Today’s topic is Vitamins and Minerals.

We eat em’, We need em’. But do we always get what we need?

• What are some vitamins or minerals that we may not be getting enough of in our diets living in North America?

The three most common deficiencies in north America are:

• Iron deficiency, affecting more than 25% of people worldwide (1)
• Iodine deficiency, which affects nearly one-third of the world’s population.  (2)
• Vitamin D deficiency, a global problem with rates as high as about 42% in the US. It is believed that this is due to people not getting enough sunlight paired with the fact that people don’t get enough of it in their diet either. (3)
• What are some easy ways to incorporate these and other vitamins or minerals in your diet by way of foods and/or beverages?

The simple solution to getting all the required vitamins and minerals is to simply eat a well-rounded diet full of fresh vegetables and fruits. Canada’s food guide makes it easy to know how much of what you should aim to consume on any given day even with the slight variations from person to person.

Finding out what foods are rich in what is easy enough to find out as well. For example, a simple google search for vitamin D rich foods lead me to an easy way to get more vitamin D without sunlight. Simply eat more naturally grown mushrooms. Like humans, mushrooms can synthesize vitamin d when exposed to UV light making  mushrooms the only plant source of vitamin D excluding fortified foods. (4)

Solutions to deficiencies don’t always need to include supplements. A well rounded diet can include everything your body needs to stay healthy.

• Is there vitamin or mineral loss when cooking vegetables?

In short, Yes. There is almost always vitamin loss when cooking foods but this does not mean that all is lost. Even when cooked, a healthy portion of vegetables can have all the vitamins and minerals you’ll need for the day. That being said, there are also some easy techniques to help you lose the least amount possible to get the most bang for your buck.

One such technique is to quickly steam vegetables instead of boiling. When boiled the nutrients of the vegetable “along with the flavor” tend to leach out into the water. When steaming, this is reduced resulting in a better tasting more flavorful vegetable.

Another technique is to simply not cook the vegetable. Mot vegetables have the most nutritional value when raw due to the fact that no nutrients are lost during cooking. This does not mean that every vegetable you eat MUST be raw to maintain a healthy diet, it only serves to promote eating raw vegetables as well as cooked to ensure you get the nutrients your body needs.

 

• My favorite vegetable and here are three ways you could prepare Asparagus:

boiled, The easy way, Just toss ‘em in the pot and wait a few minutes to cook.

Baked, seasoned with garlic, salt  and whatever spices your heart desires. Put them in on a tray or wrapped in foil and bake the bad boys for 10 minutes at 375F if you want to feel like a professional chef who is too good for steaming…

steamed,The last technique I will suggest “also my favorite way to enjoy asparagus”. Steamed with a squirt of lemon, the natural flavor of the veg paired with the bright flavor of the citrus makes a tasty combination that goes well as a side for most main dishes I have had the pleasure to eat.

Asparagus itself is quite the vegetable. It is low in calories but has an impressive nutrient content.

One half cup (90 grams) of the stuff includes all of the following when cooked:

• Calories: 20
• Protein:2 grams
• Fat:2 grams
• Fiber:8 grams
• Vitamin C: 12% of the RDI
• Vitamin A: 18% of the RDI
• Vitamin K: 57% of the RDI
• Folate: 34% of the RDI
• Potassium: 6% of the RDI
• Phosphorous: 5% of the RDI
• Vitamin E: 7% of the RDI

It even has small amounts of important micronutrients, such as iron, zinc and riboflavin (5) making it the best vegetable.

Don’t believe me? Well that’s your opinion… and seeing as this is my blog so I guess you’ll just have to deal with it.

In short, Asparagus is an excellent source of folate as well as vitamins A, C and K.

• Many Canadians are deficient in vitamin D and/or iron. Here is a simple soup recipe to help with that.

Ingredients (for green soup by The Bean)

1 cup onion (chopped)

2 cloves garlic

1 cups mushroom (sliced)

1 cup broccoli (chopped)

1 bunch spinach (chopped)

1 cup chicken broth

Salt and pepper to taste

and an optional Small amount of cream

1. Sweat onions, adding garlic, and mushrooms when the onions are partially cooked.

1. Add the spinach until wilted then set aside.

1. Lightly steam the choppen broccoli and let cool as well.

1. Once cool, puree the onion, garlic, mushroom, and spinach with the steamed broccoli.
2. Pour the puree into a stock pot and add the chicken broth “vegetable broth works as well” and bring to a simmer for about 5 minutes. “season the soup with salt and pepper to taste”

1. Serve the soup hot with a small dollop of sour cream on top for that extra fancy effect and enjoy your meal knowing you are getting both a healthy dose of Iron AND vitamin D.

