Happy Halloween!

Halloween has arrived and what goes hand in hand with halloween? You guessed it, candy. You may think that this would be a dietitian-to-be's worst nightmare but, you may be surprised. No, I am not here to tell you how you shouldn't eat the many sweet treats you may acquire over the night. I do believe the saying goes, practice what you preach and I certainly do not practice abstaining from candy--I don't think I could go without my favorite candy combination of peanut butter and chocolate. Even on such an unhealthy holiday you can still eat candy just like everyone else. Here's my motto: eat whatever you want, just in moderation. Go ahead and read the previous sentence again and engrave it into your mind. I have just given you the biggest key to staying healthy. Don't deprive yourself of the candy if you really want it because it will probably lead you to eating more than you actually wanted.

Tips for staying healthy on Halloween:

• Pick out your favorite 10 pieces of candy and eat 1 piece for the next 10 days. 
• Choose dark chocolate--some studies suggest dark chocolate is good for the heart.
• Buy candy at the last minute to avoid unwanted snacking before trick-or-treaters arrive
• Walk around with your trick-or-treaters--any exercise is good exercise. 
• Give away extra candy to a local food shelter or send overseas to troops. 

Try my new favorite Halloween treat: Candy corn and peanuts. I'm not a big fan of candy corn on it's own but mixed with peanuts you would think your eating a Pay Day. Of course, I choose a higher ratio of peanuts to candy corn to help make it a little healthier. 

Lettuce Wraps

Cooking is one of my favorite hobbies whether it's for a group of people or myself. Every night (ok, maybe not EVERY night) I try to make a healthy dinner. I thought tonights dinner was worth sharing. It's a fun and healthy dinner that adults and kids love. If you have ever been to PF Changs I'm sure you have tried their lettuce wrap appetizer. When I first had them I instantly fell in love and thought, why in the world hadn't I thought of this?! So, tonight I channeled my inner PF Chang and recreated the ever so tasty lettuce wrap. Pair with your choice of vegetable (I chose broccoli). Added bonus: only takes about 15 minutes. 


I used a Rachel Ray recipe however, the grocery store didn't have plum sauce so I had to leave it out and I forgot to get the shredded cabbage mix. Once I get some plum sauce, I'd love to try the recipe again-I bet the flavor goes to a whole new level. 


Thai Glazed Chicken Lettuce Wraps: makes 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 pound thin cut chicken breast meat, available packaged in meat case of market
• Grill seasoning (recommended: Montreal Seasoning by McCormick)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 2 turns of the pan
• 2 tablespoons minced ginger root
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and very thinly sliced
• 1 cup packaged shredded cabbage and carrot mix
• 3 scallions, chopped on an angle
• 1/2 cup plum sauce
• 2 cups basil leaves, loosely packed
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce (BEWARE of the smell, it may stink but adds great flavor!)
• 1/2 head iceberg lettuce, cut into half again
• 1/2 seedless cucumber, chopped

(Since I didn't have plum sauce I added a little soy sauce to help glaze the chicken)

Directions

Thinly slice the chicken into strips and sprinkle with grill seasoning.

Heat a large skillet to screaming hot. Add vegetable oil, then chicken. Cook chicken 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the ginger, garlic, peppers, cabbage and carrot mix and scallions and stir-fry another 2 minutes. Add plum sauce to glaze the mixture, toss 1 minute, then add basil and wilt leaves. Add fish sauce and turn to coat. Transfer cooked chicken and vegetables to a bowl. Place spoonfuls of chicken into a piece of lettuce with cucumber and fold lettuce over to eat, like small tacos.

Updates

At the half way point! only 5 more weeks in acute care. We are Now doing 25% of patients on our own. Staffing experience will be here before I know it.

The next 2 weeks of rotations: oncology (cancer)

Projects: lunch & learn (Still debating between 2 topics!), case study, and the once a month nutrition topic for the cafeteria: SUPER FOODS. 

