1. Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
2. Better to pay the grocer than the doctor.
3. Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.
4. Avoid food product containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry.
5. Breakfast like a king. Lunch like a prince. Dinner like a pauper.
6. Avoid products that contain more than five ingredients.
7. Avoid food products with the word “lite”, “low-fat”, “nonfat” to their names.
8. Avoid food that is pretending to be something it is not. (i.e. mock meats)
9. Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle.
10. Eat only foods that will eventually rot.
11. Get out of the supermarket whenever you can (i.e. shop at farmers markets)
12. If it came from a plant, eat it. If it was made in a plant, don’t.
13. Eat animals that have themselves eaten well.
14. Get well grown food from healthy soil.
15. Eat sweet foods as you find them in nature.
16. Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.
17. Pay more, eat less.
18. Consult your gut.
19. Don’t get fuel at the same place your car does.
20. Cook.

1. Salt – Forget Morton. If it’s not Himalayan or Northwest Indian Salish-inspired, alder-smoked, it’s so 20th century. Salt is in chocolate, on caramels, and sailing off store shelves. It’s the finishing touch to multiple dishes. At The Spice House in Chicago, popular salts include Hawaiian Black Lava Sea Salt, Chardonnay Oak Smoked Sea Salt, Truffle Salt, Vulcan’s Fire Salt, and Hickory Smoke Salt. Be sure to check out ethnic grocery stores and spice shops for specialty salts this year!

2. Artisan Chocolate – Small producers who carefully source their cocoa beans are turning out chocolate bars that can cost as much as a mega-bag of M&M’s, but offer much bolder flavors. These bars are often all-natural and cater to grown-up tastes. This year, start thinking of gourmet chocolate with flavors like hibiscus, hemp seed, Indian curry, and bacon. Chicago-based Vosges Haut-Chocolat offers a variety of delicious exotic chocolates including flavors like Cherry Rooibos, Blood Orange Caramel, Oaxaca Chili, and Black Pearl Ginger Wasabi.

3. Korean is the New Thai – The spicy, robust tastes of Korean cuisine are the latest Asian food to sweep the country. With consumers becoming more open and curious about new spices and flavors, Korean cuisine is growing in popularity. From kimchi (fermented cabbage) to spicy BBQ, there are plenty of Korean recipes and restaurants to explore this new year.

4. QR’s on Packaging – Look for Quick Response codes on food packaging this year. These fractal-looking squares that are readable by cell phone are showing up in ads right and left and will be popping up more and more on food packages. They’re a way for the industry to get more info out to consumers than they can fit on a package. Wines, especially, are a prime market because they can offer information about suggested food pairing and even videos about the winemakers.

5. Seaweed for Lunch – Seaweed is becoming one of the hottest trends in the lunchroom. Nori seaweed (a type of red algae seaweed) is most commonly used for wrapping sushi. However it is making a new appearance as a light and crispy snack. Roasted, salted, flavored and sold in lunch-box sized packages that keep it crisp, nori is a great alterative to potato chips. Seaweed is also a great source of iron and vitamin B12 – two vitamins that that are commonly difficult to obtain by vegetarians and vegans.

6. Gluten-free gets respect – The craze for all things gluten-free is turning up some better-tasting options for those who need to avoid this wheat protein. New gluten-free flour options are becoming more readily available including almond meal, hazelnut meal, coconut flour, and even yam flour. Check out Bob’s Red Mill as a great resource for these gluten-free options.

7. DIY Comes to Food – The public fascination with how our food is made is becoming more apparent. Do-it-yourself food kits contain all the ingredients and detailed instructions, making the novice a pro in the kitchen. From homemade cheese kits and yogurt starter cultures to dehydrating your own beef jerky and brewing kombucha tea, this do-it-yourself trend is on the rise for 2012!

8. The Butcher is Back – Consumers are becoming more and more concerned about where their meat comes and how it was raised. There has been a resurgence of interest in heritage animals, game meats, and locally raised meat and poultry. When consumers are paying good money for their meat, they want someone who really knows what they are talking about – whether it be the farmer at your local farmers market explaining how the animal was raised or the butcher at your supermarket speaking knowledgeably about how to prepare a specific cut. Take time this year to focus on the quality of meat you are purchasing and make friends with your farmer or butcher. Check out Eat Wild to find local meat and poultry near you!

9. Food Trucks – Food trucks are the hot new thing in cities across America. These “roach coaches” that were once the haunt of construction workers  have now become high end, gourmet kitchens on wheels that sell crème caramel, Thai food and hand-made creations as good as anything served in the finest restaurants are now available on wheels at a lower price. Check out ChicagoFoodTrucks.com to find a local food truck near you!

