Who wants to say that about their dinner?

Grilling meats is a great way to glean flavor while burning off much of the fat. And that, friends, is good for your waistline.

Joan Hanson, test kitchen director for Hormel, weighed in on the flavor issue for us.

What delivers the best flavor for grilled meats: gas, charcoal, wood, etc?

Hanson: Cooking with gas, charcoal, or wood is a personal choice. Grilling with wood is most beneficial when cooking meat for a long time to help impart flavor.

The her was Sher Cermak, one of the original Fit Fare writers. She came to us from What Did You Eat? and wrote engaging, interesting posts that opened up her world for the rest of us. She shared how she and her husband ate, and conditions that posed challenges for them. (Read her Fit Fare archives here.)
After learning Monday afternoon that Sher had passed away after a sudden heart attack, I was shocked. Then, I was sad. The food blogging world has lost one of our own.
It wasn’t just me she touched.  If you take a spin through food blogs today, you can see just how many people she touched. From Kalyn’s post yesterday to Glenna’s touching tribute, to name a few.  Sher is a light that shone for all of us, and with her passing, is not dimmed, but rather shines brighter from above.

Please keep her family in your thoughts and prayers.

Enjoy!

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How can you ensure that grilled meat — especially chicken and pork — is properly cooked when you are barbecuing?

Hansen’s Answer:

Grilling Tips for Pork:

• Fully-cooked hams only need to be grilled to an internal temperature of 140ºF—just enough to warm them through. Spice rubs and glazes are especially good on grilled hams.
• Today’s leaner pork dries out easily when overcooked, so it’s important to keep an eye on pork when grilling. Rubs and pastes help create a flavorful crust, sealing in the juices, on both small and larger cuts.

• For the juiciest kabobs, cut pork chunks into 1- to 1- 1/4-inch cubes. Anything smaller can dry out too quickly.

• Grilling pork chops? Use chops that are at least 1-inch thick for best results.

• Sausages such as bratwurst and Italian sausage are ideal grilling fare. They grill quickly. Direct medium heat for 15 to 18 minutes is all it takes.

Searing

• Searing quickly browns food over high heat. This happens easily on a grill, and is often recommended for meats as it may seal in juices, making food more tender. Searing also develops a slight crust, adding flavor and texture to a cut of meat.

• Chops benefit from a good searing. Six minutes per side over direct high heat is perfect.

• Roasts are better when seared first. The exception is a roast with excess fat, which can drip and cause flare-ups over the high heat required for searing.

• Hams are fully cooked, so searing is unnecessary.

• Pork tenderloins cook quickly and need just the slightest outer crust to provide contrast to their tender centers. Searing isn’t important.

• High heat also cooks tougher cuts such as ribs and shoulder so quickly they don’t have time to tenderize. Cook these cuts over indirect medium or low heat.

Determining Doneness

• Chops, roasts, tenderloin, or ground should be cooked to 160ºF. Note that temperatures continue to rise for a short while after removing food from the grill, so tender cuts such as loin roast and tenderloin can be removed when they reach an internal temperature of 150ºF. to 155ºF. A 10-minute rest will bring the temperature up to 160ºF.

Great recipes for grilling pork can be found at www.hormelfoodsrecipes.com:

• Chops: Cajun-Style Spiced Pork Chops

• Loin filet: Grilled Honey Lemon Pork Medallions

• Ribs: Backyard Barbecue Ribs

• Sausage: Bratwurst Ruebens

• Tenderloin: Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Plum Sauce

Grilling Tips for Poultry:

• Food safety is especially important when grilling poultry. Raw poultry can harbor potentially dangerous bacteria.

• Flipping is only necessary for boneless poultry pieces, kabob meat, and burgers. The grilling time is so short for these cuts (less than 25 minutes) that all sides need to be exposed to the heat for even browning, grill marks, and thorough cooking. One flip halfway through grilling time is all that’s needed. Bone-in pieces do not need to be turned. They are best grilled slowly over indirect heat.

• When grilling poultry pieces from a whole bird, it’s best to start the thighs and legs first and add the breast halves and wings ten minutes later. This ensures everything will be cooked through at the same time.

• Chicken fat tends to melt quickly, so it’s especially important to trim excess fat on chicken pieces before grilling to avoid flare-ups.

• Whole turkeys weighing 16 pounds or less are best for grilling.

Determining Doneness

• Poultry is thoroughly cooked when the juices run clear and the meat is no longer pink at the bone.

