Guide to Healthy Living 2013

guide to healthy living

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Guide to Healthy Living 2013

Guide to Healthy Living 2013

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Guide to Healthy Living 2013

A Spoonful Of

A spoonful of sugar might help the medicine go down, but the sweet stuff has nothing on these good-for-you sips. — Julie Cohen

Local Honey Though there’s no hard evidence that local honey relieves allergy symptoms, honey does boost energy and reduce swelling. It doesn’t hurt that it tastes great, too. Find local honey at area markets and restaurants including Straub’s, Maude’s Market and Golden Grocer.

Apple Cider Vinegar This acid has been shown to improve blood sugar levels and is suspected to aid in carbohydrate digestion and weight loss. Hold your nose and take a gulp.

Cherry Juice This super food has even more antioxidants than pomegranates.

Drinking just a spoonful has been proven to decrease muscle soreness. Shots after the gym, anyone?

Coconut Oil This heart-healthy oil helps the body build resistance to viruses and bacteria. It has also been linked to lowering cholesterol.

Bonus: You get to smell like sunscreen year-round.

Lemon Juice A tablespoon taken an hour before a meal has been shown to help asthma; it also helps to relieve constipation, heartburn and indigestion. Pucker up – and squeeze it fresh.

Olive Oil Research has linked a tablespoon a day to weight loss because of its appetite-suppressing potential. Sound too slimy? Just add it to your salad.

spoons Photo by carmen troesser

A cup ol’ a local artisan tea ladies Two local tea purveyors are happy to deliver a healthy way to cheer up. Look for ReTrailer at area shops, where you can pick up loose tea blends made with organic, fair-trade ingredients.

We’re partial to the Cup of Love and keep a stash of Calm Yo’ Tummy for belt-loosening moments. Traveling Tea offers so many loose tea blends that we could stand at its farmers market booth for hours. Find Traveling Tea this month at the St. Louis Community Farmers Market (March 9) and Maplewood Winter Market (March 30).

Guide to Healthy Living 2013

Calling all locavores Missed the deadline to sign up for a subscription to a CSA? Two area grocery stores will let you join any time. Maude’s Market offers monthly and seasonal CSAs, with stashes to feed households large or small, and vegetarian and gluten-free options to boot. Local Harvest Grocery offers a weekly harvest subscription for omnivores or vegetarians, with pickup at its Kirkwood and Tower Grove locations. Sign up at maudestmarket.com and localharvestgrocery.com.

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don’t know how bad they feel until they cut those things out.”

As for the grains and dairy question, Nichole explained that, due to modern-day agriculture, those foods are not what they once were. Grains and soybeans are genetically modified.

Milk is pasteurized and homogenized. So really, Paleo is about avoiding foods that have been processed beyond our body’s recognition. Which is why the gluten-free bread found at the grocery store isn’t Paleo – it’s made with xanthan gum and rice flour. Which is also why the DiGiuseppis started The Organic Cave in the first place. “I can give up bread,” Nichole said, “but Angel missed sandwiches.”

Since Nichole enjoys baking, she decided to make Paleofriendly rolls and sweets.

“Through trial and error, I just started substituting foods I knew we could use that wouldn’t affect our bodies in a negative way,” she said.

Decoding the Paleo Diet by kellie hynes | photos by laura miller Right now your favorite Hollywood starlet and your favorite dry cleaner are singing the praises of the Paleo diet, a plan based on what cavemen hunted and gathered. And apparently those fur-gathering folk didn’t grocery shop at Target like the rest of us.

Those who follow a Paleo regimen eat lots of meat, fruits and veggies. The list of what they don’t eat is daunting:

gluten, dairy, casein (a milk protein), grains and soy. And that’s where it gets confusing.

Didn’t our ancient ancestors eat whole grains? Or drink mammoth milk? We chatted with the co-owners of The Organic Cave Paleo Bakery to better understand the philosophy behind this of-themoment diet.