Next Tuesday: cancer care smoothie day

Food Day

Today, October 24, 2011, is Food Day. Food Day is a campaign that promotes American's to push for healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way. Food Day's goal is "nothing less than to transform the American diet". It strives to have fewer people in the drive thru, bigger crowds at the farmer's markets, and more families in the kitchen. Food Day is a celebration of fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains--and supporting local farms and farmers that produce them. It's time for America to eat real. 

Food Day has 6 main principles:

1. Reduce diet related disease by promoting safe, healthy foods

2. Support sustainable farms & limit subsidies to big agribusinesses

3. Expand access to food and alleviate hunger

4. Protect the environment & animals by reforming factory farms

5. Promote health by curbing junk food marketing to kids

6. Support fair conditions for food and farm workers

For the sake of time, and sparing you from reading a book I'm going to focus on one principle; principle #1: Reduce diet related diseases by promoting safe, healthy foods. 

“The food we eat should promote, not undermine, our good health”. Consuming salty, processed foods along with high calorie sugary drinks can add on pounds and promote tooth decay. Eating an unhealthy diet can lead to obesity, diabetes, heart attack, and stroke. The best type of diet is one that has variety—a diverse selection of fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, seafood, low-fat dairy, and lean meats. A diet with variety will provide you with vitamins, minerals, and fiber with the added benefit of low salt and low saturated and trans fats. Choosing the right foods can reverse heart disease, improve blood pressure, and treat type 2 diabetes. 

Tips for cutting down (or out) on junk food: 

• Center meals and snacks around a variety of foods. The healthy foods you eat will help keep you fuller for longer leaving the bad foods not as tempting.

• Try simple swaps. Choose whole wheat bread rather than white, fat-free milk instead of 2%, and water (or unsweetened flavored water) rather than soda.

•  When dining out share an entrée or save half for lunch the next day. 

• Dont forget: get up and exercise!

Here is the recipe I will be serving tomorrow during our Food Day celebration in the hospital. Recipe courtesy of Ellie Krieger (host of the Food Network's "Healthy Appetite")

Sweet and Tangy Three Bean Salad

Makes 8 servings; serving size 1 cup

½ small red onion, thinly sliced into half-moons        

¾ pound green beans, trimmed                              

¾ pound wax beans, trimmed                                 

¼ cup honey                          

½ cup cider vinegar 

3 tablespoons

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 15-ounce can no-salt-added kidney beans, rinse and drained  

    

1.To mellow the bite of the onion, place it in a bowl of ice water and allow it to soak for 30 minutes. Drain.

2. Place the green and wax beans in a steam basket fitted over a pot of boiling water. Cover and steam until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Cut into 2-inch lengths.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the honey, vinegar, oil, salt, and black pepper. Add the onion, green and wax beans, kidney beans, and bell pepper and toss to combine. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Calories: 160

Total Fat: 5 g (Sat Fat 1 g)

Protein: 5 g

Carbohydrates: 23 g

Fiber: 7 g

Cholesterol: 0 mg

Sodium: 160 mg

For more recipes and information about the 6 principles visit www.foodday.org

 

Wok This Way

I had never thought about cooking with a wok until a beautiful unused one was given to me by my grandmother. Since I love to cook, I certainly was not going to pass on receiving it. I was determined to try it out this week so, when I went to the grocery store last week I made sure to grab some things I could put in a stir-fry. Before I got started I did a little research to find out exactly what a wok was. All I knew was it is a large rounded object used in Asian cooking. Here's what I found:

What is a wok? It is a versatile round bottomed cooking vessel. A wok can be used for boiling, braising, deep frying, smoking, steaming, and stewing. The curved concave shape gives the wok a great advantage over your average skillet. The shape produces a small hot area on the bottom which allows some of the food to be seared without a large amount of fuel. The curve allows large pieces of food seared at the bottom to be pushed up the sloped sides to continue cooking at a slower rate. With all that said, my first wok experience was a success! I found a basic recipe and tweaked it to what I had in my fridge. 

Honey-Garlic Shrimp Recipe: makes 2 servings

1/8 cup lite soy sauce (make sure to use lite soy sauce-you don't want to overload on sodium!)

