New Food Memories at Christmas & A Tribute

The holidays are such a special time of year – a time to reflect on holidays past and a time to build new memories with family and others that you love so dearly.  Jeff and I were reminded of the magic of Christmas in the eyes of our children when they danced all over as we brought our freshly cut Christmas tree into the house this year.  And later when we got some of their presents wrapped under the tree -  Hannah and Evan stacked and re-stacked them with wonder of what might be in each box.  Children really bring the spirit of Christmas alive in all of us, and I love that.

My mother-in-law, Beverly at
Christmas time in 2009.

But we cannot forget the tragedy that rocked our family’s world just over one year ago.  My beloved mother-in-law, Beverly, passed away unexpectantly in November of 2011 of what we found out was cancer way too late.  For many that have lost very close loved ones, you know the level of loss.  Beverly was the family matriarch with a heart filled with endless love for everyone.  She and I became very close over the 12 short years that I knew her.  She was a mother figure, but also a dear friend that I spoke to multiple times per week.  Even in the last conversation I had with her (which I did not realize at the time), she insisted on talking about my business , our kids and things going on in my life even while she was lying in bed in excruciating pain.  She was such a generous, encouraging person, and will forever be an inspiration to me.  I am so blessed to have known and loved her, and will always cherish the time we had together. 

Until 2010, Christmas day each year meant going over to John & Beverly’s home and opening presents under their beautifully decorated tree followed by a wonderful lunch that they both lovingly prepared together.  But things are different now, and we are forced to move on – if for nothing else, for the grandchildren that Beverly loved so much – our kids and their cousin, Sydney. 

The start of our Christmas table this year.  A work in-progress!

We now must build new memories and traditions.  One thing that has been passed down to me and my sister-in-law, Julie, is food planning.  Last year’s holiday season were a complete blur for obvious reasons.  But for Christmas this year, Jeff & I plan to host the family meal since Julie and her family hosted Thanksgiving.  Hosting is something I am looking very forward to doing – I’ve had fun shopping for festive tableware and it has given me the final motivation to get our china set fully completed.  I love cooking and hosting parties - and this change in our family's life has given me the opportunity to take more of that on.  Our menu this year will feature the traditional buffalo tenderloin that was made by John & Beverly in years past, but with our own new flair and sides.   So we take part of the traditions of the past and bring it lovingly into the present.

Are you forced to make new food memories during the holiday season in your family as a result of a tragedy?  I know our family is not alone, so I want to offer some encouragement.  Let us all move forward together with courage for the sake of the our children, other family  members and in our loved one’s memory.  Settle any differences you might have with loved ones, forgive deeply and love fearlessly.  They would want that for all of us - to be happy and joyful through the holiday season. 

Have a very Merry Christmas and God Bless you all – from our home to yours.

Thanksgiving: Healthy Strategies & Last Minute Recipes

Oh, the joys of Thanksgiving!  Our family is looking forward to a nice, intimate family meal with my sister-in-law and her family as well as my father-in-law.  It will be a team effort with all parties contributing dishes to the meal.  I love potlucks because it allows us to share different recipes, tastes and flavors with each other.   I hope you are looking forward to the special time you plan to spend with loved ones as much as we are.

Thanksgiving is usually the official start of the holiday season; that which is filled with shopping, parties, travelling and time spent with extended family.  This is a wonderful time to build memories that last a lifetime, but it is also a high risk time of poor eating habits and weight gain for the average American.  Stress, decreased physical activity and excessive calorie intake are some of the main culprits.  Research suggests that holiday weight gain can be the type of weight gain that stays around for years.

Some of my adult weight loss clients are nervous about the upcoming holidays.  They have made positive lifestyle changes and as a result, have lost weight, improved blood sugar levels and/or have lowered their cholesterol and blood pressure.  Holidays can have a way of throwing all of us off our healthy lifestyle track.  The good news is that this does not need to happen.  There are many things you can do that will allow you to enjoy some of the pleasures that the Holidays bring while also maintaining a balanced approach to your healthy lifestyle.  Here are some survival strategies to help you stay on track through the holiday season:

Avoid starving yourself in preparation for a party or get together.  This is a very common approach, but it is a guaranteed way to take in too many calories.  Instead, strategize a plan so you can enjoy calorie-rich foods in moderation.  Eat a good, hearty breakfast to start your day.

