Saturday, February 5, 2011

New U.S. Dietary Guidelines: What Not to Eat

This is courtesy of Web MD. Go to their sight to read more. Mexican,Pizza and Burgers are all on their hit list. It is hard for a boy from Southeast Texas to give up Tex Mex.

So what should the new American diet look like? The new guidelines suggest:
• Eat more seafood -- at least 8 ounces a week
• Eat more fruits and vegetables
• Substitute healthy oils for solid fats (such as margarine)
• Lower your sodium intake
• Avoid fast foods
• Exercise more
• Read food labels
• Substitute whole grains for refined grains
• Eat more beans and peas
• Get plenty of fiber, potassium, and vitamin D
• Eat/drink more nonfat or low-fat dairy products
• Replace high-fat meats with lean meats
• For some Americans, drink less alcohol

Agave Nectar the new natural sweetener

I found a product at HEB that I feel can be as helpful as Splenda for those of us watching our glycimex levels in food processing. I tried it straight up as a sugar substitute in iced tea, not bad but not really that appatizing. May work better like honey in hot tea. Here is some information from MadhavasAgave.com.
The raw agave juice is regularly harvested from living plants by Indian peoples native to central Mexico. To do so, they must slice off the top of the plant and hollow out its core. Then the plant is capped with a stone. The pineapple shaped agave plant secretes its nectar into the center of the plant, rather than into flowers like most plants do. It collects in the hollow center for several days, after which the milky white "juice" is removed by ladle, one plant at a time. In a way it is similar to tapping a tree for maple syrup collection.
Agave NectarAgave nectar is a newly created sweetener, having been developed during the 1990's. Originally, the blue agave variety was used. This is the same plant used in the manufacture of tequila. During the late 90's, a shortage of blue agave resulted in huge increases in cost and a sweetener based on this plant became uneconomical. Further research was done and a method using wild agave was developed. Overcoming the language barrier between the Indians able to supply the nectar from the wild agave on their land and the Spanish speaking local manufacturer was the key that finally unlocked a supply of raw material and has led to our bringing this wonderful new product to market.
Limiting glucose consumption is a contemporary concern for many people. The introduction of this new sweetener is timely as it has a relatively low glycemic index due to its higher proportion of fructose and lower levels of glucose. This fact should prove attractive to those with special diet considerations or who monitor glucose intake.
Agave Nectar has many other fine qualities as well. Foremost among them are the certified purity, both organic and kosher. Also of note is the flavor. The light variety's neutral flavor will not alter the taste of the foods in which it is used making it ideal as a sweetener for coffee, tea, fruit "smoothies", and other beverages. The amber variety's mild natural flavor will lend a delicious and mysterious hint of flavor to sauces or baked goods. This sweetener is also very convenient to use, as it has a long, stable shelf life and will not solidify. It pours quickly even when cold, blends and dissolves readily in or on all foods. For baking, its moisture retention properties are comparable to those of honey. Bakers also may notice a silky, smoother texture to their goods and better definition of other natural flavors.
This pure, unrefined sweetener is a great-tasting, economical alternative to all other sweeteners, granular or liquid, perfect for all around use. It has approx 1.4 x the sweetening power of white sugar. And, Agave Nectar's mild flavor doesn't vary widely which will lend a real consistency to recipes.
Madhava expects Agave Nectar to become a popular, everyday contemporary sweetener. In the short time since it was introduced, shoppers have discovered that it makes a wonderful addition to their kitchen cupboards. Having a jar along with the honey jar allows one to choose whichever is more suitable for a particular use. The unique flavors and qualities of honey lend themselves to many items and uses, while agave nectar compliments others with even broader potential due to its mildness and ease of use.”
Many households enjoy the qualities of both sweeteners for different uses.

Usage tips:
  • On fruit salad.
  • Add dash to vinegar + oil salad dressing.
  • In coffee or tea.
  • Cereal
  • Sweeten Lemonade
  • Add to BBQ sauce.
  • Suitable for any sweetening use.
  • Use in any recipe. To substitute use ¾ cup agave nectar per 1 cup other sweetener.

Look For a few recipes with the Agave Necture in the near future.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Hoppin John

This recipe comes from Kalyn@Kaylins Kitchen. It is perfect on a cold day like today.
Hopping John Soup


Hopping John Soup (Black-eyed Pea, Ham, and Collard Green Soup)
(Makes 6-8 servings, recipe created by Kalyn with inspiration from The Gourmet Cookbook.)

1 onion, chopped in fairly small pieces
1 cup celery, chopped in fairly small pieces
1 T olive oil
1 tsp. minced garlic
2-3 cups diced ham (cut off the ham rind and save)
8 cups homemade chicken stock
(or use water with chicken soup base or canned chicken broth)
2 16 oz. packages frozen black-eyed peas
(or use 6 cups freshly cooked black-eyed peas or 4 cans black-eyed peas)
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 bunch fresh collard greens, chopped (about 2 cups when measured after chopping, but next time I would use more)
pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar, or more to taste
Optional: ham flavor base if needed (I like Goya Ham Flavor Concentrate if you can find it)

In large frying pan, saute onion and celery in olive oil about 5 minutes, until starting to soften. Add garlic and saute 2 minutes more, then add ham and saute over very low heat 10 minutes. (Don't skip this step, which concentrates the ham flavor into the vegetables.)

Transfer mixture to large soup pot, add chicken stock, black eyed peas, dried thyme, and ham rinds if available, and cook at very low simmer for one hour.

After soup has cooked one hour, taste for flavoring. Add more water and ham flavor base if needed. (It will depend on your ham, but I usually add a tiny bit. I added about 2 cups more water to the soup at this point.) Add chopped collard greens, stir into soup and simmer one hour more, or until black-eyed peas are quite soft.

When black-eyed peas are as soft as you want them, remove pieces of ham rind, then use an immersion blender, food processor, or hand masher to partially process about half the soup. You want a mixture of broken and unbroken black-eyes peas, with some thickening of the soup from the pureeing process. Be careful not to over process. Add red pepper flakes and vinegar and simmer 10 minutes more (or longer, I sometimes cook as much as an hour more at this point.) Serve hot.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Spiced Apples

There are advantages to living on the Gulf Coast.  Tonight and tommorow are not one of them. Lows in the 20's and Hot water pipes finally thawed at 6 o' clock this afternoon. But as I sit and eat  these spiced apples and write this intro it tastes a little like heaven. I added blueberries to mine.







Spiced Apples
Ingredients
o    3 -4 large granny smith apples
o    1/8-1/4 cup butter
o    1/2 cup cranberries or blueberries or  nuts
o    1-11/2 cups water
o    1 cup splenda
o    1/4 teaspoon salt
o    1 teaspoon cinnamon
Directions
1.    Melt butter in a 2 qt saucepan.
2.    Add and saute apples over med heat for 5 minutes.
3.    Stir in fruit, nuts, salt, and cinnamon.
4.    Add water and cook on high until mixture boils.
5.    Add splenda and reduce heat to med-low.
6.    Simmer for 10.