Fats - The Good, The Bad, and The What-The-Hell-Is-That-Even-Made-Of?

Fats are a very important part of our diet. Let me rephrase that slightly- The RIGHT fats are an important part of our diets. In fact, without a little good fat in our diets we would not live very long. Fats are crucial to many physiological functions, mainly acting as a source of energy and as a conduit for crucial fat-soluable vitamins such as vitamins A, D, E and K. Fats are also responsible for helping to maintain healthy skin and cell membrane structure! When selecting any food product, it is always helpful to know the difference between the 4 major groups of fats. Monounsaturated, Polyunsaturated, Saturated, and Trans fats.

Mono and Polyunsaturated fats are considered your 'good fats' while Saturated and Trans fats are really the fats you should be limiting and excluding respectively, as much as possible if you're trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. The good fats can be found in foods like natural olive oils, avocados, nuts (almonds, peanuts, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, pecans, cashews), and by extension natural nut butters, seeds such as sunflower, sesame, pumpkin and
flax, fatty fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring, trout, sardines) and tofu. These good fats actually help boost a healthy metabolism and encourage your body to burn more calories as well as helping prevent heart disease and/or strokes, type-2 diabetes and boost your mental development and immune system!

The bad fats, found in most commercially prepared products, margarines, vegetable shortenings, packaged snack foods, are the fats that are proven to raise LDL levels (Low-Density Lipoprotein or bad cholesterol) and lower HDL (High-Density Lipoprotein or good cholesterol) leading to the very bad health conditions most people wish to avoid.
Always check your labels. Remember this, the good fats should make up about 20%-35% of your daily calories-from-fat intake while saturated fats should not exceed 10% of your daily calories-from-fat intake. If possible, avoid trans fats completely.

For an easy way to differentiate between the good and bad fats remember this- most unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature while most saturated and trans fats are solid at room temperature.

Trans fats are made through a purely chemical process of 'partial hydrogenation.' This means that an actually healthy fats is packed full of hydrogen atoms and converted into a now unhealthy, solid fat. Think of it this way. Your probably not going to wash an entire pound of crisco down your kitchen sink. You know that drain will clog. But olive oil can go through the pipes with ease, causing no issue. The same goes for your arteries. The more solid the fat, the more likely it is your arteries can develop a clot!

Now that we know the difference... making wise decisions just got that much easier! So 'If at room-temperature it doesn't melt, be prepared to loosen your belt, but if at room-temperature it's in a liquid state, you'll be healthy and looking great!'

This statement bodes true for most saturated fats, however there is an exception as not all saturated fats are created equally. The operative word here being 'CREATED'. Coconut oil, is a very tasty NATURAL oil extracted from the 'meat' of mature coconuts harvested from the coconut palm. 1 tsp or about 4 g, can actually be up to 3.9g unsaturated fat or 19% of your daily saturated fat intake. This being said, the benefits of coconut oil make these numbers seem far less daunting. Firstly, close to 50% of the fat found in coconut oil, 'lauric acid' actually has many health-promoting properties.

Lauric acid is what's known as an MCFA or MCT (Medium-chain Fatty Acid or Medium-chain Triglyceride.) Most common vegetable and seed oils are made up of LCFA's or LCT's (Long-chain Fatty Acids or Long-Chain Triglycerides.) These LCT's are large molecules, which means they are harder for your body to process and break down and will usually just be stored in your body as fat. However, MCT's are a shorter chain fatty acid, thus a smaller molecule AND very easy for your body to break down. Your liver will be able to burn the fat immediately, converting it into energy - much like the process of carbohydrates but without the accompanying insulin spike! So while having a higher saturated fat content, the fat is easily converted into energy, not stored as fat in your body AND significantly helps boost your metabolism! Here's another plus.. When lauric acid is in your body, it is converted into the monoglyceride 'monolaurin.' The benefits of monolaurin are amazing. In your body, it exhibits non-toxic antifungal, antibacterial, antimicrobial and antiprotozoal properties. Basically, monolaurin disrupts the lipid membranes in micro-organisms such as bacteria, viruses and fungi essentially destroying them. Monolaurin compound can be an effective combatant for fungal diseases such as ringworm and athlete's foot, as well as a great way to fight 'candida albicans' better know as either oral or genital yeast infections!

