Meal of the moment

Every so often I try a new dish hoping it will become one of my Weeknight Wonders (a meal with ingredients that are always on hand, which takes less than 20 minutes to prepare and provides leftovers for lunch the next day). As of this week there is a new dish in my Weeknight Wonder repertoire.

Its hero ingredient is a bag of frozen vegies. Much has been written about how they are just as healthy, if not healthier, than fresh vegies because they are frozen fresh. Good news.

The bad news is I sometimes find them unpleasant to eat - it's difficult not to overcook them and can taste frostbitten even if they've only been in my freezer for a week. Despite this I tend to always have a bag of frozen veg on hand (especially peas which I seem to put in everything) for those just in case moments.

But I'm pleased to report that Birds Eye Country Harvest Spring Greens are better than your average bag of frozen veg.

They don't have that icy, frozen taste, they present well and are a mix of green vegies I happen to like a lot. Consequently they form part of my current meal of the moment – a vegie and pesto pasta which I make it with:

Rigatoni (or any pasta you like)
Store-bought pesto
Some good quality goat's cheese
Pine nuts (toasted)
Spring greens mix

The pine nuts add crunch and toasty flavour, the cheese provides creaminess and a tart kick to the dish, while the pasta and pesto do their always-amazing thing. Coating the veg in pesto-y, cheese goodness does a lot to increase their appeal and adding them means you eat less pasta. The addition of some lean protein (grilled chicken breast = perfect fit) would also be awesome.

The result? A dish which....
Takes approximately 15 minutes to prepare
Is filling and satisfying
Includes a couple of serves of vegies
And tastes damn good

This is one of my Weeknight Wonders - what are yours?

Ryan Reynolds: Healthy Eating Hero

Inspired by my good friends at The Unibrain, I dug out the May 2009 issue of Men's Health featuring His Royal Hotness Ryan Reynolds on the cover.

Ignoring the short (and inexplicable) period of time I confused him with Jason Lee, I've always been a fan of RR. I've followed him since his Two Guys, A Girl and A Pizza Place days, and I even stuck with him through the unfortunate dark period I like to call Alanis Morrisette.

To be fair, I'm no way near The Unibrain's #1 Fan status but he is (as of now when I thought of it) Diet Another Day's first-ever Healthy Eating Hero. Let me share these choice moments from his Men's Health interview:

• 'I attribute my results mostly to good nutrition.'
• Ryan doesn't have a personal chef, so he cooks meals in advance. For instance, for breakfast he'll make a large supply of steel-cut oatmeal and freeze it.
  
• 'If you hate your workout you're not going to do it.'
  
• 'Never do any of that carve-starve crap'
• Reyonlds is a big believe in the motivational value that having a training partner can bring.
  
• Ryan ran the New York City marathon last year in order to raise money for Michael J Fox's foundation for Parkinson's disease, a condition his own father suffers from.

Bless. It seems we are so on a shared wavelength he could practically author this blog. We should listen to him. He's fit and his abs are as steel cut as his oats. Exhibit A:

Did I also mention he's not American but Canadian and he and a mate once did a 2-week trip up the east coast of Australia, from Sydney to Brisbane (via the Blue Mountains and Byron Bay), on a motorcycle.

Yep, me and him and The Unibrain = definitely could be friends.

At left: BONUS RR Men's Health cover.

http://www.ew.com/ew
www.theunibrain.blogspot.com

This picture has roughly seven serves of vegies

It's also badly shot, blurry and not really publishable quality. But in the interests of getting dinner on the table I had to move fast.

I took it because I was pretty proud of myself. I was both the purchaser and chop-master of these health-giving vegetables – I felt like the Rainbow Bright of home cooking.

I then turned these vegies into a tasty and comforting lasagne and proved to myself and the world (who have no doubt been desperate for my verdict on this issue) that vegetables can taste good.

Assuming the lasagne puts out about five pieces, that's a serve and a half of vegetables per piece – plate it up with a side salad and you're up to two and a half. (Vegies that is, not men because then that wouldn't be an enjoyable meal but rather a very unfunny sitcom.)

Health authorities say we should eat '2 &5' every day, the thought of which makes people think they need to abandon the dishes they love for rabbit food.

Well, unless you know a rabbit with thumbs and a pyrex lasagne dish, I would say my vegetable dish was nothing like what a bunny would eat – and a serve of it for dinner, plus leftovers for lunch the next day, is a vegetable high five right there.

(If you're interested the vegies are sweet potato, red capsicum, mushrooms, leek, zucchini and basil. I turn them into lasagne with a store-bought passata, low-fat ricotta and lasagne sheets. It's easy and pretty low-fat as the ricotta makes it creamy and not dry without having to be a cheese fest.)

The week that was....

