Live (and Eat) Abundantly

It's Easy Being Green: Ban the Triclosan!

2011-12-24T08:13:00.002-06:00

“Antibacterial” sounds like a fabulous thing, I mean, who likes bacteria?

We are always taught to wash our hands and sanitize everything. But alas, while in general bacteria is not good, some antibacterial items, are even worse.

Alcohol based sanitizers and antibacterials (like Purell or alcohol wipes) are fine (in moderation) but many products contain Triclosan, also known as Microban, is an antibacterial associated with endocrine disruption, allergies, and is a possible carcinogen. It is also associated with bacterial resistance to antibacterials.

Triclosan is commonly found in:

Hand Soap (I just noticed some Bath and Body Works soap my sister gave me contains it...)
Dish Soap
Mouth Wash
Toothpaste
and many other “antibacterial” labeled items including cutting boards, garden houses, kitchen knives, and toys.

Soo what does that all mean?

Endocrine Disruption:

The endocrine system is the hormone system. When the endocrine system is disrupted it can lead to:

Reproduction problems/ Infertility
Changes in sexual development (early puberty, malformation of the brain associated with sex)
Impaired immune function
Diabetes
Cancer
Weight problems/ obesity

Most of these issues are heightened if the exposure is to a pregnant woman, or woman who will soon become pregnant, a fetus, or a child who is still developing. However, more research is discovering that exposure to adults may also lead to some of these issues, namely diabetes and obesity.

Cancer:

In relation to the endocrine disruption, especially during development, chemicals, such as triclosan can disrupt how cells and genes are formed. This can lead to cells that are more prone to cancer, and to a disturbance in the cell cycle - as in more proliferation (getting bigger), less differentiation (dividing) and less apoptosis (normal cell death) which can lead to the formation of a tumor.
Secondly - triclosan can combine with free chlorine in water which can form dioxins, a known carcinogen. So, even if you aren't worried about your exposure, know that by using anti-bacterials that contain triclosan you are releasing triclosan into the general water supply to create dioxins.

Allergies:

Studies show that children exposed to triclosan are more likely to develop allergies. How this occurs is still unclear. It may be related to over exposure of antibacterials in general effects that immune system, or it may be another mechanism that is currently unclear.
Some people are also just allergic to triclosan itself.

Bacteria Resistance:

You've probably heard of bacteria resistance in some form or another. It is often cited as a reason to not overdo it with antibiotics. It can also occur when bacteria are exposed to an antibacterial agent (such as triclosan). The bacteria learn what it is up against, and it can start to change to become stronger and resistant to our antibacterials and medicines. This leads to 'super bacterial' that we have no means of defending ourselves against.

Here is some dish soap that had been in our house when we moved in. Ironically, we also have the same dish soap in the staff kitchen area in the hospital.

It contains the dreaded ingredient - clearly labeled! (Ok, it may not appear that clear in the picture, but I did the best I could... nonetheless, if you looked at the bottle you could read the active ingredients and it would tell you.)

For my alternative to the toxic dish soap - I picked up Planet brand instead:

It is Triclosan Free, 100% Biodegradable, hypoallergenic, not tested on animals and cleans pretty darn well! Any other non-triclosan/ non-anti-bacterial product should help you out at least in regards to avoiding triclosan.

Alternatives: Plain old soap and water work just as well as triclosan laced products. In regards to the other products such as cutting boards, utensils and toys, just wash them with soap and hot water. There is no real benefit to the antibacterial properties, especially when you consider the harmful consequences of triclosan exposure.

So what to do:

Avoid purchasing or using items labeled as antibacterial and containing triclosan.
Use other safe ways of disinfecting. Wash your hands in hot water with soap for at least 30 seconds.
Beware of items not labeled as 'antibacterial' that may still contain triclosan. Always read the labels!

Wishing you a very green happy holidays!

It's Easy Being Green: Choose Recycled

2011-12-21T18:09:00.000-06:00

"Remember when you throw things away, there is no 'Away'."

There are some items that most of us are not willing to do away with or re-use... one item I think we can all agree with is toilet paper.

Thankfully there are becoming more and more options for 100% recycled options such as Seventh Generation and Marcals Small Steps - you can usually get a good deal on this and they support some great causes.

My favorite would have to be "Earth First" -- Mainly just because the rolls are bigger and you get bit more for your money. They also do not bleach with chlorine- which is also a plus. Trader Joe's and Whole Foods also have their own brand name 100% recycled toilet paper which are also nice.. I just do not have any on hand to photograph.

Now that "green" is becoming trendy there also tends to be a lot of "greenwashing" - or companies trying to make themselves sound more environmentally friendly than they actually are. In regards to toilet paper, Scott Natural is my pet peeve of green washing. Despite many toilet paper, paper towels and tissues being made from 100% recycled material, Scotts is only made from 60% recycled material. Granted- many toilet papers are worst- and use 0% recycled materials-- but Scott's makes their packaging green in color and claims "Green done right." Thus, they are duping people into thinking they are doing the 'right' thing. Again, 60% recycled if still better than nothing, so I suppose if it is the only option, sure, its better than getting regular 0% recycle toilet paper, but alas, I still recommend the other brands first.

Choosing recycled can also be extended to paper towels and tissues and other paper products as well- but the ideal solution is to refuse. Use reusable items whenever possible, such as washable clothes and towels or a hanky. I know, I know, handkerchiefs sound rather gross - but I've been using them for a year or so now, and they aren't so bad- just make sure to buy a few so you can throw them in the wash when they get icky.

Also:

Only print things when you NEED to. Do your editing on the computer before printing.
Print double sided when possible.
Choose recycled paper as well when possible.

Sign up for E-bills and email newsletters versus the hard copies.
Contact companies that continue to send you junk mail and ask them to remove you from their mailing list. You can also do this through websites like this, but they can charge a fee.

Until next time- best of luck being green :)

Baked Potato Soup

2011-12-14T07:54:00.000-06:00

I've had some extra potatoes around and been craving potato soup, so I decided to try one out! I tried to make it some-what healthier, but this still isn't a super healthy recipe (considering the bacon and cream) feel free to substitute all skim milk or a lean turkey bacon.

It does make a very filling and delicious soup.

Baked Potato Soup:

4 strips of bacon, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped or minced
4 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup fresh basil
pinch salt or salt substitute
ground black pepper
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
6 medium potatoes, baked (I peeled half of them)
1 cup skim milk
1 cup fat free half and half
1/8 cup hot sauce (I used Franks)
Optional: extra bacon, shredded cheese, chives for topping

In a large pot (or crock pot) cook chopped bacon. Remove Bacon and save for later, leave bacon grease in pot.
Add onions and garlic and cook until tender.
Add basil, pepper, salt and flour.
Add in chicken broth slowly and bring to a boil.
Add in potatoes, milk, half and half, hot sauce, and bacon. Simmer, but do not boil.
Using an immersion blender, regular blender or food processor puree as much of the soup as you would like. If you left the peels of the potatoes on, you probably want to blenderize those as much as possible.

Serve with extra bacon, chives and cheese, if desired.

Enjoy :)

It's not easy being green

2011-12-11T13:13:00.000-06:00

As Kermit the Frog says, "It's not easy being green."

Speaking in terms of being environmentally friendly, it can also feel that way.

When I was a senior in college my life plan involved: Graduating, getting a dietetic internship, becoming an RD, working for a bit, then going back for a Masters in Environmental Health and combining the sciences of nutrition and environmental health and science....

Things did not work out quite as smoothly as that and my plan had to undergo some edits, but I still try to remain abreast and involved in the environmental spectrum.

Between taking a few environmental and public health classes, and reading books, such as "Slow Death by Rubber Duck: The Secret Danger to Everyday Things" by Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie, and "Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry" by Stacy Malkan it can seem overwhelming how seemingly EVERYTHING around us is toxic. Furthermore, I realized how much regulations are lacking, and that the chemical industry controls the show.

For a while, I became obsessive, trying to avoid toxins and to make less of an impact on the earth. Unfortunately, we do not currently live in a world that supports such actions. We are making improvements and options are out there, but you can drive yourself mad attempting to live a "green" lifestyle. There are, however, many little ways you can make changes to decrease your exposure to toxins and be more environmentally friendly.

Just like any change, like diet and exercise, the most effective ways to change are by making small, manageable goals.

Thus- I am going be writing a few posts suggesting some simple steps so that "It's ~~not~~ easy being green." Some of them may not apply to you, and some you may just decide you could never do. But just choosing one, or a couple options to start off can have a big impact. Maybe over time you can add in more green habits :)

Check back for the "It's Easy Being Green" series.

If you are looking for more information here are some great websites:

http://ewg.org/ : The Environmental Working Group does research on various toxins, and helps advise you on better options.

http://practicallygreen.com/ Practically Green: Is a large community touting essentially what I am saying here. It allows you to identify how green you are now, and what you may wish to consider changing in order to be more healthy.

http://safecosmetics.org/ Safe Cosmetics offers information on toxins found in common toiletries you likely douse yourself with daily, and better options available.

http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ Is a great collaboration between the Environmental Working Group and Safe cosmetics with a giant database of products with safety ratings.

http://www.good.is/ Offers information on health, the environment, and economy etc. This site features lots of great infographics.

Pot Luck: Crockpot Mac and Cheese

2011-12-10T09:16:00.000-06:00

In my last post I discussed the potluck we had. I was going to post the recipe I used for the mac and cheese there, but I felt that post was getting a bit long- so here it is!

For the pot luck I made a crock-pot mac and cheese (inspired by Pinterest, shockingly). Below is the image that inspired me via A Whisk and A Prayer Blog:

As usual, her picture of the end product looked significantly better than mine did, but alas, it still tasted good! I did modify the recipe a bit using:

· 3 cups skim milk

· 12 oz fat free condensed milk

· ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened

· 3 large eggs or ¾ cup egg substitute (I used Egg substitute since I had it opened)

· ½ teaspoon salt substitute (I used Nu Salt because I keep getting complaints that my food is “bland” since I generally do not use salt. Feel free to omit or use regular salt. If you are cooking for anyone with a Kidney problem- do not use a salt substitute!)

· Cayenne pepper

· Smoked paprika

· Ground black pepper

· 1 box (1 pound) cavatappi pasta (any shape you like works – such as elbows, or shells. You can also do whole wheat if you wish- but I didn’t want to turn people off too much.)

o I used un-cooked pasta – the original recipe said par-cooked (about 5 minutes) but it depends on how long you are going to cook it in the crockpot.

· 4 cups shredded cheese (2 cups Cheddar Jack, and 2 cups low fat Pizza blend cheese)

· 2 pounds (1 large bag) mixed frozen vegetables (I used peas, carrots, corn and green beans).

· ½ cup fresh shaved parmesan cheese

· ½ cup Italian style bread crumbs

1. Turn on crock pot (Mine only has 4 settings, so I turned it onto the quickest setting- high for 4 hours of cooking). You may wish to spray with pam/ olive oil.

2. Add milk, condensed milk, butter, eggs, spices, pasta, mixed cheese (not parmesan cheese) and vegetables.

3. Let cook in crock pot, stirring occasionally.

4. Once pasta is tender (about 2 hours), you can add in the bread crumbs and parm cheese if you want. I saved the parm cheese for on the side and added it to the individual dishes.

Note: this dish can be ready in about 2 hours. I wound up cooking it on low for about 6-8 hours due to when people actually wanted to eat after arriving.

For best results: Serve with Franks.

Even Ghreylin had some! And he usually will not try anything.

