by kelsey | Jul 12, 2011 | Diet, Food
Today’s society has us always in a hurry to get somewhere that we often forget about the importance of feeding our bodies healthy foods! To help you eat healthy when a hurry, I encourage you to try batch cooking. Batch cooking is when you make several helpings of a dish or food and save for several meals during the week or freeze in freezer containers and use at another time. Last night I grilled several chicken breasts to use in various meals this week and they are quick and simple to add to a hearty salad like this one. Try it….it will save you time, the stress of trying to figure out what to make, as well as some money that you won’t be spending at the drive thru!
-Kelsey
by kelsey | Jul 7, 2011 | Diabetes, Diet, Food, Weight Management
Have you ever wondered how you can enjoy a sweet treat without all of the added calories?! Here are a few ideas for you:
- Mix flavored yogurt or plain yogurt honey and your favorite fruit.
- Drizzle a bit of honey over mixed melon balls.
- Blend bananas and strawberries, freeze into cubes, and eat like ice cream.
- Sauté or bake 1/2 banana and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon chopped nuts.
- Take three of your favorite kinds of berries; cook half of them with just enough water to prevent burning. Cool and stir in remaining berries. Portion 1/2 cup of the berry compote with 1 tablespoon of your favorite vanilla ice cream.
- Try making your favorite flavor of sugar free pudding with low-fat milk.
- If it’s ice cream that you really want- skip the scoop-yourself containers and buy single-serving novelty treats such as fudgesicles, creamsicles, even chocolate-covered ice cream bars. You’re more likely to limit your portions if they already come in a single serving
Enjoy!
-Kelsey
by kelsey | Jun 16, 2011 | Diabetes, Diet, Food
This month’s featured vegetable of the month on one of my favorite websites (www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org) is rhubarb. In the last couple of years I developed a liking for rhubarb. I’m not sure if this is because I usually eat the rhubarb in a dessert and I have a terrible sweet tooth or if I really do like the flavor…either way it’s a great way to get in another serving of vegetables in my diet. Yes, that’s right you read it correctly: vegetable. Rhubarb is actually a vegetable but we think of it more as a fruit as we can it into jam or jelly and use it in desserts like we would apples or strawberries. Here is my pan of cut up rhubarb that I made into a delicious cake. Recipes usually ask for a great deal of sugar to sweeten the rhubarb up so if you are watching calories and sugars, try using Splenda or the Splenda blend when baking. You can also check out the website above for more ideas on how to prepare and serve fruits and vegetables.
Enjoy!
-Kelsey
by kelsey | Jun 1, 2011 | Diet, Food, Weight Management
Here are a few more tips to help you eyeball appropiate serving sizes. If you are just getting started watching your serving sizes, you could use your own measuring cups when at home to help you get the visual as well.
▪ 1 oz meatball—size of a golf ball
▪ 3 oz cooked fish, poultry, or meat—size of a deck of cards, the palm of your hand, or a checkbook
▪ 1 oz cheese—size of a lipstick tube or thumb
▪ 1 Tbsp peanut butter—size of the tip of your thumb
▪ 2 Tbsp peanut butter—size of a golf ball
▪ 1 medium piece of fruit—size of a baseball
▪ 1 medium bagel—size of a hockey puck
▪ 1 C dry cereal—a mounded handful
▪ 1 oz cheese—size of four dice
▪ 2 oz cheese—size of a pair of dominos
▪ 1 small baked potato—size of a computer mouse
▪ 1 C raw vegetables, yogurt, or sliced fruit—as much as would fit into an average woman’s hand
-Kelsey
by kelsey | May 31, 2011 | Diet, Food, Weight Management
Portion control and awareness of “how much” you are eating is essential to weight management success. The label will always have the serving size listed on top. Take some time to look at the recommended serving sizes and the nutrient information for that serving. For example in 1 Tbsp of ranch dressing, there is about 130 calories. If you aren’t sure what a Tbsp is, you may be getting way more calories than you are aware of. Here are some quick tips for eyeballing serving sizes to get you started.
▪ 1 teaspoon (tsp)—about the size of a (pointer) fingertip
▪ 1 tablespoon (Tbsp)—about the size of your thumb or a tube of lipstick
▪ ¼ cup (C)—one large egg
▪ ½ C—1 handful
▪ 1 C—the size of a tennis ball or as much as a woman’s palm can hold
Tomorrow I will discuss a few more ways to eye ball serving sizes.
-Kelsey
by kelsey | Apr 28, 2011 | Diet, Etc., Food, Weight Management
Have you ever wondered how many calories, fat, sodium, protein, fiber….etc are in your foods? It’s a common question that I get daily, so I thought I’d share with you some excellent resources online where you can look this information up if you do not have a nutrition facts label. One important tip is that you will want to be sure to enter the appropriate serving size to give you the specific nutrition facts you are looking for.
-Kelsey
