By Judy Scott Welden, B.A.Sc, Nutritionist

With summer just around the corner, is weight loss on your mind? I know the 5-pound drop is on my list. In fact, I just got a brand-spanking new weight loss and activity journal to track foods and activity. 

We’re all working on this one so we have to put together a plan that works. Remember, you have to change what you are doing.  After all, keep doing what you are doing and as Dr Phil says, “and how’s that workin’ for you”?

Simple small changes you can help you lose weight

Remember to break any overwhelming task into a “one-bite-at-a-time” approach and keep at it – this is the real secret to change.

• Shop smarter. Stick to the outside aisles of the store and fill your grocery cart two-thirds full of these foods. Think about it – this is where most foods in Canada’s Food Guide are found. Include fat-free dairy, fruits, vegetables, seafood, chicken and leaner cuts of meat. Don’t forget to hit the beans, peas, lentils and rice aisle as well!
• Cut the fat. Prepare foods using lower-fat cooking methods like baking meats on a rack, broiling, grilling, roasting or steaming instead of frying. When sautéing, use broth or add just 1 tablespoon of oil for every four people. This only adds a conservative 4 grams of fat per person.
• Choose good quality protein. Always pick leaner choices like white breast meat of poultry (without skin); pork loin; lean beef; legumes such as black beans, lentils or split peas; and seafood.
• Make fibre your really, really good friend. Good sources include fruits; vegetables; whole grains such as barley, oatmeal, whole-wheat products and brown rice; and legumes. Aim for lots and lots of servings of fruits and vegetables each day.
• Tune into emotions and hunger cues. Learn to feed hunger and try to really pay  attention to whether you’re eating to relax, to cure boredom or to overcome depression. If you are, instead take a walk or call a friend (and take a walk together).
• Make exercise fun. Try a new fitness class, walking, bike riding, swimming, running, hiking, softball, etc. and aim to work out aerobically for at least an hour a day, five or six days a week. Exercise should make you feel good!  Remember you will never finish exercising and say, “I shouldn’t have done that. “ No matter what, you will always feel great afterwards. One fun exercise I have started fitting in to my schedule recently is line dancing.  Who knew? I Just love it and after two hours you do break into a bit of a sweat. It’s much better than sitting on the couch and I love the music.

So instead of the old ‘I will just starve myself until I drop 5 pounds’ approach, try to fill up on fewer calories. Choose what I call the good foods. These are foods that are minimally processed, high in fibre and low in fat and sugar. 

This really is the bottom line and these simple small changes are guaranteed to produce a slightly smaller bottom, too.. 

Fun, Food, Friends, Family and Fibre are all you really need.

Until next time, keep well,

Judy Foodie  (Judy Scott Welden)

Today’s blog comes from Valerie Sirois Husky who is currently filling a temporary position at CFC.  Valerie has a truly up-beat personality which she probably gets from eating a healthy lunch like this one.

We all know that numerous factors contribute to your energy levels, including your sleep habits, your physical wellness – but nothing works without a proper diet.

Being 20-something and trying to pay off debts, find the perfect job, juggle work and social life, having  a well balanced diet isn’t always a piece of cake. The brown bag lunch is an obvious solution, especially if you want to have enough money left over to be able to afford a night on the town on the weekend.

I’ll assume that, like most of us, when the alarm sounds you’re on auto pilot – or still half into that awesome dream you were so rudely awakened from, and that lunch is low on your priority list. To avoid giving into lunchtime temptation and falling for that ‘cheap and unhealthy fast food’ thing, or indulging in that ‘super-expensive but organically perfect and decadent’ thing, I try to make a healthy dish that will last me a few days. This way, I have time to concentrate on the other important stuff in my life.

I’ll call this one the Chicken Mustard Salad:

• 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (because who has time to do all that work)
• 1 large red pepper (any pepper really, but red just adds a nice element of color to the mix)
• 4 celery sticks
• ½ red onion
• ½ fresh jalapeno pepper (adds a nice zing to the mix, if you like that kind of thing)
• 6 Tbsp yellow mustard
• 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 Tbsp of your favorite creamy salad dressing ( I have a weak spot for Kraft’s 3 Cheese Salad Dressing)

1. Start by cutting the chicken into thin layers and pan frying it with a little bit of water. Once cooked cube into smaller pieces.
2. Dice the vegetables and finely chop the jalapeno and onion, so each bite isn’t overpowered by these potent elements.
3. Mix in the mustards and the dressing, pepper to taste.