I would also like to say- writing this post made me think of my friend Amy's blog Mac & Cheese & Peas Since, that is in fact, what I made :)

Pot Luck and Giant Jenga

2011-12-07T12:15:00.001-06:00

This Saturday my sister and her dog, Snuggles the Pomapoo, came to visit.

Jordan decided that we should ‘show her a good time’ and decided to throw a pot luck. So we also invited his friend Bruce and John, their dog, James (a lab dachshund), and Jon and Meaghan, and a puppy she adopted for her mom for Christmas, Mondo (A Chihuahua dachshund). Pair that with our dog, and Jordan’s parents dog – and we essentially had a pot luck/ puppy play date.

During the pot luck, we decided to break out the Giant Jenga I made the other day!

It was quite the hit. People stated “It is much more fun than a regular sized Jenga!” and asked if I was taking Christmas orders.

We played on teams of 2, taking turns to remove the blocks. Since we had so many dogs around we added in the rule that if a team members dog knocked over the tower, that team lost.

Snuggles mostly just barked at the process.

But Leo got precariously close at times. We all held onto our dogs once the tower started getting really high!

Ghreylin was pretty happy once all of the other dogs finally left. He is too used to having free reign of the house and not having to worry about dogs trying to eat him, since he and Leo get along quite well on their own.

Giant Jenga

2011-12-03T08:20:00.001-06:00

Precursor: Something that drives me insane about BlogSpot is that the formatting can be so weird (weird spacing that does not show up in the original version, changes in font etc). Today: for some reason the background of the writing is white and despite many attempts I cannot change it. So please ignore that issue... my apologies.

As promised: I am back with my full report of my Giant Jenga making. The beginning and inspiration behind the project can be seen here.

Despite the fact that I cannot even remember the last time I played any game of Jenga, Pinterest inspired me to want to create a larger version of the game (Possibly for a fun lawn game at the wedding, or just for general play time fun.)

They do, in fact, sell giant Jenga sets (also known as the Tumbling Tower) but alas these sets are around $100- which seems rather excessive. Furthermore, there are plenty of tutorials available online of people who have successfully made their own giant Jenga's for a fraction of the cost. Thus, I decided since I am currently partially unemployed, I might as well use my time doing something productive - like making a Giant Jenga. (Note slight sarcasm.)

As wikipedia informs us: "Jenga is played with 54 wooden blocks. Each block is three times as long as it is wide, and one fifth as thick as it is long." Online tutorial suggestions to just purchase 2x4s and cut them into 10.5 inch pieces. This will not get the exact dimensions of the original game, but frankly it sure beats having to make that many cuts.

I purchased seven 8 foot 2x4s and had them cut them into 10.5 inch sections. I felt rather obnoxious having them cut all of those pieces for me, but they did it in about 5 or so minutes with their fancy saw and superior cutting skills, whereas I am sure it would have taken me about 12 hours to accomplish the same task with my little hand saw.

Some of the wood is seen above.

Unfortunately, I discovered that having the guy at the shop cut the wood for me may have been convenient, but he did not do it very accurately and I wound up with quite a few pieces that were not the right size.

Luckily, there were exactly 54 pieces that were the right length, though some of them were rather knotty or otherwise not the most ideal pieces.

Next- I spent many hours sanding each of the pieces using my little Black and Decker Mouse sander. I tried to sand any fraying pieces of wood, and to round out the corners slightly. This felt like a painfully long task (though it was really only maybe 5 or 6 hours total). Other tutorials note sanding for over 12 hours!

Note: if using a power sander be sure to wear a ventilator mask, protective eye wear and sand in a well ventilated area. I worked in the garage with the doors open. (I tried to take an awesome picture of myself in all of my safety gear but it appears I was unsuccessful. Pity.)

Finally, I coated the wooden pieces with Minwax sealant and polyurethane (I used the classic oak color.)
Wear gloves while while polyurethaning as it is very difficult to get it off of your hands.

When I started the task on Wednesday it was about 60*F, and the polyurethaning seemed to go better than when I finished on Friday, when it was about 40* F. The colder weather made the sealant dry faster, which left more streaks, whereas on Wednesday it dripped all over the wood and left a nice smooth finish.

You may notice there are some pieces with awkward blue ends. This was the color of the ends of the 2x4s. I attempted to sand off the color, but was unsuccessful. I figure I could always add an additional rule associated with the blocks with blue edges, such as that player goes twice or skips a turn, whatever.

You could also paint the blocks different colors or make a variation of the original Jenga- such as some of Hasbro's versions like "Truth or Dare Jenga."

Another idea (via Pinterest) Is to make a Jenga "Guest Book" and have guests write messages on each of the tiles. This could be a good idea for weddings, anniversaries, birthdays etc. The giant Jenga would allow for more writing room than the original version!

Total cost of the project:

* Wood $19
* Minwax $10
* Sandpaper $7
_______________
total = $ 36

A heck of a lot less than $100!

You may also need to buy paint brushes, the ventilator or safety goggles, which would increase your cost a bit, but if you take care of them they can last through a few projects.

Wine Wednesday

2011-11-30T19:56:00.001-06:00

I love having weekdays off, they seem so much more special and deserving of productivity than weekend days off.

I currently have Wednesdays off, which is quite a nice little mid-week break, and a great time to get random errands and projects done.

My To-do list for today included:

· ~~Walk Leo~~

· Yoga

· ~~Shower~~

· ~~Sand wood~~

· ~~Put up decorations~~

· ~~Pack lunch~~

· Blog -- in progress :)

You may be aware that I have a slight addiction to Pinterest. There was some quote that says something to the matter of The irony of pinterest: the website where you pin inspirational pictures of workouts and ideal bodies, next to decadent, calorie laden foods.

I could not find the exact quote I was looking for, but this one has similar sentiments.

The sentiments of the quotes are for the most part is true, but I have found it quite useful for compiling ideas I want for the wedding (including pinning possible bridesmaids dresses, food, and other general inspiration .... um I told you I was addicted already, give me a break). I have also used it a lot for finding recipes, and some crafts.

Today I started working on my very own Giant Jenga set (Inspired by pinterest of course)... I haven't finished my set yet so this one will act as my inspiration picture. I ran out of sand paper while sanding, so I will have to pick up on this project next time I have time (to be continued...)

After putting off my Giant Jenga making, I then set off to decorate the house.

For those of you that do not know, Jordan and I were planning to move to California so that he could more actively pursue his screen writing career, but alas we put off our plans after getting engaged and choosing to get married on the east coast (that coupled with the job market and me not being able to fine a job on the west coast.)

So, for the time being we are living with his parents up in Gloucester, MA which is quite nice, and not paying rent is helpful for saving up some money, though the commute is a bit of a pain. We technically live in a little "cottage" off of his parents house, so we do not have room for a Christmas tree or many decorations inside of the house, so instead, I decorated the trees outside.

Alina (Jordan's Madre) had a couple of big shatter-resistant ornaments for the outside, but she sent me to get more when I made a trip to Home Depot (for my Jenga supplies...) I bought the 100 piece Martha Stewart shatter-resistant ornament set.

At the time of decorating, I started to think I made a terrible decision on the purchase! Not because they were a bad quality or anything, but simply because 100 + ornaments are really annoying to put up on your own, especially when spread across 7 outdoor trees!

In the end, I think they came out pretty good (though I was not able to get any good pictures via my phone unfortunately.)

After tree decorating, it was time for a late lunch of an antipasto-salad with: baby spinach, iceberg lettuce, roasted potatoes, carrots and onions, american cheese and deli ham and topped with Trader Joe's fat free balsamic vinaigrette.

Yes, it is in a mixing bowl... again, let's reserve judgement. Thanks.

Leo snugged up with me during lunch time, and then we went on a nice 3 mile wog (that's walk/ jog) along the ocean and through the woods.

After returning from the puppy wog, I felt really lazy and tired, so decided to scrap the yoga and just shower. Furthermore, it is in fact #WineWednesday so I felt that I should honor it. We oddly are out of wine so I made due with a glass of this weird Sangria drink that Jordan's sister left behind.

It is a very sweet wine drink with fruit juice in it. I had to water it down a lot. Nice fruity flavor, though clearly not for the wine snob.

And now I have finished off as much as my list as I am going to today- and so- I bid you adieu!

Slightly less guilty sundae

2011-11-28T17:32:00.000-06:00

I often question how I managed to become a dietitian: Growing up I was taught that ice cream was healthy. My grandmother (who ate ice cream at least once a day) believed it was one of the best sources of calcium. - While I have learned it is a good source of calcium, it certainly is not the most healthy manner of consuming it.

Despite not being the most healthy food, I do love ice cream. I personally have a very large sweet tooth, so I am always on the quest to find somewhat healthier versions of decadent treats. Similar to how I 'diluted' my beef and broccoli last night with extra vegetables and whole grains I often dilute my treats with healthier items.

My most recent creation is blackberries, with Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips (60% cocoa) and Bavarian Espresso light ice cream (how fabulous does that sound? I assure you it is even better).

First I filled the bowl with about 1 cup of frozen blackberries, and sprinkle with some chocolate chips (mine were frozen too).

I defrosted this in the microwave for 2 minutes (I like it to it to get warm and squishy.)

Next I added on about 1/2 cup of Bavarian Espresso Ice Cream. (I am sure it would be great with whatever flavor you like.)

Since it had all of the berries (which are low in fat, and high in for vitamins, fiber, antioxidants) they add volume and help make the delicious dessert more filling and long lasting.

This still isn't a low calorie snack... the portions I ate are probably around 320 calories (~120 from the 1 cup of berries, 120 for the 1/2 cup of ice cream, and 80 calories in a 16 dark chocolate chips) You could always cut down the serving sizes.
Also, I frequently mix in nonfat yogurt with the ice cream which can also help cut calories and fat.

What is your favorite snack??

Semi-Homemade

2011-11-27T18:54:00.009-06:00

I went to Trader Joe’s today and tried their sample of Schezuanbeef and broccoli - it was so delicious(And I was rather hungry) so I bought a bag.

The nutrition facts were less than desirable with 430calories a serving, 13 grams of fat, 1400 mg sodium, and sugar being one of the main ingredients. But, alas, Ialways like to believe in “everything in moderation” - so I decided I could use it as part of adinner entrée.

I marinated a block of extra firm tofu in

· Trader Joe’s Low sodium Soyaki sauce (~2tablespoons)

· 1 Tablespoon lime juice

· sprinkle of ginger

In the microwave I cooked up

· 1 bag of frozen mixed oriental vegetables

· 4 medium carrots, chopped (I bought a 5 poundbag of carrots hence why every recipe I will be posting is likely heavy on thecarrots)

After the tofu marinated for about an hour, I sautéed it ina frying pan over medium-high heat.

Next, I prepared the TJ’s Schezuan beef and broccoli, perits cooking instructions, sautéing the beef in the frying pan, and microwavingthe broccoli.

I like my veggies a little bit crispier so I added those tothe frying pan after microwaving as well.

I then combined all ingredients in a pan and mixed in the Schezuan sauce

I also made some brown rice on the side. And Tada!:

The brown rice adds in a whole grain, which is a greatsource of fiber, and provides more vitamins and minerals.

The tofu is a good source of plant protein, is lower in fat thanmany animal proteins (Such as the beef) and contains phytoestrogens which havebeen linked (when consumed in moderation) to decreased risk of cancer.

The vegetables are a great source of vitamins, minerals,phytonutrients, and antioxidants. They are also low in calories and a goodsource of fiber.

Thanksgiving Leftover Turkey Soup

2011-11-25T17:48:00.001-06:00

Post Thanksgiving, aka Black Friday, has been a relaxing, yet semi-productive day!

Yesterday Jordan and I hit three Thanksgivings, but of course, we did not pace ourselves and only really ate at the first one.

