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Jan. 2009 - In this Issue: |
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Healthy Cooking |
"You are what you eat." Now that can be a scary notion on some days! After six weeks of holiday partying, we're in the mood to refresh our eating habits with some healthy choices! If you haven't received enough nutritional advice in this New Year, we'll add our two cents worth now. We're not nutritionists, nor do we pretend to be, but we do know a little something about cooking! In this issue, we'll offer some tricks for creating nutritional success, propose some ways to enjoy healthy everyday cooking, and present three "remodeled" recipes - one for breakfast, one for lunch, and another for dinner.
Finally, we offer you our Best Wishes for a Healthy and Happy New Year! | |
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Store Information |
Store Hours:
Monday - Saturday
10 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Sunday
11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Calhoun Square
3001 Hennepin Ave.
Minneapolis
(612) 824-4417
(888) 824-4417
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Kitchen Window Services |
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Espresso Repair |
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• Tune-ups and repair
• Certified technicians
• $37.50 diagnostic fee
• Factory certified repair
Kitchen Window services the following brands:
Baratza, Breville, Gaggia, laPavoni, Pasquini, Rancilio, Saeco, Solis & Spidem
More info
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 Plan some fun with a cooking class at Kitchen Window! We have an incredible line-up of topics, menus, and instructors. There are, literally, dozens of choices to choose from. Our classes make a great outing with friends, visiting relatives and a wonderful date night.
Delightful Dim Sum Sunday - #2686 – Sunday, January 18, 11:00 a.m.
Meet the Chef Al Vento - #2687 – Monday, January 19, 6:00 p.m.
Behind the Scenes at Shuang Hur - #2693 – Sunday, January 25, 10:00 a.m.
Whole Wheat Baking - #2697 – Saturday, January 31, 10:00 a.m.
Italian Home Cooking - #2698 – Saturday, January 31, 6:00 p.m.
View All Cooking Classes You may register for any of our classes any time of day!
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 Find Us on Fox9
Look for Kitchen Window’s own Doug Huemoeller on Fox9. The station’s Stay Fit with Fox9 segments focus on healthy lifestyles, and Doug shows how easy it is to incorporate delicious and nutritious food into your day. With recipes like Gazpacho with Avocado & Shrimp, Latin Stuffed Pork Loin and Asian Lettuce Wraps, eating well has never tasted better. Best of all, each of these recipes comes together quickly, so even on a busy weeknight, you don’t have to resort to take-out. Watch the Fox9 Morning Show on Saturday and Monday for our segments. Most segments air around 7:55 a.m. The recipe from each segment is available on our website.
View Recipes
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Featured Healthy Cooking Items |
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Incorporating some incremental change in our cooking habits can pay off over and over again. Set yourself up for success with cooking tools that maximize the nutritional value of your cooked foods while reducing the need for cooking oils.
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 Acoustic Fusion Featuring Lisa Loeb
Saturday January 17th - Calhoun Square
Saturday Afternoon
1:00 PM – Free & open to the public
Join us in the Calhoun Square Atrium for a celebration of food and music. Grammy nominated singer, songwriter, children’s author, and Food Network host, Lisa Loeb, shares stories, music and some of her favorite foods for entertaining plus secrets to make your next event memorable.
• Live musical performance
• Fabulous appetizer ideas
• Personal Anecdotes from Lisa
• Autograph signing
Saturday Evening
5:30 PM – Private Event
Join us in the cooking school for a unique interactive cooking event. Work alongside Lisa Loeb and Kitchen Window’s Executive Chef Daniel Darvell to prepare a special four course meal based on Lisa’s favorite foods.
• Enjoy a private musical performance
• Take home a complimentary 8” Copper Fusion Frypan ($100 value)
• Visit our website for a full menu
• Sign up on-line or by phone
#2699 – Saturday, January 17
To Register go to www.kitchenwindow.com
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Eating at home more these days? Whatever the reason - budgetary or dietary - the situation results in a great opportunity to rediscover the pleasures of good times in the kitchen and the taste of real food.
 Without getting too complex or controversial, nutritionists' recommendations seem to unanimously point us in the following directions:
- Eat more fruits and vegetables
- Replace fatty protein with leaner sources
- Eat less saturated fat
- Consume less sugar
- Eat more whole grains
Perhaps your health provider has added a few more bullets to this list?! Moving toward these nutritional targets is often vexing and guilt-ridden. However, we prefer to take the attitude of "adventure" and "curiosity" - the very mindset that characterizes someone interested in cooking and eating well!
Remodeling Recipes and Menus
Whether your health strategy focuses on trying new things or remaking old recipes more healthy, here are some tips for remodeling some of your cooking habits:
Eat more fruits and vegetables 
- Try planning your menu around the vegetable first, then determine the meat or protein source; the shift in focus mirrors the change in nutritional emphasis
- Expand your repertoire of vegetable favorites; experiment with one new vegetable a week; choose local, in-season foods whenever possible to optimize cost with freshness
- Choose a serving of fruit whenever a "sweet craving" arises; it's harder to overeat fruit than it is most snack foods
- Opt for whole fruits instead of fruit juices for an increased sense of fullness, slower digestion, and the extra fiber
 Replace fatty protein with leaner protein sources
- Plan at least two meals with fish each week; seafood is not only a lean, low-calorie protein source, but has the added bonus of protective omega-3 components
- Choose leaner cuts of beef and pork; trim excess fat
- Substitute turkey sausage for beef or pork, and save half the fat content
- Choose hard cheeses over soft cheeses
 Eat less saturated fat
- Generally, choose plant-based fats instead of animal-based fats
- Use olive oil instead of butter wherever possible
- Use egg whites instead of whole eggs for all or part of the eggs in a recipe
- Opt for olive oil-based salad dressings as opposed to creamy dressings
- Choose lower fat, or reduced fat dairy products
- Search for leaner versions of all meats and poultry
- Cut the quantity of butter or cheese in half wherever it will not impact the chemistry of the recipe
Consume less sugar
- Choose fruit for snacks or dessert instead of sugar-laden choices (1 cookie = 1 orange)
- Beware of foods that have "high-fructose" sugars on the ingredient list
- Eat whole fruits or freshly squeezed juice (throw in some veggies as well) instead of bottled or “fake” juices
- Experiment with substituting applesauce for sugar in baking recipes
- Eat semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate instead of milk chocolate
- Keep your favorite sweet indulgence part of your diet in appropriate portions; too much perceived denial may backfire in the long run
Eat more whole grains
- Substitute whole wheat flour for at least half of the flour in most recipes
- Enjoy the nutty flavor of whole grain brown rice instead of white rice
- Get acquainted with quick-cooking whole grains, for example, oats or quinoa
Beware of processed foods even when they're touted as healthy or low-calorie. A vast amount of our food choices are manufactured, altered, or processed in ways that have become distant from their origins and may not do us that much good. To paraphrase Michael Pollan, author of the excellent book, "In Defense of Food," don't eat what your grandmother wouldn't recognize. Further, he sums up his eating advice in simple terms: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Not a bad mantra! ("In Defense of Food," and Pollan's previous book, "The Omnivore's Dilemma," are both great "must reads" for anyone interested in food).
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 With nutritional goals in mind, and some thoughtful food choices at hand, how we cook our food can promote our progress toward healthy eating. Steaming - Cooking without oils easily shaves 100-400 calories from a dish. Steam cooks vegetables and seafood at a rapid rate without the loss of flavor or the dilution of nutrients that occurs with boiling or poaching methods. The small amount of required water heats on the stovetop quickly, while the steamer basket supports the food above the water's boil.
Stainless steel or silicone-based baskets are cleverly constructed to adjustably fit to a wide variety of pot sizes. A tight-fitting lid on a good pot completes the steaming set-up.
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Ridged Cast Iron Skillet |
Grilling Pans - By design, pans with grilling ridges elevate the cooking food, allowing any grease or oil to be drained in the pan instead of soaked up by the finished food. Grilling pans are great resources not only for preparing meats, but also for grilling sandwiches and vegetables. By placing the food across the ridge lines, there is less surface area in contact with the food resulting in less sticking.
Stovetop Smokers - Use a stovetop smoker to add a lot of flavor to your food without adding any fats, salts or oils (thus calories). Hot smoking retains the moisture & natural flavors of your food, and it’s fast! Smoke meat, seafood, poultry, vegetables, nuts or cheese according to your taste in around 30 minutes.
Pressure Cookers - Pressure cookers are perhaps the healthiest way to cook food. Because very little water is needed, and because pressure cookers are a "closed cooking system" with no oxygen exposure, fewer vitamins and minerals are lost to the cooking water or dissipate into the air, leaving more nutrients in the food. They cook quickly, in about a third of the time usually needed and they are extremely energy efficient, saving about 70% of the energy normally consumed in cooking.
Nonstick Cooking Surfaces - A nonstick pot or pan has a special surface that resists foods from sticking, and reduces or eliminates the need for oil as a lubricating barrier between the pan and the cooking food. Good nonstick cookware features quality materials and multiple surface layers for durability. Cookware companies have different approaches for nonstick surfaces on their products; here are a few brands that we recommend and carry:
Swiss Diamond - This brand stands alone in the nonstick world with its patented, nano-composite, diamond-reinforced, cooking surface. The surface will not peel, crack or blister. The magical surface lies on a cast aluminum core. We like the perfectly flat base that allows for efficient heat transfer on ceramic cooktops as well as electric and gas ranges. The pans are safe with metal utensils.
All-Clad - The LTD series from All-Clad provides an exterior of anodized aluminum with stainless steel handles and lids. The nonstick linings utilize a Whitford Excalibur lining where the nonstick materials are integrated into the pan's stainless steel surface for exceptional durability.
Stick Resistant Cooking Surfaces
We carry several stick-resistant cookware lines as an alternative to cookware with nonstick coating. While none of these will match the amazing release of nonstick, they offer greater versatility. They work well with high heats for searing and are excellent with browning. They are oven and broiler safe with an easy to clean surface that releases far better than straight metal.
Le Creuset - This classic cookware is safely stick resistant with its enameled cast iron or enameled steel construction. The smooth surfaces resist sticking and are easily cleaned. Le Creuset also features a series of fry pans with a nonstick Tri-Ply surface layered on a stainless steel base.
Chantal Copper Fusion - The enamel-on-steel construction that Chantal is noted for is naturally nonstick and chemical-free. With their enamel surface there is no metal transfer or interaction with foods. The stick resistant surface is available in many shapes including sauce and fry pans.
Emile Henry FlameTop - This uniquely kilned ceramic is naturally nonstick. The cookware moves from the refrigerator/freezer to stovetop, to the oven, and beautifully to the table. The material does not scratch, even when cutting, and is uniquely chip resistant.
Lodge Logic – Raw cast iron cookware is the original stick resistant cookware. Its surface becomes more and more stick resistant over time as the cooking surface becomes patina’d by use. This is why the cast iron pans you inherited from Grandma perform so well. This pre-seasoned line from Lodge will get you off to a great start with a ready-to-use pan. The cast iron pans are sprayed with a soy-based vegetable oil and then baked at a very high temperature, allowing the oil to penetrate into the iron creating a black patina finish.
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There's a prevalent phobia when it comes to nutritional numbers. We rebel at the notion of "counting calories" or noting grams of this or that. Perhaps numbers aren't "your thing," but a little quantifiable knowledge will get you quite a ways down the road.
The Essential Numbers - There are 3500 calories in a pound. If we eat 3500 calories of food, we add a pound of weight to our bodies. As we live, breathe, and exercise, we use calories. The difference is a weight loss or gain - no fancy math here.
 If we eat an extra potato chip, (10 calories apiece), each day, we will weigh one pound more at the end of the year. If we walk one-tenth of a mile more each day, we'll weigh one less pound at the end of the year.
Determine what your ideal intake is at any number of websites, (CDC's site). Then get acquainted with where your calories come from, their nutritional quality, and what your daily equation looks like, (Calorie Count is a nice, easy-to-use, nutritional and activity analysis website).
Recalibrate your Portions - We find culinary scales extremely useful in recalibrating our portions of food - it's our best friend, not a foe. It's amazing how the eye and the stomach can trick the mind when estimating food quantities. While weighing food may not be practical all of the time, a habit of weighing food while cooking at home gives you the necessary knowledge to make appropriate choices when away from home. Aside from any nutritional initiatives, culinary scales are a great way to measure and cook. Most international cookbooks are written with ingredient quantities noted by weight in grams, (g), instead of cups or teaspoons.
 As you make changes toward your selected goal, write down your information. A recent study published by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine indicated that individuals who document their eating habits doubled their weight loss and were more successful in keeping excess weight off.
Don't Sweat the Small Stuff - Focus your nutritional measurements where it counts. Don't worry about being obsessed with every little bite or pinch - focus on the bites and pinches that make a difference - 25 g of butter is a lot different than 25 g of blueberries, measure the butter; estimate the blueberries. Spend the time to calculate the content of a couple of your favorite recipes that you use over and over again. Just as you would with a financial stock, focus on the long-term trends of your habits.
Do Everything in Moderation - Like we haven't heard that piece of advice before! We hear it again and again because it's true again and again. Many of you tell us that it's possible to savor that 1 ounce of chocolate to equal satisfaction as a 2 ounce piece. We'll let you know how that adjustment goes! |
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Q: Does using a culinary scale and weighing food involve doing a lot of math?
A: No. The tare function on a culinary scale eliminates the need for calculating the net weight of foods. Place a dish on the scale, press the tare button to "zero out" the weight of the dish. Add an ingredient to the desired quantity as measured by the weight. Tare the scale, and add the next ingredient, etc. You'll quickly come to love this method of measuring ingredients when cooking.
Q: Are there official definitions for the health claims on food packaging?
A: According to the American Dietary Association, there are specific qualifications that a food must attain before claiming certain designations:
- "Free," (fat-free, sugar-free, etc.), is defined as an amount so small that it would not have an effect on the body.
- "Light/Lite" designates a food with one-third fewer calories or 50% less fat than standard versions of the food.
- "Reduced," (reduced calories, reduced fat, etc.), indicates that the food has at least 25% less than a comparable food.
- "Good Source" means that the item has 10-19% of the recommended daily value of the cited nutrient.
- "Healthy" marks foods that are low in saturated and unsaturated fats and meets specific levels of cholesterol, sodium, and other vitamins and minerals.
Q: Where can I find the time to do healthy cooking?
A: "I have to hurry up and get supper ready so that I can get a little relaxation in this evening." Make cooking a pleasurable event and not a task. Cooking can be relaxing, an art form, and a creative outlet that reenergizes your body and spirit. We're here to help you develop this mindset!
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The Eating Well® Diet by Dr. Jean Harvey-Berino, Ph.D., R.D. with Joyce Hendley and the Editors of EatingWell. Published by Countryman Press, Woodstock, Vermont. Copyright 2007.
The title "Eating Well" captures it all - this book is equal parts instruction and recipes designed to equip and empower the participant toward delicious food choices that support a healthy eating lifestyle. The first half of the book provides a solid foundation for understanding what healthy eating is and its importance for each of us. Dr. Harvey-Berino proposes and explains seven steps toward healthy eating and turning good changes into a permanent lifestyle of "eating well." The second part of the book presents delicious recipes - some new, some remodeled favorites. Each recipe is annotated with a nutritional analysis. Included throughout the book is lavish, full-color photography - after all, we eat first with our eyes! Informal "recipes" address healthy snacks, healthy fast foods, and eating well on-the-run. The recipes are derived from the kitchens of EatingWell Magazine, "Where Good Taste Meets Good Health". The book concludes with a generous appendix of resources, both forms for documenting your changes and key food information for easy referencing. Among the myriad of eating plans in the marketplace, this one seems to be realistic, sensible, and most importantly, doable! |
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Healthy "Makeover" Recipes |
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Excerpted from The EatingWell Diet, © 2007 by Eating Well, Inc., Reprinted by permission of the publisher, The Countryman Press/W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. |
Ham, Gruyère & Spinach Bread Pudding
It was hard to believe that this remodeled brunch casserole was only 276 calories per serving. Only half of the eggs used included the yolk, a move which saved calories and many grams of fat. The liberal use of vegetables, the inclusion of whole wheat bread, and reserving the Gruyère cheese for just the top, completed the makeover. The portions were satisfying and incredibly flavorful! While rosemary provided the dominant character to this version, a basil or an oregano version would be equally delicious.
View recipe
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Chicken Tortilla Soup
This classic soup also gets a makeover resulting in 357 calories for a full bowl. Again, vegetables dominate the soup's landscape, and the use of reduced fat cheese completes the overall fat-lowering result. The liberal use of cilantro, along with the heat of the tomatoes and chiles, provided full, rich flavor. By using a few "semi-prepared" ingredients, this soup went together quickly and easily.
View recipe
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Mushroom, Sausage & Spinach Lasagna
Rehabilitating lasagna into something more healthy seems like a daunting assignment, but this variation accomplishes the task very well at only 327 calories per serving. The makeover starts with the inclusion of whole wheat noodles, part-skim ricotta, and part-skim mozzarella. Generous amounts of spinach and mushrooms disguise the modest portion of sausage. The choice of spicy turkey sausage provided all of expected flavor with only half of the fat of traditional sausages. Our test kitchen gave it a big "two thumbs up!" Mission accomplished!
View recipe
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Share this email with a friend or invite someone to join you for a cooking class.
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Our best to you in this New Year! Sincere wishes for an excellent 2009!
From all of us at Kitchen Window
Kitchen Window
Calhoun Square - 3001 Hennepin Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55408
612-824-4417 / 888-824-4417
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