Hydrogenated Oils & Trans Fats

Have you noticed the newer labels on food? The new hype to market for a product is that "This product has zero grams of trans-fat per serving!" As of January 2006, the FDA requires that all food manufacturers list the amount of trans-fat per serving. Because of this, I think some manufacturers have changed their recipes so that it doesn't include as much trans-fat, or they manipulated the serving size. Remember if it's .9 grams per serving or less, the FDA says that it can be called "0 grams per serving."

Bottom line: read the ingredients to see if the product has hidden trans-fat. The words to look out for are hydrogenated oil, partially hydrogenated oil, vegetable shortening, or margarine.

A few things that I do at my house to avoid hydrogenated oils:
* buy "Smart Balance" or "Canola Harvest" brands of buttery spreads
* use canola oil for most recipes instead of margarine or shortening
* make my own biscuit mix
* make my own tortillas
* buy natural peanut butter (Whole Foods Market brand, it's the cheapest, and tasty too!)
* read the labels! :)

So, now you ask what are hydrogenated oils and what is the hydrogenation process? Read on:

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/T041300.asp#T041304

HYDROGENATED FATS

The nutritional "bad word" every label reader should be aware of is "hydrogenated." Zapping an unsaturated oil with high pressure hydrogen can turn the oil into saturated fat. (Hydrogen is forced into the empty parking spaces on the fat molecule.) This hydrogenation process is how vegetable oil is turned into margarine. Hydrogenated fats have two major economic advantages over natural saturated fats. They are cheaper and they have a longer shelf life. Hydrogenated fats and partially hydrogenated fats are everywhere in processed foods - added to cookies, crackers, and peanut butter, for example. Hydrogenated fats are also used instead of oil for frying in many restaurants and fast-food establishments because they stand up better to heat and can be used longer.

Hydrogenated oils are saturated fats and behave that way in the body. Crackers or cookies made with hydrogenated fats may proclaim themselves to be cholesterol-free, but a closer look at the label will show that the product still contains plenty of artery-clogging saturated fat. There's also a problem with these fats that the label won't tell you about.

Hydrogenated fats contain another kind of fat that falls outside of the saturated and unsaturated categories. These are trans fatty acids, or trans fats, so-named because the hydrogenation process transports hydrogen atoms across the fat molecule to a new location. Dr. Udo Erasmus in his book Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill aptly describes trans fatty acids as a "molecule that has its 'head on backwards'." Trans fats are as bad (or worse) for your arteries as saturated fats. A number of studies have shown that trans fats raise cholesterol levels in the blood.
...

Trans fats have found their way into most of the packaged foods bought by uninformed and unsuspecting consumers. Butter, which has gotten a bad rap because of saturated fat and cholesterol, has been replaced by margarine, which may also be bad news for cholesterol levels. True, foods made with hydrogenated fats are cheaper and last longer, but consumers pay a larger price in the long run, since trans fats provide little nutritional benefit to the body, except as an energy source. What's good for business in the short run is often bad for the body in the long run. When manufacturers chemically change a food, all sorts of unanticipated problems may result. This is especially true of hydrogenated fatty acids. Here's a summary of what literature has said about the problems of hydrogenated fats and trans fats:

• Hydrogenated fats act biochemically in the body like saturated fats.
• Trans fats can elevate blood cholesterol levels, similar to the cholesterol-raising effects of saturated fats.
• Trans fats raise the levels of LDL cholesterol, the bad cholesterol.
• Trans fats reduce levels of HDL cholesterol, the good cholesterol. Raising the bad cholesterol and lowering the good cholesterol in the blood spells double trouble.
• Trans fats have been shown to decrease the body's ability to produce natural anti- inflammatory prostaglandins.
• Eating a diet high in nutritionally worthless hydrogenated fats may lessen a person's daily intake of other fats, especially essential fatty acids that are important for growth and function of vital organs, such as the brain. This is a concern especially in children and frequent fast food consumers whose daily diet is high in processed and deep fat-fried foods and snacks.
• Trans fats or hydrogenated fats may interfere with the ability of the cells of the body to metabolize the fats that are good for you. This may damage cell membranes of vital structures, such as the brain and nerve cells. Cell membranes contain receptor sites for fat molecules, sort of like parking places that are specifically designed to receive certain molecules. When the right fatty acid arrives, it fills its assigned parking spot and contributes to the health of the membrane. However, trans fatty acid "cars" may also come along and squeeze into a space that doesn't really fit these biochemical impostors. A sort of biochemical traffic jam occurs, and the right cars cannot get to where they need to be. Or, think of cell membranes as having millions of tiny locks, which nutrient molecules can enter like keys. Changing the shape of the molecule, which is what happens when a fat is hydrogenated, changes the shape of the key, and it doesn't fit properly into the lock. Two problems can occur. Either the molecular misfit key is left to wander throughout the body, causing damage in other places, or these misfit keys keep pushing their way into the locks, damaging them, so that the right keys, the natural nutrients, no longer fit. At least in theory, hydrogenated fats can weaken cell membranes, keeping out needed nutrients and also allowing harmful ones to leak in. This may set the body up for chronic, degenerative diseases. This is why fake fats are becoming known in the medical community as "the silent killer." We can take a tip from Mother Nature that trans fatty acids are not good for the body. Both the placenta and the brain have a biochemical way of filtering most trans fatty acids out, although the protection is not complete. If a diet is not overwhelmed with TFA's, it can deal with a bit of them by metabolizing these fats as energy sources before they have a chance to do any cellular damage, and then use the good fats (the essential fatty acids) as healthy nutrients for the cells. Perhaps, a bit of trans fatty acids (which may occur naturally in some foods anyway) won't harm the body but, like all other fats, excess will.
• Trans fatty acids may be linked to other health problems as well, including decreased testosterone, abnormal sperm production, and prostate disease in men; obesity, immune system depression, and diabetes.

