When life gives you too many ripe bananas....banana muffins!
Ingredients:
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2 ½-3 large very ripe or over-ripe bananas
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2 cups of old fashioned rolled oats
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1 cup plain greek yogurt (2% or full fat work best, in my opinion)
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2 large eggs
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1-2 TBSP agave or honey OPTIONAL (trust me, these are sweet enough from the bananas)
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1 ½ tsp baking powder
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½ tsp baking soda read more...
People often think that eating a salad for a meal will leave them feeling hungry and unsatisfied. On the contrary, if you add the right mix of ingredients so that your salad is balanced and packed with not only vegetables, but also protein and some healthy fat. A balanced salad is filling and can help you maintain steady blood sugar and energy levels far longer than a less healthy meal choice. The fiber, protein and fat in a balanced salad are what keep us feeling satisfied.
This was my salad today:
Vegetables:
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Baby spinach
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Avocado
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Carrots
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Cauliflower
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Persian cucumber
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Mini orange bell pepper
Protein:
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Smoked turkey
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Walnuts
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Hummus
Healthy Fat:
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Walnuts
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Some from the tahini in the hummus
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Drizzle of olive oil
Other optional additions:
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¼ cup of leftover grain such as brown rice or faro
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Cut up some leftover sweet potato
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Add some crumbled feta cheese or sprinkle in some shredded parmesan
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¼ cup beans or lentils
Protein options:
You can swap out any other protein for the smoked turkey – canned tuna or salmon, tofu, crumbled veggie burger, some grilled chicken or steak or salmon, hard boiled egg, beans or lentils - whatever you have around.
Nuts and seeds:
Vary your salad nuts and seeds – walnuts one day, slivered almonds the next. Pistachios work nicely. So do sunflower seeds.
Dressing:
Keep it simple with olive oil and vinegar or lemon, or try a tahini dressing or even just hummus and some vinegar as dressing.
Vegetables:
Variety is key so experiment with putting different vegetables into your salads – raw or cooked, such as leftover roasted vegetables.
Stay tuned for more salad ideas!
I inevitably recommend at least a few – ok, more than a few - specific Trader Joe's products for all of my clients – so why not start sharing them with everyone! These are healthy, easy foods and ingredients that make excellent additions to a healthy diet.
Here are some of my current favorites and regulars on my Trader Joe's grocery shopping list:
Produce:
- Persian cucumbers
- A head of cauliflower
- A bunch of broccoli or bag of florets
- A bag of organic arugula
- A box of berries – organic if they look good and the price is reasonable, otherwise conventional
- A bag of organic apples
- A bag of Sky Valley Heirloom navel oranges when they have them in stock – the best!
- A mesh bag of the small avocados
- A bag of the mini sweet bell peppers (a mix of red, yellow and orange)
Other aisles: read more...
Most of us know that we should be eating vegetables daily – in fact, we should make half of our plate vegetables for at least one meal per day, but putting this into practice can seem like a challenge. Here are some easy ways to add vegetables to your day.
Breakfast
- Keep a bag of pre-washed spinach in your fridge and a bag of frozen spinach in the freezer as back-up. Whenever you cook eggs – add the spinach to them. The spinach is easy and cooks in minutes.
- Even better - in addition to the spinach, add some peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes and any other vegetables that you like to your eggs. This makes a great dinner meal too!
- Make extra vegetables for dinner and save leftovers to add to morning eggs.read more...
Wondering whether you should be buying and eating only organic produce? Love the idea of it, but feeling daunted by the higher prices you have to pay for organic? Here's your answer: consider the Environmental Working Group's (EWG) Dirty Dozen Plus and Clean Fifteen.
Every year the EWG puts out a list of the top twelve (plus some honorable mentions) fruits and vegetables highest in pesticide residue and the top fifteen fruits and veggies lowest in pesticdes.
Drumroll please...here they are:
read more...On May 20, 2016 the FDA announced some welcome changes to the Nutrition Facts labels on the foods we buy and eat. What are the changes and what do they look like?
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Bold, larger font for “Calories,” “servings per container,” and “Serving size.”
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Required addition of actual amount and percent Daily Value of vitamin D, calcium, iron and potassium.
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A more clear explanation of what Daily Value means: “The % Daily Value tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.”
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MY FAVORITE: “Added Sugar” in grams and as percent Daily Value will be required on labels.
You can kick your salads up a notch – and add so much flavor AND nutrition - with these simple ingredients. The best part is that a little goes a long way with these extras – so you get flavor without a lot of calories.
1) Hummus – so many flavors to choose from. Mix it right into your salad along with a little olive oil and vinegar.
read more...
Do your salads leave you feeling bored - and hungry? Are you doing the same old lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes? Read on for ideas about how to make your salads exciting, delicious, healthy, and satisfying.
This week's Top 5 Salad Ingredients:
Dark leafy greens:
- Watercress, romaine, spinach, arugula, mache, kale, baby greens, etc.
- Mix and match.
- The darker the greens the more nutrient-packed they are – watercress tops that list.
Kale may be on every menu and in every juicer, but there are 14 other greens that are more nutrient-dense than trendy kale. Wondering which are the most nutrient-dense “powerhouse” fruits and vegetables? Can you guess which ranked number one? Read on for the top 41... read more...
When you’re in need of a snack – and I do recommend one to two snacks per day between meals – protein is the way to go. Protein-packed foods will help you feel more satisfied and you won’t get the blood sugar spike then crash that result from eating carbohydrate-based snacks. The snack should be protein rich and include some healthy fat plus vegetables and/or fruit.
