The Search for the Healthy Frozen Dinner

Saturday, January 26th, 2008, 3:09 pm

Remember the allure and thrill of being a kid in the ‘70s and getting a frozen TV dinner? There was something in the way the food manufacturers so consistently cared…so organized and so perfectly arranged every single time with the turkey/stuffing/gravy in one compartment, the neon red cranberries, the orange puree of some mystery vegetable and those whipped potatoes that would get a little brown on top in the oven. Nobody read labels back then so little did Mom know that she was feeding her children a sodium-rich, nutritionally depleted meal. We just felt loved.

Well, kids still love their frozen dinners and busy Moms today still rely on them so thankfully there are some healthier options.

With the excuse that a New Yorker has few options for January local and seasonal produce, I embarked on a mission of eating as many frozen/prepared dinners as I could this month. I also shared frozen meals with friends and colleagues with kids to get a broader point of view.

Here are our favorite frozen food finds: Scale ratings from 1-10

1. Taste: 1 = dislike, 10 = love

2. Ease of preparation: 1 = hard, 10 = easy

3. Would recommend: 1 =never, 10 = YES!

- Amy’s Organic Bean and Cheese Burrito: 1=10, 2=10, 3=10

- Annie Chun’s Organic Soy Ginger noodles: 1=8, 2=10, 3=10

- Amy’s “Bistro Burger” a veggie burger made with rice/grains: 1=8, 2=9, 3=9

- Amy’s Organic Vegetable Pot Pie with 100% whole wheat pie crust: 1=9, 2=10, 3=10

- Amy’s Organic Frozen Mac and Cheese: 1=9, 2=10, 3=10

- Kashi’s Sweet & Sour Chicken with natural chicken and whole grain pilaf: 1=8, 2=8, 3=9

- Annie Chun’s Pad Thai Noodle Bowl: 1=6, 2=9, 3=7

Since navigating the frozen food aisle can be tricky, I consulted my husband who is a doctor who specializes in nutritional medicine and here is his general advice on what to look for and what to avoid:

-       &nb sp;  whole grains

-       &nb sp;  organic (natural doesn’t mean organic)

-       &nb sp;  no white sugar (including cane syrup)

-       &nb sp;  no synthetic preservatives or additives (no MSG!)

Let us know what you’ve discovered in the natural frozen food aisle that both pleases your taste buds and your feeds your nutritional goals.

Mary Beth Gonzalez

Tags: food, healthy, kids meal, meal

Green Dream Kitchens

Sunday, January 20th, 2008, 3:03 pm

Many of us dream of a total kitchen makeover complete with Sub-Zero, Viking and Miele luxury refrigerators, ranges, countertops and cook top appliances. But not many of us can afford it. Now Green Demolitions helps make our dreams come true. This NY area based company salvages gently-used high-end kitchens from the luxury home market where new home buyers are most likely to gut, teardown and rebuild their dream house. Green Demolitions arrives on the scene, carts everything away at no expense and recycles at a very reasonable purchase price to mainstream America.

And Green Demolitions doesn’t stop at kitchens…they recycle bathroom pedestal sinks, whirlpool tubs, oriental rugs, pianos, lighting fixtures, antiques and even airplanes! Their website previews kitchens that are available now and in the future, and they currently feature their “Almost Free Sale” where until 1/31/08 they’ve cut their prices to 95% off retail value.

With the envious eye of a rental apartment dweller, I’ve looked at their website and they have really top-quality stuff. They also have 3 stores where you can review the products up close in Norwalk Ct, Bethel NY and Honesdale, PA.

To make the process even sweeter, donors get tax and renovation savings, buyers pay 50-75% off market price and the environment is protected from more landfill and energy waste. If these benefits aren’t enough to get your fingers dialing, please know that all the proceeds go to Recovery Unlimited, a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to All Addicts Anonymous (AAA) for all addicts and all addictions including alcohol, drugs, tobacco, food, depression, anxiety and anger. Recycling for Recovery…sounds like a deal in which everybody wins.

Mary Beth Gonzalez

Tags: green, recycling, deal, kitchens

My Green Garden of Eden

Saturday, January 12th, 2008, 7:30 pm

I’m living the dream. Finally, after 20 plus years of living in Manhattan, I have an organic vegetable garden. Granted it lives on my kitchen countertop but it is a very real, very Green, very abundant garden.

