How Healthy Are Ethnic Foods? (The Diet, Month 2)

Healthy fast food is hard to find, and when it comes to 1) healthy, 2) American, 3) fast food, you usually have to pick between two of the three.  When I say American, I don’t mean strictly hamburgers and hot dogs; I mean everything that has fallen into the realm of standard fare for Americans on-the-go, including pizzas, tacos, and breakfast sandwiches, none of which I have consumed over the last two months (minus a late night, alcohol-induced trip to King Taco on New Year’s Day).  Instead, I have been relying on ethnic fast foods to get me through those busy days, which got me to thinking, how healthy is a sweet corn tamale from Mama’s, or a bowl of Daikoku ramen, or a “xiao long bao” from Din Tai Fung.  How healthy, really, are the ethnic foods that I’ve been eating, and how have they been affecting my diet.

I don’t know the exact recipes that these places use, but I have found standard recipes for the aforementioned foods, and this post will be based on that information.

Corn Tamales (as prepared by the Too Hot Tamales, Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger) from the book Mesa Mexicana

10 ears corn
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
pinch of sugar, if necessary
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup hominy grits
1 recipe Salsa Fresca, see recipe

Immediately, two ingredients jump off the list in terms of health (particularly, cholesterol): butter and heavy cream.  My guess is that most places substitute butter with some kind of cooking oil, and they might avoid the heavy cream in sweetening the corn, but assuming that most tamales are prepared in a similar way, corn tamales are going to have to be taken out of the picture for the rest of my diet.

Daikoku Ramen (with Kurobuta pork)

Most of the online ramen recipes provide simplified instructions for what is really a labor of love for ramen chefs.  Daikokuya’s soup base is made from a pork broth that is simmered for over a day, and I can’t really find any online instructions for making a similar broth, so I’m not too sure what goes into that.  It should suffice to say that I don’t think broth of any sort is unhealthy.  What’s easier to see is what else goes into a bowl of Daikoku ramen: kurobuta pork, generic ramen noodles, a hard-boiled egg, and a sprinkling of green onion, bamboo shoots, and bean sprouts.

First off, the center of the hard-boiled egg is avoidable.  Leaving a slice of chashu in the bowl is almost impossible.  That tender, fatty slice of heaven known as kurobuta pork taunts me to no end, but that marbling will raise my cholesterol and needs to be left behind.  Ramen noodles can be made with or without eggs, and I’m not sure with the variety they serve at Daikokuya, but noodles are mostly just flour anyway.  The vegetables are so sparse that they really do nothing to help or hurt my diet.

Steamed Pork Dumplings
I found this recipe on Cooking.com, which uses The Heritage of Chinese Cooking as its source.

For Filling:
1/2 pound fresh ground pork (should be fatty)
3 oz fresh uncooked (green) shrimp, shelled, deveined, and minced
3 oz water chestnuts, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped bamboo shoots
1 cup finely chopped scallions
1/2 cup minced celery

Most of the recipes online don’t vary too much, and my aunt makes them using a similar recipe, with no glaring ingredients when it comes to unhealthiness.  The nice thing that comes with dumplings (and tamales for that matter) is that they’re always steamed, which is probably the healthiest way to cook something.  (That might be wrong, but I don’t really care).

So what does all this diet “research” amount to in this crazy world?  I’m going to try to get some nutritional information on the tamales I have been eating, and in the meantime (at least until this diet is over) will stick to steamed dumplings.

Worm Update
I dumped some of the scraps from the meal I prepared on the day I got the worms, and I just checked on them today.  The little guys are actively eating and pooping out nutritious soil, but they’re eating much slower than I expected.  They’re still working on that first meal, and I don’t know when I’ll be able to add more scraps.  In their defense, it has been unusually cold in Southern California, and they do slow down a bit when it gets nippy.  I’ve moved them indoors for the time being, and hopefully that will help them go to town.

