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Eureka, CA 95501
TEL: (707) 441-5081
FAX: (707) 268-0415
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Decorate Your Dinner,
Add A Vegetable
August 1, 2007 - Squashes Add Fiber and Color to Meals
It’s summer squash time...that time of the year when gardens abound with their many colors and shapes. Summer squashes such as patty pan and zucchini don't have large amounts of any one or two nutrients, but they do contribute fiber, small amounts of many nutrients, as well as add color and variety to our meals. Like most vegetables, they also contain NO fat. Right now, many gardeners (and their neighbors) are probably looking for new, creative ways to use them... or ways to give them away.
Many of the "old standard" recipes for summer squash contain a lot of fat, but most of the time you can cut that fat by at least half, add a little seasoning, and still have a tasty result. This type of "painless" recipe change makes it easier to follow current recommendations to decrease the fats in your meals and increase the amount of vegetables eaten in order to reduce risks of heart disease and certain cancers. If a summer squash recipe contains a lot of fat calories, they most commonly come from cheeses. You can substantially reduce the total amounts of fat and calories in a recipe by using reduced fat cheese or smaller amounts of intensely flavored cheese, or by decreasing the total amount of cheese used.
If you like plain steamed squashes, but they're beginning to taste a little too plain, jazz them up with herbs or other seasonings. Because they have a mild flavor, squashes are easily enhanced by the addition of various herbs or spices. Used individually or in combination, basil, dill, oregano, thyme, onion and garlic, are all especially good with summer squashes. You can also experiment with some of the spice combinations. Don’t limit yourself to just a few seasonings. Experiment!
Here’s a yummy recipe that combines zucchini with several other vegetables for added flavors. Give it a try!
Garden Veggies Italian Style
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium zucchini or yellow summer squash, chopped
1 large tomato, diced
1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped
¼ tsp. oregano
1 tsp. dry basil leaves (or 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil)
8-oz. tomato sauce
½ c. part-skim mozzarella cheese, grated
- Combine all vegetables in a shallow baking dish.
- Sprinkle with oregano and basil and pour on tomato sauce.
- Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 20 - 30 minutes.
- Sprinkle cheese over the top of vegetables and bake another 4-5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.
Makes 6 servings, with 59 calories per serving, 2 g. fat, 5 mg. chol., 59 mg. sodium if using unsalted tomato sauce (252 mg. sodium if using regular canned tomato sauce), 1.5 g. fiber, 7.4 g. carb., 3.6 g. protein.
August 8, 2007 - Children can Learn about Nutrition at an Early Age
It’s hard to believe, but there are just a few more weeks before children go back to school and we begin the fall routine. It’s not too late to give your children some wonderful experiences with the fresh produce of summer. One of the best ways (certainly the tastiest way) for children to learn positive attitudes about foods, especially vegetables and fruits, is to help grow them and/or prepare them for a family meal. This is the time of year when Humboldt County has the greatest selection of fruits and vegetables in family gardens and at the Farmers’ Markets. It’s the ideal time to introduce your children to our wonderful north coast variety! At the market, encourage children to ask questions about how the foods grow and how to prepare them. There are lots of new foods to explore!
When you get home with the produce, take some time to do food activities with your children. They can learn what fresh vegetables and fruits look like, how they smell, their varied colors, and how they change with cutting and cooking. Children learn best by doing, so active learning may include helping choose a new fruit or vegetable at the market, helping wash and cut vegetables, helping cook, or doing something as simple as tearing lettuce for a salad. Be sure to choose activities for your child that will be interesting, and that they can successfully accomplish, considering their age and experience handling food. Make sure they understand their part of the job, as well as what your job includes, and be sure to talk about handling food safely.
When a child is about 2 years of age, beginning food activities should use large muscles of the arms and legs, and might include scrubbing, tearing-breaking-snapping of vegetables, carrying unbreakable items, and dipping.
At approximately 3 years of age activities can use large muscles, as well as the small muscles of the hand. Activities might include pouring, mixing, shaking, and spreading.
When a child is 4 years of age you can start introducing activities that require good eye-hand and finger coordination. This includes peeling, rolling, cracking raw eggs, and mashing.
At five years of age, a child frequently has developed
enough eye-hand coordination that they can accomplish measuring, cutting, grinding, grating, and beating with an egg beater. These activities can be pretty exciting, so it’s especially important that the child also learns how to do them safely.
The ages suggested for various activities are approximate. Children develop at different speeds, and need assistance and encouragement to be successful. Children who are older when they first have food experiences should be introduced using the same sequence of activities, but they may progress to new levels more quickly than a young child. Remember that all new activities take time to learn, and a child will learn more quickly when they are given positive messages for any accomplishment, rather than a "don’t do it that way" message.
