Category: healthy food

Healthy Snacking Habits

Posted Sep.27, 2009 under healthy food

Do pizzas, ice creams, French fries, cookies and candies list high on your kid’s agenda for snacks. And despite you telling your kids innumerable times, they still swear by junk and unhealthy foods for snacks. Giving in for there desire for junk food is paving way for your kids to be obese.

Just as charity begins at home, good nutrition and balance diet habits start at home. The way of life today is fast paced wherein an adult is always on the move. The same applies to your children too. It is essential to have healthy snacks handy which your kids can grab on the move.

Early encouragement for smart eating habits, improved nutritious diet early in life could make your child healthy. Even if you can not stand on their heads 24*7, there are many ways where you can give them well balanced diet and life all round.

Ravenous and famished after school, you’re kid is likely to grab something from the fridge or kitchen shelf for snacks. After school snacking plays an important part of every child’s diet, as it could several hours since they last ate and they need nourishment, especially when they have to settle down, do homework and indulge in playful activities. Think of snacks as an opportunity to supplement children’s diet with healthy food. It guarantees the nutrition they deserve as well as curbs hunger pangs in between meals.

Make snack time nibbles attractive and hassle free. Prepare small portions of snacks and leave them in easy to find places like kitchen shelf, fridge or dining table. The healthiest and simplest choice for snacks is fresh fruits and raw vegetables requiring minimum preparation time.

Some good suggestions of kid friendly healthy snacks include:

1. Make fruit salads with kid’s favourite fruits. Prepare them in small batches from fresh fruits and freeze them.

2. Dry fruits like raisins or apricots and fresh fruits like apples, oranges, watermelons, and bananas.

3. Sandwiches with peanut butter, tuna or lean meat cuts.

4. Yoghurt, plain or flavoured or milkshakes made with low fat or skimmed milk. Dry cereals or cornflakes served with fruit and low fat milk.

5. Fresh fruit juices like orange, watermelon, grapefruit or frozen juice bars.

6. Hard-boiled eggs with a slice of whole wheat bread, peanuts, pretzels or crackers.

7. Ready to eat cut up veggies like carrots, cucumbers, and celery. Unbuttered popcorns, wheat crackers or whole grain muffins served with low fat cheese dip.

8. Fruit Smoothie made in a blender with fresh fruits, juice and yoghurt.

9. Yoghurt dessert with layers of low fat yoghurt, fruits and veggies.

You can spice up your kid’s snack time with variety of foods… Get your children to make the snacks menu for the week. Serve small portions instead of a big one. Let them learn to be hungry, rather than feel full and stuffed close to lunch or dinner time.

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10 Top Healthy Foods To Keep You Fit

Posted Aug.18, 2009 under healthy food, healthy life

Healthy eating and physical fitness go together, but there are no magic foods that cause you to be one hundred percent healthy by just eating the one food. No, you need a variety of foods from each of these food groups each day. It’s also important to watch the portion size so as not to overeat. Make your mealtimes pleasant and relaxed occasions and your healthy foods will work effectively with your healthy emotions to give you a healthy body.

Berries

You may like all types of berries or just one or two favorites, but you can never go wrong by adding a few fresh berries as a quick energy snack or frozen berries made into a luscious smoothie in place of calorie laden desserts. Berries are high in vitamin C across the board, but some are high in other nutrients as well. Choose ripe blueberries for vitamin C and heaps of anti-oxidants for the health of your circulatory system. Gogi berries are less well-known but are wonderfully rich in many of the nutrients your body needs to be nutritionally and physically fit.

Citrus

The foods of the citrus family are widely recognized as a valuable source of vitamin C. Choose fully ripe citrus fruits for the best nutritional value and choose citrus as near to the tree as possible. Tree ripened fruits picked at the peak of perfection and consumed with hours of picking give you the top nutritional rating. Try grapefruit for breakfast. Add a dash of fresh squeezed lime to your salad as a dressing and enjoy slices of orange with coconut in a light honey dressing for dessert.

Vegetables

The variety of vegetables is amazing. For people who are vegetarian or vegan, choosing vegetables to be part of a nutritionally sound diet is a way of life. Your vegetable group provides many of the minerals required in a good diet. For example, you may realize that potassium is necessary for healthy nutrition. Many people claim the benefits of potassium found in a single banana. But did you know, you can also get adequate potassium in your diet by eating a stalk of broccoli? Try a salad of fresh young spinach topped with pine nuts and stirred with lightly cooked penne’. Feta cheese and a light vinaigrette dressing to create the perfect light luncheon meal.

