Easy, Tasty Oatmeal

Oatmeal has a bad wrap! Most people view it as boring and bland.  Not only is oatmeal extremely healthy with loads of fiber but with the proper recipe it is easy to make and super yummy. I make a pot full and leave it in the fridge.  Then for breakfast in a rush, I just zap it in the microwave for a minute with a little milk and there you go, a healthy homemade breakfast in seconds.

Cooking Time: 15 minutes Servings: 4

Ingredients

4 cups 1% milk

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup pitted and chopped dates or 3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 cups old fashion oatmeal

 

Cooking Instructions

1.      Put milk, cinnamon and dates in a thick based pot turn heat on medium and bring milk to a boil.

 

 

 

2.    Add oatmeal, turn heat down to low and let oatmeal simmer for 10 minutes.

3.    Once oatmeal is at the desired texture remove from heat, let it cool for a couple minutes and serve.

  

Banana Oatmeal Cookies

My kids eat around the clock.  Providing them with healthy, tasty optionscan be difficult at times but every once in awhile I have an amazing idea.  Yesterday I was thinking about making bananabread and my son wanted oatmeal cookies so I had this great idea to make bananaoatmeal cookies.  I looked around forrecipes and this is what I came up with. I added a healthier twist and some more fruits.

Preparation time:15 minutes and 12 minutes baking each batch.

Ingredients:

4 Ripe Bananas (about 2 cups)

Juice of 2 tangerines (optional)

1 cup white flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

3 teaspoons cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 cups oatmeal

1 cup butter

1 ½ cups brown sugar

2 eggs

1 cup shredded coconut (optional)

Directions:

1.      Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Peel andmash the bananas then add tangerine juice and mix.

2.      In a large mixing bowl mix together white flour,whole wheat flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking powder. Once mixed together,add oatmeal and coconut and stir again.  Inanother bowl beat eggs, sugar and soft butter.

3.      Mix contents of all three bowls together.  Spoon dollops of cookie batter on to cookietray and bake for 12 minutes. Makes 48 cookies.

NutritionInformation:

Each cookie provides 140 calories and 2 grams of fiber (whichis pretty good for just one cookie), 18.5 grams of sodium (this is extremelylow), 3.2 grams of protein (considering it is only one cookie also good), 11.8grams of sugar (a little bit on the high side, you can reduce that by onlyusing 1 cup of sugar) and 6 grams of fat 2.3 of which are healthy fats.  These cookies also provide some vitamins andminerals although they are not high they are still there: vitamins A, B-12,B-6, C, D, E, pantothenic acid and minerals calcium, copper, folate, iron,magnesium, manganese, niacin, phosphorus, riboflavin, selenium, thiamin andzinc.

Healthy Snacks for Kids

Every mom experiences the question of, what do I feed my kids? We all look for the perfect snack, fast easy, healthy and most important of all: the kids will eat it without complaining.  Ideally, a well-rounded snack will contain three main nutrients: protein, whole grains and fiber.  What options are available? How do we get our kids to try it? Here are some of our favorites:

1.       My kids favorite snack is avocado with whole grain tortilla chips with a cup of milk.  The avocado is rich in vitamins, healthy fats, and fiber.  The whole grain tortilla chips obviously have whole grains and fiber while the milk provides the protein.

2.       Greek yogurt spread on a whole grain tortilla or pita with an apple.  If your kids are old enough do not peel the apple as the skin is the rich in fiber and nutrients.  You can try pears, grapes, peaches or any fruit your child likes.

3.       Veggies with hummus and whole grain crackers, the kids can dunk their veggies in the hummus which is healthier than ranch dressing or they can spread it on the crackers.

4.       Edamame pasta salad made with whole grain pasta.  Choose vegetables your kids like and if they are not fond of edemame try another kind of bean like kidney beans, black beans or garbanzo beans.  This is a versatile salad, try different combinations until you find the best match for your family.

5.       Another favorite in our house is a grilled cheese sandwich with a fruit side.  Of course if they eat the whole sandwich it can be a meal or you and the kids can split the sandwich for a yummy snack.

6.       Talking about meals that can be snacks, scrambled eggs on half a whole grain English muffin with a tangerine.

7.       If your children can eat nuts, they provide protein, healthy fats and numerous other nutrients.  A homemade oatmeal cookie containing walnuts, raisins and half the amount of sugar the recipe calls for coupled with a cup of milk makes a snack most children love.

