Mark's Daily Apple

Healthy Tastes Great!

Ginger Salmon

Wrinkle-Free News

Worker Bees’ Daily Bites:

The week’s off to an interesting start! Here’s the latest from the world of health.

1) Bird Flu Gets Real

From those news nuts over at The Lede: Culling has begun in the UK to curtail bird flu. Regardless, nobody should be eating chicken nuggets.

2) This Just In: Kids Like Junk Food, Study Says

That’s Fit reports that kids are fatter than ever thanks to zero exercise and an abundance of junk food in everything from school cafeterias to Costco’s towering shelves. Is this a surprise?

We can all moan and groan about it, but better to be proactive. Maybe you have kids. Maybe you are a kid. Either way, these steps are non-negotiable when it comes to health:

- Daily exercise of some sort. It can be as basic as walking home from school, mowing the lawn, helping out with household chores, or walking the dog. But exercise is a must. Make it a requirement for TV and computer privileges. Worried about enforcing it? You make them brush their teeth, do their homework and occasionally even bathe. Add this to the list.

- Daily vegetable intake, preferably not fried. Whether you spend an hour on Sundays putting together baggies of veggie snacks, or whether you make them do it for themselves, get veggies into your kids! Kids love junk food. Their taste buds are literally wired for it. It’s probably not realistic to think they aren’t going to eat junk ever, but you can at least keep it out of the house. Always serve a salad for dinner, and keep washed fruit available at all times. Kids don’t mind peas or green beans – even the most finicky kids will eat a bowl of peas. Kids do crave starch, but keep those options green. Avoid the fries, tater tots, chips and other pale starches.

- Lie. Tell them eating healthy will diminish acne, mood swings and body odor. (Actually, it’s not even a lie).

- Enact and enforce a zero-tolerance soda ban. As far as your kids are concerned, soda is Satan.

Kids are gonna do stupid stuff – you can’t watch their every move. But you have more influence than you may think, so use it. This means setting a good example, of course!

3) Tofi

Diet toffee? Tea-coffee? Hipster tofu?

No, TOFI stands for something else entirely, and it’s a…big…problem.

4) Enviga’s Going Down!

Mark’s Daily Apple was among the first to debunk this ridiculous new “negative calorie” drink from Coke. Now the big guns are getting on Coke’s case, too. Aha!

5) Making Single People Everywhere Feel Really Fabulous

Thanks, Scotsman. No, seriously, thanks. This study is small, merely highlights reasonable correlation (rating your own emotions: not exactly the gold standard of scientific inquiry), and also, it’s totally annoying. It makes sense that the more socially active and fulfilled you are, the healthier you will be. Studies prove that consistently. This is more about finding something sensational to whip up on a Monday. If we were betting bees, we’d lay good money that tonight’s news will start with: “Stay tuned: one more reason why you are doing everything wrong for your health!” Which isn’t really a risky bet, since that’s what they say every night. You’re not doing everything wrong. You’re here, aren’t ya?

6) Quote Me

Things Big Puff (that’s Big Tobacco, not Puff Daddy…er, Diddy…Diddly? Duddy?) really must regret saying. Thanks, Healthbolt. Also check out the Australian cig warnings. Subtle!

A Monday Moment

Let’s start the week off with some humor. I believe – and science supports this – that being cheerful keeps you healthy. When the going gets rough, just remember, it gets rough for everyone:

Always forgive your enemies – nothing annoys them so much. (Oscar Wilde)

The day after tomorrow is the third day of the rest of your life.  (George Carlin)

The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there’s a 90% probability you’ll get it wrong. (Andy Rooney)

Sometimes I wonder if men and women really suit each other. Perhaps they should live next door and just visit now and then. (Katharine Hepburn)

I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours. (Jerome K. Jerome)

More great quotes 

Mark’s Weekly Health Challenge

This week, bust your butt to bust your gut. Exercise every day. Park your car way out of sight. Surprise the dog with an extra-long walk. Make television commercials your own personal sit-up special. Bike with the kids. Walk after every meal. Make activity your middle name this week. Now get moving!

Sisson’s Super Bowl Tips

And we were just getting over the carb onslaught of the holidays. The Super Bowl presents a little dilemma for guys (and gals) who are health-minded: how to simultaneously hang with buddies, drink beer, maintain healthy eating habits, not feel like a pig, avoid celery and carrot sticks, and all without spending the entire time manning the kitchen island. It can be done.

Here’s what I plan to make (or enlist the rugrats to make while I mess with all the electronics after suffering through customer service in vain for two hours).

I have a strict 20-minute prep rule for all game day foods, but I also like to eat food that tastes better than greasy pizza, stale chips, and dips that all taste pretty much like flavorless goop.

The following things are really easy to make. They taste great, and you can mess around with seasonings and extras as much as you like without really ruining anything.

Here’s how it works:

Guacamole

Plan on at least one avocado for each guest.
Halve and peel avocados.
Plunk in large bowl.
Mash with utensil.

