Another Clean Eating App & Website: Shopwell.com

I'm all about using technology to my full advantage, so when I heard about another app that could help Clean Eaters make healthy choices at the store - I was all over it!

Once installed, Shopwell will match any product you scan and compare it to the profile you've set up on their website to see if it is compatible with the dietary parameters you've set up there.

**Unfortunately, this app is ONLY available for iPhones at the moment. I'm a Droid user, and am hoping this becomes available soon **

Step 1 - Create a profile on shopwell.com
Step 2 - Download their app
Step 3 - Scan product at the store to see if it is compatible with your profile.

http://www.shopwell.com/

Almond Flour 101 - and a Website Recommend

In the past 2 weeks, I've done a little bit of something I'm not particularly well known for: baking. I've made some homemade breads, some breakfast rolls, and a small batch of cookies - all made with almond flour. Clean and delicious, but I used some recipes specifically written with almond flour. I wondered if I could substitute almond flour in any old recipe that I come across that calls for wheat flour. I wondered what the difference is between wheat flour and almond flour - specifically when it comes to the science of baking.

Not knowing the answer myself ( I'm a recipe follower, not a recipe adventurer... ) , I turned to the trusty Internet. I found a lot of nebulous hand waving, some uncertain postings about trial and error, and in general - not a lot of solid information. Except for one particular blog, Urban Poser.blogspot.com. The woman who writes this blog ( Jenni ) writes about a variety of health subjects - mainly gluten free / Paleo nutrition and yoga - her two main passions. I'm very impressed with her blog - well written, straight forward recipes and information and her gluten free / Paleo recipe collection is excellent. Grain free bagels, muffins, and all kinds of other goodies. ( Please note, not all of her recipes are Clean, but the vast majority of them are right up our alley! )

The post that drew me to her site - her http://urbanposer.blogspot.com/2012/05/baking-101-almond-flour-basics.html post specifically - is good. Really good - and gave me the information I needed.

          Can I Sub Almond Flour Cup For Cup?

This is a biggie: In a few select applications it can be substituted at a 1:1 ratio, but because its weight, fat content and absorption rates are so different from that of wheat and other grain based flours, it does not reliably cross over. For instance, a wheat flour recipe might call for more liquid than what can be reasonably absorbed by almond flour. So if you simply substitute 1 for 1, your finished product will likely be soggy, grainy feeling and “sunken” in. You can, however, adjust the ingredient ratios to account for that and come out with almond flour baked goods that are nearly indistinguishable from the grain based recipes that you know and love. 

A note on breads: Almond flour is most often best suited to quick breads, cookies and crusts . This is due to it's lack of starch and gluten. If your diet allows for starches and even yeast, you might enjoy experimenting a bit by adding yeast, arrowroot, tapioca and other “non-grain” based starches to your almond flour baked goods

The moral of this paragraph is….unless you’re something of an adventurer and don’t mind some “baking fails”, you might find it best to stick with recipes that are intended for almond flour from a source that you trust (I have listed some great "sources" at the end of this post).

So, the answer is still a bit vague, but definitely points me in the right direction. Almond flour cannot reliably be used in all recipes where wheat flour is called for - but the reason ( because almond flour lacks the gluten or sticky binders some recipes require ) answers my question. Almond flour can be used for recipes like cookies and quick breads or rolls.
 It's not as well suited for recipes like cakes and other baked goods that require yeast with a rising time ( almond flour won't stretch and hold together with that stickiness wheat flour has ). It also doesn't absorb and hold as much liquid as a wheat flour, so that's an important factor to keep in mind when substituting: liquids might need to be tweaked down.

This post also answers a lot of questions about almond flour I had - including which types of almond flour are best, how to best measure almond flour in recipes, and even some recommendations of brands to buy. So much to learn.



Thank You SO much, Urban Poser!

Micro Egg Microwave Egg Sammie Cooker

How cute is this?

Keep this in your desk drawer to cook yourself a quick egg any time! The silicone doesn't get piping hot like a bowl, and it forms a bread shaped little cooked egg - how clever! It sounds like ( from the product reviews ) that this product is best used with medium to large eggs - using an XL egg will get you a messy microwave to clean and the ire of your co-workers.

Eating a solid protein like an egg is a really key aspect of Clean Eating - balancing eating veggies and carbs with solid proteins ( eggs, dairy, nuts, meats ) keeps cravings at bay and gives your body's machinery something to work on metabolically. Do yourself a favor, and make preparing eggs simple.

