Todays Words of Wisdom....

Spicy Sweet Potato Chips

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons maple syrup 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

3 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch slices salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or lightly grease a cookie sheet.
2.	Stir together olive oil, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl. Brush the sweet potato slices with the maple mixture and place onto the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
3.	Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, then turn the potato slices over, brush with any remaining maple mixture, and continue baking until tender in the middle, and crispy on the edges, about 7 minutes more.

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Printed from Allrecipes.com 9/16/2013

How to Make Stress Your Friend - A TED Talk

Watch this intriguing video of Kelly McGonigal, a health psychologist, discussing the latest research on our thought processes and stress. 

Stress may only be detrimental if you think it is.

 

 

 

 

Know Your Beef and Choose Wisely

This article, from Spark People, really spells out the different cuts of meat and helps you make informed decisions to support yourself in reaching your goals.  For those who eat it, meat provides protein and other nutrients, too, including iron, thiamine, and zinc. But many sources of meat can also be high in fat, especially saturated fat, which has been linked to high cholesterol and heart disease. And any food that is high in fat is also higher in calories, which can make it tough to reach your weight management goals. To assist consumers in meat selection, the government developed the following definitions, based on a cooked, 3-ounce portion of meat.

• Extra lean meat contains less than 5 grams of total fat and less than 2 grams of saturated fat.
• Lean meat contains less than 10 grams of total fat and less than 4.5 grams of saturated fat.

This guide will help you to navigate the meat department and make the best choices for health, calories, and flavor. <pagebreak>

Beef

Once considered a health no-no, red meat is making its way back to the plates of dieters and health-conscious eaters alike. But not every cut of red meat is a winner. Here are some considerations to make when selecting beef.

Grade: Grade refers to the amount of marbling, or fat, found in the cut of meat. It has nothing to do with the safety of the meat or how it was raised—it's all about the fat content. Meat that has a higher grade has more fat, and therefore greater tenderness. The three most common grades are:

1. Prime (the fattiest cut, most often found in restaurants)
2. Choice (moderate in fat)
3. Select (the leanest grade).

Cut: Cut refers to the part of the animal the meat has been taken from. Most of the leaner cuts come from the animal’s hip or hindquarter region. "Round" or "loin" are keywords to look for when you want the leanest cut of meat (think top round, sirloin, top loin, tenderloin, eye round, etc.). When selecting ground beef, look at the percentages: 80/20% lean means the meat is 80% lean and 20% fat. Look for ground beef labeled 90/10% (or leaner). To assist with the nutritional analysis of your ground beef selection, check out this calculator developed by the USDA. See the chart below for a nutritional comparison of various cuts of beef.

Color: Color is another way to tell how much fat red meat contains. Visible marbling (fat streaks) indicates higher fat meats; less marbling means it's lower in fat. For ground meat, the darker the meat, the lower its fat content and vice versa.

A Note on Grass-Fed Beef

Most cattle in the U.S. are fed a grain-based diet comprised of corn, soy and other byproducts despite the fact that cattle are natural grazers of grass and other greens. Some research indicates that grass-fed beef may be lower in overall fat and higher in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids than its conventional counterparts. Grass-fed beef should be labeled as such, and if it doesn't have that label, you can assume it was grain-fed. Many traditional supermarkets now offer some grass-fed beef, but the best place to purchase is at your local farmers market or health food store. If your local grocer does not carry grass-fed beef, ask the butcher if they would be able to get it in for you. If they know there is a demand for a product, then they will try harder to supply the product to meet consumer demands.

See the chart below for a nutritional comparison of various types of beef. These values are for a single cooked, 3-ounce serving (85 grams) of meat with fat trimmed, unless otherwise specified.

Beef Cut	Calories	Total Fat (g)	Sat Fat (g)	Cholesterol (mg)
Eye round roast	138	3.5	1.2	63
Ground beef (95/5%)	145	5.6	2.5	65
Top sirloin steak	156	4.9	1.9	70
Bottom round roast	157	6.5	2.7	66
Flank steak	158	6.3	2.6	66
T-Bone steak	161	7.4	2.6	47
Tenderloin steak	164	6.7	2.5	69
Chuck shoulder pot roast	167	6.6	2.4	83
Round steak, top	169	4.3	1.5	76
Top round roast	169	4.3	1.4	76
Brisket flat half	174	5.9	2.3	85
Round steak, bottom	182	6.5	2.3	79
Porterhouse steak	184	9.5	3.3	53
Ground beef (90/10%)	184	10	3.9	72
Beef brisket	185	8.6	3.1	79
Beef ribs	202	11	4.5	69
Ground beef (80/20%)	230	15	5.7	77

Beef vs. Bison

Bison (or the American Buffalo) has a similar taste and texture as beef, but is leaner in fat and lower in calories. For example, a cooked serving of ground bison contains 152 calories, 7 grams of fat and 3 grams of saturated fat, compared to ground beef, which provides 210 calories, 13 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat on average. While there is a lot of variety in the diets of most American cattle, bison are generally grass-fed and are not given antibiotics or hormones. However, inspection is mandatory for beef, but not for bison. Bison is also not graded by the USDA, which is voluntary for beef.