Labelling and Obesity.

I just saw a segment on Good Morning America about food labels. Apparently they are not always very accurate. They hired a lab to do some testing for them. I already knew that when a label says 0 fat it could have up to .5 mg in it and still be within the legal limits. The upshot of their studies seemed to be stick to the advertised serving size. Now this is fine if its something like cookies, but have you seen the serving sizes on some cans and packages, not enough to keep a flea alive. Very unrealistic, so you end up eating more than you should - according to the label - and then you have a problem. They used a very prevalent statement about chocolate cookies "who can eat just one" I must say I can. I find just a taste of chocolate satisfies me and I can stop at one quite easily.

I have seen some really huge people lately and wonder why they don't do something about it, their doctors should be able to give them some assistance. I saw one woman who's rear end would have covered three chairs, I saw her overflowing one. At least she was still ambulatory, I saw others who were huge and in wheelchairs. There is a tendency to blame glands on such problems, but its amazing how many of these grossly obese problems can disappear once they are under medical supervision. The horrifying cases are those who live in their beds permanently because they can no longer move, how can anyone let themselves get this morbidly obese. Its not like I don't sympathise, I have been fighting obesity all my life, but self discipline has to come into this somewhere. According to the Canadian Diabetes Association, diabetes is costing Canada something like $13 billion a year, in the States it is over $100 billion and a lot of that cost could be alleviated by people losing weight. Even covering the cost of bypass or lap band surgeries would help. A friend of mine who was very overweight had a procedure done and has now lost over 50 lbs. Before she had the procedure she was showing high blood sugar counts, now she is no longer bordering on diabetes. That is simplistic and would not happen for everyone perhaps, but the doctor at the expo said even a 10 lb weight loss helps. Sorry about the rant.

Bowling again today so Matt was polishing his bowling balls yesterday. I bought him some for a birthday present a few years ago. He then didn't get a lot of use out of them for a while, but they have now come back into use. We found out the other day where he can get them engraved quickly and will get them done, probably at the end of this season. I never realised how much care these bowling balls need. Matt was given instruction by the owner of the alley where we started our interest in the game. You have to buy special polish which also has an abrasive in it. I don't have any bowling balls and don't think I want any.

The following recipe is one Matt has made for finger foods at parties. We had a period in North Carolina of having such parties and these disappeared very fast.

Oriental Pot Stickers

Source: Cooking Light - Jan/Feb 94

1/2 lb mixed scallop/shrimp (cod)
1-1/2 tsp veg oil
1 tsp peeled, grated gingerroot
1 clove garlic minced
3/4 C finely chopped leek
3/4 C finely chopped water chestnuts
2 Tbs finely shredded carrot
1 Tbs dry sherry
1 Egg white
30 Wonton wrappers
2 Tsp cornstarch
Veg cooking spray
2 tsp veg oil
1/2 C water

Ginger Soy Sauce

1/2 cup plus
2 tbs water
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 tbs thinly sliced green onions
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp peeled grated ginger
2 tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp dry sherry
Instructions: Coarsely chop seafood by hand or processor. Set aside.

Heat 1 1/2 tsp oil in skillet over medium heat. Add ginger and garlic, saute 30 secs. Add leek, sauté 3 mins til tender. Combine fish, leek mixture, water chestnuts and next three ingredients in a bowl, stir well, set aside.

Work with 1 wrapper at a time (cover rest) spoon about 2 tsp of mixture in each wrapper. Moisten edges with water bring opposing corners to centre, pinch, repeat with other corners. Place on baking sheet sprinkled with cornstarch and set aside.

Coat a nonstick skillet with spray, add 2 tsp oil heat over medium. Arrange potsticker in skillet, cook 3 mins until bottoms lightly browned. Add 1/2 C water, cover and cook 1 min til bottoms are crisp. Serve with warm Ginger-soy sauce.

Sauce:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl; stir well. Yield about 1 cup. Serving size about 3 tbs.

Have a great day.