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

Fuel up to Play 60!

This past weekend I had the opportunity to work with the American Dairy Association North East (ADANE) and Fuel Up to Play 60 to talk to kids on the importance of eating breakfast and fueling and refueling before and after workouts and play time. Friday I helped set up and participate in a event for Fuel Up to Play 60 at the minor league stadium in my hometown. I was able to meet about 50 kids from local, inner-city schools and show them how teaming up with Fuel Up to Play 60 and their peers can help them get and stay healthy, as well as work toward getting some great prizes like going to NFL games or meeting some NFL players. At the event, the kids all got a healthy breakfast consisting of make-your-own yogurt parfaits, granola bars, fruit and milk. Breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day, and without it we cannot preform in school or in sports to the best of our abilities.
The kids were all brought to together then for a few introductions and a short talk. First a young farmer talked to the kids about what he does on his family's dairy farm, why he loves farming, and why its an important profession. Then, they had a sports dietitian (my dream job) from Syracuse University come up and talk to the kids about the importance of eating breakfast and was able to demo some smoothies for the kids. She even had some help from Arizona Cardinal's safety, Tyvon Branch. The kids were all so excited to see an NFL player there, and one who really supports Fuel Up to Play 60 and refueling with milk. After the demo, they were sent out onto the field to participate in various stations with different types of physical activity. They played games like a farmers relay and rolled a pair of exercise dice which showed how many reps of a certain exercise must be preformed. After their time at the stations, they were greeted with cartons of chocolate milk for a refuel drink and got to hang out with Tyvon Branch and Oakland Raider's Latavius Murray. The kids were so excited and were asking for pictures and autographs. Before being sent home, they all got a nutritious lunch and left with a smile. Not only was this a day of fun for them, but also a day of learning how to eat right and make healthy decisions all day long.

The following day I was asked to attend and help run a station at the CNY Football Academy with the dietitian from Syracuse University and ADANE. This one day football camp is put on every year and open to kids ages 9-13 in the Central New York area. The camp is a half day program where the kids rotate through a series of stations designed to help them polish their football skills like a running back station, ropes station, and a quarterback station. Along with playing football all morning, they were able to go through a couple stations of basketball as well. The camp is run by Mike Hart, a former NFL player, along with the help of Branch and Murray.
The station I was at was a break station for the kids. We were under a canopy and the kids were able to sit and relax, drink water and take a bit of a break  While they were relaxing, we talked to the kids about breakfast, why it is important, and what constitutes as a healthy breakfast. We had a few examples of a healthy breakfast, unhealthy breakfast and no breakfast. We asked the kids about what they thought about each one, and how they would feel after eating each of the examples. Of course everyone thought that the breakfast that consisted of chips, soda and candy sounded like it would be awesome, but we explained why it wouldn't be the best for them. Sure, that would taste wonderful, and you may get some energy from it, but you'll crash shortly after eating it and not be ready for the rest of the day. The healthy example consisted of cereal, milk, blueberries and walnuts. We stressed to them the great amount of protein and calcium in milk, which helps builds strong muscles and bones. Both of which are very important for growing kids and athletes.
Everyone that came to our station and listened all seemed to be very receptive and responsive to our message. The kids were all so excited to hear that they were getting chocolate milk with lunch too! This was a great opportunity to me to help send out the message to kids and try to instill in them a healthy habit of eating breakfast every day. I got to work with a really great dietitian, which helped to inspire me to stay on my path of becoming a sports dietitian. I look forward to being able to do more events like this in future and continue on my way to being an RD.

Tips for Eating Healthier this Summer

It's officially summer time! School is out for everyone and even the calendar finally says its summer. With summer comes more cookouts, parties, graduation parties and lots and lots of snacking. Snacking can be the downfall of many people's diets or plans to get fit. But no need to worry, I'm here to help! Here are a few tips to help you start or continue eating right in the sunshine and heat.

- Plant a vegetable garden- whether you're in an apartment or a house, you can have homegrown vegetables! Herbs are easy to grow and don't take up much space. You can even grow them inside on a window sill in a little pot. Window boxes are also great for growing things like lettuce or even radishes. And growing tomatoes can be as easy as getting a picking up a tomato kit from your local grocery store or home improvement store

-Buy foods from local farms- When you buy local you not only support your local economy, but you're almost guaranteed that what ever you're buying is just as fresh as if you were growing it at home. I recommend looking up what's in season before you go to the grocery store to buy to make sure you are buying the freshest produce or fruits available.

