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Tag: Healthy Eating

Clover Power Smoothie

Posted on by djbechard

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a festive, tasty, and kid-friendly green smoothie.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup 100% apple juice*

½ cup fresh baby spinach**

2 cups frozen pineapple chunks, no sugar added

1 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt***

1 banana

Directions:

  1. Add apple juice and spinach leaves to blender. Blend first to help make it smooth and avoid leafy chunks.
  2. Place the remaining ingredients in the blender.
  3. Blend until smooth and serve.

Nutrition Facts Per Serving (1 cup): 135 calories, 1g Total Fat, 0g Saturated Fat, 35mg Sodium, 31g Total Carbohydrates, 24 g Sugars, 2g Dietary Fiber, 2g Protein

* You can substitute low-fat or nonfat milk or 100% white grape juice for 100% apple juice. Adding milk instead of 100% fruit juice will lower the calories and sugar while adding extra calcium to help strengthen bones.

** You can use kale instead of spinach. Kale does have a stronger flavor than spinach. I like using spinach since it has little to no flavor.

***To make the smoothie even healthier, use nonfat vanilla yogurt or nonfat Greek yogurt instead of low-fat vanilla yogurt.

By: Jamie Rathbun

Tips To Keep Your Heart Healthy

Posted on by djbechard

Valentine’s Day is known for its roses, big red hearts, and vibrant pink and purple colors. It’s a holiday meant to show someone how much you care for them. February is also known as heart month and what better way to spread love than with a healthy heart?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease is the leading cause of death in America. Healthy food choices and an active lifestyle are two things you can control and will have a huge impact on your heart’s health. So what are some things you can do keep your heart healthy?

Eat a Variety of Foods. One of the keys to a healthy heart is making smart food choices. Eating a well-balanced diet will include a variety of foods such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean protein, and low-fat or fat-free dairy foods.

Know Your Fats. Be sure to incorporate healthy fats into your diet. This means eating foods low in saturated and trans fats and high in unsaturated fats. Saturated fats are usually solid at room temperature and found in animal proteins and dairy foods. Trans fats are commonly found in vegetable oils that go through an industrial process to make the oils solid in form. Unsaturated fats tend to be liquid at room temperature. You can find unsaturated fat most commonly in fish, avocados, nuts, and vegetable oils.

Get Label Savvy. Learning how to read the food label can help you make heart healthy choices especially when it comes to fats. Remember information on the label is based on 2,000 calories per day. Visit the Food and Drug Administration’s interactive nutrition facts label to learn more.

Physical Activity Matters. Physical activity can play an important role in keeping your heart healthy. Regular, moderate physical activity (30-60 minutes most days of the week) can help control blood pressure, manage weight, manage stress, help you sleep better, and help you feel good by giving you more energy throughout the day. Our Walk Kansas program can help get and keep you motivated in your exercise endeavors.

 

By: Jamie Rathbun

Sweet Ideas Without Added Sugar

Posted on by djbechard

It seems like most holidays focus on food, and usually include something sweet like candy, chocolate, or desserts. Don’t get me wrong, I love a yummy piece of chocolate! But if you’re looking to make this Valentine’s Day a little healthier for you and your family, consider starting the day with a fruit-filled smoothie or a parfait. I love smoothies and parfaits because you don’t need to follow a recipe. Choose your family’s favorite fruits and yogurt, place in a blender with a little bit of milk or 100% fruit juice and blend to a desired consistency for a smoothie. For a parfait, layer fruit and yogurt, then top with granola or nuts.

Fruit is a quick, easy, and healthy Valentine’s treat. While looking for ideas for my children, I came across two cute ideas using clementines and apples sauce. The messages read, “Happy Valentine’s Day, Cutie” and “You’re AWESOMEsauce, Valentine.” Be creative and think outside the (candy) box.

Visit with your children about healthier alternatives and let them help you pick them out at the store. Here are some additional non-food Valentine ideas for daycare or school:

  • Friendship bracelets
  • Toy cars
  • Bubbles
  • Sidewalk chalk
  • Balloons
  • Glow sticks
  • Bouncy balls
  • Pencils
  • Erasers

By: Jamie Rathbun

New Year, New You

Posted on by djbechard

Happy New Year! Do you usually make a New Year’s resolution? Millions of Americans make resolutions every January hoping to improve their health by losing weight, getting fit, or eating healthy. Achieve your nutrition goals this year by making small changes to what you eat and drink.

Find your healthy eating style

Everything you eat and drink over time matters. The right mix can help you be healthier now and in the future. It is important to start with small changes to make healthier choices you can enjoy and maintain for a lifetime. In order to get the nutrients and calories you need, eat a variety of foods regularly.

Get your MyPlate plan

Everybody requires a different amount of calories depending on their age, genders, height, weight, and physical activity level. To determine what and how much to eat within your appropriate calorie target, enter your information into the MyPlate Plan by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) at https://www.myplate.gov/myplate-plan and receive a personalized plan.

Follow the MyPlate building blocks

  • Make half of your plate fruits and vegetables
  • Focus on whole fruits
  • Vary your veggies
  • Make half your grains whole grains
  • Move to low-fat or fat-free milk or yogurt
  • Vary your protein routine
  • Drink and eat beverages and foods with less sodium, saturated fats, and added sugars.
  • Drink water instead of sugary drinks.

