Summer is in full swing, and barbeques are a perfect way to relax, spend time with family and friends, and celebrate the July 4th holiday. To help you better prepare for this popular activity, nutrition experts at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center offer advice on how to barbeque the healthy way.

M. D. Anderson dietitian, Vicki Piper, R.D., L.D., encourages cookout fans to grill plenty of fruits and vegetables, and less meat. Diets high in plant foods can lower your chances of developing several cancers, including breast and colon cancers.

“You can still have a barbeque without letting your health go up in flames,” Piper said. “Aim for a meal made up of two-thirds vegetables, fruits, whole grains or beans, and one-third animal protein.”
Grill plant-based foods

Eating mostly plant-based foods provides a range of nutrients that protects the body from cancer. And it is a great way to manage weight, which is important because there is evidence that excessive body fat increases cancer risks.

“Try a new vegetable every week, one that you have not tried in many years,” Piper said. “My family favorites are grilled onions, zucchini, asparagus and pineapple.”

Use a light brushing of canola or olive oil on vegetables and fruits to help prevent sticking to the grill.
Sprinkle vegetables with pepper, a small amount of salt and vinegar to bring out their taste. Using non-stick grates, foil packets or a grilling basket lightly coated with oil also can be helpful when grilling plant-based foods. As a general rule, don’t peel vegetables before grilling. You’ll get more nutrients and enjoy a smokier flavor if they aren’t peeled.
Where’s the beef?

Diets high in red meat (beef, pork and lamb), and especially processed meats (such as hot dogs), have een reported to be a convincing cause of colorectal cancer, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research. Fatty red meat is high in saturated fat, which is the most damaging type of fat.

“You do not need to give up red meat to be healthy, but the evidence suggests you would be wise to limit how much you eat,” Piper said. “Experiment with other healthier sources of protein, such as fish, chicken, beans, edamame or tofu. My red meat-loving husband has grown to enjoy more grilled salmon, marinated chicken and even hummus!”

Grill fish and skinless chicken breasts are much leaner than most red meat. If you are going to grill red meat, look for those with “loin” in the name, such as beef tenderloin, pork tenderloin and lamb loin chops. For beef, also look for round steaks and roasts, and choose ground beef labeled at least 95 percent lean. Finally, beef labeled “prime” is the top grade but also is the highest in fat. For the leanest red meat, look for a “select” grade at your supermarket.

Keep meat portions small by cutting them in chunks and removing excess fat. Combine them with vegetables and make kabobs. Serve any kind of meat as an accent to a meal rather than the main dish.

Where there’s smoke, there’s cancer risk

Grilling any type of meat, even chicken or fish, until it’s charred or burned can increase your chances of getting cancer, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research. Grilling vegetables and fruits does not create carcinogens (sources that cause cancer) so there is no cancer risk, which is just one more reason to add them to your shopping list.

If you do choose to barbeque meat, stay clear of burning it, and follow these tips:

Grill fish instead. Fish contains less fat than meat and poultry do, making it less likely to create carcinogens and cause flare-ups caused by dripping fat. Fish also requires less time on the grill, reducing its exposure to carcinogens.

Precook your foods. The higher the temperature at which food cooks and the longer it stays on the grill, the more carcinogens develop. Partially cooking meat or poultry indoors for two to five minutes draws out most of the potentially harmful chemicals without sacrificing moistness. Heat your meat up in the microwave or oven, and then finish it on the grill.

Lightly oil your grill. A little oil keeps charred material from sticking to the food. It also helps keep fish and chicken in one piece.

Lower the heat. On charcoal grills, increase the distance between the food and the hot coals by spreading the coals thin or by propping the grill rack on bricks. On gas grills, just lower the settings.

Stick to charcoal and hardwood. Barbecue briquettes and hardwood products, such as hickory and maple burn at lower temperatures than softwood (pine) chips.

