invasion or injury with aggressive pro-inflammatory mechanisms, such as clotting, fever, and swelling. But too often, inflammation becomes a chronic condition, and in this state, we leave ourselves more vulnerable to breast cancer occurrence and recurrence.

An important characteristic of chronic inflammation is its relationship to angiogenesis, the development of new blood vessels that serve to feed a tumor. While this too is a natural and normal process, it is also one that tumors can hijack to build a blood supply to accommodate their growing needs. Inflammatory cells stimulate the formation of new blood vessels which then transport critical nutrients to the tumor.

This is a recipe for chronic inflammation, and clearly, inflammation and the resulting angiogenesis need to be kept under control. What can you do to control and reduce the cancer-promoting effects of chronic inflammation? Here’s one idea: Drink green tea.

Health Benefits

Green tea is widely recognized for its anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-carcinogenic properties. It supplies catechins, a class of antioxidants with therapeutic value for reducing your risk of breast cancer.

The most abundant in green tea is epigallocatechin-3-gallate, or EGCG, a catechin that has demonstrated inflammation-reduction and cancer-interruption both in the lab and in animals.

In May 2013, researchers concluded:

Findings support the hypothesis that EGCG... directly targets both tumor cells and tumor vasculature, thereby inhibiting tumor growth, proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis of breast cancer.

The finding that EGCG acts on cancerous cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed reinforces past results --- that the catechins in green tea induced apoptosis, or cell death, in cancer cells but not in their normal cell counterparts.

Another recent study from the journal PLoS (Sept., 2013) once again put EGCG to the test, this time against a highly aggressive form of breast cancer known as inflammatory breast cancer. The authors summarized:

EGCG decreased expression of genes that promote [cancer cell] proliferation, migration, invasion, and survival. Consistently, growth, invasive properties, and survival of [inflammatory breast cancer] cells were reduced by EGCG treatment.

Well done!

To enjoy all of the anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer benefits green tea has to offer, it is best to get caffeinated green tea and add lemon juice when drinking --- caffeine helps to enhance green tea’s tumor-suppressive properties while the vitamin C in lemon juice amplifies the effects of EGCG.