National Nutrition Month 2017 – “Put Your Best Fork Forward”

Meet Melissa!

Melissa is currently completing her dietetic internship as part of her pursuit to become a registered dietitian and has been interning with the West Lakes Hy-Vee dietitians during the month of February. She is our guest blogger this week and she wrote a really fun and informational piece for you that relates to the theme for National Nutrition Month, which officially starts March 1^st. Get a jump start on National Nutrition Month and enjoy her blog below!

National Nutrition Month 2017 – “Put Your Best Fork Forward”

March is National Nutrition Month, and this year’s theme is “Put Your Best Fork Forward.” Now you may be wondering what in the world this means, but don’t you worry. I’m here to help!

Okay, to get things started, raise your hand if you’ve ever tried to lose weight. Did you just put your hand up at the office? Or at your kitchen table? In your car? (I hope not in your car… distracted driving is dangerous.) If your answer was yes, how did that go? If it went well, how long did it last?

If you’ve ever tried and failed to lose weight, this message is for you. First of all, I want you to know that you did not fail. The diet failed. Statistically, diets fail more often than not, and you are not to blame. Since diets have a tendency to fail, it may seem like weight loss is impossible, but that is just not true. Weight loss is very possible, but today try to start looking at it from a different standpoint. Instead of focusing on weight loss, focus on improving your health. That may seem like a daunting task, but I am here to help you get started.

What do you think you could do this week to improve your health? Could it be getting an extra serving of fruits or veggies? Or finally giving that whole grain pasta a try? How about getting active, even if you can only spare 10 extra minutes during the day? Could you drink more water?

Whatever it is, give it a shot! Even if you only squeeze in one more serving of veggies or one more walk this week, that is improvement! Every effort matters. Everything we eat and drink matters. Every time we move our bodies, it matters. That is the whole point behind this year’s theme of putting your best fork forward. It is to remind you that every time you pick up your fork, it matters. You are fully capable of improving your health, one step at a time. One bite at a time.

Set one goal each week this month that will help you improve your health, and focus on how great these accomplished goals are going to make you feel. Make sure they are SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely) goals, because then you will have an easy way to measure your success. For example, if your goal is to drink more water, your goal could be, “I will drink one glass of water before dinner three evenings this week.” You don’t have to commit to doing it every day, because this is probably not attainable at first, but work on building up to it. As the month goes on and these goals start becoming habits, work on thinking up some new goals. Over time, these seemingly small changes will add up, and you will feel the positive results.

You know what they say (whoever “they” are), Rome wasn’t built in a day. (It was built in a large, unspecified amount of days…) But you get the point. It’s wild to think Rome could be built in a day, likewise, it would be wild to think we could reach all our health goals in one day. Rome was built slowly, and over time, and we should work on improving our health in the same manner. One brick at a time. One forkful at a time.

Examples to get started: 

Week 1 Goal: Walk for 10 minutes 3 different days this week.

How-to: Wake up a little earlier and walk 5 minutes away from home and 5 minutes back; walk 10 minutes over the lunch hour; walk while on a conference call; walk a full lap through the mall before shopping; get off the bus a stop early and walk the rest of the way; take a walk after dinner.

Week 2 Goal: Drink one glass of water before dinner 3 times this week.

How-to: If you like plain water, by all means drink it that way! If water isn’t your thing, that’s ok too. Try adding a squeeze of lemon, or muddling up some fruit and adding that. Whatever makes you want to drink it.

Week 3 Goal: Have an extra serving of veggies 3 times this week.

How-to: Mix some tomatoes and peppers (or any veggies you’d like) in with your eggs at breakfast; try adding a side salad at lunch; microwave a steam-able bag of veggies with dinner.

Week 4 Goal: Make ½ your grains whole grains 3 times this week.

How-to: Have a breakfast burrito with a whole wheat tortilla instead of flour; enjoy whole wheat bread with your sandwich at lunch; try whole wheat pasta or brown rice with dinner.

Good luck and enjoy the journey of putting your best fork forward J  

-Melissa

Healthified Chocolate Cupcakes!

As I was brainstorming ideas for this blog, I thought I’d reference a book a dietitian colleague of mine had brought to my attention awhile back. Check out the book, Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. It’s full of recipes that have “hidden” fruits and vegetables in them. I found this book at Barnes and Nobles here in town.   

As today marks the anniversary of my birth, I thought I’d try out the chocolate cupcake recipe and have some treats to bring to work with me. These cupcakes have hidden butternut squash and pumpkin in the recipe. 

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes

Cupcake batter:

1 cup canned pumpkin puree 

1/2 cup yellow squash puree

1/2 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup canola oil

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I left out the chocolate chips and added ¼ cup of unsweetened cocoa powder instead)

Frosting:

1 8 ounce package reduced-fat cream cheese 

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups.

2. Put the pumpkin and squash purees in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the brown sugar, water, oil, and vanilla, and beat until well blended.

3. Now add the flour, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips, and mix until completely incorporated. Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Bake until the tops of the cupcakes are lightly browned and spring back to the touch, 20 to 25 minutes. Turn the cupcakes out onto a rack to cool before frosting them. 

4. For the frosting, beat the cream cheese with the maple syrup, vanilla and salt until smooth. Spread the frosting over the cooled cupcakes.

5. Store the cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or wrap individually and freeze for up to 1 month. 

I did make a couple of tweaks to the recipe. I left out the chocolate chips and added ¼ cup of unsweetened cocoa powder. The batter was a little more orange in color than I had expected (due to the added squashes) and I wanted the cupcakes to look a little more disguised. 

