A Practical Guide To Healthy Living

Here’s a post from Jezebel that critiques Marie Claire’s “Girl’s Guide to Eating Green” as not taking the discussion far enough . . . . long, but worth the read.    I agree with the author, but I don’t think that the average MC reader would dig a discussion this deep.

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I am Larabar’s “fan of the day” today!

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I was at the Woburn Whole Foods recently, and scoped out their Larabar selection.  They carry the new Tropical Fruit Tart flavored Larabars – have you tried these?  I am in love!  They’re sweeter than the other flavors, a little coconutty, yet a bit tangy with hint of citrus from the orange peel.  Zippier and sunnier than your average Larabar.   And while I consider bars a convenience food, and not a whole food substitute, they do count toward 20% of your DV of Vitamin C and qualify as a full serving of fruit.  So if you’re eating lunch on the go or need a snack to hold you over ’til your next meal . . . I’d highly recommend!

P.S.  If you can’t get Larabars near you, or if you are just a slave to internet commerce like me, Larabars are on sale at Drugstore.com right now.

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We’re in the final days of summer vacation at our house.  I love back-to-school preparations for my daughter – for me, the consummate nerd, there was never a more exciting time of year than the beginning of the academic year, and I’ll admit it!  I am living vicariously through my kid.  Is that so wrong?

So with school comes lunch.  Many kids have the choice of buying their lunch, which is easy on the mama, but dubious on the nutrition.  Even in our liberal, relatively health-conscious suburb, mozzarella sticks are considered an “entree” at lunchtime.  Or wait, yeah, it gets better – nachos.  There are some marginally better choices like cheese pizza (my kid always buys on pizza day) or a PB&J sandwich (we are not nut-free – isn’t that retro?), but over all, it’s a nutritional wasteland.

I pack my daughter’s lunch many days – mostly because once the novelty of buying lunch wore off for her, she realized that the food at school was “just not very good, mom.”  We do a lot of nitrate/ite free cold cuts (Applegate Farms makes a good turkey bologna – colored with beet juice, no less, and a hand-tied uncured maple ham that is adult-tastebud-worthy).  As a side I’ll cut up strawberries, baby carrots, or a sliced apple.  Or we’ll go super-alternative and she’ll have cubed tofu, leftover noodles or sometimes even cold chicken nuggets.  For snacks she most often totes a little container of organic applesauce and some Annie’s Wheat Bunnies, but she also likes cheese sticks and crackers.  Or depending on the allergy issues of others kids in her class, I’ll send some hummus and baby carrots for dipping.

I do her drinks in Sigg bottles – water for snack and skim milk for lunch.  But I have yet to find a suitable, non-plastic alternative to those little plastic tubs with screw-top lids made by Rubbermaid.  They at least save us from using 1,000 Ziploc baggies in a week.  But they’re plastic, and I am always trying to reduce our exposure to plastic – especially for our daughter.

The other brainstorm I had last spring was to buy cheap stainless utensils at Ikea and send those with her when she has cut fruit/tofu/pasta in her lunch.  If you get a few, you’ll have enough for a rotation:  you can throw the day’s dirties in the dishwasher at night and still have some clean on hand to pack for the next day.  You can get the teaspoon and salad forks from the Dragon collection there in packs of 4 for $5 – nice and small for the lunch box, but just make sure your kid knows not to pitch ‘em when s/he’s done!

My husband has started bringing his lunch to work too – after reading about the “horrors” of nitrate/ites again, he decided to forgo his “cancer-wich” at work and start making a sandwich at home.  But for the male exec on the go, a brown bag, or worse yet, a “lunchbox” just won’t do – it’s sad to say, but there is a certain cool factor that has to be upheld at the office, even at lunchtime.  We found these great stainless steel LunchBots for him – he has two of the duo (put 1 sliced apple in one side, and some almonds & raisins in the other) and two of the uno which fit a whole sandwich nicely.  Wash one, use one.

Can you help me out with ideas today?  I’d like to completely purge plastic from my daughter’s lunchbox, but I haven’t been able to find a substitute for the plastic snack containers – it needs to be something that will tolerate a liquidy snack without spilling – like a stainless container with a rubber gasket around the lid – know of anything?  Even the fabulous Laptop Lunchbox uses plastic, although BPA/lead free. 

Let me know if you have suggestions!

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Cupcake boutiques continue to be the rage, and frankly, I don’t get it.  Maybe it’s because I’m cynical and not cutesy?  Maybe it’s because most of their product is terrible?

