A Plug for Exercise

A few years ago, our kids asked us if we would buy a four wheeler like all of their friends had. Our response was simple- "Sure, we'll buy one, as long as you have to pedal it." I have always held a strong belief that our bodies were made to move. As a result, I am a huge proponent of exercise for medicine. I worked as a personal trainer for five years and saw hundreds of people turn their lives around due to exercise and healthy eating. Our quick fix mentality has done our society a huge disservice. Magic pill solutions for good health are what I would call, fixing the problem with bubble gum. It never works for very long, and once it breaks again, it is generally worse than it was before the bubble gum. We need to bite the bullet and accept the fact that we can't get something for nothing (I'm trying to see how many cliches I can fit into one post. I understand it's a sign of an inexperienced writer, so I'm trying to get it out of my system now in hopes that I will be more clever in the future.). Everything that is worth anything takes work. I think many doctors are afraid to mention lifestyle change as an answer because it requires (gasp) time and effort! However, I am going to tell you it is the only thing that will bring lasting changes to your health. I think this video does an excellent job of demonstrating everything I would want to say. So, either stick with it or give it a go. Happy exercise!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUaInS6HIGo

Quick Tip Tuesday-Save Your Bananas

Have your bananas reached the point where no one will eat them? Peel them, break them in half and put them into the freezer in a freezer bag. This way you will always have bananas on hand that are perfect for smoothies, banana bread, or muffins.

I know this rarley happens, but if you ever have too much smoothie, I like to pour the extra into one of these and put it in the freezer.

http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-431-8-Piece-Silicone-Maker/dp/B0093Q56IS/ref=sr_1_12?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1364309124&sr=1-12&keywords=push+pop+molds

Say good-bye to Gogurts (I've always thought the name sounded disgusting anyway!), and hello to frozen home made smoothie pop goodness.

If you have time to use your ripe bananas right away, I have a recipe for you. This is the most frequently made muffin recipe at our house. It is easy, relatively healthy, and everyone loves them. I always double it and freeze some for later (I clearly love my freezer). I have used coconut oil and find that it requires a bit less than 1/2 cup. I have also replaced half of the fat with apple sauce with some success. It is a forgiving recipe you could experiment with.

Healthy Banana Blueberry Muffins:

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole-wheat flour (spooned and leveled)
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup canola oil (could also use butter)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 ripe bananas (about 1 pound)
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup frozen blueberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a bowl, whisk together flours, oats, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
2. In a large bowl, beat oil and sugars with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In another bowl, mash bananas with a fork (you should have 3/4 cup); stir in milk and vanilla.
3. With mixer on low, alternately add flour mixture and banana mixture to oil mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined. Fold in frozen blueberries.
4. Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 28 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Let cool in pan 10 minutes; transfer muffins to a rack to cool 10 minutes more.

Quick Tip Tuesday-Veggies Anyone?

In 2009, not a single state in our great United States had 35%-45% of adults who consumed vegetables three or more times per day. Since this is a quick tip day, I will save the vegetable post for later. Let's just say that vegetable are good. Here are some recipes to help increase your vegetable intake. Both are from Blendtec's "Fresh Blends" cookbook.

Green Mango Madness-this smoothie recipe has been approved by my kids, my brother's kids, several of the neighborhood kids, and a few friends from outside the neighborhood. I hope your kids approve it, too.

3/4 cup water
1 orange
1 cup fresh or frozen cubed mango*
2 cups spinach
1/2 cup ice cubes

Add ingredients to blender and blend until smooth.
*When using frozen fruits for smoothies, it helps to let them defrost for about 15 minutes before blending.

Avocodo Aioli-We use this as a spread for wraps and sanwiches. It is so good, I'm sure you will find many other uses for it. It stores surprisingly well in the refrigerator for a few days.

1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 large ripe avocado, peeled and pitted
1 Tbs fresh lime juice
1 clove garlic, quartered
salt and pepper to taste

Add ingredients to blender and blend until smooth.

One of my personal favorite ways to eat vegetables is dipped in hummus. I will share a recipe later, but if you haven't tried it, look for "Sabra" or "Athenos" brand hummus at the grocery store. It makes me crave vegetables. Since the main ingredient is chickpeas, it's really good for you. When my kids were little, they would use the same carrot over and over again, just licking off the hummus. It makes a simple snack. Get out hummus, fresh vegetables, cheese, and some whole wheat bread or crackers. Try it!

What's On the Label?

Several years ago when we were living in Seattle, I was grocery shopping with a cart full of my own little kids. I had three kids who were all too young to be in school. So there they were, all of them with me at the store. It was always a race to see if I could finish the shopping before someone needed a nap, snack, or potty break, or before some empty-nester accused me of being a bad Mom for letting my oldest child wander a few inches from the cart. Ah, the good old days...

Anyway, I grabbed a carton of cottage cheese that happened to be on sale and decided to read the label. I was shocked to find an ingredient list looking something like this: Cultured Skim Milk, Nonfat Milk, Whey Protein Concentrate, Cream, Salt, Guar Gum, Mono And Diglycerides, Locust Bean Gum, Xanthan Gum, Potassium Sorbate And Carbon Dioxide (preservative), Natural Flavors, Artificial Color, Carrageenan, Polysorbate 80, vitamin A Palmitate, Enzymes. Even that many years ago, I was an avid label reader and more informed (food-wise) than the average consumer. But I had always assumed that cottage cheese would just contain dairy product and a bit of salt. What in the world were all of those other ingredients, and what were they doing in my cottage cheese? As I did some further investigation, I found a carton of Daisy cottage cheese with these ingredients: cultured skim milk, cream, salt. That's it! The lesson came loud and clear-read food labels.

So, what's on the label? This is not exciting stuff, but it is extremely useful in making food choices. So, hunker down and focus on the label above. This example shows a nutrition facts label from an unknown food. On the top is the serving size, which for this product is 1/2 cup. Under that is the servings per container (13), so in this package there are thirteen 1/2 cup servings. Watch out for this one! Many food packages that look like they are meant for one person actually contain more than one serving per package. Drinks are notorious for this. The rest of the information is labeled per serving (1/2 cup). So, for the example above, there are 190 calories in 1/2 cup. 20 of those calories come from fat, which means that the other 170 calories come from carbohydrate and protein. Next is the total grams of fat. In this case, 2g. Companies are required to label saturated fat and trans fats. Trans fats should be avoided whenever possible. Many foods will also include other types of fats on the label. Next you have the amount of cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrates, dietary fiber, sugars, and protein, all per serving amounts. Note that the sugar is total sugar, not added sugar. So, a 100% fruit juice will have quite a bit of sugar, which is the amount of sugar found naturally in the fruit. The only way to know which sugars are added to a product is to read the ingredient list. On the far right side is a list of percentages. These numbers are based on the recommendations for a person who eats 2,000 calories per day. Looking at our food label, if a person who should be consuming 2,000 calories a day ate 1/2 cup (one serving) of this product, they would get 3% of their daily recommendation of total fat, 12% of total carbohydrates, 16% of their fiber, 2% of their calcium, and 10% of their iron.

To see what's in a food, you look to the ingredient list. Every packaged food that has more than one ingredient is required to list the ingredients on the label. The ingredients are listed in order of predominance (by weight), with ingredients found in the greatest amounts listed first. Look for ingredients you would not stock in your kitchen. Make a note of these ingredients and look them up. There is a lot of information on the Internet. Some is reliable, some is not. Look at several sources to find out why that ingredient is used and what it is. Before long, you will be an informed food consumer. 

Quick Tip Tuesday-What's In Your Peanut Butter?

If you haven't already done so, make the change to natural peanut butter. The other kinds have added sugars and hydrogenated (trans) fats. The hydrogenated oil is what keeps the peanut butter from separating at room temperature. It also is the source of trans fats, which are known to be harmful to your health (I could do a whole post on that topic alone). It really isn't a big deal to stir your peanut butter really thoroughly when you first open it to mix in all of the oil that has separated. Whatever you do, don't pour the oil off the top! Just mix well and store in the refrigerator. In the refrigerator, the oils don't separate, so you only need to mix it once. Make sure to scrape the bottom when you mix it. Otherwise, the bottom portion will be hard. Look for a peanut butter whose ingredients are simply, peanuts (and salt if you like it that way). All of the brands taste a little bit different, so try a few until you find your favorite. Just make sure to check the ingredients. You can't rely on the phrase, "natural" on the front label. Some of our favorites are Trader Joe's crunchy salted, Adams, and Natural Value salted. Let me know what you think...

Quick Tip Tuesday-Pumpkin Pancakes

The next time you make pancakes for your family, double the recipe and freeze the extras for later. I try to limit my usage of disposable plastic bags, but this is one area where I haven't yet weaned myself from them. I make the pancakes about the size of a sandwich bag. After they have cooled, I put two pancakes (because that's about the amount my kids eat) in each bag and put all of the bags into one large freezer bag. When the kids want pancakes for breakfast, they just grab a small bag, put the pancakes onto a plate and microwave for about one minute. You could do the same with waffles and heat them in the toaster, just like the ones you buy from the store only way better! They stay good in the freezer for at least a month. Just for fun, here is one of our favorite pancake recipes:

Pumpkin Pancakes (not doubled)

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 4 Tablespoons sugar or pure maple syrup
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• 3 large eggs
• 4 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.
• In a separate bowl, combine the milk, pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, and vanilla extract, mixing until smooth.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.
• Cook the way you would normal pancakes.

These are great with unsweetened apple sauce and cinnamon. We also love them with a small amount of pure maple syrup. James likes them plain!

Fast Food or Freezer Meals

It's 4:00 and you have been running the kids around since they got home from school. You have managed to find a time when everyone will be home for dinner, but not a time before that when you will be home to prepare it. You wish you had a personal chef, or at least an Alice. Most Americans, when faced with this situation, will hit the drive-through at their favorite fast food joint, pick up take-out from their stand by Asian restaurant, or pick up a pizza on the way home. All of these options are fine on rare occasions. In 1995, about 27% of all meals and snacks were eaten out. Families are over scheduled and have an abundance of convenient choices to cut out meal preparation time. Unfortunately, this trend has horrible consequences. According to an article in the International Journal of Obesity, "When children and adolescents eat too many of their meals away from home, their overall diet quality suffers. While a direct causal relationship between eating meals away from home and overweight and obesity has not been confirmed, many studies show an association between meals eaten away from home and risk for overweight or obesity. For example, a study of adolescents in Minnesota found that those teens who ate fast food more often ate more calories and fat, and drank more soft drinks. They also drank less milk, and ate fewer fruits and vegetables."  The 2006 publication of the findings of the Keystone Forum on Away-From-Home Foods highlights a number of studies linking frequent restaurant meal consumption to excess calorie and fat intake, higher body weights and higher body fats in both adults and children. In other words, convenience is significantly compromising our health. 

While there are some healthy dining out options, nothing compares to a home-cooked meal shared in the comfort of your own home with those you love. Some of our family's most interesting conversations happen around our own dinner table. This is where we find out what was learned in school, how friends are doing, what bullies are saying, and what news items deserve discussion and explanation. We learn about triumphs and trials while nourishing body, mind and relationships all at once. I will admit that sometimes we also experience bad manners, complaints, and drama. However that is the exception. It has been hard work to establish a tradition of prioritizing family meals in a society that schedules activities throughout the evening hours. We have made some sacrifices, but every effort has been worth it.

Here is my solution to those days when there is no time for preparation: Once I have my meal plan for the week (or month), I look it over and see which ones would freeze well. I then double that recipe and prepare one to eat and one to freeze for later. This only works if you are in the habit of meal planning because you have to anticipate a busy day and take the meal out of the freezer the day before. It doesn't require much more effort to double most recipes, and the payoff is huge. Most Italian and Mexican meals freeze well. One of my favorite types of meals to double and freeze are crock pot meals. Here is a tried and true recipe (not yet doubled):

Cilantro Lime Chicken with Corn and Black Beans

Ingredients (serves 6):

1 lb chicken breast
Juice from 2 limes
1 can chicken broth
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
16 oz frozen corn
2 minced garlic cloves
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Place all ingredients in a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag. Seal bag and shake to mix ingredients together. Lay flat to freeze.
• To Prepare from Frozen: Remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on low for 8 hours (or high for 4 hours).
• If desired, shred chicken right in the slow cooker about 30 minutes before cooking time is complete.

 To make two meals at once, simply double the ingredients and put half into the crock pot (cook on low for 8 hours), and half into the freezer bag. I like to make rice bowls out of it. To do this, I cook enough brown rice for my family in the rice cooker and serve the chicken mixture over the rice. We top it with pico do gallo, sliced avocados (or guacamole), and cheese. The whole family likes this meal!