Lunch Wraps

A few weeks ago we had a Kids Health Day at work. Instead of having Take Your Child to Work Day back in the spring, my company held out until the beginning of August for a big Kids Work Day event. The kids could choose a bunch of different classes that they could take. We had Smoothies 101, Healthy Snacking, Kids Kickboxing, Fun Fitness Testing, Yoga, Scavenger Hunts, Chemistry experiments, etc. I taught Kids In The Kitchen. I talked about the basics of the 5 food groups and had the kids make veggie wraps and home made trail mix.

Well... we had a bunch of leftover veggie wrap ingredients and my coworker and I went to town on that food for the following week. They hit the spot so much so that I made sure to have the ingredients on hand for future wraps for lunch. They have been my go-to lunch for over two weeks now.

Here's what my wrap had:

Whole wheat tortilla (La Tortilla Factory would be awesome here)
1 Tbsp cream cheese or hummus
Protein: Black beans or turkey lunch meat
Veggies: carrots, peppers, cucumbers, spinach

Here are some other options to include:
salsa
shredded cheese
diced grilled chicken
sunflower seeds
tomatoes
broccoli
What would you put in your wrap?

Local Produce - Strawberries!!!

I am a big advocate of buying local produce. Local produce is going to be more nutrient packed with vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients than any other source as the closer something is eaten to the time it was picked, the better. I know some people are big on organic, I'm not - I'm big on LOCAL.

Many people think of Michigan as cold, snowy and the former home of the auto industry. But what you might not know is that it has a big agricultural business as well. Where I live, specifically, it is known as the "Fruit Ridge". This time of year an abundance of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and cherries are all around. Later, peaches, pears and apples begin to ripen as well.

Finley and I spent a few hours a couple weeks ago at a U-pick strawberry farm. We (and by "we" I mean she sat in her stroller while I furiously picked as many berries as fast as I could) picked over FIFTEEN pounds of strawberries to haul home. Now berries aren't something that stay ripe on your counter very long, so I knew I had to have a plan.



First, I mashed up about half of the berries and canned homemade jam. I used Ball "No-Sugar-Needed" Pectin to make sugar free jam. I boiled the jars in a hot water canner so they can stay good all year long in my pantry.

The remaining berries I washed and hulled and froze on cookie sheets. Once they were frozen, I have them stored in ziploc bags in my freezer just waiting for my morning smoothie.

What produce is in season near you? Any creative ideas to use up your abundant produce quickly?

Turkey Tacos

Sometimes I don't feel like finding new recipes for meals, instead I just want the old stand-by's. But when trying to eat healthfully, sometimes the old stand-by's don't fit into a healthy eating regimen. That's where substitutions come in to play.

Substituting healthier options for not as healthy originals is a great way to eat healthfully without uprooting your whole family.

Take tacos for example.

Many people would make up a batch of tacos without even thinking about it. But an average ground beef taco with 2 oz of meat, 8" flour tortilla, lettuce, onion, sour cream, salsa and 1/2 oz. cheddar has the following nutrition facts:

439 calories
25.9 g fat
32.7 g carbohydrate
2.7 g fiber
18.4 g protein

But with a few simple changes, you can make this single taco a whole lot healthier. For this taco I used ground turkey instead of ground beef, a 50 calorie La Tortilla Factory tortilla, spinach instead of lettuce, reduced fat sour cream and 2% cheddar. This taco has the following nutrition facts:

212.5 calories
10.3 g fat
15.6 g carbohydrate
8.1 g fiber
21 g protein

That's a difference of 227 calories, 14.6 g fat, 17.1 g carbohydrate, 2.6 g protein and 5.4 g MORE fiber per taco! I'd say that's worth the effort!!

What are some of your quick and easy substitutions that pack a mighty punch???

How does your garden grow?

