Words With Friends

One of my favorite applications on my IPod is Words With Friends, a Scrabble type game that lets you play friends or random opponents. I usually have a few games going at a time. My User Name (UN) is, E&A'sMama, if anyone wants to play a game with me. Words With Friends even has a Facebook page where you can challenge people to games. During the fall there was even a Words With Pirates game that was really fun....Arrgh! The reason I bring up Words With Friends today is because I wanted to share this really cute idea....Words With Friends inspired cookies! I think if we ever have a family game night I will make these!

Lowering Sodium Intake

On average most Americans intake a lot more sodium than our bodies need. But how do we lower our sodium intake? Watch this video to learn how:

Lettuce Knives and Salad Spinners

Tonight while I was cutting up lettuce for tacos with my plastic lettuce knife I thought about this blog. It occurred to me that there may be a lot of people out there who have never heard of a lettuce knife or may never even have thought to use one.

So what is a lettuce knife and why should you use one?

"A lettuce knife is a knife which is designed to cut lettuce without causing the lettuce to brown, yellow, or wilt. These special knives have serrated blades and they are typically made from plastic, which will not react with the lettuce to stimulate browning. Since browned lettuce is deemed aesthetically unpleasing, a lettuce knife can help keep a salad looking crisp and fresh without forcing cooks to tear lettuce by hand. The use of a knife also reduces the need to handle lettuce directly, reducing the risk of food borne illness." (Source: Wisegeek.com)

Before using a lettuce knife to cut lettuce you should wash your lettuce first. The best way to wash lettuce is to use a salad spinner.  A salad spinner consists of three parts an outer bowl, an inner removable basket, and a lid with a crank handle.  The purpose is to spin the salad after washing to remove moisture.

Check out this video to learn how to use a salad spinner and a lettuce knife.

Nutrition in the News

New Dietary Guidelines for Americans are released, highlights include limiting sodium intake to 2300mg for most people and filling half your plate with veggies and fruits.

Nutella, the beloved (but not particularly nutritious) chocolate-hazelnut spread, is facing a lawsuit over nutrition claims in its advertising. A reminder that reliable nutrition information comes from reading the nutrition facts label and ingredient list of foods.

Another good reason to eat a diet high in Omega-3 fatty acids: not only is it good for your heart, but may also help prevent against Alzheimer's disease.

(Source: Nourish Family Nutrition)

Diabetes & A Mediterranean Diet

Are you scared of getting Type 2 Diabetes? According to a study, if you lose 7% of your body weight and walk for 30 minutes 6 days per week you will lower your chances of getting the disease by 58%. (Source: Better Homes and Gardens, Nov. 2007)

If you have already been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes or want to improve your eating one study found that a Mediterranean diet is very successful at controlling blood sugar. The following lists below are foods to eat less of and more of on a Mediterranean diet:

Eat Less
Beef, Lamb, Pork
Butter, margerine, butter substitute
Low-fat Crackers, chips
Reduced-fat Cookies
Egg Substitute; fat-free yogurt; reduced-fat American, Cheddar, and Swiss cheese
Baked Potatoes, bread, rice

Eat More
Fish, Poultry, Beans
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil or other vegetable oils such as soybean and canola
Walnuts or other nuts, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, olives
Fresh Fruit
Whole Eggs; Whole Yogurt; Feta, Parmesan, or goat cheese
Roasted or sauteed vegetables tossed with herbs and drizzled with olive oil
(Source: Reader's Digest, date unknown)

Here is a great Mediterranean inspired recipe to get you started:

Walnut-Olive Pesto
Place 2 cups walnuts, 1 cup large pimiento-stuffed green olives, 1 large garlic clove, 1 tblsp extra-virgin olive oil, 1 tsp lemon juice, and 1/4 tsp dried thyme in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until coarsely chopped. Use as a topping for pasta, meat, fish or chicken, as a spread for crackers or as a sandwich spread. It's also a great flavor enhancer in sauces and chili. (Source: Relish Mag, 2010)

Jamie Oliver's Food Rules

Here are some food rules that I snagged from Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution FB Page. All really great common sense ideas!

1. Cook at home
2. Avoid Packaged Foods
3. Avoid too much refined sugar
4. Trade refined grains for whole grains
5. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables (Plant a garden)
6. Teach your kids to cook and use different ingredients
7. Read labels and reject what you don't understand
8. Choose food grown and raised close to home
9. Try new foods
10. Learn to love drinking water
11. Serve the same food to your family and friends that you serve to yourself
12. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store where the fresh, whole foods are
13. Eat less sodium
14. Avoid flavored milk. It has more sugar than soda.
15. Use fresh herbs and spices
16. Exercise, keep moving and eat healthy.

Bento Boxes

I am always so inspired by the Bento Box lunches I have read about on Wendolonia. This past Christmas I bought the boys a Frog and a Panda Bento box. I have only packed snacks in them so far but I am feeling inspired by Wendolonia's video (see below) and just may attempt to pack a full lunch in them. So cute and functional!



Do you pack your kids school lunches? Do you use Bento Boxes?  What healthy foods do you pack?

Why Eat Organic?

Why eat Organic?

• Organic Fruits & Veggies Taste Better than produce grown with synthetic pesticides
• Healthier for us (Food Grown with less harmful chemicals)
• Environmentally-friendly (Less Chemicals running off into our water system)
• There are more options available today in the supermarkets
• Many traditional processed snacks contain too much sugar, fat and have little nutritional quality

Organic Snacks: Going Organic When You Snack--Gives reason why to eat organic snacks and the options available for snacks these days

Healthy Snacks for Kids--Good suggestions for general snack ideas

Baking Powder Substitutions

Tonight I was making various baking mixes for when we go camping, and I ran out of Baking Powder. Did you know that chocolate and baking soda together is a suitable substitution? I never knew that before!

Here is a list of substitutions for Baking Powder (1 tsp)-

1/4 tsp baking soda with one of the following:

• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• at least 1/2 cup sour milk, buttermilk or yogurt
• 1/2 cup applesauce, mashed bananas or tart jam
• 1/2 tblsp vinegar or lemon juice plus sweet milk to make 1/2 cup
• 1/4-1/2 cup molasses
• 2 oz chocolate

Flavored Infused Water

The other night I found my Bodum French Press and was super excited! I cut up an orange and put it in the bottom of the press and filled the rest with water. The next day I had my own orange flavored water. Last night I had a few strawberries and put those in the bottom. Today I am going to drink some strawberry flavored water. For more ideas check out Easy Homemade Infusions!

What healthy beverages do you enjoy?

Food, Inc. and King Corn

Check out these really eye-opening food documentaries.  Don't be surprised if you look at grocery store food differently after.

Food, Inc



King Corn

Child Targeted Advertising

Here is an interesting article, How Shrek and Dora are Making Kids Fat, that claims that child-targeted advertising which uses cartoon characters is making our kids choose foods that are not exactly the most healthy for them. I know that my kids would choose a product with Dora on the front if they had a choice. Interestingly, even when we go through the health food sections my kids want us to get the cereals with the cute animals on them, but then they are let down when they don't like the cereal. What do you think of these marketing tactics?