Quesadillas on the Fly

It's cold outstide and everyone wants something warm and filling for lunch before venturing outdoors. How about a quesadilla? It's nothing more than a tortilla filled with cheese and vegetables. Here's how I make my very simple and fast yet yummy and healthy quesadillas. The kids love them.

Ingredients:

• 1 package whole wheat tortillas (Trader Joe's brand shown)
  
  
• 1 bag no rBST (Recombinant Bovine Somatotropin aka growth hormone) shredded Lite Mexican Blend cheese (Trader Joe's)


• 1 package fresh bell peppers, red yellow and orange (Trader Joe's or supermarket). Or Trader Joe's prepared broccoli slaw if you're too rushed to slice the peppers.
  

Preparation:

1. Wash and slice peppers into thin strips.


2. Preheat cast iron skillet over medium heat or broiler over low.


3. Using one tortilla per person, lay tortillas on cutting board and fill half with cheese, then layer on pepper strips. Fold empty half onto filled half and place directly in skillet or under broiler on a sheet pan lined with foil.


4. Heat until crispy and golden, then flip using a spatula to heat and crisp the other side.
   
5. Remove from heat and place on cutting board. Allow to cool for at least 30 seconds and then slice into wedges.


6. Serve with guacamole (Trader Joe's is excellent and can be frozen) or avocado wedges, tomato salsa, and sour cream (Breakstone's lowfat tastes great).

Enjoy!

The Skinny on High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)

Corn, corn, corn. I never realized how much corn we were all eating until I sifted through Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma". According to the author Japanese chemists figured out a way to transform glucose into fructose, which is much sweeter. Pollan writes "HFCS is a blend of 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose that tastes exactly as sweet as sucrose." HFCS attained mainstream status in the 1970s after the corn refining process was perfected. The sweetener replaced sugar in many of the sweetened drinks and foods found in supermarkets including soda, baked goods, frozen desserts and condiments like salad dressing and ketchup. Today it is omnipresent.

So, why is HFCS an ingredient we should avoid? Scientific evidence now supports what many doctors, dietitians, nutritionists and healthy food advocates have been saying for years. It's bad for you and your kids! Here's a link to an article discussing the findings, which I will summarize below: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/08/corn_syrup.html.

According to Professor Ho, a professor of food science at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, lab tests he conducted on HFCS-sweetened carbonated beverages found high levels of reactive carbonyls. These "undesirable and highly-reactive compounds associated with “unbound” fructose and glucose molecules are believed to cause tissue damage." Ho pointed out that "elevated levels of reactive carbonyls are found in the blood of diabetics and linked to complications of that disease. Reactive carbonyls are not present in table sugar, whose fructose and glucose components are “bound” and chemically stable." Ho recommended reducing or eliminating HFCS from our diets.

Just one more reason to become a box turner! Just to let you know, every time someone says something negative about HFCS, the Corn Refiners Association sends them a very impressive press kit rebutting the negative press. Don't believe it.

Halloween Hangover

How long will the candy last? Tonight I purged the bedrooms of hidden candy and hid the bags still quite full of goodies. I'm hoping they forget how much they had. It's either going to the gingerbread decorating fund at school or a neighbor's mother's office for donation to the needy. Needy of what? How can anyone be needy of candy? I can't in good conscience give it to the needy. Then I'll become part of the problem.

One solution I heard to the everlasting Halloween candy problem is to schedule a visit from the good witch. She trades candy for money or toys. All the children have to do is leave it with a note to the witch requesting an exchange. Great idea. Wish I had thought of that sooner.

What will you do with your children's candy hoards?