November and December 2014 Nutrition News!

Hello lovelies, and Happy New Years! Before it technically becomes 2015 here in CA, where I've been hunkered down for the holidays before returning to CO mid-Jan, I decided to stop procrastinating and actually post all the Nutrition News that I've been hearing for the last two months. This is one text-heavy post, but it's full of super cool food science stuff! Wooo-hooo!

Every month, I like to make a collection of news stories that revolve around the field of Food Science, Human Nutrition, Vegetarianism, and other Health News. These are studies or reports that are not only super interesting, but also really work to open my mind and remind me that these fields are constantly evolving and finding new information. Click on the links for more info! 

Yay for Potassium! A study done by Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, and published in the American Heart Association journal Stroke, found that women who had higher-potassium diets had a lower risk of stroke and death! The results are pretty major: 27% reduction in stroke risk, and 10% reduction in death. New Years Resolution: work some more of that into your diet?

 

Turns out that the attitude behind your weight loss matters... a lot! Brigham Young University reported that overweight teens who lost weight --and kept it off-- often had intrinsic motivation guiding them. Those who lost weight in order to be healthy and feel good, instead of doing it for others, were more successful! Another thing I love about this study: many of the teens talked about losing weight is a slow process, which is so true! One or two pounds a week is average, and much more sustainable than crash diets. 

 

Binge drinking is a pretty common phenomenon nowadays, particularly among the college crowd, but it has even more repercussions than originally thought. A researcher at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine has found that immune system activity is also greatly compromised by binge drinking in young adults. At first, the immune system activity increases (around 20 minutes after the drinks); however, two hours later, the opposite occurs.

Harvard School of Public Health has found, not surprisingly, that weight training and exercise combined are more beneficial for your waistline than just cardio! Even when comparing twenty minutes of weight training versus the same amount of cardio, those who did weight training had a smaller increase in age-related abdominal fat. 

A bit of controversy for the end of the year: vegan-ism and carbohydrates. The University of South Carolina has found that following a vegan diet led to greater weight loss in its participants, even when carbohydrates were included. The participants were "randomly assigned to one of five diets on the dietary spectrum: vegan which excludes all animal products, semi-vegetarian with occasional meat intake; pesco-vegetarian which excludes all meat except seafood; vegetarian which excludes all meat and seafood but includes animal products, and omnivorous, which excludes no foods." Among the groups, vegans saw the greatest improvement in weight, BMI, macro-nutrient levels, and fat levels. Furthermore, I find this encouraging in terms of stomping out the stigma against carbohydrates and weight gain. Carbs aren't the enemy, people! Even the vegans who ate carbs had fantastic results.

Boston University Medical Center has recently reported that there may be a relationship between lung health and memory in older adults. The study tested both younger and older participants; and while no association was found in the younger group, older adults who had higher cardiorespiratory levels (aka were more fit) performed as well as young adults and much better than the non-active in their age group. Just another great benefit of exercise when you are older!

 

I could kiss the European Society of Cardiology right now, because they have great news about Yoga! After reviewing 37 other studies (for a total of 2768 subjects), they have found that Yoga could reduce the risk factors of cardiovascular illness as much as brisk walking or biking. Not everyone can do intense exercise, so Yoga is a great alternative if you aren't able to lower these risk factors in traditional ways. Even if you do exercise, consider adding it on. Compared to now exercise, yoga had a beneficial impact on: body mass index, systolic blood pressure reduced, low-density (bad) lipoprotein cholesterol, and high-density (good) lipoprotein cholesterol. Yipee!

Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

I seriously feel like I was just celebrating New Years 2014, and in a bit over two days we will be celebrating New Years 2015! It just absolutely astounds me how quickly a year can pass, and how everything just rushes by in a cacophony of memories and noises and experiences.

This is the time of the year where, if we are lucky, we have family or friends over to help celebrate the season with us. It often means that we have a lot of things to do: shopping, cleaning, traveling, hosting, and, of course, cooking. It can be ridiculously stressful to be balancing all of these things at once, which is so opposite of the point of having everyone over (or going over, if you are that lucky one who is going to someone else's house). Maybe there are kids running around, or animals tearing up some random piece of furniture (or climbing the tree, knocking over the Menorah, eating all the sugar cookies...), or people who you haven't seen in forever and have changed. It can be overwhelming. But among all the stresses of this season, we need to remember how to value and savor each and every moment. 

