Healthy Convenience Food?? Does it exist?

I'm sometimes asked for recommendations for healthy convenience foods. Okay, honestly, I'm asked that A LOT! And it's completely understandable. With the pace of life we've all become accustomed to these days, there are times when it's helpful to be able to open a box or a bag and know that a healthy meal or snack is moments away. It's not impossible to find healthy packaged options, but it does require some solid investigation and a little label reading know-how.

Before I get to that, let me just say that my overall recommendation is still to limit packaged and processed foods as much as possible.

Can you challenge yourself to find ways to get fresh, whole foods on the table quickly? You'd be amazed by how quickly a shrimp stir fry can come together, or a big dinner salad with pre-cooked chicken, or even a healthy sandwich loaded up with extra veggies!

Can you expand your definition of convenience foods to include things like:
- Nuts and seeds
- Dried fruit
- Quick cooking whole grains
- Frozen vegetables
- Frozen fruits
- Plain yogurt or cottage cheese

These can become the basis of healthy meals and snacks and often take just as little time to prepare as a more processed option!


And yet...there are times when packaged foods seem like the only solution. For those times, I've compiled a few thoughts for you on how to make the best choices possible.

Self Magazine Healthy Food Award Winners
I was intrigued by the list of Healthy Food Award winners in this month's issue of Self Magazine. I think there are some real winners on that list (and some i may not have given quite so glowing an endorsement to myself). But all in all I think the staffers at Self have been thorough and have produced a good list of ideas for your review.

Fitness Magazine Healthy Food Award Winners
In the same vein as the Self List above, here is the list as judged by Fitness Magazine. The link takes you to a set of slideshows with Top 10 lists by category.

Eat This, Not That Recommendations
Additionally, I think the editors of the Eat This, Not That empire (and I do mean empire - have you COUNTED how many books they've published?) do a great job of helping to highlight better packaged food choices. They also have books on restaurant menu choices, food for kids, and other topics. For the record, I find their website a bit confusing and not very user-friendly but the books are much simpler to navigate!

A few thoughts of my own:
Beyond those lists, I've compiled a few principles to follow when navigating the aisles of prepared foods. Leveraging these principles will let you explore various brands and flavor combinations, looking for what appeals to you vs. buying something just because it showed up on a "list".

Principles:

- Choose packaged foods with the shortest lists of ingredients, and with ingredients you recognize

- Read nutrition labels! Don't be fooled by marketing claims on the front of the package (e.g. Whole Grain! Low Carb! All Natural!) Those words are often meaningless. Instead, read the actual nutrition label and keep meals within reasonable caloric limits, taking note of fiber, sugar, fat, and sodium content (as well as anything else you are watching for your health)

- Limit consumption of packaged meals to once or twice a week "crutches" vs. making them everyday fare

- When selecting packaged meals and snacks, check out the organic section of your grocery store or shop in a health food store like Whole Foods - they've done some of the work for you in narrowing down your options to some of the best ones!

- Build your list of trusted brands and shop their selections first (A few examples: I like Amy's and Kashi in the frozen meals category, Amy's and Healthy Choice soups, Annie's and Back to Nature for snack foods, etc.)

Happy shopping! I'd love to hear some of your personal favorites in the comments section below!

Tuscan Tuna & White Bean Salad

This is a delightful discovery from delish.com that I tried for the first time a few weeks ago. It's a cold salad with a great balance of flavors and textures, packed with 31 g of protein and only 3 g of saturated fat per serving. Better still, you can make it in about 10 minutes and be eating before you know it which makes it perfect for a weeknight dinner or a fast lunch. Sometimes cooking is really nothing more than assembling a few quality ingredients, and this is clearly one of those times!
I served this with a good crusty whole wheat bread but you could try it with flatbread or pita or even crackers. I thought a bowl of melon chunks (watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew) made the perfect sweet addition to the meal.


