The No-Car, Cash-Only Diet

Ben and I have been eating pretty healthy while living in Dubai.  We also have a gym and a pool so we have been exercising fairly often.  But there are some other reasons for our increased health and fitness.

The  No-Car Diet
This applies more to me than Ben.  Ben usually drives me to school in the morning, drops me off, then heads to work.  In the afternoon, I often walk  to the metro, or walk to a place that makes it much easier for Ben to pick me up.  Some days I walk about a mile, other days I walk about 2 1/2 miles depending on if Ben picks me up, and where I meet him in the evening if he does pick me up.  In addition to that, we live in an area that is very walker-friendly.  We walk to the grocery store (~3/4 mile), the beach (~1/4 mile), the metro (~1/3 mile), and many restaurants and bars (1/4 - 1 1/2 miles).  Living in an area where things are close can help increase your activity level by encouraging foot transportation.  Relying on public transportation can be good for your health and your wallet.  If I take the metro, I must walk about one mile and it costs me AED 4.10 (about $1.20) each way.  To drive, we pay three tolls of AED5 just to get to my school; and the gas should theoretically be much cheaper than it actually is here. So pretend like you don't have a car for a week and see how it goes! Remember, if you lose a couple pounds during this week, you are very likely to put that weight back on if you stop pretending you don't have a car.

The Cash-Only Diet
Studies have shown that paying for groceries in cash can reduce the chances of impulse purchasing.  Impulse purchases are often junk food, so this 'diet' can be helpful to your wallet and waist line.  When you pay in cash, you are more likely to look at the price tag, more likely to add up the total cost in your head before getting to the cash register.

Here in Dubai, most places prefer cash payment.  We always pay for groceries with cash.  Converting Durhams per kilogram to dollars per pound is not an easy task. Hence I bought some $24/pound steak the other day.  But that is another story.  So we pay AED 150 - 200 every time we go to the grocery store, which is about 2 - 3 times per week.  So it feels like we are paying so much money.  In reality, that's only about $40 - $65 for the two of us and it lasts a few days.  Still, paying with cash really makes you rethink those impulse purchases.  And when they say $45 please, you feel worse about giving away cash than handing over a credit card.   I plan to continue paying with cash when I get back to the states.

A Healthy Breakfast: Getting Some Veggies in the AM

Why does everyone say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day?  A common comparison is that you can't start driving a car without any fuel in the gas tank.  This somewhat makes sense, until you think about all your friends that don't eat breakfast and they get up and go to work and start their day just fine.  So some people can function without breakfast, while others cannot.  I personally must eat something within 45 minutes of being awake or I will feel like I am starving.  Others do not feeling hungry until noon.  Why is that?  It all has to do with metabolism.  Your metabolism tells your body how many calories to burn per day.  There are many things that can slow your metabolism, including skipping out on breakfast.  If you don't consume calories, your body will start to burn fewer calories.

Ok there's my lecture about the importance of breakfast, but the point of this post is to emphasize that what you eat is also important.  A good breakfast should fill you up and keep you full.  A glass of orange juice is not a good breakfast because it will never keep you full.  Things that keep you full all morning are protein and fiber.  You can get protein from eggs, nuts, meats, dairy.  You can get fiber from whole grains, fruits, vegetables.  But who really eats vegetables in the morning?  The only breakfast food I eat vegetables in are omelets; and who has time to make omelets in the morning?  So here are some super easy ways to get some veggies in the morning, without having to make an omelet.

Baked Egg-Stuffed Bread

What you'll need:
- 1/4 cup chipped zucchini
- 1/4 cup chopped tomato
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 1 egg
- 1 egg white
- 3 tbsp skim milk
- 2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp salt and pepper
- small bread loaf, cut in half length-wise

What to do:
1. Preheat the oven to 350*F.  In a medium bowl, mix together all of the ingredients except the bread.

2. Keeping all the sides intact and bottom intact, remove bread from the inside of the loaf.  Bake the loaf for ~ 5 - 8 minutes until toasted.

