NuVal for the New Year

If you’ve ever visited the healthy lifestyle blog, Carrots n Cake (Check out her new blog as well, Trading Up Downtown), you have probably heard of the company NuVal that Tina recently joined. I thought it was a great program from the get-go, and decided the concepts of their idea of healthy living would be perfect for the healthy New Years resolutions that many people strive for. Now that January is half way done, maybe your already lagging on the healthy eating front—if so NuVal is just one of the many nutritional tools available for your use and benefit in 2010.

NuVal in a nutshell--

• Developed by an independent panel of nutrition and medical experts, the System helps you see – at a glance – the nutritional value of the food you buy.
• The NuVal System scores food on a scale of 1-100. The higher the NuVal Score, the better the nutrition.
• Where can you find the NuVal scoring system? It is currently at Price Chopper, Meijer, and HyVee grocery chains—you can also suggest a store on the NuVal website.
• You can even see how your current eats rate on the NuVal scale by clicking here. Find out even more nutrition by the numbers by becoming a member which is free!

So I decided to pick a few of the foods I’ve been eating quite a bit lately to see what my nutritional numbers are based on NuVal’s system. How do you think your foods would be rated on NuVal’s nutritional number scale?

• Egg beaters 100% liquid egg white= 26

I was somewhat shocked by the low count for the Eggbeaters, but regular eggs are only 33, so not a huge difference—I would have thought eggs would have been in the 50-70’s range! Also if you do prefer Eggbeaters over regular eggs, you could choose to go with the ones mixed with yolks which would boost the nutritional number score to 36.

Clif Luna Bars

• CLIF LUNA SUNRISE VANILLA ALMOND: 27

• CLIF LUNA SMORE: 26

• CLIF LUNA LEMON ZEST: 25

• CLIF LUNA TOASTED NTS N CRNBRY: 36

• CLIF LUNA PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE: 27

• CLIF LUNA NUTZ OVER CHOCOLATE: 25

I thought since one of my main snacks on my vacation last week was Luna bars I’d see what they were rated. Unfortunately not too high at all which surprised me since they have so many vitamins and minerals in them.

• 8th Continent Light Vanilla Soymilk=82

• Regular fat-free milk=91

Not a huge difference between soymilk and fat-free dairy milk, which brings me again to this post.

• Butternut Squash=100

Who knew a few sprays of FF cooking spray and 40 short minutes in the oven could produce a healthy squash fry?!

What tools do you use to implement healthy eating choices?

**All information adapted from http://www.nuval.com**

Midweek Mexican

Hello Amigos!

Stopping by with a little south-of-the-border flare today! I love Mexican food—quesadillas, burritos, and salsa. Here’s some tips for eating healthier at your favorite Mexican restaurant:

• Choose soft shells vs. crunchy—they are baked and not fried.
• Go all out with salsa.
• Black beans are an excellent choice for most any dieter. They are low-fat, high in protein and provide plenty of fiber.

• Refried beans may sound like a good choice, but they are often prepared with lard and Mexican cheese blends, or even bacon, which really ups the fat and calorie content of what could be a healthy side.

• Con queso dips and nacho cheese are tempting toppers for chips, but they're both extremely rich and high in fat and calories.

• Switch to bean burritos instead of beef or cheese burritos and you'll be saying adios to lots of extra calories.

• Some better choices are: chicken fajitas, bean burritos, a sautéed chicken dish with peppers and onions (hold the cheese!), or a soft taco.

• Some popular dishes to avoid include: nachos, chimichangas, chalupas, taquitos, and chile relleno.

What are your healthy Mexican eating tips?

Since you don’t always have to go out to get a southern sizzle, I like eating Mexican homemade at times, even though I have not once ounce of Mexican in me..pasta+bread=Italian is all me! :-)

Vegetarian Tacos

Serves: 1

Ingredients:

• One 8’-12’ whole wheat tortilla
• 1/4 c Boca soy crumbles, or other meatless crumbles of your choice
• 1 Tbsp taco seasoning
• 2 tbsp FF sour cream
• 1/2 of a Roma tomato, chopped and seeded
• Handful of shredded lettuce
• 2 Tbsp black beans
• 1/4 c shredded Mexican cheese blend
• Add a dash of taco sauce to finish it up, my favorite below

Directions:

1. Mix taco seasoning with thawed Boca crumbles.
2. Pretty easy if you’ve ever eaten a taco—get out your tortilla, put lettuce, cheese and all the rest of the layers, topping it off with sour cream. Roll up that taco and chow!

