Chocolate IS Healthy. . .

Have you ever been told: “Chocolate isn’t good for you!!” or “Try something healthier, chocolate is too sugary!”? According to the latest research, chocolate, in moderation hold extremely beneficial properties for our bodies. Michael Van Straten, author of Low Carb Super Drinks is a medical practicion and has been a doctor for many years. He has done a plethora of research on foods and their benefits and has created a book to help people find healthy recipes. The first line in the ‘Mealtime Drinks’ chapter reads: “Here’s some delicious chocolate, with the feel-good factor it always brings- and, according to latest research, heart benefits too” (Straten 70). Yes, chocolate is actually good for you. . . in proportions. No one is saying have a chocolate each day, but every now and then, a small piece of dark chocolate actually proves to help your body and in the latest research, has even proven to help reduce heart problems. Straten explains that even though there is delicious chocolate in this drink, that it is low in carbs because dark chocolate has far less fat and sugar than milk varieties. He says that mint is also one of the olderst remedies for indigestion (Straten 70). The drink he refers to is called ‘Bittermint Chocolate’, and it sounds delicious. It is made of:

3 oz of organic, good-quality plain mint chocolate

400 ml or 14 fl oz skimmed milk

4 small sprigs of fresh peppermint, washed

To cook and prepare:

1.      Grate about 15g of the chocolate and reserve

2.     Break the rest into chunks and put into a saucepan with the milk and two sprigs of peppermint

3.     Bring slowly to the boil, stirring until the chocolate is dissolved

4.     Fish out the mint

5.     Whisk or froth with a cappuccino wan

6.     Pour into mugs and serve with the grated chocolate and extra mint floating on top.

Straten emphasizes the fact that foods can help our bodies as much as medicines can. Foods are as healing as medicines and sometimes, medicines are even made up of many herbs and other foods. I know that this drink is calming and enjoyable since it contains mint, and I am more than curious to know how beneficial this drink really is beyond any immediate feelings. It tastes absolutely delicious too!

                

Do you agree with Straten that foods eaten in proportion, like dark chocolate, can be good for you even when you are cutting out all ‘unhealthy’ foods from your diet?

Straten, Michael Van. Low Carb Super Drinks. Great Britain: Mitchell Beazley, 2005. Print.    

Healthy Recipe: Roasted Tofu

Healthy Recipe: Roasted Tofu

Recently I had decided to go pescatarian which basically means your vegetarian except you eat fish and seafood. I’ve been needing to find new recipes to try while I’m not eating other meats that I used to eat often for dinner and other meals. Here’s the recipe which was under Entrees.

“Yield: 4 Servings

Ingredients:

1 package extra firm tofu

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 teaspoons canola oil

2 teaspoons rice vinegar

2 teaspoons honey

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon chili sauce (such as Siracha)” (Stollman 237).

While making the recipe and gathering the ingredients, I realized I had bought the wrong kind of tofu. There are 3 different kinds of tofu including soft, firm and extra firm. I accidently bought firm tofu but it still worked but it sort of got misshaped. I also didn’t have chili sauce in my house but it still turned out fine.

Here’s the Directions:

  1. Cut up the Tofu

  2. Line a bowl with paper towels, put the tofu inside and refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.

  3. Preheat oven to 425 degrees

  4. In a large bowl whisk together all ingredients besides tofu

  5. Add tofu to bowl of sauce and gently toss to coat.                             

  6. Transfer to sheet pan and bake for 20-25 minutes and turn once until golden brown

  7. Enjoy (Stollman 237).

In the end I tried the tofu and honestly thought it didn’t taste like much. I was slightly disappointed when trying it along with getting the wrong kind of tofu so while preparing it, the tofu was breaking into small pieces. I feel like next time I should let it marinate in the sauce for about an hour so that maybe the tofu will absorb the sauce and become more flavorful. I would recommend it though because it’s not that bad and if you doctor it up a little it can be really tasty!

What’s your favorite dinner? Do you like or ever eat Tofu?

