"I Want to Smash My Face in It!"

Behold, Sir Elton John.

These were the words of a very excited 4-year-old girl as she got into her chair and up to the table at Sara Sara Cupcakes. I had the same thoughts, albeit mine were a little more indecent, about the Sir Elton John I was in the midst of enjoying. Things that would make the real Sir Elton John blush (if he were into women).

The Sir Elton John is a cherry cheesecake cupcake, but definitely not typical in either sense. This cupcake was a bit larger than I was expecting. I noticed a couple was sharing one when I came in and did not finish it between the two of them. Admittedly, I did not have that problem. The Sir Elton John had a dense and very moist cherry cheesecake base. The texture of the cake was soft and had a sense of near underdone-ness about it. More like the cheesecake filling was mixed in with cake batter before baking. There was a thin layer of cream cheese frosting, although the taste of it was so light I couldn't tell it was cream cheese while eating it. The cupcake had an eye catching garnish of graham cracker crumbles with cherry pie filling in the center. Deconstructed, this cupcake had no one feature that jumped out and overpowered the rest of them. Put all the components together though and it was the perfect harmony of moist cake, light frosting, and cherry goodness.

At Sara Sara Cupcakes, cupcakes are the only solid consumable but they do have a few beverage selections to rinse your cake down with. If you prefer milk there is a milk bar, complete with a freezer with milk glasses next to it, with regular, chocolate, and strawberry milk. They also offer coffee (straight up coffee, nothing fancy), tea, hot chocolate, bottled water, and soda. After all, it is really all about the cupcakes here.

The atmosphere inside is calm with soft music and it gave me a sense of being in grandma's kitchen. The entire dining area was immaculate and white. White floors, white lighting, white tables, and white chairs. The only pop of color came from the bright pink doorway I came in through. It is hard to imagine how much cleaning must go on after a small child is given a Count Rockula cupcake. I did see a child knock a table and spill some coffee and chocolate milk on the floor. To my surprise no army of elves came out to clean it up straight away. They must wait until all the guests leave or aren't looking. Being Sara Sara Cupcakes is a cupcake business, there is no shortage of children. Which can make it a little less quiet, especially with hardwood everything which can help amplify their excitement.

During the week Sara Sara Cupcakes offer deals such as Date Night, Student Night, and you can't go wrong with $2 Tuesdays. There are two locations in the Oklahoma City Area, one in the Midtown District in OKC and one in Edmond. If you are in need of a sweet treat and a frosty glass of milk, go ahead and stop by Sara Sara Cupcakes.

Forget the Green Dye

St Patrick's Day is right around the corner. The day everyone is Irish. I mean, bloody heck, who doesn't want to be Irish? Pseudo- Irish pubs fill their parking lots and bars with frat boys and people attempting to relive their college days doing what real Irish folks do, drinking green beer while putting on their "best" Irish accent.

In reality this is scene is making St. Patrick turn in his grave.

I have never been real big on "green" colored foods and drinks (except for Shamrock Shakes). This year in an attempt to not make a mockery of St. Patrick's Day I'm doing something other than Irish Car Bombs. I'm going to make this year the right balance of green foods (yes, foods that are actually green) and Irish fare.

For breakfast I'm trying out a Spirulina & Cashew Bar from Raw Revolution. This little green bar contains both fruit and protein components for MyPate. Spirulina is a type of blue-green algae that counts as a food supplement not a vegetable. In addition to this I'll be having green veggies and to round of out my meal I'll be relying more on green food packaging than actual green foods.



Lunch is going to involve a reuben and for dinner I'll be experimenting with a recipe I revamped for Bangers and Mash. Truth be told, neither of these dishes are truly Irish. The most Irish part of the reuben is the corned beef. According to Wikipedia this sandwich originated in either Omaha or New York. If the legend of the New York reuben didn't pre-date the start of it Omaha by 15 years, I'd give credit to Omaha out of pity for the lack of things they can take pride in. As for the Bangers and Mash, this dish originated in England. Like many English things however, this pub grub found it's way across the Celtic Sea and into Irish Pubs.

As for drinks I have something green and something Irish. (This is starting to sound like a woman getting married "Something old, something blue, etc.") For the green I have a Multi- Green Kombucha Tea that attributes it's color once again to Spirulina. Truth be told, tomorrow is the first time I will be consuming spirulina, fingers crossed it is at least palatable. My Irish is the Snake Chaser Irish Style Stout from Lakefront Brewery. Being in Oklahoma I'd like to be able to tie my Milwaukee roots in with my longing to be Irish, at least for one day.

Go forth and be green lads and lasses! Slainte!

Veggie MyPlate: Good Protein, Lacking Iron

Week one of the MyPlate challenge went off without a hitch, minus the lunch and learn I attended. The meals of the challenge that I had to make changes to the way I ate were breakfast and dinner. Mainly because I don't usually have vegetables at breakfast or fruit at dinner.

