Ever since I started baking in my awkward tween years, I declared that every Fourth of July barbecue my family hosted needed a red, white, and blue dessert in order to be at its most festive. I scoured cookbooks and the internet to churn out things like flag cakes, berry pies, star-shaped fruit tarts, and layered fruit salads. Years later, I haven’t strayed from my declaration. This is my contribution this year.
These cupcakes are as celebratory as ever: Red raspberries, white cake and buttercream, and blueberries ensure the color scheme is taken care of. Seeing as we are in the heart of berry season, the fruit lends the cupcakes the sweet juiciness that only feels right this time of year. Plus, the spike of lemon in the buttercream gives the baked treats an extra zip for good measure.
The first time I made these pepperoni chips for a dinner party with friends, I put them down alongside the cheese and olives, turned back into the kitchen to get my wine glass, and by the time I returned, the chips were gone. I really am not kidding. These crispy, crunchy, salty, spicy little guys are sure to be a hit among anyone you serve them to. Not only do they require just one ingredient, but they also happen to be gluten-free. Make a big batch to enjoy over happy hour, to pack up for a snack for the kids, or to munch on during the afternoon slump — they work no matter the occasion.
Whether you’re registering for your wedding or just restocking your kitchen, there are a bunch of things right off the bat that you just do not need. You do not need unitasking tools. You do not need whiskey stones. And you do not need a full set of pots and pans. Actually, ditto when it comes to knife sets.
In addition to their irresistibly sweet flavor and versatility, dates, when stored properly, have a seriously lengthy shelf life. Even when they lose moisture and harden, there’s still a way to revive that tender bite. But that doesn’t mean they last forever. Dates can, and do, go bad.
Here are the three telltale signs those sweet dates have taken a turn for the worse.
You know the drill: You get home from work, head straight to the fridge, and spend several minutes staring blankly into it, wondering what you can shove into your face to hold you over until dinner is ready.
This little routine is exactly why it’s important to have your fridge stocked. And if you’ve ever been exposed to the wonders of Aldi, you know that their snack selection is not only amazing, but their prices are also mega-cheap.
We’ve rounded up our favorite Aldi snacks, which you should keep in your fridge and gorge on whenever hunger strikes.
Add a “the kids are cooking” night to the meal plan for the week and everyone wins. Not only is it fun for your kids to get their hands dirty and cook up something for dinner, but it also gives you a break for the evening. These 10 recipes are easy and tasty crowd-pleasers, so everyone at the table will definitely approve.
Hopefully you’ve never had to (and never will) use their services, but you should still consider spreading some love to your local fire department with an extra-thoughtful gift basket. After all, whether they’re volunteers or paid employees, these men and women often risk their lives to save other lives in your community. That’s pretty darn special and deserving of a good, home-cooked meal — at the very least.
Welcome to a column from The Financial Diet, one of our very favorite sites, dedicated to money and everything it touches. One of the best ways to take charge of your financial life is through food and cooking. This column from TFD founders Chelsea Fagan and Lauren Ver Hage will help you be better with money, thanks to the kitchen. A version of this post originally appeared on The Financial Diet.
A recent shop at the grocery store revealed some upsetting truths about myself. First of all, I realized that I truly hate grocery shopping; it is boring and borderline stressful. Second of all, I realized that the cardinal rule of grocery shopping — don’t go grocery shopping when you’re hungry — certainly holds true.
It is one of the quickest and easiest money-saving tips people will give you. If you go to a grocery store prepared to spend on food, and are super hungry while doing so, you may find yourself loading your cart with a lot more unnecessary items than you would have if you had a full belly and the will to just stick to your list.
In a few months, I’ll be releasing a book extolling the virtues of a ketogenic diet. I’m currently several months into a ketogenic experiment, which is going well. I just wrote a Definitive Guide explaining why you should consider going keto. I’m on record as stating that everyone should dip into ketosis from time to time. You’d think I’d recommend that everyone go keto. Right?
There are caveats. There are contraindications. There are very good reasons for a person not to go keto, or at least to take a few extra precautions. Today, I’m going to tell you when you should exercise particular care when considering a ketogenic diet.
If You Have Diabetes
In type 2 diabetes, the evidence is crystal clear: Ketogenic diets work, perhaps better than any other diet.
In obese diabetics, a ketogenic diet improved glycemic control to a greater degree than a low-calorie diet.
And just recently, a study came out showing that very-low carb ketogenic diet advice was more effective at spurring weight loss than conventional low-fat diet advice in type 2 diabetics.
However, the authors from the obese diabetic study recommend that diabetics going keto maintain medical supervision to avoid dropping blood sugar too low. Another typical feature of diabetic keto studies is regular and supervised adjustment of medication dosages. This makes sense. If your glucose control improves, the old dosage of the medicine designed to control your glucose might be excessive and counterproductive. Rather than eyeball it yourself, get an expert’s eye.
If You’re Pregnant
In one study, mother mice on ketogenic diets during pregnancy produced offspring with reduced growth in certain areas of the brain and increased growth in other areas. In another study, mice born to keto mothers were more resistant to anxiety and depression and more physically active than mice whose mothers ate standard diets. Maternal ketogenic diets have also been shown to negatively affect mouse fertility and slow the growth of the offspring.
Before you start slamming waxy maize in an attempt to knock yourself out of ketosis, there are some caveats to this particular caveat:
These were mice, of course. I trust you are not.
They were eating refined ketogenic chow made of oils and powders, rather than the whole foods-based ketogenic diets I recommend to humans.
They ate almost zero carbohydrates (just 0.7% of calories), which I’d never recommend to anyone, let alone a pregnant woman.
The keto chow fatty acid intakes were imbalanced, with far more PUFA than saturated fat.