Mini-Update

The worms came in the mail yesterday, and I’ll set up their nest tonight.  I don’t have a proper camera, so I’ll be taking some camera phone pictures and uploading them when I finally find that usb cable.  I also have a big diet post coming which I’ve been doing some research on (so you know it’s gonna be good), and I’m due for another blood test tomorrow.  Hopefully, I’ll have time to update tomorrow before this hectic weekend is upon us.

In the meantime, you can see my ridiculousness at Xanga.

That’s [Black] Gold, Jerry! Gold!

I have been in the market for some composting worms for over a month now, but every local worm farm has ignored my attempts to contact them.  I used a list of suppliers provided by the Griffith Park Composting Workshop and left messages for all the suppliers that were within a reasonable distance, but I did not receive a single call back.  Beginning to lose hope, I was directed to an online store by this blog post: slacker!

I just placed the order today with Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm, so I’ll update again when the little guys get in.

Slowing Down
I caught the bug going around, so I called in sick for a few days.  Not going to work = not needing a ride to work = not taking public transportation as much as I had planned.  However, I did manage to take the bus to work for two days last week, and as soon as I am fully recovered, I plan on adding to that total.

Why do YOU ride Metro?

So I missed a week of “living green,” and I figured I ought to do something big to make up for that (doing two regular things would be too simple).  My brother and I were discussing the issue of going green the other day, and he said, “If people really cared about saving the planet, they wouldn’t buy a Prius… they would stop driving.”  I replied, “People aren’t committed enough to saving the planet to give up their conveniences.”

For the next week, as long as time permits, I will be taking the bus to work.  This means waking up an hour and a half earlier than I usually do, which will be tough, but manageable as long as I can get to sleep on time.  Here’s the route Metro.net suggests:

Ride Metro Bus 20( DOWNTOWN LA – 7TH-MAIN) heading east
From: WILSHIRE/PARK VIEW(SW corner) Lv: 07:27AM
To: 7TH/OLIVE(SW corner) Ar: 07:37AM
Pay $1.25 + $0.30 for Transfer., Monthly Pass: $62.00, (EZ Pass accepted)
Ride Foothill Transit Silver Streak( MONTCLAIR TRANSIT CTR) heading north
From: OLIVE ST/7TH ST(SE corner) Lv: 07:47AM
To: EL MONTE STATION Ar: 08:18AM
Use Transfer or Media + $1.00, Monthly Pass: $80.00, (EZ Pass accepted)
Ride Metro Bus 176 (FIGUEROA-YORK) heading west
From: EL MONTE STATION/LOWER LEVEL BAY B Lv: 08:30AM
To: FLAIR DR/TELSTAR AV(NE corner) Ar: 08:37AM
Pay $1.25, Monthly Pass: $62.00, (EZ Pass accepted)

and the Metro.net calculated savings of

*Driving cost: is about $9.51 (based on AAA’s formula at 56.2 cents/mile)

Which I know can’t be right, or I would have to gas up every week, but I will be saving a nice amount of pocket change.  Conservation for the planet AND my wallet.  Can’t really beat that.

Next Wednesday, I’ll stop by Home Depot to check out the showerhead that Fred recommended.

The War Has Just Begun (The Diet, Month 1)

Recap
Before this little experiment began, I was heavy on the greasy fast foods, and low on the fruits and veg.  I took my cholesterol medication sparsely and showed little concern for my own well-being.  One month in, as according to the plan, I’ve had no fried foods, no red meat, and no fast food, while eating a healthy amount of fruits and vegetables.  I still forget to take my medication about once a week, which I’m working on, but the regularity of my medication has improved significantly.  And the results?  I’ve got my cholesterol level down to 161, HDLs at 66, LDLs at 80, and most importantly, my coronary risk ratio is at 2.43, putting me at low risk.

Health Update
I have lost about 8 pounds due to the diet, putting me at a healthy 154.  I’m fine at this weight, but I am a bit worried that I might continue to lose weight.  Honestly, cutting out unhealthy foods hasn’t changed my energy on the basketball court.  Or I haven’t felt any different out there.