Voilà! You have a well-balanced lunch that will last you for 2 or 3 days. One less thing you have to worry about.

Judy Scott Welden is a consumer advocate, nutritionist, and media spokesperson. She is passionate about bringing nutritious foods to Canadian families. 

Judy will be writing regular blogs for Chickenfeeds, with a focus on nutrition, healthy eating and more.

We’re glad to welcome Judy to our blogging crew and we took the opportunity to ask her a few questions – by way of introduction to you!

1. What is the most rewarding part of your job?

I have spent 20 years in the nutrition business doing demonstrations and television shows, spreading the word about healthy food choices, talking to consumers about their challenges and sharing their wonderful discoveries in the kitchen for feeding their own families. My career has been fantastic, as I’ve travelled around, meeting all kinds of interesting families.

2. What advice would you give to someone thinking of becoming a Nutritionist?

Times have changed – 20 years ago people didn’t talk about antioxidants and no one had heard of the Internet – but it’s always been about finding tasty recipes to share. Today, I try not to look shocked when someone says they don’t know how to peel a potato. Kids don’t take home economics classes anymore and many don’t belong to their local 4H communities,  so they’re missing those skills.

Society forgot that cooking is a life skill but I think we’re coming back to that. Like balancing a chequebook or budgeting money, knowledge about nutrition and food preparation is a skill everybody should have. Remember we don’t eat nutrients, we eat food and eating food together is pleasurable.

3. If you could only make chicken in two ways for the rest of your life, how would you do it?

If I could only eat two recipes for the rest of my life , one would have to be my husband’s baked chicken with his special crumb coating and seasonings baked in the toaster oven and served with bruschetta or salsa. I could eat it twice a week and I probably do – I love it when my husband cooks. For my other choice it would be BBQ chicken; baked or barbecued, I’m happy.

So, I tried something new last night. I got home from a massive grocery shopping expedition yesterday afternoon, having been caught in as equally a massive downpour in the process.  After putting the groceries away – which was fraught with a tired baby getting mad because he couldn’t hang out in front of the fridge, rearranging everything – the last thing I felt like doing was cooking dinner. However, having just spent a pretty penny (why do all the expensive things run out at the same time?), I couldn’t justify an impassioned “but honey, I’m so tired, let’s order out”.  So, I had to suck it up.

Fresh chicken breasts are among the staples in the weekly shopping trip (either via a fresh, whole bird or on sale as their own entities) – so I used my imagination and impatience and came up with something that both my husband and I enjoyed very much.  I like to experiment with them.  I usually make my own salsas, my own sauces, etc., but this wasn’t happening.  I would do some work, but certainly not all of it.

Rummaging through my spices, I made a rub of these ingredients:

• 3 Tbs. black pepper
• 2 Tbs. chili powder
• 2 Tbs. dried oregano
• 1 Tbs. dried cilantro leaves
• 1 ½  tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• ½ tsp. ginger

I dredged three chicken breasts through the mix. Then, I crushed (well, pulverized, really) a pile of tortilla chips and rolled the breasts around in them, coating each one.

Then, I sprayed cooking spray on a non-stick pan (even with non-stick ovenware, I find that this step can save valuable time in the cleanup).  I laid out the breasts, poured some delicious white corn and black bean salsa all over them.  Then, as a finishing touch, I sprinkled the top with grated, extra-old cheddar.

I popped the roasting pan into the oven (350°) for about 40 minutes (checked with a meat thermometer to be sure - 165°F/74°C right on the button!).

I served it with corn-on-the-cob (which was pretty good for this time of year, though certainly not as good as in August).

It was a success – like a Tex-Mex Chicken Parmesan, really and I think I’ll keep that rub recipe around for a while.  It would work really well in burritos, fajitas and more!

