• February’s menu offers 9 heart healthy meals

While we always offer healthy choices on our menu, our food development team has put together a menu full of 9 heart healthy meals this month!  With tasty and nutritious dishes such as Rosemary and Mustard Grilled Sirloin Steaks and Moroccan Chicken with Couscous, we’re making it easy to fight heart disease one delicious bite at a time!

• National Wear Red Day - 10% of Ready Made sales donated to the American Heart Association

In honor of National Wear Red Day on February 5th, we’re swapping our orange for red (you should, too!), and donating 10% of all Ready Made sales to the American Heart Association.  A healthy dinner and a donation - what a perfect way to show your support for the fight against heart disease!

Our blog is also a great resource to learn more about heart health.  Just click “Heart Health” or “Healthy Living” under “Topics We Discuss” for past posts, including tips from an AHA nutritionist, heartfelt stories from our staff members affected by the disease and much, much more!  One of my particular favorites is titled “To Your Health” - a post from our food “guru,”, Holly, about how Let’s Dish! makes it easier to live a healthy lifestyle. Cheers to eating right, and to a happy, healthy heart!

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By definition, organic foods exclude the use of chemical pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, and growth hormones in animal feed.  There are several standards for organic claims on a food label.  A food that is 100% organic must have 100% organic ingredients.  A food with the USDA organic seal must have at least 95% organic ingredients.  Lastly, a food that states it is “made with organic ingredients” must use at least 70% organic ingredients in the product.

While there have been several claims that eating organic foods can prevent or even cure disease, the bottom line is that no one knows the true differences in nutrients among the products, but it is not likely to be enough to significantly impact health.  There are no studies showing that organic foods can cure disease or that they have any impact on the severity and length of disease.

It is also important to note that organic packaged food items are not necessarily healthier than conventional items.  For example, organic cookies still contain the same amount of sugar and fat as non-organic cookies, or organic potato chips still contain the same amount of salt and fat as conventional potato chips.  So, whether an item states organic or not, we still have to make smart food choices.

Eating smart, as I’ve said before, should involve diet that is filled with variety and packed with lean proteins and lots of fruits and veggies. It also means being smart about the portion sizes you consume – everything is OK in moderation!

Let’s Dish! is a great resource in eating smart.  They offer a variety of meals (including chicken, pork, fish, beef and vegetarian options) that have built-in portion control.  They use fresh ingredients and offer the option to customize all the meals to fit any dietary restrictions.

Being heart healthy is about eating smart – and Let’s Dish! makes it delicious, too!

Catherine Joiner
Clinical Cardiac Dietitian

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•    Plan your meals out for the week and make a list.  Try to use several recipes that have similar ingredients.  For   example, if you have a recipe that uses 2 tbsp of chopped red onion, choose another recipe that uses the rest of that red onion.  This helps eliminates waste.

•    Use the grocery store circular or go to their website for the latest sales and coupons when you are planning your menus.  Don’t forget that most stores will price match.

•    Go meatless 1-2 times per week.  Beans and peas are a great source of protein and cost less than buying meat.  Use them in tacos, chili, or with rice.  You can replace meat with beans in many recipes.

•    Try store brands.  Many of the store brands are just as good as the name brands and much cheaper.  Give them a try and make note of whether they do or do not hold up to the quality of the name brand products.

•    Skip high calorie snack foods like chips, cookies, microwave popcorn, etc.  Instead, buy seasonal fruit or canned fruit packed in its own juice, popcorn kernels that you pop on the stove yourself, or make your own dried fruit and nut mix.  Be creative with healthy snacks and don’t rely on the manufacturers to do it for you.

•    Buy frozen vegetables (without the sauces!).  Frozen vegetables are just as good as fresh vegetables.  They have the same nutrient value and don’t go bad as quickly as fresh vegetables.

•    Check the unit prices for items you buy in bulk or family size.  Make sure the bigger package is really saving you money.

•    Look on the top and bottom shelves to compare prices.  Stores often put the most expensive items at eye level.

•    Avoid last minute purchases at the checkout line.  Your favorite stars will still be there next week and you don’t really need that candy bar!