Tuna Salad with no mayo paired with whole grain crackers.

 

These snacks are all great for home but what about when you are on the run or in the car.  What can you give your kids that is healthy, easy and does not make a mess?

1.       Low fat string cheese: if you have a cooler this makes a great snack for the park or the car. 

2.       Granola bars: I love these for the car.  I always have a box hidden in my van somewhere.  Yes, they are high in sugar but most are made with whole grains and nuts or peanut butter (beware if your kids are allergic to nuts, make sure to read the ingredients carefully).  Some of them even have dried fruit.

3.       Fresh fruits: tangerines, grapes, strawberries and blue berries go with us one most of our trips.  Just wash them in advance and stick them in a small cooler.  These fruits keep well, do not change color (like sliced apples), do not need much preparation in advance and kids love them. 

4.       Fresh veggies: carrots and cucumbers with a hummus dip work well with us.  As I give a vegetable stick to my kids I dunk it in some hummus, so they do not make a mess in the car.  Downside is someone else has to be driving.

Send us your kids favorite snacks.  We are always looking for fun, healthy ideas.

Astonishing Asparagus

Spring is here; and along with it comes the warm weather, beautiful flowers and sunny afternoon walks.  But more importantly, the fresh produce starts coming in soon.  Finally, after a long winter of frozen vegetables people can start buying fresh from the farmers market and enjoy the true flavor of “fresh.”  One of the vegetables native to March is asparagus.  These tasty stalks are from the lily family, which also arrive in April. 

In addition to bursting with flavor and texture, asparagus is packed full of nutrients and stripped clean of calories.  Four asparagus shoots are only 13 calories with 12% of the Daily Value of vitamin A, 38% vitamin K and 22% folate.  This wealth in folate is important because many scientists believe folate deficiency to be one of the most common deficiencies in the USA [1].  Folate deficiency increase ones risk for heart disease and causes megaloblastic anemia which could result in depression, irritability, forgetfulness and disturbed sleep [1].  Additionally, the fetuses of pregnant women who do not consume enough folate are at risk for neural tube defects [1].  Getting enough folate before pregnancy can prevent such mishaps.  Fotunately, asparagus is high in folate and other vitamins while it is low in calories and easy to prepare.

The good stuff does not stop there; asparagus is also called a prebiotic food.  Everyone has heard of probiotics, the beneficial bacteria found in yogurt that promotes digestive health, but what about prebiotics.  Prebiotics nourish the beneficial bacteria in the digestive tract.  Prebiotics not only nourish the good bacteria which reduce pathogenic bacteria like Salmonella and clostridia while beneficial microbiota also decrease carcinogen activity in the gut [2].  So on top of being packed with healthy goodies, asparagus also promotes good digestive health.

With all these benefits, eating asparagus is a no brainer but preparing it properly may be tricky.  Asparagus, like many other vegetables lose a significant amount of vitamins during preparation because they dissolve in the cooking water.  In order to preserve the greatest amount of vitamins steam, bake or grill your veggies.  My favorite way to prepare asparagus is to cut off the woody bottoms, rinse them with water thoroughly, then place them in a baking pan.  Drizzle with a tiny amount of olive oil, sprinkle on some salt and bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Bon Appetite!

References:

1.            Insel, P., E. Turner, and D. Ross, Nutrition. 2 ed. 2004, Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.

2.            Mahan, K. and S. Escott-Stump, Krause's Food, Nutrition, & Diet Therapy. 11 ed. 2004, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Saubers.

 

Packing Lunches

Always wondering what to pack for the kids’ lunch?  What is nutritious and the children will eat?  Well, here are a few ideas that may make packing lunch less of a hassle.

                First, try to use whole grains instead of the white stuff as much as possible.  Bread, pita, pasta and rice can all be found in whole grain.  When making sandwiches try to spread on avocado instead of mayonnaise; avocados provide healthy fats and are packed with vitamins.  You can also add avocado slices and a squirt of lemon (the lemon keeps the avocado from changing color) for a new twist to old sandwiches.  Another way to jazz up lunch is to use hummus as a spread on sandwiches or as a dip for dunking fresh veggies and baked tortilla chips.  Hummus is made of chickpeas and sesame seed paste so it is a good source of fiber, vitamins and minerals like iron, manganese, B6, folate and many others.  Also try grilling chicken breast or broiling a roast, the cut it into thin slices and keep it in the refrigerator.  This is an easy way ensure your children are getting good  quality meat without added preservatives and nitrates, not to mention it is cheaper than buying cold cuts. 

