salt – Jenna Jamieson, Author

Holidays…family, friends, and FOOD!

By Jenna Jamieson | November 19, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment

This is the weight-gaining, cookie-eating, mouth-stuffing time of the year! It’s the time of the year when people eat cookies, cupcakes, chips, dips, and other sugary and salty foods. It’s the time of the year when diets seem to be filled with more junk food than fruits and veggies. It’s the time of the year when there are parties, potlucks, and events. And, it’s the time of the year when health educators and counselors know what to expect come January when New Year’s resolutions come around!

I am getting ready to cook my “gluten free” Thanksgiving this weekend so that I can actually enjoy it! Otherwise the day of Thanksgiving I get stuck with meat and potatoes without all the other lovely sides that fill the Thanksgiving table (but are often filled with gluten)!

As a way to cut back on fat and to reduce the calories in my gluten free dishes I will be making roasted brussels sprouts and corn with a couple of slices of bacon rather than a corn casserole or corn pudding which are filled with heavy cream, cream soups, and other fattening additives. This is a great way to reduce fat and calories while still having great flavor. The bacon will provide flavor along with chili powder, but since the two bacon slices will be divided among 6 people the amount consumed is very little.

My homemade mashed potatoes will feature part cauliflower. That may sound awful to some, but I promise you won’t taste the cauliflower and it will save a ton of calories! I will also use potatoes, but I will combine them with cauliflower to reduce the calories and add some veggies. I will use reduced sodium, reduced fat cream cheese or greek yogurt to add creaminess to the potatoes.

I will not have bread since I will be making cornbread stuffing. I made cornbread with reduced fat milk and will make the stuffing using reduced sodium chicken broth. To save calories, it is great to consider how many “bready” sides or carbohydrate sides you will serve with your Thanksgiving dinner. Consider having stuffing or bread, pie or cake, with more sides filled with veggies or fruits (i.e. brussel sprouts, corn, green beans, cranberries, mixed fruit, sweet potatoes – healthier than regular potatoes).

If your family does a green bean casserole each year consider roasted green beans, grilled green beans (these are delicious!), or pan seared green beans to cut back on the creamy soups, butter, and fried onions that are all high in calories.

Remember to fill your plates with more veggies than “bready” items and when you go back for seconds fill up on the veggie sides rather than more stuffing, bread, pie, and other high calorie dishes. Oh, and take a quick walk before or after dinner so your food doesn’t sit in your stomach all day or all night. You will thank yourself later when your food has a chance to digest rather than sit and make you feel miserable all night! 🙂

Happy eating, enjoy spending time with your friends and family, and have fun making new memories that you will remember forever!

~jj

#ProjectKindnessBook

#AlwaysChooseKindness

Bacon?! Yes, please!

By Jenna Jamieson | October 28, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment

Who doesn’t love a great sweet or maybe bacon? Who was completely bummed by the new research that the World Health Organization aka WHO released this week about bacon, sausage, and hot dogs? I have to admit that this was information I already knew, but information I never really want to hear (or at least not see plastered across every media outlet known to planet Earth). I think everywhere I looked I saw articles, broadcasts, and posts reminding me of the harm of these foods. Depressing, right?! Or maybe not, maybe just news we needed to hear, be reminded of, and information to make us more well informed people about what we are shoving into our mouths each day (sometimes even me, on occasion)! 😉

On my list of nutrition improvements I continually have 1) Reduce sodium intake 2) Decrease sugary foods and 3) Increase naturally flavorful, non-processed foods (i.e. fruits and veggies, proteins in their most raw form). Salts and sugars are an ongoing health concern that can always be improved no matter where you are at on your fitness and health journey. Since the holidays are coming and Halloween is just around the corner it makes following these nutrition goals a bit difficult (even for me), but I have some tips that may just be the key to your nutrition success!

Remember that salts and sugars are often heavy additives in processed foods and of course in candy. It is important to think about how much salt and sugar is in your diet (cereal, candy bars, sandwiches, pizza, salads, etc) – most people eat three times or more servings of the recommended amount of daily sodium. That’s scary, especially considering heart disease and cardiovascular concerns are the number one killer.

