Sweet Find Wednesday: Munchkin Cloth Snack Bags

New Section!
So often when I am talking to my friends, we end up swapping tips about items we have found recently that make life more simple, beautiful, or just more enjoyable in general. In the midst of the daily grind, these finds can be pretty exciting! I've decided it might be fun to share that excitement with you on the blog each Wednesday. Enjoy the first "Sweet Find." 

Snack sacks!
Say that five times fast. I have been eying these cute, environmentally friendly snack sacks on Etsy for quite some time. Take a look at a few of my favorites:

Available from Bag it Conscious

Available from Mada's Place

"Manly" bags I found for Mike, also available from Bag it Conscious. Non-girly looking reusable bags are unfortunately quite scarce.

In the midst of my deciding on which ones to purchase online, I trudged into Walmart for my weekly shopping. Low and behold, I found these reusable snack sacks from Munchkin! They were about $7 and came three in a pack.

I love the zippered closures--and so does Laila. She can "unzipper it" all by herself, which is a BIG DEAL to her as a toddler.

I even like the fabric better than any that I found on Etsy. Even though it is not the most masculine pattern ever made, Mike takes them in his lunches too. What a man!

After a few uses, we turn them inside-out and run them through the washer and dryer. Good as new!

I may eventually purchase some handmade sandwich-sized reusables on Etsy, but for now we are quite happy with these from Munchkin. You can purchase them at Walmart or look for them online; however, I couldn't find them online for less than $12 at Amazon.

And that's today's Sweet Find. Hope you enjoy the day! :)

Book Review

Food Rules: An Eater's Manual

 

 

This week I read Michael Pollan's Food Rules, which consists of 64 rules the author suggests we should follow in our daily eating habits. Some rules are self-explanatory and require no further explanation, but Pollan does expand upon rules that may leave the reader guessing. It was actually really fun to read, and a great guide for anyone wondering where to start on their own journey of "eating right." All the rules are good, but here are a few of my personal favorites:

• #2: Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food.
• #13: Eat only foods that will eventually rot.
• #20: It's not food if it arrived through your car window.
• #21: It's not food if it's called by the same name in every language (Think Big Mac, Cheetos, or Pringles).
• #39: Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself. I love this rule. When people had to make ice cream and fried chicken themselves, they only made it for special occasions because it was so much trouble. Same goes for donuts, french fries, danishes, etc. If we had to make these things ourselves, we'd probably eat them far less often, too.
• #52: Buy smaller plates and glasses. If you've eaten at my house, you know I need to buy new plates. Lol. They're more like giant bowls!
• #56: Limit your snacks to unprocessed plant foods. And I might add--if an unprocessed plant food doesn't sound good for a snack, you're probably not really hungry.
• #57: Don't get your fuel from the same place your car does.
• #63: Cook. 

Because of its usefulness and ease of reading, I absolutely recommend you pick up Food Matters if you have not already. (Thanks to my friend Nathanial for recommending it to me!)



A Recipe Recommendation

Black Beans, Corn, & Yellow Rice
I started with this basic recipe, then invented my own from there.
INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup brown rice
• 1.5 cups water
• 1 cup broth of your choice (I used an Edward & Sons Not-Chick'n bouillon cube)
• 3 tbsp EVOO, divided
• 1 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1 cup chopped red onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced (about 1/2 teaspoon)
• 1 cup frozen whole kernel corn (or 1 can no-salt added)
• 1 cup black beans (or 1 can, rinsed and drained)
• 1 cup chopped tomato (or 1 can no-salt added)
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
• 2 tbsp lime juice

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring water and broth to a boil; stir in rice and 1 tablespoon of the EVOO. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 35-40 minutes until done.
2. Meanwhile, heat remaining EVOO in large pan until fragrant but not smoking. Add bell pepper and onion; saute for 2-3 minutes until beginning to soften. Add garlic and saute an additional minute or so, until garlic is fragrant and flavors are starting to mingle.
3. Stir in corn and continue sauteing until corn is beginning to cook through, 3-4 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and saute until veggies meet your desired level of tenderness (I kept mine a little crunchy).
4. Combine cooked rice with the veggie mixture and serve with tortilla chips.

