a dietitian's journal

Friday Finds: Outdoor Gym Equipment at Johnny Flag!

On Sunday morning, after we unloaded our kids, Richard and I biked to Jean Drapeau Park in Montreal. We are not really bikers.  I know this because we don’t have padded bike shorts and spandex shirts with pockets on the back.   Also, Richard has a hybrid bike and I own a 20 year old Trek mountain bike.   I really love my bike and I just go it tuned up so it rides fast and furious and handles all the bumps Montreal roads have to offer.  We bike for recreation whenever we can. 

What we discovered on Sunday at Jean Drapeau was pretty cool.  They have an outdoor playground just for adults!  How fun is that?  Right next to the pool and the kiddy playground is brand new outdoor gym equipment provided by Trekfit.  I read about this in the Gazette the week before and so I came prepared to do some training.  The objective is to do a circuit workout.  Pictures were posted with explanations at all the stations. They also have workouts on their websites in PDF. format that you could easily follow.  This equipment is really just a modern twist on old school exercises.  The tried and true chin up, push-up and squat are all just a little bit more fun when done outside on some pretty cool equipment in a gorgeous park. 

I think this a trend that needs to catch on in our city.  People are biking for transportation, recreation and for exercise more than ever before (think Bixi).  So why not install adult equipment in various locations?  I just heard that the City of Cote Saint Luc will be doing just that.  As early as this fall we could start seeing people working out for free outside!  Cote Saint Luc is also building an inter-generational aquatic centre and that could be complete by next spring!  I love staying active but sometimes boredom sets in.  Having a variety of convenient activities to do is very motivating! Thanks Montreal and Cote Saint Luc!

   

Friday Finds: Dessert Par Angela

I was picking up some fruit and vegetables at the local Fruiterie in deep Cote Saint Luc with my son Trevor the other day.  Whenever we go in there, he wants a chocolate chip muffin because his mother never bakes anything.  We were looking through the selection when I came upon a new flavor zucchini, carrot and pineapple.  I picked it up and saw that it wasn't a house muffin it was from a new supplier called Dessert Par Angela.  I looked at the ingredients and found them to be what I would deem homemade.  I bought a few of these muffins and ate one when I got home.  It was very moist, dense and with a hint of sweetness.  All what you would expect from a muffin made with whole wheat flour, fruit, vegetables and sweetened with a bit of fruit juice and baked with a relatively small amount of oil.  In my opinion, this was a perfect muffin. (Sorry no picture I ate it before I thought to photograph it)

I tracked Angela down to a small storefront in Outremont.  It turns out this is the same Angela formerly of Eatz Encore in Westmount.  What intrigued me most about Angela is how she created most of her recipes from scratch.  In fact, they aren't even written down.  She just knows how it goes.  Baking is a science and generally speaking recipes are necessary to create a fabulous end product.  It takes some serious talent to bake without recipes.  Angela said she wanted to make baked goods with healthy ingredients like whole wheat flour.  She basically experimented until she figured out which ingredients work well together.  It took a lot of patience and a lot of trial and error.

What I found in her store was a plethora of home baked goodies and wonderful homemade salads.  I brought home a just out of the oven banana chocolate chip loaf to Trevor's delight.  I had to stop him from eating the entire thing.  Jason doesn't love chocolate (very weird) so he enjoyed the apricot-cranberry cookie instead. 

Angela makes several fresh salads every morning for the lunch crowd.  I sampled the carrot-raisin, coleslaw and potato salad which I enjoyed with my veggie hot-dog for supper.  I picked up some cream cheese brownies, carrot cake and pecan pie.  Apparently, Angela specializes in pies but was all sold out of the fruit ones by the time I got there.  I put those treats into the freezer to enjoy at a later date with Richard or whoever might drop by.  Hint.

Here's the thing, since I hate baking but know I should provide my kids with wholesome treats in their lunch box, this the alternative.  I am happy to let someone else do the baking and include it in my weekly grocery budget.  I would rather use my time to focus on home cooked meals.  Angela's treats are kid friendly and very traditional.  However, if you prefer non-traditional, organic, and are not picky about what you get perhaps you might like the folks at Sweet Revenge. I do both.  I get a delivery every two weeks from those guys and I supplement with baked good from Angela's.  Just remember these are treats.  Portion size is important and moderation is the key. 

