Archive for the ‘Food’ Category
Posted by terrepruitt on January 13, 2011
Prime Rib. That is what I think of when I think of horseradish. When I think of Prime Rib I think first of my hubby because he loves the stuff then I think of horseradish because that is what he eats with it. He likes it really strong. He doesn’t care for the kind that taste more like sour cream (or whatever is used). Well, we are attending a pot luck type of Prime Rib dinner and no one mentioned having horseradish so I asked. I should know better, right? I was assigned to bring horseradish. I wanted to go to a specialty store and see if I could find some fancy kind. But that just didn’t fit in with the present situation. So I just went to the grocery store to buy . . . ? What? I didn’t even know how it is packaged. All this time I am thinking of “prepared horseradish”. Anyway, I ended up with three choices of horseradish. One regular, I guess, and two different brands of extra hot.
So I decided to see what is in these bottles of prepared horseradish. What do you think I found? Why was I surprised? Well, I was surprised because it was the two bottles of extra hot that contained High Fructose Corn Syrup. Yeah, HFCS — what they are now changing the name of – Corn Sugar. (Eyes rolling.) I know that my hubby likes extra spicy and I know that he would be really disappointed if we didn’t have horseradish for prime rib, so I actually bought one of the bottles that had HFCS in it. I bought the one that looked less fancy, but the HFCS was much lower on the list of ingredients. And if what they say is true — the ingredients are listed in the order of amount in the product — then the one I bought has less than the other one. But still, yes, I am hanging my head in shame. Especially since, now that I have had some time to think about it, I could have just bought the root, right?
Our hostess said something about mixing it with something, but I was thinking that is not what you need to do because it is already mixed, but she was probably thinking I would just buy the root?
Well, you know what this means don’t you? It means that even though I don’t eat horseradish I am feeling the need for educating myself on it. So . . . .there will be another post about horseradish the root.
Also it means if you are really interested in removing or cutting down on certain ingredients then you need to remember to read the labels. I look at everything now. Even products that I have been buying for years, because some of these ingredients haven’t been around as long as I have been buying the products. The ingredients I am trying to avoid (HFCS, Canola Oil, transfat/partially hydrogenated oil) might have been “snuck” in on me. So . . . check your labels. Why hot prepared horseradish requires HFCS, I don’t know.
Posted in Food | Tagged: Canola Oil, corn sugar, HFCS, High Fructose Corn Syrup, horseradish, hot horseradish, hydrogenated oil, partially hydrogenated oil, potluck, Prime Rib, root, spicy horseradish, Trans fat, transfat | 7 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 6, 2011
My husband tweeted today that a co-worker made him Borscht. He said it was the perfect thing for a cold day like, today, it has been pretty cold for us here in the Bay Area. He also said that he loved it and was hoping that I would try making it. I had to look it up. It is beet soup. Beet soup. Of course, I had to look at what beets have to offer. The nutrients are found in both the greens and the root. I am seeing some articles saying that they are doing a lot of new research on beets and they might claim it a super food – at least in a juice form.
Beets have anti-inflammatory affects along with antioxidant properties. As with most vegetables, the more you cook them the more the nutrients get destroyed. The best way to get the most out of this vegetable is to juice it. The next best is to steam it or roast it less than 15 to 20 minutes. These methods give the nutrients the best chance of surviving and actually making it into your body.
One study showed that a little over 16 and a half ounces a day lowers blood pressure. Another study showed that beet juice can increase endurance.
Beets contain potassium, folic acid, phytochemicals, vitamin C, vitamin A, and some of the Bs (B2, B3, B5, and B6), iron, and calcium. The greens have an even higher level of iron, calcium, vitamin a, and potassium than the roots.
Beets are also a good source of fiber.
According to Wiki, in Russian cuisine, Borscht usually includes beets, meat, cabbage, and optionally potatoes. The Borscht my hubby had was made by a Russian co-worker so that is what I will be experimenting with. I am sure that eating beet soup will be a healthy addition to his diet.
I might try grating them to put on salads. Also roasting, you know how I love roasted veggies. Do you eat beets? How do you eat ’em?
Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, beet soup, beets, borscht, fiber, increase endurance, lower blood pressure, russian borscht, super food | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 21, 2010
I am not a fan of Canola Oil. I try to avoid this oil. There is so much conflicting information out there . . . .just like with so many things that I have decided that this is one of those things that I am going to try to avoid. If you look at ingredients it is not easy to avoid canola oil. Plus I bet your favorite restaurant cooks with it. It kind of strikes me as funny that it seems to be as prevalent as High Fructose Corn Syrup and partially hydrogenated oils. Hmmm.
