Food 9

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Hey listeners! This is food for thought a miscellaneous show about food, and stuff I’m Greg the host.  It’s hot out now, just as summer is meant to feel, I wish it was a little more consistently like this though out the summer instead of later in the summer I mean school’s about to start soon, at least for people in grades k-12 for us UC Irvine students not enrolled in summer session 2 school doesn’t start for weeks, hahahahahahahahaha!  It feels awesome yet at the same time kind of lame since I’m going to see people trying to get to school in the mornings and I won’t be and that’ll feel awkward.  But I’ll join in with those of you going to school soon in reflecting on summer briefly with a brief moment of silence… okay that’s over with.  Last time we talked about the egg recall a little, and gave some tips on how you can use salt, and foods that can give healthy skin, and how jelly belly made it’s jelly bean flavors then I said I would be back next week with more stuff, and now I’m back and here’s more stuff. 

First off today since school’s coming up here’s some:

School Nutrition Tips: Best Breakfast for First Day of School

Looking for the best in school nutrition? Look no further than a quality breakfast whipped up in your own kitchen. A U.S. nutrition expert suggests the best breakfast the first day of school should include foods that fight stress and keep students calm. Connie Diekman, director of University Nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis, says a breakfast with protein and quality carbohydrates -- such as oatmeal with milk or peanut butter on whole wheat -- can help students stay calm and focused.
"When we look at that carbohydrate piece, what we want to focus on is your better quality carbohydrates, the longer energy carbohydrates like whole grain," Diekman says in a statement.
She also suggests fruit, possibly a fruit and yogurt parfait, be included in breakfast.
"Some sugar from the fruit that gives that quick burst of energy, but the milk, the yogurt, has a lot of compounds in it besides the protein that can help the body with relaxation, attention, all of these factors," she says.
The darker the fruit, the better, Diekman advises. Blueberries, strawberries, apricots, blackberries and raspberries all contain a lot of phytonutrients that can help the body with relaxation during stressful times.
"It is so important that we equip kids, and mom and dad too, with something to eat before they enter the classroom or their job, because the studies are very, very clear," Diekman says. "Performance in a classroom is so much better in breakfast eaters than in those who skip."

Here’s something that you can use for a back to school breakfast:

Crunchy Honey-Yogurt Breakfast Parfait

Makes 2 servings

• 1 large banana, sliced, divided
• 1/3 cup honey, divided
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt, divided
• 1/2 cup crunchy granola, divided

Reserve several slices of banana for garnish. Layer 1 Tablespoon honey, 1/4 of the pre-sliced banana, 2 Tablespoons yogurt, 2 Tablespoons granola, 1/4 of the sliced banana, 2 Tablespoons yogurt, 1 Tablespoon honey and 2 Tablespoons granola in parfait glass. Repeat for second parfait. Garnish with reserved banana and honey.

Nutrition: 408 Calories * 9.4 g Fat Total * 7.6 g Protein * 4 mg Cholesterol * 80.4 g Carbohydrates * 47 mg Sodium * 4.1 g Dietary Fiber * 19% Calories from Fat *

The Five Best Low-Cal Foods You're Not Eating

Eating the same boring foods over and over again? Maybe it's time to expand your horizons. Check out these essentials and why they’re good... hopefully you’ll like them!


Fat-Free Greek Yogurt

PER SERVING (One 6-oz. container): 90 calories, 0g fat, 65mg sodium, 7g carbs, 0g fiber, 7g sugars, 15g protein

OK, this isn't just a yogurt upgrade, people. This is a serious multi-purpose ingredient. The main reasons we like this stuff so much? The high protein, the low calorie count, and the thick 'n creamy texture. Fat-free Greek yogurt has it all! Stir in some fresh fruit, low-sugar or sugar-free preserves, a little sweetener -- whatever you like! -- for a personalized and delicious snack. And use it instead of sour cream when making creamy dips for a protein boost. Marinate lean chicken with it for a super-moist and flavorful meal you could make kebabs or something!

