Train With Nellie

The Brazil Nut

A great little nut, I feel it is often overlooked in favor of other more popular (and equally healthy!) nuts like almonds & walnuts.  It seems like it's always the one left at the bottom of a jar of mixed nuts, discarded to be eaten only as a last resort, the poor little thing!

Brazil nuts are a great source of thiamine and magnesium and are one of the best sources of the antioxidant selenium, the last of which is associated with reduced rates of breast and prostate cancer.

They do have the highest saturated fat content of all the nuts, so keep that in mind before eschewing all other nuts from your diet.  As with everything else- keep it balanced and varied as much as possible!

Try brazil nuts wherever you'd normally use other nuts; atop a salad, blended into a fruit smoothie or as an easy snack with some fresh fruit.

Enjoy!

Grain-Free Dessert Ideas

Are you similar to me in that you follow a grain-free diet?   More and more people are being diagnosed with Celiac Disease as well as a more mild gluten allergy or sensitivity.   Gluten-free alternatives abound for everything from breakfast cereals to children's cookies to breads and muffins!

This is all well and good, but what if you've chosen to follow a no-grain diet?  I did so about three years ago; I felt much better after eliminating gluten from my diet, but it wasn't until I removed ALL processed foods from my diet that I found what works the best for me.   

As such, I've found that my favorite things to have if I want something sweet involve preparing all sorts of fruits in many ways, shapes & forms!

LIkely the easiest option is simply to eat a piece of fruit!  OK, I realize that's boring, but if you try a new fruit each week, or stick with whatever you find that was grown by your local organic farmer at the market or health food shoppe, you're bound to run into something new at some point!

Try baking apples:  Wash, core and place in a pan with water.  Bake until soft and serve with toasted walnuts.

Grill some peaches or pineapple:   brush the grill with olive oil (make sure you've cleaned it since you made those steaks!) and keep a close eye, turning frequently to avoid scorching!

Steam some pears, puree and top with nutmeg and a sprinkle of toasted pecans.

Freeze a banana, cut in half, sprinkle with shaved cinnamon and a touch of raw almond butter.

(Frozen grapes are delish by themselves!).

Make homemade 'sorbet'  by freezing chopped melon and pureeing in your food processor; no need to add white sugar!

Of course, there needs to be room in any nutritional plan for the occasional splurge.   Try to include that on a day when you've gotten in a nice run or hike in order to keep your caloric intake and output in balance.  

Plan for the treat, and enjoy it!  For me, it's always got to be something involving a premium piece of extrabittersweet chocolate...

"An Autumn Favorite: The Pumpkin"

"An Autumn Favorite:  The Pumpkin"

Regardless of if you have kids that want to carve it, or a family that wants to eat it, or a patch of them nearby that you like to visit as a seasonal outing, there's no doubt that the most famous squash this time of year has got to be the good old pumpkin!

Nutritionally speaking, a cup of pumpkin contains only 50 calories, 2 g of Protein, 12 g of Carbohydrate and no fat.  It's a great source of Vitamin A as well as Beta Carotene.

In the kitchen, you can use pumpkin in both sweet (of course, pie comes to mind!) and savory recipes.

On the sweet side, for a Paleo- friendly breakfast idea, blend a 1/2 cup of pumpkin with a cup of chilled, brewed green tea, a tablespoon of raw almond butter and 1 scoop of egg white protein powder.   For a dessert, cube raw pumpkin and combine in a roasting pan with a touch of olive oil and some chopped golden delicious apples.  Bake at 450 for about an hour, stirring occasionally, then transfer to the food processor and puree.  Refrigerate to chill and with a touch of cinnamon & a sprinkling of crystallized ginger, you've got a healthy, zero-fat/dariy/grain dessert!

