Author Archives: Lia Huber

Food Labels: What’s in the Box?

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With our daughter now an active participant at the supermarket, I’ve become more attuned to how companies entice kids to pick up their products (“look, Mommy . . . it’s ELMO!”). But it’s not just kids who are taken in by food labels. I walked up and down the supermarket aisles last week with a keen eye towards the promises beckoning me and I found that, for the most part, the bolder the proclaimed virtues, the less likely the product was to be good for me.

food labels

Take Reduced Fat Ritz Crackers, for instance. The green stripe at the bottom of the box draws my eye toward a sunny icon proclaiming these Reduced Fat Ritz to be a “sensible solution.” They have half the fat of original Ritz, no cholesterol and little saturated fat–more than enough to convince a busy shopper to lob that box into their cart and feel good about it. But let’s take a closer look at those claims—and the ingredients and Nutrition Facts—shall we?

nutrition facts label

No Cholesterol and Low in Saturated Fat– These claims typically appeal to those looking out for their cardiovascular health (and bravo to you for doing so!). Where it gets misleading is that dietary cholesterol has turned out to have much less effect on our bodies than previously thought; it’s the types of fat we consume, and their respective impact on LDL and HDL cholesterol, that matter. Saturated fat raises harmful LDL cholesterol, but it also raises helpful HDL, so the net effect isn’t too terribly awful. Trans-fats—identified either by grams in the Nutrition Facts panel or by the term “partially hydrogenated” in the ingredients list—are by far the worst type of fat because they raise LDL and lower HDL. So let’s flip the box over and see what’s there. The nutritional panel lists trans-fats at 0 grams, but a product can contain up to .5 grams of trans fats and still list the amount at 0, so I like to double-check the ingredients lists for partially hydrogenated oils. And there, right in the middle of the list, is partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil. Uh oh. So much for heart-healthy.

Half the Fat – True, at 2 grams per serving these Ritzes are half the fat of normal Ritzes, which weigh in at 4 grams. But what does that really tell us? If we’re concerned about the fat itself, we already know that these are made with a less-than-ideal type. And if we’re equating fat grams with whether or not they’ll make us fat, we’re looking in the wrong place. Calories (or more specifically, an excess of calories) cause weight gain, not total fat grams, and these Reduced Fat Ritz have 70 calories per serving—not bad, until you consider that a serving is only 5 crackers. Up that to a more realistic 10 and you’re looking at 140 calories, roughly 7% of an average “calorie budget” of 2,000 a day.

So here you have a snack with virtually no value for your body that gobbles up close to a tenth of your calorie budget for the day and includes a downright dangerous type of fat.

This is a sensible solution? For whom . . . us or Nabisco?

So what to do? First off, stop and ask yourself what you want to achieve. Are you trying to manage your weight? Are you trying to protect your heart? Are you trying to find healthy foods to feed your kids? Whatever it is you want to accomplish, take a moment to learn which factors really make an impact. Once you’re in the supermarket perusing the aisles, ask yourself why you’re drawn to a box. If you already know what you want from a food, you can evaluate how well a package’s claims stack up to your needs by examining the ingredients, Nutrition Facts panel and serving size. Best yet, if there’s an option to go whole—like this Make-at-Home Socca—choose that over any package.

In any case, when you’re cruising the aisles, it’s best not to judge a box by its cover.

Banana Licuado

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This is my hands-down favorite licuado in Mexico (OK, you caught me … I’m also a sucker for a black zapote). Somewhere between a milkshake and a smoothie, this banana licuado recipe makes a lovely breakfast or sweet afternoon snack.

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Promote Happy Meals

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McDonald’s and KFC and the like do a great job making their food enticing to kids. Bright wrappers, big logos, snappy slogans, take home “rewards” for eating their stuff. Honestly, what’s not for a kid to like? But we can take a page from these Goliaths on how to do a better job “marketing” the healthy meals we make at home as happy meals for the whole family.

make-healthy-meals-happy-meals

  • Make food appeal to kids’ senses. Instead of serving boiled potatoes, roast some Garlic Parsnip Fries so the house smells delish. Instead of spaghetti with butter on a white plate, throw in some (green) spinach and serve it in a red bowl.
  • Get them involved. McDonald’s has an entire Happy Meal website devoted to entertaining kids. We, too, can entertain kids with our Super Antics in the kitchen. Put them to work pinching herbs, or pounding garlic in a mortar and pestle, or even stirring water in a bowl with a wooden spoon. The point is, make them feel like they’re in on the action.
  • Generate a sense of anticipation. Get a great kids’ cookbook and let the kiddos choose what they want to make once or twice a week, then generate a sense of anticipation for the meal as you make a shopping list, gather the ingredients, etc. If you have a garden or a farmers’ market, ramble around with the kids and make up names of dishes you could make with each food. The whole experience can engage their imagination . . . maybe even as much as a Happy Meal Superhero!
  • Create a special occasion. There’s a sense with kids that having McDonald’s is a “special occasion.” We can do that too. Have the kiddos help set the table with nice napkins, dim the lights and light candles, present the plate as a waiter would, introducing each food with a description. Then sit down with them and your own dinner and share in the enjoyment.

