I Did It So You Can Try It Too!

My boyfriend and I decided that due to this semester being very busy for both of us, that we would try to meal prep lunch every Sunday. So, that is what we did last weekend! We complied a list of what we would both need for the recipe and made it together. It makes mornings so much easier when you don't have to open the fridge and try to decide what you're going to make for lunch; it's already there and ready! Meal prep helps you make nutritious and healthy decisions every day, without having to put much thought into it.

To start our semester meal prep, we decided to keep it easy. I found a video on facebook of a recipe that looked delicious and very nutritious, that was Pesto Chicken with Green Beans and Tomatoes. This recipe was super easy and a great starter for more meal prep. Both my boyfriend and I loved it, and my fellow interns and classmates thought it smelled great too!

The only thing I would change about this recipe is use fresh pesto (avaliable on the Wegman's Olive Bar) instead of the jarred pesto. The fresh would have covered the chicken and vegetables a lot better. I would also recommend bringing a starch to accompany your lunch. Perhaps an apple or pretzels! That way you hit all the food groups in one sitting!

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
1 pound green beans
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
½ cup basil pesto

PREPARATION

1. In a large pan, heat olive oil and add chicken thighs. Season with salt and pepper. When the chicken is completely cooked through, remove from pan, slice into strips, and set aside.

2. Add green beans and cook until crisp tender. Return the chicken strips to the pan, then add tomatoes and pesto. Stir until fully incorporated.

3. Serve immediately or divide into 4 food storage containers and store in the refrigerator. Can be kept refrigerated for up to 4 days.

4. Enjoy!

Recipe Adapted from BuzzFeed 

https://www.buzzfeed.com/robertbroadfoot/step-up-your-meal-prep-game

I used chicken tenders for this recipe instead of chicken thighs due to preference. We also doubled it in order for us to get 8 servings out of it too. 

Try it out and tell me what you think! 

Restaurant Menu Navigation Tips and Tricks

I've heard many people say that because they are watching what they eat, they cannot treat themselves to a nice dinner out. One dinner out is not going to kill your diet, nor do you have to have high caloric meals when you do eat out. I'm here to help you make some good eating decisions when you aren't in the comfort of your own kitchen.

Eating out can be little intimidating for anyone wanting to eat more nutritious foods and trying to steer clear of the more calorie and fat laden foods. But it doesn't have to be! There are a lot of resources out there that can help you make better decisions when out to eat. Many restaurants have a low calorie menu, or offer their nutrition facts on their website. There is even a series of books that tells you what to eat and what not to eat at many popular fast food chains (I own one of them and like to look through it before eating out, but a lot of the time their suggestions are not offered anymore or they are not what I would eat). But there are ways to tell if an entree or dish is high in calorie and fat without doing research ahead of time! There are sneaky words that restaurants put into descriptions of their foods which can be direct giveaways that the food may be more energy dense rather than nutrient dense.
 Look out for works like-
Au Gratin, Basted, Battered, Hollandaise, Bottomless, Breaded, Buttery, Casserole, Cheesy, Country-Style, Covered, Creamed, Creamy, Crispy, Escalloped, Fried, Giant, Loaded, Platter, Smothered, Stewed, Stuffed, Volcano, White Sauce
Most likely if the menu item has any of these words in it, its going to be a bone-sticking meal.

However, if you really want to have one of the higher calorie entrees, ask for a box once your entree is delivered. Cut the portion in half and put it in the box to take it home for another meal. What they give you at a restaurant is normally about 2-3 times more than what you really should be eating or would eat at home, so by cutting it in half and putting it aside, you're really saving yourself from feeling over full and eating too much. Also, if they offer a lunch portion or even a half portion, order the smaller portion to ensure that you won't over stuff yourself or eat too much.


Here are some lighter choices at different types of restaurants:
Mexican Restaurants- Chicken Enchilada or Beef Tacos
Seafood Restaurants-Blackened of Grilled Fish
Pizza Joints- Thin Crust Pizza or Mixed Vegetable Pizza
Thai Restaurants- Cashew Chicken
BBQ Restaurants- Pulled Pork Sandwich
Italian Restaurants- Penne Puttanesca or Linguine with Garlic and Olive Oil
Diners- BLT or Grilled Cheese
Steakhouses- Filet Mignon or Grilled Tuna Steak

Here are some words that can signal potentially healthier options-
Baked, Broiled, Boiled, Broiled, Fat Free, Fresh, Grilled, High Fiber, Light, Marinated, Poached, Red Sauce, Reduced, Roasted, Seasoned, Steamed, Stir-Fried, Vegetarian, Vinaigrette, Whole Wheat

Meal Prep for Busy Days

I started my junior year of college this past Wednesday and it's shaping up to be a pretty busy semester. Between clinical rotations twice a week, a full course load of 16 credits, tutoring, and working in the students activities office at my school, I am not going to have much time to prepare nice, nutritious dinners for myself all the time. I am not a morning person, so waking up early before class to prep things isn't going to happen much, but I do go to bed a little bit later at night. Instead of watching an extra episode of house hunters most nights, I have decided to dedicate that half a hour to preparing my dinner for the next day. I gave it a try Tuesday night before I had a full class schedule the next day.

