Healthy Cooking by design

First let me say that having one of our children graduate from High School, becoming a grandmother, and starting a new full time job has really been time consuming the last few months.  But as I was using one of my favorite tips to make my lunch today, I though I’d share.

Whenever we use our grill, I grill an extra piece or two of whatever meat we are grilling - like salmon, chicken, or steak.  I wrap and freeze those extra pieces to use later to make a quick meal.  Then I can have all the flavor from the grill on a day I didn’t spend any time grilling outdoors!

For example, I had some leftover roasted red potatoes in a little butter, garlic, rosemary, and parmesan cheese from last nights dinner.  So, I thawed one steak that was in the freezer from some other nights grilling.  I thinly sliced the medium rare steak and set it aside.  I warmed a serving of the potatoes in the microwave and topped it with some of the sliced steak.  After sitting for a minute or two, the steak had come to room temperature, but was still perfectly medium rare.  It was really delicious.  There is still enough steak to top the remaining two servings of potatoes for some of the other lunch-seekers at my house.  So, we had three gourmet, grilled lunches ready in minutes on a day I didn’t even go outside!

I regularly move pieces of grilled salmon or chicken from the freezer to the fridge overnight.  I often go ahead and crumble or slice the meat prior to freezing to make it even quicker to use when thawed.  You can use thawed, crumbled, grilled salmon on top of a romaine salad with cucumbers, parmesan cheese, and a tangy vinaigrette with fresh cracked pepper; or on a sandwich with fresh spinach leaves, canola mayonnaise, spicy brown mustard and lemon pepper.  You can use thawed, sliced, grilled chicken to top a spinach salad with chopped hard-boiled egg, thawed frozen green peas, cheddar cheese and ranch dressing made with canola mayonnaise; or add it into whole-wheat tortillas with canned black beans, salsa, 2% milk cheddar cheese, Daisy light sour cream and a few sprinkles of chili powder.

You get the idea, there are so many possibilities.  And, of course, this trick is not limited to the grill.  I often freeze an extra piece of meat we broiled or pan cooked and use it the same way.  So the next time you are buying meat, go ahead a get a package with one or two extra pieces, grill it, and feed your freezer.  You’ll have a head start to some really quick, delicious meals!

“Low-Fat”, “Healthy”, “No-Trans Fats”, “Cholesterol-Free”, etc.  Advertisers know the latest buzz words and how to jump on the band wagon.  Let’s consider this dilemma  in another context.  A shampoo commercial shows the model with shiny, shoulder-length, wavy hair and tells you that if you buy their brand, your hair will look the same.  Do you believe them?  If not, it is probably because you realize they have an ulterior motive.  Their top priority is selling shampoo.  Or even worse - the used car salesman.  Think of all the clever stickers and slogans he’ll put in the windows because his goal is getting the car off his lot, not having it run faithfully for the next number of years.

Food companies are no different.  They want to sell their product.  And, most of them, are not researching what is best for our bodies and selling that.  But, they are not the only ones to blame.  We are the ones clamoring for the “quick-fix” product.  We would rather take the fiber pill than eat nutritious food containing fiber.  And we like to eat all the sweet things without consequence, so companies create sugar substitutes.  And the list goes on.

We don’t have to be suckered by advertising any more.  Let’s care what goes into our bodies…enough to research it and then make adjustments in the food we buy.  To get you started, here are a few things I look for on product ingredient label and RDA lists:

• whole wheat, oats, or other whole grain
• a short list with recognizable ingredients
• serving size and number of calories, RDA percentage of fats, and sugars per serving

Remember that the Recommended Daily Allowance percentages are based on a 2000 calorie per day diet.  Most people watching their weight eat significantly less calories than that.  So if it says this product will give you 30% of your recommended fat intake for the day, just realize that it will be a higher percentage if you are consuming less calories.

Some things I avoid when reading a product ingredient and RDA list:

• unbleached enriched wheat flour (This is white flour with very little nutrition.  It is “enriched” because when it was not enriched, people who consumed it were malnourished.)
• soy fiber, inulin fiber (Added so they can up their fiber numbers.  Whole grains are so much more effective at providing fiber, as well as nutrition and other health benefits.)  This Los Angeles Times article says all fibers are not created equal and I agree.
• corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup (Makes you crave carbs, and signals your body to store fat.)
• hydrogenated, or partially hydrogenated oils (Clogs arteries.)
• excessive calories, fat, or sugar.  This Web MD article provides some label-reading wisdom.