To cut down on salt and sugars, consider eating more naturally sweet or salty foods that don’t have as much added to them for flavor. Fruits like watermelon, strawberries, apples, oranges, and pineapple which are naturally sweet are great choices. Decrease processed meats, chips, cheese, and other salty foods and consider eating foods that are in their more natural form such as chicken, fish, and other meats that you can control how much salt is added. For desserts, consider a dessert that has fruit in it or a dessert that has a fruit topping such as pudding or mousse with fruit. Further, when it comes to cakes, cookies, pies, tarts, and other sweets make them from scratch so you can control the additives, preservatives, and other ingredients such as sugar and sodium that are placed in the dessert. Sometimes you can make a less sweet cake, cheesecake, or tart and add fresh fruit that makes it less sugary, but still tastes delicious.

It may seem like a heartbreaker that bacon isn’t good for you and may cause cancer or that cookies like snickerdoodles are high in sugar, but it isn’t something we didn’t already know. After all, we don’t think fried cheese, pickles, and chicken are good for us, do we?! 😉 Like I say, everything in moderation. Life is too short not to enjoy the things we love (on occasion)! 😉

~jj

#ProjectKindnessBook

#AlwaysChooseKindness

Tis’ the season for healthy casserole dishes!

By Jenna Jamieson | November 20, 2014 | Comments 0 Comment

Winter is upon us again and with the cold weather comes lots of holiday favorites and casseroles being baked for dinners, parties, and holiday festivities. Casserole dishes and holiday favorites tend to be full of cheesy, creamy, delicious goodness, which is also known as endless calories in the minds of dietitians and an extra 10 pounds in the minds of many people. I thought it would be appropriate to share some tips that will help keep casseroles healthy, but still satisfy our appetites! There are great ways to keep casseroles healthy this holiday season while also incorporating tons of great flavors. People often think that without the pound of butter, whole milk, pound of cheese, or heavy cream that dishes lose their flavor, and that is definitely not the case…I promise! Keep reading for some great tips to maintain the flavor and decrease the calories in your casseroles this holiday season…you will thank me later! 😉 There are 3 major tips that I think are beneficial when making casseroles.

First, consider replacing cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, and other cream soups with plain Greek yogurt, which you can flavor with garlic, salt, pepper, onion powder, etc or even add regular, low-sodium broth soups such as chicken broth or vegetable broth to flavor your dishes without the added calories. Further, try to buy items that are fat-free, low fat, low sodium, or sodium free. For example, green bean casserole calls for cream of mushroom soup, so replace it with Greek yogurt and vegetable stock. Be sure to check the labels because sometimes low calorie, low fat, and low sodium items can be deceiving. By this I mean that sometimes they have other equally bad ingredients for you, so you have to determine which products will be best. This is why plain Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, and other plain, non-flavored items that are less processed can be great because you can add the flavor you want to them.

Second, cut back on the dairy products if possible and yes, this includes cheese! I know how awful that sounds because cheese is delicious, but I am not saying cut it out completely. Rather, be cognizant of how much cheese you are putting into your casserole dishes, especially if they have other dairy products in them such as heavy cream, milk, and butter. What I mean by this is that a veggie casserole can easily be made unhealthy and fattening by adding tons of cheese and cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, and other cream soups. Milk, heavy cream, cheese, and other dairy products can quickly add calories, making healthy veggie casseroles unhealthy. So the best thing you can do is stick to what recipes call for. If the recipe calls for one cup of cheese, use one cup of cheese rather than a cup and a half to add additional cheesy goodness. I realize it is the holiday season, but I promise you that your guests will still love your casserole side dishes and will appreciate the fewer calories in their already high calorie holiday meal!

Third, stick with vegetable casseroles or vegetables rather than carbohydrate-heavy or starchy casseroles that are high in calories. I realize that many people love potatoes and what says Thanksgiving more than turkey and mashed potatoes?! I am not suggesting that you completely do away with your mashed potatoes, but consider doing a split in your potatoes of part potato and part cauliflower. Also, consider having one potato casserole or mashed potato dish rather than several. Instead, make up for the fewer starchy dishes by having several vegetable casseroles or vegetable dishes such as sweet potatoes with brown sugar and pecans as a side dish rather than sweet potatoes with marshmallow fluff on top. Some other options might be brussel sprouts with bacon, butternut squash with a butter sauce, or honey and balsamic glazed carrots.

