Nutrition
low down

Free tours
will help
in making
grocery
choices

NEVER BEFORE has
grocery shopping subjected
the hapless consumer to
such intense mental
aerobics. Stress levels rise
as each item is judged ac-
cording to its environmen-
tal merit (is this the least
amount of packaging
possible?), economic
viability (can I afford
this?), quality (will this
taste any good?) and
nutritional content (will
this help keep me
healthy?)

By Peggy Trendell-Whittaker
News Reporter

But shoppers at B.C. Save-
On-Foods and Overwaitea stores
are now getting some help an-
swering the last question. Each
store offers free, guided nutri-
tional tours to individuals or
groups interested in learning
nutritionally sound shopping
habits.

Barbara Rothdram, a dietician
who worked at Shaughnessy and
Grace hospitals for the five years
prior to her job with Shop Smart
Tours, says she sorts through the
fact and fiction revoiving around
nutritional health trends to supp-
ly customers with a simplified
picture.

One thing is clear, she says,
‘All major medical groups are
recommending the same thing.
Increase our fibre intake and
decrease our fat.”

To this end, she tours the
various shelves, food groups and
aisles pointing out ways to not
cnly choose the correct groceries
with these guidelincs in mind,
but to cook them in a manner
that maximizes their nutritional
content.

In the dairy section, Rothdram
recommends buying cheeses with
a fat content of less than 20 per
cent. On reading the labels, one
finds that most cheddars are
around 32 per cent, most Havar-
tis are around 35 per cent.

There are several low-fat
alternatives, however, such as
L'Envol white cheese with only a

NEWS photo Mike Waketield

EATING SMART isn't always easy with the vast array of
foodstufts available to shoppers today. Deciphering the nutri-
tional content of one’s grocery cart becomes easier, however,
after taking one of Save-On-Food's free Shop Smart tours.
Here, nutritionist Barbara Rothdram demonstrates some of her
choices from the produce section.

four per cent fat content, or ag-
ed Cherry Hill skim milk cheese
with seven per cent.

While these cheeses may not
stand up in a_ crackers-and-
cheese taste test against the
standard cheddars, Rothdram

Says they are great for taking,

where they can be mixed with’

standard cheddar for a stronger
taste.

She says the ‘‘most cheddary
tasting low-fat cheese’’ is
Cracker Barrel Light, with a 21
per cent fat content. Other low-
fat cheeses are feta, parmesan
and ricotta.

Rothdram also takes the
mystery out of saturated fats
(bad), polyunsaturated fats
{good) and monounsaturated
fats (better). She suggests buying
margarines that have a two-to-
one ratio of polyunsaturated to
Saturated fats, and there are
brands that are whipped up with
water to lower the calorie con-
tent.

If you must have butter,
which is high in saturated fat, do
limit your intake.

“It only takes a little to get
that good flavor,”* she says.

For cooking and salads, she
recommends canola oil, a Cana-
dian prairie product. and olive
oil, both monounsaturated liquid

fats.

The cereal aisle provides an
appropriate milieu in which to
discuss boosting our fibre intake,
and, again, Rothdram teaches
shoppers to read cereal box
labels to find out whether a ce-
real has a high amount of fibre
(between three and five grams
per serving) and a_ reasonably
low sugar content (tess than
eight grams per serving of cereal
with no milk),

If you already have a bax of
low-fibre cereal, you can always
add a spoonful of bran on top
to increase the level of fibre.

“We try to make the tours
positive,’’ emphasized
Rothdram. ‘Instead of saying
‘no’ to everything, we show
people what is possible.”’

The tours, which accommo-
date about 10 people and last
approximately an hour and a
half, attract shoppers from all
ages and lifestyles. Sometimes a
group of people with special
dictary needs, such as diabetics,
request and receive a specialized
tour, also free of charge.

For more information on the
nutritional tours, call customer
service at the Marine Drive
Save-On (985-3069) or the Park
and Tilford Save-Un (983-3033).

The language of margarine explained

PARTICIPANTS EN nutritional
tours at Save-On-Foods are
vives a “teardiacg glossary’? that
includes the following important
terms:

Cholesterol: a fatty substance
found ino all animal products
eaten in food such as meats of
all kinds, fish, poultry. shellfish,
eey yolks and dairy products. It
iso afso manufactured in the

human body by the liver as
needed for the normal fnction-
ing of all systems in the body.
HDL (High) Density Level)
cholesterol, Known as ‘yood"'
cholesterol, gathers up
cholesterol and athes it to the
liver to be exereted.
Polyunsaturated fats:
fais that are liquid at
temperature and) found in

those
room
most

vegetable oils such as corn, sal-
flower, soxbean, cottonseed,
sesame and sunflower. They helps
lower blood cholesterol levels.