Maximize the veggie tray.  Most parties do have some lower calorie fare such as vegetable trays and salads.  Load your plate with larger portions of these foods to keep your total calories in check.

Contribute the healthier dish.  If you need to bring a dish to a potluck party, bring a healthy dish to balance out the higher calorie choices.  Most people that have healthy mindsets are very thankful for these type of dishes.  This also ensures that you have some low calorie choices to include with the higher calorie foods you plan to eat.

Be mindful of mindless eating and grazing.  Many people tend to eat in the absence of hunger during social situations because the food is simply there.  Try and be extra conscious about why you are eating.  It sounds obvious, but make sure you only eat when you are hungry and not just because the food is merely there in front of you.  Go back to the basics.

Increase physical activity.  Who says time spent with family during the holidays has to only involve eating and sedentary activities?  Be the encourager of your family by suggesting a refreshing morning walk or even an after dinner game of hoops at a local park.  Be creatively deliberate about staying active, which is sure to help avoid holiday weight gain.  Our family likes to take the opportunity of extra time off that holidays allow to do some fun activities together.

Great, Healthy Homestyle Recipes
If you are still looking for that special dish to complete the Thanksgiving feast, I have a cookbook that has not failed me one time.  Every time I make a dish out of this cookbook, my guests love them.  The cookbook is More Healthy Homestyle Cooking: Family Favorites You’ll Make Againand Again by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD.  She has the original Healthy Homestyle Cooking and the Healthy Homestyle Desserts cookbooks that I keep meaning to get – and this blog post has gotten me to finally purchase them.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t find new books, as Amazon only could find me gently used versions and I was unable to get a hold of Evelyn before this post published.  But I am sure the recipes in the first one are as good as the second, but I will be sure to report back to you with my thoughts. 

What I like about Evelyn’s More Healthy Homestyle Cooking cookbook is that she makes several excellent suggestions to make a homestyle recipe healthier while at the same time, minimizing the loss of good taste and flavors.  That’s the key right there.  Living in Texas, many people I know are always on the lookout for good homestyle recipes that are also healthy.  If this is you, consider Evelyn’s cookbooks.

Here are a couple of her recipes:

Barley Risotto
1 onion, chopped
4 cups fat-free chicken broth
1 cup quick-cooking barley
1/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted
¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel

Coat a large saucepan with nonstick spray and warm over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, or until tender.  Add 3 cups of the broth and the barley.  Cover and simmer for 25 minutes, or until most of the liquid is absorbed.  Uncover and gradually add the remaining 1 cup broth, about ¼ cup at a time, stirring constantly and letting each addition be absorbed before adding the next (a total of about 15 minutes).  Stir in the pecans, parsley and lemon peel.  Serve immediately.  Makes 6 servings.

Per serving: 176 calories, 7g protein, 29g carbohydrates, 4g fat, 0.5 g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 533mg sodium, 5g fiber.

Homestyle Hint:  To toast pecans, place them in a dry skillet over medium heat.  Cook, shaking the pan often, for 2 minutes, or until lightly browned and fragrant.

Roasted Tarragon-Vegetable Medley
VEGETABLES
3 carrots, halved lengthwise, then quartered
2 medium crookneck or yellow summer squash, cut diagonally into ½”-thick slices
2 portobello mushrooms, each cut into sixths

GLAZE
2 T fat-free chicken broth
1 T dry white wine or fat-free chicken broth
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 T chopped fresh tarragon or 1 teaspoon dried
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

TO MAKE THE VEGETABLES: Position one rack in the top third and another in the bottom third of the oven.  Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.  Line 2 baking sheets or roasting pans with foil and lightly coat with nonstick spray.

Arrange the carrots, squash zucchini, mushrooms, and peppers on both baking sheets or pans in single layers.  Place the mushrooms with their gills facing up.

TO MAKE THE GLAZE:  In a small cup, combine the broth, wine or broth, oil tarragon, and garlic.  Drizzle evenly over the vegetables.

