A Not So Sweet Green Smoothie Recipe (Apple, Pineapple, Kale, Broccoli, Cucumber)

A Not So Sweet Green Smoothie Recipe (Apple, Pineapple, Kale, Broccoli, Cucumber)

Not really crazy about starting days with overly sweet things.  I came up with this mix because it’s just enough sweetness to balance the bitterness of the greens, but doesn’t taste like you just downed a pureed fruit salad.

Rader Farms Frozen Smoothie Bag Mixes

12 ozs (1/4 bag) of Fresh Start Fusion Daily Power frozen mix (green apple, pineapple, kale, broccoli) – it’s a Walmart thing – or just substitute the same with the individual ingredients, plus ice cubes, if you don’t want to freeze everything

Labne – kefir thick yogurt

4 ozs. Labne yoghurt/kefir (this is a very thick and dense yogurt, without any sweeteners or additives – several brands work, but you can substitute a home-made version by straining a non-sweetened plain yogurt in cheesecloth overnight, which will remove a lot of the extra whey liquid and create a denser protein content.)

Sprig of fresh mint

4 ozs. fresh cucumber

1 T fresh lemon juice

Blend it to desired smoothness.

Estimated nutritional content:

Calories	190	Sodium	95 mg
Total Fat	8 g	Potassium	206 mg
Saturated	0 g	Total Carbs	24 g
Polyunsaturated	0 g	Dietary Fiber	4 g
Monounsaturated	0 g	Sugars	12 g
Trans	0 g	Protein	9 g
Cholesterol	0 mg
Vitamin A	90%	Calcium	150%
Vitamin C	180%	Iron	8%

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
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Nestle’s Finally Does Dark Chocolate Morsels

You know, after years and years of the good old Nestle’s Tollhouse Semi-sweet Morsels (chips), and decades of making all those $1 million chocolate chip cookie recipes, it’s about time (like since 1960) that the regular good old 100% dark finally shows up.

http://www.nestleusa.com/brands/baking/toll-house-morsels

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great for those last-minute, I can’t find any Ghiradelli anywhere moments – because they do happen, and it’s usually during a holiday season.  Now, if Nestle’ will just update their website to actually show they produce these, all will be good with the world (chocolate-wise.)

 

Yuka’s Satsuma Imo (Japanese Sweet Potato) Pie Recipe

Because we forget how we did this every year, now it goes in a place I’ll remember to find it.  They look similar to this one from M’s Kitchen blog, but are created inside the potato skins instead of placed into separate paper shells.
Ingredients

sweet potatoes    6~8 medium

1/2 C granulated sugar

1/2 C butter – softened to room temperature

1/4 C sweetened condensed milk

2 Tbsp dark rum

3 egg yolks – beaten lightly

Black sesame seeds

——–

For glaze (prior to baking to give a shiny surface)

1 egg yolk -beaten

1 tsp Mirin (japanese sweet rice wine)

-or- 1 tsp sugar dissolved in 1 tsp water
Preheat oven to 350F

Steam potatoes until fork tender. Cool to touch. Slice in half lengthwise. Using a spoon, carefully scoop out the potato centers to a separate bowl, leaving about 1/8-inch of potato attached to the skins.  Or for a simpler version, just peel the skins from the potatoes, and place the potato mixture (as follows) into small baking dishes.

Mash the scooped potatoes with a fork or potato masher until smooth. Mix in the butter, sugar, and condensed milk. When combined, add the egg yolks and rum.  Fill the scooped-out skins with the potato mixture just to the top of each skin.

Place skins on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes until fragrant. Remove from oven and brush tops lightly with the sweetened egg wash. Sprinkle each potato with a few black sesame seeds for decoration. Return sheet to the oven for another 5 minutes until slightly browned and golden.

* This is the slightly different appearance of a Japanese/Asian Sweet Potato, when raw.

