I wanted to learn more about my new find before I just started eating it like an apple. Good thing I read to WASH AND PEEL before consuming!! ha.  I discovered that jicama is actually a legume, sometimes referred to as a Yam bean or Mexican turnip.  They can grow up to 50 pounds!! Wow. That would be something to chop through!

Upon sampling, the inside is similar to a water chestnut in texture and is pretty appetizing raw; sweet and crunchy. It is used in lots of Mexican cuisine; salsas, salads, slaws, and veggie platters. So how does it  measure up nutritionally you ask??

Jicama is fat free, low in sodium, and a good source of Vitamin C and potassium. One cup has only 46 calories, 6 grams of fiber, and just 11 grams of carbohydrate!!

Passing the taste test, I concocted a jicama bean salad. I basically just added a bunch of veggies I had in the fridge, nothing super special, so feel free to experiment as you wish! You could even try slicing them up and serving as veggie sticks! Beats boring old celery and carrots and will really surprise your guests at your next party!! I made a wrap with the bean mix for lunch today and it was phenomenal!! The more the salad marinates, the better it gets!!

Question: What exotic fruits or vegetables have you tried lately?? Any recommendations?

Great for a salad topper or a veggie wrap mix!

Jicama Bean Salad on Baby Greens with Honey Lemon Dressing

• 1 (15 oz) can of black beans (kidney beans work okay too…what I had on hand!)
• 1 fairly large carrot, shredded
• 1/3 cup diced red pepper
• 1/3 cup diced green pepper
• 1 large mushroom, diced
• 1 tomato, seeded and diced
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup diced jicama
• 3/4 cup frozen corn, thawed, cooked, cooled

Combine all ingredients in a medium sized storage bowl. Substitute ingredients as you see fit!!

Dressing (I just eyeballed these measurements so just experiment)

• 2-4 T olive oil
• 2 T Honey
• 3-4 T Lemon Juice OR Lime Juice
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1-2 T fresh basil or parsley chopped

Whisk all together and pour over salad…refrigerate for 1-2 hours to let the salad marinate. Scoop over a bed of spinach greens. Enjoy!!

What’s Going On Around The Blogosphere??

• Check out Beth’s site to be entered to win FREE KIND bars! All you have to do is leave a comment!! So simple!
• Check out my interview with Jessica from Dairy Free Betty!!
• Need some help with your health blog? Check out Matt’s site called Health Blog Helper!

All nuts are considered a beneficial and healthy addition to the everyday diet. Each variety is loaded with healthy mono and polyunsaturated fats, vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, fiber, and filling protein. Packed with all these nutrients, it’s no wonder that nuts have been shown to provide tons of amazing health benefits such as lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol and thus, decreasing your risk for heart disease!

The only problem with these tiny bits of pleasure? They are addicting and that can be troublesome to your waistline. (Why does there always have to be a catch??) Ya know that old chip commercial slogan, “Betcha can’t eat just one?” With nuts it’s, “Betcha can’t eat just 50!”  

Now, before you swear off nuts forever with the alarmingly high calorie count, please know that you CAN and SHOULD relish over a few little nuts a day in order to reap the benefits and still satisfy your taste buds. Just substitute a 100-200 calorie portion of nuts for one of your other daily snacks. Then, put the container or bag away and promise those nuts you will be back tomorrow!

Below are MY top 5 picks for the healthiest nuts!

Almonds

  One serving of almonds consists of 24 nuts, 160 calories, 14 grams of fat (0 grams saturated fat!!), 6 grams of protein, and 3 grams of filling fiber! Besides all the heart healthy benefits, almonds are also beneficial to bone health because they contain nutrients such as calcium and magnesium.

