Foodtrainers' Favorite Gifts

Sprout Skincare

I love gifts. I generally enjoy giving gifts even more than receiving them (I swear). Whether it’s a hostess gift or birthday present, I like sharing something I think a friend or family member will appreciate. The gifts I cherish receiving are usually smaller ones. A friend showed up with a test tube-like container of black sea salt recently. It was wrapped with a bow such a nice surprise. And a few days ago a client came to a session with shishito peppers from the green market. I was so excited to try them I bit a piece off of one on my way home, not smart.
This week, we sent out our annual Foodtrainers’ Gift Guide to our Monthly Morsels mailing list. We tried putting together our “top 10” gifts but ended up with 11 because none of us was willing to cut anything out.  I thought I’d mention some of the gifts that weren’t on the list as well as my personal favorites.

For the Beauty Queen

When I wrote my natural skincare blog, many of you commented or tweeted me with your favorite brands of skincare. The Sprout users were a vocal bunch. I love the ingredients and the packaging (see top) of this line. I adore the gentle cleanser (and rosewater scent). I love the exfoliant (oats and salt- what could be better?) and though I thought I’d give it to the boys, I stole back the Cocoa Lip Balm (we share).

For the Hotty

I’ve gushed about McClure’s pickles before. Yes, I got out of my bed deathly ill to Google and track them down.  McClure’s also makes Bloody Mary Mix with the pickle juice. With Tito’s handmade vodka it’s a heavenly combination. On its own it’s the most delicious snack or egg accompaniment. If you like pickles and spice, you can’t go wrong. Give a jar to someone you love and they will love you back.

For the Tea Devotee

ultiliTEA- for my birthday, a friend of mine said “I sent you something, I know you’ll appreciate it.” Sure enough, she was right. I already have an electric teakettle at the office but this one has different temperature settings for green, herbal and black tea and it boils water by the time you have your tea bag in the cup. 

For the “Eco-have-it and know-it-all”

Strawesome- Everyone thinks of BPAs in plastic bottles what about straws? These glass straws are great for smoothies, for parties ( I used their black straws  in our Halloween dark and stormys) and according to dentists, when drinking coffee or tea. My kids love them but I love them more. They come in different sizes and colors, so match your décor or your favorite cocktail.

For the Hydrator

Ovopur- ok this is not a “little” gift but it’s a good one. Plastic has its problems and those gigundo, plastic water dispensers aren’t the most attractive contraptions. I’m a fan of healthy and beautiful and the Ovopur meets both criteria. We have one in our waiting room and though some mistake it for a snowman, it’s pretty popular. Can your New Years resolution be buying no more bottled water?

For the Cook

California Olive Ranch- Carolyn and I heard about these olive oils when we took Dan Kluger’s class at Degustibus. I am the type of person that goes home and looks up each item a chef mentions. I ordered the oil and passed on the pricey knife that was plugged. As directed, I’m using Millers Blend for cooking and Arbequina for finishing and salads. California Olive Ranch sources from sustainable olive ranches and its bottles are recyclable.
What have been your favorite gifts recently? Anything your eyeing this holiday season? Which of the above items would you pick?

10 Allegedly Healthy Foods

( A far prettier version of this post appeared on Blisstree)

I’ll bet my nutrition credentials that broccoli will remain in the good--for-you food group for eternity. Similarly, SPAM and Velveeta will always be unhealthy. Still, many foods aren’t solidly at either end of the health spectrum. And lots of foods that people assume are healthy really aren’t. So, in the hopes of helping you to make smarter eating choices, here are ten foods you may think are healthy and nutritious, but the reality? Not so much           

Pretzels

Most pretzels boast no fat and so have a beloved place in many snack drawers. But aside from taste, exactly what do pretzels have to brag about? One ounce of pretzels contains 100 calories and 580 mg of sodium (and little else). Which is almost the same as eating 1 oz. of white hamburger bun: 77 calories and 149 mg sodium. For healthier alternatives, we suggest Happy Herbert’s Gluten Gone Pretzels or our favorite, Food Should Taste Good Chips.