Catherine Joiner
Cardiac Clinical Dietitian

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Even if we’re eating the right foods, we can still eat too much.  Lack of portion control is a BIG reason our nation is getting chubbier.  Portion sizes are much smaller than you might think.  Here are some common portions:

1 slice of bread
½ cup cooked pasta or rice
1 small piece of fruit (tennis ball or baseball size)
¾ cup fruit juice
1 cup cut up melon or berries
1 cup milk or yogurt
3 ounces of meat (think the size of a deck of cards)

The fact is many of our servings are well above the portion sizes.  We have become accustomed to these larger servings and often feel “ripped-off” if we don’t get the portion expected in a restaurant.  We can make a huge difference in controlling our weight and improving our health by utilizing portion control.  If you don’t have it in you to measure everything out, use some simpler methods:

·        The plate method can ensure you have the correct proportions on your plate by filling half your plate with vegetables (this does not include corn and potatoes!), a quarter of your plate with starch (insert corn and potatoes here), and a quarter of your plate with meat.  Add a fruit and milk serving on the side to complete your meal and include all of the food groups. 

·        I know you have heard it before, but when you go out, split your meal with a friend or put half in a box before you start eating.  Use the other half for leftovers.  This saves you from overeating and helps pad your wallet.

·        Keep an eye on your portion sizes by using everyday items.  1 cup is about the size of a baseball; cut it in half for a half cup.  The tip of your thumb to the first knuckle is about the size of a teaspoon.  Multiply that by 3 for a tablespoon.  6 dice is the amount of 1.5 ounces of cheese, and 3 ounces of meat is the size of a deck of cards.

 To give you an idea of how much our portions have changed and how much it has affected our waistline, take the Portion Distortion quizzes from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute at http://hp2010.nhlbihin.net/portion/index.htm

Catherine Joiner
Cardiac Clinical Dietitian

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10 Minutes to a Healthier You

We all know that exercise paired with a healthy diet are the two keys to maintaining a healthy weight, reducing risk for disease, and living an overall healthy lifestyle. But, sometimes it just takes too long! Here are some tips to help kick-start or reshape your healthy lifestyle – and they only take about 10 minutes of your day!

• Utilize Elizabeth’s 5-Cent Solution, then bring back “Dance Party USA” with your kids while dinner is in the oven. This is one of my favorites! Put their favorite music on and jump and dance around with them. It’s a great time with your kids and you get some movement added into your day.

• You can easily increase your exercise by completing chores around your house. Make mopping or sweeping an aerobic activity by putting a little more energy into it. It’s the perfect time of year to shovel the snow! Dance while you dust. You may look a little goofy, but it gets your heart rate up!

• Walk around the block when you go out to get the mail or take the dog for an extra walk.

• Set your alarm 10 minutes earlier so you can sit down for a quick breakfast. Your mom wasn’t lying when she said breakfast is the most important meal of the day. All studies on successful weight loss and maintenance report that breakfast was a key factor in the participants’ success. You can also use this time to put together a quick lunch to take with you if you work. It can be anything from making a sandwich and throwing in some yogurt and fruit to grabbing a container of leftovers from the night before.

• Take an extra 10 minutes when you are putting your groceries away to go ahead and portion out your snacks if they aren’t already packaged separately. For example, wash and portion out your grapes into baggies, portion out dried fruits and nuts for a quick trail mix, wash and cut your raw veggies. This provides easy “grab and go” snacks when you are in a hurry to get out the door and cuts back on the last minute stops at fast food or convenience stores.

• After dinner, portion out your leftovers in containers that you can take to work or use the next day for lunch. You are more likely to eat your leftovers if you don’t have to pull out three different containers to make one plate. A common practice in my house is freezing leftover meals in individual containers, as if they are my personal, homemade frozen dinners. This way, if I can’t finish my leftovers before they go bad (or I just get tired of them!), I can pull them out a week or two later to take for lunch or eat for dinner if I’m working late.

• If you aren’t eating Let’s Dish! meals, plan out your meals ahead of time and make a grocery list. Making a home-cooked meal only takes about 10 minutes longer than cooking a prepackaged dinner. Steaming vegetables, grilling or broiling lean meat, tossing a salad together, or even making a quick stir-fry take less time than cooking a frozen pizza.

No matter how busy you are, you can work healthy practices into your schedule that make a big difference in your overall health. Small changes add up and all it takes is 10 minutes of your day!

Catherine Joiner
Cardiac Clinical Dietician

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