Walnuts

One serving of walnuts consists of 14 halves (1 oz) 185 calories, 18 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 4 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 4 g protein.  As one of the highest plant sources of protein, walnuts also contain more omega 3 fats than other nut varieties. Walnuts have been shown to not only play a crucial role in lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol, but also in reducing levels of CRP (C-reactive protein, which is an independent marker of heart disease) by improving the elasticity of your blood vessels and reducing plaque accumulation. Eat a couple of these nuts after a meal high in saturated fat and you just might save your arteries!! (I always make Brandon crunch on some walnuts after he eats french fries).

In March 2004 the FDA even approved the following health claim:

“Supportive but not conclusive research shows that eating 1.5 oz of walnuts per day, as part of a low saturated fat and low cholesterol diet, and not resulting in increased caloric intake may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.”

Pistachios

One serving consists of 49 kernels, 157 calories, 13 g Fat (2 g sat), 8 g carbohydrate, 3 g Fiber, 6 g protein. Not only are they loaded with 30 vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, pistachios also contain a high amount of filling fiber! Their tiny shell packaging also makes binging a lot more labor intensive!

Pecans

One serving consists of 19 halves (1 oz), 20 g fat (2 g saturated), 4 g carbohydrate, 3 g Fiber, 3 g Protein. Pecans contain more antioxidants than any other variety of nuts. This is great news when it comes to fighting diseases such as cancer, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s!

Brazil Nuts

One serving consists of 8 nuts (1 oz), 190 calories, 19 g Fat (4 grams saturated), 3 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 4 g protein. I had to add Brazil nuts to my list because they are a favorite! Brazil nuts are high in a nutrient called Selenium, which works with proteins in the body to form antioxidants that help neutralize free radicals (free radicals = damaging to the body)! 

There you have it! My Top 5!! What are YOUR favorite types of nuts??

If you haven’t already submitted a recipe for the Magic Bullet Giveaway! Don’t forget, you only have until Friday!!

And, if you are going through withdrawal like me, read about how Jin from LOST keeps his svelt figure by reading some of the interview with Daniel Dae Kim (Jin) on The Actor’s Diet. Thanks for sharing this post with us Cristin!

I am a HUGE fan of banana bread. I really do not think a person can go wrong when they whip up this tasty treat. I just made a banana nut bread recipe last weekend but it did not fill my banana nut bread void. The last recipe I tried had a strong apple flavor because I substituted applesauce for the fat and it basically overwhelmed the banana flavor. In this recipe, all the flavors were right. The bread was moist enough to melt in your mouth and contained bursts of banana-y goodness ( descriptive, I know ha).
 PLEASE try this recipe today! You will not regret it! I must give credit to the blog of Joy the Baker. She constructed this recipe from a Weight Watchers version and I have had the urge to try it for several weeks now. I added walnuts to her original version because I love the crunch and addition of healthy fats to the recipe. The walnuts do add a few additional calories and grams of fat but it’s healthy fat that your heart will thank you for!  So, whether you want to add a slice to you breakfast in the morning paired with a glass of milk and some fruit OR savor a slice as an afternoon snack, you simply cannot go wrong.

     The aroma from the oven is devine, so be prepared to have your mouth watering when this bread leaves the oven. I’m surprised I had the willpower to cut and photograph without trying a slice first

      Trying my best to capture the crispy crust and moist center. Yum yum yum…

 Oatmeal Banana Nut Bread
Adapted from JoytheBaker
1 1/4 c. All-Purpose Flour
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 tsp canola oil
1 large egg, beaten
2 medium egg whites, beaten
4 medium overripe bananas
1 c. uncooked Old Fashioned Oats
1/3 c. chopped walnuts
Preheat the oven 350 degrees and spray 1 loaf pan with cooking spray. Combine all dry ingredients including the oats and cinnamon. Mash bananas in a separate bowl, adding the oil and 1 whole egg. Mix thoroughly. Add the wet ingredients into the dry flour mixture. Mix well, forms a thick batter. With a hand mixer, beat the egg whites until medium stiff peaks form. Fold the whites into the batter in three separate additions. Fold in chopped walnuts last. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake 45-50 mins. Allow to cool 5 minutes and then flip out onto a wire rack.
Nutritional information per slice (10 slices per loaf): 221 calories, 5.4 grams fat (0.8 grams saturated fat), 44.8 grams carbs, 3.5 g fiber, 5.3 grams protein

