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September 27, 2006
Oops, I Lost My Protein Power Plan Kit Booklet
Not a week goes by that I don't get a handful of emails through the website from readers who had bought and used the original Protein Power Plan kit that was marketed on tv between 1997 and about 2000 to 2001. I just received two more today. Invariably, the person writing to us had used the plan and had since lost--almost always--either the Phase I booklet or the Cookbook. Stands to reason, since for most folks these two would have been the ones most used and therefore most likely to disappear with moving or spring cleaning or whatever. Because the question has come up so often, I figured it might behoove me to answer the question here for all, so that I don't have to keep answering it over and over for each person.
As every long time reader of this blog knows, when we were finally able to get the Protein Power website up and running again back last spring, one of our first official acts was to offer our entire remaining inventory of the original Protein Power Plan kits that sold on tv and a newer version of it called the Protein Power Pyramid kit (of which we only had a few left) together at a very deep discount in preparation to move our warehouse at the end of May.
Anyone interested in replacement Protein Power Plan kit materials, please read the following important announcement:
We shipped out all of the remaining old inventory of old and revised kits before the warehouse move; there are no more kits or any components of old kits left.
(However, all is not lost. Keep on reading to find out where you can get the information that was in them.)
If you had that original kit and have lost one or more of your phase booklets or your cookbook, take heart! Once the tv promotional campaign ended (and with it our association with the company who had marketed the kits on tv) we wove most of the booklet information into two books, published by John Wiley and Sons in 2003 and 2005. Phase I mealplans and virtually all the recipes are in The 30 Day Low Carb Diet Solution and the transition and maintenance information (plus a whole lot more) is in our book Staying Power: Maintaining Your Low Carb Weight Loss for Good. Both books are available through booksellers nationwide and through online book retailers, such as amazon.com. You can go directly to their descriptive pages on the Amazon website, if you'd like to learn a little more about them; simply go back to our website homepage, scroll down to the bottom, and click on the photo thumbnail of the book you're interested in. The books displayed there rotate (since we've written a few) so if you don't see the one you're looking for, refresh the page a time or two and it should ultimately pop up. If it doesn't, just click on any book there and it will instantly whisk you to amazon, where you can hop around a bit and find it.
Unfortunately those of you who have written requesting replacements of the audio tapes from the old kits are out of luck. We do have the masters (or at least we were told they were in the pile of information ultimately returned to us after the tv campaign ended) and perhaps at some future time, we'll redub those onto tape or CD. If we do, you'll hear about it right here.
Posted by mdeades at 2:41 PM | Comments (2)
September 17, 2006
Shaking the Brown Bag Blues with Lunchbox 'Sushi'
When our boys were kids in school, I spent my early mornings every Monday through Friday of the school year, toiling on the lunch sack assembly line. It's a lonely and often thankless task to try to plan something that is not only nourishing and healthy for your kids, but something they'll actually eat. In my experience, admittedly only an "n" of 3, the first directive is decidedly easier to manage than the second.
Actually for one year, it was an "n" of 4, since during our oldest son's senior year in high school, one of his classmates moved in with us for the year. His step-dad had been transferred to another state and his mother and younger siblings moved when the house sold, which happened to be at the very start of his senior year. Nobody wants to move in his senior year and start anew, if he can avoid it, so when our son came home the first week of school and asked if his friend could live with us for a year, we were more than happy to have him.
That year, in particular, the lunch sack assembly line grew, since this young man was a big guy, number one, and a big eater, number two. I dealt out an entire loaf of low-carb (light) bread every morning to make the requisite number of sandwiches for 4 hungry boys.
Would that during my tenure on the lunch line, there had been the variety of raw materials available now. For instance, low carb tortillas would have enabled me to make an endless variety of wraps and even lunch box "sushi" rolls for variety.
When you're confronted with the empty brown sack or lunchbox, you long for something to break the monotony, even if your kids could content themselves with a plain ham sandwich, a bag of trail mix, and an orange every day of the year. For those of you currently packing a lunch every day for your kids, here are a few ideas:
Lunchbox PBJF 'Sushi' Roll
1 large low carb tortilla
2 tablespoons natural peanut butter
2 tablespoons low-sugar apricot or grape jam
8 fresh raspberries
1. Lay the tortilla flat and spread the peanut butter evenly to within about 1" of the edge.
2. Spread the jam evenly over the peanut butter
3. Lay the raspberries single file down the side of the tortilla closest to you, about 2" from the edge.
4. Carefully fold the near edge of the tortilla over the row of raspberries, going all the way over them, then tightly roll the "roll" across the remaining width of the tortilla.