Now if you want to eat a few tacos, instead of and extremely heavy side and dessert, a spicy Mexican soup can pair wonderfully with tacos—I am extremely happy with this soup recipe I came up with—enjoy!

Black Bean Taco Stoup

(It’s somewhat like soup, but somewhat like stew, hence the “stoup”)

Serves:4

Ingredients:

• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed in 1’ cubes
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 green pepper, chopped
• 14.5 oz can Italian stewed tomatoes
• 14 oz chicken broth
• 7 oz black beans, rinsed from the can
• 2 Tbsp mild salsa
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 3 Tbsp taco seasoning
• 1 tsp basil

Directions:

• Sauté onion in a sprayed stock pot on medium heat for 10 minutes, or until translucent. Add bell peppers and sweet potato, reducing heat to low-med and continue to sauté for another 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and stir.
• Turn heat to low and add in all the rest of the ingredients except the beans, stirring after each addition.
• Simmer for 30 minutes then stir in beans.
• Serve with a dollop of FF sour cream if you wish!

And to round off this Mexican meal, head on over to the lovely Kelly and her blog to get the recipe for some Mini Cinnamon Horchata Cupcakes…adios!

 

Daily Giveaways

**Anoooother chocolate-covered giveaway for the chocolate monster within!**

**Gourmet popcorn flavors up for grabs here!**

**Crackers with a hefty dose of Omega' 3’s—two chances to get your hands on some here!**

Sunday Slurp Smackdown

It’s another round of a weekend smackdown!

If you missed the last round, check it out here.

Today in the ring we have Soymilk vs. Dairy Milk.

I used to think dairy milk was the best with cereal, Oreos, and just to quench my thirst. But then a few years back, I tried 8th Continent vanilla soymilk for a little extra added flavor to my morning bowl. Eventually I tried the original for drinking and thought it was equally good. Some people can’t do soy, others can’t get past the “chalky” texture, and a handful just don’t want to make the switch. When I started drinking it, I never thought I’d drink more soy milk than dairy. A few weeks ago I realized I didn’t even have dairy milk in my fridge! Instead, there was 3 different kinds of soy milk and some almond milk. In conversation with my mom, she told me I needed the calcium, etc., but I reassured her soy has the same, if not better benefits than dairy. [FYI: I have not given up dairy products, or milk, I just don’t buy dairy milk anymore since I use soy for drinking, baking, etc.] This smackdown could go on&on, so it’s a smackdown in a nutshell!

• The Major Difference: One is derived from a plant and the other from an animal.
• Dairy Milk: It’s a product of the mammary gland. As with all other animal-based foods, it's a complete protein; that is, it supplies people with all the necessary amino acids to form proteins. All cow's milk contain 8 grams of protein and 12 grams of carbohydrate per cup. Cow's milk is a rich source of other nutrients as well. One cup provides adults with 30 percent of their daily calcium needs and about 50 percent of their vitamin B₁₂ and riboflavin requirements. Often it's fortified with vitamin D to facilitate the absorption of calcium. Vitamin A is usually added to milk as well. Depending on the selection, cow's milk can have a significant amount of fat.
• Soymilk: It is not technically a milk, but a beverage made from soybeans. It is the liquid that remains after soybeans are soaked, finely ground, and then strained. Since it doesn't contain any lactose, soymilk is suitable for lactose intolerant folks. It's also a popular cow's milk substitute for vegetarians since it's based on a plant source (others include rice, oat, almond, coconut, and potato milk). Soy foods are the only plant-based complete proteins. One cup of unfortified soymilk contains almost 7 grams of protein, 4 grams of carbohydrate, 4½ grams of fat, and no cholesterol. Although soymilk supplies some B vitamins, it's not a good source of B₁₂, nor does it provide a significant amount of calcium. Since many people substitute soy beverages for cow's milk, manufacturers have offered fortified versions. These varieties may include calcium and vitamins E, B₁₂, and D, among other nutrients. If you choose soymilk, read labels carefully to be sure you're getting enough of these important nutrients.

Common Reason Why People Avoid It

• Dairy milk: Cows are pumped with hormones which is believed of course to then be transferred into their milk, which can cause health effects the consumers[us].
  Most cow's milk has measurable quantities of herbicides, pesticides, and dioxins (up to 200 times the safe levels).
• Soy milk: Unfermented soy foods have a high amount of phytic acid, which can lead to the lower absorption of certain vitamins and minerals. Some research claims the isoflavones found in soy foods also contribute to the development of thyroid disorders, breast cancer and leukemia.

