Eat Shrink And Be Merry

Muscle is a terrible thing to waste. But when you diet without exercising, that’s exactly what you’re doing. When you lose more than two pounds per week, typically half of the weight lost comes from muscle. That’s bad news. Muscle is your calorie-torching, fat-incinerating furnace, using energy even when you’re catching some zzz’s (giving new meaning to the phrase “you snooze, you lose!”) Fat pretty much just sits there. Sure, if you starve yourself on a super-low-calorie diet, you’ll lose weight. But it’ll be an unfavorable type of weight loss. Though the scale says you’re five pounds lighter, what you’ve really done is simply changed your body composition. You’re simply a smaller fat person! Gushy all over! That’s not what you had in mind when you were downing those Slimfast shakes, was it? To make matters worse, when you go off the diet (and you will), you’ll gain back the weight you lost and then some. By sacrificing muscle on the restrictive diet, you’ve turned your body into a less-efficient fat burner, so you’ll gain weight even though you’re eating less. What a great plan! To transform your body for the better, don’t lose muscle–use muscle!

…that undertakers have discovered that human bodies are not deteriorating as quickly as they used to?

The reason, they believe, is that the standard North American diet now contains so many preservatives, and these chemicals may prevent the body from decomposing rapidly after death. Seems that eating too much processed food is a self-pickling procedure, of sorts. “Dilly beloved, we are gathered here today…”

If you’re looking for something fun to do this weekend, you could check out the 17th Annual Good Food Festival & Market at the International Centre, 6900 Airport Road in Mississauga. (It’s near the airport.)

Greta and I will be on the Food Network Get Cooking Canada Stage on Saturday, April 25th at 3pm making a recipe from one of our new grEATing cards. We’ll be giving out samples of food and also giving away samples of our grEATing cards. Plus, some lucky folks in the audience will win our cookbook, too! Should be loads of fun. Hope to see you there!

This morning I was cooking LIVE on CH-Hamilton, making a DELICIOUS salmon burger recipe while promoting our new line of Hallmark “grEATing” cards. We had many requests after the show for the recipe, because it’s scrump-DILLY-icious (made with lemon and feta and dill and honey mustard and other good stuff), so I’m posting it here. This recipe is FOR SURE one of my top-10 favourite recipes I’ve ever developed for any of our cookbooks or magazine columns or TV show. It’s a must-try recipe and a great way to get some healthy fats into your diet.

Heart-Smart Salmon Burgers

1-1/2 lbs (680 g) boneless, skinless salmon fillet, cut into chunks
1 cup fresh whole wheat bread crumbs (see tip below)
1/2 cup crumbled light feta cheese (2 oz)
1/4 cup finely minced shallots or red onions
1 tbsp honey mustard
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 egg
1 tbsp minced fresh dill
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1/4 tsp each salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place salmon chunks in a food processor. Pulse on and off until salmon is chopped into very small pieces. (If you don’t have a food processor, use a very sharp knife and mince the salmon by hand.) Transfer salmon to a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients. Mix well using your hands.

Form mixture into 6 patties, about 3/4 inch thick. Place patties on a large plate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour. (Chilling will help the patties hold their shape while cooking.)

Spray a large, non-stick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Add patties and cook for about 4 minutes per side, until salmon is cooked through. Be careful not to overcook the patties, and be gentle when flipping them so they don’t fall apart. If you don’t have a high-quality (unscratched!) non-stick pan, you might want to cook the patties in a tablespoon or two of olive oil.

If desired, serve patties on small, whole wheat hamburger buns with sliced tomatoes, lettuce, and honey mustard, or top them with a spoon of low-fat tartar sauce (see recipe below) and serve with a salad.

Makes 6 servingsPer serving: 236 calories, 10.4 g total fat (2.8 g saturated fat), 26 g protein, 9 g carbohydrate, 1.1 g fiber, 106 mg cholesterol, 333 mg sodium

Cooking TipsFresh bread crumbs are simple to make: Just break up a slice of bread (preferably whole wheat) into several smaller pieces and place in a food processor or mini chopper. Pulse on and off a few times to create fluffy soft crumbs. An average slice of bread will make about 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs. Dry, store-bought bread crumbs are more compact (and drier, of course!), so if a recipe calls for fresh crumbs and you’d rather use dry, cut the amount in half. To make low-fat tartar sauce for this and other yummy fish dishes, mix together 1/2 cup low-fat mayonnaise, 1 tbsp minced fresh dill, 1 tbsp sweet pickle relish, and 2 tsp each prepared horseradish and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Refrigerate until ready to use.