We did, however, get some lovely leftovers. One of my best finds would have to be the turkey carcass from Jordan’s brother’s house. I was helping with clean up, and they were going to throw the bird remains away! Since no one else was interested in making soup with it, I decided to step up and offer to take it off of their hands.

As you may know, I was a vegetarian for quite some time. I am now back to my omnivorous ways, but I still try to limit my impact of animal eating by at least making use of as much as I can- hence, my compulsive need to repurpose the carcass.

So this morning I started my turkey soup making. This is only my second attempt making a soup with a carcass- so I am sure my routine could use some refining, and from some internet sources I read, many people add in a lot more steps, but, frankly I think mine came out just fine.

Ingredients used:

· 1 Turkey carcass(I only used half of mine, and froze the rest for a later time)

· 1 Red onion

· 1 Yellow onion

· 4 ribs Celery, chopped

· ~ 2 pounds Carrots, chopped

· 4 tiny Red potato, quartered

· 2 medium Idaho potato, chopped

· 1 Italian pepper, chopped

· 1 cup Frozen peas

· ½ cup Frozen corn

· 2 cups dry Egg noodles

· 1 cup dry Lentils

· 5 cloves garlic, sliced

· Thyme

· Rosemary

· Black pepper

· Parsley

· Oregano

(As usual- I just used whatever veggies I had around- no real need for mixed colors of onions/ potatoes etc, they just happened to be hanging around)

1. I started by making the stock by placing the carcass in my crockpot with water, the veggies that were stuffed inside (in this case red onion, celery, and parsley). I also threw in an additional yellow onion (quartered) and a few carrots (roughly chopped). I simmered this for a few hours.

2. During the interm, I chopped up some of the other veggies and threw them into the pot as I went. I also added the spices and garlic at this time.

3. After a few hours of simmering I removed the bones from the stock. Some of the meat had already fallen off, but I picked at the carcass and removed the rest of the meat before throwing it away. I gave the weird bits that I wasn’t quite sure what they were to Leo, who was quite appreciative.

4. I added the meat back into the stock. ** This is where my methods varied from a lot of others I read, many people make the stock, strain it, cool it, remove the fat etc, and get rid of the veggies and stuff they used in the stock.. but I just kept it in there. I only had a little bit of fat on the top so I just skimmed that off in the crock pot.

5. I then added the egg noodles and lentils.

6. I then continued simmering the soup on low for most of the day. I decided I wanted it to be a bit thicker of a soup, so I removed some of the large pieces of potatoes, carrots, and celery and placed them in another bowl and blenderized them with an immersion blender, then added the pureed soup back into the crock pot.

Here are a few pictures of the end result. I was surprised how much meat was actually in the soup considering it was only what was on half of a turkey carcass- and what was going to be thrown away!

What are you making with your Thanksgiving left overs??

October-Cake

2011-10-30T13:37:00.000-05:00

One inspired evening (after a bottle of wine or so) Jordan and I devised the name for a dessert named Octobercake!

After coming up with the name, we then proceeded to develop the ingredient list:

(Note: Jordan wrote. My spelling is minimally better.)

The next morning I woke up with the urge to create said Octobercake, which required coming up with a slightly more defined recipe.

So the plan became that we would make an oatmeal/ gingersnap cookie crust, with a layer of pumpkin pie and a layer of pumpkin cake and then possibly top it with some sort of frosting.

I would like to pre-cursor that this is NOT a healthy recipe. I tried to make some healthy substitutions, and in theory since pumpkin is a vegetable, you are getting in a veggie, but nonetheless this is definitely a “sometimes” food :P

We began with a gingersnap cookie crust:

To make the gingersnap cookies I used:

· 1 stick butter, unsalted

· 1/2 cup white sugar

· 1/3 cup brown sugar

· 1 egg (or ¼ cup egg substitute)

· ¼ cup molassess

· 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

o (all purpose flour is fine too—I keep the whole wheat on my counter so it is the easier option for me)

· ½ teaspoon baking powder

· 1/2 tablespoon ground ginger

· 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

· 1/8 teaspoon salt

1. Pre-heat oven to 325*

2. In a medium to large bowl: Cream together slightly softened butter and sugars.

3. Add egg and molasses and mix.

4. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, spices and salt.

5. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix.

6. Roll dough into balls and place on a greased or lined cookie sheet.

7. Bake in pre-heated oven for 10-12 minutes.

Since I made the cookies with the intention of smashing them up to make pie crust, I just made a few large cookies. Feel free to make them whatever size you want.

Pie Crust:

· 1.5 cups smashed gingersnap cookies.

· ½ cup plain, dry oatmeal

· 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

· 1 teaspoon cinnamon

· Pie tin

1. Either using the gingersnap cookies you just made, or store bought ones, crush them up using a food processor or squishing them with a blunt object.

I personally added mine into a food processor, which I discovered did not work, so I proceeded to crush them with the end of my immersion blender – because when I tried to use that as a blender, it turns out the cookie bits just get stuck inside of it.

2. Add oatmeal, cinnamon and melted butter. Continue the swishing together process until combined.

3. Once the crumbs are relatively evenly crumby and moist, spread crumbs over the pie tin. (You may wish to spray with a nonstick spray first, I did not do this, and it stuck.) Using your hands (Wash them first!) spread the crumbs out evenly along the bottom and the edges of the tin. Voila!

Alternatively to this step, you could just use a premade graham cracker crust pie, but the gingersnap really does add something!

Then for the pumpkin pie layer:

· 1 large can plain pumpkin, or 2 cups of pureed, baked sugar pumpkin

· 1- 12 oz can unsweetened evaporated fat free milk

· ½ cup brown sugar

· ¼ cup white sugar

· 2 eggs (or ½ cup egg substitute)

· 1 tablespoon cinnamon

· 1 teaspoon ginger

· ½ teaspoon nutmeg

· ¼ teaspoon cloves

1. Preheat oven to 425*

2. In a large bowl mix sugars, spices and eggs.

3. Add in pumpkin and evaporated milk and mix.

4. Pour into pie crust you made (or bought). Fill only about half way.

5. Begin baking in oven for 30 minutes.

6. Start making your pumpkin cake batter!

Pumpkin Cake layer

· ¾ cup sugar

· ½ cup applesauce

· 2 eggs (or ½ cup egg substitute)

· 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (again, all purpose can be used instead)

· 1 teaspoon baking soda

· ½ teaspoon baking powder

· 1 teaspoon cinnamon

· ½ teaspoon ground ginger

· 1 cup pumpkin (OR I justed used ~1 cup of the left over pumpkin pie mix from above!)

1. Check on your pumpkin pie layer, after about 30-45 minutes the top should look relatively “set”. If the crust starts to burn, cover it with tin foil.

2. Once the pumpkin pie layer is semi-firm, pour the cake layer on top of it, filling up the pie tin.

3. Turn oven down to 350*

4. Bake Octobercake for about 40 minutes at 350*, or until cake layer is cooked through (you can do the toothpick test for this.)

And now you have an October Cake!

It is particularily good served with either: vanilla ice cream, light whipped topping or a cream cheese frosting.

I tried this cream cheese frosting on it (I honestly prefer just the ice cream on it though. )

· 1 cup light cream cheese

· 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

· 4 tablespoons butter

· ~2 cups confectioners sugar

1. add all ingredients into a bowl and blend with mixer (or shear arm power!) You may need more confectioner’s sugar.

2. Add to cooled cake.

Life update

2011-10-15T13:58:00.001-05:00

Much has occurred since I have actually ‘written’:

As on July 15^th:

I am officially a Registered Dietitian (RD)!

July 31^st:

I am engaged to be married

Mid August:

Got laid off from one of my jobs.

August 30^th:

I have a Masters Degree in nutrition.

September 1^st:

Moved from Cambridge to Gloucester.

So, I am now officially: Jamie L Doherty, MS RD LDN -- Unfortunately despite all of those cool letters I finally have after my name, I have not had to opportunity to use any of them. I have been getting rather depressed lately, namely due to the job search. I have applied to literally hundreds of jobs, had a few interviews, and gotten a lot of rejection and “thanks, but no thanks” emails.

I am thankful to still have my job at MGH as a diet technician, however, since I have spent the last 6 years getting all of those credentials, I would really LOVE to use them.

Yesterday I was temped to write a long whiny post regarding my woes, however, no one wants to read that- even me! So I will chalk it up to:

· Woe is me

· Blah blah blah—the economy.

· Catch 22- no one hired you without experience but you cannot get experience without being hired… but Wait a minute! What about my years of school, internships and diet technician/ nutrition assistant positions?? Those are not experience??

Anyway… that is my story morning glory. Hoping to see more of you, dearest blogspot page J

For now, I at least have Leo to keep me company on the couch.

Jamie and Leo- signing out!

Strawberry Rhubarb Ice Cream

2011-06-24T12:26:00.000-05:00

Last week from my CSA with Enterprise Farms, I got a bunch of rhubarb. Honestly, All I have ever known rhubarb for was strawberry rhubarb pie. I posted on twitter for any recommendations on what to do with this stalk-y tart vegetable. Kerry from Kerry Cooks told me about her Rhubarb Chutney While I got suggestions for jams, and soups, and of course pie. I ultimately went with Amanda, from the The Kitchen Misfit 's idea for ice cream.

I have haven't made ice cream, since about the age of 7 or 8 when my sister had a barbie ice cream maker, which shockingly didn't work terribly well. But I decided to give it a go.

I used this recipe from myrecipes.com as a base recipe and then adjusted to try to make it a bit more nutritionally sound/ my taste.

Ingredients:
2.5 cups low fat milk
1 cup fat free half and half
2 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
3 packets truvia
1 bunch fresh rhubarb (chopped, about 2-3 cups)
2-3 cups strawberries (I used half fresh/ half frozen)
3/4 cup red wine (*** in retrospect, possibly too much)

Combine milk and half and half over medium-high heat until bubbles form around the edge. Do not boil.
In a large bowl combine 1/2 cup sugar and egg yolks, and stir until pale yellow.
Slowly pour in about half of hot milk mixture and stir constantly.
Pour egg/ milk mixture into pan with the rest of the milk mixture and heat until it reaches 160* F, stirring constantly.
Place pan into an ice bath, until custard cools, stirring occasionally.
In a sauce pan combine wine, rhubarb, strawberries, sugar and tuvia. heat and bring to a boil until rhubarb is tender and liquid is syrupy.

7. Remove from heat. Wait 10 minutes to cool, then add strawberry rhubarb mixture to custard mixture and stir. (*** In retrospect, cooling the mixture more would have been better, such as refrigerating over night)

8. Place mixture into the freezer, and stir occasionally.

The results : Pretty good for my first ice cream attempt. The taste was very good. It was really sweet (which I like) you could likely cut down on the sugar/ sweetener a bit.

The texture was a bit off, and there were a lot of ice crystals. If I let the ice cream melt in my mouth it has a very smooth texture, but when eating it like normal the ice crystals were rather pervasive.

I found this serious eats article about tips for homemade ice cream making - which likely would have been useful before hand. - So my ice crystals could have been from making the recipe low fat, not chilling it fast enough, and adding too much alcohol. So, if you choose to make it, those are some aspects to consider.

Overall though, pretty happy with my use of rhubarb!

Healthy Eating on a Budget

2011-06-21T13:37:00.001-05:00

Its a tough economy right now, and food prices are on the rise. I personally, have been a full time student for the past 20 years, and now after finishing my full time, unpaid dietetic internship, and being about to graduate and have all of my school loans kick in, am particularly feeling the stress of a tight budget.

