At the end of this post I’m going to give away the recipe to my winning dish: “Eggplant Stuffed with Minted Spinach Lemon and Feta Salad.” It’s very easy to prepare at home, so please try it.

Here are some live photos tweeted from Veria TV:

Eggplant Stuffed with Minted Spinach Lemon and Feta Salad

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons Fresh Mint Leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons Low-Fat Feta, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
1 Aubergine Eggplant, halved lengthwise, stems on
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 tablespoons Canola oil
1 1/2 cups Baby Spinach Leaves, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup Yellow onion, chopped
2 tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice
4 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
2 teaspoons Pine nuts

Directions

Using a paring knife or serrated spoon, spoon out the flesh of the eggplant (Aubergine eggplants are also known as the small Italian eggplants), leaving the skin of the 2 halves in tact as shells. Dice the flesh of the eggplant into small cubes.

Sprinkle the kosher salt on the the cubes of eggplant and place in a colander, and also sprinkle the inside of the eggplant shells with salt and place them face down on a paper towel. Let sit for 10 minutes to get rid of some of the moisture of the eggplant.

Press the eggplant in the colander down using a paper towel and then gently wipe the inside of the shells with a paper towel as well to remove the salt and moisture.

Rub the outside of the eggplant shells with a tablespoon of olive oil all over the skin.

Combine the lemon juice, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, sea salt, and mustard together and mix well. Put this lemon dressing to the side.

Using 2 separate saute pans, heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil in each. In one of the pans, also add 2 tablespoons of water. Place the eggplant shells in the pan that has the water and oil, skin side down. Cover the pan and let cook on a low light for 10 minutes to soften the eggplant skins. After 10 minutes, remove from the pan, blot any excess oil with a paper towel, and let sit to cool for 5 minutes.

In the other saute pan, add the garlic and onion, and cook for 2 minutes just until the onion begins to look translucent. Next add the diced eggplant from the colander, and cook another 3-5 minutes until the eggplant begins to soften. Next add the spinach and cook for one minute until it begins to wilt.

Remove the eggplant, onion, and spinach mixture to a bowl, and stir in the mint. Tent the entire mixture with foil and let sit for 2 minutes. Using the same saute pan, add the pine nuts and roast for 2 minutes.

Pour the lemon dressing into the bowl with the vegetable mixture and mix well. Next add the crumbled feta and the roasted pine nuts, and again mix well.

Scoop the vegetable mixture into the two eggplant shells. Garnish each half with a sprig of mint and serve immediately.

I’m so delighted to announce that I’ve been invited to join a cook-off judged by celebrity chef Andrea Beaman! This June 26th, two other bloggers and I will be cooking live for Veria & Whole Foods’ “A Taste of Summer Tour” at Glastonbury, Connecticut. We only have fifteen minutes to cook a dish – aren’t we supposed to have at least thirty minutes? Haha! But to be sure I’ll be going in there with pans blazing ready to do my culinary best.

You can actually join in on the action wherever you are. Just drop by Veria’s Facebook page at 11am ET on June 26th to see the contest streamed live, and tweet @Veriawellness with #unlocksummer to join the discussion.

The new proposed guidelines do attempt to reduce sodium, establish calorie limits by age (calorie limits have never been imposed in the past), switch from whole milk to 1% milk, add more fruits and vegetables and reduce starches/starchy vegetables (e.g. French Fries). According to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, over 32 million children eat school lunch, so clearly these menu choices have a huge impact on our children’s lives and the future of our country.

But the question remains if cutting school lunches from 1600 mg of sodium to 740 mg and limiting high school students to an 850 calorie limit per lunch is really doing enough to insure the health of our kids. It’s actually a very complex question, and not one that has a straightforward answer. I guess the best answer when discussing healthy weight loss really is “everything’s relative.”

If you take a person like me or a household like mine where at least 50% of our products are organic, 95% are all natural, and 99% never contain high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils, then my answer would be that the new school lunch program guidelines are an atrocity. However, looking at the average American, these guidelines are definitely an improvement. Many Americans do not have the budget for all natural and organic foods, and the reality is that packaged foods are a lot less expensive. High Fructose Corn Syrup was originally invented because it provides longer shelf lives, and therefore cuts costs for manufacturers which get passed down to the consumer.

