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Fitness: She’s Pumped. Your Turn.

By LIZ ROBBINS — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 08:19:10 PDT

The arms have taken on a life of their own. They have provoked controversy, envy, a bit of backlash, even bad puns about the right to bare them. But enough debate and deconstruction. Now women are talking about construction.

Recipes for Health: Hearty Vegetarian Borscht

By MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 08:40:52 PDT

A winter borscht that begins with a delicious porcini mushroom broth.

Eating Food That’s Better for You, Organic or Not

By MARK BITTMAN — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 06:20:56 PDT

The American diet needs an overhaul. But “organic” food offers no guarantee of eating well, healthfully, sanely, even ethically.

Temptation: Kale and Mushrooms with Polenta

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:38:00 PDT

Things I was tempted to do for today’s post, but ultimately resisted:

1) Inspired by the most recent episode of 30 Rock, I wanted to put up several pictures of a young Alec Baldwin. Because, really, have you SEEN that guy in his twenties? He made Brad Pitt look like Ernest Borgnine after a chainsaw accident.

2) Comment on this AV Club piece about the music you just can’t listen to anymore, “because of the memories you associate with them.” For me, it’s Jeff Buckley. My friend H turned me on to him back in 1995, a full decade before “Hallelujah” popped up on The O.C. or American Idol. Grace was a perfect album for a perfect time, and now he’s dead and his music isn’t my special secret anymore. Don’t get me wrong - the specialness isn’t totally gone (his voice continues to be a space-and-time-stopper), but it’s diminished a bit. Or maybe I’m just old and cranky.

3) Post a link to Jamie Foxx’s new video, if only because director Ron Howard makes several prominent appearances. I gotta admit, I never thought I’d see Opie rolling with T-Pain and a bottle of Cristal.

4) Discuss my wedgie. It’s epic.

5) Apologize for discussing my wedgie. This is a food blog, for pete’s sake. We have to maintain a modicum of class around here.

6) But seriously, it’s huge.

7) Lament Binghamton’s quick exit from the NCAA tournament. Though I went to a rival SUNY (State University of New York) and was not aware we had sports, it’s nice to see public school kids represent.

8) Write a poem about Kale and Mushrooms with Creamy Polenta, a recipe from Epicurious/Bon Appetit found via Serious Eats. It would go like this:

Flavored by bacon and milk and butter,
and enough lemon to make my tongue flutter,
is a dish so creamy, substantial, and great,
I want to ask it out on a date.

Alas, the dinner is food and not people
or in three years, we’d be found in a steeple
saying our vows and planning a life
together as Kale with Mushrooms and wife.

But anyway back to the task at my hand,
describing this dinner, so pleasant and grand.
No side dishes needed, I swear and it’s true:
This should feed about three, including you.

The price is a pittance, when you take in the taste,
and I promise, there’ll be no barfing or waste.
For when you are asked, “hey hon, what is shakin?”
You can say: “It’s veggies! With corn stuff and bacon!”

~fini~

Anyway, that’s what I was tempted to do with today’s post. But I’m not gonna do any of them. Instead I’m just gonna list the recipe and its picture. (And tell you not to skip out on the lemon zest. It’s vital.)

P.S.

Kale and Mushrooms with Creamy Polenta
Serves 3
Adapted from Nick at Serious Eats who adapted it from Epicurious/Bon Appetit

1/2 pound kale, stemmed and roughly chopped
2 cups 2 % milk
1 3/4 cups water
1 cup polenta
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 slices bacon, chopped
2 ounces mushrooms
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
1/2 tablespoon grated lemon zest (about 2 medium large lemons)
1-1/2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Salt and pepper to taste

1) Add the milk, water, polenta, salt and pepper to a large pot over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, whisking constantly, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thick.

2) Meanwhile, bring a medium-sized pot of water to a boil. Add the kale and cook for about 6 minutes. Drain the kale in a colander.
(Note: Several people suggested sautéing the kale with the mushrooms, thus skipping the boiling process. I haven’t tried it, but it just might work.)

3) Dump the bacon into a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until they are crisp, about 3 minutes. Remove the bacon. Add the sliced mushrooms to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until they become tender, about 6 minutes.