3.  Pour the egg mixture into the bread loaf, careful not to spill over the sides.  Return to oven and bake for ~15 - 18 minutes, or until the egg is set.  Recipe makes 2 servings.  Enjoy with a side of fruit or yogurt.  For best results, reheat in the oven.

Coffee Mug Scrambled Eggs

What you'll need:
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 tbsp skim milk
- 1 tbsp chopped red pepper
- 1 tbsp chopped green pepper
- 1 tbsp chopped onion
- 1 tsp paprika
- a pinch of salt and pepper

What to do:
 Mix everything together in a coffee mug.  Cook for 1 1/2 - 2 minutes until egg is cooked all the way through.  The egg will puff up; don't worry that is normal.  Enjoy with a side of fruit.  Recipe makes 1 serving.


Nutrition Notes:
I can feel the questions about eggs coming, so I'll try to go ahead and answer them now.  Why do eggs have a bad reputation?  Early research on heart disease correlated the amount of  dietary cholesterol in a person's diet to the amount of cholesterol in the blood stream.  Eggs have a fair amount of cholesterol in them, but studies are showing it is less compared to 20 years ago.  Research in the past decade has also been showing that the cholesterol in your blood stream is linked to the amount of saturated fat in your diet, not the amount of dietary cholesterol.  Egg yolks have 5 - 6grams of total fat (depending on the size of eggs); of that only 2grams are saturated.  Egg whites have 0grams of fat.  Most people need no more than 15grams of saturated fat per day.  So having 1 egg or less per day will not add a significant amount of saturated fat to your diet.  However, if you are topping it with cheese, or having a side of bacon and/or sausage, that is another story.

Steak Salad with Blue Cheese and Balsamic Reduction

This recipe requires a good balsamic vinegar.  By reducing balsamic, you increase the sweetness and decrease the tanginess.  If you have never reduced vinegar before, be warned that you cannot stand right over it and keep your eyes open, or even breathe well for that matter.  The vapor is quite intolerable.  Reducing balsamic is easy.  You just pour some in a pan, turn up the heat on the stove, stir occasionally, and take it off heat a little before it is the thickened consistency you want (it thickens a little more as it cools).  Some people put in a little sugar to increase the sweetness even more, but if you have a good balsamic vinegar you do not need the sugar.  A balsamic reduction is a healthy addition to a salad because it adds a lot of flavor without the calories.  It can also be used in meat dishes, on bruschetta, or as decoration on the plate.

Steak Salad with Blue Cheese and Balsamic Reduction

Balsamic Reduction
Heat 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (optional: add 2 tsp sugar) in a small pan over medium-low heat.  Let the balsamic simmer slightly, but never boil.  Stir occasionally. When vinegar has reduced almost by half, take off heat.

For the salad
What you'll need:
- 2 (4oz) tenderloin steaks, fat trimmed off
- 1/4 cup sliced red onion
- 1/3 cup chopped tomato
- 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 3 tbsp crumbled blue cheese (can substitute feta)
- 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- salt and pepper

What to do:
1.  Sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper on each side of the steaks.  Heat a skillet or grill pan on medium-high heat.  Add ~1/2 tbsp olive oil.  When pan is very hot, add steaks.  Steaks should immediately sizzle.  Flip after ~ 3 minutes, or until browned.  Cook another 3 minutes on the other side.  Decrease heat and cook until preferred doneness.

2.  In a small bowl, mix the remaining olive oil, cider vinegar, and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Set aside.

3.  Place all vegetables in a large bowl, add oil mixture and toss.  Divide into two portions.  Top each with blue cheese, and slices of steak.  With a small spoon, drizzle the balsamic reduction over the salad and steak.  Recipe makes 2 servings.

Egg Salads

Egg salad can be unhealthy because of the amount of mayonnaise used.  Mayonnaise can be made with healthy fat or less healthy fat, but you can pretty much guarantee the restaurant, or cafe or wherever, is using the unhealthy mayonnaise.

