Diet Buzzwords 2010

[wosnes]

Between some blogs I've been reading and books I saw at the bookstore yesterday, I think I've discovered the diet buzzwords for 2010 -- or maybe this whole decade: nutrient dense, fiber and moderation.

I can tell you this already: there is lots of disagreement on what foods are nutrient dense!

I did see some interesting books:

Live a Little: Breaking the Rules Won't Break Your Health by Dr. Susan Love

The Full Plate Diet. It concentrates on adding fiber to the diet.

Michael Pollan's new book Food Rules is out. Yes, I bought it and I'm enjoying it. It's very easy to read. If not interrupted, one could easily read it in an evening -- or less!

While looking these up at Amazon, I saw The Nine-Inch Diet.

True Food: Eight Simple Steps to a Healthier You looked interesting, too.

A local magazine says that a flexitarian diet is the best and the only "con" is that meat-eaters might not be satisfied (as opposed to possible nutritional deficiencies with every other diet they looked at).

The diet book they recommended is What Color is Your Diet? by Dr. David Heber.

Any of these would be useful additions to No-S.

[clarinetgal]

Some of those books look very interesting! I copied the titles down, so I could read more about them.

[Jammin' Jan]

I love Michael Pollan's new book. If eating were religion, this little book would be a daily devotional, leather cover, gold edges, and a ribbon marker. I read it in an hour, but decided to make it a project for 2010: within the context of No-S, to gradually implement as many of his suggestions as I can.

I thumbed through The Nine Inch Diet one day at Barnes & Noble. Of course, when I got home I had to measure my Corelle plates. Interesting! It would be fun to cruise through an antique store and measure old plates. Is what he says really true?

I'll check out the other titles the next time we're at B & N. Sounds like fun. Thanks for the info in your post!

[wosnes]

Jan, check this out. I like the daily devotional idea. Read them all and start over again. Though I do think there could be some additions. One would be not to demonize any food group. Because somewhere some group of people is eating those things and is not overweight or unhealthy. Another would be that foods that are higher in fat and/or calories aren't necessarily unhealthy; those lower in fat and calories aren't necessarily healthier, either.

I've seen the guy who writes the Eat This, Not That books on the Today show frequently. I'm not a big fan, but think what he says is useful, especially if you eat away from home often. He deals more with calories than the wholesomeness of the foods: an Egg McMuffin is better than a bagel. Hmmm.

Well, anyway...he has a new book out called Cook This, Not That. I leafed through it and it looks like the recipes are pretty good. They're lighter versions of many restaurant classics, without, as far as I could see, the use of fat-reduced, calorie-reduced products.

[Jammin' Jan]

Wosnes, I agree that there should be a 'rule' about not demonizing entire food groups, although he gets into that a little in the introduction, talking about traditional diets from other cultures.

I am reading through the book over and over and trying to do what he says, because what he says is very obvious (like what Reinhard says is obvious, but we need a 'program' before we get it!). I think the most difficult part for me is the ingredients in packaged items. I cook a lot, but often I will use a package of something (like cream of mushroom soup, for example) as part of my otherwise scratch preparation. So, first I need to use this stuff up, and then I need to think carefully about what I want to make myself, and not just buy. I have a good background in this sort of thing from my McDougalling days, but I have gotten lazy and busy.

[wosnes]

I am reading through the book over and over and trying to do what he says, because what he says is very obvious (like what Reinhard says is obvious, but we need a 'program' before we get it!). I think the most difficult part for me is the ingredients in packaged items. I cook a lot, but often I will use a package of something (like cream of mushroom soup, for example) as part of my otherwise scratch preparation. So, first I need to use this stuff up, and then I need to think carefully about what I want to make myself, and not just buy. I have a good background in this sort of thing from my McDougalling days, but I have gotten lazy and busy.

When I decided to give up manufactured foods, I realized that there were a few things I made using cream of something (usually mushroom) soups that just wouldn't be the same without it. Since I make these things no more often than once every 6 months or a year, I just don't worry about it. The cream part is really easy to substitute, it's the seasoning! I just make those with the cream soup. Other things I've either stopped making or found a way to make them completely from scratch. If I find a new recipe that uses them, I either ignore it or make a cream sauce with stock. Most often I ignore them. My cooking has changed a LOT in the last 5-6 years and I actually think I'm a better cook now than I've ever been before. I'm not much of a baker, though. It's not that I don't bake, I just don't understand baking the same way I understand cooking.

