There are few women trainers whose programs I like. Many seem too “soft” for my liking just reading them, and I don’t even feel like trying them out. There are a few that I admire though, and Georgette Pann is one of them.

Her e-book “The Fat Combat Workout” is thorough in the explanation of how and why you should be training, your nutrition, goals – she even takes you through a list of myths and gimmicks right at the start.

I know a lot of people are confused about the conflicting information available. Many also have “old truths” stuck in their belief-bank.  Reading the Introduction chapter of the book will set some of that straight for you.

Georgette goes on to explain the workout, bodyweight exercises, abdominal exercises, stretching, aerobic exercises and handy tips for a successful workout. Of course, there are men’s books available that do the same thing, but I know many women tend to think that they can’t do certain exercises, that they are for men only. Getting the explanation from a woman makes it a little different. She’s not only telling you how to train, she does this herself. And if you’re like me, that thought of “hey, if she can, so can I” comes creeping into your mind.

She also explains about variations to your program, both with regards to cardio and weight training. This is an important chapter, because I see far too many people (both genders here) do the same program month after month, and not getting the results they would if they added variation.

Of course, no exercise program will get you to the results you want without a good nutrition plan. Some go so far as to say nutrition is 80% of the equation, I don’t agree completely with that, believing that the mind set is the overall factor for success; however, between the training and the nutrition, if we leave the mind out of it for now, 80% is a good number for the nutrition’s importance in a successful program. So don’t skip this chapter!

You will now get to the goal setting and visualization chapter. This is where many sin by omission. I know men especially tend to think of this as silly, but there are many women who do too! Read, and implement; your success will be that much easier.

Of course, life does not end at the final lift of a dumbbell from Georgette’s workout program, or the last forkful of food. You have to maintain your new body, or get it even better if you’re not quite there yet. How many fitness books treat this “after” phase? Frankly, not many – they seem to just end like the old fairy tales of “happily ever after” without saying how. You’re in for a treat, because Georgette cares what happens after you finish the program, she doesn’t want you to fall back to old sins and tells you how to avoid it.

In short, this is a very worth-while e-book for women – but also for men really. There isn’t much difference in training styles and needs between genders. The difference lies in the hormones more than the muscles.   Check this one out at http://tinyurl.com/5qw5nv

