Kale and Kant

What does the Dalai Lama's wisdom have in common with blogging? I ran into this quote from him several times recently, and it was too good to let go: "If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion." One thing it called to mind—aside from the gut sense that the DL had identified the meaning of life in seventeen words—was a remark that my favorite nutty, always brilliant blogger, Penelope Trunk, wrote about blogging: "Your life … [Read More...]

Eating Out without Pigging Out

Over the years, I've discovered strategies for eating out while avoiding weight gain. A fundamental mistake is to assume that restaurant food is nutritionally and calorically similar to home-cooked. It's not. There's a reason why it's often tastier, and it's not merely due to professional chefs' sophisticated understanding of ingredients, seasoning, and spices—though, of course, their expertise helps. It's that the vast majority of cooks and chefs aim for flavor, not nutrition. I don't fault … [Read More...]

Supplements and Herbs

By Kelly Rogers Victor 5 Comments

The supplement industry is big business, and just about everyone I know takes one or more supplements daily—including me and every member of my family. There is often an assumption that supplements are a simple form of insurance that can help halt or reverse poor lifestyle choices. They are also seen as a remedy for a bad diet. Finally, they are perceived as harmless substances that, worst case scenario, you just pee away. All false. … [Read More...]

What is Processed Food?

We are inundated with the message to avoid processed food, but what does that mean? It obviously refers to fake food-like substances such as chips and soda, but what else? Here are some things to watch out for. Sweeteners. Any sweetener that has been dried, powdered, and packaged is processed. Stevia, for example, starts out as a plant that looks like this. By the time we buy a packet of Truvia or a clear liquid Stevia tincture, it's processed. Does this mean it's unsafe? Not in small … [Read More...]

Food and Freedom

“When someone exposes himself as a slave in the market place, what wonder if he finds a master?” —Simone Weil (1909–1943) I was recently reminded of this famous remark by French thinker Simone Weil, and it got me thinking about Cheetos and Coke. Weil's remark was part of a lament about modernity's substitution of utility for truth, but immediately I thought of another application: food. To wit: when we present ourselves as hapless victims at the supermarket, what wonder that Big Food steps in … [Read More...]

Hello from Sunny L.A.

By Kelly Rogers Victor 7 Comments

I have had the great fortune to be in L.A. since last week to attend the Natural Gourmet Institute's (NGI) two week intensive Culinary Nutrition program. A dozen of us are in "school" every day from 9-4, where mornings are spent learning nutrition theory, and afternoons are devoted to "culinary translation"—transforming the theories and information into nourishing, delicious, gourmet food. The days are capped with a group feast, where we delight in our creations and discuss and tweak the … [Read More...]

Teaching Kids to Cook

I ran a cooking lesson yesterday with a group of terrific teenage girls who wanted to learn more about healthy food. They had varying levels of kitchen experience, so I kept it simple and planned a menu geared to develop some basic skills, including how to: (1) prep and roast vegetables (cauliflower and sweet potatoes), (2) blend a basic vinaigrette and prepare a green salad, (3) marinate a lean protein and grill it, and (4) make soup (butternut squash and red lentil). With this arsenal, they … [Read More...]

Is Canned Food Safe?

A lot of good foods come in a can—vegetables, soup, tomato products, fish, coconut milk, olives, beans, fruit—not to mention bad ones like soda. A reader recently asked me whether canned food is safe. Here's what I know. The main health issue with cans is their BPA lining. BPA stands for bisphenol A, and it is used to protect canned foods from becoming contaminated by the metal in cans, and is also used in many plastic products such as water bottles and in printed receipts you are handed at … [Read More...]

Better Fried Rice

By Kelly Rogers Victor 4 Comments

Today I want to share a simple fried rice dish that I made last night that my family really liked. When you order fried rice at a restaurant, there is a huge oil to vegetable ratio. The trick to making healthy—but no less delicious—fried rice is to flip that ratio on its head. This also happens to be one of the tricks to making just about any dish lower in calories and more nutritious. And if you'd like to eat more but weigh less, apply a similar algorithm to the relationship between the grain … [Read More...]