• With a whole chicken or turkey, look for 180ºF when the thermometer is inserted into the meatiest part of the thigh. Make sure the thermometer tip isn’t touching bone or fat.

• Chicken and turkey breasts are thoroughly cooked at 170ºF.

• Ground poultry is fully cooked at 165ºF.

Great recipes for grilling poultry can be found at www.hormelfoodsrecipes.com:

• Chicken breasts: Greek Chicken Sandwich

• Cutlets: Grilled Turkey with Pineapple-Citrus Relish

• Ground: Grilled Meatloaf

• Kabobs: Bangkok Chicken Kabobs

• Tenderloin: Corsage Turkey Salad

• Turkey breast: Indian-Spiced Roast Turkey

The meal in this picture isn’t from a chain, but I would guess that there are solid 1500 calories on that plate, if not a few more.  If I haven’t worked out, that’s about my goal calorie limit for the day. Throw in an alcoholic mixed drink (like the one I consumed with that meal) and you’re approaching 2000 calories. Wow.

Since I like to educate myself about what I eat, I knew my meal would be high in calories without the menu telling me so. However not everyone has access to the resources I do, or the inclination to use them.

If you saw calorie counts on your favorite restaurant’s menu, would it influence how you ordered? Would it, perhaps, prevent you from dining there entirely if there were no menu options under 1000 calories?

I’m always looking for fast lunches that are also healthy and tasty.  The October 2007 issue of Eating Well magazine caught my eye with a feature promoted on the cover as “Easy Lunches to Go.”  These recipes make one serving each, are all under 350 calories (some far under), and are completely portable.

I immediately made the Shrimp Cobb Salad.  It’s loaded with vegetables, and has some protein to keep you going through the afternoon.  Although the “recipe” calls for blue cheese dressing, you could switch it out with your favorite dressing, if you don’t like blue cheese.  I put recipe in quotation marks, because really this is just a recommended combination of ingredients.  If you don’t like something, swap it for something else.  Not a shrimp fan?  Use some leftover shredded chicken instead.  Cucumber doesn’t strike your fancy?  Try shredded carrot in its place.  Depending on what you switch out, you may change the nutritional analysis, but as long as you’re not loading it up with high fat add-ins (nuts, bacon bits, cheese), you probably won’t be making too dramatic a change.

This little salad makes a nice lunch any time of the year, but during the summer it’s especially cool and refreshing if you chill the lettuce, cucumber, and shrimp before serving.

Shrimp Cobb Salad

Combine 3 cups chopped hearts of romaine, 5 grape or cherry tomatoes, 1/4 cup sliced cucumber, 1 sliced hard boiled egg, and 5 cooked peeled shrimp (31-40 count) in a bowl.  Season with black pepper.  Serve tossed with 2 tablespoons light blue cheese dressing.

273 calories, 13g fat (3g saturated), 5g fiber.

picture from Eating Well magazine.

It’s also one that I’ve enjoyed making my own. I love the way I eat now. I love that I’ve said goodbye to a lot of the processed, chemical laden foods of the past and traded those in for healthy, fiber-filled, fresh foods. I feel better than I have in years. It took me 12 years to gain the weight and so far it’s taken me 16 months to lose weight. It’s slow, it’s steady and I’m thrilled.

But plateaus come up from time to time and that frustrate me. I’ve been on a weight loss plateau for several weeks now and it’s driving me nuts! In the middle of my frustration, I saw an old friend in the grocery store. She looked amazing! She’s lost a heap of weight. We complimented each other on our weight loss and then began comparing nutritional plans. She’s on “The Flat Belly Diet” plan while my journey started on “The Sonoma Diet”. Seems our plans are both based in the Mediterranean logic and we’ve both been successful.

The main differences between what I’ve been doing and what “The Flat Belly Diet” asks you to do are:

1. “Flat Belly” is very portion controlled 400 calorie meals 4 times a day.

2. Each “Flat Belly” meal must include a good for you mono-saturated fat (they call them MUFAs)

That’s pretty much the difference. Not a lot, but I’m hoping it’s enough to get me off this plateau and on toward my weight loss triumph!

Here’s what I’m having for a snack later today! A Strawberry Cheesecake Chocolate Dessert!
1 container of fat free Strawberry Cheesecake Yogurt (90 calorie), 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips, 1 cup sliced fresh strawberries, 2 tablespoons chopped macadamia nuts. Toss together and enjoy!

