Laurel on Health Food

Quick Meal: Egg, Quinoa, Kale

laurel — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:46:51 +0000

Wednesdays are always busy days for me, so my meals have to be something I can grab-on-the-go or prepare in 10 minutes or less. Enter my bowl of eggs, quinoa, and kale. Like I mentioned in my whole grains post, I make big batches of grains on one day, and then eat off them for up to a week later. Obviously, fresh is always best, but there’s no harm in preparing some staple foods ahead of time to make sure you always have something healthy on hand.

Tonight I re-warmed some quinoa with a little olive oil in my sauté pan. Meanwhile, I chopped up some fresh kale and steamed it for a couple minutes. Lastly, I pan fried two eggs over-medium, cut them up into bite-size pieces, then tossed everything together in a bowl with a dash of salt, pepper, and hot sauce on top.

This was a quick, easy, and balanced meal that will sustain me for the rest of my night without making me feel heavy or too full. If you want to try this out, feel free to experiment with fresh or dried herbs and spices. I opted for easy seasonings tonight, but there’s no reason you can’t flavor it up when you’ve got the time!

Does that look kind of crazy? Haha, all I know is it was yummy!

Speaking of eggs, I found a great tip from Sara Snow, natural-living expert, in the Nov/Dec issue of Fitness Magazine, p. 108. ( The generous folks from Fitness sent me a subscription to periodically review their content. Each month, I’ll share the best of what I find from their nutrition and healthy eating pages.)

In her “Ask Sara Snow” tip, she explained the difference between free-range and cage-free eggs. Free-range chickens have outdoor access while cage-free chickens have an open room with space to stretch their wings. But Sara points out that eggs labeled organic may be the best choice. Neither free-range or cage-free labeling has reliable regulations, but organic eggs are guaranteed to be free-range (and they are usually cage-free). Remember organic also means the chickens are not fed antibiotics, hormones, or grains with harmful chemicals. Make sense? Thanks to Sara for her helpful tip!

Hoping you’re all doing well! Talk to you soon,
Laurel

Control Blood Pressure w/ Whole Grains

laurel — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:40:08 +0000

A recent study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that eating whole grains helps cut your risk of high blood pressure. The study found that men who ate the most whole grains were 19% less likely to have high blood pressure than those who ate the least amount.

Whole grains are a healthy food that’s CHEAP. Plus they’re packed with fiber and B vitamins. You can buy grains in bulk and make big batches that will last you all week.

An easy way to get more whole grains in your diet is to switch to brown rice instead of white rice. White rice is basically the starchy center of brown rice (with all the nutrients removed). Go for the brown rice my friends!

Some other whole grains you can try are: amaranth, barley, buckwheat (kasha), quinoa (my favorite), oats, and millet.

TIP!

One of the things I learned when I was training to become a health counselor is the importance of really chewing your whole grains. The majority of whole grain digestion happens in your mouth where you chew and mix food with saliva. Chew your grains fully and give your body a chance to absorb all of the beneficial nutrients!

Fruit Popsicles!

laurel — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:35:41 +0000

This weekend I had a nice big breakfast with my family. After we were done eating, we had a small amount of leftover fruit salad. My Mom noticed that I had a plastic popsicle mold on top of the refrigerator and thought it was a good idea to blend up the rest of the fruit salad into popsicles. Great idea, right?

The leftover fruit salad had apples, oranges, banana, and raspberries in it. I put it in my blender and added some frozen strawberries and blackberries, organic vanilla yogurt, goji berries, and orange juice.

It made four popsicles with some leftover to save for a breakfast smoothie tomorrow morning. Check ‘em out friends!

Cheers, and I hope you had a great weekend!

Cold Weather Cravings

laurel — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:03:38 +0000

I don’t know about you, but when the weather gets colder, I start craving lots of warm, comforting foods. For many people, that means UNHEALTHY. But, it really doesn’t have to be. There are tons of healthy meals that you can make to nourish yourself during the cold months.

This weekend I was craving oatmeal. I couldn’t find any steel-cut oats in the neighborhood I was in, so I just bought regular old-fashioned oats and heated them up with some yummy fixings: plums, toasted walnuts, cinnamon, and honey. Plus a few raspberries on top. It was warming and oh-so-comforting.

I also made a big batch of chili…but I forgot to take a picture of it before I scarfed it all down. (So use your imagination! haha)

Here’s a few other healthy recipes you can try to keep your body strong and warm during the cold months.

Butternut Squash Soup

Three Sisters Stew

Wishing you a great week,

Laurel

UPDATE:
I made some more chili! I found a fun Turkey Pumpkin Chili recipe on the Whole Foods site and had to try it out. Yum! The pumpkin adds extra nutritional value and a beautiful orange color.

I stuck to the recipe, except I added a few extra cloves of garlic.

Eating Enough Garlic?

laurel — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:40:42 +0000

NY Times recently posted a short article checking this claim: “Garlic Can Be Helpful in Warding Off a Cold.” The good news is that there are some promising studies to support the claim. For example, a 2001 double-blind study found that healthy adults who took daily garlic supplements were less likely to get a cold and recovered faster when they did get sick.

Clearly, further research needs to be completed before the claim can be truly proven. But the Times reached this bottom line: “Research is limited, but it suggests that garlic may indeed help ward off colds.”

From my point of view, I’m a big garlic fan. Of course, I love the taste, but I also believe in its power to keep the immune system strong, lower cholesterol, reduce the risk of cancer, lower blood pressure, and heal candida or yeast infections.