10. Drugstores as Food Stores – With so much eating on the go, drugstores have become a common grocery stop for people. Stores are looking beyond shelf stable snack foods and cookies and drug stores like Walgreens are beginning to branch out with more fresh and prepared to-go foods offering healthier options for your busy lifestyle!

11. Mindful Snacks – Snacks today don’t have to simply taste good, they also have to be good for you. Store shelves are starting to sport an array of chips and other snack foods with inventive, healthier ingredients. Sweet potatoes are big, lentils in the form of crisp cakes are popular, and now you can even buy crunchy kale chips as a healthy on-the-go snack!

12. In a Pickle – Finally, the lowly American pickle is staging a big comeback. There’s old-fashioned chow-chow pickle relish, artisan cucumber pickles and a host of other cultured products that have been fermented in lactic acid. Pickled peppers, pickled burdock root, pickled golden raisins, and artisan sauerkraut are gaining in popularity. Look for products using high-quality vinegar, artisan salts and organic produce that set themselves apart from your typical gherkins.

resource

Secondly, plastic.

Ever wonder what those numbers on the bottom of recyclable plastic containers really mean? Me too.

Upon learning that my recycle drop off site accepts #1, #2, #3, #5, and #7 plastics I began researching what these number really mean. There is a lot of great information about the type of plastic that these numbers are referring to, but I was less interested in the scientific name of the plastic and more interested in exactly what household and food items actually fall under each category.

Here is what I discovered:

#1: soft drink and water bottles, salad dressing bottles, peanut butter and jam jars

#2: clear and colored bottles and jugs, shampoo and toiletry bottles

#3: blister packaging and cling film from non-food use

#4: squeezable food bottles and container lids

#5: reusable microwaveable ware, yogurt  containers, margarine tubs, plastic plates and cups

#6: egg cartons, packing peanuts, disposable cups, plates, cutlery, and take-away containers

#7: lenses and plastic housewares

Plastic Bags: plastic grocery bags, Ziploc bags, and plastic wrap can be recycled at your local grocery store.

Packing Peanuts: packing peanuts can be recycled at many UPS stores.

Last weekend I watched the movie Bag It – a documentary film about the production and disposal of single use plastic. It’s quite shocking how much plastic we use in the United States just for the sake of convenience. If you haven’t seen this movie, you’ve got to watch it! After watching this movie, my eyes were opened to how much plastic I actually use on a daily basis and have been inspired to live more sustainably when possible. 

What I accomplished in 2011:

• Traveled to New Orleans to run the Mardi Gras Half Marathon
• Got engaged to my high school sweetheart
• Moved to a new apartment in Old Town
• Ran the Chicago Rock and Roll Half Marathon
• Ran the September 11th Chicago Half Marathon
• Completed the Warrior Dash in Wisconsin
• Ran the Monster Dash on Halloween
• Joined a Crossfit gym
• Launched my new website

2012 Resolutions:

• Develop a Cookbook – I’ve always wanted to write my own healthy cookbook, maybe even a Paleo one!
• Reduce, Reuse and Recycle – currently we don’t recycle at my apartment. Our building doesn’t collect recyclables, but I found out that I can drop off my recyclables at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum right in my neighborhood!
• Improve my Food Photography – With the limited light in our ground floor apartment, food photography has become much more difficult than it used to be when we had lots of natural light pouring into our old place. However, Will got me a fabulous camera tripod for Christmas and I intend to improve my food photography skills despite my light limitations!
• Become Thriftier in the Kitchen – This includes everything from growing and drying my own fresh herbs to learning how to can foods to preserve them for future meals. Sustainable cooking methods have always intrigued me!
• Complete a Triathlon – This was a resolution of mine last year that I never got around to. I hope to complete an Ironman 70.3 (otherwise known as a half-ironman) someday, so I need to start getting into triathlons sooner rather than later!

I received a lot of great gifts for Christmas this year as well. Here are a few of the new Christmas additions to my kitchen this year:

• Le Creuset stock pot
• Sur la Table baking sheets
• Pyrex glass casserole dish
• Capresso coffee grinder
• Le Creuset motar and pestle
• Nesco food dehydrator
• Urban Pantry – Tips & Recipes for a Thrifty, Sustainable & Seasonal Kitchen

Happy New Year! I hope this one is as good, if not better, than the last!

