Labor Day is fast approaching, and with it, road trips.  Labor Day weekend is one of the busiest periods for roadways across the country.  It’s summer’s last hurrah, after all.  With all of the things we have to do to get ready to hit the highway, sometimes we forget to think about food.  What will you eat while traveling?  Have you made some positive lifestyle changes and turned your diet around?  If you’ve recently made some changes, you may not have considered just how you’ll maintain this cleaner way of eating on the road, but you should.  It’s far too easy to fall into the drive-thru pothole when you’re on the road for hours, trying to get where you need to be quickly so you can maximize your vacation time.  A little planning will take you a long way.  So, here are a few of our favorite tips for eating healthy on the road!

1.  Pack your own snacks!  This is the easiest way to guarantee a few healthy foods on your way.  Some of our favorites:  nuts and seeds (full of protein and healthy fats, it only takes a handful to go a long way); air-popped popcorn; rice cakes; car-friendly fruits like apples, bananas and grapes, as well as dried fruits like raisins, cherries or apricots; energy bars and granola bars; pre-packed veggies like celery sticks, carrots or cherry tomatoes; and single-serving cheeses.  If you’re really motivated, consider packing sandwiches or even yogurt in a cooler (and don’t forget some trash bags for the back seat!).

2.  If you have to stop for snacks at a convenience store or rest stop, don’t stress out.  You don’t have to buy those Twinkies, you know?  Convenience stores and vending machines usually have a variety of trail mixes (a mixture of nuts, seeds and dried fruits) that contain far less sugar than your average pit-stop food choice and offer actual nutrients like protein and healthy fats.  Also, try single-serving whole-grain cereals and veggie and fruit juices!

3.  Imagine a lonely stretch of highway, nothing buts trees and/or open fields as far as the eye can see.  Up ahead, one lonely McDonald’s sign glows and you’re starving.  You need to stay fueled on a road trip so you can be alert and ready for whatever may come your way, so if you’re starving, pull in.  The Big Mac and large fries are not requirements.  Most fast-food restaurants have been putting in an effort to offer more healthy options on their menus.  So, skip the super-sized meal and order a salad with grilled chicken or a grilled chicken sandwich instead of a burger.  Grab a bag of apple of slices or a fruit cup for dessert.  Skip the large soda and opt for water instead.  Fast food doesn’t have to be a WMD on your healthy lifestyle; there are options you can choose to stay on the fruit and veggie wagon, so take them!

4.  Skip the soda.  Pack refillable, BPA-free water bottles and refill them at rest stops along the way.  Eazy-peezy.

5.  Google Maps is your friend–consult it!  If you don’t have time before your trip to map your route and find some healthy restaurant options along the way, or packing your own meals isn’t going to happen, whip out your phone and ask Google Maps to help you find local restaurants.  This friendly little app knows exactly where you are and will find and direct you to any restaurant, landmark or gathering place in a flash.  Smart phones mean you’ll never have to eat greasy, unhealthy food again!:)

If you’re on the road this weekend, we wish you a safe trip, and we hope some of these tips help you stay on the right track.  If you’re in and around DC, come see us!  We’ve got your healthy favorites made fresh for you every, single day!

So, you’ve gone gluten-free but can’t seem to beat your cookie craving?  We get it.  We like our food full of healthy goodness, but we still can’t resist one of our specialty brownies at the end of a meal.  What’s a healthy eater supposed to do when faced with nothing but gluten-full dessert options?  Get creative!  Think outside of your traditional unbleached, all-purpose bag of flour!

We looked to Google for help with this and discovered some great blogs devoted to gluten-free cooking and baking.  We were amazed at the wealth of ideas and culinary creativity people have come up with to feed their dessert needs!  For the purposes of this blog entry, we’re going to focus on gluten-free baking, but there are other blogs full of great recipes for dairy-free, sugar-free and vegan baking that we definitely want to get back to in the future.  For now though, let’s jump into the gluten-free bowl!

