Guess Who in America has the Best Diet in America

According to National Health and Nutrition Examination survey of 2009-2010  Seniors aged 71 years and older have the best diet.  I personally find this to be true when I speak with my patents about their diet.  I am amazed by how many seniors are already eating a very healthy diet.  I do not even need to give many of them that much advice because they are already doing a great job.  Many of them eat plenty of vegetables and whole grains.  A few of them may lack in protein.  Getting enough calcium seems to be the biggest issue I see since most seniors do not like drinking milk.  Taking calcium supplements can  help with those individuals. But overall these individuals are doing great with their diet and we should take time to learn from our elders.  They are living long and part of the reason why is because of what they ate growing up and now.

Unfortunately the group with the worst diet is currently the teenagers.  Many teens nowadays live off of junk food from fast food restaurants, chips, cookies, and sugary beverages.  As adults it is our job to teach them how to eat right and be an example to them.  Teenagers who have parents who eat healthy are more likely to pick healthier choices than teens with parents who do not eat healthy.  Get the junk food out your house.  Don't allow your kids to get fast food for lunch everyday, or even every week.  Teach them that junk food is suppose to be for special occasions and should only be consumed once in a while.

  For me and my husband, we find that if it is in the house we will keep eating it until it is gone.  Our solution,  we don't buy it!  I love cookies!  I remember buying some frosted animal cookies right after me and my husband got married.  I kid you not,  I walked around with that bag of cookies for two days straight until it was gone.  If I, being a professional in the nutrition world cannot have self control with junk food, what makes you think you can.  What I do when we want junk food we will go and make it a special treat.  Perhaps me and my husband will go to an ice cream shop and get one serving of ice cream instead of bringing the whole tube home to be eaten within a few days.  If I want cookies, I go to the gas station and buy an individual pack so I am not tempted to splurge.  Controlling your environment is key to your success.  When I visit my senior clients, they do not have junk food in their house.  And if they do it is literally only one item.  This shows that controlling your environment can help you control your eating habits.

Protein Oatmeal

Oatmeal is a classic breakfast choice for many people.  This heart healthy whole grain is full of fiber which helps you stay full longer and aids in digestive health.  Unfortunately though, eating just oatmeal by itself is not considered a complete breakfast.  Oatmeal is mainly carbohydrate with some natural fat found in the oats.  It does not provide enough protein for your breakfast meal.  Unless you pair it with some eggs, and turkey bacon you are going to be behind on your protein needs for the day.  One trick I like to do is stir in protein powder with your oatmeal.  We know that many of the flavored oatmeals are jam packed with sugar which can spike your blood sugar.  But eating plain oatmeal can be boring.  By adding flavored protein powder, such as vanilla,  you will get that sweet taste you are looking for and get plenty of protein.  I like to use Natural Whey Protein by True Athlete which is found at Vitamin Shoppe.  It contains probiotics to help with digestive health. 

To make your Protein oatmeal is easy.  Pour the desired amount of oatmeal into a bowl ( 1/2 -1 cup is typical).  Scoop your protein powder in to your oatmeal, enough to get atleast 20g of protein.  I used 2 scoops with my True Athlete protein powder to make 20 g.  Then add low fat milk or almond milk.  Stir.  Them microwave to desired consistency as usual.  Yummy!!

Raspberry Orange Pancakes and Syrup

Pancakes are my favorite morning treat.  It is made more special with home made pancakes and syrup.  This delicious raspberry orange pancakes and syrup makes an morning special.  Using fresh oranges you will have a nice tangy flavor added to your pancakes, while the raspberries brings just the right amount of tartness and sweetness.  

Raspberry Orange Pancakes and Syrup

Maple Raspberry Syrup

Ingredients

1 cup fresh orange juice

Dash of cinnamon

2 tbsp of orange zest

1 cup real maple syrup

2/3 cup or raspberries

Pancakes

Ingredients

2-3 oranges

1 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

¼ cup skim milk or milk substitute

1 egg

2 tsp oil

¾ cup raspberries

In a sauce pan combine orange juice, syrup and cinnamon.  Simmer for 7-8 minutes.  Add orange zest and berries.  Mash berries.  Set aside.

For pancakes, zest the oranges and st aside.  Squeeze oranges to make ½ cup of juice. 

In a lg bowl mix flour, baking powder and salt. Add orange juice, egg, milk, and zest.

Place oil on griddle.  Pour some batter on griddle and cook pancakes evenly on both sides.  Top pancakes with syrup.

Low Fat Strawberries and Cream Popsicle

It is so hot outside! During this weather everyone loves a delicious frozen treat.  However most ice creams are loaded with fat and calories.  If you want to cool down you don't want to put on a few pounds while doing it by eating high fatty foods.  Try these delicious popsicles instead.  They use Greek yogurt instead of whole milk to help cut the fat.  It is a delicious treat that your whole family will love!

Strawberry Shortcake Popsicles

Servings 6-12 (depending on popsicle size)

Ingredients

2 cups fresh strawberries, washed and hulled
1/2 cup crushed Reduced fat Nilla wafers
2 cups vanilla Greek yogurt

In a bowl combine vanilla wafers, and yogurt.

Put strawberries in a blender or food processor to form a puree.

In popsicle trays fill 1/3 full with yogurt mixture, 1/3 with strawberries, and the remaining 1/3 with yogurt mixture.

Freeze.

