FIFTEEN New York Marathon

Good day Mates!

To all my readers from Australia, Europe, The America & Asia, I would like to ask your little help to support the FIFTEEN New York Marathon fundraising. My good friend Danny Mc Cubbin, his officemates from Jamie Oliver's office and some FIFTEEN people will join the marathon. So far they are only getting 13% of the 100% target. Danny emailed me to be part of those people who are in one boat in supporting them. I visited the website Danny gave me and donated 20 pounds to help them reach their target. Since I made running part of my life, I feel how the runners feel in joining a marathon like this. As I prepare and train myself to join some fun run or a marathon perhaps, I am asking you guys to give a little help and I guarantee you'll have something big in return. That's the law of KARMA. What you give or what you do, you shall receive. :-)


PLEASE DONATE!

http://www.justgiving.com/fifteennymarathon/?pid=1980331&dtpn=4#DonationTable

Many Thanks!

hugs,
joanie xxx

Anti-Obesity Drug

I feel like I MAY be the ONLY dietitian NOT at the Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo this week. Sad! The timing just didn't work out for this year, but I'm feeling very left out of the loop! Instead, I'm home answering the door for every Boy Scout within a ten mile radius...buying chocolate caramel corn - ahhhh! I sold way too many Girl Scout Cookies back in the day to turn down any kiddo going door-to-door selling some delicious goodies!

Anywho, in nutrition news....

Three small California companies (Arena Pharmeceuticals, Orexigen Therapeutics, and Vivus) are planning to submit their anti-obesity drug for FDA approval in the coming months, becoming available on the market as soon as late 2010 or 2011 [1].

Jack Lief, chief executive of Arena Pharmeceuticals, believe anti-obesity drugs to become "bigger" than statins (such as Lipitor) which generated $12.4 billion in global sales last year [1].

The new drug being formulated is aiming to avoid unpleasant side effects which have deterred users from using other FDA-approved weight-loss drugs, such as Alli. The new weight loss drug will include a combination of two drugs, which many experts deem more effective than a single medicine [1].

In clinical trials of the three new weight-loss drugs, patients have lost an average of 3-10% of their starting body weight after just one year. Vivus's drug (Qnexa) produced the greatest weight loss in clinical trials, and the company's stock is up 90% this year [1]!

Some experts are stating these latest weight loss drugs as no better than current weight loss drugs, and that overall, weight loss is modest. The new drugs work through the central nervous system to influence appetite. The leading concern from the FDA is the psychological side effects of such drugs [1].

Interesting, none-the-less. Any thoughts for or against weight-loss drugs? Concerns?  

While I can consider weight-loss drugs an "aid" in weight-loss efforts, similar to gastric bypass and gastric banding, the behavior and lifestyle changes are still necessary for long-term weight maintenance. I see SO MANY gastric bypass patients who go through the "honeymoon phase" of weight-loss in the months following their operation, watching the weight just melt away. In the years following, however, poor and excessive food choices and a sedentary lifestyle lead back to rapid weight gain. Whether a weight loss aid of drugs or surgery, the need for diet and lifestyle changes are still of utmost importance in my mind.

Yesterday's diet looked like this...

Breakfast:

1 cup prepared steel cut oats (2 carbs)

1 Tbsp pumpkin butter (1 carb)

1 tsp Splenda brown sugar (0 carbs)

     Total: 3 carbs

Lunch:

1 serving Chicken Tamale Casserole (2 1/2 carbs)

1 small apple

     Total: 3 carbs

Dinner:

1 medium toss salad with 2 Tbsp ranch dressing, 1 ounce cheddar cheese, green peppers, egg whites, mushrooms, carrots, tomatoes, and banana peppers (1 carbs)

1 small slice deep dish pizza (2 carbs)

     Total: 3 carbs

Snack:

2 graham crackers with low-fat cream cheese (1 carb)

     Total: 1 carb

Exercise: 90-minute hockey game

[1]. Pollack, Andrea. Medicine's Elusive Goal: A Sage Weight-Loss Drug. The New York Times. October 16, 2009.