This was an extreme diet designed to maximize ketosis. It had to be, because it’s harder for non-humans to slip into ketosis—which perhaps indicates ketosis is probably less safe for other animals than it is for humans.
Still, it gives me pause. As a pregnant woman building a human, you’ll need all the nutrients at your disposal. You don’t want to restrict anything nutritious. It’s no time to be experimenting.
If You’re Breastfeeding
Remember that little metabolite known as oxaloacetate—the protein- or carb-derived bit necessary for finishing the Krebs’ cycle and producing ATP from fat and glucose? The one where if we don’t have enough, we start making ketones? Lactating women also use it to produce lactose, the milk sugar that provides much of the nursing baby’s energy needs. That means that lactating women can eat more carbs and protein and still remain in ketosis. It also means that eating a strict ketogenic diet extremely low in carbs and protein is likely to impair milk production.
There isn’t much research, and many women report remaining ketogenic while nursing without issue, but there are a few case studies of breastfeeding women suffering lactation ketoacidosis, a dangerous condition where chronically low insulin prevents the cells from accessing blood glucose and promotes unchecked ketone production. Triggers of lactation ketoacidosis have included starvation (don’t starve yourself, or even fast, and breastfeed), twin lactation (feeding two increases the amount of lactation substrate you need to consume), and a low-calorie/low-carb/high-fat diet (bad combo).
If You’re a Competitive Athlete, and the Season’s about to Start
Becoming keto-adapted provides major benefits to athletic performance. But it doesn’t come instantly. You’re laying a foundation of dense, fat-burning mitochondria, and it takes time to put it all together. For those first 4-6 weeks, you’re in no man’s land. You’re not fully adapted to burning free fatty acids in the muscles. You’re pretty good at burning ketones, but you haven’t yet laid that dense network of fat-burning mitochondria that can really produce large amounts of energy in a short period of time on demand. The capacity for rapid energy generation just isn’t there. Glucose is still the most dependable source of high-octane fuel for intense efforts, and there’s very little of it coming in.
If you want an instant performance boost, now is not the time to begin a ketogenic diet.
If You Don’t Have a Gall Bladder
The gall bladder collects and concentrates bile, creating a “superbile” that it can unleash to digest dietary fat. Without a gall bladder, your liver still makes bile, but it’s not the super-concentrated stuff that makes short work of large amounts of fat.
Ketogenic diets tend to contain large amounts of dietary fat. You can still do keto without a gall bladder, but you’ll have to be careful. Favor shorter-chained fats, like the ones found in MCT oil and coconut, as those are easier to digest and require less bile.
Luckily, potassium citrate alkalinizes the urine and prevents kidney stone formation on ketogenic diets. If you or your family has a history of kidney stones, include some potassium citrate in your ketogenic diet. A great source is lemon juice. A couple tablespoons of lemon juice, some sparkling mineral water, a dash of sea salt make for a refreshing drink. You know what? Even if you don’t have a history, still increase your potassium (leafy greens, avocado). There’s no good reason not to, and it may stave off any impending stones.
I don’t mean spiritually. I don’t mean “backpacking through Laos trying to find myself.” I mean: Your growth plates are open for business and you’re actively getting taller. If that describes you, a ketogenic diet may unnecessarily reduce your growth rate.
Some kids need to be on a ketogenic diet for medical purposes. But even in those cases, the diet arrests growth without reducing body weight or resting energy expenditure, probably by reducing insulin-like growth factor 1, or IGF-1. IGF-1 is extremely important in growing children and teens. It initiates the growth of bones and other tissues. The keto-induced reduction in IGF-1 has led some longevity enthusiasts to pursue keto to reduce unwanted growth (cancer) and aging. That’s fine for adults. But kids need to grow.
Other research has found that ketogenic diets don’t arrest growth in children. Still, I’d advise against taking the chance, unless you have a very good reason.
If You’re Lapsing into a Refined Food Ketogenic Diet
It’s easy to construct a ketogenic diet out of refined, isolated fats and products. A couple spoons of coconut butter here, a Bulletproof coffee there, a nibble of low-sugar dark chocolate, a coconut milk matcha latte spiked with MCT oil. Yeah, you’ll be in ketosis. Yeah, you’ll be hitting your fat requirements. But you’ll have eaten very little food in the process, and that’s a bad idea if you’re trying to lead a sustainable, healthy way of eating.
Look to the failings of the clinical epilepsy diets made of oils and multivitamins. They do a great job at staving off seizures, but they often leave patients undernourished and suffering from stunted growth, bone mineral density issues, and kidney stones.
Make sure whole foods comprise the base of your ketogenic diet.
Most of these aren’t absolute deal-breakers. There are workarounds and solutions. But it’s also proof that you don’t need to be ketogenic to be healthy.
Would I recommend ketosis for most people most of the time? No. Keto is a tool in your toolbox. I look at it as a way of resetting your metabolism once in a while to a point of greater metabolic flexibility. Some people choose to be in ketosis for years at a time. I prefer to go in and out from time to time, knowing that a few weeks in ketosis leaves my engine running smoother and more efficiently.
What about you, folks? If you’ve ever tried a ketogenic diet with these or other conditions, how did it work?
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In a few months, I’ll be releasing a book extolling the virtues of a ketogenic diet. I’m currently several months into a ketogenic experiment, which is going well. I just wrote a Definitive Guide explaining why you should consider going keto. I’m on record as stating that everyone should dip into ketosis from time to time. You’d think I’d recommend that everyone go keto. Right?
For now classes are 6pm and 640pm at 2840 Wildwood st in the Boise Cloggers studio.
Book your class NOW!
click this ==>
Carrie 'n Crew a Hoppin