5. Cut the "roll" into about 6 or 8 pieces, wrap it securely in plastic, Press'n'seal, or put into a reusable snap lid plastic Glad or Ziplok container.
This 'roll' is another of those stealth nutrition ideas that in this case sneaks fresh raspberries into their PBJ. You could also use blackberries or pieces of strawberries.
Lunchbox Chicken Caprese 'Sushi' Roll
1 low carb tortilla
1 cooked chicken tender (grilled, olive oil, salt, pepper, the night before and refrigerated)
1 large fresh butter lettuce leaf (or 2 smaller ones)
3 thin slices smoked mozzarella cheese (or provolone)
1 tablespoon diced tomato
3 large fresh basil leaves (optional)
1 tablespoon olive oil vinaigrette (homemade or your choice)
1. Lay the tortilla flat and lay the lettuce leaves in the center.
2. Drizzle half the vinaigrette on the lettuce leaves.
3. Arrange the cheese slices to cover most of the lettuce.
4. Place the chicken tender on the side of the tortilla closest to you, about 2" from the edge. (Lay the basil leaves down the length of the chicken, if you're using them.)
5. Sprinkle the diced tomato in a line just inside the chicken tender, from end to end and distribute the remaining dressing over the chicken tender and tomatoes.
6. Starting from the edge closest to you, roll the tortilla up and over the chicken tender and tomato line, then tightly continue to roll the 'roll' across the width of the tortilla.
7. Cut the 'roll' into 6 or 8 pieces of 'sushi' and wrap in plastic, Press'n'seal, or put into a reusable Glad or Ziplok storage box.
Although this roll doesn't have any mayo in it, it does have chicken and for that reason, you should be sure to include a cool pak in the lunch sack or box for safety's sake.
As the weather gets colder, you might want to beef up their lunchfare with a thermos of chili or chowder, too. You'll find recipes for these and other hearty soups (as well as other kid friendly and nutritional stealth food ideas) in the companion cookbook to our PBS television show, The Low Carb CookwoRx Cookbook
I have to say, as much as I complained about the daily grind of packing lunches, I sort of miss it. While you're in the throes of the routine of school years, it seems as if the day will never come that you don't start your morning by packing lunches. But, time passes very quickly really and the day does come and suddenly, it seems, your kids have kids of their own.
So, thought for the day: Enjoy your kids. Enjoy their lessons, practices, homework, last minute projects, scout trips, school plays, and yes, even packing that brown bag. Just be sure to put something good for them in it!
Posted by mdeades at 8:13 PM | Comments (4)
September 13, 2006
Every Man A King...Size
I read with some measure of sadness a piece on the CNN website entitled: 1 in 5 Children Will Become Obese.
Like the rest of the nation, I worry that the corn-feeding of America's youth will bequeath staggering medical costs on future generations that no economic engine, regardless of its strength, could possibly generate enough power to support. Not to mention what it's doing to the individual kids.
When kids are already obese and diabetic by second grade, what will they be when they reach adulthood? What kind of life will they be able to enjoy? And for how long?
I agree with Dr. Jeffrey Koplan of Emory University, who led the Institute of Medicine (a group who advises the government of such matters) panel on the topic:
This is a major health problem. It's of a different nature than acute infectious threats, but it needs to be taken just as seriously.
The problem, however, is that no one seems to have a clue about how to take it seriously. All the usual suspects (CSPI, American Academy of Pediatrics, AHA, etc) continue to line up to blame the things they usually line up to blame: lack of leadership, too much fat in the diet, lack of exercise, and only very rarely, too much sugar, HFCS, and refined starch.
Numerous states have weighed in on the topic, starting programs mostly devoted to increasing physical activity not to changing what kids eat. And sadly, if they do recommend changing what kids eat, it's usually to strip the fat out of their diets, load them up on fat-free carbs, limit the animal protein they get, feed little boys lots of soy (click here for why that may not be such a good idea), and generally ignore the obvious.
