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February 25, 2007
The Awful Truth About Twinkies
A reader sent us a heads up on a just out Newsweek article by Anne Underwood, titled "Mmm Tasty Chemicals" about the upcoming publication of a sort of tell all book about America's iconic junk food: the Twinkie.
The book, Twinkie, Deconstructed
The article itself is interesting, but the book promises to be much like Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma, an eye-opening, jaw-dropping expose of what's in this junk food icon and why. Just the bits of revelation in the Amazon 'jacket' copy make me shudder at the thought of ever having put a Twinkie into my children's lunch sacks, albeit done, as it was, before I had my brain transplant twenty plus years ago.
We've pre-ordered our copy and I can't wait to dig into it.
As for digging into the star of the show, however, if it's cream filled sponge cake I'm after, for my money, I'd rather stray on the real thing. Give me a piece of real homemade sponge cake stuffed with real cream filling--eggs, flour, sugar, vanilla, butter and cream--not some 39 component chemical chimera designed to taste like it was made of those real things, but to last, like a vampire, for all eternity. The carb cost would be about the same, but the thought not quite so horrific...or industrial.
Posted by mdeades at 12:37 PM | Comments (1)
February 22, 2007
Drs. Eades' Daily Regimen Is Back!
It's here at last! For all of you who have been so patiently waiting for the Drs. Eades' Daily Regimen multivitamin supplement to be back on our virtual shelves, the wait is over!
The process took a bit longer than we expected, because we engaged the services of a new manufacturer to help us reformulate the product. The result is a new and improved version of our cello-pak vitamin/mineral supplement in a brand new (and, we're happy to report, substantially smaller) package. The new formulation also allowed us to combine a couple of nutrients and reduce 5 pills to 4, which makes for easier swallowing.
Ingredient costs have risen since we made the last formulation and consequently the product cost is substantially higher, but we wouldn't settle for less than the optimal quality ingredients. Thus we had to raise the price of the product slightly, but we made every effort to keep it as affordable as we could.
Same quality, same convenience, new look. The new and improved Daily Regimen will be the first in a series of custom designed products under the all new Drs. Eades' Signature Nutrients brand. We like the new look and hope you will, too.
Posted by mdeades at 12:26 PM | Comments (2)
February 7, 2007
What's the Source of Mickey D Mystery Carbs?
Alert reader and low carb adherant Nancy C. sent us a question the other day that we couldn't really answer. Maybe someone else out there in Blogland can help with it or has some cogent thoughts on the subject; thus I thought I'd put it to the readership.
It seems that in her quest to be an astute and informed diner, who occasionally eats a bunless McDonald's burger when pressed for time, Nancy discovered something disturbing on the McDonald's official nutritional information website: the presence of 5 grams of carbohydrate per serving in what are billed as burger patties made of 100% beef, no additives, no fillers, no extenders.
Curious, eh?
She wrote to us to see if we could help her unravel their source.
We were as mystified as she and quite honestly couldn't fathom where 5 grams of carbohydrate would be coming from, if Mickey Ds is on the up and up with the patties' being made of 100% beef. We speculated a couple of possibilities:
1) the nutritoinal info posted by McDonalds is incorrect. Surely a possibility.
2) the 100% beef, no extenders, no fillers burger might have some sort of not-technically-additive, not-technically-filler, not-techincally-extender 'flavor enhancing substance' containing some carb of some sort, designed to make all the patties taste uniform throughout the world. Wouldn't be the first time Mickey Ds adopted the Unified Flavor Theory of food preparation.
3) Maybe lot feeding cattle with corn, just as carb-loading humans with pasta, packs so much glycogen into the beef muscle that it raises the amount of 'muscle starch' to a level of 5 grams per quarter pound of meat.
Mike feels this possibility is a stretch, citing the fact that the liver, clearly the most intensive storer of glycogen in the body (true for ours and for a cow's, I presume) contains only 400 grams of glycogen in the whole organ, so how could a mere quarter pound of muscle contain 5 grams? So, I put a pencil to it. If a typical human liver weighs 2 kg and it contains 400 g of glycogen if fully replete, that represents 20% of its weight as glycogen. Therefore, a quarter pound of liver (weighing about 113.4 grams) would contain 22.7 grams of glycogen. Doesn't seem all that much of a stretch to me, that a quarter pound of carb-loaded muscle might contain a quarter of that amount, but maybe we could get a veternary biochemist to weigh in on the subject.