The NEW My Nourish Mentor is LIVE!

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Oh my goodness. I am so excited to post this I can’t even stand it. Y’all probably know that I launched the pilot of a small group coaching program called My Nourish Mentor about a year ago. And it’s been incredible. Nearly everyone who has gone through it has achieved their goals, 90% lost weight, and most improved their overall “relationship” with food by roughly 20% (yep, we track that).

But as gratifying as it’s been to walk with peeps on this journey, it’s been disheartening to have so many others say no to such a life-changing opportunity. So I decided that, gosh darn it, I’d ask and ask and ask every time I got a “no” so I could reshape My Nourish Mentor into a program that didn’t just get a yes … but a YES. And, I’m getting a little verklempt, I think we’ve got it.

My Nourish Mentor is now:

  • 12 weeks long (start with Level I, move on to Level II if you’re inclined)
  • entirely online (be as involved or as quiet as you want to be on the member forum area)
  • $49/month!

Approachable, affordable, doable. It’s 12 weeks that will transform the way you look at food, the way you eat, the way you feel, and the way you feed your family and connect with your community. Yes, you’ll likely end up losing weight. Yes, you’ll end up healthier. But My Nourish Mentor goes far beyond a traditional weight loss program or nutrition class.

So if you find yourself having conversations like these:

  • “I am so OVER not being able to eat what I want! I can’t do diets any more!”
  • “Do I really need to buy these (organic) carrots?”
  • “When I lose these last 20 pounds, life will be …”
  • “What kind of fish was on the green list?”
  • “My kids absolutely will not eat vegetables.”
  • “I don’t know what to believe about ‘nutrition’ … what’s good for me one day is doom the next.”
  • “Great that my doctor just told me I need to eat a healthier diet or go on medication forever … now how the heck do I do that?”

Know that, 12 weeks from now, you’ll be enjoying peace of mind as much as you will what’s on your plate.

Here’s what you’ll learn in My Nourish Mentor:

Week 1: One key practice that will change everything … the way you think about food, the way you buy food, the way you eat food and more

Week 2: Get the tools in your kitchen to where they’re working for you–without spending as much as you think

Week 3: How to stack the odds towards eating healthy by stocking a healthy pantry

Week 4: How to get more pleasure … while eating less

Week 5: How to prioritize what matters most to you

Week 6: Techniques to make veggies so irresistible your kids will snap them off the plate

Week 7: How to shrink your “foodshed” and find foods grown, raised and produced near you

Week 8: All about the great big world of whole grains (there’s so much more than brown rice!)

Week 9: Which fats our bodies need; what kinds of oils to buy and how to use them in the kitchen

Week 10: How to balance the budget when you’re spending more on healthy, sustainable food

Week 11: How to foolproof your week against take-out and microwave meals

Week 12: How to make the big leap into enjoying what you eat

Each week, the carefully-crafted curriculum solidifies learnings through experience, so you internalize it as part of you. My Nourish Mentor gradually shifts your paradigms and empowers you to make smart choices–and enjoy making them–rather than dictating what to do. The result? Profound. You’ll feel better about your body–and the food you eat–than you’ve ever felt before … and the transformation will last a lifetime.

Are you ready?

I hope to see you in My Nourish Mentor!

PS — If you’re not ready, shoot me an e-mail and let me know why. Lia (at) nourishnetwork (dot) com. I’d love to hear!

Mushroom Sausage Strata

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This strata is like a savory bread pudding; custardy on the inside and crisp on the outside. It’s a nod to the version my Aunt Judy makes . . . serious incentive to wake up.

sausage-mush-strata-recipe1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cups sliced cremini mushrooms
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cups 1% or 2% milk
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
5 large eggs
1 pound whole grain bread (day old is best), cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
3/4 cup shredded Gruyere cheese

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and cook sausage for 5 minutes, until browned, breaking apart with a spatula. If there is fat, spoon out and discard all but 2 teaspoons. Add onion and mushrooms to pan, season with salt and pepper and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring often, until golden brown. Remove from heat and set aside.