Karen Hursh Graber
Her Bio
Her Home Page

What food was considered so important to the diet of Mexico’s pre-Hispanic population that it was fashioned into images of the gods and eaten as communion? What food was outlawed during the conquest of Mexico, and the people of New Spain forbidden to cultivate or consume? And finally, what food contains between 75% and 87% of total human nutritional requirements? If you’ve answered “amaranth” to all of the above, congratulations. Further congratulations are in order if, like a growing number of enthusiastic cooks and gardeners, you have begun to incorporate amaranth into your favorite recipes, and maybe even include it in the kitchen garden. It’s English name comes from the Greek amarantus, meaning “never fading”, an apt designation, given the varying degrees of esteem and loathing in which this humble plant has been held.
Current interest in amaranth, while well-deserved, gives no indication of the cultural conflict it once caused during the sometimes painful birth of a new nation. As fully as amaranth was appreciated by the indigenous population of what is now Mexico, it was just as fully reviled by the Europeans, as one of the foods they associated with “pagan practices.”
Amaranth, a plant used for both its spinach-like leaves and for the grain gathered from the center stalk, had tremendous ritual significance for the Aztecs. Many of their ceremonies included the formation of an image of one of the gods, made with a paste of amaranth grains mixed with honey. Tlaloc, the rain god, Ome Acatl, the patron of banquets, and Xochipilli, the god of youth, poetry and flowers, were all honored with amaranth likenesses. The images, once formed, were worshipped, broken up and distributed to eat. The birth of a male child was also an occasion involving amaranth grains, this time made into a paste for the formation of a replica shield, bow and arrows, symbolic of hunting in particular and manly pursuits in general.
The leaves, too, had their place in ceremonial meals, ground and used in the tamales offered to the fire god Xiuhtecuhtli, and to the dead on the feast of Huauquiltamalcualitztli, a mouthful to say as well as to eat, meaning “the meal of the amaranth tamales.” Amaranth was so necessary to both the religion and nutrition of the Aztecs that it was one of the four grains considered as acceptable tribute from outlying parts of the empire, the other three being corn, beans and chia. The Mendocino Codex indicates that the equivalent of the modern measure of 4,000 tons of amaranth a year arrived in Tenochtitlan.
When the Spaniards landed in the New World, immediately undertaking the zealous, often forceful, conversion of the inhabitants to Christianity, one of the first things they did was to outlaw foods involved in indigenous religious festivals. Diego Duran, in compiling this long list of forbidden foods chronicled in the Book of the Gods, noted amaranth as something to be particularly shunned, the consumption of amaranth idols being considered a blasphemous parody of the Christian communion. The friars were quick to issue a ban against its cultivation.
However, a plant which grew so abundantly in the wild, and which had been harvested for over seven thousand years, being used to make tortillas even before the cultivation of corn, was not to be eradicated. Although severe punishments were imposed for the cultivation or possession of amaranth, people continued to gather and use it in cooking. Hoauhatolli, an atole made with ground amaranth and honey, was a popular and nutritious drink, valued for the high percentage of protein provided by the amaranth. The grain was also used to make tzoalli, a forerunner of alegría, a sweet resembling a candy bar, formed of popped amaranth seeds mixed with boiled-down maguey sap or honey, still very popular in Mexico, especially on Day of the Dead, when it is formed into skulls and human and animal shapes. The leaves of the plant were used as vegetable greens, to the extent that the Nahuatl word huautli, meaning amaranth greens, was used interchangeably by the Spaniards with the Nahuatl quelite, meaning greens of any kind. This accounts for the fact that amaranth greens are called quelites in some parts of Mexico.
The leaves and seeds of the amaranth plant are still characteristic ingredients in Mexican cuisine, especially in the staes of Morelos, Mexico, Puebla, Tlaxcala, and particularly Oaxaca, where the plant is widely cultivated as a valuable cash crop, worth four times more per kilo than corn. This is understandable, given the fact that amaranth provides a high quality protein, with a nearly perfect balance of essential amino acids, including abundant lysine and methionine, not found in most grains.
The leaves, seeds, popped grain and flour are all used in regional dishes of these states. The grain, because of its high protein content, is a popular item in tiendas naturistas – health food stores – where it is bought to be used in breads, muffins, hot cakes, and cooked as a cereal. Many brands of Mexican granola also include amaranth in their mixture. Delicious moles, pipians, soups, vegetable dishes and desserts made with amaranth have once again come to the culinary forefront, as interest in pre-Hispanic ingredients has been renewed by the chefs of la nueva cocina mexicana, the Mexican nouvelle cuisine which combines ancient ingredients with modern techniques.
Now widely sold in health food stores and supermarkets north of the border, amaranth is also available on the Internet (see Sources, below.) Amaranth flour is ideal for use in gluten-free diets. The plant is easy to grow in the home garden, sprouting quickly and needing very little special care. Although best nurtured by good soil and moisture, it is capable of surviving both drought conditions and poor soil, a fact which is probably responsible for its lasting through intervals of near neglect, and has earned it the appellation of “never fading.”
The following recipes are only a sampling of the many ways amaranth can be incorporated into a great many dishes, including salads, egg dishes, chiles rellenos, stuffed zucchini and chayote, as well as atoles, puddings and cakes.
• Pollo en Amaranto: Chicken in Amaranth Sauce
• Croquetas de Papa con Amaranto: Amaranth-Potato Croquettes
• Sopa de Calabaza y Elote con Amaranto: Squash, Corn and Amaranth Soup
• Arroz y Amaranto con Leche: Rice and Amaranth Pudding
Sources for Ordering Amaranth:

Online sources for cereal grain and flour:
NuWorld Amaranth: In addition to amaranth flour, whole grain seeds, and puffed (popped) cereal, sells many innovative products, such as Aztec Amaranth Flatbread and amaranth and corn tortilla chips. The website also has some recipes for bread and dessert dishes.