Tuscan Tuna and White Bean Salad
photo credit: Frances Janisch @ Delish.com
serves 4

1 can (15 oz.) white cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 c. thinly sliced red onion, halved
1 can (6 oz.) tuna in olive oil (drain; reserve oil)
1 c. diced fresh tomatoes
1/2 c pitted kalamata olives
2 Tbsp. chopped Italian parsley
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest
1/4 tsp. each salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 c. torn arugula leaves

DIRECTIONS:

In a bowl, combine beans, onion, tuna, tomatoes, olives, parsley, 2 Tbsp. of the reserved oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper, tossing gently to combine. Stir in arugula.

Can the USDA Improve the Food Pyramid?

Remember learning about the food pyramid in school? You remember, the one depicting the food groups and recommended servings of each one? Can you name the food groups YOU learned in school? Well, in the words of Bob Dylan, the times they are a-changin'!

This year, the USDA and FDA will jointly release the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The current guidelines came out in 2005 and will remain in effect until these are released. Last week, a preview of the report from the Advisory Committee was released for public comment. I took some time to review the Executive Summary and some of the more detailed findings to see what we have in store for us when the new guidelines are released later this year.

The Dietary Guidelines contain the latest, science-based nutritional and dietary guidance for the general public. They are the foundation for federal nutrition education and promotion programs, as well as the basis for the federal food assistance programs, so they are pretty important!

Here is some of what I discovered it's likely we'll see in the 2010 revisions:

- A shift to a more plant-based diet recommendation, emphasizing vegetables, cooked dry beans and peas, fruits, fiber rich whole grains, nuts and seeds
- A recommendation to increase the intake of seafood and nonfat/low fat milk products
- A recommendation to consume only moderate amounts of lean meats, poultry and eggs
- Guidance to significantly reduce intake of foods containing added sugars, solid fats, sodium, and refined grains
- Guidance to replace energy-dense foods with nutrient-dense foods (love this!)
- A recommended alcohol consumption maximum for adults of 1-2 beverages a day


Beyond that, there are some changes recommended to the "food environment" (aka the world in which we operate as Americans). These may include efforts to:

- Improve nutrition literacy and cooking skills so people prepare and consume more food at home (YAY!!!)
- Increase health, nutrition, and phys ed programs in schools and preschools
- Create greater financial incentives (especially for low-income Americans) to purchase, prepare and consume the healthiest foods
- Encourage restaurants to offer health-promoting foods

While I think all of these findings and likely outcomes represent steps in the right direction, it's unlikely we'll see MAJOR shifts within the pyramid since both the FDA and USDA are so heavily influenced by the food industry and agricultural lobbyists in America, who have a vested interest in protecting the historical recommendations which leaned heavily on American-produced crops and animal products.

What seems to me to be important is figuring out your OWN food pyramid - one that works for you and makes you feel your best.

As one to consider, I really like Dr. Andrew Weil's Food Pyramid and it's recommendations - in fact, I think this is how I've largely been eating and feeding my family over the last few years (minus the unlimited cooked Asian mushrooms - not that I'm opposed to them!). His recommendations just make sense to me and when i'm eating in accordance with them, I know I feel my best. No one approach to eating works for everyone, but this is one (rooted in the Mediterranean Diet) that sure seems to work for a lot of people! Check it out...experiment with your food...and of course, stay tuned for the release of the new 2010 Food Pyramid later this year - I'll be anxious to see how much change we can get onto that page!

Mahi Mahi with Mango Salsa

A few summers ago my husband and I had a running joke that was based on our observation that we couldn't look at any decent restaurant menu that year without finding "Mango Salsa" on it! It was like mangoes had been discovered by the chefs in our area and they... were... everywhere! I boycotted mango salsa. I couldn't bring myself to give in to the wave - the craze - the trend. We concluded that there must have been a big sale on the stuff at the Sysco food distributor or that there had been a bumper crop of mangoes in the tropics that year and they were dirt cheap. Regardless, we were not going to partake of this mango madness.

Oh, what a mistake!

Several summers later (and now very pregnant) nothing sounds more delicious to me than fruit...especially tropical fruits...especially...you guessed it...mangoes. And so I found myself making this Grilled Mahi Mahi with Mango Salsa - an item I could have ordered straight off the sidewalk chalkboard menu at any restaurant in the city 3 years ago and never did. But THIS year? I had to have it. And I'm so glad I did. I adapted this from a Cooking Light recipe, changing up the salsa a bit by adding kiwi and pineapple in lieu of peppers - you know, because of that tropical fruit thing I have going on.