Total preparation time was about 10 minutes – about the same amount of time it would take to make boxed mac ‘n’ cheese.

My husband and I were talking about how excited we are about BBQ season.  We love BBQ season, although I will not retire my slow cooker just yet, because I love it too.

So in conversation I asked hubby what his first pick would be for our first BBQ meal of the season, and was I ever surprised!  Hubby, who rarely ever cooks, told me that he would love to grill up some bone-in chicken breasts served with my tasty grilled vegetable salad.  You get the part where I’m surprised?  He’s a guy....I was expecting to hear something like ribs, burgers or chicken wings.  Nope, he went with the healthier option.

When I asked him why he went with bone-in chicken breasts he told me that when grilled, the bone adds more flavour to the chicken breast.  So that’s what I’ll be making but I’ll make sure to marinade the chicken first using only the marinade portion of this recipe.

For my salad, it’s so easy to make and it is delicious and super healthy.

• 2 lrg. Portobello mushrooms, thickly sliced into strips
• 1 red pepper, thickly sliced into strips
• 1 yellow pepper, thickly sliced into strips
• 2 zucchini, thickly sliced lengthwise
• 1 bunch (8 – 10) asparagus, tough ends removed
• 1 red onion, peeled and sliced into rings
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 small clove of garlic, pressed
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/2 teaspoondried oregano
• 5 Tbs pextra-virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Note: You can add salt if you wish but I find the Feta cheese is salty enough.

Instructions:

1. Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
2. Place the sliced vegetables in a bowl and toss with ¼ olive oil.  Place on a BBQ grill basket
3. Place basket onto grill and cook vegetables, turning basket occasionally, until lightly charred and tender, about 6-8 minutes per side.
4. Remove basket from grill and allow vegetables to cool slightly.
5. In the meantime, combine the extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, oregano, garlic and black pepper in a jar or container with a tight fitting lid and shake the ingredients together until well blended.
6. Place vegetables into a large bowl and toss with the dressing.
7. Arrange onto serving platter and top with crumbled feta cheese.

You can pretty much use whichever vegetables you like and create your own version of this salad.  You can use crumbled goat’s cheese if you prefer and freshly chopped herbs like mint, thyme, fresh basil, etc.  If you don’t like garlic omit it.  Want more dressing, make more dressing or you can always buy your favourite oil based salad dressing from your local grocery store.  Just have fun with it; it’s all about the BBQ experience and enjoying a good meal either indoors but preferably outdoors while soaking up some vitamin D.

Dear Readers,

The other day I was looking through my pantry, other food cupboards, freezer and fridge, trying to take stock of what I have before making a grocery list.  I’m embarrassed to admit this right now, but I may have a problem!

As I slowly took inventory, a question came to mind “am I a food hoarder?”  No, it’s just not possible, not me!  But it may be true.

The thing is that I’ve always been the type of person who takes care of others, so maybe my food hoarding is in hopes that I may have to save the world someday or something equally ridiculous.  I can’t blame it on having kids, because I don’t, so there’s no need to have so much food on hand.  Maybe I’m subconsciously worried that WWIII may happen tomorrow? 

Whatever it is, I started to feel guilty thinking about all the people who would be more than happy to get their hands on at least one package of pasta while I sat there staring at the several unopened  packages that have probably been there for several months now.  Packages of pasta that are unopened as I snub them with my “I’m so sick of spiral pasta right now” attitude.  Wow, I realized that I needed to take immediate control of this situation.

So this is what I’ve done and it’s been working wonders for me.  Every week while preparing my grocery list, I force myself to use the ingredients I have (mostly canned, dry or frozen) until most of them have been used up. 

Here’s the list I made myself for my next grocery run:

• Can of chick peas – will buy some cherry tomatoes, fresh basil and mini Bocconcini to make a healthy salad.
• Can of pasta sauce – pick up chicken breasts and make chicken parmesan and eat with much-snubbed spiral pasta.
• Cans of tuna – bring to work with bread and make sandwiches; will save money by not buying lunches.
• Rice – use veggies that are in the freezer, pick up some chicken thighs and make a healthy stir fry.
• Whole wheat flour – use it!  That’s why you bought a bread machine remember?  Just pick up some flax seeds to make it even healthier.
• Large bag of Bruschetta crackers – will put in blender to make crumbs and use for chicken parmesan.
• Also, pick up ground chicken and use crumbs to make meatloaf.

