Kale and Nuts

Thanks once again for checking back into my blog! It is nice to know that someone is reading about my experiences and learning about new foods along with me. For the third week of my challenge, the two super foods I have decided to eat are kale and nuts. These two foods made for an interesting and somewhat challenging week. Keep reading to find out why!

My first super food I tried this week was kale, which is one of the healthiest dark, leafy green vegetables. It is packed with fiber, calcium, iron and Vitamins A, C, and K, keeping one healthier and feeling more energized. Also, because of the high amount of fiber, kale will keep one fuller longer. According to Health Magazine, kale contains “types of phytonutrients that appear to lessen the occurrence of a wide variety of cancers, including breast and ovarian” (Super foods You Need Now). It can be eaten in many different ways such as raw, sautéed, steamed or baked and is in season in the fall and winter. So far, kale is the super food that has provided me with the most challenges. First, they do not sell it in my cafeteria, so rather than having it provided for me I had to take a trip to Safeway and purchase it. Second, I had never tried kale before, so I had to research the ways to consume it. There were several different recipes that I read about and that seemed easy enough to make on my own in the kitchen in my dorm.   

The first recipe I tried was for “Kale Chips” from Kale & Chocolate, a website containing advice and recipes on how to easily have a healthy lifestyle. These were a perfect snack and very easy to make. The only ingredients I needed were kale, olive oil, vinegar and sea salt. First, I had to heat the oven to 350 degrees and cut the kale into pieces. Then I had to mix the olive oil, vinegar and sea salt in a bowl and dip the kale pieces until the leaves were covered. Then I placed them on a cooking sheet and let them bake for around fifteen minutes. They were a healthy, crunchy snack and a great way for me to first try the vegetable. Then for dinner, I used another recipe from Kale & Chocolate to make some friends and myself a kale salad. I liked this recipe because it was simple and quick to make. The ingredients I needed were kale, orange, red bell pepper, sunflower seeds, Dijon mustard, orange juice, black pepper, olive oil and vinegar. I combined all the foods into one bowl and then in another bowl whisked together the Dijon mustard, orange juice, vinegar and pepper for the dressing. Everyone really enjoyed this salad because it had a ton of flavor and taste to it. It wasn’t too dry or boring and all of the ingredients contained health benefits. Overall, I really enjoyed learning about the several ways to eat kale and incorporate it into my meals. It was very different, but I like challenging myself with something new.

Kale Chips Ingredients

6 cups Kale, about 2 bunches, rinsed with stems removed


1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar


2 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt to taste



Variation
:

Add a drop of sesame oil and sesame seeds for a slightly different flavor.

Colorful Kale Salad Ingredients

1 bunch Lacinato (a.k.a. dinosaur) kale, thick stems removed and leaves thinly sliced


4 cups shredded red cabbage (about 1 small head, quartered and cored) 


2 navel oranges or clementines, peeled and segmented 


1 small red onion, thinly sliced 


1 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded and thinly sliced 


⅓ cup sunflower seeds 


¼ cup Dijon mustard


¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice


¼ cup balsamic vinegar 


2 tablespoons olive oil 


½ teaspoon ground black pepper

            The second super food that I tried this week was nuts. Many people assume that nuts are unhealthy and too fatty to eat. However, I learned that walnuts, almonds, and cashews are actually very beneficial to one’s health and provide nutrients that keep us healthy and strong. Walnuts are a good source of fiber and protein and contain antioxidants such as Vitamin E. According to Health Castle, a website containing nutrition advice from dietitians, “walnuts have the highest amount of omega-3 fatty acids compared to other nuts” (“5 Super Foods”). These omega-3 acids are extremely good and important for our health. Also, like many of the other super foods I have learned about so far, “walnuts are known to help heart disease and reduce cholesterol” (Superfoods Rx). Almonds and Cashews are also beneficial to ones health. According to Seattle Organic Restuarants, a website about organic food, “almonds contain antioxidants, fiber and are also known to prevent colon cancer and cashews are full of nutrients that particularly help our bones and energize the body.” I also went to Safeway to purchase these because I wanted to make sure they were not flavored or salted. I was able to buy them in a small container and snack on them when I became hungry throughout the day. Eating too many nuts is not very healthy; however, just a handful or two a day and I found myself growing less hungry and much more energized. These nuts did not make me feel overly full or too tired to do my everyday routine. They are the perfect snack that I substituted for the crackers I usually eat that never really fill me up or keep me full throughout the afternoon. Eating just a palm full of nuts when I grew hungry helped me from snacking on other unhealthy foods and gave me the energy to continue on with my day.

