Daily Value for Omega-3?

Have you ever seen something on a label that made you want to e-mail the company and ask "where the heck did you come up with this?!" One Sunday morning, not too long ago, I made these whole wheat pancakes because Nick was "craving pancakes" (they were good, but sort of salty in my opinion. If you choose to use this recipe, maybe cut the sodium in half. Unless you are like Nick and love the extra salty taste in your baked goods!).



As I was spreading the Smart Balance margarine on the pancakes I noticed something strange....

Since when is there a Daily Value for DHA and EPA? I wasn't aware that there was one at all. So of course I e-mailed the company. I have e-mailed Smart Balance before and they've always been really great about getting back to me. This time was no different;

To answer your question about the EPA/DHA, you are correct in that no standard of omega 3 from the US government has been issued. We base our RDA of omega 3s on a general consensus from Nutritionist/Dietitians and calculate our EPA/DHA based upon the nutritional information of our ingredients.


So the answer indicates that there really isn't a Daily Value for EPA and DHA, so why does it say "Daily Value 160 mg?" Isn't this false advertising? Shouldn't there be some type of asterisk that indicates there is no daily value, but that this is just a general recommendation? I've seen this on fish oil supplements before and it just goes to show you there really isn't much oversight on labels. I would actually argue that a better recommendation would be 500 mg. But, no one asked me :( I mean if you are going to put a "Daily Value" for EPA and DHA on a label, make it a little higher than 160mg, that's simply NOT enough! Even Dr. Oz recommends 600 mg DHA (alone) per day....and who doesn't trust the saint Dr. Oz?!?!

Question: Have you ever been stumped by a label? Have you ever e-mailed the company for answers?

Actually about two months ago I e-mailed a well-known vitamin company to ask where they got their information on Daily Values for children under age 4. They had no clue. They said they would get back to me. I still haven't heard a thing....

"Complete Bar" Giveaway!

I haven't hosted a giveaway on my blog for quite some time. I was going to wait until April, which is my two year "blog-iversary" but I was recently asked to make about twelve batches of my granola bars for an upcoming Columbus Dietetic Association meeting so I thought I could give some away as a blog giveaway!

Do you remember when I posted about my granola bars a while back? I asked you to help me come up with a name for my bars and while "Candid Bar" was the top choice, I decided to go with "Complete Bar".

COMPLETE BAR
"It's a complete and balanced meal....in a bar!"

Calories: ~ 310

Fat: ~15 grams (1.3g saturated)

** A full day’s worth of Alpha Linolenic Acid (essential fatty acid) **

Sugar: ~ 12 grams

** Only 3.5 grams are from added sugars, the rest are from the prunes **

Fiber: ~ 6 grams

Protein: ~ 10 grams

Good source of iron!

One-half serving (cup) of fruit!

12 grams of whole grain!

INGREDIENTS: prunes, oats, walnuts, almonds, molasses, peanuts, puffed wheat, cinnamon, potassium sorbate*, salt, cayenne pepper

* used to preserve the prunes

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

There will be two winners of this giveaway.

Each winner will receive 2 of my Complete Bars and 2 Odwalla Bars

To Enter

1) Leave me a comment telling me what you look for in a snack bar (1 entry)

2) Tweet this giveaway by copying and pasting this; @CandidRD is giving away a sample of her homemade Complete Bars! [Link]
(2 entries)

3) Follow my blog, or tell me that you're already following my blog! (2 entries)

4) Mention this giveaway on a blog post (2 entries)


This giveaway ends one week from today (March 1st)

A Candid Look At My Diet

Many of you commented on my last post about how you eat more fruits and/or veggies than the recommendation. Some of you also asked me if that was ok to do, and my answer is YES! The only thing I will say is that if you eat more than 3 servings (cups) of fruit you need to consider the sugars, especially if you are diabetic. It's definitely true that the sugar in fruit is a much better form of sugar than that added to foods ("added sugars") but it will still affect your blood sugars and I wouldn't go much over 3-4 servings of fruit per day. The same is true with starchy vegetables. Since the starchy veggies (corn, beans, peas, potatoes, etc.) have more carbohydrates, you should watch your intake, but still remember they are much better sources of starches than let's say...white bread or white rice. Remember, there are no "bad foods" only "bad food patterns". Look at your diet as a whole, and don't judge it on one specific food or type of food. If you haven't read the new dietary guidelines yet, I really encourage you to check them out. It will take about an hour to get through the entire document, but it's really easy to understand and filled with some fabulous information that will help you for years to come!