Broccoli Cole Slaw
PER SERVING (3 oz., 1 cup): 25 calories, 0g fat, 25mg sodium, 5g carbs, 3g fiber, 2g sugars, 2g protein

You know that broccoli's good for you -- this is no big shock. But you might not know about this shredded veggie mix, which is loaded with broccoli and friends. A serving of this slaw mix is high in fiber, vitamin A, and vitamin C. Plus... look how low in calories it is. This stuff is good raw or cooked. Just add some light dressing and/or lean protein; enjoy it as is, or throw it into a pan for a stir-fry! And for anyone who ever looked at a puny meal and thought, "This could probably use some veggies," a fistful of this stuff will take you from an entree to a MEAL.


Canned Pure Pumpkin

PER SERVING (1/2 cup): 40 calories, 0.5g fat, 5mg sodium, 9g carbs, 5g fiber, 4g sugars, 2g protein

No, it's not just for holiday cooking and pie filling! We're big fans of this mashy canned pumpkin and all the glorious things it's capable of. Adding it to foods boosts the fiber content in a fantastically natural way that makes hungry humans happy. How do you use it? Stir some into your morning oatmeal along with your sweetener of choice for added flavor and nutritional value. Plop a scoop into a blender with your other smoothie ingredients, and that sipper will be thick and delicious. Wanna get real crazy? Mix a standard can with a box of devil's food cake mix, and you can make some AMAZINGLY decadent chocolate muffins without adding any eggs, oil, or anything else. YAY, pumpkin!

Canned Crushed Tomatoes
PER SERVING (1/2 cup): 40 calories, <0.5g fat, 250mg sodium, 7g carbs, 2g fiber, 5g sugars, 2g protein

When you need tomato sauce, do you reach straight for a jar? DON'T! Why? Most pre-made pasta sauces have more added fat and sodium than needed... so cut it out! Take a can of crushed tomatoes, and doctor it up with some garlic and other seasonings; you'll have a delicious sauce that tastes homemade (without having to exert too much effort)! This stuff is like a blank slate -- use it to create a sauce you love. Mmmmm...


Tofu Shirataki Noodles

PER SERVING (4 oz.): 20 calories, 0.5g fat, 15mg sodium, 3g carbs, 2g fiber, 0g sugars, 1g protein

We gab about these things all the time, but there are still plenty of people who don't know about 'em. This noodle swap is made with Japanese yam flour and tofu; the result is a little chewier than regular noodles but VERY low in calories. There is a period of adjustment when it comes to the texture, but if you like to eat large portions, this is worth learning to love! Once you know how to cook it, the sky's the limit. You could make stuff like Lo mein, or Fettuccine Alfredo and other stuff.

We’ll be right back after a little break now.

Welcome back!

Inside the Secret World of Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's is no ordinary grocery chain. It's an offbeat, fun discovery zone that elevates food shopping from a chore to a cultural experience. It stocks its shelves with a winning combination of low-cost, yuppie-friendly staples (cage-free eggs and organic blue agave sweetener) and exotic, affordable luxuries — Belgian butter waffle cookies or Thai lime-and-chili cashews — that you simply can't find anyplace else.

Employees dress in goofy trademark Hawaiian shirts, hand stickers out to your squirming kids, and cheerfully refund your money if you're unhappy with a purchase — no questions asked. Try finding that at other stores.

It's little wonder that Trader Joe's is one of the hottest retailers in the U.S. It now boasts 344 stores in 25 states and Washington, D.C., and strip-mall operators and consumers alike aggressively lobby the chain, based in Monrovia, Calif., to come to their towns. A Trader Joe's brings with it good jobs, and its presence in your community is like an affirmation that you and your neighbors are worldly and smart.

The privately held company's sales last year were roughly $8 billion, the same size as Whole Foods' and bigger than those of Bed Bath & Beyond, No. 314 on the Fortune 500 list. Unlike those massive shopping emporiums, Trader Joe's has a deliberately scaled-down strategy: It is opening just five more locations this year. The company selects relatively small stores with a carefully curated selection of items. (Typical grocery stores can carry 50,000 stock-keeping units, or SKUs; Trader Joe's sells about 4,000 SKUs, and about 80% of the stock bears the Trader Joe's brand.) The result: Its stores sell an estimated $1,750 in merchandise per square foot, more than double Whole Foods'. The company has no debt and funds all growth from its own coffers.

