Month: February 2010 (Page 1 of 2)

5 Tips to Health Through Food by Kamara Pastis

February 27, 2010 / Heidi Lee / 0 Comments

Hi all fans and members of intotheSoup.com. I am Kami Pastis, and I am a certified personal trainer, life style educator, group fitness instructor and registered chiropractic assistant in the Phoenix area. From time to time, I will enjoy sharing my tips with you on eating well for life. Here are 5 to start. I hope you enjoy as well.

5 Tips on To Health Through Food

If you want that beautiful taste of virgin or extra virgin olive oil without the health risks of high heat pan frying; steam broil or grill your food and drizzle the oil over the top.
Ingredients that should never be in the first 5 ingredients of a food label: Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, refined sugar, refined grains and artificial sweeteners. Read the labels of your food – it’s what’s going in your body!
A “Green Smoothie” is a delicious way to eat more fruits & veggies. It’s also incredibly easy to digest. Try 5 leaves of romaine, 1-2 bananas, strawberries and any other fruit you like with 2 cups pure water, blend & enjoy energy filled goodness! Use any combo of fruit & leafy greens you like usually a 60% fruit:40% greens ratio keeps yummy.
Choosing organic meat and dairy products is an easy way to decrease your exposure to pesticides, herbicides, hormones and antibiotics that compromise health. It’s a good investment in long term wellness.
Everyone’s budget is different so buying all organic fruits and veggies is sometimes prohibitive. Some foods that are most important to choose organic are carrots, celery, apples and peaches due to the heavy pesticide usage. Foods in which the organic label isn’t all that important are avocados, bananas and mangoes

Click here to revisit Kami’s Thai Bliss Soup contribution

About Kami

Kamara Pastis is a certified personal trainer, life style educator, group fitness instructor and registered chiropractic assistant in the Phoenix area. Clinical, therapeutic massage has been her mainstay for seven years where she has experienced the lasting therapeutic changes massage can make in cases with debilitating pain and disfunction. The traditional Thai and Yogi tradition of metta (literally “loving kindness”) is Kami’s healing philosophy. When not healing her patients, Kami is more than blissfully occupied with her husband and three kids.

To contact Kami and learn more about her services Click Here: www.kamaralmt.com or call (602) 622-1046. Tell her you saw her on intotheSoup.com

5 Tips to Health Through Food

1. If you want that beautiful taste of virgin or extra virgin olive oil without the health risks of high heat pan frying; steam broil or grill your food and drizzle the oil over the top.

2. Ingredients that should never be in the first 5 ingredients of a food label: Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, refined sugar, refined grains and artificial sweeteners. Read the labels of your food – it’s what’s going in your body!

3. A “Green Smoothie” is a delicious way to eat more fruits & veggies. It’s also incredibly easy to digest. Try 5 leaves of romaine, 1-2 bananas, strawberries and any other fruit you like with 2 cups pure water, blend & enjoy energy filled goodness! Use any combo of fruit & leafy greens you like usually a 60% fruit:40% greens ratio keeps it yummy.

4. Choosing organic meat and dairy products is an easy way to decrease your exposure to pesticides, herbicides, hormones and antibiotics that compromise health. It’s a good investment in long term wellness.

Everyone’s budget is different so buying all organic fruits and veggies is sometimes prohibitive. Some foods that are most important to choose organic are carrots, celery, apples and peaches due to the heavy pesticide usage. Foods in which the organic label isn’t all that important are avocados, bananas and mangoes

You Say Crouton, I Say Toast

February 26, 2010 / Heidi Lee / 0 Comments

Recently, I had an unexpected culinary surprise, all because of a very well prepared piece of toast.

I was working on a video shoot with my good friend Chef Glenn Humphrey all about an elegant meal made easy. We prepared a few salads and dressings, whipped up two ways to work with potatoes, and fired up a gorgeous dessert classic (comeback soon for the video).

In betwixt them three, we found ourselves trimming up a beef tenderloin and bringing to light the beauty of a petite cut, fried and finished with a gorgeous pan sauce of butter, mushroom, shallot, red wine and brandy… hmmm what was I talking about?

Oh yeah, when we came into the kitchen that afternoon, Chef Humphrey had some day old bread on his table. My obvious question made him smile and say “I’m making croutons.” I left it at that and hit the powder room for a costume change and some lipstick. It was long after the salad shoot that I noticed his oversized croutons sitting on a back table but plated individually. My assumption ~ he forgot to use them on his salad.

We moved onto our Pomme Anna and Duchess Potatoes (yummy!) and then went through that tenderloin process mentioned above. Listen, I’ve cooked lots of meat lots of ways, and I’ll put my pan sauces up against the best of them. It was Chef Glenn’s plating of a choice piece of tenderloin on that damned crouton that took me back a step or two. Good on you, Glenn!!