There is information out there that seems to emphasize that the seed used for canola oil was “naturally” bred from the rapeseed. The rapeseed produced oil that was too high in erucic acid, which is associated with Keshan’s disease, a condition which is characterized by fibrous lesions of the heart. So they bred a different seed that has less of this erucic acid . . . not none, just less. But like most things we eat it was genetically modified in the 1990’s. Eighty percent of the crops are genetically altered crops. The questions that arise for me is if it is in so many foods how can we be sure we are not consuming toxic amounts of this ericic acid? We are told that HFCS in moderation is ok, but it is in so many foods one just has to avoid those foods altogether to be able to achieve moderation. Then there is the 0 trans fat per serving allowed verbiage which doesn’t really mean NO trans fat it just means that there is less than 1 gram per serving. So if you eat two servings then you could possibly be getting a gram. Again partially hydrogenated oil is in so many prepared foods you might be getting more than a moderate amount.
Canola Oil is in many, many, many things. It is a genetically modified food. The claim is that it is low in saturated fat and contains a high amount of Omega 3. But how much erucic acid are we consuming since canola oil is in so many things? Also, I am seeing information that states the way the plant is processed into oil it burns off some of the good Omega 3 oil and replaces with . . . are you sitting down? Can you guess what? I bet you can . . . . trans fat. Yeah, there is information that states the process in which canola oil goes through to become palatable produces trans fat.
Some are comparing canola oil to margarine. Remember that people? Margarine was the health alternative to butter. Um, yeah. So like many things the information produced by the people who want us to eat the food say it is ok. The information produced by some health experts say it is not ok. So, just like with everything, you need to decide for yourself. That is all that we can do. All we can do is look at all the information that is out there and decide what works best for us—as individuals. For me, avoiding canola oil — as difficult as that is — is what I am going to try to do.
How about you? Are you a canola oil fan? If so, why? If not, why? If not, what oil do you use?
Posted in Food | Tagged: bad fats, bad oil, Canola Oil, genecically modified food, genetically altered, genetically modified, GMO, health experts, HFCS, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Partially Hydrogenated Oils, Trans fat, transfat | 9 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 16, 2010
I had a friend visiting from Colorado that actually came to one of my Nia classes this week. I am so blessed to have friends that come to my class when they are visiting California. So many of my friends have moved from the Bay Area so when they come visit they often have a list of people to visit so I am always very grateful when they take time out of the schedule to come to a Nia class. After Nia we went out to breakfast in Willow Glen. My friend was telling me that she had employed a Red Light, Yellow Light, Green Light tactic for her children in regards to food. Instead of saying “bad food”, she uses the lights. I love that. I told her I was going to use it for a blog post and she told me who she actually got it from, but I forgot. My mind was already racing—GREEN LIGHT!
She used “Red” as treat food; hot dogs at a summer cookout, cup cakes at a birthday party, food that is served on special occasions. I would imagine that red could be used for foods you don’t eat at all. I think that the method is awesome and it can be tailored to fit the family, individual. I just like it instead of saying the food is “bad” or I was bad. I could say, “Oh, I had some red light food.” The idea for the red light is to stop and think before you proceed.
Yellow is food you eat but with caution. You might have it more often than a red light food, but it is still not the food you eat freely.
After I started typing this I looked up “red light food” and I see that on one site someone mentions Weight Watchers doing the red light food, I see on another site that it has been attributed to a Lola O’Rourke (“of the American Dietetic Association”). I am seeing a lot of different ways to design it and — as with anything — it should be tailored to your own individual needs. But it can be a useful tool in how you think about what you are eating.
Red light foods would be sweets, treats, cookies, cupcakes, ice cream, soda, maybe even cheese and dairy (depends on the needs of the individual). Yellow light food could be healthy fats. Even though they are healthy we don’t want to consume too much. Meat could be in this category. Veggies, for most people, would be a green light food. As with fruit and whole grains. But there are people who can’t eat certain vegetables due to medication and then there are those who are gluten sensitive.
So what food are included in your light scheme would be up to you. I just thought it was a cool way to think about it. I really thing it is a great way to teach kids. I’ve mentioned before that I am not a fan of (even though I still say it!) saying food it “bad”, or I’ve been “bad” when referring to eating unhealthy food.