Not bad eh?  So if you are a food hoarder like me, and you also go through your kitchen looking at various items and then asking yourself questions like “why did I buy this again?” then it’s time to take charge!  I hope this has inspired you.

Regards,

The hoping-to-be-ex-food-hoarder

Last weekend I was totally craving a good hearty sandwich, like a club or a loaded sub. You know the kind of sandwich I’m talking about; the kind that sticks to your ribs.  So instead of buying a prepared sandwich, I picked up a few ingredients at the grocery store and came up with this truly kick butt sandwich!

In fact I made two versions of it; this one, which is the truly awesome version was made for my husband and for myself I created a lower calorie, toned-down version which was also very tasty.

Ingredients for hubby’s version of sandwich:

2 slices of Bavarian style whole grain sandwich bread, toasted (I like the more rustic style, Bavarian whole grain breads because the slices are longer than your standard loaf of bread which means more surface to pile yummy ingredients onto).

3 bacon strips, cooked (or chicken bacon)

1 rotisserie chicken, breast part only

Old cheddar cheese, sliced (don’t go with medium or mild unless you want to; the old cheddar works soooo well with all the flavours in this recipe)

2 Tbsp fresh salsa

2 Tbsp light mayonnaise

½ avocado

Alfalfa sprouts, generous amount

Instructions:

1. Cook bacon.  I find the best way to cook bacon is to line a baking sheet with foil and cook it in a 375 degree oven, turning it once it starts to look almost cooked.  Cook a few minutes longer or until perfectly crisp.  Place on a plate lined with paper towel to absorb the fat.  I also add a sheet of paper towel over the bacon and press down to absorb any fat that may be floating on top of the bacon.
2. Cut 1 chicken breast from the rotisserie chicken into good bite sized pieces. 
3. Cut the cheddar cheese into slices and set aside.  (The amount of cheese you use is up to you).
4. Toast the bread.  In the meantime mix equal parts salsa and mayonnaise (I used 2 Tbsp of each but you can cut that down to taste)
5. Spread the salsa/mayo sauce on both slices of bread, making sure to cover as much of the surface as possible. 
6. Cut avocado in half and scoop the contents of one half into a small bowl and mush it up just slightly (you just want to break it up slightly), then spread it onto one side of the sandwich bread.
7. Add sliced cheddar cheese, bacon, chicken and alfalfa sprouts.
8. Cut sandwich in half and enjoy!

My Sandwich:

Same as above but I only used 1 Tbsp salsa and 1 Tbsp mayonnaise.

No bacon!  I used sliced tomatoes instead.  I made a much healthier version for myself but after taking a bite out of my husband’s sandwich, I would have preferred indulging a little........

I don’t know about you, but making lunches for my kids feels like a chore much of the time. Especially since, when it comes to school lunches, they are pickier about what they eat than when they’re at home. That’s probably because when they are home, they don’t have any choice.

Let’s see, my kids are 11 and 13 now and have been going to school since they were 5, so that means that I have made over 2000 lunches for the kids so far. Still, since I’m not at school I can’t make sure they eat their lunch, so I’m always looking for healthy, quick lunch ideas that they will actually eat. I’ve made some great things that tasted really good (and looked great too, if I do say so myself), only to come home at the end of the day and find most of it is still in their containers. How frustrating is that?

Well, here’s something I did that had much happier results:  With 7 commonly-found ingredients, I was able to make a super delicious healthy salad for lunch. The ingredients included a whole roasted chicken, some Chinese noodles, a bag of broccoli coleslaw (without dressing), a little garlic, some all-natural Teriyaki sauce and low-sodium chicken broth.