http://www.nuworldamaranth.com

Multi-Kem Corp.: Sells flour, whole grain, puffed, and toasted amaranth.
http://www.multikem.com
Tel: US 800-462-4425 Outside the US: 800-441-7405

Mail Order Sources for Seeds and Plants:
Johnny’s Selected Seeds
Foss Hill Road
Albion, ME 04910

Mellinger’s Inc., Dept MKG
2310 W. South Range Road
North Lima, Ohio 44452

Plants of the Southwest
Agua Fria, Rte. 6, Box 11A
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
(To the rest of the Kitchen!)
Karen Hursh Graber – E-mail

Cooked Amaranth
from: Karen Sonnessa
Recipe By: Deborah Madison, “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone”
Serving Size: 1
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup amaranth
• salt
Combine water, the amaranth, and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan, bring to a boil, and then reduce the heat to a simmer.
Cover and cook over low heat for 25 minutes or until the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes.
Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Variation with Mixed Tiny Grains: Mix teff, amaranth, and quinoa, the latter thoroughly rinsed, and cook as described.

Back to the recipes from the main article though,

Pollo en Amaranto:

Chicken in Amaranth Sauce
This dish, and other similiar chicken and amaranth combinations, is also called mole de amaranto and tinga de pollo con amaranto, depending on the part of the country where it is found. Despite its different regional names, the dish always contains chipotle chiles.

Ingredients:
• 4 boneless chicken breast halves, salted to taste
• 2 tablespoons corn oil
• 2 large white onions, peeled and cut into thin half-moons
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 cup amaranth leaves, or small, young spinach leaves, cut into thin strips
• 1/2 lb. tomatoes, seeded and peeled
• 2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo
• 1 cup popped amaranth (amaranth cereal) lightly toasted on a comal or griddle
• 1 1/2 cups well-seasoned chicken broth

Preparation:
Wash the chicken pieces and pat them dry.
In a large skillet, heat the oil and saute the chicken until just golden brown on both sides.

Remove to a platter, add the onions, garlic and amaranth leaves to the skillet, and saute until the onion slices are transparent.

Place the tomatoes, chipotles, popped amaranth, and chicken broth in the blender, and puree.

Add the puree to the ingredients in the skillet and cook 10 minutes.
Return the chicken to the skillet and cook until the chicken is just done.

Serve some sauce over each piece of chicken and adorn with a sprinkle of additional popped amaranth, untoasted, if desired.
Serves 4.

Croquetas de Papa con Amaranto:
Amaranth-Potato Croquettes

This is an adaptation of a recipe provided by Gladys Zavaleta Ruiz in her collection, Cocina con Amaranto. Served with a salad, it makes a fine light supper, and is a good example of the many vegetarian main dishes that can be prepared with amaranth.

Ingredients:
• 2 lbs. potaoes, boiled
• 1/4 lb. manchego, chihuahua or monterrey jack cheese, shredded
• 4 tablespoons amaranth or wheat flour
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten separately
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup popped amaranth (amaranth cereal)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
• corn oil, as necessary for frying

Preparation:
Peel and mash the potatoes.
Add the cheese, flour, 1 egg, parsley, amaranth, salt and pepper and mix well.

If the mixture seems too loose to form croquettes, add additional flour as necessary.

Allow the mixture to cool.

Form into round or cylindrical croquettes, dip each in the other beaten egg, roll in breadcrumbs and allow to dry thoroughly on a rack at room temperature.

In a large skillet, heat the oil until hot but not smoking, and add the croquettes, a few at a time, turning carefully to brown them on both sides.

This can be done ahead of time and the croquettes re-heated in a 400º F oven.

Serve with red or green salsa if desired.
Serves 6.

Sopa de Calabaza y Elote con Amaranto:
Squash, Corn and Amaranth Soup

This soup makes use of the zucchini and corn which abound in Mexican milpas and gardens north of the border in late summer. If fresh amaranth leaves are not available, use small, tender spinach leaves, along with dry amaranth cereal grains from the supermarket or health food store – these are actually the seeds of the plant which have been popped to expand to about the size of sesame seeds.