I hope I’ve inspired you to check out labels for yourself.  And don’t be afraid to start small.  Pick on thing - like your bread, or your breakfast cereal to educate yourself and start eating something nutritious.  You will feel so much better, that you’ll look forward to the next thing.

*Special photo thanks to vancanjay at stock.xchng.

Buckle your seat belt because I’m about to give you some truly amazing reasons to add green tea to your daily routine.  I was reading up on some of the health benefits of green tea when I came across an article at one of my favorite websites - World’s Healthiest Foods.  Before I direct you to their site for all the details, let me give you some of the truly amazing highlights of daily adding 2 cups of green tea.

• 22% less likely to develop breast cancer
• 62% less likely to die from a stroke
• lowers LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and lipid peroxides
• 46% less likely to develop high blood pressure or hypertension
• fights cancer cells at the genetic level
• up to 50% less likely to develop prostate cancer
• 46% lower risk of ovarian cancer
• 56% less likely to die of ovarian cancer if drinking green tea after diagnosed
• hinders tumor growth
• helps prevent cancer cells from growing, moving, and replicating
• improves insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetes
• protects kidneys and liver
• improves bone density and protects against osteoporosis
• promotes fat loss - specifically visceral fat (76% decrease in 16 weeks!)
• increases endurance for exercise by 24%
• protects against Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and other neurodegenerative diseases
• lessens bacterial or viral infections

All the details are available in this lengthy, but inspiring article on Green Tea at World’s Healthiest Foods.  I hope I have whet your appetite for this great beverage.  And, like anything else, keep trying different brands until you find one you like.  My current favorite hot green tea (with a little honey and lemon juice) is Good Earth Green Tea with Lemongrass.   My kids like Bigelow Earl Grey Green Tea as a hot tea.  And my husband likes Luzianne Green Tea iced with lemon and sugar.

Protein for breakfast really keeps you full and satisfied for hours. And it is easier than you think to have it ready in the morning. One of my favorite ways is in casserole form. Eggs, skim milk, chopped fresh spinach, a little Parmesan or 2 percent sharp cheddar cheese, mild rotel, and a little chopped turkey bacon if you like. Bake it in an 8 x 8 casserole dish and now you have 6 large squares that are easy to warm up in the microwave all week. Another favorite is to make a scrambled egg mixture with a small amount of 2 percent cheddar cheese, onions, garlic, peppers, and chili powder. Put your southwest scramble into whole wheat tortillas, roll, and refrigerate or freeze. Very easy to warm up in the microwave.

Another thing we don’t often think about is how perfect that leftover piece of chicken or salmon is to start out our day. An adult pb & j is another great starter. I buy a natural peanut or almond butter and either mix it with some honey or use an all-fruit jam and put it on a whole grain bread, thin bun, or mini bagel.

Try starting your day with some protein and whole grains and see how your energy levels stay constant and how many hours you feel full and satisfied.

Do you know the reason those new Reebok shoes to tone your rear and legs are supposed work?  They are taking something you are already doing (walking) and linking it with exercise.  Now, I don’t know if those shoes really work, but let me share with you a few ways that concept really works for me in other areas.

I take activities I already do and combine them with things I want to be doing - or more specifically, that I want the results of doing.  Like returning phone calls while driving, worshiping in the shower, reading my Bible before and during my breakfast, etc- two birds with one stone.  That method of combining is just as effective with exercise.

I do sit ups and crunches before I get out of bed (or at least before I get dressed).  I started with just 5 sit ups each morning, but now I do a bunch of them and don’t stop until I really feel the burn.  I combine leg lifts with brushing my teeth.  Not only do I brush my teeth for a longer time (like I should anyway), but in about one year my legs were toned and you could see defined muscle.  Now, a year sounds like a long time, but I just tell myself  - if I don’t make any changes to my routine, my legs will be in the same shape (or likely worse) in a year.  So, morning and night, I do leg lifts - alternating which direction I lift, or in circles, etc.  I also combine some kind of exercise with tv commercials.  If I have to sit there anyway, why not do leg lifts or half-sit-ups while sitting on the couch.  When I wanted green tea’s health benefits, I linked it to the dreaded afternoon slump and replaced my afternoon coffee with hot green tea, lemon, and honey.  And to add more walking to my day, I park farther away and walk briskly into the store; or take the stairs instead of the elevator.

The key to any of those being effective is consistency.  Just link the thing you are wanting to do (or that you are wanting the results from doing) to something you are already doing.  And start small!  Just add one thing to your routine and do it every time.  And just remember, combining the new thing to your established routine is the first step to seeing results.

