New Cooking Show Coming to Lifetime

Posted now on Edible TV:

Soon Lifetime will start offering suggestions for menus to fuel that body that looks good naked with the introduction of a cooking show.

“Mom’s Cooking” is part of the network for women’s first-ever set of original, unscripted daytime shows, according to Reuters and the Hollywood Reporter. On the show, moms will teach their daughters how to cook their special dishes, the ones that engender all those warm and fuzzy childhood memories.

Check out the rest over at the original site. Unfortunately, I seriously doubt any of the recipes from a show about mom cooking will offer much health value. But then, who can resist a taste of the classics from time to time?

Technorati Tags:
television, cooking show, food

Bawk, Bawk, Bawking Hot Links

The Simple Dollar: The Frugal Whole Chicken (or, Waste Not, Want Not)
I've been looking forward to roasting chickens again anyway (a year without an oven, remember?), and seeing again what a great budget option it is just makes me want one more!

New York Times - Better to Be Fat and Fit Than Skinny and Unfit
What concerns me about articles like this is that they don't sufficiently emphasize what it means to be "fit." Unless you read carefully and think about what it means, you could get the impression that being obese is not a problem and so you shouldn't take any action. In fact, the obese and overweight were more likely to show cardiac risk factors than the normal-weight subjects, and those who weren't at risk in all groups were people with a high level of fitness -- that is, people who exercise. This data isn't an excuse to sit on the couch with the Cheetos.

Poked and Prodded - In Weight Loss, Accountability Is Essential
It's true. I tend to plateau myself if I am not at least loosely tracking my calories.

Poked and Prodded - Alabama Slaps a Tax on Fat People
More signs that obesity is becoming the new smoking. I don't think it's a terrible idea to add accountability when we're talking something so clearly related to the obesity problem like health insurance. Doctor conversations don't do the trick for people, so maybe taking the same approach as to smokers will make a difference in the same way. Maybe.

Food TV Flashback: Cooking Live

New post today on Edible TV:

I have loved cooking ever since I was a kid demanding a turn with the spoon in the brownie batter, but it was my discovery of Food Network when I finally got cable TV in my bedroom (and stopped having to fight for control of the remote with seven other people) that turned my casual interest into a passion. Suddenly, I had a window into the secrets of the kitchen, and I soaked it in at every opportunity.

So many new foods! Shallots, avocados, extra virgin olive oil … and who knew how many different kinds of bacon there were in the world? So many foods I knew showed up in nearly unrecognizable forms: There was sausage that wasn’t Italian or Polish; garlic that didn’t come out of a jar; and herbs that weren’t papery flakes. And even more: Food didn’t have to emerge from strict recipes — with just a few basic techniques, you could improvise to taste!

Maybe it all sounds commonplace now, but it was a revelation to me at the time. And so I want to pay tribute to the shows that started me on the path to culinary creativity.

Check out the rest to learn more about former Weight Watchers member Sara Moulton's classic call-in cooking show.

Some extra tidbits: Sara M. always uses light mayonnaise in her cooking. She says she prefers the taste of it, plus she does try to be health- and weight-conscious after her Weight Watchers days. She does cook rich foods occasionally, but treats in moderation are part of a normal healthy diet. She offers lighter options for meals, such as baked (not fried) chicken wings and vegetarian entrées.

In fact, she followed a vegetarian diet for a while in college, something she often mentions as a great budget tip. After all, a pound of beans or vegetables almost always costs a lot less than a pound of meat, and on top of that, you'll save money in the long run as your health improves!

Picture: FoodNetwork.com

Technorati Tags:
food, healthy eating, cooking shows, television

South Beach Living Dark Chocolate Fudge Covered Wafer Sticks

I received some free samples of Kraft South Beach Living wafer sticks from a PR rep for the company, along with those chocolate pudding cups I reviewed last week.

Kraft definitely seems to be targeting the typical American woman with these products from the South Beach Living line. They're doused with chocolate fudge, they're conveniently packaged as a grab-and-go snack, they require no prep, and each individual pack contains two bars for only 100 calories, adding a sense of bang for the buck.

Each two-bar pack also has six grams of fat (three grams saturated in the Hazelnut Crème, two in the Peanut Butter), five grams of protein, one gram of sugar, and three grams of fiber. Despite the relatively healthy stats, I'd consider these more of a dessert treat, like a cookie, than a hearty snack, like a granola bar. They're too light and airy to satisfy hunger.

This package boasts many easily recognizable baking ingredients: Dutch-processed cocoa, sugar, vanilla, milk, baking soda, and so on. Since the bars are South Beach-branded products, whole-wheat flour outranks regular flour on the ingredient list, and that may explain the high fiber content for a cookie.

