Two recipes

What do you call two doctors? A paradox.
What is a word for two low-fat recipes? Not sure. But here they are. The first is for Cajun chicken:

1 garlic clove, or garlic powder to taste
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 large bell pepper, chopped
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
2-3 tbsp. Creole seasoning
4 (8 to 10 oz.) grouper fillets

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Sauté garlic, onions and bell pepper in olive oil until tender.
3. Add tomato sauce, Creole seasoning, and garlic.
4. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.
5. Spray pan with non-stick cooking spray. Bake grouper fillets in a non-stick pan at 350° F until half done, about 10 minutes.
6. Pour sauce over fillets and bake for 10 minutes more.
Makes 4 servings.


The second is for BAKED OATMEAL, sent in from a Big Fan (OK, my mother):
2 cups oats
20 oz. unsweetened pineapple
one-fourth c. coconut
one-fourth c. nuts
three-fourths c. raisins
1 Tbsp. vanilla (optional)
1 tsp. salt
4 – 6 cups water
1/8 tsp coconut extract (optional)

Combine all ingredients in given order. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Serves 6.
Enjoy!

Another sticky situation

Per the previous item: About to put the computer to sleep, when this story practically jumped out of the screen: This guy in Germany got stuck to the tar on his roof. (And as soon as I say, "What is it with these people?" something similar will happen to me. Murphy's Law and all that.) Be careful out there.

Mall of the Buffs?

From the weird medical news file: Have you seen this story? A woman in Iowa had to be removed from a toilet seat with nail polish after becoming stuck to it. It happened last summer at a place called Mall of the Bluffs. Wow. Reminds me of those tales (urban myths?) from many years ago about making sure you aren't on the airplane john when your plane lands, lest you get stuck from. ... from what? A timely loss of air pressure? And I'm not sure flight attendants these days let anyone in the bathroom close to landing time. Anyway. In fifth grade (and sometimes even now), I believed anything. An occupational hazard.
Be careful in those public restrooms.

P.S. This is a photo of ancient toilets in Rome. Surely no one got stuck on those.

Lost in trans-lation

There's no way I can compete today with this shocking--shocking!--posting by my colleague Sonya Sorich, who obviously danced in a cage at a bar Saturday night with some other friends. It was for another friend's bachelorette party. Had Michael and I not had another commitment, I might have been along with this crew (or not), one of whom is my editor, and her nickname is Pork Chop.
I'll just leave it all at that.
Today's topic is Trans Fat. Much in the news. In New York City, bakers have been instructed to cut it from their foods. I don't know about you, but all these definitions of trans-this and trans-that make my eyes glaze over. I did figure out this much, though: The small amount of "natural" fat in butter is OK (whew!, just ate some) but it's the artificial stuff that will get you in trouble, likely causing you to drop over in your plate of a heart attack. Not to put too fine a point on it. This friend, a baker in Columbus, is a True Believer in the real butter thing, and other natural ingredients like milk. Her theory is that if we deprive ourselves of such natural foods and eat, say, celery all day, then our bodies will crave junk like bon-bons and we'll eat a hundred in one sitting. My friend is on to something because she does sample what she bakes, and she's not overweight.
Thoughts on this? (Send comments on the cage dance to Sonya, please.)

Prevention: Diabetes

Another spring-like day in my town, and the Riverwalk was calling my name. And it apparenty called many others' names, for the path was crowded this afternoon with joggers, walkers and cyclists. Got to thinking about diabetes, which is the fifth-leading cause of death in this country. Type 1, often called juvenile diabetes, is not preventable; you are born with it. The more common form is Type 2, which is most often associated with a sedentary lifestyle, being overweight and inactive. Both are controlled by various measures.
With Type 1, the body does not produce insulin. With Type 2, either the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin. Insulin is necessary for the body to be able to use sugar. Sugar is the basic fuel for the cells in the body, and insulin takes the sugar from the blood into the cells. When glucose builds up in the blood instead of going into cells, it can cause two problems:
*Right away, your cells may be starved for energy.
*Over time, high blood glucose levels may hurt your eyes, kidneys, nerves or heart.
Thanks to The American Diabetes Association for the info.
Certain minority groups are at higher risk: African-Americans and Latinos and Hispanics are among them.
And, it was a shock to learn that a full 7 percent of the U.S. population has diabetes.
The American Diabetes Association Web site contains a wealth of information. Also, about a year ago, the New York Times ran a series of articles about the disease, which it described as epidemic, and which you can access here.
If you are not a Type 1 diabetic and have not been diagnosed with Type 2, the research says the best things you can do are keep active and maintain a healthy weight. See you outside. Unless it's raining, and unless we're at the gym.

Sleep and smell the roses

Have you read this latest report about how the scent of roses while you sleep can improve your memory? This report from the Associated Press tells it all. But, there's a catch: Apparently, jogging your memory while asleep only happens during one particular stage of sleep--and the rose smell triggers only certain memories. So if you're trying to remember the name of your uncle's cousin's dead cat, twice removed, this may not be the trick for you.
It's a pertinent story, given that we're about to lose an hour of sleep tonight (but we get it back in the fall).
Happy snoozing. And remember to "spring forward" your clocks later on.

The Picasso Cow

Spent the day in LaGrange, (Ga.) today, which is not pronounced as you non-Southerners may think--as if it were French, which it is--but a long "A" on 'Grange. Don't ask me why. ... Went to see a friend and killed some time beforehand in the quaint downtown. Growing up, even in a city bigger than LaGrange, we thought it was a big deal to go up there and shop. Partly because of the quaintness, I guess. Like many similar towns, the downtown part centers on a square, so you circle around the it (one way) in a car--think Paris!--and, you have to pay attention when on foot, around the traffic lights.
Ate at a fabulous restaurant called the Basil Leaf; then later, walking around, I spotted two more intriguing places: The Picasso Cow, and Charlie Joseph's. Just the name Picasso Cow caught my eye (though I didn't venture in, I found this photo on the Internet of a "real" Picasso cow); and Charlie Jospeh's is a lunch-counter type place, mostly with vinyl stools at a counter. On the menu: hamburgers and hotdogs, and notably a cheese sandwich for $1.75. On the walls: Coca-Cola memorabilia; yellowed newspaper clippings; and a funny sign: "If you are grouchy, irritable or just plain mean, there will be a $10 charge for putting up with you." If you don't feel like going inside, or perhaps if that day you are irritable, you can stand on the curb, and an employee opens this little plastic window and takes your order, then you pick it up and pay down at another plastic window. Very retro.
(As you may have noted, this post is only tangentially related to health and fitness--because it has to do with food--and not very healthy food at that.)