This recipe comes in at under 200 calories and under 2 grams of fat per serving so it is really light, which leaves plenty of room to pair it up with up a fragrant jasmine rice, a green salad, and maybe a tropics-inspired dessert. Key Lime Pie anyone?

Grilled Mahi Mahi with Mango Salsa
adapted from Cooking Light
Photo Credit: CookingLight.com

serves 4

1/4 c. canned light coconut milk, divided
6 Tbsp. fresh lime juice (about 4 limes), divided
4 (6 oz) mahi mahi fillets
1 diced peeled ripe mango (about 1/2 lb)
2 diced peeled kiwis
1/4 c. finely diced fresh pineapple
3/4 c. diced, seeded peeled cucumber
2 Tbsp. minced sweet onion
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp. minced peeled fresh ginger
3/4 tsp. kosher salt, divided
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
4 lime wedges

1 - Preheat grill to medium high. Combine 3 Tbsp. coconut milk and 3 Tbsp. lime juice in quart sized Ziplock. Add fish; marinate at room temperature 15 minutes.

2 - Combine remaining 1 Tbsp. coconut milk, remaining 3 Tbsp. lime juice, mango, and next 7 ingredients in a bowl. Add 1/4 tsp. salt; toss well.

3 - Remove fish from dish, place on aluminum foil, and discard marinade. Sprinkle fish with remaining 1/2 tsp. salt and pepper.

4 - Place foil with fish onto medium-high grill and cook 5-7 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Serve with mango salsa and a wedge of lime, if you're so inclined.

Stevia - an zero calorie natural sweetener

Stee-what?? Until about 6 months ago, I'd never even heard of stevia. Now it's so key to my cooking repertoire I'd be lost without it! My daughter calls it "that special sugar" - special indeed!

Stevia is a plant, native to South America, grown for its sweet leaves. The extract from the leaves is used to make a natural sweetener that has up to 300 times the sweetness of sugar, but with ZERO calories and negligible impact on blood sugar. And of course, it's all natural, not a synthetic chemical sugar substitute. Does it get any better? YES! It tastes like sugar and has no aftertaste (unlike most artificial sweeteners).

Stevia has been widely used in other countries for hundreds of years (e.g. South America, Japan) but it has gone mainstream in the US more recently followng FDA approval for use. It is marketed under brands like Truvia, Sun Crystals, PureVia, SweetLeaf, and Stevia Extract In The Raw. You can find it in most grocery stores and in any health food store near the sugar (and other sweeteners). It is also slowly being incorporated as a sweetener in beverages and other processed foods.

I've experimented with a number of recipes using stevia as a replacement for sugar. I haven't done any baking with it since sugar plays such a key role in the texture of most baked goods, but I have had great luck with it in salad dressings, marinades, and sauces that call for sugar. My daughter's favorite use is on top of strawberries (when she doesn't think they are already sweet enough - ack!). It of course is a great sweetener option for coffee or tea or other beverages as well. I recently made homemade lemonade by squeezing fresh lemons and adding cold water and stevia - and it was amazing!

Here's a chart from PureVia listing conversion rates from sugar to stevia to get the equivalent sweetness if you're ready to do some experimentation of your own!

And here's a link to some recipes from Truvia if you need a little inspiration to get you started.

I'd love to hear what you try and what your results were!

Greek Salad - as eaten in Santorini

Five years ago today, my husband and I were in Santorini, Greece with our six-month-old firstborn in tow to celebrate the wedding of two of our best friends (That's the happy couple in the picture!). Only for these two would we travel halfway around the world as first-time parents with a still-nursing, not-yet-crawling baby in arms! And so we did. And it was one incredible trip.

We flew into London and spent a few days there before flying to Santorini (one of the Greek Islands). We loved Santorini and took part in just about everything the small group gathered for the wedding celebration had planned. This included, as I recall, a LOOOOONG hike down a STEEEEEEEEP hill accompanied by donkeys to the coast so that we could take a boat out to a smaller island formed by a volcanic crater. We hiked up the hills of that island (baby asleep in the Baby Bjorn!) and took in the incredible view from the top before hiking back down.

