My Favorite Foods

As an aspiring dietitian, I thought it'd be fun to make a list of all of the foods you can always find in my pantry or fridge. If they're not in there, they're def on my shopping list! Here is goes...

• La Croix Sparkling Water - The best alternative to soda! My best friend Meaghan turned me onto La Croix. It comes in berry, lemon or lime and has no calories or artificial sweeteners. It's just delicious sparkling water with a hint of fruit flavor. My favorite is berry. They come in aluminum cans you can buy as a 12 pack. In Tempe, I can only find them at Safeway. The day they stop carrying them is a day I do NOT want to see!!!
• Broccoli Wokly - Can't say enough about my passionate love affair with broccoli! LOVE IT! This convenient bag comes stuffed with prewashed precut broccoli. I love to steam it with brown rice or saute with olive oil and garlic.
• Silk Soy Milk Light Plain & Some Cereal - I prefer soy milk over milk any day. Milk doesn't sit right with me, and the dairy cows are as mistreated as the cows meant for slaughter. I've tried rice milk, but I still prefer soy milk. Recently, I've noticed a light version of my favorite, and I'm hooked. I love eating cereal for breakfast and sometimes at night after a long day. My FAVORITE is Captain Crunch, except for the fact it is somewhat nutritionally lacking. So once in a blue moon I'll indulge in the Captain, but I usually stick to Special K, Total or some kind of whole grain cereal that packs a punch.
• 12 grain Oroweat bread - MMmMMMm This is perhaps a neccessity for my kitchen!!! I can't help but obsess over the crunch this bread has, the big sunflower seeds add such a phenomenal crunch/taste! It's packed with fiber, whole grain and makes any sandwich delicious.
• Organic baby spinach salad- If you want the most amazing salad ever -- please follow this suggestion: Organic baby spinach, cucumber, green bell peeper, walnuts/pecans, dried cranberries, goat cheese, balsamic vinegar. WOW. Sometimes I'll use Trader Joes nut/dried fruit mix, and top the salad with that if its more convenient. The balsamic vinegar is just fantastic.
• Fage yogurt 0% fat - This is a MUST. I can only purchase it at Whole Foods, but it's worth it. I put a little bit of honey...that's a lie, the honey is wayyy too good to put just a lil bit! ;) and some sliced almonds. Oh my goodness, heaven!
• Cuties mandarian oranges - I pop two of these in my purse and have an easy snack throughout the day.
• To be continued...

And here's somethings I love to eat whenever they make it onto my shopping list:

• Ants on a log - No joke, I may be graduating college in a year but that doesn't mean I can't play with my food! I love to cut up celery, add all natural peanut butter (stay away from PB with ingredients you can't pronounce, ew) and top it with raisins. When I'm craving these, I make a beeline to the grocery store.
• Morningstar Farms Meat Alternative & Boca "Chicken" Patties- It's great having some fake meat in the freezer. I'll pop it in the microwave and have something different once in a while. Sometimes, I'll even make fake meat dishes. I've tried "Biscuits & 'Sausage' Gravy" and "'Chicken' Pot Pie." Both came out pretty well, I even made my family try them. You have to be careful not to overindulge in this frozen veg products though, because they have a TON of sodium in them. :(
• Broccoli & Rice - I have a rice cooker that steams veggies as it cooks rice, so often times I'll make brown rice with steam veggies. This is a low cal meal high in nutrient value. Sometimes I'll steam carrots as well.
• To be continued...

AND NOW, THE WEIRDEST FOOD YOU WILL EVER CONSIDER!!!

Kidney beans, chick peas, sunflower seeds and ranch!

This is my all time, favorite snack EVER! At one point, I would eat it at least three times a week. I know...lol. I've cut back because I loved the ranch dressing part and clearly that isn't the greatest choice. I only use homemade ranch, store bought it too freaky for me. Like I said earlier, foods with ingredients I can't pronounce just freak me out! So I'll get the packets of ranch and use organic ingredients to make it. Then I'll drizzle the homemade ranch onto kidney beans and chick peas and top with sunflower seeds. SO ODD and it can be unhealthy because of the ranch, but I strongly believe you have to indulge in your favorite goodies every once in awhile! Which is why I hate these fad restriction diets, but that's a whole different story...