Nonetheless, there is no escuse to not eat healthy! there are plenty of ways to fit healthy eating into any budget. Here are a few tips-- please leave your own tip ideas in the comment section!

Have a shopping list. Only buy what is on the list. You can save money by planning your recipes ahead of time, and therefore only buying what you’ll need. Also, if you make your list ahead of time and stick to it, you are more likely to make smart choices.

Check out the weekly flier for your grocery store, which will feature weekly sales. Plan recipes based on sales. Most grocery stores feature these fliers online as well, so no need to get the newspaper.

Stock up. When a product that you use frequently is on sale for a good deal, buy extra. This works best for shelf stable and canned goods, or frozen foods if you have the space. You can also cooking and/ or freeze fresh items for later use.

Buy the Store Brand or Generic Brand these products are nearly identical to the Brand Name products, but significantly cheaper.

Buy in season fruits and vegetables. Produce that is in season is much cheaper, fresher, and nutrient dense, than out of season produce that has been shipped and stored. I love epicurious map of seasonal foods

Check out the “Discounted for quick sale” sections. These generally include produce and bakery items that are about to expire or are slightly damaged. If you have a use for them, buy them! You can get a plethora of fruit for a fraction of the cost, for still decent fruit, just be sure to eat it up fast. For vegetables you can always cook them right away to prevent them from getting any worse. Check out the bounty I found in the discount section. This section also usually has dented cans and out of season- seasonal items. Beware of dented cans due to food safety.

Farmers Markets. Check out your local farmers market. The food there is often a lot cheaper than the grocery store, and fresher, and locally grown so you are supporting local agriculture.

Buy in “bulk”. Pay attention to the unit price. Sometimes you can get a much better deal buy purchasing a larger quantity. Check out the unit price and purchase based on that. Of course, also consider if you will be able to use or store the item. You will not be saving money by wasting food. Note the “bulk” some grocery stores have what they often call “bulk” bins, where you can purchases as much of an item by the pound as you want, such as rice, grains, dried beans and dried fruits. These items that are not branded or packaged are frequently quite a steal , and you are completely in control of how much you purchase. These are also a great way to try new things without committing to purchasing a lot of it.

Purchase less processed foods. The more processed the food, the more expensive it is. Set aside some time to do some prep work, such as peeling and cutting carrots rather than purchasing baby carrots. Of course, again consider if you will actually use this product if you have to prepare it. In some cases convenience is worth the extra expense.

Don’t buy beverages. (Except maybe a milk/ soy/ almond/ rice milk) Unless you live in an area where your drinking water has been deemed unsafe, do not waste your money purchasing bottled water, or other drinks. Soda is empty calories, and Fruit juices are ok sometimes, however, you get more fiber, phytonutrients and fulfillment from whole fruits and vegetables. Also, beware that Bishenol A (BPA) and other toxins are found in most plastic bottles and cans. (More on that to come).

Try dried milk. Milk was the exception of the beverages, Nonfat and low fat milk are very important in maintaining bone and heart health (and water just doesn’t taste as good in cereal.) If you reconstitute dried milk, it works out to be even cheaper. Try to purchase Skim or 1% milks. Also, be sure to pay attention to expiration dates and watch for spoilage for both fresh and dried milk.

Use canned and frozen too! Compare the price of canned and frozen fruits and vegetables to that of fresh. Often times they are much cheaper, and are convenient as they do not perish as quickly. For canned foods, choose no salt added or low sodium options if possible, or canned in juice or water, rather than syrup or oil. For frozen fruits and vegetables, avoid ones that contain sauces or added sugar. The nutrients in the canned in frozen foods are often just as high, and sometimes higher than fresh foods. Again beware of BPA and other toxins in canned products, and don't use dented cans. See this list for canned foods without BPA.

Cook in bulk. Save yourself money AND time by doing batch cooking, and storing or freezing left overs for later.

Grow it yourself! Buying seeds, or seedlings and growing what you can can save a lot of money. It is also very rewarding to see that your hard work and tending can 'create' food. If nothing else, try growing herbs on your window sill. Fresh herbs are pricey in the grocery store, but they are easy- peasy to grow and maintain. I've had one basil plant growing on my window for over a year (there were two until I had to break in through my window...), and I have chives growing like wildfire!

The Vitamin D Debate

2011-05-05T14:00:00.000-05:00

Vitamin D has been a hot topic the past few years.

Some of the roles Vitamin D plays include:

Bone health = works with calcium to help form bone, and aids with calcium absorption
Helps reduce inflammation = which is associated with various other disease states and health, namely health health
Improves muscle strength and function

Diseases states Vitamin D is associated with:

Cancer: Specifically

Prostate
Colorectal
Breast
Ovarian
Esophageal
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
Why Vitamin D is responsible for gene regulation- AKA when a cell replicated and divides. A cancer tumor is caused by a rapidly dividing cell that is not properly regulated. Adequate Vitamin D status helps to prevent these regulation issues.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

MS is a genetic, autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system. There are 6 genes associated with the development of this disorder. Research has shown that adequate Vitamin D status can either turn on or off these genes. Unfortunately- this likely occurs in fetal development to early childhood. So, if MS runs in the family it is especially important to have adequate vitamin D status during pregnancy and early childhood.

Diabetes and Insulin Resistance
Heart Disease (Cardiovascular disease)

Sources:

The main source is the sun, however, in the winter the sun is too far away from the Earth, especially for people in the northern hemisphere, so even if it is sunny out we cannot make vitamin D.

Food sources are limited and highly variable some natural sources include: fish and mushrooms - but it varies by species, if they are wild or farmed and when they are picked/ caught and storage.

Some foods are fortified, namely dairy products, cereals, and some orange juice.

How much we need?:

This is the hotly debated topic. The current Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendation is 600 IU for adults, and 800 IU for geriatrics. This recommendation is solely based on bone health as there is still much debate over the other areas that Vitamin D.

Dr. Hollick is a strong advocate of Vitamin D and generally suggests 1,000- 2,000 IU a day for adults and children.

The Vitamin D Council recommend 5,000 IU a day for adults.

So whats the deal?? Through the research I have reviewed- a fair bet for most adults and children is about 1,000- 2,000 IU a day. If an individual is deficient - it can take much more (50,000 IU / once a week for 12 weeks on top of 1,000- 2,000 a day) in order to have an adequate vitamin D status.

Due to all of the new research out there relating vitamin D to so many disease states, many doctors are now testing vitamin D levels (Of course, to add to the confusion - there is also some debate over what is an adequate blood level.) Many medical facilities state that less than 30 ng/dL is low, whereas others state less than 40 or 50 is low. So, if you do get your levels checked, and they are below any of those numbers you may want to consider supplementing a higher dose.

Supplementation:

I used to be somewhat opposed to supplements and believe that you can get all of your nutrients in through a good diet - but honestly- vitamin D is NOT in most foods- so supplementing is necessary.

My personal recommendation is to take at least 1,000- 2,000 IU/ day. If you wish to do a calcium and vitamin D supplement, make sure it has at least 500 IU of vitamin D per a pill, and take 2 a day (at separate times of the day for the calcium to absorb). If you decide to take a multivitamin, try to get at least 800 IU in the vitamin- there are few multivitamins out there with a higher dosage than that, which is why I think the easiest is to just get a separate 1,000 IU vitamin D supplement.

D2 versus D3??? It doesn't matter, unless you have kidney failure. D2 is inactive, D3 is active. If you are healthy and take the inactive version, your body will convert it.

DO NOT TAKE OVER 10,000 IU/ day unless prescribed by a doctor!! It is a vitamin- and can become toxic in excess

You cannot get a toxic amount of vitamin D from the Sun. Your body will not synthesize it.

Lunch Packing Part 2: Tips & Supplies

2011-04-27T11:30:00.001-05:00

My Last Post was on Why to Pack you lunch (snacks / meals), so now here are some more tips on the How- tos

Tips:

Small steps add up! Packing a meal once a week or packing one snack a day can also make a difference.

If you have a desk/ locker etc at work- keep a few healthy items there, this will make it even easier!

Canned or dried soup
granola bars

nuts
trail mix
dried fruit
cereal
oatmeal

Get in the habit: Pack your lunch and snacks the night before, saves you the hassle of doing it in the morning

Freeze left overs in individual portions: easy to grab and go at a moments notice

Prep ahead: Don’t have time to pack a lunch every night? Prep part or all of your meal over the weekend. Check on my post on Healthy Eating for the Busy Person

Portioning veggies and dip into baggies
Cut up fruit and make a fruit salad for easy picking
Prep sandwiches (you can keep bread on the side to keep it from getting soggy)

Considerations about bringing your meals:

Food Safety

If you bring anything perishable be sure to have an insulated bag and cold pack. Or refrigerate if possible.

Ease of carrying:

Especially if you are on the run, having a bag that is easy to carry is key! Try one with shoulder straps, or small bags that fit into other bags you already carry.

Leak Proof:

Invest in good Tupperware. A spilled or leaking lunch can ruin all of your food, or get on your clothes.
Some recommendations: Rubbermaid, Lock &; Lock, Pyrex storage

What You’ll Need:

· A lunch box/ bag

· Good leak-proof Tupperware in various sizes

o Small containers are great for bringing dips and dressings on the side

· Plastic or Re-useable baggies

o Try Snack Taxis or Lunchskins

This is my adorable gnome snack taxi!

· Re-useable water bottle

· Travel Beverage Mug

I love my BPA free Aladdin cup- it never leaks!

· Cold Packs

o Recommend having two to freeze one everyday

Frozen water bottles, or frozen yogurt can also be used in an insulated bag

A Few Lunch Box Recommendations:

· Thermos Brand:

Trusted name brand with great insulation.

Many different sizes and styles

· BuiltNY (BuiltNY.com)

This company offers a variety of classy totes, laptop cases, lunch boxes, water bottle and wine bottle carriers.

Their bags are soft neoprene material and insulated.

Have accessories such as shoulder straps

· LunchBots

Take on the Japanese style Bento Box

Can be carried alone or in another bag

See my love of Bentos Here as well

Reasons to pack your lunch

2011-04-25T11:25:00.000-05:00

Still buying your lunch at work, or going out most days of the week? Here are a few of my favorite reasons to start bagging it :)

Reasons to bring your own meals & snacks:

· Economical:

o Spending $10+ a day on lunch/ coffee and snacks adds up fast!

o You get much more value shopping at a grocery store and prepping food yourself than you do purchasing convenience items.

· Saves time and hassle:

o Yes, packing a lunch can take some time, but will save you the time of having to go and purchase your lunch during your work day.

o You can eat it anywhere! Save the time and hassle of going somewhere to eat.

· More nutritious:

o Frequently “forget” to eat because you are so busy? Regular meals and snacks help improve your metabolism and help maintain your weight.

o Planning and packing lunch more likely to get well rounded meals.

o If you wait until you are hungry, more likely to give into temptation.

o Food companies and restaurants often load their food with salt and unhealthy fats to improve taste. Bringing your own food allows you to control ingredients.

Versus

· Eco-friendly

o All of the packaging associated with buying food out adds up!

(The Average Office worker uses 500 disposable cups a year¹)

o You have much more control of the sources of where your food is coming from (organic, local, sustainable sources)

Broiled Grapefruit

2011-04-14T23:20:00.000-05:00

For the past weeks Supper Club we had breakfast for dinner! It was full of eggs, sausage, pancakes and coffeecake. Thus- I was recruited to make something healthy-ish.

I tried a new recipe I heard of for broiled grapefruit. At first it sounded very odd, as I had only ever had grapefruit raw- either cut in half and eaten with a spoon or peeled and eaten like an orange. But I heard rave reviews and decided to try it. The results were excellent! Super sweet and juicy.

