10 Make-it-Quick Family Meals

Do YOU have any idea what are you serving for dinner tonight? Any ideas on lunch or brunch this coming weekend? It can be a very discouraging task to come up with meal ideas each and every day, especially if you have kids who are picky eaters. Here are ten quick ideas for family meals. Why not reduce the stress and try one tonight?

1.    Spaghetti – It’s so easy to throw some noodles in a pot of boiling water and simmer some spaghetti sauce. Spaghetti sauce is also very nutritious and versatile: ground beef or turkey, diced vegetables and a variety of herbs and seasonings and you can make it all your own. For a low calorie meal, use spaghetti squash in place of traditional noodles.

2.    Tacos – If your family happens to likes Mexican food, whip up a batch of tacos for dinner. You can easily mix up a batch, providing hard and/or soft shells for variety. For family menu planning, slice and dice your preferred toppings ahead of time so you can just pull them out on taco night. If you’re into bulk cooking, it’s easy to cook up a large batch of taco meat and spices, freezing it for a later date.

3.    Macaroni and cheese – What kid doesn’t like this as a dinner main dish? Spice it up with diced tomatoes, crumbled turkey or chicken bacon, or hamburger.

4.    Pizza – and I don’t mean store-bought or delivery. Keep several prepared pizza crusts on hand, or make your own with whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose. On pizza night, let the entire family choose which of their favorite toppings they want on their pizza. Preparation time is fun, and because of this you can get supper in the oven in no time flat. Wait about 20 minutes to cook and you’re ready to eat!

5.    Skewers – you can create tasty chicken, seafood or beef kebabs quickly. Skewer the meat and your favorite vegetables, placing them in a sealed container until meal day. This is the benefit of meal planning – getting prep work done early. Cook your tasty kebabs on the bbq, or use a grill pan indoors.

6.    Hot dogs – You can find turkey or chicken wieners (check and make sure it ‘real’ or ’100%’ poultry) in most grocery stores, and there are even some ‘light’ varieties. Boil or grill them, add your favorite toppings and you’re done! Thank you Oscar Mayer!

7.    Chef salad – Salads are always quick to fix but they usually lack something in the taste department. With a chef salad you get your portion of protein from lean chicken or turkey. The taste comes from the add-ins: turkey or chicken bacon crumbles parmesan cheese, tomatoes, shredded cheese, black beans and cucumbers. Use other ingredients that your family likes.

8.    Grilled cheese sandwich – Dinner doesn’t need to be a four-course meal. For a new taste, add a few slices of a juicy tomato or side this with soup.

9.    Tortilla wraps – Create quick and yummy sandwiches with your favorite flavor of tortilla. Glaze with mustard or low calorie mayonnaise. Add crunchy veggies and diced chicken, fish or beef.

10.    Leftover creations– Use leftovers to create salads, casseroles, sandwiches and soups. Don’t let anything go to waste if it can be used for new meals.

I hope these ideas help spark some of your own creative ones which will not only save you time and money, but allow you to enjoy time with your family as well.

Fitness, Dieting and Weight Loss

There’s a lot of general information about fitness, dieting and weight loss that people, especially women, aren’t aware of. Being that my goal is to help get everyone healthy and active, I thought I would take some time today to go over some important facts that you may not be aware of.

When it comes to dieting, some of the statistics are pretty scary. First of all, for those who are frequent dieters, they are putting themselves in the line of fire for long term health issues. The worst part is, most women who follow the fad diets, or are frequent dieters don’t even need to lose weight. The yo-yo dieting practiced by many women is frequently a short-term solution. They don’t make permanent changes – they diet until they lose those few pounds they want to lose, and then start to eat as they were before.

The ‘dieting’ industry is now a massive, global industry. From books to plans, courses to pre-packaged servings, this billion dollar industry is aiming their sales pitches to an audience of 90% women.

Women often will diet due to social pressures, or because of preconceived notions of how they should look. Fortunately, as Muslim women this is not an issue for us as much as it is for the rest of the population.

In comparative testing, women are twice as likely as men to develop eating disorders are a result of yo-yo dieting and social pressures. And on any given day in the United States, half of the female population (women and girls alike) are on some sort of diet – usually some fad that will claim they will lose X number of pounds in 4 weeks guaranteed.

For women with a BMI (body mass index) over 28, their chances of developing serious illnesses such as diabetes, fertility issues, polycystic ovarian syndrome, hypertension, heart disease or a very serious combination of any of these.