Recipe:

1 roasted chicken from the grocery store

1 bag re-heatable Chinese noodles (or you could cook rice noodles or even spaghetti noodles)

1 bag broccoli coleslaw mix (no dressing)

1/3 cup all natural Teriyaki sauce (it doesn’t have to be all natural but try to pick one lower in sodium)

1/3 cup low-sodium chicken broth

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1Tbsp olive oil

1.      Remove chicken from bones and discard skin. Cut or shred chicken into bite size pieces. Add to large bowl.

2.      Heat Chinese noodles in boiling water as per package directions. Add to bowl.

3.      Heat olive oil in skillet and add garlic. Sauté for a minute.

4.      Add broccoli coleslaw mix and sauté another minute.

5.      Add teryiyaki sauce and chicken broth.

6.      Add broccoli mixture to bowl, toss and serve (or place in fridge).

I packed them some of this salad in a square reusable container. It’s the size that would fit a regular sandwich. With that, they each get another one of these containers with fresh fruit. My daughter’s favourite is fresh strawberries and blueberries and my son prefers sliced red delicious a. I never add sugar.

I also pack them 2 pure, unsweetened orange juice single serving tetra packs. I put two of the tetra packs in the fridge and 2 in the freezer so they become mini ice packs in their lunch bag the next day. They thaw in time for them to drink them later in the day.

Yes, they also get a little treat (c’mon, I’m a mom!). I put 2 of their favourite cookies in a re-sealable bag. With this they get a fork and a napkin. I make up their lunches the night before and so I just have to put it all in their bags in the morning. 

I’m always looking for more ideas for lunch though, as I’m sure many of you are, so if you have any, please share. Lunch makers have to stick together!

We recently held a baby shower for my sister- in-law. My “job” was to bring the cake. I wanted to do something really cute so decided on cupcakes instead as they are a trendier option right now. Also there’s no cutting or mess.

Cupcakes come in a neat little package meant for just one person, which makes everyone feel special, and they don’t require utensils or even a plate; a napkin will suffice. This is probably why they are so popular - not to mention the cute decorations and variety of flavours.

At first,  I was going to purchase the cupcakes at one of Ottawa’s trendy cupcake stores. There are a handful of cupcake stores here in Ottawa now and several more options for online ordering and delivery. I visited a couple of the stores. Yes, I read the reviews before I went and also checked out any blogs about these establishments. They all got great reviews, so one day after work, I decided to visit a couple to choose who would make the wonderful sweet treasures for the shower.

These cupcakes are expensive and I needed 4 dozen, so we’re not talking low budget here. It would have cost me well over $100 for 48 cupcakes. Before spending that much money on cupcakes I wanted to make sure they tasted as good as everyone said.

I am super picky, I admit it. I love to cook and bake and, if I do say so myself,  I’m good at it. Still, baking 48 cupcakes was going to be very time consuming and I wasn’t super thrilled with the idea. After reading the websites, the descriptions of countless cupcakes and how only the “best” ingredients are used, my boyfriend and I set out to try them.

I’m sad to report that I was disappointed. I’m not saying they weren’t good but they didn’t have that homemade taste to them and I didn’t feel they warranted the price. I’m not sure why they didn’t taste homemade, they should have. Many of them were too sweet, or the chocolate and vanilla flavours weren’t as outstanding as I thought they should be for the money.

So instead of buying the cupcakes I decided to make them. I found out that my sister in law’s favourite cake is an Oreo ice cream cake. An Oreo ice cream cake wasn’t practical so I searched for an Oreo cupcake recipe and, to my surprised, I found many recipes. After reading through them, I picked one that I thought would give me what I was looking for.

I found this recipe on Annie’s Eats. You’ll notice at the bottom of the recipe on her blog that they were adapted from another blogger, Dinner with Danielle.

These cupcakes are moist, dense and not too sweet at all. The frosting is very light, made mostly of whipping cream. I used mini Oreo cookies to decorate with instead of halves and I also used extra large eggs. I doubled the recipe to make 48 cupcakes, which was no problem at all.

