Go Arizona Cardinals!

I'm going to be on Arizona Midday today making a couple of healthy dips you can take to your Super B...oops, I mean Big Game parties - here they are!

Arizona Cardinal’s Red Pepper Hummus

1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
1 (4 ounce) jar roasted red peppers
3 Tbs lemon juice
1 ½ Tbs tahini
1 clove garlic, minced
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp salt

Puree all ingredients in an electric blender or food processor until smooth and fluffy. Serve immediately, or store in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Pittsburgh Steeler’s Black Bean and Mango Salsa

1 can (15 ounce) black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups mango, diced
1 cup red bell pepper, diced
6 green onions, thinly sliced
¼ cup cilantro leaves, chopped
¼ cup lime juice
1 Tbs olive oil
Hot sauce to taste

Combine ingredients in a bowl. Toss and serve.

As if!

Right out of college, I had a job doing nutrition counseling. I was so green, I really felt like I was making it up as I went along. But, one client stuck with me, I think because we were both surprised that I actually helped her a little.

She wanted to eat better, but hated to go to the grocery store. Now, there are a lot of different ways to eat healthy, but if you won't step foot into the grocery store, you've put up a wall that is just too high to climb. You simply have to go to the grocery store, or be lucky enough to have someone do it for you. I tried to problem solve with her, only to be met with "yeah, buts...". Finally, I said "Here's what I want you to do - for the next couple of weeks, I want you to pretend you don't hate going to the grocery store, and then go". It was a weird suggestion, but it was weird enough that she didn't have a "yeah, but" to give me.

The next time I saw her she told me that it worked - she pretended not to hate the grocery store, went grocery shopping, and found out that it wasn't that bad.

A lot of the healthy habits that we would like to have are sabotaged by our own "stinkin' thinkin". How many times have I grumbled about hating to exercise - making it feel like I'm walking through thick mud just to get my bum on that treadmill - only to remember that it's really not that bad, and actually feels good once it's done.

Next time you find yourself hating something that's actually good for you, try this trick - act as if you don't hate it. Teachers use this technique when they assign students a debate topic that is opposite of what the student really believes. When you are forced to act as if you believe something, you actually end up closer to believing it.

2009 - Bring it on!

There are a ton of New Year's Resolution advice articles out there, but I liked this one, mainly because it is great advice from some of my fellow RD colleagues. If they had asked me to pipe in for this particular article, here is what I would have added:

For 2009, commit to yourself to really pay attention to your own hunger cues. If you aren't hungry, wait until you are to begin eating. If you are hungry, go ahead and eat! And, in the middle of eating, check in with yourself - are you pleasantly full yet? Time to stop eating.

While you are at it, approach food and eating with joy only - if that piece of chocolate fudge is truly calling your name, sit down and really enjoy it! Don't force yourself to eat things you don't like, but do approach food with curiosity and openness - be willing to try, and open to learning about new foods and new ways to prepare them.

Happy New Year!

You mean pancakes don't have to be microwaved?

In my son's first grade class, they do journaling on topics given by the teacher. Once every few months, they send home the journal and the parents get to read all the interesting things that come out of their 6-year-old's mind. This is how I found out that I am slacking in the pancake department. In one of my son's journal entries, he bragged that he can make pancakes - just put them in the microwave! hmmmm....



So, I decided to actually "make" pancakes once in awhile instead of pulling them out of the freezer. I found a mix that I really like - the Krusteaz Wheat and Honey mix worked out nicely - it's first ingredient is whole wheat flour, meaning that it qualifies as a whole grain serving, and it doesn't contain trans-fats. Also, it gives about 4 g of fiber per serving - the best part is that you only have to add water - adding eggs and water is too much for this slacker mom in the morning. OK, I added a couple chocolate chips to make it pass the kid test, but they gobbled them up!

Alice Waters rocks!

Don't know who Alice Waters is? In the foodie world, she's a rock star - she is the owner/operator of a restaurant called Chez Panisse, which serves locally grown, organic food in a rotating menu (she started this way back in 1971, before it was cool, so to speak); I think the other thing that I really love about Ms. Waters is her creation of the "edible schoolyard".

Check out this article on how she's trying to bring the Slow Food movement into the White House with the new president's "kitchen cabinet" - I'm not sure if President-elect Obama realizes exactly what he's being offered here - Alice Waters and Ruth Reichl are offering to be on his personal chef advisory board - it's a little like Eddie Van Halen and Stevie Ray Vaughan teaming up and offering to teach a new start-up band a little something about the guitar.

Jump on it, Obama!!

Get off the diet rollercoaster, Oprah!

There's a lot of talk in the media lately about Oprah - it seems she has gained her weight back. She's done some interviews about it that I've half listened to - in one, she reveals that she "fell off her diet", and as an example, found herself devouring a pound of cookies in bed. This is how I know she is still firmly in the diet mentality. People who have broken out of (or never fell into) the diet mentality don't eat a whole pound of cookies in bed at one time, because they simply don't want to. Cookies are just - cookies. Yummy, yes; magical, no.

I think it's interesting that Oprah's best friend, Gayle King, seems to live with the non-diet approach. She loves food, and will even go on trips for the show in search of the country's best pizza or cake. But, she doesn't seem to feel guilty about it, and she also doesn't seem to struggle with her weight. This doesn't mean that she never works out or never tries to eat healthy - living the non-diet approach does not mean you don't try to take care of yourself. But, sometimes taking care of yourself means going in search of the world's best pizza.

Lentils that a 3-year old will eat

Have I mentioned that my 3-year old is one of the pickiest eaters I have met? I actually suspect that he may be a supertaster, but I'll write about that later. I do want to share an easy, yummy, and healthy recipe that he has actually eaten more than once. I got it out of one of my favorite cookbooks, which I bought on a whim while at a car wash:

Hamburger and Lentil soup

Throw all of this into a crockpot and cook it all day - yum!

1 pound lean hamburger, chopped onions, diced carrots, 2 cups (or one package) lentils, 1 quart tomato juice, 2 to 3 cups water, minced garlic, 1/2 tsp marjoram, 1 Tbsp brown sugar