The simplest gluten-free flour substitute we found came from Geri Peacock of the gluten-free Cherbourg Bakery in Columbus, Ohio via the kitchn.  Geri recommends using a combination of 1 lb. of white rice flour whisked together with a half cup of tapioca flour.  This combo works best in recipes that call for 2 cups of flour or less, so your cookies, brownies, bars, etc. are good to go!  A lot of gluten-free recipes can get pretty complicated with their flour mixes, xanthum gum, guar gum, and other complicated flour substitutes, but Geri has found that her combo is both simple and inexpensive–and who isn’t looking for more of those things in their life?

If you’re just starting down this gluten-free baking road, you may want to start with some pre-made mixes.  It seems that Bob’s Red Mill products are pretty popular, so feel free to give those a whirl, but King Arthur (a favorite flour brand) has some gluten-free mixes out as well, and we’re thinking they may be worth a try, too.  Got a rainy weekend to kill?  Buy a couple of different brands and taste test to begin to discover which flour or flour combinations you like best.  If you’re looking to make your own combos, take a peek at some of these recipes: all-purpose gluten-free flour mix, Jeanne’s gluten-free flour mix, or these gluten-free flour formulas.  Recreating all of wheat flour’s best properties can be tricky, so take your time, taste test, and let us know what you think!

There’s been a lot of talk about coconut flour; and as you probably know, coconut everything has been quite a craze recently.  So, what’s the deal with coconut flour?  A lot of people have come to love it because it is loaded with fiber and protein and it contains no trans fats (and very few people are allergic to it!), but opinions differ on just how to use it in baking.  Some people think that its use should be specially tailored to each specific recipe it’s used in; some think that you should only replace 20 to 30 % of the flour in a recipe with coconut flour; still others say–go for it!  Replace your flour 100% with coconut flour, but be sure to add an egg for every ounce of coconut flour to cover the loss of gluten in the original wheat flour.  The coconut flour will absorb the extra moisture from the egg, so that’s not really an issue for your baking, and the egg will provide the lift you’d be missing without the gluten.  So, get your coconut on, we say!

We know people who shy away from gluten-free baking, period.  One of them calls gluten-free baked goods “gateway” foods, and we can see her point; but if you’ve gone gluten-free and sometimes (especially at holidays and special events) feel like you’re missing out on some of the fun, give gluten-free baking a try.  A treat is a treat because you don’t have it very often, but what’s the point of a treat that tastes badly?  So, do your homework, taste test; give the extras away to your neighbors, if you don’t want them around, but when it’s time for that birthday cake or batch of Christmas cookies, you’ll be ready!

Some research is emerging that may help consumers (and restaurateurs) get more healthy foods without completely giving up what they may consider “taste.”  Vice-virtue bundles are pretty much what they sound like: Meals that offer healthy foods along with some unhealthy choices.  Where’s the health in that, you ask?   It takes the task of eating healthier from the extreme of giving up all “bad” choices (or vices), to cutting down on vices.  Instead of cutting things completely out and eating less food overall, which leaves some people feeling hungry all the time (and how successful will this strategy be over time?), the concept of vice-virtue bundles offers a smaller portion of the unhealthy option but replaces the missing amount with a larger serving of a healthy option.

For example:  Say, you’re looking at some French fries and apple slices as sides to your main meal.  Some people may feel slighted if they have to cut out the fries entirely.  They want a little vice.  They want something that tastes good (we won’t bother to argue this particular point just yet).  So, how about offering a larger portion of apple slices with a smaller portion of fries?  They still get their fries, but they’ve cut their usual vice in half, maybe.  For the average Joe who might routinely choose a vice over a virtue, this is a step in the right direction.

Vanderbilt University has been studying the idea of vice-virtue bundles and just put together a paper that is awaiting publication.  According to researchers, most people have a “taste-health balance point” or a proportion of vice-virtue foods that make a up one serving that they find appealing.  For most people, that bundle contains a small (1/4) to a half (1/2) portion serving of a vice food.  Going back to the apples and fries analogy, it might take a small or even very small portion of fries to meet that vice need rather than having to be super-sized, as in the past.

For restaurateurs, this means looking at ways to bundle existing products in more healthful proportions rather than reinventing the wheel, as they might have in the past, by making sweeping menu changes to satisfy a rising demand by consumers for more healthy choices when eating out.  For consumers, it means having manageable healthy changes made for them in restaurants without having to sacrifice “taste.”