MLA: Stollman, Lisa, MA, RD, CDE, CDN. The Teen Eating Manifesto: The Ten Essential Steps to Losing Weight, Looking Great and Getting Healthy. Northport, NY: Nirvana, 2012. Print.

Berry & Chia Smoothie Bowl

 High school mornings smoothie recipe

Eating breakfast in the morning is the best way to stay energized throughout the entire school day. There is no better way to start your day than with a balanced, nutritious breakfast packed with natural superfoods (Turner 8). Even though many of us high school students are always in a rush to get to school on time, the fun recipes that I have found from the book Superfood Breakfasts by Kate Turner can be made in under 5 minutes. Another nice thing about smoothies is that they are so refreshing and super easy to make. Throughout the past few weeks of school, I've made myself and my family smoothie bowls for breakfast and we have all enjoyed them. But most importantly, I've noticed that I can focus better in class.
The Berry and Chia fruit smoothie bowl as described by Kate Turner "Will make your body love you" (Turner 28).

Ingredients
Serves 2 (Or you could just pour the whole thing into a bowl like I do)
3/4 cup frozen raspberries
2/3 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup nut milk
1 small ripe banana
1/3 cup avocado cubes
2 tbsp. chia seeds
2 tbsp. acai berry powder
Toppings
1/2 small mango, peeled and sliced (Let sit in window first!)
1 tsbp. raspberries
1 tbsp. pumpkin seeds
1 tbsp. dried mulberries
Here's my modified version of this recipe
2 cups of frozen mixed berries
1 small ripe banana
1 cup of apple grape juice ( Orange juice/ Water or almond milk)
1 tbsp of raspberry yogurt (can be any yogurt)
Toppings
A few pieces of store bought sliced mangos
A few raspberries
1 tbsp. pumpkin seeds
1 tbsp. dried mulberries
Tip for my smoothie recipes
You can add or change any ingredients to make the smoothie the way that you'd like.

Questions: What's your favorite smoothie? What's your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?

Reading a Food Label

Reading a Food Label

Picture this, you’re at the grocery store and you can’t move your cart full of unhealthy food because someone is looking at the ingredients and label on a box of crackers or something like that. Yes, it can seem annoying but maybe we should all be looking at the food label and seeing what’s really in our food like that person in the store. “For my clients eating cereal, reading the label would have saved them about 200 calories at breakfast (and a potential weight gain of about 20 pounds in one year)” (Stollman 75). This shows that maybe that person knows what they’re eating and is especially helpful when trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy or healthier lifestyle like I’m trying to do.

Here we have a picture of everyone’s favorite sugary cereal with a leprechaun mascot. Looks innocent right? Kids eat this so it must be healthy. Well that’s a wrong assumption, Lucky Charms is not a cereal that should be eaten every day for breakfast based on the food label.

You can learn so much more about the food you’re eating by reading the label. The book mentioned all the different nutrients you’ll find the specific amounts for like fiber, sugar, sodium, fat and more (Stollman 75). Knowing these things could make us all more mindful eaters and allow all of us to know what we’re actually putting in our bodies instead of eating unknown substances. Also knowing the ingredients and how much of each nutrient you’re eating can help you eat healthier which I know I will be using to help me start eating better.

Lastly we’re going to talk about ingredient lists on food. We all should know what we should look out for in our foods. “You may also want to avoid products with harmful colorings, additives and preservatives” (Stollman 79). This section of text is flat out saying ingredients you don’t want in your foods. Another thing to look out for is in the past I was taught to avoid foods that contain ingredients you can’t pronounce the names of. Now we can all be more mindful while eating and know what we’re really eating. 

What’s your favorite cereal? Is that cereal considered a food to avoid?

MLA Citation:

Stollman, Lisa, MA, RD, CDE, CDN. The Teen Eating Manifesto: The Ten Essential Steps to Losing Weight, Looking Great and Getting Healthy. Northport, NY: Nirvana, 2012. Print.