Foodie Friday: Cauliflower Popcorn

Photo credit: Michelle Loy. Copyright 2011. All rights reserved.

Earlier this week, I wrote a post about "dry" foods, and how these foods can sometimes sabotage the diet. If you ever crave savory snacks and want a more nutritious and satisfying alternative to what you've been eating, you may want to try out Cauliflower Popcorn.  I love the ease of this dish.  It's great as a side dish for a main meal or even as a snack.  Cauliflower is heaping with nutrients, including vitamin C, K, B6, folate, and fiber.  This creamy-white cruciferous vegetable is also a fabulous source of potent phytochemicals, such as indole and quercetin.  While this dish doesn't necessarily taste exactly like real popcorn, it definitely is capable of satisfying some of those cravings for something both crunchy and salty.  I really love this dish, and I hope you do, too.  Enjoy!

Cauliflower Popcorn

{Print this recipe}

Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower, cut into small, bite-sized florets

1-2 Tbsp olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, shredded or shaved

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F.  Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.
2. Place the florets into a large bowl.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Toss well to coat.  (Try other seasonings, such as paprika, red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, turmeric, or garlic powder, if you like.) 
3. Transfer the florets to the baking sheet, spreading in a single layer.  Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes, turning halfway through, until golden brown and tender-crisp.  
4. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  Return to the oven for another 5 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven, cool slightly, and enjoy!  

Serves: 6

Nutritional Information: 

Calories: 64   Carbohydrate: 5 g   Fat: 4 g   Saturated fat: 1 g  Monounsaturated fat: 2.7 g   Protein: 2.7 g   Cholesterol: 2 mg  Fiber: 1.7 g  Sugar:  2 g   Sodium:  82 mg

Excellent source of: vitamin C, B6, folate

Good source of: omega-3 fatty acid and calcium

Are dry foods sabotaging your diet?

Photo credit: kmohman (Flickr)

If you find yourself noshing on foods, like pita chips, baked chips, or whole grain crackers and you're trying to lose weight or eat healthier, you may want to perk up your ears...I mean, eyes.  Although possibly better options than what you were previously consuming for snack time, these foods could be sabotaging your diet.  So, how can this be?  First of all, "dry" foods tend to take the place of whole, fresh vegetables or fruits that could be eaten instead.  Most people need at least 4-5 cups of vegetables and fruits daily.  Vegetables and fruits are generally low in calories and heaping with a variety of nutrients.  Not only are they filled with satiety-enhancing fiber, but they are also higher in water content than "dry" foods.  Foods with a higher water content may help reduce calorie intake, which is helpful for someone trying to lose weight.  For example, a 1 oz bag of Pop Chips offers 120 calories, 4 grams of fat, 1 gram of protein, 1 gram of fiber, and a minimal amount of other nutrients.  On the other hand, a small baked sweet potato with 2 Tbsp of 2% Greek yogurt with a sprinkle of cinnamon offers about 75 calories, 0.5 g fat, 2 g fiber, 4 g of protein and a host of essential nutrients, like vitamins A and C.  Which snack option do you think would offer greater between-meal staying power -- the dry 1 oz bag of Pop Chips or the moist sweet potato/yogurt combo?  You drink a large glass of water with those dry snacks, you say?  Well, while that water will definitely satisfy your thirst, it is not as effective at satisfying your hunger as foods that have a high water content.  I also find that people sometimes find it more challenging to control portions with "dry" foods since they need to eat more to feel more satisfied.  For instance, which would satisfy hunger more effectively -- 10 grapes or 10 raisins?

I understand the role that some dry foods play in the diet.  Maybe they satisfy that craving for something salty, crunchy, or savory.  That's fine.  At the same time, if your goal is to lose weight and/or eat healthier, then you might consider increasing your intake of whole vegetables and fruits first.  Including more vegetables and fruits in your diet will boost your intake of a variety of nutrients and naturally crowd out excess calories from other foods, including "dry" foods.  Then you'll definitely be on the path to achieving your best health.

Thank you for visiting and make it a nutritious day!       

Foodie Friday: Curried Sweet Potato Soup

Photo credit: Michelle Loy. Copyright 2011. All rights reserved.

Could 2011 be the year of the sweet potato?  Some predict that it could be. Why not?  This bright, velvety, and sweet-tasting tuber is chock full of nutrients, including vitamin A, C, B6, and fiber.  I've enjoyed exploring this lovely root vegetable, so I thought I'd share a simple sweet potato soup recipe this week.  Maybe it'll be the perfect way to warm up with this colder winter weather we've been having.  (Okay, I can't complain because I live in Southern California and my "cold" is definitely nothing in comparison to many others' "cold".) Enjoy!  