Here are some of the easy ways to get garlic into your diet:

—Try this Roasted Garlic Spread recipe (mmmmm)
—Saute a clove of garlic with your daily serving of greens or other vegetables
—Add cloves of garlic to sauces, soups, stews, and chili
—Take a daily garlic supplement (especially during flu season)
—Have garlic for breakfast by adding a little to your eggs

Fall Fruit and Yummy Squash

laurel — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:44:02 +0000

So, I tried out of the spaghetti squash recipe from VitalJuice and it was sooooo good! I think spaghetti squash is one of the easiest squashes to prepare. Plus, the fresh basil in this recipe was just divine. I definitely recommend it for a healthy dish you can whip up for dinner during the week. Here’s a picture of how it turned out (I put a ton of avocado in mine.)

On the same night, I made a big fruit salad to eat on all week. I tried to pick fruits that are in season right now and I think it came out really delicious. The organic apples were CRAZY good.

Fall Fruit Salad
2 organic ambrosia apples
2 asian pears
2 nectarines
2 navel oranges
2 black plums
3/4 cup pomegrantate juice

Directions:
Chop up the fruit into bite-size pieces and toss together in a bowl. Drizzle the pomegranate juice on top and stir to mix. Cover and store in the refrigerator.

Pomepure Pomegranate Juice

laurel — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 21:48:08 +0000

The marketing team for Pomepure pomegranate juice recently sent me a sample bottle to try out and review. I happily agreed, because I LOVE pomegranate juice!

Pomepure is 100% all natural pomegranate juice with NO artificial coloring, additives, added sugar, or added water. I really liked the taste of the juice and was surprised at how sweet it was. Pomegrantes can be very tart, but this stuff was nice and sweet.

Here’s a few pictures I took of the juice. I like to drink mine out of a stemless wine glass. ; )

I really liked the Pomepure juice and would certainly try it out again. I don’t think it’s widely available in stores yet, but you can purchase it by the case on the Pomepure website.

This is a great time of year to eat pomegranates because they’re in season for Fall. Pomegranates have impressive health benefits including: strengthening fertility, lowering systolic blood pressure, improving blood flow, and reducing your risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and Alzheimer’s disease. Here’s a few previous posts I’ve written on pomegrantates and pom juice.

14 Foods that Lower Cholesterol

Pomegranate Season!

Pomegranate Juice Improves Fertility

Spaghetti Squash & Blog Carnivals

laurel — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:38:31 +0000

As you know, I’m lovin’ the fruits and veggies in season this Fall. I picked up a spaghetti squash yesterday and have been looking around for something fun to do with it (besides eating it plain with a fork and some salt and pepper).

Thanks to my school’s twitter page (@NutritionSchool), I just found a delightful spaghetti squash recipe from VitalJuice. I can’t wait to try it out. I mean, any recipe with garlic, basil, and avocados is almost guaranteed to win my heart. Check it out here:

Spaghetti Squash Tossed w/ Olive Oil, Avocado, & Parmesan

Doesn’t that sound so yummy? I’ll let you know how it is once I try it out this weekend or early next week. Thanks to VitalJuice for the drool-worthy recipe!

On another note, I found out that a few of my blog posts made it on some recent blog carnivals. “Easy Marinara Sauce” was featured on the Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog Carnival 120 and “What’s in Season?” was featured on A Carnival of Everything Home 12 and the Baby Boomers Blog Carnival – 7th Edition. Check ‘em out folks!

Wishing you a great weekend!

LOHF on Top 50 List

laurel — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:32:53 +0000

OnlineNursingPrograms.net recently posted their list of the “50 Healthy Food Blogs You Shouldn’t Be Without.”

I’m happy to report that Laurel on Health Food made the top 50 under the “Nutrition and Weight Loss” section. Check it out and maybe you’ll find a few new reads while you’re there.

Thanks to Amber for sending me the great news!

Update: This post was featured on two blog carnivals: Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog Carnival 122 and Baby Boomers Blog Carnival 8th Edition

What’s in Season?

laurel — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:28:56 +0000

Hey there! I’ve been thinking a lot about seasonal cooking this week. Last Saturday I took a trip to the local farmer’s market and was excited to see some of my favorite fall produce on display. Down in Florida, we’re not feeling much of a change in weather (it’s still hot & humid), but we should get a break soon enough.

One of the best things about cooking and eating in-season foods is they taste better and they’re at their peak levels of nutrition and freshness. Eating seasonally means you can eat locally (supporting farmers and community-supported agriculture). Your food will travel shorter distances from the fields to your plate.

Here’s a list of fruits and vegetables in season for Autumn/Fall: apples, arugula, asian pears, beans (for shelling), broccoli, Brussels sprout, fennel, green tomatoes, hard-shelled squashes, pears, persimmons, pomegranates, radicchio, sweet peppers, and sweet potatoes. (Ref: Fresh From the Farmers’ Market by Janet Fletcher)

Look out for these foods in your local stores and markets. Or maybe you’re lucky enough to have a few growing in your garden!

I picked up some fresh Brussels sprout last weekend and they’re really delicious. I recently learned that these magically healthy cruciferous vegetables are sweeter during their peak season. I could really taste a difference and they didn’t have the strong bitter flavor Brussels sprout tend to have other times of the year (the longer they’re stored off the stalk, the stronger their bitter flavor becomes).

Happy Fall Season and I hope you enjoy some seasonal produce!