Saturday Short Subjects: Safe Fun in the Sun– 2013 Edition

For the last several years, at the start of Summer, I have compiled and posted some best tips for protecting yourself while having fun in the sun. In the northern hemisphere, late June is the time of year when the sun’s rays are the longest and most powerful. Check out this animated graphic if you need convincing. It is also the season when many people spend more time outdoors. 

Being out in the sun can lift your spirits, making you feel good. But unprotected exposure to intense sunlight increases the risk of skin cancer. Skin cancer accounts for nearly half of all cancers in the United States; over 12,000 people die from skin cancer each year. If you are going to be out in the summer sun, particularly between the hours of 10 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon, you really should take some precautionary measures.

EVERYONE who spends time outdoors at this time of year needs a good sunscreen, no matter how dark you are or how easily you tan. All sunscreens are not created equal, and it is impossible to judge the effectiveness of a product from its label alone.

Here are two places to turn for some expert assistance. GoodGuide and the Environmental Working Group (EWG) are excellent sources of the latest test results on sunscreen effectiveness and safety.  Both have updated reports. Here is a link to EWG’s 2013 Guide to Safer Sunscreens and here is one to GoodGuide’s Ratings. 

GoodGuide is also available as a free app for Android and iPhone. Once you have installed the app, simply scan a product barcode, and, if it is in the GoodGuide database, you will get its rating instantly. GoodGuide is particularly useful if you don’t have time to shop online and are limited to the selection in your neighborhood store. You may not be able to purchase the highest rated product, but GoodGuide will help you make the best choice of what is available.

DRINK PLENTY OF WATER. [Popsicles work, too, especially the juice ones you make yourself.]

And, DON’T FORGET A HAT. Tilley, Sunday Afternoons, and Outdoor Research offer protective headgear in a wide range of styles. Some hats can even make you feel cooler. They can be found in outdoor outfitters including EMS, REI, and TrailBlazer, as well as online. Hats can be serious, silly,  stylish — whatever works for you. If you insist on wearing a baseball cap, be sure to protect your neck and ears.

Me and my hat in Point Lobos, CA — ready for adventure

Here’s wishing you a safe and happy summer… Good times.

Why Saturday Short Subjects? Some readers may recall  being dropped at the movie theater for the Saturday matinee — two action-packed feature films with a series of short subjects (cartoons or short movies, sometimes a serial cliffhanger) sandwiched in between. Often the short subjects were the most memorable, and enjoyable, part of the morning. That explains the name. The reason behind these particular posts is that we are all short on time. My Short Subject posts should not take me as long to write or you as long to read (or try).

Meatless Monday: Getting to Know Chia

For just over a week now I have been experimenting with Chia Seeds, a staple in Central American diets for centuries recently popularized as a superfood among runners.

I covered the extraordinary nutritional value in Chia Seeds in last week’s Meatless Monday post. 

I also discussed the mysterious chemical property of the seeds — that they turn into a gel when left in liquid, while maintaining their crunch. This is a good thing if you want to make a no-cook “pudding.” However, the texture is not for the faint-hearted. I have to say that so far finding a fail-safe use for Chia Seeds has been my greatest culinary challenge.

My good friend Cher who keeps a vegan household, confessed that she “just can’t get past the slime.” I have a bigger problem with the gel being crunchy. 

Still, the low-carb, high protein content of the seeds has made me determined to find easy and delicious ways to use them.

I promised you a report on the breakfast “pudding” that was still gelling when I posted last week. Here is the link to the recipe for Banana-Coconut Pudding in the photo below. The only change I made was to use 4 tablespoons of syrup rather than one. 

The result was what my husband termed “porridge with a crunch.” It was tasty, but I am not convinced it would have been without the banana and all the toppings. The “pudding” had the decidedly weird trait of pulling away from the side of the bowl as it was being eaten, leaving my bowl looking licked clean when I was done. It was definitely filling. This recipe made 4 large servings and stored well in the fridge. 

My friend K, the one who first tipped me off to Chia Seeds, had better luck. He wrote to me about his successful experiment with a Chia Pudding inspired by a  a recipe on the back of the packet of Trader Joe’s Chia Seeds. Here is his recipe:

No-Cook Chia Pudding

 Handful of fresh strawberries

1/2 ripe banana 

Spritz of lime juice 

1 cup coconut milk  

1 tablespoon turbinado sugar 

1/4 cup Chia Seeds

Put all the ingredients except the seeds into a blender. 

