Health tip help

First, look at labels and see what a serving size is on all the things that you are eating. This will help a lot.

Get baby carrots, and cut up broccoli and celery for kids to eat for snacks. (I do let my kids eat these right before dinner and count it as part of their vegi servings!) These can work for snacks for you too. Keep fruit on hand to snack on.

It is important for food to taste good. Not you, or your family, will want to eat healthy stuff if it doesn't taste good. Fortunately stuff like mayo, sour cream and butter when used with the correct servicing size, will not be unhealthy. (If your kids are young, they need some fat for healthy brain development.) A little bit of ranch dressing will make it taste good, help you absorb the nutrients and as long as you stick to a serving size or smaller, not cost a lot of calories. Learn how to use spices in what you cook.

Drink lots of water. Before you eat, drink a full glass of water. Eat slowly. Don't eat in front of the TV as you are likely to eat more. (Not sure that you do this, lots of people do though.) Eat at the table with your kids. Use a measuring cup to measure out your portions, if kids are young, they should be getting a smaller serving than you.

Don't shop with kids if you can help it. Make a list, don't get stuff that is not on the list unless it is a vegetable or fruit. Bring a bottle of water to drink while you shop - it will help keep you full and may make you need to pee so that you get done faster!

Good fats - good fats come from things you can identify, like avocado, coconut, butter, sour cream. (When used in the recommended serving sizes.) Bad fats are the names you can't tell what they are: Crisco, margarine, trans stuff, hydroxy.whatever they are.

Calories: Calories are what you discussed in Chemistry in high school. They are the amount of energy in any given product, be it wood or sugar. Some things we can't digest, like wood or grass. But things like meat, wheat, sugar, honey, all have different amounts of calories, or energy. Our bodies like the calories that convert to sugar - they are easy to digest. (These are foods like rice, cereal, bread, honey, sugar, etc. that are listed as carb foods.)

Carbohydrates: are foods that the body converts into sugars to fuel the body. Protein foods are low or have none. Green vegetables usually have none. Starchy vegetables, like potatoes, carrots, other root crops, tend to have more. Grains, like wheat, oatmeal, buckwheat, have lots per serving. Fruits tend to have a fair number. Grains (bread products, pasta, rice) and pure sugars (honey, brown sugar, maple syrup) convert in the body quickly and easily to sugar. When the body has more of this sugar in the blood than it can use, it makes it into fat. Which is why you will gain weight if you eat bear claws all the time.

Our bodies are also capable using fat as energy - that is why we store it so well on our bodies, so we can save it for a "rainy day." Unfortunately, our modern diets say we don't have many rainy days any more. When you diet, you basically want your body to start using the stored body fat as energy, so that you use it up. If you eat lots of carbs (the bread, rice, pasta, bear claws) your body wants to make that into fat, so many people find that restricting these foods helps them to loose the weight faster as their body burns more fat because it doesn't have the sugar carbs available.

Boys tend to have better metabolism. *kitten*... I agree, it's highly annoying to see someone eat their weight in butter, and have it all slide off, lol.

Ok, Recipe time!

I see someone just mentioned quinoa, and I just had it for dinner last night, so I'm still excited about how delicious it is! I've never had it until like a couple years ago, and now it's my absolute favorite grain!

Here is my quinoa recipe. It is highly modifiable - You can add different veggies, or stir in bits of chicken, or whatever you want.

Cook quinoa according to package instructions, but toss in a bullion cube for every cup or so of dry quinoa.
Meanwhile, slice up some red onions into thin strips, drain a can or chickpeas, and chop up shiitake mushrooms. Sautee the mushrooms in a little bit of olive oil. Mix up a basic vinaigrette - a little olive oil, a little lemon juice, fresh crushed garlic, salt, pepper. Making your own dressing lets you control how much oil goes into it! Ok, so when the quinoa is done and still hot, toss in the sauteed mushrooms, chickpeas, sliced red onions, and fresh baby spinach. Pour in the vinaigrette, mix, and serve!

This pairs very well with a roast chicken. But, if you are in a hurry, like I am usually, I tend to opt for chicken breasts or tenders. They are like a lovely blank canvass, that you can color with any spices you wish!

Here is what I do with chicken to speed up cooking on busy days:

I buy those huge trays of boneless, skinless chicken breasts or chicken tenders, and I throw them into a large bowl with some marinade. I have 3 basic marinades I use most often:
Lemon juice, olive oil, salt, red pepper flakes, garlic (and sometimes rosemary or dijon mustard). This is my most basic one.
Soy sauce, peanut oil, crushed fresh ginger, and garlic. This one goes great with asian themed dishes!
Lime juice, cilantro, red onion, garlic, olive oil. This is my tex-mex meal choice

I let the chicken marinade in the fridge for at least a few hours, or over night, and then I divvy it up into freezer ziplock bags. Be sure you get some marinade into the bag with it, and then squeeze out the air - and freeze. In the morning take out the chicken you plan to use, and let it defrost until dinner. To cook, I fry it in a heavy non-stick skillet misted with olive oil. If the chicken breast is very thick, fry on both sides till browning nicely, and then butterfly it, and fry the inside side of it. In addition to imparting flavor, the marinade works much like brining meat does, and makes it retain moisture during cooking.