5 second rule

DIY

This is not a post about making your own yogurt, at least not from scratch.  Yes, I've done it before, in the Peace Corps, and I'll do it again before I die, cause there's nothing like watching friendly bacteria do its business right there in front of you.  But today's recipe is down and dirty and requires less than a minute.

I've taken an overpriced, over-sweetened, and overly packaged food item I quite like and made it at home instead.  In the process, I've tailored it to my tastes. I've pocketed extra cash. And, basically, I've saved the environment from complete annihilation.

All in a day's work.

Here's what I set out to replicate/improve:

It's from Trader Joe's, and it's quite delicious.  But it's also a buck a pop, contains about 3 spoonfuls (it's only 5.3 ounces), and is so sweet you might as well tip a jar of Hershey's syrup right into your mouth and call it a day.  So I won't buy it anymore.

Now I make chocolate yogurt myself.  Sorry, Trader Joe.  Here's a hanky for your tears.

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Recipe for Chocolate Yogurt

To replicate the appealing texture of the original, which is creamy but not overly thick on the palate, I paired equal parts 2% fat Greek yogurt and nonfat plain yogurt. A little cocoa and a wee bit of sugar add a chocolaty note that's happily devoid of candy-bar-sweetness.  In other words, you can eat this for breakfast.  Also, we eat a ton of yogurt in our house, so buying two large containers is both practical and more environmentally sound than buying a whole slew of itty bitty packages.  At least for us.

Makes 1 cup 

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used 2%)

1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt (traditional style)

2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1-1/2 to 2-1/2 teaspoons sugar, or to taste

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.  Eat with a clear conscience.

printable pdf

Wine

From yesterday's New York Times:

Two studies published this month in the journal Gastroenterology suggest that people who drink wine, white or red, in moderation are less likely to develop conditions that may lead to esophageal adenocarcinoma, an uncommon cancer that has increased sharply in the United States over the past 30 years...

Okay, so a little wine is good for me.  Of course.

Or is it?

From the Washington Post 10 days ago:

A new study involving nearly 1.3 million middle-aged British women -- the largest ever to examine alcohol and cancer in women -- found that just one glass of chardonnay, a single beer, or any other type of alcoholic drink per day increases the risk for a variety of cancers...

I'm not angry.  I'm not out to blame scientists or journalists or health professionals.  I'm genuinely, truly concerned that I don't understand what the hell is going on with all the alcohol talk.  I honestly thought, after reading countless articles over the years about the benefits of the Mediterranean diet and the endless patter about red wine's antioxidants and ability to raise HDL (good) cholesterol, that a single drink a night was not only not bad for me, but actually good for me.

And for you, too, of course.

But the science is evolving so rapidly it's nearly impossible to keep up, and with so many contradictory studies I have no idea how we can intelligently parse the varied recommendations.  No simple sound bite or sexy headline fits.

The American Heart Association, for one, is very clear on its website today that if you don't already consume alcohol, you shouldn't start.  (Assuming your goal is heart health.)  The bolding is theirs:

Given [the] risks, the American Heart Association cautions people NOT to start drinking... if they do not already drink alcohol.  Consult your doctor on the benefits and risks of consuming alcohol in moderation.

The AHA also says:

No direct comparison trials have been done to determine the specific effect of wine or other alcohol on the risk of developing heart disease or stroke.

This last part surprised me.  No studies have been done?  I could have sworn I've been reading about these studies for years.

I rarely drank before moving to California, but everyone here drinks wine and I've started to, too, with some regularity.  I always felt fine about it, assuming that in addition to enjoying the flavor with my food I was doing something beneficial for my body as well.

Given my own familial risk of cancer, and in light of this recent study, perhaps I need to rethink this assumption. 

More from the Washington Post:

"Even among women who consumed as little as 10 grams of alcohol a day on average -- the equivalent of about one drink -- the risk for cancer of the breast, liver and rectum was elevated, the researchers found."