For a more savory approach, toast the seeds under the broiler and add a dash of kosher salt.  Eat as a snack with an apple or use atop a salad.  Or, cube the pumkpin and throw it into your roasting pan with your other seasonal faves.   Finally, why not make a beef stew and right before serving, transfer it into the pumpkin shell and warm it in the oven til you're ready to serve.  What a novel presentation!

So when your kids bug you to take them to the pumpkin patch, don't think only of which will make the best jack-o-lantern; think also about which will make the best stew!

Cleanin' out the kitchen...

One of the services I offer to my clients is the 'kitchen clean out'.  It involves throwing out ALL the junk in the fridge, cupboards, freezer and so on.   

Why?  Guess what?  If you don't have any junk in the house, you're far less likely to go out and buy junk if you're having what you feel is a craving too strong to fight!  

What if you got home from work and instead of defaulting to snacking on crackers and other processed junk, your options were carrots, apples, bell peppers and so on?  Munch on those while you're preparing dinner and you'll save hundreds of calories (compared to if you'd gone with the chips) and you'll actually still have an appetite for your dinner!

One way to approach the clean out ,if you're doing it independently, is to simply discard anything that is in a box, or a mix, or a can or that's been sitting there too long!  Yes, this is a more extreme way of going about it, and I'm NOT saying that there's NEVER anything good in a box or can, just that if you're not in close proximity to an expert to help you out, you can try this approach.

After you've rid your kitchen of the junk, take the time to clean out the shelves and get ready to stock your fridge and pantry with some healthy foods from your next trip to the grocery store*.  

*One simple tip to help on the next grocery store excursion is to shop around the perimeter; save the inner aisles for toothpaste and tampons, as my husband says!  All the produce, fresh meat, fish and poultry (read:  FOOD) will be at your disposal if you simply remember to shop around the edges.

Need more guidance than that?  Stay tuned for my upcoming book which is a user friendly guide to bring all my food shopping & preparation expertise to your fingertips!

Keep eating healthy!

Is it a Yam or a Sweet Potato?

I must admit, I've found myself guilty of using the two interchangeably, when, they are actually NOT the same thing.   When I began to look on line, I realized many others do the same; in fact, there are websites entitled 'yamsvssweetpotato.com' and so on!

One such website (credit goes to:http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/vegetables/sweetpotato.html) explained that when orange flesh sweet potatoes were introduced in the southern US producers and shippers desired to distinguish them from the more traditional white flesh types. The African word "nyami" referring to the starchy, edible root  was adopted in its English form, "yam". Yams in the U.S. are actually sweet potatoes with relatively moist texture and orange flesh. Although the terms are generally used interchangeably, the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires that the label "yam" always be accompanied by "sweet potato." The following information outlines several differences between sweet potatoes and yams.

The USDA requires that the food label 'yam' must also say 'sweet potato.  Sweet potatoes originate from the tropics, but are now grown in Florida; yams are mainly grown in West Africa and Asia.   The USDA website suggests one easy way to distinguish what you're getting: 'unless you get your 'yams' from and 'ethnic' store, they are probably sweet potatoes!

Nutritionally, both are great sources of starch; sweet potatoes offer loads of Vitamin A, while yams have only trace amounts.

Personally, when I know I've got a long run or ride coming up the next day, there's nothing I'd rather prepare my body with that a nice, baked sweet-potato-yam with my protein & veg dinner!

My Doctor Told Me NOT to Eat Kale! (What are Oxalates?)

We all know how much I love and advocate the consumption of Kale.   At a recent dinner party I hosted, a friend confided that he actually loves kale as well, but was directed by his doc NOT to eat it!   He has kidney stones and was told that kale creates oxalates in the body and contributes to the formation of kidney stones!

I thanked him for providing inspiration for a blog and proceeded to do a bit of research...

According to Webster's Dictionary, an oxalate is any salt or ester of oxalic acid, occurring in plants, esp. spinach, rhubarb, and certain other vegetables and nuts, and capable of forming an insoluble salt with calcium and interfering with its absorption by the body.