Monounsaturated fats: also
known as neutral fats, they oc-
cur in foods such as olives. Tey
help lower LDL cholesterol, but
not HIDE. cholesterol, sa are
recommended over polyun-
saturated fats,

Wednesday, October 31, 1990 - North Shore News - 45

bake

Make
sale a

suCCeSS

A LETTER from a reader
reminded me that this is the
season for bake sales, those
fundraisers so dear to the
hearts of church and lodge
organizers.

This reader is some baker. Two
years ago she went through 300
pounds of flour, baking Christmas
cakes for various charities. She
wrote to tell me that one of my
recently published cake recipes has
become a real favorite for bake
sales — one sold for $6 at Christ
Church Cathedral.

Along with a request for addi-
tional recipes that she might try,
presumably with bake sales in
mind, she included the compli-
ment, ‘‘It’s people like you who
make us anxious to get this
paper.’' That made my day.

Bake sales. § wouldn't even
make a guess at how many I bak-
ed for, starting as a teenager in
Job’s Daughters. One thing for
sure — I learned quickly about
what sells out fast. And, being an
economical cook [ realized that if
I were obliged to provide baked
goods I'd better keep my costs
down. The answer? Bread and
rolls.

However, § expect my reader
was more interested in cakes and
cookies so I'll include one of my
favorites.

And, for anyone new to the
bake sale chore, here are a few
tips to make the products sell —
and fast:

* Decoration is a big feature.
Take two identical loaves of
banana bread, each wrapped in
plastic wrap. Pin a little sprig of
flowers to one — it will sell before
the plain one.

¢ Another inexpensive decora-
ting tip — buy a package of at-
tractive gift wrap seals and some
bright ribbon.

e@ Instruct your bakers to in-
clude decorative touches — can-
died cherries, nuts, tinted icings —
anything that is edible and will
catch the buyer’s eye.

e Often, providing an assort-
ment of cookies is more appealing
than a dozen of one kind. It’s also
a good way to distribute plain
janes — team them with the fancy
ones.

¢ Before staging your first bake
sale, visit one. This gives you an
idea of pricing and display. After
all, you're supposed to be making
money.

Now, a few bake sale items:

Blender Banana Bread
2 eggs
Y cup sour milk or buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Y% cup butter, melted
3 overripe bananas
2 cups flour
Ys cup sugar
I tablespoon baking powder
v2 teaspoon salt
Leup chopped walnuts

Beat eggs in blender until
frothy. Add milk. vanilla, butter
and bananas and blend until
smooth. Combine remaining in-
geredients in a large mixing bow!
and stir well, Pour in’ blender
mixture and stir just until blended
— mixture will be lumpy. Bake at
350° about one hour or until: it
tests done.

Refrigerator Ralls

For bike sales, these are ideal
when baked in small round layer
cake tins = about 8S. They sell
like fury, are cheap to make and,
since they do their rising in’ (he

Barbara
NcCreadie

BUDGET SEATERS

tefrigerator, aren’t as fussy to
prepare,

ft package dry yeast

1 cup warm water

\% cup sugar

Y: cup shortening

Tepe

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups flour (plus “3 cup if using
@ processor)

Dissolve yeast in warm water
with a pinch of the sugar. Cream
remaining sugar with shortening
until fluffy. Beat in egg. Combine
flour and salt and add to liquid.
Knead until smooth. Turn over in
a buttered bowl and cover tightly.
Refrigerate overnight (or for a
couple of days). To bake, shape
into small balls and place in round
tins — not touching. Let rise until
doubled (about 1% hours) in a
warm place. Bake at 350°, 15
minutes. These are very attractive
if brushed with a mixture of one
egg yolk and a tablespoon of milk
before baking — it makes them
brown and shiny.

Mazola Oil Spice Cake
(Chiffon Cake)

This old recipe has been in my
files since 1953! It's a big cake,
quite inexpensive to make and
very attractive. You should be
able to charge $12 for it.

2 cups flour

1/2 cups sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1] teaspoon cisnamon
v2 teaspoon each:
allspice, cloves

Y cup Mazola oil

7 unbeaten egg yolks
¥s cup cold water

7 egg whites

V2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Sift dry ingredients together in-
to a large bowl. Make a well in
the center and add oi, yolks and
water. Beat well until very
smooth, Whip the egg whites with
cream of tartar until very stiff.
Fold the first mixture gently into
the egg whites — do not stir. Bake
in an ungreased tube pan for 55
minutes at 325° then raise the
temperature to 350° and bake 15
minutes more. Cool inverted and
remove from pan. Ice upside
down.
feing:

Y% cup shortening

21% tablespoons flour

V4 teaspoon salt

by cup mitk

VY: cup brown sugar

2 cups sifted icing sugar
spoon vanilla

walnut halves

Melt shortening and stir in flour
and salt, blending well. Add niitk
and stir over medium heat until
inixture boils. Add brown sugar

See Purchase page 46

nutmeg,