This time of year holidays are all around us.  Whether you celebrate Chanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Festivus or none of these, you are bound to encounter many calorie laden treats throughout the month.  What do I do when I am confronted by treats at every turn?  Am I a paragon of virtue that never lets anything with sugar or fat pass my lips? Of course not! I enjoy a treat as much as the next person and I love to bake too. So do we just throw in the towel and plan to have eater’s remorse when January rolls around? There is no need to anticipate overdoing it, you just need to have a plan!

Step #1 – Try to keep up your normal eating habits and routines as much as possible.  This may be the only time of year that Starbucks has an Eggnog Latte, but if you have one every day you’ll gain about 4 pounds by the end of the month. Make treats a rare exception to your normal routine and really savor them.  If you normally exercise 4 days a week, try to stick as closely to this as you can. If you end up having to skip one or two workouts because you have other commitments that’s fine, just get right back on track at the next opportunity.

Step #2 – Keep portions of high calorie foods small.  You may love Aunt June’s famous Rum Balls, but keep it to just one or two – you don’t need to eat all of them. Love your Grandmother’s sticky buns, but they happen to be the size of dinner plate? Cut one in half and fill the rest of your plate with Aunt Minnie’s fruit salad. You can still enjoy these treats without going overboard. You know they will be back next year.

Step #3 – Pass on those things that are not really “worth it” to you. Not a big fan of Eggnog? Skip it! Just because ’tis the season doesn’t mean you must try it all. Most holiday meals and parties are invitations to overindulge with long menus and heavily laden buffet tables. Pick and choose items carefully to only include those things you really want and then slowly savor and enjoy those treats.

Step #4 – Spend time with family and friends doing special things together. Aunt June might really appreciate it if you spent the afternoon together making those Rum Balls more than seeing you eat them. Get together with friends to walk around a downtown area to view decorations. Just make sure to take time to stop, look around and remember the meaning of whichever holiday you celebrate.

Enjoy the holidays and I hope you have a happy, prosperous and healthy 2012!

I thought I’d continue on and publish the other post I did while guest posting for my friend Meg while she was on her honeymoon……

We were outside watching the bees work in the lavender when the call came in..  “Grammy called, there are raspberries!”

Two minutes later we were all in the car and on our way to the best pick-your-own patch I know, my mother’s garden.

The boys and I picked (and ate) until we had gotten our fill (aren’t they beautiful!?)

It’s no wonder they were gone in a flash!

I’m sorry that I have no recipes for raspberries today since they always get eaten too quickly!  I like them best just as they are, but you can also top them with a dollop of freshly whipped cream for a decadent treat!

I’m going to deviate from my usual blog style to share some blogposts I did for my friend Meg while she was on her honeymoon.

One of the best signs of summer I know is when the yellow flag is out at my local farm stand on Cape Cod.  The yellow flag is there to let people know that there is corn (if the flag isn’t there, they’ve sold out for the day).  It is so sweet and delicious that all it needs is three minutes (or less) in the steamer.

Another super fresh Cape Cod summer experience is quahogs.  Some of you may know them as “Littlenecks” or “Cherrystones” (names which actually designate the size of the clam).  All it takes is a shell fishing license, a basket and low tide to get a tasty treat!

Some people only like the smaller sizes because the large ones (known as “Chowders”) can be a little chewy and are more suitable chopped up in chowder – hence the name!  Shellfish may seem intimidating at first if you have never cooked them.  But they taste delicious when cooked simply.  One nice way is to make them in a red sauce like this:

Quahogs in Red Sauce

1 T Olive oil

a few cloves of chopped Garlic

several chopped Onions

20 oz Crushed Tomatoes

2 (or more) cups of red wine

scrubbed fresh Quahogs

Place the clams in a bowl of cold water for about 30 minutes or so.  Since they are bivalves and filter water constantly, this will help to flush out sand so that you won’t end up with a gritty dinner.  Then you need to scrub them well under running water.  Discard any that are already open.

Heat the oil in a large pot, add the garlic and onions, and sauté until tender.  Add the tomatoes and wine then simmer for “a while” (as long as you have time for).  When ready, bring to a boil then add the clams and cover.  Steam them until they open.  The smaller ones will take less time than the big ones.  After about 10 minutes pass, take a peek and then every few minutes after that to see if any are done.  Depending on how big your pot is and how many clams you have you may need to cook them in shifts.

Eat them up with some good crusty bread or over pasta!

As promised I’m finally blogging about the Chem Cuisine app from the folks at CSPI.  I have to say that I love this app.  If you’ve ever wondered what Calcium Propionate is and why it’s in your bread, this is the app for you.  Not only do they tell you why these various additives are used, but also if they are regarded as safe, or if you should avoid or cut back on them.  It is also easy to use – either type in the search field or scroll through the A-Z listing.  Information is given in a very logical, easy to read format.  You can also click on the icons (Safe, Cut Back, Avoid, Caution, Certain People Should Avoid) to see the items that fall in each of those categories.  All that for $0.99!