The sticks' protein level is boosted with wheat gluten. The nutty ingredients rank pretty low on the list, which might be why the nut taste is overwhelmed by a wheaty taste. The wafers taste sweet, but they taste sweeter after swallowing. Maybe that's due in part to the maltitol (a sugar alcohol) and sucralose (Splenda).

Scott did not care at all for the Hazelnut Crème wafer sticks. I quote: "I'd rather eat two pudding cups than one of these" for about the same calories.

I have to go with Scott on this one. The cookies have an initially bitter taste from the dark-chocolate coating that, instead of being balanced by a creamy, sweet interior like other wafer sticks, is turned up by a somewhat bitter whole-wheat flavor. As I mentioned, the flavor does sweeten up as it sits in your mouth, but that's not really what I'm looking for in wafer sticks.

The nut flavor in the Hazelnut Crème seems nearly imperceptible compared to the chocolate and crispy wafers. What's there isn't pleasant enough to carry the bar. The Peanut Butter, though, has a strong peanutty flavor that should gladden lovers of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I just am not a peanut butter cup fan myself.

Another problem I had with these is that they seemed to dry my mouth as I chewed them up, like saltine crackers. Dessert should make your mouth water!

Also, be careful with that chocolate fudge coating. Unlike M&M's, it will melt in your hand. Bring a napkin!

In the end, I'd recommend sticking with the tasty chocolate pudding cups if you're looking for a low-cal treat. Those are sweet, rich, and satisfying, whereas these wafer sticks . . . aren't. Still, if you love peanut butter cups and want a crispy alternative, the Peanut Butter flavor might be your ticket.

For more South Beach Living reviews:
South Beach Living Packaged Meals
South Beach Living Pudding Cups

Technorati Tags:
desserts, diet, dieting, food, groceries, reviews, South Beach

Gardenburger Frozen Meals

This post is part of a series on low-cal packaged meals. For more, check out previous entries on Michelina's Lean Gourmet, Weight Watchers Smart Ones, Healthy Choice, South Beach Living, and Lean Cuisine.

It's not just a veggie patty anymore.

The Gardenburger brand has expanded its line significantly beyond the famed burger substitute. Not only do they offer wide array of patty choices in the freezer case, but now they produce pretend riblets, wraps, and "chicken" products as well.

Naturally, some of these newer items make a tasty, convenient lunch.

Gardenburger

Black Bean Chipotle Wrap
The photo on the box is a poor representation of this product. It looks like some kind of wacky fake chicken parmesan in a tortilla. I almost didn't buy it, which would have been a shame, as this wrap is delicious. It's Gardenburger's already yummy black bean patty coated in a spicy sauce, sprinkled with rich cheese, and stuffed into a whole-wheat tortilla. You get two individually packaged, 240-calorie wraps per box, and they're tastier and more filling (six grams of fiber!) than Lean Pockets.

That's all I have on frozen and prepackaged meals! Being back in the States now, I may have opportunity to sample more in the future. I will keep you apprised!

Photo: Gardenburger.com

Technorati Tags:
diet, dieting, food, frozen meals, groceries, lunch, reviews

Homemade Versus Store-Bought

Recently, making the rounds in my newsreader, I stumbled on a post to the Baker's Banter blog about making your own granola bars. P.J. Hamel often blogs about the cost-savings inherent in baking yourself, and here she brought up the conflict found in many households over whether that truly makes for the superior product.

For many people, apparently especially those who grew up in the golden age of packaged foods, store-bought convenience items are the sign of success. If you can afford to buy squishy loaves of Wonder bread regularly, then you've made it. Homemade bread, no matter what it's taste or texture, becomes ultimately inferior because of its association with pinching pennies.

It's true that today home baking is still associated with frugality. Personal-finance blog The Simple Dollar outlines the process for making homemade sandwich bread, and the Hillbilly Housewife site shows you how to save through making tortillas from scratch, without even a fancy press.

And no doubt having someone else prepare your food for you, whether it's the Campbell Soup Company canning chicken noodle or a classy restaurant offering consommé, smacks of elegance and prosperity. When you can shell out for Whole Foods takeout every night, it must make you feel like you've reached a comfortable perch in life.

At the same time, I do think there's been a generational shift at work in the perception of homemade foods. Thanks to food television, glossy cooking magazines, and food blogs, the homemade has taken on a new, high-class sheen. Suddenly, homemade is not only cheap and wholesome, it's trendy, eco-conscious, and the choice of the (relatively) wealthy.