I wanted to present the cupcakes on a pretty, tiered platter.  After all, presentation is important, too. While I was shopping for the platter, I came across some paper cupcake liners that were thicker than standard ones, meaning I didn’t have to use a cupcake/muffin baking tray. With these, I could just put them on a cookie sheet, which meant I could bake all 48 cupcakes at the same time! Plus they were mostly pink which was perfect, as my sister-in-law is having a girl.

Of course, any party isn’t complete without appetizers too – and given the guest list, she definitely had to have at least one appetizer with chicken.

For this, my other sister-in-law made a sort of chicken salad spread to put on crackers. It was made with a whole roasting chicken, finely chopped, without the skin. In a bowl, she combined this with a couple of tablespoons of mayonnaise, about a ¼ tsp of sea salt, about the same amount of pepper and some finely chopped celery, red pepper, green onion and parsley. It’s really like any chicken salad mixture for sandwiches, except we had it on crackers – a nice change. I think it would also be pretty served on celery sticks.

Cupcakes and chicken salad – nice...

Oreo Cupcakes
Yield: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:
For the cake:
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
12 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs (I used extra large)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature

For the frosting:
1 3/4 cups plus 2 tbsp. whipping cream
3 tbsp. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
6 tbsp. Oreo cookie crumbs

For garnish:
24 Oreo cookie halves ( I used mini Oreo’s instead)

Directions:
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line two cupcake pans with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth.  Gradually add the brown sugar and continue beating until fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  Beat in the vanilla.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.   Mix just until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated, being careful not to over mix.

Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.  Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature.

To prepare the frosting, in the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract.  Beat on medium-high speed until the whipped cream holds stiff peaks.  Gently fold in the cookie crumbs with a spatula.

Scoop the mixture into a pastry bag and pipe frosting decoratively on top of the cupcakes.  Garnish with Oreo cookie halves.

Enjoy!

It’s easy to think that since we represent chicken farmers , we’re going to push people to consume more protein. Well, yes and no. Let me explain:

We don’t want people eating more protein than they need.  True, we might like that protein choice to be chicken instead of something else, but the truth is, we all need variety in our diets. So, as much as we’d like it, we don’t expect you to eat chicken 24/7... well, maybe half of that time. Kidding...

I was just reading the April 2011 copy of the Canadian version of Nutrition Action Health Letter and the cover story is about how important both exercise and protein are, especially for an older population. If you have a keen interest in your health, this is a great little publication to get and read. It is well balanced and is based on science, not the latest trends.

This article talks about how when we age, starting in our late 30’s; we can lose about a 1/4 of a pound of muscle every year. The only way to stop or slow down this process is by doing weight or resistance training.

We’ve talked about the importance of exercise before in CFC’s nutrition fact sheets and elsewhere on our site and blogs.  We can’t stress enough how much this will help you. It will improve muscle strength, bone density, speed, balance, energy and your mental alertness, to name a few!

If you are already including weight or resistance training as part of your regular routine, then you might already know what I am talking about.  If, though, you are thinking about starting to get fit, the other important factor is making sure you get enough protein. Protein is extremely important; our bodies need it to build and repair tissue.

How much we need depends on our age and level of activity. The recommended daily allowance for protein is .36 grams per pound of body weight. This means a 126 lb person needs just over 45 grams of protein per day. Many professionals involved in health, diet or fitness believe that this number is too low – especially as we age and if we routinely weight train or if we are very active.

Also, as we age, our bodies don’t metabolize protein as well. The right amount of protein for the aging and those who are very active or weight train is likely .50 grams per pound of body weight. So that same 126 lb personactually needs 63 grams of protein per day.

It seems that our bodies can only use a certain amount of protein at a time, about 30 grams, which is about what’s in a 100 gram serving of lean, white chicken meat. So if you are eating the bulk of your protein needs at dinner, say in a ½ chicken dinner, your body is only able to use about 30 grams of that protein. The rest is either stored as fat or we burn it off.

So, it is very important to split up your protein intake throughout the day and consume it at breakfast, lunch, dinner and in snacks. This is even more important if you are elderly, because you might not even be absorbing 30 grams of protein from your meal.

If you weight train, protein is a very important element for building and repairing muscle.  Preferably within an hour of working out, you need to eat some kind of protein. This can be as easy as making sure you have a chicken breast when you get home, or a smoothie.