I Just Can’t Menu-plan

It's January and people are trying to clean up their food act after the holidays, so bloggers have naturally started posting ideas for making weekly menu plans. I have tried and failed for years to either create or stick to menu plans. Many people swear by them and insist they are the key to maintaining a healthy home. Why don't they work for everyone? The obstacles I run into are: Something other than what's on the plan appeals to me at the store, and I want to cook with that. An … [Read More...]

Hungry? How to Get Thinner By Eating More

Sometimes a picture says it all. I can write endlessly about why vegetables should be the foundation of your diet—their nutrient density, ability to fight and prevent disease, low caloric punch, high fiber, unsurpassed deliciousness when well prepared—but none of that may sink in. So consider this neat graphic. Dieting that leaves you feeling starved is pointless. While you never want to stuff your stomach—consider the Japanese concept of hara hachi bu, eating until 80 percent full—it's a … [Read More...]

The Unexamined Trip is Not Worth Taking

So, my friend, Jim Bellinson, called me and asked a favor. He was headed to Africa with his own and two other families and wanted a daily philosophy topic for group discussion. He felt the kids would learn something and enjoy it—and the adults, too. I loved the idea, and I'm sharing this list of issues today in the hopes that it will spark some thoughtful conversation—whether you're traveling for the holidays with your kids or just sitting around with them on a winter’s night. Philosophy … [Read More...]

Pretzels are No Mitziya

For some reason, people still perceive pretzels as a healthy snack. This traces back to the low-fat craze that began in the 1980s. While it’s true they do not suffer from the oiliness of foods like potato chips and that they are slightly less caloric, pretzels are no mitziya*. What is a pretzel, after all? Unless we’re talking 100 percent whole grain or whole wheat, a pretzel is simply ground and baked white flour with a lot of added sodium—often a good percentage of your RDA for sodium in … [Read More...]

Motivating a Loved One to Lose Weight

Today I want to share a challenging coaching meeting I had recently with a lovely woman whose eyes brimmed with tears as she talked about her struggle to encourage her husband, who at 63 is 5'10" and over 300 pounds, to lose weight. Simply walking from the garage to the kitchen is a challenge for him, he's in a-fib as we speak, he has diabetes and metabolic syndrome, and his health trajectory is catastrophic. And yet . . . the man, soft-hearted and loving, will go to dinner and order lamb chops … [Read More...]

Tofu Tonight—No, Really

Tofu scares people. They envision a strange, tasteless cube of mealy weirdness and run, screaming. Done wrong, tofu can indeed be creepy. But, done right? It is delicious, people! Here is one easy way to prepare it that might make you reconsider. Since most Americans over-consume chicken and beef and would benefit from eating more plant-based proteins, think of it next time you're meal-planning. Ingredients 1 block firm or extra-firm organic tofu, drained 2 garlic cloves, minced 1" … [Read More...]

The Four Questions

If you've ever attended a Passover Seder, you've heard of The Four Questions. They are questions put to adults at the table, inviting them to tell their children the story of the Jewish exodus from Egypt. Today I'd like to suggest that in order to improve your health or weight, you need to ask yourself the following four questions, challenging yourself to articulate your food story so that you can devise your own exodus from unhealthy eating habits and yo-yo dieting. Here goes. Am I eating … [Read More...]

Eat Soup to Gain Health, Lose Weight

By Kelly Rogers Victor 4 Comments

Soup can be one of the simplest, healthiest foods to keep on hand. The ingredients are infinitely flexible. It is the perfect afternoon snack. Kids love it. It lives happily in your fridge for days. It freezes well. And its high water and fiber content are so filling that it helps you consume fewer calories at meals when served as a first course. Please don't confuse light, healthy, homemade soups with the majority of pre-made ones or soup-starters. Soup can quickly be transformed into an … [Read More...]

Pumpkin Butter, or How to Make a Weird Vegetable Fun

By Kelly Rogers Victor 5 Comments

At a shabbat meal at my culinarily gifted sister-in-law, Dalia's, table, we were served homemade pumpkin butter to spread on our challah. Pumpkin is a vegetable, of course, and to see my kids slathering it thickly on their bread was a delight to someone who, like me, strangely delights in watching kids eat well. (Is that a thing?) Anyway, she sent me the recipe, which turned out to be adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates. My only tweak was to de-sweeten it a touch, since the aromatic … [Read More...]

