Summer Fun: Cave in to your Cravings!

Summer Fun: Cave in to your Cravings!

Picture a beautiful, very warm summer day, and you sitting down for lunch with a nice steaming hot bowl of soup. What is wrong with that picture??? It’s just not natural. I don’t often have salad for lunch, but it definitely sounds better in the summer than in the winter.

Did you ever notice how your cravings shift from time to time? One day you can’t get enough avocado, and another you just can’t get enough of those fresh peaches and strawberries. Since we now get so much of our produce year round, it’s getting harder to stay connected to those seasonal cravings. And with so many conflicting messages out there about the foods you have to avoid to manage your weight, we have leaned away from listening to our bodies because the experts must know what is best. Our body still knows, and it communicates through cravings. The word ‘cravings’ is not a bad word, or at least it doesn’t have to be. Being in tune with what our body needs, and acting based upon our natural instincts, is key to a healthy lifestyle.

To help you fill those summer cravings, try this super Easy Zucchini salad.

[ ... ]

Sweet Potatoes Are Your Friend

Sweet Potatoes Are Your Friend

Eating sweet potatoes seems to go hand in hand with the holidays, but don't stop there. There are many reasons to keep them in the line up throughout the year. To start with, cravings for sweets can be greatly reduced by adding sweet vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, yams, parsnips, beets, squash, turnips and rutabagas to your daily diet. Sweet potatoes in particular offer a creamy consistency that is satisfying and soothing, while elevating blood sugar gently rather than with the jolt delivered by simple refined carbohydrates, so there's no energy crash after you eat them. With a glycemic load of 17 (lower the better, on a scale of 1-100), it is half that of russet potatoes.

The list of health benefits of sweet potatoes is quite impressive for a sweet, grounding food that is readily available all year long. Packed with nutrients and antioxidants, and being a good source of fiber, sweet potatoes help to remove toxins from the body and sooth the impact of stress, play a role in the prevention of heart disease and cancer, lower the risk of diabetes and obesity, are anti-inflammatory and among the top 3 food sources of potassium. The fiber in sweet potatoes provides a feeling of fullness and satiety, which helps you to eat less. All great reasons to include sweet potatoes as a staple on your weekly shopping list year round. The more you have, the less room there is for unhealthy alternatives.

If you're going to eat them more often, you may need some fresh ideas. Besides the Sweet Potatoe Lasgne recipe included on my blog, which is one of my favorites, you can also: pack a baked sweet potato for lunch topped with plain yogurt or cinnamon-flavored applesauce, add peeled chunks to your favorite stew, bake some sweet potato fries.

Other ideas? I would love to hear 'em!

[ ... ]

Oils and Fats: a positive light

Oils and Fats: a positive light

Getting enough healthy fats and oils is an important part of our diet. Sounds funny I know, but somewhere along the way the message was a little over simplified or got lost in translation. The key is to cut down on 'unhealthy' sources of fat and understand which sources are the healthy ones.

We need healthy fats in our diet to:

• Protect our organs, keep us warm and help our bodies absorb and move nutrients around
• Increase our metabolism, burn fat more quickly, improve insulin resistance
• Make us feel satisfied longer after a meal and reduce our need for snacking

When we eat out it's hard to know what we are getting, but at home we have quite a bit more control. Here is a quick list of healthy oils and fats to have around. The more of these you have, the less room there is for unhealthy options.

Breakfast: Add almond slivers, crushed walnuts, flax seeds or flax oil, to your cereal. Have eggs a couple of times a week. Eggs are packed healthy nutrients and are easier on the digestive system than meat.

Lunch and dinner: Include wild caught salmon in your weekly routine, toss a few canned beans on your salads as well as drizzling olive and walnut oil on salads and cooked veggie dishes.

When sautéing use the following oils to cook:

Low to medium heat - Olive oil

Medium to high heat - Coconut oil

High heat - Grape seed oil

Have the following around for snack time: hummus made with olive oil, avocado or guacamole, and nuts.

This is a very quick summary of a big topic. If you have questions ask in a post, or send me an email. dianaoconnell@yahoo.com

[ ... ]

Brussels Sprouts w/ Walnuts and Cranberries

Brussels Sprouts w/ Walnuts and Cranberries

Adapted from a Vegetarian Times Magazine recipe

Ingredients
½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts
2 tsp. olive oil
1 ½ lbs. Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved or quartered
2 medium shallots, halved and sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ cup coarsely chopped dried cranberries
1 tbls. Agave nectar syrup
1 tbls. Walnut oil

Directions
1) Heat a large fry pan to medium-high and toast walnuts for 3 – 4 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
2) Wipe out pan and heat olive oil (but not to the point of smoking.) Add Brussels sprouts and sauté until lightly browning, about 5 minutes. Add shallots and garlic and sauté for about 1 more minute.
3) Stir in cranberries, agave and 1 cup water. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 5 – 7 minutes. Water should be evaporated and sprouts just tender, but not soft.
4) Toss with toasted walnuts and walnut oil, and serve.

Cooking Tips
When buying dried cranberries, make sure to read the labels. You don’t’ want any artificial colors or refined sugars added. The best option is to buy them bulk. If you don’t have agave nectar, don’t worry, it is just as good without it.

Nutrition Tips
Brussels Sprouts are a great winter veggie that is loaded with soluble fiber, and packed with numerous vitamins and minerals. They are also known to be liver supporting, cancer fighting, and cholesterol lowering.

Walnuts and walnut oil are a great source of Omega 3 fatty acids, which are essential for good health. Omega 3’s are also found in wild caught salmon and flax seeds and pumpkin seeds.

[ ... ]

Recipe: Kale, Chickpea and Pine Nuts

Recipe: Kale, Chickpea and Pine Nuts

This is a great recipe for any time of the year.

Ingredients
1 bunch kale, tough stems removed, cut in 2” ribbons
2 cups cooked chickpeas (rinse canned beans well)
½ onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup pine nuts
2 tbls olive oil
1 tsp fennel seeds
Celtic sea salt

Directions
Sauté onions in olive oil 5 minutes, or until translucent.
Add kale and sauté for 5 more minutes.
Add water and garlic, reduce heat to medium, and wet sauté for additional 5 minutes.
Add chickpeas, pine nuts, fennel seeds and salt. Simmer, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes.

Come back and tell me how it went.

[ ... ]