My life, opinions and cooking!
"Your Heart Will Go Nuts for Peanuts
Peanuts are a very good source of monounsaturated fats, the type of fat that is emphasized in the heart-healthy Mediterranean diet. Studies of diets with a special emphasis on peanuts have shown that this little legume is a big ally for a healthy heart. In one such randomized, double-blind, cross-over study involving 22 subjects, a high monounsaturated diet that emphasized peanuts and peanut butter decreased cardiovascular disease risk by an estimated 21% compared to the average American diet.
In addition to their monounsaturated fat content, peanuts feature an array of other nutrients that, in numerous studies, have been shown to promote heart health. Peanuts are good sources of vitamin E, niacin, folate, protein and manganese. In addition, peanuts provide resveratrol, the phenolic antioxidant also found in red grapes and red wine that is thought to be responsible for the French paradox: the fact that in France, people consume a diet that is not low in fat, but have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease compared to the U.S. With all of the important nutrients provided by nuts like peanuts, it is no wonder that numerous research studies, including the Nurses' Health Study that involved over 86,000 women, have found that frequent nut consumption is related to reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.
Peanuts Rival Fruit as a Source of Antioxidants
Not only do peanuts contain oleic acid, the healthful fat found in olive oil, but new research shows these tasty legumes are also as rich in antioxidants as many fruits.
While unable to boast an antioxidant content that can compare with the fruits highest in antioxidants, such as pomegranate, roasted peanuts do rival the antioxidant content of blackberries and strawberries, and are far richer in antioxidants than apples, carrots or beets. Research conducted by a team of University of Florida scientists, published in the journal Food Chemistry, shows that peanuts contain high concentrations of antioxidant polyphenols, primarily a compound called p-coumaric acid, and that roasting can increase peanuts' p-coumaric acid levels, boosting their overall antioxidant content by as much as 22%.
Peanuts' Antioxidants Key to their Heart-Health Benefits
Research published in the British Journal of Nutrition (Blomhoff R, Carlsen MH), which identified several nuts among plant foods with the highest total antioxidant content, suggests nut's high antioxidant content may be key to their cardio-protective benefits.
Nuts' high antioxidant content helps explain results seen in the Iowa Women's Health Study in which risk of death from cardiovascular and coronary heart diseases showed strong and consistent reductions with increasing nut/peanut butter consumption. Total death rates decreased 11% and 19% for nut/peanut butter intake once per week and 1-4 times per week, respectively.
Even more impressive were the results of a review study of the evidence linking nuts and lower risk of coronary heart disease, also published in the British Journal of Nutrition. (Kelly JH, Sabate J.) In this study, researchers looked at four large prospective epidemiological studies-the Adventist Health Study, Iowa Women's Study, Nurses' Health Study and the Physician's Health Study. When evidence from all four studies was combined, subjects consuming nuts at least 4 times a week showed a 37% reduced risk of coronary heart disease compared to those who never or seldom ate nuts. Each additional serving of nuts per week was associated with an average 8.3% reduced risk of coronary heart disease.
Practical Tip: To lower your risk of cardiovascular and coronary heart disease, enjoy a handful of peanuts or other nuts, or a tablespoon of nut butter, at least 4 times a week.
Potentially Reduced Risk of Stroke Based on Preliminary Animal Studies
Resveratrol is a flavonoid first studied in red grapes and red wine, but now also found to be present in peanuts. In animal studies on resveratrol itself (the purified nutrient given in intravenous form, not the food form), this phytonutrient has been determined to improve blood flow in the brain by as much as 30%, thus greatly reducing the risk of stroke, according to the results of a laboratory animal study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Lead researcher Kwok Tung Lu hypothesized that resveratrol exerted this very beneficial effect by stimulating the production and/or release of nitric oxide (NO), a molecule made in the lining of blood vessels (the endothelium) that signals the surrounding muscle to relax, dilating the blood vessel and increasing blood flow. In the animals that received resveratrol, the concentration of nitric oxide (NO) in the affected part of the brain was 25% higher than that seen not only in the ischemia-only group, but even in the control animals.
The jury is still out on peanuts however, since they contain far less resveratrol than the amounts used in the above study, and also less than the amount provided by red wine. An ounce of red wine can provide as much as 1,000 micrograms of resveratrol, and it almost always provides over 75 micrograms. The same ounce of peanut butter can only provide about 50 micrograms of resveratrol. Still, routine consumption of peanuts or peanut butter might turn out to be significant in terms of the resveratrol provided by this food. "
So now, I've decided peanuts are going to be my favourite movie time snack. I also found out another interesting fact from the same article that pickled foods increase risk of certain cancers. You learn something new everyday! You can find the whole article and loads of other helpful info at this site http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=101
Today you turned five. I usually stay up crying the night before your birthday; at least, I’ve done that every year. But not this year. Every year before I felt panicked. “I’m losing my baby.” Well, that ship has sailed. My baby is well and truly gone; but in her place she left a really fun little kid. I no longer feel like I’m losing something; instead, I feel like I’m drifting into a new world where you and I can be pals.
This is the year I saw you catch up physically with your peers. There was a time when you were so delayed I despaired of ever seeing you playing with a group of kids. It seemed like every kid on the playground was running and climbing and swinging and laughing while you were stuck in place, screaming. Every week I’ve taken you to your occupational therapy; each Tuesday a semi-nightmare of driving across town and parking and squishing my work into pre- and post-OT sessions, watching from the hallway as you climbed ladders and finished mazes and learned how to pop bubbles as you were swinging side to side. And it has worked. Your therapist came out to me with her chart and her list of developmental milestones, and showed me: you’re ready to graduate. Three more weeks and the last 18 months of Tough Tuesdays will be just a memory.