On the evening of the wedding, we walked in procession through the cobblestone streets to a tiny hilltop church where the ceremony was (unexpectedly!) conducted entirely in Greek. Then we processed back to the reception site, tourists smiling upon us, as we arrived with our small contingent at the most intimate and beautiful restaurant terrace, where each chair was positioned to have a view of the perfect sunset that evening. It was a night that I'm sure no one present has forgotten.

So as we wish our dear friends a Happy 5 Year Anniversary, I share with you this recipe for an authentic Greek Salad. I developed this recipe to replicate the salad I DEVOURED our first night on the island. I have never tasted anything so fresh, so simple, and so perfectly balanced. I make this all the time when tomatoes and cucumbers are in season (and sometimes even when they're not!). It's perfection on a plate...and it always brings back fond memories of that very special trip.

Greek Salad

serves 4

4 medium heirloom tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 small cucumbers, cut into same size pieces as tomato
1 green pepper, cut into same size pieces as tomato and cucumber
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced, each slice cut in half
16 kalamata olives
Freshly ground pepper to taste
4 slices of good feta from the thin end of a block (1/4" thick)
2-4 Tbsp. good fruity olive oil
Sprinkle of dried oregano

Chop the vegetables and toss with olives in a bowl. Season with pepper. Divide among four salad bowls. Top each bowl with a slice of feta, sprinkle of oregano, and drizzle (1/2 Tbsp. - 1 Tbsp.) of olive oil. And that's IT!

Are you on a roll?

There's nothing quite like momentum, is there? You can just feel it in action as the path you're on gets easier and easier and you're picking up speed. You're soaring along with less and less effort and less and less intention...people and things show up in your life to propel you along your chosen path...you are flying! This whole concept would be unequivocally fabulous, except for one thing. Momentum works the same whether you are headed in a positive direction or a destructive one.

I've heard story after story from clients who can't quite figure out when things started heading in the wrong direction. They realize that at some point they must have established habits that have become so comfortable and so ingrained that they are incredibly challenging to break. Life got busy. They stopped cooking. They forgot to exercise. They came to rely on processed foods or restaurant takeout. They neglected key relationships or stopped participating in activities that fed their souls. Their downward spiral built momentum and it seemed unstoppable.

And then one day, thanks to whatever "sign" got their attention, they hit the brakes. They STOPPED the momentum. And they looked up to figure out where they were and how in the world they got there.

I see this stopping point, this resting place, as magical. This moment of stillness and reflection represents the opportunity to consciously choose a new direction. It holds within it the golden opportunity to course-correct.

Yet for all the magic and potential of that moment, it also holds a new challenge. You have to begin from a standing start. There is no momentum yet. Your old lifestyle felt easy and comfortable and effortless as you were rolling along with the wind at your back...coasting. Your newly chosen path feels hard...impossible even. It takes extraordinary effort to begin. It takes even more effort to persevere through the ups and downs and fits and starts of the first days or weeks or months. Memories of the old, easy, way haunt you. You take two steps forward and one step back. Yet slowly, carefully, with great intention, you begin to build momentum for this new direction. The new rituals become more routine and take less mental energy to complete. You begin to feel a yearning for your chosen new behaviors. You start to forget the old direction. Slowly, you gather momentum and new people and new experiences show up in your life to support you on your journey in the new direction. And one day you find that this life has become every bit as easy as the old one and you can't imagine living any other way.

So....are you on a roll? In which direction are you headed? Is it time to bring yourself to that potential-filled resting place and choose a new course?

Thai Coconut Shrimp

I don't often tackle Thai cuisine at home because 1) the ingredients are sometimes a little obscure and 2) we can get such great Thai at local restaurants. However, when I found this recipe in the May/June issue of Clean Eating, it sounded so easy and so good that I had to try it out. Besides, while Thai food from restaurants can be loaded with extra fat and calories, this recipe has under 350 calories and 2 g of saturated fat per serving! Beyond that, it's packed with pungent, fresh flavors like fresh ginger and garlic and balanced with a nice richness from the addition of peanut butter and light coconut milk to the sauce.