   I decided to create a post about choosing a healthy cereal because it is something that seems to stump a lot of shoppers. Since cereal is typically a daily staple, it can play a crucial role in boosting your diet with lots of nutrition to start your day or do just the opposite and add lots of unwanted fat and sugar. With all the thousands of cereals to choose from…how to possibly narrow it down? Here’s my shopper’s guide:

1. Don’t fall for gimmicks
    Just because a health claim is made on the front of the box, does not necessarily mean you should fall for it. If you are drawn to a cereal because of recent health claims, dig a little further before you make a purchase. For instance, if the claim says “made with whole grains,” does that mean that whole grain falls somewhere amongst the masses of other ingredients OR is it the first ingredient? Ingredients are listed in order (highest amount to lowest amount), the closer whole grain is to the first ingredient, the more whole grains make up the bulk of the cereal. The same goes for SUGAR!

2. Fiber
    If  the cereal has less than 5 grams of fiber, nix it. By now, we all seem to know how important fiber is to our daily diet for health prevention.  Starting your day with 5 plus grams of fiber is going to bring you that much closer to meeting the recommended 25-45 grams per day! Another benefit is that it will also  keep you fuller for longer!!

3. Sugar
    A good rule of thumb when it comes to sugar is looking for a 4:1 ratio of carbohydrates to sugars. Typically, sugars content should not exceed 25% of the total calories, per the U.S Government’s Dietary Reference Intake recommendations. So for instance, if a cereal contains 28 grams of carbohydrates and 7 grams of sugar, the carbohydrate to sugar ratio is 4:1 and an adequate amount per serving. If you want to calculate the percentage of calories from sugar in a cereal:
1. Multiply the grams of sugar per serving by 4 because there are 4 calories in each gram of sugar.
2. Divide this number (calories from sugar) by the total number of calories per serving.
3. Multiply this number by 100 to get the percentage of calories from sugar.
Some healthy cereals go a little bit over the “25% calories from sugar” guideline, especially if natural sugars come from ingredients like dried fruits.  So if the percentage of calories from sugar is still at or below 30%, the first ingredient is a whole grain, there are 5 grams of fiber per serving, and the cereal tastes good, it may still be a good choice overall.
4. Ingredients:
    WHOLE GRAIN WHOLE GRAIN WHOLE GRAIN!! Make sure that “WHOLE” oat, wheat, grain, etc is listed as the first ingredient in your cereals! Breakfast is the perfect time of day to squeeze in a serving of whole grains! Make the most out of your breakfast cereal!

5. High Fructose Corn Syrup
   This is an ingredient of controversy. I personally try to stay away from any and all forms of it. I encourage you to do some research and form your own opinion .  Just try not to base your opinion on the Corn Refiners Association commercials. I do not keep products with it in my cupboards and any cereal that contains it does not go in my cart!
A small article about High Fructose Corn Syrup from the Mayo Clinic.

A few suggested cereals:

Quaker Oatmeal Squares :
Brandon LOVES these, as do I!! We buy in bulk when it is on sale! 19% sugars, 5 grams fiber, WHOLE oat flour is the first ingredient!

Quaker High Fiber Oatmeal :
17% sugar, tastes better than the lower sugar variety, has more fiber for satiety then the lower sugar OR weight control varieties

Shredded Wheat

Raisin Bran :
40% calories from sugar but most of the sugar is natural from the raisins

Most Kashi Brands: Heart to Heart, Shredded Wheat, GoLean Crunch

Plain Old Fashioned Oats:
Dressed up with ingredients at home!! I love Oatmeal for Breakfast!

