Noshtopia

5 Things You Can Eat With Grapes

 

Grapes are one of my favorite fruits and snacks as they are very convenient. I tend to be a seedless red grape kinda gal but green ones are tasty too when they are on the sweet side.

But after awhile, eating just plain grapes can get boring, so with the help of some creative food bloggers here are some fun ways to eat grapes.

• Fruit Salad With Pomegranate, Grapes, Ginger and Walnuts [Lucullian Delights]

• Fresh and tangy punch made with juicy grapes, pineapple, and ginger [Cupcake Project]

• French Toast with Grapes and Flaked Almond [At Down Under]

• Fig & Grape Quinoa Salad [Eden Kitchen]
  

• Red grape pizza with honey, rosemary and pecorino [Jamie Oliver] not a food blogger but this pizza look so awesome :)

How Can Sugar Free Fruit Preserves Have 0g of Sugar?

Since starting my sugar wean to go sugar little, I have started looking at more foods marketed, "sugar free" or "low sugar." One of my favorite foods is a PB & J sandwich so naturally I am now looking for jams, jellies, or preserves that contain basically only the sugar in the fruit.

That got me thinking when I started seeing these 0g of sugar "sugar free" preserves. So, I tweeted asking any RDs out there, and even expressed my fear in this tweet:

"My fear is that it's 0g of sugar cuz there isn't actually enough real fruit left. It's all chemicals:( We'll see."

It turns out my guess was correct. One of my RD friends, David Grotto author of 101 Optimal Life Foods which btw is a very handy resource of a book because it talks about real food, responded with this email to me regarding the label of this particular strawberry preserves sold at a huge low price box retailer:

Okay, here’s the scoop on the strawberry preserves. As you can see in the ingredients, water, and then strawberries, predominate the list of ingredients. What’s first is most.

However, there are only 8 grams of sugars in an entire cup of whole strawberries so the preserve is starting off with one of the lowest sugar containing fruits on earth. Then, by adding Splenda, thickeners and “flavors” to the preserves, enhance the texture and flavor to make up for the lack of sugars and frankly, lack of strawberries, too!

Also, there could be about .5 grams of sugar per serving which allows the manufacturer to legally round down to “0” grams of sugar. No biggie as long as you don’t eat the whole jar. 1 tablespoon of preserves should go a long way. That, in a nutshell, is how they can get away with saying “0” grams of sugar.

To extend my fear, I go to another well known national jelly, jam, preserves brand and look up their "sugar free" strawberry preserves, and on their label they state, "adds a trivial amount of sugar" which is a * reference to the strawberry ingredient.

So, in other terms, the real fruit is trivial because they can create a strawberry preserves experience with artificial ingredients. The red is a food dye. The sweet is an artificial sweetener. 

And there you have the answer. So, I ask. Would you rather be eating an artificially made strawberry preserves with 0g of sugar or to have a smaller amount of pure fruit with some sugar?

Personally, I am going to stick with the real fruits, and just cut back. I don't want to dollop a tablespoon of a lab coat concoction on my PB & Jelly sandwich.

Things I Eat Post Workout: Fresh Organic Raspberries

 

I went for a 4-mile run at lunchtime today running around the neighborhoods in Mountain View. The weather was chilly and overcast, but I kinda like running in the cold.

Post run, I noshed on some of these organic raspberries. Mother nature makes the best snacks. Sometimes, simple and fresh hits the spot!

5 Reasons Breakfast Rocks Your Body

I know. You hear it everywhere.

• "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day."
• "Breakfast is for champions."
• "Don't skip breakfast."

But if you're like me, breakfast can be one of the most challenging meals of the day mainly because of things like you're not hungry yet, you're running late to work or school, or you just forget because your brain is already inundated with stuff you gotta do that day.

"Because you should" never works in motivating me to eat breakfast. However, specific benefits are motivating especially if the payoff is something that I really want, and I mean really want.

Here's 5 benefits to eating breakfast that I find influencing:

• I get to eat. I've turned my passion of eating into this blog. When I remember that I just enjoy the action of eating (in general), I suddenly want to nosh on something. Most mornings, I just don't feel like eating so it becomes way easy to skip breakfast. But when I think, "Oooo we get to eat." Oatmeal here I come...

• I no longer care about skinny foods. I care about power foods. Over time, the dieting or "get skinny" mentality starts to brainwash you into eating less and less which eventually means you start cutting out entire meals all together like ahem...breakfast. Eating quality foods packed with nutrients in the morning like fresh organic fruits and even fish (typical in Asian breakfasts) makes me feel strong. I'd rather feel strong and fueled up in the morning than empty and faint.

• Breakfast prevents me from overeating at lunch which I can easily do at the sandwich bar or salad buffet places like Fresh Choice. I typically eat a later lunch like after 1pm so if the last meal I had the previous day was at 8pm, then that's 17 hours between meals, so yeah, the body can get screaming like Little Shop of Horrors, "FEED ME Seymour!" Ravenous is not pretty which leads to...

