| All content is © 2007, 2008 by Duck In A Boat, LLC True Love: An Intimate Dinner for Valentine's Day January 28, 2008
he wrote, “Grow old along with me, the best has yet to be…” For love that lasts for a lifetime, keep the romance, but reduce the carbs. Grilled Artichokes with Mustard Dressing Pan Seared Wild Salmon with Rhubarb Ginger Chutney Mixed Greens with Glazed Pecans and Cranberry Dressing Hominy “Risotto” Tiramisu Mousse Chocolate Dipped Strawberries Chilled Champagne and Café Mocha Recipes in bold are from Carb Wars; Sugar is the New Fat "Make Sweet Treats Without the Sugar" January 16, 2008
of my recipes and describes my book as one of those "too good-to-be-true" loopholes for your new year's resolutions. I missed seeing the original article, but it is still available on the Internet. Here's the link: www.heraldnet.com/article/20080102/LIVING01/604156517/1065/LIVING01 Thanks, Judyrae! And Bon Appétit to you too! January 8, 2008
an expensive skillet, a top-of-the-line chef’s knife, magazines, and lots of other goodies show up, gratis. Bon Appétit, one magazine I often buy (don’t tell them), now materializes unbidden in my mailbox. Don’t let that stack of syrupy pancakes on the cover fool you; the February issue of Bon Appétit magazine got it mostly right. The cover says “The Green Issue / Feel Good Food.” And it delivers. - “The Meat of the Matter,” by Bruce Aidells: His "Eco-friendly Meat Guide" lists bison, grass-fed beef, heritage pork, period. His recipes brought tears to my eyes…I remember dishes like these…ones that have all but disappeared from American tables. - “Why I’m Not a Vegetarian,” by Molly Wizenberg. This is Molly’s first article for Bon Appétit. It seems she was discovered via her food blog Orangette, where she’s been blogging away since 2004. This is food writing and photography to be digested at a leisurely pace, savoring every morsel. I haven’t read through her archives yet, but they are like a treasure trove waiting to be discovered. (The reason she’s not a vegetarian? Sausage.) - Nina Planck, author of Real Food, takes a stand against fat phobia in “Health Wise / Just the Fats.” She gives “the straight story on trans fats and some good advice…butter is better.” Here’s another quote: “Use the fat of our fore-mothers: butter, lard, even coconut oil. On closer inspection, it’s clear that natural saturated fats are good for you.” By the way, the pancakes on the cover are whole grain and the blueberries are wild. We’d probably all still be able to eat them if we didn’t have metabolisms that have been compromised by trans fats, white flour, fructose, and junk. We might even be able to handle an occasional coconut cupcake like the one on page 122 or the banana pie on 120 if we had never eaten anything but good, natural, real food. Cinnamon Warning January 8, 2008
prophylactic for insulin resistance and diabetes. In one of the videos on her Website, Nina Simonds recommends adding a whole teaspoon of cinnamon to your morning latte. (She is the author of A Spoonful of Ginger and Spices of Life, which emphasize the healthful properties of spices.) While one-half teaspoonful of cinnamon a day was the dosage that was recommended by the researchers who found it’s beneficial effect, many people assume that if a little is good, more is better. But there is a potential danger in taking too much or the wrong kind. Cinnamon contains coumarin, an anti-coagulant and possibly carcinogenic substance that can cause liver inflammation. One source said that as little as three cinnamon cookies could contain enough of the toxin to harm a small child. There are two kinds of cinnamon, but product labels do not usually identify the type. Ceylon or true cinnamon is a pale tan color; it is milder, sweeter, and more expensive than cassia. Cassia, or common cinnamon, is redder, stronger in flavor, and cheaper. Ceylon cinnamon sticks are tight rolls of thin layers; cassia sticks are hollow tubes of thicker, rougher, bark. Cassia cinnamon contains .5% coumarin, while Ceylon contains only .0004%. An additional source for coumarin is vanilla. An extract of tonka beans, the seed of the Dipteryx odorata tree from Brazil, is often used as a substitute for vanilla, and some brands, especially ones from Mexico, may be contaminated with large amounts of the toxin. It has been illegal to sell products containing tonka bean extract in the US since 1954. The European Food Safety Authority concluded that the TDI (tolerable daily intake) for coumarin is .0002 ounces per day, an amount easily exceeded during the Christmas season. There is no threat if the amount is exceeded for a short time only. (www.bfr.bund.de/cd/8487) The damage is reversible in a few weeks, but taking supplements made from powdered cassia bark regularly may not be such a good idea. However, since coumarin is not water soluble, a water extract of cinnamon will not contain any of the hazardous compounds. I have gone back to adding a stick of cinnamon to the water I use for making tea while I am looking for a cinnamon supplement that states unequivocally that it is a water extract. I don’t know how to tell how much extract I am getting this way, especially since I reuse the sticks, but at least I can’t over-dose on it. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Indy Sports, the Men's Magazine features "Carb Wars" January 7, 2008