High Fructose Corn Syrup: What's the Big Deal?

A few weeks ago, I found Agave nectar in my local Walmart. I was stoked! It contains NO high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and is actually a "natural" sweetener. Days later, I presented my find to our dear friends Dave & Rachel along with a joyful exclamation concerning the lack of HFCS. Dave responded frankly with, "What's so bad about high fructose corn syrup?"

The truth was: I had no idea what's so bad about HFCS. My aversion to it was constructed from vague impressions likely based on some episode of Oprah; or, more probably, a suspicion built on manufacturers' claims of "No high fructose corn syrup" on products I had seen in the grocery store. Surely it is bad for you if they are making such a fuss about it not being in their product, right?

So, for your benefit and mine, I set out this morning to discover answers to some of life's most pressing questions: What in the world is wrong with high fructose corn syrup, if anything? Is the claim "No HFCS!" that I find slapped all over foods--especially foods for kids--merely another term like "all natural" that helps manufacturers move products off the shelves, or is HFCS really something I should avoid at all costs?


Here is What I Found.
The big(gest) deal about HFCS seems to be the link between it and obesity in America; after all, the increased use of the substance in manufactured foods correlated with a record increase in obesity in the early 90's.

But the fact is that HFCS is made of half glucose and half fructose, which is the same as ordinary table sugar. This CBS News article I read refers to HFCS as "sugar with an image problem." In fact, recent research indicates that the two affect the body very similarly. According to Eating Well, Barry Popkin, one of the authors of the original study on HFCS that sent everyone into an uproar about its ill effects, confesses that singling out HFCS as the culprit was unjustified. Essentially, an increase in the use of any type of sugar would be strongly related to an increase in obesity. HFCS is simply cheaper (because of government subsidies on corn, mainly).

How much is enough? The folks over at the Mayo Clinic state women should consume only 6 teaspoons of ANY type of sugar (about 28.5 grams) per day, and men should consume only 9 (about 43 grams). To give you a frame of reference, one can of your average soda contains about 9 teaspoons of sugar. Yikes!

People who have eliminated HFCS from their diets do claim to feel less tired and often lose weight, which isn't surprising: Since HFCS is the sugar most commonly added to foods, it is logical that a drastic reduction/elimination of it would mean a reduction/elimination of the effects of sugar. 


My conclusion:
I am by no means an expert, but what I have concluded--and this is really simplifying a lot of the information I read--is that we should not really be mad about HFCS being in so many foods on our grocery store shelves as much as we should be mad about any of the sugars that are unnecessarily added to so many of the foods we consume (concentrated fruit juice and raw sugar included).

Eating any kind of sugar in vast quantities is probably not very good for us, or our kids. While sugar does add flavor, it also adds calories to foods and drinks; consuming them results in "empty calories," or calories without any nutritional value. This can be a big problem for kids, whose growing bodies require nutrients to develop properly. Even if HFCS had no other ill effects on children (and there is research that shows it may), this should be reason enough to watch what we're letting our kids eat.

One of my favorite tooth-rotting treats as a child.

When I was a kid I wondered why God would ever do something so heinous as to make human teeth incapable of chomping as many sweets as I'd like to eat without rotting out first--and why my parents seemed to be in league with Him about it. Now I understand they were looking out for me all along.


Recipes this Week

• This one is actually from a few weeks ago. I was sick and asked Michael to "Please cook the salmon recipe" for dinner. He chose One Pot Salmon with Snap Peas and Rice, which was not actually the recipe I had in mind. I was, however, still very grateful because 1) he took excellent care of me, even though I'm pretty cantankerous when I'm sick; 2) he cooked some delicious food; and 3) he found this recipe that I had totally forgotten about! It is tasty, takes very little prep OR cook time, and everything cooks in the same pot. Win, win, win!
• This reminds me--I don't know if I've ever told you guys that we still eat fish from time to time. Well, we do. :)
• Today I made myself a Tex-Mex black bean sandwich for lunch, and it was delicious. Here's what I did:
• Lightly mash up however many black beans you want (I think I used about 1/3 cup for a half sandwich) and spread them onto the bread of your choice.
• Top the beans with Tex-Mex toppings. I used salsa, avocado, and a bit of shredded cheddar cheese. You could also use tomatoes, red onions, chiles, corn, and/or pickles.
• Serve with extra salsa and chips, and fresh fruit.

