Pantry basics

There are those moments we all have, when we open up the fridge door or the cupboard and we just stare.

No, the Pioneer Woman is not in your back field, and Ina Garten has not invited you over for dinner. It's just you and the fridge and the pantry. You need an edible meal and fast. 

So what do you do, when you haven't planned a thing and you are looking at a bunch of random ingredients and the kids are screaming and you're about to fall over from hunger yourself? This is when you need a secret weapon. And no, it is not take-out {although I do recommend saving a good two of those on speed dial for those nights when cooking would equal more yelling than eating.} 

You need a good pantry.

Here's a new handout I posted on Pinterest http://pinterest.com/pin/260082947203239053/

to show you what I keep around on hand in my pantry and fridge to solve the dinner crisis hour.

What am I making this week?

 Roasted Organic Chicken Drumsticks with Steamed Cauliflower and Garlic Sautéed Rainbow Chard

 Steak Salad with Roasted Vegetables and Homemade Buttermilk Ranch (leftovers from party)

 Tomato and Garlic Shrimp over Linguine (Kate's birthday) and Salad

 Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato and Avocado Sandwiches and Sliced Watermelon

 Thai Quinoa Salad with Peanut Dressing

 Beef and Black Bean Tacos with Salsa

See! I don't make complicated dinners and I don't have a huge pantry. We just try to incorporate at least two vegetable servings into every dinner and mix in kid friendly food nights with more adventurous nights as well.

Happy pantry digging! Cleaning out your pantry is a great way to restart your diet into a healthier path.

"I'm Hungry"

If you're kids are like mine, they are hungry. "I'm hungry, Mom," or "Mommy, I need a 'nack," and "I'm starving." My friend and I always say that the sunshine makes them grow. Summer heat is here and the fridge cannot stay open any longer or my precious butter http://pinterest.com/pin/260082947203375136/ will melt. 

But what to feed them?  I'm with you. I definitely don't have it figured out. So, take this as a {public} brainstorming session. And don't think I came up with all of these myself; intelligence is often found in copying smarter people than yourself.

First of all, some education. You don't need as many calories as a kid does. What?!? You might be confused, but by weight little kids need more calories than adults. Basic nutrition science has determined that little kids need more calories and protein than adults, because they are physically adding mass to their body every minute until they are eighteen to twenty-two. Which would explain why they want to eat every. single. minute. of. the. day.

Let's start with MORE. My philosophy is that we all need to see nutrition through the MORE googles, not the LESS goggle. If adults don't take this approach, then the kids will imitate the bad habits, including negative attitudes about food.

What should you eat more?

More vegetables.

More nuts.

More seeds.

More dairy.

More vegetarian.

The science is there. Study after study after study show us that we should eat more of these foods, yet we continue to offer, buy and shop for prepared foods for our children. Now, don't get me wrong, I feed my children the occasional Cheezits. I don't want them growing up with a neurosis because their mother is a dietitian. And I want to help them learn to be inwardly motivated to be healthy.

Take the peanut-butter and Nutella phenomenon at my house as a case study. When I moved from Arizona to Virginia, I couldn't make and take my spring batch of strawberry jam. So we got a little overly attached to Nutella and peanut butter sandwiches all winter long. 

The other day my daughter comes to me and say, "O, Mom, I have such a tummy ache. I ate too much peanut butter and chocolate, and now my body hurts." I told her it was her fault for scooping out and eating a 1/2 cup of each of them as a snack and told her that too much of a good thing is just too much. 

So we parents, and I'm including myself in this, need to manage our children's appetites. Not that we deny them when they are hungry or thirsty, but, we should be teaching them which foods are better choices. Don't buy it if you don't want them to eat too much of it. Neither should we keep 90% snack foods in our pantries and then expect them to choose the withered apple in the fridge. 

We have to be more strategic. I always tell my friends and clients that we don't let our children choose whether or not they brush their teeth, so neither should we make healthy foods optional.