Even when I saw it happening, I still didn’t get it. You all know how I talk about taste and smell and all those things that take us back. Well, those particular sensorial triggers didn’t kick in this time around. What, pray you, was it then that sent my senses reeling?

One word ~ texture. I cut through a piece of that succulent beef and felt the crunch of the bread underneath; forked a few mushrooms and stirred it all round in the sauce. Once I popped that little gem in my mouth I was instantly taken to a buttered piece of toast with round steak and gravy in my mom’s farmhouse kitchen – CLASSIC!!

Oddly, that was not my only recent crouton experience. I also witnessed an ACF (American Culinary Federation) Junior competition where I swear the winner of that particular battle won on her crouton preparation! Don’t get me wrong, her entrée was absolutely divine, but one judge in particular went gaga for a buttered and fried piece of day old bread! Who woulda’ thunk it? Apparently, not me!!

Live Well, Eat Well

Heidi

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Travel, Change & Good Conversation

February 25, 2010 / Heidi Lee / 0 Comments

by Peggy Markel

Hello fans of intotheSoup.com. In my first column on this beautiful site, I wanted to talk to you about travel, food (of course), change and good conversation.

In September, I had the opportunity to cook for illustrious poet David Whyte, and 30 of his students, in the Tuscan countryside for a week. Normally, I teach more than I cook. Yet, cook I did, without recipes as if the Tuscan cuisine was a part of me. The experience was a harvest time of the last 17 years of my work in Tuscany and a great opportunity to bring nourishment to a group of hungry poets and appreciators of David’s incredible work with the human spirit.

While there, I found that this experience was changing me. I was faced with a deep question. I felt I needed more courage to expand my travel and cooking programs to include a broader and deeper context of exploration.

For all its intensity, 2009 was a rich time – a time of serious groundlessness in the world, and personally for me as well. But to allow change, I need to acknowledge the need for change and allow it to happen, rather than resist it. The most important thing I choose to remember is: Change is refreshing.

My programs have always been transformative and guests seem to go home feeling quite happy, but there’s more to enlivening a journey. I thought about the great conversations that I had with these young poets and how important conversation is to good travel and a good meal. The journey is not just about where you go or how you get there, but with whom you share your table.

This holds true for any adventure whether it is a trip to an exotic land or just exploration of good food at home with friends. The table is a platform for gathering. What would the table be with all this delicious food if we were not all sitting around it conversing?

When the food is good at an Italian table, everyone talks about the last great meal they had. The conversation centers mostly around food, an experience that naturally nourishes them. Yet, I’m interested in taking it to another level.

It was on this topic, through a literary friend from the UK, that I was introduced to another philosopher and writer, Theodore Zeldin. “He presents topics of conversation like a menu.” said Eleanor.

To quote Zeldin,

“The kind of conversation I’m interested in is one which you start with a willingness to emerge a slightly different person. It’s always an experiment, whose results are never guaranteed. It involves risk. It’s an adventure in which we agree to cook the world together and make it taste less bitter.”

I began to think about great travel companions. How perfect it would be to travel with Rumi, the 13th century Sufi mystic poet. How fun would it be to converse over a meal that we have cooked together in the wood-fired ovens of Tuscany, sitting down to roasted goodness, with a few bottles of 100% Sangiovese, or a Moroccan dinner of chicken tagine with our own preserved lemons, under the stars … or moored in a bay off the coast of Capri, eating freshly caught fish with local herbs and tiny tomatoes.. I digress.

Travel confronts us with people living very different lives. “Humanity is a family that has hardly met.” says Zeldin. Food and good conversation bring us that opportunity to get to know one another.

In Morocco in November, inspired by time with David Whyte and good conversations past, I introduced poetry as a new element to my trips. Rumi’s references to food are many, and it proved to be a welcomed addition as we read a poem while sitting at the table under a carob tree in the garden, or riding down a long stretch of road. Poetry offered “food for thought” while cooking, dining and traveling.

Change is happening all around us. Embrace it. We have the opportunity to bring life and style together in creative ways and have the conversations to bring us closer.

Enjoy the journey, everyone. I look forward to blazing new trails with intotheSoup.com in the new territory ahead.

