American food #2

My first American food post was all the way back in Washington D.C. (how is that 6 weeks ago?). Thus, I think we are overdue for the second! These items are from various stops on our travels, and all seemed worthy of blog attention, albeit not so much attention that they get their own posts.

First: Enormous pizza.

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In my kitchen - the America to Australia edition (October 2013)

I am linking this post in to Celia's monthly In My Kitchen event at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial.

In my kitchen, there is me! We survived our incredibly long journey home (1.5 hours to get from Manhattan to JFK airport; 3 hours at the airport; 11 hours on a plane; 2 hours at Dubai airport; 10 hours on a plane; 1 hour to clear passport control, customs, and get ourselves to actually home) and are back in Australia in body, if not fully in mind.

The last holiday photo, just before we disappeared through that A6 gate.

In my kitchen, there is a Whole Foods bag I brought back with us. I filled it this morning when re-stocking on fruit and vegetables.

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D.C.'s Sticky Fingers vegan bakery

I mentioned that I wanted to give separate space to one of our Washington D.C. dinners, and I hope that with this post you will see why. In addition to Sweetgreen, Sticky Fingers Bakery (all vegan) and Pete's Apizza (vegan pizzas with Daiya cheese on offer) were on my list of 'to visit' places for D.C. food. We didn't end up making it to Pete's Apizza, a consequence of some delayed jet lag on my part and the fact that I really prefer my pizza cheeseless. We did, however, make it to Sticky Fingers. It was so good I wish we'd made it twice!

Sticky Finger's awards

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Loving this week {July 2013}

I am linking this into cityhippyfarmgirl's 'loving this week' post for July.

The 'loving'this week' posts are all about the little moments in your days and weeks that have tickled your heart.

Loving...

Quinoa cooked with the juice of one lemon and topped with paprika-spiced tofu (and vegetables). I  think lemon may be my favourite quinoa accompaniment.

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In my kitchen - July 2013

I am linking this post in to Celia's monthly In My Kitchen event at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial.

I didn't do an In My Kitchen post last month and I found I rather missed it. They are certainly fun posts to put together (reflected, I think, in the number of people now doing them). I'm pleased to be back with a post for July.

In my kitchen this month, we have these raw, vegan Kitz 'Mexican buckwheat' crackers.

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In my kitchen - April 2013

I am linking this post in to Celia's monthly In My Kitchen event at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. 

In my kitchen, there are sugar snap peas snow peas (thank you, Hannah, for educating me!), another vegetable re-discovery thanks to Aussie Farmers Direct. The last re-discovery was corn on the cob.

I had forgotten, or perhaps never knew, how enjoyable these are. Crunchy, sweet, no preparation time, and good straight up, cold in salads, or warm in stir fries.

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The new Australian Dietary Guidelines

Have you seen them?

(Did you know what the old ones said?)

Released a week ago, the new Australian Dietary Guidelines replace those published in 2003, which in turn built on recommendations that had been around since 1998. Details of how the guidelines were developed are summarised on the Australian government's Eat for Health website, which also includes downloadable copies of the guidelines (in full and summarised form) themselves.

The new 2013 guidelines in plate form.
Source: http://eatforhealth.gov.au.

There are five main recommendations in the new guidelines, of which three relate to food choices (the others are to promote breastfeeding, and to store and prepare food hygienically and safely). These three are:

1. Achieve and maintain a healthy weight, be physically active and choose amounts of nutritious food and drinks to meet your energy needs:

• Children and adolescents should eat sufficient nutritious foods to grow and develop normally. They should be physically active every day and their growth should be checked regularly.
• Older people should eat nutritious foods and keep physically active to help maintain muscle strength and a healthy weight.

2. Enjoy a wide variety of nutritious foods from the following five groups each day, and drink plenty of water:

• Plenty of vegetables, including different types and colours, and legumes/beans.
• Fruit.
• Grain (cereal) foods, mostly wholegrain and/or high cereal fibre varieties, such as breads, cereals, rice, pasta, noodles, polenta, couscous, oats, quinoa and barley.
• Lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds, and legumes/beans.
• Milk, yoghurt, cheese and/or their alternatives, mostly reduced fat (reduced fat milks are not suitable for children under the age of 2 years).