RIP Slimming & Health
I'm sad to report the demise this week of Slimming & Health. In the world of magazines, S&H was the little engine that could – hard-working, reliable, solid and useful. Sadly, forced to live at a company that wants everything to be the Orient Express, its value was no longer appreciated. Demise is in fact an inappropriate way to describe its closure as sales were solid and readers were loyal to the end but unfortunately it will no longer grace our newsstands. In fact, it was one of the few women's titles to experience growth in readership last quarter. With news outlets reporting that supermarket sales are up, eating out is in decline and the health market is growing, you would think this would a prime time for a mag like S&H. Seems it's not so. As someone noted to me when informed of the closure, 'It's a shame as it was the only mag with anything useful in it.'



Say NO to liquid calories
Despite the best efforts of CHOICE, that guy who is suing Coco-Cola on the basis of misleading claims and my ranting to anyone who will listen, Vitamin Water continues its assault. A friend informed me that a PR delivery was frantically snapped up by her colleagues like it was a miracle health tonic. Armed with my ranting in her head, said friend was a lone voice in the chaos, willing people to PUT DOWN THE LOLLY WATER. 'It's cordial,' she urged. She's not sure anyone heard over the slurping or in the haze of the resultant sugar high but the crusade continues.

Don't be fooled by the words on the bottle – energy, focus, revive, vitamin – this drink will not make you healthy. Vitamin Water is better named Sugar Water as a bottle contains 27g of the stuff, or about the same as a chocolate bar and not much less than a can of Coke.

Some highlights from their website include celebrating that it's 'Gluten Free!' (as opposed to gluten-rich regular water I normally drink?) and that yes, it contains sugar but it's 'a proprietary blend of crystalline fructose and pure cane sugar.' Phewf, now that I'm fooled into believing that the sugar is healthy because it's pure, and confused into thinking the made-up-in-a-laboratory sugar is better for me, I can happily gulp down litres every day. Thanks Coca-Cola for caring about my health.

This yoghurt tastes like mayonnaise....

Not really. Just a perfect chance to use one of my all time favourite movie quotes courtesy of Spike in Notting Hill. It was with great excitement that my nothing-like-Spike friend Amy V alerted me to the opening of Igloo Zoo in Australia. It's inspired by (read: ripped off from) Pinkberry in the US and it sells delightful frozen yoghurt and a selection of brightly-coloured treats to top it with. I was pleased as unlike ice-cream I can stomach frozen yoghurt.

It pitches itself as a healthy alternative to ice-cream, emphasising its antioxidant content, low-fatness and active cultures. Amy's unbridled excitement was tempered only by a final question to me about whether or not it was really healthy. I felt equal parts pride and guilt at her question - pride that I was her go-to girl for an honest and studied appraisal of the product. Guilt that I may turned my friends to be as cynical as I am.

Igloo Zoo have a very fancy website which is as informative as it is funky. I was able to answer her question from the nutritional information supplied from the site. There have been studies about nutritional labels and how many people have no idea how to read them, even when they think they do. That's mostly because to make a proper assessment you really need to do some reading between the lines, as well as have peripheral knowledge. I won't bore you with a lesson here but have some insights into how I was able to declare Igloo Zoo a good choice as an occaisional treat.

Serving size
Labels usually give info per serve and per 100g. The trouble is, WTF is a serve? These guys were generous enough to point out that a small is one serve, medium is two and large is three serves. Some high school maths and I could properly re-gig the figures for my purposes.

But a new Mexican takeaway joint at my local mall is a good lesson in why all is not as it seems when it comes to serves. They place their nutritional brochure front and centre on the counter. It's an obvious marketing ploy, as in 'We aren't trying to hide anything therefore we must be healthy.' Healthy, I don't know, but faced with other options in the food court I was hoping it would at least be healthier. A quick glance at the brochure led me to believe yes – until I noticed all nutritional info was per 100g. Me: 'How many grams in a burrito?' Teenager behind the counter: 'Er, 200.' Thereby doubling all the figures and quickly demisting my rose-coloured glasses.

Kilojoules v calories
A kilojoule by any other name is a calorie. They are both measurements of energy - one is metric (kJ), the other is imperial (cal). As Australia went all modern and metric in 1966 we're supposed to use kJ. The trouble is the US and the UK are still on calories so both remain in common usage. Damn that imperialistic imperialism. One kJ is 4.184 calories. The number of kJs you need to eat daily is dependent on so many things but should roughly be around 6,500-8,000 for an average-sized woman. For example that might be 1,500kJ for breakfast, 2,500kJ for lunch and 3,000kJ for dinner.

As previously discussed, I'm not a calorie/kJ counter but knowing this makes it easier to understand why you should order a medium at Igloo Zoo, when a large frozen yoghurt has 1,400kJ before you add any of the sugary toppings.