Holiday Recipes for the Meat and Potatoes Man,” by Teresa Tanoos. It included two menus for Holiday meals based on recipes from the book. On the opposite page was “How to Read Labels, advice from Carb Wars and Judy Barnes Baker.” I just received a copy of the magazine today; it is beautifully done and I am thrilled to be featured in this fantastic publication! Indy Sports has a potential readership of over 100,000 readers. Click here to see the articles. Eating Low Carb in the Sky January 4, 2008
surrender a sizable portion of your already cramped space to accommodate the overflow from a seatmate. Before you get off the ground, the stewards must pass out seatbelt extenders to passengers whose belts don’t fit and rearrange the seating to put overweight flyers next to an empty seat if one is available, which is rare these days. Airlines have been sued by humiliated passengers who were not allowed on flights or were forced to pay a double fare. All that extra weight has increased the cost of fuel and made flying more expensive for everyone. My exhausted husband, who just returned from an international business trip, was eager to tell me that two of the meals on his flights on Delta Airlines featured low-carb sides. Neither was billed as such on the menu, but one dinner featured mashed cauliflower, and another was accompanied by a serving of spaghetti squash. He was delighted to have something he could eat and reported that both dishes were quite good. I find it very encouraging that this airline is making an effort to accommodate those of us who prefer an alternative to potatoes, rice, and pasta. And who would be better served than an airline by helping their passengers control their weight? The Biggest Loser January 3, 2008
finish. Although I know that most television shows, even the reality shows, are carefully scripted, I found it appalling. It looked like a reenactment of the Bataan death march from World War II. Suffering, pain, emotion, triumph, and despair may make compelling entertainment, but at what price? And I’m not just referring to the unlucky contestants who were bullied, ridiculed, and abused but to the impression the show leaves with the viewer that this is what it takes to lose weight and get healthy. Extreme exertion is probably counter-productive, if not dangerous, especially to those who are not in top physical condition, yet most people continue to think it is good for them. The first person to run a marathon dropped dead after running 26 miles from Marathon to Athens with news of the Greek’s victory over the Persians. Robert Browning, who must have been a big sports fan, wrote in Pheidippedes, “Joy in his blood bursting his heart, he died—the bliss!” Modern marathons continue to claim victims and can cause irreversible damage to the heart. Exercise is a good thing for many reasons, but it is not necessary for weight loss. You don’t have to throw up, go to the hospital, develop blisters, or endure humiliation and abuse like the participants on Tuesday’s show. Weight loss comes naturally as part of a healthful low-carb lifestyle and that is what I call bliss. Pumpkin Update December 27, 2007
pumpkins in spite of our very short, cool summer. Two are still stored in the garage; two have been successfully fried, steamed, creamed, souped, and candied. I purchased a large butternut squash to cook along with the pumpkin in each of the preparations for comparison. They were almost identical in taste and texture. The available nutrition information is not specific enough to differentiate between pumpkin varieties, but butternut squash comes in at 12 net grams of carbohydrate in ½ cup, cooked and mashed, while the pumpkin net count is given as only 4 or 5 for the same amount. If the blues really have the same number of carbs as the generic pumpkins that were used for testing, they would have a significant advantage. My kids think it wouldn’t be Christmas if I didn’t make candied sweet potatoes for them. I bit my tongue and served them their old holiday favorite without recriminations, but I made my faux version for my husband and me with the new blue pumpkin. For the ultimate test, I persuaded my son to try a taste to see how it compared to the real sweet potato dish. He agreed that the sugar-free, blue pumpkin was quite acceptable as a