Special Investigations
Special Investigation: The Gracious Pantry
Gracious: characterized by charm, good taste, and generosity of spirit; “gracious even to unexpected visitors”; “gracious living.”
I am in love with the clean recipes from The Gracious Pantry! Clean eating (i.e., less chemicals and more whole foods!) is the ticket to a healthy life, and Tiffany, a stay-at-home mom and cookbook author, graciously shares her clean–cooking creations in her charming blog. From tempting treats to crock pot dinners, if you’re looking to feed your family with yummy and good-for-you foods, Tiffany’s got you covered! Here are some of her top tips and tricks, from her (clean) kitchen to yours.
Where do you turn for cooking inspiration?
Honestly, my inspiration comes from desperation. It’s that never-ending question: “What’s for dinner, Mom?” that gets me every time. And when I’m truly stuck, I use The Flavor Bible. I don’t think I could produce the number of recipes that I do without it. It’s an amazing book.
How does eating clean help you track/control your weight?
I base my portion sizes on my palm or cupped hands. Protein should be the size of my flat palm, grains, fruits or starchy veggies the size of one cupped hand, and veggies the size of two cupped hands. It’s great because it’s really the perfect way to portion for any person. Your palms are always the right size for you, so your portions will always be correct. It’s a wonderful method and really helps me keep track of intake.
What are some packaged (but still clean!) products you turn to in a crunch?
I do buy my spaghetti sauce in a jar (Trader Giotto’s Traditional Marinara Sauce), and I get snacks for my son at Trader Joe’s. He loves the baked plantain chips and I’m guilty of enjoying them on occasion as well. I also love Lara Bars and Pure bars.
What are some of your personal go-to Gracious Pantry recipes?
Taco Salad (hands down the most often-made recipe in my kitchen!), Hummus (I honestly can’t live without it) and Smoothies (especially green smoothies with spinach!).
What are a few clean cooking tips everyone should know?
Whole-wheat pastry flour is a fabulous exchange for white, A/P flour. Also, you can “fry” many things (including onions, ground turkey meat, and chicken) in a pan using low-sodium chicken broth instead of oil.
What’s your personality Diet Type?
Diet Planner: I do best when I am organized. I thrive on consistency, structure, and routine. I stick to my eating plan the best when I have a routine to follow. And I fall off track easiest when my routine has been upset somehow.
For help building a healthy lifestyle that works for YOU, take my free 3-minute personality Diet Type quiz and find out how to use the power of your personality type to help you reach your goals!
Special Investigation: Skinnytaste
What’s for dinner? Hopefully something fast, tasty, and healthy…but for those who lack the time (or desire) to dig through multiple sources to find recipes with that magical combination, help is just a few keystrokes away at Skinnytaste.com. Since 2008, literally millions of eager recipe seekers have logged in for “delicious low fat,” family-pleasing recipes that work in real life. Gina Homolka, a busy mother of two, and the author, recipe developer, and photographer of Skinnytaste, started the blog in an attempt to help her stay healthy and experiment with creating skinny recipes.
I am in LOVE with the fresh and fast Skinnytaste recipes and I’ve teamed up with Gina to answer her reader question and clear up nutrition confusion. Here are some of Gina’s top tips and tricks, from her healthy kitchen to yours.
Q. Your recipes are outstanding – easy, flavorful, and healthy! Where do you turn to for inspiration?
Food is always on my mind, I am always thinking about what I want to make next, and I jot down my ideas all the time, but the inspiration is from everywhere. From meals I have at restaurants, to the produce in season at the time, and even requests people send me for makeovers! I never run out of ideas!
Q. Do you snack/taste while you cook? How do you keep it in check?
I taste the food while I cook but I have pretty good control because I know that will be my lunch or dinner. I also share my experiments with my neighbors, friends and family so everyone gets a taste and I don’t get left with too much food. Desserts on the other hand can be a little tougher, especially around the holidays since I test recipes a few rounds before I post, but again I share them with neighbors and friends and family, immediately and get them out of my house!