WHO versus US FDA RDA Nutritional Information – Womens Horlicks

So after purchasing a very nice-looking product from a local ethnic market – Horlick’s “Womens Horlicks”which as an interesting product category is the first Horlicks malted milk mix that excludes sweeteners of any kind (so that the individual can choose how much sugar or sweetener to add.)

Womens Horlicks Advertisement

US FDA RDA Nutritional Information – Womens Horlicks

Curiosity led me to peel off the Import nutritional label mandated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which looks like this:

The World Health Organization (WHO) standard labeling is underneath the USDA label:

USFDA RDA Nutrition Facts vs  | WHO Data
Serving Size: 3 tsp (30g)     |   Per 100g
Servings per Container: 11    |   --- 
Calories:         80          |   365
Calories from Fat: 0          |   ---
Total Fat         0g          |     1g
Saturated Fat:    0g          |   ---     
Trans Fat:        0g          |   ---     
Cholesterol:      0mg         |   ---     
Sodium:           100mg       |   ---     
Total Carbohydrate: 20g       |  72.8g
Fiber:            0g          |   ---     
Sugars:           0g          |     0g     
Protein:          0g          |   ---     
Ideal Quality Protein ---     |  15.0g
Vitamin A         2%          |   275mcg  33%
Vitamin C         20%         |  75.0 mg 100%
Calcium           40%         | 1666.7mg 100%
Iron              60%         |  49.0 mg 100%
Vitamin B1        ---         |    0.6mg  33%
Vitamin B2        ---         |    1.8mg 100% 
Vitamin B6        ---         |    2.2mg 100%
Vitamin B12       ---         |   4.0mcg 100%
Vitamin B4        ---         |      1mg  33%
Vitamin D         ---         |   2.8mcg  33%  
Vitamin K         ---         |   0.3mcg  33%
Folic Acid        ---         | 666.7mcg 100%
Magnesium         ---         |    121mg  33%
Zinc              ---         |    2.7mg  33%
Selenium          ---         |  14.3mcg  33%
Niacin            ---         |    7.7mg  33%
Biotin            ---         |  16.5mcg  33%
Pantothenic Acid  ---         |    2.8mg  33%
Iodine            ---         | 82.5 mcg  33%

US RDA Ingredients: Malt Extract, Milk Solids 
(Dry Milk Powder), Hydrolyzed Corn Solids, Calcium 
Carbonate, Salt, Cocoa Powder, Potassium Bicarbonate 
(Acidity Regulator), Ascorbic Acid (C), Nicotinamide 
(B3), Riboflavin (B2), Thiamine Mononitrate (Synth B1),
 Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D1, Vitamin B12.

WHO Ingredients: Malt Extract (40%), Milk Solids (35%),
 Hydrolysed Corn Solids, Minerals, Chocolate Powder, 
Cocoa Powder, Nature Identical Flavouring Substances, 
Salt, Acidity Regulator (INS501), Vitamins

Produced by GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, Ltd. 
India under license from Horlicks Ltd. UK

And I, for one, find the differences fascinating.  I know the WHO standardized “Per 100g” so that consumers could judge intake between different kinds of foods regardless of serving size.  So if you take the US RDA x3, it approximates pretty well the WHO statistics.

You can see where the FDA insists on a break-down of any specific ingredients (“Minerals”, “Vitamins”) but omits any natural flavorings that may be part of another combined product (“Dry MIlk Powder”, “Cocoa Powder”).

The World Health Organization on the other hand, is quite specific in the nutritional content by vitamin or mineral element, and not so interested in Fat break-down or Sodium and Cholesterol content.

Neither organization is currently policing Genetically Modified Organism (GMO), organic or natural nomenclature, or processing information.

I find it interesting that the disclaimer portions of the label are quite different.  WHO warns, “Contains Nature Identical Flavouring Substances” presumably targeted to people worried about artificial flavorings and colorings (flavourings and colourings.)

US FDA warns, “Contains: Milk Powder” and “Made in a facility that uses treenuts, milk, eggs, soy, wheat and peanuts” presumably for allergenic purposes.

Which standard (WHO or US FDA) do you think gives you a better idea of what you’re eating?