I am trying to keep my food costs low, so I found a pin on Pinterest that provided 5 recipes that would only cost $25 total to make. The first recipe was for black bean burgers and homemade fries. I am a pretty adventurous eater, so I thought I'd give the black bean burgers a shot, and it turned out that they were very easy to make and really good! Black beans are full of protein, so even though I wasn't using ground beef or poultry for the patty, they still had a substantial amount of protein in them. The fries turned out great too, really crispy and a lot less calories than frozen fries. The burgers took me about 15 minutes to prep Tuesday night, then I  took the mixture and made it into two patties. One went into the fridge and the other went into the fridge for the next day. I recommend not cutting up the potatoes ahead of time though. If done, the potatoes will turn a purple/brown and won't taste as good. While the oven was preheating, I cut up the potatoes into sticks and also prepared a side salad to go along with my dinner. If you're looking for something different, but still tasty, I really suggest trying these!

Black Bean Burger and Fries

Ingredients

• 1/2 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 can corn, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 cup yellow onion, grated
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/3 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 loaf focaccia
• 1 Russet potato
• 1/2 Roma tomato, sliced
•  Salad mix
•  Burger condiments
•  Salt
•  Pepper

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Servings: 2

• STEP 1

  Preheat oven (or toaster oven) to 450ºF.

  STEP 2

  In a blender or food processor, blend black beans, corn, onion, garlic, bread crumbs, salt and pepper until just combined.

• STEP 3

  Form two burger patties. Set aside.

• STEP 4

  Rinse potato and chop into thin fries.

• STEP 5

  Toss fries with oil, salt and pepper. Arrange on baking sheet.

• STEP 6

  Bake fries for 30 minutes, shaking the pan half way through.

• STEP 7

  While fries are baking, grill the burger patties. Heat oil over medium heat, and grill burgers for 8-10 minutes, flipping halfway through. If you don’t have a stovetop, you can bake the burgers at 350ºF for 20 minutes.

• STEP 8

  Remove fries from the oven, assemble burger and enjoy.
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  

How Not to Over Indulge at Weekend Gatherings

The summer is a time of many family gatherings and cook-outs with friends; at least it is if you have a big family like mine. At such gatherings, there is normally a vast variety of appetizers, potato and pasta salads, and loads and loads of desserts. My family loves to cook, and of course, we love to eat! I love and hate going to the parties sometimes because I know I will have a lot of fun seeing my family and hanging out, but most of the time I over indulge. However, I have gotten better at choosing the most nutritious foods to eat there, without feeling like crap after! And that is what I want to help you with now.

First, lets start with the appetizer table

I love appetizers, however, they can be meal spoilers. When you eat too much of the snacky foods, you won't have enough room for the main course or dessert, but will still over-stuff yourself. When conquering the appetizer table I recommend staying away from eating too much of the baked, decadent dips with chips and greasy snacks that will leave feeling sticky and too full, and try to munch on mixed nuts, vegetable and hummus tray, fresh salsa and fruit. All of these snacks, and ones like them. will provide protein. This will satisfy some of your hunger, but leave room for the main dishes while providing vitamins and minerals which our body needs for growth and repair, and heart-healthy fats that can protect against heart disease and other issues. Stick with the colorful appetizers and your body will thank you!

The main dishes

This is where it can get tricky sometimes, but it doesn't have to be! When selecting which meat you're going to enjoy, go for what's grilled and have the sauces on the side. When the sauce is on the side, you can control how much you're having, rather than having so much sauce so that it ends up on your face! Grilling the meat helps to drain the fat off of it so you're cutting the calorie and fat content without sacrificing flavor. Pasta salad and potato salad can either be really nutritious, or packed with fat. Go for the salads that have an oil based dressing, rather than mayo or cream based. The oil in the dressing gives us healthy fats, and allows for more flavor of the ingredients to shine through. Lastly, green salads. Choose a salad that is made with dark leafy greens, not iceberg lettuce. Iceberg lettuce has no nutritional value, whereas dark leafy greens are full of vitamins and mineral like iron and B vitamins. Pick the dressings that are oil based to ensure you're having healthy fats and not saturated fat, and put the dressing on yourself! Not everyone likes salads drenched in ranch, put a little on yourself and if you need more than add accordingly.

Lastly, dessert time!

Just when you're getting too full to eat, the dessert table is brought out and suddenly, everyone's got a little extra room for something sweet. Try to choose something that has a variety of natural color (I'm not talking about a 3 layer cake with rainbow frosting!!). Make your own little parfait with fresh fruit, if available, and yogurt or pudding. Protein and antioxidant packed! Or, go for sorbet if offered. Its mostly water, fruit juice, sugar and maybe fruit chunks. Its a great way to cool off on a hot afternoon, without feeling too full afterwards.

You don't have to leave the party feeling guilty, too full, or with a food baby. Remember to treat yourself and have fun, but be conscious of what you're having!

-Emily

Drink Up!

With summer and warm weather approaching soon, well hopefully, hydration becomes even more important for everyone. Don't get me wrong, you need to be hydrated all the time, but particularly in the summer, it gets harder for people to remain hydrated and feeling good. Dehydration cannot only make up feel sluggish or tired, but can also have negative effects on our bodies and its functions.

The Institute of Medicine suggests that women should consume about 91 ounces of water per day, or about 11 8oz glasses per day, and men should be drinking about 125 ounces, or 16 8oz glasses of water per day. Instead of counting all those ounces or glasses, your urine should be pale yellow (we learned this in my life cycle nutrition class). That seems like a lot of water, but you can get some of this water through the foods you eat! Vegetables and fruits are very high in water and are good sources of vitamins and minerals for our diet too. Especially fruits like watermelons and strawberries.

Our bodies are about 70% water, and many of the processes and reactions that happen in the body need water to occur. When we don't get enough water, we may feel dehydrated. This brings along symptoms like headaches, dry mouth, muscle cramps (especially in athletes), nausea and vomiting, heart palpitations, and lightheadedness. This is just the stuff we can feel, here is some of the stuff that happens in our bodies that we cannot always feel or know what is going on-problems with digesting foods, the inability to regulate body temperature, kidney problems, swelling and bloating, problems with blood flow, and constipation. All of these can really hurt someone's body if they do not get enough water. But just by filling up a water bottle and sipping on it, refilling it and repeating, can prevent all of these problem!

If you want to add some flavor to your water, add some crystal light or another flavoring. You still get all the water and its benefits, with a little added taste. So drink up!

There's that much sugar is that?!

I have fallen victim to the marketing of reduced fat or fat free food products as better for you. It wasn't until I came to college that I realized that I was making a wrong decision for my health.

Added sugar is everywhere. In foods like cereals, granola bars, yogurt, and especially in beverages. Added sugar can be what breaks someone's every day diet. When fat is taken out of something, like reduced or fat free ice cream, potato chips, prepared and packaged foods, something needs to be put back in to replace the flavor that is lost when the fat is reduced or taken out. Therefore, sugar is added in to make up for that loss in flavor. The same is the case for sodium. When fat is taken out or reduced, sugar and salt are put in to give back some flavor to the food.

All the added sugar in everything can be partially to blame for the increasing obesity epidemic. Especially in sodas. The added sugar makes us pack on the pounds, and can lead to illness and disease like diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and obesity. But that sugar just tastes so good! And that's what the big companies want, for us to like the taste, and also associate drinking sugar drinks like soda with happy times and occasions. I did not drink too much soda when I was younger. It was always a treat in my house. We could have it at partys and on vacations, but other than that, it was not a popular drink to have.  I will occasionally have a soda now and again, but not on a regular basis.

Soft drink companies have tried to train the public to correlate drinking soda with feeling happy and doing things fun. This is how they get people to repeatedly buy it.
We watched a video this past week in my life cycle nutrition class that really caught my attention, and I want to share it with you. It is about the unhappy truth of soda and uses a similar marketing tool that Coca-Cola uses. Here is the link- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myxwCEGcBYc


Also I wanted to share just how much sugar is in some of the most popular beverages and sodas

One can of Coke has 12 teaspoons of sugar

One can of Sprite has 9 teaspoons of sugar
 One bottle of mountain dew has 19 teaspoons of sugar

One can of an energy drink has 16 teaspoons of sugar
One bottle of Snapple has 11.5 teaspoons of sugar

One bottle of Orange Juice has 12 teaspoons of sugar
Lastly, One can of Arizona Iced tea has 18 grams of sugar


So next time you reach for a soda or sugar beverage, just remember how much sugar may be in there!