Obese and overweight women are more likely to receive unclear or suspicious results from breast screening and mammograms.

Weight problems and obesity levels are higher among women of minority groups. Those who are not Caucasian Americans have a much higher risk of obesity – that includes us ladies!!

Exercise, Fitness and Working on Your Weight

Did you know that more than 60% of the US population of women don’t get the required amount of physical exercise recommended daily? For a simple matter of 30 minutes a day, many women are walking into a trap they don’t need to. And one in four women aren’t active at all!

Some examples of the bonuses of regular exercise are as follows:

- Reducing the risk of Type 2 diabetes

- Lowering blood pressure and bad cholesterol

- Exercise reduces the amount of stress put on your heart

- Women who exercise regularly are less likely to suffer severe symptoms of PMS and/or menopause

- Walking and riding a bike are just two of the simple ways you can increase the density of your bones

- Those suffering from back or other pain can find relief in exercise, instead of having to resort to medication for their chronic pain

We’ve discussed before how you can exercise without having to go to the gym. While that’s always the best motivator, it’s understandable that you may not be able to attend every day. For those days that you can’t make it, try these exercises at home or outdoors instead; yoga, pilates, walking, running or jogging, cycling, rollerblading, swimming and many other available options. They don’t need to cost a fortune in order to be helpful to you.

There are even things you can do to get yourself moving that don’t involve sports or actual ‘fitness’ training at all. Did you know that you can burn many calories by doing your household chores to a fast-beat music? Or how about taking the stairs instead of the elevator?

Outside work, such as raking the leaves, working in the garden and even mowing the lawn are great forms of physical activity. And if none of these seem to be right for you, be creative! There must be some chore or activity you can be spontaneous with, turning it into a physical activity as well as a chore. Dusting to music makes this tedious task much more fun, don’t you think?

Get out there, get active…and get HEALTHY!

Top Ten Healthy & Quick Foods

We all know that one of the secrets to living a long and healthy life has a lot to do with the foods we eat. With not all foods being created equal, making choices to eat healthier can not only change your quality of life, but the longevity as well.

Here are ten of the top power packed foods designed to give you energy, vitality and all around good health! Many of them are those types of foods you can eat on the run too, so you’re saving time as well as saving your health.

1. Beans – If they give you gas, it’s easy to find precautions you can use before you eat them.  Also, soaking them first can help a great deal.  Beans of all kinds (kidney, navy, lentils, chickpeas, Northern) are high in protein.  This plant protein contains very little fat, carbs and calories.  If fiber is a problem in your diet, eating a healthy portion of beans each day can keep your digestive system healthy. And they are easy to make ahead, freeze or heat-and-go!

2. Oatmeal – Oatmeal is coming back into popularity, now that it’s stated as a food lowering blood cholesterol.  You can make it yourself with rolled oats or eat the instant kind if you are in a hurry.  Oatmeal is a filling grain which also provides more of that much needed fiber to keep hunger at bay and your blood sugar constant.

3. Fruits – Fruits are filled with antioxidants such as Vitamin C and A.  Antioxidants fight free radical damage in the body and reduce the risk of cancer.  Berries, such as blueberries and grapes have the highest amount of antioxidants.  Choose an array of fruits in a wide variety of colors for maximum health.  The antioxidants in fruit boost the immune system to fight the effects of aging in the body.

4. Allium foods – This class of foods includes garlic, onions, leeks and shallots.  Garlic is known for lowering cholesterol.  Allium vegetables help guard the body against the risk of cancer as well as many other ailments.  They also help lower blood pressure and prevent blood clots.  Eating these power packed vegetables in their natural state, especially garlic and wild garlic, increases their health benefits.

5. Salmon – Eating foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids reduces the risk of heart disease and other conditions like atherosclerosis.  Wild salmon is a fatty fish, however containing good fats proven to improve health in both children and adults.  Salmon is rich in protein which is of great use after an exercise session to build muscle tissue.

6. Flax seed – Like salmon, it contains omega-3 fatty acids.  These seeds also contain omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids.  You get a lot of power to fight high cholesterol, heart disease and diabetes with this seed.  Ground flax, which is the most beneficial way to consume this seed, can be added to fruit smoothies, sprinkled in yogurt, eaten with cereal or added to pancake mix to name a few.