4) Add the kale, cooked bacon, garlic, and chicken broth. Bring to a boil and let reduce for about 5 minutes. Then turn off the heat and add the thyme and lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

5) Add the butter and Parmesan to the pot with the polenta. Stir until combined. Then spoon some of the polenta onto a plate and then top with the mushroom and kale.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price Per Serving
435 calories, 16.6 g fat, $1.72

Calculations
1/2 pound kale, stemmed and roughly chopped: 114 calories, 1.6 g fat, $0.99
2 cups 2 % milk: 245 calories, 9.8 g fat, $0.49
1 3/4 cups water: negligible calories and fat, FREE
1 cup polenta: 505 calories, 2.3 g fat, $0.99
1/4 teaspoon salt: negligible calories and fat, $0.01
1/2 teaspoon black pepper: negligible calories and fat, $0.01
2 slices bacon, chopped: 122 calories, 9.4 g fat, $0.35
2 ounces mushrooms: 12 calories, 0.2 g fat, $0.33
1 garlic clove, minced: 4 calories, 0 g fat, $0.04
1/4 cup chicken broth: 4 calories, 0 g fat, $0.08
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped: 2 calories, 0 g fat, $0.22
1/2 tablespoon grated lemon zest (about 2 medium large lemons): 1 calorie, 0 g fat, $0.60
1-1/2 tablespoons butter: 151 calories, 16.9 g fat, $0.13
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated: 144 calories, 9.5 g fat, $0.91
Salt and pepper to taste: negligible calories and fat, $0.01
TOTAL: 1304 calories, 49.7 g fat, $5.16
PER SERVING (TOTAL/3): 435 calories, 16.6 g fat, $1.72

(Alec Baldwin photo courtesy of Doodad Kind of Town.)

Fish tostadas, Veracruz style

Lisa (Homesick Texan) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 08:25:58 PDT

I spent part of my junior year of college living in Spain. I was in the southern part of the country, in Granada, which is not too far from the Mediterranean Ocean. Because of this proximity, my host...

Varuthu Araitha Kootu – Vegetable Dal With Freshly Ground Spices

Suganya — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 23:21:54 PDT

Varuthu – roasted, araitha – ground, kootu – medley. That’s all. Freshly ground spices with cooked dal and vegetables – healthy one pot meal. Poricha kootu and varuthu araitha kootu are stand-ins for the traditional sambar. They are usually made without tamarind. But what the kootu lacks in tang, is made up by the freshly roasted spices. My mom usually made this kootu with odd vegetables lying in

What Supplements Should I Take?

Crabby McSlacker — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 03:00:00 PDT

This next guest post is from Drew of Diet Tired. Drew is "an exercise and nutrition physiologist, entrepreneur, and advocate of diet free weight loss." Crabby is still trying to figure out the Magical Combination of supplements that will give her excellent health, eternal life, and the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound. However, until she does, she will leave it to others to advise you about the confusing question of which supplements to take. Here's one man's opinion, what do you guys think? Thanks, Drew!

There is much debate over what supplements you should take. For every recommendation there are even more opinions.

The fact is that supplement companies and the stores and practitioners selling supplements are far more likely to lean on the side of over recommending supplements and those who are on the medical and scientific side will argue that there just isn’t proof that most supplements do anything.

Despite a lack of clear evidence, our appetite for supplements is growing. This is because anecdotal evidence (testimonials and sales pitches) is far more persuasive to the general public than scientific studies. Add to this the small part in all of us that ‘wants to believe’ that these little pills work like magic and it is little wonder that supplement sales are in the billions.

This combination of persuasion, hope and often desperation can cause even the brightest of us to make decisions reminiscent of Jack, from Jack and The Bean Stock.

So are there any magical beans worth trading your cow for?

Magical, no. Potentially helpful, yes. I’ll get to these shortly.

It is important to recognize that if you eat an otherwise healthy diet you should have little problem getting all the nutrients that you need. In fact, when it comes to the macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein and fat) as a nation we are over nourished. That said, sometimes it is nice to have some insurance and there are certainly some health conditions or circumstances that warrant vitamin and mineral supplementation.

People may claim that today’s foods do not have near the nutrients that they had years ago, but this claim is not substantiated. This claim often comes from those selling supplements of course.

In fact, foods today are shipped faster and under safer conditions and food safety guidelines are far superior compared to what they use to be.

So how do you decide? I recommend following what the Tiger Woods of nutrition does.

Who is this nutrition all-star? He is Professor Walter Willet, Chairman, Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health. He takes a multivitamin and vitamin D tablet daily.

In true scientist form, Willett suggests waiting for the final verdict before jumping on other supplement band wagons.

Not only will this strategy save you money (taking a multivitamin and vitamin D supplement costs only pennies a day) but save your sanity in trying to figure out which beans are truly magical.

Recipes for Health: Refried Black Beans

By MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 22:53:43 PDT

Spread these beans on crisp corn tortillas for nachos or chalupas, or serve as a side dish sprinkled with queso fresco.

Recipes for Health: Black Bean Chili

By MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:24:22 PDT

A medium-hot vegetarian chili that freezes well.

Recipes for Health: Black Bean Soup With Spinach

By MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 23:35:13 PDT

This spicy, nutritious dish was inspired by a black bean soup made in Veracruz, Mexico.

Bread baking at home — Transformation in the kitchen

Culinate staff — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:40:46 PDT

Sam Fromartz, the writer behind Chews Wise, blogged recently about baking bread, an activity he undertakes frequently. “What is it about baking bread?” Fromartz asks. The answers are many, depending on who’s baking, but one eloquent and thoughtful response to the question lies in baking master Peter Reinhart's TED talk on bread. (TED talks, for those who haven’t seen one, are usually thought-provoking and are often funny, persuasive, or ingenious to boot.) Reinhart’s emphasis on the transformational nature of baking bread pushes beyond a literal explanation toward the metaphysical. Enjoy.

more…

from Sift

Bento Sized Mini Quiches

maki — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:16:23 PDT

This is a guest post by jokergirl, who blogs about vegetarian and pescetarian bentos at WereRabbits.

“Go ahead, bake my quiche.”

Queen Magrat, Lords and Ladies

As a pescetarian leaning heavily towards full-time vegetarianism, finding the right protein for my bento is often a strain. I’m not a fan of soy meat replacements to boot, so often I look to eggs as a handy protein packet to put in my bento. Luckily, scientists now say that eggs are good for you again, so I’m not worried about cholesterol.

These mini-quiches are a tasty and healthy freezer staple for those times when boiling an egg or making tamagoyaki seems like too much effort. Each one of them contains about 1-2 tablespoons of egg-vegetable mixture, equivalent to about half an egg (plus a bit of milk).

Here are a few bentos I have used them in:

Now, how to easily make bento-sized quiches? It’s actually quite simple - I bake them in a silicone muffin tin!

You can technically use any dough for it. I used premade butter dough for a mediterranean flavour (and because you can buy it in handy little rolls that fit 8 muffins).

Base Recipe: Mini Quiches Baked In Muffin Tins

Preheat the oven to 250°C / 480°F.

Cut the dough of your choice into 6 squares and line the muffin form with the pieces.

Hint: Put some aluminium foil (or, as my old-fashioned cookbook recommends, dried peas) along the edges of the dough to prevent it from shrinking into the moulds.

Put them in the oven to pre-bake and poof up a little for 5-10 minutes. The dough shouldnít get brown yet, just a little poofier!

While the crust is baking, mix together the filling ingredients and stir well. Tae out the baked crusts from the oven, and spoon 1-2 Tsp. of the mixture into each muffin,

Here are some of my favourite filling recipes.

Recipe: Vegetarian Quiche Lorraine Filling

(makes about 12 muffin-sized pies)

3 eggs
2-3 Tsp. Greek yoghurt or sourcream
1/3-1/2 zucchini, shredded and drained on a towel
1 cup of grated cheese (anything yellow and tasty)
1 cup of chopped leef or spring onions
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Salt, pepper, thyme to taste

Recipe: Feta-and-Tomato Quiche Filling

(makes 6 muffin-sized pies)

3 eggs
125g / 4oz (or more) feta cheese, crumbled
4 pieces of sundried tomato, cut into small pieces
fresh herbs, e.g. thyme, basil, oregano, rosemary (I used all 4, and it got really spicy!)
Salt, pepper to taste

Turn down the oven to 200°C / 400°F for baking the egg mixture. They bake in 10-15 minutes (do a test to see if the egg has solidified completely, by poking in a skewer or the tip of a knife).

Let the quiches cool thoroughly on a wire rack so that no moisture can form underneath and ruin their crispyness.

You can stack them in plastic boxes and freeze them after cooling. They warm in the microwave in just 90 seconds to 2 minutes.

Happy bentoing!

