Category: Recipes

Holiday Season Weight Gain is Reduced by Planned Overeating

1/21/2015

It’s a well known fact that the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is the official season for some serious overeating. Most of us pig out enough for a 5 to 7 pound weight gain in just six (6) short weeks.

The main culprit of holiday season weight gain is the age old New Year’s Resolution of starting another diet with the New Year. The thought of another depressing deprivation diet looming in the near future can lead to the “last supper” mentality of eating everything in sight between Christmas and the New Year. There is a better way.

Be realistic about your holiday plans...There will be parties and there will be high calorie foods. Decide ahead of time if you are going to have a high calorie treat and what form it will take. If your weakness is desserts, then plan on having one serving go the most tempting dessert you can find.

Plan to overeat on certain days. If you know there is a party coming up, eat lighter calorie meals during the week. When the party rolls around, eat and enjoy without guilt.

Get right back on track. Just because you had an eating binge at one holiday party, doesn’t mean you should have a free-for-all until New Year’s Day. Go back to your normal eating pattern with the very next meal. The only overeating you should be doing is on those specifically preplanned holiday party dates.

Get some exercise. The holidays are a difficult time to get your regularly planned workouts completed so rather than skip your workouts for weeks at a time, do what you can. If you only have time for 15 or 20 minutes, do it. Some exercise is always better than no exercise.

There’s absolutely no reason to go through the holidays feeling deprived and denied of your favorite holiday treats With planned overeating you can reduce holiday season weight gain and still have fun.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour, (see Ingredient Note)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1/2 cup nonfat buttermilk, (see Tip)
1/3 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
6 large egg whites
2 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
(1 stick)
8 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, (Neufchatel)

Beat butter and cream cheese in a large bowl until creamy. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar and beat, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Alternately add the flour and buttermilk mixtures, beating until just smooth. Fold in about one-third of the egg whites with a rubber spatula until just smooth and no white streaks remain. Fold in the remaining egg whites. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, spreading evenly.

Bake the cake until a skewer inserted into it comes out clean and the top springs back when touched, 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Loosen the edges with a knife and turn out onto the rack; let cool for at least 1 hour more before slicing.

Ingredient Note: Whole-wheat pastry flour, lower in protein than regular whole-wheat flour, has less gluten-forming potential, mak-ing it a better choice for tender baked goods. You can find it in the natural-foods section of large super markets and natural-foods stores. Store in the freezer.

Per Serving: cal. (kcal) 261, Fat, total (g) 12, chol. (mg) 52, sat. fat (g) 5, carb. (g) 35, Monosaturated fat (g) 3, fiber (g) 1, pro. (g) 5, sodium (mg) 167, Potassium (mg) 73, Other Carb () 2, Fat () 2, Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

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Good Nutrition = Strong Healthy Lives

1/21/2015

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As the winter season approaches, we must be aware of how the cold temperatures affect our bodies and our nutrition. The weather really does affect our moods and health. It’s not a coincidence that mortality rates increases by means of heart attacks, strokes, pneumonia, and influenza during the winter months. Rather than blame the changes in diseases, we should blame the changes that take place in our bodies.

Warm weather promotes better blood circulation, but in the winter months it’s more important than ever to be proactive about our exercise. Even light exercises such as, yoga and mild stretching make a considerable impact on our blood circulation. Dancing is also a way to provide the needed oxygen to our brain, organs and bodies.

What we eat is a substantial reason for our mood swings, and by eating an alkaline diet you can encourage optimal blood oxygenation. The food we eat can be used to combat the effects of cold weather on our bodies.

Vitamin C is an important vitamin and antioxidant that the body uses during the winter months for the maintenance of bones, muscles and blood vessels We can obtain this vitamin by cooking and using the lesser known root vegetables.

One such vegetable is the rutabaga, also known as the yellow turnip or the swede. The rutabaga contains 53% percent of the daily recommended value of vitamin C, providing antioxidants and immune supporting functions that help protect the cells from free radical damage. Rutabaga also helps lower blood pressure, cholesterol levels and assist in weight loss. With sunlight, exercise, diet and an understanding of our body’s sensitivity to the climate we live in, we can be healthier than we have ever been, even in winter.

So with these thoughts in mind we introduce this lesser known vegetable (rutabaga) to challenge your taste buds. Winter is the season for eating fresh root vegetable. They make a hearty vegetable soup to warm the body, and fill the soul.

Rutabaga Soup

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 ½ cup chopped leek
(white and pale green parts only)
½ cup chopped celery
1 garlic clove minced
2 cups ½ inch pieces peeled turnips
2 cups ½ inch pieces peeled rutabagas
2 cups ½ inch pieces peeled russet potatoes
2 cups sliced carrots
1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
4 14½ ounce can vegetable broth or low salt chicken broth

Preparation
Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium low heat. Add leek, celery and garlic and sauté until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add turnips, rutabagas, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes with juices and 2 cans broth. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 45 minutes. Transfer 4 cups soup to processor. Puree until almost smooth. Return puree to pot. Add remaining 2 cans broth; bring to simmer. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and serve.
Per serving; calories, 189; total fat, 3 g; saturated fat, 0.5 g: cholesterol, 0 mg.

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Seed Sown/Harvest Reaped

1/21/2015

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A Community Garden is a piece of land cultivated by members of a community in urban areas to grow their food or donate what they have grown. Such land helps in nurturing a sense of togetherness and socialization within the community. The gardens encourage food security within the community.

Community gardens beautify the area and provide a stopping point for conversation and is a great positive ice-breaker for meeting people. It also helps our children better understand where their food source derives from. Community gardens create friendships and build community spirit. Ashbury Sprouts, located on East 111th Street off Ashbury Avenue is one such garden, which is under the direction of Ms. Sandra Robertson. As a child, she was taught the different methods of gardening by her father. She incorporates the old and traditional gardening methods along with more recent, innovative ideas into the Ashbury Sprouts Gardens. It is the desire of Sandra to plant sweet potatoes which contains the essential carbohydrates of all staple foods and is an ideal vegetable to try and grow.

We have now come to learn that it was the slaves’ diet that was primarily responsible for their near-perfect health. Small gardens that were planted adjacent to the slaves’ cabins produced an abundance of fresh produce for the majority of the year. These gardens oftentimes produced 15 or more different vegetables.

Sweet Potato Pound Cake

Makes 16 to 18 servings:

3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
I teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature,
plus additional for the baking pan
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 1/2 cups cooked, mashed and cooled sweet potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (4 ounces) chopped pecans
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut (optional

Preliminaries:
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter a 10-cup tube or Bundt pan.

Make the batter:
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar gradually, about 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the sweet potatoes and mix until well after each addition. Add the sweet potatoes and mix until thoroughly combined. Reduce the speed to low or switch to a wooden spoon and gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture in 3 additions, beating well after each addition. The batter should be stiff, Add the vanilla, pecans and, if desired, the coconut.

Bake the cake:
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, Bake until the cake tests done when a wire cake tester is inserted in the middle, 50 to 65 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto a plate and remove.

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Holiday Season Weight Gain is Reduced by Planned Overeating

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Good Nutrition = Strong Healthy Lives

Rutabaga Soup

Seed Sown/Harvest Reaped

Sweet Potato Pound Cake

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