Healthy Bread? Seriously?!

I’ve got exciting news for you. Healthy bread does exist. And, to top it off, you can make it in less than 5 five minutes. Exciting, right?

Dr. Jeff Hertzberg and the lovely Zoe Francois have written a smart book full of helpful tips and pictures, showing you how to make healthy bread in five minutes. I’d consider them the Five Minute Gurus since they perfected the art of five-minute-bread-baking with their first book.

For a bread-baking novice, I welcomed their first book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, with open arms. Offering many delicious recipes using a simple starter dough, I’ve heard nothing but great things about this book. Their second book, Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, promises to be an amazing followup. I have my eye on the Pumpkin Pie Brioche, Chocolate Tangerine Bars, Cherry Black Pepper Focaccia.

I know many of you are partaking in your own healthy journey and I applaud you. Working out, eating right, and enjoying yourself are all tenets of living a happy lifestyle. But I know it’s common for people to forsake carbohydrates, particularly anything sugary and sweet, maybe in the form of a donut or cinnamon roll. Or maybe you are allergic to gluten and have had to part ways with all things gluten.

Listen to me, reader. Baked goods shouldn’t be shunned because not all baked goods are alike. The recipes from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes boast many nutrients and ingredients that will make you and your trainer happy. There are even gluten free recipes in here for all you Celiacs! Brilliant, I tell you!

To kick start the new year off right, I am giving away one copy of the book to a lucky reader. To enter the giveaway, please follow these instructions:

In the comments section, write your experience or advice about maintaining a healthy, happy lifestyle.
Leave a valid email address, and first name.
Giveaway is for residents in United States or Canada only. Sorry, my international followers :(
Post all comments by 5 p.m. PST on Friday, January 15, 2010.
No late entries will be considered.

I will use a random number generator to pick the lucky contestant. Good luck!

Thanks to Anna and the folks behind Healthy Bread in Five Minuyes a Day for making this giveaway possible! And don’t forget, Zoe Francois writes about her baking adventures and posts recipes at her blog, Zoe Bakes. Be sure to check her out!

sweet and salty cornbread

Some say that during these economic downturns, we should all count our blessing for the things that we have (jobs, friends, a roof over our heads). For example, I know that I’m lucky to have a job that fills my fridge with food, puts clothes on my back and shoes on my feet, and allows me to go out every now and then. I recognize that mimosas and sushi are privileges, not rights. But I can’t help if I get a little angsty. You see, I had a plan. A big life plan. No, I didn’t have set dates for weddings, babies, etc, but I had a nice idea of what I wanted to do with my life post-college.

That all went to hell once the economy soured. I was supposed to have a great PR job that might not have paid as much as I was worth but I’d be ok with it. I was supposed to have this nerdy and witty boy who’d be able to make me smile all the time. Toss in a couple trips to Italy, Prague, and Turkey and you basically had the rough draft of my life plan.

the motto for 2009…

Hope can be a great motivator and that’s what resolutions are all about. The hope to be the best version of YOURSELF. That’s the trick: staying true to yourself while growing and changing at the same time. It can be tricky and it’s so easy to fall in to these perfectionist traps.

Trust me, I used to be the queen of new-me-resolutions. I’d make unreasonable and overwhelmingly ridiculous resolutions, ultimately setting myself up for failure. My main problem was that I was trying to be somebody else, and we all know how that goes! What I was trying to do was unhealthy and borderline dumb because if you aren’t satisfied with yourself RIGHT at this moment, then what makes you think you will be happy as this perfect person you’ve created in your mind? It’s chasing a pipe dream folks, and life is too short to try and win that race. 

what is on your dinner plate?

Like many today, my mind is on my wallet. With the holidays fast approaching, I can feel my unease continue to grow. How can I afford this, what will I do if I can’t buy that? A spending-diet is imminent, and while it pains me to say it, I won’t be visiting my beloved J. Crew for quite some time. 

Also, my going-out habits have been shelved as well. Instead of buying two drinks at a bar for $5 per drink + tip, I nurse my homemade cocktails in the comfort of my own home. Gone are teh days of enjoying yummy Moroccan food because I can’t afford the $12 + tip entree. Basically, my social life has been cut in half, and while it has taken some getting used to, I think I’m starting to see the positive side. 

For one thing, my kitchen has been very busy. Besides my needed trips to Starbucks (sorry, I need something to ease the pain), I spend most of my time either reading books at the kitchen table or baking up treats from those books. The added bonus to this new habit of mine is that my consumption of artificial ingredients and processed foods has dropped from sporadic to nil. It’s all about living and eating naturally. 

