Zola

How Now Brown Cow?

“Sugar — in the form of lactose — contributes about 55 percent of skim milk’s calories, giving it ounce for ounce the same calorie load as soda” — Neal Barnard, President of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

That just happens to be one answer to a question we get asked every day at Plan Z the Diet by Zola. “Why do you suggest I quit drinking milk?”

But wait. There’s more.

After infancy, you don’t need milk. It’s a simple fact. Milk is a substance produced by mammals to nourish their newborn babies. Baby mammals — including humans — depend on milk until their digestive systems have had enough time to mature and allow them to eat solid food.

After they begin eating solid food, the animals don’t go back to drinking milk.
That is, of course, unless they’re human.

I used to drink milk; lots of it. I was raised in Appleton, Wisconsin; pretty much smack dab in the middle of the Dairy State. We had a milk man who delivered (sometimes twice a day) to our house. We had such huge containers of milk in our refrigerator they took up most of a shelf and even had spouts on them. As kids we could serve ourselves without having to even reach for a milk carton.

At grade school I wasgiven milk three times a day.
In high school I bought milk from the vending machines.
As an adult I drank a gallon of milk every two days.

I loved milk. I loved it so much I craved it for over two years after I had given it up.

Today the Department of Agriculture’s recommendation for dairy is still 3 cups daily for every man, woman and child over age 9. This in a country where as many as 50 million people are lactose intolerant, including 90 percent of all Asian-Americans and 75 percent of all African-Americans, Mexican-Americans and Jews.

No one actually needs to drink milk. The myth is you need milk for calcium and bone strength. This is in fact FALSE. If you are really interested in this subject and want to get the lowdown on the science, read this entry at saveourbones.com.

All of this doesn’t mean I recommend you quit drinking white liquid or give up smoothies. Try drinking unsweetened almond milk. Or my favorite, unsweetened coconut milk. I just bought a carton today and plan to have a mango smoothie for breakfast.

I have shut the refrigerator door on cow milk.

If you’re still not convinced, Google “milk bad” and read up. You’ll find out raw milk is slightly better for you than pasteurized milk but still not really beneficial to your health. You’ll find out pasteurized milk is pretty much devoid of the healthy elements we thought was in it. You’ll find out cheese and yogurt digest much more easily than milk, and why. And you’ll find out there are plenty of other sources where you can get your calcium.

MOOOOVE over milk. Water is the drink of the day.

Cheers,

by Zola

School Lunch

President Truman started the National School Lunch Program in 1946. A little over a decade later I was born. I went to a Catholic School as a child. Most every kid stayed at school for lunch. It was an expected part of the program.

My mother fairly regularly volunteered as a “lunch lady” at the school. She went in early in the morning and helped prepare the food, helped serve and clean up, and then ran errands on her way home to cook dinner for the family. She became friends with many of the on-staff ladies who were the full-time pros. Those were the women who designed the menus, ordered the food and supplies and supervised the cooking.

I can remember many of the meals we were served. Each of them contained a protein, a starch or two, a veggie and something for dessert. One of my favorites was chicken with gravy, mashed potatoes, mixed peas and carrots, a dinner roll with butter and freshly made apple crisp. Sure, there were times when something was served that I didn’t like. Sauerkraut comes to mind. We’d have some kind of roasted meat with the sauerkraut on the side. I’d eat the meat and everything else on my plate but the sauerkraut always stayed on my tray. There were plenty of lunch ladies cruising the aisles making sure you ate the majority of your meal, but I could get away with leaving the sauerkraut behind.

The drink was always 8 ounces of whole, white milk. In Wisconsin, that was a given. The meals were subsidized by a weekly payment (I think my weekly payment was about a dollar, maybe less). Now compare that to the average lunch in a grade school today.

Deep fried popcorn chicken, tiny taters, bread, barbecue sauce, ketchup and chocolate milk. EEEW. You call that a healthy meal that is going to keep a kid full and focused all afternoon. Making matters worse, none of that food is cooked in the cafeteria. You never see anyone peeling a potato. That food is shipped in and reheated. That’s enough to turn a kid’s brain to mush.

Other mainstays on the menu: pizza, French fries, hot dogs and a mystery pork they call "ribicue." Do you see anything green and leafy on that list? No. Oh yeah, and the "fruit cup" they call dessert is floating in sugar water. You have to open the top of it and peel back the plastic to eat the diced fruit out of a plastic cup. How long has that fruit been in that cup? And how many preservatives are in there? Compare that to the freshly baked apple crisp that I could smell as I descended the stairs to the school cafeteria as a kid. My mouth was watering by the time I stepped in. If I were a kid these days I’d be gagging.

And get this: in many schools the children are allowed to sit with the meal they are served and wait 15 minutes. Then they are allowed to throw it out, take their own money and buy things a la carte. They can buy cake, brand name junk foods like chips and sodas, along with candy bars. No limits. The big name food companies ship that stuff in.

Sadly 16.9% of children between the ages of 2 and 19 are obese.
No wonder.

Guess what a typical meal in a French school is? Beet salad, veal stew and pumpkin soup. What do they eat in Korea? Stir-fried beef with carrots and kimchi. What is WRONG with this picture? Are those nations more wealthy than ours? Do they care more for the well-being of their kids than we do? The United States sadly budgets $2.68 per child for lunch and only $1.25 of that money goes toward the food!

Children born in 2000 have more than a 30% chance of developing diabetes in their lifetime. We are sending our children down a nutrition and health hell-hole.

I’m feeling ill.
I think I better stop now.

by Zola

Party Time

Next week I’ll be preparing food for 80. Most people gasp at the thought and want to know how I do it. So I thought I’d lay out a few of my strategies in today’s column.

I also wanted to share the party a bit with those of you who can’t come. Believe me when I say I understand. There are thousands of you spread across the country. I feel lucky that 80 will be here to share in the festivities but I have a couple of little tricks up my sleeve so even if you can’t come, you can participate.

As far as the food goes, I want to be able to play hostess more than caterer. What that means is I want to be spending time with the guests and not so much in the kitchen. Most of the food will be cold. It’s summer, so why not? And those items that are not cold will be able to sit in chafing dishes and not have to be monitored very often.

I can prepare much of it two days ahead. A few local guests have volunteered to help with prep. That’s always nice. Even if they are not cooks I can always use someone around who will chop and wash pans, pots and mixing bowls.

I decided to go kind of retro with my menu. I have chosen recipes from the 50’s and 60’s in some cases. Of course I have to Zola-fy most of them, but that’s easy for me now. I haven’t finalized the menu yet but I’ll share what I have with you now. This way you can help me plan my party. Choose the menu items you’d most like to eat. Vote for your top three picks. I’ll be sure to write up the recipes for the top 3 most popular items so you can make these at home. That way, you can have a little party yourself.

[contact-form-7 id="84727" title="Zola's Garden Gala Menu"]

Looks pretty tasty doesn’t it? All of those little V’s are notations for things vegetarians would like. I always mark those. I’m pretty surprised how many are vegetarian but because it’s summer I wanted to focus on fresh vegetables and a colorful display. All but two of the items are totally low carb. There isn’t a reason in the world you can’t eat like royalty but still eat healthy.

People will get to come back to replenish their little appetizer plates and get plenty to eat. So vote on your favorite menu item to get your favorite recipes!

Now for the entertainment.

I was invited to a party that was featuring a blues band headed up by Will Tilson. Chicago is famous for blues, so I thought that made a good theme for our first Garden Gala. What headed me in this direction was budget. I thought if the guy who hired that band could afford them, then likely I could, too. I was right. This band is ‘dirt cheap’. But that doesn’t mean they are a bad band. Oh contraire! Will Tilson is a musical phenome. He’s only 15 years old and has already played with some of the most famous blues musicians alive. He’s bringing two other guys to play along with him and they are going to play for 3 hours. That’s an evening!

