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

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

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

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

5 Tips To Satisfy Even The Most Time-Starved Families

There’s no question Canadian families are time-starved. After all, according to Stats Canada 65% of all women with children under the age of three, work full time. So, just how do mom and dad juggle life to maintain healthy nutrition for the entire family?

“It’s not easy,” says Rose Reisman. But having raised four kids of her own—while at the same time managing her several businesses, writing her bestsellers, participating in charity events and corporate speaking—somewhere in there she makes a lot of family meals.

Still, equally as important as nutrition for Rose is the importance of families taking time to stop all other activities and eat together. “The dinner hour is our only hope of catching up with each member of the family and finding out what’s going on in their daily lives,” she writes in her book, Weekday Wonders: Healthy Light Meals for Every Day.

So, to make eating at home with your family more than a weekend activity, we offer the following 5 tips and thoughts to help make mealtime a delicious and nutritious reality. Also, be sure to check out a litany of Rose’s wonderful recipes (which includes those referenced below, plus many, many more) at The Art Of Living Well

1. Curb the enthusiasm for fast food
Avoid fast food at all costs. “It’s economical to eat at home—fast food is not healthy or cheap,” says Rose. The cost of the very same raw ingredients are literally about 20% of what you’d pay for the fast food. Instead, try sly spins on fast food, “a wrap can be a quick meal,” says Rose. “Fast-food wraps are not so healthy. I’m just showing people you can do this stuff with low fat.”

2. And steer clear of grocery junk food too
You and your kids cannot be fueled by overly processed, empty calories. “All we’re hearing every day is diabetes, obesity, cancer,” Rose says. Most prepared retail meals are laden with sodium and fat.

3. Make wow factor meals, everyday
Nutritionally prepared meals needn’t ever forsake flavour… Rose’s wonderful recipes defy any perception that healthy be bland, boring and unsatisfying. “We are getting away from the meat and potatoes family,” says Rose, suggesting modern stand-ins such as main-dish soups and salads, one-dish meals, stir-fries like mango-beef and tuna with coconut Thai sauce, and vegetarian entrées.

4. Snacking is a good thing!
Kids who eat lunch at 11:30 are ravenous by 4:30 p.m. So Rose suggests either feeding them dinner at 4:30 (if you work at home) and let them have a little at the family dinner table later, or instead of dinner set out fruit or veggies. “When it’s there, they’ll gobble it up.”

5. Approach family eating as a life skill
We carefully plan and schedule hockey and band practice, but don’t bother to organize a week’s worth of menus. “We seem to wing it most of the time…people are still not putting it as a priority.” Do not let other activities get in the way of meal times, and as best possible, try to set times for snacks and meals. And to help hone your shopping list planning check out an entire month’s worth of complete shopping lists in Rose’s Weekday Wonders: Healthy Light Meals for Every Day (Penguin Books).

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.

02-18-10

5 Nutrition Tips From A Winter Olympian Diet

Many will remember hearing about Michael Phelp’s Olympian breakfast of champions during the Beijing games. Packing in a whopping 3000 plus calories, it allegedly consisted of three sandwiches of fried eggs, cheese, lettuce, tomato, fried onions, mayonnaise, an omelet, a bowl of grits, three slices of French toast with powdered sugar, and three chocolate-chip pancakes.

While for most of us, Phelp’s breakfast menu would be enough fuel for two days, according to nutritionists it’s actually a pretty healthy distribution of major nutrients for competition… that is about 50% from carbohydrates, a little less than half from fat, and 15% protein.

Not surprisingly, the nutritional needs of athletes are largely dictated by the type of sport. For instance, according to Olympian sports nutritionist, Suzie Simmons, Canadian freestyle skier (and gold medalist!) Alexandre Bilodeau needs to be light and explosive, so he’ll eat much differently than the cross-country skier who requires calorie burning endurance… in fact, says Simmons, female cross-country athletes have a very tough time actually ingesting the 4000 plus calories needed for a day’s worth of competition.

As civilians – despite needing only a fraction of an athlete’s calories – we can learn from the quality and composition of an athlete’s diet. “Athletes do not need a diet substantially different from that recommended in the 2005 Dietary Guidelines” or the Canadian equivalent, says a 2009 position statement on nutrition and athletic performance issued by the American Dietetic Association, Dietitians of Canada, and the American College of Sports Medicine. That means a healthful mix of carbohydrates, protein and fat centered around an abundance of fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains and lean protein, plus good fats such as olive oil.