Roast for 20 minutes.  Reverse the position of the baking sheets so that the top sheet is on the bottom and vice versa.  Roast for 15 minutes longer, or until the vegetables are tender and lightly browned.  Makes 6 servings.

Per serving: 69 calories, 3g protein, 11g carbohydrates, 2g fat, 0.5g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 30mg sodium, 5g fiber.

From my family to yours, I wish you a very blessed, happy and healthy Thanksgiving!

Happy & Healthy Easter!

I love how holidays allow provide opportunities for children and their families to spend quality and creative time together. There are so many fun physical activities you can do at Easter time to offset any extra calories that may have been eaten. Easter egg hunts using hollow eggs filled with trinket toys or even a "clue" to where the next Easter egg might be is a great way to have fun. You can even have an Easter egg race by dividing into 2 teams or even bunny hop races using potato sacks and bunny ears could be lots of fun. Use your creativity to get the family and neighbors out to celebrate this great holiday. I found a great selection on the Little Kids' Games Online. Do a Google search to find even more ideas to get pumped up about being outside this Easter for some family exercise and fun.

Many parents ask me about ideas on putting healthy Easter baskets together. Easter, much like Halloween and Valentine's Day, is one of those holidays that is vulnerable to exposing your children to excessive amounts of candy. It doesn't help that Easter candy portion sizes have increased with the rest of food portions. While it is fine to have some candy in your child's Easter basket, it really would be a better idea to mix it up with fun toys, brain teazers and games. SuperKids Nutrition has an awesome article out on creating healthy easter baskets. I happen to be one of the contributing editors for SuperKids Nutrition, but I truly believe that the SuperKids website resource is one of the best ones out there on pediatric nutrition! All the articles are free for your reading pleasure and are written by dietitians specializing in pediatrics and wellness. Melissa Halas-Liang, dietitian and creator of SuperKids Nutrition, has written a series of children's books with "Super Crew" characters that serve as healthy role models for your children on healthy eating. My daughter absolutely loves her books!
So if you were wondering, yes. At our house, we do allow our children some Easter treats. However, as a Christian family we choose to emphasize the true meaning of Easter with friends and extended family. Enjoy your holiday within moderate limits and Easter will remain a much-anticipated and unintimidating thing for you and your family.

Getting Back Into Routine

I don't know about you, but my daily routine has been ransacked over the Holidays. It's great to change things up -- I am not complaining at all. We need a break from the same 'ole, same 'ole. But it's also nice to get back into some semblance of normalcy. Our family did a lot of travelling, which required leaving our home and staying in multiple locations. This includes eating different foods, waking and sleeping at alternate hours as well as having less control over when you can find time to exercise.

For me, it's been a time of new discoveries. When I was at my sister's home in Reading, Pennsylvania, she turned me on to her On Demand exercise videos. She has Comcast Cable, but I remembered that I also have a similar set-up with my AT&T Uverse in Texas. Kathy and I worked out with Jillian Michaels one day and Billy Banks, Jr. another day. It was quite fun! Besides, you may have heard about all the snow the northeast got -- my favorite exercise past time, running, was out of the question so I had to find alternate ways to keep the activity going. In addition to Pennyslvania, we visited the exciting city of New York City. Needless to say, we got a lot of walking in as we explored the lights and adventures all around us. My 2 year old son refused to walk, so I carried him most of the time. Great arm and leg workout! [Check out the picture of me with my family in Time Square!] The foods we got to experience were wonderful. My brother-in-law spoiled us with homemade ravioli and Italian wedding soup one night followed by homemade traditional Italian pizza another night. Desserts included homemade canolis and my sister's famous chocolate cake. Decadent and rich all around!

I know most of you have had a similar situation. You may not have travelled this year, but your Holiday has taken you away from your typical routine. The research shows that the average person may only gain a couple pounds around the Holidays, but the key thing to ensure is that you do not carry those behaviors on throughout the year. Otherwise, those couple pounds could end up translating to 10 more pounds throughout the 2010. Get back into the groove with your healthy lifestyle TODAY. In the January edition of Nutrition Tidbits, there will be many dietitians that will discuss the things they will personally do in their own life to make 2010 the healthiest year yet - including me! I will post a link to that newsletter as soon as it is published. Here's to a Healthy and Happy New Year!