USDA's "My Plate" is the New Hotness

Nutrition Pyramid is Old and Busted; USDA's "My Plate" is the New Hotness.

On June 2 2011,  USDA and Michelle Obama made good on a plan to ditch the familiar nutrition pyramid in favor of a simple plate symbol as an educational tool for American children and families. In use by the government since 1992, the pyramid has never done a great job of illustrating how much of each food group to eat. Nor has it conveyed a couple essential details, for example: That brown rice is healthier than white rice, and grilled fish is a smarter choice than, say, bacon.

Overall, it'a all about balancing calories.  This is not just about keeping away from obesity, but more on a new lifestyle to eat and live healthy.
   
Balancing Calories
      ●     Enjoy your food, but eat less.
      ●     Avoid oversized portions.

Foods to Increase
      ●     Make half your plate fruits and vegetables.
      ●     Make at least half your grains whole grains.
      ●     Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk.

Foods to Reduce
      ●     Compare sodium in foods like soup, bread, & frozen meals, & choose the foods with lower numbers.
      ●     Drink water instead of sugary drinks.  

Here are some recommendation from nutritionist Marissa Lippert

Proteins:
    Grilled Halibut with Mango-Avocado Salsa
    Miso-Glazed Salmon Steaks
    Seared Tuna with Olive Tapenade Vinaigrette and Arugula
    Grass-Fed Strip Steak with Spicy Hoisin Sauce and Cucumber Relish
    Chicken Skewers with Tarragon-Pistachio Pesto
Veggies:
    Roasted Carrots with Dill
    Peas and Pea Tendrils with Lemon Dressing
    Shaved Summer Squash Salad
    Simple Summer Spinach
    Sauteed Kale with Smoked Paprika

Come over to Rosemary Bites and try out some of the recommended meals !

Smashin' Pumpkin Soup

They said the weather is unpredictable,  but somehow,  the weather has been quite consistently lately.  For the past 2 weeks,  it has been rainy cats and dogs in the afternoon till dinner time.  I'm not sure about you,  but when it comes to rainy days/evenings, i longed to have a hot bowl of soup.  A bowl of soup in a rainy day is like a bowl of love to comfort the soul (or at least the wet jeans :P)

A hot bowl of soup somehow will warm the stomach, the whole body and feel the energy return after suffer from the crawling traffic under the grey colored sky.

That's one of the main reason why we've been making batches and batches of soups lately.  We always serve the popular cream of wild mushroom soup and on top of that, we also prepared additional special soup for the week.

Aside from the Clam chowder, Tomatillo Soup and now, we have the Smashin' Pumpkin Soup.  We made all our soup from scratch,  there's no soup from the can or soup from powder in Rosemary Bites.  For any good quality soup, we always start with chicken stock that has been cooking for at least 3-5 hours.  In the case of pumpkin soup,  first we wash and cut out the pumpkin skins,  quartered and sliced the pumpkin into manageable size, then it goes into the oven, toasted for 30-45 mins until golden brown before it goes into the soup pot for the next process. At this time, you can already smell the smoky sweetness of the pumpkin ~ yum.

Roasted pumpkin in the soup pot

After all the pumpkin has been stewed for at least 30 mins,  it will all goes into the blender for all the flavor to combined.  Of course,  we sometimes does not blend till it became a paste because for any soup, it is always good to have some bigger pieces to munch. 

Blending in action

After all the blending, we will then seasoned with black pepper and salt,  then served with a slice of garlic bread.  There you go, Good comfy food for any rainy days.  Just how we liked it in Rosemary Bites and we hope you can your family enjoyed it as much as we do.

Rosemary Bites' Pumpkin Soup

What other rainy day must have do you like ?

Year of the Golden Rabbit

It felt like we just celebrate the new year 2011, then Chinese New Year is now upon us.  Yes,  the year of the rabbit is ready to hop out and make an entrance for the next three hundred plus plus days.

I've received a lot of email, sms and text about the 'prediction' of the new year.  It says that those who are born in the year of rabbit are articulate, talented, and ambitious. Wow, it seems like some admirable good qualities are bestowed on those born in the year of the rabbit.  No wonder some famous people born under the Sign of the Rabbit including Albert Einstein, Frank Sinatra, Pope Benedict XVI, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, and David Beckham,  

It also says they are virtuous, reserved, and have excellent taste.

H'mm ... speaking of excellent taste, that reminded me of the article about "Year of the Rabbit Stew" !  Some cultures celebrate food by having to taste it all,  but somehow it is a different story for me to think about the fluffy, cute little thing as something to stew in.

If nothing else teaches me more in my experience in Rosemary Bites, it's the appreciation of good food and life.   Thus, it our motto not to waste food and definitely not to waste life away.

Oh stew or no stew,  Chinese New Year is definitely another good chance to feast and be merry with family and friends.  To those who can't be home for Chinese New Year this year,  please know that we look forward to see you soon.  For those who are fortunate to be home this year,  cherish the moment and Have A Wonderful Golden Rabbit Year !

Favorite Christmas Pie

Do you have a favorite Christmas Pie that you really need to have during the holiday season ?  Well, yes we do and it's none other than the Deep-Dish Apple Pie !

Crunchy apples diced and cooked in butter, brown sugar until syrupy and further simmered till bubbling in caramel like color.  Oh, by than the whole kitchen smells cozy with the buttery crust baking and chemistry of sugar, spice and everything nice.

If you're like us, we 'try' not to share this pie and thus, this year, we serve individual Deep-Dish apple pie, just like mom's !  Everyone get their own pies and their own hmm and ahhh on the dinning table.

So, come on over and experience it yourself !

Merry Christmas Everyone

As we are listening to the christmas songs,  browsing through the shopping mall with all the christmas ornaments,  preparing christmas gifts and sending mail to Santa in North Pole, the world is remaining us this holiday if it's not already upon us.

Christmas holiday dinner is always an important dinner among family and closest friends.  In the States, we can start off with warm cider to warm the spirit and give the stomach a tease of food to come.  The dinner table is decorated with family favourite's food and because we loved to cook,  the Christmas dinner is filled with best recipes from family and friends. 

This year at Rosemary Bites,  we bring you Christmas Family-Style with the touch of home, prepared from our heart to yours. 

There's the famous Shrimp Cocktail Vegas style that we all love,  grandpa's favourite Bourbon Steak, Clara's Ravioli, Mike's baked beans and Aunty Helen's Santa Fe Roast Turkey !!
Merry Christmas Everyone !!