Book Review: Food Matters by Mark Bittman

A Guide to Conscious Eating

Several weeks ago I mentioned I have been reading Mark Bittman's Food Matters and promised that I'd give you a book review as soon as I could. Here you go!

The tagline of the book is A Guide to Conscious Eating, and I found it to be exactly that. I am very cautious of anything I pick up that has a propagandist tone because I have so often found those types to be condemnative rather than informative. Bittman's tone, by contrast, is so genuine you would think you're talking with a good friend. Bittman himself is a confessed gourmand and has actually made his living by...you guessed it...eating. Okay, perhaps the better word is tasting. He has authored several best-selling cookbooks (most noteably are How to Cook Everything and How to Cook Everything Vegetarian) and currently pens "The Minimalist" column for the Food section of the NY Times.

The excerpt on the back of the book helps sum it up a lot, so I'm copying it here:

• If I told you that the same lifestyle choice could help you lose weight, reduce your risk of many long-term or chronic diseases, save you real money, and help stop global warming, I imagine you'd be intrigued. If I also told you that this change, while not effortless, would be easier and more pleasant than any diet you've ever tried, would take less time and effort than your exercise routine, and would require no sacrifice, I would think you'd want to read more. If you do, you'll find an explanation of the links among diet, health, and the environment in general, and climate change in particular, and you'll see how you can make a difference.

That will definitely grab your attention, right? It did mine!

Sane Eating
Sane Eating is what Bittman calls his approach, and he summarizes it in this way:

• Eat less meat, and fewer animal products in general. Eat fewer refined carbohydrates, like white bread, cookies, white rice, and pretzels. Eat way less junk food: soda, chips, snack food, candy, and so on. And eat far more vegetables, legumes, fruits, and whole grains--as much as you can (68).

The first half of the book is devoted to describing what Bittman might call "insane eating," and the latter part of the book is all about the sane eating approach. And let me remind you that Bittman is ridiculously practical. I never found him preachy, though what he says will probably make you want to preach, as it did me--obviously.

You may have noticed in the excerpt above that the author does not advise eliminating foods entirely from your diet. He says it is okay to have treats, and you can have a treat every day. Bittman himself uses the "Vegan until Six" rule of thumb. He eats as though he is vegan--loading up on fruits, veggies, legumes, and whole grains--until six in the evening. Then he eats a sensible meal that may include some of the "treats" he has not allowed himself throughout the day (white bread, a dessert, etc). There is far more detail about this practice in the book.

Diet & the Environment
This part of the book was of particular interest to me. So often I feel like there is little or nothing I can do to make a difference in the world at large. Who knew I could vote with my fork! Bittman presents information about how the typical American diet contributes to environmental change (Did you know animal production contributes more to global warming than vehicle pollution?) and offers practical ways of amending our wrongs.

In Short
I would definitely recommend you read this book. It's an easy read--about half the book consists of a sample monthly menu and recipes--and even if you don't agree with everything he says, I think you would still find something in it that is useful.


Recipes this Week
I spent quite a bit of the week sleeping (thank you, nasty cold), so I did not get to try many new recipes or cook much at all, in fact. I did make one of our new favorite dishes, Fall Vegetable Curry. It's certainly not as good as the Indian food I have had at restaurants, but it meets my requirements for a recipe--quick and easy, healthy, tasty--and gives me a curry fix at least. On that note, I would definitely recommend finding some good curry before you try this one. I tried using the McCormick stuff I got at Walmart, and it just didn't taste as good as the Madras curry I found at Whole Foods. Go figure. In addition, the recipe says to serve it with plain Greek style yogurt. While the yogurt was good, I think I could do without it if I had quality curry. We like this dish best served over couscous (which you can easily mix with a bit of quinoa for some extra protein). Steep the couscous in your choice of broth (rather than water) for an even tastier treat!