04-13-10

Life In Balance? There’s An App For That!

Smart phones are proving to be, well, pretty darn smart. When it comes to health, wellness and a balanced lifestyle, they provide the ability to carry along a lot of information when we’re on the go. And many of the mobile applications designed for the iPhone, Google Android (including Motorola’s new Droid device) and BlackBerry are great, whether for maintaining your diet, workout progress or managing health records.

‘Weightbots’ for instance is a very straightforward, easy to use iPhone/iPod Touch weight tracking app, which actually makes losing some of that excess winter weight kind of fun with functions like its graph mode, a quick way to visually track your progress. And you may want to ditch your personal trainer in exchange for Android’s ‘Gym Buddy’ app, a very effective work-out tracking tool.

On the personal health side, there are apps like ‘Glucose Buddy’, a free iphone app, that helps diabetics monitor and control their blood sugar levels, diet, exercise and medication. Want to keep all yours and your family’s health records, doctors’ contact info and more in the palm of your hand? There’s an app for that called ‘Healthsync’. For Android, there’s ‘My Moble Med Box’ from mHealth and for Blackberry users, ‘My Personal Health Record’.

Many of the better food and nutrition apps are built for iPhone and Android, with many apps focused on vegetarians and special diet concerns. If you find yourself succumbing to your kids craving fast food, the ‘Fast Food Calorie Counter’ is an indispensible app for both iPhone and Android users, providing details of all the major chain restaurants, and nutritional details of every menu item. On the other hand, there’s ‘GoodFoodNearYou’
that recommends nearby healthy food options based on your current location, which is tracked via GPS.

Equally innovative are some of the apps that cleverly leverage inherent mobile functionalities like iTreadmill, which transforms your iphone into your personal pedometer (and virtual treadmill!) by using the device’s motion sensors to calculate your body movement. On the other hand, we’re not as convinced about the iPhone app, ‘Massage Me’ that uses the phone’s vibration motor to, “provide you with a relaxing massage.” And things start to get even more gimmicky with the plethora of self-hypnosis apps.

Still, The New York Times reported today that by the end of 2011, 50% of Apple’s total revenue will come from sales of the iPhone and iPod Touch – in 2001, 80% of Apple’s revenue was from its line of Mac laptops and desktop computers. So it’s easy to see that we’re quickly becoming a ‘mobile culture’.

Yet personal health apps trail entertainment apps, which obviously provide much greater returns on investment. But with our aging demographic, development will continue to grow out of necessity, and – according to mobile marketing expert, Erik Goldhar – with the steadily emerging, advanced capabilities of being able to surf the net on your smart phone, we’ll soon see a surge of extremely innovative ‘touch mobile’ websites designed especially for the touch screen devices.

In the coming weeks we’ll report on the many potential advantages of mobile websites and mobile applications with regard to health and wellness… plus exciting interactive developments in the digital world of Rose Reisman.

Stay tuned, or we should say, connected.

03-26-10

Life Balance Challenge – Question #10

Here is this week’s Life Balance Challenge Question:

What is happening on April 22nd from 7:00pm – 9:00pm?

To Answer The Question:
1. Read this blog post.
2. Email the answer to rosereismanpg@gmail.com with the
subject line: Life Balance

The Prize: A 2 Day Food Sampler (3 meals and 2 snacks per day) delivered to your front door.

To Qualify:

1. You’ll need to be located in the Personal Gourmet Delivery Areas – click here to see the areas
2. You’ll need a valid email account so we can contact you (please include your phone number)
3. You’ll need to be a fan of Rose Reisman on Facebook

That’s all there is to it.

The cut-off to submit your answer is 5:00pm Saturday, March 27, 2010

Good Luck!

03-26-10

Breakfast Of Idols!

Love it or hate it, what ultimately makes the serial talent show, American Idol, so compelling is its unabashed approach to shaping its mainly 20-something, homegrown contestants into shapely stars. With each successive week, note how each of the contenders evolves—from hair, make-up and fashion to even shedding pounds. In our age of consumerism, even the most gifted voice doesn’t quite cut it without an equally quoiffed, sexy outward image.

So, it’s surprising to hear the show’s svelt, if not slick, Ryan Seacrest, proclaim this week that as a teenager he was “consistently embarrassed” about being overweight. Even today, he says he’s incessantly leery of what he eats, a result of rotten eating habits he developed growing up.

Admirably, Seacrest is putting his money where his mouth is (so to speak) officially teaming up with Brit chef and longtime school nutrition advocate, Jamie Oliver, to fight childhood obesity in the U.S. He’s even signed up the likes of Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato, among other pop star pundits, to help target an increasingly portly, star-gazing demographic.