To get in touch with Sweet Revenge click here. Angela delivers to 5 Saisons in Westmount, National in Westmount, The Verdun Hospital, Quality Fruits in Cote Saint Luc or you can drop by her store in Outremont at 1570 Van Horne.

Friday Finds: Nuts to You Nut Butter

This week’s Friday find is nut butters.  Before you read any further you should know that this is a very high fat, high caloric food. I am not even going to bother posting the nutrition label.   But, will you eat it? 

We live in a fat phobic society and people are literally afraid to eat fat.  The common belief is that if they eat fat they will get fat.  The truth is if you eat high caloric, high saturated/trans fat and high sugar foods often enough you will get fat.

It is essential to have some fat in your diet to absorb fat soluble vitamins like A, D, E and K. However, it is the type of dietary fat that is important.  Saturated fast like that found in animal based products (meat and full fat dairy) should be consumed in moderation.  Plant based fats are healthy and can be eaten more often.  Sprinkle nuts and seeds into couscous. Enjoy olive oil in salads and poured from the bottle over whole grain pastas.  Use fresh avocado in salads and dips.  Spread nut butters on crackers and thick whole grain breads.

Fat does other stuff besides absorb fat soluble vitamins.  It helps you feel full and helps regulate blood sugar especially if you are diabetic.

It would be remiss if I did not tell you that fat contains 9 calories per gram as opposed to 4 calories per gram in protein and carbohydrates.  That is pretty much why fat containing foods are high in calories.  If you are watching your weight there is no need to avoid fat, simply watch the portion size.  That means don’t eat peanut butter from the jar with a spoon.

The nut butters featured here are delicious and wonderful.  They are all natural without any additives or emulsifiers.  An emulsifier keeps liquids from separating.  Without an emulsifier natural nut butter has a film of fat that sits on top.  I keep my nut butters in the fridge and mix them well each time before spreading.  I never use more than 2 tablespoons for my sandwiches.  I always have nut butters on hand and can therefore always make a quick healthy sandwich or snack in a pinch.  

p.s. This company is from Ontario and does NOT have a website or an email.  I bought these nut butters at my neighborhood IGA.

Friday Finds: Ryvita Muesli Crunch

I was grocery shopping at the IGA in Cote St-Luc last week when I found myself in the frozen foods section.  I was standing there daydreaming at 9:30 at night when I turned around and was confronted by the RYVITA shelf.  I thought to myself, hmmmm these crackers are known to be healthy why haven’t I ever tried them?  I am not a big fan of the flavour of rye which is probably why I have overlooked these gems for so long.

I am always on the look out for healthy portable non-perishable snacks.  I don’t usually buy granola bars, which is a popular choice for most, because they are mainly filled with sugar and other garbage.  Most crackers are over processed too. 

The muesli on the box appealed to me (as did the color) so I picked up the box and scanned the ingredients and the nutrition facts label.  2 slices of Muesli Crunch gives about 2 teaspoons of sugar, 3 grams of fibre and 2 grams of healthy fat.  2 slices are equivalent to 1 serving of grain product (1 slice of bread for example) according to Canada’s Food Guide.

While I was spending way too much money at the supermarket I picked up some almond/hazelnut butter and macadamia butter and some superfruit spread.  I use these delicious spreads over the Ryvita and it is killah!  Couple this flatbread with a protein like nut butter, cottage cheese, a cheese slice or even some tuna.  It’s a good combination rather than eating the flatbread alone because it makes you feel full. 

Listen to you hunger cues.  Eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full!

Friday Finds: Spelt with Red Pepper

I swear I do not work for Loblaws.  I guess the Blue Menu stuff really appeals to me and they have a ton of new products.  I thought this spelt one looked good. I was wrong.  To be fair, I have never eaten spelt before.  Spelt is a whole grain and whole grains are good for us. 

Nutritionally speaking, the ingredients read well.  The food label indicates 4g of fiber per serving of 170 calories, not bad.  It’s not too high in sodium and there is not much sugar. 
  

I knew I was in trouble when I opened the flavour sack and it smelled like cheese. Yuck KD flavoured spelt.  I added about 3 cups of water to a medium sized pot just like it said and then dumped in both pouches.  I brought it to a boil and then simmered it over medium for 20 minutes.  The spelt became engorged with water and the sauce thickened.  I removed it from the stove and let it stand for 5 minutes.  It wasn’t pretty.  In fact, it looked nothing like the picture.  The food designers who set up the picture on the box deserve an award.  My concoction looked ugly and unappetizing, kind of like a pan full of maggots.  It tasted ok-ish but I wouldn’t buy it again. 