And as always…

 

 

1. McLean, E., Cogswell, M., Egli, I., Wojdyla, D., & De, B. (2009, April). Worldwide prevalence of anaemia, WHO Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System, 1993-2005. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18498676
2. Pearce, E. N., Andersson, M., & Zimmermann, M. B. (2013, May). Global iodine nutrition: Where do we stand in 2013? Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23472655
3. Haq, A., Svobodová, J., Imran, S., Stanford, C., & Razzaque, M. S. (2016, November). Vitamin D deficiency: A single centre analysis of patients from 136 countries. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26877203
4. Simon, R. R., Borzelleca, J. F., DeLuca, H. F., & Weaver, C. M. (2013, June). Safety assessment of the post-harvest treatment of button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) using ultraviolet light. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23485617
5. Asparagus, cooked, boiled, drained Nutrition Facts & Calories. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2312/

 

The dreaded blue cheese… We’ve all heard of it… We all knew some older relative who liked it just a little too much…  we’ve all just assumed it was disgusting so we never tried it…

To be fair that’s just been my excuse.

Now normally I’d preach of how picky eaters are annoying and how they should just eat it and learn to love it.

I have in my adult life never been a picky eater. And to my mother reading this I say, my childhood does not count and my complaining about food is irrelevant because I always ate it anyway…

So here I am. A guy that thinks he’d be ok to eat just about anything (If it wouldn’t kill him, and was also prepared properly) and I’ve got one blemish on my otherwise perfect record… Blue cheese… Ah… Just the name itself brings shivers down my spine… You may think I “overexaggerate” but to you I say, “Hey… I’m writing a blog post. Go away. I’m too busy for such groundless claims from what I assume came from clearly questionable sources…” and that is what I say. I’m saying it now. Surprise!

On to the topic of todays post, it is trying new foods. And to my mother reading this again, firstly I’d like to say “hello :)” because I don’t text you enough and I know you worry… And secondly I would say “-yes I know that Ive tried it before when I was younger, but I barely remember my childhood and younger me did all kinds of things that I would NEVER do now, so who’s to say hating blue cheese wasn’t one of them.”

That is why today, ladies and gentlemen, I shall be doing just that! Trying some forsaken mould abomination and not overexaggerate!

Well. Thanks to the most helpful cheese vendor at the local cheese store, Parigi, I was able to acquire two particular strains of cheese that is also blue. 

The right cheese was the mildest the store had to offer. Its flavour was the first thing I noticed in fact it was more the lack of one. When the cheese first touched my tongue the flavour was like a hard goat cheese, the classic creamy texture came along with the flavour. As you chew it however the flavour gets sharper and you start to taste the bite in the back of your throat. The texture is smooth but slightly gritty. The mix of the salty, bitter, and sour nature of the cheese is noticeable but not overpowering by any measure. The smell is like that of most goat cheeses, it shares the salty scent. Small blue veins decorate sections of the surface of the otherwise white cheese.

The left cheese is very different. As soon as Parigi brought that baby out It looked almost entirely dark blue. It… It was so dark. When I tasted it the flavour was intense to say the least. It tasted sour but it was also salty and somehow sweet all the while being very creamy and crumbly. In truth, I’m still in slightly in a state of shock. The whole thing was a riot..  as the cheese crumbles the small crumbs of cheese seem to burst with the sour flavour of the mould. The taste does more than linger in the back of your throat.. The flavour very quickly made it clear that anything more than the small shaving would be too much. The smell was also powerful. salty and sour but different from the combination of the two in the flavour. It smells like old and cheese. Go figure…

As I digested the new sensations my mind was just rushing with possible flavour combinations and the realization that i am now at risk of becoming the weird older relative with the obsession with blue cheese. The sharp nature of the second cheese would pair very well with roasted root vegetables or in a squash soup, the flavour would blend and compliment themselves. It falls into the category of sharp cheeses like old cheddar but its bite is uniquely sour. A flavour that would be hard to imitate.

So what did I learn about my palate?

After tasting blue cheese as an adult I’d have to say I didn’t so much learn something new about my pallet besides finding an other flavour that agrees with it. I’d say that after this new evaluation of the cheese I look forward to eating the rest of the blue cheese sitting in my fridge.

I never could think of any flavour that i didn’t like but i also couldn’t remember what blue cheese tasted like so it confused me as to why i supposedly didn’t like bluecheese. From now on yet the biggest change ill be making when tasting food will be to try and be able to pick out unique flavours like that of the cheese in foods. Also to be able to make foods using blue cheese to compliment other delicious flavours.

I learned one more thing that I don’t have in common with my younger self. I welcomed a new cheese into my life. Cheese is one of the best things. This was a good day.

Eat well, my friends.

The classic comfort soup is a common household name… in my house hold…when I’m talking to my self… BUT it is a classic all the same despite what one might think!