That being said, here is how my week panned out:

Monday – We had Vegetable Quinoa Soup with Garlic Crostini. Will wanted a grilled sandwich to go with his soup so I used some leftover bread, mozzarella cheese, bacon, and eggs to make one.

Tuesday – I brought soup for lunch and Will baked the Chicken Pesto Pizza for dinner since I worked late that night. I pulled the meatballs out of the freezer Tuesday night so that they would be ready for Wednesday.

Wednesday – I brought more soup leftovers for lunch and Will baked the Spaghetti Squash while I drove home from work. I heated up the meatballs and sauce for us when I got home.

Thursday – I had the day off. I ate leftover spaghetti squash for lunch and ventured out to buy my forgotten can of black beans to make Veggie Burgers for dinner. We had burgers with frozen sweet potato fries this night.

Friday – Lunch was provided for me at work. I had brought a burger along to eat, but never got around to it. For dinner we decided to go out to Panera to grab salads after crossfit.

Saturday – We had leftover burgers for lunch. I went over to a friends for dinner and drinks. I hadn’t planned on this earlier this week, but I brought Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Dates and Shiitake Mushroom and Bitter Green Phyllo Wraps for appetizers and it worked out perfectly! I also had purchased a bottle of wine and a few beers at the grocery store last week so I took those along for drinks!

All throughout the week we munched on the Ginger Molasses Cookies and Coconut Cranberry Pecan Balls for snacks. They are both completely gone!

So what’s left? Let’s refer back to last week’s grocery list. Note that the items that are crossed off are gone. The items that are not crossed off were used this week in cooking, but I have a bit of them leftover.

• Bulk
  • 1 package pine nuts
  • ¼ cup dried coconut
  • 1 cup dried cranberries
  • 1 ½ cup pecans
  • Almond butter
  • 1 cup quinoa
• Diary
  • Coffee creamer
  • 4 Greek yogurts (they are 2 for $3 this week)
  • 1 package goat cheese
  • 1 ball fresh mozzarella
• Meat/Fish
  • 1 lb grass-fed ground beef
  • 1 chicken breast
  • 1 lb mahi mahi (on sale this week for $12.99 lb)
  • Bacon (coupon for $1.00 off)
• Grocery
  • 1 box almond milk (coupon for $1.00 off)
  • Vegetable broth (coupon for $1.00 off)
  • Yeast
  • Brown rice flour (coupon for $1.00 off)
  • 1 jar tomato sauce
  • 1 bag sweet potato chips (coupon for $1.00 off)
  • 1 bag popcorn (coupon for $1.00 off)
  • Ketchup
• Bakery/Specialty
  • Loaf bread (coupon for $0.50 off ciabatta)
  • White wine (will look for sales)
  • Coffee (freshly ground – enough for at least 1 week)
• Frozen
  • Phyllo dough
  • Sweet potato fries (coupon for $0.55 cents off)

As you can see, I haven’t cooked the Mahi Mahi with Roasted Kabocha Squash, so we will probably have this for lunch or dinner today. Like I said, not everything always goes as planned, but you should always anticipate the need for a little wiggle room.

All in all I think I did pretty well this week. With the exception of the forgotten black beans, I never once had to buy lunch at work, order take-out for dinner, or make a second trip to the grocery store. All of these successes reflect a sound weekly meal plan. Now on to the next week! Time to take a new kitchen inventory!

In case you missed it:

Meal Planning 101

Meal Planning 101 – Preparation Day

1. Corn syrup, enriched flour, water, sugar, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil and/or animal shortening (contains one or more of: canola oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, soybean oil, beef fat), eggs. Contains 2% or less of: modified food starch, whey, salt, leavening (baking soda, monocalcium phosphates, sodium acid pyrophosphate), mono- and diglycerides, lecithin, calcium casenate, sodium stearoyl lactylate, cellulose gun, polysorbate 60, natural and artificial flavors, artificial color (red 40 and yellow 5), sorbic acid (to retard spoilage)
2. Carbonated water, caramel color, asparatame, phosphoric acid, potassium benzoate, caffeine, citric acid, natural flavors
3. Enriched flour (niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, high fructose corn syrup, sunflower seeds, yeast. Contains 2% or less of: soybean oil, wheat gluten, salt, molasses, soy flour, corn meal, sesame seeds, triticale, oats, rye flour, barley, millet, buckwheat, rice flour, flax seeds, wheat bran, crushed wheat, ethoxylated mono- and diglycerides, monocalcium phosphate, sodium stearoyl lactylate, ammonium sulfate, calcium sulfate, ascorbic acid, azodicarbonamide, enzymes, calcium propionate (preservatives)
4. High fructose corn syrup, corn syrup water, natural and artificial flavors, cellulose gun, potassium sorbate (preservative), sodium citrate, citric acid, salt, natural and artificial flavor, caramel color
5. Sugar, enriched wheat flour (contains niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), folic acid), vegetable shortening (partially hydrogenated soybean oil), cocoa (proceed with alkali), high fructose corn syrup, corn flour, whey, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, soy lecithin (emulsifier), vanillin (an artificial flavor), chocolate
6. Vegetable oil (canola and/or soybean), water, egg yolk, sugar, salt, cultured nonfat buttermilk, natural flavor, spices. Less than 1% garlic, onion, vinegar, phosphoric acid, xanthan gum, modified food starch, monosodium glutamate, artificial flavors, disodium phosphate, sorbic acid and calcium disodium EDTA as preservatives, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate

ANSWERS: 1) Twinkies 2)Diet Pepsi 3) Multigrain Bread 4) Mrs. Buttersworth maple syrup 5)Oreos 6) Hidden Valley Ranch

How did you do? Are you amazed at how difficult it was to identify some foods based solely on their ingredient list? It’s quite disconcerting if you ask me. Don’t forget to always check food labels and be able to identify and recognize every single ingredient in the foods you purchase. Pride yourself on being a conscious consumer!

First things first though. Today’s crossfit WOD (for time):

• 30 air squats
• 15 front squats (55 – Rx was 65)
• 30 kettle bell swings (30 – Rx)
• 15 sumo deadlift high-pulls (55 – Rx was 65)
• 30 box jumps
• 15 push press (55 – Rx was 65)
• 400 meter row

I finished in 10:58 and only 10 pounds under Rx. Rx is the prescribed weight for women. Most beginners scale down, but I am slowly working my way up! I even made the crossfit blog; that’s me on the left! Sorry about the picture quality.

My killer workout was followed by dinner…

Vegetable Quinoa Winter Soup
adapted from Oh She Glows

Ingredients:

• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
• 3/4 cup red quinoa, uncooked
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 zucchini, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 32oz low-sodium vegetable broth
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups diced tomatoes,  juice included
• 1 can aduki beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp curry powder
• pinch of cinnamon
• pinch of nutmeg
• 2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
• 1 tsp sea salt
• fresh ground pepper to taste
• pinch of saffron threads

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large soup pot. Add onion and sauté over medium heat until soft. Add carrots, zucchini, and garlic. Sauté for another 5-7 minutes.
2. Add vegetable broth, tomatoes, quinoa, beans, and spices. Bring to a boil and then simmer for  20 minutes.
3. Add spinach, stir, and cover. Simmer for another 30 minutes. As with all soups, the longer you let the soup simmer and set, the more flavor the soup will develop.
4. Makes about 8-10 cups

Garlic Crostini
adapted from Clean Food

Ingredients:

• 6 slices Ciabatta bread
• Olive oil
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• Fresh thyme and rosemary, finely chopped

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 450*F.
• Brush each slice of bread with olive oil and rub with garlic clove
• Bake for 3 minutes.
• Flip bread and do the same to the other side. Bake for another 3 minutes.
• Remove from oven and sprinkle with garlic powder, thyme and rosemary.
• Makes 6 slices.

Nothing like a warm bowl of soup on a cold winter night.

• Minimize the number of dirty dishes. As long as you are doing all the work at once, just rinse the cutting board and mixing bowls and move on to the next recipe. No need to start the dishwasher every time you use a dish.
• Save time during the week. Yes prep work takes time. But if you can knock it all out at once, think of how much time you will save during the week when all you have to do is pop dinner in the oven. This frees up time during the week to do things you enjoy like spend time with your family, go to the gym, or watch your favorite TV show.
• Have healthy food at your fingertips. If you have prepped all your meals in advance you will have absolutely no excuse to make poor food choices during the week. Eating healthy will be so simple that you won’t have any reason not to!
• Enjoy cooking. There is something relaxing about spending a Sunday morning cooking away in my kitchen, drinking coffee in my slippers, with the Today show playing in the background. I don’t feel rushed and no one is asking when the food will be ready. I can take my time and cook my food without cutting corners or trying to throw food on the table in record time. The biggest complaint I hear from people about cooking is that it takes too much time. If I’m famished by the time I get home fro work, I obviously don’t have the time or the patience to assemble a 5-course meal and I don’t expect you to either. Reconsider your schedule and you may actually take a liking to cooking!
• Minimize the mess. To me, this is the best part. Instead of make 7 small kitchen messes a week, I make one. This means one trip to the dumpster with all my food garbage, one time cleaning the stove top, one time mopping the floor, and one time running the dishwasher. A messy kitchen drives me crazy, so minimizing the mess during the week is a huge plus!
• Be creative with leftover ingredients. By prepping all of your food in advance, you can determine what ingredients you have left over and use them as snacks during the week. Say you have a recipe that calls for raisins and pecans and you end up having extra ingredients. You can use the fruit and nuts as a trail mix snack during the week!
• Guarantee food security. Have you ever bought a food you anticipated on using in a recipe later in the week simply to find out that the food is gone by the time you finally get around to cooking? This happens all the time in my kitchen with nut butters. The nut butter mysteriously disappears throughout the week while the evidence of dirty spoons builds up in the sink. If you prep your food ahead of time you can ensure you have the ingredients you need.