Ingredients:
• 3 tablespoons corn oil
• 1/2 lb. zucchini squash, diced
• corn kernels freshly cut from 2 cobs
• 1 cup amaranth leaves or young spinach leaves, chopped
• 3/4 lb. tomatoes, seeded and peeled
• 1/2 medium white onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 sprig epazote
• 8 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup amaranth cereal (popped amaranth)
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:
In a large stockpot, heat the oil, add the zucchini, corn and amaranth or spinach leaves, cooking just until the zucchini is crisp-tender.
Place the tomatoes, onion, garlic, epazote and 1 cup of the broth in the blender and puree.

Add the puree to the stockpot, cook another 10 minutes, and add the rest of the broth.

Heat through, add salt and pepper to taste.
Just before serving, add the amaranth cereal.
Serves 8 as a soup course, 4 as a vegetarian main course, with salad.

Arroz y Amaranto con Leche:
Rice and Amaranth Pudding

This variation of the classic arroz con leche is served in Zimatlan, Oaxaca, one of the largest amaranth-producing areas in Mexico. The addition of popped amaranth grains adds nutrients as well as a delicious, nut-like flavor.

Ingredients:
• 1 cup rice
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup milk
• 1 can condensed milk
• 1 cup amaranth cereal (popped amaranth)
• 1/2 cup raisins
• sugar to taste
• ground cinnamon

Preparation:
Soak the rice in hot water for 15 minutes.
Drain and rinse until the water runs clear.
Place the rice and the 2 cups water in a medium size saucepan, bring to a boil, cover, and simmer until the water is absorbed.

Add the milk, condensed milk, amaranth and raisins.

Cook over low heat another 10-15 minutes, until the mixture thickens.
Add sugar to taste.

Cool and serve with cinnamon sprinkled on top.
Serves 4.

I just bought a small bag of amaranth, found these recipes, and will start trying them this coming week. I haven’t even had time to look for “bad” ingredients, but I’m certain all can be substituted for BFFM-friendly alternatives. Anyone trying these is more than welcome to comment on the results

What do you do when you go from 170.6 to 171 lbs overnight? You panic, right? Yeah. I was turning over in my mind what I could have done wrong the previous day, checked to see if that time of the month again soon … then I saw my reflection in the mirror and cracked up!

 Yesterday, I had hung a silver chain around my neck, a necklace given me by my ex a few years ago (like 8?). It’s solid sterling silver and … heavy! There was my weight gain!

When it’s suggested you weigh yourself wearing the same clothes, the instructions should include the jewelry as well! Well, I don’t take it all off when I go to bed, not unless it’s something fragile anyway. I forget which part of my “hardware” collection I have on.

I think I’ll remember to check that next week

~  ~

Saturday breakfast. You know you want something a little more … fancy? is that the word? Restaurant-like maybe? Yesterday, I made baked beans from scratch (that way I know what’s in them, and it’s dead easy too), so this morning it was fried eggs with extra egg-whites, one slice of 14-cereal toast, a pan-fried tomato cut into two halves, and the beans. This is too much for every-day breakfasts, but having slept in almost 2 hours from the normal 5:30 wake-up during the week, this served as two meals in one basically.

Not ideal, you should not have two meals in one on a daily basis, and always make sure you have a meal every 2½-3 hours. However, weekends do tend to slide a little from time to time. I’d rather have a couple of breakfasts like this one and tomorrow’s, than a cheat dinner with desert and wine!

Tomorrow? Well, how does pancakes sound to you? Bad? Sugary? Nope. Rather than using white flour, sugar, melted butter and whole eggs for my batter, I use whole wheat flour, 1 egg + 2 whites, stevia, and I add vanilla protein powder as well as oatmeal or other grain flakes. No fat. They come out great. A little healthy margarine etween the three pancakes, a little organic syrup over them, and a nice, fresh cup of coffee/ latte … and it seems decadent although it is totally healthy. Add a fresh fruit or a variety of cut fruits and berries, and you have it all.

The baked beans? Thursday night, I placed dry white beans in cold water and left them there over night. Yesterday, I drained them and put in a pot of boiling water (no salt), where I let them cook for an hour while I did other things. At the end of that hour, I checked to see if they were cooked (smash one between your fingers and you know they’re tender). I left them in the water, turned the heat off from under the pot, and in an oven-proof dish mixed a cup of ketchup, a cup of the cooking water from the beans, a tablespoon of molasses and one of dijon mustard, cut an onion in half (it was huge), added the beans, stirred, placed the half onion in the middle of the dish, covered it, and put it in the oven at 325ºF for an hour. I was in the garden digging up bushes and cutting the grass while it all baked, actually, I forgot about the beans so they stayed in the oven for 1½ hours

Period. That’s all there is to it, and you know there is nothing artificial snuck in anywhere, no canning procedure, nothing but your own effort and about 10-15 minutes of actually being in the kitchen with the beans! So it takes overnight + 2-2½ hours of cooking … you are free to sleep and do other things while this happens.

 Enjoy

And the Xooma challenge … how are we doing on that? Great. 2 weeks almost done (tomorrow) and we’re as excited as the first day. I told the “exercise boss” of my intermediate results, and his reaction was “that’s awesome!” Even if, to me, it’s not – I don’t settle for average, remember – it is still a good result for the 10 days into the challenge that result was from. I’ll have the 2-week results tomorrow, but I know it’s all good. Fat is draining faster than the scales indicate, because the drop is compensated for by added muscles, so once again … do not trust that “almighty scales” because it will only show you part of the picture, not the whole truth. 2 lbs down it says. Sure. I check the bodyfat. 2½ lbs down. Meaning I added ½ a pound of muscle. The scales don’t know that. The BMI doesn’t know that. They both see total weight and panic.

Another false panic. Weight is not created equal. You can be “light” but have too much bodyfat. The scales will make you and the insurance companies happy. Your body is in crisis and your health at risk. You are a skinny fat person.

Or you are “heavy” but you have a lot of muscle mass, your bodyfat is down to the lower levels of what is healthy (you always need some fat!), yet your doctor, the insurance guy and the scales make you look like an overweight person.

False panic again.

KNOW what your body composition is, and never mind scales and BMIs. Even though the insurance guy won’t understand, if you show up in person he will have to see that you are not overweight (and will tell you your scales are wrong, lol). You will have a hard time explaining to your doctor that your weight gain has nothing to do with obesety (I know, we have one like that!), but you will be healthy with a low bodyfat percentage and a much lower chance of cancers, hypertension, too-high values of triglycerides and cholesterol, diabetes (I and II) etc, etc, etc and then some!

 Have a nice weekend!

I’ve had a facelift. Well, not me personally, but my on-line training site http://www.trainwithsarah.com/ was given an update and a more professional look. The services are the same though

You tell me who you are, what you like and don’t like (food wise that is), when you can or prefer to work out, and I tailor a program just for you and your needs.

Of course, I will tell you what you need to change in order to achieve your goals, I will “pull your ears” from time to time if I have to; but you will always have me at an e-mails distance for any question you may have between the once weekly chek-ins, and all answers are made catering directly to you.

I know a lot of on-line trainers use pre-made programs … I’ve looked into a couple of them, and didn’t like them. They did not allow me to personalize each person’s programs, and I believe this is a major key to success.

Therefore, all my training work is done by myself, on the one-on-one on-line basis.

Ceck it out http://www.trainwithsarah.com/ both for lifestyle change, nutrition information/ help, and training.

