Noshtopia

Watermelon, nature's man boost, natural hangover cures for 4th of July, and other tasty tidbits around the noshosphere

• Okay gents, instead of taking a little blue pill to help out the one eyed snake there, you can try eating lots of watermelon, flesh and rind. Apparently, watermelon has an ingredient called citruline which relaxes your body's muscles like what Viagra does. Watermelon won't give you a wonder Johnson like the pharmaceutical but it will relax your blood vessels. Let's here it for a cool summer time love boost. [Yahoo Health]

• Since 4th of July falls on Friday this year for some that could mean 3 days of boozing. Enjoy your cocktails but remember to assign a designated driver. And to make sure you don't suffer from the dreaded hangover the next day, here are some natural ways to avoid the elephant tap dancing on your head. I would add that between drinks and before bed drink anything that has electrolytes in it like Vitamin Water, Smart Water, Whole Foods Nutrient Enhanced Water, or Gatorade (the ones that don't have high fructose corn syrup). Booze dehydrates you which leads to the hangover, and the electrolytes help replenish. [Ideal Bite]

• And speaking of drinks, here's a list of the 20 Unhealthiest Drinks in America ranging from beer, soda, health drinks, kid's drinks, iced tea, energy drinks etc. The #1 worst drink has about the same amount of calories as eating two Carl's Junior Western Bacon Six Dollar Burgers. That's some serious muffin top building food. [Men's Health]

• Here's some last minute ideas for healthy eats this 4th of July. The White Sangria and Mediterranean Portobello Burger would be awesome with some fireworks. [Eating Well]

• And speaking of burgers, if you are going to be grilling any kind of burgers, veg or meat, here are some tips to make the burgers as low fat as possible. [About.com Low Fat Cooking]

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Cuteness: The Potato Song

Who knew a starchy spud could be so adorable. Careful. This tune is catchy, and you just may end up humming it the next time you make hash browns or fries.

The best wedding cake porn

If you want to see some of the best wedding cake porn, jump on over to TheKnot.com and check out the "Knot Picks" of cakes from the weddings of real people. You might have to register to see the whole gallery, but it's free and fast, and so worth it just to look at these cake master pieces.

Seriously, the artistry and creativity of the modern cake design just blows my mind. These cake makers are incredibly talented, and to me eating wellness also includes savoring beautifully crafted delights like these wedding cakes. I can't tell you how much pleasure I get just admiring the creativity and story of each cake.

What I think is really cool about many of the cake designs is that they could be used for other occasions besides weddings. For example, I'd love to have this fun polka dot cake for my next birthday.

What excites me about modern wedding cake design is that there are plenty of cake designs that are not so flowery and girlie. I'm not into the girlie cakes, and like something that has more male/female energy balance. Here are three of my favorite wedding cake designs. Now if I can just find the right groom {wink}.

Label reading: Ingredients that contain dairy

If you are trying to avoid products that have any kind of dairy, reading labels may be a little more tricky than just looking for the word "milk." Dairy includes animal milks (cow, goat, sheep), creams, creme fraiche,  butter, yogurt, kephir, custard, puddings, nougat, cheese, ice cream, gelato, sherbert, ice milk, milkshakes, and some margarine.

To note, just because a food package says, "No dairy" does not mean it is also egg free. Eggs may or may not be considered dairy depending on the culture or region you are in, so if you are also trying to avoid eggs, still be sure to check the label or look for "No eggs" on the packaging along side the "No dairy" verbage.

Here are some other items on ingredients labels to look for that contain dairy:

• Lactose
• Lactulose
• Whey
• Curds
• Casein
• Rennet
• Ghee
• Whey and Casein Hydrolysates
• Lactalbumin
• Lactoglobulin

Source: Whole Foods Dairy Free Eating and Wikipedia

The Gourmet Steak Side of Gardenburger

The Gardenburger is a popular favorite for those who love to nosh non-meat burger alternatives. The California Burger is one of my personal favorites. But did you know that Gardenburger also has a Gourmet line that features "Steaks" in four flavors: Baja Garden Steaks, Fire Dragon Garden Steaks, Hula Garden Steaks, and Tuscany Garden Steaks.

When I was at Whole Foods the other day, I saw the Fire Dragon Garden Steaks and decided to try them out, and boy was it delicious as you can see above. I cooked the Fire Dragon Steak in a skillet with some garlic infused olive oil. I ate it burger style on Ezekiel Sesame Sprouted Grain Bread, and then added sliced heirloom tomato, spring salad mix with arugula, avocado, ketchup, and my favorite Brianna's Poppyseed dressing which is a fabulous mayo alternative.

I didn't really get the "steak" feeling. To me, the Gourmet products taste and look like bigger, fancier veggie burger patties. Perhaps, they could change the name to "Garden Steakburgers" or nix the word "Steak" all together and just market them as upscale, fancier Gardenburgers. Okay, the marketer in me is coming out.

I still heartily enjoyed myself, and would definitely try the other flavors. Two patties come in each box, so perhaps for the second patty I'll try the "steak dish" approach, and eat it with some mashed potatoes, and grilled onions and do a Salisbury steak kind of meal. Although, I think mentally, I will probably end up seeing the dish as a burger with potatoes instead of a bun.

What I like most about the Gardenburger products is that they use very little soy, and sometimes none all together. If you look at the ingredient label the most prominent ingredient tends to be a (brown, jasmine) rice, cous cous, or oats as opposed to soy protein as many veggie burgers tend to use.

What's unique about the Gourmet line of Gardenburgers is that you will see ingredients like Nori, Daikon, Jicama, Cous Cous, and Coconut Cream. I totally dig the use of more global ingredients.

The Gourmet Gardenburgers are pretty big in size in my opinion which again probably goes back to their attempt to get a "steak" feel, and come in around 170-280 calories for one patty depending on which flavor you get. I ate half a patty for dinner and felt quite satisfied. I saved the other half of my burger for lunch the next day, and it was equally dee-lish.

Try out the Gourmet Gardenburgers and let me know what you think.

Next FN Star #5: The kids are smokin' the competition

I'm finding it utterly fascinating that the two youngest contestants on Next Food Network Star, Kelsey, fresh out of culinary school, and Shane, fresh out of puberty, are kicking ass in this competition.

Theories on why the youngest ones are doing better

I'm wondering if the kiddos are doing better simply because they are less caught up with what other people think. As any of us get older, we can start developing more hang-ups and fear simply because we've experienced more. For example, Aaron keeps losing his personality as soon as he goes on camera because I think he's getting too hung up on trying to "impress" the audience which ends up with him coming off as more boring than Vanilla. Aaron totally should have used that "Changing a Hooptey into a Deville" line to the Bon Appetit staff. That was hilarious and very entertaining.

Good for the Dynamic Duo, Kelsey and Shane for their Bon Appetit "No Nightmare Wellington" win. Kelsey is still a bit too Stepford Cotton Candy for me but at least she's getting less sugary. That Wellington dish looked like a fancy dish that you could easily whip up on a Thursday night for a dinner party at home for friends. I loved their idea of stacking the dough, beef, and mushroom sauce on top of each other versus having to do all that wrapping that traditional Beef Wellington requires. I also like the idea of smaller controlled portion sizes so that your guests won't overeat and feel stuffed before dessert.

What up with Lisa and her Veloute? The Veloute, Veloute! It sounded like she was talking about some decorative vellum paper for plating. And yeah, Aaron, you should have put tighter reigns on Adam at the very beginning when he first saw him put those honking huge pieces of chicken on the grill.

Describing "the senses" on camera

When everyone had to describe a dish on camera, Shane was clearly the winner. I loved how Shane described his dish as a Mediterranean delight he'd enjoy eating outdoors. He made me feel like going on a Greek vacation. I did find it interesting that when Chef Cat Cora mentioned "describe the senses" that no one but Shane did that. Watching a food writer do that task would have been like watching a maestro with his symphony....Okay, I'm working the descriptive thing too much like an overly sappy Hallmark card.

And speaking of bad Hallmark cards, yup, uh-huh, we had crying again. Lisa cried but I'm not going to be too tough on girlfriend this week because it was frustration tears resulting from her teammate Jennifer completely hosing their dish with that "what were you thinking" glass breaking incident. In fact, I thought it great composure on Lisa's part that she didn't go off on Jen at all because I probably would have. I have no idea what Jennifer was thinking banging that jar of juice on the counter near the grilling squash. Lisa put her overbearing Perfectionist side in hibernation like the judges asked, and she did a good job of it, so I'll give her slack.