So what do you think? Might you want to play “Red light, Yellow Light, Green Light”? 🙂
Posted in Food | Tagged: American Dietetic Association, bad food, Bay Area Nia, California Nia, green light food, healthy food, Lola O'Rourke, Nia, Nia Bay Area, Nia California, Nia class, Red light food, sweets, treats, Willow Glen Nia, yellow light food | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 4, 2010
I know sweet potatoes are full of good stuff. They are good for you to eat, but I didn’t think I liked them. I mean they are SWEET right? Well, recently I saw a recipe for roasted sweet potatoes. You know how I love roasted veggies. So I thought I would give it a try one day. While my hubby and I were buying veggies today we bought some sweet potatoes. Today was the day! By the time we got home from our Christmas Tree excursion, I didn’t want to look for the recipe. I figured that just knowing you can roast them was good enough for me.
Since I am not familiar with sweet potatoes I didn’t know what flavor to give them. My plan was onions and shallots, but my hubby was saying that they ARE sweet so I thought maybe a more sweet flavor would be better. Hmmmm? So I decided on both.
I cooked a pan of “sweet” sweet potatoes and a pan of savory sweet potatoes. Now I know why I didn’t think I liked sweet potatoes . . . . they ARE sweet. So to me they don’t need to be cooked with sweet flavors.
In my “sweet” pan I used lemon olive oil, lavender salt, and salt. In the savory pan, I used garlic olive oil, shallots, white onions, smoked garlic salt, and salt. I decided I liked the savory ones better. The potatoes themselves are sweet enough, to me they don’t need additional sweet flavoring. As you may remember sweet potatoes were on the list of anti-inflammatory foods. Yay! So that is one of the health benefits. They are also a great source of complex carbs and antioxidants! Here is some nutrient information about sweet potatoes:
(a cup of baked sweet potato with skin has about:)
—-180 Calories
—-72 mgs of sodium
—-41 grams of carbohydrates
—-7 grams of dietary fiber
—-4 grams of protein
—-769% of the RDA’s Daily Value of Vitamin A (WHOA!)
—-8 % Calcium
—-65% Vitamin C
—-8% of Iron
Eating a little “good” fat with this (like the olive oil) helps your body absorb that vitamin A (beta-carotene).
This veggie really packs a punch. I am going to try cooking it different ways. Do you eat sweet potatoes? How do you cook them?
Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: anti-inflammatory, beta carotene, Christmas, Christmas trees, how to cook a sweet potato, inflammatory, roasted potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, shallots, sweet potatoes, vitamin a | 13 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 27, 2010
This Thanksgiving, I was blessed with two different Thanksgiving dinners. On Thanksgiving we went to my in-laws in the San Jose area. Then after I taught my Nia class in Los Gatos on Friday, we went to another family members and had ANOTHER Thanksgiving dinner. What do you do with your leftover turkey meat?
If I am lucky enough to get any (my mother-in-law gave us a huge bag full—yay!), I usually make turkey sandwiches, but they are usually pretty plain. Bread, cheese, mayo, and lettuce. Well, that is for my hubby, I usually have cheese OR mayo. What about you? Do you make sandwiches out of your leftover turkey? How? Toasted whole wheat? A dinner roll? Do you use all the fixins? The cranberries and everything? What about avacado?
Do you make turkey chili? A turkey salad? Or turkey salad . . . . .like chicken or tuna salad but with turkey instead. If you have enough left over you can make a multitude of things and never really eat the same thing over again.
I am seeing information that turkey is a super food. Ya know, that “super food” stuff, but it is in a lot of the websites so it must be considered one of those foods.
Here is an idea of what you are getting when you eat your turkey. Either right after it is cooked or when it is remade into a new meal.
A portion of turkey about the size of a deck of cards is as follows:
–Breast with skin has 194 calories, 8 grams of fat, and 29 grams of protein
–Breast without skin has 161 calories, 4 grams of fat, and 30 grams of protein
–Leg with skin has 213 calories, 11 grams of fat, and 28 grams of protein
–Dark meat with skin has 232 calories, 13 grams of fat, and 27 grams of protein
–Dark meat with skin has 232 calories, 13 grams of fat, and 27 grams of protein
–Dark meat without skin has 192 calories, 8 grams of fat, and 28 grams of protein
From http://urbanext.illinois.edu/turkey/nutrition.cfm
I am just about to make myself a plate of leftovers, but I would still love to hear what you do with yours leftovers. Do tell!
