Noshtopia

A Fun Snackage Idea For Adults And Kids

 

"I tried something new" for a snack the other day: Pomegranate and vanilla glazed cashews with a pouch of Super Fruit Punch.

I love Honest brand bottled tea drinks. Besides making teas, Honest also has a line of organic, low-sugar, fruit-flavored drinks which are branded for Kids thus the name "Honest Kids" and the pouch container, but I think they are awesome for adults too...especially for those of us who are trying to wean from sugar overload and are addicted to sugary drinks. I just saw the word "organic" and I wanted to try it...yes, I am admittedly a sucker that way.

One 6.75 fl oz pouch contains 10g of sugar and 40 calories. Now, the 10g of sugars is mostly added from fruit juices and cane sugar, which is still a bit on the high side, but, in general it is much lower than a can of soda which can be like 35g of sugar per can. And, the drinks are organic, so there is nothing artificial or chemically in there.

I was at Costco with the folks and saw a case of the Honest Kids drinks with the flavors: Super Fruit Punch, Tropical Tango Punch, Goodness Grapeness, and Berry Berry Good Lemonade. All four drinks are good but my favorite is the Super Fruit Punch and Goodness Grapeness. I have enough Honest Kids to last me for months...because that's what happens when you buy stuff at Costco for one person.

Over at Starbucks, if you haven't noticed, some of the stores are now carrying healthy snack options with brands that you'll find at Whole Foods like these Sahale glazed cashews with pomegranate and vanilla. You get some MUFA's and protein. I saw "pomegranate" and ding-ding-ding, I gotta try that.

In my book, if a brand can be sold in Whole Foods, it's my kind of food mainly because I know it's going to be free of artificial sweeteners, chemically sounding ingredients, food dyes, and most preservatives which typically don't make my body feel good.

The Sahale cashews were awesome but they do contain a good amount of calories. The snack size packaging looks small, but it is actually two servings not one, so I only ate half the bag one day, and the other half the next. One serving of the cashews is 150 calories.

My snack did have a total of 16g of sugar, which is high for a snack, but it is much better than having a cookie, muffin, or some other baked good or candy I'd normally eat. Again, we are slowly weaning from sugar not going cold turkey, and this snack of cashews and punch was perfect for me.

So, there you have it, a good snack for the kids and for the adults...who are sometimes just kids in bigger bodies :)

For The First Time In 5 Years Of Blogging, I Talk Politics

In my entire 5-year career of blogging, I have never once talked about politics, not because I don't care but mainly because I find the subject of politics soul sucking and highly charged with negative energy. Many people can handle it, I'm one soul who cannot, and that's okay.

But today, I'm speaking out because now there is spreading talk of boycotting our state as a means to force the government of Arizona to over turn immigration bill that was just signed into law. Honestly, I am scared and motivated at the same time. It's time to start hearing more from the citizens, the everyday people of Arizona like me who live here, and not the politicians, the pundits or the media outlets. Today, I'm going to blog what's in my heart.

So here I express on Noshtopia Phoenix, "From An Everyday Arizona Citizen: Before You Boycott Our State..." Thank you for reading!

Weaning Sugar Wednesday #11: Change In Sweet-Tooth Affecting Salt-Tooth

 
Here's one of my smoothie concoctions: strawberries, lychees, hemp seeds, rice milk, and ice.

We're now two and a half months into our going sugar little journey as I make the habit change of going from eating 80g to 25g of sugars per day. To refresh those who haven't been following, I based my 25g of sugar per day on the American Heart Association's (AHA) recommendation that we consume no more than 25g of added sugars per day...which does not include natural sources like fruit. I took it a step further and just made it a lump 25g/day no matter the source.

I don't know exactly how many grams of sugar per day I'm eating now, but I've gone down significantly to see..or rather I should say experience...the change in my taste buds. I mentioned a couple weeks ago that there are foods that I ate all the time back in January when I started this sugar weaning venture which I have a really hard time eating now because it's just too sweet to my taste buds. I call that some significant progress because I am, or was, a serious sweet-toothaholic.