Find small changes that work for you throughout the day. Don’t forget to choose foods and beverages from each MyPlate food group (i.e. fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, and dairy) for a balanced meal.

Tags: Nutrition, Healthy Eating, Health, Fruits and Vegetables

Source: MyPlate.gov

By: Jamie Rathbun

Cooking Tips for the Holidays

Posted on by djbechard

No need to wait for the New Year to start healthier eating habits. Check out these easy cooking tips that will help everyone be a little trimmer this season!

Meat, Fish, Poultry

  • Choose from the many options for lean protein foods this season.
  • When using lean cuts of meat, choose moist cooking methods, such as baking, boiling, or slow-cooking.
  • Limit breading. Consider using marinades or rubs for optimal flavor.
  • For all types of meat and poultry, decrease the fat content considerably by cutting off visible fat and the skin and by removing the fat from pan juices before use. Use fat-free broth thickened with cornstarch or pureed potatoes for a sauce or gravy. Add a small amount of fruit juice for extra flavor.

Side Dishes

  • Include lots of vegetables in your meals, both raw and cooked. To cook, just steam and serve. Dress them up with herbs or pair with other vegetables, such as green peas with onions.
  • Use a low-fat, reduced sodium cream soup with fresh mushroom slices added for a quick vegetable sauce.
  • Use fat-free yogurt or fat-free cream cheese as a base for dips. For dippers, try sliced veggie sticks or baked, whole wheat pita squares.
  • Use fat-free evaporated milk when making cream soups or white sauces.
  • Flavor dressings with fruits, herbs, spices, and whole grains, rather than with meat or chicken fat.
  • Choose foods made with whole grains more often, such a brown rice, oats, or whole wheat, instead of foods made with refined grains.

Dessert

  • Make desserts that taste sweet, yet have little sugar or fat.
  • Try poaching pears or baking apples or bananas that you have lightly seasoned with cinnamon and cloves.
  • Mix fruits with plain or flavored non-fat yogurt.
  • Keep whole, dried, frozen, or canned (in water or juice) fruit on hand for a quick and easy snack.
  • Consider serving traditional pie fillings as a custard in order to eliminate the calories and fat in the pie crust.

By: Jamie Rathbun

Sugar: Sinfully Sweet?

Posted on by djbechard

Despite its delightful taste, sugar has been getting a lot of bad press lately. More and more health experts are warning the public about sugar’s harmful effects. Is sugar harmful because it provides “empty” extra calories and contributes to weight gain? That’s part of the story but medical experts now believe calories from added sugars are more harmful than other extra calories.

Our bodies are not well designed to handle concentrated sugar “loads.” For example, we can’t use all the concentrated sugar in a can of soda fast enough, so the liver converts excess sugar into small dense particles of fat, which contribute to heart disease.

How much sugar is too much?

Depends on who you ask. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends limiting added sugars to no more than 10 percent of daily calories – roughly 12 teaspoons a day for most adults. So how are we doing? Not so well. Most adults take in about 20 teaspoons of added sugars every day, and some consume much, much more.

If you’re on of those people, don’t feel bad. It’s really easy to drink and eat sugar. Just one 12-ounce can of soda has 39 grams of added sugar, which is equal to almost 10 teaspoons of sugar. That’s without added sugars from sweet snacks and desserts.

Sugar busting tips

If you’d like to cut down on the amount of added sugars in your drinks, snacks, and sweets, here are a few ideas:

  • Drink more water. Add a splash of juice to plain sparkling water for a refreshing, fizzy, low-calorie drink.
  • Think fun size. Reach for smaller portions of chocolate, sweets, and desserts. A single square or just a bite can satisfy cravings when we truly savor them.
  • Replace with fruit. Eat your vegetables at meal time and save fruit for dessert.

Source: Iowa Department of Health

By: Jamie Rathbun

Healthier Green Bean Casserole

Posted on by djbechard

Makes 9 servings.

Ingredients

1 can (10¾ ounces) reduced-fat cream of mushroom soup

½ cup fat-free sour cream

½ cup fat-free milk

2 cans (15 ounces each) drained green beans OR two 9-ounce bags frozen green beans

½ cup canned French-fried onions (See note below.)

Directions

  1. Mix soup, sour cream, and milk in a 2-quart casserole dish.
  2. Stir in beans and bake uncovered at 350oF until mixture is bubbly – about 40 minutes.
  3. Sprinkle onions on top and cook for 5 more minutes

Nutrition per ½ cup serving: 100 calories, 4g fat, 5mg cholesterol, 230mg sodium, 12g carbohydrate, 2g fiber, 3g sugar, 3g protein.

Dare to Compare Green Bean Recipes

Green Bean Recipes Calories per ½ cup serving Fat per serving (grams) Carbohydrates per serving (grams)
Traditional Green Bean Casserole* 180 12 15
Healthier Green Bean Casserole 100 4 12

*Made with regular cream of mushroom soup and 1 1/3 cups of French-fried onions.

Note: For extra calorie and fat savings, consider gently cooking fresh onions in a non-stick skillet to use as topping instead of purchased French-fried onions.

By: Jamie Rathbun