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The problem with organizing the kitchen is that it’s full of stuff, and that stuff tends to be all different sizes and shapes, so there’s no magical solution that will work for everything. Challenging! So it’s no wonder the internet is full of ingenious hacks to tackle different areas of the kitchen. Here are some the best ideas out there right now.
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(Image credit: Joe Lingeman)
I grow basil in my herb garden for one primary reason: pesto. This sauce is made from a combination of fresh, grassy basil, sharp garlic, and rich pine nuts, all held together by olive oil. While pesto is incredibly easy to make, it’s often rushed to a paste in a blender or food processor without much thought. While I’ll never have the time (or a mortar big enough) to make pesto by hand, I have learned that thoughtfully adding the ingredients to a food processor and pulsing rather than puréeing makes for a better blended pesto. Here’s how to make perfect food-processor pesto in just four steps.
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(Image credit: Ben & Jerry’s)
Ben & Jerry’s has a brand new ice cream flavor, and it’s big news for Phish Food fans. The Vermont-based ice cream company has made no apologies for its love of Phish over the years (rumor has it the company even gives employees the day off for local Phish shows) and even honored the band with its own ice cream flavor back in 1997. Thanks to its loyal fan following, the flavor quickly became one of Ben & Jerry’s most popular.
Now, according to a recent press release from the ice cream company, there’s a new Phish flavor in town — but finding a pint might be difficult.
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We’re pretty anti-tote bag when it comes to trips to the farmers market. Yes, we know totes are synonymous with farmers markets, but they shouldn’t be!
Why not? A tote bag typically lacks structure — it’s just a floppy jumble of fabric that’s impossible to keep open. Just think back to the last time you bought lettuce and how annoying it was to actually get it inside that tote bag of yours! Plus, there are no compartments in tote bags and all your goods fall to the bottom, crushing the tomatoes, which you didn’t mean to buy first but totally did by accident. And you have to constantly push the straps back up on your shoulder or throw the whole bag behind your back when you want to reach for something (or else your bag will crash into the table). This is no way to shop, you guys!
We really recommend backpacks for farmers markets, but if the experience just doesn’t feel right to you without a tote bag, we get it. And we can’t blame you. However, we can suggest a better tote. Something that blows the tote you currently use out of the water.
Related: Dump Your Tote! Get a Better Bag for the Farmers Market.
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You try very hard to keep your kitchen cabinets organized. You’ve invested in shelf liners and organizational contraptions, and spent precious weekend hours setting them up, all in an effort to make your time in the kitchen run more smoothly.
But when it comes to that space under the kitchen sink, um, it might as well be a black hole. It’s where all the things you rarely use get haphazardly dumped, which basically ensures that you’ll never be able to find the thing you need when you do need it. Where’s that extra sponge you threw down here? No one knows. Where are the Swiffer WetJet pads? Where’s that bottle of silver polish you pull out exactly once a year? Shrug!
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For today’s edition of Dear Mark I’m answering a pair of great questions. First, Vaughn asks me about a recent study where ethnic Chinese participants were placed on several different diets, and those on the “low-carb, high-fat” one actually did worse than those on higher carbs and lower fat. Should you give up your low-carb approach? Then, I explore the bone-strengthening effects of prunes and discuss the Simon and Garfunkel diet.
Let’s go:
Hi Mark,
What are your thoughts on this study from China where a low-fat diet beat out a high-fat diet in healhy adults? http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352396417302529#t0010
Vaughn
Interesting paper. Thanks for the tip.
It sounds damning.
Chinese adults were split into three groups, each receiving different diets. One group ate high-carb, low-fat. One ate moderate carb, moderate fat. One ate high-fat, low-carb. Protein was the same across all three groups.
After six months on their respective diets, the high-carb group had the best metabolic outcomes. They lost the most weight, the most inches off their waists, and saw the biggest improvements to their blood markers. The next best was the moderate carb/fat diet. The worst was the high-fat/low-carb diet.
Oh man, Sisson. You mean to tell me that the LCHF group subjects were eating more fat and had the worst results. That’s that. I’m out. This is all a sham.
Hold on a minute. Something in the study design caught my eye.
By replacing a proportion of energy derived from carbohydrates (white rice and wheat flour, the most consumed carbohydrate sources in China contributing to 70% and 17% total carbohydrate respectively) with fats (soybean oil, the most consumed edible oil in China rich in unsaturated fatty acids), we achieved the required distribution of fats and carbohydrates in the three diet groups, which represented macronutrient transition in the past 30 years in China.
They replaced carbs with pure soybean oil. That’s how they modified the macros—taking a little flour away and pouring an isocaloric glug of soybean oil all over everything. Anyone else feeling nauseated?
As stated, however, this intervention does reflect the dietary trends in China. It also reflects the trends in the standard American diet. Americans (and everyone else the world over) are eating far more soybean oil than ever before. From 1909 to 1999, American consumption of soybean oil rose more than 1000-fold. Yes: Those are three zeros.