The Nutritional Comparison

• Cows Milk(Skim/per 8 oz)-Calories:8o Fat:0g Calcium: 30% RDA Vitamin B12: 13%
• Soy Milk(Fortified/per 8 oz)- Calories:60  Fat:2g Calcium:30% Vitamin B12: 15%

Whatever milky beverage you choose to drink is really a matter of personal preference and your health goals—cheers!

Interested in drinking soy milk? Find out more benefits here.

Who’s side are you on in today’s smackdown?

Food in the News

I haven’t done any Food in the News posts lately, so I thought it was long overdue, and I thought this one was interesting! If you ever have any interesting Food in the News shoot me and email!

Cars of the Future Will Be Built With Food

And you thought filling up with a corn-based ethanol was a little crazy? Now auto makers are introducing earth-friendly and edible materials.

• Seaweed is being used by Toyota for improving its bioplastics(plastics made from natural sources such as corn starch) in hopes of creating superlight chassis. It should be on the road by 2020.
• Soybeans is being used in millions of vehicles from Ford. How? Soybean-based seat cushions of course! Manufacturing the cushions with soybean oil helps the company cut down on petroleum and CO2 emissions. Next up: interior trim made with soy-based plastic.
• Carrots  are being used at England’s University of Warwick to build a race care equipped with a steering wheel made from carrots and other veggies. It reaches speeds of 135 mph and runs partly on chocolate waste from a nearby chocolate factory.

Article adapted from Food Network Magazine

What do you think of the food-mobile trend?

I think it’s great to use foods for something else other than eating—under one condition; that it isn’t using up the whole surplus of food meant for eating—we still have so many people in the world starving that could use some carrots or soy foods. I think that should be a priority before cars, but it’s still a cool concept as long as they don’t start using Larabars for brake pedals or an oat-weaved carpet…hey who knows?

 

p.s. Cha-cha-cha-chia! Do you want to jump on the chia seed bandwagon? Diane at Greens Plus offered to send all readers a free sample! Interested? Email her at diane@greensplus.com.

Shroom Style 101

Besides my recent cinnamon kick (read—I add cinnamon to everything in extreme amounts; at least it’s full of antioxidants!), I have also been consuming normal large amounts of mushrooms. I throw em’ in omelets, wraps, on veggie burgers, and sauté em’ up for a side dish. So when I was in Wal-Mart the other day and I spotted giant Portobello mushroom caps on sale 2/$2 I knew this was a perfect opportunity to further induce my mushroom obsession with none other than stuffed Portobello mushroom caps! I have seen numerous variations to these from seafood stuffed to rice stuffed, but of course I brainstormed my own version, and not to toot my own horn—it was mighty fab!

Italian Pizzazz Portobello's

• 1 Portobello mushroom cap(de-gilled)
• 1/4 C of pita bread crumbs (a pita torn into shreds)
• 2 Tbsp tomato sauce
• 1 Tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 C of soy crumble (I used Boca) You could even use chopped sausage, or whatever you like—even meatless!
• 2 Tbsp canned diced tomatoes (I used fire roasted)
• 1/4 C spinach, chopped
• Assorted veggies that suite your taste (I used zucchini, mushrooms!, onion, and red bell pepper)Add as much as you like depending on how “stuffed” you want your shroom to be. :-)
• A dash of Italian seasoning
• A pinch of pepper
• A sprinkle of Parmesan cheese  

Directions:

• De-gill your mushroom, so it looks like this—>

 

• Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 425 F and line a cookie sheet with foil.
• Get a skillet and add your chopped veggies, soy crumbles and Worcestershire sauce. Sauté until onions are translucent and veggies are fork tender. Add spinach in for the last minute or so along with the seasonings.

• Throw the veggies in a bowl and mix with the pita “breadcrumbs”.
• Stuff your mushroom trying to keep things inside of it. Top with diced tomatoes, sauce, and cheese.
• Pop it in the oven for about 7 minutes—any longer it gets too rubbery to cut and eat in a polite manner!
• Dig innnn!

Goodbye Chilly May..Hello Chili June

  Can you believe it?! Frost warning here for last night. It got below zero. It’s almost a joke, except it’s not funny at all. But like I always point out, a foodie always has the kitchen to resort to in times of bad weather—in my case sometimes even when the weather is good!

