Here are a couple free resources that have come into to my attention over the past couple weeks. You don't even need to give out your email address so they are really FREE - Just download
The Cut Diet 2 Right Click and Download
Gourmet Desserts - click the link scroll to the bottom and download.
Precision Nutrition Strategies click the link scroll to the bottom and download.
Have a great weekend.
I first saw this video as an undergraduate and was very happy to see it on youtube (thanks Dr. Eades for pointing me to it). It is a human depiction of protein synthesis. My favorite parts are the high energy bond breaking. The tRNA and GTP chats are awesome! Enjoy! Oh yeah. You can skip though the lecture part if you want.
Here is a question that was posted in the comments section of my previous entry on beef
Q: This is interesting info, but I'm a little confused. What would you recommend that the package should read when buying meat in a supermarket? Anything with a "select" label?
Do you have to pay attention to the cut of meat or just the grade?
Also, how much red meat do you think is an acceptable part of a healthy diet?
A: I do recommend that you purchase SELECT grade beef whenever possible but this can be a problem as depending on where you shop SELECT is hard to find. In fact the supermarket where I shop every week, Wegmans, only carries CHOICE. They actually boast with signs and labels saying that they only carry best beef grade - CHOICE. Best for who? If you were going to go for taste then PRIME would be the best as it is the fattiest and if you were going to go for lean protein then SELECT would be the optimal choice.
It is important to pay attention to both the cut and grade. I am far from a beef expert. After my meeting with the beef guy my beef I.Q. increased about 300%. but Top Round, Eye of Round, and Bottom Round are all good lean choices. Most of the time you can just look at the beef. I always aim to select the cuts with less marbling (or visible fat within the meat)to reduce the fat content (I'm not anti-fat but with red meat it can add up quick!).
How much red meat to include in your diet isn't a predetermined number. You shouldn't restrict your consumption of lean red meat but for variety sake (taste and fatty acids) I wouldn't eat meat exclusively. I normally have red meat at least 4 times a week. It really depends what is on sale at the market that week.
I love beef! There is no way getting around it, red meat rules! However, picking the right cuts of meat can be a little confusing. Chicken is easy - boneless skinless chicken breast and the occasional whole chicken or split chicken breast. but did you know that there are 27 cuts of beef that have fat contents ranging between that found in chicken thighs and chicken breasts?
All this beef talk comes from a meeting I had today with a gentlemen that works in the meat lab here at PSU (cool title huh?). Here are some take home points.
*Red meat comes in grades from fattest to leanest. Prime, Choice, Select, Standard. Standard is so lean (and "gross" according to my meat guy) that you will never find it in a retail setting. Most stores stock Prime and Choice. Select maybe hard to find.
*Bottom Round, Top Round, and Eye of Round are all essentially of the same leanness and can be cooked in similar manners.
*Of those three cuts top round has the potential to have more marbling (read "fat") so just make sure to look at the meat before you buy it.
*Shoulder cuts are good for crockpot cooking as the meat will fall apart.
That's all I have for today. Quick and Practical!
-Mike
