“What’s for dinner?”

…I asked myself as I drove home from work today.  The answer was oven broiled tilapia fillet seasoned with a mix of herbs and spices that I usually use on roasted or grilled salmon called “Potlatch” seasoning.  Joining the tilapia on the plate was steamed broccoli and roasted sweet and blue potatoes.  (For those scoring the game at home, that was 2 cups of veggies, 3 colors, 1/2 way to satisfying my orange and green veggie goal for the week, not to mention the starchy vegetables goal, AND lean protein…)

Here’s the word problem:  If I got home at 6:20pm, talked to Kurt and Otto for 15 minutes to catch up from the day, fixed and ate dinner, how is it that I’m sitting here typing this blog entry at 7:02pm??  The same night??!  Well, I made the tilapia at the end of last week, ditto for the roasted potatoes (both colors), and I heated that happy trio in the microwave.  Meanwhile, I steamed the broccoli I had cleaned and cut into florets over the weekend (there is enough for Kurt or I to take some for lunch someday this week–we might have to flip for it).  When I could easily slide a fork into one of the florets, the broccoli was done.  I added the broccoli to the party, drizzled olive oil and zested fresh lemon over all and sat down to a very satisfying meal!

In order to stay ahead of the game, my plan tonight is to roast the asparagus I happily snapped up at the farmer’s market on Saturday.  That way, we’ll have a green vegetable handy since I used up the broccoli tonight.  While I’m taking inventory, I can say we are all set on prepared lean protein sources (grilled salmon with olive tapenade, crab cakes, and the last of the tilapia) until I can make more later this week.  I’ll need to watch the potatoes and possibly prep another complex carbohydrate by Wednesday…

…I’ll bet you didn’t realize what a food and nutrition nerd I am, eh?

Favorite new find…

For all of you brown baggers out there, I have a great new food storage product to share with you.  My only regret is that I’m not the one who thought of this idea!!  And I’m not making any money on the success of this product…The brand is “Fit & Fresh”, and they are found at Target, including online shopping.  I went to the actual brick-and-mortar store because I like to look at, pick up and touch things in person before I buy them.  I purchased the “Salad Shaker” and the “Lunch on the go” pieces.  They also make a smoothie/drink container, and I noticed that Target online is selling this trio as a set now.  I also saw a container for breakfast, and one that keeps hot soups hot and cold soups cold.  If you are someone who doesn’t have access to refrigeration during the day, and that is what is keeping you from bringing your own lunch (which gives you WAY more control over what food goes into your body and the amount of money that stays in your wallet), I’d encourage you to check these out as a possible solution.

All of the containers have a removable ice pack that keeps food at a safe temperature, with the label proudly telling you that it “stays chilled 6 hours*” (* chill times may vary).  I probably won’t do things like store my lunch in a hot car this summer, but when I’m teaching my morning class at WCC, my lunch will be cool and fresh when I’m done at noon, for example…

The Salad Shaker holds up to 4 cups of salad (if that is straight leafy greens, you would be getting 2 “cups” of veggies–) and a little “dressing dispenser” that you twist and it dumps the dressing you filled it with into your salad and then you shake it.  This way your salad doesn’t get all limp and wilty like it would if you put dressing on at home before you left for the day.  I find this feature to be particularly clever!

I also like that these pieces are dishwasher safe (except for the ice packs), so you can reuse them and not need to rely on plastic baggies to keep the components of your lunch separate–again, a good thing for your wallet AND the environment.

Sleep tight

“If you want to lose weight, before you change a thing regarding your exercise or eating habits, focus on getting QUALITY sleep for at least 2 weeks.”  This was one of many attention grabbing phrases I heard on Friday at a fascinating seminar I attended.   I know this is not going to be very “foodie” of me, but I’d love to share a few tidbits from my notes about the importance of sleep in reaching and maintaining a healthy weight.

It turns out there are several diet/health related consequences when you are not sleeping well on a chronic basis.  You are at increased risk for obesity, (MI’s) heart attacks, arrythmias, and higher blood pressure–these problems are directly related to the fact that sleep deprivation compromises thryroid function, increases production of ghrelin and stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol, and decreases levels of growth hormone, insulin and leptin.

What does all that mean in plain english?  Well, ghrelin is a hormone that increases appetite, and leptin is involved with appetite suppression.  If the absence of quality sleep means that ghrelin levels go up and leptin levels go down, we are going to eat more.  Then we have chronically elevated levels of stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol which promotes storage of fat (especially around the belly area because there are more receptors).  If our levels of growth hormone drop, so does the building of muscle mass on our bodies–so now we have more body fat and less muscle.  That means higher BMI, and a slower, less efficient metabolism which will make shedding extra pounds difficult.

There are 5 stages of sleep in a 90 minute cycle.  The first two stages are more involved with falling asleep, and if you find that you are easily awakened or have sleep that is fragmented all night long, chances are that you don’t spend much time in stages 3-5.  Before you rush off to the nearest sleep clinic to have yourself analyzed, start with some basic good sleep habits including keeping a regular bedtime, limiting caffeine and alchohol and not getting overstimulated by TV or the computer in the evening.

Smoothie Recipe

Let me explain how I came up with this one.  One of my clients was looking for ways to include more veggies in his diet throughout the day, not just at dinner or lunch.  I started with the idea that smoothies are a convenient, portable way to accomplish this, so we brainstormed about what veggies might work in a smoothie.  Obviously, a strong tasting veggie like onions or broccoli would taste wierd, so we turned to veggies that are neutral or slightly sweet.  Here is what we started with:

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup pomegranate juice

1 cup milk or yogurt

1 cup frozen dark berries

1 cup baby spinach

1/2 cup shredded carrots (or orange-vanilla-sweet potatoes, recipe below)

Blend and enjoy.  This recipe fills my 20 ounce water bottle and is perfect for my mid-morning snack, or late afternoon if I have evening clients or am planning to run in the evening before dinner.

So what do you get with this concoction?  Well, the cup of juice = 1 cup of fruit; the cup of milk or yogurt = 1 cup of dairy; the cup of dark berries = 1 cup of fruit (which takes care of my fruit needs for the day); the cup of baby spinach = 1/2 cup of veggies AND I’m making progress in the quest for 3 cups of green veggies each week; the 1/2 cup of shredded carrot = 1/2 cup of veggies, which brings the total for veggies in this recipe to 1 cup out of the 3 that I need each day, AND I’m also getting in some of the 2 cups of orange veggies I need per week.  You are also getting the colors red, blue/purple, orange and green.  Go you!

I’ve made this a few times, but always think it is funny that I end up chewing the carrot bits after each sip.  So then I asked myself “I wonder what would happen if I used mashed sweet potatoes instead of shredded carrots?”  I figured the smoothie would be thicker and I wouldn’t have to chew anything.  This is what I did:  peeled and large diced 1 sweet potato, a little smaller than a softball.  I cooked it in a small covered sauce pan with about 1 cup of orange juice and checked after about 10 minutes–it depends on how big or small the pieces of sweet potato are, mine were about 2 inch cubes.  They are done when you can mash them up and whip into a smooth puree.  I added about 1 teaspoon of vanilla and put it in the fridge for later in the week when I’d need to make a smoothie.  I ended up with a little over a cup of puree.

The smoothie ROCKED using this latest version.  You could also substitute canned, unflavored pumpkin and adding about 1/2 tsp to your blender when you make the smoothie–I haven’t tried this yet, but I bet the outcome would be similar.  Another sweet vegetable that might work is beets–the color alone would be worth trying it!  Enjoy!