Bamboo Shoots

bamboo forest at the Dallas Arboretum


When I saw the emptiness of this bamboo stalk, it reminded me of our old yard in Haughton. There was a little grove of bamboo at the edge of our property that grew like wildfire. The first time Billy cut it back, he burned the stalks in the backyard. The heat built up intense pressure in the hollow sections of the bamboo and caused them to explode, which sounded like gunfire.

Cooking Light: Healthy Habit 1: Veggie Up

For this year, Cooking Light is focusing on one healthy habit each month. January's challenge is to add 3 servings of vegetables (and fruits) each day.

This will indeed be a challenge for me, but one I'm up for. In my weekly menu planning, I typically focus on the main dish and scrounge up what sides I can find. Sometimes I'm good about buying frozen broccoli or fresh spinach or apples, but you can only eat so much of that day after day. I need to liven things up a bit!

Last night we had vegetable soup, and we'll finish the leftovers tomorrow night. Other than that, we haven't had many vegetables - and no fruit. We ran out of apples right before Christmas; then the boys finished off the clementines shortly after. I've forgotten to buy more fruit the last few times I've been to the grocery store, but today I stopped by Brookshire's and bought two 5-lb. bags of grapefruit that were on sale.

This month, I will start the new habit of intentionally planning - and buying - vegetables for side dishes for our evening meals. I will also buy a variety of fruit for the boys and me to have with our lunches. It's harder this time of year when not much is fresh, but canned will work for now. I'll just make sure the fruit is in its own juice, not heavy syrup. And since tomorrow is grocery day, I better get to making my menu!

Cooking Light: What They're Stickin' in the Chicken

"Poultry's Salty Little Secret" - Jan/Feb 2011

According to the article, "about one-third of the fresh chicken found in supermarket meat cases has been synthetically saturated with a mix of water, salt, and other additives via needle injections and high-pressure vacuum tumbling." Designed to make the meat juicier and more tender, it also increases the sodium content by nearly 1000%. (Yes, that's one thousand.)

While some sodium is naturally-occurring in chicken (which never occurred to me...), it's minimal - often less than 75 mg per 4-oz. serving. "Enhanced" chicken can have as high as 440 mg per 4-oz. serving. This is still significantly lower than the RDA of 2,300 mg of sodium, but is it necessary?

I rarely buy fresh chicken from the meat counter. Instead I buy a large bag of individually frozen, skinless, boneless chicken breasts. I don't know if they're available without the added "broth solution", as some companies call it. I checked the two bags in my freezer (from different companies) and they both have additional sodium, about 200 mg per 4-oz. serving.

Now that I'm aware of it, I can reduce the amount of salt I add to my chicken dishes. I know most prepackaged foods have higher sodium contents than making similar dishes from scratch, and I typically stay away from them. Still, I want to keep my sodium intake lower. I can always tell when I've had too much because my hands swell. (That's typical after eating out, as opposed cooking my own food.)

Next time I'm shopping for chicken, I'll be sure to read the label closely to make sure the chicken I'm getting has just a small amount of extra sodium added, if any at all.

Cooking Light: Deciphering Food Labels

"The Fuzzy Math of Food Labels" - Jan/Feb 2011

One little quiz cleared up many things for me, or at least brought them to my attention.

1. When you read food labels, pay close attention to the serving size.
I usually take note of that, but I don't always follow it. The main time I notice it is when a small portion has a lot of calories. Then I tend to avoid it.

2. Manufacturers determine snack portions.
According to an article in the NY Times last year, "Standard serving sizes were created by the F.D.A. in the early 1990s, partly to make it easier to compare the nutritional values of different products. Congress required that the serving sizes match what people actually ate. To determine that, the F.D.A. evaluated data from surveys of Americans’ eating habits taken in the 1970s and 1980s."

But many manufacturers package their products in larger than one-serving sizes. For example, one Otis Spunkmeyer Cheese Strudel muffin is two servings. The nutritional information specifies that, but most people are going to see one muffin, think one serving, and eat the whole thing, thinking they're getting 220 calories instead of 440.

And take Lay's Classic Potato Chips - you know, you can't eat just one. But can you stop at just 15? That's one serving (150 calories) in a multi-serving bag.

3. Ingredient lists go by weight, not volume.
This was a surprise to me! I always thought ingredients were listed according to amount. If sugar or corn syrup was listed first, I thought it was the main ingredient. Instead, it's listed first because it weighs more than the other ingredients. I threw out a box of mediocre-tasting dark chocolate cherry granola bars because I checked the ingredient list (after I bought it) and saw that high fructose corn syrup was listed first. Compare that to the oats, which is probably the main ingredient but weighs considerably less. Less even than the chocolate chunks.

So now as I shop for groceries and read labels, there are all these new things to keep in mind. It can be mind-boggling! And while I still want to avoid high fructose corn syrup (as well as hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated goop), I don't have to fret so much if it's listed later in the ingredient list.

Menu Plan Monday: January 3

Monday
meatless spaghetti, green beans, garlic bread

Tuesday
Happy 19th anniversary to Billy and me! We'll most likely grab a quick bite between basketball practices since there's an hour in between them this week. The first practice is too early for supper; the second one will be too late.

Wednesday
"frambled" egg, sausage, and cheese on English muffins

Thursday
vegetable soup, corn bread

Friday
leftovers

Saturday
It's home team night, so we'll have a quick bite to eat: hot dogs/sandwiches.

Sunday
We're back to AWANA this week, so it'll be sandwich/cereal night when we get back home.

Next week I'd like to try one new recipe. I haven't decided what just yet, but I'll be on the lookout for one.

For more weekly meal plans, check out I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Codes

As part of my blogging this year, I want to write about things I read (other than books) and things I watch - things that make me think. Since I'll be writing about things from the two magazines I subscribe to, as well as some of my favorite television programs, I want to note them in the titles of my posts. I've decided to use a sort of code instead of the whole name.

Cooking Light - CL
Real Simple - RS
Biggest Loser - BL
American Idol - AI
Meal Plan Monday - MPM
Photo Friday - PF

As I find other things I'll be blogging about regularly, I'll determine a code for them and add them to this list.

Now if you're a sporadic reader (and have read this post), you'll be able to glance at the blog titles for each month and skip over the ones that don't interest you.

January 21
Update: The codes aren't working. They're confusing me! I'll just start posting the full titles.