PS: It’s pronounced keesh, not kishay. The quote above always gave me troubles in Lords and Ladies. ;)

red kidney bean curry

deb — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 16:21:06 PST

I have a confession to make: For years, I have been cooking a dish that I love very very much but I haven’t told you about it because it comes from two words that I cannot bring myself to publicly own up to.* Especially on a site where if you suggested I use one, I’d suggest you haven’t been paying attention.

It’s a box mix, people. And it makes the most fantastic rajmah, or kidney bean curry. Wait! Let me explain. Long before I had cooked a single Indian dish, I was overwhelmed at the thought of it. I didn’t have the spices. I didn’t know which spices I’d want. I was sure I’d use them all wrong. There’s like an art and a science to this and I am a dilettante in the world of Indian cooking.

And one day we were at Whole Foods, and they of course had some cooking samples out, these provided from a company that was packaging Indian spice mixes for classic dishes, for which they helpfully provided recipes on the back. The aloo gobi was okay. The chicken tikka masala was, you know, not bad either. But the kidney bean curry? Swoon. We took it home with us that very night.

In the years since, I have found Indian recipes I can’t get enough of. There are Curried Lentils and Sweet Potatoes, Tangy Cabbage Salads and an Everyday Yellow Dal, Red Split Lentils with Cabbage, Indian-Spiced Vegetable Fritters and my favorite, the one that we make many times a year, Indian-Spiced Cauliflower and Potatoes.

And we always serve it with my super-secret rajmah mix. In fact, my shame associated with taking spices from a packaged mix was so great, I failed to note this wee detail: I was actually cooking this dish from scratch! There are beans, chopped tomotoes, canned sauce, fresh ginger and onion and garlic and chiles and you prep them all yourself and seriously, does this sound to you like a box mix? No? That’s because all it provides is the spices. Spices that, as it turns out, are already in my spice rack.

Once I did realize this, it wasn’t long before I no longer even needed it for that. Free at last! And free to share without shame.

* I promise, you will never see a Smitten Kitchen recipe that says, “first, buy this thing from this brand at this store.”

One year ago: Pasta Puttanesca, Broken Artichoke Heart Salad
Two years ago: Dill Bread

Red Kidney Bean Curry [Rajmah]
Adapted from an Arora spice blend

This is an Indian cousin of your favorite spicy red bean chili.

Serves 6

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh ginger (I use half this; I’m tepid in the fresh ginger department)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 plum tomato, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large green chili, chopped (optional)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
8 ounce can of tomato sauce or 8 ounces of one of your choice
3 cups boiled red kidney beans or 30 ounces canned red kidney beans, undrained
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (or parsley, if you’re cilantro-averse)

Heat oil in a deep sauce pan over medium heat for one minute. Add ginger, garlic, onion, green chili, and let sizzle for one minute. Add the tomato sauce, salt and remaining spices and cook for an additional five minutes, stirring frequently. Add the kidney beans with water or canned red kidney beans (undrained) plus one additional cup of water, and tomatoes. Bring it to a boil, then reduce to medium heat and let cook uncovered for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Garnish with cilantro.

Serve over rice or with naan. A dollop of plain yougurt on top is heavenly.

Ravishing Radish Sandwich With Poppy Seed Dressing

Suganya — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 23:49:02 PDT

Easter egg radishes - crunchy, peppery and downright colourful. Who could resist that? I seldom cook these beauties. They end being mushy and smell awful. The only time I would do that is while making sambar. Otherwise, they are good to go with just a squirt of lemon juice and salt. The radish greens, with a mild radish-y flavour, taste equally good too. If you haven’t cooked the greens, you

Pan-fried Chickpea Salad

(author unknown) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 22:01:19 PDT

I did my best to sneak off to Japan for two weeks without you noticing, and let me start by saying, it is still very much winter there. Rain, sleet, snow, and morning mist all made commendable appearances. One of the first things I did upon arrival in Tokyo was invest in a serious umbrella. It seems no one in Tokyo shelters themselves from the elements with less than a four-foot span. My pocket umbrella was laughable. Needless to say, I can't wait to share some of the highlights and photos with you. The bad news is that it might take me a week or so to organize the photos (and links) of the places we visited. In the meantime, I thought I'd share a simple chickpea salad. This was the first thing I cooked when I got home. A chickpea salad might seem an odd way to get things going in the kitchen again, but a day before we left San Francisco I cooked up a big pot of chickpeas. We didn't put a dent in them, and I tossed them in the freezer before we walked out the door. I don't normally freeze beans, but was happy to see them when I got home, and they held up beautifully. After a quick trip to the farmers market I pan-fried the chickpeas with some baby leeks and a bit of garlic. I used a creamy dressing made with plain yogurt and curry powder, and finished off the salad with plenty of chopped cilantro and chopped red onion. It's a substantial salad, flecked with plenty of color, and I love the way nuttiness of the chickpeas play off the tangy curry-spiked dressing.

