crazy(ness) and changes

So…these past few months have been super crazy. I know I haven’t blogged much, and honestly that is because when stress hits, I usually try to eliminate things vs. adding them.

But fastforwarding through the stress leads me to the present, where I’m moving (again) to take a job as a pediatric outpatient dietitian in Grand Rapids, MI. Pretty excited about this!

 

A lot of the past few weeks have been spent at the beach and finishing up work with the wonderful ladies in Ann Arbor; I will miss them and am grateful to have learned so much during my time there.

  

So, thank you for being patient in all of this. I do want to continue blogging, at least for the time being. I’ve still been creating and trying new recipes, despite not blogging about them.

Constant change is exhausting, but there have been lots of good changes, and I’m excited to see how life continues to evolve.

Hope everyone is enjoying summer!

nutritional yeast and B12

Good thoughts on the USDA’s rollout of My Plate. Andrea made a really good point; the plate does NOT encourage non-processed food over processed food, but because the food industry is so huge, I have to say I’m not surprised.
I went to the Jolly Pumpkin, an Ann Arbor craft brewery with some friends this weekend. Definitely a fun place; they have a rooftop deck that is perfect for summer nights. And they use ingredients from sustainable farmers, organic growers and artisan producers, which is pretty fantastic.

[photo via b.rostad]
Sunday is always a big food prep day because I have pretty much zero energy to pack lunches or cook during the week. I experimented with this recipe for tahini curried carrot salad.

I’m not crazy about sweet vegetables, so I had to do a little improvising. I left out the raisins and added some spiralized cukes (this is the spiralizer I have). I think next time I’d leave out some of the maple syrup, too.

The recipe also calls for nutritional yeast, which is big in the vegan world because it contains vitamin B12.

Vitamin B12:

• required for proper red blood cell formation, neurological function, and DNA synthesis; plays a role in fat and protein metabolism
• bound to protein in animal products and is released by the activity of hydrochloric acid and gastric protease in the stomach; however synthetic vitamin B12 (aka that in nutritional yeast) is already in free form and doesn’t require separation
• the body needs very little B12 on a daily basis; B12 is stored in the liver, so unless you have been a vegan for a long time without supplementation or have digestive issues or kidney disease, you don’t likely have a deficiency.

.

• amounts listed on a nutrition label are based on 6 µg/day; the nutritional yeast I have contains 40% of the daily value for B12 or 2.4 µg per tablespoon.
• it is beneficial to get B12 from a variety of fortified sources because absorption can vary.

Do you eat animal products? If not, where do you get your B12?

magical fat burning foods

The week is more than halfway over, but I still haven’t blogged about last weekend! Yes, things are still a little crazy around here.

Anyway, my sister visited Ann Arbor for the first time, and it was good to catch up on life in person. She just finished year 2/3 of her MFA in poetry at Indiana University and writes super cool stuff that I am not good at interpreting.

Banana pancakes from scratch are the perfect start to the weekend.

Find of the weekend: 2 vintage Nancy Drew books at a tiny, extremely cluttered bookstore in Kerrytown. I was pretty obsessed with becoming a detective when I was 10 and read every single book in our library.

 

We saw Jane Eyre (pretty sure I read it in high school British Lit) with a friend, and it was kind of depressing but also refreshingly not completely cliché. And eating delicious Mediterranean food made things slightly better.

Saw these gorgeous tulips on the way to the farmers’ market. Probably my fave flowers. Things are definitely starting to warm up around here, so I’m crossing my fingers for no more snow.

Recently the NY times ran this article about foods that can serve as appetite suppressants. Researchers found that adding 1 gram of chili pepper (I’m guessing this is just over half a teaspoon) to soup caused subjects to burn 10 extra calories. [Whoop de whoop.] The effect appeared to be greater for those who didn’t regularly consume spicy foods. Subjects not accustomed to consuming spicy foods also ate fewer calories (mean reduction = 143 calorie) after receiving a dose of red pepper.

My opinion: I don’t really like spicy foods, so why would I purposely eat them to burn an extra 10 calories? I think going for a run sounds like a much more enjoyable idea. Also, the study found that the calorie burning effect was lesser in subjects who already regularly consumed spicy food, meaning there is a chance you could develop a tolerance and consequently not burn as many calories (as if 10 is a huge number, anyway). I did think it was interesting that subjects ate fewer calories 4.5 hrs after consuming a spicy meal. Heartburn, maybe?

The article mentioned another study which found that adding vegetable puree to recipes (see 2 of their sample recipes here) caused subjects to consume 200-350 fewer calories per meal.

My opinion: Subjects likely consumed more calories because a) vegetables are low calorie, so they naturally displace higher calorie ingredients when using them as substitutes. b) vegetables contain fiber, which increases satiation. I also appreciated how one of the study authors mentioned that it is important to offer whole vegetables on the side to children, so they learn to develop a taste for them.

So all this to say…I don’t believe in magical fat burning foods.

Thoughts?

health halos

My favorite thing about Saturday morning (besides sleeping in, duh) is visiting the farmers’ market. I used to go to Soulard in St. Louis every weekend, I love my hometown’s market, and I’m slowly getting to know Ann Arbor’s market, too.

I was joined by about 60 billion other hipsters this morning. You will seriously not find a bigger conglomeration of skinny jeans, crossbody bags, and Tom’s shoes in one location (unless you live in Portland).

I have my favorite vendors in my hometown, and I’m glad the vendors here also don’t mind when I ask them questions like, “how are your chickens raised?” or “do you use pesticides on your plants?”

And there is just something fantastic about interacting with the people who grow the food you buy. Grocery stores are so intangible, and sometimes I just really enjoy the relational aspect of letting farmers know I appreciate them by buying their produce.

I really wish that a) I was good at growing plants and b) I had somewhere to grow them. I’d love to at least get a herb garden going, so I can have fresh basil and cilantro whenever this summer.

Roos Roast Coffee is really good. I tried the Cowboy Blend last time and picked up Lobster Butter Love at this visit. Plus, I think their artsy bags are pretty awesome.

I read a pretty interesting press release from the American Society of Nutrition recently talking about health halos or labels/characteristics of certain foods that cause people to think they are more healthful. A graduate student from Cornell found that people were more likely to perceive foods with an organic label as significantly lower in calories, lower in fat, and higher in fiber. Organically-labeled chips and cookies were considered to be more nutritious than their “non-organic” counterparts.

vs.

This seems to suggest that people are interested in organic products or know there is some potential benefit to them but don’t fully understand the labeling term. And then you have the whole debate of organic vs. local. The other day, I noticed my organic cucumber was from Mexico; I wonder how many nutrients were left by the time it got to the US (and also about the carbon footprint…yikes). It seems to me that more education is needed.

And even if it has less preservatives or additives, an organic cookie is still a cookie…thoughts?

why april is better than march [so far]…

1) 45 degree weather and new running shoes (long overdue). My ?? pair of Brooks Adrenalines. Love them.

2) Ann Arbor Farmers’ Market. I rode the bikeski to the market this weekend for organic fair trade coffee from Roos Roast. Sorry for the candids, Ann Arborite strangers.

3) Sleeping at Last’s April EP (they release 3 songs per month as a part of their Yearbook project). Especially fantastic and timely songs this month. Love falling asleep to their thoughtful lyrics on repeat.

 

4) New recipes. This Moroccan quinoa and pistachio salad brings a whole new meaning to pesto. My good friend Dave (with his ever expanding culinary skills) made this for me a couple of weeks ago, and it was pretty amazing. The recipe calls for orange juice, but I blended an entire orange (minus the peel) in my food processor instead. Quinoa is also one of my fave vegetarian sources of protein.

 

I recently read this article in the NY Times about quinoa [keen-wah]. As ethical eating is a continual process for me, I realized that I know absolutely nothing about where the quinoa I buy is grown.

According to the article, Bolivia is one of the chief producers of this complete protein-containing pseudo-grain, and it’s ironic that as the demand for quinoa increases, few fewer Bolivians can now afford it, hastening their embrace of cheaper, processed foods and raising fears of malnutrition in a country that has long struggled with it.

It’s also fair to note that some of the decrease in buying quinoa there may be due to food preferences vs. economics. Processed food is attractive for many, just as it is in the US.

So what, then is our response to this problem? Buying quinoa from Bolivia certainly aids their economy, and the government is trying to beef up domestic aid, but it still remains to be seen just how much of an impact this will have on malnutrition. I wish the article had talked more about the kind of wages Bolivians make in return for growing the crop.

Hope April has started out well for all of you, too. :)

the renal diet is [seriously] crazy

I’m working with a lot of patients with renal (kidney-related) disease at my new job, and the diet I have to recommend for many of these patients is one that would be very difficult to follow myself.

For being such small organs (approximately each the size of a fist), the kidneys do a whole lotta work!

• filter waste from the blood
• release erythropoeitin, which stimulates production of red blood cells
• regulate electrolytes (sodium, potassium) and release renin, which regulates blood pressure
• release calcitriol, the active form of vitamin D, which helps maintain calcium for bones and for normal chemical balance in the body
• regulate acid-base balance

When your kidneys aren’t working properly, this affects sodium, potassium, phosphorus, and protein regulation, which may require you to decrease consumption of foods that contain these items.

These would be some of the hardest ones for me to give up…

• bananas
• oranges
• sweet potatoes
• beans
• peanut butter
• chocolate

I’d really love to come up with some fun food ideas that fit into the kidney diet guidelines, a sort of cookbook to give to clients with creative recipes. Like cauliflower mac & cheese and faux chicken nuggets (because let’s face it…all children love these foods).

I made whole wheat apple muffins recently. If made a smidge smaller, they might just fit into the renal diet [**edited to add: Since I've received some comments about this, I wanted to say that in general, these muffins would not be acceptable as a regular part of a renal diet. I think that most foods can fit into the renal diet as special treats, but they should not be consumed occasionally. As always, consult your renal dietitian, who is familiar with your specific case, labs, meds, etc. before making any dietary changes].

My modifications: sub applesauce for the butter and leave out some of the sugar (or don’t…I won’t tell).

Yes, these are giant muffins because I have a Texas-sized muffin tin, which is incredibly fun to use and requires less filling of muffins cups, which I also appreciate.

Time for a run…it’s sunny but still cold here! Spring can come anytime…..anytime.

How would you do on the renal diet?!

belief ----> action

Whenever I move to a new place, it’s not long before I start to notice little quirks…like the large flock of geese that honk at all hours of the day (and night) and a very sensitive smoke alarm that went off no less than 4 times when I was roasting butternut squash. But, that just gives the space character, right?!

I had some requests for an apartment tour. Honestly, it makes me cringe to let you see everything half finished, but here’s one wall in progress; there are faux polaroid photos going on top of the corkboards eventually. Btdubs, everything is not crooked, the photographer just doesn’t know how to hold a camera straight…

Embroidery is super easy, and it makes inexpensive wall art [tutorial here!]. The frames are simply embroidery hoops that I painted in 5 minutes.

I stitched this piece during the snow craziness this weekend. To me, trees symbolize growth and hope, so I think it’s a pretty relevant piece of wall art for this stage in my life…

Lately, I’ve been pondering the intersection between belief and action. If you truly believe in something, won’t you do it? And if you don’t, does that mean you don’t really believe it after all?

For me, this means putting into practice the nutrition principles I value: eating real food, moderation, local and sustainable food, etc. I find it ironic that my busy dietitian job is forcing me to be more thoughtful about nutrition [as in, I have to plan healthful meals or they won’t happen!].

I’ve seen variations of sweet potato hummus floating around the blogosphere, so I decided to give it a try. I’m definitely more of a savory hummus fan, and the sweet potato gives this a sweet bent, so I’m not quite sure what I think of it.

[modified] sweet potato hummus :: based on gena’s recipe

• 1 large sweet potato, cooked, skin removed, and cut into chunks
• 1 can chickpeas, drained,
• 1 1/2 tsp olive oil
• 1-2 tbsp tahini
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• juice from 1/2 an orange
• 1 small clove of garlic
• black pepper to taste
• shake of cinnamon
• water

Mix everything together and blend via food processor. This hummus also weirdly tastes good with bbq sauce. Maybe because I love eating sweet potato fries with this particular condiment?

Anyone else have any unique hummus recipes?!