Now, fruits like blueberries and strawberries are in season where I live.  Try going out and pick strawberries and blueberries at a local fruit stand that offers these options.  It can be much cheaper and a lot of fun to pick them yourself.   One of my favorite memories of growing up is picking strawberries with my family and then making fresh strawberry ice cream.

-Swap out milkshakes with smoothies- A hot day sometimes calls for a refreshing and cool treat to make the heat a little more bearable. Smoothies are an easy and delicious treat to help withstand the heat. Grab a blender, throw in some of the fresh fruit you just picked or grabbed at the store, some ice, and yogurt or milk and blend. Viola! You'll have a cold treat to help you cool off in the summer heat. Protein can be added too to make a great post workout drink. If you aren't able to finish off all the smoothie you made, you can pour it into Popsicle or ice trays and put them in the freezer to have later.

-Skip the chips and dip and try veggies and hummus- Crisp potato chips and dip can taste really, really good, aren't the most nutritious choice for a snack. Instead of bringing chips or crackers and dip to your next cookout, bring a vegetable tray with some homemade or store bought hummus! Vegetables and hummus is a low calorie, highly nutritious snack that won't leave you feeling bloated or guilty like chips and dip will. You'll still get a great crunch, without all the costly calories.

-Drink lots of water- it is no surprise that with increased temperatures comes the increased risk of dehydration and heat illness. To be sure you wont be missing out on any of the summer fun due to feeling tired or sluggish, make sure you're getting 10-12 glasses of water a day. Our bodies are about 70% water, and without an adequate supply, our bodies will not function properly.

Summer Snacking Treat- Cheese-Stuffed Pizza Pretzels

I apologize to all my readers that I have not been able to post sooner on my page, but the summer so far has been quite busy with getting ready for my internship, working about 30 hours a week at starbucks, family get togethers, and my boyfriend visiting for a few days. However, I am going to try to stay on top of this and post more in the coming weeks!

If you know me well, you know that I am a foodie. I am very adventurous in my eating and like to try a wide variety of food, even though I am going to school to be a dietitian. At family parties and eating out  with friends I often get asked "why are you eating that if you're in school to teach people how to eat healthy?", my response is always that you can eat anything in moderation and a little splurge here and there won't hurt me. One of the dishes that I like to make when I am in the food for a little splurge is Cheese-Stuffed Pizza Pretzels. I originally saw this recipe on facebook in one of the Tasty food videos and knew that my family, boyfriend and I would all enjoy it. This recipe is perfect for an appetizer at a barbecue or even as a midnight snack. Its super easy and definitely worth the calories.

Cheese Stuffed Pizza Pretzels

Yields: 3 pretzels

Ingredients:
1 (13.8-ounce) tube store-bought pizza dough
4 cups shredded mozzarella (from two 8-ounce bags)
nonstick vegetable oil spray
15 presliced pepperoni
Store-bought marinara or pizza sauce for dipping

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 425°F/220°C. Unroll the dough (it should form 15x9-inch rectangle), then cut the rectangle horizontally into three equal strips. (These will be your three pretzels.) Carefully stretch each of the strips by width and length — stretch each to about 3 inch width and about 34 inch length. Sprinkle 1 cup of cheese down the center of each dough strip. (Reserve the last 1 cup of cheese for later.) Fold the dough over the cheese, pressing to seal and rolling slightly to create 3 dough logs filled with cheese. Cover a baking sheet with foil and spray with vegetable oil. To form the pretzels, take one dough log, move it to the foil covered baking sheet, then form a circle with the ends of the log at the top of the circle. Twist the log ends around each other once and bring them down to meet the bottom of the circle. That's your pretzel shape! Repeat with the other two dough logs on the baking sheet. (Watch the video if you need help with this step.) Wrap pepperonis on the pretzels — 5-ish per pretzel — then sprinkle the remaining cup of cheese among the three pretzels. Bake 14-18 minutes until deep golden brown. Serve immediately with pizza sauce for dipping.

The video is on facebook and can be found with an easy search, unfortunately I am not able to put the link in this post. I recommend eating them right when they are still warm and stuffing a lot of cheese inside them too! Even if you are watching what you're eating, remember it is healthy to treat yourself!

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!