Posts tagged ‘Eating right’
Chipper Snacks: Winter Veggies & Spaghetti Squash Casserole Recipe
Eating local, seasonal veggies keeps your body and mind healthy! It’s what we humans have been doing for thousands of years and the scientific studies proving vegetables benefits are numerous. A recent article in the Chicago Tribune summarizes current research that proves having a more plant-based diet can lower cancer risks.
Winter vegetables, like broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, turnips, winter squash, and sweet potatoes, are wonderful sources of folate; vitamins, A, C and E; potassium; and fiber. Not only are they great for you, you feel good eating them! The fiber in vegetables produces a feeling of fullness and can effectively replace high-calorie foods in meal plans. This can be especially important during the holidays when we tend to eat more fatty, sweet foods. Keep fit even during the cold weather of winter by jumping rope indoors!
Keep in mind that the greater the variety of vegetables eaten, the greater the overall health benefits gained! Each veggie gives you essential vitamins and minerals. Not sure where to get some good, organic veggies? Look at your local farmers market! There are also some great food delivery programs in various locations. Here in the Bay Area, we have a modified Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) program called the People’s Grocery in Oakland. They provides inexpensive “grub boxes” full of seasonal fruits and veggies for Oakland residents! In San Francisco, there’s Farm Fresh to You. They have a variety of different fruit and vegetable packages to chose from for any sized family!
Not sure how much to buy? Just get the amount that you can properly store. Winter squash can be stored for up to 3 months in a cool, dry place. Store uncut, raw spaghetti squash at room temperature and use within 3 weeks. For variety, use turnips instead of carrots in soups and stews. Use both the leaf and the root of beets in different dishes. Here are some beet recipes to get you started! For an easy side dish, heat left over cooked squash and toss with a small amount of butter and pepper.
RECIPE: SPAGHETTI SQUASH CASSEROLE
1 Large (about 3 lbs.) Spaghetti Squash
2 Tsp. olive or vegetable oil
1/2 Medium onion, diced
1 Tsp. Italian Seasoning
1 Cup fat-free sour cream
3 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. seasoned bread crumbs
Cut squash in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Place cut side down in a dish with 1/2 cup of water, cover and microwave for 10 minutes. Allow squash to cool. Using a fork, scrape squash into spaghetti-like strands. (Refrigerate half of the strands in a covered container for later use.) In a non-stick skillet, heat oil and saute onions until soft. Add the remaining squash and the Italian seasoning; turn off heat. Stir in sour cream and pour mixture into a 1-quart baking dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Bake uncovered at 350°F for 15 minutes, or until heated. Makes 6 servings. Each serving provides: 13 grams carbohydrate, 3.5 grams fat, 130 milligrams sodium, 1 gram fiber.
Let’s Go Chipper and Enjoy your Winter Veggies!
Chipper Snacks: 3 Ways to Eat Watermelon this Summer
Plain and unadorned, watermelon is a reliable source of cool refreshment. At 92% water, it’s a wonderful snack for those hot summer days and a great source of vitamin C for your little ones. With it’s sweet and juicy taste, they’ll never guess that they are eating a healthy snack! Watermelon is always good but check out these ideas for creative ways to use this favorite summertime fruit!
1. Halloween in the Summer: Carve a Melon Manner!
Looking for a sweet real estate deal? Turn the rind of this favorite summertime fruit into a palatial home for toy figures or visiting fairies.
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- Start by slicing off one end of the melon and setting it aside. Cut the insides into pieces, remove them, then scoop out any remaining chunks with a long-handled spoon (save the insides to make a scrumptious salad seen below).
- Carve windows and a door with a small knife, or if you really want to get fancy, break out your pumpkin-carving tools.
Use toothpicks as needed to join bits and pieces into shrubs and to secure the roof (made from the sliced-off end). To illuminate your stately mansion by night, place a battery-operated tea light inside or use an old fashion candle!
2. Forget Baking: Try these Cool Cookies!
All you need beside a watermelon is Vanilla-flavored Greek yogurt and Sprinkles (optional).
- Slice melon into 1-inch-thick slabs, then use cookie cutters to make shapes.
- Frost your treats with vanilla-flavored Greek yogurt (spoon the yogurt into a squeeze bottle to make decorating really fun and easy) and top them with sprinkles if you like.
3. Use up chunks of Watermelon: Test out this Surprisingly Delicious Salad!
The sweet-and-salty flavor combo of watermelon and feta may sound a little strange, but trust Chipper: your kids will go bananas for it. You will need:
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- 8 cups cubed watermelon
- 2 to 4 ounces cubed or crumbled feta
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Fresh basil or mint
- 8 cups cubed watermelon
- Instructions:
- 1. Mix the watermelon and feta.
- 2. Toss with a dressing made from the lime juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with slivered fresh basil or mint. Serves 8.
- Like Chipper always says, “Healthy before sweet can’t be beat!” Enjoy your sweet AND healthy watermelon this Summer!
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Chipper Snacks: Fruit Facts and Crunchy Summer Fruit Salad Recipe
Fruit is one of the best kinds of food for you and there’s no better time to eat some fresh, juicy produce than during the hot summer days. Summer fruits include berries (Chipper‘s favorite!), melons, peaches, nectarines and plums. Eating fruits is apart of any healthy diet and helps reduce the risk of stroke and heart disease. Dr. Oz noted a new study in the Journal of Clinical Nursing found that children who don’t like fruits and vegetables are 13 times more likely to be constipated! Not drinking enough water was also a risk factor. Fruits have a lot of water in them and are a great hydrating snack. Fruits are also very high in Vitamin C, which keeps teeth and gums healthy and your body happy!
Women should eat one and a half to two cups daily and kids over the sage of 2 should eat at least one to one and a half cups of fruit per day. If you wash some fresh, organic fruit today and cut them into bite size pieces for a snack, use left overs for a fruit salad tomorrow! Freeze extra fruits, like berries, to eat later before they go bad. “You are what you eat” is an extremely accurate quote. What you eat effects how you feel, mentally and physically, so eat good!
FRUIT Tips:
- Shop for fruits that are in season since they cost less and taste better.
- Dip cut-up fruits like apples and bananas in lemon juice to prevent browning.
- Wash fruits just before using; water can cause early spoilage.
- Eat different fruits for the greatest variety of tastes and nutrients.
Here’s a great, simple recipe to try out this summer to get some fruit in your diet:
CRUNCHY FRUIT SALAD RECIPE
- 1/4 Cantaloupe, cut into bite-sized pieces.
- 1 Large Stalk celery, sliced.
- 2 cups blueberries
- 1/4 cup reduced-fat ranch salad dressing
- Lettuce leaves
- 1 cup favorite crispy or crunchy cereal
In a medium bowl, mix cantaloupe, celery, blueberries, and dressing until blended. Cover and refrigerate. Just before serving, arrange lettuce leaves in 4 salad bowls, or on plates. Spoon fruit mixture over lettuce. Top each serving with 1/4 cup of cereal.
(Makes 4 servings; Each serving provides 111 calories, 1.6 grams protein, 21 grams carbohydrates, 2.3 grams fat, 180 milligrams sodium, 3.2 grams fiber.)
Green before Sweet, Can’t be Beat: 10 ways to get your kids to eat their veggies!
Being a Squirrel, Chipper loves eating his fresh greens! That’s why he always says, “Green before sweet, can’t be beat!” Getting your kids to love them too can be challenging in our sugar-saturated culture. Half of what we eat should be from the ground or a tree–especially for growing kids who are still developing–yet many kids eat hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken nuggets for dinner rather than broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and squash. According to a 2009 statistical research study by Ohio State University, only 22% of children ages 2 to 5 meet government recommendations for vegetable consumption. And it only gets worse as kids age: only 16% of children ages 6 to 11 meet the guidelines and only 11% of those ages 12 to 18. In the study, more than 6,000 kids and teens ate fried potatoes as a third of their vegetable intake. Once our body tries those salty saturated fats, it craves more of them and getting your kids to eat healthier can seem impossible.
Here are 10 great tips to get them to EAT THEIR GREENS from parents like your self:
- Get them while they’re hungry! If they are hungry, they’ll eat. Before dinner, serve an appetizer of colorful vegetables, such as carrots, cucumbers, and red bell peppers, along with hummus or low-fat salad dressing.
- Institute the “no thank you bite” rule. Tell your child to take a bite before vetoing something on his or her plate. Even if they don’t like it at first, at least they’ll eventually get comfortable with it.
- Make up cute names! Marketers do this, so why shouldn’t you? One mom starting calling Brussels sprouts “hero buttons” and her kids couldn’t get enough of them.
- Shop with your kids. Letting your kids help you pick out the fruits and vegetables makes them feel like it’s their food choice. This also allows them to really appreciate all the smells and admire all the colors of the many different kinds of produce, thus making them more appealing!
- Cook with your kids. When you have your son or daughter help make the green beans by adding a bit of butter and some seasoning, they will be more likely to insist on eating them since they “made them.” Then, as long as they can help to prepare their veggies, they’ll eat them!
- Have a “veggie night.” This way, there is no competition from other food nights. Having a “Meatless Monday” is a great way to avoid eating meats too much (a common American vice) while providing a great opportunity to serve up those Mushroom burgers with Swiss cheese–Yum!
- Hide the veggies. In author Jessica Seinfeld’s book “Deceptively Delicious,” she tells parents how to stealthily sneak pureed vegetables into everything from shrimp dumplings to quesadillas.
- Make fruits and vegetables the easy option. Take a tip from the geniuses who thought to put potato chips in single-serving bags. Stock a kid-accessible shelf in your fridge with little bags of cut vegetables, applesauce and fruit cups.
- Let them use fun gadgets! What kid doesn’t love gadgets? Let them use the blender, juicer, and food processors to make smoothies and other recipes with fruits and vegetables. Use proper supervision, of course.
- Bribe them with dessert. This is the classic strategy–kids didn’t finish what was good for them? No problem–no dessert. Maybe it’s not the healthiest way to get them to eat vegetables, but it works.
Eating right is important–it effects our body’s chemistry so we feel good to! With all the sugary preservatives everywhere and in schools, it can be hard to get your kids eating and craving the right foods. Please let us know about any of your strategies for getting the kids to eat healthy!
Safe vs. Safer: How much better is Organic produce than Conventional produce?
Many of us now agree that spending the few extra dollars on organic produce is worth it to keep our bodies and our kids healthy and safe. How much does it really matter though? According to the Alliance for Food and Farming (AFF), buying organic matters quite a lot, especially over the long term. A number of pesticides used in conventional farming that were deemed “safe” by the government are regularly taken off the market once the government realized that they weren’t safe after all (the most well known case being the largely used DDT pesticide revealed to cause cancer in the 1962 book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson).
The evidence grows each year, proving that many chemicals and pesticides used on conventional fruits and vegetables causes harmful effects to humans and the environment. For example, expectant mothers who have elevated concentrations of certain pesticides in their bodies have shown to give birth to smaller, earlier babies (Rauch et al. 2012). Also, a 2010 study found that children with the highest body measurements of insecticides had a double risk of ADHD (Bouchard et al. Pediatrics 2010).
Though there is continued pressure on the government to more thoroughly research and regulate what is used on our food, it is an up-hill battle against chemical company lobbyists and the old habits of the ailing food industry. Research on human health and pesticides is complex but it has confirmed that eating organically grown food significantly reduces pesticide loads in people’s bodies, thus lowering their risk for cancer and other pesticide-related illnesses. Reducing the amount of synthetic pesticides that get stored up in blood and tissue, and having a relatively lower build-up of toxic chemicals in your body overall, is bound to be a good thing, especially for your long-term health.
There are no simple answers—both the organic and conventional versions of all produce on the market are safe to eat. But the organic versions are likely a safer choice over the long term when you consider factors such as body size (small children are more vulnerable), specific residue levels (avocados are low vs. strawberries are high), the number of different pesticides used on a particular crop and how much you eat of products with the highest levels. For example, there is a real difference between organic and conventional strawberries: Testing by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found 13 different synthetic pesticides on a single conventional strawberry—not one of them were found on an organic strawberry. As Chipper would say, it’s better to be safe than sorry! Plant your own garden and eat organic food as much as possible to live a long, healthy life.
Here’s an alternative pesticide recipe for farmers, gardeners, or anyone with a backyard!
How To Make An Organic Roundup Replacement (Courtesy of Hippocrates Institute)
Vinegar is a fantastic weed killer. It is non toxic, biodegradable, readily available, and it is cheap. Go to your local grocer store and purchase a gallon of white vinegar. It usually sells for around $3. You can find a heavy duty squirt bottle at your local garden store. I recommend buying a good one, as the cheap ones do not last. For a few dollars you can buy a quart sized bottle that should last at least a year. Fill up with straight vinegar, do not dilute. Use this to spray directly on weeds that you want to get rid of. Some pesky buggers may require 2 or 3 applications.You can also use this in place of bleach. I have a couple spray bottles and have one in the garage labeled weed killer, another under the kitchen sink labeled disinfectant.It works well, its cheap, and its all natural, You will not be poisoning the earth, risking cancer, or supporting Monsanto 