Have you ever considered the idea that burning sweet smelling incense is very similar to breathing second hand smoke?  Until today, I hadn’t either.  I heard it on the radio news and decided to check it out.

This study, of more than 61,000 people across 12 years, found that people who burned incense all day were 80 percent more likely than non-users to develop squamous cell carcinoma of the entire respiratory tract. While a number of people on the study did contract lung cancer, those numbers were not necessarily increased from the general population.  However, the instances of nasal, oral, throat, or larynx cancer were significantly increased.

This article at Natural News.com explains that the air quality inside a poorly ventilated temple with heavy incense use was 40 times more polluted than the inside of a cigarette smokers house or similar to standing at a busy intersection filled with car exhaust.

Whether you burn incense all day or just occasionally, it seems helpful to highlight the idea that we can avoid many diseases when we breathe clean air, drink clean water, and eat natural food.

Wikipedia says “A macrobiotic diet (or macrobiotics), from the Greek “macro” (large, long) and “bios” (life), is a dietary regimen that involves eating grains as a staple food supplemented with other foodstuffs such as vegetables and beans, and avoiding the use of highly processed or refined foods. Macrobiotics also addresses the manner of eating by recommending against overeating and requiring that food be chewed thoroughly before swallowing.” Macrobiotics has lots of healthy recommendations and has similarities to the Mediterranean Diet that my cooking and lifestyle is based on.  Except that I believe in variety and moderation of all kinds of natural foods, so I would not adhere to the macrobiotic recommendation that certain vegetables be avoided, etc.

I hung out on one particular site which grabbed my attention with phrases like “Trying to understand the true potential and essence of your food through nutritional analysis alone is like trying to understand the current US political agenda using mainstream media spin on the subject as your only source of information. (nutritional analysis alone being people who just count calories or carbs, or buy a cereal because it has lots of fiber)- taken from the article titled Understanding Food Energetics; and

“Today we have a nation that is addicted to sugar. In 1915, the national average of sugar consumption (per year) was around 15 to 20 pounds per person. Today the average person consumes his/her weight in sugar, plus over 20 pounds of corn syrup.” “- taken from the article titled The Hidden Story of Big Sugar.  One of my biggest problems with sugar is that it hinders your immune system and makes it sluggish - not at all what I want when my body (or my children) encounters a germ - a sleepy, half-hearted attempt to fight it off.

The site with the above articles and others like Raising Healthy Children and Whole Grains for Whole People is called Macrobiotic Guide.  They even list their Top 15 Super Foods.  Please don’t hear me saying that I agree every suggestion offered in this guide.  Instead, like most every site I find about diet and nutrition, they provide a lot of information that is thought provoking, much of which lines up with commonly accepted beliefs.   I always appreciate reading research and theory, and just apply the suggestions that mesh well with my family’s outlook on diet and nutrition.

We sometimes struggle with the “all or nothing mentality”.  Its either carrot sticks and water or a Big Mac meal with ice cream later in the day.  But let’s imagine that our dietary and lifestyle choices all equal either a positive number or a negative number on a number line, and we tally them up each day.  Viewed that way, you have an infinite number of increasingly healthy choices or increasingly unhealthy choices, with the occasional choice being neutral.   So even the smallest healthy choice - like parking a few spaces farther out in the parking lot or drinking green tea in the afternoon - are small positive numbers that get added in to the overall result of the day.  And we know this is true, because we clearly see it working in the reverse - lots of little choices over time at the drive thru, or the vending machine, or ice cream at night gradually add up to make a negative difference.

Let’s say a Big Mac meal equals negative 20 as a choice.  That same meal, if you skipped the fries might only be a negative 15 - a better choice.  And if you drank unsweetened tea instead of the coke, then that meal might only be a negative 5 choice.  Later today, you could walk around the block, a positive 10 choice, and have a fruit and yogurt smoothie instead of DQ, another positive 10 choice, and now you’re solidly in positive territory for the day.

I was thinking about all this today, because I was craving pancakes.  Now I could have bought buttermilk pancake mix, syrup, etc and had a lot of negative numbers for my day.  Or I could have made whole wheat pancakes and topped them with fruit and nuts and had only positive numbers added to my day.  Instead, I compromised.  I made whole wheat pancakes (positive), spread them with natural peanut butter (positive), sprinkled some chocolate chips (negative), and drizzled them with honey (neutral).  So, my overall effect was positive.  Not as positive as it could have been, but also not as negative as it could have been.  And it was very satisfying.

