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.

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.

Fish. Super easy. Super healthy.

The argument that 'I just don't have time to make something healthy for dinner' will never cease to exist, unfortunately.  I will continue to try to prove to the world how lame that excuse is.  There are so many dishes that take minimal time and are nutritious and delicious.

When planning out a healthy meal, first plan for what needs to be on the plate.  There should be some sort of low-fat protein source like chicken, fish, or lean meat.  There should definitely be lots of veggies.  There should be a fruit.  You may or may not have a starch, but try to make it whole grain most of the time.  You may also have some dairy, but try to make it low-fat most of the time.  This general idea has formed the 'new food pyramid' which is now a picture of a plate.

This plate helps you form a healthy meal, but now you have to think about what is easy and takes little time to prepare.  Let's start with the protein foods.  Do you know how long it takes to steam shrimp?  It will depend on the size, but it is likely going to be less than 3 minutes.  If you buy them deveined and without the tail- then there is no prep time, only cooking time.  Really skinny fish might take about 5 minutes to be pan-fried on the stove.  Thick fish like salmon will take closer to 10 minutes.  Thin chicken (bought or prepared that way) will take around 8 - 10 minutes; thicker chicken around 12 - 15 minutes.  Depending on how you like your red meat cooked, it may take 8 - 12 minute for cuts like tenderloin; it will take longer for larger pieces like a flank steak.  What will take a long time to cook?  A whole chicken; large cuts of beef that are made for roasting;  tough cuts of beef that are made for stewing.  There is little prep work with protein foods unless you need to cut it up a certain way.

  

Veggie steamer

Ok let's move on to the veggies.  Salads generally have only prep time and no cooking time.  Depending on the salad ingredients, it may take a while to do all the chopping.  Still,  it is likely you will not spend 20+ minutes cutting up veggies.  Green beans or thin asparagus can be cooked in 10 minutes: 5 minutes steaming, 5 minutes sautéed in olive oil.  Zucchini and squash may take a little longer depending on how you cut them up and how you cook them.  Onions can take only 3 minutes if you are just trying to cook them until they are translucent.  But if you want caramelized onions,expect to spend a good 20 - 25 minutes stirring.  Most things you make in the oven, such as roasted cauliflower, is going to take longer than something cooked on the stove top.  Artichokes, no matter how you cook them, will take a while because there is quite a bit of prep work and very little edible portion inside the artichoke.

Now let's talk about fruit.  There are quite a few bite-sized fruits that you can just set on the table and pick at throughout the meal: berries, grapes, cherries.  This means that washing in the only preparation step.  There are some fruits you can eat whole, but would most likely cut up for the dinner table: apple, pear, peach slices. So you would need to spend time washing and cutting. Then there are foods that you cannot eat the outside: pineapple, cantaloupe, watermelon, mango.  Some of these you may just cut up and serve with the rind still on it; others you may need to separate the fruit from the outside layer.  In the case of mangos, you have to separate the fruit from the outside skin and the inside pit.  Mangos can take quite a bit of effort to prepare. No matter what fruit you use, you are likely to eat it raw, so there is no cooking time.

Grains are one food that may take a while to prepare and/or cook.  If you are making pasta, you have to wait a while for the water to boil (unless you have Justin and Julie's amazing stove), then wait for the pasta to cook.  Same deal with the rice.  If you are making potatoes- you may need to peel or cut, and you absolutely have to wait for them to cook.  This may take 20 - 25 minutes to cook new (small) potatoes on the skillet, or 30 - 45 minutes in the oven;  it would take longer for a larger potato to bake in the oven.  The time for corn depends on if you are boiling or grilling.  Peas... well I hate peas and we're all older than 5 so let's just move passed that food.  Winter squashes are going to take some time to cook because they have such a thick outside layer.

So here are some easy combinations:

-Heat up the skillet and heat a saucepan filled with a little water.  Start cooking a chicken breast; then chop some zucchini; steam zucchini for 5 minutes; cut apple and pear slices while food is cooking; flip chicken; saute zucchini in olive oil for 5 - 8 minutes. Total time: ~17 - 20 minutes

-Start heating water for rice; chop red and green bell peppers, then saute; heat a skillet; add rice to hot water; cook steak on skillet; chop pineapple (take off the skin).  Total time: ~25 - 28 minutes

-Heat water in saucepan with a veggie steamer inside; heat a skillet; add asparagus to saucepan; add fish to skillet; remove asparagus and saute in a skillet; flip fish; wash grapes. Total time: ~ 12 - 14 minutes

The last one is similar to a meal I made recently.  Earlier that day we had made and eaten a lot of fried food at school, so I wanted to make something healthy.  I was also tired from a long day, so I wanted to make something fast.  So here is what I made:

Pan-fried salmon with asparagus, and a side of chopped mango

What you'll need:

- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided

- 1 salmon filet

- 4 oz thin asparagus

- salt and pepper

- 1 lemon slice

What to do:

- Heat a small sauce pan fill with ~ 1/2 inch of water; place a veggie steamer inside.  When the water comes to a low boil, add in asparagus and cover.

- Heat a small saute pan over medium-high heat and add 1 tbsp olive oil.  Sprinkle a pinch of salt a pepper on the top of the salmon.  When pan is hot, add salmon with the top facing down on the pan. After about 3 to 4 minutes, flip.  If the bottom of the salmon does not have the skin still attached, turn the heat down to medium-low.

- Take the asparagus and the steamer out of the pan, and empty all the water. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil, and add asparagus back in. Stir frequently.  Sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper and stir some more.

- The salmon should be cooked about 4 to 5 minutes on the bottom side. Fish is done when it flakes easily when using a fork.  The asparagus should be tender, but still have a little bit of crunch.

-  After plating the food, squeeze a little bit of lemon juice over the salmon and asparagus.  Serve with any kind of fruit.

You may wonder how this will take since there is very little seasoning added to the food.  Salmon and asparagus are both very strongly flavored foods.  If you like the flavor of these foods, you don't need a seasoning to cover up those flavors.  If there was one seasoning I would add, it would be dill.  Dill goes very well with both.  However, Dubai does not have any dill in any grocery store I have been to. but I think this meal without the dill was perfect and delicious.