I picked up a few great reads at the library on Saturday, both of which have inspired me immensely. Super Natural Cooking, written by Heidi Swanson, makes me even more dedicated and resilient in weaning myself off the artificial diet so many of us have been on for years. The other, Jamie’s Italy, shows me that food can be dynamic, passionate, and saitisfying. Why pay the extra 10 bucks + tip at a restaurant when Mr. Oliver will show you how to do it? 

Another reason for my newfound interest in to natural eating is my senior seminar research paper on the corn syrup industry. I’ve been studying and researching the use of HFCS and it’s not a simple subject. From farm subsidies to new legislation, it’s a tough subject but after seeing the new ridiculous HFCS ads, I’ve been on a mission. Goodbye processed food, hello mother nature. 

how to eat like a hot chick

I saw this book cover and absolutely fell in love. And I also started laughing. Such a smart marketing ploy, and not to mention using a pinup girl. I love it! Screw Skinny Bitch, this is the book that people should read. I don’t need to read all these insane rules about what the eat and how much to eat.

Chocolate cake for breakfast and a pound of spinach for dinner? Looking and feeling your best has never been so easy, so guiltless or so much fun!
Let’s be honest, ladies, are you tired of hearing about the eating habits of airbrushed celebrities? Do you want to feel sexy as you slide into your favorite jeans, but you’re too confused by the complicated diet plans out there? Well, here is the antidote to all of that nonsense!

I passed by this book as I perused my bookstore and wished that I had enough money to splurge on it. What really drew me in to the book was the cover. I am a big fan of the old hollywood pin-up girls and vixens from back in the day. Talk about a fun read. I might have to pick this up later just to entertain myself.

nigella- the vixen in the kitchen

Call me a nerd, but one of the best things to do n the weekend for me is to curl up with my cup of ‘jo and blanket, and watch the food network. There is just something about those shows that make you feel so relaxed… While I try to stay away from anything Rachael Ray (nothing personal, but she’s got a little too much pep for me), I look forward to watching anything with Nigella Lawson. She is one of my favorite cooks on tv, and her shows are always decadent and feature interesting cuisine.

Everything that she makes looks delicious. She is a gorgeous woman who cooks up a storm, but recently she’s been under a ton of criticism in the British press because of her supposed weight gain. Oh please. Look at this woman. Gorgeous as can be.

Everything that she makes is made with love and pleasure. She takes extreme enjoyment in every step of food prepping, from the slicing and dicing to the baking. Not to mention, she actually EATS the food she makes. Isn’t that the point of the cooking shows? To see how appetizing the food is.

In response to the criticism, the people @ Chow wrote “Nigella Fat?” here , and I love her perspective on this attention.

‘I think it is a fear of flesh,’ says Nigella, ‘maybe of vulnerability and softness.’ Is that ultimately a fear of sex? ‘I don’t know. But I do think that women who spend all their lives on a diet probably have a miserable sex life: if your body is the enemy, how can you relax and take pleasure? Everything is about control, rather than relaxing, about holding everything in.’

Fear of enjoyment? Fear of pleasure?How about fear of a woman who looks different and doesn’t fit into the cookie cutter mold of beauty that our society prefers. If she’s happy, and content, then why are they writing about it?Because it sells. We see it all the time at the bookstores and checkout line in the market. But unlike all those other celebs or socialites who starve themselves to feel better about themselves, Nigella enjoys every morsel and every bite of life. In my opinion, that’s how life should be.

“The Hollywood Diet” by the NY Times

Jennifer Steinhauer wrote this interesting piece on “The Hollywood Diet” and how the dieting mentality has taken over food culture in Hollywood. I can’t say that I am surprised or shocked. I mean, it’s L.A. right? That city is filled with more health conscious, guilt-ridden-if-I-break-my-diet, carb-conscious people than ever. That city is like the land of substitutions.

I’d hate to work as a chef in that town because of the special orders. I can’t eat meat/fat/sugar/anything tasty… Isn’t it kind of rude to ask for your food to be prepared in any other form other than it’s original? (unless you are allergic to some kind of ingredient) It’s like asking an artist to only use the color blue because you can’t stand any other color. I understand that we all need to make health-conscious decisions, but eating a head of lettuce at a 5 star restaurant is insane. Moderation people! Go ahead and eat that Sprinkles cupcake, just maybe half it w/ your gym buddy.