If you’ve just eaten Chinese food, pizza, popcorn or pretty much anything from any fast food joint, you’ll want to do a pre-emptive strike against the inevitable big-time bloating that’s about to hit your body. All of those foods are loaded with sodium, the evil arch-enemy of healthy hearts and waistlines when eaten in excess. If you’re hoping to squeeze into that tight little black dress for a big party on Saturday night, don’t even think of ordering that bucket of popcorn at the movies the night before.

When you think of salt, think of the word “tension,” as in “hypertension.” Salt can raise blood pressure in susceptible folks, making their hearts work double overtime. That’s not good. And secondly, as in “water retention.” (Okay, okay, I know it’s not spelled like “tension,” but you get the drift.) When you eat too much salt, your body tries to dilute it with water to get things inside your cells back into balance, or homeostasis. That extra water shows up as swollen feet, legs, hands and eyelids. Over time, water retention can inflate your weight by as much as 5 to 15 pounds! Eeeek! Moral of the story: He who eat too much Chinese food may not fit into his Beijing suit!

But here’s your pre-emptive striking weapon–your anti-bloatation device! Try making a jug of this tasty, refreshing, much perkier alternative to plain ol’ water. It’ll help beat the bloat, and it’s also very soothing to the digestive tract, too.

2 litres filtered water (about 8 1/2 cups)
1 small cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
1 lemon, thinly sliced
12 mint leaves
1 teaspoon freshly grated gingerroot

Combine all ingredients in a larger pitcher and chill. (Parsley is another option that is a great diuretic. It helps with water retention and bloating. You could use it instead of mint.)

Try it! You’ll like it!

Hi everyone! Sorry it took us so long to draw the two lucky winners of the 24-pack of “grEATing” cards. We’ve been on location in Toronto taping our TV show. Blog comment #24, Leigh, and blog comment #37, Lesley, were officially drawn this morning, so congratulations gals! You will each receive a set of 24 “grEATing” cards in a range of categories: birthday, get well, thank you, keep in touch, etc., so that should keep you well-stocked for 2009. By the way, my birthday is April 12th and Janet’s is the 20th, in case you’re looking for an occasion to mail out a birthday card
Thank you to everyone who entered the draw, especially for all of your very nice comments and compliments. We really do appreciate it!

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

Janet and I are super-excited to let you know that our new line of “grEATing” cards–humourous cards with recipes–is now in Hallmark stores across Canada. Yippee! I can’t believe my eyes when I walk into the store…the display is BIG and colourful and very cool, even if I do say so myself :)  You’ll find 50 cards in all categories: birthday, annivesary, get well, thank you, keeping in touch, etc. etc. So far the response has been amazing. We’ll be doing a media tour to promote the cards in April but, in the meantime, we’re hoping you’ll help us to spread the word. To thank you for your help, Janet and I are GIVING AWAY TWO SETS OF 24 grEATing CARDS to two lucky winners. Just post a comment on this blog entry before the end of MARCH, and we’ll enter your name in a draw to win. (Note to our 4 older sisters who often read our blog: As relatives, you are ineligible to win. Sorry. You can have an extra slice of ham at Easter dinner to make up for it.) We’ll notify the two winners on or around April 1st. Good luck! (And please check out the cards when you pass a Hallmark store!)

P.S. You’ll also find grEATing cards at select WalMart stores across the country, too.

Howdy! Recently, we did an interview on a very popular radio show out of Atlanta called “Dr. Fitness and The Fat Guy.” It was a lot of fun, and we thought you might enjoy listening to it. Just click the link below and then click on “Audio MP3″ to hear it.

Link To Our Interview

We’ve been getting lots of emails lately from folks who’ve been wondering when our TV show will be back on Food Network Canada. Just wanted to let you know that beginning January 11th it’ll be on Sunday mornings at 9 and Sunday afternoons at 1:30. It’s also on E! Channel every Friday morning at 11. We’re in the middle of filming season three, but those new shows won’t be aired until September. Hang in there! (And thanks for your support!)

Heading south for a winter getaway? Be sure to stash some pomegranates, tomatoes, dark chocolate and green tea in your suitcase (or seek out and covet these from your resort’s buffet table). These super foods contain a type of antioxidant that can migrate to the upper layers of your skin and boost your resistance to damaging ultraviolet rays. (You had to suspect that there was somethin’ up with tomatoes and great-looking skin. Look at tomato sauce-loving Italian beauty Sophia Loren. She’s still hot and still an inspiration at age 74!) Now don’t get me wrong: tomatoes and dark chocolate are certainly not replacements for sunblock, but they might just work together with it to increase its effectiveness–and they sure taste a lot better! (Pssst! Make sure you look for some of the new, natural sunscreens that are now available. They aren’t loaded with largely unpronounceable, potentially harmful chemical concoctions. You can find them at most well-stocked health or natural food stores.)