Plain/Multigrain Cheerios:
Most of the other varieties are higher in sugar

Kashi GoodFriends Cinna-Raisin:
30% calories from sugars but again, contains raisins and 8 grams of fiber per serving

Don’t see your favorite cereal? Let me know what it is and I would be happy to help you evaluate if you’re making a good selection!!

Milk and Cookies Anyone?

If I am hungry, I am going to eat. It does not matter if it’s 6am or 11:30pm, my body knows it needs some kind of sustenance.  The type of snacks I eat throughout the day can vary. I allot ~250 “discretionary calories” per day.  “Discretionary calories” can be used for any type of treat you wish to consume.  This could mean that piece of cake you ate at work, a handful of french fries at lunch, or some ice cream with your husband or friends in the evening. Once I exceed my 250 calorie max, I try to avoid any other treats and focus my remaining calories to meet the nutritional needs of my body.  So if I get hungry for a late night snack, whether I grab a cookie or some  fruit and yogurt depends on if I have already used up my discretionary calories for the day.
The reason late night snacks have gotten a bad rap and are associated with weight gain is because the typical late night snack consists of high calorie foods that are NOT used in a discretionary way. If you must have your daily dose of chocolate in the evening, you have to factor in those calories with the other foods you have consumed throughout the day. If you have already met your energy needs and are continuing to munch, you will gain weight no matter when you eat or what foods you are consuming. In the end, it all comes down to the caloric intake your body requires on a daily basis. If you exceed what your body is expending, weight gain is inevitable.  I suggest visiting sites like SparkPeople.com or TheDailyPlate.com to determine what your daily calorie needs should be.

SOME OTHER TIPS AND ADVICE:

• Hungry or just thirsty? I want to address the fact that sometimes your stomach may be growling in the evening because you are actually thirsty.  Try sipping on a glass of water with lemon or a mug of decaffeinated tea. If the growling goes away, then your body may have just been dehydrated!!
• Allot for your nighttime snack. I am not telling you to give up your evening snack; if you are hungry, then you should listen to your body. However, make wise choices based on the other foods you have eaten earlier in the day. If you ate a huge slice of cheesecake at 3pm, you probably do not need a bowl of ice cream as a late night snack. Also, since you are essentially “winding down” in the evening, excessive amounts of calories  are not necessary because you are not as active. Limit your snacking  to ~100-200 calories and this will help with weight management.
• When is the best time to eat at night? Although the time of day you are eating does not contribute to weight gain, try to avoid consuming foods 1-2 hours before it is time for bed.  This way you are not overwhelming your digestive tract and interrupting it’s ability to repair itself while sleeping. You will wake up feeling so much more refreshed!
• Wise snacks: Good choices for late night snacks are something healthy and light enough to be digested before bedtime. Pick a source of complex carbohydrates (whole grains, fruits and vegetables, low-fat milk or yogurt) and protein that is around 100-200 calories. Try to avoid foods with any type of caffeine content, as this can disturb your slumber.

Healthy Snack Ideas:

• 2 oz of albacore tuna mixed with nonfat, plain Greek yogurt, celery, carrot spread on 1-3 whole grain crackers
• Guacamole dip served with an assortment of veggies
• 1 slice of whole grain bread, spread with 1 T natural almond or peanut butter
• 2 whole or multigrain crackers with reduced fat cheddar cheese slices
• 1 small apple diced and spread with 1-2 tsp of almond butter, sprinkle with a few raisins if desired!
• ~6-8 oz of organic, low-fat yogurt with 1/2 cup of berries and topped with 2 tsp flaxseed
• 1 whole wheat English muffin topped with 2 T of hummus and 2 green leaf lettuce leaves
• 1 hard boiled egg with 1/4 cup of whole grain cereal
• 1/2 cup of whole grain cereal, 1/2 cup for berries, and 1/2 cup of skim milk