 

I also talked about how I've been having weird...because I've never had them before...but good cravings like wanting to eat greens like spinach or kale, and fiber. I've seriously been on this fiber trip lately. I now eat something green everyday, mostly mixed Herb Salad mix, spinach, or kale. I really have been loving kale like this simple kale salad with avocado,cherry tomato, onion, and toasted walnuts.

 

And now the newest weird change is that I'm also noticing that my desire for salt is dropping. Again, I'm experiencing it in the taste buds. Salty things that I used to love before are now starting to taste too salty to me.

For example, instead of getting salted pistachios, I prefer the raw versions now. I got a small bag of potato chips at Whole Foods the other day and the chips just made me cringe a bit because they were just too salty. In my cooking, I'm using pinches of salt versus many shakes.

Besides the high sugar intake, I also knew that I consume high amounts of sodium, but I figured I would tackle that issue after I was settled with the sugar weaning. Well, interestingly enough, it seems as if the sodium change is starting to happen naturally on its own in concurrence with the sugar wean.

When you let the body do its thang

But hey, I'm not complaining. In fact, I'm thrilled. It's like I'm getting a two-fer. It got me thinking though. I'm wondering if these changes are not just about sugar or sodium but just that my palate in general is adapting to a new level...a lower one...of seasoning, flavorings or whatever.

As well, I'm not forcing my body with radical change like trying to go cold turkey with the sugar. I'm doing a slow wean and just focusing on everyday moments and tiny changes as I really have no grand eat less sugar plan. I've just been winging it and making choices literally at each meal or craving of the day.

I wonder if my body is sensing that I want to work with it versus forcing it and in return because I'm basically letting it be, the bod is able to do what it wants on its own like reducing the desire for salt as I reduce the consumption of sugar.

Who knows the answer, but all I can say is that so far this whole sugar weaning process has been painless and interesting...and the most important aspect being "pain-free."

So, how's your sugar weaning been going? Have you noticed any weird changes or cravings?

Easy: Stir Fry Green Beans With Sweet Chicken Sausage

 

For those of you new to my blog, you should know that I've got a serious lazy streak when it comes to cooking, so anything that is fast, easy, and quick will get my attention immediately.

Even though, I got the laziness streak going, I cook more at home because my desire to eat healthier and save money outweighs my laziness to pay extra to eat out all the time. So, I gotta work with my inner nature of cooking laziness. Fortunately to my excitement, modern day grocery shopping has many conveniences like pre-cut, pre-packaged, and pre-cooked foods in order to make cooking easier and faster.

I'm no food purist, but I am conscious of the kinds of pre-made stuff I do buy and read the labels. I lean toward the organic and all-natural. In today's recipe, and as part of "I tried something new,"  I used items I got at Trader Joe's. I've never tried their bagged green beans or sweet chicken sausage before. If you don't have a TJ's, you can easily replace the items with ones from your local grocery stores.

 

Ingredients (serves 2-3):

• One bag Trader Joe's Ready-to-use French green beans

• 1-2 Trader Joe's Sweet Chicken Sausage depending on how meaty you want the dish to be. (some flavors are regional so check your store. These sausages are also the fresh ground kind & not pre-cooked. You want the fresh ground so the meat can crumble.)

• 1/4 sliced onion

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• pinch of salt

Let's get cooking:

• Some like green beans crunchy, and some like green beans on the softer side. The Trader Joe's green beans are fresh so they are crunchy out of the bag. If you want a more softer green bean, I suggest you microwave the green beans for about a minute to help soften them up, or steam them in a pot for about 1-2 minutes for those who try to avoid the microwave.

• In a wok or big frying pan, heat the olive oil on medium, then saute the onion until they start to look soft.

• Take the skin off the sausage, and crumble the meat onto the pan. Cook the sausage until it looks just about done.

 

• Toss in the green beans and mix everything together. You may or may not want to add some salt to your dish. The sausage will have some salty taste on its own. I added a pinch of garlic salt just to add a little bit of punch.

