Healthy BBQ

The author of Clean Plates NYC offers tips for keeping healthy during BBQ season - including a couple vegetarian BBQ tricks.

Photo: Benjamin Jessop / Istock

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By Jared Koch

With summer upon us, barbecue season is getting into full swing. Jared Koch, nutritionist and author of Clean Plates NYC has these tips for how to incorporate healthier eating into your BBQs this summer:

One of the primary messages I try and get across to my clients and in Clean Plates is that because we are a nation overly obsessed with quantity (think high calorie, low carb, high protein, low salt etc.) we often overlook the more important aspect of the quality of food we are eating. Simply improving the quality of the same foods you are used to eating can have profound positive effects on your health.

Here are some examples of how to do this during your summer BBQs:

thedailygreen.com

Organic Blueberry Cocktails

 

• 10 Weird Uses for Vodka
• Great Green Recipes for Long Summer Weekends
• 6 Steps to Mastering the Farmers' Market
• Start an Organic Garen in 9 Easy Steps
• Green Gardening Products

All it takes is a handful of blueberries to make a blueberry puree that can be added to just about any daiquiri, mojito or mixed drink for extra flavor — not to mention healthy antioxidants. Freeze extra blueberries to enjoy a taste of summer all year long. Try blueberries in these summer cocktails:

Country Thyme
Rainforest Cooler

Growing Tips:
Forgo the $5-per-pint cost for blueberries by growing a bush in your backyard. The berry can be grown almost anywhere and withstand temperatures as cold as minus-10 degrees.

Give your blueberry bush a home it'd want in the wild: where it can absorb full sun, and in acidic soil with a pH level between 4.0 and 6.0, depending on the variety.

thedailygreen.com

Top 10 Foods for Better Sex

PictureQuest

Provided by Men's Health
The article you are about to read is based on the simple notion that (a) men like food and (b) men like sex, so (c) wouldn't it be great if you could actually eat your way to more fun in the bedroom?
Grunt if you agree. Or maybe just sharpen your knife and fork. With help from nutritionists and the latest research, we've discovered 10 superfoods that can help you at every age and stage of your sex life -- whether it's seducing women in your 20s, producing Mini-Me's in your 30s, or inducing your equipment to keep working in your 40s and beyond.

Foods For Better Sex - AOL Health

Grill Master - Men's Fitness

 

Nothing is more manly than a nice big T-bone. Done right, it can be the perfect muscle-building, energy-boosting meal—it's packed with protein, zinc, iron, and B vitamins. But cook it the wrong way and you end up with an expensive chunk of rubber. Here's how to ensure your next steak serves your taste buds as well as it does your body.

THINK CIRCLES

When you're buying steak, it's best to get something round—top round, eye round, round tip. These cuts, which come from the hind leg of the animal, are not only the leanest but also the most tender.

ICE YOUR GRILL

For a perfect steak, you need a piping hot grill to seal in the meat's juices the second the meat hits the grate. But you don't need to worry about keeping an eye on the thermometer to tell when your grill is ready. Just stick a couple of ice cubes on your grate. When the metal is hot enough to melt them quickly, you're good to go.

WIPE OUT

Once the grill is hot, swab it down with a rag that's been doused with a bit of vegetable oil. This prevents sticking and helps the meat cook more evenly. (Just be careful! You may need to use tongs or a cleaning brush to hold the rag and keep from burning your fingers.)

KEEP A LID ON IT

Once the coals are gray and the grill is prepped, a 1 1/2-inch steak should take 8-10 minutes to cook per side—two minutes less if you want your meat rare. Allow the meat to cook undisturbed—every time you open the grill, you add 5-10 minutes of cooking time. Flip the steak only once, using a turner—not a meat fork. Poking the meat allows the juices that keep the steak tender to escape.

Men's Fitness

‘Fuggedaboutit’ & other burgers …

America's Healthiest Frozen Scoops

We’re all screaming for ice cream this summer, especially when it’s cool and low-cal.

By Susan Hall, Health

• 7 Frosty Treats Under 75 Calories
• Desserts for 300 Calories or Less
• How to Keep the Weight Off

We've scoured America's scoop shops (tough job, but somebody had to do it) for the tastiest (and healthiest) ice creams, yogurts, and sorbets that will satisfy your sweet tooth without hurting your waistline.

Our criteria: superior taste, stellar nutrition, and countrywide availability. Here, the five winners. (A standard scoop, by the way, is about 1/2 cup, or 3 to 3.5 ounces.)

MSN Health & Fitness

I LOVE Sandra Lee, so I must be gay!!!