According to Nanna Meyer, the nutritionist for United States Speed skating team, the nutritional ranges recommended for average folks is usually 10 to 35 percent protein, 45 to 65 percent carbohydrates, and 20 to 35 percent fat. For a 2,000-calorie diet, that would mean between 50 and 175 grams protein, 225 to 325 grams carbohydrate, and 44 to 78 grams fat per day. To keep calories constant, explains Meyer, obviously, the more you have of one nutrient, the less you’ll have of another.

With these guidelines in mind, the following are five tips of Meyer and Simmons to consider when tinkering with your diet composition if you’re particularly active or athletic winter sports enthusiast…

1. While following a balanced diet, sprint-type sports like speed-skaters, tend to add a bit more protein to help build and recover muscle. Longer-distance sports, such as cross-country skiing or snow-shoeing often need more carbohydrates for endurance and recovery.

2. For an athlete like a figure skater who is attempting to drop a few pounds, Meyer suggests maintaining the carbs needed to sustain training and bump up the protein a bit, but reduce overall fat. As weight declines, this will prevent any loss of muscle mass.

3. If on the other hand, you find yourself not able to keep enough weight on because of a lot of activity, Meyer suggests boosting healthful, good-quality foods but simply eat more of them to increase calorie consumption. Oatmeal is a popular breakfast item in the cold mountains of Vancouver. Adding in raisins and nuts and making it with milk all adds calories and nutrition for the athlete.

4. Heavy activity in high altitudes – where the heart has to work harder to pump blood – can really throw the body off because it tends to dehydrate and also needs more energy. Nutritionist, Simmons suggests using sports drinks, which addresses both issues. She points out to be wary of liquid calories in the form of alcohol, which have the reverse effect of causing dehydration. Some athletes, particularly women, also need to take in more iron while they’re at high altitudes, however, Simmons strongly advises seeing a nutritional professional or physician before using any supplements.

5. While frigid outdoor temperatures are seemingly unimportant if strenuous activity like snowboarding is keeping you warm on the inside. Still, Meyer points out that during those down times like waiting in a long line for the chairlift is “when you really start shivering, you burn carbs more and your glycogen is depleted”. Since that’s the last thing you want to do before a big event, Meyer says, it’s time to reach for a warm sports drink or hot chocolate.

02-11-10

5 Healthy Tips To Get You Through The Winter

While this winter has hardly been typical (touch wood!) so far, snow or no snow, the cold temperatures do have an impact on how we eat, as well as triggering cravings for foods versus those our bodies actually need to survive these often sunless days. Here are few tips to tide you over until spring has sprung…

1. We definitely crave carb-heavy comfort foods this time of year (they contain the uplifting brain chemical serotonin, which gets depleted during cold months), but be sure to steer clear of refined carbohydrates and go for whole grains, use sweet potatoes in place of white in a mash and get re-acquainted with good old fashioned oatmeal dressed with dried fruits and drizzle of honey.

2. Another essential nutrient we get less of this time of year is vitamin D. Choose foods high in it like fatty fish, whole eggs – and because it’s hard to get vitamin D from food alone, consider taking supplements… best to consult your doctor or nutritionist to find out dosage and type best for you.

3. Load up on purple fruits like grapes, cranberries, blueberries, all loaded with vitamins and antioxidants—among the best antidote to fend off a nasty cold.

4. Be sure not to stay housebound—get outside and breath the crisp, clean air… guaranteed to burn lots of calories to get trim just as spring arrives.

5. Don’t forget to SMILE! Besides making you look better smiling has been proven to relieve stress, boost your immune system, lower your blood pressure and release endorphins into your body that make you feel better. Regardless of the weather these are great reasons to show off you pearly whites.

02-04-10

Enlightenment Through Chocolate?!

Pasta, red wine and chocolate. Not exactly a trio of ideal foods that pops to mind when on a path to mind and body enlightenment. But last Friday, food columnist for The New York Times, Julia Moskin, transitioned smoothly from downward dog to a cinnamon-spiked butternut squash puree… followed by a roasted tomato pasta, all chased with good dark chocolate and glass of wine. The class is called, “Yoga For Foodies”, and of course, only in New York.

“The past decade has produced thousands of new foodies and new yogis, all interested in healthier bodies, clearer consciences and a greener planet,” writes Moskin, “Inevitably, the overlap between the people who love to eat and the people who love to do eagle pose has grown.”

The core idea behind the yoga-foodie program is to enable yogis to taste, smell and digest food in a heightened state of awareness. In 2007, a similar combination yoga studio and fine dining restaurant, Ubuntu, opened in Napa, California.