• Lower the heat, cover the pan and let the beans and sausage cook for about 1-2 minutes. Continue to mix around. When the beans are the consistency you like, you're done!

Note: If you threw in the green beans raw thinking you wanted crunchy, but then changed your mind upon tasting and want softer beans, add a couple tablespoons of water to the pan and let simmer covered for a few minutes.

I like this recipe because it combines a veggie with a protein. To make the dish vegetarian/vegan, you can you tofu or a meat alternative like Gimme Lean ground sausage made with soy protein.

My Inner 8-Year-Old Likes Oatmeal With Chocolate Milk

 

For breakfast yesterday, I wanted oatmeal. My inner 8-year-old wanted to use chocolate rice milk instead of water and plain rice milk, so I obliged because, well, I haven't had chocolate flavored oatmeal in ages, and it sounded fun. For some potassium, I throw on some fresh banana. Deliciously chocolatey!

You Don't Have To Be Vegan To Eat Vegan Foods

  

Here's a common conversation I have about my @noshtopia tweet stream:

Reader: I'm confused.

Me: What are you confused about?

Reader: You'll tweet about how you baked some vegan banana nut muffins, and then tweet about how you ate this Quinoa chicken fried rice you made. Vegans are not supposed to eat meat.

Me: Well, you don't have to be vegan to eat vegan foods.

(Reader gives me silence and look of perplextion.)

Me: I eat a lot of vegan foods particularly baked goods because I have cow milk and chicken egg allergies. I could say dairy-free and egg-free, but the word vegan uses less letters for Twitter, it's easier to write, and lots of people do searches for the term vegan. I care about this kind of stuff because I'm a blogger who needs web traffic. Plus, believe it or not, I've been to restaurants where waiters thought butter was dairy-free - not kidding. If I ask for a vegan dish, it is more clear, that there is to be no animal ingredient in it at all. 

 

I also eat lots of vegan foods because the vegetable dishes are way more tasty and interesting as I cannot stand plain old steamed spinach or broccoli. I used to dislike Brussels sprouts but here's a way to make shaved sprouts tasty and interesting. The recipe calls for pecorino but you could easily take it out. Plus, there are many vegan options that I just like better than a dairy or egg version. For example, I'm not a fan of mayonnaise, so I use Brianna's Poppyseed dressing in place of mayo in things like this chicken, mandarin orange, walnut salad or simple tuna salad.

I also mix vegan foods with meats. I call it "carnegan" - a carnivorous chowing vegan eater. I do mean it respectfully. It's my way of bridging the two worlds together. I have to eat this way because again I have allergies to dairy and eggs, but I think it's also an interesting way to introduce vegan foods to those who predominately eat animal products. 

 

Here are some of my carnegan dish examples, in the picture at the top of the post is a vegan pizza with pineapple, olives, Daiya vegan cheese, and Italian sausage. I've made Tofu Scramble with chicken apple sausage, and here's a Baked Macaroni with turkey sauce and rice-milk based cheddar cheese. I want to show people options on ways to cut down on animal based foods without making huge leaps outside of their eating comfort zone.

It's also important to me to show people who have food allergies, especially to foods that are dominant in our culture like dairy and eggs, that you are not doomed to a life of bland, restrictive eating. We too have a plethora of choices and can eat in ways that are fun and flavorful.

There is living vegan which is a lifestyle built around personal values involving the use of no animal based products whether it be food, clothing, shoes, furniture, or anything utilizing an animal product.

Vegan can also be used as a dietary description of eating where one eats nothing from an animal whether it be the meat, milk, or eggs. I know people who say they are vegan but really they are just vegan eaters and not living the vegan lifestyle because while they are eating their vegan burgers, they are wearing leather shoes, carrying a leather purse, and wearing a leather jacket.

There is also a growing trend of people who are eating more vegan foods in their overall diet simply for health reasons. I have a few friends who went vegan to lower their cholesterol instead of taking purple pills. NY Times Food writer Mark Bittman has this strategy he calls "Vegan before dinnertime" where he eats vegan foods all day, but after 6pm he can eat whatever he wants.

He adopted this food approach as a way to help him heal from high cholesterol, borderline high blood sugar, sleep apnea, and gaining 35 pounds. As a food writer, it was not realistic or desirable to go 100% vegan. Mark cut down on the animal products for his health and enjoys all kinds of new foods.

So, you see, there are many other reasons to eat vegan foods other than values about animals. For me, I have cut down the amount of meat I eat simply because it helps me feel lighter with less meat, and eating more grains, fruits, and veggies keeps me more regular (in a fiber kind of way.)

I tried going 100% vegan once but my body can't sustain without some animal proteins as I also have allergies to some common beans, some nuts, and soy/tofu affects my metabolism. Plus, I like meat. I do my best to eat meats I know were humanely treated. I also buy kosher meats quite a bit. I will have days where I eat no meat at all just to help give my digestive system a break because eating meat all the time especially heavy meats like beef can be taxing on the body.

Reader: Oh, okay, I get it now. That makes sense.

Me: But I totally get your point because I get asked that question all the time. My tweets can look contradictory, but I kinda like that it gets people to notice because then it's an opportunity to share what I'm doing at Noshtopia with eating wellness. I like to experiment with all kinds of foods and ways of eating, and I enjoy opening people up to seeing food in new ways!

Sipping On Some Non-existant Naked Citrus Lemongrass

 

Since I missed Tuesday's installment of "I tried something new" #foodrevolution due to the fact that I was laptop-less due to web viruses, I'll share today with something kinda weird.

Lemongrass is one of my favorite ingredients in Thai and Vietnamese food. The folks and I were shopping at Costco the other day and I saw a jug of Naked brand juice in Citrus Lemongrass flavor, and was both intrigued and excited, so I got one to try as I've never seen a juice with lemongrass in it at your typical suburbia market.

What's even more intriguing about this juice is that apparently it doesn't exist on the Naked Juice website nor does it appear anywhere on Google search. I'm scratching my head. I am even more perplexed as you can clearly see, I did buy a bottle. So oh well, let's just pretend the juice exists shall we because I did drink it. [update 3:33pm 4/22: I wrote to Naked Juice and they wrote me back to tell me that this Citrus Lemongrass flavor is exclusive to Phoenix. Costco's can have special flavors in their stores depending on region.]

The Naked juice is  made of orange juice, apple juice, lemon juice, and lemongrass extract. The nice thing about the juice is that there are no added sugars which is good because this juice is sweet on its own. One 8oz serving of the Citrus Lemongrass does have 24g of sugar which is almost at my daily goal of 25g of sugar/day, so I'm not going to be drinking this stuff everyday.

And the taste...

As for the taste, I'll say it's interesting. My first reaction was that it wasn't bad but it wasn't omg-I-love-this-stuff. Over the last few days, the juice has grown on me. What I found a bit off was that the orange juice and lemongrass seem to be fighting with each other a bit to see who can be the dominant flavor, and in the end neither win.

I do think that this juice would make for an awesome mixer in cocktails because the lemongrass will give the drink an interesting twist. In fact, this Citrus Lemongrass could make for an exotic Mamosa for Sunday brunch, or as a different twist in any drink that calls for plain orange juice. Here's over 1,000 cocktail recipes with OJ in it. I'd pour in some Amaretto straight in for a tasty happy hour drink.

If you've seen this juice in a store, tried it, or seen it online, do let me know.

When Cookies Are Love

It's about 12:30 am and I'm writing...actually tapping...this spur of the moment post on my iPhone. My parents are asleep in my bedroom, and I am on the couch with Geneen Roth's new book Women, Food and God along with a bag of Barbara's Bakery chocolate chip animal cookies. So far, I've eaten a dozen and before I inhale the whole bag, I thought I'd try something new and tap blog instead of mindlessly eat away my feelings.