The Semi-Homemade World of Sandra Lee 

From Julia Child to Martha Stewart, television's domestic goddesses enjoy a special place in the gay man's heart. Can Sandra Lee and her campy, vampy act join their ranks? A box of Velveeta and some graham crackers say she can.

By Joshua David Stein

Sandra Lee wants you to know you can count on her. Anywhere, anytime, turn on your television and she'll be there, mixing ranch dressing with tomato sauce for a Tuscan marinade and smiling knowingly at you from the fantasy floral kitchen set of her show, Semi-Homemade Cooking With Sandra Lee. If you happen to need her when she’s not on call, there are the 17 cookbooks Lee has published in the last four years, her 2007 memoir Made From Scratch, and the newest addition in her bid for the hearts and stomachs of the American public, the Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade magazine. And if you’re lucky enough to come face-to-face with Lee, her bright blue eyes will widen in enthusiasm and empathy. A long slender hand may rest lightly on your arm. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from -- a beleaguered housewife in Shaker Heights, Ohio, or a closeted gay in San Diego -- Sandra Lee loves you.

Out.com Features

Shakespeare & food …

The Best of Foods, the Worst of Foods

(Istockphotoistockphoto)

By Jennifer LaRue Huget

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Did the world really need a fourth "Eat This, Not That!" book?

Well, maybe not. Having read the first three in the series of food-choice comparison guides created by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding of Men's Health magazine, I'd have been inclined to say, okay, guys, I get it. Some foods that seem healthful are surprisingly bad for you, and others that you think might kill you aren't as bad as you thought, and it's important to look at the nutrition facts so you'll know the difference.

washingtonpost.com

Paint by numbers … why not eat by numbers?

Top Three Health: Eat right to sculpt the body you want

July 27, 2009

Here's a plan from the editors of Men's Health magazine to finally finish off your gut for good and make every muscle pop.

1. CALCULATE CALORIES: When it comes to calories, there's one simple rule -- to eat your target body weight. Let's say you weigh 220 pounds but would like to tip the scale at 180. You'll adopt the calorie intake of a 180 pound man.

2. EAT BY THE NUMBERS: Eating the right amounts of the right nutrients will speed your results without feeling like you're on a diet. Protein is the raw material for muscle growth, as well as helping to extinguish your appetite and aid in fat loss. Some fat actually may keep you from overeating because it makes you full and carb-containing foods also can be rich in vitamins and minerals.

3. CREATE YOUR MENU: Build your diet around foods you'd find in nature. You should choose mainly meats, eggs, dairy, fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes, plus grain products that are made with 100 percent whole-wheat flour. Note that typical junk foods -- candy, baked goods and sugary drinks -- don't make the list.

Top Three Health

Food & sex do go together!

Food is the new foreplay. In order to give your time in the sack a boost, watch what you eat.

When it comes to sex, you may want to watch what you put in your mouth. What we eat can help – and hurt – us in the sack. According to David Zinczenko, Editor-in-Chief of Men’s Health magazine and author of Eat This, Not That, these foods can help feed our sex drives.

Sure, we all have comfort foods... dishes and snacks that make us feel cozy inside. But too often we also feel guilty when we eat them. Check out these...

• Bananas: Yes, the fruit that has spawned billions of penis jokes in sex ed classes is good for more than just practicing putting on a condom. The potassium and vitamin B-rich fruit helps boost the production of sex hormones.
• Chocolate-covered strawberries: Not only are they delicious and fun to feed each other, but chocolate-covered strawberries also work behind the scenes. A chemical in chocolate releases the same hormone that is released during sex and the vitamin C in strawberries gives the libido a boost.
• Pomegranates: The antioxidants help increase blood flow to ALL parts of the body.
• Asparagus: The vitamin E stimulates the production of sex hormones to get you in the mood.
• Steak: A nice hunk of red meat will boost dopamine and norepinephrin, which heighten sensitivity.
• Ice cream: Want everyone to scream in the sac? Then reach for the cool and creamy. A bowl of vanilla ice cream contains calcium and phosphorous, which give your libido a boost and help make your big m-oh-ment more scream-worthy.

There are also come foods to avoid. According to Zinczenko, you may want to skip these foods.

• Oysters: Really? Really. The zinc and iodine in this nugget from the sea help with respiration (think heavy breathing), body temperature (keeping cool while things heat up) and testosterone (for a manly boost). But experts say you’d have to eat at least 50 oysters at once in order to get these boosting benefits. We’ll pass.
• Tomatoes: The lycopene in tomatoes actually decreases testosterone levels. Even though the effect is mild, you might want to steer clear before sexy time.
• Wine: All things in moderation. One glass will help blood vessels relax, but more will have a reverse affect.

