7 stress busters

Everybody has stress and with the holidays coming up more and more stress seems to be threatening to overwhelm us.  Eat Well had 7 Stress Bsuters

1.   Inhale lavender

2.  Cut into a coconut - the scent of coconut may reduce your natural fight or flight response.  It might help to slow your heart rate.

3.  The smell of green apples is said to help alleviate headaches.

4.  Drinking caffeinated black, green or oolong tea.  It is suppose to improve attention and focus.  They say five to six 8 oz. cups of tea daily.

5.  Peppermint is suppose to stop the urge to overdo it.  If you're like my friend Shelley and allergic to it...this one isn't for you.  The article said that everyone who "wafted" (who uses that word anymore?) peppermint oil under their nose every two hours rated their hunger level lower, experienced fewer cravings and ate significantly less.  Who has time to do this every two hours?!

6.  Chocolate!  Yep it's back.  Eating dark chocolate can help reduce levels of cortisol and hormones associated with stress.

7.  Eat carbs can stimulate the release of serotonin which is the feel good brain chemical.  Woo hoo!  I like carbs.  Of course they want you to opt for whole grains (quinoa and oatmeal for instance) so that you get more fiber and nutrients.

Chocolate

In the current issue of Eating Well there is an article about "Is Chocoalte a Cure-All?  I would say no because while I like chocoalte I'm not one of the women who go ga ga over it.  Give me meat and/or potatoes over it any day.

They did have some cute facts though.  According to them 60% of women ranked chocolate as the most smile-worthy experience edging out other people smiling and loved one.  Men's top picks were a Sunday roast.  YAY.  I vote with men this time.

It is also suppose to help you see better.  In fact if people have trouble seeing movement and direction of movement at night it might be improved with some dark chocolate (over time of course).

The third thing it said was that it's a diet food.  Now mind you the "preliminary findings" were from Hershey (can we say a biased point of view?).  Hershey research says that natural cocoa has more flavanols than dutch processed cocoa which may prevent some fats and starches in other foods from being absorbed. 

So the recipe they give for making your own cocoa is:

Combine 1 tablespoon natural cocoa powder and 1 tablespoon sugar in a mug.  Swril in 1 cup steaming low fat milk.  Spice it up with an add in. 

Possible add ins:

orange peel and ground coves
ground cardamon and vanilla
chili pwder and cinnamon

I might have to check it out.  Not sure on the cardamon part but vanilla sounds good.

left over site

Have problems thinking what to make with left overs or you have some ingredients on hand but don't know what to make with them?  Check out this site....

http://www.bigoven.com/recipes/leftovers   (thank you Connie for directing me there).

I put in three ingredients to test it out - fennel, carrots, potatoes.  It came up with 52 recipes.  The one that I will use for inspiration will be simple and basically just roasted veggies.  I will use Mrs. Dash seasonings so that Tony can have some also.

http://www.bigoven.com/recipe/43906/Roasted-Onions,-Potatoes,-Carrots-and-Fennel-%28r-T%29

Roasted Fennel

Today's recipe comes from simplyrecipes.com.  I bought some fennel at the grocery store this morning.  I have eaten it before but never prepared it myself.  This would be an attempt to branch out of my eating doldrums.  About the only time I eat something different is when somebody else prepares it.  LOL.  So...this week I am going to make Roasted Fennel.  I also bought some potatoes and carrots so I'm sure I will be roasting them also.  It's such a good Autumn thing.  Of course after I roast the potatoes and carrots (which I know I will like) I will have to limit myself so that I don't sit and eat them all in one setting.  :)

------ 

Roasted Fennel Recipe

Normally fennel tastes like a cross between celery, cabbage, and licorice. Roasting, however, brings out an entirely new flavor - as if pine nuts decided to join the party.

Ingredients

• 2 fennel bulbs (thick base of stalk), stalks cut off, bulbs halved lengthwise, then cut lengthwise in 1-inch thick pieces
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar

Method

1 Preheat oven to 400°F.

2 Rub just enough olive oil over the fennel to coat. Sprinkle on some balsamic vinegar, also to coat. Line baking dish with Silpat or aluminum foil. Lay out the pieces of fennel and roast for 30-40 minutes, or until the fennel is cooked through and beginning to caramelize.
Yield: Serves 4.

New and old stuff

Trying to relearn nutrition is not easy.  I did manage to down a new (free) app for my android phone though.  They also have a website called....

http://fatsecret.com/

It will help track my progress as well as give recipes, etc.   Another fun app that I found called Calorie Counter.  That app is fun also because it will allow me to scan in a bar code of a food item and it will bring up the nutiriotnals.  Then it allows me to save it for future use and I can save it to my "eating plan" and it will apply it to the daily nutritionals/calories.  It also has some recipes.  One that caught my eye was:

Turkey Soft Tacos.  Nothing especially surprising in it.  Tortillas, taco seasoning, cooked ground turkey, shredded mozzarella cheese shredded or chopped lettuce, plum tomatoes and water.  I will have to look for more recipes in it.


Time to get back to some work.

Abundant Harvest recipes

These recipes came from Hy-Vee's in house magazine - deliciousliving - November 2011

Tomorrow will be some Bison info and recipes.  No more on this blog for today...I promise.

Recipe - Maple-Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Maple-Roasted Sweet Potatoes

From EatingWell:  November/December 2007

12 servings, about 1/2 cup each

Active Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Nutrition Profile

Diabetes appropriate | Low calorie | Low cholesterol | Low saturated fat | Low sodium | Heart healthy | Healthy weight | Gluten free |
View Our Nutrition Guidelines »

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces (about 8 cups)
• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste

More Healthy Recipe Ideas

• Easy Mashed Potato Recipes
• Sweet Potato Recipes for Thanksgiving

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Arrange sweet potatoes in an even layer in a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish. Combine maple syrup, butter, lemon juice, salt and pepper in small bowl. Pour the mixture over the sweet potatoes; toss to coat.
3. Cover and bake the sweet potatoes for 15 minutes. Uncover, stir and cook, stirring every 15 minutes, until tender and starting to brown, 45 to 50 minutes more.

Tips & Notes

• Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day. Just before serving, reheat at 350°F until hot, about 15 minutes.

Nutrition

Per serving: 96 calories; 2 g fat ( 1 g sat , 0 g mono ); 5 mg cholesterol; 19 g carbohydrates; 1 g protein; 2 g fiber; 118 mg sodium; 189 mg potassium.
Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin A (230% daily value), Vitamin C (15% dv)
Carbohydrate Servings: 1 1/2
Exchanges: 1 1/2 starch, 1/2 fat

Shopping Trip at Hy-Vee

I'll be posting some snapshots of nutritionals from my shopping trips.  They are posted mostly so that I have them for reference for me but perhaps some others will also like to see them.

This is what I had for lunch today.  It is a Dole Light Cesaer Salad kit.  Of course I was hungry so I had the whole bag (3 servings not one).

Another thing that I brought to eat today was a baggie (one serving) of sweet potato chips.  I got them from the health section of the store and they really are pretty good.  I was going to bring hummus to dip them in but left that at home.


I also went to the deli and bought some turkey deli meat.  I didn't have much on hand made up for lunches so after investigating different things I bought a pound of white breast turkey slices.  To make sure that I didn't eat it all, I had them divide it into 4 separate containers.  

I also picked up some pork brats from the meat counter but only four and had them wrap them up in two different groups.  Those went straight into the freezer so I wasn't tempted. 

5 foods to Beat Breast Cancer

From EatingWell Magazine - September/October 2011 issue

Let's hear it for anything that tastes good and can help us beat breast cancer (well any cancer).   The magazine that I was reading (yes, my new favorite since I have so much to learn) listed these 5 foods to help beat breast cancer.

1.  Salmon - 8 oz of oily fish (salmon, sardines, tuna) a week.  They think that the omega-3 fats in fish oil reduce inflammation which might contribute to breast cancer.

2.  Oilive Oil - One of the studies done with rats showed that those rats with breast cancer and had a diet where fat came from predominantly from extra virgin olive oil, they found that the olive oil's antioxidats and oleic acid (a mono unsat fat) helped stop growth of malignant cells.  Perhaps the only things rats are good for (IMO).

3.  Broccoli - One of the compounds in broccoli (sulforaphane) reduced the number of breast cancer stem cells in mice (see IMO comment about rats).  A note should also be said that boiling destroys some of the sulforaphane.

4.  Parsley - According to University of Missouri scientists found that parsley can inhibit cancer cell growth.  They say to add a couple of pinches of minched fresh parsley to dishes daily.

5.  coffee - Yep...Coffee (YIPPEE).  Drinking about two 12 oz coffees a day may lower risk of an aggressive form of breast cancer (may 2011 study in Breast Cancer Research).  They think it could be because the antioxidants protect cells from damage that can lead to cancer.  Obviously more research needs to be done.  I bet they have volunteers for that one.

Stay tuned for more postings from articles that I find interesting.

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pies

From Eatingwell Magazine - September/October 2011 Issue.

Makes:
4 servings (about 2 cups each)
Active time:  45 minutes
Total time:  45 minutes
To make ahead:  Prepare the filling (step 3), cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day
cost per serving:  under $1.50


The recipe can also be made in a broiler-safe casserole dish.

Serve with:  spinach salad with oranges, walnus and red-wine vinaigrette


Ingredients:
1 pound Yukon Gold or white potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely diced
1/2 cup finely diced carrot
1 tablespoon water
3/4 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 14 oz can vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups cooked or canned (rinsed) lentils  (if using canned lentils (15 oz can = 1 1/2 cups.  rinse canned lentils before cooking with them to reduce the sodium by about 35%)

1.  Place potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with 2 inches of water.  Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat to medium, partially cover and cook until tender, 10 to 15 minutes.  Drain and return the potatoes to the pot.  Add buttermilk, butter and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper.  Mash with a potato masher until mostly smooth.

2.  While the potatoes are cooking, position rack in upper third of oven; preheat broiler.  Coat four 10 to 12 ounce broiler safe ramekins (or an 8 inch square broiler safe baking dish) with cooking spray.  Place ramekins on a broiler safe baking sheet.

3.  Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add onion, carrot and water.  Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes.  Stir in corn, thyme and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; cook, stirring occasionally for 2 minutes.  Sprinkle with flour and stir to coat.  Stir in broth.  Bring to a simmer; cook, stirring for 1 minute.  Stir in lentils and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes.

4.  Divide the hot lentil mixture among the prepared ramekins (or spread in the baking dish).  Top with the mashed potatoes.  Broil, rotating halfway through, until the potato is lightly browned in spots, 6 to 10 minutes.

Nutritional Information:

326 calories
8 g fat (3 g sat, 4 g mono)
9 mg cholesterol
55 g carbohydrate
9 g added sugars
12 g protein
10 g fiber
679 mg sodium
842 mg potassium
Vitamin A (65% daily value)
Folate (45% dv)
Vitamin C (25% dv)
Potassium (24% dv)
Iron (20%dv)
Magnesium (16% dv)

Decision on recipes

I have come to the conclusion that I don't know of a good way to do recipes from followers, etc.  Sooo,...if anybody has any recipes they want to post, send it to my email and then I'll put it in under it's own title.  That way it should be easier to add.  A bit more complicated but still easier to find later I believe. 

The Start - November 1, 2011

I wish I new more about how to set up blogs so this would be all fancy so that people would read it and comment on it.  I guess I'm taking this journey now because I've come to realize my families health issues.  One brother has already undergone bypass surgery and has had disk problems (and he's the healthy one) and now my other brother is looking at bypass surgery (and he is not healthy).  In addition to heart problems, cancer (various forms), diabetes, and high blood pressure also run in the family.  I figured that perhaps it was time that I took some hints and decided to get healthy...or at least try to be healthier.

I grew up on the farm and mom was a wonderful cook and made sure we "cleaned up our plate".  I grew up with Sunday morning pot roasts, Wednesday meat loaf, and some of the best fried chicken and home made bread that I've ever had.  It's no wonder that most of my family has been overweight.  So here I am sitting at the computer and watching Forever Knight episodes from Netflix and contemplating my own mortality.

November 1 was my chosen date to start this journey.  Not for any particular reason except that if I waited any longer I probably wouldn't have started.  Procrastination is a powerful thing and I do it well.  Tony, my brother looking at bypass surgery soon, is now on a "heart healthy, low sugar, low salt" diet at the Nursing home/rehab center.  I thought to start there.  It wasn't so simple.  I found myself with more questions than answers.  How exactly is a "heart healthy" diet?  What would I be looking for?  What numbers do I want to stay under in order to be considered Heart healthy?  This of course leads me to doing searches on the internet.

The internet is a wonderful tool if used properly but also a massive tool that can confuse you if you don't know what you are looking for.  This meant that I started at the obvious place.  The American Heart Association.

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/Nutrition-Center_UCM_001188_SubHomePage.jsp

There I learned that I should be getting:

• Fruits and vegetables: At least 4.5 cups a day
• Fish (preferably oily fish): At least two 3.5-ounce servings a week
• Fiber-rich whole grains: At least three 1-ounce-equivalent servings a day
• Sodium: Less than 1,500 mg a day
• Sugar-sweetened beverages: No more than 450 calories (36 ounces) a week

Other Dietary Measures:

• Nuts, legumes and seeds: At least 4 servings a week
• Processed meats: No more than 2 servings a week
• Saturated fat: Less than 7% of total energy intake

  Ummm.  Yeah.   Sure.   This is NOT going to be an easy journey.  Sigh.

  Of course I am somewhat exaggerating my torture during the upcoming months.  That's how I deal with it.  I could go out to eat at a restaurant but just need to be more aware.  Some hints from the above mentioned site are:

• Find out the nutritional content of fast-food items by visiting the chain’s Web site to help identify the healthiest choices.  Some restaurants post this information near the counter or provide it in pamphlet form.
   
• Pass on “value-size” servings that enable you to choose greater portions of food for a slightly greater price.  “Super-sizing” a food item inevitably increases the amount of fat, added sugars, sodium and calories you consume. (well "Duh")
   
• Skip the sides, which are usually deep-fried.  For a healthier side dish, order a side salad or fruit cup. 
   
• Choose a baked potato over French fries, but have it with vegetables or fat-free or low-fat sour cream or margarine instead of butter, full-fat sour cream or cheese. (mixed reviews on this one)
   
• Choose grilled chicken sandwiches often – they’re a much healthier option than breaded, fried-chicken sandwiches and usually significantly leaner than the meats used in most burgers.
   
• Avoid ordering sandwiches with double meat.  A single serving of meat is 2–3 ounces (about the size of a deck of cards) and a single meat patty is usually well over a single serving. (this is another "duh" moment)
   
• Avoid adding bacon to sandwiches, because it’s high in fat and calories and has very few nutrients.  Order pickles, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, mustard and ketchup instead to add flavor without fat.  (yep..you guessed it.  another "duh")
   
• Steer clear of fried fish sandwiches.  Choose fish sandwiches where the fish is baked, broiled or grilled.
   
• Try asking for a wheat or whole-grain bun, as some places do offer them.
   
• Hold the mayonnaise and other calorie-laden sandwich sauces (e.g., “special sauce”). (but...but....I love mayo)
   
• Drink water, diet soda or skim or low-fat milk.  Regular sodas are loaded with sugars and calories (the last "duh" for tonight on this section....I promise).

Besides my comments, I know they needed to be said.  I "know" it...just have to pay attention to it.