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Category Archives: Nutritious
Eight Healthy, Nutritious Snack Foods That Taste Good
Nutrition is a science that studies nutrients and other substances in foods and in the body and the way those nutrients relate to health an disease. Nutrition also explores why you choose the foods you do and the type of diet you eat. Nutrients are nourishing substances in food. They provide energy and promotion of the growth and maintenance of the body. Six classes of nutrients are carbohydrates, fats (sometimes called lipids), protein, vitamins, minerals, and water.
A nutritious diet has four characteristics:
1. Adequate
2. Balanced
3. Moderate
4. Varied
An adequate diet provides enough kcalories, essential nutrients, and fiber to keep you healthy. A moderate diet avoids taking in excessive amounts of kcalories or eating more of one food or food group than recommended. For example, if you consume too many kcalories it will lead to obesity. The concept of moderation allows you to choose appropriate portion sizes of any food as well as to indulge occasionally in high-kcalorie, high fat foods like french fries or ice cream. This may sound simple (eat enough but not too much of the necessary nutrients), but surveys show that most adult Americans find it hard to do.
Before the body can use the nutrients in food, the food must be digested and the nutrients absorbed through the walls of the stomach or intestine into the blood system. People need to choose meals and snacks that are high in nutrients but low to moderate in energy content. Doing so offers important benefits like normal growth and development of children, health promotion for people of all ages, and less risk of chronic diseases.
The intake levels of the following nutrients might be of concern for these groups of people:
* Adults: calcium, potassium, fiber, magnesium, and vitamins A, C, and E.
* Children and Adolescents: calcium, potassium, fiber, magnesium, and vitamin E.
Here is a helpful list of some healthy nutritious foods you can snack on.
1. Toasted Oats Snacks. Try taking a handful of oats to a frying pan and toast them slightly. If you like, you can top off the oats with yogurt, or a fruit spread.
2. Whole Grain Cereals, like toasted oats.
3. Whole Grain or Oatmeal cookies.
4. Whole grain popcorn can be a healthy snack with little or no added salt or butter.
5. Whole grain snack chips, like baked tortilla chips.
6. Snack on ready to eat, whole grain cereals like toasted oat cereal.
7. Oatmeal cookies.
8. Applesauce.
Omega 3 Salmon is Hard to Beat – Ocean Friendly, Nutritious, and Delicious
When talking about salmon and why wild salmon is incredible, it is hard to know where to begin. Do you begin with its nutritional value? Omega-3′s maybe. Known as the heart-healthy fats, Omega-3′s help decrease blood lipids, blood clotting factors, as well as decrease inflammation in the blood vessels (to name just a few positive side affects). Wild Salmon also contains many vitamins, including A, D, B6 and B2, as well as niacin, riboflavin, calcium, iron, zinc, magnesium and phosphorus. Few foods can pack in all this nutrition and still be a crowd pleaser, but Wild Salmon is the exception. These recipes rank high on most seafood lovers lists, and with its light flavor and firm texture, even the least adventurous foodie should be pleased to try a serving.
Picnic Food Ideas for a Nutritious and Simple Picnic
When deciding the menu for a picnic, the name of the game is flavor. But, flavor doesn’t have to mean unhealthy. A picnic menu can be just as healthy and easy as a meal you would prepare at home.
Picnic appetizers keep guests from getting bored while they wait for the grill to heat up. Make or purchase a container of veggie dip. If you purchase the dip, buy the light variety. When whipping up a dip, opt for ranch seasoning mix and a container of low fat sour cream. The taste is just as flavorful minus all of the added calories.
To accompany your dip, try a raw vegetable platter. Vegetables are lighter than chips and they won’t adversely impact your waistline if you eat too many. Preparing the vegetables the night before gives you more time the day of the picnic. Vegetables can be sliced into decorative chips with a crinkle cutter for added variety.
If the kids must have salty snacks, choose the baked variety. Most snack companies sell a baked, lower fat version of their popular snacks. More importantly, one hundred calorie snack bags will keep them from consuming too many of their favorite snacks.
Frozen burger patties don’t have to be fattening anymore. Choose from turkey burger patties or 98% lean hamburger. These alternatives are tasty and will benefit your family’s health. When dressing the burger, add a generous slice of tomato, onion, and/or lettuce.
The more food items you can prepare before hand, the more relaxed the actual picnic will be. Chicken breast or seafood kabobs can be bought fresh directly from the meat department of the local grocer. Keep them cool until ready to toss on the grill. A side dish of brown rice can be served with the kabobs for a complete meal.
Dessert at a picnic usually consists of cake or some other sweet confection. Fruit salad is a healthy twist on dessert. A combination of sweet fruits topped with coconut pieces or served with a fruit dip satisfies the sugar craving. Try grilled fruits like pineapples or peaches for a tangy tasting dessert.
When it comes to drinks, opt for bottled water or juices. Sugar free flavor packets can be mixed into bottled water for a fruity drink if you don’t want to drink juice. If picnickers will be active, water offers better hydration than soda drinks.