In my opinion, switching to reduced fat milk and the reducing starches to one cup per week are effective and realistic improvements that will allow kids to be healthier, but still indulge moderately. However, the calorie limits could definitely be lower as 850 calories in one meal is just too high. Even if a 16 year old eats a recommended diet of 2000-2500 calories per day, then less than one third of the should not come from lunch alone, when breakfast, dinner, drinks and snacks must be factored into the total.

In addition, while the sodium guidelines have been reduced by half, the previous guideline of 1600mg per lunch was so absurdly high, that 740mg is still way too much for one meal.  The USDA’s recommended daily intake of sodium is 2400 mg (approximately one teaspoon of table salt) per day, compared to the UK’s recommended daily intake of 1600mg per day. Sodium is a prime culprit of high blood pressure, which often leads to heart disease, which is a major killer in the US. I think the British are on to something here!

For a complete listing of the new proposed guidelines, visit http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/food/diet-nutrition/2011-01-12-schoollunch13_ST_N.htm?csp=34news

How do you feel about the new USDA guidelines for school lunch? Do you feel comfortable with these USDA dietary recommendations for your kids? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Get Fit And Sexy While Surfing The Internet

After our previous article on how to turn television time into a more stimulating exercise (either physically or mentally), I was inspired to write about how to make computer time more healthy and how to lose calories while sitting. Most people complain that they spent a lot of time chained to their desks and want to know how they can add some fitness to their workdays.

First of all, are you following the rules of healthy computer usage? For every hour you sit down in front of your computer or at your desk, you should spend five minutes stretching your legs, preferably walking outside while thinking calm, gentle thoughts. These exercises you can do at your desk may not seem like much, but that can already add up to 30 minutes of exercise a day or more, while making you more productive at work, since stretching and centering exercises reduce the number of careless mistakes made at work.

Secondly, rethink your work environment. I sometimes bring my work with me to a coffee shop or the library just so I can have the excuse to walk there, work on my laptop and walk back. If you’re using your computer at home or at the office, put it on a counter that is comfortable for you to use when standing up, and don’t put a chair near it. Forcing yourself to stand is a great way to burn energy, strengthen your legs and promote healthy weight loss. You might not do this all day, but doing this for at least three (or even one or two!) hours a day is already enabling you to burn 150 more calories than you would have burned sitting down…and with minimal effort.

How much time do you spend in front of the computer every day? Do you have other tips to get the most out of your computer time while staying fit? Do you have suggestions regarding on how to burn calories while sitting? Let me know by leaving a comment, I’d love to hear from you.

Yes You Can Turn TV Time Into Workout Time!

Sometimes my son gets furious with my husband and me when we strictly limit his daily TV time because it means he must find other ways of amusing himself, which can range from anything to reading to playing outside. But we are strict about this rule because it keeps him more active and it strengthens his brain!

However, even with our nationwide obesity epidemic, there seems to be no escape from television. How do you reason with a child who desperately wants to watch Hannah Montana or Spongebob? How do you reason with adults, who after a day of work, want to sit down to a brainless activity like television to relax? Unless they want to exercise while watching TV? According to csun.edu, the average American spends a whopping four hours per day in front of the TV. Television appears to be, for most, a necessary evil, but it is eroding away our ability for healthy weight loss both physically and mentally.

Since so many things are aimed to sabotage our diets and our workouts, why don’t we sabotage our television time? I do this by going for a daily therapeutic run as soon as my kids are off to school. And in the afternoons when I feel tired and want to sit around, instead I drink a glass of water and focused my renewed energy towards cooking a healthy meal for my family’s dinner.

At night, my husband and I generally allow ourselves about an hour of TV, which is moderate and balanced. But we always also take time to just talk, enjoy each other’s company and discuss our day so that we feel connected and stimulated before turning on the boob tube.

It’s just a matter of being more mindful of the way you spend your time rather than mindlessly turning on the television out of habit. Do you think turning TV time into workout time would work for you? Do you think you can lose weight while watching TV? Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.

There is really no straight answer to this question because it depends where you get the smoothie and what ingredients are used to make it. Smoothies in many retail shops are made with added sugars, pre-sweetened fruit, high-fat yogurt/ice cream and unhealthy toppings. However, if you love your smoothies and want some tips on making them healthier, I invite you to read on…

1)    Only use low-fat plain yogurt in your smoothies. The added sugars in flavored yogurts are unnecessary calories because the natural sweetness from the fruit is enough to make most smoothies sweet. But if it’s still not sweet enough for you, a teaspoon of honey should do the trick!

