Tag: #food

Eat and Flourish with Mary Beth Albright

March 28, 2023 / Chris Brown / 0 Comments

Episode 127- Eat & Flourish with Mary Beth Albright

In episode 127, Jill and Chris talk with Mary Beth Albright, the author of Eat & Flourish, How Food Supports Emotional Well Being. She is a food expert with broad experience, from food attorney to being a finalist on Food Network Star, where she competed on Iron Chef America.

Her passion for good food grew from her mentor, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop who she worked with for 15 years. Afterwards, Mary Beth advised on food systems and managed a White House initiative. She completed L’Academie de Cuisine’s two-semester culinary course in Bethesda, MD.

Mary Beth is a writer and editor at the Washington Post. She is also a frequent panel moderator, including for the U.S. State Department and the Smithsonian, and her food-judging expertise is sought regularly, including the time she ate 2,000 foods in three days to judge the Outstanding New Products Awards. She is an elected member of Les Dames d’Escoffier, an esteemed group of women in the culinary professions, which counts Julia Child among its alumnae.

We discuss:

How food affects emotions
How emotions affects our food choices
Making better choices when you are under stress or feeling depressed
Pleasure and eating
Foods that support emotional well being
The American Gut Project
Tips to increase pleasure around eating
Why eating with others is good for you
How to easily add a more diverse variety of food into your meals
Recipes

Links:
Instagram: Mary.Beth
Twitter: MaryBeth
Website: MaryBethAlbright.com
Her book: Eat & Flourish, How Food Supports Emotional Well-Being

Holiday Celebration Eating

December 21, 2020 / Chris Brown / 1 Comment

Holiday celebration eating is a always a challenge for me… in more ways than one.

I’m always looking for a festive looking dish, meal or appetizer to serve. I usually struggle to resist some of the more traditional treats.

Yesterday I tried something different using red green and white colors – beets, celery and onions. As it cooked the white onions became translucent and as I stirred, the beet juice covered everything. I added a few left over pasta noodles and a can of tuna for protein.

I actually liked the taste, but this photo is the best looking. If there is one thing I know about food blogging, getting the right photo that looks appealing is a big part of the project.

From an actual must have recipe, this was okay, yummy enough to want to finish it, but not something I would ever crave.

And eating it was way more healthy than the holiday cookies, peanut butter fudge and kulachi that was sent to us from a friend and sat out on the counter all afternoon during Sunday football.

I also scored a win by doing all my dumbbell reps in between episodes during my Netflix binge of a ballerina murder mystery. So all around win.

How was your weekend?

The colors are right, but the food was – well – non traditional. I added some pasta and tuna to the mixture, but this looks way more pretty than the final meal.

A review of Mary’s Gone Crackers

February 27, 2020 / Jill McCauslin / 2 Comments

A review of Mary’s Gone Crackers? Have I gone crackers? A good question, I suppose, but I love these crackers. They’re crispy and they taste great alone or with a topping. I like to smear goat cheese on them for an easy snack or as a side dish with a bowl of soup.

I frequently pack them in my lunch. They’re great with my usual salad. A co-worker asked about them and I gave her one to sample and now she’s a convert too. We sit together in the lunch room and munch on our crackers.

Mary’s Gone Crackers

These crackers are gluten free, nut free, egg free, and dairy free. They are a great vegan snack.

I like these crackers despite being free of everything. Rather, I like them and being gluten free, etc. is a bonus, I guess.

Mary’s Gone Crackers are vegan, kosher, and non-GMO.

The ingredients for the original cracker are:

Organic whole grain brown rice, organic whole grain quinoa, organic brown flax seeds, organic brown sesame seeds, filtered water, sea salt, organic wheat-free tamari (water, organic whole soybeans, salt, organic vinegar).

NUTRITION

A serving is about 13 crackers and has 140 calories.

Serving Size: 13 Crackers (30g)
Calories 140 calories
Calories from Fat 45 calories
Total Fat 5g
Saturated Fat 0.5g
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 190mg
Potassium 160mg
Total Carbohydrate 21g
Dietary Fiber 3g
Sugars 0g
Protein 3g

So, probably a bit high in carbohydrates if you’re following a low carb diet but otherwise, it looks fine to me.

Variety

There are now a good variety of these crackers, including herb, black pepper, and a line of Super Seed crackers. My favorite remains the original crackers.

Be sure to check out the Mary’s Gone Crackers website. They apparently have coupons sometimes and you can make a purchase online. You can also search for stores in your area.

Just a note on that. I buy a large box of these crackers at Costco, which did not show up on the area map. The regular grocery stores showed up but not Costco. If you’re a fellow Costco shopper, buy these crackers there. It’s the best deal, I believe.

The website also includes some tempting recipes.

So, if you’re looking for a good snack cracker, check out Mary’s Gone Crackers. You will enjoy them!