Clean your grill. Scrub your grill thoroughly after every use to avoid a buildup of carcinogens that can be transferred to your food the next time you grill.

Spread aluminum foil on the grill. This will reduce flare-ups. Just make sure to make small holes in the foil to allow fat to drain.

Flip meat frequently. This reduces the amount of carcinogens that arise.

Marinate your food. Marinating not only makes grilled foods taste better, but makes them safer because marinades draw out chemical precursors of carcinogens.

For additional information, visit www.mdanderson.org/focused

This story and any accompanying photo(s) were originally published in the Forney Messenger and are Copyright © 2009, Forney Messenger, Inc. and have been used by permission. The Forney Messenger is the publisher of Kaufman County’s oldest newspaper and may be found online at www.ForneyMessengerInc.com

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Read on for news about Lucky’s, NTB, Fat Dawgs and Walgreens…

Lucky’s described themselves on the Forney discussion board as having “an awesome atmosphere with great customer service, uptown style bar and delicious menu. Equipped with plenty of big screen tv’s, pool table, dart boards and games you are guaranteed to have a good time. Located at 1012 HWY 80 at exit 548 east of LOWE’S will be the best get together place in Forney for both family and friends of all ages.”

This weekend I noticed stacks of tires behind the NTB, and employees inside. It looked like they were checking out the equipment and stocking the tires – so NTB will be opening any day now. (Update, 10/30, 5PM – just noticed that NTB is now open!) Both NTB and Lucky’s are located in Mustang Crossing, east of Lowe’s, near Wing-Stop, AutoZone, etc.

Walgreens has finished all of their exterior work from the looks of things, and there have been cars (not just construction vehicles) in the parking lot quite often, so they should be opening within a few weeks, hopefully.

Finally, Fat Dawg’s, which will be located where the Daily Grind used to be, near Las Trojas – on the south side of Highway 80 between Pinson & 548 – has received their TABC license and their permits to begin renovating the space, so they’re hard at work getting everything ready. Once they’ve set a grand opening date, I’ll be sure to post it.

If you have any news related to these new businesses, or any other new businesses coming to Forney, feel free to email me at Josh@TwentyPeacefulMinutes.com. Feel free to discuss this post in this thread in the Forney discussion forum.

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Fat Dawgs, which is under construction where the Daily Grind used to be, on the south side of Highway 80, near Las Trojas, is hoping to open in the next month or so. They’ve setup a MySpace page to keep everyone updated with their progress, which includes a sample of their menu, which will feature over 20 types of hot dogs. They’ve been discussing their draft of the initial menu in this topic in the Forney discussion forums, and have been very open to feedback!

Finally, Napoli’s, a long-time favorite Italian restaurant in Forney, is now under new management. You’ll still see some familiar faces working there, but they have a new chef, a brand new menu and they now deliver! I had lunch there recently, and the chef was very friendly – he came out of the kitchen to ask for our feedback concerning the new menu, which includes some old favorites like the chicken parmigiana hot sub for $5.25 and some new spectacular dishes such as the chicken involtini for $9.95. Napoli’s is located at 111 East Main Street in Forney – take Broad Street to Bois D’Arc Street towards downtown Forney – make a left on Main Street, and Napoli’s is past city hall, on the left.

Currently, Napoli’s menu indicates they will deliver, for free, within 4 miles of their location. I asked the chef if they plan to deliver to Travis Ranch or Windmill Farms, and he said that once there is more interest in their delivery service and they have more delivery drivers, they would love to expand their delivery range to include more neighborhoods, including Windmill Farms. While I was talking with the chef, I asked him what all he was changing – I noticed the sauces tasted even better than before, and he explained that he makes as much as he can from scratch, including his own chicken stock. He worked at an upscale restaurant in Berlin, Germany in the 90’s, and apparently learned quite a bit – the presentation of our lunch was amazing, and certainly unexpected from what we always considered a local Italian dive.