Served with yogurt topping.

Grapefruit Recipe:

Set oven to broil
Slice Grapefruit in half, or quarters. Place on Baking sheet.
Sprinkle with Cinnamon
Pop in oven: broil ~7-10 minutes, until they looks slightly puffy and the skin is peeling away from fruit a tad.

Yogurt Dip/ Topping:

Mix ~ 1/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt (Greek or European) with a bit of fresh or ground and a tsp of honey or agave nectar.
Serve on top of cooked grapefruit

Supper Club and Polenta Pizza

2011-02-02T16:50:00.001-06:00

Some of my friends and I have form a "Sanity Supper Club" in which we meet once a week/ every other week at someones house and cook meals and have an awesome girls night.

I hosted this weeks dinner: and I made Polenta Pizza and had a salad bar!

This was admittedly the first time I cooked with polenta, so for the sake of not totally screwing it up I used Trader Joe's organic pre-made polenta in a tube.

In my head the plan was to roll out the polenta like dough, but it isn't as roll-able as I thought it would be. Since I wasn't sure how it would turn out I made some individual polenta pizza by cutting the loaf of polenta into circles

Individual polenta circles for individual pizzas

I also tried mashing some up, mostly using the heal of my hand, to press them together, which worked pretty well to create a larger 'crust'

For the large Polenta Pizza I used:

Sauteed red onion

portobello onion

spinach

fresh roasted red peppers

Marinara sauce, (Trader Joes) jazzed up with some yellow onion and pizza seasoning

Mozzarella Cheese

Goat Cheese

For the individual polenta pizzas I made a huge array using various toppings such as:

the ones listed above

fresh tomato

basil leaves

mozzarella

pesto sauce

The Pizza was served with the salad bar including:

romaine

baby spinach

red peppers

green peppers

mushrooms

tomatoes

carrots

peas

corn

salsa

hummus

raisins

dried cranberries

walnuts

cage free hard boiled eggs

goat cheese

And of course we celebrated with some wine (for the antioxidants of course)

Smoothies

2011-01-18T08:50:00.002-06:00

Having trouble getting enough fruits/ veggies and low fat dairy into your day?

Try a Smoothie!

Add in lots of fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables. Mix in non fat milk/ soymilk, yogurt or ice and water to help boost calcium and hydration.

Be sure to leave on the skin of the fruits and veggies for added fiber and nutrients! Unlike juice, which removes the fiber, smoothies are great because it is just a blenderized version of the foods so you are still getting all of the good stuff!

Try mixing in veggies including leafy greens- the sweetness of the fruit often compliments well with the vegetables, and its another great way to get a vegetable into a meal or snack you might otherwise have skipped it on.

Of course, don't forget, smoothies will be a sum of the calories and carbs you add to them. A large smoothie should be considered a meal. Adding in skim milk/ vegetables and water will help give you more volume while keeping down the total calories and carbs. A smoothie made with all fruit and juice can still add a hefty calorie toll toyour day, despite providing you with lots of antioxidants and vitamins.

Smoothies are a great option for people having trouble getting in enough calories: have a child who is picky eater? A sick member of the family? Elderly relative or friend struggling to get in enough calories? Try a smoothie!

That being said, a small or watered down smoothie is great for anyone trying to boost nutrition including those trying to lose weight. Again, just add in more low cal foods (veggies) and be mindful of the total calories you are consuming :)

If the smoothie still isn't tasty enough for you, you can always add in a packet of sugar, honey or sugar substitute. Also try adding in your favorite spices like cinnamon and cayenne pepper for a kick!

Unfortunately, smoothies you get out at smoothie shops and other fast food joints aren't always healthy- featuring tons of added sugar, ice cream, and who know what else:
Check out this article for "health food frauds!"

Dinner time!

2011-01-17T20:11:00.000-06:00

As usual, I’ve been a terrible blogger, but here is what I had for dinner tonight!

My internet has been down for the past few days, it has been terrible. Honestly, I wouldn’t care if I did not have so much school work that requires blackboard and other methods of reading/ communicating and passing things in online. Plus not getting to check my email is maddening.

So of course I have been taking trips to Starbucks, Gourmet, and other places with free wi-fi. The dilemma is then that I have to buy something (usually coffee), which then makes me have to pee a lot. Having had my purse stolen at a dining establishment before, I am very wary about leaving anything out, so every time I go to the bathroom I take my computer/ purse etc, which can become quite an annoyance.

Plus, the fact that it feels like it is -10* outside certainly is not motivating me to make any extra trips outside than I have to.

Salmon: Marinated in low sodium soy sauce and chili and garlic paste, and lemon juice broiled on low.

Tofu: Extra firm, marinated in: soy sauce, chili and garlic paste, toasted sesame seed oil, honey. Baked.

Spinach: Fresh bagged spinach cooked in the microwave. No seasoning.

Onion: Stir fried with olive oil and garlic powder. Mixed in with spinach.

Carrots: Whole, unpeeled, well-washed, steamed on the stove top. Seasoned with a little lemon juice.

Brown rice: (an afterthought) I decided maybe a grain would be nice at the last minute so I just threw in a bag of brown Minute Rice.

I actually ate dinner before the rice was done, but everything else was delicious!

I ate by myself, but Jordan is usually starving when he comes home from work, and if I do not specifically put something out for him, he usually winds up eating cheese and crackers or cereal, so I took all of the work out of it for him and plated the food and everything.

Autumn Squash Soup

2010-11-14T07:18:00.000-06:00

With My CSA- I feel like I can barely keep up with all of the vegetables I am getting each week!

My recent solution: Soup. Soups are a great way to use up a variety of veggies, and make something warm and delicious. I love the fact that soups are so diverse and you can put essentially anything in them and get a some wonderful product.

Here is my most recent creation, which came out quite well!

I'll have to add a picture later.

Autumn Squash Soup

1- medium Onion – finely chopped

~ 1 tb Olive oil

1 tb butter

1 clove Garlic – minced

1- Butternut Squash

1- Acorn Squash

2- Sweet Potato

1 head Green Cabbage

2- Apples (I used macintosh)

1 quart Vegetable broth

Nutmeg

Cinnamon

Sage

Pepper

Salt if desired

2 cups Low fat milk

* Peel and chop all ingredients

* In a large pot, simmer onions, garlic, olive oil, butter and a splash of water for about 5 minutes, or until onions are translucent.

* Add in all other chopped vegetables and apples, and vegetable broth, and spices. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring periodically.

* Once ingredients are soft, use an immersion blender (or portion out and use a regular blender or food processor) to blend ingredients until pureed.

* mix in enough milk until desired thickness. Dry white wine could also be added if desired (~1/2- 1 cup).

Notes:

I just used whatever vegetables I had on hand, I’m sure any yellowish squash/ pumpkin would be good. I used fresh, but canned would work fine too.

Other recipes used white potatoes… I thought the sweet potatoes kept nicely with the color scheme, and I enjoy sweet things.

I do not think the cabbage did anything for taste- I just had it on hand and wanted to use it, but nice way to sneak in a green vegetable and add some more fiber and nutrients J

This made a very large portion of soup, you may wish to scale down.

Trail blazing

2010-10-16T20:48:00.002-05:00

This post falls more under the "Live abundantly" section.

My friend Christina has been all into doing new and exciting things (...though, this is the girl who lives on french fries and will not try any new foods.)

But at any rate- we decided to go horse back riding! Each of us have only been on a horse once in our lives... I was last on one in the 6th grade, so it seemed like a new and interesting adventure. We went to Ridge Valley Stables in Grafton MA. We did the beginners trail ride.

My Grandmother called me while I was on the way there, and I informed her I was going horseback riding, her response was, "I don't believe you."
so... I had to get pictures. Unfortunately the horses were not cooperating.

I took many shots like this with a horse, where the horse would then move its head out of sight.


This horse Bit me! I was unaware horses just bit at random, but I was going around, patting all of the horses, and this one started nuzzling me, and then nipped my hand. I had to take a picture of the offender, but alas, he like all of the others moved at the last second.

As for the actual ride I lucked out with a cute little horsey named "Nilla" short for Vanilla Bean. I was happy she was on the smaller side, as some of the others looked extremely wide and hard to ride.

Nilla decided to take up the rear of the pack... she also enjoyed taking the route less traveled by, all of the other horses stayed on the path, she liked to take the "Long-cuts" going in little loops through the trees.

At any rate, it was a fun and interesting experience. By the end I was even just holding onto the reins and not holding on to the saddle for dear life every time she ran! Progress.

Seasonal Soup and Salad: The Soup

2010-10-13T20:09:00.000-05:00

My last post discussed Jon and I's seasonal dinner inspired by the bounty of my CSA box.

I had made a Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Cider Vinaigrette, and he made a lovely potato and leek soup.

I generally attempt to make my recipes healthier- but Jon was only willing to do so much tweaking to the recipe...

He used:

1/2 stick unsalted butter
olive oil
2 leeks
1/4 large onion (so.. like one small one?)
3 cloves garlic, minced
~1.5 pounds potatoes, peeled (we used russet potatoes )
1 pt chicken or vegetable broth
parsly
black pepper
salt
1 cup heavy cream (Um.... I would not have chosen this. You can substitute 1/2 or all milk, or use a light cream at least)

* wash and chop leeks, garlic and onion.
* Heat a bit of butter and oil in pan (big frying pan/ wok).
* add garlic, leeks and onions. Saute until soft. Set aside.
* peel and thinly slice potatoes.
* prepare pan again with olive oil and butter, and add potatoes. You are not trying to brown the potatoes. Add a bit of broth and cover pan. Cook until soft.
* add in the leek combo, and saute. Add the rest of the of the broth and spices as desired, and let simmer.
* place a large pot over heat. Pour the soup mixture into pot.
* add 1 cup of cream (or milk).
* use immersion blender to blenderize some of the soup until reaching a creamy consistency.
*** note: Jon blenderized quite a bit, but in retrospect we think he should have left some chunks of potatoes etc. So blend to your desired consistency.

Enjoy!

We served ours with our salad and a side of french bread.

Seasonal Soup and Salad: The Salad

2010-10-11T19:49:00.006-05:00

Getting a CSA is a great way to force you to eat seasonally- and eat some what creatively. Normally I just go to the grocery store and buy whatever is on sale or looks good.

With a CSA- I get a box of random vegetables and fruits that are fresh, local and in season. It has also forced me to get more variety in my diet which is always good too.

This weeks box included:
leeks (which I had never had before last week- I had to google to figure out what they were)
cabbage
arugula
broccoli
Some leafy green (Red Chard?)
lots and lots of potatoes
apples

Jon, as per usual, was pestering me what we were doing for dinner, so I told him what vegetables we needed to use- and we went ahead and googled recipes.

I decided on the Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with cider vinaigrette, and he made a Potato and Leek soup (recipe to follow!).

For my salad I used:
1 butternut squash
3 tb dried cranberries
1 tb pure maple syrup
salt and pepper
1 bunch arugula
1/2 head romaine (I used a whole head and had lots left over.)
1/2 cup walnuts
3 tb apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup apple cider
1 shallot
2 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
1 apple
fresh parm cheese

* first pre heat oven to 400*
* peel, cut and cube squash
* Place squash on baking sheet or pan, add maple syrup, a little bit of olive oil and some pepper and salt to squash and toss. Roast for ~15 minutes.
* add cranberries after 15 minutes, mix again and continue to roast until cooked.
* add chopped shallot, vinegar and apple cider to a small sauce pan and let simmer for about 10 minutes.
*remove dressing from heat. Add dijon mustard and olive oil. Mix well.
* wash, dry and cut arugula and lettuce.
* cut apple (add lemon, or other citrus juice to keep from browning.