            I hope you were able to learn more about new super foods and take away recipes that you will enjoy. I am glad that my friends and I tried kale even though it was something very different from what we would normally eat. I have really liked experimenting with foods and learning about the benefits they have on my body. I have continued to eat the blueberries, mushrooms, quinoa and dark chocolate in the past weeks as well. Keeping these super foods a part of my diet is important to me because of the benefits. Check back again next week to learn about more super foods and ways to try eating them. 

Quinoa and Dark Chocolate

Thanks for checking back into my blog! I have continued my challenge of incorporating different super foods into my diet each week. This week the foods I have decided to eat every day with my meals are quinoa and dark chocolate. Again, I know these foods are not very similar and probably would not go well together; however, separately they will be good substitutes for the more unhealthy foods I have been eating, such as pasta and cookies. Also, I think many of you will be surprised how unalike milk chocolate and dark chocolate are and the difference in health benefits they have. Keep reading to find out more about my experiences with these foods this week.

             My first super food I tried this week was quinoa, which is creating a buzz all around the world because of the several benefits it contains for your body. It is high in protein and low in calories, therefore making it a super food. Also, it contains calcium, iron, and the amino acids, which are important for a healthy diet and immune system.  According to Nutritious Feast, a nutrition website by a dietitian, “quinoa is commonly mistaken for a grain; however, it is a seed from a plant that is called chenopodium or ‘goosefoot’ plant” (Nutritious Feast). It is from Southern American countries, such as Peru, and is starting to become popular all over. Quinoa reaches all different groups of people because it does not contain gluten, it lowers blood pressure, and it is very easy to prepare. Also, is has been known “to lower blood glucose levels in individuals with diabetes” (Quinoa Superfood). Learning about this benefit made me much more open to the idea of consuming it and teaching my family about it because I have a cousin who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes a few years back. Being so young, I wish he never had to worry about things that most children don’t have to deal with. However, I am proud that he has shown maturity and taken responsibility for his health. Hopefully, I can be a supportive cousin and teach him about other foods that he may have not yet discovered that will help him. Quinoa has a distinct, nutty flavor and when it is cooked has a similar taste to rice. In fact, because it is so similar to that type of grain, it has become common to replace rice with quinoa, and there is not much of a difference in taste and texture.

I discovered a few ways to try quinoa in my meals this week. I was able to incorporate it into my lunches and dinners in our cafeteria. For lunch, I ate a salad and mixed in some quinoa with my vegetables to add a little more taste and texture. Along with a little olive oil and vinegar, I quickly learned to love the way it gave my salad the extra boost that it definitely needed. Don’t tell my parents, but being in college I have learned to love eating vegetables, something they could not get me to do no matter how much they tried! For dinner I usually go to Benson and have them sauté some vegetables with a little olive oil, but this week, I added quinoa to it and I honestly could have told you I was eating vegetables with rice. It had the same texture and satisfaction as that type of grain and kept me just as full, if not longer. I strongly recommend substituting quinoa into your diet for other grains. I felt full enough to not want to snack, but was not uncomfortably full. I really enjoyed the flavor and texture of it and know I will continue to incorporate it into my daily diet.