7. Peppers – Peppers are colorful.  They contain antioxidants such as beta-carotene and Vitamin C.  Peppers range from mild and sweet, to so hot you’ll be calling the fire department.  All peppers contain a substance called capsaicin.  Capsaicin has the properties of an anti-inflammatory, a pain reliever, lowers cancer risk and heart disease.  They are good in salads, salsa and all sorts of dishes. Grab some with a great low-fat dip for a quick snack.

8. Nuts and seeds – Nuts may be high in fat, but those fats are the good kind.  Peanuts, almonds, Brazil nuts, walnuts and pistachios are all providers of good fats and protein.  Crush them into a fine powder to use as a coating instead of higher carb bread crumbs.  Nuts help to lower cholesterol.  Eat them right out of the shell with no additives.

9. Açai – This berry has been in the news lately.  It is rich in antioxidants and increases energy.  You can get more done and look better while doing it.  You can get Acai juice and supplements in your health food store.

10. Yogurt – The fat free variety is incredibly good for you.  Yogurt contains calcium, Vitamin B, and protein.  There are even newer types with added health benefits which you might want to look into.  If you don’t drink milk, yogurt is an alternative to get your calcium in to build strong bones and teeth.  Live yogurt also contains friendly bacteria to help promote a healthy digestive system.

Building a better healthier body begins with what you eat.  Try these super foods to get started on the right foot.

Menu Planning – Saving Time & Money

There is one thing we never seem to have enough – time. When time gets away

from us, usually the first thing that gets skipped is meal time. When you start eating fast food a couple of nights a week, not only can it be very costly but quite unhealthy too. Planning your meals ahead of time allows your family to still eat together for dinner, even when you’re having a rushed day.

I’m sure you’ve all experienced this scenario: You come in the house and realize nobody has taken anything out of the freezer for dinner. Scavenging through the refrigerator, you find a few odds and ends to throw together. When the kids come in, they grumble because it’s not what they wanted. Your husband arrives later to find a congealed meal in the pan on the stove and skips dinner.

Does this sound familiar? If it does, there is help for you and your family. Menu planning saves the headache that comes with searching at the last minute for something to fix for dinner. It also keeps you from throwing away food that no one wants to eat.

You might be one of those families who eat out for dinner because it’s late when you get home. No one wants to cook so you hit the fast food joint.

There are many benefits to meal planning:

1.    The entire family gets involved. One day a week, probably a Saturday or a Sunday, let everyone come together for an hour and decide what will be on the menu for the coming week. Each person from the youngest to the oldest has a say in breakfast, lunch and dinner.

2.    Menu planning fosters healthier lifestyles. When you have time to decide ahead of time, you can be sure that there is the right combination of protein, fats and carbohydrates in each meal. Eating at home means that you’ll know what is in the food that you eat.

3.    You can save on the grocery bill. How many of us have gone to the grocery store and half filled the cart with items that we didn’t need but caught our eye? When you plan a menu, you have an instant grocery list. Each week, you’ll shop for the items that are needed to make the meals and that’s it.

4.    Meals can be fixed in a snap. When you are tired in the evening, simply pop your meals in the oven or microwave. Planning allows you to start the prep work the night before in anticipation of a busy day. That way, all the hard work is already done.

Are you looking for a way to save money and get the family to eat at home? There is always time for a meal at home when you use menu planning.

How to Keep Eating Healthy on a Tight Budget

Making sure you and your family are eating the right foods is an essential part of working towards good health. Too much fat and sugar in the diet can cause many different health problems, as well as the difficulty you will have maintaining a healthy body weight. We also need to get in all of the nutrients that are essential to good health.

Then there are meats filled with hormones, produce sprayed with pesticides…and that doesn’t even count our different dietary needs due to illness, or other reasons.

With all of this, plus the simple cost of foods, eating healthy isn’t always as easy as it sounds. Sometimes we just don’t have the time to make the healthy meals our family needs, and so we end up eating frozen pizzas or something from the closest burger joint. And for those of us who make it a priority to eat balanced meals, cost is often an issue. Organic meats and produce aren’t cheap, and health food restaurants can be pricey too, especially with a family.

While it might sound almost impossible, there actually are ways we can eat healthy without putting a hole in our pocketbooks. Here are some tips:

* Start growing your own fruits and vegetables. Most climates make it fairly easy to start growing a variety of edible plants. All you’ll need is some seeds, some very inexpensive equipment which can often be purchased at your local dollar store, and a place to grow your plants. A pack of seeds that costs less than a dollar can easily provide you with enough food to last quite some time.

