Blondies or Greenies??

                Recently, I had a foray into gluten-free baking. We had a guest who could not eat gluten, and I wanted to impress. But I did not want to buy special gluten-free flour. I had once before made recipe that had chickpeas in it, so I decided to give it a try. This was the recipe:

No-Flour Blondies

1 can (15oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed

½ cup nut butter

⅓ cup sugar

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon baking powder

⅓ cup chocolate chips

Put all ingredients except chocolate chips in a bowl. Using an immersion blender, blend until very smooth. Then, fold in the chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for 20-35 minutes or until skewer inserted does not come out wet.

                Last time I made them, all came out well. They looked and tasted like blondies. But this time, I made one small change that made a huge difference. I used Sunbutter instead of peanut butter. And this is what happened.

                What happened?? According to the Sunbutter website, the chlorophyll in the sunflower seeds reacts with the baking soda and powder and the green color is a byproduct. Thankfully, it is perfectly safe to eat green blondies. But then maybe they should be greenies?

Why bother eating well if I can't lose weight?

                I am taking a course this semester on obesity, and this week’s content is about dieting versus non-dieting approaches to obesity management. The dieting approach involves following a prescribed set of rules or guidelines that are intended to help a person with overweight lose weight. The non-dieting approach eschews that entire idea and posits that dieting does not work. Rather, it focuses on body acceptance and taking care of one’s health without the specific focus of weight loss.

                From my experience working with patients, it is clear that it is difficult to lose weight. You’d be surprised with how little some of my patients eat in attempts to lose weight. Sometimes, they lose weight slowly, and usually they regain it when their strict attempts become unbearable. Some of my patients do lose a significant amount of weight and are able to maintain their new weight, but this weight may still be in the overweight or obese category. I can think of only a handful of patients who were able to lose enough weight to enter the “normal weight” category.

                Healthy eating is a good idea for someone with overweight or obesity whether or not weigh loss is the outcome. Benefits of eating more fruits and vegetables extend to heart health, decreasing diabetes risk, and improving digestive health. Yes, weight loss might not happen or might not happen to the extent hoped, but I would advise my patients to take care of themselves by eating healthfully anyway! There is more to health than body weight.

     Have you ever had one of those days that you felt like complaining, “There is nothing to eat”? Well, when I arrived home late at night after being out of town for more than a week, I had that feeling. This is what the refrigerator looked like.

     What would I pack in my lunch for the next day? Well, for me, lunch has three main components: a protein, a carbohydrate, and a vegetable. The protein was pretty easy—2 hard-boiled eggs would work. For my carb, I took Wasa crackers I had in the cabinet. Now for the vegetable, all that I had in the fridge was celery, and that just wasn’t going to cut it for me. Luckily, I remembered that I had canned green beans, so I was all set.

     Sometimes people ask if canned vegetables are healthy. The only potential downside to canned vegetables is that they contain salt. In an overall healthy diet that does not contain excess sodium, having some salt in canned vegetables is definitely not a big deal. I like to think of a diet as a whole rather than as the disparate parts. I diet definitely needs vegetables. And honestly, we do need some sodium every day. In an overall wholesome diet, including some extra salt will not be a big deal. Some people do have specific medical conditions that require a sodium restricted diet, so you can always ask your doctor for specific advice.

     Oh, and I did go grocery shopping the next night.

     What do you do if you feel like there is nothing to eat? Answer in the comments below.