You'd think Trader Joe's would be eager to trumpet its success, but management is obsessively secretive. There are no signs with the company's name or logo at headquarters in Monrovia, about 25 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Few customers realize the chain is owned by Germany's ultra-private Albrecht family, the people behind the Aldi Nord supermarket empire. (A different branch of the family controls Aldi Süd, parent of the U.S. Aldi grocery chain.) Famous in Germany for not talking to the press, the Albrechts have passed their tightlipped ways on to their U.S. business: Trader Joe's and its CEO, Dan Bane, declined repeated requests to speak to Fortune, and the company has never participated in a major story about its business operations.

Some of that may be because Trader Joe's business tactics are often very much at odds with its image as the funky shop around the corner that sources its wares from local farms and food artisans. Sometimes it does, but big, well-known companies also make many of Trader Joe's products. Those Trader Joe's pita chips? Made by Stacy's, a division of PepsiCo's Frito-Lay. On the East Coast much of its yogurt is supplied by Danone's Stonyfield Farm. And finicky foodies probably don't like to think about how Trader Joe's scale enables the chain to sell a pound of organic lemons for $2.

To get inside the mysterious world of Trader Joe's, Fortune spent two months speaking with former executives, competitors, industry analysts, and suppliers, most of whom asked not to be named. What emerged is a picture of a business at a crossroads: As the company expands into new markets and adds stores — analysts say the grocer could easily triple its size in the coming years — it must find a way to maintain its small-store vibe with customers. "They see themselves as a national chain of neighborhood specialty grocery stores," says Mark Mallinger, a Pepperdine University professor who has done research for the company. Basically it means they want to create an image of a mom and pop store as they grow." That's no easy task. Just look at starbucks, whose expansion has been a huge success but has come at the expense of credibility with some coffee aficionados. The alternative is to remain a small brand with unflagging devotees, like outdoor clothier Patagonia. If it can get the balance right, Trader Joe's may be one of the few retailers to marry cult appeal with scale. Just don't expect anyone from the company to talk about it.

Who's a fan of Trader Joe's? Young Hollywood types like Jessica Alba are regularly photographed brandishing Trader Joe's shopping bags — but Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor reportedly is a fan too. "What's not to like? "They're very good retailers, and we admire them a lot." Visit a Trader Joe's early in the day, and there are senior citizens on fixed incomes shopping for bargains; on weekends and evenings a well-heeled crowd takes over.

The rise of Trader Joe's reflects Americans' changing attitudes about food. While Trader Joe's is not a health food chain, it stocks a dizzying array of organics. It sells billions of dollars in food and beverages that years ago would have been considered gourmet but are now mainstays of the U.S. diet, such as craft beers and white-cheese popcorn. The genius of Trader Joe's is staying a step ahead of Americans' increasingly adventurous palates with interesting new items that shoppers will collectively buy in big volumes.

The retailer's foodie roots and quirky in-store culture date to the original Joe. Joe Coulombe (pronounced COO-lomb), now 80, opened the first Trader Joe's 43 years ago in Pasadena to serve a sophisticated — but strapped — consumer. He named the store Trader Joe's to evoke images of the South Seas. He stocked it with convenience-store items and good booze, and at one time his shop boasted the world's largest assortment of California wine. (Decades later Trader Joe's would again become famous for wine, specifically its $1.99 Charles Shaw label, better known as "Two-Buck Chuck.") Coulombe then added health food — a seemingly odd combination that totally worked in 1970s California. By the late 1970s he was operating more than 20 locations.

The company's success did not go unnoticed. German grocery mogul Theo Albrecht, who died in July at age 88, coveted Trader Joe's — not as part of a major U.S. expansion but as a smart financial investment. Even in the early days, Trader Joe's appeal was its narrow but zany selection and loyal customers, recalls Dieter Brandes, who did due diligence on the company for Albrecht. "It was fantastic. It was different," he says. In 1979, Coulombe sold his company to Albrecht. Coulombe told Fortune he "can't remember" the selling price.