The general consensus, based on a handful of studies I came across seems to be that it is only a rare occasion that prohibiting intake of foods high in oxalate levels alone will significantly cause kidney stones in and of itself.  Other contributing factors include water intake, protein consumption and calcium intake.  Further, dietary intake seems to only account for about 10% of the oxalate that contributes to kidney stones. In other words, the studies I read seemed to convey that some people seem to be simply more prone to get kidney stones than others do, NOT that 'eating kale causing kidney stones across the board'.

If you are in the rare position that you've been told to avoid kale and other foods higher in oxalates, and you feel that this piece of advice is significantly restricting your diet, I'd suggest perhaps consulting with another doc, perhaps a naturopath, who might help guide you individually to determine whether anything else in your diet might be playing a role in any physical symptoms you might be experiencing.

I know I certainly would!  Life without my leafy, green veggies? Yikes!

Weekend (Over)eating

Does this sound like you?

You are 'good' all week long; you pack your lunch on Monday, plan out all of your snacks for the week, get your workouts in and then, slowly, as the week progresses, you find your motivating waning and your hunger increasing?  By the time Friday rolls around, you feel like you've done a decent job, overall, during the week and you feel like a 'splurge' for dinner on Friday night is warranted, so you order the fried calamari, or that extra cocktail?

Probably not such a HUGE deal in the grand scheme of things, if it stops there, but what if you carry the mentality of, 'Oh well, I blew my diet, so I might as well eat whatever I want all weekend long and start over on Monday'?'

Unfortunately, that manner of thinking is all too common.  Just the other day, I read an article which stated that a recent study showed people having difficulty losing weight tended to eat 36% of their weekly calories on Saturday in addition to not exercising!

To reiterate what I've said in other blog entries, if you're eating real food in a balanced and frequent manner, you'll not want to be "bad" and go off the deep end of your nutritional plan.  Further, if you plan ahead for the occasional splurge, whether you want an ice cream or some other decadent treat, you can budget your calories accordingly, not have to worry about gaining weight and not feel guilty about it!

So, once again, it all comes back to planning.  Have the healthy food in the fridge,  eat it at regular intervals, DON'T let yourself get to the point of being starving, and you'll be far more able to make healthy food choices, even on the weekend!

It's All About The Skillet- You Only Need One!

As much as I love visiting my fave cooking shoppe, Williams-Sonoma (which is like a toy store to me!), and ALL of their huge variety of pots & pans, I must say that if you're on a bit of a budget and not quite sure which one to buy, I'd suggest... the cast-iron skillet.

Here are but a few advantages of using a cast iron skillet:

1.) Cooking in it will provide added iron to your food.

2.) It's an insanely cheap kitchen tool; I recently saw a large one (AT A HARDWARE STORE!) for $25.

3.) It will last forever if you care for it correctly (it should be seasoned).

4.) You can use it on the stove, or in the oven.

5.) They retain heat quite well so your food is done much more evenly.

So, if you're going for simplicity, or if you're new to the kitchen, perhaps this approach will make learning to cook a bit less daunting.  One pan, a few ingredients; like with so many other things, if we start out simply with just a few things, we'll learn quickly and be more apt to explore a new hobby (a.k.a. healthy cooking) more adventurously!

Sneaking in the Veg

Although I'm not normally one to be sneaky (ask anyone who knows me, I simply 'cannot tell a lie'!:), here's one area in which I have zero moral qualms about being a little clever:  sneaking in the veggies!

Whether you're trying to get your three-year-old to eat his broccoli, or you want to help your hubbie lose that belly that seems to have suddenly sprouted out of nowhere, you can be just a bit sly and incorporate some healthy foods into a meal that might otherwise be a complete nutritional dud!

Keep in mind that while I may offer a suggestion of 'toss some spinach into your spouse's mac & cheese', I'm NOT suggesting that you begin eating mac & cheese, just to get the spinach in!   To clarify, the following suggestions are for when you're making meals for family members, friends and so on, who aren't ready to give up their processed foods yet.