Blend until smooth.

Pour into a bowl.

Add the Chia Seeds.

Combine & refrigerate for 3 hours.

K’s verdict: Yummy :-)

Not to be outdone by K, I tweaked the recipe for the Mexican Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding I blogged about last week. There is a bowl in the fridge ready to serve tonight. I have scooped out a taste and am happy to say that I can call it a “dessert.” My new and improved recipe follows.

Chia Cocoa Mousse 

INGREDIENTS

1/3 cup Chia Seeds

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

4 tablespoons agave syrup

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Grind the Chia Seeds to a fine powder.

Whisk all ingredients together in a medium bowl.

Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours.

Spoon into four dessert glasses.

While the final verdict is not in, I believe I am many steps closer to a Chia dessert to please all tastes and diets. I do, however, have a carton of rich Vanilla Greek Yogurt on hand to top off my Chia Mousse just in case it’s requested.

Have a great week. Happy eating.

I often blog on food or food issues on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”

Saturday Short Subjects: Celebrating Summer

Here in Connecticut it’s the first day of Summer, and it promises to be a beauty.

The first sound I heard this morning was the song of the neighborhood Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos). Each day he belts it out from the highest spots in the block — often from the pole atop the roof of the apartment building across the road — laying claim to his domain. He is a frequent visitor to my backyard and likes the American Hornbeam we planted earlier this Spring. He sings in the daytime and even during the darkest hours of the night. His amazing repertoire is even audible above rush hour traffic.

If you are not lucky enough to be acquainted with such a bird, you can get the idea from this YouTube video.

Each bird has its own set of songs. Some songs mimic the calls of other birds. Some birds have been known to mimic dog barks, sirens, and other sounds not heard in nature. [Fortunately I have never noticed the neighborhood bird incorporating the expletives shouted by frustrated drivers at this busy corner…]

Originally a southern bird, the Northern Mockingbird’s range now includes the majority of the continental US as well as parts of Canada and Mexico. Its name means “many-tongued mimic.” According to the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), an individual bird can learn up to 200 songs during its lifetime, and males have two separate sets of songs for the spring and fall seasons. Mockingbirds are fiercely territorial. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology states that mockingbirds “flagrantly harass birds that intrude on their territories, flying slowly around them or prancing toward them, legs extended, flaunting their bright white wing patches.”

Both sexes of the birds sing, but the males sing louder, longer, and more actively throughout the year. According to the NWF, unpaired males since 24 hours a day during the breeding season. 

Where do they get the energy?

Enjoy your day. Happy Summer. 

Why Saturday Short Subjects? Some readers may recall  being dropped at the movie theater for the Saturday matinee — two action-packed feature films with a series of short subjects (cartoons or short movies, sometimes a serial cliffhanger) sandwiched in between. Often the short subjects were the most memorable, and enjoyable, part of the morning. That explains the name. The reason behind these particular posts is that we are all short on time. My Short Subject posts should not take me as long to write or you as long to read (or try).

Meatless Monday: Powering Up with Chia

I am not a runner, so I have arrived late to the chia craze. And, once again, I have to thank my friend K for a good tip.

For centuries chia seeds have been a staple in Meso-American diets. They became popularized as a super food among runners after the publication in 2009 of Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, an exploration of the life and habits of the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico’s Copper Canyon. 

The word chia means “strength” in the Mayan language, and ancient warriors and athletes relied on the tiny seeds to enhance their endurance.

And, yes, they are the very same seeds that sprout into fur for those Chia Pets that have appeared in holiday infomercials since the late 1970s. 

Bob Moore, of Bob’s Red Mill in Milwaukee, was one of the first to introduce Chia seeds to the health food market, including them in his Grains-of-Discovery line. Bob himself appears in this short YouTube video promoting chia. 

One tablespoon of chia seeds contain 5 grams of fiber, as well as 3 grams of protein, significant amounts of calcium and iron, and a whopping 3382 mg of Omega 3, and 753 mg of Omega 6!

Chia Nutrition, according to Bob's Red Mill

Many people like to start their day with a chia energy boost, sprinkling the seeds on top of morning yogurt or cereal, or adding a tablespoon to a smoothie.