$9.99 over a Solutions.com

60 Thanksgiving Side Dishes - Clean and Can Be Cleaned!

While searching for tasty ( and Clean ) Thanksgiving side dishes, I came upon this interesting list over at Buzzfeed.com , who generally aren't known for recipes as much as snarky and funny Internet memes.

Pleasantly surprised to find a lot of dishes that are Clean, and a fair number I could easily Clean up with a few modifications.

Balsamic roasted root vegetables - a classic!

 

Spiced Glazed Carrots

 

Brussel Sprouts with  Maple Glazed Pecans

 

Maple Whipped Sweet Potatoes

 

And the list goes on. Thanksgiving doesn't have to be a nutritional disaster. Injecting natural sweetness and spices into your meal is the way to go.

Head over to Buzzfeed.com - 60 Thanksgiving Dishes To Make Absolutely Everybody Happy to see the complete list. Remember - this is NOT a list of CE dishes; there are several CE side dishes among the list...so make sure to investigate the recipe fully before deciding to make anything!

 

The Food Porn Problem

I'm a regular Pinterest user, and often browse sites like Foodgawker.com  for Clean Eating recipes to bring to this site.

I also browse fitness sites, Tumblr sites devoted to Fitness, and everything in between.  I stumbled up this article: Fitbie.com: The Food Porn Problem over at Fitbie.msn.com that I think bears reading. It's about the psychological impact of looking at tempting high calorie foods on sites like Pinterest and Foodgawker - aka Food Porn.

An excerpt:

It's your classic money shot, the camera tight to reveal every detail of steamy cinnamon buns drizzled just so. Jam-glazed pork falling off the bone. A slice of buttery-crusted apple pie letting it all hang out. Sweet or savory, slow baked or flash fried, it's food porn--and experts say it's whetting our appetites in ways we never imagined. "Like the sexual kind, food porn allows us to lust after taboo things," says psychologist Susan Albers, Psy.D., author of Eating Mindfully. "And now it's on our terms: We can search for exactly what turns us on, enlarge the images, and linger for as long as we want."

{snip}

 Photos seem harmless, but they provoke a real emotional and physical hunger response that can be tough to control, says neuroscientist Laura Martin, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the University of Kansas Medical Center who studies how we respond to food. And straight out of the insult-meet-injury department: Those who are overweight appear to be more sensitive to the effect of viewing irresistible food. Does that mean you can never ogle your cake without eating it too? Not necessarily. There are savvy ways to curb your appetite--online and in real life.



Eating with Our Eyes
The best food porn plays on the fact that the more indulgent a photo appears, the more likely it will trigger our instinct to eat. "Food porn relies on a phenomenon called supernormal stimuli, which exaggerates qualities we're already hardwired to love," says Deirdre Barrett, Ph.D., an evolutionary psychologist at Harvard Medical School's Behavioral Medicine Program and author of Waistland: The Revolutionary Science Behind Our Weight and Fitness Crisis. Usually, that translates to visual cues that a food is high in calories--things like pooling oils and the sheen of sugar--which were coveted assets back in hunter-gatherer days, when calories (particularly the gooey, fatty ones) were harder to come by, says Barrett. That might explain why, according to a recent study from 360i, a marketing firm that studies online trends, pictures of desserts are the most likely to be shared online. Cheesy, oozy comfort foods also get favorited more frequently on sites like Food Gawker.

I highly recommend reading this article to understand a more psychological level to food cravings and how visual cues stimulate cravings. As a Clean Eater and someone learning to navigate the sea of temptations out there, I think it is key to understanding our psychological underpinnings which trigger our brain to want foods our minds understand are no good for us - but we eat it anyway. 

Clean Eating Chocolate - It CAN Be Done

Every once in a while...the human body requires chocolate for good mental health. I'm not talking a king size Hershey bar...but just something that satisfies that place in the brain where chocoholism dwells. Most chocolate products you can buy in the store are loaded with sugars, fats, and really unnecessary ingredients - making satisfying the itch for chocolate hard to scratch.

Until now.

This fabulous, wonderful person on Tumblr has posted a lot of great recipes ( many using protein or casein powders ) and I'm utterly grateful.

The picture at the top? A Clean Eating chocolate & pear pudding. 3 ingredients.