substitute for the original, in all its gooey glory. The blue pumpkin had the same texture and it caramelized beautifully. So it looks like I will try growing blue pumpkins again next summer. Perhaps there will be enough to put some in the freezer so I won’t have such a long wait for another blue moon. The recipe below is from Carb Wars. Faux Candied Yams (Candied Pumpkin) One fresh pie pumpkin (about 1 ½ pounds) 4 Tablespoons of butter (½ a stick) 2 slices of lemon with peel (about ¼ of a small lemon) ½ cup of granular Splenda® ½ teaspoon of cinnamon A pinch of salt ¼ cup of Da Vinci Sugar-free Simple Syrup or substitute ¼ cup of water and increase the Splenda to ¾ cup (adds 1 net carb per serving) Cut the pumpkin in half, scrape out the seeds and fibers, and cut into slices. Pare the slices with a vegetable peeler. Cut the slices into ½-inch by 3-inch pieces, similar in size to fat french fries. Melt the butter in a skillet and add the pumpkin. Squeeze the lemon slices over the pumpkin, and then drop them into the pan. Mix the Splenda with the cinnamon and salt and sprinkle over the pumpkin. Add the syrup or water. Cook, stirring and basting with the pan liquid, over medium heat until the pumpkin is tender and starting to brown and caramelize. Add more water if necessary. It will take about 20 to 25 minutes. Makes 6 servings. Per Serving—Total Carb: 4.8g, Fiber: 0.4g, Net Carb: 4.4 Menus for New Year's Celebrations December 26, 2007
With a low-carb feast like this one, your actions will match your words when you raise a glass and toast “to your health!” Hot Brie with Almonds and Candied Kumquats Macadamia and Coconut Crusted Shrimp with Sweet and Spicy Sauce Platter of Cold Sliced Roast Beef, Turkey, and Ham with Mustard, Horseradish, and Cranberry Sauce Sliced Tomatoes, Dill Pickles, and Assorted Olives Pumpkin Tamales Waldorf Salad Basket of Mixed Flour Bread, Tortillas, and Parmesan Sesame Crackers Raspberry Trifle Champagne and an assortment of beverages on ice NEW YEAR'S DAY DINNER: Traditional foods for New Year’s Day are not the festive, rich feasts of the recent holidays, but simple, rustic, everyday foods. The belief that eating such foods would insure a plentiful supply of the same for the coming year has its roots in many folk customs. In Arkansas, where I grew up, eating pork and black-eyed peas guaranteed good fortune. My husband, from West Virginia, says his uncle Ben always had a bite of pork and sauerkraut on his fork ready to eat at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve. Pigs symbolize luck, fertility, and abundance in many different cultures. Beans of various kinds represent coins; cabbage and leafy greens signify paper money, while yellow-colored cornbread means you will receive gold. Ham and Tepary Bean Soup Choucroute Garni Fried Cornbread Apple Galette with Heavy Cream Recipes in bold are from Carb Wars; Sugar is the New Fat Minding Your Brain December 22, 2007
The Brain Trust Program has already posted eight not-to-be-missed articles about the care and feeding of your brain. His latest, explains the chicken or the egg conundrum of how we could have developed the kind of intelligence necessary to provide our brains with a nutrient dense diet before we actually had brains capable of the skill and cunning needed to procure such a diet. Living along the shoreline, where eggs, mollusks, and crustaceans were abundant and easily harvested, would have provided a high-protein, high-fat diet for early humans, according to Dr. McCleary. As I mentioned in the seafood chapter in my book, humans are the only primates who have webbed digits, bearing testimony to our historical stint along the coast of some ancient African sea and providing a clue as to why Omega-3 fats are so essential to our well-being. The Brain Trust Program should be required reading for those of us who have trouble remembering what we were going to say long enough to finish a sentence or where we parked the car; for anyone who suffers from hot flashes or migraines; in fact, for anyone who has a brain. Dr. McCleary's easy-to-understand articles on his Website are an additional bonus. Don't miss a single one. Here is a quote from Becoming A Brain by Dr. McCleary: "High energy requirements and the demand for a nutrient dense diet with abundant long-chain omega 3 fatty acids are critical for optimal brain function and act to slow brain aging. The efficiency with which the brain metabolizes glucose declines as we age. If energetic demands are to be successfully met as we age, ketone bodies are an ideal fuel source because they generate energy with lower oxygen use and are delivered to the brain via a different transporter than glucose uses." www.drmccleary.com/2007/12/21/BecomingABrain.aspx A Chocolate Star is Born December 17, 2007