Whole Grains

Like many other of the best foods, choosing only one type of whole grain for your meals doesn’t provide all the variety you need to be nutritionally sound. Often, mixing two or more whole grains together will give you complete proteins. For example, brown rice and wheat kernels with a spicy seasoning are a popular dish in many countries.

Salmon

Salmon is lean fish and nutritionally one of the best fish choices. It is rich in Omega-3 oils that are noted as helping improve the functioning of the brain. Salmon baked whole with just lemon or lime as a seasoning makes a fantastic main dish or a hearty luncheon featured menu item. Salmon is also commonly found in chilled seafood dishes.

Legumes

A legume is the name for a variety of fruits with a single dry seed. Legumes are sometimes called pods. Examples of edible legumes are soybeans, peas, dried beans and peanuts, among others. Legumes are rich in iron and high in fiber, making them excellent nutritional choices. Peanuts are a type of legume that have been used to make hundreds of different products some edible and others with various types of helpful uses.

Nuts and seeds

Nature has packed a lot of goodness into small packages. Most everyone has heard of walnuts and pecans which are very good nutritional products, but did you realize that flax seeds are brain food–containing critical non-meat sources of the Omega-3 oil.

Lean proteins

The keyword here is lean. Americans eat far too much protein compared to the rest of the world. Cut down of portion sizes–three ounces will provide all the needed protein needed for your day. Also, trim all visible fat from your protein source. Alternatively, use non meat substitutes such as the complete proteins found in vegetable dishes like beans and brown rice.

Tea

Depending on the type of tea you prefer, you can get an energy boost from a cup of green tea, or the calming effect of chamomile tea. Get going with mint teas or start your day with Earl Grey Breakfast Tea. Herbal teas are soothing, tasty and good for you. Non herbal teas will help you to stay alert when you need help to function.

Olive oil

Olive oil is probably the healthiest substance you can use to keep fat in your diet. You can use it on your salad, mix it with a little vinegar to create your own, or fry other foods in the hot oil. Just make sure that the temperature is not too hot so that the oil is broken down.

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Healthy Heart Salmon Steak Recipe

Posted Jul.30, 2009 under healthy food

Nothing is more important than taking care of your heart. How regular exercise, not smoking and controlling stress are just some of the health experts recommend those things, along with eating a variety of nutritious, heart-healthy foods that make up a healthy diet.

Eating healthy to maintain a healthy heart is an essential element in life. Be careful in choosing your food so that you can avoid any type of heart disease. Your food must contain less fat, sodium, calories and more fiber.

One of the food that good for your heart health is Salmon. Salmon is a popular source of food, and is the most popular among all fish consumed. This could be due to the fact that salmon is one of the healthiest foods from nature, as it contains a very balanced, easily digestible protein (known as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs)), omega-3 fatty acids, potassium, vitamin D, vitamin B and phosphorus. Salmon are very healthy because they contain a lower level of cholesterol than previously thought. Of course, another factor that makes the most popular salmon fish is its delicious taste and the various ways it can be prepared.

Omega-3 fatty acids are found naturally in fish, salmon and has a greater amount of this acid compared with other fish. This in addition to other essential nutrients and taste delicious salmon the most popular fish. Eating a balanced amount of salmon may reduce heart disease, alleviate rheumatoid arthritis, promote healthy brain function, fight cancer and colitis, and control the levels of triglycerides in the blood.

Here is one of  healthy salmon recipe you can try it at home.

Lime and Coriander Salmon Steaks

Ingredients (serves 4)

4 salmon steaks
1 teaspoon dried coriander
Juice of one lime
Ground black pepper

  • Mix lime juice, coriander and black pepper together.
  • Place salmon steaks into a plastic container and pour over the lime mixture.
  • Cover and place in the fridge for 2 hours.
  • Transfer each steak onto a piece of tinfoil and pour remaining lime mixture on top.
  • Wrap up the tinfoil to form a pocket and place the parcels in the oven at 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 for 15-20 minutes.

