NYC Staycation

A final blog for 2011...

My boyfriend and I didn't take a big vacation this year and instead of traveling over the holidays, we decided to take a staycation right here in New York.  We've been so busy with work and school since we moved here a year ago, that we haven't had a chance to go to all the places we've wanted to check out.  I've made endless lists of places to visit and places to dine and even when I get to cross one of them off my list, I end up adding two more new ones.

So here is my Holiday 2011 New York Restaurant List

1.     12/29  The Dutch:  12pm lunch with my old boss, Chris, who was in town to ring the bell at the NYSE from Washington, DC.  We went a little overboard with ordering, but there was no stopping us.  Chris and I have a history of frequently dining out at top restaurants, as we both love quality food and trying new places.  What better place to try than The Dutch?  It has been topping many NYC critics' lists as a top restaurant of 2011, even Sam Sifton's numero uno.
Steak tartare to start (I would say this was the most mediocre item we ordered; it was good, but I've definitely had better).  Followed by some St. Simon oysters for Chris.  Our entrees included the beef ravioli with porcinis and robiola sheep cheese and the seared scallops with saffron rice and a gumbo "sauce" which was more like a foam.  Both were fantastic.  After a few martinis and bubblys, and after sneaking a peak at our fellow at-the-bar diners' plates, we also decided to order the fried chicken.  YUM.  Now, I'm not an advocate for eating fried food, I am a nutrition student after all, I also know that an occasional indulgence is worthwhile.  We each enjoyed a few bites and called it a day; the dish came with four pieces of fried chicken and two honey biscuits.

All anyone needs to savor a dish are two bites.  I think I even read in one of my anatomy books that the first 2 bites of anything are when our senses, taste and smell, are focused the most.  Each bite after that, we aren't paying as much attention and eating becomes a routine rather than a savory sensory experience.

2.     12/29  Blue Hill:  Good thing I made 9pm reservations a month ago when I called to get a table, because I was pretty full from The Dutch all day.  Reservations here are not easy to come by and I've been now been spoiled here twice since moving to New York...once on my birthday in July and again this time for our 2nd anniversary.  We did the Farmer's Feast, which is $78 for 5 courses and various treats in between.
Started off with a mini beet-burger with ricotta cheese on an almond bun.  Then collard green chips, served as "leaves" in a gold wire tree.  Then we enjoyed poached hake with brussels and pancetta.  Next was a farm fresh egg over creamy kale.  The main course was milk-fed pig (jowl, shoulder and loin) with fresh tart cranberries and fennel.  The first dessert was ginger ice, poached pear, and yogurt sorbet.  Finally, ginger cake, poached lady apple and almond gelato.

3.     12/30  Arturo's:  Cousin dinner with Mike, James, Jason, Mike's friend Emily from UVA, and mio amore Mark.  Had a bottle of chianti and 2 large pizzas.  One meatball and one with eggplant and added ricotta.  Live jazz, lively atmosphere, great company and great food.  Well, the pizzas were a little overcooked, but still good!

4.     12/31  Bouley:  Nothing beats the $55 lunch tasting menu at Bouley in Tribeca.  Seriously.  It was divine.  Five amazing courses with truffles galore, impeccable service, tasty cocktails (Hendrick's Gin, fresh sage, and pineapple puree), and the most beautiful ceiling of any restaurant I've been to.
Squash soup with chestnut cream, toasted pine nuts in rice paper.
Housemade olive bread, fig bread, and french sourdough
Asparagus salad with comte cheese, basil dressing; Mark had various tuna carpaccios
Wild mushrooms, white truffles; Mark had crab with spanish flan
Duck, persimmon, turnip puree; Mark had braised beef cheeks with blue kale gnocchi
Mashed potatoes; best I've ever tasted.
Fig soup dessert with some sort of ice cream topping
Red wine (beaujolais) sorbet
Valrhona chocolate soufflé
Peppermint tea
Selected homemade cookies

Coming up...
5.     1/10  Locanda Verde
6.     1/13  ABC Kitchen

p.s. the best part about all of these restaurants is that they are all within reasonable walking distance of our apartment ... i love new york.

H A P P Y   2 0 1 2 !

What's for Breakfast?

I usually have a bowl of cereal with berries for breakfast, but along with that, I'll have a small nonfat yogurt.  

Combining protein with breakfast is the key to feeling fuller longer.  Yogurt or eggs are great options to get a little protein in to start your day.

Making scrambled eggs couldn't be any easier, and the best part is: you can throw in whatever left over veggies you have in the fridge.  I find myself doing this all the time...a few cherry tomatoes here, mushrooms there, spinach everywhere.  Oh, and I always add fresh basil of course.  When you add in veggies and herbs there is no reason to ever add salt.

Breakfast today: 2 scrambled eggs (1 yolk), red peppers, broccoli, avocado, and basil all over a slice of Trader Joe’s multi-grain toast.

p.s. Don’t skimp out on both yolks.  I always add at least one.  The yolk is where all the nutrients are, and yes, it’s where all the cholesterol is too, but a little is not only okay, it’s also needed.

Sub in Avocado

Lunch today:
Whole grain bread toasted, herb turkey breast, tomatoes, and avocado.  No need for any other condiments when avocados are around.  Ditch the mayo, sub in avocado.

