Large portions lead to larger intakes, regardless of energy density, study says

Researchers at the University of Tennesee found that children will consume larger amounts of food - and thus more calories - when they are served larger portions than normal. They will not stop eating when they have eaten the normal amount; they continue eating until the food is gone.

The study went like this: if we give children two different types of soft snacks and give them different sizes - one twice as large as the other - would the kids stop eating when they are satisfied? To find out, the researchers gave children snacks at different times over a month-long period to see if they would notice a difference in the snack sizes.

The two snacks compared were applesauce and chocolate pudding. The small applesauce provided 65 calories; the small chocolate pudding came in at 176 calories. The larges provided 129 calories and 357 calories, respectively. The small serving was approximately the size of a standard pudding cup, about 150 grams; the large is about the size of two normal sized pudding cups. The kids were served in bowls, rather than prepackaged containers to mask the relative sizes of the snacks.

Researchers conducted a study comparing both lower energy-density foods and higher energy-density foods and found that it didn't actually matter which snacks the kids ate, it mattered on how large the snack was. They didn't find that children ate differently between the two flavors - the relative consumption between applesauce and chocolate pudding was the same. The finding that larger portions led to larger caloric intake supported previous studies about portion sizes and entree sizes.

The researchers believe that because applesauce and chocolate pudding were fairly equally accepted by the children in the study, care takers to could take advantage of the fact that children enjoy applesauce enough to not notice that chocolate pudding is absent. This allows caretakers to control caloric intake at that point. Since larger portion size led to the larger caloric intake, caretakers should make sure that they are serving appropriate portions, otherwise, the children could be consuming large numbers of calories without being aware of them. 357 calories is a pretty good sized snack - more like a breakfast.

As a nutritionist, I was a little surprised to find that kids didn't seem to alter their intake when the pudding and applesauce snacks were twice as large as normal. It might have to do with their hunger levels at the point that they get to eat a snack. It might also have to do with our training to "clean our plates." My mom taught me that. The better thing is to teach a kid to take less when serving herself or to save half of the food for later. I think that's what I'd recommend to a kid I eat with: if you can't finish it, wrap it, you can eat it later. (This obviously doesn't work for all kids and all situations)

The application to a culinary expert: serve smaller portions. I really enjoy rich foods, so I try to eat less of it. Of course, anytime you add a rich food to your intake for the day, your overall intake is higher -- over time, this will lead to weight gain. My fix: restrict my calories when I am not enjoying my food - such as at breakfast. Sorry, breakfast lovers, but for me, breakfast on weekdays is just a way to kick-start my metabolism.

Obesity and Access to Farmer's Markets

Does the availability of certain types of grocers affect the health and obesity of a population?

The April edition of the American Dietetic Association Journal published a study examining the potential association between obesity and per capita farmers' markets, grocery stores or supermarkets, and supercenters in different US counties.

The researchers, who are professors of geography, public health medicine, and nutrition at both East Carolina University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, found that supercenters and grocery stores per capita were inversely associated with obesity in both rural and urban areas. They also found that farmers' markets were not significant in the overall rural and urban combined numbers, but were significantly inversely related to obesity rates in non-metro, rural areas. They concluded that generally, the density of food venues was inversely associated with county-level obesity prevalence. They didn't draw conclusions about obesity at the individual level.

So what does this mean to a nutritionist and a culinary student? Because I advocated for farmers' markets and greater involvement of the agricultural community in Pueblo schools, I have hoped for evidence that farmers' markets have significant positive impact on their communities. While this study isn't the Holy Grail that we can uphold as proof that every community needs farmers' markets, we can show that farmers' markets have as positive of an impact as larger grocers do, because they contribute to the inverse relationship between obesity and the density of grocers. That means, the more available grocery stores are to a population, the lower the county-level incidences of obesity. It also means that areas where few grocers are available, the obesity rate could be higher.

Choices and selection are what consumers seek, and manufacturers seek ways to increase choice and selection often. What used to be a relatively straightforward task of selecting Cheerios for breakfast has now become a label-reading, box-comparing adventure of deciding on flavors, whole grain benefits, size, and color of your different Cheerios options. I don't seek to disparage the creativity and the selection; I feel that I benefit from it. But I also recognize that there are communities and dense urban areas where only one or two stores, one of which may be a convenience store attached to a gas station, serve a population. The customers here have a much more limited selection, and they may not be given the same access to fresh produce, recent manufacturer creations, or even healthier selections. It is these under-served populations that need our help.

It's great that grocery store density improves obesity, so let's get more food access to more individuals!

How can you help?

Kimberly's Chicken N Waffles

At Pepperdine, sometimes we would drive to West Hollywood and get Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles. Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like. Fried, crispy buttermilk chicken on crunchy sweet waffles topped with maple syrup or gravy.  It was this cacophony of flavors, scents, sounds, and a bite of Southern comfort food in Los Angeles. We went there after midnight once, and the line was still long. It's not something you go eat every day, but it's something worth remembering. 