The Albrechts, who own Trader Joe's through a family trust, have generally stayed out of the business. They visit the U.S. operation about once a year, and word around the office spreads that "the Germans" are coming. Coulombe stayed on without a management contract for a decade; in 1987 he hired John Shields, a fraternity brother from his undergraduate days at Stanford, who was CEO until 2001. Under Shields' reign, Trader Joe's expanded outside California to Arizona in 1993 and to the Pacific Northwest in 1995. Although executives worried that Northeastern shoppers wouldn't "get" Trader Joe's, the company in 1996 leapfrogged the country and opened two stores in places crawling with college professors and other bargain-hunting elites: Brookline and Cambridge, both outside Boston.

Push your way into the bustling Trader Joe's in Manhattan's Union Square neighborhood, and it's hard to believe that executives ever worried that East Coasters wouldn't get on the experience. Make no mistake: A typical family couldn't do all its shopping at the store. There's no baby food, toothpicks, or other necessities. But for urban dwellers and college kids, Trader Joe's is nirvana.

A closer look at its selection of items underscores the brilliance of Coulombe's limited-selection, high-turnover model. Take peanut butter. Trader Joe's sells 10 varieties. That might sound like a lot, but most supermarkets sell about 40 SKUs. For simplicity's sake, say both a typical supermarket and a Trader Joe's sell 40 jars a week. Trader Joe's would sell an average of four of each type, while the supermarket might sell only one. With the greater turnover on a smaller number of items, Trader Joe's can buy large quantities and secure deep discounts. And it makes the whole business — from stocking shelves to checking out customers — much simpler.

Swapping selection for value turns out not to be much of a tradeoff. Customers may think they want variety, but in reality too many options can lead to shopping paralysis. It’s kind of goes like: a good store can have a wide variety of different items but in terms of individual brands for those products they should have a much smaller choice.  Studies have found that buyers enjoy purchases more if they know the pool of options isn't quite so large. Trader Joe's organic creamy unsalted peanut butter will be more satisfying if there are only nine other peanut butters a shopper might have purchased instead of 39. Having a wide selection may help get customers in the store, but it won't increase the chances they'll buy.

Customers accept that Trader Joe's has only two kinds of pudding or one kind of polenta because they trust that those few items will be very good. I mean if they're going to get behind only one jar of Greek olives, then they're definitely going to make sure it's the most fabulous jar of Greek olives they can find for the price. To ferret out those wow items, Trader Joe's has four top buyers, called product developers, do some serious globetrotting. A former senior executive told me that Trader Joe's biggest R&D expense is travel for those product-finding missions. Trade shows that feature the flavor of the moment "are for rookies," a former buyer said. Trader Joe's doesn't pick up on trends — it sets them.

The other dozen or so buyers, or category leaders, spend more time in the office, fielding hundreds of cold calls a week from vendors tripping over themselves to make Trader Joe's a customer. Trader Joe's is a supplier's dream account: It pays on time and doesn't mess with extra charges for advertising, couponing, or slotting fees that traditional supermarkets charge suppliers to get their products onto the shelves. So it's all transparent none of the other stuff bigger stores do. In exchange, suppliers have to agree to operate under Trader Joe's cloak of secrecy. Fortune obtained a copy of a standard vendor agreement, which states, "Vendor shall not publicize its business relationship with TJ's in any manner."

Why the lockdown? Former executives say that Trader Joe's wants neither its shoppers nor its competitors to know who's making its products. And many suppliers aren't that keen on consumers knowing that they produce a lower-cost version for Trader Joe's either. Take Tasty Bite, which makes much of Trader Joe's Indian food. The Tasty Bite Punjab Eggplant ran $3.39 at a Whole Foods in Manhattan. The seemingly identical Punjab Eggplant that the Stamford, Conn., company makes for Trader Joe's is more than $1 cheaper.

Over the years Trader Joe's has improved the way it distributes Joe's-branded goodies to its stores. Management has sought to minimize the number of hands that touch a product; whenever possible, Trader Joe's purchases directly from the manufacturers, which then ship their wares straight to Trader Joe's distribution centers. A U.S.-made cheese, for example, is sent to distribution centers nationwide, where it's sometimes cut and wrapped, taking another cost out of the equation. At a traditional supermarket, that same cheese would probably go through a distributor first, tacking on another cost. Trucks leave the distribution centers daily for the stores. Trader Joe's small stores don't have much of a back room, so ordering from the distribution centers has to be precise.