 Did you all have a great weekend? I lounged, hit up a grad party, got my hair trimmed—all the regular things, but there was one thing that wasn’t too regular, but may become more regular during the upcoming warm months. I had an awesome addition to my meal Saturday to brighten things up a bit in absence of Mr. Sun. If you’re in the mood for some chili, even if it’s not chilly outside, you may want to put this at the top of your list if you haven’t already!

Does everybody know what happens when two hot peppers get together to dance and then Mrs. Boca joins in on the fun?

It end’s up to be one big Boca Chili party complete with beans and all the goodness of a regular beefy chili.

   BTW, that is not the container it originally comes in—it does come in the nice little fancy microwavable black bowl shown on the package, but due to the uber fill-up factor of this, I had to save half for tomorrows lunch! For taste I would give this an A because if you were to do a blind test of beef chili vs. this soy chili, I couldn’t tell the difference. And since I don’t eat red meat, I am really glad there’s the option of a meat-free alternative. The texture was an A also—perfect chili consistency. So overall the Boca Meatless Chili was an easy A+ in my book! Check out the stats for it vs. your everyday chili below!

Happy June

Beautiful Birthday Recap <|:-)

   When I was younger I used to love all the extravagant birthday parties—my mom was a birthday party pro; she always made sure everything was fit for a queen. =) Nowadays I would rather just spend time with the family in a nice low-key celebration which is exactly what I did. I also did a few things to bring me back to my childhood that I don’t make time to do anymore. I colored, took a stroll with good ol’ daddy and did some rock picking, and I ate butternut squash fries which I used to eat like all the time!(recipe below) I also requested NO presents just because I have everything I could possibly need and more, but of course mom and dad couldn’t resist and after I opened it I was not complaining! They got me three beautiful Cutco knives! The idea is that each knife can only be used for a certain task, and as the years go by you add to your collection(rather slowly for now since they are expensive!) But they have a lifetime guarantee so it’s worth it! Can’t wait to put these to the chopping test!

<—The most meaningful card in the background. And how cool are the knives?! They even have grooves in the handles to get the best grip.

         I love the pearled handles too! It matches with my KitchenAid mixer perfect. I am glad she picked the pearl vs. the black. Thanks again mom and dad! =)

Now onto the eats. I had planned this dinner for a couple days. I am so happy to finally be able to bring out the good delicious summer recipes. Much lighter but oh-so-satisfying and fun! Don’t get me wrong, comfort food rocks, but when you eat it all winter you’re ready for some fruit, veggies, and the grill!

I decided on Stuffed Veggie Peppers from the new Hungry Girl cookbook, but I changed it up a bit so I could share! =) I used soy crumbles(which the recipe called for), and even my carnivorous dad did not notice. So for all you out there who have shied away from soy, give it a shot! So much healthier and cheaper=double bonus!

Posh Pineapple Peppers

Serves: 4 Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

*2 large red bell peppers

*1/2 C chopped green pepper

*1/2 C chopped onion

*1/2 c chopped pineapple

*2 medium Roma tomatoes, chopped

*4 TBSP of mixed shredded cheese

*1 C soy crumbles

*1 C chopped mushrooms

*1 tsp taco seasoning

*1 tsp minced garlic

*1/2 C tomato sauce

Directions:

• Wash all produce first! Take red bell peppers, cut off tops, de-seed and slice horizontally. Place cut side up on sprayed baking sheet and bake at 375 for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile take and dice onion, mushroom, pineapple, and green pepper and sauté in pan on medium heat until tender (3 min), add garlic and let cook 1 more minute. Transfer cooked veggies to bowl.
• Add in the seasonings, sauce, cheese, Roma tomato and soy crumbles.
• Once red peppers come out of the oven, allow to cool briefly(5 min), then pat with a paper towel to absorb moisture. Lower oven temperature to 350.
• Fill each pepper evenly and sprinkle with additional cheese if desired.
• Pop in the oven for 20 minutes, take out, and dig in!

<—Check out that cheesy goodness! Of course I had to pair this with a stunning side dish as well, which is where HungryGirl inspired Bake-tastic Butternut Squash Fries come in. Make sure you head on over and get the recipe!

Once you try the Butternut Squash fries, potato fries will be a thing of the past. If you want to turn these into a sweet treat, I love em’ with a pinch of cinnamon and a dash of sugar!