The thing about being at 161, is that I’ve been on a pretty strict diet.  Hopefully, with the addition of regular exercise, it can drop even further and I can take myself off the meds.  If my cholesterol levels can continue to drop, I know that after the three months are up, I can partake in the occasional pastrami sandwich, or prime rib, or french fries, or krispy kreme, or…

Pleeeeeeeeease continue to drop.

Delay
The earth will just have to wait a day or two.  I usually do my green updates on Wednesdays, but I was swamped at work, trying to get everything taken care of before the holiday, so I will be doing the green update on the weekend when I have some free time.  On a side note, I have been washing my hair before I’ve been getting in the shower, and the only problem so far is that when I’m standing in the bathroom with no shirt on in the morning, it can get a bit chilly.  Solution?  Just hang your towel over your shoulders and that should keep you from freezing your nips off for that minute.

The Big Cooking Post (The Diet, Days 13-30)

Cooking has always been a joy of mine, and the benefits of preparing your own food take a large part in trying to lower my cholesterol.  It helps to know exactly what is going into the food that you eat and lets you prepare food while considering the restrictions of your diet.  Over the weekend, a friend asked why I don’t put up recipes to help people who are on similar diets.  The fact of the matter is, when it comes to cooking, I only do as I’m told.  I’m no trailblazer in the kitchen.  I follow instructions and can usually follow them well.  I don’t possess a complex knowledge of what flavors and spices go together, only a decent understanding of how things should look and taste when I get to the end of the recipe.

Literary Resources
Truth be told, I own a copy of Giada’s Everyday Italian, but I’ve stashed it into the dark recesses of my cupboard.  But if a book like that, or even Rachael Ray’s 30 Minute Meals, can get you back in the kitchen, I’m fine with it.  If you want to use the recipes I’m using, the following books occupy my kitchen shelf:

The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters
The French Laundry Cookbook by Thomas Keller
Nancy Silverton’s Sandwich Book by Nancy Silverton
Les Halles Cookbook by Anthony Bourdain
The Elements of Cooking by Michael Ruhlman
The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer
On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee

Of the four actual cookbooks, three are from California chefs.  I just had to have Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook, even though I have yet to use it.  The bottom three serve more as reference manuals.

Internet Resources
There are basically three things that I consistently use from the internet.  Simply Ming is great if you don’t have the time to take a course on food prep and knife handling.  It has a small video library that includes breaking down a chicken, filetting a salmon, and many other basic tips for mise en place.  Although I’m not a fan of most of the programming on Food Network, their website is the best resource for looking up Alton Brown’s recipes and instructions.  And of course Youtube is an endless source for cooking videos.  Unfortunately, like the rest of the internet, Youtube is filled with clutter from every Tom, Dick, and Jane having an opinion about how to cook something, so I mostly use it to watch the cooking segments of Gordon Ramsay’s The F Word (this link is to a user profile that hosts many of Ramsay’s cooking videos, including a segment with Martine McCutcheon, the “chubby” hottie from Love Actually).

Back to the Diet
The point of all of this is to control what I eat, and it has seemingly been going well.  Of course, I’ll find out whether this has been working when I get my blood test results back (I’m getting it drawn tomorrow morning).  In addition to the diet, I am starting to work on a plan to train for a half marathon, which I’ll document on here as soon as I get started (hopefully next week).  Cross your fingers, folks… I should get my results on Wednesday if the lab stays open, otherwise it will be next Monday.

Going CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs)

Before I embark on these little projects, I do some research and get some background about what I’m getting myself into.  A little late on the uptake, I’ve decided that I should finally make that switch to CFLs, so I hit up the usual suspects: TreeHugger, ApartmentTherapy, eartheasy, etc…  And as usual, I found the information I need, but unfortunately, there appears to be a lot more to switching lightbulbs than meets the eye. 