Top 5 Protein-Packed Snacks:
- Hardboiled egg – pure and simple. Munch on some cut-up raw or lightly cooked veggies too for crunch and fiber.
- Nuts and greek yogurt: Stir ½ oz unsalted almonds (about 10-12 depending on their size) or walnuts (about 7 halves) into ½ cup plain nonfat greek yogurt. Add some berries or other fruit and you’re set. read more...
With the change of season comes a change in our eating and exercise habits – more food and less exercise. Holiday time generally means more traveling, eating and relaxing and less physical activity. By the time New Year’s rolls around we arm ourselves with resolutions to take off those extra holiday pounds and get back on the treadmill. But with a little advanced planning you can avoid the holiday bulge and save your New Year’s Resolutions for other goals.
Do maintain regular physical activity, even when you’re traveling. Staying physically active will help you ward off those unwanted holidays pounds.
read more...The good news:
A recent study found that participants who consumed excess calories in the form of a high-protein diet stored 45% of the calories as lean tissue, or muscle mass. Those who consumed a low-protein diet stored 95% of the excess calories as body fat.
So this study showed that diet composition can affect how we metabolize and store food and that a high-protein diet can be effective for weight loss and muscle building.
The bad news:
read more...
#1 way to curb your high-fat food cravings? Eat a high-protein breakfast. Yes, it’s that simple. Skipping breakfast or eating a low-protein breakfast sets you up for high-fat food cravings during the day and later in the evening.
Wouldn't it be nice to feel satisfied instead of hungry all the time?
Good sources of protein include eggs/egg whites, fish, lean meats like skinless poultry, lean red meat, greek yogurt, some soy foods, beans and more. Add some vegetables and healthy fats and you're all set. Try having an untraditional breakfast with more protein and fewer carbohydrates and see how it makes you feel. You may never go back to cereal or a bagel again - and you'll be a lot better off.
Have a hankering for pizza but you don’t want all those carbs and you do want more protein? What if you could swap the carb-heavy pizza dough for protein? Pizza omelet/scramble to the rescue! You can still enjoy the same yummy cheese and tomato sauce plus vegetables and more. You can use light cheese and all egg whites if you want to cut even more calories from this dish.
Here’s how to do it:
read more...
Do you find yourself hungry for a snack between meals but really never sure what a good, healthy snack choice might be for you? Read on.
Snacks – just like meals – should ideally include lean protein and healthy fats along with fiber to help you feel satisfied. Throw in some fresh fruit and/or veggies and you’re in business.
Here are some snack ideas to try on for size:
read more...
Wondering why your blood sugar dips and you feel famished by noon? Take a look at what you eat for breakfast and when.
The longer you wait to break your overnight fast, the hungrier you will be the rest of the day. And what you choose to eat for this truly “most important meal of the day” has a huge impact on how you will feel, how hungry you will be and what foods you will be craving all day long.
If you start your day with a sugar-and-refined-grains-loaded breakfast, you will send your blood sugar soaring and possibly feel a burst of energy for a short time…until it all comes crashing down: blood sugar, energy, mood…and carb/sugar cravings start rearing their ugly heads.
read more...
Tired of your same old, same old breakfast? Love oats - especially steel cut - and all of the nutritional value they provide but don't have the time to cook them? Me too. I've got you covered. And this is no boring oats and brown sugar breakfast...
Choose your oats - Can't decide between old-fashioned rolled oats and steel cut oats? Use both! I usually make a half and half combo - makes the oats creamy AND chewy!
read more...Introduction
Yoga can do more for you than you may think. Yoga can help you gain strength, fitness and flexibility – all of which can help you prevent and recover from injuries, and help improve breathing and concentration. Yoga is a terrific form of non-impact cross training for all other sports. In addition to all of that, maintaining a yoga practice can help you feel grounded and better able to deal with the daily stresses of life.
Healthy eating is all about making good choices. Ensure you are giving your body what it needs by filling your kitchen with a variety of healthy foods. Make a commitment to yourself to stock up on nutrient-dense foods like complex carbohydrates, lean protein and healthy fats and replace foods that are high in saturated fat, sugar, salt and preservatives with healthier versions.
Any time of year is a good time to check in on healthy and not so healthy habits. Here are some realistic goals to shoot for and habits to keep - habits that can and should become part of your lifestyle for the long term.
Habits to Keep
Eat more fruits and vegetables:
- Have fresh fruit or a side salad instead of french fries or chips at restaurants.
- Include lettuce and tomato on your sandwich – even better if it’s a dark green lettuce such as romaine. The darker the leaf the more nutrients it packs.
- When you’re traveling by airplane choose tomato juice or orange juice mixed with sparkling water instead of soda. And bring your own snacks – fresh and dried fruit and nuts are healthy options that can help keep you fueled until your next meal - they are also better bets than the giant cookies and potato chip stacks sold on the plane.
- Pack a baggie of cut-up fruit and/or veggies to bring to work to snack on when you get the late-morning or afternoon munchies. For added flavor and protein dip them in peanut butter or bean dip such as hummus.
- Add vegetables such as diced or shredded carrots, red pepper, squash, and spinach to sauces, soups, casseroles and pasta sauces.
- Buy a juicer and experiment with combinations of fruits and vegetables – carrot, celery, beet, apple, orange, blueberry…be creative!
Allegra Burton, MPH, RDN
Nutrition with Allegra
310-429-0205
Santa Monica, CA