I scanned their new menu, which appears below. Click either image to see a larger version. If your browser automatically scales large images for you, you may have to click on the larger image again to make it readable.

Discuss this post and these restaurants in this topic in the Forney discussion forum, where I relate a bit more about the excellent lunch I enjoyed at Napoli’s last week.

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The list of cities they’re currently scouting is exciting – “Fort Worth, Haltom City, Euless, Southlake, Frisco, The Colony, Plano, Keller, Forney, Trophy Club, Allen and Dallas” – we’ve all heard the Forney/Frisco comparisons, but it’s really nice to see Forney in a list of cities along with Southlake, Frisco, The Colony, Plano, Trophy Club, etc.

Fresh Lane’s website has a place to suggest a new store location – drop by and let them know where you think they should build in Forney!

Also, this story is the first to use a new feature for the posts here at Twenty Peaceful Minutes – a specific discussion thread to discuss this post. Go visit this link to discuss this story in the Forney Discussion Forums.

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Quick update on Chick-fil-A – rumor has it the opening will be early-to-mid-June; this sounds about right, judging by the progress that’s been made on the building. Also, Hong Kong Express seemed to have stalled on their progress for quite some time – drywall was delivered quite some time ago, but never installed…however, a week or so ago it looks like insulation was delivered, so hopefully they’re making some progress now.

That’s all for now…if you know the franchisees that are involved with the new Chick-Fil-A, get in touch with me at josh@twentypeacefulminutes.com with any announcements about the grand opening. Feel free to get in touch with me about any other comments, news or rumors, and discuss the grand opening in our Forney commercial development discussion area!

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If you’ve never been to a Cold Stone Creamery, go check it out! I’ve been to several Cold Stone locations throughout the Metroplex, and in addition to very creative, personalized ice cream, many of their locations also serve shakes and real fruit smoothies, including smoothies made with your choice of yogurt or soymilk – so even if you’re not a fan of rich, indulgent ice cream, they’ll have something for you!

Cold Stone is opening in Shafer Plaza, which is the shopping center near the Sonic, across 548 from WalMart; from Highway 80, exit 548 and turn north (which is right at the traffic light if you’re coming from Terrell and left at the traffic light if you’re coming from Dallas). Cold Stone will be past the WalMart/Murphy Oil gas station and on your left.
Even if you’re not a fan of ice cream, go check out Cold Stone tomorrow – not only do they have several different things to offer in addition to ice cream, it’s also important to support new retailers and restaurants in Forney. The more success new businesses see, the quicker more businesses will open in Forney.

Also, shopping and dining in Forney keeps your sales tax dollars in Forney; each time you drive to Mesquite, Terrell, Rockwall, etc. to eat you’re paying sales tax into that city, and paying for services for that city’s residents. You have to pay sales tax, so why not do what you can to ensure more of your sales tax dollars are going into Forney – where it will directly benefit you.
From what I’ve been hearing (although the beautiful clear skies we have in Forney today make it hard to believe), it may storm or rain tomorrow – however, it sounds like most of the rain will be in the morning, and Cold Stone will be open celebrating their grand opening until 9PM, so even if the weather is a bit dreary in the morning, drop by later in the afternoon or in the evening after it clears up!
If you have a new restaurant or shop you’re opening in Forney, feel free to drop me an email at josh@twentypeacefulminutes.com, and I’ll let everyone know about it. I don’t charge, I provide this information as a service to the residents and visitors of Forney and want to do everything I can to help businesses in Forney succeed.

Things have been busy lately, and news has been slow, but I’ll be posting a few rumors I’ve heard lately sometime soon to see if any of you have heard anything similar. I’m also working on a “wishlist” – I get quite a few requests and comments about a few types of stores, and even specific restaurants and fast food establishments, so I’m compiling those “most requested” businesses and I’m going to post them – who knows, maybe it will help show demand and encourage someone to open a new franchise in Forney.

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