Personally, I thought the cupcakes were pretty tasty (as you can see I consumed one prior to getting a picture of the finished product….yum!). Being a dietitian, I realize I may have a palate for “healthified” foods, so I wanted another opinion on the outcome of these cupcakes. Who better than Chef Alex?

He gave it a 7 out of 10. I'll take it. Who says birthday cake can’t be healthy? J

-Dietitian Natalie

Dietitian Pick of the Month: Green Giant Fresh Cauliflower Crumbles

6 Reasons to Try This Month's Dietitian Pick:

1. Washed, cut and ready to use (aka less prep time in the kitchen)!
2. Steam-in-pouch cooks in minutes for quick, easy prep and clean-up.
3. Ready to steam, saute, roast, bake or mash. Add to soups, stir-fry, salads and casseroles.
4. One cup of cauliflower provides nearly all of your daily vitamin C needs, which is important for a healthy immune system. 
5. Three varieties available:  Cauliflower Crumbles, Cauliflower Crumbles "Fried Rice" Blend and Sweet Potato & Cauliflower Crumbles.
6. Each variety comes with a recipe on the back of the packaging, such as these:

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Serves 10 | Prep time: 1 hour

All you need:

-1 bag (16 oz) Green Giant Fresh Cauliflower Crumbles Chopped Cauliflower

-1 egg white

-1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

-2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

-1 tsp garlic powder

-1 tsp onion powder

-1/4 tsp dried basil

-1/4 dried oregano

-1/2 tsp salt

-Pinch of pepper

-1/4 cup corn meal or flour

All you do:
1. Heat oven to 425^o F.
2. Steam the cauliflower in the package it comes in following these directions:

a. Tear bag at notch.

b. Close bag with zipper leaving 1-inch opening.

c. Place bag standing up in microwave; microwave on HIGH 4 minutes, or until desired tenderness. Let stand one minute in microwave. (Time may vary a little depending on microwave). 
d. Carefully remove bag. CAUTION: BAG WILL BE HOT!

3. Line large baking sheet with paper towels. Place cooked cauliflower on baking sheet and let cool 10 minutes.
4. Return cauliflower to a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients to the cooled cauliflower. Stir well to combine. The mixture should come together to form a loose dough ball.
5. Place mixture onto parchment paper; pat into a 10-inch circle. Place rack in oven. Bake 15-17 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven; cool 10-minutes before topping.
6. Carefully flip cooled pizza crust over onto cookie sheet. Remove parchment paper.
7. Add your favorite pizza toppings; bake 6-10 minutes at 425^o F or until toppings are hot and cheese is melted.

Cauliflower Crumbles "Fried rice"

Serves 8 (1/2 cup each) | Prep time: 10 minutes

All you need:

-1 tbsp olive oil

-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

-1 (16 oz) bag Green Giant Fresh Cauliflower Crumbles "Fried Rice" Blend

-1 tsp garlic salt

-1 egg, beaten

-2 tbsp soy sauce

-1 tbsp Hoisin sauce

-2 green onions, sliced

All you do:

1. In a medium skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add garlic and saute for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring frequently until garlic begins to brown.

2. Add "Fried Rice" blend and garlic salt. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 to 7 minutes until vegetables soften.

3. Stir in egg; stir constantly 2 to 3 minutes until egg is scrambled and incorporated into vegetables.

4. Stir in soy sauce and Hoisin sauce; mix well.

5. Garnish with green onions.

-Dietitian Amanda

Meal Prep Made Easy!

Are you looking for new meal planning ideas? Do you wonder what to bring to work for lunch every day? Are you struggling to get those 5 daily servings of vegetables in? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, keep reading. These meals are colorful, healthful, delicious and convenient (once prepared)!

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.  Line a large sheet pan (I used a 15x21-inch) with aluminum foil and lightly coat with olive oil.  I used Hy-Vee Select 100% extra virgin olive oil cooking spray.   

2. Brussel Sprouts.  Slice fresh Brussel sprouts in half (lengthwise) and line along sheet pan as shown below.

3. Tomatoes. Place thoroughly washed pint of whole grape tomatoes next to Brussel sprouts on sheet pan.  

4. Squash. Chop one zucchini squash and one yellow squash.  Cut the squashes in half (lengthwise) and then in half again (lengthwise).  Proceed to chop squash as shown below.

5. Sweet Potatoes. Cut off the ends of a large sweet potato.  Slice in half.  Slice halves in half one more time, so you are left with 4 quartered sweet potatoes.   

 Slice each quartered portion as shown below. 

6.  Onion. Chop onion and place on top of sweet potato portion.  Lightly spray vegetables with 100% Olive Oil spray.  Season with desired seasonings (I used salt and pepper). Place in oven and bake for 25 minutes.

If you don’t enjoy eating raw vegetables, you may enjoy oven-roasted vegetables.  This method of cooking vegetables brings out their natural sugars and will give them a slightly sweeter taste.  

7. While vegetables are roasting, cut 1 ½ pounds chicken breast into 1-inch cubes.  Transfer to skillet and season with Mrs. Dash chicken seasoning mix.  Allow to cook through.

8. While chicken is cooking, microwave two bags (one at a time) of Green Giant’s broccoli cauliflower rice blend according to package directions.  Divide steamed veggie rice blend into 6 individual containers.

9. Remove vegetables from oven. 

10. Evenly divide vegetables over portioned rice blend. Top with cooked chicken.

Enjoy!

-Dietitian Natalie