3. Limit intake of foods containing saturated fat, added salt, added sugars and alcohol:

• Limit intake of foods high in saturated fat (e.g., biscuits, cakes, pastries, pies, processed meats, commercial burgers, pizza, fried foods, potato chips, crisps).
• Replace high fat foods which contain predominantly saturated fats (e.g., butter, cream, cooking margarine, coconut and palm oil) with foods which contain predominantly polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats (e.g., oils, spreads, nut butters/pastes and avocado).
• Low fat diets are not suitable for children under the age of 2 years.
• Limit intake of foods and drinks containing added salt; read labels to choose lower sodium options among similar foods; and do not add salt to foods in cooking or at the table.
• Limit intake of foods and drinks containing added sugars such as confectionery  sugar-sweetened soft drinks and cordials, fruit drinks, vitamin waters, energy and sports drinks.
• If you choose to drink alcohol, limit intake. For women who are pregnant, planning a pregnancy or breastfeeding, not drinking alcohol is the safest option.

Complementing these broad guidelines are lots of specifics, including examples of how to achieve them, calculators and quizzes to determine where you fall in different areas, and recommended serving sizes and serve per day quotas.

As with the 2003 guidelines, it is recommended that adults eat at least 5 serves of vegetables, 2 serves of fruit, around 6 serves of grains, 1-3 serves protein equivalents, and 2 1/2 serves of dairy equivalents. 'Discretionary choices', or 'sometimes foods', are suggested at a range of 0-3 serves per day.

The old 2003 guidelines in plate form.
Source: National Health & Medical Research Council.

So what are the changes from 2003 to 2013? Here are the main ones I have found.

The serving size of grain ('carbohydrate') products has been halved. Thus, whilst the recommended number of serves remains approximately the same (currently 6), the 2013 guide halves the recommended intake overall. One serve is now defined as 1 piece of bread instead of 2 pieces; 1/2 cup of rice instead of 1 cup; 1/2 cup porridge instead of 1 cup; and 2/3 cup flaked breakfast cereal instead of 1 cup. There is also a much greater emphasis on whole grains.

The guidelines are friendlier towards vegetarian and vegan diets. In 2003, example statements on vegetarianism included:

"Plant foods are important, protective foods. This, however, does not mean that plant foods alone will make your diet a healthy one."

"Not eating meat removes the major source of  iron and zinc from daily meals."

"Dairy foods are the best source of calcium, which overcomes another of the nutritional shortcomings of a vegan diet."

(Reference: p. 13 of the 2003 Australian Dietary Guidelines found here.)

In 2013, we have the following:

"Alternatives to animal foods include nuts, seeds, legumes, beans and tofu. For all Australians, these foods increase dietary variety and can provide a valuable, affordable source of protein and other nutrients found in meats. These foods are also particularly impotant for those who follow vegetarian or vegan dietary patterns."

"Australians following a vegetarian diet can still meet nutrient requirements if energy needs are met and the appropriate number and variety of serves from the Five Food Groups are eaten throughout the day. For those eating a vegan diet, supplementation of B12 is recommended."

(Reference: p. 21 of the 2003 Australian Dietary Guidelines found here.)

In the brief summary of the guidelines, there is also the suggestion "Include some meat-free meals each week - include eggs, legumes such as beans and tofu, and nuts and seeds" (p. 21). Men are also told that they are probably eating too much red meat.

The guidelines are now less fat avoidant, focusing on avoiding saturated fats but promoting a moderate intake of unsaturated fats.

There is a mention of sustainable food choices for the environment, although this topic is not explored in any great detail and would easily be overlooked (and doesn't make the summary version of the guidelines, only the full document). 

There is also mention of the environmental factors (including socioeconomic circumstance) that can impact food choices and availability.

The strength given to recommendations for increased vegetable intake, fruit intake, and wholegrain intake is greater. Specifically, the new guidelines focus in more detail on the evidence linking these foods to lower rates of cancer and heart disease.

Source: Page 14 of the summary 2013 Australian Dietary Guidelines booklet found here.

In all, I quite like the new guidelines. They still allow up to 3 'discretionary' food choices per day, which equates to 75g chocolate. They accept that I may choose not to eat meat or eggs or dairy products. They have lower carbohydrate recommendations, but also suggest that we match our dietary intake to our personal requirements. Given that I exercise regularly and on some days intensely, my carbohydrate requirements will be higher on some days.

There are still things I don't like, or which I would prefer to be worded differently, but I am not an expert on public health nutrition and I respect the effort that has gone into these guidelines. The challenge now, I suspect, is on helping Australia adopt them.

If you are Australian, are you familiar with the new guidelines? What do you think of them?

If you aren't Australian, how do they compare to the guidelines where you live?