Couscous

Couscous is cute, with its small bead-like shape. And my clients often put it on the “good carb” list with bulgur and other whole grains. I hate to break it to you, but couscous is pasta. The nutritionals are exactly the same. Bulgur and quinoa contain more nutrients.

Veggie Burgers

“Veggie” doesn’t automatically mean healthy. Many veggie burgers are made with TVP (processed soy), grains, and at times, scant amounts of actually vegetables. Scan ingredient labels for TVP and look at the sodium. (Our favorites are Sunshine Burgers.)

 Tuna Salad

And now for many people’s treasured tuna salad. Fish contains omega-3’s and we’re told we should consume more of those. However, these particularly omega-3’s have globs of mayo added to them. Four ounces of tuna salad contains 212 calories and 10 grams of fat – double the calories and five times the fat of sliced turkey. We suggest those delicious jarred tunas with chopped peppers, onion and celery, like the Zoe or Tonnino brands.

Brown Sugar

Brown sugar should be healthier than white sugar, right? Unfortunately, it’s not fiber that gives brown sugar its color; it’s molasses. When it comes to calories, brown and white are equals.

Canned Foods/Canned Fruit

My mother was a great cook, but we admittedly ate fruit cocktail growing up. I have two issues with canned fruit: one is the corn syrup pool the fruit swims in, and the other are the BPAs present in the can itself. Fresh fruits are always best, but dried (no sulfites) is my second choice. A medium peach has 8 grams of sugar; while one serving of canned peaches has more than 24 grams (or three times as much).

Olive Oil

Now it's time to address a food we all know, use, and love: olive oil. We’re actually fine with EVOO (thanks Rachel), but we’re not fine with using it like it’s “free”. It does contain calories, and if you use it to scramble eggs in the morning, in your salad dressing at lunch, and for dunking your bread before dinner (and more to cook your entrée), you’ve racked up almost 1,000 calories – not so healthy. It’s also not recommended to heat olive oil at high temperatures.

Biscotti

We love Italian names, but these are still just cookies. For you cookie monsters, we like healthier options including GlowCookies and Kookie Karma.

 UHT (Ultra-Pasteurized) Organic Milk

As we mentioned in an earlier post, organic is a good choice when it comes to dairy, but you need to look carefully at the labels. UHT (ultra pasteurized) milk is not as healthy as regularly pasteurized because the high heat process kills good bacteria and other nutrients. Companies like Organic Valley offer both options, and many including Natural By Nature, Milk Thistle, and our #1,  NY Milk always pasteurize at a lower temperature.

Sugar-Free Pudding or Sugar Free Anything.

Sugar-free Pudding (or sugar-free anything) with Splenda or NutraSweet can make brown sugar actually look healthy. We’ll take a little bit of real sugar over the faux version any day.

What were the surprises on this list for you? Any allegedly healthy foods we missed?

Foodtrainers Find: KOR ONE

I don’t know if you read my tweet (what? you don't read everything I write?) about the romantic holiday gift my husband gave me. Now there are some men, so I hear, who buy jewelry and others who buy flowers but not my husband, oh no. My husband buys snowshoes. And as much as I was being sarcastic when I called them romantic, I was dying for snowshoes and very excited to receive them. I really thought they were going to go down as my favorite 2009 gift until I received my KOR.

KOR makes the greatest water bottle ever. Picking a water bottle these days is a little complicated but KOR is BPA free, dishwasher safe, charitable (each color supports a different water-related cause), spill proof and great looking. And as if that’s not enough, when the cap flips up a message is revealed, KOR calls it “your stone.” My stone now says “find balance.”

Although I am cooped up in my office right now, this weekend I will snowshoe and drink from my pretty bottle (both the KOR and more) and on my way to finding balance.

Are you finding balance? And what have been your favorite gifts to give or receive?