Enjoy preparing your holiday dishes and remember that while the holidays are a fun time, it doesn’t mean you should give yourself the excuse to eat whatever you want and as much as you want! While it might sound like a novel idea at the time, it won’t be when you gain 10 pounds, can’t button your jeans, or feel so full you want to bust! So, make some healthier casseroles that encourage cleaner eating, but still impart great holiday flavors that you and your family enjoy! Happy clean eating this holiday season from my table to yours!

~jj

BBQs, Restaurants, and Parties, Oh My!

By Jenna Jamieson | May 5, 2014 | Comments 0 Comment

The weather is starting to change for many of us and as we transition into warmer days and higher temperatures, it often means getting together with friends and family for BBQs, potlucks, picnics, graduation parties, and outings/events that have finger foods and appetizers. While all this is great and provides lasting memories, remember that potlucks and parties also mean added calories. Spring and summer are often the time for family get togethers and reunions, graduation parties, and BBQs, but it also means buffet style eating which equates to lots of food. Frequently, these types of gatherings mean grazing on appetizers and snacks followed by a large buffet style meal and ice cream, popsicles, trifle and punch bowl cakes, cookies, cheesecakes, and lots of delightful summer favorites for dessert.

Some great ways to cut back and lighten BBQs, potlucks, picnics, and graduation parties is to have fruits and veggies only as your appetizers to reduce the extra calories that chips, cheese dips, pretzels, etc have. If you want dips, consider veggie dip, hummus, and fruit dip. These can be enjoyed with fruits and veggies and prevents unnecessary salty foods for dippers. If you are having a potluck style get together, plan out the meal so that you have a balance of sides that are healthy. You might consider limiting the number of sides to 3 and ask guests to refrain from bringing chips, pretzels, etc and help with drinks, paper plates, napkins, etc to fulfill the list of what is needed. Another great way to help with portion control is to not leave the actual meal and sides out all day. While grazing makes it feel like a fun party atmosphere, consider leaving food out for a specific amount of time. For example, 11:30-1 for a midday gathering and 6-7:30 for an evening get together. It is nice to allow guests to graze, but leaving food out all day can be unnecessary. I realize you want to make parties enjoyable for your guests, but I PROMISE that guests will thank you later for not ruining their diet, making them feel miserable from overeating, and preventing a high calorie meal that they feel guilty about the next day! Consider keeping your more healthy options out all day, like fruits and veggies, if you feel the need to have something for your guests at all times. Go ahead and put away the main meal such as brats, hot dogs, burgers, pasta salad, potato salad, corn on the cob, french fries, tator tots, etc to prevent grazing all afternoon and evening.

The next obstacle to tackle during spring is how often you eat out! You may want to put a limit on the number of times you eat out each day and each week. During the winter, we often tend to curl up at home and make comfort meals to enjoy, but once the weather changes, there is often a spike in how frequently people eat out. The weather is nicer so you enjoy being out more. A great way to combat eating out too much is to set goals for yourself. For example, don’t allow yourself to eat out more than once per day and more than X times per week. Personally, I typically try to allow myself to eat out one lunch and one dinner during the week (Monday – Friday). During the weekend, I try to eat no more than two complete meals out. Try to look up calories and nutrition on restaurant websites when possible and consider hidden calories such as salad dressings. Remember that foods in restaurants often have extra additives, may be overly processed foods, and typically have higher caloric counts than home cooked meals.

Don’t forget about the alcohol at parties. Often outdoor BBQs and parties have alcoholic drinks or even virgin drinks that are high in sugar and calories. These calories count, too! You don’t want to have 3 sugary, high caloric drinks, appetizers, a large buffet meal, and dessert at a party and end up eating two meals at one time! That can destroy your progress! I understand the hard choices that summer BBQs, parties, potlucks, and picnics present, but remember you can enjoy it all in MODERATION (and by using some or all of these tips!) 😉

~jj