A picnic doesn’t have to equate to a departure from a healthy eating regimen. Nutritious menu items can be managed even on the grill. Pre-planning can keep the menu less filling not to mention simple and stress-free.
Food Combining – Creating More Nutritious Meals
Did you know you can combine certain foods in order to increase the nutritional value of each?
Old Fashion Casseroles Are Economical, Nutritious
Most of us are looking for ways to stretch our food dollars without cutting back on nutrition and taste. Casseroles are the perfect solution. They usually use lesser expensive meats, combine ingredients into some very tasty combination’s and they are easy for the busy cook to assemble. Here are a couple of recipes for some casseroles from my vintage recipe collection. I think you and your family will enjoy them. Phil’s Mexacali Casserole combines ground beef and noodles. Hamburger-Onion Hash combines ground beef with rice.
PHIL’S MEXACALI CASSEROLE
This recipe is from an old Southern Indiana Fire Department cookbook.
1 lb ground beef
3/4 cup chopped green peppers and jalape
10 Easy and Nutritious Breakfast Ideas For Picky Eaters
Breakfast starts the day. From smoothies and waffles, to eggs, pancakes, and french toast – our ideas will help you make simple breakfast foods more special and get the day going on the right foot.
Cereal with milk:
Have two or three acceptable cereal choices. Your children will feel in control if you let them pick which bowl they like and show you their choice of cereal. There are lots of options for mix-ins to make it extra special: bananas, fresh or dried berries, honey, almonds, raisins. You can also mix cereal with yogurt or chocolate milk. If you have concerns about all the sugary cereal on the market – just don’t buy them!
Oatmeal:
The trick here again is to offer choices. Those instant oatmeal variety packs work great. You can say: “Would you like blueberry, strawberry or peach oatmeal today?” To make it extra yummy and nutritious top with yogurt, apple sauce, fruit, berries, maple syrup or honey. Just a few colorful sprinkles on top will make it look like a treat!
Eggs:
Most kids like eggs, and there are lots of choices. You can ask your kids if they want an omelet, scrambled eggs, or sunny side up. You can serve eggs with bacon or sausage, on top of toasts, bagels, croissants or english muffins. Eggs also go well with lots of cheeses and cold cuts. They are yummy, easy to make, and will keep the kids full and happy for hours.
Pancakes:
Pancakes are very quick and versatile. If you are in a rush, put some frozen pancakes in the toaster, top with maple syrup and voila. If you are taking things slow on a weekend morning, have kids help mix the batter and get creative with the fillings. Chopped apples, cranberries, peaches, raisins, sprinkles, chocolate chips, even marshmallows – they are all great! Top with your favorite jam or maple syrup and enjoy. Make sure to compliment the chefs!
Waffles and Drinkable Yogurt:
For a very easy and healthy breakfast on the run, waffles are the best. Toast some waffles and grab a drinkable yogurt with a straw. It is nutritious, not messy, and can be eaten quickly on your way to the car, at your desk at work, or while waiting for class to start. Kids will be happy if they can choose from two flavors of yogurt or waffles.
French toast:
French toast is everybody’s favorite and is also a good use for old bread. It does take a few minutes, but it will smell and taste delicious and will put a smile on everybody’s face. With a little bit of milk, eggs, cinnamon, and brown sugar, any old bread will have a new life. Experiment with french bread, raisin bread, challah bread for an awesome french toast. For a very special treat try french toast with bacon!
Bagels with anything:
This is a fast, easy and nutritious breakfast with lots of ways to personalize. Would you like your bagel toasted, would you like plain or strawberry cream cheese? Kids enjoy mini-bagels with flavored cream cheese, but cream cheese is only one of many toppings – try peanut butter and jelly, hummus, salmon, egg salad, tuna salad, cheese or turkey. For little kids, it is a good idea to cut into smaller pieces to minimize the mess.
Smoothies:
Smoothies can be very easy and nutritious. Bananas, regular or chocolate milk, yogurt, ice cream, orange juice, honey, strawberries, blueberries, peanut butter – whatever is in season and whatever is in the fridge can go inside the smoothie. Blend for 30 seconds and you are energized and ready to face the day! Kids love them!
Muffins:
Baking muffins are a great project to do with the kids on a weekend morning. You get to spend quality time together, everybody gets a chance to tweak the recipe to their taste and the house will smell awesome. In addition, muffins always come out right and taste good most of the time.
Donuts, pop-tarts, breakfast pastries:
There is nothing wrong with an occasional breakfast pastry. So what if it has a lot of sugar and fat? It also has protein and carbohydrates and lots of energy for an exciting day. A weekend or a holiday morning can be made extra special if first thing in the morning everybody goes to a bakery and picks a pastry of their choice and then goes out for a picnic in a park, beach, or a backyard.
If you are running late you can always grab something to eat on the road — poptart, banana, granola bar, an orange. Relax and have fun with breakfast, don’t stress out about it and pretty soon it will become kids’ most favorite meal of the day!