I will lay out what I think is the pertinent information and provide links if you are interested in learning more, but I think what I put up should suffice in getting you prepared to make the switch as well.  Through the week, if what is important to know and not know changes, I will revise this post and add new posts to supplement this one.  I have about ten bulbs that will be making the switch, including floor and desk lamps, wall sconces, ceiling lights, and outdoor lighting.

Saving Money and the Planet from Energy Star:

ENERGY STAR qualified bulbs use about 75 percent less energy than standard incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer. 
Save about $30 or more in electricity costs over each bulb’s lifetime.
Produce about 75 percent less heat, so they’re safer to operate and can cut energy costs associated with home cooling.

Types of Bulbs from environmental defense:

Energy-saving light bulbs now come in all shapes and sizes. Choose as many or as few criteria as you like and we’ll recommend bulbs that match.

Some fixtures can be challenging to fit, so read our reviews, check the side-by-side pictures, and consult our tips for buying energy-saving bulbs. Thanks for helping to save energy and cut pollution!

Converting Wattage from GE:

	Standard Bulb		CFL Bulb
	60w	=	13w-15w
	75w	=	20w
	100w	=	26w-29w
	150w	=	38w-42w

Because the wattage of a CFL bulb is much lower than that of an incandescent, you can use higher wattage CFL giving you the equivalent light of a higher wattage incandescent. For example: If your fixture says not to exceed 60 watts, you can use a 15 watt CFL to get the same amount of light as an incandescent bulb or use up to a 42 watt CFL and increase the amount of light.

Dealing with Mercury from TreeHugger:

There has recently been some concern over the possibility that broken CFLs can be an important source of exposures to mercury, a toxic metal and a key component of compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs). Although mercury is a toxic pollutant, mercury exposures from broken CFLs are not likely to harm you and your family. This is due to several factors, including the amount and duration of your exposures and the specific type of mercury that you are exposed to.

Disposal from GE and Earth 911:

Like paint, batteries, thermostats, and other hazardous household items, CFLs should be disposed of properly. Do not throw CFLs away in your household garbage if better disposal options exist. To find out what to do first check www.earth911.org (where you can find disposal options by using your zip code) or call 1-877-EARTH911 for local disposal options.

5 Minute Showers (Update)

This idea turned out to be much easier in practice than I thought it would be.  I usually shower in the morning and don’t have all the time in the world anyway.  (Quick tip: soaping up is much easier with a full bar of soap.  I was down to a sliver over the weekend, and using them increased my showering time a full minute.)  In fact, I will be consciously making this effort for a while, as I haven’t really experienced any sort of emotional or physical change - I don’t find myself missing longer showers, and I’m pretty sure I’ve maintained the same degree of hygiene.

Food for Thought
If I could have a shower like the ones at the beach, would that be so unbearable?  The kind that requires you to push the button every 10-15 seconds to keep the water flowing.  Think about how much water you could save while you are putting on soap or shampoo.  Most water conservationists already recommend shutting off the water while you are soaping up, but frankly, I don’t want to bother with that.  However, if the water were to stop on its own, I wouldn’t have a problem with that either.

Or what about wetting your hair and shampooing BEFORE you even turn the shower on.  This might not work for women or for men with longer hair, but most men only need a handful of water in their hair to get a good lather going.  I’m definitely going to give this a go, and I’ll see if any complications arise from it.

Going Paperless with OptOutPrescreen.com
The Good Human (thanks to Genevieve @ StylishGuide.com for the link) did a post entitled 35 Low-Cost Ways to Green Your Lifestyle, and #13 provides a link to OptOutPrescreen.com, a service that will stop the insane torrent of letters you get in the mail from credit agencies letting you know that “You’ve been pre-approved!”  I’ll sign up and see how it goes over the next few months.

5 Minute Showers

For this entire week, starting today and ending next Tuesday, I will only be taking 5 minute showers.  To some people, this might sound like a small feat, but to others this could be an impossibility.  On average, I take about a 10-12 minute shower, and even though my water pressure is a little lacking at the apartment, that shower would consume around 20 gallons of water.  Showers are great, especially on those cold mornings, but cutting out long showers for just 1 week can easily save 70 gallons of water, which is important during this drought we are experiencing in LA.