Peggy Markel

To see Peggy Markel’s many Culinary Adventures: Connecting Cuisine Culture & Lifestyle

Click Here To View our Featured Culinary Trip: Tuscany – La Cucina al Focolare – Cooking by the Fireside

Peggy has provided a Morroccan Kefta Recipe for our Members. Check it out by signing in and Clicking Here: Recipe

About Peggy Markel

Peggy Markel is the Owner and Operator of Peggy Markel’s Culinary Adventures. In 1993, she started The Ligurian School of Poetic Cooking (1993–2000), with Angelo Cabani, master chef and proprietor of Locanda Miranda in Tellaro, a small village on the Italian Riviera. For the past 17 years Peggy has traversed the Mediterranean and North Africa, from Elban fishing villages and Moroccan markets to the homes of Tuscan artisans and chefs, furthering her own exploration of culture and cuisine. “For me, a connection to real food is a connection to life.” Peggy’s journeys help people explore the cuisines of Tuscany, Sicily, Morocco, Almafi, and India.

Taking Stock in Fish

February 25, 2010 / Heidi Lee / 0 Comments

Good soup comes from good stock and good health comes from good Soup.

As a contributor to intotheSoup.com, I am excited to jump in and add my own twist to flavor this web site with tips on Food, Nutrition and Wellness. So, let’s begin with two extremely healthy elements, fish and (of course) soup.

It is still winter in Minnesota and will be for a while and ice fishing is all the rage. The need for warmth and liquids abound. I have the day to myself, the radio is on my favorite station, and I am happy to play in the kitchen. I have never made fish stock before. I have made chicken stock and turkey stock. Why not make fish stock? How easy is this?

As I prepare to take on this challenge, I consider what it is that makes fish broth the elixir of good health. We all know that fish is good for us. It is high in protein , low in fat and rich in calcium and phosphorus, a great source of minerals, such as iron, zinc, potassium (a mineral needed for muscles, nerves, and fluid balance in the body), iodine, and magnesium.

Of course there are those Omega-3 fatty acids we hear about. All fish have them, the best sources being fish such as salmon, tuna and mackerel, but what about them? According to… well, just about everybody, they are great for the cardiovascular system. They decrease the potential for heart disease, reduce blood pressure, help prevent arthritis and even promote healthy brain function. Who doesn’t need a healthier brain?

In addition, researchers found that fatty fish aid short-term memory; and that people who eat at least one meal of fish per week will be significantly less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease; least two servings of fish per week to help prevent heart disease, lower blood pressure, and reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Add to this the benefits of meat stocks in general. Containing many of the nutritious minerals that come from the cartilage prepare with a bit of wine or vinegar to help draw calcium, magnesium and potassium, we are talking about a boiling pot of healthy goodness.

Specifically, fish stocks are rich in iodine which is necessary for proper metabolism (converting food into energy) of cells and production of thyroid hormones. So, when ancient cultures prescribed fish stock to help with virility, they had something there.

In addition to the fish, there are all the healthy ingredients that go into the broth. The carrots, celery, onions, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, fresh parsley and maybe a touch of salt, add the vitamins, the antioxidants and the phytochemicals with all of their protective and disease preventive properties.

Finally, there is the love and time put into this wonderful concoction. The process itself is meditative, contemplative, and rejuvenating. All together, the combination is exactly what the Doctor (or Dietitian) ordered.

Good stock comes from adding the right elements and simmering them together for long periods of time to develop and blend the flavors. The ingredients do not require precision cutting or measuring and they are not difficult to find. Sometimes, they are items that are waiting to be used. Take the bones left from filleting fish, add some veggies, and you are off.

Once all the goodness is cooked out of the ingredients and they are carefully strained to capture only the precious liquid, here is the base for a great soup. Tasting is believing. Subtle mixtures of flavors all blended to sooth whatever ails your heart, head, or soul.

Soup is a good thing. Soup will fit the bill for young and old. And, soup is packed with wonderful nutrients that promote your good health. So take stock in soup. Get into it!

Prepared for you by,

Carletta Rhen-Mlodzik RD

About Carletta

Carletta Rhen-Mlodzik RD has been practicing dietetics and has been a member if the American Dietetic Association for over 30 years. She is working as the Director of Food and Nutrition Services for a small Health Care setting in northern Minnesota. She has done consulting as well as worked in the Phoenix area in two large hospitals. She and her husband have two daughters, 17 and 19. They live on a small hobby farm with 5 horses, two dogs and several cats.

Sources for this article are:

American Dietetic Association

Rush Institute for Healthy Aging

American Heart Association

British Medical Journal

Australian National Health and Medical Research Council

MedlinePlus

Yogurt the Ancient Wonder Food

February 23, 2010 / Heidi Lee / 0 Comments

Hello, intotheSoup.com viewer! Don’t ya just love this site?

Did you know that eating well and delicious dishes can go hand in hand!? All it takes is some intelligent eating, an interest in culinary adventures, and the use of this webpage! Let me introduce myself. I am Katie Paige Haarala, and I am here to discuss how healthy eating can be delicious eating and how different foods can benefit your overall health and wellness! I look forward to discussing specific health foods and how you can incorporate them into your daily menu! For as La Rochefoucauld said, “To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.” So, here is to eating intelligently, friends!