Here are some commercial foods that are notoriously high in hydrogenated fats:

• cookies
• airline snack foods
• some crackers
• french fries
• pies
• shortening
• pot pies
• deep-fried burgers
• pretzels
• fried chicken
• doughnuts
• fried potatoes
• muffins
• corn chips
• stuffings
• spoonable dressing
• potato chips
• some peanut butters
• candy bars
• fast-food shakes
• nondairy creamer
• some cereals
• cakes
• margarine
• biscuits

Don't fence me in

We put a fence in our yard this weekend. The purpose was to separate the front yard from the back yard and so the kiddies don't run into the street. The boys thought it was fun until Darrell put up the chain link part and found out what was really going on! :)

Darrell did a great job. After he put in the fence I planted some flowering vines so we'll have a gorgeous "green" fence with pink flowers! Yeah!

Salem's Preschool Graduation

Last night was Salem's preschool recital called "Spring Sing" and today was Salem's preschool graduation. All went well. I can't believe the year is already over and he'll be in Kindergarten next year!

The night before he started preschool, I was scrambling around the house trying to get everything ready and then stopped to realize that my baby was going to school! It was an emotional night for me. I got on the computer and wrote Salem a letter. He'll be able to read it when he's older and cherish it. I wrote another letter today and hope to remember to write letters to my children on special occasions just to tell them how special they are.

Here are pictures from the preschool events:

Graduation Roll-ups & more

If you know me, you'd know that I'm not that crafty. I think crafts are cute, and many people do really cool things but when I do them I'm either too cheap or too lazy to do them as cute as everyone else.

Well...Salem's preschool teacher asked if I would bring some food tomorrow for his graduation. I debated about what food I should bring. Something healthy? Chips? Veggies? Cookies? Hmm...then I had some ideas! :)

Here is what I ended up doing:
Graduation Roll-ups
A tortilla roll-up with peanut butter & jelly. Then I tied some red yarn around it to make it look like a diploma!
I realize that I could have purchased some twizzler ropes and used those for the bow instead of yarn, but I didn't want to go to the store. You could also use curly ribbon, but I already had the red yarn. I was going to use whole wheat tortillas, but it didn't look as good so I opted for good ol' white flour tortillas. Although these treats aren't the #1 best health food, at least it's better than a cookie with 2 lbs of frosting on top. (Do you want a cookie with that frosting?) I opted for the classic pb&j since I knew the kids would like that. Otherwise you could fill the tortilla with just about anything if you wanted to do this for a graduate with more taste flexibility.

Here's another idea that I had in my brain, but I thought the roll-ups were a better idea:
Chocolate Graduation Hats
Put some chocolate Hershey's kisses in the microwave or oven to slightly melt but so they still hold their shape. Meanwhile dip Snyder's pretzels squares (they look like a grid) in melted chocolate. (Or any small square cracker.) Take the somewhat melted kiss and push the dipped pretzel a little bit onto the kiss and let cool.

Now you've got graduation hats! You could put frosting on top to make a little tassel if wanted.

What time is it?

What time is it? Time to fix your watch!

Oaklen put my watch in the dishwasher months ago and I have never gotten around to fixing it. Today I took it over to Stroud Jewelers and got it fixed. I never thought it would ever work again since it went through the dishwasher but with a new battery, it's good as new! So, now I have a really clean working watch!