If you normally shy away from ethnic cooking, this may be a great recipe to get you started. I like to serve this with a simple marinated cucumber salad, but that Carrot Ginger dressing I posted a few weeks ago on some simple greens would be great too!


Thai Coconut Shrimp with Brown Rice Pasta
adapted from Clean Eating magazine May/June 2010

serves 4

8 oz. dry brown rice noodles (or whole wheat pasta)
2 c. broccoli florets
2/3 c. light coconut milk
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
3 Tbsp. natural peanut butter
2 tsp. fresh ginger, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
Juice from 1/2 lime
1 red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
1 c. bean sprouts
24 medium raw shrimp, peeled, deveined and rinsed under cold running water

1. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil over high heat. Cook pasta, then rinse with hot water and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, place broccoli florets in a glass bowl with 1/2 c. water. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 2 minutes on high. Rinse under cold water, drain and set aside.

3. In a bowl, add coconut milk, tomato paste, peanut butter, ginger, garlic, pepper flakes, and lime juice. Whisk to combine.

4. Simmer coconut mixture, red pepper, and bean sprouts in a nonstick skillet over medium low heat for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add shrimp and cook for 2 minutes more, then flip shrimp and cook for 1 final minute.

5. Toss noodles and broccoli with coconut-shrimp mixture and serve hot!

Salt - it's what's for dinner.

I guess you really CAN have too much of a good thing. Salt has long been adored by culinarians for its transformative powers over virtually ANY food. And that's precisely the problem. Over time, we've added more and more salt to more and more foods and now we bear significant public health risk as a result.

Excess salt intake most notably leads to high blood pressure, which can lead to increased risk of heart attacks and stroke. Consuming too much salt can also cause water retention or bloating, which are certainly not as dangerous but can be vexing to those trying to maintain their weight or waistline!


I read this NY Times article over the weekend and was blown away by a lot of what I learned. Just a few highlights:

- Processed food accounts for nearly 80% of the salt in the American Diet

- Salt in those foods works with added fat and sugar to achieve flavors that are literally addictive for consumers - consider the old "Betcha Can't Eat Just One" campaign - this is why!

- Nutrient labels overstate the recommended daily allowance for sodium at 2300mg. Most consumers (children, older adults, people with hypertension) actually should max out around 1500 mg. This makes food labels too lenient for most consumers.

- A 1 c. serving of Cheez-Its delivers 1/3 of the (highest) recommended daily sodium for an adult - salt is added to the dough, the cheese AND sprinkled on top of the baked cracker!

- 3 slices of Oscar Meyer ham has 1/2 of the recommended daily sodium for an adult

- A can of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup packs the ENTIRE daily sodium intake into just 150 calories!

One of the saddest things is that food manufacturers feel they have little consumer-driven incentive to reduce the amount of salt in their products because there is no weight-loss or appearance benefit for consumers from salt reduction. This differs from the widespread consumer demand to reduce sugar in products, which led to an onslaught of items sweetened with artificial sweeteners. Since salt reduction presents "only" a health benefit, consumers appear far less motivated to demand change.

And, the truth is, reducing the salt in these products DOES negatively impact the taste. Manufacturers fear that consumers will vote with their wallets and simply stop buying lower-sodium versions of their favorite foods if they no longer taste as good!

So what's a person to do? It seems that since 80% of our salt intake is coming from processed foods, one logical step is to reduce the number of processed foods we eat! I advocate this approach for lots of reasons, so just add this one to the list. Restaurants are also notorious for over-salting foods, so the more we can cook at home, the better off we probably are when it comes to sodium intake.

Cooking food from fresh ingredients allows us to control the amount of salt we add to just what we need to enhance flavor. This should result in a far lower salt intake overall than if we were eating a diet rich in processed foods. And to top it off, fresh foods often NEED less seasoning because their natural flavors are so amazing.

So, while I'm not throwing out the jar of kosher salt I use for cooking anytime soon, I am committing to being even more cognizant of the sodium content in any processed foods I may buy. Like Cheez-Its. Sheesh.