The funny thing is that I get Kraft's Food & Family magazine both by email and snail mail. I never make anything from it "as is." I guess I'm the opposite of Sandra Lee! She takes recipes made from scratch and finds ways to make them using manufactured foods; I take recipes using manufactured foods and find ways to make them from scratch! Her trademark is "70% ready-made products with 30% fresh" and I do 70% (or more) fresh and 30% (or less) store bought (including condiments, bread, pasta, broth/stock and tomato products).

There was an interview with Pollan in Eating Well in the fall. In the footnotes it mentioned the books he had coming out: Food Rules and The Omnivore's Dilemma for Kids. Supposedly there will be one on cooking, too. My guess is that it will appear sometime this year or next.

[Jammin' Jan]

Cream of Something Soup shouldn't be too hard to make up -- just a medium white sauce with mushrooms/diced chicken/asparagus/whatever. A little garlic, a little onion. Maybe just saute in butter first, then add the thickened milk. I don't do a roux; just shake the milk and flour in a jar until all the lumps are gone, then pour into the saucepan. Cook and stir until thickened. I think that would work.

Sometimes I like to use Golden Mushroom Soup as a base. Not sure how to replace that.

Most other packaged things are easy, like rice mixes, which I rarely use anyway.

Condiments like ketchup, bbq, and mayo would be a nuisance to make from scratch every time I need them. But I use them so infrequently anyway, I don't think I would bother.

The rest of what we eat isn't too bad according to Food Rules -- fresh meat (except for the Polish sausage, help!). frozen veggies, fresh fruit, pasta, rice, potatoes, oatmeal, nuts, raisins, cheese.

Now that I think about it, though...store-bought bread would have to go, along with the Progresso soups my husband takes for his lunches.

This is going to be an on-going project!

[wosnes]

I use a roux or a beurre manié to thicken my sauces. For a few recipes, though, the taste of the canned cream of something soup is part of what makes the dish taste "right."

Side story: my daughter had a colonoscopy last week and afterwards she wanted grilled cheese and tomato soup -- canned cream of tomato soup. I hadn't used that in years and I was shocked at how BAD it tastes! Blech!

I don't use the rice mixes, etc., either.

I have issues with BBQ sauce. I usually don't like them so almost always make it when I need it. I have found one that's locally made that I like -- with an understandable ingredients list. I need to stock up on that next year during the farmer's market.

I've found a couple of meat markets that make their own sausage and I feel that's better than the sausage I find at the grocery (taste as well as quality). There's a German meat market that has good sausages and one store makes an outstanding Italian sausage. However, I occasionally buy smoked sausage at the grocery.

Animal products probably cause me the most mental grief. It's not so much "are they healthy or not?" except as it concerns factory farmed vs pasture-raised, organic vs conventional. I'm all for the idea of locally grown, pastured-raised, organic meat, poultry, dairy and eggs. But it's so danged expensive!

I'm also open to more meatless meals -- even though 2/3 of what I eat is meatless. My family wants meat at most dinners. I can manage one or two meatless meals weekly, but not more than that. (Are you familiar with Mark Bittman's Food Matters/vegan until 6? I'm not always vegan until 6; I don't sweat it if some eggs or dairy creeps in, but I do try not to eat animal flesh. However, if there are leftovers with meat in it, so be it.

Bread -- our local Great Harvest closed its retail operation, but supplies bread to some restaurants and one grocery chain. Their ingredients are also understandable, so I buy that. I have one other whole grain bread that I buy that isn't quite so "pure", but I like it and family will eat it, too. I like the idea of baking bread better than I like baking it!

Soup -- I've always made soups, but always kept some canned soup (also Progresso) on hand for emergencies. I stopped doing that about 4 years ago. I make soup at least once and sometimes twice a week and eat it for lunch everyday. To keep if from being too boring, I vary the sides. I have a master recipe for a bean soup and one for a vegetable soup. Sometimes I have something in mind and sometimes I improvise based on what I've got on hand. Most often I make soup in the slow cooker because the slow cooking causes the flavors to blend.

[wosnes]

I like this one, too. Here's the book.

What she says reminds me of what Pam Anderson (the cookbook author) has said: “Diets are like trying to sell everyone the same style and size shoe. If this way of eating is forced and not really you, you’ll revert to your old patterns every time. Better to find a way to eat for life.â€

It's why vanilla No-S works for some and others have to make modifications.

[BrightAngel]

I like this one, too. Here's the book.

What she says reminds me of what Pam Anderson (the cookbook author) has said: “Diets are like trying to sell everyone the same style and size shoe. If this way of eating is forced and not really you, you’ll revert to your old patterns every time. Better to find a way to eat for life.â€

It's why vanilla No-S works for some and others have to make modifications.

wosnes,
Thanks for the Links.
I love to learn about newly published books,
and this looks quite interesting.