Here's Nancy's letter of January 4, 2007 to McDonald's:
"For the past 3 years, I have adhered to a pretty strictly low-carb, high-protein diet, free of high fructose corn syrup, starches, and sugars of all kinds. Unlike many people, I do not fear saturated fat, and I don't hold McDonalds accountable for American obesity and poor health. I think that one can eat healthily at McDonalds if one chooses carefully. When I eat at McDonalds (4-5 times per month), I choose burgers or breakfast sandwiches and remove the buns/breads.My question: I just looked at the nutrition info on your website and was startled to see that the beef patty on a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese (my favorite selection) is listed as having five grams of carbohydrate. Why? The ingredient list for the beef patty claims 100% beef, no additives, fillers, or extenders. Whence, then, come the carbs? 100% beef should contain only protein and fat, with no carb, should it not?
Please inform me of the source of the carbohydrate in the beef patty. Thank you."
Here's the response from McDonald's on January 5, 2007 along with my [parenthetical] comments:
"Hello Nancy: Thank you for taking the time to contact McDonald's. We are always glad to hear from our valued customers. The website currently shows that the Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese sandwich's beef patties have 5 grams [my bold] of carbohydrates. With the recent reanalysis, a different methodology was used to calculate the total fat content with a small decrease in total fat. [huh?] However, many foods also show a slight increase in the amount of carbohydrates.[Is this because they just subtract what's not protein and fat and call it carb or something?] This might seem confusing for consumers, [and, if Mike and I are any indication, for physicians and nutritional experts, too] but we can assure you that there are no fillers added to the beef patties. The carbohydrates in the beef patty are more likely from indigestible fiber-like components in the meat [Puleese! What exactly is an indigestible fiber-like component and how could there be any in a 100% beef patty. I mean 100% is 100%, it doesn't leave any room for any percentage of indigestible fiber-like components] that get counted in the carbohydrates' category. Again, thank you for contacting McDonald's. We hope to have the opportunity of serving you again soon under the Golden Arches. Tina McDonald's Customer Response Center"
Interestingly, I just went to the McDonald's nutritional site to check the breakdown myself and found this page for the Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese. Oddly, the value for carbs in the 100% beef patties is now listed as 1, not 5.
Curiouser and curiouser.
As mysteriously as they appeared, so they seem to have disappeared. And we must assume they were there, since Tina of the McDonald's Customer Response Center verified to Nancy that indeed the site showed 5 grams and then went on to provide the surreal explanation.
So the new question for all you mystery buffs and conspiracy theorists is: where did those mystery carbs come from and where did they go?
My advice, as imparted to Nancy, is to eat grassfed natural beef (which I realize isn't always practical or possible) and then you don't have to rely on Mickey's math.
Posted by mdeades at 1:35 AM | Comments (6)
February 2, 2007
Angel Wings and Queso...as promised
As you could tell from the previous blog, a Super Bowl feast at our house is no sit down affair, just simple tasty food that can be made in advance or with little pre-game fuss and that will hold pretty well through the game. But the main requirement for anything on our Super Bowl menu is that it be finger food--i.e., a tasty munchie to gnosh on during the game that doesn't require your attention to waver from the action on the field.
Wings work well, thus we have two varieties.
Crudites work well, as do any sorts of antipasti: salami, olives, marinated veggies, cheeses.
Dips work well, thus we have two varieties, three if you count the blue cheese dressing.
Cider and beer need no explanation and the margaritas should be made well in advance and icy cold.
Here are the final two recipes. The first, Angel Wings, is from The Low Carb Comfort Food Cookbook; it's actually my sister's recipe and it's delicious. The second, the Chile Con Queso (Spicy Cheese Dip) is from the same cookbook, but is an Eades' family SuperBowl tradition.
Angel Wings
Serves about 4
About 3 grams carb per serving
20 chicken wings
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon dried chopped parsley
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon pepper (white if you have it, black if not)
1 cup butter, melted in a bowl
Olive oil or Coconut Oil for greasing baking dish
1) Preheat oven to 350.
2) Wash wings and pat dry with paper towels
3) Lightly grease an ovenproof baking dish or broiler pan large enough to accommodate all the wings in a single layer.
4) In a wide, shallow bowl, combine the cheese, parsley, garlic powder, and pepper; mix well.
5) Dip wings first in melted butter, then in the cheese mixture.
