Herculodge

Ice Cream with an Edge: Tobacco, Nicotine and Mint

Evan Kleinman's KCRW radio show, Good Food, airing on Saturdays from 11:00 AM-12:00 PM, featured a food adventure eater, Eddie Lin, praised the fearless experimenters at Scoops, a hipster-lover's ice cream parlor in downtown Los Angeles. This adventurous eater described one of the more strange flavors--cigarette, which features mint and nicotine flavor from crushed Nicorettes. 

Not a bad ice cream for those trying to wean themselves off of smoking. 

Trader Joe's Has Excellent Business Model But Suffers from Complacency When It Comes to Produce

I've been a loyal Trader Joe's shopper for 25 years. They consistently have healthy, good foods at the best prices. I give an "A" grade to their supply of cheese, nuts, dry fruit, cold cereal, vegetarian proteins, coffee beans, and wine.

But two areas that are incorrigibly weak, ice cream and produce, suggest a certain complacency. Since I can't eat a lot of ice cream for dietary reasons, I don't really care, but since produce is the foundation of my lunch and dinner, I have to say that Trader Joe's gets a "C minus" grade in this regard. Their oranges, apples, spinach and other fruits and vegetables are commonly aged and rotten.

In contrast, Costco has the best produce I've ever purchased, better in fact than my local farmer's market. Costco's plums, apples, peaches, berries, dates, spinach, broccoli, and more is amazing and alone makes it worth the annual fee and the aggressive crowds who shop there. 

4 Books That Bring Sanity and Clarity About Food and Nutrition

Our world is teeming with charlatans and snake oil salesmen promising quick diet fixes, unhealthy fads requiring their products (usually protein powder mixed with saw dust packaged as "meal replacement). As they bloviate hot smoke that clouds the senses of the average person, we should be grateful that there are 4 books that cut through the mountebank's nutritional fog and restore our sanity. These books emphasize eating "real" food that is pleasing to us, shunning processed foods, and filling up on vegetables and fruits. They should be on the culinary pantheon of "required reading":

Number One: The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. The author shows that our relationship with food defines who we are and that eating real food is the first step in recovering our sanity and freeing ourselves from the marketers of synthetic food.

Number Two: In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. Shorter than The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food is a shortened version emphasizing the major points from his bigger book. It's kind of the Cliff Notes version.

Number Three: Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink. He shows that the "mindless margin" of 200 calories we eat every day can be easily cut out resulting in a gradual, permanent weight loss. His findings are supported by science and other debunkers of nutrition charlatans.

Number Four: The Volumetrics Eating Plan: Techniques and Recipes for Feeling Full on Fewer Calories by Barbara J. Rolls. What's impressive is that I've read debunkers of diet books, including Brian Wansink, recommend Barbara J. Roll's approach. That says quite a lot.

A Scallop Isn't Always a Scallop

I found out today that the scallop lover is in danger of ordering fake scallops, often made of shark and sometimes stamped with a hole punch or some such device. I first heard this today on  KCRW's  Good Food with Evan Kleiman. Apparently, the taste difference is subtle and you may not know you got ripped off unless you're an expert.

The Herculodge Lazy, Indulgent, Low-Calorie Diet

Okay, low calories is relative. If I can keep the daily count below 3,000, then I'm on "low calorie." But I have certain comfort foods that I cannot abstain from: oatmeal, peanut butter, humus, flat bread. I'm repelled by most meat but remain a "flexitarian," eating some animal protein during family events in which my refusal to eat the meal might prove insulting to others. So here's the diet:

Breakfast: Oatmeal, whey protein mixed in, berries, nonfat milk, bold coffee with chocolate soy milk: Calories 700.

Mid-morning snack: almonds, orange: Calories 200

Lunch: Greens, beans, sliced soy links, shredded cheese, bruschetta or salsa on toasted flat bread. Orange. Calories: 600

Mid-afternoon snack: nonfat plain yogurt with 2 medjool dates. Calories: 300

Dinner: Flatbread or half bagel with peanut butter and berry preserves, nonfat milk, fruit. (can be exchanged with lunch). Broccoli. Or barbecued fish instead of peanut butter concoction. Calories: 500

Snack: Apple, celery. Calories: 200

Bedtime: Small bowl of high-fiber cereal. Calories: 300

Calories in Theory (2,800)
Calories in Reality based on overeating, sneaking in little bites of ice cream, etc. (3,300)

Vegetarian Dishes for Lazy Man

Objective: Easy meals that yield 100-120 grams of protein daily without eating too many soy products since an excess seems to be bad due to estrogen, processing, etc.