Try dining on these aphrodisiacs. A five intercourse meal might lead you to, well, five intercourses!

Feed Your Sex Drive | NBC Dallas-Fort Worth

Mex in the City

 

In LA, two things are taken to be self-evident: cheap Mexican food reigns supreme and downtown is dead. However, in our urban epicenter, Provecho is determined to prove otherwise by offering upscale dining inspired from recipes found south of the border sans the bottomless basket of chips. This oasis in a landscape of Tex-Mex comes complete with a ceviche bar and an extensive cocktail menu, providing flavors as complex as the plot of a telenovela.

Once inside this restaurant, bathed in a somber yellow glow given

off by aged metal and glass chandeliers, you can pair cured cold smoked thresher shark ceviche with their signature La Sancha de Angeleno (pictured). For the timid types who fear they might have a weak stomach for shark (a "shark weak" stomach?), order the Negro Modelo-braised short ribs along with the La Sancha de Angeleno. Better still, if you are off food for the moment (it is beach weather; we won't blame you) order the La Sancha de Angeleno (can you tell we liked it?) -a fuchsia libation of vodka, pomegranate juice, and agave nectar topped by a single splendid jalapeño will make you understand that sweet, sour, and caliente make a perfectly combustible combination. One sip of La Sancha summarizes the overall vibe of Provecho: hip, urban, spicy and unexpected, just like that pool boy you picked up at the Blue Chairs in Puerto Vallarta.

HeSaidMag

No-Fry Zone

It's not the fat we love - it's the crispy edges. The good news is, you can get that crunch in the oven, without adding all the calories and risk of heart disease. Potato wedges, tortillas, chicken wings and egg rolls can all get brown and crispy in the oven. Plus, there's less mess and fewer greasy fingerprints to clean up. Remember, a 6-ounce baked potato has about 160 calories. Slice it up and fry it, and you're looking about 500 calories. Need we say more?

Make Your Kitchen A No-Fry Zone

8 Ways to Cut Fat Without Realizing It

1. Slice Fat from Pizza
2. Order the Steak Fries
3. Juice a Stir-Fry
4. Soften Your Spread
5. Cool Your Cans
6. Dilute Your Fruit Juice

7. Oil Your Potato
8. Say Goodbye to Rubbery Cheese

Men's Health Lists

10 Ways to Make Fast Food Healthy

Learn these fat-proof tricks so you can eat your fave foods in good conscience

• Make a Breakfast Sandwich Healthy
• Make a Burger Healthy
• Make a Burrito Healthy
• Make a Chicken Dinner Healthy
• Make a Coffee Drink Healthy
• Make a Salad Healthy
• Make a Sandwich Healthy
• Make a Sweet Drink Healthy
• Make Pizza Healthy
• Make Tuna Salad Healthy

By Abby Lerner

Not all fast food is created equal. Okay, but can you eat hamburgers, pizzas, and burritos without gaining a gut? Yes. You. Can! Even though these on-the-go meals wouldn't normally make the top of any nutritionist's food list, we tracked down some exceptions to the fast-equals-fat rule. Good thing, too, because the average American is consuming 100 drive-thru dishes a year. Here are the worst items at popular food franchises and simple fast food fixes that won't super-size your waistline.

Eat This, Not That

The Worst Frozen Coffee Drinks

 

• Worst Frozen Coffee Drink at Au Bon Pain
• Worst Frozen Coffee Drink at Auntie Anne’s
• Worst Frozen Coffee Drink at Baskin Robbins
• Worst Frozen Coffee Drink at Cosi
• Worst Frozen Coffee Drink at Dairy Queen
• Worst Frozen Coffee Drink at Dunkin’ Donuts
• Worst Frozen Coffee Drink at Einstein Bros.
• Worst Frozen Coffee Drink at Krispy Kreme
• Worst Frozen Coffee Drink at Panera
• Worst Frozen Coffee Drink at Sonic
• Worst Frozen Coffee Drink at Starbucks

By: Abby Lerner

Pure, black coffee is one of the world's most potent elixirs. In fact, research shows that a morning cup can help decrease your risk of Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and type-2 diabetes. That’s good news since 77 percent of U.S. adults over 18 years of age drink coffee on a daily or occasional basis, according to Michelle Eichhorn, associate research director at Kraft Foods' Coffee Division.

