Quick Grocery/Meal Planning Tip

Hey guys!

With the cold weather, it's a perfect time to cuddle on the couch with a nice, comforting [healthy] meal during the week. A quick tip that I find helpful when planning my meals [to ensure that everything gets used with no waste] is plan to use the more perishable items (fish, meat, fresh veggies) earlier in the week  and use the pasta, frozen items later in the week!  

My favorite place for quick go-to recipes [with the nutritional run-down]: Food for Fools- I can't even begin to tell you how much I love Real Simple...you may already know as I have mentioned them numerous times before (Dinner plans,  Fun Recipes, While Winding Down and For Interesting Facts)!
Anyway, it's "Food for Fools" as they have a completely fool proof website for all chef levels, with a daily recipe chosen out of their repertoire to keep it interesting. Check out what I'm making this week...warm, comforting, low cal- YUM!

National Culinary Day!

What a better way to celebrate today's, National Culinary Day but to get in the kitchen and start cookin'!? What chef inspired dish will have you baking, broiling, sauteeing or steaming?

Having trouble finding a recipe to start with? Real Simple is my usual "go-to" source for recipes! They are healthy, quick and have all different difficulties from the at-home chef to the top chef in all of us.

Well, get in the kitchen already and let's get cookin'!

Relaxing Read

Hey guys! Happy Saturday!

Gosh I love the weekends. I feel like they are a boost of positive energy...everyone always seems to be in a better mood, don't they?

So after my rpm and bodypump classes this morning (what a better way to start the day, right?), I thought there would be nothing better to do other than soak up the sun! While pulling into my complex, I saw the whole neighborhood out celebrating the openning of our pool! What a great idea! I gathered my two new mags I have been dying to read (Real Simple and Shape), my refreshing iced coffee and a water bottle and headed out to the the pool.

During my relaxing read I came across this great tip. I thought I'd share:
The latest edition (May 2010) of Shape, in their "Eat right news" section reads:
Shake up your Seafood
Sick of Salmon? Here's another was to get your omega-3s; cook leaner fillets, like cod, in sunflower oil. Accoding to the Journal of Food Science, doing so ups the amount of heart-healthy fats in the dish.

Smart Snacker Tid-bit: Uping the heart-healthy fats (like omega-3s) from the sunflower oil will substitute for those that you are missing in the leaner cuts of seafood. Sunflower oil is a polyunsaturated fat (fancy word for heart-healthy fat). It is high in Vitamin E and low in saturated (artery clogging) fats. It is a great alternative oil for frying.

Making Sense of things: A Closer look at your Polyunsaturated Fats:

Properties:
Soft or liquid at room temperature, Decreases harmful LDL cholesterol, Decreases total cholesterol
Types:
Omega-6
--Linoleic acid – vegetable oils (corn, sunflower, safflower, soybean, cottonseed), poultry fat
--Arachidonic acid – meats (or made from linoleic acid)
Omega-3
--Linolenic acid
--Oils (flaxseed, canola, walnut, wheat germ, soybean)
--Nuts and seeds (butternuts, walnuts, soybean kernels)
--Vegetables (soybeans)
--EPA and DHA – related to the prevention and treatment of heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis and cancer.
--Human milk
--Shellfish and fish (mackerel, salmon, anchovy, herring, lake trout, sardines, tuna)
--Or made in the body from linolenic acid
Reference



Along with this great tip, this edition had a ton of great healthy lifestyle suggestions. I love this magazine because it is very practical. Now go out and get one already ; )
Enjoy the rest of your day!



Do you have a favorite magazine with practical tips?

Grain-ola

Gosh I am one of those people that LOVE granola. Problem is store bought granola can be overloaded with sugar and through-the-roof in calories! Not to mention, I bet there's some devious items hiding in the ingredient labels. Coming back to the importance of cooking and going homemade; YOU KNOW WHAT'S IN YOUR FOOD! 

So the only way the Smart Snacker could resolve the issue...is bake some! Now I can eat my granola and feel great about it too! It is something that CAN be healthy and serve as a great source of fuel. Providing protein, fiber, complex carbohydrates (whole grains) and no cholesterol.
Now it's purely GRAIN-ola [A wholesome, easy on the heart, fiberlicious snack].

I found this great recipe in my newest real simple mag (thanks to cait...she got me the subscription for my birthday last year!). Since you obviously can't read the fine print (and it's too new to be on the website) let me recap:

"Easy Granola" (they aren't lying!!)

Hands-on time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Makes 6 cups

4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick cooking) 

1 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup shredded coconut (preferably unsweetened)

1/4 cup unsalted pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds)

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

2 tablespoons canola oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup dried fruit (I used raisins because that's all I had...wishing I had craisins)

-Heat oven to 350. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the oats, almonds, coconut and pepitas with the maple syrup, oil and salt

-Bake, tossing once, until golden and crisp. 25-30 minutes (mine took a little longer)

-Add the dried fruit and toss to combine. Let cool.

Store in air tight container for up to 3 weeks (personally, mine won't make it that long ;) )

per 1/4 cup: 141 cals,6 g fat, 19 g carbohydrates, 9 g sugar
4 g protein, 2 g fiber, 22 mg calcium, 0 mg cholesterol
Nutrition Information provided by real simple


Smart Snacker Modifications: I cut down on the oats to 2 cups (that seemed like plenty), you can add flaxmeal for additional nutrients (gooooomega 3s) and sugar-free maple syrup can be used as well (diabetics). If any modification is made, keep in mind it will alter the nutrition information.






Two things I love about real simple mag: great recipes (both healthy and affortable) and they provide you with all the nutritionals (even for funky beverages)! What's not to love?










See ya!! off to RPM soon!