Chances are good that your family will love the following recipe. It’s simple, and the kids might be able to help with measuring, or with washing and cutting vegetables. Enjoy!
Pesto Pasta Surprise
(adapted from Stealth Health)
12 ounces whole wheat spaghetti or spaghettini
2 Tbsp. pine nuts
½ c. fresh basil leaves
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 c. low fat or nonfat cottage cheese
2 c. fresh broccoli florets
4 tsp. olive oil, divided
¼ c. reduced salt, fat free chicken or vegetable broth
2/3 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 large tomato, diced
- Cook pasta according to instructions on the package. Drain, set aside and keep warm.
- Put the pine nuts in a small ungreased fry pan and cook and stir over medium heat for 2-3 minutes or until lightly golden. (Watch carefully to prevent burning.)
- Transfer the pine nuts to a blender or food processor. Add the basil and garlic. Blend or process until finely chopped. Add the cottage cheese and blend until smooth.
- With the machine running, gradually add the broccoli and the olive oil. Then gradually add the broth and Parmesan cheese.
- In a large bowl, toss the cooked pasta with the pesto and toss until well coated. Divide among five plates and garnish each with chopped tomato.
Serves 5, with 389 calories per serving, 11 g. fat, 11 mg. chol., 387 mg. sodium, 10.6 g. fiber, 56 g. carb., 22 g. protein.
August 15, 2007 - Get Moving to Decrease Extra Stress
It’s really impressive to see how many people are out walking during the day. Some folks are walking during their lunchtime, and others are walking in the late afternoon or evening. No matter what the time of day, and no matter what their ages, the significant thing is that many local individuals and families have recognized the importance of moving their bodies on a regular basis. Of course, our weather this year has made it even more inviting!
Regular movement is especially important when you’re dealing with stress. When we are stressed, our bodies produce chemicals that make us feel edgy and tense. Our hearts beat faster, muscles get tight, we breathe harder, and blood pressure goes up. When we exercise, the chemicals produced by stress are moved out of our bodies, muscle tension is decreased, and our minds become free of problems.
When using movement to decrease stress, it is essential to choose enjoyable activities, and what YOU enjoy will depend on your personality and life style. If your life is surrounded by quiet activities, then vigorous movement may best reduce your stress. But, if your life is usually vigorous, then quiet activity might be most helpful for decreasing stress levels. Whatever you choose, make it fun!
Vigorous movement is usually aerobic, which means it will raise your heart rate. In order for vigorous movement to help reduce stress, you need to "work out" hard enough and long enough that you lightly sweat and your heart beats faster (but not so fast that you can’t talk while you’re exercising). This is the kind of activity that actually moves stress through and out of your body, and turns tension into energy. Aerobic activities might include regular walking, swimming, jogging, bike riding, and home chores such as vacuuming, mopping, raking, hula hooping, or similar activities.
Calming or quieting activity is most useful for individuals who are always on the go. Quiet activities can actually reverse the stressed state that many people experience. It slows breathing and heart rate, and relaxes muscles. Calming activities might include stretch breaks during the day, a strolling walk after a meal, or taking part in yoga or tai chi classes.
Think about what activities would give you the most benefit and start them now while we’re having this beautiful weather, but because the rainy season will be coming sooner than we can possibly believe right now, be sure to consider some activities that can be done inside and out. It is said that a new behavior becomes a habit if it is continued for 21 days. So, if we begin our new stress reducing activities now, we should be able to successfully continue them all the way through the rainy season. Let’s get started!
Here’s a delicious sauce to try with some of our summer fruits.
EN’s Own Rhubarb Citrus Fruit Sauce
(adapted from Environmental Nutrition Newsletter)
2 c. rhubarb, diced (fresh or frozen)
1 medium apple, cored and diced
1 c. fresh or frozen unsweetened blueberries or sliced strawberries
1 Tbsp. orange zest
2/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. orange juice
1 Tbsp. corn starch
- Combine rhubarb, apple, berries and orange zest in a medium pot. Cook over low heat until fruit softens.
- Stir in sugar until dissolved.
- Whisk orange juice and cornstarch in a cup. Add to fruit mixture.
- Cover and simmer 20 minutes.
- Serve over poultry or pork or on top of pancakes or waffles.
Makes 9, ½-cup servings, with 88 calories per serving, less than 1 g. fat, 0 mg. chol., 1 g. sodium, 22 g. carb, 1.4 g. fiber, less than 1 g. protein.