6) Arrange wings in baking dish and bake uncovered for 1 hour. Serve hot. Multiplies well, but use enough baking pans to keep the wings in a single layer.
Chile Con Queso
Serves about 4
5 ounces white cheddar cheese, grated
2 ounces mozzarella, grated
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons seeded and diced tomatoes*
2 tablespoons canned roasted and peeled mild chile*
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1 pinch (or to taste) cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons freshly chopped cilantro
*You can substitute 4 tablespoons drained Rotel or other diced canned tomatoes and chiles
1) Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until cheeses have melted and the consistency is uniform and smooth.
2) Serve in a microwave safe bowl, to make gentle reheating easier. (or see below)
Alternatively, you can cook in microwave in a covered microwave safe dish. Heat on high 2 minutes, stir, heat in 1 minute increments, stirring between each, until cheeses have completed melted and consistency is smooth.
Also multiplies well and can be kept nicely warm in a crock pot during the game.
A 1/2 cup serving has about 3 grams of carb, plus any that accrue from whatever you might choose to use as a dipper. For me, it will be chicharones (pork rinds), which will add virtually zero carbs.
Now that the menu is settled, it just comes down to whether we think that Peyton Manning and the Colts can continue their offensive juggernaut or whether Brian Urlacher and Da Bears will once again prove that Defenses Win Championships. It should be a good game.
We'll see on Sunday.
Posted by mdeades at 11:30 PM | Comments (2)
February 1, 2007
Are Your Ready for Some Football Food?
Around the Eades' household, Super Bowl Sunday is one of the major holidays, practically on par with Thanksgiving. It stands to reason it would become so, since for years, ours was a family of males: Mike, three sons, and even two male dogs at one point. I was the lone female counterweight. Probably even the three goldfish were males; it's hard to tell. But, certainly the two stinky ferrets were.
Of the five human family members, however, four were, and still are, rabid football fans.
It may surprise you (unless you've read my blog since the beginning) to learn that I am one of those four. It's our youngest son, who can take or leave the gridiron action; the rest of us are glued to the tube from the opening kickoff, cheering ourselves hoarse for our team, which would be the Cowboys, Broncos, Seahawks or Razorbacks, if they're playing. If not it would be whichever team we've chosen to support that Sunday (or Monday, Saturday, or sometimes Thursday) or whichever team Mike has a gentleman's bet riding on.
Therefore, this coming Sunday is a big holiday in three of our four houses: ours and those of our two older sons and their families. Our grandsons are split at this point on the subject of football; the older one can pretty much take it or leave it, but the younger, who just turned 5, is a chip off the old Granny. He will watch any game, with any teams, and if nothing else is on, will happily, as he recently put it, watch "the men talk about football" on ESPN...while wearing his complete, official child-sized Dallas Cowboys or Denver Broncos uniform (one a gift from Santa Claus and the other a gift from Granny and Grandad.) Their mother, while not remotely as fervant a fan as I, has been in the family fold long enough to enjoy watching the big games. She, too, being the lone female counterweight to a house full of males, including even their dog, Humphrey, probably feels that if you can't beat 'em, join em.
Our middle son has been a Seattle Seahawks fan since he was in grade school, an odd choice of team loyalty to be sure for a boy who grew up in Arkansas. But his blood runs Seahawk blue and green and he's even raising a next generation Seahawk fan, teaching his 2 year old daughter to say "Go Seahawks" and "I love football!" before she could say a whole lot else. She's now a big girl of 3 and sometimes watches the Sunday games with her daddy. Her mom prefers shopping to football; in fact, she prefers doing just about anything to watching football. Maybe, in time, she'll come around. Probably just needs a few sons.
So how does a family of fervant football fans provision itself foodwise for the big event? Here's what I've got planned this year:
Angel Wings
Oven Baked Hot Wings
Carrot and Celery Sticks with BlueCheese dressing
Blue Cheese Lorraine Miniatures
Chile con Queso with Chicharones
Guacamole with Spicy Fresh Jicama Sticks
Blackthorne Hard Cider, Budweiser Select, or Guiltless Margaritas
(The highlighted links above will take you to our Low Carb CookwoRx tv show's website. Simply type in the recipe title or a close approximation of it and the search engine will take you straightaway to the recipe for these, which are also found in the companion cookbook to the show.)
Stay tuned...I'll locate the recipes for the other dishes and post them tomorrow.
Posted by mdeades at 5:18 PM | Comments (3)