Seared Tuna, Grilled Stringbeans/Mushrooms and Edamame Rice

“It’s Not Your Fault Your Fat”

For goodness sake, no wonder everybody struggles with their weight.   Have you been to the big grocery stores lately?  The majority of food is processed and filled with chemicals that are known to cause serious harm to our bodies.  Does a cigarette come with those pizza rolls?  The reality is that cheap food is typically highly processed and faster to cook than fresh (if you don’t know better and haven’t read everydayfamilyfood.com of course).

Would you go to the beach without sunscreen or worse yet, tan with baby oil (even your face)?  Heck no!  We all look back and can’t believe the damage we did to our skin years ago – but who knew any better?   Ten years from now you will be just as horrified remembering a time when we ate 60 pounds of high fructose corn syrup per year and 40% of all foods in a grocery store had hydrogenated oils in them.

Just like smoking and sun damage, we must educate ourselves on the dangers of certain ingredients and their link to cancer.  Even just a few choices you make today could have a major impact on the health of you and your family.   Try these 3 healthy choices next time you go to the food store:

1. Eliminate foods with high fructose corn syrup (I can’t get rid of the Heinz ketchup though).  Why?  Read this:  http://www.noweightgaincookbooks.com/worse_than_sugar.htm
2. Eliminate foods with any type of hydrogenated oils.  Why? They will eventually kill you and make you fat in the meantime.  Read this: http://www.treelight.com/health/nutrition/PartiallyHydrogenatedOils.html
   • 95% of all cookies and 75% of chips and crackers
   • 70% of all cold cereals and cake mixes and 80% of all frozen breakfast foods
3. Try to buy your meats and milk free from hormones.  Why?  It “can increase the risk of breast cancer and other reproductive system cancers among women and may promote development of prostate cancer in men”.  Read this:  http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/hormones/

Grilled Tuna:  This is a variation on the marinade I use for my flank steak recipe. 

• Take 4 fresh tuna steaks and marinate in a Ziploc for 10 mins. or 2 hours in the fridge.
• Marinade:  ¼ cup of Soy sauce, 3 cloves of garlic, 3 TBS of brown sugar, ½ TSP of ginger.
  Add a chopped shallot if you have it.
• Grill on tin foil for 3-7 minutes on High.  Flip and grill for another 3-7 minutes on Medium.  Cook times vary based on how rare you like it cooked.

Grilled String Beans

• Wash and snip string bean ends (or defrost) and cut grape tomatoes in half.
• Toss on tin foil w/ olive oil, salt/pepper and garlic powder
• Grill for about 10 minutes – wrapped/covered in foil.  Stir to avoid sticking/burning.

Grilled Mushrooms

• Wash or wipe button mushroom clean.  Toss with a drizzle of olive oil, kosher salt/pepper and grill on tin foil for about 10 minutes.

Avocado/Tomato Salad = Avato Salad

• Cut one avocado into cubes and slice grape tomatoes in half.
• Toss with ½ fresh lime, olive oil, red wine vinegar and salt/pepper.

Edamame Rice

• Brown rice takes a while to cook so you can use instant (10 mins.) or buy it cooked and frozen from Trader Joes or just make a large batch and freeze it yourself.
• Defrost some edamame.
• Cook/defrost rice.  Add a drop of soy sauce and edamame and stir.
• You could also add some lemon zest and tarragon for a french vs. asian flare.

What Can Kids Do to Help?

• Help measure and pour tuna marinade into Ziploc
• Wash/wipe mushrooms and season
• Squeeze lime onto Avato Salad
• Sprinkle cheese and zest the lemon onto Brown Rice
• Sunfish Coloring Sheet: http://thecoloringspot.com/images/oceanpix/sunfish.gif
• Picture of Fresh Tuna Catch: http://theeclecticconnoisseur.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/fresh-tuna.jpg
• Soybeans (Edamame) Growing: http://www.masterjules.net/soybean.jpg

Did You Know?

The consumption of canned tuna accounts for more Americans eating tuna than any other type of fish.