            The second food I tried this week was dark chocolate. I know this seems odd for it to be considered a super food; however, if you are going to have something sweet it is definitely the dessert you should be eating. It has much less sugar than milk chocolate and white chocolate, therefore already making it better for you. “Dark chocolate is high in antioxidants known as flavonoids, which are known to improve heart health and endurance, to reduce risk of blood clots, and to lower blood pressure” (My Recipes). There are different amounts of cocoa in dark chocolate, and it is recommended by many to only consume the kind that has over seventy percent. According to The Story of Chocolate, a website providing information about chocolate says, “the higher the percent of the cocoa means that less sugar is added and there is a greater intensity of flavor in the chocolate” (The Story of Chocolate). Furthermore, although dark chocolate is much better for you than milk or white, the portions are still very important. One to two ounces a day is what is suggested. I was able to buy some dark chocolate, containing over seventy percent cocoa, from our grocery store on campus. At first when I tried it, the flavor was a bit intense for me and I could only eat a little amount. However, because I used it to replace the milk chocolate that I would usually eat for dessert, I felt better and healthier about myself. I have heard for many years that a person is supposed to consume a little dark chocolate every day, but I never thought it would actually make a difference in one’s health. Now since I’ve learned about how much less sugar is in dark chocolate and the benefits it has, I hope to continue to substitute it for the other unhealthier desserts I have had in the past. Keeping it in moderation, of course!

            I hope that you were able to learn about the many benefits that quinoa and dark chocolate will have on your body. By doing this project, I am not only trying to challenge myself, but also encourage all of you to do the same. I did not think that I would be able to stick with it, but so far I have enjoyed learning about what I am putting into my body and how it will help me. Now I know about four new foods I can eat daily that will provide me with nutrients and help my health overall. Check back again next week to learn about more delicious super foods and interesting ways to integrate them into your diet.

Blueberries and Mushrooms

The challenge has begun! For my first week the super foods I have chosen to consume daily and integrate into my meals are blueberries and mushrooms. These are definitely two very different foods, yet with some creativity, both can be incorporated into many different types of meals. I decided to start off a little easier with something I have eaten before, blueberries. I used to eat them much more frequently, but now they aren’t as easy to find in the cafeteria; therefore, they have not been a part of my diet for a while. Blueberries are known to be one of the best berries you can consume. According to Joy Bauer, a nutrition and weight-loss expertise, “they are packed with flavonoids, which are natural compounds that protect the brain’s memory and are known for having the power to help prevent many diseases and reduce bad cholesterol” (Joy Bauer). Furthermore, blueberries are very high in water, keeping the body hydrated and full longer. I was able to purchase small packs of blueberries from our campus market. I mostly have been eating them with my breakfast or with my lunch. Blueberries are so flavorful on their own; however, they are also delicious when added to yogurt. I replaced the processed fruit sugar that comes with a Greek yogurt with fresh blueberries and realized the difference it had on me. I was fuller for much longer and was not craving a snack after. Also, I just felt much healthier than when I would eat the processed sugar. A friend recommended I try freezing blueberries and eating them for dessert rather than something sweet and unhealthy. After substituting them for a cookie or chocolate bar, I felt much better when I went to sleep at night. I wasn’t too full or crashing from too much sugar. Overall, I really think that adding blueberries into my diet will benefit me so much. Just after a few days of eating them I feel healthier and not as hungry.

My second super food that I added into my meals this week was mushrooms. I don’t think many people would have considered mushrooms to be a super food. However, because they are low in calories, rich in fiber, and fat free, many nutritionists have recently been calling them the new, unknown super food. They also contain Vitamin D and B Vitamins and are a good source of the antioxidant selenium. I remember my parents cooking them every now and then at home, but this week was the first time I really incorporated them into my meals by choice. I found that they added a lot of flavor to my salad and changed it up from having only vegetables in it. I also decided to try them in my omelet I had for breakfast. They had a different texture and taste because they were cooked, which I enjoyed more, and they also added more flavor to the rest of the meal. Mushrooms are also known for creating a healthy immune system and reducing risks of cancer. Overall, I found that I enjoyed mushrooms more when they were cooked rather than when they were raw. They added an extra bit of flavor to the meals I put them in, and now I want to continue to try them in different foods.

Check back next week to read about my experiences and stories with the next super foods I add into my meals. I hope to learn more about new foods and share my stories with all of you readers!