Federal, state, and local governmental agencies spend millions, nay billions, of dollars each year to force kids to get more exercise or they institute nutritional 'awareness' campaigns, generating lots of pretty posters, pamphlets, and leaflets to warn kids and their parents of the dangers of eating fat. Meanwhile, they're turning average kids into king-size kids.
Some school districts have begun to build bike paths so kids can walk or bike safely to school.
Actually, that's an idea that I think has merit, not for helping them lose weight necessarily, because it probably won't do much when you consider that walking a mile or two a day will only burn a few hundred calories, which if they don't change their eating habits, they'll cover with 4 bowls of HFCS-sweetened cereal and low fat milk before their afternoon cartoon shows end. Rather, I think it's a good idea because it will decongest the streets, reduce national oil consumption, and besides, it's traditional; I walked home from school every day, so they should, too.
Lots and lots of other dollars go to mandating physical ed requirements, often in idiotic and counterproductive ways, such as insisting that participation in marching band shouldn't count as a p.e. class. For crying out loud, have these people ever carried a tuba while dancing, hopping, marching, and spinning on turf every day? Not to mention that the kids expend the wind power of actually playing the instrument while doing this. Sheeeeesh!
I'd wager it's a sight better workout than sitting in the bleachers or standing on the sidelines while somebody explains to you how to kick a soccer ball or shoot a basket. And yet...because kids are not losing weight on their idiotic low-fat nutritional advice, it must be they're still not exercising enough.
It's like they can't see the forest for the trees. To borrow from erstwhile Clintonista strategist, James Carville:
It's the carbs, stupid.
Posted by mdeades at 10:45 PM | Comments (5)
September 8, 2006
The Cranberry: It isn't just for turkey anymore.
In a blog a couple of days ago on the health benefits of cranberries I spoke of adding more of this antioxidant-filled, low-carb gem of a berry to the diet. I mentioned, as well, that for many people, the cranberry sadly makes only one or two appearances a year on the dinner table, perched atop the turkey and dressing on the holiday luncheon plate, usually in the form of jellied cranberry sauce (a concoctiion that I cannot abide, but, for reasons utterly unintelligible to me, my brother adores.)
What he can enjoy about that high-fructose-corn-syrup-sweetened glop that slides out of a can, still bearing its imprint, escapes me. Yiiiiicccccchhhh! But different strokes for different folks, I guess.
Much better, to my way of thinking, is a recipe for a bright, zingy cranberry relish that my sister shared with me. Best of all, it's easiness personified, almost as easy, in fact, as opening the can and sliding out the glop.
Cranberry-Orange Relish
(Makes about 24 Heaping Tablespoons)
1 whole orange
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
3/4 cup granular Splenda
1. Remove zest from orange with a microplane or zester. Slice off the stem ends and peel away most of the pith (it's bitter). Quarter the peeled orange. Remove any visible seeds.
2. Place orange, zest, cranberries and Splenda into a food processor fitted with a steel blade; pulse to chop to a fine mince. (It works in the blender, too, but it takes more patience, time, and persistence.)
3. Taste for sweetness, adding a bit more Splenda if needed, but not much; it should be tangy.
4. Refigerate a couple of hours, overnight if possible. (It will keep, tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to a week.)
5. Serve cold.
Serving size: 1 tablespoon
Protein per serving: 0 grams
ECC per serving: 2.8 grams
This relish works well as a bright, healthy condiment alongside the traditional turkey and dressing, but also pairs well with pork, chicken, duck, or game meats.
In fact, it's pretty tasty in some unusual places, such as atop a slice of low carb buttered toast, or as a fruity addition to plain yogurt, or added to a protein smoothie. Dried cranberries make a delicious addition to an entree salad of spinach with a little fried pancetta, goat cheese, and toasted pecans or pignoli, wilted with a hot vinaigrette.
And, of course, the cranberry makes a great addition to a low-carb power muffin, about which I've blogged previously.
The cranberry. It isn't just for turkey anymore.
Posted by mdeades at 11:34 AM | Comments (3)
September 6, 2006
Coffee, Tea...or Cran-berry?
It's not press-stopping news that foods contain antioxidants or that food-derived antioxidant compounds are beneficial to health and detrimental to disease. Gallons of ink (or more correctly in this ditgital age, lots of electrons) have been dispatched in recent years informing us of the salutory benefits of fresh fruits and veggies and extolling the particular virtues of eating broccoli, cabbage, red wine, coffee, tea, tomatoes, pomegranates, and even chocolate. Just let a health benefit be uncovered for a substance and an army of ad men comes out of the woodwork to spin the news to sell whatever it is. Comes now the cranberry.