Whisk together milk, Dijon mustard, dry mustard, nutmeg, eggs and a pinch of salt and pepper in a medium bowl.

Spray a 9×13 baking dish with olive oil or cooking spray and arrange half of the bread slices along the bottom. Spoon half of the sausage mixture evenly over the bread followed by 1/4 cup of cheese. Top with another layer of remaining bread, sausage and 1/4 cup cheese. Pour egg mixture evenly over the top. With the back of a spatula, press everything down to moisten with liquid. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 350.

Top with the remaining 1/4 cup cheese and bake, uncovered, for 40 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Serves 12

Know Your White from Your Wheat

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I can’t tell you how many times someone has produced a package of beige bread from their fridge for me while proudly announcing, “See, I switched to wheat . . . I’m really trying to eat healthier,” only to have me scan the ingredients and see that, nutrient-wise, the loaf ain’t much better than Wonder. Which is just a bummer for everyone. Here’s how to understand the labels on the loaves so that, when you want a whole grain wheat bread, you really get one.

wheat-bread-medley-post

Overview

At its most basic, bread is really no more than three or four ingredients: flour, water, yeast and salt (if you’re in my kitchen). Along with the alchemy of time, artisanal bread makers transform those ingredients into a food that is one of the timeless staples of life. Sliced bread, although “great” on the convenience front, made things a bit more complicated. Nowadays, ingredient lists on a loaf of bread can be up to 40 items long, many of them with unpronounceable names.

Complicating the matter further are the labels on the front of the package. I’ve seen many breads dusted with seeds and nuts touting “whole grains” and “naturally sweetened” that are primarily refined flour and high-fructose corn syrup. The reality is, the only real way to know what you’re getting is to look at the ingredients yourself. Here’s a guide.

What’s Actually in the Bread?

Western Hearth 7-Grain Bread
bread-ingredients-1

Pick up a loaf of bread like the one above and the ingredient list can be daunting. Here’s a breakdown of the four major categories.

Whole grains (listed in brown)
These are grains—either in whole form; cracked or crushed; or ground into a flour—that have all three parts of the kernel intact. (For more on what these parts do for us, read Gotta Get Your Grains).

Refined flours and enrichment additives (listed in red)
These are flours that have been stripped of all but the starchy endosperm. Refined flour has, by law, five vitamins and minerals—niacin, riboflavin, thiamin, folic acid and iron—added back to it. Don’t let this fool you into thinking it’s virtuous, however. There are still ample nutrients, healthy fats, fiber and other goodies that are gone for good in refined flours. Some breads say “wheat flour,” but unless it says “whole wheat flour” it is still a refined grain.

Sweeteners (listed in pink)
These are added to make the bread sweeter and mask the taste of chemical additives and preservatives.

Softeners and stabilizers (listed in purple)
These ingredients, mostly chemicals, give the bread a soft, spongy texture and help it last longer on the shelves.

What Should You Look For?

The truth is, you don’t need to memorize what each ingredient is. To know if you’re buying a real, whole grain bread—and to gauge how healthy it is—you just have to look for the answers to these questions:

How Whole? The first thing you want to do is look at the very first word, which, if you’re looking for a whole grain bread, should be “whole.” Because ingredients are listed in descending order by weight, you’re not going to get much whole grain benefit from a loaf with enriched flour as its first ingredient (for more on why, read Gotta Get Your Grains) and a whole grain flour as its last. And don’t be fooled: breads labeled “7-grain” or “whole-grain” or “multigrain” often have enriched or wheat flour listed as a first ingredient with small amounts of other whole grains mixed in. Take a look at the bread above, for instance, and you’ll see that it’s mostly refined flour. Only after the high-fructose corn syrup do we find the whole grains it touts (the label, by the way, reads “7 Grain Bread, Naturally Sweetened”), meaning that there are less of each of the grains than there is high-fructose corn syrup (ingredients are listed in descending order by weight). For a bread to truly count as a whole grain, it must have “whole wheat flour” or some other type of whole grain flour (“whole” being the operative word) high up on the list.

How Long? The second thing you should look for is how long the list is. Keep in mind that all it takes to make bread is four ingredients. Anything else, unless they’re grains, seeds, nuts or other ingredients added for texture and flavor, is there to make it sweeter, softer or more shelf-stable.