I’ve recently added a couple of new Apps to my iPhone; Fooducate and Chem Cuisine.  I’ll discuss the Fooducate app today and save Chem Cuisine for next time.

The app from Fooducate is interesting and fun, but I don’t think I would really use it to guide my food choices.  For example, I scanned a loaf of Arnold 100% Whole Wheat bread which gets a B+ rating; One of the “Alternatives” in the category that received an A- rating was Country Kitchen 100% Whole Wheat bread. Why did one receive a higher rating than the other?  The Arnold contains Citric Acid, Maltodextrin, and Soy Lecithin (none of which are harmful) and they gave it a 2.5 “FoodPoints value”.   The Country Kitchen also contains Soy Lecithin, plus Calcium Proponate and gets a 2.5 “FoodPoints value” but also contains High Fructose Corn Syrup (which I personally avoid).

Since I do not know how the points are derived or how the grading system works, I can only speculate.  It seems that they are giving a better grade to the lower Calorie choice (the Country Kitchen bread has 90 Calories a slice while the Arnold has 110 Calories listed in the app – although the package in front of me has 100).  Personally I would prefer an extra 20 or so Calories, without the High Fructose Corn Syrup, but that’s a personal choice.

The other strange thing I noticed when playing around with the app, was that some of the “alternatives” given are completely different from what you scanned.  For example when I scanned a Larabar, it got a C+, and one of the “alternatives” was an orange (which rightfully received an A).  While I agree that a piece of fruit is a better snack than something manufactured, when someone wants a bar, they don’t want an orange!  Another given alternative to the Larabar was a “Slim-fast! Chocolate Cookie Dough Meal Bar” which scored a B-.  The app states that there are “No added sweetners” in the Slim-Fast! bar, yet when glancing at the long ingredient list, the first three are sweeteners (!?).

So for now I’ll let the kids enjoy scanning bar-codes and use it as a jumping off point for discussing the comparative values of different products with them.  It’s a great idea and there is some good information, but I’m not sure it’s quite ready to be used as a source for making food choices!

Not only is March National Nutrition Month,but today is Registered Dietitian Day!  The theme of this year’s Nutrition Month is “Eat Right With Color”!  As the palate at the right suggests, use a variety of fruits and vegetables to color your plate at every meal every day, otherwise known as “eating the rainbow”.

Eat something colorful today, and every day!

For more information, check out the links below from the American Dietetic Association:

• What is a Registered Dietitian
• Top 10 Reasons to see an RD
• Every Day Eating Tips

Sea Salt

The other day a patient who has hypertension asked about Sea Salt.  He had heard that using Sea Salt was somehow “healthier” and that it contained less sodium that regular salt.  As wonderful as it would be to find a low sodium salt, it simply doesn’t exist – Sea Salt is still salt and high in sodium.

So what’s the big deal?  There are differences in flavor between different types of salt (that includes Kosher and Iodized table salt).  Sea Salt from different areas will contain different trace elements, which can alter its taste slightly (and its color).  Some people also claim that it has a “saltier” taste, which is perhaps due to the generally larger sized crystals formed, enabling you to use less

Sea Salt, Kosher Salt, Table Salt

for the same amount of salt flavor when those large crystals hit your tongue.  Any way you look at it, it is still full of sodium, which is of concern for those battling hypertension.  Even those without hypertension should watch their sodium intake since the average American consumes 3,375mg (way more than the upper limit recommendation 2,300mg)!

What can be done to reduce sodium without sacrificing taste?  The first (and easiest) way to approach this is to limit the amount of processed foods you consume, since the more processed a food is, the more sodium it usually contains.  The second is to gradually reduce the amount of sodium you use every day.  By reducing the amount gradually, you will be able to wean yourself down, without everything suddenly tasting flavorless.  Lastly, experiment with different flavor profiles like herbs, spices and citrus.  You may be pleasantly surprised!

Clementine – no salt added!

An addendum (March 27, 2011): Another great post on the subject of salt by Lilian Cheung author of Savor.

It’s a snowy day in New England and for those of us who celebrate Christmas, it is practically upon us.  You know what that means?  Hot Chocolate, Eggnog, Cookies, Chocolate, and many other treats that are all around wherever you go.

I am planning to indulge in my favorites this year because (as I like to put it) these are “sometimes foods” and the holidays are a “sometimes occasion”.  I think it is important that we all be able to enjoy special foods (and yes, most of them are hyper-caloric!) without going overboard and feeling guilty.  The key to this is, to keep these special items in a special category!

Here are 3 things to keep in mind:

1. Keep portions small and savor them slowly.
2. Keep “regular” days as typical as possible without lots of treats.
3. Focus on enjoying your time with family and friends.

It’s hard to forget that holidays are about more than just food.  Although I will be doing a lot of baking today, I’m planning to include my boys and make it a family activity.  In the end, we will have spent some fun time together and can feel good about the treats we will share with our extended family over the next few days.

I wish you all a wonderful end to 2010 and much joy and prosperity in 2011!

Read this article I co-authored for the Boston Public Health Commission for Diabetes Awareness Month!