The Sunday mag in this past weekend's daily bugle carried an EatSmart toss off column from Jean Carper extolling the virtues of eating cranberries in the prevention of gum disease, which I quote here in its entirity, with attribution:
Eating cranberries may bring an unexpected bonus: healthier gums. Canadian research finds that cranberries have strong anti-inflammatory and antibiotic activity that forms a Teflon-like barrier between P. gingivalis bacteria and gum tissue. Because the bacteria can't adhere, they can't cause an infection that leads to severe gum disease, or periodontitis. It's the primary cause of tooth loss in adults and affects about 1 in 3 adult Americans.
And she's right. Appalling though it is in 21st Century America, teeth rot and gums fester and far too many of us still lose our teeth to periodontal disease.
But early humans who subsisted on a meat-based diet devoid of refined carbs and cereal grains didn't have periodontal disease. They didn't have caries. (And, remember, they didn't have tooth paste, flouride, or dental floss, either.) It wasn't until we adopted agriculture on a large scale--and by that, I mean until we grew and processed wheat, rice, and corn--that human dentition suffered.
We've got a great book in our library that's called X-Ray Atlas of the Royal Mummies. In it's pages are sharp black and white radiograph reproductions of the heads of such Egyptian luminaries as Ramses the Great, whose remains sport a large (and I feel sure, quite painful) tooth abscess that's eroded the bone of his mandible. Not a pretty sight, and one that didn't occur before our reliance on cereal grains. In fact, the entire science of dentistry arose in pharonic Egypt, not because they were necessarily smarter than those who came before, but because there was suddenly a need for it. The underlying cause of periodontal disease in the Egyptian dynasties, as it is for us today, is too much sugar, in all its forms. And that includes the long chains of it that constitute cereal flours.
If on a national scale, we returned to a meat-based, fresh fruit, fresh veggie, cereal poor, sugar free existance--say, for example, by adopting the Protein Power lifestyle, to just pick one of several options entirely at random--dental and periodontal disease would soon disappear from the good ole US of A . Then, we'd have little need to augment our grain-based existence with cranberries.
Let me hasten to add, here, that I don't doubt for an instant that cranberries are filled with wonderful antioxidants and that they do indeed confer a benefit to the gums of the people who eat them. And not just to their gums, but to the whole of them from their eyes to their bladders. I love cranberries and think we should eat them frequently, far more often than many Americans do, which is often no more than the little dab of jellied cranberry on the side of the plate at the holidays.
A number of medical studies suggest that components in cranberries confer health benefits, ranging from preventing periodontal disease (click here) to raising HDL (click here.)
Don't get me wrong; I'm a big fan of cranberries. They've got a wonderful nutritional profile; with only about 9 grams of ECC per cup, they're a great low carb food. I love them.
My point is rather that if the Jean Carpers of the world are looking for a way to solve the problem of periodontal disease, they'd be better off encouraging people to subtract what's causing it from the diet (sugar and starch) rather than recommending they add a bandaid.
Posted by mdeades at 6:11 AM | Comments (3)
September 2, 2006
Grand Opening: The Online Store Kicks Off!
As promised, albeit after several false starts, multiple personnel substitutions, a couple of coaching changes, and delay of game penalties, we've finally kicked off. Our new webmaster has succeeded where others failed in getting the online store open and working at last. When you've got a moment, click onto the 'Products' tab on the homepage and it will whisk you like magic to the online store, where you can browse around and get a look at what's there so far.
The shelves aren't fully stocked yet even with what we already have in inventory, but we're working our way through that process and making good headway. Plus, we're planning to add new products as we find ones we feel strongly about, so keep checking in.
Those of you--and you are many--who have written about our old (very tasty) protein powder, we're looking into reformulating it and hope to offer it again before too long. We'll keep you apprised of our progress on that front. If you have suggestions for interesting products you'd like to see offered, drop us a line and we'll put them on our list for consideration.
Thanks for being patient with us during this process of reconstruction and renovation; we hope you continue to enjoy and profit from the site.
Posted by mdeades at 3:16 PM | Comments (3)