The CCS Special is the soup I make myself 90 percent of the time when I need to make myself a food. It’s got all I could ever want! It has tomatoes (for some vitamin C to fight off scurvy), Potatoes (for some texture), celery (for taste), carrots (for sweetness), and some meat. In essence this soup is the meal I make on everything from a school night to a sit down meal after a night out. The recipes changes slightly every time I make it depending on available ingredients, but todays recipe will be reminiscent of the first ever soup I made myself when I first started living on my own.

You will need:

300g Stewing Beef

150g Potatoes (chopped)

250g Carrots (chopped)

250g Celery (chopped)

150g Onion (diced)

80g Butter

2 cups Tomato Paste

900ml Chicken Broth

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation for this tasty meal is pretty straight forward and simple

1. wash all vegetables, peel potatoes, cut vegetables and stewing beef to size
2. place half butter and onions in a pan and cook till onion is tender and then add meat.
3. mix, once meat is cooked on all exposed surfaces “but still very rare” add in tomato paste and set to med to med low heat for 10 minutes
4. in another pan, put in butter 200ml of chicken broth and potatoes. cook till soft.
5. once potatoes are tender, add rest of chicken broth as you also add in celery and carrots to the pan. let sit till carrots are no longer raw.
6. pour the tomato and meat mixture into the pan and mix.

And its done…

Thats about it. This recipe makes approximately 4 servings but If you decide to make this soup just for yourself, you could do what I have done myself many times and freeze the rest for future meals during the week.

The soup itself is simple in appearance. It has a predominately red colour with speckles of green and orange throughout. it smells mostly of cooked meat, tomatoes, and pepper. the taste is similar. The salt and pepper bring out the natural flavours in all of the ingredients resulting in a light but filling soup perfect for any meal. Especially if you like soup.

“yummy. I mean I like how the vegetables have a pleasant texture but are not lost in the liquid of the soup like in a stew.” -Caleb Sandblom 2018-

“What were the challenges involved?”

“Was it a success?”

“What would you do differently?”

I hear you ask…

The only challenge in making this soup is to not overcook the meat. This time it was intact a success. And as to why I would do differently.. In short, everything. The best part about this soup is that it is very much  a base and open to endless changes that would result in an equally tasty soup.

Learning to cook for myself in this fashion has shown me that cooking is not only a useful tool, but is also a great way to improvise and be creative depending on the situation. This soup was one of the first of many experiments that I have conducted in the pursuit of feeding myself, and I’m happy to say this one was successful and holds a place in my mind as a sure way to feed myself and a few guests.

A topic that I would say interests me about nutrition is genetically modified food. GMOs have been a buzz word and a way to scare people for quite a while now and I find the effects that such a process has on the environment and the human body frightening and fascinating all at the same time.

Nutrition is now the most popular its ever been. More and more, people are wanting to be healthy. But not only do the good ol’ folks of this earth want to be healthy.. they also have the audacity to want healthy food that tastes good. Luckily based on its growing popularity, tasty ways to eat right are being explored more than ever. And as the trend grows and grows, so too will the list of recipes. which is good news for trend followers and those who are genuinely interested in actually putting in the effort.

 

Unfortunately with popularity so to come people trying to make money off the latest trend. One such specimen is the man, the myth, the 100% honest and well intentioned “doctor” Oz…

 

 

Like the good doctor he is only the finest sources can do. That being when they are present that is…

Sensationalist titles of miracle techniques to achieve a perfect physique all the while fighting off any hint of aging are ever present on the pages of his site. The problem with such articles is that there claims are based on very specific and obscure research. Studies with minimal test pools and little if any peer reviews result in the claims not holding much water. The main goal for those reading the articles are also in the wrong place. The typical thing being promoted is always an easy way to stay healthy with no effort beyond taking one pill or putting avocados on their elbows because the good doctor says that the natural fibres of avocado help to give you smooth perfect skin. Realistic methods of staying healthy are rarely mentioned, which results in misinformation being spread. Three simple things to look for when testing the credibility of a website are as follows.

1. check the sources. The credibility of a claim is only as good as the studies and facts that they are suggesting are true. Its important foremost to know if any actual research has been done.
2. qualifications of the author. What makes the author have the authority to make claims? Are they a doctor? a licensed dietician?  Or are they simply a student trying to finish an assignment on health and nutrition..? Its important to know as it lets you know if you can trust what they say.
3. peer review. Once you know the person is credible, see how many fellow credible individuals have read and checked the statements. This allows for less possible bias.

Reputable sites such as Dieticians of Canada pass the three question test.

Licensed dieticians give facts through peer reviewed articles and studies to give you the latest accurate information that you want to know.

Questions about nutrition and what is true and what is merely a ploy to sell are important But thats the fun part about nutrition. there are always new discoveries and advances being made day by day, so eventually even when you can have all the answers to the questions you might have, there will definitely be new questions to be asked sparked by the answers.

And new answers. And thus, the cycle continues

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton