Archive for January, 2010
Mid-Week Slump
It is the middle of the week and I am feeling uninspired to cook anything. These are the times that can make it so easy to call out for pizza or load everyone up to go out for something quick. Unfortunately, too many of these weeknight “outs” can really add a lot of fat, sodium and calories to the diets of you and your children and not enough veggies or fruit. So what to do?
I always try to keep in my freezer the things to make chicken pot pie. I buy bags of frozen chicken breasts and frozen peas & carrots. I usually have baby carrots in the fridge and onions and garlic always on hand. If I happen to not have fresh garlic, I use powder. If I have no onions, no biggie. The nice thing about chicken pot pie is that you can add whatever you like and leave out what you don’t.
I top mine with a biscuit crust and usually use a little less butter than my drop biscuit recipe calls for. I planned to measure out my ingredients and write out the exact recipe here, but I realize that it changes a bit depending on what I have. So here are the basic steps for a mid-week chicken pot pie. Feel free to embellish as you like and please add your suggestions in the comments!
A Vague Recipe for Midweek Chicken Pot Pie
- 4-5 chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1/2 bag frozen peas
- 1/2 bag frozen corn
- Chopped carrots, about 1 1/2 cups
- 1 chopped onion
- 1-2 pressed cloves of garlic
- Several cups of chicken broth
- Several tablespoons corn starch
- Salt & pepper to taste
- About 1 tsp dried thyme
- Your favorite recipe for drop biscuits
Cook the onion until slightly brown in dutch oven on stove. Add garlic and cook about 30 seconds more. Add the chicken cubes, then the veggies. Add broth until you feel like you have the amount of gravy you want. Season with thyme, salt & pepper. Cook on stove top for 15-20 minutes. Add more broth as necessary. Remove about 1/2 cup of the broth, add a couple tablespoons corn starch, whisk until smooth. Stir this mixture back into the stew and cook for a minutes, stirring. If the gravy is not thick enough, repeat this procedure until it is. Mix up your biscuit mix, pour this on top of the stew. Bake the whole thing in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until biscuits are golden on top. Yum!
Add comment January 21, 2010
New Year’s Resolution Step 5
What’s the best way to burn calories, de-stress and increase your health, both physically and mentally? Exercise! By making regular exercise part of your routine not only will be become healthier but it will be easier to keep the pounds off. One of the biggest predictors of long-term weight loss maintenance is whether or not a person exercises routinely. So how much is enough? Recommendations are for at least 30 minutes 5 times per week. If that seems like a daunting amount, it need not be. You can get that 30 minutes per day in shorter intervals. For example, you can walk your dog for 10 minutes in the morning, walk up and down the stairs at work during your lunch break for 10 minutes and do a workout video for another 10 minutes in the evening. Done! The important thing is that you get moving and you do it regularly.
Add comment January 15, 2010
Don’t Believe The Hype! (Or New Year’s Step 4: Why You Should Eat More Meals At Home)
As I was reading through the latest issue of the Journal of The American Dietetic Association (Volume 110, No.1), I came across an article with this catchy title: The Accuracy of Stated Energy Contents of Reduced-Energy, Commercially Prepared Foods. Translation: does a “healthy” frozen, fast food or restaurant meal that advertises how many calories it contains really have the amount of calories it says it does? Well, a bunch of researchers tested in the laboratory various food from chain restaurants, fast food joints and frozen meals to see if the calories that are actually in the meals matched was what being advertised. I’ve had my doubts about things I order from restaurants and now I have the evidence that the advertised nutrition info cannot always be trusted!
What were the worst offenders?
- Beware the drive thru diet – Taco Bell’s Express Chicken Taco Salad had a whopping 86% more calories than advertised. Claim: 280 calories. Actual: 607 calories!
- P.F. Chang’s Sichuan-Style Asparagus had 115% more calories than listed. Claim: 200 calories. Actual: 558 calories. That’s right – over twice the calories you thought you were getting from a healthy vegetable!
- Even Lean Cuisine is not safe. Their frozen Shrimp and Angel Hair Pasta has 28% more calories than on the label. Actual: 319 calories. Claim: 220 calories.
So what’s a person to do? The very best thing you can do is to eat more real food. Instead of relying on nutrition information provided by corporations who want to sell you on the tastiness and healthfulness of their products, try preparing more food yourself. Instead of purchasing the frozen shrimp and pasta dinner, why not boil a measured portion of pasta, fix your own shrimp and make a tasty sauce where you control the ingredients. The nutrition information on single packaged foods (like pasta, milk, chicken breast, etc) is very reliable and you will be better able to know exactly what you are eating. Plus, you avoid all the extra sodium, fat and preservatives that are found in prepackaged and fast food or restaurant meals.