Here's a list of some snacks we keep around and I try to encourage:http://pinterest.com/pin/260082947203409886/

Hope you pull out a snack out of the back of your pantry, sit down and enjoy a summer snack with your kids!

Love,

Nora

Beautiful garden

It was great and magical...until I got a royal case of poison ivy. Fun. Or not.
But seriously, after visiting around in Arlington, Virginia, I now know that I have a lot to be grateful to have such a great home in a great neighborhood with great neighbors.
And this garden reminds me daily how much The Lord provides for his children. Really, truly, he loves us and wants to do us good. He knew to provide me with this jungle of a garden to bring order to that reminds me of how much He knew I would need this project now that I am not working.
So, I will go ahead and get back to ripping more vines out (albeit with some Technu, ie poison ivy control lotion) and bewares of hoses dragged through the garden...

One. Chocolate. Chip. At. A. Time : Breaking down the myths of "healthy"

So yesterday, I asked the question, "Is a chocolate cookie really healthy?"

Coffee, chocolate and cookies are my treats of choice; and since, in my new bible study group, all the ladies are really into "paleo" cookies, I thought this detox week would be a good chance to try a change to my cookie recipe.Since I've been trying to stay true to my plan all this week, I knew, for me, I was going to need a go-to treat.

Welcome the recipe search. Paleo, raw, vegan, healthy, nourishing...all those word not usually attached to a chocolate chocolate chip cookie.But I found one I liked the shape of out of the 1.78 million results.

For me, it is easy to wade through the crap and find a good recipe. But I realized that the average person must be so overwhelmed. Not only are their so many recipes, there are so many choices when we are trying to be "healthy". That's not even answering the question "Should I eat cookies at all?"


This is where I think we should all start, not just "Should I be eating paleo or vegan?" or "Should I be eating raw or low-carb?" With the million options out there, we should be #doingsomethingworthit !!

For me, because I knew my stress levels were out of control, I slowed down. I did yoga every day. I ate more vegetarian foods this week since I was so achy. I drank lots of infused waters and cut back on my refined sugars. I drank green smoothies.

So my cookies followed suit.

I used dates and honey and maple syrup instead of refined sugar. I didn't use flour, but substituted the almond dregs from my almond milk experiment. I put in dark chocolate chips and used cocoa powder. I used coconut oil instead of butter.

Is it raw? Is it vegan? Is it full of enzymes? Is it organic? Is it paleo? I'm not sure.

But I didn't something worth it for my body. I baked a pretty darn good dark chocolate chip cookie. That I liked. That I could eat one of every afternoon. That I felt good eating.

Is that where you start when you think of cookies? I hope so, because the fueled my health kick this week and motivated me as a sweet reward. Let's get off the merry-go-round of comparison. Do something that is worth it to you and that honors your body and choices.

What kinds of food and health choices do you feel are worth it?

Just a Cookie

The chocolate cookie.

Is it a nemesis to you? What does it represent to you?

To me, it represent health. Health???

So, so, SO many times people ask me about eating healthy and here I am, saying a cookie can be healthy.

This solitary treat is not just a delicious mouthful, but a gateway to understanding balancing nutrition needs a world that is full of contradictory information.

As a dietitian, I believe in chocolate cookies, just as I believe in treats, desserts, bread, and carbs. I even put sugar *gasp* in my coffee. every. morning.

Except this week. After finishing writing the book with Carolyn, my body has been shot. The stress of a cross-country move, long days, late nights, holidays, and the deadline all spring STILL haven't gotten out of my system. Every time I went on a run, my body ached. Even my feet wouldn't stop aching.

I thought, "Am I just getting old? Is this 33? Am I really this out of shape?" For a person who had been pretty consistent with exercise all her life, I didn't recognize my body. Immediately after we finished the book, I went on a week long calorie restricting, exercise intense "plan" to get ready for my vacation.

Fail. It didn't work. In fact, it backfired.

And here I am on a truly healthy week eating a cookie. Why?

Because sometime those kinds of plan don't work. So this week, I want to explain why a cookie can be a good thing.