Almost one year ago we moved into our "long term home". The home that we built to how we want and where we hope to live for our child-rearing years. One of the major benefits of our home is that we live on the same cul-de-sac as 3 families that we are friends with. We call it the college dorm life for adults. Another benefit is that (at least in my mind) it is out in the country. I have cornfields in my back yard (although its just a 1 mile jog to reach town). But, with the balance of country and suburbia we are able to have a nice size yard for a development.

When we moved it I was all gung-ho about growing a vegetable garden but the 100 other projects that had to be done plus being in my 2nd trimester kind of put my vegetable garden on the back burner. This year, however, we have time! I decided to do a raised bed as there are many benefits such as soil quality, less weeds, higher temp of soil, etc. We built a 4 x 16 foot raised bed in our back yard but started the little seeds indoors a few weeks ago. I have been using the Farmers' Almanac as my reference guide. Apparently in Michigan my last chance of frost is May 5th so I can't really plant outdoors until then but we have our own little greenhouse growing in master bathroom window.

Here are our seedlings a week ago...



Here they are when we came back from CA....




Our seedlings are tomatoes, green/red/purple/yellow/orange peppers, cucumbers, and lettuce. We will additionally be planting carrots, snap peas and green beans straight to the ground. If all goes well this year, I plan to add an additional raised bed next year with fruits and berries and maybe a couple pear or apple trees (??)

So whats the point in growing your own produce?

Aside from the fact that I like to do things homemade, the faster your produce goes from the ground to the table, the more nutrients you are eating. The longer the transit for your produce, the more nutrient losses you will incur. For example, here in Michigan I try to buy at Farmers' Market or local produce as much as possible from about May - October. In the winter months I know that any "fresh" produce found in the grocery store was actually shipped from Guatamala or who knows where and likely was picked under-riped, artificially ripened by chemicals and lost a ton of nutrients in transit. For this reason, I often choose frozen vegetables in the winter since they are typically picked at the peak of their ripeness and flash-frozen, thereby retaining most of their nutrients.

I also enjoy canning fresh produce. In the past I have canned local peaches, homegrown tomatoes and made homemade applesauce and apple butter. This year I hope to venture into canning my own green beans, salsa, spaghetti sauce, etc.



Do you grow anything in your garden?

Organic - Is it worth it?

The organic debate can get really heated.

First of all, lets define organic. "Organic foods are those that are produced using environmentally sound methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives."

Foods which are labeled "organic" must meet certain criteria set by the government pertaining to additives, growing conditions, exposure to chemicals etc.

In recent years I have seen a lot more hype on organic products. But I have also heard through conversations with people a lot of misinformation on organic products as well.

1. Organic food will not help you lose more weight or will not have less calories.

2. Organic food may, however, have higher nutritional value and less trace minerals found from farming chemicals.

3. Organically grown food is better for the environment....BUT if it is shipped from Chile than you really need to think about the transportation effects on the environment as well!

Basically, I think each person should come up with their own opinion of organic foods. If it is worth it for you to purchase than go for it! If you don't feel compelled to buy organic foods, then don't feel guilty for it!

Research has shown that there are certain produce products which would be best to buy organic and then other produce items which really isn't worth the expense of organic since they have been tested to be low residue anyway. Here's the list:

Dirty Dozen
Peaches, apples, bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, pears, imported grapes, spinach, lettuce, potatoes

Just fine without organic
Onions, avocado, sweet corn, pineapples, mango, asparagus, sweet peas, kiwi, bananas, cabbage, broccoli, papaya

Personally, I don't buy to much organic. In the summers I love going to our local produce markets and buying local produce (organic or not organic). This summer Paul and I are embarking on our own vegetable garden. We'll be planting all kinds of produce and I plan to keep you updated on its progress.

Do you buy organic? Why or why not?
Have you ever had a vegetable garden? What grew the best for you?

On the road...

So tonight little Miss Finley and I are hitting the road to meet up with my husband and his team here. Each year we like to support my husband's track team by cheering on the athletes at nationals. Unfortunately, the food situation is a little bit unknown. I'm not quite sure if there is breakfast at the hotel, I'm on my own for lunches but I go out to eat with the team for dinner.