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/3 cup julienned red pepper

1/3 cup julienned yellow pepper

1/3 cup julienned orange pepper

1/2 pound shelled, deveined uncooked large shrimp (or the protein of your choice)

In small bowl, stir together soy sauce, honey and garlic. Heat oil in wok over high heat until hot. Add red, yellow, and orange peppers. Cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly, or until vegetables are slightly tender; remove from wok. Add shrimp; cook and stir 2 minutes or until shrimp just begin to turn pink. Return vegetables to wok; stir in soy sauce mixture. 

Cook, stirring occasionally, 2 minutes or until shrimp turn pink and liquid has thickened slightly.

Instead of pairing with rice or noodles I chose quinoa. Quinoa is grain-like (looks similar to cous-cous) but packs in a nutritional punch. It is high in protein and contains essential amino acids (making it a complete protein source--this is unusual for plant foods). It is a good source of fiber, phosphorus, magnesium, and iron. Quinoa is also gluten free and easy to digest. Can't get all those nutrients from rice and noodles now, can ya?

Don't have a wok? that's ok! a skillet will do just fine. 

Taste Test

Today while the dietitians had a staff meeting we were given the job of taste testing all the supplements that are offered. I am constantly offering patients supplements and have often wondered what they actually taste like. You wouldn't work at a restaurant without trying the food your serving, right? I must admit, most of them were down right awful however, there were some that we did like. The unanimous winner was the Magic Cup. The Magic Cup is like a sherbet that served in an individualized cup. It never melts (hence magic cup). The second winner was the Breeze supplement. It pretty much tasted like Kool-Aid. The rest of them had types of flavors that I couldn't even begin to describe. Basically, they were not appetizing but if you HAD to drink them you could.


My first week in critical care is over and it wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be. I successfully calculated tube feeds and TPNs, woohoo! I am glad it is the weekend though, I'm not sure how much more I could take hearing someone yell 'help me, please help me' all day. Our first evaluations were completed at the end of today and we all got great remarks. What a great way to end the long work week and start off the weekend. 

The taste panel: Anna, Tina, and I
















This weekend: University of Cincinnati Homecoming. Go Bearcats!!

Yogurt Vi

I became an ice cream enthusiast years ago while still living at my parents house. There was a UDF right around the corner and every day we would check to see if the orange sherbet was on the calendar. When the sherbet was listed for that day I, being the lucky one, had to make the run get a scoop for my parents and although delicious, I opted for the real thing. Peanut butter chip ice cream. I soon became hooked and couldn't seem to get enough. When I began college and moved out of the house I lost such a precious amenity--my car. The car now belonged to my sister and I had no way of getting my ice cream fix. With no UDF or car, what's a girl to do? One of my roommates, and now a great friend, had a car and we soon found Yagoot. Although not ice cream, this tangy frozen yogurt was ah-maz-ing. I recommend the strawberry yogurt topped with bananas and alligator crunch. With fresh fruit toppings, 99% fat free, and only 120 calories for 1/2 cup a new addiction had manifested. When my only way to get around graduated I was now stuck in the same predicament as 3 years ago. No car, no ice cream, and now no frozen yogurt. 2 years later all my dreams came true- a frozen yogurt store was built within walking distance. And to put the cherry on top, I got a car.

Yogurt Vi is the ultimate self-serve frozen yogurt experience. They have 20 different flavors that rotate and over 40 selections of dried toppings and fresh fruit. They offer tart, premium, low fat, and nonfat frozen yogurts. From apple pie to cookies and cream to tropical banana (yes, those are all listed under the nonfat yogurts) the options are limitless. More often than not, I make the .8 mile treck up hill to the oh so tasty shop. Most recently I got strawberry, banana, and vanilla frozen yogurt topped with strawberries, a dash of Reeses cups, and yogurt chips. The candy is always tempting but, I always try and make it worth while by opting for the fresh fruits and nonfat yogurts. I've already chosen the frozen yogurt why ruin it by adding loads of calories and fat? But, if your feeling frisky go a head and add a dash of your favorite sweet treat.