I made mayo with canola oil, which has a very low percentage of saturated fat.  Making mayo is simple, but requires some hard work.  To make mayo, mix 1 egg yolk, 1 tsp mustard, 1 tbsp white vinegar, a pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper.  Slowly add in vegetable oil as you whisk really hard and really fast.  Do not whisk unless you are adding oil, or it may turn green.  You may need 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup oil depending on how good your whisking skills are.  Pay attention to the consistency. Mayo should be thick enough to spread.

So I just wanted to make a  couple different kinds of egg salads for an Easter afternoon snack.  Ben says 'ew' every time I say 'egg salad' so I also wanted to see if I could make one that he likes.

Egg Salad
Mix together:
-1 hardboiled egg, peeled and chopped
- 2 1/2 tbsp mayo
- pinch of salt and pepper
-1 tsp paprika


Egg Salad with Sweet Pickles
Mix together:
- 1 hardboiled egg, peeled and chopped
- 2 1/2 tbsp mayo
- pinch of salt and pepper
- 6 sweet pickles, chopped

Dill Egg Salad
Mix together:
- 1 hardboiled egg, peeled and chopped
- 2 1/2 tbsp low-fat plain yogurt
- 1 tbsp low-fat cream cheese
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
- pinch of salt and pepper

Butternut Squash Risotto

This is another one of my all time favorite recipes.  If I were on that show 'The best thing I've ever made' this recipe and the green bean casserole would be on my top 5 list.  The green bean casserole I have only made once from scratch.  Risotto is something I have been making for many many.

When I went to college and I invited people over for risotto and their response was 'wow you can make that?' I was very confused because to me it seems simple.  I grew up with my mom making risotto fairly often. I don't mean every week, or even every single month, but over the years it adds up.  I wasn't so much trying to learn how to cook it, but just helping out in the kitchen.  From years of doing that I learned the proper technique.  I loved the taste of it, so of course I has my mother give me the recipe when I went off to college.


We usually ate it plain because I used to not like vegetables.  Once I started eating more vegetables, my mom started putting zucchini and yellow squash in it.  Years later, I started loving butternut squash soup.  I can't even pinpoint how exactly I decided to mix butternut squash puree with risotto.  I know I was living in Connecticut at the time...maybe one of my roommates gave me the idea.  All I know is I often made risotto and I often made butternut squash soup, and then one day I combined the ideas and now butternut squash risotto is my favorite kind of risotto!  It is so creamy and has a great sweet and savory combination.  It just melts in your mouth.  Though I shouldn't, I could eat it every day.

Butternut Squash Risotto

What you'll need:
-1 butternut squash (you will not need the whole squash)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup finely diced yellow onion
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
-1 cup arborio rice
- 4 1/4 - 4 3/4 cups chicken stock, low sodium, heated
- 1 tsp pepper
- a pinch of salt
- 2 tbsp cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

What to do:
1.  Heat the oven to 375*F.  To prepare the squash, carefully cut in half lengthwise.  Then spoon out the seeds.  Pour enough water into the sided baking pan so the water is ~ 1/4" deep.   Lay one half of the squash on a sided baking pan with the hard skin facing up.  When the oven is ready, put the pan in the oven. Cook until the skin bubbles and starts browning, which should take about 30 - 40 minutes.  Remove and let cool when done.

2. Heat oil in a large tall-sided skillet or risotto pan over medium heat.  Add onion and garlic and saute for ~ 5 minutes; do not color the onions or garlic.  Add rice and stir for ~3 minutes.  Add in 1 cup hot stock and stir often.  Do not boil, but keep at a low simmer.  When the liquid is mostly absorbed into the rice, add 1/2 cup stock.  Continue this process until most of the liquid is gone and you have tasted the rice for doneness (there should be no crunch or hardness).

3. Remove the skin from the squash.  The skin should easily peel off with your hands or using a fork to get between the skin and the squash.  Then mash squash with a fork or puree in a machine.  Add 1 1/2 cups squash puree to the risotto mixture, reduce head to low, and stir in completely.  Add cheese, pepper and salt.  Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.  Recipe makes 4 - 6 portions.