* prep plates by placing greens, apple, walnuts, parm cheese.
* once squash is done, add some to salad. (I let mine cool for a little bit first.
* add small amount of well mixed dressing to salad and enjoy!

Cuban Dish #2: Cuban Sea Bass (um… Tilapia)

2010-09-20T11:26:00.000-05:00

I am still on the mission to force health eating upon people, along with becoming more ethnically diverse, so I decided to try my hand at another Cuban dish. This time, I simply found a dish that was relatively healthy to begin with rather than editing a less healthy dish.

The recipe was for Cuban Sea Bass. However, when I go to the grocery store, I was unable to find sea bass, so I decided to settle for tilapia.

Cuban Tilapia (or whatever other fish you decide to stick in it)

2 tb olive oil

2 white onions, sliced

1-2 cloves minced garlic

4 chopped tomatoes, seeded

1.5 cups dry white wine

1/2 cup slices olives

1/4 cup drained capers

crushed red pepper

~ 1 pound of fish

1 tb butter

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

heat olive oil in a pan/ wok and cook onions and garlic.
Add tomatoes, cook until soft.
Add wine, olives, capers, and red pepper. Allow sauce to simmer.
Add fish to sauce. Cook 10-15 minutes until fish is easily flaked.
Remove the fish from the sauce.
Add butter to sauce and turn up the heat. Add cilantro. Cover sauce, and allow to thicken.
Serve sauce over the fish.

I served my dish with fresh steamed green beans, black beans, and a brown rice/rice pilaf concoction.

It came out pretty good in my opinion. I am not a huge fan of olives, so if I did it again, I think I would omit them, but overall tasty.

Eating Healthy for the Busy Person

2010-09-17T19:42:00.000-05:00

"If you need something done, give it to a busy person!"

Ah… how true it is. It does seem the more we have to do, the more we get done.

Of course, it's also easy to let certain things go when you are really busy, such as going to the gym and eating healthy.

So here's the key:

Plan

Prep

Do!

My professor always complains that people say they are either organized, or they are not. She states, "Organized people are organized because they take the time out of their day to get organized," which, in the end, saves time!

So:

- plan what kind of meals you want to make for the week.

- make a shopping list

- go to the grocery store

- at some point soon after going to the grocery store- take the time to prep any of the healthy food that requires effort that might later deter you from eating it.

If you set out to chop/ peel/ prep a bunch of stuff at once it takes much less time than going through the process each time you want to eat something. Plus, think of the time and energy you'll save on washing the knives, vegetable peeler, and cutting board.

I personally go through this process not only because I am busy, but because Jordan is lazy, and I know he will not bother to use vegetables if they are not ready to be used.

Last week at the grocery store I bought a 5 pound bag of carrots for $1.99! but of course, whole carrots require a bit more effort than baby carrots, so I took the time after I went shopping to peel and cut them up.

Along with a bag of green peppers, I cut up a few into strips to be used for whatever my heart desired at the moment. They can always be chopped smaller later on if desired.

It also seems we are more likely to go through fruit in our house if it is cut up and mixed together (in this case, apples, bananas, plums and nectarines are all pretty easy to eat anyway, but I do enjoy the variety. It works even better if there is something that required cutting up such as a melon.

Then finally- once I am all done prepping I stick it all in the fridge in tupperware for easy access and quick meal making throughout the week :)

I say Tomato, you say Tomahto: Antioxidant Series

2010-09-15T14:46:00.001-05:00

Lycopene: Heinz tomato ketchup did a lot of promoting of lycopene, especially in the late 90s, but what is it?

Lycopene, is another phytonutrient! It is the bright red carotenoid pigment. It's usually associated with tomatoes, but it is also found in:

watermelon

pink grapefruit

apricots

pink guava

red bell pepper

wolfberries

Unfortunately for any raw-foodies out there, lycopene is more bioavailable after is is processed or heated. It is even better when consumed with a fat (such as olive oil). The processing is what makes ketchup and tomato sauces a good source of lycopene, whereas raw tomatoes, are not.

As per usual with antioxidants, there is a lot of missing or conflicting research. However, based on empirical data there is an inverse relationship between consumption of lycopene/serum lycopene levels and chronic diseases, including cancer.

Lycopene works it's magic by quenching free radicals on a mission to steal from your cells. In vitro, (like test-tube-lab-studies) lycopene has been shown to decrease DNA damage, decrease oxidative stress, decrease oxidation of LDL, and prevent lipid peroxidation.

In vivo, (in living creatures), lycopene's metabolism is much less understood, and its overall health benefits still remain controversial. More research is needed especially in the area of how lycopene interacts without metabolites and environmental factors.

Nonetheless, as with most antioxidants, the sources of lycopene are healthy overall. (tomatoes, watermelon, grapefruit?) If you are getting your lycopene from ketchup, just remember its sodium and sugar content, maybe try a no sodium or natural kind.

So…. how do you say tomato?

My boyfriend's bento

2010-09-12T21:41:00.002-05:00

Jordan is the antagonist in my plot to encourage healthy eating. No matter how many little tid bits I give him, or healthy-yet delicious foods I attempt to expose him to, he still insists he must eat the fattening foods he loves because he will not give up "flavor"

I have tried introducing him to new flavors, and incorporating his beloved flavors in a healthier fashion, yet, he still makes dietary decisions to make any dietitian/ health conscience individual cringe.

I have always said the main reason I want children is so I can feed them - which probably isn't the true main reason, but I do enjoy feeding people/ preparing them food, and getting them to eat healthy. So, I am using Jordan as my 'practice child' and I prepare his lunch for work most days.

I love Lunch in a Box blog about a mothers journey of preparing speedy-adorable bentos for her son, so I got inspired and bought a bento box. - as the baker I used to work for used to say "If it looks good on the plate, it tastes good going into the mouth."

So here is one sample of Jordan's Bento box:

* turkey sandwich: whole wheat bread, turkey, lettuce, cucumber, sauteed onion and pepper.

* carrots with hummus

* a cut up plum and nectarine

* reduced fat wheat thins with thinly slices cheddar cheese

* unsalted, dry roasted peanuts

* and a granola bar.

Sure, it's only one meal, but I am making healthy changes to that boy- one meal at a time :) And as per usual-- encouraging frugality, since we're saving money by packing lunched rather than going out and buying them every day.

Red red wine… : Antioxidant Series

2010-09-09T14:13:00.001-05:00

Alcohol gets very mixed reviews in the health profession. In my opinion, like food, everything is ok in MODERATION.

Red wine in particular has the benefit of being a good source of antioxidants, specifically, resveratrol (RSV). Like AVNs in oats, resveratrol is an phytoalexin, which is important to the grape plant as a form of protection from UV rays, infection, injury, and fungal attack.

RSV is found in grape skin, mulberries and peanuts. Red wine uses the grape skin during fermentation, whereas white wine does not, thus red wine is much higher in RSV and gets more press.

RSV acts as an antioxidant, and helps to activate or inactivate various important proteins in your body. Your body is constantly making new new cells to replace old or damaged ones, RSV plays a role in stabilizing the proteins that help to regulate this activity. This extra stability helps to prevent cancer by stopping mutation, and also has a positive effect on aging.

RSVs also help to prevent cancer in others ways, such as inhibiting cyclooxygenase (COX), which increases cell proliferation (we do not want a lot of proliferation), and limits immune surveillance.

In a nut shell: COX is bad, and RSV stops COX. RSV helps prevent cancer, which is good!

RSV is also thought to contribute to the "French Paradox" of the french eating a relatively high saturated fat diet, yet having low rates of cardiovascular disease. Perhaps it is all that red wine they are drinking that is acting as an antioxidant and protecting their cells!? maybe?

…More research is needed!

Note: The Negative effects of excessive alcohol consumption seriously outweigh any of the positives. Alcohol can ruin you physical health, mental health, and social health. If you are going to drink, drink in moderation, (a maximum of 1 drink a day for females, 2 drinks a day for males.)

Picadillo

2010-09-07T15:30:00.000-05:00

Picadillo is a Hispanic dish. Cubans, Brazilians, and Mexicans (and probably every other South American country) has their own variation on the dish. It is traditionally a dish made with ground beef that is served over rice, or can be made in to empanadas. Since Jordan is Cuban, I've had the great pleasure of trying his mothers Picadillo on several occasions.

Jordan always tells me that his favorite foods are Cuban foods, which have a lot of fat in them. I try to make the argument that he could make some substitutions in the recipes to make the dishes healthier, but he says it will make them lose their flavor.

So... a challenge?

I took this Traditional Cuban Picadillo Recipe I found online, and analyzed the nutrition and modified it. Usually Cuban Picadillo also contains raisins, so I added a cup of raisins to my modified recipe, and to the traditional recipe when analyzing.

My Modified Picadillo Recipe Included:
*4 cloves of Garlic
*~ 2 tb olive oil
* 2 medium onions, finely chopped
* 1 large green bell pepper, chopped
* 1 tsp cumin
* 1 tsp oregano
*1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1 cup beef broth (can use vegetable/ chicken/ just water)
* 1 Package Shady Brook Farms Lean Ground Turkey (20 oz raw, about 1 LB cooked)
* 2 small cans tomato sauce
* 2 medium potatoes (roughly peeled), diced
* 10 large green olives, cut
*~ 1 cup raisins

Instructions:
1. Saute onions, peppers and garlic in olive oil over medium heat, until softened.
2. Mix meat with spices, then add to pan with vegetables. Add broth, and tomato sauce. Let cook, covered at medium heat for about 15 minutes.
3. Add potatoes. Cook for an additional 15 minutes.
** note- I stated 'roughly peeled,' the original recipe said peeled, but frankly I enjoy the peel- and its where all of the fiber is! so basically I just lazily peel a potato so that about 2/3 of the skin is off, so the texture is better but I still can have the fiber and nutrients from some of the peel. You could do as you wish.
4. Add in olives and raisins, simmer until potatoes are fork tender.
5. Serve over (brown) rice or with a whole wheat tortilla!

Note- instead of ground turkey you could use a lean ground beef, ground chicken, or even diced up chicken breast or other lean meat. Megan actually came over for dinner, so I made her a batch that had tofu, and no beef broth- and she seemed to enjoy it as well! So be creative!

According to the website I got the original recipe from, the recipe makes 4-6 servings, which I found to be way off! There were 4 of us eating good size portions, and I'd say I still have at least 1/3 left. So honestly, I would say this makes about 8 servings. But of course, that may have something to do with my adding more vegetables. To be as fair as possible, below I compared the two recipes dividing them into 6 servings each:

The Nutrition Break Down:

The Original Recipe:

400 calories
20 grams fat- 6 grams Sat Fat, 10.5 MUFA,
35 grams carb- 4 grams fiber
23 grams protein

My Modified Recipe

360 calories
12 grams fat- 2.5 Sat fat, 6.5 MUFA
40.5 grams Carb- 5 grams fiber
23 grams protein

So, the nutrition facts do not look that much different, but again, honestly, considering volumetrics, you would not eat as much of the modified version as you would the original version (as in 1/6th of the recipe).
And Saving 8 grams of fat certainly is not too shabby!

Another Reason to love oats!!: Antioxidant Series

2010-09-05T13:48:00.001-05:00

Oats are wonderful for so many reasons: they are a whole grain, low fat, a good source of fiber, full of nutrients, and are a delicious and filling.

Considering the amazingness of oats on a whole, it isn't surprising that they are also a good source of antioxidants! Oats contain an antioxidant called avenanthramides (avns for short).