But childhood obesity is an equally alarming pandemic in Canada, where, for the first time as a modern nation, a disproportionate number of children shockingly are expected to live shorter lives than their parents.

From ages 4 to 16, kids spend 180 days at school—so, what they eat there sets the standards for a lifetime. Enter Canada’s very own, ‘Breakfast for Learning’, a nation-wide, not for profit movement whose vision it is to ensure every child in Canada attends school well-nourished and ready to learn. And as its National Spokesperson, Rose Reisman is helping spread the word, educating and inspiring school kids (and their parents!) across the country.

“As the first and most comprehensive organization dedicated to child nutrition in Canada, Breakfast for Learning and I share a passion and commitment to nutrition and healthy living,” says Reisman.

Research shows that well-nourished students show improved memory, problem-solving skills and creative abilities—overall, they perform better in school. Together with generous supporters like Rose’s Glow Fresh Grill and Wine Bar in Toronto, Breakfast for Learning helps to start and sustain over 5,000 child nutrition programs across Canada, serving healthy breakfasts, lunches and snacks to more than 222,000 children and youth in a nurturing environment.

“Together, we can help ensure children have the nutrition they need to grow and thrive with a world of opportunity in front of them, it’s all about learning and engraining healthy habits early on,” says Rose. As the nation’s lead advocate for quality nutrition in schools, Breakfast for Learning is well on its way to helping raise awareness and educate communities about the vital link between proper nutrition and learning through ongoing program support, training, child nutrition education, resources and research. Any kid who is strong, healthy and ready to learn will reach as far as any idol!

To learn more about starting a program, applying for a grant, keys to success, research, resources and much, much more, visit, Breakfast For Learning.

03-18-10

Life Balance Challenge – Question #9

Here is this week’s Life Balance Challenge Question:

What is the ‘Healthy Food Radius’?

To Answer The Question:
1. Read this blog post.
2. Email the answer to rosereismanpg@gmail.com with the
subject line: Life Balance

The Prize: A 2 Day Food Sampler (3 meals and 2 snacks per day) delivered to your front door.

To Qualify:

1. You’ll need to be located in the Personal Gourmet Delivery Areas – click here to see the areas
2. You’ll need a valid email account so we can contact you (please include your phone number)
3. You’ll need to be a fan of Rose Reisman on Facebook

That’s all there is to it.

The cut-off to submit your answer is 5:00pm Friday, March 19, 2010

Good Luck!

03-18-10

5 Healthy Approaches For Frequent Flyers

Whether business trips have you hopping from city to city or you’re off to a sunny locale for spring break, traveling can no doubt be disruptive to even to the most disciplined when it comes to eating healthy. We present 5 core approaches to help you stay on sound nutritional track, despite the destination…

1. Your Personal ‘Mise En Place’
We adapt the theory behind the classic French cooking rule, ‘mise en place’ (literally, ‘everything in place’). Just as you need to have all your ingredients and utensils fully thought through before you start cooking a dish from scratch, so to when you travel, ensure you have access to as many of the items you use to prepare your meals when at home. First off, where possible, choose a hotel that offers an ensuite kitchen. We’re not suggesting you cook every meal in your hotel room, but even the most modest kitchen setup in an all-suites style hotel, with a fridge, stove and microwave, plus basic cutlery, can work miracles when on the road.

The goal here is to be able to at very least keep a stock of healthy foods readily on hand. So, if a kitchen isn’t possible, a fridge almost always is. If you’re room has a mini bar, in advance of arrival, contact the hotel directly to ensure it is emptied at your arrival and duration of your stay—that way, you make room for stocking some healthy foods and at the same time rid yourself of all those tempting salty snacks and chocolate!

2. ‘The Healthy Food Radius’
As critical to having the access outlined in #1 is having healthy foods, both raw ingredients and quality prepared meals at arms length. This is what we call ‘the healthy food radius’, that is, walking or short cab distance to a local grocery store, green grocer, fruit stall, and even health food store. Stock up on healthy snacks such as nuts, dried fruits, fresh fruits and vegetables. And with you’re basic kitchen, you’re able to at least cobble together a healthy breakfast, likely much more so than in the hotel’s restaurant.

3. Take A Mini Pantry Kit
Depending on your destination, where you’ll need to take border crossing restrictions into account, it’s always helpful to take along some key utensils and cooking products, such a small non stick pan, a good pairing knife, a tin of cooking oil spray, as well as potential nutritional supplements like protein powder and even a powdered veggies such as ‘Greens+’, particularly if you know that vegetables might be a challenge where you’re going. Choosing a small suitcase on wheels to use exclusively for your ‘mini pantry kit’.

