Sip Your Way Skinny: Day 6- TheAdams: Health Benefits of Beer

Ok, so even though I am not technically a doctor yet (4 months left), I figured that the SIPS blog needed a little science and health information for all those nerds out there like me.

Image via

I was doing some reading the other day and came across a very interesting article with some different
ideas than I have heard before. I know, I know, everyone has read that drinking a glass of red wine a day is good for your heart/brain/bones….blah,blah, blah, but rarely do you hear much about how beer affects your body long term.

Well, it turns out that beer (and this is only 1-2 drinks per day folks) is just as helpful- and sometimes more helpful- to the body than its more researched counterpart wine. This is good news for those of us out there that would rather drink a brew than grab a glass of wine on any given night- so beer lovers rejoice.

Image via

First off, one big benefit is that having a beer or two per day can actually help lower cholesterol by increasing the HDL levels in the body. The HDL’s are the ones that are good and typically scavenge the blood vessels for bad cholesterol to help clear the flow of blood which eventually reduces the risk of heart attack.

This next benefit appeals to me on two fronts; barbequing and beer combined. Did you know that marinating a steak in beer can reduce the carcinogenic forming HCAs by almost 70%??? What this means is that normally when you grill a steak, and some of the protein is burned causing carcinogens which can long term
cause cancer, beer basically reduces 70% of those cancer causing bad boys which means…..steak on the bbq a little more often for all of us meat lovers out there.

Lastly, and this one was interesting to me, because most people think that if you drink beer you are overweight which means you have higher risk of diabetes, but not so. Apparently drinking 1-2 beers a day can actually decrease your bodies risk of type 2 diabetes by 25%. Type 2 diabetes is the one that is basically epidemic in today’s society with weight concerns and usually comes on later in life (basically the body becomes less responsive to insulin). Well, beer can help increase the body’s response to insulin, thereby reducing your risk of diabetes.

Image via

SOoooo, all this to say; during the NFL playoffs or superbowl weekend, don’t worry if you pick up your favorite brew once or twice because it actually can be counted as a healthy drink alternative.

TheAdams: What to Buy for your Guy

Trish tells me I'm hard to shop for. Actually, if you're a guy you probably get told this a lot. So I decided I would put together 4 ideas (you only need 4, guys are simple) to help out the girls this year so that no guy ends up with Soap on a Rope again...

1. Local Brews-Take him to one of your local breweries, try to go on a tour, and at the end, let him get either the sampler or a few of the ones he really wanted to try as you eat dinner. Make sure to call ahead if you're planning a tour, there are usually specific times they allow them.

Image via 

2. Build your own 6 Pack-Have you been to Cost Plus World Market or Whole Foods? Well if you have one near you, it'd be a great place to compile a 6 pack of his favorite beers, or new beers to try. You could go with all different kinds of Stouts or IPAs or something. Root Beer works really well too. You could probably also try to put together your own from another store as well, I just know World Market and Whole foods have a special thing there just for this.

Image via

3. Sports Mug-One of my favorite presents I've ever gotten was a Steelers Beer Mug. Amazon.com seems to have a ton if you type in the team or the sport you're looking for. Also, clicking the link for the picture below will take you to a site. Then he can have something cold to drink while watching the Steelers win another Super Bowl...

Image via

4. Coffee-Coffee tastes better from a French Press, but most people don't have time to do this every morning. Another of my favorite things is our French Press to-go mug. I know Starbucks has them because that's where ours is from.

Image via

There you go, 4 solid ideas so your guys (and you) are excited for the holiday this year. Hope it helps!



BITES with TheAdams: Buffalo Chicken Dip

So this is the BEST thing you will ever put in your mouth....yep....I'll say it again. THE BEST! It's healthy too! (that part's not true) If there was only one "dip" I was allowed to eat for the rest of my life this would hands down be it. It might even make my top 5 food list. There's no more to say.

Here's the recipe and instructions:

1 12 oz can of chicken

8 oz cream cheese

1 cup of franks red hot (or to taste)

1 cup of blue cheese or ranch dressing (I use blue cheese)

2 cups of shredded cheddar (or whatever you prefer)

In a large skillet on low/medium heat, add the chicken and pull it apart with a couple forks.
(you don't want any big chunks)

Once it is all pretty shredded, put in the softened cream cheese and mix it into the chicken.
(this should take a couple minutes to get all the cream cheese to melt down and mix with the chicken)

Add in theFranks Red Hot and mix it in thouroughly.
(I've tried other hot sauces but I think Franks is the best)

Once the Franks is mixed in, add the blue cheese dressing and mix it in.

Once the dressing is in, I turn up the heat to medium and add the shredded cheese. (sometimes I put a bit more then two cups in) Fold the cheese in until it is all pretty melted.

From here there are two options. I like to put the mixture into a small crockpot to keep it warm. If you decide to do this make sure you stir the dip about every 30 minutes or so, otherwise sometimes the bottom burns.

The other option is to simply put it in a bowl or shallow dish. Take it to a friends and microwave it for about 30 seconds. Stir it up and boom goes the dynamite.

I like to serve it with baguettes or sliced french bread. Triscuits are my second fave. If not though, chips will do.

 Ludwig out!

TheAdams-Sam Adams Variety Pack

So one of the things that I love is a good variety pack. Especially winter variety packs. 

They are usually a catch 22 though. I mean they put in these great seasonal beers and at the same time they undoubtedly have a few "throw away" beers.  

You know what I'm talking about, the ones that stay in your fridge almost a full year.

I was at the beer store last weekend getting some beer for the Sips launch party (my addition to the "Recommended by YOU" bar that Trish and Kirst set up). I almost passed right by the Samuel Adams winter variety pack because I knew I didn't like the Cranberry Lambac. 

Imagine my surprise when there was not just one, but two new beers and no Lambac. The Chocolate Bock and the Coffee and Brew Stout.(both which are pretty good)

 

So here's to Samuel Adams for getting it right.

It's like somebody at the company was like, "Hey, what if the variety pack had ALL good beer?" and then they went ahead and got rid of the crap beer. 

TheAdams- Po' Man's Bloody Mary

So I'm sitting here watching the History Channel Modern Marvels (I don't have school today, hence why I'm just sitting watch the History Channel at 11 AM). Today is my lucky day, its an episode that is all about beer brewing. I'm working on a Beer 101 series and this episode is awesome. I almost want to give up on the Beer 101 series and just recommend you watch this episode, but it might be hard to put into a blog post.

Anyway, since the girls made some pretty awesome tomato juice, we were poised to find a way to involve beer.  After a little research, we found this original recipe here... it's a Bloody Mary made with beer.

We thought we'd try it ourselves with the tomato juice that they had just made.

We thought it was great and fit right in with our student budgets.

We used a pale ale in our mix but I would be interested to try it with different kinds of beer.

Give it a try and let us know what you think.

TheAdams- Beer Can Chicken

So...most of us have those nights where we don't really want to get the kitchen dirty or maybe just don't have time to figure out a main dish for the family. Beer can chicken is one of those meals that is a great standby and can be fixed easily without much mess, but best of all is almost impossible to screw up.

What do you need for ingredients??? 
Just grab a beer out of the fridge (I use a 24oz can because we typically try and get a larger chicken), some seasonings, and a whole uncooked chicken.

The nice part about this recipe is that you don't have to be really precise or make up your own sauce or anything that takes time before you are ready to cook.  I usually use a pre-mixed rub that we have around the house or you can experiment with your favorite seasonings for your own unique rub.

Take 6 tbs of the rub mix and spread 4 tbs on the chicken.  Open the beer (you can either drink half or pour it out, you know my preference), and take a knife or scissors and cut small holes into the top of the beer can.  Use the other 2 tbs of rub mix you have left over and pour the mix slowly into the half of beer you have left over through the holes you cut in the top.

Be careful on this part because it will likely fizz over if you pour it all at once.  While all this is going on, have your grill on high so its ready for cooking whenever you are done with the chicken.

Turn half of the grill off and leave the other side on high, grab the chicken and carefully place the beer inside the chicken making sure its not too top heavy spilling the beer mixture.

Balance the can with chicken on top on the grill, over the side that has been turned off.

That is ALL! Leave the chicken on the indirect grill side for about 1 1/2 hrs turning 1/4 turns occasionally just to give a nice even cook to the outside of the chicken.

The chicken will start to look puffy and crunchy on the outside when it is getting close to being done, but I always check internal temp with a meat thermometer to make sure it hits 170 degrees.

When it's done, use tongs to extract the beer from the chicken's butt. The meat should fall right off the bone- enjoy!

 

TheAdams- pumpkin beer

Since you don't really know me yet, let me start off by telling you that I am huge into the seasons. You might be thinking..... me too!!!

Let me clarify... I'm huge into the beer seasons. If you are a beer fan like me then you know exactly what I'm talking about. As the seasons change throughout the year, so do the different beers that compliment those seasons.

image via Beer Universe

Pumpkin Ale definitely falls into this category. So I'll be honest and say that I'm not a huge fan of flavored beers, but in the case of fall, there is no beer more distinctly matched with the season then Pumpkin Ale.

Pumpkin Ale comes in many varities with many different flavors. They are characterized by the pumpkin pie taste that is achieved by brewing with many of the same spices; cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice. It's also not a very hoppy type of ale, the spices and malts are the focus.

Like I said the taste can range from very pumpkiny- to faint hints of pumpkin. I prefer the milder taste and found TommyKnocker Brewery Small Patch Pumpkin Harvest Ale to be very mild. It has the subtle hints of pumpkin that don't overpower, but is still thick enough for a fall ale.

Regardless of your taste preference, if you like beer you have to give a Pumpkin Ale a try this fall. It doesn't matter which brewery's you try, as long as you get one somewhere in the rotation. It is what is so great about beer. It changes with the seasons to make them feel right.