An easy way to add in vegetables with breakfast was with vegetable juice. It only takes 4 ounces to equal one serving and voila! Having fruit with dinner wasn't impossible either. In fact, it came to replace my post- dinner chocolate habit that I tend to acquire around the holidays.

Not feeling challenged enough, Monday I decided to go vegetarian for five days. The only reason I'm going five days instead of seven is due to the fact that St. Patrick's Day is coming up. There is no way this girl is going without corned beef and pub food that day. My thoughts going into this vegetarian style were 1.) I wanted to see if it became harder to meet my protein requirements and 2.) if I still felt hungry after meals.

I am currently on day four and still going strong, even with having my breakfast provided by the hospital today. This time instead of dairy being missing, it was the vegetable component that was hard to come by. Everything else (eggs, fruit, toast, and milk) were all pretty easy to find.

The only way I managed to achieve a complete MyPlate breakfast at the hospital today was with a fried hashbrown patty (which of course required ketchup). Not the best or recommended way to do it, but it got the job done. In retrospect, to many Americans this may be exactly how they get a vegetable in the morning. Besides ketchup on their eggs. And a single tear runs down the dietitian's face.

Image from: http://www.reordermenu.com/Breakfast.html

Even with today's little hiccup in my usual eating, going vegetarian has not been bad. I have been getting the protein component with eggs at breakfast, legumes at lunch, and Boca Chick'n Patties (soy) at dinner. Getting protein through these various sources are part of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. At these meals alone though, it is nearly impossible to achieve my protein requirements. I have also been having regular snacks between meals with protein to help keep me from starving and to reach my protein requirement. Snacks have included nuts, peanut butter, and protein bars. Nuts and nut butters are other noted sources of protein in the 2010 DGA.

A bonus of being vegetarian is the additional fiber. Fiber aids in making me feel full after meals without feeling like I need a nap. Having the extra fiber is nice, but it can be a hinderance as well.

The one part of my diet that it has been hard to meet requirements in is iron. Even with fortified foods and a fortified protein bar, it has been difficult to achieve my daily iron needs. True, there are foods that are non-meat based that contain iron. It should be noted that although these foods contain iron, it doesn't mean that your body readily absorbs it. Iron from vegetables and other non-meat products is harder to absorb because it is not in a form that is readily absorbed by the body. Iron in meat products, however, is easier for the body to absorb because of the form it is in. Compounds in plants, tea, and coffee, as well as fiber, can bind to the iron making it unavailable for absorption.

As a vegetarian, one thing you can do to help your body absorb iron in non-meat products is by having Vitamin C with that meal. Vitamin C assists with the absorption of iron by changing the form of iron and making a soluble complex with the iron that is easier for the body to absorb. For instance, have a spinach salad with tomato on it is one way to get your Vitamin C and iron.

Another way to up your odds of absorbing iron is to make sure that you are not having too many other minerals with that meal. Minerals such as calcium and magnesium compete with iron for absorption. In this regard, it is also a good idea to take a look at your multi- vitamin/mineral to see what is in it. Sure, that little pill contains all those things, but that does not mean you are absorbing all of what is in there if it has to compete for absorption.

A vegetarian diet has it's benefits, but it has it's downfalls as well. Eating a balanced diet is the first step in good nutrition, no matter what you choose as your protein source. As a little "health" insurance, it doesn't hurt to take a multi-vitamin/ mineral (even half of one) to help ensure you are getting what your body needs.

First Watch OUT!

Brunch is the perfect meal to end a perfect weekend. In Oklahoma City there is place that I have taken all who visit me to for brunch, First Watch. Judging by the bright, sunny webpage and proclamations of using the freshest and finest ingredients you may be lead to assume that this place has some pretty healthy food.

As part of my National Nutrition Month challenge, I decided to go here for breakfast one day. Here is the Healthy Turkey off of their 'Healthier Side' menu. The omelet is made with egg whites, chopped turkey, spinach, tomatoes, onions, and feta cheese. It came with a side of tomato slices and a dry english muffin. To round off my plate I had my glass of orange juice. Random fact, OJ helps absorb the iron from the spinach.

After my meal I decided to look up the nutrition facts for my meal just to see how healthy it really was. Without the sides or juice, it came out to 206 calories,11 grams of fat, and 37 grams of protein. Not too shabby.

Then out of morbid curiosity I decided to look up my last meal there, the Chickichanga. This supreme breakfast burrito was composed of " Whipped eggs with spicy all-natural white-meat chicken, chorizo sausage, green chilies, Cheddar and Monterey Jack, onions and avocado rolled in a flour tortilla. Topped with Vera Cruz sauce and sour cream. Served with fresh fruit." Pretty much MyPlate made to order and let's just say I cleaned my plate. Now for the facts: 1047 calories, 74 grams of fat, and 53 grams of protein. That is over half of my recommended calories and way over my allotted fat in one meal!