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Loving this week {February 2013} - easy food combinations that taste really good

I am linking this into cityhippyfarmgirl's 'loving this week' post for February. Her 'loving' posts are about the little moments in your days and weeks that have tickled your heart.

For February, I am focusing on some easy food combinations that I am loving a whole lot right now.

Quinoa with apple stewed in vanilla and cardamom. Sometimes with berries too.

This is top of the list for a reason. I love it cold, at any time of day.

Vanilla soy ice cream with 70% cocoa chocolate scattered on top.

Also vanilla soy ice cream with carob powder mixed through.

In truth, vanilla soy ice cream is going pretty well right now, however it comes.

Sweet potato with puy lentils, lettuce and sweet chilli sauce. I would have used baby spinach leaves, but we were out. Lettuce stood in just fine.

Sweet potato with tahini and nutritional yeast is a pretty good mix too.

And on the topic of tahini, it turns out that fig jam and tahini is an amazing combination, even for someone who doesn't usually eat jam. When spread on crackers or dolloped on oats, wonderful things happen.

Smoothies with cereal sprinkled atop.

And on a final, store-bought note - tofu rice paper rolls, with a side of fruit.

If you took away my cooking rights for a week (and let me pre-cook quinoa, puy lentils and sweet potato...), I might just eat these in constant rotation.

What easy food combinations are you loving right now?

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In my kitchen - February 2013

I am linking this post in to Celia's monthly In My Kitchen event at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. 

In my kitchen, there are, at long last, vegan marshmallows made up from my UK-purchased but New Zealand-made mix.

From this...

...to this. The wonderment!

After reading some of the comments on this post, I used slightly less sugar with the mix than recommended (1 3/4 cups instead of 2), and coated the marshmallows in corn flour instead of icing sugar or anything else sweet. The marshmallows are still sweet, but at the level expected for marshmallows - and I love them. 

The process of making these was also quite an adventure, and as a result, there are a few sticky spots in my kitchen too. 

This picture didn't really need to be included, 
but the unintentional posing of my right foot made me laugh.

Whipping marshmallow mix up should have been included in chemistry lessons at school. Between the heating of water and sugar to 120'C, the thickening of said sugar on standing, the change in form of the marshmallow mixture when beaten, and then setting of the mixture from liquid-gooey to solid-gooey...what more does a chemistry lesson need?

This picture did need to be included,
because this is a dish that invites one to dive in.

In my kitchen, there is a free calendar provided by a local chemist.

I am not usually one to use chemist-provided calendars, but this one is above average and the picture for February is particularly soothing on hot summer afternoons.


In my kitchen, there are soaked great northern beans and dry puy lentils.

Great Northern Beans, from Canada, apparently

These are the first puy lentils I have bought and I am looking forward to trying them.

Puy lentils, from the Le Puy region of France, because that's how they roll

They are also the first lentil variety that I am deeming beautiful. Truly, gorgeously beautiful.

In my kitchen, there is a new cereal, bought on a whim whilst on special.

I quite like it. Mostly for snacking, though, rather than breakfast-ing.

In my kitchen, there is a renewed love affair with quinoa. When I rediscovered couscous at the end of last year, quinoa seemed to drop off my grain rotation. I have now brought it back on high rotation.

Quinoa with salsa and chilli flavoured kidney beans

My quinoa love affair has also been taken to new heights by the combination of quinoa and star anise. Thank you to those of you who left advice (or just comments of enthusiasm) on my recent star anise purchase. You are all right. It is divine. I adore it.

Star anise flavoured quinoa. Oh, the deliciousness.

In my kitchen, or at least adjoining it, there will soon be a bike. This is because I am not the bike repair person in this house, and having a bike inside the house (normally Not Allowed Never At All) seems a worthwhile trade off for someone fixing my bike.

Why the bike fixing? After riding into a fence a week ago, temporarily interfering with my bike chain and with the intactness of my leg, this week I blew my back tyre about 10 minutes from home. Please note that the 10 minutes from home refers to cycling time. It turns out that 10 minutes in cycling time is more like 40 minutes in walking-your-bike-home time.

Riding my bike into a fence was the consequence of trying to re-arrange fresh produce in my bike basket while riding. After my tyre difficulties this week, our fruit and vegetables were purchased with a car, and came home in a box.

And so, in my kitchen, there is also a box worth of fruit and vegetables and a fridge filled with watermelon, rockmelon and grapes.

What is happening in your kitchen?