This brings me to the topic of today's post. In the (almost) two years I've had this blog, I have posted a day of my eats only one time. I think it's great that some people like to take photos of everything they eat, but it's just not for me. However, I do find it to be fun, every....once...in a while, and even then I don't take a picture of everything that goes in my mouth. I like to use these "day of eats" posts as an opportunity to teach! I do actually practice what I preach, so these posts are meant to help explain how I decide what to eat every day, and how I make sure to get all of my nutrients in each day. I also thought this would be a great follow-up on my previous post about volumetrics and nutrient density.


So I'll start from the beginning of my day, when I wake up around 6:30am. I typically workout in the morning, before work, so I eat a little granola (~60 calories worth) and about 3 cups of half decaffeinated coffee. I used to eat my entire breakfast before working out, until I realized my workouts were just as effective when I consumed only about 60 calories (and some caffeine!) to get me going.

After my 60 minute workout, I eat my favorite meal of the day, breakfast!



I'm addicted to oatmeal in the morning, because it's the best way to get multiple servings of whole grains (16 grams of whole grains = one serving and one serving of oatmeal contains 2-3 servings of whole grains!). And of course I like to get some dairy and a fruit or vegetable, so I top my oats with pureed pumpkin (or cooked sweet potato!), 2% yogurt, and walnut butter for some essential fatty acids (and more protein). Breakfast typically my largest meal of the day (~350-400 calories).

I pack my lunch every single day, so I'm not tempted to eat at work. The food at work is amazing, but I don't want to spend the money, and I rarely sit down to eat while I'm working, so I graze all day on what I have packed in my lunch.

Check it out! Can you tell what I pack?

1 cup yogurt

~1/4 cup granola (homemade)

1/2 cup cherry tomatoes

2 clementines

~1 ounce veggie chips

~1/4 cup carrots

Almond butter

I tend to eat the yogurt and granola first. The yogurt gives me another full serving of dairy for the day, and the granola adds to my oil and protein intake (it contains almonds, walnuts, and peanuts) and of course my whole grains.

I eat my clementines (2 clementines = 1 cup fruit), and tomatoes (1/2 cup tomatoes = 1/2 cup vegetable) around 1pm, and my vegetable chips and carrots (carrots + chips = ~ 1 cup vegetable) around 4pm. I always dip my carrots in almond butter!



I work at a place that gives out food to customers just about every day, all day, therefore I tend to take a couple samples throughout the day, adding to my food intake. I only do this if a) I'm hungry and all of my lunch food is gone, or b) they are sampling a food I want to try! Just yesterday they were sampling maple and brown sugar fried bacon. You better believe I tried that!! Heavenly.

When I get home I usually have a glass of unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze (1 cup = 1 cup dairy/dairy alternative).

At around 7pm Nick and I sit down for dinner. I usually have 3-4 ounces of a protein, and then tons of vegetables. I will add cheese or yogurt to my meal if I think I need more dairy.


I eat a lot of egg whites because they are easy. Sometimes I mix one egg with my egg whites, other times I don't. On this particular night, I didn't.


Underneath all that green is about 3/4 cup of egg whites (~ 3 ounces protein), some canned tomatoes (~1/2 cup vegetable), 1 handful of raw organic spinach (~1/2 cup vegetable) and 1/2 cup spaghetti squash (1/2 cup vegetable). I added parmesan cheese and Frank's Red Hot for flavor. Sometimes I add a dollop of plain 2% Greek yogurt.

This is a large volume dinner with not too many calories and loads of nutrients (putting into practice the concept of volumetrics and nutrient density!).