I know there are some people who like to spend 20 minutes or more in the shower, but what on earth do you really need to be doing in there:

0:00 – 0:30 – Getting acclimated/Prep
0:30 – 2:00 – Soaping up
2:00 – 3:00 – Shampoo
3:00 – 3:40 – Face Wash
3:40 – 4:30 – Rinse

I’ve even left myself a 30 second buffer.

Notes and Tips
- The clock starts when you turn on the water.
- Play a five minute song, or two songs that add up to five minutes on your stereo.  Or get a timer.
- If you REALLY want to save some water, turn the water off while you’re soaping up, shampooing and washing your face.
- I used to brush in the shower, but that wastes too much water.
- To see how much water you are using, plug the drain during your next shower to see how high the water goes in your tub.
- Replace your existing showerhead with either a low-flow or aerating showerhead. 

Cholesterol Meds, Eggplant Dip, & Berry Smoothies (The Diet, Days 6-12)

Things are going alright on the dieting front.  I’ve been taking Vytorin pretty regularly, and for the first time in my life, I am actually looking forward to taking my next blood test, which I will try to do on day 30.  Over the last seven years or so, I have been taking either Lipitor or Zetia, or a combination of the two.  Unfortunately, I was never able to stay on track.  Remembering to take pills once a day is not hard, but I never stayed consistent with my medication because I did not understand the significance of lowering my cholesterol and the ramifications if I continued to ignore my problem.

Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs
To shed some light on the aforementioned medications, I will once again turn to the ever-informative American Heart Association:

Statins (also known as HMG CoA reductase inhibitors) (Lipitor)
This class of drugs works in the liver to prevent the formation of cholesterol. Statins are most effective at lowering the LDL (bad) cholesterol, but also have modest effects on lowering triglycerides (blood fats) and raising HDL (good) cholesterol. 

Selective cholesterol absorption inhibitors (Zetia)
This relatively new class of cholesterol-lowering medications works by preventing the absorption of cholesterol from the intestine. Selective cholesterol absorption inhibitors are most effective at lowering the LDL (bad) cholesterol, but may also have modest effects on lowering triglycerides (blood fats) and raising HDL (good) cholesterol. 

Vytorin, as it was explained to me, works in both these ways.  Of course, if you are worried about your cholesterol and are interested in any of these medications, consulting your physician is always your first move.

Snacking
As I pointed out earlier in the week, the food that I have been eating has not been satisfying my hunger, so in the mean time and in-between times I’ve been eating a LOT of roasted eggplant dip with toasted sourdough bread courtesy of La Brea Bakery.  This traditional Middle Eastern staple is ridiculously easy to make and delicious, and if you find yourself looking around to nibble on something, you should definitely give it a shot.  There are about a million slightly different ways to make the dip, and what I make is simply based on what is available in my kitchen, but here’s a good recipe from Howstuffworks.com.

The recipe calls for Tahini, which I substituted with olive oil.  Just drizzle the olive oil into the food processor until you get the consistency you want.  The picture above is from a Weber-sponsored site, which suggests adding a can of white cannellini beans, something I will try next time as beans are a great and healthy source of protein.

I’ve also been drinking the same banana & berry smoothie every night.

Ingredients
1 Banana
1 handful of Raspberries and Blackberries
1/3 cup of Soy milk
Ice

Progress Report
On Tuesday, Oct. 30th, I broke my diet in a lapse of judgment as I nibbled on about a handful of tortilla chips when I went to The Prince in Koreatown (I hate linking to Yelp, but that’s probably the best link for their information).  The chips might have been baked, but I doubt it.  They had a nice little salsa on the side, and man were those chips tasty!

Aside from that incident, things have been going well.  I’m still hungry during the day, but the snacks I have at home have been a great help in the evenings.  Next up, setting up an exercise schedule.