Thursday, June 23, 2016

Your Guide To Making Her The Ultimate Breakfast In Bed

FOODRECIPE

Your Guide To Making Her The Ultimate Breakfast In Bed

Give your sweetheart a healthy treat she's sure to appreciate.

by BETSY ANDREWS MAY 5, 2016

PHOTOGRAPH BY MATT RAINEY

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The day I met Harper, he was grumpy. I was his mom’s new sweetheart, and he was meant to behave. He looked up at me and said, “I’m tired of being good.” But that’s his fate. He has always treated his mother well, especially when celebrating her. It was spring when I got together with Jeanne, and for Mother’s Day I helped 6-year-old Harper make her breakfast in bed. Earnest and sweet-toothed, he prepared whole-wheat waffles doused in maple syrup. Everything was organic—the kid was schooled in the right way to eat. Today, at 16, Harper is still good, a nice young man. We still serve Mother’s Day breakfast in bed. This year, it’s a vegetable-heavy spin on a British fry-up. For ease and health, we’ll roastour potatoes, mushrooms, tomatoes, even the bacon. We’ll gild the lily with fried eggs. Then we’ll climb on the bed and revel, us three, in our good little family built on love.

Related: 9 Next-Level Breakfasts In Bed That Moms Will Love

BREAKFAST ROAST-UP

The Rodale Test Kitchen's vegetable-centric spin on the full English breakfast takes the major elements of the classic fry-up—potatoes, tomatoes, even the bacon—and roasts them in the oven, resulting in a meal that’s healthier (and way easier to clean up after!) yet still unbelievably satisfying. For maximum flavor and nourishment, seek out stone-ground, organic, whole grain bread. Then use the bacon drippings—a delicious and healthy monounsaturated fat—to fry up some eggs to top off the lot.

Related: Stuff You Should NEVER Cook In A Cast-Iron Pan

Serves 4

8 ounces baby Yukon Gold potatoes, halved

8 ounces frozen pearl onions, thawed

8 ounces young carrots, tops trimmed

2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

8 strips thick cut organic, pasture-raised bacon

8 ounces asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces

4 ounces oyster mushrooms, separated

3½ ounces sliced shiitakes

3½ ounces enokitake or beech mushrooms, separated in bunches

4 campari or small plum or cherry tomatoes

2 sprigs of thyme

8 large eggs

¼ cup finely chopped parsley

½ teaspoon lemon zest

Related: 7 Foods That Wake You Up Better Than Coffee

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss together the potatoes, onions, carrots, rosemary, 1 tablespoon oil, a large pinch of salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Roast until just starting to become tender, about 20 minutes.

2. Lay bacon strips in a cast-iron skillet. In a bowl, toss together the asparagus, mushrooms, tomatoes, thyme, 1 tablespoon oil, a large pinch of salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Add it to the roast vegetables in the oven and toss to combine. At the same time, place skillet with bacon in the oven on a separate rack. Roast until the tomatoes soften but don’t break apart, and bacon is crisp, about 15 minutes more.

3. Transfer bacon to a paper towel lined plate to drain, reserving fat in skillet. Toss the vegetables with the parsley and lemon zest and season to taste with salt and pepper.

4. In batches, add the eggs to the bacon fat and fry on the stovetop until the whites are set and the eggs are still runny, about 3 minutes. Divide roasted vegetables among 4 plates; serve with eggs and bacon.

8 Things We Never Knew Sugar Could Do Around The House

Grab a bag of organic, unbleached cane sugar and put it to use.

by REBECCA STRAUS APRIL 28, 2016

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PHOTOGRAPH BY GAYVORONSKAYA_YANA/SHUTTERSTOCK

You may be trying to eat less sugar or at least staying within therecommended sugar intake, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you should ban it from the house altogether. To start, it makes a great exfoliating face scrub, as we revealed with our DIY Facial Cleansers For Every Skin Type. It’s also a handy addition to your cleaning arsenal because it’s cheap, nontoxic, and absorbs odors—but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Click through the slideshow to see the unexpected ways you can use sugar around the house every day.

1. Keep Cut Flowers Fresh

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PHOTOGRAPH BY DMYTRO VIETROV/SHUTTERSTOCK

1. Keep Cut Flowers Fresh

Sugar can lend a hand in keeping your fresh-cut spring flowersperky by giving them some of the nourishment they’re missing. Expert gardeners at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden recommend mixing a teaspoon each of sugar and bleach, plus two teaspoons of lemon or lime juice, with a quart of lukewarm water and adding it to the vase. (The bleach keeps bacteria from building up, and the citrus adjusts the pH so it’s easier for the stems to absorb the water.)