Ever since Josh went gluten free, breakfast - or dinner - hasn't been the same. It's harder to go out for breakfast. I had read a review in a magazine about the best chicken and waffles being served at the Kingfish Cafe. Well, we'd love to go, but gluten is a big ingredient in both fried chicken and crisp waffles. So we haven't.

But tonight, I decided to make it myself. Sort of.

I had blue cornmeal, so I decided to make blue cornmeal waffles. Then I decided to make double breaded baked chicken. I had watched a Paula Deen episode on her fried chicken once, and her trick was that every single layer or dip was highly seasoned. The egg wash, flour, second egg wash, and batter were spicy. I figured I could do something similar to that. I also got my baked chicken ideas from Eating Well magazine. The Waffle recipe is loosely based on King Arthur Flour's recipe website. 

The chicken wasn't quite as crispy as if we had fried it, and I think I'd mix in some sort of crunchy cereal or crackrs next time. It was hot, flavorful, and really really filling. The chicken was moist and spicy, the waffles were dense, crunchy from the cornmeal, and slightly sweet. They definitely soaked up the syrup, and even when eaten all together, the dish wasn't really sweet, per se.

First, I marinated chicken drumsticks and thighs in a mixture of buttermilk and hot sauce. When I was ready to bread the chicken, I removed them and scrambled in one egg to the remaining marinade. This became my egg wash. Then I combined rice flour and Pamela's all purpose bread flour. I divided this into two shallow bowls. To one bowl I added salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and chili powder. To the second I added Tom Douglas' Salmon Rub. Stirring the flour mixtures, I piled the flour to one side, creating a flat section and a high piled section. Now I was ready. 

Employing the single glove and three bowls method, I dipped my marinated chicken drumsticks into the flour-salt-paprika blend first. Lay the chicken on the low-flour side. Avalanche the flour over the chicken and pat down with the back of a fork. With your gloved hand, lift out the drumstick by the bone and stand it on its top. The excess flour should drop off. Then dip the drumstick into the buttermilk mixture, turning it so the buttermilk coats all sides. Then place the dripping drumstick on the flat side of the Salmon Rub-flour mixture. Cascade the pile of flour over the top. Then pick it up with your gloved hand, stand it on its end, and then place it onto a lightly oiled stoneware baking pan. Repeat until all of the chicken is seasoned. This took about 10 minutes to do 8 pieces. I was trying to be sure to pack on the powdered seasonings. 

Once all of the chicken was on the baking sheet, I sprayed each piece with cooking spray and then put it into a 450 degree oven. After 10 minutes, I rotated the chicken pieces. You may need to use a spatula to loosen the chicken so that the breaded part comes off with the chicken. Then continue baking about 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. 

For the waffles, combine the flour and the liquids separately. Then fold them together. It will look thick at first, but let it rest for 10 minutes anyway. It will probably thicken up. You might want to taste the batter or make yourself a mini pancake and adjust seasonings. The waffles also turned out more grey-ish than blue, so if colors are a problem in your cooking, I'd recommend switching to a regular yellow corn meal. And note that corn flour is something completely different and isn't an automatic substitute.

I started my chicken first and by the time I was ready with the waffle batter, the chicken was ready to flip. Then I had about a 15 minute window to relax. I decided to cook a vegetable, but that's just because I was feeling guilty about pseudo fried chicken. You don't have to feel so guilty. Just relax and then enjoy the chicken and waffles.

Anyway, here are the recipes.

Double Breaded, Baked Chicken

8 pieces chicken

1 cup buttermilk

2 tbsp hot sauce

1 1/2 cups Pamela's gluten free bread mix, without the yeast

1/2 cup rice flour

2 tbsp Rub With Love Salmon Rub seasoning

1 tbsp kosher salt

1/2 tbsp fresh ground pepper

1 tsp chili powder

Cooking Spray

Peanut or Canola Oil to coat the baking sheet

Waffles
Makes 12 waffles

1 1/2 cups Pamela's Baking Mix (already has leavening)

1 cup blue cornmeal

1 1/4 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup sugar

5 tbsp butter and oil mixture (just mix the two to get 5 tbsp)

1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

Connect with your Customers!

I've had the interesting priviledge of being part of a few start up businesses and in the early stages of new businesses. One thing that is reinforced in every business, regardless of the material sold or service rendered, is that your business must meet the needs and desires of the customers whom you serve. That is obvious, but many businesses start with good ideas but just because it seems brilliant to you, it may not seem brilliant to enough people to make your business run. So how do you go about knowing what customers want?

There are several ways you can assess customers' desires. First, you can pay a third party to do an assessment of the demographics of the community in which you want to open the business.  You could also create a business that directly competes with another business. Or, you could ask the customers themselves what they want.

That's what BigStove is trying to do. They want to connect chefs and cooks who have ideas with customers and foodies from whom these chefs would build their base. It's a new business, so this is a great time for new culinarians to get plugged in. You can watch their introductory video and see if it's right for your business idea.