Curried Sweet Potato Soup

{Print this recipe}

Ingredients:

3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks

2 c vegetable broth or stock

1 small yellow onion, chopped

2 tsp curry powder
1/2 c 1% milk

Directions:

1. Cook the sweet potatoes, vegetable broth, onion, and curry powder in a large sauce pot over medium heat until the sweet potatoes are tender.  
2. Pour into a blender (or use hand blender) and puree until smooth.  
3. Stir in the milk, and cook over low heat until heated through.  

Serves: 4

Nutritional Information:

Calories: 127   Carbohydrate: 26 g   Fat: 1 g   Protein: 3 g  Cholesterol: 1.5 mg   Fiber: 4 g   Sugar: 10.6 g   Sodium:  276 mg   

Excellent source of: vitamin A, C

Good source of:  riboflavin, vitamin B6, and potassium

Plan to fail your New Year's resolutions

Photo credit: EvelynGiggles (Flickr)

Yes, you read that title right. I said plan to fail your New Year's resolutions.  I'm not trying to be a pessimist. I am trying to be a realist here.  First of all, if you have a detailed plan for your New Year's resolutions, then good for you.  I truly believe that the skill of planning is a must when it comes to making lifestyle changes.  When most people plan, they tend to be quite optimistic with their plans.  They enter their plan-making with the best of intentions.  They're going to do P90X workout5 days a week in the evenings.  They're going to eat breakfast and take their lunch to work daily.  As a dietitian, I do hope those plans work out.  At the same time, I know that a lot can happen in a week or even in a day and stumbling blocks will arise.  Neglect to plan for these glitches and getting back on track is much more challenging.

So how do you plan to fail?  Well, you need to have a plan, so start there.  After you finish detailing your best plan, look for holes.  Play devil's advocate with your plan by asking questions, like "Where could my plan go off track?" or "What will be the biggest challenge?".  Cross-examining yourself in this way will help you strengthen your plan as you come up with your own suggestions on how to handle these potential pitfalls.  These pitfalls are often times the very things that end up completely derailing someone from their ultimate goals.  So arming yourself with some alternative strategies or addressing your potential barriers will definitely give you a boost of confidence and help you more effectively accomplish your long-term goals.

Foodie Friday: Kale Chips

Photo credit: Michelle Loy. Copyright 2011. All rights reserved.

Are you off to a strong, healthy start this year?  I bet you are, and good for you!  As I pondered about what recipes to share this month, the word "simple" came to mind.  So simplicity it is this month!  These kale chips offer a perfectly simple and nutritious alternative to salty and crunchy snacks, like potato chips.  Kale is a cruciferous powerhouse of health-boosting nutrients, such as vitamin A, C, K, and manganese.  Try these kale chips out, and let me know what you think.

Kale Chips

{Print this recipe}

Ingredients:

1 bunch of fresh kale (I usually use curly kale.)

1 Tbsp Olive oil

Sea salt

Cheese - optional (Shaved or grated Parmesan or Asiago are great.)

Photo credit: Michelle Loy. Copyright 2011. All rights reserved.

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 375F.  

2.  Thoroughly wash and dry the kale. (I usually use a salad spinner to do this.)  Cut or tear leaves off of the stems.  Spread the kale leaves into a single layer onto a baking pan or baking sheet. (You can also line the pan or sheet with parchment paper for easy clean-up.)  You may even need to use 2 pans or sheets, if needed.

3.  Drizzle with about 1 Tbsp of olive oil (or spritz with olive oil).  

4.  Sprinkle with salt and cheese (optional).  Try other seasonings, such as paprika or cayenne pepper, if you like.

5.  Place the baking pan or sheet into the oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until the edges are slightly brown and the kale is crisp.
6.  Place pan on rack to cool and enjoy!   

Photo credit: Michelle Loy. Copyright 2011. All rights reserved.

Serves:  4
Nutritional Information: (including 1 Tbsp shredded cheese)
Calories:  77   Carbohydrate: 8 g   Fat: 4 g  Protein: 3 g   Cholesterol: 0.9 mg   Fiber: 1.7 g  Sugar: 0 g   Sodium: 127 mg
Excellent source of: vitamin C, A, K, manganese
Good source of:  omega 3 fatty acid, vitamin B6, calcium, magnesium, iron

Strategize Your New Year's Resolution

Photo credit: kansas_city_royalty (Flickr)

If you're at all a football fan, you may know that we're heading into playoff season.  I won't tell you who I'm rooting for, but their name {might} start with the letter C.  As these teams are heading into the playoffs, we know their goal is to end up winning the ultimate showdown, the Super Bowl, right?  But is that goal enough to really get them there?  No way!  Not only do they have to have a goal (i.e., win the Super Bowl), they've also got to have a strategy or two or fifty that will help them accomplish that goal.