Bibiana, A Review

Today, a dear friend of mine and I ate at Bibiana, the newest DC creation of Ashok Bijaj, best known for The Oval Room, Bombay Club and Rasika.  It was a bitter sweet moment as Bibana takes the space of one of my sentimental favorites, Luigino's.  It was here I developed a passion for northern Italian food, wine, even the art of cooking itself, as one could sit at the bar overlooking the kitchen and watch the evenining's creations at work.  But, as life goes on, so does the ultra modern chic take over in style.  Bibiana is now transformed into a vitrual W of a restaurant.  Maybe it was the passing of my sentimental favorite which made me find the decor a bit much, but it was all qualty and tastefully done.

The food, however, was luscious on every level.  The menu relfected the season in ingredients and preparation.  I chose chestnut soup as my first course.  So often tinny and thin, this was full and savory.  Poured in the theatric style around a dollop of creme fresh and two medallions of duck sausage, I wanted no more than to lick the bowl clean.  For the second course, I delighted in a veal ravioli with a sage butter sauce.  Luigino's first introduced me to home-made veal pasta.  For them it was a large, v]paper thin ravioli that melted in your mouth.  Bibiana's was a thicker pasta with a bite.  The sage sauce included bits of crisped pancetta.  A few more sauteed sage leaves would have been nice, but all and all, excellent.  The reviews are high for Bibiana and I would recommend it too.  Check it out here at http://www.bibianadc.com/.

Claypot yee mee

A simple hawker dish, especially common in Singapore and Malaysia. Good stuff for a chilly or rainy day.

The broth is made from dried anchovies, ginger, pepper and salt. The egg noodles, known locally as "yee mee" can be found at most groceries or hypermarts.

Ingredients:

For broth: dried anchovies, ginger, pepper, salt, vegetable oil.

Yee Mee

Tomato

Egg

Lettuce

Mince pork, marinate with soy sauce and pepper

Sliced pork, marinate with soy sauce and pepper

Sliced fish cake

Steps:

Prepare broth.

Soak anchovies for a while to rtemove dirt. Then fry anchovies and ginger in a pan or wok. Once anchovies become crispy, put then and the onion into a stock pot. Add water and salt, then bring to a boil. To get full flavour from the broth, boil for 45 minutes.

Get a nice single serve claypot. Place yee mee into pot, add in tomatoes. Pour broth prepared earlier into claypot. Don't fill up the claypot. Ideally, the claypot should be 3/4 full. Add in a dash of soy sauce. Cover claypot and bring to boil. Open lid, toss in minced pork, sliced pork and fish cake. Close lid and let boil. Once noodle are soft and pork is cooked, taste and season as required. Next, crack in the egg, add lettuce, close back the lid. Turn off the flame and serve.

Farmer's sausage and penne with tomatoes and herbs

Farmer's sausage with penne pasta cooked with tomatoes and herbs. The tomatoes are cooked until they become a thick and sauce-like. This makes it stick to the pasta. I can't remember the Italian name for this method of cooking at this moment.

Ingredients:

Tomatoes

Garlic

Basil Leaves (Both dried or fresh works fine)

Italian farmer's sausage

Lettuce

Steps:

Cook penne separately.

Boil tomatoes until skin begins to peel. Remove and put tomatoes into cold water. Peel off skin and chop tomatoes. Remove the stem. Heat up a pan with olive oil and fry the garlic until it changes colour. Toss in the chopped tomatoes and cook. Keep cooking until tomatoes start to turn into a thick paste. Toss in basil and stir. Season the paste to your tastes (sugar, salt and pepper). Often ketchup is used to provide some acidity. Personally, I prefer balsamic vinegar.

When the paste is seasoned, toss in penne. Cook a while to reduce the water from the penne. When the paste sticks to the penne, it is ready. Garnish with lettuce and serve immediately. You can replace the sausage with other meats, or have the penne with the tomato sauce as vegetarian dish.

This dish goes really well with meatballs. More on my meatballs recipe soon...

Simple fried rice

Chinese kon loh noodles with fried sui kow

Braised Pork

Soupy Pasta

The broth is prepared with tomatoes, celery, any leftover vegetables and chicken bones.

This pasta is boiled until soft. Then stir fry some bacon bits. Then add pasta, vegetables and boil again. Don't forget to add salt.

You can top it up with sausages or hard-boiled egg .