Posted in Food | Tagged: dark meat, Los Gatos Nia, Nia class, Nia Los Gatos, Nia San Jose, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia class, super food, Thanksgiving dinner, turkey chili, Turkey dinner, turkey leftovers, turkey meat, turkey protein, turkey sandwich, white meat | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 25, 2010
My post last year said I didn’t like Thanksgiving, which is not true and in the sentence following I explain it is all of the traditional foods that I don’t go ga-ga over. I do love the thought of giving thanks and spending time with family. I was thinking about family traditions and some of the food traditions familes have. I have a friend whose family has a tradition of creamed onions. I have never even heard of creamed onions. I asked her about it and she said that over the years the recipe has been altered but it is something that they have had for years.
I love stuff like that. Hearing what families have at family dinners. I know of families that have jello salads. I knew a family that had pistashio salad. Some familes have a tradition of homemade bread. Some families always have to have green salad, no matter what other vegetable is being served there has to also be a green salad. Or what about the infamous green bean casserole? I think a lot of familes do that one. What about the spinach dip? Do you know a family that has to have spinach dip before dinner? Deviled eggs is also a big tradition with some familes. Oh, and sushi, my husband’s family loves the sushi.
What about the turkey itself? There are roaster families and barbeque familes. And then of course, the fryer families. I worked with a guy who said that his family fries the turkey and they also tell all the neighbors to come over so they can do theirs too because—he was explaining—that once the oil is hot it is easy just to keep cooking them. That way all that oil doesn’t go to waste. I have never had a fried turkey but from what people tell me is that it is cooked so fast the turkey doesn’t even absord that much oil.
Then there is dressing vs. stuffing. As much as I love bread, I am not really a fan of either. Oh, and cranberries. What about mashed potatoes?
What is the traditional cooking style of turkey for your family? What Thanksgiving food traditions does your family have?
Posted in Food | Tagged: creamed onions, deviled eggs, dressing, food traditions, fried turkey, giving thanks, grean bean casserole, Green Salad, homemade bread, jello salad, mashed potatoes., stuffing, Thanksgiving dinner, turkey | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 23, 2010
For many of us, Thanksgiving is almost here, at least in the United States. For many, Thanksgiving is about food. Turkey dinner. I am not saying that giving thanks is not done, I am just saying that sometimes dinner is a very high priority. With the holidays is seems as if there people give themselves permission to over eat. Sometimes it is not even conscious. Eating is such a social thing sometimes we could be doing it and not even really be aware. So in order to help ensure that it is really only the turkey that is stuffed this season remember all of the party eating ideas that you have heard.
—Drink a lot of water.
This will help keep you full and hydrated. Plus if you always have a full glass people will not ask you if you want a cocktail which typically is a high calorie drink.
–Position yourself away from the appetizers.
This can minimize the talking, grazing, listening, grazing, laughing situation that sometimes results in standing right next to a table full of finger foods.
–If you are hungry BEFORE the event, eat.
Eat something really filling and healthy. The idea is that you will be full when you get to your destination and be less likely to graze at the appetizer table or fill up on unhealthy choices.
–Give yourself extra incentive to stay away from the holiday cocktails, by being the designated driver.
Then you can easily say, “No, thanks, I’m driving.” And not have to fight off that well-meaning bartender that loves to make certain everyone is having a great time (with a drink)!
–Fill your plate with salad and greens.
Then barely use the salad dressing. This will help keep you plate too full for a lot of the higher calorie items and help keep you full.
–Don’t fill you plate with vegetables that are in a casserole, cream, or covered in sauce.
The other ingredients in the casserole, the cream, and/or the sauce will make that veggie more calories.
–Take a bit of everything you want from the beginning.
Don’t fall into the “oh my plate is too full, I’ll go back for it”. Just take enough of everything to allow you a taste without planning on going back. Often times we are full but since we said we were going to go back and get something because we didn’t try everything, we do. We go back for that one thing and often times end up getting additional things because they were good. So we end up with even MORE than we had planned.
–Scope out the food before you start filling your plate.
You know what I am talking about. You’ve done it, you’ve heard other people say it, “Oh, I wouldn’t have gotten so much of the xxx, if I’d had known there was yyyy.” So if you have a buffet style meal, walk the line. See what there is make a plan. If it is a sit down where things are passed, you can still see what is being served before you take a huge helping of one thing.