If you made resolutions this year, then hopefully you made SMART ones because those will definitely offer you a strong place to start.  Let's imagine that one of your SMART resolutions is to eat three cups of vegetables each day.  Great. Now what?  Just as the football teams will develop strategies for each game and even for each moment in the game, you need to create your own strategies in order to more effectively accomplish your goals.  While I'd like to say that just because you set your intention on eating three cups of vegetables each day that it will happen, this goal will not be realized without some strategizing.  Think of it as your blueprint to success as it will take a lot of the guess work out of your efforts.

So how do you strategize?  Ask questions.  When will you eat those three cups of vegetables? Will it be 2 cups at lunch and 1 cup at dinner? Maybe it'll be 1 cup at lunch, 1/2 cup at two snacks, and 1 cup at dinner.  What do you need to do to make sure you have three cups of vegetables available to you every day?  Will some of these vegetables be eaten during the work day? If so, what do you need to do to ensure that you have them at work?  The more that you dig into the details, the stronger your plan will be and the more successful you will be at achieving your goals.  

At this point, you might be saying to yourself, "That sounds like a lot of work."  Well, I won't lie. It will take work at first.  That's to be expected with any new behavior.  However, it will definitely get easier with practice.  And guess what? You and your health and well-being are worth it.

Do you need more support in getting off to a strong start this year?  Check out these other posts for more inspiration.

• SMART resolutions      
• How to keep your new year's resolution
• What we want most
• Failing to plan

How to keep your new year's resolutions

Photo credit: Grand Canyon NPS (Flickr)

When I started training for my first marathon several years ago, I learned a very valuable strategy...start slow.  If you've ever competed in any kind of a race like this, you know that this can sometimes be hard to do.  I often enter each race with a lot of energy and excitement just waiting to be unleashed.  Then there are all of those other people around me charging out of the start.  This really makes it a challenge to hold back, but I have to remind myself that starting slow will help me finish stronger.  During my first marathon, I remember seeing people whiz past me as I kept my slowed pace, and I reminded myself, "We still have 26 miles to go."  It wasn't long before I started seeing some of those people falling back one by one.  As that happened, I become more confident in my start slow strategy.  

So, why all this race talk?  We're embarking on a new year, and along with a new year comes, for some, new year's resolutions many of which revolve around diet and exercise.  With popular magazines flaunting special dieting issues, book stores showcasing diet books, gyms offering special programs, and friends sharing dieting strategies, people certainly won't be short of options.  Am I against New Year's resolutions? Not necessarily. I just think they should be SMART.  Am I against people being eager and highly motivated to attain optimal health, fitness, and wellness?  Certainly not.  In fact, I find it exciting to see people energize their health and fitness routines at this time of year.  One of the major problems that I see with new year's resolutions is how people tend to approach them.  People often make more than one resolution, and they often try to perform a complete overhaul in each area. If it's diet-related, people often start a specific diet plan that has them doing a daily 180 on their food intake.  You're really never going to eat sugar again? Ever?  If it's exercise-related, people often dive into their fitness regimen head first going from doing nothing to working out for an hour a day.  Have ya been to a gym in January?  The problem is that when a person tries to change so much so quickly, it can become overwhelming in no time.  Why do you think that 25% of people who make new year's resolutions give up after the first week?  Even more drop off at the six to eight week mark, and more than half of all people completely abandon their resolutions after six months.

One of the driving forces behind successful, long-term behavior change is self-efficacy or a person's belief in his/her ability to accomplish a specific goal.  Do I believe that you can make the changes that you want to make?  I absolutely do but maybe not all at once.  Flooding yourself with numerous changes at the same time may not necessarily bode well for your self-efficacy.  So, what alternative do I suggest?  How about the start slow strategy?  What if you focused on building momentum around only a few SMART resolutions in one specific area (eg, only diet or only exercise)?  For example, if you haven't been exercising at all, maybe you start by aiming for a 15 minute walk three days a week and strength training one day a week.  Or perhaps you zero in on one SMART resolution in only a few areas? Maybe you set a goal to increase your vegetable intake to 3 cups a day and take a walk during your lunch breaks at work.  By honing in on a few very specific goals like these, you will likely build up your confidence, which will help you maintain your motivation for the long haul.  And guess what?  I bet you will feel better, too.          

Will you lose 10 pounds in 10 days? Likely not, but is that really what you want? Really?  What do you {really} hope to accomplish, experience, or feel by eating right, exercising more, or losing weight?  Remember that because that will keep you going.  And remember, it's a marathon, not a sprint!  Start slow, stay strong!

Happy and Healthy New Year to you!