August 22, 2007 - Breakfast Helps Start the Day with Brain Power
The new school year is fast approaching. It's a good time to focus on how adults can lead the way in teaching children about healthy foods, so that our children have the greatest success in the classroom. Teaching by example is very effective, and it’s important to remember that a good breakfast is vital for starting each day with the most brainpower! That’s true for both children and adults. The body stores its energy in the form of glucose and in the morning, every day, it needs breakfast to restock those energy stores.
The brain needs a lot of glucose to do the mental work required at school or at work. Numerous studies have shown that children and teens that regularly eat breakfast perform better in school and frequently score better on tests. (In fact, so do adults.)
Basic skills such as reading, writing, and math, are frequently taught in the morning. If children are hungry, they can’t concentrate, they have decreased problem-solving ability, and decreased muscle coordination. Over time, skipped breakfasts can put children further and further behind in their learning.
Breakfast doesn’t have to be complicated or big. In fact, a large breakfast isn’t appealing to many individuals. Eating any food will help restore the brain’s blood sugar, but it
IS a good idea to include foods that will also contribute to overall health.
"Quick breads" can be a simple, delicious and speedy breakfast. They can be low in fat, high in flavor, and full of variety. They are called "quick" breads because they are made with baking powder rather than yeast, take less time to make than most yeast breads, and can include muffins, biscuits, nut/fruit breads, cornbread, pancakes and waffles. Make a quick bread breakfast complete by including some protein (a slice of cheese, yogurt, peanut butter, or an egg), and a piece of fruit.
Following, is a great Project LEAN guide to use when making quick breads:
- In most quick breads, you only NEED 1-2 Tablespoons of fat (preferably canola or olive oil) FOR EACH CUP OF FLOUR used. This ratio of fat to flour produces a moist finished product.
- Any fat that you eliminate from a recipe (up to 75% of the original amount) can be replaced with pureed fruit, such as applesauce, bananas, prunes, or pears.
- Use whole grain flour (whole wheat pastry flour is very fine, and well suited to quick breads.
- Add fruits (dried or fresh) and/or small amounts of seeds or chopped nuts for flavor, fiber, and added nutrition.
If you already have some favorite quick bread recipes, but the amount of fat in the recipe is greater than what we recommend, experiment with a smaller amount in your next batch. You probably won’t notice any difference, and neither will your family. For example, if your recipe calls for 1/4 cup oil, decrease the oil to 2 tablespoons (which is the same as 1/8 cup), and add 2-4 extra tablespoons of the fruit, vegetable or liquid called for in the recipe.
Here are a few ideas for making quick breads available quickly and healthfully!
- Make quick bread or muffins on the weekend, and freeze (individually wrap muffins or slices of quick bread before freezing). All you have to do then, is remove the desired amount from the freezer and warm it up in the microwave. Now, that's QUICK!
- Packaged mixes are available for a wide variety of breakfast quick breads. Look for mixes that have reduced fats, and/or use non-fat or very low fat ingredients. When directions call for "milk", use only non-fat or 1% fat, and, if a package calls for some type of fat, decrease the amount by ½ to ¾ . It may be hard to believe, but cutting the fat by that much rarely hurts the final product.
- Many of today's parents grew up using butter or margarine with syrup on their pancakes, waffles and French toast. Decrease or eliminate the butter, and instead top them with nonfat flavored yogurts, fruit syrups or sauces, and/or fresh fruit. Try using plain syrup, or add a small amount of butter flavoring to the syrup bottle if you MUST have that flavor.
Here’s an easy muffin recipe to make ahead and freeze for future breakfasts or lunches. Add different dried or fresh fruit for a new flavor sensation!
Banana Blueberry Bran Muffins
(adapted from Eating Well)
2 large eggs
½ c. packed brown sugar
1 c. mashed ripe banana (about 2 medium)
1 c. buttermilk or sour nonfat milk (1 Tbsp. lemon juice or vinegar added to 1 c. nonfat milk)
1 c. unprocessed wheat bran
¼ c. canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. whole wheat pastry flour
¾ c. all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. salt
½-3/4 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
½ c. chopped nuts
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray, or use paper muffin tin liners.
- Whisk eggs and brown sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Whisk in bananas, buttermilk, wheat bran, oil and vanilla.
- Whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the dry ingredients; add the wet ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Fold in blueberries. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, and sprinkle with nuts.
- Bake muffins until the tops are golden brown and spring back when touched lightly, 20-25 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Loosen edges and turn out onto a cooling rack to cool before serving.
Makes 12 muffins, with 198 calories, 6 g. fat, 36 mg. chol., 182 mg. sodium, 4.5 g. fiber, 35 g. carb., 5 g. protein.