Nutrition remarks:
Arborio rice is a white, short-grain rice.  It is high in carbohydrates, low in fiber, low in fat, and fairly low in protein.  Unless it is enriched, it does not provide much vitamins or minerals.  Even when it is enriched, the amounts are still pretty low. So by itself, it is not the healthiest food nor is it the most unhealthy food.  When you add high-sodium  stock to it, its a little less healthy because of the large amount of stock you use.  That is why I recommend using low-sodium stock.  When you add in some vegetables, then you are getting more fiber, vitamins, and minerals.  So a big plate of plain risotto is not a nutritious meal, but it can be a component of one.

Green Bean Casserole

Green bean casserole has become my favorite food at Thanksgiving dinner and one of my favorite dishes ever.  My family has started serving it with Christmas dinner, Easter dinner, and birthday dinners because there are a couple of us who just love it so much!

Cream of mushroom soup was one of the first soups I learned to make when I started culinary school.  It was delicious!  I was surprised by how little cream we used in the soup.  You actually get the creamy color from the addition of flour early on in the cooking process.  You get the creamy consistency partly from pureeing the food, and partly because of the flour.  The cream is the last thing you add, so the amount can be altered or left out depending on your preference.

My recipe is a little different than the one we made at school only because I have limited supplies and equipment.  So I will tell you what I did, and how it differed from the recipe we learned at school.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

What you'll need:
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped (~2/3 cup)
- 1/2 cup chopped leek
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 (8oz) container white button mushrooms
- 1/2 (8oz) container Shitake mushrooms
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 - 2 1/2 cups beef stock
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp dried chives
- 1 tsp ground pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup heavy cream

What to do:
1.  Heat oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat; add onion, leek, and garlic and stir.  Be careful not to color or burn this mixture.
2.  While the onion mixture is cooking, prepare the mushrooms.  Remove the stems and discard.  Use a damp paper towel to clean the top and bottom of the mushrooms.  Never rinse mushrooms because they will get soggy.  Then chop them up.  When the onions are translucent, add the mushrooms and stir for ~3 minutes.
3.  Add the flour and stir it into the mushrooms mixture completely.  Remove from heat and let cool for ~ 5 minutes.  While this is cool, heat the stock on the stove.  When the mushroom mixture has cooled slightly and the stock is hot, slowly pour the stock into the mushroom pan while stirring continuously.  Add seasonings.
4.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer 15 - 20 minutes.  Remove from heat and let cool slightly.  Add heavy cream and stir.  Taste and adjust seasonings. Use an immersion blender, blender, or Cuisinart  to blend the soup until it is fully pureed. (I do not have any of those in Dubai, so my recipe is more chunky than pureed).  Pass the mixture through a strainer into a casserole dish.

Green Bean Casserole

What you'll need:
- Emily's mushroom soup
-2 (12oz) cans green beans, drained and rinsed (fresh can be used but in Dubai the fresh green beans are terrible!)
-1/2 cup onion slices
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil

What to do:
1.  Make the mushroom soup recipe
2.  Heat the oil in a very small sauce pan so that oil reaches ~ 1/2 inch high on the wall of the pan (use more oil if necessary).  Wait until this oil is very very hot.  Test the oil by adding in 1 slice of onion.  If it does not immediately sizzle, then the oil is not hot enough.
3.  When the oil is hot enough, add in the onion slices and fry until golden brown.  When done, remove from oil and lay on a paper towel.
4.  Mix the green beans with the mushroom soup in the casserole dish.  Top with fried onions.  Recipe makes 5 servings.


How this is different from the recipe in my school book:  1- they used butter instead of olive oil to cook the onion and leek; 2- they also cooked celery with the onion and leek; 3- they did not use garlic; 4- instead of all the spices I listed, they use a 'bouquet garni' which is thyme, bay leaf, pepper, and parsley sprigs wrapped in a leak leaf and soaked in the mixture and removed before pureeing.  Both recipes were delicious and easy to make, so take your pick.


Nutrition remarks:
When making this recipe with canned cream of mushroom soup, the sodium content is much higher as well as the saturated fat content.  Adding the fried onions also does not help.  My recipe, even with the cream, is much lower in saturated fat and sodium compared to the Campbell's recipe.  I didn't bother trying to make a large amount of fried onions because they were not very likely to come out the way they are supposed to.  But the recipe was so delicious without it.  So the recipe I made is fairly healthy, especially when you leave out the cream.  This recipe would also be a good alternative to the Campbells recipe because it is on the healthier side, but not too far from the original product.