4. Be A Menu Sleuth
In advance of your trip, and having chosen a hotel with a ‘healthy food radius’, you’ll want to also research your local restaurant options. You can do a great deal online, even downloading menus and reading local food critics picks. But also contact your hotel concierge service before leaving to ensure they have all the local restaurant menus on hand for your review by the time you check in.

5. Embrace The Local
Almost always, regardless of the destination, eating local is almost always more healthy, and certainly more interesting. At vacation destinations like Mexico and the Caribbean, for instance, skipping the transplanted North American chains and seeking out the highest quality, independent restaurants and cafes are typically not only far more healthy, but also more memorable. A small local restaurant is also typically far more amenable to responding to special menu requests and modifications.

03-11-10

Life Balance Challenge – Question #8

Here is this week’s Life Balance Challenge Question:

How much weight did women that consumed 30 grams of alcohol or more each day gain?

To Answer The Question:
1. Read this blog post.
2. Email the answer to rosereismanpg@gmail.com with the
subject line: Life Balance

The Prize: A 2 Day Food Sampler (3 meals and 2 snacks per day) delivered to your front door.

To Qualify:

1. You’ll need to be located in the Personal Gourmet Delivery Areas – click here to see the areas
2. You’ll need a valid email account so we can contact you (please include your phone number)
3. You’ll need to be a fan of Rose Reisman on Facebook

That’s all there is to it.

The cut-off to submit your answer is 5:00pm Friday, March 12, 2010

Good Luck!

03-11-10

A Glass A Day Could Keep The Pounds At Bay!

From Sophie Lauren to Katherin Deneuve to Penelope Cruz. Gorgeous, talented women with something else in common: they come from the three European countries that per capita consume the most red wine on earth.

But according to a compelling new study just out of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, you don’t have to be from Italy, France or Spain to take advantage of what these leading ladies and their compatriots have known for centuries.

“Our study results showed that middle-aged and older women who have normal body weight initially and consume light-to-moderate amount of alcohol could maintain their drinking habits without gaining more weight compared with similar women who did not drink any alcohol,” Dr. Lu Wang from the division of preventive medicine at the Boston hospital noted in an email to Reuters Health.

Basically, the study suggests that light to moderate alcohol consumption, especially red wine, is not only good for a woman’s heart, it’s also good for her waistline. Further—engaging a sample of 20,000 trim middle-aged and older women—the study showed over time that women who drank alcohol in moderation put on less weight and were less apt to become overweight compared to non-drinkers. Various lifestyle and dietary factors that might influence a woman’s weight were taken into account in coming to their conclusion.

Women who did not drink gained an average of 8 pounds compared with 3.4 pounds for those who consumed 30 grams of alcohol or more each day. And while red wine seemed best at keeping weight in check, white wine, beer and spirits also had some benefit.

But beware, this and other health positive alcohol consumption studies stress moderation, that is, defined as a drink or two a day. Heavy drinking can definitely harm health.

So… as we stress at Rose Reisman… it’s all about life balance! Cheers!

03-04-10

Life Balance Challenge – Question #7

Here is this week’s Life Balance Challenge Question:

What is the name of Rose’s book where you can find an entire month’s worth of complete shopping lists?

To Answer The Question:
1. Read this blog post.
2. Email the answer to rosereismanpg@gmail.com with the
subject line: Life Balance

The Prize: A 2 Day Food Sampler (3 meals and 2 snacks per day) delivered to your front door.

To Qualify:

1. You’ll need to be located in the Personal Gourmet Delivery Areas – click here to see the areas
2. You’ll need a valid email account so we can contact you (please include your phone number)
3. You’ll need to be a fan of Rose Reisman on Facebook

That’s all there is to it.

The cut-off to submit your answer is 5:00pm Friday, March 5, 2010

Good Luck!

02-25-10

Life Balance Challenge – Question #6

Here is this week’s Life Balance Challenge Question:

How many eggs are needed in the Cheesecake recipe?

To Answer The Question:
1. Read this blog post.
2. Email the answer to rosereismanpg@gmail.com with the
subject line: Life Balance

The Prize: A 2 Day Food Sampler (3 meals and 2 snacks per day) delivered to your front door.

To Qualify:

1. You’ll need to be located in the Personal Gourmet Delivery Areas – click here to see the areas
2. You’ll need a valid email account so we can contact you (please include your phone number)
3. You’ll need to be a fan of Rose Reisman on Facebook

That’s all there is to it.

The cut-off to submit your answer is 5:00pm Friday, February 26, 2010

Good Luck!