On a slight aside, here's a tidbit of info on cooking with olive oil. Olive oil is best used in salad dressing and only for sauteing foods at low to medium heats. When you use olive oil at a high temperature of cooking you actually begin to change the chemical properties of the oil itself. Olive oil is a monounsaturated fat containing many forms of 'phenols.' These forms of carbolic acid are great for your body, however up to 80% of the dihydroxyphenols are lost when the oil is heated using high heats. The majority of the vitamin E also goes out the door with the heat application as well. Olive oil also has a much lower smoke-point than other cooking oils. This means that it will burn at a much lower temperature. When the oil begins to burn, chemical changes occur within the molecules. 'Oxygen radicals' begin to form quite rapidly. These radicals are known to have carcinogenic effects which have been linked to cancers of all sorts. Just breathing in the fumes from burning oil can be dangerous. So keep that olive oil handy for your homemade salad dressing or make sure you use low temperatures while cooking with it... Really.. try the coconut oil..

So the next time you need to buy cooking oil, and yes I have replaced ALL cooking oils with coconut oil, think on it for a minute. Will you buy a cheap, lower fat-content oil that will actually make your body STORE fat, or a slightly higher and SATURATED fat coconut oil that will boost your immune system, give you all the good preventative 'Anti-' benefits (that costly prescription drugs don't do half as effectively if you do need them), and OH, did I mention the benefits to your skin and hair!? I challenge you to try coconut oil. You can buy it at most Superstores (Loblaws), Sobeys, Bulk Barn (great if you only want to try a small bit) and any hippie health-food store
xoxo

Coconut Banana Bread- LA LA YUM!

I don't know many people who don't enjoy a slice of banana bread. In fact, I only know one person who detests bananas. Isn't that bananas? xo

I'm also very fond of coconut now that I know a lot more about it's hidden health benefits!! This recipe I think is still a bit rich, however I am going to experiment with more ways to cut out the sugar. My roommate hates dates, but you could always soak and puree some dates to mash in with the bananas. You might need to adjust your flour measurement, but I'm sure that would significantly cut down on the added sugar factor.

You'll need:
Dry mix-
1 3/4 cup Flour (I was using whole wheat)
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup shredded coconut (I used sweetened and used less sugar)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp orange zest

Wet mix-
About 3 large super ripe bananas (mine were frozen and really dark brown and sweeeet)
1/2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 egg + 2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla or one vanilla bean insides scraped out
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup coconut milk
3 tbsp fat free sour cream

Pre-heat your oven to 350° (325° if you have a convection oven)

Step 1- in a bowl, mix together all the dry mix ingredients.

Step 2- In a second bowl, mash the bananas very well and mix in the rest of the wet mix ingredients. Whisk gently to break up the eggs, but don't over whisk or you'll risk the bread being too dry..

Step 3- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold together. If you find the batter is too thick, add a bit more coconut milk to thin it out. It should be just pourable, well plopable 

Step 4- Pour into a loaf pan lightly greased with coconut oil and a bit of flour. Bake for about 35 minutes. After 35 minutes, insert a tooth pick into the centre. It should still come out with batter. Turn the pan and bake for another 20 minutes. Test again with the toothpick. My oven cooks it perfectly in this time, but no two ovens are the same, so if it's still not cooked, set your timer at 5 minute intervals and check with a toothpick until it comes out clean!

Let the loaf rest for 30 minutes before removing from the pan. Resist all urges to devour the entire loaf. This loaf makes about 16 slices, so it lasted us 4 nights.

You can try substituting about 2 Tbsp of flour for cocoa powder, or add 1/4 cup chocolate chips to the batter.

As I mentioned, I was using sweetened coconut. My bananas were extremely sweet and I find that coconut milk, while the brand I buy says 0g sugar, still has a beautiful natural sweetness to it so I actually only used about 1/3 cup brown sugar. Again, try some pureed dates and maybe bring the added sugar down to 1/4 cup!

Le Yum
xoxo

Chewy, No Bake, Almost Vegan Granola Bars

     Every so often most people will decide they need to lose weight. Some of those people actually MAKE the effort to do so by exercising and changing their eating habits. For me, I've decided to make these changes too. I've cut out most superfluous sugars, replaced regular and whole wheat flour with Red Fife, whole grain, spelt and chick pea flours, cut down on meat intake, upped legume, fruit and veggie intake and cut way down on my dairy intake. Boy does my tummy thank me for THAT last one ;)

On that note, I'm trying to replace most store bought 'treats' and 'snack foods' with natural and tasty alternatives where I can control the quantity of sugar that is added (if it's even needed!)

Last night I made some really chewy granola bars that are just simply delish! I didn't really measure anything so my quantities are guesstimated here but you can always play around with the ingredients and find out what you like. I used honey for this batch as money was a bit tight this week. You can replace it with Agave nectar or brown rice syrup, the latter having the least amount of calories as well as actually having the lowest amount of sugar per serving AND making these vegan... Unfortunately I just couldn't afford to buy both honey and rice syrup and I need the honey for other things.. Next time tho! I did get some dried fruit mix but I won't use it again as it has too much sugar. I ran out of $$ to buy for fresh fruit to dehydrate.. and I didn't actually add the dried blueberries since my roommate didn't like them...