The cookies are 100% natural and made with organic grains so they're alright, no?

My parents are flying back in the morning and I'll miss them. I got to have a week of their undivided attention and they spoiled me rotten. I felt wanted.

I'm also terribly missing someone...yes a guy. He's not just any guy. He's someone who takes my breath away. But, it's complicated to use a Facebook choice. A crystal ball would be comforting to peek into perhaps. It's a long story which is why right now cookies are love.

It's now closer to 1am and what I want are more animal crackers, but what I need is to feel like I'm that someone special. What I want is to cuddle and be wrapped in the arms and warmth of Mr. Breath Taker, but what I need is to feel that connection...that connection most people never get to experience but we did.

But for now, right now in this present moment, I'll be with my feelings and tap blog for you fine people. As I tap and share a part of my heart, I feel the urge for the sweetness of the chocolate chip animal cookies die down. Perhaps instead of cookies, I just needed to give that part of me the same undivided attention my parents gave me this week.

I'm here for you body and heart. I'm going to fill you with attention and wisdom from Geneen instead of cookies...Yeah, we're thinking that non-food indulgence will feel better.

-----------

I didn’t want the cookies; I wanted the way being allowed to have them made me feel: welcomed, deserving, adored. /via @GeneenRoth on Twitter.

Weaning Sugar Wednesday #10: Short and Sweet

 

Today's report is going to be very short yet sweet because:

• My laptop got infected with all kinds of nasty viruses and I had to take it to the computer hospital. It was so bad they had to do a complete re-install which means wiping out everything. While in there, the IT guy is telling me I should upgrade to Windows 7 since Vista just sucks. Makes sense so, I say yes. I got the laptop back last night, but now, it's like moving into a new house whose floor plan you've never even seen. I have to re-do and re-learn a whole lot.

• My folks have been here this week visiting me, and they want to go do some sightseeing today, so mom is like, "Chop. Chop. Let's go!"

I will share this one cool new thing, my parents and I did this week in an effort to cut down on sugar. My birthday was on Monday, and normally mom would buy some large cake at Safeway. This year, we got a small 3" Coconut cake at Whole Foods, cut it into 4 small pieces, and coupled our cake slice with my favorite So Delicious Coconut-milk based chocolate ice cream.

We got to enjoy a small amount of cake and ice cream without busting our sugar and calorie consumption. I also introduced my folks to the coconut-milk based ice cream I love so much and they liked it too. Bonus!

So see, you can have your cake and eat it too....and feel good about it :)

Thoughts Of Growing Herbs In An Apartment

 

I'm starting to use fresh herbs in my cooking way more because I like how fragrant and tasty the herbs are compared to stuff from a bottle. Buying fresh herbs though when you are a single person living in an apartment gets kind of expensive because fresh herbs are usually sold in bundles and I never need that much for my cooking at one time so I end up throwing much of it away which does sadden me. I've tried freezing them and it usually ends in a fail on my part.

So after seeing this really cool chocolate mint plant, I've been thinking more and more about growing some herbs right here in my apartment. I figure too it would be a nice way to have living things in my place...with the bonus that I can eat the plant later on.

 

I haven't started yet. My parents are here this week so maybe I can get mom to help me going on the herb project since she has a green thumb. For now, I searched the interwebs and found some really good tips on how to get started with growing herbs in an apartment.

• Never Buy Fresh Herbs Again - includes tips on how to grow herbs in pots and apartments with some links to yummy recipes using fresh herbs. [A Veggie Venture]

• Culinary Gardening in Any Space - includes a nice list of herbs that are a great start for beginners. [Suite 101]

• Here's a beautiful gallery of 10 urban gardens for growing food in small places - people are so creative. [The Kitchn]

• This whole blog is about gardening tips for apartment and condo dwellers. I got lost reading the post as there are some really cool things here like this beautiful pictorial, "Herbs to grow for ethnic cuisine." [Life on the Balcony]

So, have you started an herb garden in your apartment or condo? Got any good tips to share?