Of course, we are all going to eat out at restaurants and rely on convenience foods sometimes. It is unreasonable to cut these out of your diet entirely. But cutting back on how often you eat these foods, particularly if you are relying on the nutrition information provided to control your calorie intake, can go a long way toward helping you keep those healthy New Year’s resolutions.
Add comment January 8, 2010
New Year’s Resolution, Step 3
The next step toward a healthier you is to start tracking what you eat. For a couple of days, write down everything you eat and the amount that you eat. Then, add up the number of calories you eat throughout the day. You may be surprised by how much you are eating and how many calories are in the foods you eat. Even if you are very aware of the calorie content of foods and how many calories you eat in a day, being accountable by writing it down can help you to control what you eat and how much. In fact, people who track the amount of food and calories they eat can have greater success in reaching their weight and health goals. Try tracking your food for 3 days at first. Don’t just write down meals, include snacks and even those little bites of things you take here and there – you would be amazed at how everything adds up!
If you aren’t sure what your nutritional needs (calories, protein, vitamins, etc.) are or you would like coaching and support to reach your goals or if you prefer to track your food online, Nourish Family Nutrition Coaching can help with all of these things.
1 comment January 7, 2010
New Year’s Resolution, Step 2
Now you have purged your house of all the not-so-nutritious and irresistible foods you had laying around. Congratulations, you are on your way to a healthier you! The next small step you can take to keep your healthy resolution going is to drink more water. Why?
- Water is a great way to replace those high-calorie beverages like soda or fruit juice. Calories from these beverages really add up and add a lot of sugar to your diet.
- Drinking plenty of water can help flush out excess sodium from your body (think of all those salty snacks you ate) and is important for keeping your skin looking its best, especially in the winter when the air is so dry.
- Even if you already drink diet soda, try to replace most of this with water. Even diet soda can lead to bloating. What your body really needs is plain water!
- Sometimes when we feel hungry, it is actually thirst. Drinking water can also make you feel full temporarily which can help cut down on nibbling throughout the day.
- Even mild dehydration can lead to feeling sluggish and not as sharp as usual. Staying well hydrated can give you more energy and help you think quicker.
So how much water should you drink? The old rule of thumb is 8-8 oz. glasses, or 64 oz. per day. This is pretty general, however, and does not take into account the size of a person or how much physical activity they are doing. Particularly on days that you are exercising and working up a sweat you will need more water. Try keeping a large refillable water bottle or cup with you at all times. Tap water is just fine, there is no need for the extra expense and waste of individual water bottles. Start with a goal of 64 ounces per day and see how you feel. If you feel like you need more, then go with it. If you feel like this amount is making you feel like you are drowning then go with less. Try drinking more water for several days and see if you notice a difference in how you feel and look.
Add comment January 4, 2010
New Year! Let’s Do This Thing!
Happy 2010, everyone! I know I had a great and relaxing holiday; I hope you did, too. Despite my best intentions to always eat mindfully and make it to the gym as much as possible during December, I did neither as much as I would have liked. Between the parties, kid holiday events, late nights staying up getting ready for things and the temptations of cookies, candy, cheese (I cannot resist a cheese plate), eating out too much, etc., it is now time to haul myself back to the gym on a regular basis and revise my eating habits. How about you?
For the next weeks or so, I will post regular tips to help get rid of those holiday pounds or just help you continue with a healthy lifestyle, for both adults and kids. I know that my kids ate a lot more junk than I would have liked over the holidays and we are all in need of some change. Remember, small changes are what leads to lasting results.
So here we go: New Year’s Tip #1:
Start by clearing your house of all those foods that you bought for the holidays and still have laying around. You know what I’m talking about – leftover Christmas cookies, scraps of cheese from your parties, tins of nuts. If there are things around that you don’t normally eat, that are tempting you to nibble – get rid of them. Don’t feel bad about throwing things away. If you normally wouldn’t snack on brie and gingerbread, throw them away. If there are things that are unopened that you can donate to a food pantry, even better. If temptation isn’t easily available you can’t eat whatever it is.
There, that’s all for today. Easy, right?! Have a great week and check back often for more tips for the New Year.
1 comment January 3, 2010
