Falling in Love with Fall

October is my favorite month of the year- there are so many reasons to celebrate! My birthday (a questionable reason to celebrate), Florida finally reaches less than 90 degrees, and of course the wonderful seasonal food! I would not be surprised if I woke up orange one day from the amount of pumpkin I've been eating. It can be added to everything- oatmeal, cookies, pudding, brown rice, smoothies, sauces...this list goes on. In addition to pumpkin, there's cranberries, pears, butternut and acorn squash and the debut of soup/chili season. I've got more recipes than I can keep up with. A fun one I tried with a friend recently was a butternut squash-apple-cranberry mixture with a little bit of brown sugar and butter. Can you say delicious?

As dietitians, we encourage people to eat from the "rainbow;" meaning the brighter the colors the more nutrient-filled the food (vegetable or fruit). It's true- they are loaded with vitamins, minerals, and other health-boosting, disease fighting nutrients. Fall foods provide such a good opportunity! It's never been more fun to eat healthfully. Baked or poached apples, peaches or pears tossed with seasonal spices like cinnamon and nutmeg make the perfect side dish or dessert. No kidding, my roommate and I have gone through at least 3 bottles of ground cinnamon.

I'll be sad to see all these foods go, but until then I'll experiment all I can. I know it's a little premature for New Years resolutions, but this year I think I'll resolve to eat pumpkin all year long. To whet your taste buds, check out this yummy recipe below-courtesy of Whole Foods of course :) www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2377.

Yes, No, Maybe later...

Did you know the average person makes about 200 food-related decisions per day? Wow! There's a lot more to it than deciding "what will I have for dinner tonight?" We are constantly making decisions and many of those are influenced by our environment (i.e. do I eat the candy sitting on my co-workers desk? If so, how many? One handful? Two?) . I ran across this article that highlights some other examples: http://www.ahwatukee.com/ahwatukee_medical/article_5c985a3a-c827-11df-9837-001cc4c03286.html

I always encourage my patients to set themselves up for success. The less decisions you have to make, and the less contact you have with environmental eating cues, the easier it is to eat healthfully. For example, it's a lot easier to say "no" to the ice cream ONCE in the grocery store than it is to say "no" every time you open your freezer. (Trust me, I know from experience.)

Mission: In Progress

I have been a bad blogger. Life got (extra) busy for a few weeks and I did not share about my GF adventures. I successfully finished my GF month with only a few minor slip-ups. My biggest rookie error was eating a non-GF frozen mac'n'cheese entree thinking it was GF (I swear it was when I grabbed it off the shelf). Since I last blogged, I have transitioned into the young old age of 26 with GF pumpkin cream cheese cupcakes (thanks roomie), successfully navigated an unplanned eating out experience (it was Mexican), and experimented with some delicious quinoa recipes (I'm obsessed)!

I also got to refine my explanation of a gluten free lifestyle to the many people who asked me why on earth I would do this. My knowledge is far from complete, however. I know that it would take many months to become truly expert in the day-to-day living, but I am confident that I could function fairly well.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading other people's blogs about gluten free living and talking with friends-it has been enlightening! I also kept my eyes open for professional updates that came through my work contacts and found several new resources. One I was particularly happy about is that General Mills brands (including Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Progresso, etc) is introducing several new products in the coming months and will have more than 350 soon. And all will be labeled 'Gluten Free.' You can find recipes, menu planners, product listings, and additional resources at http://www.liveglutenfreely.com/.

I am taking a hiatus for the next few weeks until I decide on my next mission. I am open to suggestions! I will plan to stay connected with interesting articles and fun recipes in the mean-time. Until then- per la salude!

She must have read my blog...

An article came out today quoting Shelley Case (the Registered Dietitian who is a leading expert in Celiac Disease) on her stance that Gluten Free products should focus on nutritional quality and not just taste/texture. As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, many GF products are not fortified with vitamins and minerals that regular wheat/grain products are. The result is that people following GF diets that may not be health-conscious can become deficient in certain nutrients. (Who would ever think to check if they are getting 100% of their daily riboflavin besides a dietitian anyway?)

Here's a link to the article: http://www.bakeryandsnacks.com/Formulation/Industry-warned-over-nutritional-content-of-gluten-free-products

And the honeymoon period is over.

Well last week was a busy week and I didn't have much time to explore and experiment with new recipes. I've got to be honest, the novelty of a new "project" is over and the frustration of not being able to grab something quick on the way home first hit last week. I'm trying not to stock up on gluten free convenience foods like frozen meals (which are pretty yummy) because they cost about twice as much as the more common brands. However, I have still been consistently spending $10-15 more per week at the grocery store, and it is a small price to pay for health if necessary, but I know there's an easier way to do this.

I scanned over my "recipe" folder in my inbox looking for recipes and websites I may have overlooked and- eureka! I ran across a website one of by BFF's sent me a year ago: http://www.5dollardinners.com/. This woman is a professional mom- seriously! She has kids with different food allergies and still manages to make meals for $5 or less. AND she uses the slow-cooker a lot, which I am a huge fan of because it is pretty impossible for me to screw up. Anyway, one of my former staples was her Slow Cooker Black Beans and Rice recipe (search for it in the recipe index). She also has quite a variety of gluten free dinners. I can't wait to look through them all and get my budget back on track! And you know she's legit because she made it to the Rachel Ray show! RR is one of my personal faves.

Note of caution: The beans and recipe says it makes 6 servings..I don't how much this woman eats but mine had to make at least 12.

A 'hole' in the Gluten Free diet

As I said in one of my earlier blogs, it is entirely possible to eat a well-balanced diet following a GF eating plan. However, it may take a little creativity at times. After about 2 solid weeks of eating gluten free, I realized a short-coming in my own eating plan: the lack of whole grains. I noticed this fairly quickly because my dietitian mind is trained to look for possible nutrition deficiencies in people's diets. I suspect it could take much longer for the average person who is new to GF eating, as there are many potential nutritional shortcomings.

So what's the deal with whole grains? Well for starters, whole grains provide a good source of fiber in the American diet, and for people who aren't eating the recommended 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables daily, it is the main source of fiber. General recommendations for fiber are 25-30 grams/day, and my quick calculations told me I was previously getting about half of my fiber from whole grains. Whole grains also are rich sources of many other minerals that are otherwise scarce in the typical western diet. As a newly GF 'convert' I did what most people would probably do: go for the easy grain substitutes (GF bread, potatoes, rice) which are (or are made from) less fiber rich sources, and often not fortified with other important nutrients. In the U.S. most grains are fortified with folic acid, niacin, thiamin, iron and riboflavin- nutrients which are often lost in processing. GF substitutes often lack these also. However, there are several less well-known whole grains that are GF such as quinoa (keen-wah), amaranth, millet, corn and buckwheat just to name a few.

So I turned to my (as of yet) most trustworthy GF resource, a comprehensive book written by Shelley Case, a dietitian who specializes in Celiac Disease and gluten intolerance disorders. It's called: Gluten Free Diet: A Comprehensive Resource Guide. Why am I partial to this book? I've read tons of great blogs and websites and learned about many recipes and products, but from a nutrition and health perspective, dietitians are really the only professionals trained to examine a diet as a whole and assess its adequacy. There are many people (some of my patients included) who know far more about GF living than I do- but I believe it is a full time job to be able to look at someone's intake and determine "is he/she getting enough protein/calcium/iron/fiber/ carbohydrates/etc based on his/her individual needs?"..and this is something dietitians are skilled to do. This book does that, as well as provide product listings, recipes, the latest research and credible organizations with reliable information. (find at http://www.glutenfreediet.ca/)

Tonight I made a great quinoa pilaf with cranberries and almonds. This might be my favorite GF experiment yet in terms of ease, taste, and health. I think it will be a new staple in my diet. The great thing about quinoa is that it is the only grain that is also a complete protein. Most other grains lack one or more of the essential amino acids that would make them "complete." Again, this is a Whole Foods recipe (I promise I don't work for them): http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/2486.

A De-lish Fish Dish

I try to eat fish 2-3x/week, for heart health and because I love it! I usually buy whatever is on sale, which is often tilapia, but this week it was catfish. I don't recall ever making catfish, but figured I wouldn't be straying too far from my norm as I tend to think most white fish taste pretty similar. But I did get a little nervous when the guy at the seafood counter asked if I was "from here" because most people "from here" don't like catfish. I'm still trying to figure that one out, but I turned to my trusty Whole Foods website for a recipe. I found the following recipe which met all of my criteria (cheap, few ingredients, easy-check!):
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2285.


I actually had cornmeal in my pantry (I have no idea why), and it made a very good coating-even better than bread crumbs for pan-frying. It was light, didn't get soggy, and in my non-stick pan I was able to get away with very little oil (again, the dietitian voice inside me usually screams the loudest). Mixed with the paprika and spices it made a very tasty fish dish. Enjoy!