1) First, Rant Time (block your ears) & a big thank you to all of you who wrote about the story below. Ga-a!, I hadn’t heard since it broke last week, & in case you haven’t either, here goes. ABC-TV sent reporters in different cities to check out so-called "healthier" meals at restaurants like Taco Bells, Applebee’s, Chili’s, Macaroni Grill, etc. The meals were then sent to labs to be tested, and…the results were awful, just complete deception, with twice the calories & up to six times the fat listed on the menus! Macaroni Grill was the worst offender, but the others were close, with meals from Chili’s “Guiltless Grill” containing up to three times the fat their menu claimed. (These restaurants also have happy-healthy-you! websites listing the same false “nutritional information.”) Every link in this story made me shudder.

http://www.abc2news.com/content/themenutest/default.aspx

For investigators’ full lab results here’s more:

http://www.abc2news.com/content/themenutest/testresults/default.aspx

Sooo…why do restaurants & food chains deceive like this? First, obviously, for profit: they want their food to taste good (as only fat & bad carbs can), so you’ll be a repeat, paying customer. The second reason is that they use cheaper ingredients – again, for profit. Are you reminded of the corporate nicotine liars of a decade ago?

Speaking of corporate, I’d like to remind you of this…or, if you’re new to us, maybe click & read this page...

We’ve become a culture of Order Out, Eat Out, or grab a Meal Replacement bar. It’s hard not to be. The stuff is there, TV ads & their jingles bombard us, & everyone’s scrambling with little time to cook. The only answer, say, if you’re on your lunch hour, is to order things grilled or steamed with no sauce. Plus be wary of items listed as “guilt-free” or "diet-friendly." Personally, I think the best approach is…if you make quick & easy (honest!) meals yourself, then you’ll really know what’s in ‘em!

(Also, it’s so cheaper to make your own meals & snacks! With economic & diet worries happening simultaneously, isn’t that a sign to start making some changes?)

2) Talk about Macaroni Grill got me hungry for – ha! -- macaroni! Try this HEALTHY Macaroni & Cheese recipe that serves 2, with only 293 calories, no fat, & lots of protein per very filling serving.

1 cup uncooked Dreamfields Elbow macaroni ………..380 calories

1/4 cup shredded fat free cheese ………………………….45 calories

1 tbsp olive oil ………………………………………….…..120 calories

¼ cup chopped onion

¼ cup chopped red pepper

½ cup skim milk ……………………………………………...40 calories

1 tsp dried parsely

1 tsp salt, optional

Boil macaroni for about 11 minutes. Drain water, add olive oil & cheese, stir to melt cheese.

Add onions, milk, peppers & parsley, stir again. Easy!

Dreamfields has only 5 grams of digestible carbs per  serving, 65% lower glycemic index than regular  pasta, & twice the fiber of regular pasta:

http://www.dreamfieldsfoods.com

Check out Shirataki Noodles too:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=shirataki+noodles&spell=1

manufactured by:

http://www.house-foods.com/tofushirataki_faq.html

With shirataki you can eat 20 times the amount of pasta for the same number of calories.

Caveat: Recipes of these two wonderful products still use…heavy cream, fatty cheese, egg yolks, etc. It’s amazing, there are great new health products out there -- but they don’t know the rest of a healthy recipe! So, use low fat and low carb whenever possible. (Yes, low to both. You get so many carbs in the fruits & veggies you eat…you don’t need more.) So even with fabulous products such as these, ADAPT. Substitute healthier ingredients at every opportunity.

Now for a happy surprise, for me too. I’ve invented something. Remember when I said I was going to start using more Soy Protein Powder in baking? Substitute it as much as possible for flour, even “good carb” flour? Cf. this page, ½ way down:

“Metabolism’s bottom line: EVERYTHING breaks down to just one of three things: protein, fat, or sugar.

But what about good carbs? you're thinking. The answer: they're great help to avoid blood sugar & insulin spikes, may even take a whole hour to metabolize -- but they'll still become sugar.”

So again…if you’re new to us, I’ll re-copy the info about SPP:

“Soy Protein Powder. A year ago I discovered it on a weight-lifters protein-bar recipe site. (But they used sugar in its hidden forms -- honey, dried fruit etc. -- to hold the bars together.) Anyway, each SPP serving of 2 scoops -- 1/3 cup -- has 110 calories and 23 grams of protein, no fat, no cholesterol, & nooo sugar. (A hamburger has just 12 g protein.) SPP is sweet, fluffy, and can replace up to half the flour in many baking recipes. Huh? I’ve been experimenting with it, trying to develop recipes that don’t use sugar or egg yolks (the other glue). We get ours at Trader Joes, though it seems to have become popular:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=cooking%2C+baking%2C+with+soy+protein+powder&btnG=Search

And sooo……… ze great surprise is:

3) Protein Chocolate CookiesTM, As delicious as Grandma’s but containing more nutrients than most meals. 12 big cookies, 78 calories each, pure protein, antioxidant-rich, no sugar, no bad fat. Do this recipe in two steps: parts will seem a bit weird, but stay with me…:

1 cup Soy Protein Powder………………………….………330 calories

¼ cup Quick Oats ……………………………………………..110 calories

¾ cup Splenda

1 tablespoon baking powder

~~~~

In tall measuring cup put:

½ cup unsweetened, non-alkalinized cocoa ……….160 calories

½ cup Splenda

1 tbsp powder of Jello sugar-free Instant Vanilla pudding

**½ cup shredded fat free mozzarella cheese  ………..90 calories

2 tbsp canola oil …………………………………………………...240 calories

1 tsp vanilla extract

Water. (Mix all in 2nd group & add water till goop reaches 1 ½ cups)

~~~~

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray cookie pans with cookie spray.

In large bowl combine the Quick Oats, SPP, Splenda, & baking powder.

Microwave that 1 ½ cup mixture for about 3 ½ minutes, or until the cheese melts. Now combine it, bit by bit & stirring, with the SPP, oats, Splenda, & baking powder. If batter too thick add a bit more water.

Drop batter by 12 rounded tablespoonfuls onto pans & bake for 10 minutes. Cool 3-4 minutes (to let cheese re-firm), then move to cookie racks. Tip: how to divide this big, sticky stuff evenly? Drop just a bit of batter to “mark” the 12 places. Then, with spoon & moistened fingertips, go back, add, shape, & flatten batter into 12 same-size circles. Pretend it’s Play-doh. It’s ok if tops get wet with all the patting & reshaping.

**You won’t taste the mozzarella. This recipe’s breakthrough is that the bland cheese acts as a binder, replacing the old bad glue of sugar & egg yolks.

Have any worries about Splenda? Info’s on lower half of this page:

Last thing: Next week we’ll start building a bigger website, with…archives! Links to every recipe, health tip, & latest medical finding, so you can easily keep your own records & access what you need. Ask questions too! Bob gets daily email alerts from the CDC, NIH, N.E. Journal of Medicine, American College of Physicians, Physicians’ First Watch (global health alerts) -- all of them -- plus the latest discoveries in cardiology, diabetes, high blood pressure, staying young…everything. We’re here, the cook & the cardiologist, & if one can’t answer what you need, the other will. This is only the beginning…

Till next time, take good care,

Joyce & Bob