Add in a few tablespoons of salsa, a teaspoon or so of salt, and juice of one lime or lemon (or a few squirts of ready-to-go lemon juice). Stir.

Result for 5 minutes of effort: completely healthy dip everyone loves, and enough Omega 3’s to write home about.

What to dip into this? See the next snack for tips on a reasonably healthy alternative to greasy, trans-fat-filled chips.

Spinach and artichoke dip

Most spinach-and-artichoke recipes are really just mayo and parmesan with a little green stuff thrown in. I do the opposite for a result that tastes just as good but is a lot healthier.

You’ll need:

1 bag of frozen spinach (partially thaw in the microwave for 1 or 2 minutes)

1 bag of frozen artichoke pieces or hearts (thaw these puppies, too)

1 cup of parmesan (any kind, but I like fresh grated)

1 teaspoon of salt (any kind, but I like coarse)

A few tablespoons of olive oil (enough to help mix all the ingredients)

Dump it all into a medium-size glass or metal dish, mix, and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.

Total prep time to get to your mouth: 13 minutes. (Don’t forget to pre-heat that oven.)

For extra flavor: chop up some garlic, or, if you’re really, really lazy, when you’re picking up all your game day groceries, toss a small container of truffle oil or pre-chopped garlic into the cart. Add all you want into the mixture for awesome flavor.

The anti-chip: This dip is pretty good on its own in small bowls, although if you want to toast up some whole-grain bread slices or cut up some low-carb wheat tortillas, they go great with this recipe. And, hey, some people are die-hard dippers. You can cut the tortillas into wedges, spray with a little olive oil spray, and throw ‘em in the toaster oven for a few minutes to make decently healthy chips.

20 minute chili

For 6 guests, you’ll need:

2 pounds of fresh lean ground turkey (I go for organic)

2 cans of kidney beans

1 big can of chopped tomatoes (fresh is best, but hey, we’re being lazy this weekend)
1 big can of tomato paste

1 big can of chicken or veggie broth (again, organic)

1 or 2 cups of water (just eyeball it until it looks right, remembering that the meat will add juices)

1 chopped onion (you can buy this pre-chopped)

1 can of sliced jalapenos (don’t drain)

Seasonings: I like to add about a teaspoon of paprika, some crushed garlic cloves, a few teaspoons of chili powder, and several dashes of tabasco. You can fool around with different spices – I’ve even heard of some people adding mole sauce and others adding dark chocolate. It’s hard to mess up chili.

Brown the meat (you know how to do this, right? It should take you about 10 minutes). While that’s going on, in a big pot, dump in all the other ingredients. Once the meat is browned, drain it and add it to the mix. Cook the whole thing on medium heat for 10 minutes. Stir a few times, turn the heat down to low, and by the time your guests arrive, the chili will be perfect.

You can also leave out the meat if you’re entertaining vegetarian guests – just substitute the turkey with a can of chickpeas and a can of corn.

This is filling, totally unprocessed, easy to make, and tastes great. Don’t forget bowls, genius.

Garlic lime chicken skewers

This is one of those recipes that is really easy and always impresses guests. They’ll think you’re a rock star in the kitchen…if only they knew. You do need to start this one on Saturday.

Here’s what to do:

Buy a bag of free-range chicken tenderloins or chicken breast pieces. Thaw.

Next step: place pieces in a big dish. Drench with the juice of four or five squeezed limes (lemons are okay, too).

Next step: drench with several tablespoons of olive oil. I never measure.

Next step: sprinkle with a teaspoon or two of salt.

Next step: sprinkle with a handful of chopped garlic (you already bought some pre-chopped at the store)

Next step: enlist your teenager to get in there and mix it all up. Remember, kids love chores.

Next step: Let sit in fridge overnight.

When your guests arrive and complain of starvation, run some skewers through those tenders, grill a few minutes on each side, and serve. Cooking time is about 8 minutes. Depending on how fast your teenager moves, prep time isn’t much longer than that. The result is a high-protein finger food with zero processed junk in it.

Mango salsa

Another “exotic” recipe that takes a joke of an effort.

You’ll need:

A jar of salsa.

A package of fresh chopped mango (available in most produce sections now for about five bucks. It’s worth it to save the peeling and slicing time).

Ready for this? Mix them together in a bowl.

Time to get to your mouth: about 30 seconds. Salsa is almost negative when it comes to calories, and a little mango is a nice twist that doesn’t add too much sugar.

If you’re not a total crudite-phobe, you can put out some fruit and veggie platters care of the local deli, too. It takes about 10 seconds to whip up an olive oil and balsamic vinegar dip (bowl, I’d like you to meet olive oil and vinegar).

Beer

This takes a lot longer than 20 minutes to make, and it’s also not technically healthy (though a guy can always hold out hope), but if you stick to the vegetable and protein based snacks above, a few cold ones will not be a problem.