Someone asked which was the best breakfast cereal, on a forum I moderate.  There was some discussion back and forth, and then this one guy comes up with a name … amaranth. I got curious. Here’s the result of a little googling:

Amaranth has a long and interesting history in

Amaranth’s great nutritional qualities are the driving force powering it’s comeback. It’s high in protein, particularly in the amino acid, Lysine, which is low in the cereal grains. In fact, Amaranth has the highest lysine content of all the grains in this study with Quinoa coming in a close second. To make your whole wheat bread a complete protein, substitute about 25% of your wheat flour with Amaranth flour. Amaranth, by itself, has a really nice amino acid blend. Just 150 grams of the grain is all that’s required to supply an adult with 100% of the daily requirement of protein. Amaranth is one of the highest grains in fiber content. This makes Amaranth an effective agent against cancer and heart disease. Amaranth is also the only grain in this study that contains significant amounts of phytosterols which scientists are just now learning play a major part in the prevention of all kinds of diseases. Amaranth is also rich in many vitamins and minerals. The following table lists only the nutrients in Amaranth that are higher than those found in wheat. As nutritious as wheat is, you can see that Amaranth puts it to shame…  

                       Unit     Amount   % More

                        of        In      Than

Nutrient              Measure  Amaranth   Wheat

Food energy            KCal:  374.000      114

Protein                 Gms:   14.450      115

Total lipid (fat)       Gms:    6.510      423

Total saturated fat     Gms:    1.662      618

Ttl monounsaturated fat Gms:    1.433      717

Ttl polyunsaturated fat Gms:    2.891      461

Total dietary fiber     Gms:   15.200      121

Ascorbic acid           Mg :    4.200    Infinite

Riboflavin              Mg :    0.208      181

Folacin                 Mcg:   49.000      129

Potassium               Mg :  366.000      101

Calcium                 Mg :  153.000      528

Phosphorus              Mg :  455.000      158

Magnesium               Mg :  266.000      211

Iron                    Mg :    7.590      238

Zinc                    Mg :    3.180      120

Copper                  Mg :    0.777      179

Palmitic acid (16:0)    Gms:    1.284      549

Oleic acid      (18:1)  Gms:    1.433      746

Linoleic acid (18:2/n6) Gms:    2.834      472

Phytosterols            Mg :   24.000    Infinite

Histidine               Gms:    0.389      136

Isoleucine              Gms:    0.582      127

Leucine                 Gms:    0.879      103

Lysine                  Gms:    0.747      223

Methionine              Gms:    0.226      112

Threonine               Gms:    0.558      153

Tryptophan              Gms:    0.181      113

Valine                  Gms:    0.679      122

Arginine                Gms:    1.060      178

Alanine                 Gms:    0.799      176

Amaranth must be cooked before it is eaten because it contains components in it’s raw form that block the absorption of some nutrients in our digestive system. You should cook Amaranth whether you plan on giving it to your family or your pets.
For those of you who are allergic to wheat, Amaranth can be your grain of choice. However, Amaranth contains no gluten and because of this, it’s not good for making yeast breads by itself. Mixed with 75% wheat flour and 25% Amaranth flour, the resulting dough should give you a nice rising loaf of bread. However, for breads that don’t require gluten to raise such as biscuits, muffins, pancakes, pastas or flat breads, you can go as high as 100% Amaranth flour.
Amaranth can be boiled for 20 minutes in it’s whole seed form for a morning breakfast cereal. It can also be ground raw or for added flavor, it can be toasted before grinding. Try popping it like you would pop popcorn. Popped Amaranth’s uses are many as they add texture and crunchiness to breads, salads, soups and granola. Whole seed, cooked Amaranth also goes well in soups, granolas and as already mentioned, mixes well with wheat flour to make a myriad of different baked goods. Amaranth flour also makes a nice thickener for gravies, soups and stews. Sprouted Amaranth goes well in salads or prepared cereals.
 As Amaranth contains fairly high levels of poly-unsaturated fats, it’s a good idea to store them in your refrigerator after opening the container. For long term storage, package them with oxygen absorbers in an air-tight container which should extend their storage life for several years if stored in a cool place. Having a hard outer shell, Amaranth should store better than Quinoa or buckwheat which have similar nutritional qualities but have a softer, more permeable shell.
We think you will enjoy experimenting with this ancient grain and will be excited with it’s wholesome flavor and the excellent nutrition it will provide for your family.

I’m going shopping!