Apples to Apples

In the event that summer is now behind us and we are entering my absolute most favorite time of year; It makes sense that before I even had a chance to get my fall jackets, scarves, and riding boots out of my closet…I was purchasing cinnamon, nutmeg, soy butter, and about 60 apples. It was Labor Day weekend, and that was fall enough for me to make my first crisp(s) of the season. From the morning of September 2nd through the end of September 3rd, I made a total of 5 apple/blueberry crisps. Each crisp requires 12 apples and a box of blueberries to complete. I was serving the health conscious, the not so health conscious, the vegan friendly, & the gluten free. With so many different people all with their own tastes I knew I would be kept busy. I don’t know what it is about baking, but I love getting dirty in sugar and flour. I’ve been baking on my own since I was eight years old. I had a friend whose mom gave her a lot of independence as a kid. I would hang out there all day, and in that house we were allowed to bake with no adult supervision. I don’t know for sure how good our stuff tasted back then, or how it came out, but we were pretty much sticking to the “just add water & eggs” Betty Crocker boxes so I am sure we couldn’t have messed it up that much. I remember many days making chocolate cakes in 9x13 rectangular pans, dumping 2 containers of vanilla frosting onto it, topping with sprinkles and then literally grabbing two forks. Who could have foreseen that almost 20 years later I would be purchasing soy butter, unrefined organic sugar, and baking from scratch?
But what I love even more than the actual baking is every ones feedback after they eat what I made them. Really, you can tell me all day how amazing my crisp is. I will never get tired of hearing it. In fact, the more you tell me, the more I will probably make for you since I will associate you with feeling good about myself. I do love that feedback. And this is how I tell you I am appreciative of you. Dogs lick your face, children give you hugs, a boss may give you a raise, and a professor may give you an A. I give you baked goods wrapped with ribbon, or placed in Tupperware. This is how I show my appreciation, gratitude, or thankfulness for your friendship, guidance, support, or all of the above. So needless to say, I was baking this weekend for special people. People who to me had supported me this summer during the times my life was a little up in the air, whether they knew it or not. I will tell you these people were all work related, from my job that I had this summer. My last day working in this particular department was August 31st, even though I did stay with the company for fall, just transitioned into a different role.
Apple crisps are the most perfect thing to bake in the fall. They are a great compliment to the cooling temperatures, earlier sunsets, and Sunday football games. The recipe I use is 100% organic, AND vegan (which means absolutely no animal products including no butter or eggs). While this does not make the crisp a low sugar or low calorie food, it does lower the total fat, and cholesterol. In addition, the organic ingredients are more “guilt free” than if I had used anything artificial (which is a big no no to me). As always it is not about eliminating foods, but more about using the best possible ingredients, making it at home, and of course…staying in a reasonable portion zone. America likes to supersize everything for 25 cents more & to be honest I believe when this tactic is used on children it is a sick form of child abuse. It is also unfair to all of the consumers who don’t study nutrition and are confused as hell as to what to buy. Remember: We don’t need to pile a large 16” dinner plate with apple crisp. We don’t need it. So take one serving, (use a small dessert “cake plate” to better guarantee not accidentally piling on too much), grab a fork and enjoy. I will post the recipe for this in the next few weeks under my recipe tab.
*For the gluten free crisp, I kept the recipe the same except I subbed out the oats & flour and replaced them with gluten free oats, & gluten free all purpose baking flour. This seemed to work just fine. With gluten free flour, it doesn’t always have the same baking power that regular all purpose flour has, so I went a little heavier on the cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla to avoid losing flavor. Those who ate it reportedly made comments such as “this is gluten free?? Seriously??” (Fyi: I did Clorox my entire kitchen between baking the different crisps out of complete fear that I was going to leave my intolerant friend in the emergency room). Wheat flour can remain airborne for up to 7 hours, and cross contamination is not hard to do even when you are cleaning. If you are unaware how serious the allergy is, definitely use different utensils, mixing bowls, cake pans etc. Other than separating all utensils and subbing those two ingredients…everything else went the same and it worked out perfectly!

The Cereal Revolution

(Ok this isn't cereal. It is Angel Food Cake with fresh blueberries. Once in a while, its nice to have dessert, & this is one of my favorites to make).

When I was a kid, I used to self jokingly call myself the "carb queen" (and I thought I was so clever for thinking of this). At eleven years old I was dancing 35 hours a week between my competition studio and school dance teams, and I carried with me multiple food allergies and a picky eater attitude. All I was interested in eating were carbohydrates. And my body just could not seem to get enough of them. Every morning I would have maybe 4 bowls of cereal, and lunch/dinner would be bagels/pizza/pasta/french fries, whatever you could think of. Since I was exercising so much I ate this food like it was nothing, i.e. eating an entire pizza pie after practice one day...by myself. Of course I was not paying attention to the fact that nutritionally speaking all I was eating were empty calories, foods high in sugar, and lacking all of the nutrients that I needed to support all that dancing. It is no wonder I was always exhausted. Sure, one could say an eleven year old shouldn’t have been involved in that many commitments, but that’s my personality, that wasn't going to change; so all I would say to those folks would be "mind ya P’s and Q’s". Maybe if I had eaten a few more vegetables, fruits, and whole grains rather than white starchy bagels, I would have been feeling up to a bit more. Maybe I would have joined an 8th dance team....who knows.