-As I mentioned above, throw some spinach into a  batch of mac & cheese.   You don't even need to cook it as spinach is one of the most fast-cookin' veggies around!  If you're the primary grocery shopper in the house, you can at least buy one of the organic, non-hydrogenated versions of a mac & cheese mix.   Together with the spinach, this makes the usually noxious mac & cheese into a somewhat reasonable meal!

-How about throwing a bit of greens into a home made smoothie, along with some lovely, dark berries (read between the lines:  the dark colour of the berries will camouflage the green juice!).   There will still be some fibre in the shake from the fruit, but you'll have the added benefit of all the nutrients that the greens have to offer!

-Do your kids insist on sandwiches?  Add a layer of finely chopped steamed kale (once steamed, kale squashes down pretty nicely and if it's chopped up finely, the kids won't notice as much as if you were to simply place an entire leaf between the bread!) to a sliced turkey, avocado & tomato sandwich, accompanied by a side of baby carrots and sliced cucumber.

-As we move into a cooler season, how about a hearty stew?  Here's another great place to hide some veg!  Saute some cubed, lean beef in a stock pot with Olive oil, onions, bell peppers and your choice of spices & herbs.  Add water and let simmer.   Throw in some cut carrots and potato and continue to simmer.  Shortly before serving, throw in whichever veggies you like (I say shortly before serving to as to preserve more nutrients, versus cooking them to death, rendering them mushy, brown and unappealing!).   Try any of the leafy greens, to name one option!  Once again here, the darker color of the stew lends itself to be a good hiding place for some nice veggie additions!

-After the hubbie, or kids, or roommate compliments the chef, then and ONLY then, go ahead and tell them the secret- there were veggies in there!

Roasted Veg

Now that October is here and we're heading into a more autumnal produce season, one of the first dishes I think of is roasted vegetables. 

While you might initially be reminded of Thanksgiving or Christmas and a traditional plate of roast yams, try to go beyond that.  You can literally roast just about any veg, with different herbs & spices, oils and marinades or just as is!

Make too much on purpose so that you can enjoy them the next day as well; like a soup or a stew, they're often better the next day!

Here are some of my personal favorites:

-Roasted Eggplant.  Just eggplant.  With nothing!  Slice into pieces about 1/4" thick and place on a rack under a broiler.  Turn the slices every 5' or so until they're nicely browned and soft.  With next to zero calories, they're surprisingly delicious as they are, or, throw them in the food processor with some lemon, tahini & garlic and you've got your own, home-made Baba Ganouj (quite similar to hummus, but without the garbanzos, for those of us who don't eat legumes!).  Alternatively,  you can intentionally leave them in the oven longer (but keep a close eye) and literally dehydrate them; they'll turn into a crisp, VERY HEALTHY cracker alternative!

-Roasted Squash.  Cut up some zucchini, yellow squash, Portabello Mushrooms & acorn squash into cubes. Throw in some cut bell peppers.  Toss in a high-quality, cold-pressed olive oil & throw in some thyme & white peppercorns.  Cook in a preheated 425 degree oven for about 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so to ensure even cooking.

-Getting ready for a long run or a nice hike the next day?   My husband and I have the following roast potato dish almost every Friday to get ready for our long ride Saturdays:

Throw some fingerling potatoes into a pot of boiling water and let them cook for 10 minutes.  Take them out, run them under cold water to shock them and then place in a glass or ceramic baking dish.  Toss in some olive oil, peppercorns, fresh rosemary and some kosher salt (gotta keep on top of your sodium for the big workout tomorrow!:)  Cook in a preheated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes- perfect!  The leftovers will also come in handy the next day when you get back from your ride/hike/run or whatever activity you're up to!

These are but a few of the things you can do with minimal time and effort- as I always say- play around and make up some of your own favorites!

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