2)    Use only fresh or frozen fruit in your smoothies that has not been pre-sweetened. Read labels carefully because often berries and other frozen fruit have sugars added before they are frozen.

3)    Add crushed ice to your smoothies before blending. The crushed ice will make the yogurt have a thicker consistency, more like ice cream without adding any extra calories or diluting the taste. You get a better smoothie with fewer calories – a win win!

4)    Make your smoothies at home. Investing in a good blender will save you money over time since smoothies can cost upwards of $5 each. Plus, making them at home assures you of exactly what’s being put into your smoothie. Make a large amount at once and store in single-serve containers because they can stay in the refrigerator for up to three days for a quick grab-and-go snack.

So start your blenders and enjoy! I’d love to hear your smoothie secrets!

Delicious, Underutilized Oatmeal!

In my last post, we discussed how many eggs you should be eating and what your safe levels of cholesterol should be. Now what if I told you there was an actual breakfast food that could reduce cholesterol? Yes, it’s oatmeal! Oatmeal magically reduces the amount of LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol in your body.

Oatmeal’s other fun factor is that it makes you feel full a lot longer, making it easy to reduce your calorie intake just by exchanging your normal greasy breakfast with this one-bowl wonder. Plus, it can be easily portable and a quick snap to prepare, making it a great option to bring to work.

But how do you jazz up something that may at times remind you of dismal force-feedings as a child? Lots of different toppings can make your oatmeal more fun, and they all allow you to change it up so you don’t get bored by monotony. A little goes a long way, so here’s a list of the ingredients you could use for your next bowl of oatmeal:

• Fruit: bananas, peaches, pears, strawberries and mangoes
• Dried fruit: apricots, dates, cherries, mangoes
• Fruit preserves
• Yogurt
• Honey, maple syrup, brown sugar
• Crushed nuts
• Melted dark chocolate bits
• Spices: cinnamon, pinch of nutmeg, a drop of vanilla extract
• Coffee: French Vanilla, Almond Mocha

Mr. Breakfast, a wonderful site that lists all sorts of breakfasts (not all of them healthy bear in mind) put together a top-ten list of reasons to eat oatmeal. Visit their site [1] for the full list.

Sources:

[1] http://www.mrbreakfast.com/article.asp?articleid=27

Too much of a good thing?

One of the diets I skimmed through today is called “The Simple Pescatarian Diet” which adheres to some solid health principles, such as eating lots of fish, fresh fruit and dairy (mercury levels and lactose intolerance aside) but I feel its overuse of eggs is a tad questionable. The regimen advises the dieter to eat 6-7 scrambled eggs during the week, which led me to today’s blog question: how many eggs should you be eating?

Eggs sometimes get a bad rap because of their high cholesterol levels (which is only contained in the yolk, measuring at 215 mg, while the recommended daily limit is 300 mg), but in moderation, they are actually an amazing food.  They do contain B vitamins and are a healthy source of protein since they contain all 9 essential amino acids. They are also high in choline, which can help prevent breast cancer.  Eggs have been shown to also help prevent macular degeneration because of their high lutein content. The American Heart Association recommends eating 3-4 eggs a week. But eggs are a hidden ingredient in many foods, such as pastries, certain breads, muffins and other baked goods.  Our nation is one where high cholesterol, which contributes to heart disease, is a problem for many people. Every 34 seconds, somebody in America will die from heart disease [1] and I know my readers have no plans of becoming part of a statistic.

So what should you do about the conundrum to eat or not eat eggs? The answer, like most things when it comes to food, is moderation and balance. There are other ways to reduce your cholesterol too, such as cooking eggs in the smallest amount of olive and/or canola oils. Better yet, go poached or hard boiled, and get rid of the oil altogether. How many eggs do you normally eat a week? Leave a comment below.

Sources:

[1] http://www.mamashealth.com/Heart_stat.asp

Master Yourself, And You Master The World

Through mass media and self-help diatribes, we’ve been bombarded with such tired adages as “Give it 100%!” or “Go all the way!” Lately I’ve been hearing such ridiculous statements such as “Give it 110%!” or even larger figures. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think we can give a hundred percent to everything in our lives without becoming overwhelmed. We often divide ourselves up between a variety of roles, and mindless pep talk like that doesn’t really grasp the reality of the human condition. Sometimes you need to give it less than a hundred percent, and today I’d like to encourage you to do just that when you are eating: eat only until you are eighty percent full, a technique known by Japanese as hari hachi bu [1].