Serving suggestion:     Freshly boiled potatoes and mixed vegetables

Per Serving

Lime and Coriander Salmon Steaks
Energy    197kcal
Fat        13g
Salt        0.3g

Salmon Steaks with Potatoes and Vegetables
Energy    354kcal
Fat        14g
Salt        0.4g

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4 Steps to Food Safety

Posted Jul.30, 2009 under healthy food

Safe steps in food handling, cooking, and storage are essential to avoiding food borne illness. You can’t see, smell, or taste bacteria which may be on any food.

Here are 4 steps to food safety :

1.    Clean:

  • Wash your hands, utensils, and all surfaces with hot soapy water, before and after preparing food.
  • Wash cutting boards with hot, soapy water after each use.
  • Use paper towels or cloth towels to clean kitchen surfaces.  Be sure to wash cloth towels often in the hot cycle of your washing machine.
  • Wash all fruits and vegetables well under running water.

2.    Separate:

  • Wash hands, cutting boards, dishes, and utensils with hot, soapy water after they touch any raw meat, poultry, or seafood.
  • Use one cutting board for fresh produce and another for raw meats.
  • Never place cooked food back on the same plate that previously held raw food.
  • Separate and keep sealed all raw meats from other foods in your grocery cart and refrigerator.
  • Do not reuse marinades that were used for raw meat, poultry or seafood, unless it is boiled before reusing.

3.    Cook:

  • Use a food thermometer to measure the food’s internal cooking temperature to ensure safe cooking.
  • Use the Safe Cooking Food Chart to determine safe internal temperatures.
  • When using a microwave, cover, stir, and rotate food during cooking.
  • Throw away leftovers that have been reheated once already.

4.    Chill:

  • Refrigerate or freeze perishables within 2 hours.
  • Thaw foods in the refrigerator, in cold water, or in the microwave, if you are cooking it immediately.
  • Separate large amounts of leftovers into small, shallow containers.
  • Don’t overstuff the refrigerator.
  • Keep foods out of the Temperature Danger Zone, between 40ºF and 140ºF, where bacteria  grow rapidly.
  • Throw out foods that spoil easily, such as meat and dairy, that are left out at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
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Natural Foods That Fight Allergies

Posted Jul.11, 2009 under healthy food, natural

Allergic reactions can manifest themselves in many different physical ways, most of them extremely unpleasant. In the case of environmental allergens such as hay fever or pet dander, it is possible to limit allergic reaction severity by focusing on a diet that boosts the body’s ability to fight off reaction effects. Many of the materials that are found in medicinal allergy relief are extracted from naturally occurring ingredients in certain foods and drinks, and including these in your diet will help to alleviate your allergic symptoms. It is important to remember that these foods are for fighting environmentally triggered allergies only, and the only way to avoid food allergy symptoms is to avoid the food that cause it.

Green tea is quickly making a name for itself as a general purpose, natural cure-all. Recent studies have shown that green tea may help to combat environmental allergies as one of its many treatment applications. In an article published in The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Japanese scientists claim to have isolated a compound found in green tea that blocks one of the cell receptors that is key in triggering the allergic response. Because green tea is less processed than any other kind of tea, its natural composition remains unaltered and thus the compounds within it are more concentrated and better able to produce results than those found in different varieties of tea.

The acids found in Omega-3 fatty acids also are beneficial in fighting allergies, as the acid acts as a natural anti-inflammatory by countering the formation of inflammatory chemicals. There are several foods which are very high in Omega-3 fatty acids, including several kinds of seafood and fish; salmon, haddock, herring, trout, mackerel, and sardines are all full of these acids. Other sources of Omega-3 fatty acids are soybeans, flaxseed, walnuts, and canola, and the fatty acids are also available in a more concentrated version through the oils derived from these foods. These oils can easily be included in your daily meals by adding them to the ingredients for your cooking.

Foods that have a high level of Vitamin E are also excellent in combating allergic reactions. Some of these foods include greens, which are also very strong-tasting. Spinach greens, mustard greens, chard and mustard greens are all very high in Vitamin E. The highest Vitamin E food is far and away dried sunflower seeds, which contain almost 91% of the recommended daily intake of the vitamin. Almonds are also high in Vitamin E, as are olives, papaya, and fresh blueberries. Any of these foods are an easy addition to a regular diet.

One last food to consider when thinking about intakes that will limit your allergic reactions are juices. Natural fruit juices are high in antioxidants, which help to fight the inflammatory effects that allergies produce. Make sure when you buy juice, though, that it is indeed natural. Many juices on the market do not contain a lot of natural juice, and it is the natural juice that is essential when it comes to containing antioxidants.

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