heard that he has designed a new candy bar made by the company that gives us ChocoPerfection™, the world’s best sugar- free chocolate bar. Lucky me, I was one of those chosen to receive a free sample of his new bar before it hits the market. If he wanted an enthusiastic endorsement, he sure picked the right mailbox! The Jimmy Moore Livin' La Vida Low-Carb bar is a chocoholic’s dream come true. The same wonderful, deep dark chocolate on the outside as the dark ChocoPerfection™ bars, but with a surprise on the inside—a soft, moist, raspberry-flavored, truffle center. Jimmy is letting the suspense build before he tells us how to order them, but I’m going to ask him to reserve several boxes for me, because I know they are going to sell out as soon as he makes the announcement. Thanks, Jimmy for making this fabulous candy available. What a great gift to all your readers! USA Book News Awards December 15, 2007
Diet, and Weight Loss category. You can see the listing at: www.usabooknews.com/health/dietweightloss.html The Best Anti-wrinkle Treatment Money Can’t Buy December 12, 2007
description of a very expensive product developed by Dr. Fredric Brandt to prevent wrinkles: “A new category of antiaging treatments is aimed at preventing sugar from damaging skin. When we consume sweets, excess sugar attaches to elastin fibers, causing them to harden. This process, called glycation, makes skin lose elasticity and wrinkle more easily. ‘Products containing anti-inflammatory alistin prevent glycation,’ says Brandt, who recently introduced Dr. Brandt Lineless Anti-Glycation Serum ($90).” This reminds me of the anti-smoking ads showing how cigarettes cause pucker lines to form on the upper lip. If cancer and death wouldn’t convince you to quit smoking, perhaps the fear of wrinkles would. Maybe the same tactic would work for sugar. Dr. Brandt’s serum may be a dandy way to prevent sugar damage to the skin on your face, but just think of the implications! If you don’t eat the sugar to start with, you can have the same treatment, not only for your face, but for ALL of your skin and every other part of your whole body as well, inside and out, without spending a penny! How to Overcome Sweet Holiday Temptations December 12, 2007
Carb Experts Weight In, yesterday on her blogtalk radio show. Thank you also to Jimmy Moore who organized the panel, which included Jimmy, Laura Dolson, Christin Sherburn, and me. Connie plans to post the tips gleaned from the discussion on her site. You can listen to the show by going to: www.blogtalkradio.com/feeds/stopsugarshock. Gary Taubes at UC Berekey December 10, 2007
to Care." If you have read Gary's book, Good Calories, Bad Calories, it gives a bit more detail about the subject. If you have not, you'll see why you should. It is 1 hour and 45 minutes long, but well worth the time: http://webcast.berkeley.edu/event_details. php?webcastid=21216 One quote from the lecture shows very clearly how things went so terribly wrong and why it is so hard to bring about any change: "There’s a group at the University of Cincinnati that did an Atkins vs. low-fat study and they found that the Atkins people lost twice as much weight and they liked the diet much better. I was interviewing the dietitian who did the study. She had agreed to talk to me but she was very hesitant — she didn’t offer up any information. Finally, at the end of the interview, the one thing she offered freely: I asked her who funded it and she said the American Heart Association. I said, “Well, I have to give them credit for funding it.” She said, “Don’t. They funded it because we proposed it as a study that would refute the benefit. And when we found that the Atkins diet really worked and worked better than the low-calorie diet, now we’re trying to get money to look further into it and they won’t give it to us.” There's also a fantastic article on the Taubes book from a Canadian paper, the Ottawa Citizen, called "Good Food, Bad Food." Here is the link: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/arts/story.html?id=0e14c04c-5ff8-431d-bd8b-7fbcb55a35f0" Thank you to Jimmy Moore for finding this article. We can always count on Jimmy to keep us up to date on all the low-carb news. Holiday Indulgence without January Remorse November 30, 2007
eating revealed by several best-selling new books, including Good Calories, Bad Calories, by Gary Taubes. According to Taubes, you can’t get fat without carbohydrates, but you can enjoy all your seasonal favorites, such as pumpkin and mincemeat pie, fruitcake, cranberry sauce, candy, breads, cookies, and even delicious stand-ins for mashed potatoes and candied sweet potatoes. Read the sumptuous menus below to see how rich, satisfying, festive, and traditional low-carb food can be. Recipes in bold are from Carb Wars; Sugar Is The New Fat. CHRISTMAS EVE SUPPER: Blini with Crème Fraîche and Caviar Pan Seared Duck Breasts with Kumquats in Syrup Cheese Polenta Baby Green Beans Corn Muffins with Butter Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Chocolate Glaze Icing Eggnog CHRISTMAS BRUNCH: Cranberry Clafouti Oven Bacon Café au Lait CHRISTMAS DINNER: French Onion Soup Standing Beef Rib Roast with Pan Gravy Celery Root “Mashed Potatoes” Fruit and Nut Compote Braised Fennel Hot Popovers with Butter Mincemeat Pie with Hard Sauce Sweeteners Update October 29, 2007