One habit from my past that hasn’t changed though, are those four bowls of cereal. From working out consistently my entire life, I tend to require a lot more calories than I realize sometimes. So, if Jerry Seinfeld can pack his cabinets with nothing but cereal, why cant I? I love my cereal. I eat it everyday for breakfast in large bowls. But now I am in the world of knowing too much (similar to how depressed you get after watching just 10 minutes of the evening news and you are wishing you weren't suddenly aware of who got "shot and scammed" this evening, as one friend of mine humorously put it). I find myself standing in the cereal aisle for almost 14 minutes with each food shopping trip. I pace up and down the aisle, picking up different boxes: waiting for one of them to meet my approval for an actual healthy option. The one with all the fiber seems to have all the sugar, and the one with no sugar seems to have artificial colors and aspartame in it. It seems cereals are pretty contradicting these days, which is interesting considering how many health claims are typically found on their boxes. Also, I don’t feel its right that I am standing there thinking "I am a nutrition student! Why is this so hard!?" One thing is for sure though; a box of Lucky Charms that says in big bold letters for Mom to see "With adequate calcium to support growing bones in children!"...is a load of crap.

Back at age 11, I also used to spend about 14 minutes in each aisle ...but that was because I would tap dance down the aisles as my mom food shopped. Even then, I had trouble picking a cereal box. Although my troubles were mostly because I was trying to pick the one that had the best toy in it, the most amount of marshmallows, or the best commercial. Now, I am looking for more specific criteria to pass my breakfast test.
1. No artificial ingredients/preservatives/colors
2. 25% or less calories coming from sugar
3. Whole grain as first ingredient
4. good source of fiber

Why those 4 rules? 1. Artificial ingredients are not ingredients, they are chemicals. Chemicals do not belong in our body, food does. Artificial sweeteners such as splenda, and aspartame have been, in my opinion smartly linked to cancer, heart disease, loss of feeling in limbs, brain damage, and death. Sounds like one of those commercials for an allergy medication, when they list quickly under their breath all the ways you might die from trying out their product. 2. Sugar is found in everything, but not all sugar is equal. Sugar in apples is not the same kind of sugar found in ice cream. However, sugar when in excess, stores as fat. Yes sugar makes us fat when we eat too much. Once the liver "maxes out" on glucose, it converts the extra to fatty acids, which then travels throughout our body and stores in adipose tissue (fat tissue), home of the "fatty acids". So those cereals that contain the equivalent of 16 packs of sugar in one serving, can add on pounds over time if eaten regularly. They also can increase your chances of becoming diabetic, since insulin resistance is known to develop in those who are overweight, when the spiked levels of blood sugar cause too much stress on the body. 3. Whole grains. I mention them frequently on here, and in person with those who ask me why they are so important. We are told to try and eat about 48g of whole grains a day (16 grams is one serving) so this means aiming for 3 servings a day of actual 100% whole grains. Whole grains decrease your chances of becoming diabetic (by assisting in lowering your cholesterol) and suffering from heart disease. But what I really want to focus on today is #4. Fiber: Americans all over are not consuming enough fiber. Fiber, which comes in two forms, soluble & insoluble each come with their own benefits. Neither is absorbed into the bloodstream, but rather both are excreted from our body. Insoluble fiber moves bulk throughout the intestines, as well as controlling the Ph balance. Why is this good news? The quick movement of bulk throughout the intestine is removing toxic waste, and leaving it less time to well, “hang out” in our body. This will in turn prevent constipation, and is believed to decrease your chances of colon cancer. Great sources of insoluble fiber include dark leafy greens, fruit skins, root vegetable skins, and ahem…whole wheat. Soluble fiber forms a gel when mixed with liquid (for me, I picture the word “soluble” which literally means “capable of being dissolved”, and use that to picture the image of a gel absorbing everything that crosses its path. Kind of like a slow, thick, lazy river. Hey, this is what helps me). Since soluble fiber is the “lazy river”, it moves slowly, delaying stomach emptying time, which causes sugar to become released and absorbed slowly. This is where the low score on the glycemic index comes into play (slow absorption gets a low score, & lower score is better) as well as the stories of high fiber diets leaving people feeling full for longer (which leads to weight loss). See the lovely chain of reactions here? With diets rich in whole grains and fiber we can decrease the percentage of those considered “obese” in our country (which last time I checked, was 33%, with 66% of Americans being classified as overweight). We can decrease our chances of suffering from diseases, heart attacks, and cancer. We can keep toxins out of our bodies, & keep our loved ones in our lives for longer. More Americans are dying from heart disease than any other cause of death. It is the number one way we are dying. Congratulations to Heart Disease …you win again this year as number one.

So where does this leave us in the cereal aisle? If we pick the right box, cereal doesn’t have to be an evil carbohydrate that blows all your healthy eating goals. Cereal can be a great way to start your day with whole grains, fiber, & adequate energy. For your pleasure, I have gone and recommended three cereals that I am ok with.
* Total Raisin Bran
*Kashi Go Lean Crunch
*Kashi Autumn Wheat
I enjoy with skim milk, or nonfat organic yogurt (peach, vanilla, strawberry).
For those of you who are still stuck on the fact that Lucky Charms isn’t going to do it anymore...I understand. Breaking habit is hard. If you are not used to the healthier cereals, you may find yourself resisting even looking at a Kashi box. I like to add sliced bananas, & cinnamon to certain cereals because bananas are sweet and cinnamon is delicious. Little healthy add ons can make your breakfast slightly more enjoyable as you wean onto the better choices. If not for your taste buds, than for your heart, your health, and your loved ones (because trust me, they want you around).

Peace. Love. & Bananas.