Who is the least bad of the worst two

Jennifer and Adam both really, really, blew it this week. In fact, when it came down to the two of them standing at the judge's table, I couldn't decide who was worst, but if I had to pick someone to go on, I'd pick Adam because as poor as his cooking skills have been so far, he is entertaining and more confident in himself. Jennifer just can't stop apologizing, and Food Network stars need to at least appear like they know  what they are doing if they don't. So, bye bey this week to Jennifer, and honestly, I was surprised that she didn't hug anyone goodbye or stop and say thanks for the memories to any of the cast. Guess Jen just wanted the hell out of Dodge and back to her little girl. I'd be homesick too.

Best to buy organic: Top pesticide contaminated fruits and veggies at the supermarket

If you can't afford to buy all your fruits and vegetables organic, try and buy organic versions of fruits and vegetables that are known to be the most pesticide exposed. Here is a list of some of the most pesticide contaminated fruits and vegetables at your average supermarket.

• Apples
• Bell Peppers
• Celery
• Nectarines
• Strawberries
• Cherries
• Lettuce
• Grapes
• Pears

As you can see, the majority on this list are things that people eat every day. Fruits I usually don't worry about buying organic include bananas, oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit because you peel the skin any way before eating.

Be sure to wash everything really well. Here are some tips on best ways to wash your produce, organic and non-organic, before noshing.

Source: Veg News

A fave seasoning: Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute

We all have favorite spices and seasonings we use for every day cooking, and one of mine is the Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute which contains: Onion, Black Pepper, Celery Seed, Cayenne Pepper, Parsley, Basil, Marjoram, Bay Leaf, Oregano, Thyme, Savory, Rosemary, Cumin, Mustard, Coriander, Garlic, Carrot, Orange Peel, Tomato Granules, Lemon Juice Powder, Oil of  Lemon, and Citric Acid.

Whew! That's a taste-ful. It's like a seasoning buffet in a jar. The 21 Seasoning Salute is also salt free, non-irradiated, and all natural. Plus it's under $5.

I use the TJ 21 when cooking or grilling meats. I sprinkle it on top of green salads. I use it on pasta and baked potatoes. I'll even sprinkle some on rice when making vegan mock salmon pate rolls, or veggie Noshbox rolls. Because of the variety in the TJ 21 Salute, it's multi-purpose and is like a cross trainer shoe of spices.

The kind of sandwich a Men's Health cover model eats

Owen McKibbin is a former Pro volleyball player who ended up becoming a top men's model and one of the most sought after cover boys for Men's Health magazine. In fact, he's been on the cover 15 times more than anyone else in the history of the magazine. Owen is also the author of, "The Men's Health Cover Model Workout."

Since, his body is his business, it's interesting to see what he eats to keep that chiseled body of his. In this clip, Owen makes for us the kind of sandwich he would eat. See what he uses instead of mayonnaise. It's a great tip because sometimes people get too attached to the idea that a sandwich has to have a condiment like mayo or miracle whip in order to be tasty.

Quick bean salad: Butter beans with cherry tomatoes, red onion, and red wine vinegar

If you need a quick bean salad dish or a non-meat protein dish to make, this one is fast, simple and requires no stove cooking.

Serves 2-3
Ingredients:

• 1 can Butter Beans (I like Eden Organic Butter Beans)
• 1/4 cup sliced red onion
• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes (or more if you like tomatoes)
• 1-1/2 tbsp garlic infused olive oil
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• Salt to taste (or garlic salt if you don't have garlic infused olive oil)

Let's start creating:

• Butter Beans are also known as Petite Lima Beans, so if you like Lima Beans you can use those too. I think this bean salad is best served chilled, so I put the can of butter beans in the fridge the day before making the dish.

• Open the can and give the beans a quick rinse. In the can, some beans can get mushed up and then create a "gooiness" on the other beans, so I like to give the beans a quick rinse just so they can be shiny as possible.

• Slice the red onion pretty thin, and cut the cherry tomatoes in half.

• Pour onto the butter beans the garlic infused olive oil, red wine vinegar, and salt and toss everything around with a spoon. I have this garlic infused olive oil that I like to use in all my salads, but if you don't have any, you can use plain evoo and add in some garlic salt or powder. Also, I like to use olive oil and vinegar on the low side. If you like more vinegary punch or oil, add more to your taste. Instead of regular salt, sometimes I'll use seasoning salt just to do something different.

• Throw in the cherry tomatoes, and give the beans another good mix. It's good to stir in the tomatoes last just so that they don't get beat up too much in the stirring process.

Voila! The butter bean salad is now ready to serve.