Suddenly this meal didn't sound as healthy as the description it had and I was compelled to check out other items that one would assume were healthy. For instance, a friend and I shared the biscuits and turkey sausage gravy. Turkey sausage, that has to be healthy, right? Nope! This side was 590 calories and 29 grams of fat... for two biscuits with gravy. Not failing to mention the sodium was 90% of the daily requirement. Yikes. Their turkey sausages are 280 calories and 22 grams of fat for four links, you're almost better off getting pork sausage links instead.

The moral of the story is, beware of what appears to be healthy. Just because the menu uses words like "all-natural" and "fresh" does mean it is automatically healthy. If at all possible, look at the menu and nutrition facts online before making your dining decisions. Your waist line will thank you for it.

Hospital Plate

In my quest to achieve MyPlate today I was thrown the luncheon curveball. This curveball occurred last year at the SCAN conference when I was gluten free. At the hospital I am interning at they give an educational lecture series and provide lunch to the attendees. These fortunate participants not only get continuing education credits, but a free meal as well. Since I am not at the point of earning these education credits, I'll take the free meal.

One might assume that being in a hospital you might have healthier food. If you have been in a hospital cafeteria lately you might notice some healthy options, but they are about as healthy as a fast-food restaurant gets. Considering this was a luncheon for hospital staff, catering might want to put their best nutrition foot forward. All this in mind, and the fact this made it into a blog post, it was far from it. Below is a picture that I took of what we were served for lunch.



In all that Oklahoma glory we had BBQ brisket (protein), mustard potato salad and baked beans with chiles (vegetables), jalapeno cornbread (grain), and strawberry halves (fruit*, I had to pilfer one from an RD to make it a whole one). The closest thing I got to dairy was the whipped topping that the strawberry sat on... or the german chocolate cake.

I have to draw a line somewhere, and needless to say, lunch today was fail-zies. Basically zero dairy, two not so great choices for vegetables, and one strawberry.

All that aside, lunch was delicious. Our professor did hand out cheese for a snack at class tonight, but after a meal like that I don't think cheese would have been very beneficial for my GI tract. Next time I'll run to the cafeteria and grab a milk to wash the cake down with.

Are You Game?

Take a deep breath in. Smell that? No, that's not spring you are smelling nor your significant other's feet. It is the beginning of National Nutrition Month. Which basically equates to some tingle of excitement for RDs, DTRs, Dietetic Interns, and nutrition students (formal and informal). This excitement will last of all of, well, today and possibly into next week.

If you are fortunate enough, you may stumble upon an information booth that a RD, or other nutrition maniac, is holding a grocery store. But where is the fun in that? You might get a free apple and, hold on to your seats kids, some handouts concerning what is consider proper nutrition. You may consider looking over those papers but everybody, including that nutrition educator, knows that ultimately you're going to throw them out. By the time you walk away from the booth you're wondering if ketchup on your eggs can be considered a vegetable.


Why is it they are almost always giving away the type of apple most people hate? Image from LongIslandPress.com.

That is about as far as most people will get during National Nutrition Month. More than likely, you won't be seeing any of that.

That's not happening here folks. No way, no how. If you remember last National Nutrition Month I undertook four different dietary therapies/ trends. In case you can't recall, you can catch a glimpse here, here, over here, and right there.

A few months back I wrote a piece on how often people follow the new USDA model for good nutrition, MyPlate. As it turns out, it's one week a year. That is out of the 365 days a year, at 3 meals a day, making that 1,095 meals, only 21 meals are equal to my plate. Kind of sad folks.

I want you to do better. Beat out that average American. You know why? It's because I know people who read this are not the average American. This is my challenge to you. Make one week of your meals this month model MyPlate. That's 21 of the 60 meals you will have this month. (Sorry guys, since I'm posting this after day one there are 3 less opportunities.) I am going to attempt to achieve this all month. (I didn't give myself the late start, I started today and have gotten all my meals to be MyPlate friendly.)

Here are some guidelines to help you out:
1. Ketchup, nor hot sauce, is a vegetable. However salsa and pasta sauces are allowable.
2. You don't have to get exactly one quarter of your plate protein, grains, vegetables, and fruit each. I only want you to get some of all of those things on there.
3. Plates come in all sizes. If you have a big plate don't feel the need to pile it on.
4. This may be a given, but this challenge does accept bowls as a formidable replacement to a plate.
5. Low-fat or fat-free milk is the recommended form of dairy. Low-fat or fat-free cheeses, yogurts, and cottage cheeses are permitted as well.
6. Protein is not just meat. It can be eggs, beans/ legumes, and nuts.
7. Try to make your grain selections whole-grains.
8. This challenge does not apply to snacks, just meals.





I will document what I find pertinent and, as always, entertaining. If you're feel like a nutrition rockstar, go ahead and post a picture of your plate or bowl in the comments to show off what you did. I only request that you don't post pictures of someone snorting what appears to be a sugar substitute imitating real rockstars.