Happy Easter!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Easter.  Ben and I enjoyed our Easter in Dubai.  We don't have any Easter baskets, so I decided to hide some candy and little presents around the apartment.  So Ben had to hunt for his presents. We went out to the Lime Tree Cafe in Jumeirah.  The Lime Tree Cafe seems to be pretty famous here. I have read about it in all the tourism guides and multiple websites.  The food was wonderful!  They mainly have egg dishes, sandwiches, and salads.  They are especially famous for their carrot cake.  So after enjoying eggs florentine and a steak and gorgonzola sandwich, we took a piece of carrot cake home to have for dessert.

Just for fun, we colored some eggs.  We are not the most artistic people, apparently.

Then I made some varieties of egg salad with homemade mayonnaise.

Homemade mayonnaise

Plain egg salad with paprika, egg salad with sweet pickles, egg salad with yogurt and dill

For dinner I made butternut squash risotto, green bean casserole with homemade cream of mushroom soup, and Australian tenderloin.  Ben said it was the best meal we have had here!

Green bean  casserole

Easter dinner

I will post the recipes at another time, but for now it is time to go to bed.  Happy Easter everybody!

Lean red meat

How do you know if the meat is lean or not?  Don't bother memorizing the different cuts, just use your eyes and knowledge of colors and portions.

First ask, do I see red?  If not, then you are not looking at a red meat, so find something else.

Do I see white/yellow/creamy white shades in or around the meat?  These parts are the fat, saturated fat to be specific.  Fat around the edge can be trimmed off, but the marbling (inside) cannot.

Do I see more white/yellow/creamy white that I do red?  If yes- it is very fatty.  Bacon and pepperoni certainly fit under this category.

Ribs

Some pretty fatty bacon

Do I see mostly red and very little fat?  If yes- then you have found your lean meat.

Flank steak

Beef tenderloin

The beef here is from Australia and it always looks great.  I usually don't eat much red meat, but I have been eating my share of sirloin and tenderloin here in Dubai.  Here are two very easy dishes I made:

Steak Stir Fry

See how lean and red the sirloin is

What you'll need:
- 2 (4oz) beef sirloin
- 1 green bell pepper, sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 1 cup cabbage cut into strips
- 1/2 cup baby corn, chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped green onion
- 3/4 cup cooked rice
- salt and pepper
- Asian seasoning or sauce

What to do:
- Heat oil in a large skillet.  Add veggies and about 1 tbsp sauce and stir.  When cooked, remove food from pan, and return pan to the stove.
- Slice the meat very thin- about 1/4 inch.  The pan should be very hot before adding the meat. When you add the meat, stir constantly and quickly to make sure all sides are browned.  Once all sides are browned, the meat is done.  Add 1 tbsp of sauce to the meat and serve with veggies and rice.  Recipe serves 2.

I used a pre-made sauce instead of making something because I don't want to buy a bunch of ingredients that I will have to use up in only 2 months.  So the ingredients in the sauce I used are: water, sugar, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, salt, sesame seeds, garlic, chili, and ginger.

Steak and Potatoes

What you'll need:

- 2 (4oz) beef sirloin

- 6 to 8 new potatoes, quartered

- 10oz green beans, ends chopped off

- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided

- 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped, divided

For the marinade:

- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- pinch of salt and pepper

- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped or pressed

What to do:

- Marinate steak for 20 minutes

- Heat a medium skillet with 1 tbsp olive oil; add the potatoes, 2 chopped cloves of garlic, salt and pepper and stir.

- In a separate medium skillet heat 1 tbsp olive oil; add green beans, 1 chopped garlic clove, salt and pepper, and stir.  When green beans are almost done, add potatoes.

- Reheat the empty skillet used for the potatoes.  When hot, add the steak.  Cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side depending on how thick the steak is and how you like your steak cooked.  Recipe serves 2.