One caveat. Chia seeds gel when left in liquid. This means that if you want crunch, you should down your chia without delay. However, this property does open up the opportunity for creating highly nutritious, no-cook “puddings.”

I found a host of chia “pudding” recipes online. Some were designed to be high-powered breakfast porridges. [I have one of these gelling in the fridge and will report on it next week.]

Others purported to be desserts. I gave a chocolate pudding a try. Here is the recipe I used. It appeared on the ohmyveggies site: 

Mexican Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding 

Two Servings

INGREDIENTS

1/3 cup Chia Seeds

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch of cayenne (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl.

Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours.

Transfer to a blender and blend until completely smooth.

Put into serving dishes and chill slightly.

My result:

The verdict? 

The “pudding” looked even better than this photo shows — just like a chocolate mousse.

And here, I think was my problem. The chia pudding looked like something it was not, and I was disappointed.

One tablespoon of sweetener was not nearly enough. 

I saved the day by topping with some honey vanilla Greek yogurt. [Whipped cream would also have done the trick.]

I am on the hunt for a easy and nutritious dessert that will please everyone — vegans, Paelo Dieters, and omnivores with a sweet tooth.  A dairy product topping does not fit the bill. 

I haven’t given up on this recipe. Next time I plan to use 3 tablespoons of syrup, still keeping a topping on hand just in case. 

One more thing — I’ll be using 4 serving dishes. Chia is touted as a diet food because the chia gel makes you feel full. This dish of “pudding” after my dinner left me feeling stuffed.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Have a great week. Happy eating.

I often blog on food or food issues on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”

Meatless Monday: Grapefruit at My Door

Just before Memorial Day, I received an email that sounded too good to be true.

The Orange Shop in Citra, Florida was offering me a full bushel of grapefruit, plucked fresh from the tree, for the price of 1/2 a bushel — with free shipping!

The Orange Shop is a family farm I had located through LocalHarvest, founded in 1998 by activist and software engineer Guillermo Payet, in Santa Cruz, CA. According to information on the organization’s website, “LocalHarvest is now the number one informational resource for the Buy Local movement and the top place on the Internet where people find information on direct marketing family farms. We now have more than 20000 members, and are growing by about 20 new members every day. Through our servers, our website and those of our partners, we serve about three and a half million page views per month to the public interested in buying food from family farms.” Fruit, honey, wool items, soaps, and pies are just a few of the items you will find at LocalHarvest.

I ordered some Page oranges from the Orange Shop in December, 2011 for an older couple who love fresh fruit but don’t have the chance to enjoy it every day. They found the fruit delicious but “too juicy.” [Ah, well. Perhaps that will be me in the distant future.] The price was fair, delivery speedy, and the fruit well packed.

I stayed on the Orange Shop mailing list.

When the May email arrived, I was craving fresh fruit, so rare and pricey in New England in spring. I fondly recalled a sack of Indian River grapefruit my son had once brought back from a road trip, and I started to do some calculations. There are approximately 40 grapefruit in a bushel… Each grapefruit would cost about $1.00. [I had seen them in the local market for $1.49.]… My refrigerator produce bins were pretty empty and available. 

I placed an order on Memorial Day.  

A heat wave came along and I began to worry. On Saturday a FedEx man showed up at the door with a 40 lb box. The grapefruit (4 trays with a total of 44 pieces!) arrived in perfect condition, unaffected by the heat.

They may not be the most beautiful grapefruits you’ve ever seen. But they are sweet, juicy and delicious. Who cares about beauty? This shipment is just what I needed to tide me over until the CT berries and peaches come along. 

I’m so happy! [8 down, 3 dozen to go…]

Have a great week.

I often blog on food or food issues on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”

Saturday Short Subjects: Boxes for Babies

During a particularly bad public relations week for the US government, the BBC published a heart-warming tale about how good government can improve people’s lives. 

I was at the BBC site to read an article about the diet of our human ancestors. When finished with that I clicked on the link to the curiously titled “Why Finnish Babies Sleep in Cardboard Boxes,” which appeared under “Most Popular.” 

For 75 years, expectant mothers in Finland have been eligible for a gift from the state – an infant-sized cardboard box filled with all the essentials a newborn needs, including a mattress designed to fit in the bottom of the box, and cloth for the sides, which allows the mother to turn the box into a child's first bed. 

The box does not arrive automatically. But all an expectant mother needs to do to receive the gift is visit a doctor or clinic before the 4th month of her pregnancy. Those who do not wish to receive the box (some 5%) can opt for a cash grant, but according to the BBC article, the box is worth much more.

The contents are itemized in the “Dressing Your Baby” section of the document “Having Children in Finland,” which appears on the Finnish Ministry of Labour website.

“The Finnish state provides each new family with a box containing layette for your baby. It is called a maternity box. … You will find the following items in the box: shirts, rompers, stretch suits, headgear, pants, gauze nappies, socks, sleeping bag-quilt, zip-suit sleeping bag, a towel, sheet, quilt cover, quilt or blanket…You will find a changing mat, a cotton towel with plastic cover, cotton wool, moisturising cream, sanitary towels, a packet of condoms, a hairbrush, nail scissors, bath thermometer, a toy and a book in the maternity box…” 

In 1938, when the box was first introduced, only low income mothers were entitled to receive it. The infant mortality in Finland at the time was 65 deaths for every 1000 births.

The infant mortality rate in Finland has been falling steadily ever since 1949 when means testing was dropped and all mothers were eligible to receive the free box, if they obtained early pre-natal care.

According to the CIA, in 2013, Finland’s infant mortality rate was 3.38/1000 (rank 213 of 224 countries, with a higher number being better), while the US was 5.90 (174). The lowest infant mortality rate was Monaco (224) at 1.81.

The contents of the box has changed slightly over time. Fabric for making clothing was included in the early boxes, but now the clothes are ready-made. In 1969 disposable diapers were introduced; cloth diapers were re-introduced in 2006, the same year the baby bottle was eliminated to encourage breast-feeding. The baby clothes come in bright unisex colors and are updated each year.

Rich or poor, each child gets the same box, if the mother commits to giving the child a healthy start. 

Finnish Dad Mark Bosworth, interviewed by the BBC stated about the box they received for their daughter Annika, “This felt to me like evidence that someone cared, someone wanted our baby to have a good start in life. And now when I visit friends with young children it's nice to see we share some common things. It strengthens that feeling that we are all in this together.” 

So much good from such a simple thing…

Happy weekend! Hope you are doing something special.

Why Saturday Short Subjects? Some readers may recall  being dropped at the movie theater for the Saturday matinee — two action-packed feature films with a series of short subjects (cartoons or short movies, sometimes a serial cliffhanger) sandwiched in between. Often the short subjects were the most memorable, and enjoyable, part of the morning. That explains the name. The reason behind these particular posts is that we are all short on time. My Short Subject posts should not take me as long to write or you as long to read (or try).

Meatless Monday: A Salad for Every Diet

Last week I promised everyone I would post a recipe rather than a rant this week, and I always do my best to keep my promises. So here goes… 

The heat is rising, and outdoor festivities are filling up the calendar — two great reasons to try out this easy, make-ahead recipe, inspired by a serving suggestion on the back of a bag of Trader Joe’s Organic Red Quinoa. 

Black Bean, Roasted Corn & Avocado Salad on a Bed of Quinoa

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup Red Quinoa
• 1- 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 cups corn kernels, toasted by sautéing in a lightly-greased cast iron pan
• 1 large avocado, cut into 1/2 inch pieces 
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, cut into halves
• 1 small red onion, finely diced
• juice of 1 large lime
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• a bunch of your favorite salad greens

PREPARATION

Prepare the quinoa.

• Rinse the quinoa with cold water and drain.  [This is a very important first step. Quinoa that is not rinsed first will have a bitter taste.] Place the quinoa, along with 2 cups of broth or water into a 1-1/2 to 2 cup saucepan. [I added one Not-Chick’n vegetable bouillon cube to 2 cups of cold water.] Bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer, cover, and cook until all liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, toss with 1/4 cup olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.

While the quinoa is cooking, prepare the salad.

• Combine the beans and vegetables in a large bowl.
• Make a dressing by combining lime juice with olive oil in a ration of 1:3. [Adjust to your taste.]
• Pour over the vegetables. Stir gently until all the ingredients are moistened.
• Wash and spin dry your favorite greens. Tear and place into salad bowl(s) as the base.
• Spoon quinoa onto the greens.
• Top with the mixed vegetables.

Colorful. Delicious. Nutritious. A complete summer meal or a hearty potluck dish in under an hour. When served atop greens, the salad makes six very generous servings.