Sugar
Low fat isn't everything when it comes to food. We know Igloo Zoo is 99.4% fat free because their marketing material shouts it at us, so reading that part of the label offers little enlightenment. What they don't print on a sandwich board to put outside their shop, it that a large size, sans toppings, contains about 15 teaspoons of sugar. You can read why I believe sugar is very bad to have in your diet here.

THE VERDICT
I'm not buying into the spin that this frozen yoghurt is a health food. The antioxidant content is not special enough for them to explain it further and the live cultures would be in numbers too small to be useful, not to mention strains that are ineffective. But it is low in fat, decent for kilojoules and as bad for sugar as any sweet treat, and that includes fruit juice. Will I breakfast on it daily? No. But I'll definitely be trying it and hoping it tastes as good as it looks.

Warning: this dish may cause back fat and cellulite

Having just returned from enjoying a delicious lunch at wagamama, I'm now pondering the merits of food outlets providing nutritional information about their dishes. I'm not a calorie counter, rather I try to eat instinctively based on my above-average knowledge of things diet and nutrition related.

For example, at wagamama I ordered the Spice Chicken Itame. It's chicken breast pieces, stir-fried with broccoli, onion, chilli and zucchini, a host of other flavouring and served with white rice. My rationale for choosing is thus: it contains good quality protein (lean chicken), vegies and a satisfying but not ridiculous serve of carbohyrdates. It's also not creamy and rich like the curried dishes on the menu, oh and it tastes really, really good. Like 'I crave it between visits' good.

Once I'd all but licked the bowl I could see it was lined with an oily residue. This reminded me that although instictive eating can achieve much, unless I prepare a meal myself there is no way of actually knowing what it contains. A colleage of mine once interviewed food critic Matthew Evans (now food columnist at Grazia), who explained that most restaurant food is laced with hidden butter and other fat like duck or goose fat. I bet two thirds of a chef's gruelling apprenticeship is spent learning how to skillfully hide it.

I saw this first hand on Sunday while lunching at the Pasta & Panini bar at David Jones Food Hall. It's a sit-at-the-counter affair, where you watch while the cook finishes off the semi-prepared food in front of you. I was virtually mid 'I'll have the pumpkin risotto...' when I caught another customer's being prepared on the hot plate. My best homecook-estimate puts the butter added at 50g. I ordered spaghetti Bolognese.

Despite these experiences, I don't advocate plastering menus with nutritional information. On my recent trip to the US I had the misfortune of eating McDonald's at LAX. Once I'd polished off my faux-healthy grilled chicken wrap (and er, fries), I spotted the tray mat staring back at me with nutritional info for the entire menu. Not much to good to me after the fact, except to make me feel even more disgusting and guilty about what I had eaten. And I venture that for the fast food frequenters who this is designed to empower, it would do little to deter the next impulsive visit.

At the risk of sounding like a Duggar, the answer is we should prepare more of our own food. If we cooked food for ourselves more often, the occasional meal out doesn't need to be overscrutnised. Apart from being better for the budget and waistline, there are broader arguments about cooking in the home being positive enviromentally, socially and mentally. I'm talking about the financial crisis-induced revolution against consumerism, 80-hour working weeks and the disconnected life. It's about nutritional education, not information.

I'll step back from broader arguments now and return to regular hilarious* programming. So wagamama lunch tasted great, I enjoyed my DJs spag bol despite not knowing about its potential hidden fat and I'll try as much as possible to eat in so I can enjoy these meals on a regular (but not too regular) basis.

*According to a survey of me. And my boyfriend.

A piece-a-pizza

In response to the deluge of requests* for some of my tasty-but-not-too-lardy recipes, I offer a particular favourite of mine – Kumera & Blue Cheese Pizza.

(Deluge technically equates to none. But my understanding is that recipe sites are going gang busters and recipe searches drive a great deal of traffic to general lifestyle sites. So in my quest for World Wide Web Domination.....)

1 x store-bought pizza base You can make your own. Personally, I get scared of any recipe involving yeast. Try to compare nutritional labels as some can be calorie-tastic. For example the Bazaar single serve bases are muy deliciouso but have about 2,000kJ each. I use a fancy-looking Italian style one (the name of which escapes me) and it's just as filling, good on kJs and very gourMET.

1 x kumera (sweet potato) Thinly sliced, sprayed lightly with olive oil and grilled or roasted. I stick 'em straight in my sandwich press/grill as it's extra speedy, though the oven gives a nicer flavour I feel.

1 x onion, sliced and carmelised I heat a pan on a low heat, heat a touch of olive oil and cook the onion as slowly as time and hunger allow. At the last minute I add a splash of balsamic vinegar and a dash of brown sugar.

