Archive for November, 2009
Aduki Beans with Winter Squash
Favorite Healthy Snack?
What’s your favorite healthy snack? Mine is hummus with carrots or celery sticks. It’s something I can always keep around to fill me up and keep me going in between meals. How about you? Think about it, and leave me a comment. You could win a prize!
I’m happy to announce a pre-Thanksgiving contest to give a free Fitness Magazine Prize Pack to one of my readers! The prize pack includes: Fitness Magazine subscription, cosmetic bag, umbrella, apron, hat, notebook, and massager.
Submit your entry to win a Fitness Magazine Prize Pack by leaving a comment in this post with your answer to the following question:
What’s your favorite healthy snack?
All entries must be submitted by Wednesday, November 25th at 11:59pm EST. The winner will be chosen at random and notified by email. If you win, I’ll need your name and address to give to Fitness Magazine so they can send you the prize pack.
Thanks to Fitness Magazine for providing this offer!
Load Up on Vegetable Proteins
When you think of protein, do you automatically picture meat? Well, meat is definitely protein, but there are also vegetarian sources of protein with a valuable supply of nutrients that your body craves. I’m talking tofu, whole grains, edamame, quinoa, beans, nuts, seeds, etc.
A recent study published in the journal Circulation found that the nutrient glutamic acid can help reduce blood pressure and risk of heart disease and stroke (Ref: Women’s Health Mag, Dec. ‘09, p. 30). This amino acid is found in those vegetarian protein sources I mentioned above (as well as meats and cheeses).
Try to add more vegetarian protein sources to your weekly diet. Edamame are a great snack to have after work when you’re really hungry and need something to munch on before dinner. You can buy packages of them frozen in most grocery stores (look in the organic/natural section if you can’t find them next to the other veggies).
Also, I found a wonderful Three-Bean Salad recipe with quinoa on the Whole Foods site. You don’t even need their store brand salad dressing (although it’s probably delish), just mix together some olive oil, vinegar, and cracked pepper for an easy substitution.
Another Top 50 List!
Yeah baby! Laurel on Health Food made it on The Health Sensei’s Top 50 Healthy Living Blogs list. I’m in the “Diet and Nutrition” section. Head on over to the list to find my link and learn about some other great blogs that made the list too.
Thanks to Jimmy Atkinson, The Health Sensei, for letting me know. I appreciate you!
Kashi® & Bear Naked® Review
Hey there friends! I just got the opportunity to review some new healthy products from Kashi® and Bear Naked® and agreed to share my thoughts with my readers. I already knew I liked some products from these companies (easy sell) and appreciate their use of natural and nutritious ingredients. Check it out!
Quick fact: Kashi® products are packed with whole grains and fiber and are “minimally processed, and free of highly refined sugars, artificial additives, and preservatives.” Wahoo!
Samples:
Heart to Heart Cereal, Honey Toasted Oat – I liked this cereal, but I had it with vanilla soy milk and it was a little too sweet for me. Next time I’d try it with plain soy milk or would mix the cereal into some plain yogurt. If you like a really crunchy cereal, this is a good one for you to try.
TLC Fruit & Grain Bars, Dark Chocolate Coconut – This snack bar had a layer of dark chocolate, coconut, and walnuts on the top. I wasn’t sure if I would like the coconut, but it was yummy to my surprise. The main portion of the bar was chewy granola, making it a filling snack.
Other Kashi® products I love (they didn’t send me these, but I wanted to recommend them):
GOLEAN® Blueberry Waffles – These frozen waffles are really tasty. I love the blueberry ones with a little almond butter or all natural peanut butter on top. My sister and I like to put two together like a sandwich and take it to-go, wrapped in a paper towel.
Cinnamon Harvest Cereal, Whole Wheat Biscuits – These are Kashi’s version of mini-wheats and they are so good. The cinnamon flavor is subtle but makes your milk taste so good. Plus, I love the simple ingredients: organic whole grain wheat, organic evaporated cane juice, organic cinnamon, natural cinnamon flavor. That’s it! My favorite cereal!
Quick fact: Their granolas, cereals, and granola bars “contain no preservatives and nothing artificial, and are free of trans fats, cholesterol, hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup.”
Samples:
Fruit and Nut Granola – While I love to make my own granola, this brand is a great option when you don’t have time to do your own. I loved the big pieces of nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans) mixed with chunks of dried fruit (raisins, cranberries), seeds, and granola. Great to sprinkle on top of yogurt.
Cranberry Raisin Cereal - I enjoyed the taste of this cereal and it had a lot of variety of dried fruit and nuts added in. My only complaint was that it was really crunchy for me and almost hurt my teeth. I think it’s just a matter of preference because some people really love a crunchy cereal. I guess the granola products are my favorite when it comes to the Bear Naked® brand.
Moms Doing it Right
A few days ago I got an email about a new book called Be Well: Messages from Moms on Living Healthier Lives. The book showcases what “moms across the country, particularly in low income urban areas, are doing to provide their kids with healthy food while also promoting physical activity.”
I thought this was a very important cause and a great message to spread, so I wanted to share it with you. I am so inspired by these mothers who are making the health of their children a top priority, even when faced with very difficult economic circumstances and unhealthy environments.
Please check out this promotional YouTube video. Plus, you can download the book for free at this link: BeWell eBooks in English and Spanish.
For more information, go to BeWellBook.org.
Quick Meal: Egg, Quinoa, Kale
Wednesdays are always busy days for me, so my meals have to be something I can grab-on-the-go or prepare in 10 minutes or less. Enter my bowl of eggs, quinoa, and kale. Like I mentioned in my whole grains post, I make big batches of grains on one day, and then eat off them for up to a week later. Obviously, fresh is always best, but there’s no harm in preparing some staple foods ahead of time to make sure you always have something healthy on hand.
Tonight I re-warmed some quinoa with a little olive oil in my sauté pan. Meanwhile, I chopped up some fresh kale and steamed it for a couple minutes. Lastly, I pan fried two eggs over-medium, cut them up into bite-size pieces, then tossed everything together in a bowl with a dash of salt, pepper, and hot sauce on top.
This was a quick, easy, and balanced meal that will sustain me for the rest of my night without making me feel heavy or too full. If you want to try this out, feel free to experiment with fresh or dried herbs and spices. I opted for easy seasonings tonight, but there’s no reason you can’t flavor it up when you’ve got the time!
Does that look kind of crazy? Haha, all I know is it was yummy!
Speaking of eggs, I found a great tip from Sara Snow, natural-living expert, in the Nov/Dec issue of Fitness Magazine, p. 108. ( The generous folks from Fitness sent me a subscription to periodically review their content. Each month, I’ll share the best of what I find from their nutrition and healthy eating pages.)
In her “Ask Sara Snow” tip, she explained the difference between free-range and cage-free eggs. Free-range chickens have outdoor access while cage-free chickens have an open room with space to stretch their wings. But Sara points out that eggs labeled organic may be the best choice. Neither free-range or cage-free labeling has reliable regulations, but organic eggs are guaranteed to be free-range (and they are usually cage-free). Remember organic also means the chickens are not fed antibiotics, hormones, or grains with harmful chemicals. Make sense? Thanks to Sara for her helpful tip!
Hoping you’re all doing well! Talk to you soon,
Laurel