Turning Off The Parent Voice

People normally have this natural point where they realize they have had enough. You start with this big plate of food, but then you figure out when you are ten bites from finishing that you’ve had enough. But you keep on eating. Now why do we all do that? Maybe you remember your parent or grandparent, who was a veteran of the Depression days, wagging his/her fork at you, intoning, “Finish your food! Don’t you know there are starving children in Africa?” It’s not wise to waste, but you can put aside food for later or have it put in a doggie bag. So shut your inner parent voice up and stop eating!

Big Results, Small Waistline

This technique is really hard to apply for another reason. Many people feel compelled to eat until they are bloated. Sometimes we just aren’t satisfied until we feel our growing stomachs burgeoning with heavy food. I can understand that. But that makes it harder and harder on your body to lose weight, because the more you continue to do that, the more food your body needs before it can give you the ‘full’ signal. This is the downward spiral of weight gain so many have fallen into. The best thing to do if you don’t feel happy with the amount you’ve eaten is to move the food out of sight for 15 minutes. When you come back to it, you may realize you were made out of stronger stuff than you thought, and that you actually don’t need to eat that much food to be happy with your meal.

Some other suggestions for learning to stop when you are full rather than stuffed include using smaller plates since they don’t have as much room for as much food, as well as putting your fork down between each bite and not picking it up again until you have chewed and swallowed your last bite. These simple tips force you to eat more slowly, which also help you realize when you feel full before hitting that “stuffed” stage.

Give it Eighty Percent!

Do you agree or disagree with hari hachi bu? Let me know by leaving your feedback below. Thanks!

Source:
[1] http://okinawa-diet.com/okinawa_diet/hara_hachi_bu.html

Eat Hot Stuff. Become Hot Stuff. Nice!

My husband turned me on to spicy foods after we got married, and now I love turning on the heat!

But I Don’t Like Spicy Food!

If you don’t like spicy food, it may be just because you haven’t tried the right kind. Perhaps the spicy food you tried was far too spicy, or you tried to wash it down with water, which swirls the spiciness around your mouth and makes spicy food even hotter. If you would like to neutralize the spiciness, Isuggest that you eat your spicy dish with a glass of non-fat milk to lessen the sensation. If you still can’t take the heat, you can skip this article. But I warn you – you’re missing out on something delicious, not to mention something very potent for weight loss!

Hand Me The Chili Flakes Now

As you may have already guessed, red pepper, also known as cayenne pepper, will increase your core metabolism through the naturally occurring substance known as capsaicin. In an article by the New York Daily News, men who drank coffee and ate red pepper snacks for one day burned about 955 calories more than those who didn’t. The men in the study were given free reign to pick what food they wanted to eat, so this information may help food ‘grazers’ who absent-mindedly pick at foods.. That means you should go for the hot stuff first, or opt to add chili flakes to your food. A lot of dishes can be spiced up, especially dishes which are already tomato based.

How Many Pecks of Pickled Peppers (Did Peter Piper Pick)?

But the question is: how much spicy red pepper should you eat? In order to replicate the study and hopefully achieve similar results, you need to consume a lot of red pepper, namely about 19 grams of red peppers and 200 mg of caffeine [1]. That means a cup of coffee at every meal, something I don’t advocate, as the recommended daily limit is 300 mg of caffeine (two cups of coffee per day). What I can recommend is that you exchange the caffeine for the much safer option of green tea, which also has fat-burning benefits.

In another study published by a Japanese scientist in the eminent British Journal of Nutrition [2], the subjects were fed four different kinds of soup. One of these soups had a strong dose of red pepper and the others had weaker amounts of red pepper or placebos. It was discovered that those who ingested the soup with the strong dose of red pepper significantly lowered their fat intake – not to mention decreased their appetite!

How Do I Start?

You might want to start the hot food nights at your house by hosting Spanish-style tapas nights, where you can serve a variety of small Spanish appetizers that taste great with a lot of heat. Or try cooking an Asian fusion meal for dinner, which often requires spicy ingredients. Take it slow, and try to build up your tolerance over time. Is your mouth watering yet?
Hot Feedback Wanted

So did we light your fire? Let us know by leaving a comment!

Sources:
[1] http://www.suite101.com/content/thermogenesis-and-calorie-burners-a183084
[2] http://www.foodnavigator.com/Science-Nutrition/Red-pepper-for-fat-burning-further-evidence