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.
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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

Protein Power

Protein is one of the 4 macronutrients, along with carbohydrates, fat and water, that are very vital to life and our ability to move and function. However, it is a problem for many people to get enough protein in their diets daily. The protein that we take in in our diet is important for  muscle development, building up bones and strength, producing antibodies to prevent illness and disease, and to promote growth of strong hair and nails. The average adult consuming 2000 calories a day, should be getting 10-25% of the daily calorie goal from protein. That translates to 200-500 calories, or 50g-124g of protein daily. 124 grams is a lot of protein. A smaller and more personalized protein goal can be found using a simple math equation. For example, lets use a 130lb individual. First, you must divide your weight by 2.2 to find out how many kilograms you are. So, for the example that would be 59kg. Then you will multiply 59kg x .8g/kg of protein, which equals 47 grams of  protein a day. Then, multiply 59kg x 1.1g/kg, which equals 65 grams of protein a day. 47-65grams of protein is a much smaller, and more personalized assessment of someone's protein needs.

Now that you have calculated what your proteins needs are, its time to decide what are the best food choices are to fulfill these needs! Here are a few ideas of protein rich snacks to incorporate into your day to make sure you are getting enough protein in your diet.

- One 8 oz glass of chocolate milk provides about 150 calories and 8 grams of protein per cup

- 1/4 cup of raw almonds providing about 150 calories, healthy fats and 5.4 grams of protein

- 6 oz of greek yogurt providing 130 calories and 16 grams of protein

- Two hard boiled eggs providing about 160 calories and 12 grams of protein (eggs are the most purest form of protein with the least amount of calories!)

- Two slices of roasted turkey deli meat providing 44 calories and 7.2 grams  of protein rolled with one slice of provolone  which is about 98 calories and  7.2 grams of protein equaling 142 calories, 14.4 grams protein total!

- 3/4 cup of cooked edamame providing 150 calories and 12 grams of protein!

- One Luna granola bar has about 180 calories and about 8-9 grams of protein

- 3 oz of tuna on whole grain crackers provides 165 calories and 16 grams of protein

Choose your snacks wisely and go for a high protein option keeping you fuller longer!

Knowing Your Labels

One of the biggest issues in the nutrition field  is that not many people know what all the nutrition jargon means on the packaging of the foods they buy and eat. I have read multiple articles about this, and with each article I read, I learn something new about what different things mean on these labels. Like what the different is between all natural and organic. Or antibiotic free or hormone free. Here's a few labels and their meanings I think are important to know and to help you know what you are buying

For meats, these are common labels and their meanings:
- American Grass Fed Certified-No antibiotics are used at all during the animals life time
- Animal Welfare Approved-No antibiotics are used for growth or disease prevention. Animals are only given antibiotics if they are sick. Welfare and hygiene are fully addressed
- Certified Humane- No antibiotics are used for growth or disease prevention, some welfare and hygiene practices are used
-No Antibiotics/Raised with no antibiotics- drugs are not used for any purpose, but if they do not have the USDA seal, then they cannot be fully relied on to be antibiotic free
-Organic- Animals have not been given antibiotics, and sick animals that have been treated with antibiotics, cannot be considered organic. They can be given Antibiotics before they have hatched, or on the day they were born and still be considered Organic.
-Grass-Fed- not all meat that has been grass fed has been raised without antibiotics. Look for the AGA certified label stating at that they have no been raised with antibiotics
-Natural/All-Natural- Has nothing to do with antibiotics, hormones or any other drugs that may be used at all. This label just means that no artificial ingredients have been used and was minimally processed
-No hormones- Does not have anything to do with antibiotics used for growth. Pork and Chicken cannot have any hormones added to them, so whether the package is labeled with this or not, there are no hormones used or added.
- Raised without Antibiotics for growth promotion- Antibiotics are used for disease prevention and treatment
( Info obtained from Consumerreports.org)



Here are some that show up on many different labels, across many food groups along with their definitions:
-"Free of..." or "Fat Free"- only trivial amounts in each serving
- "Good Source"- has at least 10-19% of the daily value per serving
- "Less"- contains 25% of less of a nutrient or calories than the reference food
- "Light"- 1/3 less calories and 1/2 the fat
- Light in sodium" - amount of sodium in one serving has been cut in half
- "More"- contains at least 10% more of the Daily Value per serving than the normal food. Other words used to describe this are fortified, enriched, added, extra and plus
- "Reduced"- Food has been altered to have 25% less of a nutrient or calories than the normal food