Archive for Holiday Recipes

Your Mood and Your Supplements

December 12, 2012 A New You, Anti-Inflammatory Life, Fertility Foods, Holiday Recipes, Nutrition Notes, Recipes & Articles No comments

stressDid you know that certain vitamins, minerals and fatty acids help regulate your mood? And when you aren’t getting enough you may experience changes in your mood? And to top it all off, antidepressants actually deplete your body of folic acid, which is a key player in mood regulation!

During this hectic and stressful time of year  many of us forget to take our multivitamin, fish oil and probitiocs. These are the basic supplements that I recommend for most people. They strengthen your immune, nervous and digestive systems, and help you handle the extra load that we all carry during the Holiday Season.

Depression and anxiety have a significant impact on the quality of your life; these conditions should be taken seriously and treated. Dietary supplements can help, along with a counselor, exercise, good diet and healthy coping skills. Nervousness, have difficulty focusing, obsessing or having ruminating thoughts, are also commonly associated with sub-clinical nutrient deficiencies, but may not be considered depression or anxiety, yet still benefit from good nutrition and other healthy lifestyle habits.

It’s amazing how much of a positive impact nutrition can have on manage your mood. Supplements are not the replacement for healthy food and exercise. And they definitely cannot replace a good counselor, psychologist or and/or psychiatrist. Nonetheless, when taken appropriately, at the proper dose and not in excess, dietary supplements definitely will help mood regulation and improve the efficacy of antidepressant medications.faces_of_depression

Seems like this time of year many of my nutrition sessions  center around getting through the Holiday Season and successfully managing stress and depression. Fortunately, specific nutrients have been shown to be helpful. Remember, these are not replacements for counseling or medications, nor can they take the place of a good diet and regular exercise.

  • Activated folic acid and vitamin B12, and vitamin B6
  • Zinc
  • Magnesium
  • Iron
  • Vitamin D
  • Omega 3 fatty acids

Your genes have a lot to do with how important these nutrients are for you. Polymorphisms (or changes) in certain genes affect the way that your body handles b-vitamins and vitamin D. These interactions are fascinating!

Also keep in mind that celiac disease and irritable bowel syndrome both impact mental health and should be considered if you are experiencing chronic depression, anxiety, irritability, or poor concentration or have experienced changes in your behaviors or mood.

Enjoy the Holiday Season and take good care of yourself!

No Added Sugar Pear Cranberry Sauce

November 9, 2012 A New You, Anti-Inflammatory Life, Fertility Foods, Holiday Recipes, Raising Healthy Kids, Recipes, Recipes & Articles, Super Snacks No comments

The cranberries with pear puree before the sauce has been cooked.

Last year I created an Orange Cranberry Sauce that used orange juice rather than sugar to sweeten the tart cranberries. It was delicious! This year, since I simply can’t make the same thing twice, I tried a something new.
Thanksgiving Favorites
This Pear Cranberry Sauce won rave reviews earlier this week at my Thanksgiving Favorites nutrition class. During this class we talked about some of the challenges that the Thanksgiving meal poses and how to troubleshoot those challenges. We sampled foods that you CAN and SHOULD eat on Thanksgiving, such as this cranberry sauce, a brown rice stuffing with pistachios and dried apricots and roasted brussels sprouts.
No Added Sugar Pear Cranberry Sauce
  • 2 pears (with brown skin), organic
  • 1 cup 100% orange juice
  • 1 inch piece fresh ginger
  • 6 ounces cranberries, organic
  • 2 sticks cinnamon
  • 6 whole cloves
  1. Cut pears into quarters or smaller pieces. Place in a blender with juice and piece of ginger. Puree until smooth and juicy.
  2. Place cranberries in a saucepan.
  3. Cover with pear-orange puree. Add cinnamon and cloves.
  4. Bring to a boil, cover and then simmer until the cranberries have popped and are soft, about 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Nutrition Details:

Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan

Makes 2 cups, 16 servings; per 2 tablespoon serving,

27 calories, 0 grams fat, 1 mg sodium, 7 grams carbohydrate, 4 grams natural sugar, 0 grams protein

 

The Season of Giving

November 23, 2011 Holiday Recipes, Nutrition Notes, Recipes & Articles One comment

I know, I know, the turkey hasn’t even been cut yet!  But, it is the season of giving and with Black Friday right around the corner, I want to at least put an idea in your head as you start your holiday shopping.