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European food III - a final catch up

This is the third and final food-focused post from our European honeymoon in September (parts I and II are here and here). Given it's now 10 weeks since we returned home, that is probably just as well. My memory for food-related events is remarkably good, but passing the three month mark might have been problematic even for me.

Stop one: Zizzi Restaurant, Canary Wharf, London.

Zizzi is an Italian chain restaurant that is slightly more upmarket than Pizza Express. It was recommended by Lonely Planet and there are over 80 restaurants across England, Wales and Scotland. We visited the Canary Wharf branch, which was located around the corner from our London apartment. It had views over the Thames River and was warm and cozy inside.

Thames-side views

We had examined the menu earlier in the day, so I knew Zizzi provided a good range of salads and some appealing pizzas. I decided on the Superfood Salad, which came with butternut squash, ribbons of courgette, lentils, broad beans, mint, balsamic vinegar dressing, and bonus dough sticks. The standard version would have come with goats' cheese, but I asked for that to be omitted.  Having eliminated the cheese, there was nothing I didn't like. It was a gorgeous salad. I could have eaten it twice over.

Superfood Salad

It's fortunate I didn't eat it twice, though, because Mr Bite ordered the Primavera rustica pizza in part so I could share a slice. (I did offer him some of my salad, but he inexplicably declined.) Zizzi offers 'classic' pizzas and 'rustica' pizzas, with the rustica variety having a larger and thinner base and providing a higher proportion of toppings to crust. 

The Primavera is topped with aubergine, artichoke, peppers, olives, tomato sauce, mozzarella and goats' cheese. It was easy for me to eat around the cheese and we both loved it.

Primavera rustica pizza

Unfortunately, we weren't able to re-create our positive Zizzi experience when we visited the York restaurant a week later. I ordered the beetroot and ricotta salad minus the ricotta (the other ingredients included asparagus, artichoke, rocket, and pumpkin seeds), but found there was too much beetroot and I couldn't finish it. I regretted not ordering the Superfood Salad a second time. Mr Bite did order the same Primavera pizza, but Zizzi had changed their rustica pizza bases in the week between our two visits. They now do a wholemeal base and have a different type of tomato paste. I liked it, but Mr B did not.

Our York experience aside, I would recommend Zizzi for easy, well prepared food and extensive menu options. Both of the restaurants we ate in were attractive and well-located and the staff were happy to modify my salad orders for me.

Stop two: Sainsbury's Supermarket, Arnison Retail Centre, Durham.

Our Durham accommodation was next to a small collection of shops that included a large Sainsbury's Supermarket. Despite my enjoyment of Waitrose in London, Sainsbury's is probably my favourite English supermarket chain. In typical British fashion, even supermarkets carry class connotations and Waitrose is unmistakably upper class. It carries luxury products that are only affordable if you are riding on Australian exchange rates, or have a large amount of money to allocate to supermarket shopping. Sainsbury's sits above the bargain-focused stores, but allows you to shop without bankrupting yourself.

The only problem with our Durham Sainsbury's was our (my) inability to buy as much food as we (I) would have liked. Still, even browsing was enjoyable. I also found a variety of frozen yoghurt that delighted me enough to initiate dancing in the freezer aisle.

Vanilla flavoured pumpkin seeds. In frozen yoghurt. In natural frozen yoghurt.

The other flavours of YooMoo frozen yoghurt are pretty appealing too, but this angelmoo variety was love at first sight. And more love at first taste.

Stop three: Pizza Express, Brindley Place, Birmingham.

Having tried Zizzi twice, we thought it only fair to visit Pizza Express for comparative purposes. As with our Canary Wharf Zizzi experience, the location of the restaurant we visited was fantastic. The Brindley Place Pizza Express overlooks the newly developed Birmingham canals, and was busy despite being a weeknight.

Birmingham canals at Brindley Place

As with Zizzi, Pizza Express offers a number of pizza varieties. In their case, they are classic, romana (thin and crispy) and leggera (a ring of the romana dough, with a hole in the middle filled with salad!).

Mr Bite ordered the classic Giardiniera pizza topping, but on the romana base. The Giardiniera includes artichokes, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, leeks, olives and garlic oil on a tomato and pesto base. Unlike his Zizzi pizzas, it was too cheesy for me, but it was nonetheless a step up from your standard take-away pizza. Moreover, he enjoyed it, which is the important thing.

