Nutrition Goals for August.....week by week!

Week 1 – Increase intake of fruits and vegetables!

Be sure to eat a variety in all colors.  Each color represents different phytochemicals that work at the cellular level providing anti oxidants as well as protection from diseases. 

Week 2 – Skip late night snacks!

Try not to eat before bed.  If you have to, aim for

Low fat cottage cheese, part skim cheese sticks or a

Boiled egg.  Avoid carbs at this time unless you are an

Endurance athlete who trains in the morning.

Week 3 – Stop drinking

Your calories!

A 10 ounce glass of fruit juice each day can add up to 51,100 calories in a year – or about 15 pounds.  If you need a change from water, try green tea or coffee.

Week 4 – Make sure you are getting whole grains!

Whole grains are higher in fiber, protein and other nutrients you need!  Where to get them?  100% whole grain breads, brown or black rice, quinoa, oatsWeek 1 – Increase intake of fruits and vegetables!

Be sure to eat a variety in all colors.  Each color represents different phytochemicals that work at the cellular level providing anti oxidants as well as protection from diseases. 

Week 2 – Skip late night snacks!

Try not to eat before bed.  If you have to, aim for

Low fat cottage cheese, part skim cheese sticks or a

Boiled egg.  Avoid carbs at this time unless you are an

Endurance athlete who trains in the morning.

Week 3 – Stop drinking

Your calories!

A 10 ounce glass of fruit juice each day can add up to 51,100 calories in a year – or about 15 pounds.  If you need a change from water, try green tea or coffee.

Week 4 – Make sure you are getting whole grains!

Whole grains are higher in fiber, protein and other nutrients you need!  Where to get them?  100% whole grain breads, brown or black rice, quinoa, oats 

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My Bye Week

I have to admit, this week, I am taking the lazy man's way out and having a cleaning out the fridge week! Luckily I made a few staples this weekend, so it should be pretty easy! Planning consisted of a couple variables this week.

(1) I got a food box. In it: broccoli, carrots, apples, pears, radishes, arugula, bok choy and oranges. I already ate all the fruit. For the veggies, I chopped up the carrots with some potatoes for an easy on the go dinner. The broccoli will be an easy five minute dinner as well. Yes, I often eat a bowl of veggies for dinner with a fruit and/or yogurt dessert.

(2) I went to the grocery store to get a few more fresh fruit and veggies. This week's buy: Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, spaghetti squash, a pumpkin, bananas, apples and persimmons! I love persimmons! These will also be used mostly as side dishes to other vegetables. Like I said, this is a lazy week. I am calling it a bye week, or should I say a NO BUY week. Ha.

So, because of that, dinners this week will look like this:

Monday: GIANTS game! Dinner = nachos and beer!

Tuesday: Turkey Chili (freezer meal), broccoli

Wednesday: Cream of mushroom soup (freezer meal), Brussels sprouts

Thursday: Garbanzo stew (last week's freezer meal), rosemary carrot and potato medley

Friday: Curried Chicken and Rice, roasted sweet potatoes

Saturday: Dinner w/ the Broski -- carbo load for tomorrow's Half. Mexican Fiesta (make your own burrito)

Sunday: Whatever is left over / Grocery shopping day

Head over to Laura and Jills for this week's link up! 

What's on your menu this week? Do you ever give yourself a bye week? If so, what do you eat?

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Chocolate Zucchini

I like to bake. I don't always follow directions.  I recently had some extra zucchinis from the garden and I was feeling like something chocolatey but not too sweet, so I found a recipe for these Oil Free Zucchini Muffins. But of course, I like to add stuff and delete stuff and mess things up a bit. The recipe was adapted from here. It specifically said not to use whole wheat flour.

But I wanted to.

(PS she did say you could use whole wheat pastry flour if you want to, but that you shouldn't use regular whole wheat flour.) I also use Splenda® rather than sugar most of the time, but you can use agave syrup or maple syrup or sugar if you like. Also, in the end, she was right, the whole wheat flour made the batter a little gummy, so I added a bit of applesauce just for fun.

Oil-Free Chocolate Zucchini Walnut Muffins

Yield: 20 - 24 muffins

Ingredients:

1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water)
2 cups zucchini
1 cup almond milk (or regular milk)
2 tsp  lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups whole wheat (pastry) flour (or all-purpose)
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup Splenda^® (or sugar)
1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup walnuts, chopped
*optional: 
3 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 - 1 cup applesauce (depending on moisture level. I added this at the end)

- Mix flax and water together and set aside to thicken. Mix almond milk and lemon together and set aside to curdle.

- Mix all dry ingredients together.

- Mix all wet ingredients, including flax egg and almond milk together, then add in chocolate chips and nuts. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry.

- Put 1/4 cup of batter into each section of a greased muffin tin using a 1/4 measuring cup.

- Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees. Muffins are done when toothpick comes out clean. Cool on cooling rack in the tin before taking them out of the tin and letting them cool completely.

- Try not to eat three of them right away like I did.

- Take them to work and give them away before you eat all 24 of them. 

- Get strange looks when you use the word "chocolate" and the word "zucchini" in the same sentence.

Now, since I am on the subject of recipes and food, I want to talk about something exciting coming up. My friends Jill and Laura are starting a new feature called What's for Dinner, which is a weekly collection of posts (and a link up) about menu planning. It's purpose is to encourage each other and to hold each other accountable as we purposefully plan out regular, weekly meal menus. These posts will be on Sundays and I am looking forward to participating, because I love planning out my weekly meals, but can always use tips from those more experienced and better at it than I am.

So, if you feel like doing a post about YOUR meal plan, or you want to post a recipe or get recipe ideas for fall, or if you want to check out how other people are organizing their eating, how they have time to do it with a busy schedule, or how they stay healthy with so many other things going on, sign up, or just go and check up their link up on Sundays!

Where do you get your recipe inspiration? Do you plan out your meals for the week in advance? What is your favorite kind of muffin?

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Three Bean Salad

I have been wanting to write a post on this for a while, but I was sure that the non-gardeners will be totally bored, so I have been holding off. However, this year, whether you know it or not, I tried vegetable gardening for the first time. In case you too are a new gardener (I have had house plants for years and they have always flourished but this is my first food garden) I thought I would talk a little bit about the garden and some of the snags I have run into so far.

First, let me say that this post is to celebrate the fact that I have food. Three beans, to be exact! So, although a three bean salad may be a little small, I am very excited that I have made something that is edible! I made food with my own hands! I also have eaten basil, cilantro and chives from my little garden so far! It's very exciting.

Let's start off by saying what I started off with. I started seeds on May 14: cucumbers (bush), zucchini, tomatoes (bush), beets, butter lettuce, spinach, eggplant (bush), tri-colored beans (bush), cilantro, parsley, basil, chives, squash, scallions, southwestern pepper trio, carrots & dill.

So far I have killed: the cucumber, both lettuces and the dill. So I am 13 - 4. Maybe that's not Superbowl worthy, but it's not too bad.

The details: Most of my plants are in 8" pots. I bought them at the $1 aisle in Target and poked holes in the bottoms. The cherry tomato and the squash are in cardboard boxes lined with plastic shopping bags (with holes poked in the bottom). I used Miracle Grow potting soil and Renee's Garden Seeds.

Peppers, Squash, Cherry Tomatoes

What's going wrong? I think my worst fault is OVER watering. I know. In fact, the cucumber started "wilting" so I watered it. It wilted some more; I gave it more water... when my squash also started "wilting" I realized that since they grow along the ground, all they were doing was bending down so they could grow! Oops! Also, my squash leaves started yellowing. A couple days without water did the trick!

I was paranoid, since I am growing everything in containers, that the plants would not get enough water. I read that they dry out more quickly since they are getting sun from all sides. However, I still ended up giving them too much water. I think (correct me if I am wrong!) that tomatoes need more water than many of the other veggies, but many of them need to be left alone once in a while! Too much "care" was killing them!

I also should have used bigger pots. Some of the plants are much smaller than they should be and I am afraid that my bush tomatoes may not bear fruit, since the cherry tomatoes I put in the box are flowering right now and they were planted afterward. 

What's going right? I also read that watering will wash out many of the nutrients, so I recently added a bit of miracle grow, which really perked everything up! This also beefs up the argument against over watering. Since then, I have been watering with "coffee ground tea", which is just the coffee grounds mixed into a couple of gallons of water.

Zucchini

Where do we stand? After about 2 months, like I said, I have harvested basil, green beans, chives and cilantro. I have no cherry tomato fruits, but the plant is getting big and bushy and I just got flowers, so it's only a matter of time! I have squash flowers (tons!). The eggplant, beets and peppers are still just leaves.

Do you have a garden? Or a green thumb? Do plant posts bore you?

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Grocery Shopping Guides for Heart Health

We all know it is healthier and more economical to buy groceries at the store and prepare your meals at home.  We also know the crazy food choices at the store can seem overwhelming. Here are some tips to help you be smart at the grocery store and choose good-for-you foods.

• Be sure to buy and eat plenty of fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables that are deeply colored throughout – such as spinach, carrots, peaches and berries – tend to be higher in vitamins and minerals than others, such as potatoes and corn.
• Frozen vegetables are great because they are low in cost and do not perish.  I always keep frozen spinach, artichokes and broccoli in my freezer.  I also have the mixed fruit in the freezer to have on hand for smoothies, protein shakes or to put in a container and keep my lunch cold.  Then in the afternoon, it has thawed and is perfect for my afternoon snack with a bit of FAGE yogurt.

Fruits and Vegetables

• When fresh foods aren't available, choose frozen or canned vegetables and fruits in water without added sugars, saturated and transfat, or salt.  Frozen is best, but canned is a good choice as well.
• Buy more fruits and vegetables that are good sources of fiber, including beans, peas, sweet potatoes, winter squashes, broccoli, brussels sprouts, oranges, bananas, strawberries and apples.
• Stock up on raw vegetables for snacks such as carrot and celery sticks, broccoli, cherry tomatoes and cauliflower.  Enjoy these with hummus or another health protein for dipping.
• For desserts, buy fresh, frozen or canned fruits in water without added sugars.   
• Don’t buy lots of fruit juice. It doesn’t provide the fiber of whole fruit and is a source of high calories and sugar.

Milk Cheese and Dairy

• Chose low fat dairy.  Avoid milk that contains added flavorings such as vanilla, chocolate or strawberry. They usually have added sugars and calories.
• Choose low-fat cheeses.
• Use additional egg whites to whole eggs to make a larger portion with little added calories. 
• Remember ice cream and ice cream type of products (frozen yogurt) are TREATS and should not be an everyday food option.  Save these for special occasions and be sure to control your portions.  
• Watch out for the partially hydrogenated fats hidden in casseroles, bakery goods, desserts and other foods. You have to READ THE INGREDIENT list to determine if partially hydrogenated fats are included. 
• Read the Nutrition Facts label of foods you’re considering.

Meat Poultry Fish and Nuts

• Strive to eat one serving of grilled or baked fish at least twice a week. (A serving is roughly the size of a checkbook.) Good examples of fish to buy include salmon, trout and herring.
• Choose lemon juice and spices to eat with fish.
• Choose cuts of red meat and pork labeled “loin” and “round” – they tend to be leaner cuts.
•  Buy “choice” or “select” grades of beef rather than “prime,” and be sure to trim off the fat before cooking.
• When buying or eating poultry, try the skinless version or remove the skin yourself.
• Select more meat substitutes such as dried beans, peas, lentils or tofu (soybean curd) and use them as entrees or in salads and soups. A one-cup serving of cooked beans, peas, lentils or tofu can replace a two-ounce serving of meat, poultry or fish.
• Nuts and seeds are good sources of protein and polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats.  They are high in calories so use portion control.

Breads and Grains

• Choose whole-grain, high-fiber breads, such as those containing whole wheat, oats, oatmeal, whole rye, whole grain corn and buckwheat. Choose breads and other foods that list whole grains as the first item in the ingredient list.
• Limit or better yet, completely eliminate the amount of bakery products you purchase, including doughnuts, pies, cakes and cookies.  Most store-baked goods are made with trans fats (remember to read the ingredient list). It is always to best to make your own baked goods.  You can use apple sauce instead of oils to make muffins and other baked goods.  If you make them yourself, you will not eat these treats as often and they will be much better tasting and better for you.

Oils, dressings and shortenings

• Buy and use fats and oils in limited amounts.
• When you must use oils for cooking, baking or in dressings or spreads, choose healthy fats.  Olive oil is great for salads and cooking at low temperatures.  Coconut oil is great when cooking at higher temperatures and very heart healthy.
• Buy a nonstick pan or use nonstick vegetable spray when cooking.

– reference American heart association, Eat Right For Life, Dr. Ann Kulz

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