You can add all sorts of things to this salad depending on the season - sliced green beans, asparagus, or broccoli florets (all blanched) might be good choices. Or simply add a bit of sauteed spinach. I almost opted out of the curry approach at the last minute, seduced by some vibrant broccoli I picked up along with the leeks at the market. I was thinking that a lemony-broccoli pesto would be a great dressing in place of the curried yogurt. Or how about a version of this salad using Thai curry paste instead of Indian curry powder? In this scenario I might skim some of the coconut cream off the top of a can of coconut milk and use that in place of the yogurt - again thinning it with warm water, coconut water, or broth. If I'm going to make this an entire one-pan meal I might through in some tofu or black lentils for that little extra boost of protein.

Continue reading Pan-fried Chickpea Salad...

Sweet Potato Mash with Mint

(author unknown) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 23:29:09 PDT

If you've been following our Simply Recipes updates on Twitter then you know that I recently spent a week in the Bahamas with several other food bloggers at the Club Med Food and Wine Festival (more on that soon). As we were being wined and dined, and treated to amazing 6 and 7 course meals every night I kept my eye out for ideas and recipes that might work well for us at home. The first night's dinner was spectacular (you can see a list of menus here on Jaden's site), and included fresh caught wahoo fish served on top of a boniato mint mash. As good as the fish was, I could have skipped it completely and just had a huge plate of the sweet potatoes, they were so good.

Boniato is a sweet potato popular in the Caribbean, light in color, and fluffy when cooked. The chef who prepared the mash was Chef Sean Bernal of The Oceanaire Seafood Room Miami, who recalled to us how his grandmother in Puerto Rico would make him boniato sweet potato with onions and mint. Chef Sean generously shared with us how he prepared the mash, the trick he said was to roast the sweet potatoes so that you get the richness of flavor from the caramelization of the sugars in them. I prepared a couple batches, one boiled and one roasted, and I agree that the roasted approach produces more flavor, but it also takes longer to cook and uses more energy, so if you have time, yes, roast, but if not, boiling works fine too. The real surprise was the combination of the sweet potatoes, crunchy raw chopped onions, and mint. I never would have thought to put mint with sweet potatoes, but it's a great combination.

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Peacamole

clotilde — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 03:05:07 PDT

[Green Pea Cilantro Spread]

If you've been invited to dinner at my house lately, the odds are high that you've been greeted with a glass of chilled white wine and a platter of multigrain crackers topped with this bright green spread. "Guacamole?" you may have asked. "No, peacamole!" I'll have responded, or rather, if you and I speak French together: poicamole*.

I have made and served countless batches of this spread over the past couple of months. It is absolutely not green pea season, though that happy day will come soon enough, but frozen peas have recently become a staple of my cooking wardrobe (why it took me so long to adopt them, I know not), making this a quickly assembled appetizer.

It is a rich-textured spread that's sweet and earthy from the peas, subtly nutty from the use of almond butter, and livened up by the signature zing of cilantro**. Spread on the spelt crispbreads I buy at the supermarket and can't get enough of, it makes absolutely irresistible bites. And if I'm lucky and I have leftovers, I pair the peacamole-covered crackers with a beet and carrot salad and a soft-boiled egg for a very good solo lunch.

I initially developed this recipe for ELLE à table, the French cooking magazine in which I write a bimonthly column: it came to illustrate a story in this month's issue (#63) about the increasingly frequent intersections between the worlds of perfume and cuisine.

One of the examples I give is that of essential oils: these highly concentrated plant extracts have long been used in fragrances and cosmetics, but are now made available in organic, edible versions*** for cooks to use, oh-so-sparingly, in their dishes, emulating the flavor of a fresh spice, fruit, flower, or herb -- here, cilantro. (Note that the recipe below includes a variation using fresh cilantro leaves.)

