"fast" news and stories

...well, not forever. Technically, only for 21 days, along with all animal products, caffeine, sugar, alcohol, and gluten. Oh, right: and she's calling it a "cleanse," in hopes that it will prepare her for her "inner makeover."

Now, giving up alcohol, caffeine, and animal products is a difficult decision, and one that shouldn't be taken lightly.

But, (big surprise), I have several issues with this. First of all, I dislike the word "cleanse." It's often associated with that ridiculous maple syrup/cayenne pepper diet, and don't even try to convince me that it works, because depriving yourself of food is simply unhealthy, I don't care if you feel "amazing" or not (most likely, that "amazing, high" feeling is the effects of oxygen depletion to your brain, sweetie).

On nights when you don't really feel like cooking, pasta is always an easy fallback. Now that people seem to be less terrified of having a few carbs in their diets, pasta is slowly returning to its position as a pantry staple. It only takes a few minutes to cook and you can make an infinite number of sauces, from 5-minute light tomato sauces to rich, slow-cooked ones. If you have an extra few minutes in your evening, it doesn't take too much more work to turn a regular bowl of pasta into a comforting baked pasta dish, with an oozy topping of cheese than gets browned and ever so slightly crusty on top. Just about any baked pasta dish is a welcome meal on a cold winter day.

Easy meal prep is hot right now. By this, I am referring to the make-and-freeze dinner businesses that are thriving all across the US. With names like Dream Dinners, Super Suppers, My Girlfriend's Kitchen, Supper Thyme USA, What's for Dinner and Dinner by Design, all appeal to the "busy family demographic, where people want to have home cooked meals but don't necessarily feel that they have the time to do it themselves. These businesses offer kitchens with lots of partially assembled meals and ingredients that you can put together in combinations that your family will like. Typically, meals are prepared for a week or two in advance and everything can be frozen. Heating instructions (and any other cooking suggestions, if needed, are included.

The trend is so popular that it is starting to spread out of the US. In London, a chain called Dinners Made is springing up and gaining popularity with those who are looking for food to make in advance and freeze, and also with those who want to entertain and don't have time (or perhaps the ability) to cook everything from scratch without some assistance. Using Dinners Made means that the recipes are included, prep is done and cleanup is taken care of, as they are at every similar easy meal prep shop. Combining the convenience of working in the store with below-restaurant prices, a flexible menu and fresh ingredients, it's not hard to see why the idea is spreading so rapidly.

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Inside Prevention's Fit and Fast Meals in Minutes: Over 175 Delicious, Healthy Recipes in 30 Minutes or Less, you'll find a wide variety of meals that can all be made part of a balanced, healthy diet and a busy day. It takes no thought on your part to put them together, though, because author Linda Gassenheimer has done all the work for you. Each meal – the book covers breakfast, lunch and dinner and the recipes are usually grouped as a complete meal – comes with a shopping list of ingredients, helpful hints to save time or for substitutions, and a "countdown" timeline for making the meal. The easy-to-follow recipes also have a complete nutritional analysis to accompany them, so you know exactly what you're eating and as if that weren't enough, they are designed to have the optimal balance of proteins, complex carbohydrates and fats you need in your diet.

All the recipes make two servings, with the exception of the foods in the "entertaining" section, which serve six, so it is ideal for a single-eater who wants leftovers or four couples. As in so many other healthy living books, this one offers tips for controlling your portion sizes and making good food choices at home and at restaurants. There are four weeks' worth of recipes and a chart that suggests meals for each day, so the book could serve as a great starting place for someone who wants to begin to pursue a healthier lifestyle, as well as for those who already do.

And, for those of you interested in seeing more of Linda Gassenheimer, you can catch her column or see her at the 2006 Miami Book Fair, Nov. 12-19.

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A while back, I mentioned that Starbucks had been test-marketing hot breakfast sandwiches in a few select locations. They are now selling them at quite a number of stores - 126 in the Chicago area alone - as part of their regular menu and seem to be planning to roll them out country-wide over the coming months.

The Chicago Sun-Times rounded up a panel of tasters who were willing to put the Starbucks sandwiches head-to-head with McDonald's McMuffins to give the rest of us an idea of what they're like. Two out of three said that they still preferred McDonald's, which appears to be the gold standard for quick, breakfast sandwiches. Here's what they thought of each of the offered sandwiches:

• Eggs Florentine with Baby Spinach and Havarti - A taster favorite, with lots of sauce and spinach. "It's really delicious!" declared one. 

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