Avns are part of a group of antioxidants called phytoalexins. They are important to oats as plants because they help make them resistant to diseases. In humans, avns act as antioxidants to help protect our cells from oxidation. Oats and avns are associated with decreased risk of cardiovascular disease (related to prevention of over fed macrophages!) Avns, even isolated from oats, help to reduce cytokines (inflammatory markers) in the body, and help reduce cholesterol.

As with all antioxidants, more research is needed, but overall, oats have everything going for them… but just in case you needed one more reason to eat some- there you have it: avns :)

Coffee's Health Benefits: Antioxidant Series

2010-09-02T19:14:00.000-05:00

Coffee, is a great love of mine. Its warm, tasty, wakes you up, and is great to dip things in.

Other than all of those benefits, didja know coffee also contains molecules that are antioxidants?? (See my last post for my attempt at explaining antioxidants.)

Coffee contains these wonderful compounds called polyphenols. And in fact- coffee consumption actually provides more than 60% of antioxidants consumed in America.

Epidemiological studies have shown that coffee consumption correlated with less ‘oxidative stress’, aka, less cells with their identity stolen, and less inflammation.

Sometimes coffee gets a bad wrap, in regards to it staining teeth, or its caffeine being bad if you have high blood pressure, but overall it’s hard to really analyze coffee. Many studies looking at specifically at coffee consumption in humans is difficult to translate, because often coffee drinkers also have other negative lifestyle factors such as smoking, or not consuming many fruits and vegetables.

Looking at coffee in animal studies, in vitro (just looking at the cellular interactions), and some human studies have shown positive results for coffee as an antioxidant. Coffee has been associated with decreased risk of heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, liver disease and type II diabetes. It does this through preventing oxidative reactions, or stopping free radical reactions.

Currently there is no absolute proof that coffee is beneficial, however, it is known that the antioxidant polyphenol compound does exist in the beverage. More well controlled human studies are needed.

But in my opinion, if you enjoy your daily cup of java, go ahead and enjoy :) your body just might thank you later.

Photo by Jessica Leibowitz @ MyCameraEatsFood.com

Antioxidants

2010-08-31T12:00:00.000-05:00

You know how antioxidants as super foods has been a hot topic now for quite a few years now? Well, do you really even know what an antioxidant is?

An antioxidant is a molecule that can prevents oxidation from occurring in your body. But, that sounds counterintuitive to some, since Oxygen is generally a good thing, why would we want ANTI-oxidants??

Oxidants are also known as “free radicals,” which are molecules with an unpaired electron... which means they are not happy, and they want to steal an electron from one of your happy complete cells! For the sake of it, lets call the electrons the ‘cells identity,’ so stealing an electron is like stealing someones social security card and ruining their credit. Free Radicals are basically like bullies that want to steal your cell’s identity! which would make your cells unhappy :( Also, once the your cell has its identity stolen - it becomes a free radical, and steals an identity from another cell- and the vicious cycle continues.

That is until an antioxidant steps in an saves the day! The antioxidant gives one of its own electrons to the new ‘free radical’ and stops the cycle, so no more cells have their identities stolen.

So why is all of this electron stealing so bad anyway?

Well obviously no one enjoys having their identity stolen, or their credit ruined. Likewise, your cells, and your body as a whole gets pretty angry about this, and it starts an immune reaction and creates inflammation in your body. In general, inflammation in the body is negative, and correlates with a lot of diseases.

For example, in heart disease your macrophages - which are kind of like your pac man cells that go around gobbling things up, are sent out to gobble up your identity-stolen-newly-free-radical cells. If you have a lot of cells that have been oxidized/ identity stolen, the macrophages have a lot to do. They eventually get filled up with confused identity stole cells, so they cannot gobble up any more, and they become a foam cell, and then become plaque in your arteries, which correlates with heart disease.

Thus, If you have antioxidants to STOP the reaction of identity stealing, your Macrophages will not get filled up excessively fast, and this process will not occur. Your cells can keep their own identities and live blissfully happy lives, with their own social security cards.

So, where do you get these antioxidants?? Mostly in your fruits, veggies, whole grains, and healthy sources of fat!

Vitamin C is an antioxidant, which is found in most fruits and many vegetables, such as oranges, strawberries, bell peppers, broccoli and cauliflower.

Vitamin E, another antioxidant, is basically Vitamin C’s compliment (they work as a tag-teaming pair of antioxidants) is found in nuts, peanuts, vegetable oil, spinach, and broccoli.

I am going to posting about a few of my favorite other sources of antioxidants soon- so check back and help protect your cells from identity theft!

Ghreylin would just like to remind you to keep living, and eating, abundantly.

Unfortunately for Ghrey, cork is not a good source of antioxidants.

Welcome Back??

2010-08-29T18:57:00.001-05:00

Hello!! It’s been a while. I have been busy with school and work, and also my laptop’s motherboard is died in the beginning of July, which seriously puts a damper on blogging!

Yesterday was my of the fall semester for grad school, and Next Wednesday starts the beginning of my full time clinical internship. From what I have heard-- this semester is going to be BUSY. So, we shall see if this is just a quick hello or not.

The past two days I have had comically bad luck. As aforementioned, yesterday was the first day of school, which consisted of being told all of the assignments we had to do this semester, and how stressful and difficult it would be. We were even given the number to the counseling center (So basically, this program is going to drive us into therapy??)

Some of the girls were going to Acapulco's after class, so I decided to stop by there to be social. Once I got there, my car was smoking. Apparently I have a severe transmission fluid leak.... Thankfully my father was nice enough to come help me out. And I still got to eat a lot of chips and salsa, and do some mingling. In the end I had to have my car towed, and didn’t get home until after 10 pm, exhausted.

Today, I was going to bike to Harvard Sq to get some work done, but alas, my back tire was flat. I decided to walk to Davis Square instead... Some how I managed to fall on my face, then roll over into someones driveway. I am not going to lie- I think it was a pretty impressive fall, and I regret more people were not there to witness it because I am sure it would have invoked a few laughs.

Any way…. hopefully my luck will change and I'll see ya'll soon!

Twitter

2010-06-13T13:41:00.002-05:00

Grad school + work have gotten the better of me!

On twitter @eat_abundantly :)

Wrong Side of the Bed

2010-01-27T17:30:00.007-06:00

Today I woke up in an unnecessarily bitter mood.

Jordan had slept over and had trouble sleeping, and then woke up on the wrong side of the bed, and as the saying goes "misery loves company" so he took me along for a grumpy morning.

Once he was gone, I was faced with a mountain of dishes in the sink, and dishes I had previously washed piled up in the drying rack. Some of these were mine of course, but being in a grumpy mood, I washed them all while bantering madly to myself of how I always get stuck doing everything around the house, when I am the one that has the most to do! Geez I just took the trash and recycling out last night too, and cleaned the bathroom which looks like crap again because Sookie likes to throw litter!

I then took the feminist approach and assumed the boys were leaving all of the house work for me to do because I am the only girl and clearly they must think I am only good for domestic purposes.

After settling down from my pity-party, I comforted myself with a nice breakfast of left over
home-made cottage potatoes (aka homefries :P ) and my last egg, over-easy, with some ketchup and a cup or 3 of Pumpkin Spice coffee. I think its the cold, but I have been craving really "breakfasty" breakfasts lately.

After breakfast I headed out to Framingham to get some school work done and go to class. I brought an apple and nutrigrain bar as some brain food.

Despite my snacking I was definitely in need of some more substantial lunch when I got home. I mixed up some more left over Spaghetti + mixture of frozen veggies + Vegan Chili, and some extra spaghetti sauce, and then added some 50% reduced fat Cabot Cheddar Cheese (currently on sale at Shaws.)

+
In the mix: Broccoli, Asparagus, Green Peppers, and carrots... I wish I had a few other colors in there, but the chili livened up the mix.
+

+
Vegan Chili
(Its always frozen come photo-op time!)

=
Nomnomnom. It was very good.

I may have snacked on a mini bag of popcorn with chocolate chips and raisins while watching "Charlie Bartlett" and cleaning the apartment (SEE!! AGAIN!)

Tonight I am heading to Gloucester so it I wait that long to eat I'll just go get to steal J.'s food, a rare and exciting treat :)

And just to confirm, I am no longer bitter, and am in a much better mood, and now off to take my Sports Nutrition Quiz!

Tightening the belt buckle

2010-01-27T08:24:00.000-06:00

This past week I have been completely freaking out about everything I have to do, and even moreso, about money.

Right now, I am technically doing ok moneywise… I have some savings, and an adequate amount to pay for bills/rent/loans/food etc. etc…. unfortunately- the key word is NOW!

I am doing a lot of forward thinking right now (which is good and bad.)

Next year I will be doing my internship and grad school full time. It is HIGHLY inadvisable to work during... which means, right now I basically need to save up enough money for living expenses and tuition for the next year.

Unfortunately a lot of expenses are nonnegotiable e.i, I do not think my landlord is going to suddenly come down on my rent, and now that I legit have to be commuting a lot more, I have to resign myself that paying for gas is inevitable.

three of the only "expenses" I can really control, are food, going out and shopping. Shopping: I technically do not NEED to go shopping at all... other than for some household items like toilet paper, tooth paste, etc. In regards to going out, I am already relatively frugal, and most of my friends are too (clubs with covers? psht, overrated) so that makes it a little easier... however, based on my mental health, I refuse to become a hermit, so I will be budgeting in some 'going out money'

Finally there is food. I am really good at not spending money EXCEPT when it comes to food (girls gotta eat, you know!) I rarely go out to eat, but I can do some serious damage at the grocery store.

I believe I have mentioned in the past, I have a slight obsession with Mint.com-- which is basically a budgeting website.... based on this website I have concluded that I spend about $230 on food (including groceries, restaurants and alcohol) a month (excluding what I pay for with cash,.... which is very rare.)

Since I am constantly talking about the topic of 'Eating Healthy on a Budget' I am going to put myself on a budget and test my own capabilities! I started doing this a bit throughout January-- but for the sake of officially keeping track I am going to start February 1st.

Since I usually spend $230 a month,

(Here's the summary of the last year...)

I am going to attempt to cut that in half and go down to $115. We shall see how this goes....

(You can imagine there is another $100 there. C'mon! If I had $115 to photograph, I wouldn't be in this situation!)

since I am not completely starting from scratch it is not 100% fair. I do have some food on hand. and throughout January, thus far, I have spent $200 on food, which I don't think was THAT bad considering the fact that throughout the month of December I seem to have let myself get down to the bare bones. At the end of the month I'll do a sum up of everything I am starting with.

Also, I have the issue that the $115 is supposed to just be for me. Which, generally I do only shop for myself, however, with two- four other people "living" in my house, it doesn't always work out that way.

On the other hand, I also have the benefit/ problem in this experiment that Jordan likes to go out to eat etc rather frequently, in which case, he pays, since if it were up to me, I'd just cook. I am going to inform him of my plans, and perhaps he'll get on board, otherwise I'll just consider anytime we go out and he pays null, considering how much of my food, etc. he eats/uses. (Perhaps we'll consider it his 'rent').

Back in the Swing of things....

2010-01-26T09:41:00.005-06:00

The first two weeks were (1 word, 2 syllables) STRESS-FULL!

But I have to keep telling myself: It's NOT unmanageable! I can do this. Life is really all about balance, and I feel like in week three of school, I am finally feeling like I have at least somewhat achieved that.

I did overload my plate a little bit too much (AGAIN.) with full time school, internship and the equivalent of full time work.... but, it is going to be ok.

I started this week off by spending some time organizing my various syllabuses for my classes, and really trying to figure out what is due when, and comparing it to my schedule to find out when I actually have time to do things. It's amazing how much better you can feel just after making an organized list of what you need to get done! It's just so intimidating when its all floating around your head all mumble-jumbled.