Thanks for reading about my favorite foods, I'll add more as they come to me.

PS I'm volunteering to conduct surveys for the Hunger in America 2009 study. I will be visiting food kitchens and pantries to conduct surveys. The information will help assess the needs of Americans with insufficient funds to purchase food. I'll keep you updated on how my first experience goes. :)

PPS I'm also attending the ADA - Central District - Children's Diets and Garden Based School Food Programs Conference this Friday. It will be my first ADA Conference and I am super excited. Can't wait to blog about it!

Makin Food @ School & Hidden America

Applied Food Principles, NTR 142, is by far the coolest class I am taking right now! I love being introduced to new foods that I've never experienced before. It's definately showing me how much I love the actual food aspect of nutrition. We started the lab out with sauces and stocks, making cheese sauce, Hollindase (never knew what that was until class), tomato sauce, minestrone, cream of broccoli soup, and french onion soup.

• The cheese sauce was AMAZING! So delish. The next day I made the cheese sauce at home and mixed it with some whole wheat pasta. Yummy homemade mac & cheese...and can be made with healthy, organic ingrediants instead of from a box.
• The cream of broccoli soup was also fantastic. It was made with big, chunky pieces of broccoli and shredded cheddar cheese. I haven't made this one at home yet, but I really want to!

For the next two weeks, we made meat and chicken meals. Ugh. Although I was willing to make them, when it came to tasting, it was definately not going to happen. From chicken enchiladas, to broiled pork chops, to turkey tetrazzini, I was not a happy camper. We did make shrimp creole though that I really liked. I've never had creole before, but it was pretty good. The spicy tomato sauce with mixed veggies served over rice was great...I want to make this recipe again too! Minus the shrimp...

Tomorrow we're making legumes and soy products!!! YAY!!!

• I am SO SO SO excited to make black bean burgers, satay tofu and chile sin carne. Can't wait to tell you how they turn out!

Other classes have been good too. I'm working on analyzing research articles on soluble fiber and colon cancer.

Also, check out Diane Sawyer's 20/20 Special...Hidden America: Children of the Mountains.
This story really exposes the poorest population's of America in the Appalachian area. I was devastated to see their lunch boxes. Cheetos, mountain dew, bologna sandwiches, candy bars, more mountain dew. This is unjust, no one should have to eat food like this; but it's cheap and accessible, so they do. I STILL am truly devastated by the diets of these Americans and have thought about them every single day since I've watched the show.

Skip to the 2:00 minute mark of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjJYrXTkqeI&feature=related to see a miner's lunch box. Every single time I've put a veggie in my mouth since seeing this special, I've been overwhelmed with gratitude. Seriously.

The lack of access to healthy, nutritional food is a shame. It breaks my heart to see people living off of junk food because there are so little other options...

Cancer Risk Reduction Foods

Diet has a huge impact on chronic diseases, including cancer. Cancer, in it's simplest terms, is the out of control growth of mutated cells. While undoubtedly there are some causes to cancer that are out of our hands, why not use what we know to our advantage and try to prevent cancer on our own. Good diet and physical exercise are two vital steps in the prevention of this disease.

What kind of foods are good cancer risk reducers? Let's see...

Generous fruits and veggies are particularly protective for upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract, colorectal, and lung cancers.

Veggies
- Green...Eat spinach salads
- Cruciferous...Think broccoli or bok choy
- Allium...Don't cry they're just onions!
- Tomatoes...Mmm lycopene! Tomato paste offers more lycopene than actual tomatoes.

I'm thinking a delicious and nutritious pizza...

Fruit...Particularly citrus, like grapefruits

Whole grains and legumes...Bread, beans, peas, the usual

Beverages:
- Green tea...If you go this route, make sure you're drinking a lot! It may take about 6 cups of green tea to actually reap it benefits
- Red wine...Remember, always in moderation

Omega-3 fats, which reduce inflammation:
- Fish...Indulge in some salmon
- Walnuts...Put them in your yogurt, cereal, or grab a handful for a snack

This is a huge topic! To be continued...