Enter Yogurt. The food that is ALIVE! Sound scary? It shouldn’t be! Yogurt is one of those superfoods that should be a staple in your daily dish and has been around since, well, before Bob Barker had even contemplated being on Price is Right. Actually, this fermented dairy product can be dated to the cuisine of Middle Eastern civilizations as far back as 2,000 B.C!

The benefits of this luscious treat are insurmountable and pack a 1-2 punch for your immune system! And of course, during the winter months (at least here in Minn-e-sota) our immunities always seem to be taking a hit. We’re cold. So we eat to warm up; then, we gain weight because we eat too much; then, we get stressed out because we are quite certain our right thigh has a mind of its own and has increased an inch or five overnight; then, we eat because we are stressed out about our increasing right thigh issue; then, less than healthy habits definitely catch up to us: the stress, the weight, and the lack of sleep are a recipe for a shot immune system. Shoot.

The immune benefits of yogurt actually stem from the fermentation process itself where the friendly bacteria Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus are allowed to marry with the milk and produce lactic acid; this production equates to yogurt’s delectable tangy flavor and velvety texture. Of course, coupling this creamy delicacy with your favorite berry and some walnuts is a perfect way to kick-start your day (mmmmm! I saw you drooling. Don’t even deny it).

Proper selection of yogurt in your local grocer is crucial; the container must contain the stamp LAC (live and active cultures) from the National Yogurt Association stating there is at least 10 million live cultures per gram to ensure an adequate culture count. May I suggest sticking with plain yogurt as there are no artificial sweeteners, fillers, or added sugar? Simply delicious healthful probiotics in a container, and let me tell you, we love probiotics.

Simply put, probiotics recreate a healthy balance in your gastrointestinal (GI) tract by introducing a plethora of “friendly” bacteria into your gut. The role of the microflora in our GI tract is immense; these guys help us breakdown and absorb the nutrients and energy from our food. A double whammy is the fact that these microflora play a vital role in our immune system; it is speculated about 70% of our immune system is in our gut alone!

Prebiotics have also been an area of interest. A prebiotic is basically a substrate or food for those probiotics found in the yogurt. Prebiotics are complex carbohydrates that are not readily digested by our bodies. The components of prebiotics are inulin, fructooligosaccharides (FOS) and galactooligosaccharides (GOS). These components can be found in bananas, whole grains, garlic, asparagus, honey, onions, and leeks. So eat up and enjoy the nutritional and immunologic benefits!

Here are a couple ways to incorporate yogurt into your daily dish:

Use it as a base for your favorite fruit smoothie
Substitute plain yogurt for sour cream in any vegetable dips
Make a fruit and yogurt parfait with your choice or berries, walnuts, and a dash of cinnamon
Toss plain yogurt in with vinaigrette dressing to make a creamy substitute.
Yogurt can become a healthy alternative to many of your creamy dishes using mayonnaise or sour cream.

There is no better time than right now to begin implementing yogurt into your daily menu.

Enjoy Health! Enjoy Flavor!

Katie

Get more Health & Wellness advice by Clicking Here.

About Katie Paige Haarala

Kate Paige Haarala is a registered dietitian (R.D.) from Minnesota who has an undying passion for nutrition education and helping others incorporate healthy dishes into their daily menu. She graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Food, Nutrition & Dietetics along with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Exercise Science. You can catch more of Katie on her blog by clicking here.

A Taste of Spring Soup: Asparagus Vichysoisse

February 21, 2010 / Heidi Lee / 0 Comments

From Facebook friend Chef Thomas Elkin CEC, AAC, HOGT out St. Louis; Into the Soup would like to celebrate the coming spring season (it is coming!) with a recipe that showcases the consummate springtime vegetable, asparagus, in a wonderful cold soup using the classic vichysoisse technique. Try this soup for an early taste of spring.

Ingredients

4 C. CHICKEN STOCK
12 OZ. PEELED POTATOES
12 OZ. ASPARAGUS PIECES (RAW)
2 OZ. LEEKS, CHOPPED (RAW)
1 tsp. SALT (approx.)
2 T. FRESH CHOPPED CHIVES
4 OZ. COOKED BLUE CRAB MEAT (optional)
12 OZ. CANNED EVAPORATED SKIM MILK

Combine stock, potatoes, asparagus and leeks in a 6 qt. Pot. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer until asparagus has cooked very, very soft and the fibers have broken down. Remove from heat. In processor, puree small batches until all has been processed. Chill.

When base has been chilled, blend in the evaporated milk. Adjust the seasoning with the salt if necessary. Serve with a dab of crab meat on top and sprinkle with chives.

Serves 10 to 12