Q. What are some of your go-to Skinnytaste recipes?
There are more than four, but here are some recipes I make again and again:
Carne Bistec – Colombian Steak with Onions and Tomatoes
Pasta with Bolognese Sauce
Pork Chops with Mushroom and Shallots
Arroz Con Pollo Lightened Up
Q. Where did you learn to cook?
My Mom and Dad cooked when I was growing up. We never ate out and never had fast food. Naturally I learned to cook in my home, my mom would even leave me in charge of supper on nights she couldn’t cook. But honestly, I always loved cooking and experimenting in my kitchen. I would come home from school and try to whip up crepes, a steak sandwich or spaghetti and meatballs from scratch. I’m sure my early kitchen experiments weren’t very good, but I thought they were!
Q. What is your all-time favorite cookbook or chef?
I was recently in DC and got to sample some dishes from Chef Jose Andres, I loved his use of fancy foams and how he thought outside the box.
Q. What three kitchen tools do you think are a must-have?
I love my wooden spoons. I also can’t live without my chopper and my immersion blender.
Q. What’s your Diet Type?
I definitely relate to the Diet Feeler…
“Passionate and perceptive, Diet Feelers appreciate and inspire others, often acting as a teacher or counselor to friends, family, and colleagues. The Diet Feeler excels in a healthy lifestyle when her efforts focus on self-expression, and especially when she receives positive encouragement and support from others along the way.”
I love feeding my family with healthy foods they really enjoy eating…and I love helping others do the same!
For help building a healthy lifestyle that works for YOU, take my free 3-minute personality Diet Type quiz and find out how to use the power of your personality type to help you reach your goals!
Special Investigation: MiO
Chemically Enhanced Water
Want to infuse refreshing and healthy water with chemicals and artificial food dyes? Kraft’s got you covered! “Meet MiO, the new liquid water enhancer that allows you to create up to 24 eight oz. drinks from the palm of your hand,” declares the uber-hip MiO facebook page.
Yup, squeeze a few drops of MiO into your innocent glass of water, mix, and voilà, you have yourself a neon-colored, fruit-flavored beverage ready to be chugged. According to Kraft, “Each of MiO’s six exciting flavors are:
- Caffeine-free
- Calorie free per 8 fluid ounce serving
- Carbohydrate free and considered a free exchange
- Sugar free
- Free of artificial flavors”
Hmmm, Kraft sure makes this stuff sound like it’s a healthy home run, right? Flip over the sleek little bottles and keep reading, however, and you’ll find that MiO is loaded with chemicals.
Some of the additives are considered safe—sucralose (an artificial sweetener), propylene glycol (distributes flavors evenly), citric and malic acid (flavorings), potassium sorbate (prevents mold growth), and polysorbate 60 (helps things dissolve). But others—the artificial colors Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Red 40, Blue 1, and the artificial sweetener acesulfame potassium—are potentially harmful.
Why are food dyes bad for you?
Ingesting food dyes is linked to hyperactivity in children, cancer (in animal studies), and allergic reactions. Read CSPI’s awesome report “Food Dyes: A Rainbow of Risks,” to learn more. CSPI (my former employer!) is my go-to source for trusted health info!
What makes acesulfame potassium so scary?
The safety tests of acesulfame potassium were conducted in the 1970s and were of mediocre quality. Studies in mice were too short to prove safety, and two rat studies suggest that the additive might cause cancer. And one of the chemicals produced when acesulfame-K is broken down in the body, acetoacetamide, has been shown to negatively affect the thyroid in animal studies. In 1996, CSPI urged the FDA to require better testing before allowing acesulfame-K in soft drinks, but no such testing was done. Yikes.
Bottom line: Don’t drink the new (chemical!) Kool-Aid!
A Better Thirst Quencher
Plain old water can be boring, I get it. Hint Water, whose mantra is Drink Water, Not Sugar, is the real (natural) deal. It’s purified water infused with fruit and vegetable extracts—no extra calories, no added sugars, and no chemicals. From Mango-Grapefruit, Cucumber, Pomegranate-Tangerine and more, Hint comes in an array of delicious flavors.
Or you can infuse your own water! It’s easy and delish. Thinly slice fruits, vegetables, and/or herbs, add them to a pitcher of filtered water, and refrigerate (anywhere from 2 hours to overnight—the longer it sits, the more intense the flavor will be). That’s it! The combos of flavors are limitless—my favorites include strawberry-basil, tangerine-grapefruit, mixed berry, and cucumber-melon-mint.
For help building a healthy lifestyle that works for YOU, take my free 3-minute personality Diet Type quiz and find out how to use the power of your personality type to help you reach your goals!