In the war of ice cream vs frozen yogurt in most aspects frozen yogurt is the clear winner.

per 1/2 cup serving:
frozen yogurt- 100 calories
ice cream- 200 calories

frozen yogurt- 2 grams of fat
ice cream- 11 gm of fat

frozen yogurt- 18 grams of sugar
ice cream- 18 grams of sugar



This weeks rotation: critical care & working on my Food Day project

ODA Public Policy Day

I will be the first to admit that public policy is not of any interest to me. Yes, I know that we are the voice and we need to get out there and do something but, sometimes all the politics talk is way to boring. If all we ever do is argue about who's right and who's wrong and never come to any compromise, then honestly what difference can I make? This week we took a field trip to the Ohio state capital: Columbus. The 6:00am two hour drive went quickly as I snoozed in the back seat. Once we arrived there were bagels, pumpkin bread, coffee, and orange juice calling my name. I cream cheesed a bagel and loaded up on coffee and before I even walked to my seat I dropped my bagel and soon after spilled my coffee all over the floor. Was this an indication of how public policy day was going to go?


The 7 hour conference started out not too rough with politicians talking about different health/nutrition bills that were trying to be passed and, how we should vote for them or in one case vote against it. The health freedom bill is an attempt to allow unlicensed practitioners to engage in the health professions of dietetics, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, psychology, chiropractic, dentistry, optometry, athletic training, orthotics, prosthetics, and pedorthics. This is NOT GOOD. I don't know about you but I don't want to go to a dietitian who may know what they are talking about. We are licensed for a reason. We are the experts in food and nutrition. The other bill that is worth talking about is the school breakfast bill. This bill allows schools that are currently in academic emergency to provide breakfast for all students. This bill will not mess with any of our tax dollars because there is already money from the federal government to fund it. All the school needs to do is agree to the program. It has been shown that students work and learn better after eating breakfast so why not give them what they need to succeed. 


Perk of being a dietetic intern: lunch did not consist of pizza and pop but, delicious healthy Mediterranean wraps. yummmm


After more politicians talked about what their job was and how we should vote for them we went into the capital building. Unfortunately they cancelled the hearing that we were supposed to sit in on so, all we could do was marvel at the buildings beauty. 

Where they hold committee hearings

Courtney (a fellow intern) and I outside the capital building

Concord Grapes

A couple weeks ago I took a trip to visit my grandparents and along with acquiring a beautiful never been used wok, I found a new favorite fruit. As fall quickly approached us, a new season of foods was brought along with it. Among the fresh apples, pumpkins, and squashes, make sure to keep an eye out for concord grapes. These grapes begin their season in the fall and are grown mostly along the east coast. You usually see concord grapes being used to make grape juice and jelly. The grapes are a blueish black color that unfortunately contain small seeds. But trust me, the bold sweet (tastes like a fruit snack) flavor will make up for having to spit out those seeds. If you search for them in the grocery store you won't find them with all the other grapes. I had to ask the store clerk where they were. Go figure, grapes with all the other grapes? guess I was a little crazy for assuming that. 


Besides the deliciousness of concord grapes they do pack in nutritional value. One cup of concord grapes only gives you about 60 calories and are an excellent source of antioxidants. Grapes also contain Vitamin C and Vitamin A along with the minerals potassium and calcium. Vitamin C is one of many antioxidants and is needed for the growth and repair of tissues. Vitamin A is also an antioxidant (beta-carotene to be exact) that promotes good vision, forms and maintains healthy skin, teeth, skeletal, and soft tissue. Potassium is essential for the heart, kidneys, muscles, nerves, and digestive system to function properly. Calcium as we all know, is needed to help keep your bones strong. Don't get me wrong there are more nutrients in grapes but these are the most prominent. 


Besides eating them from the container try some of these recipes:
Chicken salad with grapes
Curry chicken with grapes
Carrot, grape, and raisin slaw
Homemade grape jam 
Waldorf salad