02-25-10

3 Podium-Worthy (& Nutritionally Grounded!) Dishes To Enjoy As We Watch Canada Soar!

Whether it’s Alexander Bilodeau winning Canada’s first ever gold on home turf or Clara Hughs shining in her bronze finale, most Canadians will surely remain glued to their sets for the remainder of these truly spectacular Vancouver Olympic games. So as our women’s and men’s hockey teams advance to gold, and with the extraordinarily courageous, Joannie Rochette skating with a heavy heart… there are many hours of thrilling action ahead.

But as spirits soar and we get caught up in the festivities, how we eat and drink tends to nosedive. So, as you cheer on our athletes during the remaining week or so of competition, we present these 3 delicious and nutritiously grounded dishes and desserts we hope you, your family and friends will find podium-worthy…

Rose’s Tex Mex Chili

This is a great, lighter chili typically served in the Southwest. Using chicken rather than beef reduces the calories and fat. Dusting the chicken with flour maintains the moisture. Aged cheddar is the perfect accompaniment. Add diced avocado to the list of garnishes if you like.

Ingredients:
12 oz skinless boneless chicken breasts (about 3 breasts), diced 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

1 cup canned corn, drained

2 tsp finely chopped garlic

1 1/2 cups canned black beans,
drained and rinsed

2 1/2 cups tomato sauce (or store-bought spaghetti sauce) 3/4 cup chicken (or beef) stock
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp seeded and finely
chopped jalapeño pepper (or 1½ tsp hot chili sauce)
pinch of salt and pepper
1/4 cup chopped cilantro or parsley
1/2 cup shredded aged light cheddar cheese
1/4 cup low-fat sour cream

Directions:
Place the chicken and flour in a bowl and toss to coat. Lightly coat a nonstick saucepan with
cooking spray, add 1 tsp of the vegetable oil and set over medium heat. Sauté the chicken for
5 minutes or until it is lightly browned on all sides, but do not cook through. Set aside.

Re-spray the same saucepan, add the remaining vegetable oil and set over medium heat. Add
the onion and cook until soft, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Stir in the corn and garlic
and continue to cook and stir for 5 minutes or until the corn is browned.

Stir in the beans, tomato sauce, stock, chili powder, basil, oregano, jalapeño, salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and cover. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add the diced chicken and
simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until the chicken is just cooked through and the chili
thickens. Serve the chili in bowls, and garnish with cilantro, cheese and sour cream.
These burgers are extremely moist and flavorful due to the hoisin sauce. Instead of meat, use ground chicken, veal or pork, or try a combination.

Serve these on miniature hamburger buns and add some sautéed onions. If you prefer, make 4 or 5 burgers instead of the minis.

Miniature Hoisin Garlic Burgers

Ingredients:
1 lb extra-lean ground beef
1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1 egg
3 Tbsp chopped cilantro or parsley
4 Tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tsp minced fresh garlic
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
2 Tbsp water
1 tsp sesame oil

Directions:

Heat the barbecue to high and spray with cooking oil, or preheat the oven to 450°F.

Combine the beef, breadcrumbs, green onion, cilantro or parsley, 2 Tbsp of the hoisin sauce, garlic, ginger and egg in a bowl. Mix thoroughly and form into 10 mini burgers.

Whisk the water, remaining 2 Tbsp hoisin sauce and sesame oil together in a small bowl. Brush half of the sauce over the burgers. Barbecue, or place on a rack on a baking sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes (until no longer pink in the center). Turn the patties once, halfway through, and brush with the remaining sauce. Serve on mini hamburger buns, if desired, and garnish with sautéed onions.

Cappuccino Rocky Road Cheesecake

A great combination for a cheesecake is coffee, chocolate chips, marshmallows and toasted almonds. This cheesecake is not only delicious but beautiful to present to your family and guests, especially if you drizzle it with more chocolate.

Ingredients:
1 2/3 cups chocolate wafer crumbs
2 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
11/2 Tbsp instant coffee or espresso powder
1 1/2 Tbsp hot water
2 cups light ricotta (5%)
1/2 cup light cream cheese (about 4 oz), cubed
1 large egg
3/4 cup low-fat sour cream
1 cup granulated sugar
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/3 cup miniature marshmallows
3 Tbsp semisweet chocolate chips
3 Tbsp slivered toasted almonds

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°f. Lightly coat a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray. In a small bowl, combine the crumbs, water and oil. Pat onto the bottom and partially up the sides of the pan. Dissolve the coffee in the hot water. In the bowl of a food processor, add the ricotta and
cream cheese, egg, sour cream, sugar, flour and dissolved coffee. Purée until smooth. Pour
into the pan and bake for 35 minutes.

Remove from the oven. Sprinkle the marshmallows, chocolate chips and almonds over the cake and bake for another
5 minutes. Allow to cool, and chill before serving.