Pesto or sauce of some kind I usually mix a bit of pesto with a less-made-from-oil sauce, like tomato paste or pizza sauce.

Blue cheese Any brand you like/can afford

To assemble Coat the pizza base well with sauce and top with caramelised onion and roasted kumera. Sprinkle with reduced-fat grated cheddar or mozzarella. Crumble the blue cheese into small pieces and scatter atop the pizza. Use as much as you feel you're allowed but don't overdo it as the flavour is quite powerful.

Bake in a hot oven (240C) for about 10-15 minutes. Before serving top with black pepper and baby spinach or rocket. Serves 2.

You can pretty much add whatever you like to this pizza, variations of mine include pine nuts, walnuts, grilled chicken and whatever vegies I have in the fridge. Boyfriend who runs marathons at lunch drizzles his with olive oil and chilli flakes.

I also try to serve this with a green salad to a) break up the carb frenzy and b) lower the overall GI of the meal, which is further aided by an olive oil and vinegar dressing.

When exercise turns bad

Madonna's ex-chef, Eric Ienco, revealed to the National Inquirer that her daily routine involves getting up, having a coffee and then doing two, 2-hour exercise sessions of yoga and Pilates. Yikes. I'm tired just thinking about it.

He says: 'Madonna puts herself before the kids. When she adopted little David, he arrived at her home from Africa, and three hours later, she left to do pilates. Wouldn’t you think she’d want to spend the entire day with her new son?' Well, I would but then I'm one of those crazy people who doesn't do 4 hours of Pilates every day. Hang on a minute... have I got crazy mixed up again?

Two key observations:
1. If an ordinary, non-Madonna person (ie everyone but Gwyneth) tried to fit that much exercise into her daily routine (a full-time job, transiting, housework, eating, sleep) it would leave less than half an hour a day for sitting on the couch. Bahumbug to that.

2. If Madonna is the representation of what that much exercise turns out, I definitely don't wanna do it. I don't want to sound like one of the haters who uses 'Madonna Arms' as a euphemism for everything that's wrong with over-exercising, but I will. Apart from not looking that good, her obsession with exercise has seemingly skewed her priorities.

Please know this isn't a whiney 'celebrities have everything, poor me' moan. Rather it's a reminder not to let this type of privilege de-motivate you. Just because you can't do four hours a day of exercise, it doesn't mean you should do nothing at all. It's a reality check that too much exercise might actually make you ugly – and that Madge is probably jealous of your half hour walk combined with an ability to enjoy time with family and friends.

PS I do feel bad that she fell of a horse.

Walk this way

Yes I'm still alive and blogging and I hereby promise / threaten to post more regularly. I've also hopped on this wild horse that is the web and will shortly have a pretty website all of my own so am currently embracing all things web. Stay tuned. (Also inspired to post again by my hilarious friends at The Unibrain... you really should follow them.)

I have a somewhat embarrassing confession to make. It seems I took my own advice a little too seriously (the diet another day bit) and managed to stack on a few kgs over the last few months. Blame Europe. Blame Winter. Blame the festive season. Blame the boyfriend. But really it's all my fault for eating and drinking more than my little body needed to actually live. Now I suffer the consequences of a wardrobe that only half fits. Pop... that's the top button of my jeans committing suicide.

But this is a good news story. Still carrying the weight from my last overseas trip in July last year, I recently took off for another sojourn to Mexico and London. Egads! I hear you say...Mexico? London? These are the anti-health food capitals of the world! Not to mention I'd been commissioned to write a story about food in Mexico - so I was legally obligated by the tax office to do as much eating as possible. (For details of my eating you can check out the Sept issue of Women's Health for some of that food porn).

I remind you this is a good news story and the happy development is, that after 3 weeks of eating my way through Mexico, London and LA I came home lighter and more toned than when I left. Not 'oh my god, is that Posh Spice?' thin but reduced enough that I could squeeze myself into a pair of jeans that would not do up before I left.

The reason is very clear. I walked. A lot. I trekked from the ranch to the beach in LA, I walked up pyramids and mountains in Mexico, I traipsed up and down stairs at Tube stations, strolled the length of airport terminals and powered through shopping malls is all places. And I have the blisters to prove it.

I have been reading and writing about the power of walking a lot. Bob Greene, Oprah's trainer and weight-loss guru (er, maybe not the best professional recommendation) says walking is his favourite exercise. The National Weight Control Registry in the US (a massive longitudal study) reports walking is the best way to lose weight and keep it off. And studies of populations who live the longest and healthiest show they are walkers, and not gym junkies.

Now that I'm home and reacquainted with my laptop and the Foxtel remote the temptation is to spend more time on the couch than pounding the pavement. I've been trying my best to go for daily walks and even posted this is the hope for further motivation. When all else fails I typically remind myself that the more I walk, the more I can eat.