When summer rolls around, those who usually opt for hot black coffee or a sensible skim latte often change their order to a cooling, frozen drink.  But there's a big difference between an untainted cup of joe and the souped-up, sugar-loaded blends that list coffee as one of the ingredients. Order one of the 11 coffee drinks on this list, for example, and you’ll likely slurp down more fat than a hot fudge sundae. Consider them a warning of just how bad the creamy liquids can be—and opt for the better (much better) choices we suggest.

Eat This, Not That

The No-Carb Noodle

High in fiber and low in everything else, this mystery food deserves a spot on your menu

Photographs by: Plamen Petkov

Gone for good are the days when spaghetti was considered a guilt-free food. After all, pasta may be low in fat, but here in the 21st century we know it's loaded with the type of fast-digesting carbs that send your blood sugar soaring. And even more important, men tend to eat pasta in mounds, not moderation.

Men's Health

Pre-Workout: Energy Bar vs. Egg McMuffin

Eating 60 to 90 minutes before exercising helps to prevent light-headedness and loss of concentration during moderate to high-intensity activity. You'll need a simple fat, sugar and protein combination—this balance can be found in both a healthy breakfast food or a fitness bar. Which will power you through your workout without a crash?

The Winner: Egg McMuffin

A bar is easy, but the McMuffin is real, filling food, and it packs more protein in each calorie than the Stinger bar—including protein from egg whites, the purest form of muscle-building fuel available. If you're a morning workout man, skip the sugar-and-soy for actual breakfast to get going.

Food Face-Off: MensHealth.com

Spring Clean Your Diet

How to make Sangria

 

Sangria is the only time you should mix wine with liquor, and still be able to open the shades the morning after. To make your own, choose seasonal fresh fruits like watermelon, peaches, and cherries, and complement the fruit with fruit-flavored brandy, says Melissa Wentzell, general manager of the Amada restaurant in Philadelphia, known for its potent pitchers. The key is to let the fruit soak as long as possible, up to 2 days. "The longer it soaks, the more flavorful, and the more boozy it gets," Wentzell says.
You need:
2 cups of seasonal fresh fruit (watermelon, cherries, peaches)
1 750 ml bottle of red wine (burgundy) or white wine (light-bodied German wine)
½ cup fruit-flavored brandy
½ cup orange liqueur (Grand Marnier, Cointreau)
Sugar
Club soda
Mint
Chop up the fruit and put it in a bowl. Lightly sprinkle sugar over the fruit, and pour the brandy and orange liqueur over it. Let it soak in the bowl for at least 2 hours, up to 2-3 days. The longer the better. When it's ready, add the fruit to a large pitcher, filled with ice. Pour the wine over the fruit and add a spritz of club soda to give it a little fizz. Add a sprig of mint to each glass.

MH Weekend

Xtreme Eating 2009 dishes

The examples are extreme, says Jayne Hurley, RD, chief nutritionist for the Center for Science in the Public Interest. But that’s the point.

“The problem is these oversized foods come with oversized calories, saturated fat, and sodium,” Hurley says. “It used to be you got a single entree, and now in some cases you’re getting three entrees on your plate.”

The group’s Xtreme Eating 2009 dishes, listed in the June issue of its Nutrition Action Healthletter, include:

• Chili’s Big Mouth Bites with French fries (four mini bacon cheeseburgers with fried onion strings): 2,350 calories, 38 grams saturated fat, 3,940 milligrams sodium.
• Olive Garden Tour of Italy, with lasagna, chicken parmigiana, and fettuccine alfredo: 1,450 calories, 33 grams saturated fat, 3,830 milligrams sodium.
• The Cheesecake Factory Fried Macaroni and Cheese: 1,570 calories, 69 grams saturated fat, 1,860 milligrams sodium.
• Chili’s Original Half Rack of Baby Back Ribs: An add-on for entrees, with 490 calories, 12 grams saturated fat, and 2,050 milligrams sodium.
• Red Lobster Ultimate Fondue shrimp and crabmeat in a lobster cheese sauce served in a sourdough bread bowl: 1,490 calories, 40 grams saturated fat, 3,580 milligrams sodium.
• Uno Chicago Grill’s Mega-Sized Deep Dish Sundae: 2,800 calories, 72 grams saturated fat.
• The Cheesecake Factory’s Chicken and Biscuits: 2,500 calories.
• Applebee’s Quesadilla Burger with fries: 1,820 calories, 46 grams saturated fat, 4,410 milligrams sodium.
• The Cheesecake Factory Philly Style Flat Iron Steak with fries: 2,320 calories, 47 grams saturated fat, 5,340 milligrams sodium.

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