- Let me introduce you to my AeroGarden – a present from my dear husband this Christmas. This revolutionary product is based on hydroponic gardening – a soil less, high nutrient process that is considered by some to be the most productive way to grow all varieties of plants, for maximum yield, flavor and vitamin content. In fact, AeroGarden claims to be proven by NASA to be the highest yielding plant growth technology on the planet with nearly 50% faster growth then soil plants grown under the same conditions.

Tags: organic food, gardening, garden, herbs

Reusing, Reducing and Recycling: The Story of Noah’s Ark

Sunday, January 6th, 2008, 2:20 pm

What if you had a place where you could donate your gently used books, furniture, clothes, luggage, jewelry, dishes, lamps, TVs and virtually anything else you think someone else, somewhere might want? What if that place housed a constant turnover of high-quality products and sold them for so little money that you just couldn’t resist shopping there on a regular basis? And then what if all the proceeds went to local charities where you could see the impact right in your own backyard?

Welcome to Noah’s Ark, a second-hand store run by St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church on Sanibel Island in Florida.  My retired school-teacher mom currently manages this beloved hub of recycled treasures, called affectionately “The Ark” by all.  I had the opportunity to witness this Green wonderstore first hand while visiting my parents over the holidays.

-The first thing you must know about The Ark is that the shopkeepers, all volunteers, are quite discerning about their merchandise. This isn’t a dumping ground for worn or misused items. Everything for sale must be in good working order. My Dad and a few other men fix the TVs, radios, broken table legs, coffeemakers, computers and phones before displaying them for sale. All clothing is clean and often ironed before it goes on racks displayed by type (i.e.: shorts, shirts, dresses, designer goods, hats, etc...) making shopping a breeze.

-This Florida West Coast island beach community has a fair amount of wealthy second home owners who buy and sell their homes fully furnished. Quite often this means that the contents of entire homes are donated to The Ark whose staff quite conveniently arrange for pick-ups so donating and recycling one’s belongings couldn’t be easier. Thus The Ark has become a first stop of many looking for a new bedroom set, table and chairs, bookcases, dishes and glassware.

-And then there are the displays…the staff of creative, retired volunteers lovingly dress the mannequins with fancy silk sweaters, arrange books in the “Barnes & Noah” section and set round tables with beautiful china. Then they frown when everything is sold within minutes of the store opening for the regulars know that the best stuff is displayed prominently and they gobble it up.

-With the prices so low ($ 1 for a hardcover book, $3 for a sweater and $25 for a bike) and the donations so frequent, there is a constant influx of shoppers looking for a bargain. It isn’t unusual to see 50-60 people standing patiently in line at the beginning of each day The Ark is open. Some people come everyday and never leave empty handed. I must admit that I picked up a few gems this trip: a “like new” lavender silk sweater, a hand-stitched tablecloth with matching napkins and an antique china teapot to go with my discontinued tea set.

- I cannot think of a better way to live Green than to donate to and shop at The Ark.  For instance, my parents drink coffee yet my husband and I drink tea so rather then buy a new tea kettle for the 8 days we were visiting, we simply bought one for $1 at The Ark and then donated it back at the end of our trip. In an age of rampant consumerism, it feels good to discover that someone else’s discarded goods can meet your simple needs.  My mom tells me that many people who come down to Sanibel on vacation buy bikes or golf clubs at The Ark for their stay and then return to recycle them; they shop the clothes racks for a forgotten bathing suit or swing by for a wide brimmed straw hat on the way to the beach.

- Last week The Ark was brimming with un-wanted Christmas presents – a lovely Lenox China vase, unopened sheet sets, new shrink-wrapped DVDs and lots of new clothes with the tags still on them. Someone even donated a completely wrapped present with a Christmas tag on it from their mother-in-law…as if to say that they just knew without opening it that they wouldn’t want it!

The Ark is a special place where misfit items can find loving homes, even if only temporarily. A place where people can easily go Green by reusing, reducing and recycling. A place where you can spend very little but do a lot to help support your own community. A place that strives to profit by helping others not by counting the cash.  I wonder if this model could work in other communities. Could it work in big cities? Could it work in your hometown? Wouldn’t it be interesting to find out?

Tags: charity, christmas, gifts, recycling