What’s it mean for you, dear patrons, in your everyday lives?  It doesn’t mean huge, sweeping changes when you have a meal with us at Brown Bag, where we try to give you a menu full of healthy choices every day, but maybe you can take this lesson home with you.  How about you throw a few more green beans in the pot, and cut the mashed potato recipe in half?  Or add some dark chocolate shavings and a small dollop of whipped cream to a cup of fresh fruit or berries for dessert instead of going full speed into a plate of strawberry shortcake?  You’ll still be getting a taste of those foods that, if you completely cut them out, might send you off your health track and right back to the land of junk, right?  And if you’re replacing your portion of fries, for example, with more apple slices, then your calories and fat intake are cut but your belly is still full, and that’s a win!

Very often people comment that eating healthy takes a bite out of their wallet, and that can be true.  Generally speaking, organic fruits, vegetables, meats, etc. are more expensive than their non-organic counterparts.  We’ve talked before about the “Dirty Dozen,” the top-twelve fruits and vegetables with the most pesticide residue, and lots of people agree that following that helpful list and buying the fruits and veggies cited there is worth the extra cost.  But when you’re trying to eat clean but you’re feeling the pinch, which foods really are worth reaching for a little extra cash?  Recently, U.S. News and World Report published an article with some suggestions, and here’s what they had to say:

Wild-Caught Fish:  We’ve blogged before about the fishing industry and the negatives impacts and effects of fish farming, but let us break this one down for you.  Wild-caught fish aren’t full of the antibiotics and contaminants that plague so  many farmed fish.  They are generally leaner, they won’t be filled with food coloring, and have more omega-3s than farmed fish.

BPA-free Canned Goods:  Most of us have heard about BPA as it relates to water bottles (both reusable and those that are bottled and sold) and other plastic containers, but its uses are not confined to the plastic industry.  BPA is also used to coat metal products like food cans.  So, spending a little extra to get food in BPA-free cans is worth it because BPA can seep into foods and beverages.  Some studies show behavioral effects on fetuses, infants and children from BPA; so, be safe, avoid the extra chemicals and look for BPA-free packaging or opt for glass, porcelain or stainless steel containers.

Stick with the Dirty Dozen:  The Environmental Working Group (EWG)works hard every year to bring us the Dirty Dozen list, and we should all thank them.  They understand that people have budgets and this list helps people prioritize their shopping so they can get the most (and safest) food for their money.  When you’re out shopping for fresh produce for your family, consult the list.  It’s worth spending a little extra to get the safest and healthiest produce.  Americans typically don’t eat enough produce, so do yourself a favor and fill your cart at least 25% full of fresh produce (and consult the list!).

High-quality Olive Oils and Vinegars:  Ever looked at someone’s salad bowl filled with a rainbow-colored plethora of goodness and then watch then pour bleu cheese dressing all over it?  Some people really don’t like to taste their veggies; but the problem is that, when they cover them all up with fat, sugar and sodium, they suck the health right out of the whole meal.  But what if you used a simple oil and vinegar mixture?  You’ll be adding taste and nutrition and making the most of what a salad should be.

Dark Chocolate:  Finally!  A dessert you don’t have to feel bad about!  Studies link dark chocolate to stress relief and a decrease in heart disease.  It’s also full of flavonoids, which have antioxidant qualities along with a host of positive attributes.  Yes, dark chocolate adds a few extra calories to the day’s count, but, in moderation, it kills two birds with one stone: It satisfies your sweet tooth and benefits your body.  So, skip the milk chocolate, pony up and get the dark chocolate for the win!

Whole Grain Bread, Pastas and Rice:  Whole grain breads are more expensive than their white brethren but they’re worth it.  Why, you ask?  Because white breads, rice and pastas are refined and have had most of their nutritional value stripped away in the process.  You’re paying a little extra to skip the processing and keep the good stuff, and the good stuff is what counts.  The good stuff, like fiber, magnesium and vitamin B (just to name a few) help prevent many chronic diseases and keep your digestive system moving in the right direction.

Remember the old phrase, “You get what you pay for”?  It’s so often true when it comes to your food, and really, isn’t good, healthy, fresh food something you should be prioritizing?  It’s fundamental to your life, right?  So, step up, take care of yourself and spend a little more on these foods.  Your body will thank you for it!