- Create calm out of chaos.
Rebecca Scritchfield, RDN, author of Body Kindness, recommends the following technique to help make rational choices in the kitchen: “First take a very deep breath and exhale to a slow count of 10. This simple exercise tells your body to relax and helps you make rational choices like actually cooking your meal instead of eating it cold from the fridge! (I know I’m not the only one.) Then do one quick thing that makes you happy. I like to play soothing or energizing music, depending on my mood. Even if you’re not excited to prepare your meal, find a benefit that does excite you — like ‘I’m happy to save money and take care of my body by cooking at home’ — and let that be your motivation to heat up the kitchen.”
- Cook simple and relax.
Instead of making your life difficult and more stressful, choose cooking methods that are simple with few ingredients. For example, use a dry rub or marinade for meat and poultry, then place the protein right in the oven or grill to cook. When your food is cooking, take a few minutes to sit in a chair, relax and enjoy the delicious smell of the food you’re about to eat.
- Choose convenience.
If buying some convenient foods helps you save time in the kitchen and thereby reduces your food prep stress, then go for it. Convenient foods that can fit into a healthy-eating plan include canned legumes and vegetables with low or no-added salt, frozen vegetables with no added butter or sauces, and precut vegetables and fruit. When writing your shopping list, be mindful to jot down these ingredients, and feel good that you’re helping yourself minimize stress.
Toby Amidor, MS, RD, CDN, is a registered dietitian and consultant who specializes in food safety and culinary nutrition. She is the author of The Greek Yogurt Kitchen: More Than 130 Delicious, Healthy Recipes for Every Meal of the Day.
from Healthy Eats – Food Network Healthy Living Blog http://ift.tt/2hWlfk8
Whether you’re a seasoned fitness enthusiast or a resolution-driven exercise newbie, there are always ways to freshen up your routine. If your New Year’s resolutions involve getting more exercise, use these strategies to set yourself up for success.
Last month, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics held its annual Food & Nutrition Conference and Expo, at which it shared the latest nutrition research and hottest new products with thousands of dietitians. One of the most-popular trends to emerge was the focus on gut health and low-FODMAP food products.
After spending the past month enjoying one-too-many cookies, peppermint mochas and spiked eggnogs, eliminating last year’s dietary sins seems like the perfect start. Supplements, coffee enemas, juice fasts, heat wraps and teas all promise a new, detoxified body, but do they actually work?
Ever try getting a babysitter on New Year’s Eve? I would rather save the dough and spend the special night in with my kiddos. To keep my kid’s happy, I’ll invite friends and family and their youngsters to join in on the celebration. As a host, this means planning a menu that’s kid and adult friendly — plus some entertainment for the kids so the grownups can relax. Check out these family-friendly dishes that will make everyone happy!
Do the holidays bring out your inner mixologist? Do you wish there were better options than all those sugary syrups for mixers? You’re in luck – these three options will immediately upgrade your cocktails.
Appetizers are meant to hold your guests over until the meal, not fill them up before it starts! Instead of high calorie gut-busters, serve some of these better-for-everyone finger foods at your next holiday shindig.
Whether you’re heading to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for the holidays or are planning a family vacation, if a road trip is in your future, you’ll probably need to stop along the way for a quick bite to eat. The good news is that healthy fast-food options are popping up around the country. Here’s what to look for when you stop to eat, and the top five meal choices from joints around the country.
The holidays are flowing with food and drink, but Christmas dinner is the ultimate over-the-top meal os the season. Although you should enjoy delicious food at your Christmas feast, you don’t need to feel bloated and have indigestion at the end of the night. Certain dishes, however, rack up the calories more than others. Here are the seven worst calorie offenders at the Christmas table.
Looking for a stunning salad to serve this holiday season? This pear salad with quick candied walnuts and honey miso dressing is a must-try. The concept is easy, but the combination of flavors and textures gives the salad a complex feel. The base is a gorgeous mixture of delicate greens topped with tender and ripe pear, tart dried cranberries, sharp blue cheese crumbles and sweet walnuts. Then, it’s all tossed in a creamy miso dressing that’s packed with slightly sweet, salty flavor. It’s a must-serve for any holiday table.