2. Heal Wounds

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PHOTOGRAPH BY CHEPKO DANIL VITALEVICH/SHUTTERSTOCK

2. Heal Wounds

Rubbing sugar into open wounds like bedsores, ulcers, and amputations can decrease pain and significantly speed up healing, according to research done in British hospitals. The sugar helps to dry out the wound, which promotes tissue healing, and dehydrates bacteria that could cause infection. In fact, packing sugar into a laceration is an old folk remedy that’s still widely used in developing areas of the world, and the research suggests that it may be even more effective than some modern antibiotics.

3. Clean A Coffee Grinder

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PHOTOGRAPH BY KLEVO/SHUTTERSTOCK

3. Clean A Coffee Grinder

If you’ve got an electric coffee grinder, you can also use it grind up fresh spices, but you definitely don’t want your morning dark roast tasting like cumin the next time you to grind some beans. So how do you clean it since you can’t submerge your grinder in water? Easy—grind up some sugar instead. The sugar will absorb oils and odors trapped in your grinder so your coffee won’t have any unwanted flavors.

Related: Cheap Coffee Isn’t Worth It—Here’s Why

4. Keep Cheese From Getting Moldy

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PHOTOGRAPH BY MARINA KUTUKOVA/SHUTTERSTOCK

4. Keep Cheese From Getting Moldy

Sticking a couple of sugar cubes in with your artisan cheddar can keep it from getting moldy. Apparently, the sugar will attract moisture and mold spores, therefore, diverting them from the cheese.

5. Remove Grass Stains

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PHOTOGRAPH BY AKKARADET BANGCHUN/SHUTTERSTOCK

5. Remove Grass Stains

Got stubborn grass stains on your jeans from kneeling by the flowerbeds? Mix two tablespoons of sugar with a little water to form a paste, and rub it into the stain. Let it sit for about an hour before washing normally, and your jeans will be good as new.

6. Stop Hiccups

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PHOTOGRAPH BY WAIVEFAMISOCZ/SHUTTERSTOCK

6. Stop Hiccups

Swallowing a teaspoon of sugar can actually halt your hiccups. Experts think the trick works because dry sugar is difficult to swallow, and it modifies the nerve muscles that are causing the diaphragm to contract spasmodically when you hiccup.

7. Get Cooking Odors Off Your Hands

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PHOTOGRAPH BY ANGEL SIMON/SHUTTERSTOCK

7. Get Cooking Odors Off Your Hands

The scent of onion or garlic can linger on your hands for hours after cooking, no matter how many times you wash. Sugar absorbs odors and oils—plus it exfoliates—so it’s way more effective than just soap on its own. Scrub your hands with about a spoonful of sugar and some dishwashing liquid, and you’ll be good to go.

8. Keep Cookies Crisp

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PHOTOGRAPH BY ANNA KUHMAR/SHUTTERSTOCK

8. Keep Cookies Crisp

If you like a snappy gingerbread or a crunchy peanut butter cookie, add a couple of sugar cubes to your storage container. Sugar attracts moisture, so it’ll prevent your crispy cookies from going limp.

Eggplant Parmesan + 7 Other Things You Can Cook In Your Waffle Maker

Put this kitchen appliance to better use by making everything from dinner to dessert.

by REBECCA STRAUS APRIL 22, 2016

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PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF MACHEESMO

1. HASH BROWNS

Nick at Macheesmo discovered that waffle irons make hash browns perfectly crispy. Both sides brown up at the same time, meaning they only take about 10 minutes to make—half as long as it would if you were using a cast-iron pan.

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Eggplant Parmesan + 7 Other Things You Can Cook In Your Waffle Maker

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PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF CUPCAKE PROJECT

2. BAKED APPLE SLICES

Apple slices warm up nicely in any kind of waffle iron, and Stef atCupcake Project coats them in a thin layer of sugar for a caramelized outer shell. You could add some homemade whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon and call it a day, or make them without sugar and toppings for a healthier snack.

Related: Pressure Cooker Applesauce In Minutes

Eggplant Parmesan + 7 Other Things You Can Cook In Your Waffle Maker

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PHOTOGRAPH BY TIKKIDO

3. EGGPLANT PARMESAN

Nikki at Tikkido crisps up a healthy eggplant parm in her waffle iron without using any oil. It’s also way faster than the traditional method of frying the eggplant, which means it’s doable on weeknights.

Eggplant Parmesan + 7 Other Things You Can Cook In Your Waffle Maker

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PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF SHERI SILVER

4. LEFTOVER PIZZA

Sheri at Donuts, Dresses, and Dirt folds slices in half and toasts them panini-style in a waffle maker. You get a crispy crust and caramelized cheesy goodness for an irresistible lunch treat.

Related: 10 Things You Can Cook In A Coffee Maker

Eggplant Parmesan + 7 Other Things You Can Cook In Your Waffle Maker

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PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF WILL IT WAFFLE?