• When you go too far long time-wise between meals, you start training your body to hoard calories and slow down your metabolism. And OMG, no one wants to slow down their metabolism or make it sluggish. Mostly, we try to find ways to speed up the metabolism or keep it active, and eating breakfast will help accomplish that result. 

When you don't eat for long periods of time, the body starts to think it's going into starvation mode so it will cling onto and hold onto every calorie and ounce of food (energy) it can get it's hands on affecting your metabolism by slowing it down to preserve energy. Our bodies are very smart that way, as the body is engineered to help us stay alive. Eating breakfast helps break up that long time between dinner the night before and lunch the next day which keeps your metabolism active.

• Breakfast is delicious and pleasurable when you eat good foods, and if I can get more pleasure in the day, I'm all over it! Which brings us back to benefit #1, I get to eat, and we <3 eating!

Now that breakfast sounds really good, here's some ideas (all links have pictures):

• Scrumptious cantaloupe with ginger snap granola and greek yogurt (use rice or coconut milk based yogurts for vegan breakfast)
• The picture at the top of the post is my typical simple oatmeal dish: Plain oatmeal with rice milk. Sweeten with agave and mix in walnuts and sliced bananas. Here's 4 other ways I eat oatmeal: Toasty Sweet Pumpkin, Crunchy Banana Walnut, Snickerlicious, and Papaya Pecan.
• Sweet Potato Hashbrowns with Turkey Bacon
• Scrambled egg whites with Mango Chicken Sausage (I buy these at Trader Joe's)
• For brunch with friends: Zesty Fruit Kabobs

What are some of your favorite breakfast foods?

 

Non-dairy Smoothie: Cherries and White Peach

I noticed cherries at the grocery store the other day and got a bit nostalgic. Cherries bring back fond memories of childhood when I lived in Traverse City, MI where it seemed like cherries grew from everywhere...at least in my kiddo memories.

White peaches are also a favorite of mine. When not in season, you can find these peaches frozen. Here is a quick recipe for a non-dairy smoothie at about 195 calories. You can switch out the fruit and put in your fave. If you add banana, it will thicken up even more.

•  1 cup Organic Rice Milk Original* (110 calories, 2.5g fat, 20g carb, 1g protein)
• 10 fresh cherries (45 calories, 10g carb, 1g protein)
• 1/2 fresh medium white peach (a whole peach is 40 calories, 9g carb, 1g protein)
• handful of ice cubes

• Pit the cherries, and the peach. I keep the skin on the peach because there are plenty of nutrients in the skin. The blender pulverizes the fruit anyway so you won't be swallowing any chunks of peach skin.
• I only put half the peach in so that I can enjoy the other half to munch on.
• Put all ingredients in a blender and frappawhiz.
• Sometimes I will throw in a couple teaspoons of flaxseed oil to get some Omega-3s in my body.

* I use Whole Foods 365 brand Organic Rice Milk because it's just as good and a bit cheaper than most other organic versions of other brands, at least in my area. You can use Vanilla flavored Rice Milk but it will add a bit more calories and carbs because it contains more sugar. I go with organic as well because I consume organically as much I can.)

Quick Scrumptious Cantaloupe with Ginger Snap Granola

Doesn't that look yummy? You can eat this for breakfast, brunch, or as an afternoon snack. And best yet, this simple dish is quick to make. The ingredients contain:

• Cube-like chunks of chilled cantaloupe

• Couple dollops of Honey Greek Yogurt

• Ginger Snap Granola which I got at the bulk bins at my local Whole Foods

• Bits of chopped up pecans

The Ginger Snap Granola sounded good because I thought the ginger would be kind of a complimentary contrast to the cantaloupe. Plus, for about one cup's amount, it was about 60 cents at my local Whole Foods. I added in the pecans, which I also got in the bulk foods aisle, to the granola to add some protein to the dish.

I've been really jonesing on Greek yogurt lately because I like that it's thicker than your typical yogurt, and because Greek yogurt is thicker it's nice to use as a fruit topper because it won't quickly slide to the bottom of the bowl. The yogurt hangs on top longer. The two brands I've been eating are the Greek Gods Greek Yogurt and Chobani.

To make this dish vegan friendly, use soy or rice based yogurt like Ricera.

If you're not in the mood for yogurt, cottage cheese would make a nice alternative.

Cucumber, Honeydew, and Mint Salad

When I was at Costco the other day and got some of that yummy Martha Stewart beef chili with beans, I also picked up the Weight Watchers Five Ingredient 15-minute Cookbook Spring 2008 magazine. In the magazine, was this delicious looking recipe for a Cucumber and Honeydew Salad on page 64.

I followed the recipe but made two changes, one I used a regular cucumber instead of an English cucumber, and two, I replaced the lime with something else because frankly, I really don't like lime. The fun part in making this salad was whiffing the mint leaves. Ah! How I love the smell of fresh mint.

So, here's what I did.