I’m linking you to Will Tilson’s site. He has 4 songs here that you can play and have your own little blues concert. I hope you enjoy!

Food and music. What better ways to celebrate the summer? And meeting new people, of course. I am so looking forward to meeting new dieters as well as old friends.

Cheers to you!

by Zola

Required Reading

I’m definitely not one to read the op-ed page. In fact, I don’t even read the newspaper. Okay, okay. In the interest of full disclosure, I might read my horoscope when I find the paper left on the kitchen counter by my husband. And on Sundays, I love to read the magazines inserted into the paper; things like Parade Magazine.

That doesn’t mean I walk around with my head in a hole, though. I am a bit of a news junkie. I watch the national news like I’m addicted to it, and I also watch our local news to catch up on what’s happening in Chicago. While I’m reading Parade Magazine, I probably have a news program going on the TV, at the same time. When I’m in my car, I invariably have a news-talk station on. WGN is my fave.

So why am I asking you to read this offering in the NY Times’ Op Ed Page?
It’s because I think it should be required reading for every adult on the planet.

When people ask me what I ate for breakfast I tell them that I made a smoothie. It had full fat Greek yogurt in it, frozen strawberries, unsweetened almond milk, a bit of vanilla and stevia and some flaxseed oil. They invariably exclaim that I must be mistaken. I did buy the 0% fat yogurt, right? NOT the full fat stuff - that stuff will make you fat!

And I come back with, “No it won’t. It’s the low fat stuff with the artificial flavorings, artificial sweeteners and the sugar that will make you fat.” Just because they sell that stuff doesn’t make it good for you. Just because the marketers tell you it’s better for you doesn’t make it true. And just because government guidelines tell you that’s what you’re supposed to eat doesn’t mean they're right.

So read this and get the lowdown on what the federal government’s Dietary Guideline did to us as a nation. It’s time for change.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/09/opinion/why-is-the-federal-government-afraid-of-fat.html

I’m not a political activist, but I’d like to see those running for President talk about THIS. The obesity crisis is the biggest problem we have. Literally.

Cheers,

by Zola

What Happens to the Nutritional Value of Your Food Over Time?

When I was a kid, my mother and I did all of the grocery shopping for the week on Saturday. My mother was cooking for seven kids, so the grocery cart was full to overflowing. During the week, the milk and dairy were delivered by the milkman. The egg lady brought the eggs, so what was in the cart didn’t even include those items. During the summer we went to the farm stand on the edge of town. So check that off the grocery store list, too. What was in the cart was mostly meat or anything we needed from the aisles of the store; the canned stuff or things in boxes.

My mother was concerned about food spoilage so that explained why we had chicken on Mondays. The chicken was the first to spoil.

But my mother and I never discussed how quickly the produce we selected would lose its nutritional value. We were mostly concerned with spoilage. Turns out spoilage wasn’t the only thing to keep track of.

As is always the case with the internet, when I started my research for this column I came across some conflicting information. Some writers profess that produce loses nutritional value at an alarming rate and some don’t. I try to stick with sources that cite studies or come from publications I trust.

For example, I came across this excerpt from an article published by the Chicago Tribune: “University of California studies show that vegetables can lose 15 to 55 percent of vitamin C, for instance, within a week. Some spinach can lose 90 percent within the first 24 hours after harvest.”

That doesn’t say much for the baby spinach I use in my salads. If the University of California is correct, the best I can say for the spinach I buy at the store is at least I get fiber!

Today must be a day when I am optimistic because I focused on some work published by Jane Lear, who was on staff at Gourmet Magazine for over 20 years. I have always found Gourmet Magazine to be a reliable source. Jane’s take is also backed up by published studies and bodes well for fruit in particular.

“According to an important study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry in May 2006, researchers were surprised to discover that fresh-cut fruit such as mangoes, pineapples, kiwifruits, strawberries, watermelon, and cantaloupe do not lose most of their nutrients—including antioxidants vitamin C, carotenoids, and phenols—when stored in clear plastic clamshell containers and refrigerated for a few days. They were compared to the same fruits, left whole, stored for the same duration but sliced or diced on the day of sampling.