1. Spinach Quesadillas: Fill with 12 ounces of spinach, pinto beans, peppers, mushrooms, chili flakes, Gouda or muenster or cheddar or jack cheese. You can also substitute tortillas with flat bread. Also for a change, sautee pine nuts and currants before cooking the spinach.
2. Half a bagel with a poached egg and side of vegetable and glass of nonfat milk.
3. Half a bagel with ricotta and honey and a side of vegetables.
4. Chick peas, chard, tomato sauce, and olives covered with Parmesan or feta.
5. Grilled cheese panini with sliced tomatoes, tapanade or bruschetta.
6. Puttenesca with spinach and glass of nonfat milk.
7. Pasta shells, chick peas, spinach, and pesto. You could replace the fattening pesto with masala or some other Indian sauce.
8. Bean and Cheese Burrito: black or pinto beans, rice, cheddar, raw diced onions, tomatillo, pica del gallo in a tortilla. Have with nonfat milk.
9. Lentils, chickpeas, spinach and pasta or tomato sauce with Parmesan cheese.
10. Basmati rice, chard, Kalamata olives, cannellini or navy beans and tomato sauce or pasta sauce.
11. Spinach, chick peas or beans with bruschetta and goat cheese.
12. Humus and cheese sandwich with tapanade or bruschetta.
13. Half a peanut butter and honey sandwich (as a cheap substitute for a protein bar)
14. Nonfat plain yogurt with Medjool dates (snack)
15. Steel-cut Oatmeal with pomegranate syrup, honey, cinnamon, berries, and nonfat milk. Add whey protein powder.

16. Oatmeal banana pancakes or French toast with berries and soy sausage patties (limit soy because it can introduce too much estrogen into a man's system). I don't mind having this meal for breakfast or dinner.
17. Cold cereal with whey protein powder or a glass of nonfat milk with strawberry whey protein powder.
18. Homemade Salsa Grande over Toasted Peasant Bread. Onions, garlic, cherry tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil, olives, lime or lemon, chili peppers of varying heat or mildness mixed in a casserole dish heated at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until the ingredients caramelize. Pour over toasted peasant bread and mozzarella.
19. You can supplement protein with nonfat milk and whey protein.

1. Spinach Quesadillas: Fill with 12 ounces of spinach, pinto beans, peppers, mushrooms, chili flakes, Gouda or muenster or cheddar or jack cheese. You can also substitute tortillas with flat bread. Also for a change, sautee pine nuts and currants before cooking the spinach.
2. Half a bagel with a poached egg and side of vegetable and glass of nonfat milk.
3. Half a bagel with ricotta and honey and a side of vegetables.
4. Chick peas, chard, tomato sauce, and olives covered with Parmesan or feta.
5. Grilled cheese panini with sliced tomatoes, tapanade or bruschetta.
6. Puttenesca with spinach and glass of nonfat milk.
7. Pasta shells, chick peas, spinach, and pesto. You could replace the fattening pesto with masala or some other Indian sauce.
8. Bean and Cheese Burrito: black or pinto beans, rice, cheddar, raw diced onions, tomatillo, pica del gallo in a tortilla. Have with nonfat milk.
9. Lentils, chickpeas, spinach and pasta or tomato sauce with Parmesan cheese.
10. Basmati rice, chard, Kalamata olives, cannellini or navy beans and tomato sauce or pasta sauce.
11. Spinach, chick peas or beans with bruschetta and goat cheese.
12. Humus and cheese sandwich with tapanade or bruschetta.
13. Half a peanut butter and honey sandwich (as a cheap substitute for a protein bar)
14. Nonfat plain yogurt with Medjool dates (snack)
15. Steel-cut Oatmeal with pomegranate syrup, honey, cinnamon, berries, and nonfat milk. Add whey protein powder.

16. Oatmeal banana pancakes or French toast with berries and soy sausage patties (limit soy because it can introduce too much estrogen into a man's system). I don't mind having this meal for breakfast or dinner.
17. Cold cereal with whey protein powder or a glass of nonfat milk with strawberry whey protein powder.
18. Homemade Salsa Grande over Toasted Peasant Bread. Onions, garlic, cherry tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil, olives, lime or lemon, chili peppers of varying heat or mildness mixed in a casserole dish heated at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until the ingredients caramelize. Pour over toasted peasant bread and mozzarella.
19. You can supplement protein with nonfat milk and whey protein.