It is helpful to me to look at each small choice I make as adding positive numbers to my day - and therefore having a positive result in my overall health.  I am wanting to live in positive territory, so I look at each choice I make as either helping me get there, or negating some of the good choices I have already made.

Special photo thanks to TheD at Stock.xchng.

When you think “healthy peanut butter”, be honest, do you think of a gritty, unappealing mass that will tear bread if you attempt to spread it?  You’re not alone.  Let me point you to a couple of really great tasting, healthy peanut butters so you don’t have to compromise the flavor or texture you love.

My first favorite is from Trader Joe’s (Think of them as the Aldi’s of Whole Foods - their own brands, lower prices, great tasting healthy food, with a helpful staff.).  Trader Joe’s Roasted, Salted Peanut Butter has the smooth creaminess and flavor of any kid-friendly “Jiff-type” peanut butter.  Its very delicious and only about $1.79 for the regular 16 oz. jar.  Another one that I just tried that has the same consistency, delicious taste, and a similar low price is Kroger’s Natural Creamy Peanut Butter.

My next favorite is a little more pricey, but I bring a jar home whenever I go to Trader Joe’s.  It is their Valencia Peanut Butter with Roasted Flaxseeeds.  It is about $4.99 for the 16 oz. jar.  But, holy cow, I’ve never tasted anything like it.  I buy the crunchy, salted one.  They have all their varieties in unsalted, if you prefer.  I also splurge on their Almond Butter.  It is also about $4.99 for the 16 oz. jar.  I buy the raw, salted variety.  It does have a little texture, but is very soft and spreadable and really delicious.  Its really a great deal because most almond butter is $12.00-$15.00 a jar.  But, back to peanut butter.

My next favorite is available at Publix, Kroger, and Walmart.  Its Smuckers Natural Peanut Butter.  I buy the creamy, salted variety.  This one does have a little texture, but is still very spreadable (and its very far from gritty).  I have seen it as high at $3.16 and as low as $2.23, depending on the store.

All of these are appealing to me because when looking for a healthy peanut butter, I want:

• just peanuts (with the peanut oil) and salt (no hydrogenated oils added)
• flavorful peanut taste (not the taste of other oils and sugars)
• creamy and spreadable texture (not gritty and dry)
• reasonable price (I have a large family and live on a budget)

And to get all of those, I don’t mind the monthly trip to Trader Joe’s to stock up (on peanut butter and other things), or the minute or two it takes me to stir peanut butter to recombine the oil that first time before I stick it in the refrigerator (I think of it as exercise).  But if the stirring bothers you, go here to buy a lid with a built in crank and paddle (designed to screw onto natural peanut butter jars).  Then you could even have a child stir it without making a mess.

*Special photo thanks to Crystala at Stock.xchng

P.S. After putting up this post, a reader contacted me and suggested I try the Publix brand natural peanut butter.  So I tried their crunchy variety and thought it was delicious.  Its ingredients are simply peanuts and salt.  I’m sure there are many other natural peanut butters out there that are delicious and won’t break the bank, so get brave and try some.  Thanks for the suggestion!

People ask me all the time to help them “healthify” a recipe and I’m happy to do it.  Apparently I’ve had enough experience messing up recipes that I know the pitfalls to avoid when substituting.

While some recipes cannot be redeemed - Deep-Fried Snickers Bars, for example - most can either be made healthy or can be re-worked to keep the same flavor elements you love, but in a new recipe.

Here are a couple of practical suggestions:

• Make it healthier and smaller.  Grandma’s cheesecake can be made with 1/3 less fat cream cheese, half the sugar, topped with real fruit, and made in a half-batch when having company over.  Everyone enjoys a big piece, and then it’s gone.
• Rework the proportions.  Use the largest amount of the healthiest ingredient and the smallest amount of the unhealthiest.  In a cheesy chicken and broccoli casserole, use a huge amount of broccoli, then a reasonable amount of brown rice, then some chicken, and top with a little cheese.  This concept works in most casseroles and soups.
• Experiment with new brands to use.  There are tons of pastas, breads, crackers, and cereals made with whole grains.  The ones with the most nutrition have “whole” wheat or oats, etc as the first ingredient in the list.  They all have a different taste and texture, so experiment until you find ones you like and then use whole grains.

If you have a favorite recipe that you would like to “healthify” but can’t figure it out, email it to me and I’ll be glad to tell you how I would do it.