In general, fresh-cut fruits visually spoil before any significant nutrient loss occurs,” wrote the researchers, who didn’t add any chemicals to prevent the fruit from oxidizing or losing its visual appeal. Here’s the rundown of how much vitamin C, for instance, each type of fresh-cut fruit lost in six days:

Mango, strawberry, and watermelon: less than 5%
Pineapple: 10%
Kiwi: 12%
Cantaloupe: 25%

And although the total content of carotenoids (antioxidants related to vitamin A) decreased in cantaloupe cubes and peeled kiwifruit slices during refrigerator storage for up to nine days, it actually increased in mango and watermelon cubes in response to light exposure.

And that brings me to an exciting discovery published just a couple of weeks ago in the journal Current Biology. A team of scientists at Rice University and the University of California at Davis has found that, for some days after harvest, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, zucchini, carrots, sweet potatoes, and blueberries continue to respond to circadian rhythms (day-night cycles of light), allowing them to alter levels of certain phytochemicals that protect them from being eaten by insects and other herbivores. Those same chemical compounds have anti-cancer effects when eaten by humans. It will be fascinating to see what the consequences are for everyone who stores produce, including growers, shippers, and sellers—whether at the farmers market or the grocery store.”

Jane also addressed some concerns for busy cooks who have to prepare food ahead of meal time. I agree with what Jane offered up so I am passing that along to you, too.

Preparing food ahead of time—a few helpful techniques, tips, and strategies

“Every smart, organized home cook knows that meals—or components of meals—made ahead of time are like money in the bank. And children who grow up eating delicious home-cooked food—even if it’s prepared in advance and reheated by a caregiver—are far more likely to cook for themselves when they are adults. A happy and grateful assortment of roommates, boyfriends, girlfriends, and spouses will have you to thank.

Blanching is one way to keep vegetables flavorful and crisp; you simply bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the vegetables—green beans, for instance—for a minute or so. But water-soluble vitamins (B complex and C) do leach into the cooking water and eventually go down the drain. To help protect those nutrients, avoid using too much water or cooking the vegetables too long. It also helps to repurpose the cooking water, so use it to make soup, rice, or pasta. You can even use it instead of oil to sauté broccoli rabe or broccoli after blanching. And remember, B and C vitamins are found in lots of foods. If your family eats a varied diet that includes both cooked and raw fruits and vegetables, they’ll receive plenty of both.

Steaming vegetables in a rack placed over simmering water is another way to go. Because the vegetables aren’t actually submerged in the water, they retain more water-soluble vitamins. You can reuse the cooking water from steamed vegetables as well.

Roasting vegetables couldn’t be simpler—simply toss the vegetables with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper and pop them in the oven at 375 to 400°. The high heat will caramelize (brown) them, turning them crisp around the edges and sweet. Many a child who says he or she hates vegetables has fallen hard for roasted carrots or slices of sweet potato.
(You’ll notice in most of my recipes I go the roasting route with vegetables. I find the flavor stays with the vegetables as they roast and the result is a deeper flavor than cooking any other way.)

Microwaving cooks vegetables faster than other forms of cooking and with very little added fat or water, so they generally retain more nutrients than they usually do. Using the microwave oven to reheat foods is also easy and quick.”

I am one of those people leery of microwaves. I use mine mostly to melt butter or soften cream cheese.

If you are lucky enough to have your own garden or have a farmer’s market nearby this body of information definitely supports the effort it takes to buy local.

And often.

I shop almost every day but I’m spoiled. I realize most folks can’t do that. So do your best to get the freshest and the most local you can. Buy what you can eat and don’t expect that celery sitting in the bottom of the produce drawer for a couple of weeks to offer much up in the way of nutrition.

Enjoy your fruits and veggies!

Cheers,

by Zola