This year, spread your healthy outlook by giving gifts that inspire others to live well.  Whether it’s a gadget to motivate them, a simple recipe or a tasty homemade present, consider a gift that motivates your loved one to take care of themselves a bit better.  Over the next month I’ll share with you a few of my favorite healthy gift ideas, and I hope that you’ll share your ideas with me too!

Here’s what we’ll be talking about this month:

  • Gadgets and gear
  • Cookbooks & Magazines
  • Plants, seeds and local foods
  • Gifts made from heart of your kitchen

Share with me!!

  • What’s your favorite healthy gift to give?  
  • What’s the best healthy gift you’ve received?

Remember HALT

November 21, 2011 Holiday Recipes, Nutrition Notes, Recipes & Articles No comments

It’s Thanksgiving Week!  As enter the holiday season in full swing keep in mind H.A.L.T.  This is a tool that I learned from a colleague of mine at the University.

Avoid becoming too

  • Hungry
  • Angry
  • Lonely
  • Tired
Making poor lifestyle choices, whether related to eating, alcohol, smoking, other drugs or any other destructive behavior, come at our more vulnerable times when we are overly hungry, angry, lonely or tired and most susceptible.
Remember HALT.  Take care of yourself throughout this busy and stressful time of year; you are certainly worth it.  Do something each day to calm your nerves, make you smile and feel connected to the world around you. Emphasize the activities that you like and surround yourself with people that you enjoy.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Orange Ginger Cranberry Sauce (no added sugar)

November 17, 2011 Anti-Inflammatory Life, Eat to Beat Cancer, Holiday Recipes, Recipes, Recipes & Articles 11 comments

Yes, it can be done!!  Cranberry sauce that is all berry-goodness and no added sugar.  I didn’t think that you could do it, and some of you may choose to add a little sugar, but this sauce is pretty darn tasty, and really very good for you.

The combination of cranberries, fresh ginger, orange and spices makes this sauce not only delicious but an anti-inlfammatory powerhouse.  Every ingredient in this sauce is a worthwile food to incorporate into your diet.  Put all into one sauce and this is something that doesn’t need to be saved soley for Thanksgiving Day.

Per whfoods.com, choose fresh, plump cranberries, deep red in color, and quite firm to the touch. Firmness is a primary indicator of quality. The deeper red their color, the more highly concentrated are cranberries’ beneficial anthocyanins, the primary family of antioxidant compounds found in cranberries.

Orange Ginger Cranberry Sauce

  • 1 pint organic cranberries
  • 2 cups 100% orange juice (for sweetness)
  • 1 inch piece fresh ginger, minced (you can keep the peel on, no need to peel the thin skin off)
  • The zest of one orange
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • Sugar or orange juice concentrate, as needed to satisfy your taste buds.

I made this recipe with no sugar and it was acceptable as a part of a meal.  When I first tasted it, it was admitedly tart.  But when I ate it with sauteed herbed chicken breasts, and baked sweet potatoes with an onion-yogurt-sour cream sauce, the cranberry sauce was not overly tart.  I made the recipe again last night and added 2 tablespoons of sugar at the end of cooking, which did soften the tanginess of the sauce.  We’ll see how it goes with a meal.

Experiment with what you like by adding sugar at the end of cooking.  Keep in mind that traditional cranberry sauce recipes all for 1 cup (16 tablespoons) of sugar.  How much sugar do you end up adding?  

     

  1. Combine all of the ingredients in a sauce pan.  This a good one for the kiddos to help with!
  2. Bring the sauce to a boil and then reduce heat to medium.
  3. Allow the sauce to simmer until thickened, about 45 minutes.
  4. Cool slightly and taste.  Add orange juice concentrate or sugar 1 teaspoon at a time, if you’d like.  Try it and you decide! If you are aiming to stick with no added sugar, add more natural sugar with orange juice concentrate.
  5. Another taste-preference note: my husband has informed me that no one loves ginger as much as I do.  So if you are not a fan of ginger, skip it!

Make-ahead tips~

  • Make the sauce weeks ahead of time and freeze or refrigerate for up to two weeks.
Nutrition Details:
Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian
Makes 16 servings (1 cup); per 1 tablespoon,
20 calories, 0 grams fat, 20 mg sodium, 5 grams carbohydrate, 1 gram fiber, 3 grams natural sugar
Traditional cranberry sauce is made with 1 cup of sugar to 2 cups water; 1 tablespoon traditional cranberry sauce is nearly all added sugar, it has 13 grams of sugar.
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