 There has got to be a better way to eat spelt.  Does anyone know of any products or recipes?

 

 

 

Friday Finds: Blue Menu Smoothie mango peach

I know another product from the Blue Menu line at Bloblaws.  I guess I am a sucker for good marketing.  I generally do not recommend juice to my clients because it’s basically sugared water.  However, I am comfortable with vegetable (low sodium V8) or fruit purées.  This type of beverage maintains the fiber in the food.  Juicing is the process of leaving the fibre out.  Remember, a smoothie or fruit blend is still a cup of calories.  If you are watching your weight this may not be the best choice because of that and because drinking your calories usually doesn’t result in satiety.  Also, this product has added juice so it is not a ‘true” smoothie fruit blend and therefore has a minimal amount of  fiber (2g per serving).  A medium pear with skin has over 5g.

I picked up this beverage last week when it was on sale.  It was the only flavour left.  It would not have been my first choice.  I would have preferred the strawberry banana blend.  I was pleasantly surprised by its wonderful texture and taste.  The ingredients indicate that it is a puree with added juice and I assume the industrial type blenders bring it to its smooth consistency.  If I were to add the same ingredients to my blender at home there is no way I could get it to be that smooth.  Herein lies its appeal.  The texture rocks so much so that I could easily over consume it if I am not careful.  It is 150 calories per cup and according to the label can be counted as 2 fruit choices as per Canada’s Food Guide.  My suggestion is to pour it over ice and sip it slowly.  Or, how about mixing it with some fizzy water like Perrier or club soda?

Friday Finds: SMART KD?!

I was looking through the IGA weekly flyer a few weeks ago and I came across this product.  Richard was at the IGA at the time doing the groceries so I texted him and asked him to pick up a box.  He picked up 6! I often use Richard as an example when I blog.  It is because he really is the typical consumer.  He saw the box marked SMART and assumed it was healthier than the regular KD. 

I mentioned this new KD to Le Nutritionniste and he said Yoni Freedhoff had just blogged about it.  I figured I would go ahead and offer my take on it too.  Primarily, it’s an example of supreme marketing.  The writing on the package suggests that this product can be considered a vegetable choice.  I think I must have missed the class on freeze dried vegetable powder being part of our daily intake.  Since when is ½ serving of vegetables considered significant anyway?  Dr. Freedhoff calculated the actually amount of “vegetables” in this product to be ¼ serving. He also calculated more sodium, saturated fat, sugar and less protein.  You cannot compare each box side by side because the Smart box contains 150g of product whereas regular KD contains 225g!!!! Guess which box is more expensive. 

You have to know that we do eat KD every so often.  It’s a crap product nutritionally speaking but c’mon you know it’s good! So, I asked Richard to cook up the new SMART KD and this is what he said. “The kids didn’t seem to like it, but it was similar.” 

And there you have it the scientific approach to testing KD! Enjoy the weekend! 

 

Friday Finds: Chickpeas at Toby's

I was at Grandma Toby's tonight for supper with the kids and Richard when I realized she didn't make anything for me to eat.  She usually makes chicken on Fridays accompanied by soup, salad, knishes and a vegetable.  Being of the vegetarian persuasion I am not into chicken and wasn't in the mood for hard boiled protein, I mean eggs.  

I was desperately looking through her pantry for something edible when I came across a can of my favorite legume, garbanzo beans better known as chick peas.   I also a found a bottle of olive oil that GT said was over a year old. Blech.  I proceeded to make a vinaigrette with fresh canola oil (I know for a fact she bought it in April) white vinegar, lemon juice and sugar.  I chopped up some shallots, carrots and red peppers.  I tossed everything together and voila, something out of nothing!  I served it over a bed of greens and was completely satisfied. I really was in need of something healthy since I have been eating cake since Wednesday.

The truth is, it is just too easy to eat junkt in situations like this but with a little effort you can always find something healthy to make in a pinch.  Keep your pantry and freezer well stocked. Make sure you replace your oils every 3 months so they stay fresh.  Oil, vinegar or lemon juice and a dash of sugar always work if you need a basic dressing.

This week's Friday Find really was a find!  Otherwise, I would have been stuck without a protein and ended up hungry.  Knishes just don't cut it for supper.