Ingredients:

Serves 2-3 as a side dish

• 1 cucumber skinned, then sliced. Each slice was then cut into 4's so you get triangle looking pieces
• 1 cup of honeydew melon. My local Whole Foods has honeydew melon chunks in the salad bar, so I got about a cups worth and cut it up into smaller pieces about the same size as the cucumber
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
• 1 tbsp fine chopped red onion
• 3/4 tbsp agave nectar
• 2 small pinches of sea salt

So easy to make:

• The original recipe called for lime but I put agave nectar because I like the idea of punching the sweet a bit with something that is not too sweet.
• Put the cut up cucumber and honeydew melon in a bowl, then throw in the mint, red onions, agave nectar, and salt and gently toss so everything is coated.
• Chill until ready to eat.

For my second helping, I added some Greek honey yogurt on the side, and wow was it awesome. It felt like a day at the spa. I had this salad for an afternoon snack and it was fabulous.

This cucumber, honeydew, and mint salad would be great to pair with lamb or any Mediterranean or Indian dish where you would normally use a cucumber side. The salad would also be great for a side at a tea, shower, or light luncheon.

10 Ideas for Non-Bread Goodies to Eat with Hummus or Spinach Dip

No doubt that Hummus and Spinach Dip will be appetizers available on Thanksgiving day because everyone loves it, it's easy to make, and every grocery store carries pre-made dips for those of us who like fast & convenient. I really dig the Whole Foods pre-packaged spinach dip as seen above.

Typically, bread or pita is served to eat with the dip as are chips and crackers, as well as the typical baby carrots which I'm personally tired of seeing because it reminds me too much of "diet" food. {No offense baby carrot}

To mix it up and offer something to those who are carb conscious, gluten-free or conscious, or just want to try something new, here are 10 non-bread ideas to use with the hummus or spinach dip.

• Sugar snap peas. This is my personal favorite
• Zucchini or cucumber cut into slices
• Sliced pears like Bartlett and Anjou, or for something more global Asian Pear
• Jicama
• Daikon radish. The Daikon is long, thick, and tubular so you can cut it like cucumber slices or like fries. It has a mild flavor and high water content.
• Spelt pretzels. Spelt is not gluten free but it is a wheat alternative. Whole Foods 365 brand and Newman's have tasty spelt pretzels. Ener-G brand has a nice selection of gluten-free pretzels.
• Mini rice cakes
• Brazil nuts. The Brazils are big nuts so you can scoop a decent amount of dip plus you get beneficial MUFA's.
• These are fried but Terra Chips brand makes some pretty cool non-potato chips like taro, yucca, kambucha squash, parsnip, and beets.
• These are fried too, but Plantain chips. Plantains are not as sweet as your regular Chiquita and there are flavored Plantain chips like Chili Garlic, Jalapeno, and Cajun so with the spinach dip it is something definitely different.

Have you ever eaten a green plum?

At Whole Foods the other day, I saw these green plums, aka prune Reine-Claude, which I never knew existed. I shot them next to the peaches so you have a reference. Being the curious one that I am, I bought some to try, and they were delicious. It's better to eat them chilled.

The green plum  I had was juicy but not as watery as a purple plum, and it was meatier in substance. Not sure if those are universal characteristics, but if you do, please share.

I bet using the green plums in a jam or ice cream would be really tasty.

What are some of you salad bar habits?

Many of us are creatures of habit, and that definitely includes getting the same things over and over at the salad bar. However, if salad is your primary way of getting vegetables in for the day, then eating salad can get rather boring over time unless you start getting creative.

When hovering around the salad bar at the grocery store, I always take a peek at what other people put in their salad because it's interesting to see how people mix up their veggies and fixins' differently. It's also a great way for me to get inspired to try something new.

Here are some of my typical salad habits:

• I always do mixed greens because I don't like ice burg lettuce. At Whole Foods, I will take a salad box all the way to the vegetable/fruit aisles and get some arugula (my favorite) to mix in with the mixed greens. My local store is cool with that.

• On top of the greens, I will get about 6-7 different items and of equal amounts typically shredded carrots, beets, cucumber, edamame, hearts of palm, cherry tomatoes, and snap peas if they have them. Occasionally, I'll get radish, garbanzos, sun dried tomatoes, or peas. I saw some mango salsa the other day and threw some of that on my salad and it was delicious. I also recently tried adding some tabbouleh and that was good too.

• I usually go vegan on salad because for some reason I don't care for boiled egg on greens, and I rarely add cheese because I think it starts to take over the flavor of the veggies.If I add cheese, it will either be a sprinkle of feta or fresh parmesan.

• I always get the dressing on the side, and I do honey mustard or oil & vinegar. Whole Foods has a Ginger dressing and a Sweet Red Pepper dressing I really like.

• I usually only eat crunchy bits in Chinese Chicken Salads. Not a fan of the crouton although I've had fresh baked croutons and those are delicious.

So, what are some of your salad bar habits?