My Foodie Call

Dial in to your health.
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  • Category: Random stuff

    • Make friends with…Kefir

      Posted at 8:52 pm by myfoodiecall
      Mar 2nd

      It is said that having a healthy gut is the key to your overall health.  As far as I’m concerned, having a smooth running digestive system is the recipe for conquering the world. Put a little hop in your step and read on:

      Most Americans buy yogurt that looks like this:

      or this:

      While people mean well and are trying to make good choices, this is the wrong one. Numerous companies make claims that they can rev up digestion in a couple of weeks, but seriously, this is advertising at it’s best, or worst, depending on how you look at it. While those yogurts above are “ok” and are obviously better than scarfing a bag of Doritos, there is still a better option. For optimal digestion AND a super punch of immunity boosting benefits:

      Make friends with, Kefir.

      If you are unaware of what kefir is, my best description is that it is a cultured milk product. Similar to those yogurt drinks on the market, except way healthier. Kefir contains many naturally occurring probiotics. Probiotics? Translation: good for you bacteria.

      Why probiotics? In a nutshell, these live, active cultures help to build your immune system. Oh, forgot to mention that it has loads of protein, calcium, and is 99% lactose free. Good news for my 8 year old. He is lactose intolerant and at times needs a little gut reconstruction. Thank you, kefir.

      This is what you are shopping for.

      The fine print: It has a pretty…well, plain taste to the person that is used to eating sugary yogurts as their go-to snack.

      Here is what you can do.

      Kefir/Pomegranate Concoction

      Use a 10-12 oz glass. Shake your kefir well. It can be lumpy. Don’t be afraid, just shake that thang. Fill your glass a little more than halfway with kefir. Fill the rest with straight pomegranate juice. Insert straw. Mix. Drink.

      Applaud yourself for trying something new.

      About the ingredients:

      • Buy plain kefir. All of the others have loads of added sugar. You are trying to cut that out, right?
      • Use 100% Pomegranate juice. This is naturally occurring sugar. Different.

      Buy this:

      Remember, straight pomegranate. No other fruity concoction, because you never know the “fruit juice ratios”. You may get stuck with mostly grape juice.

      or this:

      If you have access to a Trader Joe’s, they make an affordable pomegranate as well.

      Make kefir and pomegranate a staple in your fridge.

      Your belly with thank you.

      Posted in Small changes | Tagged kefir, pomegranate
    • Salad dressing: Here is the deal.

      Posted at 9:00 pm by myfoodiecall
      Feb 13th

      No Ranch, Blue Cheese or Caesar. Stick with dressing you can see through. While I realize this sounds like a death sentence, this can be done over time. I used to be the ranch queen, but like anything, you need to sort of ween yourself off of these artery cloggers. Eventually you will crave balsamic. I swear. Kind of like swapping out white bread for whole wheat. It takes time and re-programming your taste buds.

      Here’s how:

      Ranch, Blue Cheese, CAESAR dressing….bad news! I had to put Caesar in caps because so many people order Caesar salads at restaurants thinking they are doing something good for their body. Unfortunately, they are fat laden (saturated…the bad stuff) and are all too hard on the heart. Not to mention full of high fructose corn syrup. HFCS translation= sugar.

      Caesar Salad: looks good, but BAD NEWS... and don't even get me started on the croutons.

      image from Kraft

      What are you supposed to use?

      In short: anything “oil based”.

      If I had to give awards to salad toppers, here is how they would rank.

      1st place: oil and vinegar. Top choice for sure. Especially in restaurants because you never know what brand dressings they are serving up. Oil and vinegar are always top choice. Bonus: Vinegar has amazing health properties and can help speed up metabolism. All around winner.

      2nd place : some sort of vinaigrette dressing. Balsamic vinaigrette, anyone?

      3rd place: something with an oil base. i.e. Italian. One caveat: many are soybean oil based. Try to get one with olive oil.

      The worst dressing choices:

      • Anything creamy or all of those”white dressings”

      If you can’t give up your dressing:

      If you seriously just can’t ditch the ranch, cut your serving size with the options below! Maybe start with 3:1? Small changes, right?

      Start by reducing the amount of ranch that you use and then load your salad with any (or all) of these add ons.

      LEMONS: Add a few fresh squeezed lemons for a bonus dose of vitamin C.

      Do not buy one. Buy a bag. You'll be forced to use them.

      SALSA: Pile it on your salad for flavor, and to cut out the amount of creamy dressing needed.

      I think most people like a "wet" salad. Salsa definitely helps balance the salad's crunch/wet ratio.

      EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL: Switch out half of your favorite dressing with this heart healthy oil. Most dressings are made of soybean oil. Not good.

      Make sure it is "extra virgin". Less processed, always better.

      image from Star Fine Foods

      *****GOAL FOR NEXT YEAR. Eliminate store-bought salad dressing. Yes, it can be done. *****

      Posted in Random stuff | Tagged dressing, salad
    • Super easy hummus

      Posted at 2:44 pm by myfoodiecall
      Feb 10th

      Just finished licking the spatula from this fantasticly easy hummus. With hummus this fast there is really no reason to not make this healthy dip. This recipe is from Dr. Oz. If you do not DVR him, you really should start. Like tomorrow. He is all about nutrition for disease prevention. I want him as a BFF.

      Super easy hummus

      • 1 can garbanzo beans (keep the liquid! you will need it)
      • 1/2 cup tahini *tahini:  sesame seeds (in paste form) That’s it, a fancy name for sesame seeds! Look for it in the health food section of your grocer, right next to the peanut butter. Tahini rocks because it boasts a whopping 30% of your daily calcium requirements in just one serving. Buy it. Try it.
      • 1/3 cup olive oil
      • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
      • 1 clove garlic
      • salt and pepper to taste
      • paprika to taste

      Place all of your ingredients in a food processor (except for the liquid from the garbanzo beans). Process, and stop to scrape down periodically. Slowly add bean liquid until it reaches your desired consistency.

       

      Posted in Random stuff | Tagged dip
    Newer posts →
    • You missed a call?

      • Make friends with…Bean Pasta.
      • Whole Wheat Flax ‘N Apple Muffins
      • Small changes…Eat what’s in season.
      • Whole Wheat Broccoli Mac N Cheese
      • What I pack my kid.
    • Categories

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      • What I pack my kid.
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    dial in to your health

  • The Stuff

    • Breakfast
    • Desserts
    • Make friends with…
    • Meatless mealtime
    • Pancake Day
    • Random stuff
    • Salads, Soups, and Sides
    • Small changes
    • Snacks
    • What I pack my kid.
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