If you think bubbly means big bucks, think again. When adding some sparkle to the holidays, it’s not necessary to spend all your Christmas cash. Sparkling wines can be found in a range of prices, with many festive varieties priced at $20 or less. How they are priced has a lot to do with how they are made. And that leads us to ask: How do they get those bubbles into a bottle?
Panna cotta might sound intimidating, but I like to think of it as an elevated version of Jell-O. To me, it’s a perfect dessert option: quick to assemble, practically foolproof and stunning to serve. This version is a lighter take on the typical whole-milk version. Thick Greek yogurt keeps it luscious and creamy, but with about half the calories and fat of traditional recipes.
Holiday Cranberry-Vanilla Panna Cotta
Greasy latkes and jelly-filled doughnuts top the list of traditional foods eaten during the festival of lights. But after you’ve eaten these fried goodies for eight straight days, it starts to take a toll on your waistline. Instead, you can enjoy these traditional Hanukkah foods without all that oil-frying.
Doughnuts
What makes gingerbread … gingerbread? Typically, anything baked with the flavors of ginger, cinnamon and molasses. This year, we’re spicing things up with a double-ginger cookie that will help make your holidays complete, plus pancake and hot chocolate recipes that showcase this timeless trio of flavors.
Double Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies
Gingerbread Hot Chocolate
A holiday meal is a true marathon, with one mouthwatering dish after the next — and you won’t want to miss a single one. This year, avoid the mistake of overexerting yourself in the earlier rounds so that you’re out of the running by the time that luscious fruit pie or chocolate cake hits the table. Pacing yourself and watching your portions are solid tactics for avoiding the notorious “food baby.” Another foolproof way to avoid going overboard at dinner is to rein in the sides. Classic dishes like full-fat creamed spinach and potatoes gratin are nice for the first few forkfuls, but they will leave you feeling too full — or worse, too ill — to enjoy the final round. Here are some lighter options that won’t spoil your appetite for dessert, but are by no means lacking in flavor.
The Jewish festival of lights is filled with potato pancakes, jelly doughnuts and chocolate. Instead of making it a holiday celebration of calories, offer a variety of eye-appealing, delicious foods that friends and family will enjoy —including a lighter take on the traditional doughnut.
Appetizers
Desserts
’Tis the season for overindulgence — holiday parties, family gatherings, piles of cookies and candy all over the office. And while it can be difficult (if not downright impossible) to avoid all those temptations, you can help offset some of the negative health effects of straying from your normal healthy diet. The secret weapon? Exercise.
Garlic isn’t only a tasty addition to stir-fries, salads and more. It’s also good for us: It may help lower blood pressure in people with high blood pressure, and research shows that regular intake may help lower the risk of certain cancers, like endometrial and prostate cancers.
While the fountain of youth isn’t actually a thing, what we eat can help slow down the aging process — or at least keep us feeling healthier and thinking sharper as we get older. Give these five foods a try.
These festive sweets are ideal for a holiday cookie swap, and they make great hostess gifts too. If you’re having trouble deciding on just one recipe, go ahead and make them all — it’s totally doable, since each recipe requires just 20 minutes of prep or less. Keep a few for yourself, then bundle the rest in gift bags for your friends and family to enjoy. Holiday “shopping” doesn’t get much easier than that. The fact that they’re all on the lighter side? Consider it a bonus.
Merry as they may be to many, for those of us who try to eat healthy and keep our weight under control, the holidays can be brutal. We step on the scale, cookie crumbs barely brushed from our lips, and watch as the pounds tick up into the danger zone. Ho-ho-how did this happen to us again this year?
Do you wear a fitness tracker, a doohickey that counts the steps you take and/or the calories you burn every day? If so, you’re in good company. An estimated 21 percent of U.S. Internet-connected adults — yep, more than one in five — use some form of wearable technology, 
Every parent knows the pain of dealing with a picky eater — and the fear that the child will suffer malnutrition from a constant diet of pizza, grilled cheese and noodles. Hence, there’s a great temptation to take the stealth approach to your child’s health by slipping undetectable amounts of produce into those same favorite foods.
Commonly seen as a supplement, moringa (botanical name: moringa oleifera) is now being added to foods. Find out where you can find these foods, and whether they’re worth the money.
If you’re trying to eat healthy and select lean proteins, facing the meat case may be overwhelming. You can now find more cuts of meat and poultry than ever before, and knowing how to cook them can get confusing. Here’s a low-down on how to make sense of the meat and poultry case.