 Makes About 10 bars

Ingredients

2 tsp coconut oil

2 Tbsp cashew butter

1/3 cup smooth or chunky peanut butter... 

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup honey

1 Tbsp molasses

1  cup TOTAL of:

Chopped dry roasted and unsalted almonds

Sesame seeds

Sunflower seeds

Dried apple ( I dehydrated my own in the oven to avoid added sugar)

Chopped high quality dark chocolate chopped

Dried blueberries (again I made my own)

Flax seeds

About 1 1/4 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup Rice Crispies or organic rice or kamut puffs

Method

Mix the first set of 'liquid' ingredients in a plastic or glass mixing bowl to make a smooth paste where all of the coconut oil is incorporated.

Add the 1 cup of mixed ingredients. Pop the bowl into the microwave and nuke for about 20-30 seconds. This will melt the chocolate in with the nut butters and will also help with the addition of the dry ingredients.

Add the rice cereal and the oats. Again, since you heated the liquid mixture you will find it much easier to incorporate the oats and rice cereal. Once all the oats are coated with the 'liquid' mixture, line a loaf pan with a thin layer of coconut oil and press the mixture in nice and tight. Chill for at least 2 hours, then cut and enjoy!

For the 1 cup of add-ins feel free to omit, swap or add anything you like. Always use dry roasted unsalted nuts ( unless you don't worry about sodium intake.) You might want to try: 

Cashews

Golden or Thompson raisins

Carob chips

Banana chips

Poppy seeds

Other types of dried fruit         (just remember commercially prepared ones have added sugars and things you most likely can't pronounce)

Just go nutz and have fun!!

Best Beef-free Burger

Some days I crave nothing but meat. Beef, lamb, chicken, I could eat them all. But today was different. We have had four consecutive nights that included ground beef. Two nights of beef enchiladas and two nights of my spin-on-a-friends'-grandmothers spaghetti and meaty goodness sauce. So it was time for some foliage and extra veggies! I knew I wanted burgers but couldn't bring myself to pull the ground beef out of the freezer. I decided that mushrooms were a must, and some excuse to finish my avocado (not that I ever need one). So portabello mushroom sliders were the dinner special chez nous!

You need:
4 small portabello caps
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large clove garlic thinly sliced
4 slider buns
About 1/2 small log of goat cheese
Tomato slices
1/2 a small avocado sliced
Roasted red pepper strips ( I make my own instead of buying them in a can or bottle)
Lettuce leaves
Dijon
Mayo


Step 1: Make the marinade for the mushroom caps by mixing the balsamic vinegar, dried herbs and sliced garlic. Place the mushroom caps in the marinade and spoon over the mushrooms. I let mine marinate for about 2 hours flipping and spooning again half way through.

Step 2: Once the mushrooms have marinated, grill them if you have a small electric grill (like a George Foreman or Cuisinart grill) or sear in a non stick pan.

Step 3: ASSEMBLE! It's that easy! Just make sure you put the goat cheese right on top of the hot mushroom so it melts and the flavours meld into a mouth watering combination!

Step 4: Devour! I ate mine so fast that I wish I had another! My friend thought the sliders were so good, she thought they had meat in them!! PSYCH! lol

We had ours with oven roasted potato wedges and our first corn on the cob of the year! BTW, I owe a big shout out to my friend for picking, without a doubt, the BEST corn I've had in forever!

* If you want to make your own roasted red peppers here's some tips
I usually use red, orange or yellow peppers for this, green peppers are sometimes too bitter.
Wash the peppers and pat them dry. Lightly rub them with some olive oil. If you have a gas stove, you can place the pepper right over the flame. If you don't have gas then put the oven on high broil. It takes longer in the oven, but it's still worth it. Leave it over the flame or under the broiler until the skin turns black. Flip the peppers around until the whole pepper is black. Let the peppers cool for a few minutes, then wrap them in paper towel and rub off the black skin. The pepper should be cooked, but not burnt under the skin. Voila! roasted red peppers at home, and they definitely don't taste like they have been sitting in a can.

You can also make a sweet vinegar pickling liquid to give the peppers even more flavour. I use a combination of white vinegar and cider vinegar, about 1/2 cup white vinegar and 1/4 cup cider vinegar ( don't be afraid to play around and find out what your flavour preference is), 3 Tbsp of sugar, 2 cloves of garlic lightly chopped, rosemary (fresh or dried) maybe 1 stem fresh or 2 tsp dried, and a pinch of thyme (again fresh or dried). Place everything in a small pot and heat just until all the sugar is dissolved. While the peppers are still warm, place them in a jar or container and pour the warm pickling liquid over them. Place in the fridge and by the time everything is cold, the peppers can be eaten, enjoyed and loved!!