This distribution process helps determine where the company opens its stores. Texas and Florida have cities that boast consumers Trader Joe's covets, but insiders say the current distribution infrastructure makes it difficult for the company to efficiently get products to those states. To pick their next locales, employees look at demographics such as education level. In the past they've even looked at who's subscribing to high-end food and cooking magazines as a way of divining where the epicures are.

You can't buy engagement from employees, but the pay at Trader Joe's helps. Store managers, "captains" in Trader Joe's parlance — the nautical titles are a holdover from Coulombe (newly promoted captains are commanders; assistant store managers are first mates) — can make in the low six figures, and full-time crew members can start in the $40,000 to $60,000 range. But on top of the pay, Trader Joe's annually contributes 15.4% of employees' gross income to tax-deferred retirement accounts.

All of that can lead to a better customer experience. A ringing bell instead of an intercom signals that more help is needed at the registers. Registers don't have conveyor belts or scales, and perishables are sold by unit instead of weight, speeding up checkout. Crew members aren't told the margins on products, so placement decisions are made based not on profits but on what's best for the shopper. Every employee works all aspects of the store, and if you ask where the roasted chestnuts are he'll walk you over instead of just saying "aisle five." Want to know what they taste like? He can probably tell you, and he might even open the bag on the spot for you to try.

Can Trader Joe's maintain that kind of charm as it expands? Former employees worry that the company is losing its entrepreneurial zeal and that CEO Dan Bane has made the place more corporate, adding more senior vice presidents, and creating new titles such as product developer. At headquarters Bane encourages employees to wear Hawaiian shirts and name tags. But putting systems in place isn't necessarily a bad thing. "You have to grow up at some point," says a former employee. "You have to start following rules. You have to start putting in checks and balances." The stakes are higher now that Trader Joe's has hundreds of stores. A buying error could cost the company millions.

Bane, 62, who has a background in accounting, graduated in 1969 from the University of Southern California, where he played baseball — or, as he's said, "spent a lot of the time on the bench." During a talk at USC, Bane said that he's modeled his leadership style on his famed coach, Rod Dedeaux. Bane joined the company in 1998 as president of West Coast operations and became CEO only three years later.

Some former employees say Trader Joe's has already lost its quirky cool. "In the early days we never tried to be the neighborhood store," says a former employee. They didn't have to: Trader Joe's was the neighborhood store. And yet walk into the Chelsea location on a busy weekday night and you'll see something you almost never see in Manhattan: strangers chatting with one another. Veteran customers tell newbies what products they absolutely have to try, and serious cooks share tips on how to spike sauces and semi-prepared foods to make them even tastier. If Trader Joe's can maintain that kind of mojo, it could end up the biggest neighborhood store ever.

7 Best Stress-Fighting Foods

I send out a lot of info on my Twitter feed, from nutrition news to management tips. I get the most passionate reaction—and the most retweets—when I talk about stress. In fact, a friend of mine recently told me that stress was her biggest dietary villain. “I eat when I’m stressed,” she said.

To which I reacted, “Good!” You should eat when you’re stressed—it’s our bodies’ natural reaction to want to store calories to face whatever challenge is causing the stress in the first place. The key, however, is to eat what your body wants—the foods that actually counteract the effects of stress, and make you stronger (and leaner) when the tough times pass. So next time anxiety runs high, be sure to grab one of these seven stress-fighting foods.

Papaya
Wouldn’t it be awesome if there was a magic nutrient that could stop the flow of stress hormones—the very hormones that make your body superefficient at storing fat calories? Wouldn’t you want to gobble that food up like crazy, especially if it tasted great? Half a medium papaya carries nearly 75 percent more vitamin C than an orange, and provides potent protection against stress. Researchers at the University of Alabama found 200 milligrams of vitamin C—about as much as you’ll find in one large papaya—twice a day nearly stopped the flow of stress hormones in rats. It should work for you, too. 

Other smart sources of vitamin C: Red bell peppers, broccoli, oranges 

Bonus Tip: The closer an ingredient is to its original form, the healthier it is for you. Avoid the worst side of the nutritional spectrum by familiarizing yourself with some of the bad food out there.

