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Elisa Quoted
Enjoy breakfast as a family
PediatricSafety.net
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Greetings!
If you're like me, you thoroughly enjoyed the cooler temps and beautiful sunshine over the past week. Although the calendar may say August, many of us still have plenty of time (weeks, if not more than a month) to savor summer. This week's newsletter will help you do just that. You'll find a fabulous pasta & pea recipe by the renowned (not to mention extremely likable) Mollie Katzen. In my new GalTime video, you'll get some light summer sip ideas
you can enjoy at the pool or beach or simply at your desk or kitchen
counter; they'll hydrate and satisfy you without busting your diet. And if you're dying to know which is better--butter or margarine (or all those vegetable oil spreads that line supermarket shelves), the answer below may surprise or even shock you. Thanks to all of you who have sent me your questions--please check back each week for my responses. You can continue to post your questions or suggestions for upcoming newsletters, articles, blogs, or articles on Facebook, Twitter, or via email. If you enjoy receiving The ZIED GUIDE™ Newsletter, please tell your friends and colleagues to sign up at www.elisazied.com. I need your help to spread the word and help me break 100,000 subscribers! Have a fabulous week! Elisa |
Linguine with Spinach & Peas
This recipe can be found in Mollie Katzen's wonderful, accessible, and mouth-watering new book Get Cooking: 150 Simple Recipes to Get You Started in the Kitchen.
An easy weeknight supper, this also
doubles as a deceptively elegant dinner party item. Time-saver tip: Do do step 1 while water
boils to cut prep time.
Ingredients:
· 5 tablespoons olive oil · Approximately half a bag fresh baby
spinach leaves (about 5 ounces) · 2 teaspoons minced or crushed
garlic (about 2 good-sized cloves) · 1/2 teaspoon salt (plus more for
the pasta cooking water) · Red pepper flakes (plus extra to
pass at the table) · 3/4 pound linguine · 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
(plus extra to pass at the table) · 1/2 pound (or more) fresh sugar
snap peas, trimmed, and cut in half crosswise
Yield: 3 to 4 serving
1) Tear the
spinach into large, bite-sized pieces (this pretty much means just tearing them
in half, since they're already small) into a large bowl. Pour the olive oil
over the spinach, then sprinkle in the garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a big
pinch of red pepper flakes. Use tongs or a long-handled fork to mix, and set
aside.
2) Put up a
large pot of cold water to boil over high heat and add a tablespoon of salt.
Place a large colander in the sink. When the water boils, add the linguine,
keeping the heat high. Cook for the amount of time recommended on the package,
checking it toward the end of the suggested time, to be sure it is not getting
overcooked. When the linguine is just
tender enough to bite into comfortably, but not yet mushy, dump the
water-plus-pasta into the colander. Shake to mostly drain (it's okay to leave
some water clinging) then transfer it to the bowl with the spinach mixture,
mixing it in with the tongs or the fork as you go, aiming for getting all the
pasta coated with olive oil. The spinach will wilt upon contact with the hot
pasta.
3) Immediately sprinkle in the Parmesan and toss well, so the
cheese will distribute itself, melting nicely in the process. Stir in the peas,
mixing very gently so you don't break them. (Really, just shake the bowl a few
times, and they'll mix themselves in.)
4) Serve hot, warm or at room temperature, passing extra
Parmesan and red pepper flakes for individual applications. (As you'll note in
the "Extras" list below, I strongly recommend topping this dish with a few
lightly toasted pine nuts.)
Extras
· High quality olive oil (the
extra-fruity kind) for drizzling on top
· Lightly toasted pine nuts,
· More garlic (an additional clove,
for garlic lovers) )
· Arugula can substitute for the
all or some of the spinach
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Your Question Answered
I always hear conflicting things about butter vs. margarine; which is better, and which one should I feed my family?
