August 2009
11 posts
New Site!!
Hi Nutritioulicious fans!
I launched a new site for Nutritioulicious today. Please check out my new site and keep following me at http://nutritioulicious.wordpress.com/. I look forward to hearing from you. Feel free to contact me at jessica@nutritioulicious.com or in a comment on the new site.
Keep enjoying the nutritious and delicious food of the summer!
My best,
Jessica
Chania Moussaka
Andy and I went to see Julie & Julia this morning, leaving us very inspired to cook this evening! With our latest CSA delivery of eggplants, green peppers, Swiss chard, and carrots, we decided to make a Greek favorite of ours.
On our honeymoon, we visited Chania, a Greek city on the island of Crete. We were so impressed with the Jewish history in Chania (there’s a beautiful, active...
A New Twist On a Summer Favorite
Last weekend Andy and I rented a house in the Catskills with some friends of ours. Lucky for us, the house had a vegetable garden out back that we were able to use. We found multiple types of lettuce, mint, Alpine strawberries (so tiny and so sweet!), and some gigantic cucumbers. We had seriously never seen cucumbers this size before, and there were a lot of them! In addition to the bounty of...
Dinner at Blue Hill Stone Barns
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I am seriously into seasonal eating. Another love of mine is dining out. Put the two together and you get Blue Hill at Stone Barns. This is a great restaurant in upper Westchester County that serves fresh-from-the-farm foods put together in interesting, creative ways. It’s not cheap, so it’s quite a treat to go there, but well worth it for a...
Morning Fuel
You’ve heard it before: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Despite this being a familiar saying, breakfast is the most skipped meal. It’s such a shame because not only are breakfast foods delicious (why do you think diners serve breakfast all day long?!), but eating breakfast is very nutritious and helps you maintain your weight. Just like a fire won’t burn without...
The Junk Food Tax
Several years ago when I was in graduate school getting my masters in nutrition and dietetics, I remember having a class discussion about taxing junk food. In theory the tax, similar to the tax on cigarettes, seemed like it would be a good idea, but my classmates and I all agreed that in reality it would never happen. How could the government possibly decide what is and is not considered...
Eating For A Living
In yesterday’s post, Eat With Your Senses, I mentioned that eating takes up a large part of the day. Well, this is certainly true for people who eat for a living. Have you ever wondered how Padma Lakshmi eats all that food on “Top Chef,” yet she still stays slim and fit? Or how about chefs like Dan Barber and Giada who make amazing food, but are always stick thin?
In the recent...
Eat With Your Senses
If there’s one activity that occurs the most throughout the day, every day, it has to be eating. Between breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, there is very little time in which food does not play a starring role. Because it occurs so often, eating can become very mindless — it’s something you know you have to do, and often in a busy day it’s done without much thought and...
Cooking on the Couch
As you already know, I am very excited to see “Julie & Julia,” and of course with the movie coming out this week, there have been tons of articles about Julia Child, her cooking, and how we currently cook in comparison. One article in particular, that of Michael Pollan in this past weekend’s NY Times Magazine, was of most interest to me. In “Out of the Kitchen, Onto the...
Cup of Joe
“The best part of waking up …” This slogan may not be used anymore, but it still applies for many people (my mother and husband included) who can’t start their day without a cup of coffee. For years researchers believed that coffee was the cause of multiple diseases, including heart disease and cancer. So is all the coffee that Americans drink really okay for them?
I was...
Is Organic Food Worth It?
Breaking news: Organic and conventionally produced foods have the same nutrient content.
Is this true?
Last Wednesday this news came out, stirring debates ever since. The bottom line of this news, which was based on a review of 50 studies conducted by British researchers, is that neither organic nor conventional food has more health benefits than the other. Clients, friends, and family members...
July 2009
11 posts
Nutritioulicious Snacking
Snacking is a very important part of a healthy, balanced diet. Often, my clients are surprised when I tell them this because they think that means they will take in extra calories and gain weight. What I tell them, and what you need to know, is that snacking is an important bridge to get from one meal to the next. This is especially true between lunch and dinner, which tends to be the longest span...
Food Safety Success!
Have you been concerned about the plethora of E. coli and salmonella outbreaks that have affected everyday foods like spinach and tomatoes, and yummy treats like cookie dough? Well, hopefully your fears will soon be allayed, as tonight the House of Representatives passed legislation to reform the food safety system. Earlier this evening I received an email from the Center for Science in the...
Julie & Julia Coming Soon!
Last night I went to the movies with my husband Andy, and one of the previews was for “Julie & Julia,” due out August 7th. In case you haven’t heard about this movie yet, it’s about a secretary who embarks on a year-long culinary quest to cook all of the recipes in Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” Not only does it star two great...
Chewing the Fat
In today’s NY Times, Selling Gum With Health Claims discusses how over the past few years gum companies, like Trident and Wrigley, have been promoting the health benefits of sugarless chewing gum. Some of the benefits, such as tooth whitening, better breath, and a reduction of cavities, are great. However, when these companies start pitching gum as a way to help control cravings and avoid...
Peanut Butter Lovers Rejoice!
Clients, family members, and friends often ask me whether peanut butter can really be a part of their daily diet when it is so high in fat. My answer is always the same: “Yes, but keep in mind …” So when my sister-in-law recently told me that she and her friends have been conversing about which type of peanut butter is best and whether they can enjoy it guilt-free, I decided...
Recent News to Spread
On the heels of my previous blog post about margarine and trans-fats, USA Today reports that Unilver removes all the trans fat from it’s margarine. Interesting, huh?!
Spread This
Yesterday I received an email from a family member with a forward called “Pass The Butter .. Please.” It talked about the difference between butter and margarine, including the fact that margarine has more trans fats than butter, and butter has more saturated fat than margarine. But the message also mentioned some interesting “facts,” such as:
“Margarine was...
City Farming
I am a huge fan of seasonal ingredients, and summer is by far my favorite time of year for fresh produce. To me, there is nothing better than biting into a juicy, ripe nectarine and enjoying fresh berries at breakfast first thing in the morning. When I lived in Murray Hill (for 7 years!), I used to go down to the Union Square Farmers Market multiple times a week to pick up my fruit and veggies. ...
Wheaties For Men
Coming soon to a cereal aisle near you….Wheaties Fuel. And it’s just for men. According to the NY Times, it turns out that the original Wheaties cereal isn’t doing so well, so they need to do something to beef up the sales. According to the Times, men already account for 60 percent of the people who eat Wheaties, so what will make this new version increase sales? No one...
Thin City
Yesterday news broke that Manhattan is the thinnest county in New York State, with 42% of Manhattanites overweight or obese as compared to 58-62% of the city’s outer boroughs (http://bit.ly/1cTSWc). As a follow-up to this news, there’s an article in today’s NY Times about why people in Manhattan are thinner than the rest of the state. “Where Thin People Roam, and...
Welcome to My Blog!
Hi! Welcome to my blog. My name is Jessica Levinson (formerly Fishman - I just got married 3 weeks ago!), and I am a registered dietitian in New York City. I’ve been in private practice for about 3 1/2 years and during that time I have worked with many different people who have dealt with, and are dealing with, a variety of nutritional and health concerns. I help them set and...