5. CHEESEBURGER

Yes, you can even cook a grass-fed burger—including a from-scratch bun. Daniel Shumski is the author of the Will It Waffle? cookbook, and he’s devised dozens of affordable, healthy recipes like this one that can be easily be cooked on the trusty appliance.

Related: Great Organic Burger Recipes

Eggplant Parmesan + 7 Other Things You Can Cook In Your Waffle Maker

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PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF SCATTERED THOUGHTS OF A CRAFTY MOM

6. MAC + CHEESE

Is your favorite part of baked macaroni and cheese the crispy part on the top? Then this recipe is for you. After whipping up a batch of your favorite mac and cheese, simply press it into squares on the waffle iron the way Jamie does at Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom. This would also be an ideal way to heat up leftovers.

Eggplant Parmesan + 7 Other Things You Can Cook In Your Waffle Maker

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PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF CRUNCHY, CREAMY, SWEET

7. CHOCOLATE CHUNK COOKIES

Anna at Crunchy, Creamy, Sweet simply fires up the waffle iron to make crunchy cookies in next to no time. Her dough recipe will seem runny like a batter, but don’t let that fool you—these are cookies through and through.

Related: Super Quick Superfood Cookie Recipes

Eggplant Parmesan + 7 Other Things You Can Cook In Your Waffle Maker

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PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF FOOD + WHINE

8. FALAFEL

At Food + Whine, Megan crisps up falafel balls on her waffle iron for a healthier, no-oil take on this Middle Eastern cuisine. The waffled shape makes them easier to slip inside a pita, too.

Why Tom Brady’s Diet Is Absolutely Absurd

Tom Brady doesn’t eat fruit, nightshades, or olive oil. A Ph.D. nutritionist explains why that makes no sense

BY MIKE ROUSSELL, PH.D.January 7, 2016

IMAGE BY GETTY IMAGES

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Tom Brady’s diet is making headlines after his personal chef toldBoston.com the details of what he eats. Brady is apparently so diligent about nutrition that he avoids white sugar, white flour, iodized salt, eggplant, tomatoes, and fruit.

I love Touchdown Tommy. I’m a generational Patriots fan. But as a nutrition Ph.D., I was embarrassed to read about his diet.

Here’s the thing: Brady’s diet and training is managed by a man named Alex Guerrero, who is not a nutritionist or a doctor. Guerrero did, however, get in trouble with the Federal Trade Commission for pretending to be a doctor on TV while trying to sell a greens supplement that “cured terminal cancer.”

Tom’s chef, Allen Campbell, is also not a nutrition expert. He did take a Certificate Program in Plant-Based nutrition offered by eCornell and taught by Dr. T. Colin Campbell, PhD, earlier this year.

The whole situation is a great example of something I have seen for years: Just because you have a lot of money and influence doesn’t mean you get good health and medical advice.

Unfortunately, Brady’s diet is full of buzzwords, not science. According to Allen Campbell, Brady avoids tomatoes because of the inflammation they cause. That makes literally zero sense.

Tomatoes are the richest source of lycopene, a powerful antioxidant. A 2012 study published in Molecular Nutrition & Food Research showed that a meal containing tomatoes reduced levels of inflammation and oxidation following the meal.

There’s another component of his diet that really caught my eye: He doesn’t eat fruit.

Avoiding fruit has become especially trendy lately, particularly among CrossFitters.

The Boston.com article doesn’t say why Brady shuns fruit, but the fear typically comes from the fact that fruit is high in the sugar fructose.

Some people mistakenly think that fructose is bad for you because of an outdated understanding of how fructose works in your body.

Fructose is metabolized differently from glucose, which goes into your bloodstream after you digest it. Fructose goes to your liver.

From there, it was thought to be converted into fat and then released into your bloodstream, potentially increasing your risk of heart disease and insulin resistance.

Researchers have tested this theory on multiple occasions and found that when you eat fruit, even a lot of it, these hypothesized negative effects are not seen.

In the report on Brady’s diet, he seems very concerned with inflammation and oxidation. So it actually seems silly to cut out fruit, which is a major source of antioxidants and nutrients that can help fight those two things.

In the end, Brady’s diet works: The man is a lean, fit, professional athlete and four-time Super Bowl champion.

But his diet doesn’t work because it is “local” or because it is completely void of eggplant and grapes, or because his chef never cooks with olive oil (only coconut oil).

It works because it is low in added sugar, high in vegetables, and moderate in lean protein, and he's militantly consistent with it.

That’s the reason ANY diet can work.

These are the same principals that nutritionists have known and advocated for decades. Sorry, Tom: Your abstinence from apples is probably for naught.

Editor's Note: A former version of this article suggested that The China Study manipulated data, which was a regretful choice of words. No data was manipulated, although nutritionists can interpret the results of the study differently.

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Thursday, June 23, 2016