How Real? Even the more natural bread below uses sweeteners, only they’re dates and raisins, with not a high-fructose corn syrup in sight. Ingredients that sound unnatural, for the most part, are.

Alvarado Bakery Organic Sprouted Whole Wheat Bread
bread-ingredients-2

By no means is this to say you should never indulge in a nice loaf of non-whole grain bread. But if you’re making the effort to buy a whole grain bread then, dang it, I believe you should get it. The next time you buy a loaf of whole grain bread, flip it over, look at the ingredients and make sure it’s the real deal.

Community Supported … Pasture?

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It’s inevitable. As people learn more about where their food comes from and start to shift their buying habits from whatever’s on the shelf to more deliberate, sustainable choices, they run up against a wall. Where do I find the foods I can feel good about? Happily, in many communities, local food now offers pasture-raised chicken, grass-fed beef, and sustainably raised pork.

community-supported-pasture

Farmers’ markets, CSAs and even community gardens abound these days, offering an abundance of fresh, seasonal produce. From December, 2001 to July, 2005, the number of reported CSA farms rose from 761 to 1,144, an increase of roughly 50 percent. And here’s some more good news: There’s a burgeoning movement on the meat front too.

A growing number of CSA farms are expanding beyond produce to offer meat, poultry and eggs from the pasture. Part of the reason is just smart business; farmers are diversifying their product mix. Another driver for many farmers is the desire to create the closed-loop system that agriculture was meant to be.

What do I mean by that? To explain, I’ll borrow an illustration that Wes Jackson of The Land Institute used when I saw him speak at a conference a couple of years back. He popped a slide of Norman Rockwell’s “Visit From a County Agent” illustration up on screen and then articulated how it encapsulated all the elements that make agriculture work.

Right off the bat, you can see that there are a variety of animals in the photo, and each has its purpose. The cats catch the mice. The dogs ward off predators. The chickens lay eggs and produce poultry. The cows produce milk and meat.

But that’s just the surface. Jackson also pointed out that the chicken and cows were essential for more than just their eggs, milk and meat. Their manure was the gold the land needed to grow the crops that fed the livestock and the family.

There’s your closed loop. Waste from the animals to fertilize the fields to grow the crops to feed the livestock and the family … and on back around again. Compare that to monoculture crops and feedlot cattle—the two ends of the spectrum in a ruptured farming system—where synthetic fertilizer must be purchased to grow the crops, and excess waste from cattle creates toxic cesspools.

If you’ve read Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma or watched FRESH or Food, Inc., the concept of a closed-loop farming system isn’t new to you (nowadays we call it polyculture). What is new, to bring us back around to the topic of this post, is the fact that it’s inspiring more and more small farmers to expand beyond just crops.

Some, like Dearing Country Farms in Illinois, have expanded their CSA produce offerings ($330 for roughly five months of produce) to eggs and chickens ($700 for produce plus a chicken and a dozen eggs each week). Others, like Oregon’s Inspiration Plantation’s “CSP” (Community Supported Pasture), focus strictly on meat; in this case, chicken, turkey, lamb and pork.

As rosy at it may seem to jump into a meat CSA, there are challenges for both farmer and consumer. The first is the added complication and cost of processing; in order to be sold commercially, meat must be processed in a USDA-certified facility. Second is the fact that meat is highly perishable and must be stored—and sold—frozen. Third is a matter of scale: A cow is a lot larger than a head of cauliflower. What’s easiest for the farmer, to sell a side of beef, for instance, is not the most convenient for the customer … unless you happen to have a very large, empty freezer and a penchant for cooking nose to toes. But I’ve found that that’s changing. Most of the meat CSA options I run across nowadays focus on primal cuts and sausages.

So where, you ask—you plead—can you find a meat CSA? The best source I’ve found for direct-to-consumer meat is www.eatwild.org. You have to cull through the listings in each state to find those near you, but it’s worth it for the range it offers. Other resources are www.localharvest.org and www.eatwellguide.org.

Don’t forget one of the major benefits of joining any CSA … to get to know the people who grow, or in this case raise, your food. Who knows, maybe they’re fans of Norman Rockwell.

Seasonality Out of Season

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It’s all fine and dandy to talk about seasonality in the peak of summer, when tomatoes and eggplant and such are bursting on the vine. It’s another thing entirely to talk about seasonality when your landscape has been white for over a month. What you do when foods you love are out of season?

It goes without saying (but I’m saying it anyway) that “seasonal” and “local” go hand in hand. Seasonal climates are dictated by local geography. If you’re striving to eat seasonally and are buying strawberries in January, for instance, then you’d better be living in Baja California. But there are more options to choose from than you might think, no matter where you live. Here’s how to stay seasonal even during the most challenging times of the year.

Seasonability out of season

Cold-Weather Crops

The first, most obvious step, of eating seasonally is knowing which fresh crops grow when where you live. Leeks, Swiss chard, cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale and cauliflower, for instance, grow in cold weather around the country, along with root vegetables like parsnips, celery root and potatoes. In warmer climes, like California and Florida, citrus are in full force (our neighbor’s orange tree tempts me all day long!). And I just found out, surprise surprise, that kiwi grow abundantly well here where I live.

From kale to spinach, get yo’ greens>

Stored Crops

Long before there were refrigerators, there were root cellars; cool, dark subterranean rooms where families stored their late fall and early winter harvest to use throughout the winter. Brussels sprouts, cabbage, late-harvest apples, winter squash and onions store for months, as do root vegetables like carrots, rutabaga, beets and turnips.

Not sure what the heck do with those turnips? Here are 10 ways to cook with root vegetables>

Indoor Crops

Some crops, like tomatoes, need a lot of artificial heat and light to grow during the winter. Others, like lettuce, arugula, mustard and mushrooms, will thrive with a bit of protection and amplified sunlight (which the glass of a greenhouse provides). So a head of butter lettuce might well be locally grown in winter even in upstate New York.

Preserved Crops

You may not think of preserved crops as “seasonal,” but I would argue that they are. In the past, preserves played an important role of spreading the abundance of a bountiful season across a sparser one. Crops preserved in fall and summer are meant to be enjoyed during the cold winter months. Look for locally made sauerkraut, pickles and preserves, as well as dried peppers, beans and mushrooms.

Frozen Crops

The same principle that applies to preserved crops extends to your freezer, if you grow your own fruits and vegetables (or if you buy a boatload at the farmers market). We love using our No Work Slow Roasted Tomatoes (I just made a killer crostini topping with them the other night) clear up until there are fresh ones on the vine again. Corn, peas, cauliflower and berries (like blueberries, blackberries and cranberries) also freeze beautifully.

It’s worth noting that just because a fruit or vegetable is in season near you doesn’t mean that what’s on the grocery store shelves was actually grown nearby. Check labels or, better yet, join a winter CSA. Enterprising farms (yes, even in places like Vermont and Minnesota) combine a mix of all the above to offer an inspiring selection during even the coldest months.

Not sure if a CSA is right for you? Check out our CSA 101 guide>

Cabbage Saute with Shiitakes and Crispy Tofu

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This cabbage dish is essentially a vegetarian mu shu turned sauté. I love it simply served with brown jasmine rice, but you could also pair it with Chinese pancakes,  thin flour tortillas or our Whole Wheat Crepes.

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What Do You Have to Share?

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I ran across this post, from the wee days of NOURISH Evolution, as I was editing a video I just shot for NOURISH-U. And I have to say, it inspired me. As I gear up to launch NOURISH-U, the soon-to-be educational arm of NOURISH Evolution, some of the old gremlins are creeping in. But the truth is, we ALL have knowledge and experience and wisdom to share, and we’re shorting others when we DON’T do so. So I pass this post on to you again and hope it will inspire you to step out in your own voice. (PS — if you’d like to see the video–on doubling your veggies while loving every bite–e-mail me at lia (at) nourishnetwork (dot) com and I’ll send you a copy.

While I’ve been “teaching” people through articles for some time now, actually teaching face to face is somewhat new to me. One of the things that I’m enjoying enormously is seeing the “a-ha” come to someone’s eyes when I answer a question or illuminate something in a way that clicks with them. The challenge is in working up the courage to open my mouth and trust what comes out.

When we let the fear of not sounding smart enough, or getting our facts jumbled, or coming off as a know-it-all render us mute we rob others of something valuable. Sure there are thousands of people out there who can speak intelligently about whole grains or why wild Alaskan salmon is a sustainable pick. But each of us presents the information in our own unique way, and the way that I do might be just what someone needs to get to the “a-ha.”

The truth is we all have knowledge to share, whether it’s how to roll out a pie crust like your Grandma or why you like a particular vendor at the farmers’ market. If you draw a blank then browse around a bit on NOURISH Evolution: Part of my mission is to provide information in digestible bites so you’ll feel confident about sharing with others.

This week, if someone asks a question that sparks a response in your mind, speak up and teach them what you know. I guarantee you’ll do it in a way that no one else will.