Nichole DiGiuseppi and her wife, Angel, discovered the

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Paleo diet when a friend who was a nurse suggested it could help Nichole’s migraines. After 30 days, Nichole was headachefree. Angel’s asthma had improved. Both women felt fewer stomachaches and less bloated. “Our bodies can’t process gluten, grains, soy and dairy,” Nichole said.

“When we eat them, our bodies react. Our intestines become inflamed. People

The results were so tasty, friends and family encouraged the women to sell their goods at a local farmers market. Less than a year later, demand is so high that they’ve moved into a commercial baking space. “We started baking for ourselves, and then we found out that other people needed it, too,” Angel explained. “We couldn’t say no.”

paleo picks

Iced Scones

There’s nothing dry about these saltysweet goodies. Coconut oil and almond flours make the scones moist and delicious. $4 for 3.

Chocolate Cake in a Jar

Super-cute and yummy too.

Technically it’s big enough to share, but one bite of this rich, pure cocoa and coconut flour cake, and you’ll keep it all to yourself. $8.

Want to try the Paleo diet for yourself?

Stop by The Organic Cave Bakery at 3323-1 Domain St., St. Charles, 636.541.7321, theorganiccave.com. Or pick up the bakery’s items at Local Harvest Grocery’s Kirkwood and Tower Grove locations, and through the Feed Your Vitality meal delivery service, feedyourvitality.com.

Drew Drops

Quite possibly the best chewy drop cookie you’ll ever have. Liberated from soy and made with dairy-free chocolate chips, these taste better than the real thing. $9 for 6.

Guide to Healthy Living 2013

Guide to Healthy Living 2013

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Guide to Healthy Living 2013

skinny drinking

STOCKING UP

Just because you’re watching your waistline doesn’t mean you have to give up booze entirely. Get the skinny on why you should choose a fizz over a flip, where you can find a cocktail under 100 calories, and why one of your favorite poolside sippers will get you nowhere near bikini-ready.

– Ligaya Figueras

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The calories in each of two of the lowest-calorie beers around: Miller Genuine Draft 64 and Beck’s Light

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The amount by which the total calorie count in the average Piña Colada exceeds that of a Big Mac

The difference in calories between unsweetened sun tea and a Long Island Iced Tea

780

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The calories in a standard 4.1-ounce pour of Champagne

0

The amount of carbs, cholesterol and fat in a distilled spirit

Find food allergy freedom New Day Gluten Free, the only dedicated glutenfree eatery in St. Louis, is sensitive to more than those diagnosed with Celiac disease. Every item at the restaurant, located in Ellisville, is also peanut-free and many don’t even have casein, eggs, tree nuts or soy.

Carry on and prosper, allergy-burdened eaters.

Guide to Healthy Living 2013

The calories in each of the six cocktails on Fleming’s Skinnier Cocktails menu. Try the Stiletto, Farmer’s Skinny Daughter or Tickled Pink.

99

When your pantry is stocked with health-conscious staples, it’s easy to prepare nutritious meals at home.

Enter Golden Grocer. With nearly 300 bulk items and foods that fit dietary restrictions of all shapes and sizes, this should be your first stop on a path toward a healthier lifestyle. – Ligaya Figueras

Navitas Organic Raw Cacao Powder The nutritional benefits touted for raw cacao powder include improving heart function, alleviating stress and reducing your risk of cancer. Throw it into baked goods, sauces, spreads and smoothies.

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The additional grams of fat in a cocktail containing a whole egg as opposed to an egg white

Perhaps the most important number for your heath: the limit of alcoholic drinks per day for men and women, respectively, as recommended by the American Heart Association

12 to

Thunderbird Energetica Energy Bars Not only is this bar soy free, gluten free, dairy free, GMO free, all-natural and with no added sugar, it’s “shaman blessed.” Namaste and nighty-night, Luna Bar.

Raw Cashews Whether you’re cooking, baking or snacking, cashews are best when fresh. Also grab gogi berries and Himalayan Monukka raisins.

MaraNatha Sunflower Seed Butter Try this nut butter made from sunflower seeds, then start an office trend with your SS&J sandwich.

