An Alternative to Passing out Candy on Halloween

Every Halloween we think about healthy treats to dole out, but raisins don’t always appeal to kids, and which Princess or Pirate is going to eat an apple over a chocolate bar? Here are some kid approved healthy treats that you can feel good about giving. Did you know that kids will snatch up school supplies? Try giving out glittery pencils or sports team pens, fun erasers, or stickers. As long as you don’t eat them, there are no calories in a box of crayons, colored markers, or sidewalk chalk. Take a trip to your local dollar store for a cornucopia of little goodies, jacks, superballs, decks of cards, rubber spiders, toys, books, and art supplies. Who said Halloween had to be about junk food

How far would you go for a Snicker's Bar?

How far would you go for a Snicker’s bar? How about 2.78 miles? That’s how long it would take an average adult to walk off the calories in one full sized candy bar. How about a King Size Milky Way? Get on your walking shoes, leave our front doors, go south to City Hall Park. Throw in one Hershey’s kiss and that will take you to Battery Park. That’s a long haul for a bit of chocolate. Thinking about bite sized candy? The miniature Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups will cost you 1/3 mile for each one. Grabbing a handful of Hershey’s kisses from the bowl? Try a ¼ mile for each kiss and lace up!

Tip: Before unwrapping that Halloween treat, put your running shoes on first, and then see if you still want it.

Comfort Foods & Nutrition

Cooler weather certainly stirs the craving for warmer foods. And isn’t it funny that warmer foods conjure up steaming mashed potatoes, cheesy macaroni, and not necessarily a bowl of steamed carrots? Well if your cravings for comfort foods star the good old carbohydrate, here are some foods you that will satisfy your craving and still keep you comfortable in your clothes.

Mashed potatoes were a staple in my house growing up. Here’s a recipe I devised so that I could still enjoy that creamy taste, without overdoing the carbs. Cut one head of cauliflower into small chunks. Boil the cauliflower with one clove of garlic and a pinch of salt. Drain it in a colander, and put in a food processor. Blend with ½ cup light mayo or ½ cup 2% Total Greek Yogurt. Add pepper and serve. You can also blend the cauliflower with low fat milk, olive oil, or a mix of any of the above.

Comfort foods don’t have to be full of refined carbohydrate and fat. Think about the warm flavors of baked beans, veggie chili, chicken noodle soup, or spaghetti and meat balls. Spaghetti and meat balls? Sure! Try whole wheat pasta, Trader Joe’s frozen turkey meat balls, and a sugar free tomato sauce like Muir Glen’s Organic Chunky Tomato Sauce. Recipe makeovers like this are easy to do. Hankering for Mom’s chicken noodle soup? Combine a box of Imagine’s Free Range Chicken Broth, some leftover chicken, a can of red beans for extra fiber, a package of frozen broccoli for added vitamins, and try out Shirataki noodles by House Foods. Shirataki means ‘tofu shaped noodles’, and these noodles are low in calories, fat, and very low in carbohydrate as they are made from tofu. Perfect for wheat free diets. Found in Whole Foods, a ½ cup is 3 grams of carbohydrate and only 20 calories. Wow, that’s a comforting thought!

Here’s a sampling of some other good food choices for the season. If you look up macaroni and cheese in the dictionary, I’m sure the definition is “comfort food”. As we know, it’s not necessarily the food, but the portion that turns a food into an ‘unhealthy’ choice. Annie’s Mac &Cheese in microwavable single serving pouches supports a healthy portion size and has only 40 calories of fat for each 240 calorie serving. Now, if you make Annie’s Mac & Cheese in the box…you’ll have to remember the box makes 3 servings. A box of Kraft Mac & Cheese also serves three, yet one serving runs 380 calories and 140 of those from fat. (Not to mention the added artificial colorings).

If a bowl of creamy, steamy soup is your comfort, there are many products on the market that are low in fat and sodium than the average cream of mushroom in a can. Amy’s Light in Sodium Soups are a treat new to the market. With organic varieties including cream of tomato, butternut squash, lentil vegetable, and split pea, they will warm you from head to toe. One serving of Amy’s Light Cream of Tomato is only 100 calories and 340 mgs of sodium, with 2 grams of fat. For comparison sake, Campbell’s Creamy Tomato Ranchero packs a serving with 130 calories and 800 mgs of sodium, not to mention 6 grams of fat. Remember to read labels, pay attention to portion sizes, and to find comfort in places other than the refrigerator!

Making The Most of Lunch

Brown bagging it is not just for school kids anymore. Even if you are heading to the office, you’ll certainly eat better if you pack it yourself. Right? For adults and kids alike, making an interesting, appetizing, and nutritious quick lunch can be a snap.
How can you make a lunchbox kid- appealing, parent- approved, and adult acceptable? Here are five tips to help you or your child get a nutritious lunch that is yummy, exciting, and easy to make.

1. Pack a pallet of colors. Include colorful foods for eye appeal. A colorful meal indicates an abundance of vitamins (green jello doesn’t count). Try sweet red pepper slices, bright orange steamed yams and carrots, green broccoli trees and dark lettuce leaves, yellow apples, purple grapes and on and on.
   
2. Variety is the spice of life. Pack a variety of foods. Most people don’t have trouble with the starch and fat part of lunch. Remembering the fruits and vegetables turns a boring turkey on bread into a snazzy fiber packed turkey, avocado, sprouts, and red onion eye appealing meal.Try choosing at least one food from each category of Fruit, Vegetable, Whole Grain, and Protein. Include non meat sources of protein like beans, tofu, nuts, seeds, organic eggs and cheese. Varying your choices will make lunch more interesting.
   
3. Plan Ahead. 7:02 am Monday morning is not the best time for culinary inspiration, and often that means pb&j for the kids or pizza on the go for you. The time and stress saved by planning will really make a difference. Make a weekly lunch plan, like a school lunch calendar, and have your child help in the decision process. Make lists of lunch choices in the food categories listed above, and have your child choose what to eat on each day. Compromise. You pick the grain, she picks the fruit. Maybe you pick 3 lunches and he picks 2. Make an agreement with your child that the lunch gets tasted or eaten, and not traded or trashed. Having your child help make his lunch will teach them about good nutrition and simple cooking skills that will be valuable for a lifetime.
   
4. Be creative. If you or your child hates apples, oranges, and bananas, try some kiwi, berries, or Asian pears. Make fruit easy to eat- peel a tangerine. Pack sliced pineapple and cantaloupe with toothpicks for easy eating. Save up some small yogurt size plastic containers and fill one with sweet pepper hummus and pack colorful and crunchy veggies for dipping. Include hand eaten foods for youngsters. Eating with our hands is fun. Make it a wrap! Fill a tortilla with veggies or beans, rice, leftover salad and salsa, and roll it up. Expand your lunch options and buy an insulated lunch box or thermos to keep foods hot or cold.
   
5. Drinks. Try to focus on water. Kids get enough sodas and sugar drinks without adults giving it to them directly. And for adults, who needs those extra “empty” calories that soda provides? Beverages such as dairy, soy and rice milks can be nutritious too. Try herbal iced teas and flavored waters for variety.

A few other helpful suggestions...

Wraps are a quick and ideal way to transform a boring sandwich into a veggie packed hand held epicurean delight. Wraps can be high calorie traps, so reading labels and choosing specific brands at home can make a big difference. La Tortilla Factory has debuted a line of heart healthy, low carb, whole wheat, and organic wraps in delicious flavors such as rosemary olive oil and basil. These wraps, unlike others that deliver a whopping 330 calories, range from 50-100 calories for a single wrap. Sounds like a winner for tomorrow’s lunch. You can pick them up at Westerly Health Foods or Good and Plenty To Go in Manhattan.

Lunch Box Treats: Give an old favorite new life- spread peanut butter between two apple slices. Add raisins for fun. Freeze some grapes, and watch them turn into wonderful tiny ice-pop treats. Scoop some granola into a baggie, add a small handful of chocolate chips. Drop in a heavenly Lara or Nectar snack bar. Ingredients? Nuts, fruit, spices and nothing else!

Don’t Forget Breakfast!

We know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but did you know that what our kids eat for breakfast can have an effect on school performance? Research shows that having eggs for breakfast can enhance memory function. Choline, rich in eggs and nuts, is a nutrient important in memory cell production during childhood. So, scramble up an egg or hard boil one for the road, even if breakfast has to be quick, it can still be nutritious.

Weight Loss Strategy: Use Small Utensils

Did you know that using a smaller size plate and smaller serving utensils can be a good weight loss strategy? Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign evaluated the portions of diners at an ice cream social when their party bowls and serving spoons were downsized. When using larger serving utensils, people ate about 15% more. In addition, when that large ice cream scoop was paired with a big bowl, they ate about 57% more. So, when dishing out the dessert, downsize the bowls and serving utensils. It will look like you are eating a lot more than you are.

Water, water, everywhere, but that’s not what I want to drink!

Did you know an 8 oz pina colada on a hot summer night will set you back about 500 calories and 5 grams of saturated fat? Remember too, that liquids do not help us to feel full and satisfied. Drinking high calorie libations will not curb your appetite at meal times, so when the thirst hits, here’s what to do. What will you drink this weekend?

	Serving Size	Calories	Survery Says...		Serving Size	Calories	Survey Says...
Pina Colada	8oz	500 + 5 grams of saturated fat	Try again	White Wine	8oz	160 + 0 grams of fat	Good choice
Regular Beer	12oz can	146	Not so bad but...	Lite Beer	12oz can	99	Better
Wine Cooler	12oz	125	That's the equivalent of one regular hot dog	Wine Spritzer	12oz	120	Enjoy
Soda	12 oz	155	13 teaspoons sugar	Flavored Seltzer	Any size	0	Why not
Cranberry Juice	8oz	116	31 grams of pure carbs	Cranberry Spritzer in Sparkling water	8oz	15	Bingo!