But Moskin explains that not everyone agrees that rich foods, especially those containing animal protein are compatible with yoga enlightenment. The culture of judgment is very real within North American yoga communities… aptly dubbed, “yogier than thou”, she writes.

Others argue that it’s not written anywhere that one must exclusively eat vegetarian to enjoy an optimal yoga practice. “We do not live in the time of the founding fathers of yoga, and we don’t know what they wanted us to eat,” yoga instructor, Sadie Nardini, told Moskin.

Many would agree with Moskin that there are many ways to “do” yoga: after all, the term embraces meditation, worship, study, action and physical activity – and over the 5,000 years of its evolution has always been broadly understood as a route to enlightenment and purification. It’s unquestionably a compelling lifestyle, having grown to a $6 billion dollar business across North America… no matter how it’s interpreted and expressed.

The owner of Exhale Spa on Madison Avenue, which hosts the “Yoga For Foodies” program every Friday night, believes that any profound pleasure of the senses can bring on the “yoga high” that is a gateway to divine bliss.

In the end, we believe it’s all about what makes us personally feel good… mentally and physically. When we slow down and listen to our bodies, it’s  amazing what it tells you. Be sure to shift some meaningful time amid a hectic schedule to shop for seasonal whole foods, then prepare and share them with your family and friends you’re sure to achieve ‘divine bliss’.

And when mindful of moderation and balance there’s no reason to ever ditch the pasta, red wine or chocolate… yogi or no yogi!

01-28-10

5 Amazing Approaches to Cooking Lighter in 2010

Two weeks ago we launched our first posts in a series of Core Approaches to achieving a more balanced life. This week we’re thrilled to present the first in a series of Rose’s very hands-on, Approaches that focus on actual meal preparation, body care and beauty. So read on and learn 5 simply delicious, yet calorie-altering tips and techniques to cooking lighter everyday…

Approach #1: Keep it whole…

Most Canadians claim they cook from scratch at least once a day… but they actually don’t, they assemble using a variety of processed and raw, whole ingredients. Obviously for time-starved, busy families, augmenting meals with prepared foods is essential – ready to eat bagged lettuces, for instance, have become a meal mainstay.

But when it comes to processed foods, especially fully prepared sides and main dishes (either dehydrated or from the freezer case) beware of sky high sodium and fat levels, as well as sugar—it’s a little known fact that heavy doses of each deliberately crammed into a single serving can physiologically create cravings for more, and possibly food addictions.

Approach #2: Punch up the flavour…

In the same vein as cooking with whole, fresh foods, get reacquainted with the natural, potent flavours of citrus – whether from lemons, oranges, limes or grapefruits, acidity actually works much better than salt to sharpen the other flavours in your dish. Marinating boneless chicken, lean beef or pork in a simple marinade of lime or orange juice, plus the zest, cumin and garlic packs grill-ready, flavour punch. Also, ditch the lite, bottled salad dressings and make your own – try simply squeezing fresh lime or orange juice over a salad along with a quick drizzle of olive oil.

Approach #3: Take an aromatic journey

Because of the endless combinations and permutations of fresh and dry herbs and spices, nothing goes further in a recipe to create richness and decadence—even though it’s actually light and healthy! In addition to infusing simple, acid based marinades with dry herbs—think oregano, cumin, thyme—after grilling fish fillets or chicken breasts, scatter with a handful of roughly chopped fresh herbs.

Also use fresh herbs as actual components in your salad – one of the most wonderful combos (and perfect accompaniment to grilled fish) is topping chilled, torn romaine leaves with a heap of freshly chopped dill, green onions, liberal squeeze of lemon and dash of good olive oil.

Approach #4: It’s all in the ‘mouth feel’

Professional product developers call it, “mouth feel”, just a fancy term for texture, which makes or breaks the quality of any dish. The processed food industry also knows that fat goes a long way to create a very pleasing texture for a consumer’s palate. But when you cook from scratch, it’s easy to cheat. For example, for soups and sauces, which call for heavy cream, substitute with evaporated milk, or whisk in 2% dry milk powder.

In place of sour cream, use 2% plain, but Balkan style or Greek yogurt, which is strained and retains a wonderful, creamy texture. An easy way to de-fat sauces, soups and gravies is to pour them into a baggie, chill, then remove the hardened parts.

Approach #5: Have your cake and eat it too…

When making desserts use heart healthy oils instead of butter or vegetable shortening and substitute some pureed bananas, applesauce and light sour cream for some of the fat – for instance, if a muffin recipe calls for a cup of oil, use half the oil and the other puree. Use cocoa to replace some of the chocolate; cut back half the chocolate chips in cakes and cookies and use dark or flavored chips to enhance flavor.