Dr. Bronner’s Magic “All-One!” FreshPressed Virgin Coconut oil This organic, fair-trade oil boosts metabolism and is a rich source for quick-energy providing medium-chain triglycerides (MTCs).

Drizzle it over curry or atop desserts, use it as a cooking oil or for popping popcorn, even spread it on as a lotion.

Golden Grocer, 335 N. Euclid Ave., Central West End, 314.367.0405, goldengrocer.com

continued on page 11 Fuel for the Wee Ones In need of a healthy lunch spot where little Johnnie won’t be nibbling sugary sweets that are sure to make naptime a nuisance? Head to Foundation Grounds, where the Kids Bites menu offers organic PB&J or a whole-wheat quesadilla and a side of fruit for just $5. There’s no kale or lima beans at this Maplewood coffee house, but while he’s busy munching, you can enjoy your cappuccino in peace.

Farm to Table without the Guilt If you haven’t discovered the Wellness Spa menu at Harvest Restaurant yet, it’s time you fine dined guilt-free. Low-cal salads wear house-made fat-free dressings, while entrees feature lean proteins and peakseason produce, and are often prepared with heart-healthy Kreta Reserve EVOO. Butter or cream? Not a drop. saucemagazine.com I SAUCE MAGAZINE I 9

2 a.m. Shakshuka

Boozy Bonus One skillet and one bowl means you won’t be cursing a sink full of dishes in the morning.

Because who are you kidding? Clean up is so not happening tonight.

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1 28-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained 1 14-oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained 2 Tbsp. olive oil 1 large onion, peeled and chopped 1 Tbsp. minced garlic 1 tsp. ground cumin 1 tsp. smoked paprika 1 tsp. Sriracha Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 4 to 6 eggs 4 oz. feta crumbles (optional) Flat leaf parsley for garnish 1 loaf crusty white bread or stack of pita

So you’ve danced the night away, and you’re hungry. Before you ruin a week’s worth of diet and exercise in a pepperoni-pizza binge, feast on shakshuka (shahk-SHOO-kah), a popular eggy Israeli dinner and the world’s most perfect drunk food.

It’s fabulously fun to say,

doesn’t require precise measuring and hits the spot when you’re craving some savory sustenance after a long, martini-laden night out.

Traditional recipes call for sauteed chiles, but a teaspoon of Sriracha does the job with no extra effort. You can also simplify the entire

dish by substituting jarred pasta sauce for the tomatoes and spices.

Sober enough to really cook? Add chiles, diced red peppers, capers, olives or spinach. No matter how you prepare it, shakshuka is so good for you, you’ll have no regrets in the morning.

– Kellie Hynes

• Empty the cans of tomatoes and their juices into a medium bowl. Use your hands to squeeze the whole tomatoes into small pieces. Set aside.

• Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute until soft and lightly brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin and smoked paprika.

Stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

• Add the tomatoes, Sriracha and a pinch of salt. Stir, scraping up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

• Bring the tomato sauce back to a boil over medium-high heat. Crack the eggs onto the top of the sauce, leaving space between each egg so that they don’t overlap. Cover and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the eggs reach your desired level of doneness, remembering that the eggs will continue to cook after the pan is removed from the heat.

• Sprinkle with feta and parsley.

Serve inside the pan with bread or pita for sopping up all that tomato and egg goodness.

Guide to Healthy Living 2013

Photo by Greg Rannells

late-night snack

4 Servings

Composting in a Cinch If you want a happy vegetable garden, you need happy soil. And there’s no better way to improve soil while saving money and helping the environment than by turning kitchen waste into nutrient-rich compost. Composting is the controlled process of decomposing organic material into fertilizer that conditions the soil.

jack petrovic photo by laura miller

Making your own “black gold” is easy. First, choose a dry, shady location on which to place your compost bin.