Now you can ride a bike with training wheels. I don’t have to sit on a bench and bite my knuckles while you try to get your legs in synch and kids much, much younger than you ride by gaily. You are riding right along with them. You can climb to the top of the dome, you can spin on the tire swing. A kid comes up to you on the playground and asks you to play and you can, you do; my fingers tingle with joy watching you.
This is the year you made real friends. The friend you like the very best, unfortunately, is a little boy who’s lovely to you when you’re alone, but is kinda mean to you at school when this other little boy is around. (Your first enemy! Another milestone!) We have had lots of discussions this year about friends and how they should treat you. You have resolutely stuck to your guns and decided to love this little boy above all others. You’re loyal, at least. If not sensible.
This is the year you put your face in the water at the pool: Twice. Thank God for small miracles. I still haven’t gotten you in swim lessons yet, but it’s coming, it’s coming.
This is the year you learned how to dial the phone (your first phone call: Granddaddy), how to put on your own story CDs, how to make your own peanut butter and jelly sandwich. This is the year I started being able to pull up to the library, give you the bag of books, and let you go put them in the return slot. Or giving you the quarters and trusting you to stick them in the meter. In fact, this is the year we entered the brave new world of me not having to eyeball you every second. If you get out of sight in public, I no longer panic. If something is wrong, you will call to me. This is the year I learned to trust that.
This is the year you got interested in the kitchen. Equipped with the kid-size choppers and cutting board I bought you, you cut crinkle potatoes or big hunks of cucumber for dinner. Unfortunately, though you will wash, peel, cut, cook, and admire said vegetables, you will not eat them. You can, however, pour your own milk, make yourself toast, and measure out flour and sugar for recipes.
This is the year you learned how to whistle, how to write your own name, how to buckle your own booster seat. Oh yeah — this is the year you started riding in a booster seat. Can I tell you how awesome it is to just have this tiny, light, easy-to-carry-and-buckle thing to deal with rather than the bolted-in 50-pound monstrosity we formerly used? My wrists thank you for growing, Violet.
“There’s no milk, I’ll make you some toast.”
“But I want to eat in here and watch Zoboomafoo!”
“Two choices: smoothie in here, or toast in the kitchen. You pick.”
“But I don’t want a smoothie! And I want to watch TV!”
“Toast makes too many crumbs. You want toast, you eat in the kitchen. I’m not going to argue about this.”
“Mom? Will you please make me a smoothie?”
Not a fight, not a scream, not a holdout, not a time-out. This is the year when you started seeing my point. And the year when I started explaining things to you, one friend to another. I have good reasons for the stuff I ask you to do, or the stuff I won’t do for you. I am willing to explain my reasons, and I’m willing to hear your input. Then together we can decide the best direction to go in. Because this is the year we started feeling like a snug little unit. Not the mom-with-baby-appendage, not the mom-lashed-to-screaming-toddler, not the little-kid-running-while-mom-runs-after. But like two friends, two friends who walk together because they like being together.
Because this is the year I started feeling really happy and comfortable as your mom. You have twined your way into every part of my heart; there’s no part of my life that isn’t touched by you and changed by you, no part of me that’s not also a part of you. Ever since you came out of me I’ve felt you moving further and further away, felt us getting more distant from the time when we were one. But lately I’ve felt you moving back.
We are the two who are one, the koala bears holding on for dear life, the old people walking in the park holding hands, the best skaters in the middle of the rink, twirling while everyone smiles at us. If you cut me open and dissected me, you would find you’re in every cell of my body, and most particularly in the very center of my heart. My love for you is fierce and red with teeth, it’s soft and pink and pillowy like a morning snuggling in bed. You have changed me. I am yours.
To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk. Increase the heat to medium-high. Whisk the sauce until it comes to a simmer and is thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Whisk the salt, pepper, into the bechamel sauce.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Whisk the cream cheese, spinach, 1 cup cheese, chicken/mushroom, egg, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl to blend.
Add a tablespoon or 2 of oil to a large pot of boiling salted water. Boil the noodles until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Arrange the noodles in a single layer on a baking sheet to prevent them from sticking.
Butter a 13-by-9-by-2-inch glass baking dish. Pour the bechamel sauce over the bottom of the prepared dish. Lay out 4 lasagna noodles on a work surface, then spread about 3 tablespoons of ricotta mixture evenly over each noodle. Starting at 1 end, roll each noodle like a jelly roll. Lay the lasagna rolls seam side down, without touching, atop the bechamel sauce in the dish. Repeat with the remaining noodles and ricotta mixture. Spoon 1 cup of pasta sauce over the lasagna rolls. Sprinkle the mozzarella and remaining 2 tablespoons of cheese over the lasagna rolls. Cover tightly with foil. Bake until heated through and the sauce bubbles, about 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until the cheese on top becomes golden, about 15 minutes longer. Let stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the remaining pasta sauce in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat until hot, and serve alongside.
The original version which is more authentic Italian (eg. they use ricotta, parmesan and prosciotto which I substituted with easier to find ingredients can be found here : http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/lasagna-rolls-recipe/index.html
So, what's your favourite celebrity inspired recipe?