The start of the garden

This is the garden from last year

The garden is in and I'm excited to see things grow this year. My friend Jodie and I team up to do the garden in my yard. Last year was our first time and I think it went rather well. We have used the square foot gardening method.

These are the things we have planted:
Tomatoes
Corn
Muskmelon
Zucchini
Banana Squash
Crookneck Squash
Pumpkin
Cucumber
Beets
Cauliflower
Carrots
Onions
Chives
Garlic
Cilantro
Oregano
Sage
Parsley
Calendula
Poppy
Carnation
Columbine
Alyssum

Songs that remind you of me

Every time I listen to a song it reminds me of someone or an experience. I'm going to turn the tables a little bit and instead of me listing the songs that remind me of you, I want you to comment on this post and tell me what song(s) remind you of me! :)

(Then maybe I'll let you know of songs that remind me of you.)

Have fun!

Success!

I was at another Home Depot location last night and they had a fridge lock! Yeah!

It's installed and Oaklen is curious, but so far so good! :)

Put your wheat to bed

A few nights ago, I put my kids and husband to bed, then put my wheat to bed! :)

Here's how I did it:
Cooked Wheat Berries - the easy way!
In a pot, soak 1 cup dry wheat in 3 c water for at least 8 hours. Bring to boil with lid on, then put the pot to bed! (Wrap in a blanket or put in a bed for about 8 hours, it will cook and still be warm.)

(I'm sure this would work for many grains.)
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I could go on and on about the wonderful world of wheat, but since I hope most of you already know how wonderful it is, I'll just give you some reminders. Here are a few things that I dug up:


Whole wheat flour is the foundation of good bread-making. It is an excellent source of Vitamin E, the B vitamins and others. It contains the highest amount of gluten of any grain. This becomes the elastic part of the dough and holds the yeast bubbles within the bread causing the bread to rise. The gluten in wheat is the only gluten that can be removed from the rest of the grain.

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Wheat - More than Just Bread

Yes, most people do just think of bread when they see the word "wheat," yet this is only one of hundreds of uses for the most versatile of all grains! Yes, it is considered the most important grain crop in the world -- providing 40-60% of the available energy and protein in developing countries. Because it stores so very well, it also is key to long term food storage. The purpose of this knowledge is to get you to understand the importance of having whole wheat in your diet. There are many reasons beyond the basic terrific nutritional benefits, but one of the most important is this: by adding high fiber whole grains to your diet will improve your health. Besides the nutritional benefits it is also tasty and good for you.

There are several types of wheat, but the most used are the soft and hard wheat. Hard wheat have the highest protein content and are best for bread making. They can either be winter or spring wheat, red or turkey or white (golden) in color. Soft wheat is best for quick breads, pastries, crackers, and cookies where protein content isn't as critical. White hard wheat makes exceptionally good bread -- a lighter loaf than the hard red wheat.

Whole Kernel (a.k.a. wheat berries). Soak wheat overnight then boil it which gives you soft wheat kernels. Prepared this way, they can be used for many things such as bulgur, popped wheat, pilafs, tabbouleh, meat extenders, cracked wheat cereals, bean substitutes, rice substitutes and noodle substitutes. Sprouted, wheat can be added to casseroles soups or stews, breads, muffins ... you name it.

Wheat conversions:
1 cup uncooked wheat = 2 cups cooked wheat
2 cups whole wheat = 3 cups ground flour
1 LB whole wheat = 2 1/4 cups wheat berries

Cowboy Caviar & Wheat Berry Salad

My friend Haley made this delicious salsa type dish. She calls it Cowboy Caviar. Here is her recipe:
Cowboy Caviar

6 TBS. red wine vinegar
2 TBS Hot Sauce (not Tabasco)
1 TB. Canola Oil
4 Cloves minced garlic
1/4 tsp. black pepper

(Mix above ingredients and set aside)

Drain and mix together:
1- 10 oz. peg corn
1-10 oz. black-eye peas
Add:
1/3 Cup green onions
2/3 Cup Cilantro
1/2 lb. chopped roma tomatoes

Mix all ingredients together. Best made a day ahead
Add 2 large avocadoes (chopped coarsely) right before serving.