For me, that means not worrying about what I am going to cook, because that's such a silly distraction from the things that really matter: people, memories, laughter. (If you're in my family, also tears every time the Muppet Christmas Album comes on because gosh darn it, Kermit the frog somehow makes us all emotional in seconds). I make a lot of cook-ahead dishes that I can just shove in the fridge overnight, because the last thing I want to do in the morning before I've had my coffee is actually make something for a group of hungry people. Not happening. Not without caffeine. So I do things like french toast or quiches, or the bread pudding recipe I'm sharing today (because who doesn't love chocolate for breakfast, right??)

Slightly related side note: Does anyone else go through "phases" of breakfast? I feel like I have a weird habit of eating the exact same thing for breakfast for months, until all of a sudden BAM-- I switch to something new or I add in a new element.  For example, when I was a kid it was totally pancakes. Pancakes were the bomb, as the kids say (am I getting my hip lingo right? I'm a mess). And then when I was in elementary school (when I started to take cooking super seriously) I switched to mushrooms sauteed in butter over scrambled cheddar eggs (sounds fancier than it was, I promise). Then I went through an overnight oatmeal stage (with plenty of sugar and yogurt), and for the past few months I've just been eating bagels with peanut butter because I am a college student and have no sense of what time is. With coffee.

Always with coffee.

Anyways. So that's the mode I've been in for a while now, and making stuff ahead just was not in my mind. But here come the holidays and I actually have time and people to cook things for, and it's marvelous! So here comes the bread pudding. Bread pudding with chocolate. 

So we need to have a serious discussion about this bread pudding. Because it is kind of (aka most definitely) ah-may-zing. Amazing. First, the photo above is from before it was cooked because as soon as it came out of the oven it magically disappeared. Maybe into some tummies. But, no photo happened. Sooo... Trust me when I say it gets all golden and melty and perfect, ok? It's rich but not too rich because it's the holidays and we need room for all those other sweet, delicious dishes, right? But this is basically an excuse to eat dessert for breakfast-- which obviously isn't a thing we should do all the time BUT it's also important to actually live your life and not be obsessive about food and to let yourself enjoy a treat. Which this is. It's a breakfast treat. Who wouldn't want to dig into cubes of whole wheat French bread that have been soaked in a vanilla custard, baked until creamy on the inside and with a nice crust of sugary-cinnamonness (not a word, but it is now) on the outside, with chunks of chocolate scattered throughout? Like... what? Holy fudge muffin, yum.

Plus, plus-- this is actually a lighter version of the original bread pudding. If I hadn't made the recipe myself, I would never have believed it was healthier for you. I didn't tell anyone, and no one knew or guessed. The huge pan was demolished by happy, hungry, and (unknowingly) kinda-healthy people. So the basic consensus is that bread pudding for breakfast equals yes. Everything in moderation, yeah? This serves twelve and so you get a perfectly-sized piece that is a great way to start out a sleepy morning, and coffee may be required because it is coffee.

But for real: this bread pudding is decadent and the perfect way to make your morning a little more indulgent. Plus stops you from needing to worry about basically anything but preheating the oven in the morning in order to bake it. Aka please enjoy more time with those around you, because that is what matters. And if you don't have people around you currently, then go out and explore! Enjoy the season! Look online at some cute cat videos via YouTube! Wear fuzzy socks! And eat Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding.

Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

Inspired by Cooking Light

Serves 12 

Ingredients:

• 1 pound whole wheat French bread loaf, left out 2 days, crust on, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 (12oz can) evaporated (not condensed-- very different things) fat free milk
• 2c. skim milk
• 2/3c sugar OR splenda*
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2tsp cinnamon
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 2 large egg whites, beaten
• 1/4c. mini chocolate chips

*I personally always prefer the Splenda recipe, because I have nothing against Splenda, but I understand that some people do, so sugar is always an option still. Splenda substitutes just fine in this, though. 
 