and date sugar in the discussion about the different kinds of sweeteners in my book. I did not include most of them because, in my opinion, they offer little advantage over common table sugar. However since the subject continues to come up, I will address it here. Let me point out at the start that “natural” is not synonymous with “safe.” Nature abounds with natural poisons: arsenic, mercury, lead, death cap mushrooms, puffer fish, anthrax, and snake venom to name a few. Also, keep in mind that many foods that we consider healthful, like parsley, cabbage, beans, celery, tomatoes, and basil contain poisons and antinutrients that can be dangerous in large amounts. Potatoes can contain lethal amounts of solanine; those big green bananas called plaintains cause heart disease; lima beans, flax seed, and almonds contain high levels of cyanide. (Fifteen bitter almonds, the kind used in the Italian cookies called amaretti, can cause serious illness or death.) In fact, most vegetables, even after thousands of years of selective cultivation, still contain some potentially harmful substances. (Jeffery Steingarten included a chapter titled: “Salad the Silent Killer,” in his very entertaining book, The Man Who Ate Everything.) Let’s look at some of those “healthy, all-natural, minimally-processed” sweeteners: -Agave nectar is touted as a healthful, natural alternative to sucrose because it has a very low glycemic index, so it doesn’t cause a spike in blood sugar or raise insulin levels. However, the dangers of fructose are well known and agave nectar is almost 100% pure fructose. High fructose corn syrup contains only 45% fructose; agave syrup has twice as much of this most dangerous of all the sugars. The reason fructose doesn’t provoke an insulin response is that it does not enter the blood stream but is metabolized in the liver where it is converted directly into triglycerides (fats). It promotes fat storage, especially around the midsection and the organs. It has been implicated as a major contributor to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome. Fructose also increases the formation of advanced glycation end-products, known by the acronym AGEs, because they promote the cross-linking of proteins which speeds up the aging process. According to Dr. Michael Eades, fructose “… is a driving force behind the development of insulin resistance and all attendant problems. When researchers want to give lab animals insulin resistance, they feed the animals high doses of fructose.” Here is a link to an article on fructose by Dr. Eades: "Unclear on the Fructose Concept" -Date sugar is simply ground up dates. It is more than 96% sucrose; sucrose is about half glucose and half fructose. Date sugar contains some fiber and some trace minerals and vitamins, but it is essentially the same as common table sugar and causes a similar rise in blood sugar and insulin levels. It does not dissolve and is not a useful substitute for sugar for baking or cooking. -I did include information about stevia in the book. Many people like it, but many find it to be bitter. Some of the more refined brands are said to be less so. Stevia can only be sold as a supplement in this country because it has never been tested or approved for sale as a sweetener. The FDA has been petitioned three time to grant GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status for stevia so that it will not have to go through safety testing, but it has been rejected so far. If you feel more comfortable with stevia than Splenda, one packet of most sweeteners is equal to 2 teaspoons of sugar so they can be used interchangeably in some recipes for sweetening. Stevia powder does not dissolve, ferment, or caramelize. It is heat stable up to 392 degrees F. -Maple syrup is made from the sap of maple trees, which is 2 to 3 percent sucrose. It is collected in buckets and boiled down to make a concentrated syrup. It takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. Most of the sugar is sucrose (like common table sugar), but some, especially in the lesser grades, is glucose and fructose. Maple syrup contains traces of vitamins, especially the B vitamins, and minerals. -Succanat is cane sugar with the water removed. It retains trace amounts of vitamins and minerals that may be lost in the refining process for regular table sugar, but it is still concentrated sucrose. |