Get some of the healthy fat that everyone is talking about these days with avocados.

The Other White Meat: Pork Chops

I admit it, I cook a lot of chicken.  It's easy, inexpensive, and nutritious.  However, it's good to switch things up and eat a variety of foods, even your proteins, so you can meet all of your vitamin and mineral needs.  And so you don't go crazy eating the same thing every day.  While both chicken and pork are excellent lean meat choices, they offer a different set of nutrients.

Pork is an excellent source of one of our essential B vitamins, thiamine.  It's recommended that we consume around 1.1 - 1.2 mg of thiamine a day.  It forms part of a coenzyme that is used in our body for metabolism.

Pork just might be the leading food source of thiamine.  A lean pork chop (3 ounces of meat) provides almost 1 mg all on its own.  Chicken, on the other hand, only offers a tenth of the thiamine that pork does, with .1 mg in 3 ounces.

I found a recipe in an old Real Simple magazine for a weeknight meal that includes roast pork chops and butternut squash with kale.  I subbed out the butternut squash for sweet potatoes, since I already had some in the house.

It was all pretty easy and didn't take too much time, maybe 30 minutes of prep and an hour total.

• Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  

• Peel and chop up sweet potatoes and toss with fresh sage, olive oil, and a touch of salt + pepper.  Place on baking sheet and cook for 35 to 40 mins.

• After the sweet potatoes have cooked for 25 mins, heat some olive oil in a large skillet over high heat.  Lightly season a couple of bone-in pork chops (around 1 inch thick) with salt + pepper.  Cook until browned, around 3 - 5 mins per side.

• Place the pork chops onto the same baking sheet as the sweet potatoes and roast for about 7 - 8 mins more.

• While those two are in the oven, get going on the kale.  Heat a little bit more olive oil in the same skillet with some thin garlic slices.  Add the kale and 1/4 cup water.  Use a wooden spoon to toss the kale around until tender, around 5 - 7 mins later.

• Plate everything and enjoy.

Looks just like the picture from the magazine!

p.s. There was no way I could eat all of that... 2 meals for the price (and time) of 1

Sport Nutrition: Protein

For all of you runners out there, even the crazy marathon runners (including my cousin James who is about to run one in Greece), proper nutrition can improve your performance.  Here is some information about the growing field of sport nutrition and some tips for those of you who may be training for a big event.

What are the basic purposes of food?  Food provides energy, food regulates metabolic processes, and food supports growth and development.

Sport nutrition may be viewed in two ways:
1. Nutrition for training - All three purposes of food are taken into account with training
2. Nutrition for competition - Prime importance of food is energy and regulating metabolic processes

During your training period, due to the increase in energy expenditure, you need to increase your calorie intake to maintain your bodyweight and to help your body make adjustments in becoming more efficient.  For example, you will be forming new body tissue.  

Another example that has long been known to effect long distance runners is an increase in hemoglobin content in the blood.  Hemoglobin is a protein in our red blood cells responsible for picking up and dropping off oxygen throughout our body.  The key to hemoglobin is iron (4 irons per hemoglobin) and is the actual element that "picks up" the oxygen.  This translates to a daily diet needing to "contain adequate amounts of iron not only to meet normal needs but also to make effective body adjustments due to the chronic effects of training." 

Meats are really the best source of absorbable iron.  Fortified grains also contain iron.  See this iron dietary fact sheet for more information.

In competition an athlete will utilize specific body energy sources and systems, depending up the intensity and duration of the exercise.  For short, high intensity exercise, our bodies will use stored carbohydrates in our muscles anaerobically.  This can last up to one to three minutes.  During endurance exercise, lasting longer than five minutes, we use aerobic respiration that oxidizes stored carbohydrates (glycogen) and fats in our bodies.  So you need to have enough of those carb & fat energy stores to satisfy the energy demands of exercising for long periods of time.

Protein
Contrary to what people may think, protein is not generally used to provide the energies needed for exercise.  Don't get me wrong, protein is extremely important in our bodies, but we use it for all of our other body functions, not typically energy storage.  If you do not consume enough carbs, our body will convert proteins into energy, but then you are taking it away from all of the other jobs that only protein accomplishes.  Some other negative side effects include breaking down muscle and raising blood acidity.

Your intake of protein during training doesn't need to be altered all that much.  Since you will be consuming more calories in general (marathon trainers will consume around 700 - 1,000 extra calories!) you will probably get the additional amounts of protein anyways without having to try.  If you want me to get particular, simply multiply your weight, in pounds, by one of the following:

• Active adult 0.4-0.6
• Growing athlete 0.6-0.8
• Adult building muscle mass 0.6-0.8

For example, a 180 pound man training for a marathon should be consuming around 126 grams of protein each day.  A 110 pound female also training, should consume around 77 grams each day.

Lean beef, white-meat poultry, pork tenderloin, legumes/beans, eggs, nuts, yogurt, and seafood are all excellent sources of protein.

Information above was gathered from my textbook Nutrition for Health, Fitness, & Sport by Melvin Williams and Understanding Nutrition by Ellie Whitney and Sharon Rady Rolfes.