Even people who can't cook or bake seem to favor whatever prepared foods hew closest to homemade these days, opting for local bakers and vendors who claim to make their products from scratch (or near to it) on site.

Why has homemade become hot, then? How did it shake off its embarrassing connotations for so many people for whom Pepperidge Farm and Tastykake set the standard?

You could argue health-consciousness turned the tide. Certainly, the buzz in the media and blogosphere has tended toward promoting the wholesome over the high-fructose corn syrup. Organics have grown in popularity, as has the addition of fiber to processed foods. Still, obesity and poor exercise habits remain epidemic despite the rise of the from-scratch crowd.

Homemade perhaps has lost its dowdiness instead because it's now perceived as a time-based luxury. Most of us feel like we have no free time these days, and thus an activity that requires a time investment, such as baking your own bread, looks indulgent compared to tearing into a slice straight from the pricier Sara Lee bag. Time, not money, has grown in value since the heyday of convenience foods.

I've learned this past year while in Europe, though, that homemade doesn't have to mean lots of time investment. Meal planning helps me keep the time I have to devote to making dinners from scratch to a minimum. When you consider the time necessary to heat up a prepared meal (some microwave dinners require 14 minutes of cook time!) or to get food at a restaurant (consider how long you sit waiting for service!), those "convenient" options don't offer a huge savings.

Meal planning, on the other hand, saves money and time while helping keep you on the now-popular "from-scratch" path. Because it expedites getting that homemade food on the table, you and your family can feel like you're indulging in the luxury of time well spent or like you're relishing the frugality of money saved as you please!

Photo: Colleen Fischer

Technorati Tags:
food, meal planning, homemade

South Beach Living Pudding Cups

I received some free samples of Kraft South Beach Living pudding cups from a PR rep for the company. As I have an interest in low-cal products that I share here on this site, I'll share my take on this new product.

The packaging makes a boatload of claims: 60 calories! Sugar free! Good source of fiber!

Fiber? In pudding?

Both puddings I tried came infused with inulin, a fiber plentiful in plants such as chicory and jicama. Wikipedia says it's a soluble fiber that may lower cholesterol, but recent reports suggest the isolated fibers added to processed foods may not carry the same benefits as those in whole foods. However, inulin, being indigestible, doesn't add to the calorie count, and the only possible problem that might stem from its consumption (in large amounts) is a little indigestion.

Speaking of indigestion, these treats manage to achieve sugar-free status through the use of the sugar alcohols xylitol and maltitol, in addition to sucralose (Splenda) and acesulfame potassium (Ace K). Taking in too many grams of sugar alcohols also can lead to digestive upset, so take care not to binge should you indulge in sugar-free products. On the upside, xylitol helps prevent tooth decay.

Fiber, fake sugar, and plenty of water explain each cup's svelte 60 calories. Starch, rather than fat, provides the thickness and silkiness; the Dark Chocolate Vanilla Marble has 1.5 grams of fat, and the Milk Chocolate Truffle has 1 gram. The fat is saturated, likely because of the cream listed in the ingredients.

That cream, along with the Dutch-processed cocoa and salt, are the only ingredients in this pudding that you could buy yourself at the supermarket. If you're looking for all-natural foods . . . well, by now you've probably already looked elsewhere.

Taste? These cups taste much like other pudding cups I've tasted from the grocery store. They're creamy and rich-tasting, despite the lack of sugar and fat. The size and texture make for a satisfying dessert for me, though my husband, Scott, opted for two. The cups come four to a package.

Scott's favorite was the Dark Chocolate Vanilla Marble, which he enjoyed for the contrast in flavor between the chocolate layers and the center vanilla layer. I found the vanilla layer unassertive; it mostly tasted of milk, not vanilla, and the dark chocolate dominated this subtle flavor. It provided some relief from the chocolate, but don't choose this looking for a vanilla hit. It tastes a lot like chocolate chips.

I preferred the Milk Chocolate Truffle. I guess I'm just a sucker for that buttery, chocolaty flavor I associate with those creamy Lindt truffles. There's no contrasting flavor or subtlety here, just straight-up richness. I moaned a little.

Should you buy these cups? If you don't mind all the additives and fake sugars, sure. They're tasty and, at 60 calories, a perfectly reasonable dessert. If you balk at the idea of ingredients you can't pronounce, go with my longtime favorite prepared pudding, Kozy Shack, in moderation. Nothing beats some tasty tapioca.

More on South Beach Living:
South Beach Living Packaged Meals

Photo: Colleen Fischer

Technorati Tags:
diet, dieting, groceries, reviews, weight loss, South Beach, desserts