So the last couple of weeks I've been super diligent with watching what I eat. It may sound crazy, but I took a DNA test which indicates what type of meal plan you should be following to most accurately fuel your body. My DNA came back as 45% carbohydrates, 35% fat and 20% protein. This has been a HUGE adjustment for me as I probably usually eat 60-70% carbs and not enough protein or fat. So I've been working on trying to get my proportion of intake in the right categories. I'm also teaching a weight management class based off of this DNA test so I feel like I have to be compliant so I can practice what I preach ;) Ugh, it's hard....

Anyway, I'm trying to figure out what to pack with me that can fill in in a pinch if I can't find the best choices at restaurants or in the hotel. Here's what I've come up with so far.

String Cheese

Apples

These protein shakes

Peanut butter

La Tortilla Factory tortillas

Bananas

(Obviously to make the perfect banana/peanutbutter roll up!)

What suggestions do you have to pack on the road?

Planning vs. Flexibility

The reason for most of my planning and flexibility!

I am a planner by nature. I thrive in a well-planned environment. I have learned that since having a baby and going back to work that planning is what holds it all together and I feel like our household would be chaos if I did not plan. However, I have also learned in the last few months is that flexibility is what makes a well thought out plan realistic in the actual world. I have found this especially true in two specific areas: Meal Planning & Exercise Plans

MEAL PLANNING

There are many different systems for meal planning and I really think it depends on the family as to which way works for you. This is how I do it....

Every Thursday night I sit down and figure out what we have going on in the upcoming week (Fri-Thurs.) so I know what nights I need to make dinner. I typically don't make a homemade dinner when my husband is not home and just eat leftovers or cereal. Then I think about what I have on hand. I usually base this off of what meats we have available and try to come up with meals that are based on these meats. But usually, it is just a review of the pantry and the fridge and figure out what I can make out of items on hand. Then I think about what is on sale this week and think of meals that can utilize the deal of the week. I take this list of possibilities and fill it into my week. I put meals that are quick prep on Mondays and Wednesday since those are the days I work late. I put slow cooker meals on weekends, etc. Then I put our meal plan on a white board in our kitchen. I know it may seem cheesy but it works for us. My husband works at a college where he eats in the cafeteria each day. If he knows what we're having for dinner, then he won't eat something similar for lunch each day. I make my grocery list and pull coupons Thursday night and go grocery shopping on Fridays. It works for us. I have found that I am not stressed out about dinner, we save money and we eat out WAY less than when I didn't meal plan.

MEAL FLEXIBILITY

As much as I like to plan, things do come up mid-week and I have to be flexible. It's not uncommon for me to switch around what we're having one night or another if my husband has something come up and can't come home. But at least I know we have the ingredients on hand and can just swap it out another day.
EXERCISE PLANNING

Each Sunday I discuss with my husband what we have going on in the week. Just like my meal plan, I have to figure out when he's going to be home to watch Finley. I figure out what days I can utilize the treadmill at work, what days I can run around the indoor track at my husband's work, what days I can run outside at home and what days I'm stuck doing an indoor workout at home. I've started putting my exercise log on the top of the page for my intended exercises. It helps keep me accountable and to stick with the plan.
EXERCISE FLEXIBILITY

Unfortunately, not everything can always go to plan but I need to make sure I'm still get workouts - even if its not the workout I intended. Example: Monday I was going to do circuits inside after I put Finley to sleep. Well I wasn't planning on there being 2 feet of drifted snow at the bottom of our driveway. I was able to get up the driveway no problem in my 4x4 but there was no way that my husband would make it up, without 4x4. So instead of circuits, after I put Finley to sleep I bundled up, took the baby monitor with me and shoveled extremely heavy snow. I decided it was more of a back/arm workout than I would have gotten with my circuits!

How do you plan? In what ways do you have to be flexible?