It’s easy to screw up a cupcake.  Most often, the problem is that they’re dry.  You have to be extra careful when you’re baking a little weeny cake.  There is no baked good more unappealing than a dry cupcake.   And I’ve even had cupcakes made by really terrific, accomplished bakers, that are dry dry dry.  No good.  Not worth the calories.

Then there is the cute and hip factor.  Cute and hip alone don’t get you very far in life, and not in cupcakes either.  I want substance:  a moist cake with a firm but tender crumb and good flavor in the cake.  I also want enough icing so I can get some in almost every bite, but I do not want it mounded up on top so precariously that I have to eat it off before I chomp the cake or worse, that it just falls off when I unwrap my cake.

Last, but certainly not least, there is the pricetag problem.  You can pay $3.99 for a single cupcake at some places.  $3.99!?  I find it offensive.  And this is coming from a woman whose biggest budget line-item is for food.  I am lucky enough to be able to spend good money on good food, and I will pay extra for a premium product.  But I haven’t found a premium cupcake in a boutique yet.

Lest you think I’m insane, see what ire cupcakes can inspire on boards like Chowhound.

What the heck has set me off on this rant?  The other night my husband and I broke down and tried Sweet, in Harvard Square.   We split their “organic karat” cupcake, which they bill as “Moist carrot cake with shredded organic carrots and crushed pineapple topped with classic cream cheese frosting and an edible gold leaf petal.”  I can’t remember how much we paid for this puppy, but it was in the $3 range . . . because although I brought a menu home to refresh my memory, there are no prices on the menu.  Grrrr.  Don’t even get me started on this junk.  It’s similar to when you’re at a restaurant and they describe the specials, but don’t let you in on the prices.  Makes me craaaazy.

So this cupcake was actually moist, and it certainly was cute.  But with all that carrot and pineapple, you’d have to work hard to have it be dry.  And here’s the thing, the cake was pretty much flavorless.  It was merely a vehicle for the cream cheese frosting, which was fine, but not outstanding – and it was mounded up in such a cute way that it did not pass my icing distribution requirement.  It fell off.  A total buzz-kill.

Here’s what I like about cupcakes – they’re a sweet treat in a portion-controlled package.   I’ll spend money on cupcakes from old-school venues like Lyndell’s, but better yet, I think it’s fun and relatively easy to make cupcakes.  This recipe for black-bottom cupcakes is one of the best I’ve had anywhere, frankly.  It’s moist, it’s chocolatey and flavorful and fun, and it’s cheap to boot.

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This is from last week’s N.Y. Times, and makes me think of two things. 

One is remembering the Gloria Stevens Figure Salons of yesteryear – anyone remember those?  I used to go there with my mother once in awhile and do Jane Fonda moves on a pink shag carpet.  I think the “studio” was in the Fresh Pond shopping center, if I recall correctly.  Trippy. 

Second, exercise needs to be fun, so that you’ll do it.  If that means a donning a turban and shiny spandex, then go for it, people.  The point is to move it, as often as you can.

How’re you going to move it today?

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This is from today’s Times – parents seeking to have ice cream trucks banned . . . I can fully understand rules about how close they can be to schools, etc., but as a health nut, I try to exercise restraint and moderation when it comes to my kid’s eating.  There are some simple joys in life, like a once-in-a-while treat from the ice cream truck, that I think should be honored for her. 

And as for the nagging – isn’t it my job to just say “no” on any given day if ice cream’s not a good idea?  And if she can’t stop badgering, to leave the playground/pool/etc.?  But maybe I’m in the minority?  Are you pro-Softee?

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Ooooh, do you sometimes have a craving for something super sweet, yet satisfying?  Something chocolately and peanutbuttery?  This is a treat that you must promise me you’ll enjoy in moderation, ’cause there’s no portion-controlled packaging to save you if you get crazy over it, OK?  It’s that good that you might get out of control . . . I’ve, on occasion, threatened to throw the jar out the window to save myself from myself!

You’re dying to know now, right?  It’s Peanut Butter & Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter.  It really is like a peanut butter cup in a jar . . . would be great on a nice piece of toast for breakfast (try sliced bananas on top), or heated a smidge in the microwave and then drizzled over ice cream or froyo.  But people, I believe that it’s best straight up, out of the jar.  Pure heaven.  But again, exercise caution!

For a real diet-buster, here’s a winning recipe from their site which uses the stuff to make . . . peanut butter s’mores bread pudding.  Can you stand it? 

Enjoy! 

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