But it’s not relevant to most of my readers.
Something else jumped out at me. High-fat and low-carb were actually higher-fat and lower—carb. That’s an important distinction. Relative to the other diets, folks in the third group were eat fewer carbs and more fat. Relative to the Primal eating plan, they weren’t. At 40% fat, 46% carb, they weren’t low-carb or high-fat in an absolute sense.
Forty-six percent carb isn’t low-carb by any stretch of the imagination. The results from this study probably don’t apply to someone eating 20% carbs.
All that said, I find it plausible that ethnic Chinese would have genetic adaptations to a higher carb diet. They tend to produce high levels of salivary amylase—an oral version of the digestive enzyme responsible for digesting starch—which is an indication of ancestral exposure to starch. People who make more salivary amylase have better metabolic responses to starch intake. In the context of higher-carb diets, they’re also less likely to be obese.
Maybe not, though. A 2015 paper found positive relationships between starchy carb consumption and metabolic syndrome prevalence among Chinese adults. Carbs from other sources—fruits and veggies—had no such relationshp to metabolic syndrome.
Confusing stuff, eh? There’s always some new wrinkle to explore.
JTB asked:
Mark, if you do a follow up piece, consider looking into the studies on dried plums, and perhaps also the study on the “Scarborough Fair” diet, which also showed positive bone-health results for the group using a specific set of herbs, fruits and vegetables.
You’ve got it, JTB. Everyone overlooks prunes, and I’m a big Simon and Garfunkel fan. I accept your proposal.
What’s the deal with prunes? Most people only think of them as tools to fight constipation. And, boy, do they. Prunes work so well that prune juice has become a joke. C’mon, what’s the first thing you thought of after reading the word “prunes”? Exactly.
Prunes are great for the gut, but they don’t just instigate excellent defecation. They actually promote good gut health by increasing the growth of beneficial microbes and inhibiting the growth of pathogenic microbes. They may help prevent colon cancer by acting as a prebiotic.
Animal and cell culture studies do indicate benefits to bone turnover. There are different theories as to why. Prune polyphenols are nice but probably not responsible for the effects on bone health. My guess is it’s the prebiotic effect, given that we know from last week’s post that probiotics can improve bone health.
If these effects hold in humans, and I think they will, prunes are an excellent choice. They don’t even spike blood glucose all that much, despite being dried fruit quite high in carbs.
Now let’s look at the Scarborough Fair Diet. First, open this in a new tab and turn the volume up.
The Scarborough Fair Diet’s quite interesting. Researchers constructed it from all the fruits, vegetables, and herbs that have been shown in animal studies to improve bone health. Most were extremely high in phytochemicals. This diet was pitted against a diet containing basic fruits, vegetables and herbs. Both diets had the same amount of plant foods.
Where the Scarborough Fair Diet had parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, and garlic, the regular diet had mint, basil, and oregano.
The SFD had prunes and oranges; the regular diet had apples and bananas.
The SFD gave bok choy, rocket, red cabbage, and lettuce; the regular diet gave spinach, silver beet, and white cabbage.
The SFD gave broccoli, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, green beans, cucumbers, and leeks. The regular diet gave carrot, pumpkin, courgette, peas, and cauliflower.
Both contained very nutritious foods. I’m a big fan of most of them. But only the SFD improved bone turnover markers and calcium retention in postmenopausal women. That’s a very cool effect, and it suggests that the various nutrition-based bone health interventions in animal studies likely carry over into humans, too.
That’s it for me, everyone. Thanks for the great questions. Be sure to help out with your input down below or throw a few more questions my way. Always happy to help.
Take care!
The post Dear Mark: Low-Fat Beats “High-Fat”; Prunes for Bone Health appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.
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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.
I’ve been trying to get better about how I grocery shop for a while now, and although I know the eventual solution will probably be “order a lot of my stuff online and make store trips only occasionally,” for some reason I’m just not doing it yet. The truth is, because I work at home a lot, going to the store is often a good opportunity for me to get out of the house and have something to do. Yes, I walk the pup, but that is only so much entertainment and it’s good to have something productive to tack onto my trips.
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Perhaps one of the most coveted looks in kitchen design right now is the modern farmhouse vibe. Championed by the likes of Chip and Joanna Gaines, the look is popular for its timeless charm, rustic finishes, and lived-in appeal. One of the hallmarks of the style? A nice, deep farmhouse sink.
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My husband and I enjoy pizza night at home almost every Friday night, and it’s a tradition we don’t plan on shaking anytime soon. It usually starts with sipping Americanos and munching on marinated olives on the couch while the pizza stone preheats in the oven. Then, as we assemble our pies, we pop open a bottle of wine. It’s the same kind of wine each and every time because, in my opinion, it’s the best bottle you can drink with just about any kind of pizza.
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