Peppermint Tea
The mere scent of peppermint helps you focus and boosts performance, according to researchers. Another study discovered that peppermint tea makes drivers more alert and less anxious. 

Other smart sources of peppermint: Peppermint candy and peppermint oil 

Bonus Tip: Beware of disastrous drinks that only pretend to be healthy. Avoid 2,000-calorie shakes, 1,500-calorie smoothies,  and other big offenders.

Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin seeds are loaded with stress-busting potential thanks to high levels of magnesium. Only about 30 percent of us meet our daily magnesium requirements, placing the rest of us at a higher risk for stress symptoms such as headaches, anxiety, tension, fatigue, insomnia, nervousness and high blood pressure. (Basically we’re frayed wires, and magnesium is the electrical tape that can pull us back together.) A quarter cup of pumpkin seeds gives you half your day’s magnesium requirements.

Other smart sources of magnesium: Spinach, Swiss chard, black beans, soybeans, salmon

Avocados
The healthy fats buried in the avocado’s flesh make it an ideal choice when you’re craving something rich and creamy. The reasons? Monounsaturated (healthy) fatty acids, and potassium--both of which help combat high blood pressure. Avocado fat is 66 percent monounsaturated, and gram-for-gram, the green fruit has about 35 percent more potassium than a banana. Whip up a fresh guacamole or slice a few slivers over toast and top with fresh ground pepper.

Other smart sources of potassium: Squash, papaya, spinach, bananas, lentils

Bonus Tip: Learn how to put these and other health-promoting foods to work in your daily diet to lose weight fast and look and feel better.

Salmon
Not only does omega-3 fat protect against heart disease and cognitive decline, but according to a study from Diabetes & Metabolism, the wonder fat is also responsible for maintaining healthy levels of cortisol. And what’s the world’s best source of omega-3s? Salmon. But there’s another trick in salmon’s arsenal—a sleep-promoting amino acid called tryptophan. One salmon filet has as much tryptophan as you need in an entire day, and if there’s one remedy for stress, it’s a good night of blissful Zs.  

Other smart sources of omega-3 fats: Flaxseeds, walnuts, sardines, halibut
Other smart sources of tryptophan: Chicken, tuna, beef, soybeans

Bonus Tip: The favorite trick of your friendly neighborhood restaurant? Substituting salt for flavor. Studies have linked high-salt foods to increased risk of high blood pressure, stroke, and even heart disease--and experts recommend getting no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium in your diet each day. Keep your salt intake in check by cooking with high-quality, locally sourced ingredients—and by dodging the salty stuff.

Almonds
The almond's first stress-buster is the aforementioned monounsaturated fats, but at risk of belaboring that point, let’s look at another almond-centered, mind-calming nutrient: vitamin E. In one study, Belgium researchers treated pigs with a variety of nutrients just before sticking them in a transportation simulator (basically a vibrating crate). After 2 hours of simulation, only those pigs treated with tryptophan and vitamin E had non-elevated levels of stress hormones. Almonds, thankfully, are loaded with vitamin E. To reach your day’s requirement from almonds alone, you need to eat about 40 to 50 nuts. Or you can mix them with other vitamin-E rich foods to save calories and add more dietary variety.

Other smart sources of vitamin E: Sunflower seeds, olives, spinach, papaya

Oatmeal
A biochemical effect of stress is a depleted stock of serotonin, the hormone that makes you feel cool, calm, and in control. One reliable strategy for boosting serotonin back to healthy levels is to increase your intake of carbohydrates. That said, scarfing down Ding Dongs and doughnuts isn’t a sustainable solution. Rather, to induce a steady flow of serotonin, aim to eat fiber-rich, whole-grain carbohydrates. The slower rate of digestion will keep seratonin production steady and prevent the blood sugar roller-coaster that leads to mood swings and mindless eating.

Other sources of fiber-rich carbohydrates: Quinoa, barley, whole-wheat bread, Triscuits

Well that’s all I’ve got so that’s the show for today, thanks for listening, if you have questions my email is Gregory.eng@gmail.com or eng@uci.edu though I haven’t really been checking the latter of the two recently, up next is the oc show.  Good bye!