OK, so let’s see this put into practice. Here is what I had to say about this topic yesterday:

“One of my days off is tomorrow, Sunday. I can assemble and cook my phyllo pockets (either refrigerate or freeze), cook my meatballs (cover and freeze), make my chicken pesto pizza (cover and refrigerate), make my veggie burgers (cover and refrigerate), and make my Coconut Cranberry Pecan Balls and Ginger Molasses Cookies. I can also clean, rinse, and cut any fruits and vegetables I will be using later in the week.”*

*Note: Please keep in mind that I sometimes choose ambitious recipes for my week. Make meal planning easier on yourself and choose familiar family recipes. Also, not everything has to be made from scratch. If it would be easier to buy a pizza crust or can of soup rather than front the labor to do it yourself, I totally support you. Just be sure to always read the ingredients and nutrition labels with caution.

This morning I woke up early to get to work – I like to get all of my prep work out of the way early so that I still have plenty of time to enjoy my days off. Of my chosen recipes for the week, here is what I accomplished:

• Shiitake Mushrooms and Bitter Greens Phyllo Pockets– I rehydrated my shiitake mushrooms, assembled the pockets, baked them and put them in a airtight container in the fridge for later.
• Vegetable Quinoa Soup with Garlic Crostini – I cooked the soup and stored it in the fridge for later. I will make the garlic toasts on the night we decide to eat soup because this only takes a second.
• Mahi Mahi with Roasted Kabocha Squash  – I didn’t do any prep work for this meal because fish should always be cooked fresh and the squash is a quick and simple side dish I can do during the week. I did bring the kabocha squash inside from my fall décor display on the back porch though!
• Spaghetti Squash with Beef Quinoa Meatballs – I assembled and baked the meatballs. I put them in a Ziploc bag and stored them in the freezer for later. 
• Chicken Pesto Pizza – I cooked the chicken, made the pesto and dough, and assembled the pizza. I covered the pizza with plastic wrap and stored it in the fridge. While making the pesto I realized I was out of parmesan cheese. Not a big deal though, I simply left it out. Since there is other cheese on the pizza I figured it wouldn’t be a big deal. I was also running low on white flour, so I made a whole wheat crust instead.
• Veggie Burgers – I thought I had a can of black beans buried in the cupboard for this recipe, but unfortunately I didn’t. And I didn’t buy a can at the grocery store yesterday either. Meaning, this recipe has to wait. It’s not the end of the world though – I will simply have these burgers for dinner on my second day off during the week. That way I can stop by the supermarket and have plenty of time to cook them.
• Coconut Cranberry Pecan Balls – I made these treats and stored them in an airtight container on the counter. I didn’t have enough maple syrup for this recipe, so I substituted agave for some of it.
• Ginger Molasses Cookies – I baked these cookies and stored them in an airtight container on my countertop as well. The recipe called for dry mustard which I thought I had in my spice cabinet, but sure enough I didn’t, so I omitted it.

Not too shabby! I’d give myself an A- this time around. Had I done a better kitchen inventory I would have realized I didn’t have black beans or dry mustard and was running low on maple syrup and white flour. As you can see, even I make mistakes and sometimes don’t have all the ingredients I need! But don’t ever let a missing ingredient stop you, there are always plenty of alternatives to use instead – you simply have get creative!

If you or someone you know are looking for assistance with meal planning or meal preparation please contact me at amari.cheffer@eatchicchicago.com.

Click here to see the Meal Planning 101 Recap after the week is over.