I go to the gym very regularly and many of the guys talk about protein shakes and protein bars. While a smoothie with added protein is an important addition to your diet, it’s important to not have something with too much fat or sugar. Make your own protein smoothie at home with lots of fresh or frozen unsweetened fruit, soy or low fat milk, soy or whey protein (unsweetened and non-flavoured). Just put all the ingredients in a blender and voila, you have a smoothie. 

For our bodies to synthesize protein, we need all 20 amino acids. Our bodies can make 11 of the 20 amino acids necessary for protein synthesis, but we can’t make the other 9, which means that we must get them from other sources of protein. This is why eating protein is so important. Animal proteins are the best sources as they contain all 9 that we can’t produce.  

Further study of the role of amino acids has shown that, leucine, one of the 9 essential amino acids plays the biggest role in our body’s ability to build protein.  The highest complete source, with all 9 amino acids and the highest content of leucine is, hands down , a cooked, skinless chicken breast – at only 150 calories and 31 g of protein plus 2.4 g of leucine!

Beef, pork, fish and shellfish, tofu and quinoa (a seed) also have all 9 essential amino acids. The amount of protein and leucine are lower though.  I’m not picking on tofu – in fact, I do eat it occasionally. Just remember, you have to eat about twice as much tofu to get the same amount of protein and leucine as what’s in a chicken breast. As for quinoa you would have to eat 5 times the amount of quinoa as chicken breast.

There’s some food for thought – or protein for thought!

You can subscribe to Nutrition Action Health Letter at www.cspinet.org/canada.

I don’t know about yours, but my dog seems to view spring as an opportunity to find and eat discarded food that had been left on the ground before our beautiful Canadian landscape was coated in snow.

This means that when we go for a walk in the spring, Biscuit is sniffing out anything that has been sitting under snow for months.

What possesses a dog, one who eats great food at home, to want to eat something that is rotting? Just a couple of weeks ago, my innocent-looking cocker spaniel found what I’m sure he thought was treasure in the neighbourhood. I’m not sure what it was and as quick as I am, I never saw him pick it up. To be fair, I usually always notice these things, and I’m vigilant about keeping an eye on what he is sniffing on the ground. I’ve often had to pry his mouth open and remove something disgusting.

Anyway, this one night he did get into something and we woke up to find biscuit’s...well, ‘leavings’... all over the second floor landing, his preferred location to be sick.

Of course, I wasn’t thrilled. He is well trained and this isn’t something he normally does. Unfortunately, the situation continued when we took him outside for his morning walk and my significant other went home at lunch to check on him and found that there’d been more mess and that Biscuit just wasn’t well. Oh boy! That’s when we realize that he must have gotten into something.

I know my dog. Even though his stomach was a mess, he still had lots of energy, wanted to play and was still interested in food, so he wasn’t “take-him-to-the-vet” sick. He had, more than likely, eaten something horribly disgusting and was sick because of it. 

Of course, fate being what it is, this happens on a Friday and we’re going to Mont Tremblant for the weekend to go skiing. Biscuit usually comes with us on these weekends. He definitely is coming this trip!  We try to take him out every hour hoping it will pass, but by the next morning he’s still the same.

So off in the car I go to the pharmacy in St. Jovite to purchase Imodium, probiotics and, just in case, Pepto Bismol. I get back and cut one Imodium in half, based on his size (1mg per 20 lbs in tablet form every 8 hours).  We leave him plenty of fresh water so he doesn’t dehydrate and take his food away. We won’t feed him until that night when we’re back.

It’s funny, but dogs are pretty similar to people. When humans are sick, we eat bland food. Well, that’s really the best for a dog too. After skiing, we stopped at the local grocery store and bought chicken legs, rice and a can of pure pumpkin. I boiled the chicken and rice together. After it was cooked and cooled, I put an even mix of the chicken and rice into his bowl and mixed it up with the pumpkin. Pumpkin is very high in fibre and helps regulate the digestive system. With that I added the contents of one capsule of probiotic. I mixed it all, he ate it all up and he loved it!