–Be mindful.
Be aware of what you are eating AND drinking. If you really want that pie a la mode, then maybe a small spoonful of mashed potatoes will do ya, instead of the heaping spoonful. Also, being mindful has to do with your individual health goals.
Maybe you aren’t a calorie counter, but you do work to avoid the Transfat . . . so that means you might opt for the ice cream or plain pie instead of the low-calorie non-dairy whipped topping. Just because it is the holidays and we are celebrating doesn’t mean we have to throw away our good eating habits. Enjoy, but do it consciously. Don’t end up stuffed like the turkey.
FYI: I will be having my regularly scheduled Nia classes. Wednesday at 9:30 am in Willow Glen (day before Thanksgiving) and Friday at 9:30 am in Los Gatos (day after Thanksgiving). —Thanksgiving 2010
Posted in Food | Tagged: cocktail party, designated driver, dinner buffet, dinner party, grazing, Los Gatos Nia, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia Los Gatos, Nia Willow Glen, party tips, pie a la mode, social eating, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving 2010, Thanksgiving dinner, Thanksgiving Nia Classes, transfat, Turkey dinner, Willow Glen Nia | 5 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 9, 2010
I teach Nia which is a cardio-dance type workout and I say cardio-dance “type” because it is a cardio workout that we do to music. Yet, it also allows the opportunity for strengthening of the muscles, increasing flexibility, improving stability and agility, and boosting mobility. All of this could happen without you even realizing it because it is all done to music in a type of dance. Or you could actually try to improve your abilities in progression. In other fitness modalities they call it progressive overload. You can actually decide to increase your abilities and work towards that.
Progressive overload is increasing the challenge in increments so that the body keeps adjusting accordingly to the new stress. As long as the body perceives it as new the system will continue to adjust. The challenge in Nia could be a variety of things; you could put your arms up higher to give you greater mobility in your shoulders, you could move them faster to increase your agility, or you could do all of this continually to increase your cardio vascular health. There is always an occasion in a routine where you can bend deeper which could strengthen the lower body and again this is a way to raise your heart rate especially if you do it at a great speed.
If you are doing something other than Nia the changes could be another wide variety of things; actually changing the exercise you are doing, doing exercises longer, doing more during a workout session, or increasing the amount of workout sessions. If using resistance increasing the resistance would be considered an overload. Whatever you want to improve you would increase the challenge in increments giving the body something new to learn and overcome.
Posted in Food | Tagged: cardio dance, cardio vascular health, cardio workout, Dance Workout, exercise session, improving agility, improving mobility, improving stabilitym, increasing flexibility, Nia, Nia exercise, Nia routine, Nia Teacher, Progressive Overload, strengthening muscles, workout session | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 2, 2010
I did a post on inflammation, listing a few things that might contribute to chronic inflammation. A state that stresses the delicate balance of the body. It really seems as if overly processed foods and fast foods are the culprits which is just more reasons to avoid foods of that nature. There are some foods that studies have shown that help fight inflammation, foods we can call “anti-inflammation foods” per se.
Omega 3 oil cold water fish (salmon, mackerel, anchovies, herring, sardines)
Grass feed beef
Sweet potatoes
Onions
Olive oil
Hemp Oil
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Brussels sprouts
Kale
Cherries
Blue berries
Mangos
Turmeric
Ginger
Garlic
Cinnamon
Apples
Red grapes
Carrots
Green leafy vegetables; dark green leaf lettuce, spinach, collard greens, turnip greens, mustard greens.
Now please keep in mind this is just a partial list. Everyone is different and with so many different bodies, one needs to take what they read and realize that it will not work for everyone. You have to work on yourself and your own diet. See how you feel when you cut some of the “inflammatory foods” out of your diet and add some of the “anti-inflammatory” foods in.
I teach Nia classes because I believe, in addition to food that helps, movement/exercise/being active helps. I want to help people.
Again food that might help the immune system balance itself and not react with inflammation, something worth thinking about.
Posted in Food | Tagged: anti-inflammatory foods, blue berries, broccoli, Cherries, cinnamon, garlic, garlic olive oil, ginger, immune system, Inflammation, inflammatory foods, Nia, Nia Classes, olive oil, Omega 3, teach Nia, Turmeric | 10 Comments »
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