Essential oils are so supercharged that a drop or two is usually plenty, and because oil doesn't dilute in water, it should be added into the dish along with an oil-like element or liquid sweetener. The flavoring power of essential oils weakens when they're heated, so they are best added at the very last minute, or used in a no-cook preparation such as this one. If you wish to bake with them, you'll need to use a little more. Experimentation is the name of the game****, but you should always err on the side of caution; add one drop too many and your dish may be inedible.

As a side discovery, I've also found that frozen peas can be steamed in a rice cooker. Who knew? You just place the peas in the bowl, put the lid on, and set it on "cook" for 14 minutes, or until tender. I don't own a steamer, so I normally steam vegetables using bamboo baskets over a pan of boiling water; this method is simpler, faster and, with my kitchen setup at least, more energy-efficient.

~~~

* A green pea = un petit pois, hence peacamole = poicamole.
** As always, cilantro haters are welcome to use the herb of their choice (flat-leaf parsley, chervil, basil, mint...) instead.
*** Note that essential oils should not be consumed by pregnant or breast-feeding women, young children, or people with allergies.
**** I don't know of an English-language recipe book that would guide you in these experimentations, but if you read French, you can take a look at Valérie Cupillard's book, Cuisiner avec les huiles essentielles (La Plage, 2006).

Continue reading "Peacamole"
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Fast-food Density And Neighborhood Walkability Linked To Residents' Weight And Waist Size

(author unknown) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 05:00:00 PDT

Scientists show that a high-density of fast food outlets was associated with an increase of three pounds in weight and .8 inches in waist circumference among neighborhood residents who frequently ate at those restaurants.

Why Dreams Are So Difficult To Remember: Precise Communication Discovered Across Brain Areas During Sleep

(author unknown) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 05:00:00 PDT

By listening in on the chatter between neurons in various parts of the brain, researchers have taken steps toward fully understanding just how memories are formed, transferred, and ultimately stored in the brain -- and how that process varies throughout the various stages of sleep.

How bentos help Tracy happily lose weight

maki — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 17:46:28 PDT

This is a guest post by Tracy, aka Crazed Veggie, who blogs about bentos, amigurumi and personal rants and raves at CrazedVeggie.com. She’s lost 50 pounds (22.7 kg) so far since June of last year, and uses bentos as part of her successful weight loss program!

The story goes a little something like this. I’ve been overweight all my life. Struggling with the weight had been an everyday thing and I’ve never known anything different. Two years ago I decided to become vegetarian. I did this due to ethical reasons (I just couldn’t go on knowing that an animal had to die for me to shove food in my mouth!). Once I became dedicated and seen how easy it was for me to make such a massive change in my food habits, I decided that I was going to watch everything that I ate and not destroy my body any longer. I joined a calorie counting website and went on a mission to lose weight. That was June of 2008, and so far I’ve lost 50 pounds!

I began incorporating bento box making into my weight loss program in January. As soon as I began researching the history behind them and the many websites and blogs dedicated to them, I knew this was something that I just had to be a part of.

We all know that they make it so much easier to stay in control of portion size which is essential to any diet regimen. For me, it goes so much deeper, almost emotionally. Because I’ve always associated food with happiness, seeing something in front of me that looks appealing, is healthy and colorful, and I know I put time and effort into, makes me feel just as happy as I’d be eating a cupcake or a piece of chocolate. I’m eating more fruits and vegetables than I ever have before, thanks to the little spots in my bentos that need a little splash of color.

This colorful bento by Tracy features homemade pizza, salad with low-cal dressing, apple bunnies and a checkerboard pattern apple.
Total: 280 calories.

Bento making also is allowing me to explore food options that I’d never even think of getting into two years ago. I love finding a book or website on making my own veggie sushi. I love trying out a new recipe on my husband and him looking at me in disbelief that I even knew anything about the ingredients we were eating, but that I actually made it myself! It’s exciting, and very addicting! I read something one time that if you do something 30 days in a row that it then becomes a habit. Well this is my new habit!

I feel so much better in everything I do. I have so much more energy and my entire outlook on life has improved. I’m eating healthy. I’m loving animals. I’m doing a little part to save the environment. Yep, life is good! This just goes to show that you can do anything that you set your mind to and you can not be successful by continuing to feel sorry for yourself and by using words like “I can’t!” when you know full well that “You can!”. If an overweight-meat eating-cupcake lover, who’s idea of a gourmet meal came from a box or the freezer, can make such massive changes in her life - anyone can!

Tracy, CrazedVeggie.com