One thing I did this week that definitely improved my psyche was getting a two-week pass to Bally's in porter. As I mentioned, I canceled my membership to Planet Fitness since I never went. It just wasn't for me. So far I have only made it there a few times, but every time I went, I made sure to kick my own butt! I love working out, but I am currently so out of shape. I really need to start scheduling in more workouts, even when I am busy. Exercise really does release endorphins :)

Also, there is hope in sight for the spring! Spring is my favorite season. I may technically like summer better, however, since I HATE winter, spring makes me the happiest. I just become in a significantly better mood. I appreciate the nicer weather so much more after holing up inside and under a million layers for months. And just getting some more sunlight in the day is amazing :D

Let the Tuesdays Begin!

2010-01-26T09:05:00.008-06:00

This semester I am again teaching Exercise Physiology. This time I was lucky enough to have all of my labs scheduled on one day; Tuesdays.

I am very happy I don't have to commute to BU multiple days a week, however, it does mean I have to be here for a very long day.

My labs are at 8am-10am, 12pm-2 pm and 6:30pm-8:30pm. Factor in that I have to get here AT LEAST half and hour early to set up, and it takes about an hour to commute by walking and T to get here = Long Long day.

And consequently, since I am working on budgeting my food money better= lots of food to pack!
I was also STARVING last night when I packed my lunch, which might have lead me to overpack a bit....

Since I passed out so early last night, without accomplishing much prep for lab today, I was up at 5 and hit the road by 6! Consequently, I of course started off with some coffee,( pumpkin spice flavored), with nonfat lactaid milk and splenda.

For breakfast I had a nutrigrain bar on the train ride here, and then after my first lab tucked into some Cheerios and Fiber One, with nonfat, plain yogurt, and a big banana.

I also brought some fruity snacks of a small green apple, and 2 lil' tangerines (which were sooo seedy!).

I had several cups of tea to satisfy the need for warmth, and prevent me from buying a cup of coffee. I am also developing a very sore throat (NOT AGAIN!!) So I hoped that would help a little.

For lunch I brought some of my Vegan Chili, with added whole wheat spaghetti and extra carrots and tomato sauce. It was nice and hearty and warm for a cool day in the lab (outside was actually really nice out today, for January, but inside. burrr.)

I also brought a pack of Lorna Doones - in case a sweet craving struck, but alas I wound up eating them mindlessly when I was on hold with the insurance company instead >___<
I am now finally home at 8:30 pm.... and am considering soup for my sore throat. My body is just exhausted and I can't wait to snuggle and pass out.

Zzzz....

Rain Rain go away...

2010-01-25T12:33:00.001-06:00

Miserable. Sleepy. Cold.

Those are the three best words to describe my mood at the current moment.

It is pouring out!

I had my first day at my internship site this morning (Melrose-Wakefield Hospital), it seemed really nice! All of the dietitians were very friendly, and I got to go on rounds and read medical charts-- and I actually understood 90% of everything that was going on! I was very impressed by myself, though I need to review my medical abbreviations. And of course its only day 1, not too intense so I can't go getting cocky yet! But so far, I am very happy with my placement. So the day started off good... other than the rain.

I then had to drive to Framingham for class. Driving down the highway in that downpour was scary :( Then, it took me a good 20 minutes of puttering around to find a parking spot. I eventually gave up and made my own spot >____<

After class I hurried back to my illegally-parked car (Thankfully, no ticket!)

Upon coming home I informed Ghrey how lucky he was to be an indoor bird today!
I then immediately put on my sweats and monkey slipper socks!

Sookie also appeared to be grateful for her indoor status, as she curled up in her hanging shelves.

I had originally intended on going to the gym right after class, but it was so ghastly out, that plan went out the window.

Speaking of window... This is the view from my window!

I also had a nice hot cup of tea, and made a bowl of oatmeal.

My oats were really just an excuse to satisfy a sweet craving. They included:
~1/2 cup dry oats
1 medium banana
1 tb Almond Butter (Which I know I shouldn't! But I haven't had a reaction to almonds yet and its sooo good.)
1 tsp pancake syrup
2 tb raisins
1 tb butterscotch chips
1 tb fruit preserve
lil bit of vanilla extract
and A-LOTTA hot water!

It was soo delicious-- but as usual just looked like a murky mess due to my insistence on having drowning oats.

After warming up a bit with the tea and oats I did get my butt to the gym. Of course, just my luck, half way down my street my umbrella completely fell apart. But after that- things looked up and I had a good work out, including squirrel elliptical-ing for30 minutes, and a nice, painful (in a good way) whole body circuit.

I am very happy I forced myself to the gym. I really need to kick myself back in shape.

A combination of waking up early, all that driving, the rain and some physical exhaustion made me very very sleepy and I hit the hay by 10 :) noo complaints there! (Except maybe from Ghrey who was not too happy about having to go back into his cage so early. )

Planning ahead!

2010-01-15T07:00:00.001-06:00

One of my tips for eating healthy on a budget is to plan ahead!

After the past few days of disorganization and lateness I definitely had the motivation to pack myself a lunch for work. Packing my breakfast and lunch ahead of time generally causes me to eat healthier and spend less money, so overall positive!

I work at Mass General from 7:30 am - 6 pm so the food I bring tends to span me from breakfast to afternoon snack.

Today I brought:

A grapefruit, which I pre-peeled, because inevitably whenever I attempt to peel a citrus fruit at my desk it never really ends well.

a salad including: baby spinach, romaine lettuce, whole wheat spaghetti, two whole carrots, some frozen corn and snap peas, pumpkin seeds, and raisins.

and some multigrain cheerios and a banana.

In my locker at work I also keep a stash of Healthy choice soup, some plain oatmeal, sometimes some granola bars, and of course A LOT of tea bags, for those times (aka every day I work) where I am not actually hungry but want to put something in my mouth.

If you are trying to eat healthier, or tighten the wallet, I definitely recommend buying your own groceries and prepping ahead of time. You are more likely to make wiser, healthier choices, and pay a fraction of what you would at a restaurant or work cafeteria!

Ugh!!

2010-01-14T19:19:00.004-06:00

Day two of school, and stressed out and exhausted!

Not so much because of school, but more so because of all of the driving I have been doing.

After my extended getting lost trip yesterday morning, I still agreed to go with J. to Gloucester, provided I was back home by 11:30 am to get to FSC for my 12:30 class.

Which made yesterdays total driving: Somerville -> Worcester ->Framingham -> Somerville -> Gloucester = about 120 miles, excluding the trip back to Somerville and Framingham this morning.

Of course we were subject to Murphy's Law when first J.'s mothers car battery died, and J. had to spend the morning fixing it, and the 128 was underconstruction and all backed up... getting me back to Somerville a little late and consequently to class late, again.

Today was two hours of metabolism. ::Yawn:: I do sorta enjoy the topics, but it's a very dry topic. Thankfully the professor is nice and relatively interesting, and helps to make the topics more understandable and interesting, but you can only do so much with ATP, Ribosomes, Kinase, and phosphoinositides.

The worst part about being late today was I was SOOO HUNGRY and tired throughout class. We did have breakfast, but being the frequent snacker than I am, by the end of the class at 2:30, I was not a happy camper. I have also developed an even stronger coffee addiction than usual and I missed my morning cup (or 6) of coffee, so staying awake through two hours of Biochemistry was no easy task!

I had originally been intending to check out the FSC gym after class today, but given my hunger and caffiene withdrawl symptoms, I opted to grab a snack instead.

I had a Mocha Odwalla Bar and a Cuppa Joe (which I took pics of on my phone, however, apparently forgot to save them)

The Mocha Odwalla Bar was heavenly! I had been soo hungry and it fulfilled my desire for food and coffee flavor at once. As I usually say, I am not a huge bar person because I am much more into volumetrics and enjoy eating larger quantities of food, but a bar was perfect for this situation.- quick, easy, nutritious and filling. I have enjoyed every flavor Odwalla Bar I have tried thus far, this and the Green Superfood one are probably my favorites. They have a nice soft, moist texture, and are big enough to make me feel like I have gotten my 200+ calories worth.

I was disheartened by the morning and lost the will to work out (which has been happening far to frequently lately.) so I just headed home instead, where I have since been being lazy and relatively unproductive unfortunately.

I need to get back on my game and get this semester started on the right foot!

Class and Cheerios

2010-01-14T19:05:00.011-06:00

Yesterday was my first day of class. Those who know me, know I generally am exceptionally punctual (I am getting better on being late sometimes...) but in general, I HAVE to be early. Sooo... being the first day on campus I left Somerville at 7 am, I made it to Framingham fine, HOWEVER, I did not make it to Framingham State College, so successfully. I somehow got turned around on one road and accidentally wound up back on the Mass Pike and couldn't turn around without going to the next exit and turning around.

Of course, being directionally challenged I was also relying heavily on Dot, my handy GPS. I guess at some point during our journey after I got lost, I hit something on Dot and changed the destination location... soo my GPS sent me all the way back to Worcester (16 miles out of the way...)

Here's the map of what I drove: from Somerville, to Worcester, to Framingham, and then of course back to Somerville.

I finally made it to class 10 minutes late >___<

Thankfully I had planned well the night before and packed lots of snackies for the day.
I brought: 2 tangerines, a banana, some multigrain cheerios, and soymilk

The intent had been to eat the cheerios, milk, and banana together, but the opportune time never came around and they were all eaten seperately throughout class/ running around on campus.

The multigrain Cheerios have been my new thing lately-- namely because they have been on sale at Shaw's for $2.22 the past two times I've gone shopping.

I love cold cereal, but a lot of times I have to swear it off because I can't eat it without binge eating, but these guys don't tend to cause me to overeat. They are lightly sweetened, and more multidimensional than plain cheerios as they are made with five different kinds of whole grain O's. Nutrition Facts wise: 1 cup = 110 calories, 1 gram fat, 2 grams protein, 23 grams carbs , 6 grams of sugar and 3 grams of fiber.

So, they are not nutritional superstar, but pretty good. I am a fan that there are only 110 calories in 1 cup, and only 1 gram of fat. The sugar could be lower, and the fiber could be higher. But overall, tasty and healthy.

As for class, I had my first Medical Nutrition Therapy Lab, which will be the second part of my internship (Still haven't found out my rotation location), and then my first Human Nutritional Science Class-- which is basically Metabolism/ Nutritional Biochemistry.

I have been really nervous about the Metabolism class, since I was not so stellar at Biochem, but day one wasn't so bad, albeit already boring.

Black Bean Soup

2010-01-12T11:51:00.001-06:00

Going on with my bean theme, the other day I made some tasty Black Bean Soup!
I unfortunately packed it all up and froze it before thinking to take a picture, but it looks like a standard black bean soup. Low fat, high protein, high fiber, and no cholesterol :)

Black Bean Soup
1 pound dried black beans (or about 3 normal sized cans, preferably low sodium)
1 green pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 TB olive oil
3 cups water
3 cups vegetable broth
Cumin
Oregano
Cayenne pepper
Black pepper
Thyme

If using dried black beans, soak them over night, then boil until tender.
In a pot, heat olive oil and add onion. Cook for about 3 minutes until becoming translucent. Add in peppers and garlic.
Once the vegetables are softened slightly, add beans, spices and water and broth.
Simmer.
Either using a potato masher, hand blender, food processor, or something else useful for squishing things, mash or blend some of the soup so as to mush up some of the black beans and create a thicker base.
The soup will thicken more and more as you let it simmer. Cover to reduce water loss.
Enjoy alone or topped with sour cream or chili peppers.