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I loved the dressing so much that I figured that it would work for other things too. I made up this wheat berry salad and used the same recipe for the dressing. I changed a few of the ingredients or measurements for the rest of the recipe since that's what I had on-hand and in my garden. This recipe is versatile and you could put anything in there! :)

Wheat Berry Salad

6 TBS. red wine vinegar
2 TBS Hot Sauce (not Tabasco)
1 TB. Canola Oil
2-4 Cloves minced garlic*
1/4 tsp. black pepper

(Mix above ingredients and set aside)

Mix together:
2 cups cooked wheat berries**
1- 15 oz. can corn (drained & rinsed)
1- 15 oz. black beans (drained & rinsed)
3 green onion stems (chopped or cut)
1 handful of Cilantro (chopped) (about 1/3 cup)
2 roma tomatoes (chopped)

Mix all ingredients together. Chill at least a couple hours before serving.

* Add garlic according to your taste, tolerance, or your plans for that day! Serve this salad with gum or breath mints if needed! :)
** I used red winter wheat berries since that's what I have for most of my food storage. If you still don't know what I'm talking about, they're just the cooked wheat seeds. Most people use them to grind into flour. Here's one way to cook the wheat: in a pot soak 1 cup dry wheat in 3 c water overnight, after ~8 hours of soaking, bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer for 50-60 minutes. I'll do another post about more info on wheat.

Happiness is... Part V

Happiness is...
* my downstairs bathroom faucet, I love that it's big so you don't have to hug the back of the sink
* taking a shower with actual hot water and no screaming children behind the curtain
* finding cilantro in my garden from last year
* Oaklen climbing onto his bed with a book and saying "nuggle" (snuggle)
* getting a Britax carseat for $50
* when Darrell offers to give the kids a bath and help them get ready for bed instead of me
* doing Tae-bo with my kids and Salem saying "Go mom!"
* second-day hair
* getting breakfast in bed
* listening to Oaklen learn how to pray
* having Salem make up a poem that I have to write down
* watching Salem run to 1st base in tee ball, then doing a little dance when he got there

The search goes on...

Oaklen is my little munchie and he (as you know) is a turkey also. That means that he is constantly in the fridge. He knows how to open up the fridge, get the food and give it to me to open. One time he even managed to get an egg out of the carton, but luckily he chose a hard boiled egg, so when it dropped, it only cracked the shell.

I have been searching for a refrigerator latch so that Oaklen won't be able to open the fridge door. I've been to Toys R Us twice, Home Depot and Shopko. None of them have it! Toys R Us is all sold out and the other two places don't carry it. I might buy it online since I know it's there. Right now we have pushed our table to be in front of the door so he can't open it and he's crying because he can't get into the fridge...what a turkey! :)

I admit I got a fridge latch for a shower gift when I had Salem, but I never thought I'd need it since there's nothing dangerous about a fridge, everything is edible! I never thought about using it to keep food safe rather than keeping children safe until now.

Tee Ball

Salem has started playing in a tee ball team with South Salt Lake Recreation. He's had one practice and one game so far. It was pretty cute to watch the little 4-yr-olds try to play the game with only one practice. Most of them didn't know what to do. The highlight for Salem was the treat at the end, capri sun and nutter butters. He'd never had nutter butters before.


They were supposed to have had two more practices but they got rained out, so we've had to improvise at home. I used a bucket, an umbrella stand and a steel pipe for the tee, and Frisbees were the bases. It was pretty fun!

Broccoli vs. Steak

Which has more protein, 100 calories of broccoli, or 100 calories of sirloin steak? (Think about it for a minute...)

The answer is broccoli! Now stop reading right now and go get your frozen broccoli in the freezer to see for yourself. I realized this information while reading the book called Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman. It's a great book that talks about eating nutrient dense foods. The way to fight disease is to eliminate the bad food with saturated fat and to replace it with tons of nutrient dense foods like fruits & vegetables.

After reading it last year, I started eating a lot more salads, but I admit that now I don't follow his plan as well as I should. I try to eat more vegetables but I still eat cheese and other things.

Here is the quote from his book:

"I see about twenty to thirty new patients per week, and I always ask them, "Which has more protein - one hundred calories of sirloin steak or one hundred calories of broccoli?" When I tell them it's broccoli, the most frequent response I get is "I didn't know broccoli had protein in it." I then ask them, "So where did you think the calories in broccoli come from? Did you think it was mostly fat, like an avocado, or mostly carbohydrate, like a potato?"

People know less about nutrition than any other subject. Even the physicians and dietitians who attend my lectures quickly volunteer the answer, "Steak!" They are surprised to learn that broccoli has about twice as much protein as steak.

When you eat large quantities of green vegetables, you recieve a considerable amount of protein. Remember, one 10-ounce box of frozen broccoli contains more thatn ten grams of protein."