Vegetarian Dishes for Lazy Man

1. Spinach Quesadillas: Fill with 12 ounces of spinach, pinto beans, peppers, mushrooms, chili flakes, Gouda or muenster or cheddar or jack cheese. You can also substitute tortillas with flat bread. Also for a change, sautee pine nuts and currants before cooking the spinach.
2. Half a bagel with a poached egg and side of vegetable and glass of nonfat milk.
3. Half a bagel with ricotta and honey and a side of vegetables.
4. Chick peas, chard, tomato sauce, and olives covered with Parmesan or feta.
5. Grilled cheese panini with sliced tomatoes, tapanade or bruschetta.
6. Puttenesca with spinach and glass of nonfat milk.
7. Pasta shells, chick peas, spinach, and pesto. You could replace the fattening pesto with masala or some other Indian sauce.
8. Bean and Cheese Burrito: black or pinto beans, rice, cheddar, raw diced onions, tomatillo, pica del gallo in a tortilla. Have with nonfat milk.
9. Lentils, chickpeas, spinach and pasta or tomato sauce with Parmesan cheese.
10. Basmati rice, chard, Kalamata olives, cannellini or navy beans and tomato sauce or pasta sauce.
11. Spinach, chick peas or beans with bruschetta and goat cheese.
12. Humus and cheese sandwich with tapanade or bruschetta.
13. Half a peanut butter and honey sandwich (as a cheap substitute for a protein bar)
14. Nonfat plain yogurt with Medjool dates (snack)
15. Steel-cut Oatmeal with pomegranate syrup, honey, cinnamon, berries, and nonfat milk.
16. Oatmeal banana pancakes or French toast with berries and soy sausage patties (limit soy because it can introduce too much estrogen into a man's system). I don't mind having this meal for breakfast or dinner.
17. Cold cereal with whey protein powder or a glass of nonfat milk with strawberry whey protein powder.
18. Homemade Salsa Grande over Toasted Peasant Bread. Onions, garlic, cherry tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil, olives, lime or lemon, chili peppers of varying heat or mildness mixed in a casserole dish heated at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until the ingredients caramelize. Pour over toasted peasant bread and mozzarella.

Three 10-Dollar Wines That Like a $100

I went to Costco and bought 3 wines, all huge, tasty, velvety, full of black berries, currants, licorice. You could have fooled the most pretentious wine lover that they were all worth over $100.

First place: Cline Ancient Vine 2005 Zinfandel for 11.99

Update on 7-28-07: I returned to Costco to buy more Cline Zin a few weeks later and this batch was mediocre. Talk about feeling burned. I must have got an inferior lot.

Second place (very close second): Rosemount Hill of Gold 2004 Cabernet for 11.99

Third place: Clos Du Bois 2004 Merlot for 9.49

Update: A month later I bought the Cline at Costco again and it was far less impressive. Bottle variation? Heightened expectations? I suspect the former more than the latter. Costco had sold out of the Rosemount Hill of Gold.

But if it's any consolation, I did have a similarly lovely wine at a restaurant--the Grgich Hills 2004 Zinfandel, which is actually 88% Zin and 12% Petite Sirah. However, it's close to 30 dollars a bottle retail and at least double the price in restaurants.

I don't spend a lot of money on white wine. For $2.99 the J.W. Morris Riesling and Gewurztraminer are both delicious, full of apples, vanilla, refreshing, not cloying. Perfect.

Herculodge Sandwich Diet

Calories a Day: Approx. 2,500

Breakfast: Peanut Butter and Raisin Bread Sandwich, citrus, coffee with nonfat milk or chocolate soy milk, about 500 calories.

Mid-Morning Snack: Almonds and low-sugar grape juice (or plain grape juice watered down), about 200 calories.

Lunch: Turkey and smoked cheese and bell pepper or tomato slices with mustard on whole-wheat and low-sugar grape juice, about 500 calories.

Mid-afternoon snack: nonfat plain yogurt with two medjool dates, about 300 calories.

Dinner: Brown rice, white beans, pesto sauce or barbecue sauce with soy meat crumble or chicken breasts or fish (or substitute rice and beans with bread for a sandwich) with a ton of steamed or grilled vegetables such as spinach or broccoli, about 600 calories.

Night Snack #1: Apple and tea, about 100 calories

Night Snack #2: High-fiber cereal with nonfat milk and one quarter cup of prune juice, about 300 calories.

Herculodge Meals

Meals for Lunch and Dinner: The secret is to make enough for 2 meals.

One: Garden Burger Caponata with spinach and white beans; of course one can do this without the caponata. A variation is a garden burger with a slice of light Havarti or some other cheese smothered in white kidney beans and fresh salsa.

Two: White beans and sliced soy dogs with spinach and low-sugar syrup to create a "pork and beans" flavor

Three: Vegetable egg white omelet with roasted peppers, onions and low-fat cheese

Four: Garden burger sandwich with peasant bread, humus, and peppercinis, perhaps even low-fat cheese  in place of humus

Five: Tin-foil grilled fish and vegetables on the barbecue with garlic, onions, white truffle oil or olive oil

Six: Zucchini sliced, seasoned, and smothered in bruschetta and covered with soy patties or crumble and Parmesan cheese.