And what is this?? A Clean Eating simulant for Nutella with 5 ingredients. Crazy!

And in case you didn't get the "Hey, go here and bookmark this page for future reference"...

6 ingredient truffles:

Please note - I'm not advocating these items as a daily treat - far from it. But what better than to have a few Clean recipes like these to add to your recipe arsenal? Make the truffles to bring to a holiday gathering - and know you can have a few without fear or guilt. When those moments come where chocolate is more important to your brain than breathing and keeping your heart beating...you'll be prepared.


Tumblr: Fitness Treats - CE Chocolate Recipes

Clean Eating At The Office

I found this nice little graphic online a few days ago - and it is courtesy of another great CE blog out there, HeandSheEatClean.com. 
I don't pretend I'm the only CE blogger out there, and will happily point out other great websites to look at in your quest for CE information. Check out my sidebar; I've got links to several CE blogs and sites online.

So - a nice reminder of CE at your office - courtesy of HeandSheEatClean.com.  

CrossFit Recipes Website: Paleo for the Clean Eater

I like to recommend websites as I come across them, and while this next one isn't Clean Eating - it is Clean Eating's cousin, Paleo.
( Remember, Paleo is essentially Clean Eating, but without dairy and grains Clean Eating Versus The Paleo Diet . )

CrossFit TBC Recipes has multiple recipes someone who is straddling the border between Clean Eating and Paleo ( like me right now! ) would find useful. Crossfit is an exercise system adopted by many police academies and tactical operations teams, military special operations units, champion martial artists, and hundreds of other elite and professional athletes worldwide. Hand in hand with exercises that replicate "real life movement" is an eating regimen that removes processed foods from the diet ( Sounds familiar, huh? ). The eating regimens most CrossFit folks adhere to? Yep, Clean Eating, followed closely by Paleo.

Artichoke Chili? Huh, I think I'm going to try that one.

No Bake Paleo Snack Bites? Sounds like a nice addition to my mid-morning or mid afternoon minimeal.

A lot of the dessert recipes hinge on almond meal / almond flour, so I'd suggest finding a reliable source for almond flour before anything else. Try your local health food store, or ask your grocery store to order in some for you. Most stores CAN order anything for you, with no extra ordering fee. You may have to pay in advance, though.

4 Nutriton / Food Websites to Try

     In my travels in and around the Net, I often come across useful, helpful - or downright genius websites that I like to pass on to my readers. I'm not one of those bloggers who pretends the rest of the Internet doesn't exist - there are a lot of great nutrition / food websites out there!

1. Twofoods.com allows you to enter two foods and with a click of the button, compare the base nutritional values of the two - calories, carbs, fat, and protein ( I wish it compared sodium too... ). Take it for a spin - enter 2 foods into the search fields. It can be a generic word, like :"polenta" or a brand name, like "Twizzlers."

2. Foodily.com is a fun spot where you can search for recipes. Have a chicken but no dairy in the house? Enter "chicken" in the first box, and "dairy" in the "without" box, and you'll pull up recipe after chicken recipe with no dairy in it. Sometimes I'll pop by this site if I have something like ground beef in the fridge but no clue what I want to do with it.



3. Populair.eu  is a fun site - essentially a collection of links on various topics. Pick a topic, and the page will display a few hundred links on the topic of your choice. Clicking "recipes" from the list on the right hand side of the main page, you get a large collection of cooking blogs and sites. Populair: Recipes.
 Most are not Clean, but I enjoy reading more for techniques and ideas than anything else.

4. I use a lot of recipe aggregators when I search for my "Recipe of the Day" selections for the upper righthand corner of the blog - but  one of my favorites is Punchfork.com. The site is crisp but bare bones - just you and the food porn, tastily arranged before you. You can see what is top rated and trending, you can sort them to just see what is new on the blogs they track, or you can just see vegetarian offerings. I like my aggregators ( now, I can't tell you ALL my secrets! ) but I like roaming Punchfork almost as much as I like Foodgawker.com

41 Recipes Using Greek Yogurt

You have to love Greek yogurt - thick and creamy - the 0% fat varieties are a great friend to the Clean Eater. It is healthy and so versatile. Eat it plain, and fruit, or cook with it.

Behold, a link for 41 recipes that use Greek yogurt in them. Thanks, Serious Eats!