We continued with that for about a week, just to be on the safe side. I finally stopped giving him Imodium and started Biscuit on his regular food again. We were a little worried that he wouldn’t want to eat his food after enjoying a week of “people food”, but that wasn’t the case. He gobbled up his own food and has been okay since.

So we’re back to watching him like a hawk and making sure he doesn’t get into anything. You would think that they would learn and not look for scraps again. But no, the other night I was walking him and he found an old piece of stale bread and put it in his mouth. Luckily I saw him do it and was able to take it out.

If it’s not the kids you have to watch, it’s the dog.

So, I had my yearly physical a week or so ago.  Complete with blood tests, EKGs, etc. 

I’m happy to report that all turned out very well – the only little thing is that my iron levels are a little low.  It may not be sufficient enough to have to take an iron supplement – which is good, because I don’t like the effect those have on me (mind you, there are ways to mitigate that which I was too lazy to try).

So, I asked the doctor if I could try it through my diet.  He agreed to let me give it a shot – we’ll test again in a few months.

So, I consulted with a few dietitians and my doctor.  Apparently, it’s relatively easy to increase your iron intake by eating foods that are richer in iron. 

To be responsible, I should say that this is my research, for me only – if you suspect you have an iron deficiency, get yourself and your levels checked.  This isn’t medical advice.

Some really good sources of iron-rich foods include beef, pork, lamb, chicken and organ meat, like liver. In the case of chicken, the darker meat is richer in iron than white meat.  You can also get iron from fish and seafood, like clams, oysters, shrimp and tuna.

On the veggie side, green leafy vegetables, nuts, dried fruit and iron-fortified foods like cereals and grains can boost your iron intake as well.  If you’re going to eat these, though, try to consume more vitamin C, as it can help you absorb more of the iron in your foods.  Coffee and tea can contribute to problems absorbing iron, too – so lay off the caffeine for a while.

I was surprised to learn the “whys” of iron importance – we need iron in our blood to make hemoglobin, which is what makes red blood cells red.  Hemoglobin carries oxygen to your organs and muscles.  Sometimes your brain’s neurotransmitters need iron, too, to help carry information from one nerve cell to the next.

So, the main advice I’m getting is to be smart with food choices – vary the iron-rich foods with foods that are higher in vitamin C.  So, this week’s menu includes:

• Whole wheat pasta with spaghetti sauce made with ground chicken
• Chicken roll ups with spinach and broccoli
• Cereal with raisins
• Beef with lentils

I’ll keep you posted!

I love asparagus for two reasons; 1) because it’s a sign that Spring is here and; 2) it’s just so darn tasty and chock-full of vitamins and nutrients.

It contains vitamins A, B6, C, E and K, Calcium, Magnesium and Potassium, just to name a few, plus it is high in dietary fibre.  There are various types of asparagus but you’ll most commonly find green or white asparagus at your local grocery store.  The green variety is my personal favourite because I find it more flavourful and a lot easier to cook with.

When shopping for this tasty veggie, you should select bundles that are rich green in color, firm and have tightly closed tips.  Once you bring them home, simply trim a little off the un-tipped end and stand them up in a glass or jar containing about inch or so of cold water. Cover with a plastic bag (I like to use a clear plastic bad like a medium sized zip-lock) and keep in the refrigerator for about 2 days.  If the tips become mushy (Yuck), throw them out.

There are many great ways to cook asparagus, which you can find some really tasty recipes on-line.  Speaking of tasty asparagus recipes, check out these chicken and asparagus recipes from www.chicken.ca.

Asparagus, Pistachio and Chicken Stir-fry over Wehani Rice chicken.ca/recipes/view/asparagus-pistachio-and-chicken-stir-fry-over-wehani-rice/

Asparagus & Chicken Soup with Asiago Cheese and Lemon chicken.ca/recipes/view/asparagus--chicken-soup-with-asiago-cheese-and-lemon/

Tip:using seasonal vegetables is the best way to go; not only are they easily accessible but you really benefit from their true flavours. 

Leave us a comment and let us know how you cook up your asparagus!