I have a beer with dinner 2-3 nights a week :)

My nighttime eats typically include:

- 1/2 cup frozen berries blended with 1/2 cup almond milk
(1/2 cup fruit, 1/2 cup dairy/dairy alternative)

- 2 plain rice cakes + 2 T nutritional yeast + 1/2 T walnut butter
(1 whole grain, 1.5 ounce protein, ~ 2 tsp. oil)


1 piece of Lindt's 85% dark chocolate




The following is my estimated intake (based on MyPyramid.gov) of servings for each food group:

Grains: 3-4 ounces whole grains

Vegetables: 3.5 cups

Fruits: 1.5 cups

Dairy/Dairy alternatives: 3 cups

Meat and Beans: 4 ounces

Oils: 6 tsp.

Calories: ~2000-2200

This is pretty close to what is recommended for my age, height, weight, and activity level. I may be a little low in grains and protein, but on average I think I get plenty! This was also a very rare day for me in the vegetable category. I usually get about four or five servings a day.

Question: Do you eat the same thing on most days or do you like to change what you eat daily? I typically eat the same breakfast and lunch, but switch up my dinner and snacks. I really don't mind eating the same thing every day (for a while at least). I tend to change my "obsessions" with the seasons!

That's SO MUCH Food!

In order to promote healthy eating and the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans, one of my recent major events at work was the New Year, New You event. The event took place each weekend in January and I had a table set up with food models depicting what a well-balanced diet might look like. I used MyPyramid.gov to determine how many servings (approximately) of each food group the average American needs each day, then I displayed the servings on paper plates with these fun food models.

Grains: ~ 5-6 ounces

Vegetables: ~ 3 cups

Fruits: ~2 cups

Milk: ~ 3 cups
(1.5 ounces of cheese counts as one cup. There are 3 ounces of cheese in the picture below.)

Meat and Beans; ~ 5-6 ounces

Oils: ~6-8 tsp
(one packet of Hogsdon Mills travel flaxseed counts as 3 tsp oil)

You wouldn't believe how many people came up to me and said, "Seriously, I have to eat all of this food?!" Yep, this does look like a lot of food! But in truth, many Americans get more calories than this each day, without even realizing it! Can you guess how many calories are depicted in the photos above? It's about 2100 calories, which is a normal amount of food for most Americans. But looking around and seeing that about 70% of American adults are either overweight or obese, indicates to me that many Americans are eating more calories than this each day.

So why does this look like so much food?

• Many people don't consider two important concepts when they eat; volumetrics and nutrient density. Both of these concepts are important when you're trying to either lose weight, or just be healthier overall. The focus is on eating foods with less calories and more nutrients, per unit of volume, or per serving. If you focus on these two concepts you will get full faster (larger volume of food!) while eating less calories and consuming the right amount of nutrients.
  

• To put this into perspective consider that many people are used to getting 500 calories from a very small calorie dense burger or piece of pizza, when they could get 500 calories from a slice of whole grain bread with 1 T nut butter, a cup of yogurt, a piece of fruit, and a string cheese (much greater volume of food, same amount of calories).

• Most Americans don't get even close to the recommended amounts of fruits and veggies, so seeing a plate full of fruits and veggies does look like "a lot of food" because it takes up a lot of space (volume) on the plate, but also provides very few calories and tons of great nutrients.

• Many people see all of the grains in the first picture and think, "I am supposed to eat that much grain?!". Well, in truth most Americans do eat that much, and sometimes more! The problem is that they are eating the wrong kinds (mainly refined grains) and they are often eating it all in one sitting (thus they aren't even realizing how much grain they are eating!). Think about restaurant plates of pasta, which can be up to 6 ounces of grain (1/2 cup pasta=1 ounce grain). That's an entire day's worth in one sitting, which most people don't even consider a problem.

QUESTION: What do you think about the concept of volumetrics? Do you use it in your daily eating routine?

One example I have is when I make eggs for dinner. I like using one egg, then the rest egg whites. This allows me to have more volume of food, for fewer calories, and plenty of protein (and lutein, vitamin D, iron, and choline from the real egg). And of course I also add more volume by adding lots of cooked vegetables! More volume, fewer calories, tons of nutrients and taste.

Annoyingly In Love

Thanks so much for all of your wonderful juice suggestions on my last post. Some of your juice creations were so creative! I can't wait to try them. The sad thing is that many of the fruits you mentioned contain FODMAPs, but I can still use some of your ideas to create some FODMAP free juices.


Remember me telling you that Nick and I were going somewhere local for a delicious 6 course dinner, at a GREAT price?! It was awesome!