Note: Not all recipes are as Clean as they could be - this isn't a CE-centric website. But from reading my blog long enough, I'm sure you know what ingredients to swap out, which ingredients to use their organic counterparts. If not - just ask me!

Lemon Greek Yogurt Mousse ( I'd cut the amount of sugar in this recipe... )

 

Steak Salad with Chive Yogurt Dressing  

 

Harissa and Yogurt Marinated Chicken  

Which is Worse? Fast Food Breakfasts Go Head To Head

The same people who brought us the "Which Food Has More Sugar?" Quiz  have a new food comparison quiz up:
Which Is Worse? Battle of the Fast Food Breakfasts


I'm not saying EITHER choice is Clean - but recognizing what is a better food choice is vital when eating Cleanly. Being a Clean is deciding in real world situations ( where you don't have Clean foods with you ) "What is the right choice? Which is the lesser of 2 evils?"

Can you make the right decision?

Burger King Bacon Egg Biscuit, or their French Toast Sticks?

McDonald's Breakfast Burrito or Sausage McGriddle?

 

 

Which Food Has More Sugar?

When I find an interesting website, video, or slide show elsewhere on the Web, I like to pass it on.

If you think you know a lot about what foods have hidden sugar, and which are poor nutritional choices due to high natural or artificially added sugar...go take this quick slide show quiz over at ivillage.com where you chose between 2 foods to find the higher sugar content. Several of these really surprised me! Part of being a Clean Eater is understanding food well enough to make smart choices when not faced with a barcode or ingredient list. This quick quiz will help you boost those skills!

For example:

Dried apricots versus dried cranberries - which is the MUCH healthier ( and definitely Cleaner ) choice?

Ha, see? I didn't know the answer either. Go take that quiz, smartypants.

Foodsize.com

    When I come across an interesting website I think will help my readers, I am more than happy to pass it along. This one tweaked my interest simply because it is a subject with which I have long struggled - portion control and recognizing good choices when I see them.
     Foodsize.com is another site that visually shows readers what correct portion sizes look like, and what nutritional servings consist of. The more you get used to seeing smaller portions, the more easily you will incorporate this into your everyday life.

Now, this website is heavily Paleo-centric - so be aware that some of the information you see is coming from a Paleo and not necessarily a CE point of view...but I found it interesting to check out some of the "Here is what 100 calories of this food looks like" pictures.

Where Is My Milk From?

Here's an interesting website to try: Where Is My Milk From?

Just enter the numerical code from the carton of milk in your fridge, and this site will identify the dairy and location where it was produced. See the "18-1000" part? That is the code. 18 designates the state, 1000 designates the dairy.

For a lark, I entered the 2 containers in my fridge - 1 organic, 1 not.

Not Organic: locally produced about 40 miles from me.

Organic: Littleton, CO.

Seriously? My organic milk traveled several thousand miles to get to me? I find that hard to believe - but the code on the carton was very clear - Colorado. Not exactly "eating green" IMO. 

I've identified the code for my state, and I think I'll be looking for that from now on...

Interesting site.

100 Ways to Cook a Sweet Potato

I like to share other nifty websites I've found. After a conversation today about sweet potatoes, I knew I'd be posting this website: EndlessSimmer.com: 100 Ways to Cook a Sweet Potato.

Now obviously - some of these recipes won't be Clean. I'm highlighting this site so you get a feel for the sweet potato's diversity. It's a main course - it is a side - it is a dessert. It is breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Sweet potato frittata - just forget about adding the ham there, buddy boy.

Parsnip, Sweet Potato, and Bulgar wheat - looks kinda yummy, no?



Browse through the 100 pics and click on one that amuses you. Pick a recipe that can be scrubbed Clean - and you've got a winner.



C'mon - you know Sweet Potato sushi is very cool!

How Much Sugar Is In That? Sugarstacks.com

When I started eating Cleanly, one of the first things I became aware of is the amount of hidden ( and not so hidden sugar ) in processed foods. Last night, I found this terrific website: Sugarstacks.com that visually shows you the amount of sugar in your foods. A sugar cube is equal to 4 grams of sugar - so each little pyramid records the amount of sugar in your food.

I'm posting a few of their pictures here as a visual teaser, but I encourage you to browse their site. It's an incredible visual reminder of what processed foods contain, and for me, it was very helpful in keeping me in check.

A serving ( 1 tablespoon ) ketchup:

2 waffles with 1/4 c syrup: