Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category
Food For Thought Friday #1
If YOU have any questions that you’re curious about, email me at tanktoparms@hotmail.com and look for the answers in the “Food For Thought Friday” posts!
Q: How important is 8 hours of sleep to your health? Just curious, because I think I’m falling behind.
A: Ahhhhh, the old “8 is enough”….or is it? Well, as most of us have grown up with hearing that we need 8 hours of sleep, for the most part it’s true. Getting enough zzz’s is very important to our health, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that EVERYONE can only function properly as long as you’re getting 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 hours of sleepy time. Sleep is an essential part of our lives. If we don’t get enough of it on a consistent basis, our bodies will give out on us.
Some people may find that they only need 5-6 hours of sleep to function properly, while others need 10-11 hours for optimal performance, so it’s safe to say that each person’s sleep requirement is different. To put it simply though, the average adult functions best with 7-8 hours of sleep a night. But remember, you should probably evaluate how you feel during the day to be certain that you are getting enough sleep at night.
Research has shown that when we don’t get enough sleep, there is an increased risk of diabetes, onset of weight gain, irritability, and your attention span is shorter. Among other things, your reflexes tend to be slower and depression could sneak up on you as you fatigue more and more. Get some rest!! Just be sure it’s the proper amount of rest that YOU need.
Q: What are your thoughts on Honey Therapy for allergies?
A: “Oh the allergies have been killing me!” That’s my daily spiel since Spring came around. I see the little cottonwood pollens floating in the air and I just want to hide! Rather than going the medicinal route, many people look to honey as an allergy remedy. Although there isn’t a whole lot of research for or against it, I can comfortably say that it is safe for the majority of people suffering from allergies.
Because local honey tends to have some of the same local allergens in the air, consuming honey actually helps to build your immunity to those same allergens. It works like this: the bees go from flower to flower, tree to tree, etc. when they go back to the hive and contribute their labors to make the honey, they themselves are covered in many of the same allergens that we suffer from. So consuming honey actually helps to build a slow immunity to these allergens, or so that is what is believed. 
A word of caution to honey therapy: If you have never consumed honey, be careful because you may have an allergic reaction and not know it until you’ve eaten it. Try just a little bit of your local honey, like ½ teaspoon to see if there is any reaction. If not, you’re probably pretty safe. But you can always run this by your physician as well.
Q: How far do I have to jog to neutralize a small order of McDonald’s fries? What if I replace the jog with a walk? What if I replace the walk with sitting on the couch? Note: the fries cannot be substituted.
A: I’m going to answer this because it made me laugh! Too funny to pass up you know! Here’s the low down on the question: A small order of McDonalds fries has 231 calories, with a total of 11.5 g of fat, and 18% saturated fat. So, you will probably have to jog about 25-35 minutes, depending on your pace; longer time if you’re going at a slower pace, shorter time with a faster pace. If you’re walking, you’ll probably need to walk about 45 minutes to lose those 231 cals. If you’re sitting on the couch, make sure to have the remote close by because even getting up to change the channel won’t help you much! Enjoy the cheat treat! 
Q: What are your thoughts on dietary supplements such as pills, smoothies, etc?
A: With one brow raised, I will answer this as honestly as possible. I take a supplement. It’s called a multivitamin. I also use 100% whey protein to make smoothies with. I never have been a big fan of supplement pills to lose weight, gain muscle, raise the metabolism, or to “burn fat”. For one, they aren’t FDA regulated. Nutritionists say most of us can skip taking vitamins altogether, as long as we’re eating a variety of healthy foods. But I know that I’m probably not getting ALL the vitamins and minerals I need from my diet, so that’s why I take a multivitamin. Go to RealAge to see the most important vitamins and minerals you should be looking for on that bottle.
There are so many different potential negative effects that your body can have from taking dietary supplements that you aren’t familiar with. Unfortunately in today’s society, we are bombarded with magazines, books, shows and internet ads that promote a “perfect” body whether you’re a woman or man. Marketers target desperate people that are looking for a quick fix. Many of these drugs have shown to increase heart rates to unsafe levels, raise cholesterol level as well as blood pressure. The liver, kidneys and pancreas tend to have difficulty processing these pills, but it takes a long time usually to see the side effects. By that time, the damage is done.
Smoothies can be a good source of energy and protein if you prepare them at home with raw foods and maybe a scoop of 100% whey protein. When we purchase smoothies from the outside, such as Jamba Juice, you may think that you’re getting a healthy dose of fruits for the day, but in reality you’re getting a ton of sugar and carbs. As I said earlier, if you prepare your drinks at home, you can make them so much healthier than if you buy it somewhere else. Personally, I use 100% Whey protein from Nectar (brand) in the vanilla bean flavor. I mix it with ¼ cup water, ½ cup skim milk, 1 scoop of protein powder, and I usually add ½ banana, or raspberries, or ½ papaya. For my multivitamin, I take Mega Woman Sport from GNC. Aside from that, I make sure to eat a really healthy diet 80% of the time so I can “cheat” with my food the other 20%. 
Q: What are the health benefits of sex, red wine and dark chocolate…
A: Sex: Earlier I blogged a post all about the benefits of sex. Aside from burning about 85-100 calories in roughly 30 minutes (depending on how…ahem…vigorous it is), sex can help relieve tension, improve cardiovascular health and improve intimacy between you and your significant other. Other research has shown that sex can help relieve pain by producing oxytocin, slows the aging process and finally it can help reduce the risk of breast cancer!
Red wine: drinking it in moderation, red wine can have some pretty significant positive effects on our bods. The University of Bordeaux found that moderate wine consumption (about 2 glasses a day) was associated with a 30% reduction in the death rate from all causes; a 35% percent reduction in death rates from cardiovascular disease; and an 18-24% reduction in death rates from cancer. Aside from all the news of chronic illness risk decreasing with red wine consumption, there are also anti-aging effects in red grape skins.
Dark chocolate: According to the Mayo clinic, eating small amounts (notice I didn’t say candy bars every day) of dark chocolate everyday can offer some health benefits. Flavonoids are a naturally occurring antioxidant that is found in teas, red wine and some fruits and veggies. These same flavonoids are found in the deliciousness of dark chocolate. They have been associated with having a good effect on the heart by lowering blood pressure by a couple of points for both the systolic (top) and diastolic (bottom) numbers. Bon apetit!! 
Cooking Ideas for the Bachelor(ette)
A good friend of mine was asking me questions the other day about ideas of what he could eat that is healthy, fast, and easy. He’s a bachelor and like most singles that I know, the refrigerator usually looks like this: 
Hate to tell ya, but you’re not going to get very far with a bottle of mustard and some cream cheese, unless of course you’re McGyver! (I just dated myself didn’t I?) But I digress…(my other new word). It’s a new year, you’ve made new goals and one of them is to lose weight, or eat healthier, or both! Well, if you’re out to lose any weight at all, then having healthy eating habits are going to be a must. So I just want to share some ideas that I’ve used when I don’t have a lot of time, or quite frankly, when I’m just too lazy to cook.
A good habit to get into is to get the groceries you need for anything you’ll want to make for at least 3-4 days. That way, not only are you saving trips to the store, but you’re also saving $$, because really, don’t we all end up with about $20 more in our basket than what we intended most of the time? Now of course I can’t please everyone here with the ingredients I use, but you can always send me an email to tailor it for you if you’d like. this is going to be a basic rundown, then I’ll get into the details, so hang tight!
Breakfast choices: Whole grain waffles, whole wheat english muffins, high fiber cereal w/skim milk, protein shake w/banana or papaya, egg whites w/ chopped mushrooms, spinach and tomatoes all scrambled, oatmeal with 1 tb of peanut butter, blueberry pancakes w/ 1 mashed banana in it (from the blueberry muffin box), toasted peanut butter & jelly sandwich, and yogurt w/ granola on top. remember these are ideas that I use myself in the morning. You can find more ideas at the Cooking light website. Breakfast is the most important meal of your day!!! If you want to speed up your metabolism, and make losing weight easier, don’t skip breakfast. This should be your BIGGEST meal as a matter of fact, that you consume during the day. It gets your brain ready for the daily challenges, and sets the internal dial of how much energy you’ll be needing and using. I urge you to plan the night before what it is that you’ll be eating. 
Snack #1 choices: low-fat yogurt, granola bar, nut and fruit mix, apple, grapes, banana, bran muffin, hard boiled egg (which you prepare the night before), raw veggies, almonds, 1/2 avocado, reduced fat pudding cup, baked chips and salsa, pretzels. Snacks are NOT to be eaten just because you’re bored. They are to be eaten so you are not “starving” in between breakfast and lunch. Snacks usually don’t have to be cooked, so don’t make it hard on yourself. Their lot in life is to tide you over.
Lunch choices: salad the way you like it (prepared the night before), leftovers from dinner (ALWAYS easy), sandwich w/ avocado (and any other weird stuff you may like), veggie burger pita, healthy canned soup (watch the sodium), turkey quesadillas. Lunch time is considered to be anywhere between 11-2pm. Personally I prefer to eat lunch no later than 1pm, I also understand that schedules can’t always be followed the way we like. 
Snack #2 choices:In addition to all the choices you saw earlier for snack #1, you can add an orange, pear, strawberries, protein shake, string cheese, peanut butter pretzels, tuna w/ crackers, popcorn.
Food for thought: snacks are just to tide you over………………………………………….
Dinner choices: By far my favorite meal to cook, only because I love to cook! But not only that, I plan my lunches off of this meal so often as well. A crock pot is a perfect cook while you’re gone to work all day. You get to come home to a wonderful aroma and dinner is ready! But aside from crock pot recipes, there are other things to make that are relatively quick as well. Pizza (make or order), tacos, pasta (about 11 minutes to cook), lean sloppy joe, broiled fish, baked chicken w/ instant brown rice (10 min to cook), sautéed veggies with tortillas, baked potato, ravioli. I can honestly say that my crockpot is one of the BEST investments I’ve ever made for my kitchen, AND my sanity :) There are tons of recipes you can use for the crockpot from breakfast to dessert.
I don’t like food that’s too carefully arranged; it makes me think that the chef is spending too much time arranging and not enough time cooking. If I wanted a picture I’d buy a painting.
~Andy Rooney
He said it very well! This post was supposed to help you get ideas of quick ways to satisfy your hunger with healthy ideas, not how to be hoity toity with your food. There are of course hundreds of other foods to eat and many others that I really spend the time preparing, but that’s either because it’s a special occasion, or because I want to try a new recipe. Hopefully these will help you get started :) Here are more ideas for a little more time consumption, but great nonetheless.
Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are. ~Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
Have You Eaten Your Rainbow Today?
A pot of gold is not what you’ll find associated with this kind of rainbow, unless you consider your health to be golden :) I want to talk about the different options we have as far as veggies and fruits go for everyday eating. And mind you, even after what I have to offer, there is still PLENTY of ideas out there!
Soooooo it’s not the perfect shade of rainbow that we’re used to seeing, but looking at the picture to the right, you get a pretty darn good idea of which vegetable and fruit colors match those of a rainbow. What you want to remember between the two is that you want to eat more veggies than you do fruits. They are both good, no doubt, but you want to go easy on the sugar, despite it being natural sugars from the fruit.
Veggies 101: Green guys like kale and spinach are probably your best bets. They are both very high in calcium, vitamin A and beta-carotene. Broccoli is a great source as well as artichokes for the same vitamin C and B’s. Red and green lettuces are always a better choice to your common iceberg lettuce which has very minimal nutritional value…SORRY fans! It’s mostly made of water which you should be drinking plenty of anyway…right??
Orange or yellow peeps such as carrots, sweet potatoes and squash are VERY high in vitamin A and benefit the eyes, skin, immune function, reproduction, and bone growth. You can eat carrots raw of course, but the squash and sweet potato, well, you may want to cook those. Red veggies like red peppers and tomatoes (although technically that’s a fruit), contain lycopene which has been found to have strong cancer fighting properties that lower prostate cancer in men.
Other misc veggies like cauliflower, beans, lentils, corn and white potatoes are also good for you, but because of their starchy nature, you want to eat less of these guys and more of the colorful ones.
Moving on folks…moving on.
Fruits also contain tons of antioxidants if you pick the right ones. They also contain sugar, natural sugar yes, but SUGAR nonetheless. So be weary of that as you consume these wonderful little healthy desserts.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away…but if you eat 100 apples a week and don’t exercise it off, you’ll be making a visit to the office! Everything in moderation!!!
Fruits 101: Berries come in all different colors. Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries…and all of them are loaded with Vitamin C. Blueberries are at the top in that they contain 14 mg of Vitamin C in one cup and are filled with antioxidants! Berries are extremely nutrient-dense. A 1 cup serving has less than 50 calories and can be added to yogurt, a smoothie, and cereal.
Avocados and tomatoes…ahhh…the rogues of the bunch! What???? Avocados and tomatoes are fruits???? Yuppers! Avocados contain 11 grams of fiber in a whole avocado, so in one serving, that’s 6.5 grams for just half of one! You’ll be feeling fuller for a longer period of time thanks to good old fiber. Tomatoes, as I mentioned in the veggies above, contain lycopene and very dense with cancer fighting properties.
Papayas, mangos, pineapple and guavas are very rich in Vitamins A, C and E. They are also rich in calcium, particularly the papaya. If you like these fruits, let me just say that they make an excellent addition to any smoothie or even protein shake! Bananas, the most common of the tropical fruits I would say, is well received and ranked among athletes, however, be careful how much you eat of this one. They contain lots of sugar and carbs, so be sure to use the energy that it gives you to work it off.
Grapes have a good amount of manganese, and contain flavonoids. Flavonoids protect the blood vessels, and have even shown to control inflammation.In general, the darker (purple or red) the grape is, the more flavonoids they contain. A 1 cup serving is just 60 calories. Eater beware though!!! One serving of grapes = approximately 12 grapes! So don’t treat yourself to the whole darn vine for pete’s sake. Grapes contain a lot of sugar too, but in moderation, are an excellent snack.
Finally, apples and oranges. What can I say about these two popular…uhhh….spheres. Both are easy to carry with you in your cooler, are very tasty when cold, and make for excellent snack that contain vitamin C, are low in calories. An easy filler for in between meals that will give you energy and maintain your metabolism.
So you might be curious what you can do with, let’s say an avocado! The first thing most people might think of is guacamole! It’s one of my favorite things to make, but seriously, you don’t want chips and dip right now. Here’s a thought: slice it up and put it into an omelette for breakfast; OR mash it up, salt to taste, add some lemon and use it on a sandwich instead of mayonnaise; OR dice it up and add it to your red and dark green salad; OR put it on your face! Yeah I know…not what you were thinking, but it does make for a really nice facial mask that will leave your skin feeling soft like a baby’s bottom :)
There are hundreds of different ways to cook your veggies and eat your fruits. There is baking, steaming, sautéing, broiling, roasting, raw, mashed and mixed with other foods. Below are a few websites that you might find inetersting to read:
Eat More Fruits and Vegetables Every Day
Ideas for Eating More Vegetables
Cooking Light has fantastic ideas for healthy recipes as well.
Keep your wits about you when you’re at the grocery store. I don’t push organic fruits and veggies only because they are much more pricy, but I’m pretty darn healthy and so are the kids without me having to switch to the fancy shmancy stuff. Besides, I don’t know a ton about organic foods and to be honest, I don’t plan on becoming well schooled in it either.
Be sure to get your proper servings of each which you can find at the Mypyramid website. Get creative with what you have. Eating this stuff can be boring , but it doesn’t have to be at all. For parents that want to get more info on how to get your kids eating more of the healthy stuff too, you can check out Champions For Change . It started in California, but it has great information and tips.
Now go students of produce! Find what waits for you at the end of your RAINBOW!!
