Entry bubble Experimenting with new recipes

By: Jess | March 12, 2009 | Category: Health

Vegetables in a bowlWhen I was thrust into the real world after college, it was my first real opportunity to cook my own meals. As a health nerd, I had a couple recipes that I knew were nutritious, but after making grilled chicken with vegetables or salmon with broccoli hundreds of times, the recipes started to get boring and I was craving something different.

Often that meant I would hit the salad bar at my grocery store or order a veggie hoagie from a sandwich shop. While still nutritious, these on-the-go meals started to make a dent in my budget.

In honor of National Nutrition Month, I'm challenging myself to try at least one new recipe a week. This week I made a vegetarian stir fry that I found on a friend's blog. Next week I might try some of the heart-healthy recipes from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. In my quest to put lots of color on my plate, I'll definitely explore recipe options from the the Centers for Disease Control that focus on creating meals around fruits and veggies. And of course, I'll check out meal options from the United States Department of Agriculture as I try to put as much variety in my menus as possible.

If this sounds like a challenge you are up for, I'd love to have you join me. If you're worried that healthy cooking is going to be too expensive, you can check out tips for cooking thrifty meals that are still healthy. Nutrition.gov is another place you can turn for healthy eating guidelines.

If you know of any other great nutritious recipe sources please feel free to share in the comments!

| Post a Comment | View Comments [2] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: cooking   food   fruits   healthy_cooking   hearty_healthy_recipes   jess   nutrition   recipes   vegetables   vegetarian  

 

Entry bubble National Nutrition Month

By: Colleen | March 05, 2008 | Category: Health

March has it going on:

  • NCAA basketball tourney, aka "March Madness". By far, my FAVORITE time of the year. P-I-T-T- let's go Pitt! (Had to plug for my Panthers)
  • St. Patty's day - a pretty big deal for a gal whose moniker means "Irish girl." In addition, Shamrock Shakes are available all month long at McDonald's. Amazing.
  • "In like a lion, out like a lamb." Bring on Spring!

Besides all this great stuff, March is also National Nutrition Month! I confess to being a raging chocoholic, but I am aware of the importance of a healthy diet.

There is an overwhelming amount of information out there concerning healthy eating habits. The newly re-designed food pyramid suggests a diet heavy in whole grains, veggies, fruit, lean protein, and low-fat dairy.

Some tricks for sneaking some extra nutrition into your daily eating habits:

  • Replace soda with fruit juice or water. H2O  too bland? Squeeze a slice of lemon for added flavor.
  • Use ground turkey in favor of ground beef for cooking. Much less fat and calories and tastes just the same (I swear)!
  • Substitute whole-grain breads for white bread in sandwiches.
  • Try salsa in place of ketchup. The salsa has much less sugar and more lycopene than ketchup.
  • Remove the yolks from your eggs for omelets - spare yourself the cholesterol and fat.

Healthy eating doesn't have to be a chore. And you can always have your favorite treats in moderation. I for one, will be enjoying a Shamrock Shake.

| View Comments [3] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: colleen   diet   eating   food   habits   month   nutrition  

 

Entry bubble Health and Losing Weight: The New Grapefruit Diet?

By: Nancy | January 03, 2008 | Category: Health

christine eating grapefruit at her computer

Christine had me worried.

The homeschooling mom with six guys in the house (her husband, four sons and Otis the dog) and a freelance writing career is one of the busiest people I know. So I'm really glad she has time for our morning check-ins on instant messenger. Lately though, conversations always find their way to back to her new obsession:

nancy: What are you doing?
christine: Eating a grapefruit.
nancy: This is your second one this morning.
christine: Yup.
nancy: Ewwww.
christine: That's ok. MORE FOR ME.

When this all got started, I wondered whether she was gearing up for the new year by losing weight following the old, fad "Grapefruit Diet." But no, Christine says she just really likes grapefruit. And the side effect of weight loss (helped by her faithful trips to the gym) is just an added benefit.

I know that Christine isn't eating just grapefruit, but I was still curious whether she could be getting too much of a good thing. So I did some investigating and found Nutrition.gov. For somebody who insists that banana bread counts as a serving of fruit and mint chocolate chip ice cream counts as a serving of vegetables because it's green, I have to admit, I really liked this site. From buying and preparing food to managing your weight to finding out nutrient values, the site has lots of great information.

It seems as if there's a "dot gov" for nearly every topic now. And FruitsAndVeggiesMatter.gov may be one of the most creative ".gov" urls I've heard of. One of my favorite finds on the site was the diagram showing what counts as a serving (1/2 or whole cup) of a fruit or vegetable. I saw a banana on the chart but not banana bread. So I may have to admit defeat on that one. Oh well. I did find the site's Fruit and Vegetable of the Month past feature on grapefruit, including serving and storage suggestions and a history of the fruit.

Christine and a grapefruitIt also mentions that grapefruit and grapefruit juice can interact with some medications used for controlling cholesterol, depression, anxiety, HIV/AIDS, allergies and high blood pressure--making them ineffective or causing side effects. Here's a chart you may want to take a look at if you're taking medication for any of those conditions and you like grapefruit. And if you have diabetes, a good side effect of eating grapefruit or drinking the juice is that it can help lower blood glucose levels.

If you're like Christine though, grapefruit has a final, lesser-publicized side effect: it makes your hands, desk and computer keyboard sticky. But it can make you very, very happy.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [6] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: diet   grapefruit   health   nancy   nutrition   weight  

 

Entry bubble Fightin' Phils...and FOOD!

By: Colleen | October 02, 2007 | Category: Health

Greetings! My name is Colleen, and I am the sixth (wo)man of the Gov Gab blog team. When any of the daily bloggers is out of town or otherwise unable to blog, I sub-in and pick up the slack.

This past weekend was a big one. How about those Phillies?! National League East Champs! The final three games of the regular season meant I spent an obscene amount of time in front of a television, and in turn, spent the weekend consuming nothing but baseball food. Hot dogs, chips and dips, Tastycakes (we're a true Philly crowd)—not exactly what the doctor ordered.

Entering a new week (and the playoffs!) changes needed to be made to my all junk-food roster. Adjusting my dietary habits required a little back up. Luckily, USA.gov has a full section devoted to health and nutrition. Here you can find information on everything from health insurance to tests on your knowledge of food nutrition labels.

I followed the links to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services site where I was able to make my own personal profile to see how far off track my Phillies loyalty had led me. I was able to calculate my body mass index (BMI) and find out if I risk health problems such as: high blood pressure, heart disease, or high blood glucose.

Turns out my big weekend probably won't kill me. Everything in moderation! But I was able to get some great, healthy, easy recipes. This activity log helps me keep track of my daily exercise and set goals—maybe running a half-marathon...but hopefully I'll be watching the World Series!

By the way—any Mets fans might want to check out "Being Healthy"—it has some good tips to use in the off-season!

| View Comments [10] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: colleen   health   nutrition   phillies   recipes