Nutrients present in 100-calorie portions

	Broccoli	Sirloin Steak	Romaine Lettuce	Kale
Protein	11.2 gm	5.4 gm	7.5 gm	11 gm
Calcium	322 mg	2.4 mg	374 mg	470 mg
Iron	3.5 mg	.7 mg	7.7 mg	5.8 mg
Magnesium	74.5 mg	5 mg	60.5 mg	97 mg
Fiber	4.7 g	0	4 g	3.4 g
Phytochemicals	Very High	0	Very High	Very High
Antioxidants	Very High	0	Very High	Very High
Folate	257 mcg	3 mcg	969 mcg	60 mcg
B2	.71 mg	.04 mg	.45 mg	.32 mg
Niacin	2.8 mg	1.1 mg	2.2 mg	2.1 mg
Zinc	1.04 mg	1.2 mg	1.2 mg gm	.55 mg
Vitamin C	350 mg	0	100 mg	329 mg
Vitamin A	7750 IU	24 IU	10,450 IU	23,407 IU
Vitamin E	26 IU	0	32 IU	34 IU
Cholesterol	0	5.5 mg	0	0
Weight	307 gm	24 gm	550 gm	266 gm
	(10.6 oz)	(.84 oz)	(19 oz)	(9.2 oz)

This table is from http://www.diseaseproof.com/archives/healthy-food-nutrient-density-of-green-vegetables.html

Eat your greens a delicious way! Spinach Pesto Pasta

Tired of salads? Make sauces or dips with greens instead!

Tonight we made a delicious spinach pesto pasta. We don't really follow a recipe, Darrell just makes it up as he goes, he's a genius! :) Here's a rough recipe for what he put in it tonight.

Spinach Pesto Pasta
10 oz fresh spinach
2-3 garlic cloves
Olive oil
Salt
plain yogurt (couple of spoonfuls)
dried basil

Mix ingredients in food processor, then toss with cooked pasta. Yum!

Trashy idea

Someday when we redo our kitchen, I'd love to put in this cool trash receptacle.

It's a good use of a corner cabinet. There are three sections, I'd use them for: 1- Trash 2-Compost 3-Recycle

http://www.amazon.com/Rotary-Recycling-Center-Hardware-White/dp/B0006NIFNK/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1CLW0QB9J12PI&colid=2A5WBR73LIEHE

Heather - Simpsons style

Here is what I'd look like if I were in a Simpson's episode...


This may be old news to you since the Simpsons movie has been out for a while, but I finally visited the website. :)
http://simpsonizeme.com/

Someone's been sleeping at my house

We had unexpected visitors from the park sleeping on our lawn...

We woke up this morning to find a duck couple camped out on our front lawn. The boys loved looking out the window at them. They're still there, taking a nap. Pretty fun!

Revolution Money Exchange - Just like PayPal but Free

Yeah for free money! :)

I have been made aware of a PayPal competitor called Revolution Money Exchange. It's just like PayPal but doesn't have any fees. I went ahead and signed up since they are doing a promotion right now until May 15. If you sign up by May 15, you'll get $25. Sounds good to me! :)

I added a button on this blog, click through that to sign up if you'd like, or click the link below:
Revolution Money Exchange

Revolution Money Exchange was started by AOL founder Steve Case to compete with Paypal. They're offering a $25 bonus when you register before May 15th!

MoneyExchange is the new way to send and receive money online between MoneyExchange accountholders. It's a great way to exchange money with friends, colleagues, or online sellers. Share restaurant, travel, or household expenses. It's easy, secure and, best of all, it's FREE to register and FREE to send and receive money between MoneyExchange accountholders.

It's a quick and easy sign up, and the $25 credit is applied to your account INSTANTLY. They ask for the same information you would need when you open a bank account, including a SSN. If you've done any online banking, you're probably pretty comfortable with the security of online banking systems.

Account issued by First Bank & Trust, Brookings, SD, Member FDIC and part of the Fishback Financial Corporation

Happiness is... Part IV

Happiness is...
* dropping your make-up and finding that nothing broke!
* listening to Salem sing his cowboy song that he learned at school (to the tune of "I'm a little teapot.")
* being able to email my midwife about anything! :)
* the lint in Darrell's belly button, it's so cute!
* Darrell bringing home the bacon (literally) and other items.
* a vase full of fresh flowers on the table
* apples n' peanut butter (and watching Oaklen do the sign for them)
* coming home to lots of happy phone messages on my birthday
* Firefox and their new spell check feature (it's a web browser)
* an empty kitchen sink
* listening to Salem make up words then saying "Mom, that's how you say [dog] in Spanish."
* watching Oaklen do his mischievous face...the one that says "I'm cute, so I can get away with it!"