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Meanwhile, coat a rectangular glass baking pan (I used 13x9x2) with cooking spray. Put the bread cubes into the pan; set aside.
3. Thoroughly whisk together the evaporated milk, the skim milk, splenda, vanilla, cinnamon, and eggs together in a large bowl (about 4 minutes). Pour the custard mixture over the top of the bread, pushing down cubes to make sure that they are all covered. Let sit for 20 minutes to overnight, allowing the bread to absorb the custard. Occasionally press down on the bread to ensure saturation, and if needed feel free to gently rotate some top pieces to the bottom of the pan to make sure they sake up well.
4. Bake for 35 minutes at 350F. Remove the pan from the oven and evenly sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top. Return to oven and bake another 20 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out almost clean (a tad of moisture isn't bad-- its part of the creaminess).
5. Allow to cool slightly (this tastes wonderful after refrigerated, too) and serve.

Nutrition Information (With Sugar):
Sodium: 248mg
Total Fat: 4g
      Saturated: 1g
      Trans:0g
Sugar: 30g
Protein: 9g
Calories: 259

Nutrition Information (With Splenda):
Sodium: 248mg
Total Fat: 4g
      Saturated: 1g
      Trans:0g
Sugar: 8g
Protein: 9g
Calories: 173

Orange-Scented Wild Rice Pilaf with Almonds and Cranberries

The semester is finally over!

I just took my last final (Organic Chemistry, uck!) yesterday at 7:30AM, a schedule which was clearly designed to bring all college students to their knees from the pure misery of walking outside when the sun is still down and it is 0F in order to take a test that decides if we can go on in our majors.

No big deal.

Now that the studying, frantic note taking, and long nights fueled by coffee are over, I'm finally getting back into the swing of things! I went for a run this morning for the first time in months, and got in some relaxing Yoga and coffee afterwards. I've actually had time to cook, too, and I figured I would introduce something that I love to make for big holiday get-togethers (on that note, can you believe that Hanukkah has already started and Christmas is only five days away?? How the heck did we jump from New Years 2014 to Christmas 2014 so soon?? Is anyone else having this problem?? I swear I was just rebelling against New Years resolutions, and now I'm up to my ears in shopping lists... Good golly!)

I've found that a meal can really benefit from having mainly savory dishes with a few savory-sweet sides. This can be in the form of sweet potatoes with chipotle, corn grilled with sweet basil butter, or some type of grain that you can throw a mix of crunchy-sweet-citrus things into. The recipe I'm sharing today is a pilaf that benefits from a plethora of ingredients: hints of vibrant orange, crunchy toasted almonds, and slightly tart dried cranberries. Folding the almonds and cranberries into a mix of tender wild and basmati rices gives so much delicious texture and flavor. If you haven't had wild rice before, it has more of a distinct savory flavor and a really nice mouthfeel. It's even better if you end it on a sweet note with a drizzle of decadent, warm honey. Which, as we all know, makes basically any food better, be it sweet or savory (I actually had a delicious raspberry-cinnamon honey recently made by one of my professors, who I will be TAing for, and I'm going to try and recreate it because it was so so good!)

But, I digress.
 
Are you drooling yet?

Orange-Scented Wild Rice Pilaf with Almonds and Cranberries Serves 4        

Ingredients:

• 1/4c. uncooked wild rice
• 1/4c. uncooked basmati rice
• water as needed
• 1/2c. fresh orange juice
• 1/4c. dried cranberries
• 2tbl whole almonds, chopped and toasted
• 1tbl honey, warmed (microwave works wonders)

Instructions:

1. Rinse wild rice according to package directions. Cook according to package directions, but replace 1/4c. of the water needed with orange juice instead. Expect a longer cooking time.
2. Meanwhile, combine almonds in a small bowl with cranberries. Set aside.
3. In a separate pan, cook basmati rice according to package directions, but replace 1/4c. of the water needed with orange juice (just like before). Expect a longer cooking time.
4. Once both rices are cooked, combine in a medium bowl. Add in almonds and cranberries, and toss to coat. While still hot, drizzle the warm honey over the top of the pilaf (you can warm the honey by microwaving it for a short amount of time). Toss gently, and serve still warm.

Nutrition Information
Sodium: 2mg
Total Fat: 2g
       Saturated: 0g
       Trans: 0g
Sugar: 12g
Protein: 3g
Calories: 149