Here are the facts about avocados and fat:

Avocados are high in monosaturated fat or “good” fat, which can lower your “bad” (LDL) cholesterol, ultimately reducing your risk for heart disease. One-fifth of a medium avocado, or about 2-3 thin slices, has 50 calories and nearly 20 vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients (which are believed to reduce the risk of stroke, heart disease, and cancer).

According to a study published in the March 2005 issue of the Journal of Nutrition, avocados aid the body’s ability to absorb health-promoting carotenoids, which are lipophilic (fat soluble). Therefore, if you eat avocado with carotenoid-rich foods, such as carrots, spinach, or tomatoes, your body will more fully absorb the nutrients from those foods.

So give your scrambled eggs, tomato salsa, salad, or pasta a nutritional boost by adding some diced avocado. Consider substituting avocado slices for cheese or mayo next time you make a wrap or a sandwich — you’ll save on both calories and saturated fat.

Though used primarily in savory dishes, avocados, like tomatoes, are actually a fruit. They’re available year round, but the best tasting, creamiest avocados are currently in peak.

Hass avocados (pictured above) are the most widely consumed avocado in the US and are available year round. It’s easy to tell when these oval shaped fruits are ripe: their deep green pebbled skin turns almost black. The pale green flesh of the Hass avocado is custard-like and has a rich, slightly nutty flavor.

Here’s how to select and store avocados:

• Since most other avocados, like Fuertes or Bacon, do not turn black when ripe, you need test it by touch. When selecting an avocado, place it in the palm of your hand, and give it a gentle squeeze. If it’s really hard, then it may take several days to ripen. If it yields slightly, then it should be ready to eat in 1-2 days. If it’s really squishy, then it’s ready to eat immediately.
• Firm avocados can take up to 1 week to ripen. To quicken the ripening process, place the avocado in a paper bag with a yellow banana which will release ethylene and speed up the ripening process.
• Store avocados on the counter until ripe, then refrigerate until ready to use. Allow to come to room temperature before eating.
• The flesh of an avocado oxidizes, or turns brown, quickly. To prevent discoloration, sprinkle the cut flesh with lime or lemon juice. Also don’t cut the avocado until you’re ready to use it.

Here are some deliciously healthy avocado recipes you might enjoy:

• Breakfast Egg Sandwich with Avocado and Chipotle-Mayo
• Watercress, Avocado, and Orange Salad
• Farmers’ Market Veggies with a Cumin-Chile Vinaigrette
• Shrimp Tacos with Citrus-Avocado Salsa

The New York Times compiled a list of the 11 best foods that you’re (probably) not eating.

They are:

• Beets
• Cabbage
• Swiss Chard
• Cinnamon
• Pomegranate Juice
• Dried Plums
• Pumpkin Seeds
• Sardines
• Tumeric
• Frozen Blueberries
• Canned Pumpkin

I now occasionally eat beets, cabbage, and Swiss chard. I take cinnamon daily, eat fresh plums when they are in season, and nearly overdose on blueberries when they are in season. However I don’t get much pumpkin and I never touch sardines. Tumeric is one of those spices that I own but rarely use.

How did you do on the list?

That little dose of fruit sugar is enough to give me a friendly good morning wake up call, while the fiber, protein, and fat provided by this rice dish ensures that I won’t be sound asleep on my keyboard by 10am.

Because this recipe contains no sugar, this is one time to pass up those super-tart Pippins or Granny Smiths that you might typically bake with. I used Fuji, but feel free to use any firm apple, such as Braeburn, Jonagold, or Gala.

Well, this weekend I will pick up my third CSA box of the summer. You may remember that I was a little hesitant about signing up for a CSA because I wasn’t sure I could find enough fruits and vegetables that I wanted to eat. Well, that fear was definitely unfounded. During the winter, I sometimes forget how many wonderful varieties of fruits and vegetables we have available in my area.

Last week I got the following:

1. 1.5 pounds of sugar snap peas
2. 1 head of lettuce
3. Pea vines
4. 1 bunch of baby carrots
5. 2 pints of strawberries
6. 3 summer squash
7. 1 bunch radishes
8. 1 pound of broccoli
9. 1 bunch of onions

I made salad with the peas, lettuce, carrots, pea vines, and radishes. I sauteed the onions for my frittata-a-go-go’s, and I grilled the squash for dinner. Tomorrow I’ll saute the broccoli with some garlic and red pepper flakes. I ate the strawberries within two days. That’s it. One box of vegetables and fruit completely gone in 4 days.

I chose my box for next week already and in addition to the salad fixings, I’ll also be getting snow peas, turnips, and cauliflower. Stay tuned for the triumphant return of my Learning to Like Vegetables series!