A lot of people don’t touch restaurant mints because of the germ factor–but here’s another reason why you should leave them alone: they’re not real food!

Behold an average ingredient list for mints:

Sugar, invert sugar, corn syrup, partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil, soybean oil, sorbital, salt, oil of peppermint, natural and artificial butter flavour, lecithin, Red 40, Blue

Unless you really have a craving for artificial butter flavour and Blue, my advice is to leave the mints alone!

Have a look at this article from the UKs Telegraph

I thought that UCLA’s Dr. Arab made a great point that “if we can find a way to prevent the stroke, or prevent the damage, that is simple and not toxic, that would be a great advance.”

I am not opposed to conventional medicine, but if there is something natural that works, it’s a great thing.  For example, if I have a bad headache, I take advil or tylenol…but I wash it down with a cup of strong tea.  For me, the heat of the tea is very comforting.  Plus, if I have a bad headache I’m sensitive to some smells so anything strong smelling or sweet smelling (like some herbal teas) make me feel nautious.  I drink less tea since the cleanse, I think three cups of tea sounds reasonable…especially if it reduces my chances of stroke!

Thanks to Flickr for this pic!

Please check out this very interesting article in Time magazine about the benefits of a plant-based diet.

One great fact from Time’s Bryan Walsh:

“A meal at McDonald’s produces more carbon than your trip to the drive-through.” 

An interesting point: “The most efficient way to shrink the carbon footprint of your menu is to eat less meat, especially beef. Raising cattle takes a lot more energy than growing the equivalent amount of grains, fruits or vegetables: most produce requires about 2 calories of fossil-fuel energy to cultivate per 1 calorie of food energy; with beef, the ratio can be as high as 80 to 1. What’s more, the majority of cattle in the U.S. are reared on grain and loads of it–670 million tons in 2002–and the fertilizer used to grow that feed creates separate environmental problems.”

After reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma, my eyes were opened to the sorry diet that most cattle are receiving. But I wonder if a vegetarian world is the answer?  After all, if none of our land animals were eating, would this not produce problems?  What would happen to our wonderful Canadian beef farmers?  Our dairy farmers?  I think that people should eat less meat–it should be a side dish, perhaps, rather than a main–but I’m not convinced that meat should be removed from our diets altogether.

If you’re not sure what to make for dinner, try this easy recipe. I grew up with this dish and it has become a family favorite. It’s perfect for a dinner party because it can be left as a vegetarian main or have meat/fish added for extra protein.

Yields two servings.

Boil enough brown rice for two people (approximately 1/2 cup of uncooked rice per person).

1 tsp each of  cumin, chili powder and black pepper.

On a separate plate, arrange sides such as raw, cut-up vegetables like peas, red and yellow pepper, carrots etc.

On another plate, serve protein such as chicken, shrimp and/or sliced hard-boiled egg.  For vegetarians, raw nuts like almonds are a great alternative. Serve with a generous slice of lemon to squeeze over rice.

The picture below was taken at my mum’s place where I had spiced rice for dinner!  (We had hard-boiled egg and almonds for protein and sliced, raw peppers, orange, tomatoes, cucumber, carrots and celery).

I may be picky, but decaf coffee is a little bit like washing-up-water, no?  I was totally disappointed.

I love the idea of decaf–all the flavour of real coffee without the caffeine, but it does not have the same flavour at all!

Much like “cheese” and/or “meat”, I would rather go without coffee then have “coffee.” Plus, decaf coffee is expensive!  1 kg of ground regular breakfast blend at Timothy’s sells for just under $9, while the decaf equivalent is just under $11.

$2 may not seem like a huge deal, but I would rather just monitor my caffeine intake and enjoy the real thing.

Final verdict: Decaf coffee gets a hearty two-thumbs down!

Thanks to Simply Photo on Flickr for the pic!

I received an email from someone about chocolate mug cake and it struck me as something interesting to share.  Following Meghan’s advice, I no longer use my microwave–it is still in my kitchen, but is unplugged. I have read a bit on microwaving and since it does not make my food any better, I decided it is not worth it–especially since it sometimes makes food worse. Apart from taste, etc., the worse thing about microwaving (for me) is how quickly food heats up, only to cool down so quickly. When I heat things in the oven, they seem to retain their heat for longer periods of time. Additionally, it bothers me when microwaved food changes as it cools. Sometimes starchy foods like pasta either get super-floppy or unusually crisp. Either way, I don’t like it.

I would never indulge in the following recipe because it seems quite disgusting:

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar 
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug

“Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don’t be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired. EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).
And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at anytime of the day or night!”

I have problem with this recipe for a few reasons (besides the fact that it’s microwaved). 
(1) I am trying to get away from foods being ‘bad’, ‘forbidden’, ‘dangerous’ and ’sinful.’  Food cannot be any of these things and it is a bad habit to get into relating eating–even unhealthy or unwise eating–with morality.
(2) No one needs chocolate cake at any time of day or night. To think in these terms is, again, dangerous and also gluttonous. As Meghan has helped me to see, there is nothing wrong with wanting to have cake (within reason), but go about it in a healthy way. Take time to prepare a great cake with good quality ingredients and invite friends and family over to share–don’t make sad and personal cake in a coffee mug.

Please check out this article from CTV.

There is going to be a lot of publicity surrounding ‘healthy’ foods as Heart and Stroke week approaches.  According to CTV,  Canadians are paying between double and nearly six times the average price for healthy foods, depending on where they live.

The report finds price discrepancies across Canada and within provinces. It also found many Canadians have difficulty accessing healthy foods at their local grocery store. 

One of the most startling differences is the prices of apples: six apples cost $0.90 in Peterborough, Ont., but $7.64 in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. Obviously, eating a healthy, well-balanced diet decreases your chances of heart and stroke dramatically–but, for some Canadians, healthy eating truly is not an option.

Big thanks to Breanna for passing along this article from The Toronto Star. 

Writer Vanessa Lu reports on the idea of growing organic food in public spaces like on the side of the Gardiner or on grassy medians like those on University Avenue. 

It’s a great idea, but I’m not sure I would be so enthusiastic about eating a salad that had been washed in commuter traffic pollution.  The idea of growing locally is great, but it has to be practical and I just don’t see how this would work.  

In addition to the problem with pollution, who would do the weeding and other necessary care for the plants? How would the food be sold? How would theft be prevented? Would it cause yet more rodent infestations in our city?  

Details aside, I love the idea of garden sharing. I do not have any green space and it’s something I dearly miss once summer hits the city.  Does anyone in the Annex need help in their garden?  I would be interested in an exchange of labour for food!

So last week I wrote about how disappointing carob “chocolate” is in place of chocolate.  Thanks to Jane–who suggested I try Dance in the Rain Chocolate–I found some fantastic, organic, guilt-free chocolate. 

This week, my friend Nicki suggested cocoa bean chips.  Since the chips are made from whole, cracked cocoa beans, there are no unwanted extras like white sugar or other nasty additives or preservatives. The chips are not sweet at all, but they provide all of the chocolate-y goodness I sometimes crave and they smell so good!

The cocoa chips do not get two thumbs up over the Dance in the Rain chocolate, but they’re a good alternative and better than carob! 

Thanks to Panos Voudouris on Flickr for the pic!

Earlier this month, The Globe and Mail’s Leslie Beck (Food for Thought) had  a great article entitled: “The key to weight loss: portion control.”

Portions are something I’ve written about quite a lot of late, but I thought she had some good tips. In case you don’t have time to read the whole article, here are the key points and my opinions on some of them:

1. The Plate Model: divide your plate into quarters (one quarter protein, on quarter starch like brown rice, pasta, potato or my personal favorite, quinoa.  The final half of the plate should be filled with vegetables.  Another plate trick is to use a lunch plate as a dinner plate and using small glasses for fluids other than water.  A great idea–while I’m sometimes reluctant to use my lunch plates, doing so does force me to pause and ask myself if I really need more.  Additionally, if I do opt for seconds, I still eat less overall than if I had used a larger, dinner plate. 

2. Serve several courses: stretch your mealtime by starting with a clear soup then offer salad as a separate corse–this extra time helps you to register when you are full. I love this idea–it reminds me of those restaurants where you spend two to three luxurious hours over dinner.  There may be many courses, but they’re not big; it’s quality over quantity.

3. Keep seconds out of sight: don’t put all of your food dishes on the table at a once. Serve yourself and then put a portion away for lunch the next day. If possible, try to cook only one serving.  I find it difficult to prepare only one serving so I would opt for fixing my plate and putting some away  for the next day over cooking “for one.”

4. Bulk up your meals: eat large quantities of low-energy -density foods and smaller portions of food with high-energy-density.  This means having whole grains, broths, legumes and white fish over cheese, salad dressing, meats and breads.   A great tip and one that works! Having a small bowl of soup in the fridge is a great way to curb cravings and appetites. 

5. Don’t rush your meal.  Beck suggests putting the fork and knife down between bits or to consider using chopsticks.  Personally, I don’t think this suggestion is very good.  If I had to endure my dinner mate putting down their utensils between every bite, I would get really annoyed.  Probably so annoyed that I would lunge across the table and shove their dinner down their throat.  Dinner would be so slow as to be painful, no?

6. Share an entree.: yes, restaurants server portions that are quite big, but is it really fair to go out to a restaurant and order only one entree?  I think that restaurants should be enjoyed–I would say just eat out less often rather than follow this rule.

7. Read nutrition labels: Beck suggests reading labels to discover serving sizes and weight out portions. Again, I do not think this tip is a good one.  I think it’s better to read nutrition labels to see what the food is made of and then decide whether or not to eat it. Most whole foods–most healthy foods–don’t come with labels!