Friday Finds: Pinehedge Farms Yogurt

I was hanging out with my friend Ilana today and she served me this tasty yogurt from Pinehedge Farms with strawberries and granola.  This is a non-homogenized higher fat yogurt than most people, including myself, are accustomed to.  You can see a layer of fat sitting on the top of the yogurt.  Ilana likes to mix it in but I am sure it can be easily skimmed off if you would prefer.

What are the benefits of eating  this higher fat yogurt? Well the first benefit is satiety. You will feel satisfied and full after you eat a serving of this stuff.  I ate it at about 10:30 and was still full by lunchtime.  I ate about a ¾ cup. The other benefit would be taste.  I guess this a subjective benefit.  I do not think that non-fat yogurt tastes good.  Neither do Le Nutritionniste and Lethnogourmande.  However, we might be in the minority as I have many clients and workshop participants who would disagree with us.  This yogurt has the benefit of being totally natural, devoid of any artificial ingredients, added sugar, sugar substitute or preservatives.

We live in a culture of dietary fat phobia brought on by the low fat recommendations from the 1980s.  At the time, research suggested that people were gaining weight because of high fat diets and the only way to lose weight was to avoid dietary fat.  Food companies followed suit and removed fat from their processed snacks.  They replaced the fat with sugar.  Remember Snackwell’s?  

What ended up happening  was people just got fatter.  The total caloric amount of many foods did not change, just the ingredients did.  At the time there was major concern regarding the link between fat and heart disease.  Specifically, saturated fats.  New research from this year suggests that it not  saturated fat that causes heart disease but refined sugars.  Some examples of added sugars are glucose-fructose, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose and sucrose.  While we are talking about simple sugars we might as well throw in white foods into the discussion as well.  White bread, white rice, white pasta and even white potatoes are not the best food choices.

It is confusing for the consumer to know what to eat.  The bottom line is don’t gorge yourself on saturated fat which comes from animal based foods (eg. red meat, high fat dairy products). You can have about 10% of your daily intake from saturated fat.  I got about that much from the yogurt I ate.  It made me feel full and since I am a vegetarian that was my total saturated fat for the day.  

Don’t be fat phobic.  We need healthy sources of fat to absorb fat soluble vitamins.  Experiment with unsaturated fats such as avocado, nuts, seeds and olive oil.  It will add a richness to your diet.  Stay away from added sugars and white based foods. Instead opt for whole grains.  This combination of healthy fats coupled with more fiber from the whole grains leads to a satiety that will keep you feeling full and satisfied not hungry and craving junk food.

Friday Finds: Sweet Revenge

 It is no secret that I can’t bake.  I would prefer to eat home baked goods and give them to my kids for snacks instead of all that processed crap.  But, it really pains me to bake.  That’s my dilemma, until recently.  About 6 weeks ago I got an email from a friend of friend telling me about her friend’s new business.  It is called Sweet Revenge and it's a locally owned business which is great because I like supporting local ventures. Basically, every two weeks they bake up a storm and then deliver delicious organic goods to a few drop-off places around the city.  Brilliant, I thought, sign me up.  The only caveat is you get whatever they are baking that week.  You do not have a choice. 

 I admit I am not much of a risk taker but I figured how bad can this be?  Someone else is doing the baking and they are using wholesome ingredients so why not?  For $10 I get a brown bag filled with 6 items.  For an extra $4 I get a dozen chocolate chip flaxseed cookies. This is the only item that is a constant on their menu.  Over the last 6 weeks I have received maple and walnut muffins, raisin oatmeal cookies, date and cottage cheese buns (delicious toasted and eaten with cheese) spice loaf, apple-strawberry crisp, brownies and other stuff I am forgetting. As you can see from the ingredients there are no preservatives so if you are not going to eat them right away, you can toss them in the freezer.  With each order you will receive a printout of the ingredients.  The printout does not contain a nutrition label with serving size, calories, fat, sugar, protein, vitamins and minerals.

Remember, these are treats!  Just because they are homemade doesn’t mean you can eat as much as you want.  They still have calories and if you are watching your weight you need to consider this.  They certainly are a better choice than Rice Krispie Squares or a Trans fat bar I mean a snack bar. I must mention that portion sizes for these items are smaller than what you will expect.  However, they are appropriately sized for healthy eating purposes.  Starbuck’s sized foods they are not.  I guess you can have your cake and eat it too?!