* Learn how to can or freeze fruits and veggies for winter. Chances are you’ll have at least some left over from your growing season, and this will allow you to save them for a few months down the road. Older family members can teach you the techniques you need to know, or you can find information online or at the library.

* Buy local foods as often as possible. Farmer’s markets offer a variety of fresh foods which are locally grown, and you will find the prices are almost always lower than organic foods from other sources, such as the grocery store. Farmers who only sell locally are less likely to have their stock certified as organic, but you can ask them what they use in regards to things such as pesticides and hormone treatments.

* Buy your staples (such as flour and rice) in bulk. Most of the time, the larger the package or container, the best deal you will get on your purchase. If you’re not sure, you can easily figure it out by dividing the price by the number of ounces for each package. Then you simply buy the one with the lowest price per ounce.

* Stock up on meats when they’re on sale. You can store them in the freezer for anywhere from several months to a year, depending on the type of meat. They will be less prone to freezer burn if you wrap them in aluminum foil or freezer wrap in addition to the packaging they are sold in. You can even purchase small kitchen appliances now which enable you to vacuum seal your meat before freezing it, if you decide to buy it in bulk.

* Eat out as little as possible. Most restaurants have few or no truly healthy options on their menus, and the ones that do are rarely the least expensive choices on the menu. Preparing your own meals, even those you prepare in advance and freeze, give you more control over what you’re eating and saves you more money than you think.

Eating healthy doesn’t have to cost a fortune. You or your spouse doesn’t need to take on a 2nd job to pay for healthy eating. By growing some of our own food, buying local and watching for sales, we can eat well without going broke. Who can argue with that idea?

How to Overcome Emotional Eating

Eating is a part of life.  Your body gets its nutrients from food.  Sometimes we can go overboard with our eating habits, and it can result in gaining weight.  One issue with food is emotional eating.

The problem of emotional eating may end with the scale but it begins in the mind.  Stress takes its toll on your life.  When your defenses are compromised your health takes a hit and so do your emotions.

Everyone has good days and bad days.  How we deal with the bad ones brings emotional eating into play.  You look for comfort for your hurts.  People who turn to food for comfort find a coping mechanism that won’t judge them, hurt them or tell them “no.” To complicate the issue, eating pleasurable foods can stimulate the release of endorphins, just like exercise.  So after you eat, you feel better.

Emotional eaters use food to relieve stress.  They hide behind the food instead of seeking solutions to the problems.  This is not uncommon when the stressor is something horrible, such as children or husbands with illnesses, or a death in the family.

But, how do you know you are using food in this way?  The first sign is obvious.  You will gain weight if you eat too much.  In light of the weight gain, examine other areas of your life:

* Have you been under stress lately? Perhaps this at work or at home.
* Has anything traumatic happened in the last year?
* Are you dealing with a problem but haven’t found a solution?

Answering “yes” to any of these questions could mean that you are an emotional eater.  You eat but you are not necessarily hungry at the time.  The foods that you choose are what we term “comfort foods”:

* High fat foods like French fries, fried foods
* High carb foods like macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes
* Sugary foods like ice cream, donuts, cookies, cake

There is help for emotional eaters.  The first step is recognizing that you have a problem.  You may find yourself experiencing feelings of helplessness and guilt.  The guilt is over potentially ruining your health and the helplessness lies in the fact that you don’t see a way out.

Secondly, seek counseling.  There are many types of counselors out there, from professionals to members of the community you trust, or even a family member. Emotional eating has nothing to do with dieting or changing your eating habits, but gaining control over your emotions.

A counselor might suggest things like visualization, practicing problem solving skills, relaxation techniques and family support.  Visualization helps you to see your problems in a realistic way and not blown out of proportion.  You will also learn to see food as nutrition for the body and not an emotional crutch.

Thirdly, your family can learn your triggers for stress and be on the lookout for changes in your eating habits.  They can help you be aware of the foods you are eating, assist you in making healthy food choices and exercise along with you.  Proper diet and exercise increases immunity, blood flow and positive thinking.

Finding new ways to solve your problems and deal with stress will push food out of the equation.  You’ll feel good about finding solutions which will replace the dependence on food.