-Liz Smith, Switzerland
Butter vs margarine---the age old debate about which is better (or less harmful) for your health has not yet been put to rest, and for good reason. Butter, made from cow's milk, may taste great but for a price: per tablespoon, butter has about 100 calories, almost all from fat. Most of it--about 7 grams, or 63 calories, comes from saturated (heart UN-healthy) fat. It also has about 30 milligrams of cholesterol. According to the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans, we should limit saturated fat to less than 10 percent of total calories (about 200 calories in a 2,000 calorie diet) and cholesterol to no more than 300 milligrams each day. According to the Dietary Guidelines, butter calories count as discretionary or extra calories because they're solid fats. Most people have about 250 calories a day (based on a 2,000 calorie meal pattern) to spend on solid fats and sugar (or foods made with added sugars). So one tablespoon of butter makes up more than a third of that as well as 1/2 the daily amount recommended for saturated fat and 10% of the daily cholesterol recommendation.
Although margarine--created from vegetable oils--may contain no cholesterol and little saturated fat, it can be a source of artery-clogging trans fats (these are fats that go through hydrogenation, a process that turns a liquid fats into fats that are solid at room temperature). Studies have shown that trans fats not only raise total and "bad" LDL cholesterol levels, but can lower "good" HDL cholesterol levels as well. Many food companies have taken steps over the last few years to phase out trans fats from their products, including margarine. As a result, many margarines and vegetable oil spreads are now available to give us our fat fix without trans fats, with minimal amounts of saturated fats, and without cholesterol. Many use oils such as canola, olive, sunflower, and safflower etc to provide more heart-healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. These products may still contain just as many calories per tablespoon as butter and may have extremely long ingredients' lists that leave many health experts scratching their heads, saying butter may not be so bad after all!
Liz, I know you asked me this question because you wanted my two cents. So here goes. If you know you love butter, there's no reason you should completely avoid it. When you do have it, I'd say to limit yourself to no more than a teaspoon or two a day. You'll need to watch your intake of other foods high in saturated fat and cholesterol e.g. whole milk products such as cheeses and yogurts, and other animal foods that are high in saturated fats and cholesterol. You'll also need to count butter the way you'd count wine, beer, candy, and sugar you add to your coffee--so again, you can only have about 250 calories in total from all those foods and beverages--assuming you have all foods and beverages from the basic food groups in their lowest fat form.
If you have a high cholesterol level or heart problems and really want to lower your saturated fat intake, you may want to opt for a margarine or vegetable oil spread made with plant stanols or sterols. Or you may want to choose other margarines or vegetable oil spreads that you prefer the taste of, despite their long ingredients list. If you choose these, make sure they have no "hydrogenated" or partially hydrogenated oils listed on the ingredients list, and be mindful of portions (1 to 2 tsp a day ideal, though if you want the cholesterol lowering effects of plant sterols or stanols, the portion will be greater and you'll have to limit or avoid other added fats that day to stay within your calorie budget and meal pattern). Vegetable oil spreads and trans free margarines count as oils according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and someone who consumes 2,000 calories a day can afford about 6 teaspoons of oils (from these foods and from oils naturally found in foods like nuts, fish, avocado or oilves, for example).
What do I do, and how do I feed my family? I keep a light vegetable oil spread in the house to use on whole wheat toast or a top waffles or pancakes; when we eat out, I allow my kids and myself to have butter (but only on bread--we always try to order foods made without it). We stick to one pat each as a general rule of thumb. We don't have butter or foods made with it every day, and we generally limit things such as fried foods and baked and other foods made with added fats. We don't sweat it much, nor should you. I truly believe it's more about the portion size of foods such as added fats and about choosing your battles (e.g. more "natural" foods like butter, vs more processed foods like veggie oil spreads).
Have a burning nutrition question? Please share it with me on facebook, on twitter, or via email elisa@elisazied.com.
  
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 7 Low Calorie Summer Drinks
Check out my new GalTime video to help you choose your non-alcoholic sips in a smart way. These can also be great starter options for a night on the town. If you really want to have wine, a margarita, or a cosmo, you can--but alternate with these lower calorie options so you don't completely blow your calorie budget on booze.
And remember, if you're going to drink, be safe and don't drive. (I apologize, I'm a mom, first and foremost!)
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As always, be sure to check out elisazied.com for my recent The ZIED GUIDE™ blog posts and links to my articles on msnbc.com and caloriecount.com.
You'll also find recent quotes, tv spots and videos, and can sign up for The ZIED GUIDE™ newsletter.
Also, check out my You Tube video channel with my quick nutrition tips. Feel free to post on your site as well!
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