Apologies for the photo quality...
Giardiniera pizza above, warm vegetable salad below

I ordered the warm vegetable and goats cheese salad, minus (can you guess?) the goats cheese. This was delicious. The salad included chargrilled aubergine and peppers, roasted tomatoes and artichoke, cucumber, lentils, mint and basil. It also came with dough sticks. I would struggle to say which I preferred out of this and Zizzi's Superfood Salad.

If Australia's pizza chains would start serving warm vegetable salads, I would be very happy.

Stop four: Vegan marshamallow mix.

This Angel Food vegan marshmallow mix actually originates in New Zealand, so I find it amusing that I picked it up in Birmingham. From an air miles perspective, this is a very well traveled packet - embarrassingly so. As I now know, Angel Food ships to Australia (an exciting discovery if ever there was one), so I could have waited until I was home and ordered this mix online. At the time, though, my thought process went something like "vegan marshmallows-ohmygoodness-I have to have them-I need them-Mr Bite wait I need to buy these-Mr Bite come back!-vegan marshmallows squee!".

There was no waiting.

I haven't yet used these - I am saving them for a "special occasion", which better arrive before April next year - but am extremely excited to do so.

So there we have it - the end of my European food experiences, at least for now. Have you tried any of the things featured here? Or made / bought vegan marshmallows more generally?

On a more sombre note, my heart goes out to those affected by the recent Connecticut shootings. I don't have enough words to convey how awful the event seems. Shooting innocent children at school should never happen. I hope it never does again. It is heartbreaking.

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In my kitchen - November 2012

I have decided, two months short of the end of the year, to abandon my "What I've Enjoyed This Month" posts and instead continue with Cityhippyfarmgirl's "Loving This Week" initiative, which falls on the last Sunday of the month. Doing both seems a tad repetitive and this way I can allocate my end-of-month post to Celia's "In My Kitchen" event. This is a lovely initiative hosted by Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial, which gives a peek into other people's kitchens.

So...

In my kitchen this month...

There have been signs of summer, with icy smoothies and grilling for dinner.

Hemp seed milk, frozen raspberries, spinach and mint

I could do this in winter,  but for some reason I don't

There was a very odd lolly foot, given to Mr Bite after Halloween by one of his nieces.

There have been roasted chickpeas flavoured with Sicilian herbs and garlic (a delightful mix).

I just wish these got less seasoning on my fingers. They are very messy to eat whilst working.

There have been baking trays from my late grandmother, after the inevitable sorting out of my grandparent's old house. I haven't been able to bring myself to use the trays yet, but they are very special to have.

There have been artichokes, on pizza and in other forms, after many delicious artichoke experiences in Europe. I haven't managed to recreate the deliciousness at home yet, so I sense they won't be featuring in future months. The fresh ones intimidate me and the tinned ones are, well, tinned.

Finding the artichoke amongst the pineapple is a tricky task - but it is there

There has been broken glass. I found myself on another breakage streak, resulting in three broken things this month. One of the breakages was a sweet chilli sauce jar, which was nearly empty but (crucially) not quite. Glass and sticky sauce are a challenge I hope I don't meet again for some time.

There has been coconut water, my first and I suspect my last. I found this so disgusting I couldn't finish the pack! I think this is one trend I won't be following (perhaps for the best, given cost).

And of course, there has been a whole heap of non-dairy ice cream.

I am linking this in to Celia's In My Kitchen event for November 2012.

What has been happening in your kitchen lately?

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Loving this week {18th - 25th November 2012}

I am linking this into cityhippyfarmgirl's 'loving this week' post number 7. Her 'loving this week' posts are about the little moments in your week that have tickled your heart.

Here are some of the things that have recently tickled mine...

Beetroot sourdough bread from Lawley's bakery

An unexpected find. I love the colour and (somewhat surprisingly) the taste

Summer fruit

Lots and lots of summer fruit

Running in my new running shoes

They make me faster, I am sure of it

Baking to ease away inexplicable, no-reason-to-be-anxious-but-I-am anxiety

Mixing, stirring, tasting, baking, breathe

The baking result

No added sugar apple and zucchini muffins that are a twist on these 'ugly duckling' muffins 

(the twist being the omission of carrot, the omission of brown sugar, and the addition of ground oats to replace the plain flour)

Jigsaw puzzling

We still have a lot to go...

Playing with my camera

Alternating coffee with almond milk and coffee with hemp seed milk

I was trying to reduce my two coffees a day to one coffee a day, but I have given up

Printing wedding and honeymoon photos

The albums are yet to be created, but at least the photo selection is done!

What are you loving this week?

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