                In addition to making sandwiches healthier, it is also important to pack healthy sides and snacks for your children.  Grapes, blue berries, apple slices, fresh figs, peaches and many other fresh fruits make great snacks for children.  They are loaded with vitamins and fiber, while their sweetness appeals to children’s taste buds.  Dried fruits make great snacks too and they are especially good sources of fiber and minerals but they are high in calories so only pack an ounce or two.   Dried figs, apricots, cranberries and raisins are all easy to pack, fun to eat snacks children love.

                Packing lunch is not an easy task but it is important children get healthy food that will help them learn and grow during their time at school.  Hopefully these tips will help make it easier and healthier.  And most importantly, your kids will love it.

What to eat?

Most people wonder what they should eat but how many of us wonder how much should I have?  This is not in reference to serving sizes, but how many serving?  How many servings of milk, grain, fats, etc should one have a day?  Sorry to say this, but there is no cut and dry answer.  It depends on the diet you choose to follow; here we are referring to healthy diets like the Mediterranean, the DASH Diet and numerous others.  Keeping up with the research and what the different experts and societies say becomes frustrating and cumbersome.  Even if you do decide on a specific diet you want to follow how will you keep count of all the different serving you ate each day without getting burnt out.  Well the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) came up with a solution, it is quite easy.  Its name is My Plate.

Simplicity is the key regarding My Plate.  The beauty of this new nutritional guide is it allows you to determine how healthy your plate is with just one glance.  It also works wonders with children.  It makes parents job easy by just taking a quick look at the plate and teaching children how to eat healthy easier.  Simply divide your plate into 4 sections, 1 fourth vegetables, 1 fourth fruit, 1 fourth grain (half of which at least should be whole grains) and 1 fourth proteins and finally have a serving of dairy 3 times a day.

Edamame, tangerine, tuna salad and whole grain crackers

Everything has a downside, and so does My Plate.  The problem with this design is plate size.  If you choose a plate too big, no matter how healthy the food you put on it, you will over eat.  My recommendation is to stick to 9 inch plates for adults and teenagers, not the 12 inch plates most people use these days.  And 6 inch plates for school age children. 

My plate makes eating healthy easier, without having to remember numbers of serving or counting calories.  But it is crucial to put healthy food on that plate.  For example French fries are not a vegetable, try carrot sticks instead.  Finally, be mindful of the size of your plate.  Always try to use the smaller plate, you will cut calories. If your plates are too big, it is definitely worth buying a new set of dishes.  It will help both your wallet and waistline in the end.

Avocado Edamame Salad

Last week we discussed the benefits of edamame.  In short, edamame is a fancy name for boiledsoy beans but they are full of beneficial nutrients; protein, iron, and fiberjust to name a few.  Despite its greatbenefits, most people do not know how to eat them except in the pod.  Mind you, it would be hard to get tired ofeating those tasty treats, but variety is the spice of life.  This week you will learn how to make AvocadoEdamame Salad.  My kids loved eating itwith a spoon, but you can make it more attractive to little fingers by adding aside of tortilla chips.

 

Avocado Edamame Salad

Preparation time:15 minutes

Serving: four ½ cupserving

1 cup frozen corn kernels

¼ cup sliced olives

2/3 cup shelled edamame, thawed

½ a small onion chopped
1 clove garlic minced
½ a lemon squeezed

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste
1 avocado, diced
1 small tomato chopped

Directions:

Mix together corn, onion, edamame, garlic, lemon, oliveoil, salt and pepper in a medium sized mixing bowl.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.  Just before serving, add avocado andtomato.  Mix and serve then enjoy.

Nutrition Information:

Per serving: 190 calories, 6.5 g protein, 19.5 gcarbohydrate, 12 g fat, 1.9 g saturated fat, 6.6 g monounsaturated fat, 3 gpolyunsaturated fat, 1 mg cholesterol, 5 g fiber, 100 mg sodium. Calories fromfat: 52%.