Add to the bin a 6-inch layer of “brown” matter such as hay, straw or old leaves. Next, add a 2- to 3-inch layer of “green” organic matter, such as grass clippings, manure, table scraps, coffee grinds and egg shells. (Compost no-nos: meats, oils, fish, dairy products, bones, diseased vegetables or flower plants, herbicidetreated grass clippings or weeds, and dog and cat feces.) Continue building the pile with layers of green and brown organic matter, watering the compost just enough to keep it moist, and turning it weekly with a shovel or pitchfork. If the compost is too wet or dry, it will

spring training

not heat up and will take longer for materials to break down. Covering the bin with a tarp will keep rain out and preserve moisture. Compost is ready to be added to the garden when it’s dark in color and smells earthy.

– Ligaya Figueras

Hoping the dead leaves and rotten tomatoes festering in your garden all winter have magically transformed into fertilizer?

Possibly. But that oft-forgotten bed of mess will need a little more TLC to yield that garden you’ve been dreaming about all winter long. And you’re just in time; March is the perfect month to get down to business. According to Schlafly Bottleworks’ master gardener and horticulturist Jack Petrovic, techniques for improving your soil range from throwing topsoil and compost on top of last year’s garden to double-digging your plot and sending soil samples to labs for analysis. For the average home gardener, he suggested this user-friendly approach to getting your soil in shipshape for prime planting season. — Julie Cohen

This fully adjustable, highly portable bin can hold more than 1 cubic yard of compost material.

Easy to assemble and with aerated sides that accelerate decomposition, it’s a great choice for beginner and master gardeners alike.

$38. Reynolds GeoBin Composting System, Bowood Farms, 4605 Olive St., Central West End, 314.454.6868, bowoodfarms.com

1 In the words of Petrovic, “Don’t be cheap. Be sure to buy quality compost (or make your own – see left). For the cost of a new cell phone, you can have a dump truck-full of quality compost delivered to your door.” * Available at Worm’s Way, 1225 North Warson Road, Olivette, 314.994.3900, wormsway.com

Jump on the Juice Bar Bandwagon The Urban Eats Cafe and Bar Plus juice bar has been making quick work of fresh produce since 2011.

At Nadoz Cafe at The Boulevard, a juice extractor was put to work late last year, while the juice bar at Nadoz’s location near SLU is mere weeks old.

Among the offerings, Nadoz owner Steven Becker swears by the Cardio; we swear by the Mean Green.

New to juicing? Start with the tame Green Apple.

Guide to Healthy Living 2013

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With the enormous amount of erosion and depletion Missouri soils have suffered, we’re left with what’s referred to as “Missouri clay,” with 4 to 6 inches of topsoil in our gardens, if we’re lucky. Start by using a rake to turn over the first few inches of your topsoil. Cover the topsoil with ½ inch of compost* or composted manure, and rake it in.

2 Sprinkle a Complete Organic Fertilizer (COF)* over the garden.

This will add a balance of important minerals to your soil. You can also add the volcanic rock dust AZOMITE* instead of COF, or use a combination of the two.

Top the COF with a light covering of mulch or straw. If you use leaf mulch, be careful not to work it into the top layer or it will severely rob the soil of nitrogen, and growth may slow or stop for months. Just lay it on top.

4 Go through this process every year, preferably in the fall (but March is OK, too). Over the years, organic material will eventually leach into the deeper layers, allowing roots to grow deeper.

Stop by Schlafly Bottleworks on the first Saturday of every month at 9 a.m. for Petrovic’s community gatherings and check out Schlafly’s Gardenworks’ Facebook page for news on upcoming gardening classes.

Raise the roof The folks at Urban Harvest STL are working to transform the 8,000-square-foot roof of a warehouse at 1335 Convention Plaza into the city’s first rooftop farm. They hope to launch a CSA in 2014. To help Urban Harvest raise the $25,000 it needs to begin construction, visit rallystl.org/ideas/detail/172 or shop this month at Whole Foods’ Brentwood location, which will donate 10 cents to Urban Harvest for every reusable bag you use. saucemagazine.com I SAUCE MAGAZINE I 11

Lettuce

We appreciate romaine for all its roughage, but we’d rather opt for a salad because it’s exquisite, not because it’s a dieter’s requisite. These four lettuce-less salads – a feast for both eyes and appetite – are proof positive that a salad can be more than a mélange of rabbit food. – Ligaya Figueras