Vegetarians and vegans will love that this dish is high in protein without meat. Vegans will appreciate that it is dairy-free. Paleo dieters should be happy that high-protein, low-carb quinoa is the salad base rather than rice or pasta. Quinoa is also gluten free. A dish for almost everyone, and certainly appropriate for a summer Meatless Monday!

FYI I was happy to discover that Trader Joes' Red Quinoa was not in conflict with any of my Buycott campaigns. Read about Buycott here.

And now for an update on the CT GMO labeling bill that had me ranting last week: In a surprise turn of events, GMO labeling supporters are now celebrating. On Saturday, the CT Senate voted unanimously to support a compromise bill, supported by House leadership, the governor, AND GMO labeling advocates! 

CT is likely to become the first state in the country to pass a GMO labeling law. 

The new bill has a more reasonable trigger clause, but more importantly NO LONGER INCLUDES the exemption for farmers grossing less than 1.5 million dollars. You can read the new bill here. The protest previously called for today has become a party to thank the legislators! Congratulations, Tara Littman-Cook and GMO Free CT.

Good eats! Good news! 

Have a great week.

I often blog on food or food issues on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”

Saturday Short Subjects: A New App for the Ethical Shopper

Do you use a Smartphone?

Do you care passionately about GMO labeling, or Gay Rights, or the Environment, or …?

If you can answer “yes” to both questions, I have just the app for you!

Buycott is a recently-released, free app developed over a period of 16 months by Ivan Pardo, a 26-year-old, free-lance programmer working in Los Angeles. It is available as a download for both Android and iPhone.

Buycott’s home page states, “A buycott is the opposite of a boycott. Buycott helps you to organize your everyday consumer spending so that it reflects your principles.”

Here is how it works. 

One you have installed the app, enroll in at least one of the user-created campaigns listed in the app by description and number of members. 

Then, scan the barcode of any product you have in your cupboard or are considering purchasing in a store. Buycott will try to determine what the product is and what company owns it. If it is in the system, Buycott will trace the product’s ownership and immediately tell you whether or not this product is in conflict with any of the campaigns you have joined.

I joined the Demand GMO Labeling campaign with 59,100+ members (currently the top campaign). A number of companies have been pumping massive amounts of money to fighting GMO labeling legislation; this campaign starts with a list of all companies that donated more than $150,000 to oppose California’s Prop 37, which, if enacted, would have required labeling of GMO food in that state.

By scanning their barcodes, I learned that two of the three cereal brands in my house – Kashi and Cascadian Farms were in conflict, while the third, Nature’s Path, was not. I was happy to discover that Annie’s Mac & Cheese, my quick-fix guilty pleasure, was also conflict-free. 

“Family Tree” illustrates the corporate lineage of your scanned product all the way up to its parent company. With this tool, I learned that Cascadian Farms is a subsidiary of Small Planet Food, which is in turn owned by General Mills, and that General Mills donated $1,135,300 to the “No on Prop 37 Campaign.” That is why buying my favorite Cascadian Farms granola now poses an ethical dilemma for me.

Buycott is an awesome app. For each of the companies whose barcodes are in the database, crowdsourced contact info (phone number, URL, corporate Facebook page, and Twitter handle), Wikipedia entry, and location map are listed, making it easy for you to let your voice heard. By simply hitting the Share button, you can tell all your friends what you have found out. 

Your timeline stores your campaigns and any barcodes you have scanned.

This is a participatory app. Users are asked to submit the names of products the app does not recognize. Any user who cannot find a campaign to suit her interests is encouraged to start her own.

Developer Pardo was quoted in Forbes, “I don’t want to push any single point of view with the app,” said Pardo. “For me, it was critical to allow users to create campaigns because I don’t think it’s Buycott’s role to tell people what to buy. We simply want to provide a platform that empowers consumers to make well-informed purchasing decisions.”

Buycott is an exciting tool for the socially-responsible consumer who wants to vote with her wallet. And, it's free. 

Why Saturday Short Subjects? Some readers may recall  being dropped at the movie theater for the Saturday matinee — two action-packed feature films with a series of short subjects (cartoons or short movies, sometimes a serial cliffhanger) sandwiched in between. Often the short subjects were the most memorable, and enjoyable, part of the morning. That explains the name. The reason behind these particular posts is that we are all short on time. My Short Subject posts should not take me as long to write or you as long to read (or try).