Blueberry pancakes

Pancakes are my favorite breakfast recipe.  However the added syrup that normally comes on pancakes is full of sugar and calories. 1/4 of syrup typically has about 200 calories.  Plus adding a tablespoon of butter adds an additional 100 calories.  So having a short stack of 2-3 pancakes ends up being an easy 600-800 calories.  Not necessarily the best way to start your day.  You can cut the calories by substituting the syrup with something lower in calories, such as blueberries.  These blueberry pancakes have become one of my favorite breakfast treats.  It is easy to make and much healthier.

Blueberry Pancakes

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup flour

3 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 cup milk

3 tbsp canola oil

½ cup frozen blueberries

½ cup fresh blueberries

Mix dry ingredients in bowl.

Add milk and oil. 

Pour batter in griddle.  Add frozen blueberries.  Cook each side for 2-3 min.

Serve with fresh blueberries.

Low Fat Zucchini Pesto

Pesto is becoming more and more popular.  With people trying to be more adventurous with their dish we are seeing more people eating pesto than in the past.  Pesto is mainly used for pasta however I have seen it now being added to pizza, sandwiches, chicken, vegetables, salads, hummus, soups, and much more.  The only thing is pesto is mainly fat.  Pesto recipes are composed of oil, basil, garlic, and cheese.  Obviously the oil and cheese increases the fat and calorie content substantially. If you are trying to lose weight, eating too much of this actually may defeat your efforts.  A good alternative is the low fat zucchini pesto.  It still has the same great taste, however the fat is cut due to the added vegetables.  I use it for my pasta and pizzas and it tastes just as good as the real thing.

Low Fat Zucchini Pesto

Ingredients

1 Zucchini, diced

1 clove garlic, 

¼ cup baisil

3-4 tbsp olive oil

2-3 tbsp parmesan cheese

Boil zucchini until soft.  Drain. 

Transfer zucchini, and remaining ingredients to a food processor.  Blend until desired consistency.

Ireland's Colcannon-Potatoes and Cabbage

Cabbage is a leafy green full of vitamin K and C.  Many people are not aware of its great nutrient properties.  Studies have shown it has great antioxidant properties to help fight against free radicals.  it also has anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties.   Cabbage also helps heal stomach ulcers and the overall health of the digestive tract.  The high fiber content of cabbage helps with digestion and also lowering of cholesterol benefiting the cardiovascular system.  

I personally am not a huge cabbage fan,  however this Irish recipe is delicious.  The addition of the potatoes and bacon are a great complement to the leafy green.  And if you want to cut down on the carbs, you can eat the cabbage by itself without the potatoes and it tastes just as good.

Ireland’s Colcannon – potatoes and cabbage

Ingredients

4 slices of turkey bacon, diced

1 small green cabbage, shredded

1 leak, chopped

3 lb potatoes, peeled and cubed

¾ cup warm buttermilk

In a large pot place potatoes in water to where it barely covers the top.  Boil until tender, about 12 minutes. 

Meanwhile, in large skillet cook bacon until done.  Drain fat.   Remove bacon and set aside.

Add cabbage and leaks.  Cook until tender. 

Once potatoes are done, drain the potatoes and add butter milk.  Mash the potatoes until smooth.

Stir in cabbage mixture and sprinkle with bacon.

Curry Broccoli Cheese Casserole

Broccoli cheese casserole has become an American classic.  With moms trying to get their little ones to eat more vegetables adding cheese to the veggies has been a solution used by many.  Unfortunately though, the addition of cheese also means the addition of fat.  Unless you are using low fat cheese, you are probably adding a ton of extra calories.  Many people do not correlate cheese with fat.  But even the low fat cheeses can have up to 6g of fat per oz.  And we all know that most of us eat way more than 1 oz of cheese.  The Curry Broccoli Casserole is an easy way to fix this.  Due to the orange color, you are fooled into thinking there is more cheese than what is actually in the dish.  Also the curry flavor brings an interesting twist to this popular dish.

Curry Broccoli Casserole

Ingredients

2 heads of broccoli, chopped

3 tbsp cornstarch

1 qt skim milk

4 tsp curry powder

2 ¾ tsp salt

9 oz mozzarella cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Steam broccoli by placing broccoli in a colander over boiling water. 

In a small bowl mix 1/3 cup of milk with cornstarch.

In a lg pot add remaining milk and curry powder.  Bring to boil.  Add the small bowl of milk and cornstarch.  Whisk to allow sauce the sauce to thicken.  Add ½ cup of cheese. 

Transfer broccoli and sauce into a casserole dish.  Top with remaining cheese. Bake 40 min.

Summer Squash and Corn Breakfast Tacos

Breakfast is the best time to sneak in some vegetables.  Many of us do not get in the minimum of 3 servings of vegetables a day.  By starting your day with vegetables added in to your breakfast, reaching that goal is more attainable.  I enjoy adding vegetables to my egg dishes.  It is easy and it makes a normal classic into something special and unique.  Try these breakfast tacos with squash, corn, onion, tomato, and cilantro.  Your taste buds will be in for a nice surprise.

Summer squash and corn Breakfast Tacos

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium white onion, diced

2 small yellow squash, diced

1 can of corn

2 medium tomatoes, diced

6 eggs

Salt and pepper

8 corn tortillas

5 oz shredded mozzarella cheese

½ cup cilantro

Heat oil in saute pan.  Add onion and cook for 2 min.

Add squash and corn and continue to cook until tender.

Season with salt and pepper

Beat eggs.

In a separate pan scramble eggs.

Warm tortillas

Assemble tacos with egg, vegetables, cheese, and cilantro.