Jonell Galloway
Invention through sloth: a recipe for lazy people who really would like to eat a healthy breakfast but can’t manage it
Cappuccino oats.
We don’t stop hearing about oats — they’re full of fiber so they’re good for your digestion and your bowels, they contain beta-glucans that help cut cholesterol and spread the rise in blood sugar over a long period of time, they make you feel full for longer so they encourage weight loss, they are anticarcinogenic thanks to their phytochemicals — and the list goes on.
Confession to my mother and request for forgiveness
I try and eat my oats every day, really I do. It has always been one of my mother’s Golden Rules of Healthy Eating. But Mom, I have to tell you: sometimes I just don’t, because I’m absolutely, unequivocally not a morning person and I just can’t get it together to cook the oats the good old-fashioned Scottish way we might all prefer.
So Mom, to relieve this deep guilt I have lived with my entire adult life, I found the solution, though I admit more by sloth than by wit. It was one of those days when no one was to speak to me before noon. I decided to pour some dry steel-cut oats into a bowl and eat them dry, in order to avoid the risk of pouring milk all over the stovetop instead of into the pan it was meant for, and then adding oats and other necessary ingredients into the milk that was already running down the front of the kitchen cabinets (I have already experienced this and it is not a good way to start the day). I was absolutely incapable of giving them the loving care they so deserve.
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Jonell Galloway
Bad Foods that Are Good for Weight Loss gives common sense, practical advice about “bad” foods that can actually be good for weight loss if eaten in moderation and in the right way.
Fat Man Unleashed is a community weight loss blog where people who are seriously trying to lose weight do a weekly weigh-in and share interesting information they have found to be helpful. The “Inner Warriorness” tab offers particularly good information about how to keep up your motivation, but the site covers the full range of problems and advice we all need to know about weight loss and weight control in general, including diet, physical activity and exercise, loss of motivation, and lifestyle.
If you have the bad habit of stopping by fast-food restaurants on the way to work, Fast-Food Breakfast Picture Slideshow: Photos of the Best and Worst gives good advice about which foods are the least bad.
Jonell Galloway
The award-winning Cobb Grill is on sale online at Eboutic until 18 October.
Photo courtesy of Eboutic.
These grills are unique in that they are compact, lightweight, come with their own tote bag, and emit practically no smoke. They are only 12in/30cm high, 12in/30cm wide, weigh 8.5lbs/4kg, and are tabletop.
Although they should not be used indoors, they can be used on the balcony.
Cobb Grills are multipurpose. It would be more appropriate to refer to them as a cooking system than a grill, because they can be used to grill meat, fish and vegetables, as well as to smoke, steam, stew, bake, roast, and stir-fry. It is possible to cook an entire meal for 4 or 5 people all in one grill. Various attachments are available, such as a cast-iron grill for better searing, a wok and a steamer. There is a special system, referred to as the “flavor well” or “moat”, for catching the natural juices that are drained off.
Unique charcoal briquettes, made of recycled, crushed, compressed coconut shells, are used for heating up to a temperature of nearly 600F/300C. Since they are recycled, they are ecological.
The cooking system comes with non-stick surface components and can be put in the dishwasher.
Photo courtesy of Cobb Grill America.
The Cobb Grill is a good and environmentally-friendly investment for any household, thanks to its versatility for cooking food in healthy, fat-free ways. It is specially designed to drain off as much fat and grease as possible, and is endorsed by the South African Heart Association.
Jonell Galloway
In a 6 October 2009 article, the Huffington Post says Americans have reason for their eternal, but ever-changing, plate fright. In the US, E. Coli, Salmonella, Norovirus and numerous other bacteria and viruses are found in food more often that we might think.
Peppery pourpier from the Lake Geneva region.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a non-profit, consumer advocacy group, often referred to as the “American food police”, says the leafy greens we are encouraged to eat every day can in fact be the most dangerous of all vegetables. Over the last 20 years, there has been some 363 outbreaks and 13,568 illnesses due to green leafy foods alone.
According to Dr. Steve Swanson of the US Centers for Disease Control, lettuce is only second to ground or minced beef in cases of E. Coli. Snopes gives a good explanation of how all this happens, and many suggest that we lay off pre-washed, bagged salads until more is know about exactly how greens are contaminated.
One thing is almost sure: one of the reasons salad is particularly more high risk than other vegetables is that we most often eat it raw. So wash your salad, and then wash it again. Don’t just spray it. Wash it in a basin or sink, and change the water several times.
The other high risk food is eggs, numbering 352 outbreaks in the US in the last 20 years, with 11,163 cases of illness reported.
Jonell Galloway
The Americans aren’t the only ones who have a Food Pyramid!
In our 9 May 2009 post A fun, interactive guide for teaching your children good eating habits, we referred only to the American food pyramid, because the US has a pyramid specifically aimed at children. But the Swiss have a food pyramid too!
Swiss food pyramid.
The Swiss food pyramid, published on 30 July 2007, is for the general population, and has quite a different slant from the new American pyramid that came out earlier this year (literally, because the new American one is vertical, while the Swiss one is horizontal, but the content also differs).
Differences between Swiss food pyramid and US food pyramid
The Swiss food pyramid does not follow the trend in the US and other countries of decreasing intake of saturated fats. In fact, it increases fat intake from 30 to 40 percent and lowers carbohydrates from 60 to 45 percent, says Med Journal Watch, saying that mother’s milk is high in saturated fat, and “fats have been said to be harmful for the heart, but the heart takes 60 to 90 percent of its energy out of fat.” According to Paolo C. Colombani, head of the Swiss food pyramid expert group, in an article in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, “the vast majority of published studies in the past fifty years have shown no adverse effects of saturated fats.”
Jonell Galloway
Summertime is diet time: an approach to changing your eating habits
Summertime is the best time to start changing your eating habits. Fruits and vegetables are tastier and cheaper in summer, so your tastebuds are satisfied, but with fewer calories and more fiber. You can take advantage of this time to start a lifestyle change that will not only help you lose weight, but hopefully change your way of eating for the rest of your life.
The Swiss seem to have understood some of the basic rules better than others, according to our 27 July 2009 article on the Swiss preference for fresh fruit and milk products.
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Jonell Galloway
Laila Rodriguez provides a list of non-smoking restaurants in the Geneva region in her blog New to geneva? Me too.