So ... do we safeguard our esophagus, or our heart?  Mind our breasts, or our HDL?

Or ignore the information altogether and sip the Syrah?

Treasure

 
Five bucks if you can tell me what you're looking at.

Try harder.

Several months ago, my friend Denise sent me a lovely package from her favorite tea shop in Victoria, British Columbia.  The tea was unlike anything I had seen before.  It wasn't bagged or loose-leaved.  Instead, it was pressed into compact, teardrop shaped mounds, and when you poured hot water over them, shazaam!  The little mounds unraveled and swelled to 10 times their original size. 

When I visited Denise this past summer, I went straight to the shop, called Silk Road Tea.  I bought several teas and wished desperately I could justify buying all the pretty accoutrements, too.  (I couldn't.)

I've always preferred tea over coffee, and the older I get, the more I find myself buying into not just the taste but the whole idea of tea.  It's ancient.  It's healthful.  It's, I don't know, poetic.  Maybe because the language of tea is somehow exalted, otherworldly.  Is it just me?

Pictured above is the Golden Treasure tea from Silk Road.  The little tag on the package reads:

A mellow, toasty, warm caramel nature.

Chinese black tea grown at 5900 ft in the misty Simao region of Yunnan Province.

Golden black tea is hand tied to resemble a temple spire, and unfurls into a lush, exotic flower.  This enlivening tea symbolises the inner fulfillment that comes from spiritual pursuits.

Mellow. Toasty. Caramelly.  And who doesn't want inner fulfillment that comes from spiritual pursuits?  I certainly do.

I love this tea.

If you want to learn more about tea and don't know your pu-erh from your red rooibos, please check out this article I just wrote for Culinate.com.

And if you're a coffee drinker, we can still be friends, but I leave you with this: your used coffee grounds will never be as lovely as my unfurled, spent Golden Treasure tea.

Californilactation

Also from the Slow Food Nation event.

In case I ever forget I live in California, all I have to do is look at this picture.

And look!  It's chocolate flavored!

Is there really anything more to say?

I'll Take Trendy Fruits for $500, Alex

photo by Breno Peck, reprinted under a Creative Commons License

My name is Cheryl, and I drink pomegranate juice.

According to a new report by the Center for Culinary Development, this means I’m trendy. Which is unfortunate. I’d rather be cutting edge, avant-garde, subversive even. But right there in black and white, the report chronicles pomegranates’ speedy four year ascent from fringe to ubiquity. Time to look elsewhere for culinary cachet.

What’s next? It could be the Amazonian palm berry açaí (see photo, above), with its highfalutin accents and inscrutable pronunciation. In fact, the blueberry-voguing fruits already grace 3 separate varieties of Snapple, a sure sign of mainstream infiltration. Mark my words: they’ll soon show up in Diet Coke Plus (“New! With açaí !”) and as the featured ingredient on Top Chef. The TC contestants will go açaí-happy at Whole Foods, loading the fruit into their Toyota Highlanders and whizzing up smoothies in their KitchenAid blenders. In the Top Chef GE Monogram Kitchen. On Bravo. Owned by NBC Universal.

You get my point. Something about the product marketing of everything, even healthful superfruits, leaves me cold.

I guess I could reject it all, but, nah.  Instead of fighting my inner trend-monger I'll embrace her. Snuggle her. I’ll make out with the goji berries and suck face with the CCD’s next picks, the guarana, cupuaçu, acerola, and camu camu.  Just you wait.

Sorry, apples.

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Recipe for Moderately Trendy BlueCherryGranate Smoothie

Serves 1 

1/2 ripe banana, chunked

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

1/2 cup frozen dark sweet cherries (NOT in syrup, please)

1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt

1/2 cup pomegranate-blueberry juice (or straight pom. juice)

2 teaspoons ground flaxseed

Toss ingredients in a blender and whirl.

printable pdf