Self-help: I’m Over It (But Not Really)

By Kelly Rogers Victor 12 Comments

The self-help industry is bumming me out. As a blogger, I subscribe to a myriad of health, nutrition, and wellness sites and newsletters. While this allows me to keep up with the latest thinking on a topic I love, and while some of the writers I follow are a total inspiration, I’m bombarded with postings telling me that my life falls short in the departments of mindfulness, stress-reduction, nutrition, hydration, supplementation, cardio, strength-training, flexibility-training, social … [Read More...]

Review: Emcura Immediate Care

I recently picked up a chest infection from my kids, and after trying unsuccessfully to fight it at home, headed to Emcura Immediate Care in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. I was in and out in 22 minutes, with my prescription emailed and ready for pickup by the time I got to Rite Aid. Sound like your last trip to the doctor? I didn’t think so. Did I mention that the waiting room was bright, clean, modern, and delightful to be in? That the desk staff and nurses were friendly and eager to please? That … [Read More...]

Easy Mujadara

This mujadara recipe, adapted from Melissa Clark, is fast and easy, and it can work as a meatless entree, side dish, or lunch. Whether or not you're partying with vegans, all will love this aromatic dish, kids included. Mujadara is a Lebanese favorite based on lentils, rice, and onions. It can sometimes get too oily when prepared at restaurants; this version is light and gets it flavor from spicing, not excess fat. As an entree, serve it with a salad and steamed vegetables, and finish with fresh … [Read More...]

Et tu, Barnes & Noble?

Despite the evidence that added sugar in the American diet is a central culprit in the diabetes epidemic, I try to stay calm while my children are plied endlessly with the stuff. I have to comment on an email from Barnes & Noble I recently received, though. It read: "It's Jack's Birthday! Here's a Special Birthday Gift! FREE Cupcake or Cookie!" Now, let's think here: Why is a bookseller using sugared food to lure children into the store? Has their PR department not read a headline in the … [Read More...]

Is Cancer Preventable? A Top NYC Oncologist on the Perils of Junk Food

By Kelly Rogers Victor 1 Comment

I was listening to a Wall Street Journal podcast the other day in which Dr. Mitchell Gaynor, a leading NYC oncologist, was interviewed about the rise of cancer rates around the world. Although treatments are improving, the study found that "between 1990 and 2013, the proportion of all deaths caused by cancer rose from 12 to 15 percent worldwide." This isn't because there's been a reduction in people dying from heart disease, which is currently the number one killer in the US: "No, it's actual … [Read More...]

CPR: Are You Current?

Learning CPR is one of those things we all know we should do but usually don't take the time for. It seems so unlikely that we'd be put in a situation where it was needed, and it probably is. But you could save a life, and it could be that of your parent, child, or friend. And what if you see a stranger collapse? How would you feel just helplessly standing there, knowing you could've saved this person—who is someone else's parent, child, or friend? Here is a brief video my brother-in-law sent … [Read More...]

DIY Bean, Veggie, and Herb Salad

At Hillel Day School of Metro Detroit, I chair a Lunch and Nutrition Committee that recently interviewed food service providers to develop a healthy lunch program for the fall. Thanks to a generous donation, we have been able to install a state-of-the-art kitchen, and we are seeking a food service provider who can make wholesome, non-processed food tasty to even our pickiest eaters. Recently we had our first "tasting" and it was so much fun, and so delicious. The entire menu happened to be … [Read More...]

Pop Philosopher, Marci Shimoff

By Kelly Rogers Victor 4 Comments

I recently attended a talk given by Marci Shimoff, bestselling author of Happy for No Reason, as well as six Chicken Soup volumes. She stood on stage in a sequined red suit, perky and funny and impossible not to like, and, it turned out, had some deep things to say about the thing that back in the 4th century BC, Aristotle described as the goal of all human activity: Happiness. Aristotle and his fellow Athenian brainiacs concurred that Happiness is the ultimate goal of our lives, but they … [Read More...]

Zucchini Pizza