Apricot, Coconut and Mint salad |

Leeks and Quail Egg salad | 4 Servings

SALAD 3 cups prepared couscous, warm 6 oz. dried apricots, sliced into thin strips 1 yellow pepper, roasted, skin peeled, cut into thin strips 1 cup freshly chopped mint ½ to 1 cup toasted coconut flakes

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4 Servings

DRESSING In a small bowl, whisk together 6 tablespoons of lime juice from about 3 limes, 4 tablespoons of olive oil, 3 tablespoons of honey, and kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

SALAD 1 lb. leeks, cleaned, trimmed and sliced thinly on a bias 1 bunch watercress, washed, dried and tough stalks removed 20 Kalamata olives, halved lengthwise 8 quail eggs, hard-boiled (or soft-boiled), peeled and halved

DRESSING In a small bowl, whisk together 5 tablespoons of olive oil, 1½ tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, and kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Guide to Healthy Living 2013

salad Photos by CARMEN TROESSER

Lose the

salad Photos by CARMEN TROESSER

ORANGE AND BEET SALAD | SALAD 4 oranges, skin and white pith removed, cut into thin rings ½ lb. beets (about 2 medium beets), cooked, peeled and diced Half of a small red onion, cut into thin rings

Guide to Healthy Living 2013

4 Servings DRESSING In a small bowl, whisk together 5 tablespoons of plain yogurt, 1 crushed garlic clove, 1 tablespoon of finely minced jalapeño, 2 teaspoons of orange juice, ½ teaspoon of orange zest, and kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

WARM MUSHROOM SALAD | 4 Servings In a large skillet, heat 4 tablespoons of oil over low heat. Add 3 minced garlic cloves and let warm for 2 minutes. Raise the heat to medium-high, then add 12 ounces of mixed mushrooms (oyster, shiitake, cremini) and saute until browned.

Stir in ¼ cup of freshly chopped parsley.

Cook for 1 minute and remove from heat.

Stir in ¼ cup of chopped walnuts and season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Garnish with grated pecorino or Parmesan cheese.

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Keeping your balance Part of Jason Tilford’s job is bouncing between the four restaurants he co-owns with his brother, Adam – Barrister’s, Tortillaria Mexican Kitchen, Milagro Modern Mexican and the newly opened Mission Taco Joint – and the nine others he consults on with buddy Chris LaRocca. With temptations of onion rings, burritos and margaritas galore, he’d have to be batteryoperated not to get real fat, real fast. Yet he’s one of the slimmest chefs in the business.

Sure, he has guilty pleasures – Barrister’s wings and Milagro’s chicken enchiladas to name a few – but Tilford has found a way to keep the extra pounds at bay, even while working the line. We begged him for his tricks for staying balanced in the most gluttonous profession around. He was happy to oblige.

— Julie Cohen

Eat well, but eat often I hardly ever sit down with a plate of food. I eat a lot, but mainly small meals, all day. I try not to eat late at night. I try to skip the sweets and fried food.

It’s funny; when you get into a routine, you crave eating healthy, almost.

You get so used to it that eventually that Alfredo cream sauce doesn’t even look good.

Mix it up I play soccer, but it’s tailed down a lot since I turned 40. I also do some weight training and flexibility stuff. I’m trying to get into yoga, but it might be too boring for me. And I coach my son’s soccer team.

Hit the gym early I have to get my kids to school by 7:30 a.m., and the restaurant stuff doesn’t really wake up until 9. If I don’t go in the morning, usually, it’s not going to happen.

If work starts calling? [Laughs] I can answer the first couple texts and emails of the day on the treadmill.

If you miss the morning window?

I go to Club Fitness and there’s one near my house, one between Milagro and Barrister’s, one near my sons’ school. They’re all in my rat race. There’s even one near Restaurant Depot [a purchasing center for restaurants].

milagromodernmexican.com tortillaria.net barristers-clayton.com facebook: mission taco joint

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Guide to Healthy Living 2013

photo by ashley gieseking

Shot on location at Sweat

Guide to Healthy Living 2013

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