There were six courses, including an Amuse Bouche (bite-sized appetizer) and a pre-dinner homemade raspberry gelato for cleansing the pallet.



The steak was one of the best parts of the meal, even though I didn't even order it. I ordered the salmon, which was also amazing, but the picture wasn't blog-worthy. The steak, which was lovingly shared with me by Nick, melted in my mouth. Who wouldn't enjoy a steak wrapped in bacon? It was outstanding.



Of course the great company was the best part of the evening...

Seriously, after five years I'm even more in love with Nick than I could have ever imagined (sorry, so disgustingly annoying, I know). Everyone keeps asking "when are you guys getting married?!". My answer continues to be, "whenever we feel like it". We're basically already married, having lived together for the past four years, we just need to make it "official". Last night we did discuss the topic, and I think next year will likely be the year.




Ok, back to the food. Aside from the amazing appetizer, gelato, steak, and salmon, the best part of the meal was the bananas foster. What can I say? I have a major sweet tooth. The goodness (and extra butter) of this dish made up for the fact that chocolate wasn't involved.




Can you imagine bananas fried in butter and loads of brown sugar?




Served over a stick of butter.



haha, no, not butter, but it looks like butter, right? It's actually vanilla bean ice cream. This was the best dessert I have had in a very, very long time. I ate every last bite of it, and was even tempted to finish what Nick didn't eat, but I listened to my stomach telling me to "stop! you're full!" and watched the waitress whisp his remaining dessert away.....


I left about 5 pounds heavier, but 2 glasses of wine happier ;)

QUESTION: What was the best dessert you have ever had?

Juice, From Scratch!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Any fun plans? Staying in to watch the Bachelor? Going out for a romantic dinner? Nick and I found a local place that is doing a 6 course Valentine's dinner, for a GREAT price! The menu sounded amazing, so I'm actually very excited.


In honor of my heart, I chose the salmon for tonight's dinner. Nick chose the steak...



Do you like juice? I've never been a fan of juice. Even when I was a child I really wasn't into juice. As I've learned more about nutrition and health, I have decided that my dislike for juice is actually quite a good thing, as I've counseled many individuals who seem to have a slight addiction to it's sweet and tangy taste. I prefer eating the actual fruit, personally, and that's also what I suggest to my clients.

About a month ago Nick mentioned he would love a juicer. Of course the first thing that came to my mind was, "yuck, no thanks!". But then I realized that in this day and age a "juicer" isn't just a large piece of equipment that extracts juice, but in fact today's modern juicer can turn the entire edible fruit/vegetable into juice! So really, buying a juicer wouldn't be such a bad idea. I convinced myself that we had enough room in our tiny kitchen for one more large piece of equipment. On Nick's birthday I presented him with this;


Three days later we purchased oranges....



read the simple instructions, peeled three oranges.....


and made America's favorite juice, orange juice!



I was expecting all of the pulp to be nicely mixed into the juice, however, to my horror, it was all saved in another compartment on the juicer.



Nick said, "perfect! No pulp!". I about cried. Do you know how many health benefits are in that pulp?! TONS! I insisted that he add at least half the pulp, so he did :) In total, the 3 oranges made about 1.75 cups of OJ.



I even saved some of the pulp and put it in the freezer. After about an hour it was slightly frozen and I added some Truvia for a sweet treat. Sound strange? Well, it was delicious!


The juice was also delicious and I can't wait to make other juice creations. In fact, I'm starting to think of creative ideas for summer popsicles!


Benefits of Juicing

- Depending on the produce, you may be able to eat the entire fruit/vegetable, even the fibrous core

- Minimal nutrient loss due to traveling, sitting on the shelf, and heat from pasteurization (it's basically a raw food)

- Amazing taste

-Ability to create your own juice mixes and to be creative with your juice

Question: Have you ever juiced? Give me some new ideas please!

I almost forgot, I also made tangelo + red grapefruit juice.

I added all of the pulp to this one, and once it was chilled, it was amazing.

Green Monster Soup and Mashed...Turnips?!

It's the end of a very, very long week. After four miserable days of being sick with....the flu?...a bad cold?....bronchitis? who knows?! I'm finally back on my feet and feeling 98% better (I still have some stomach issues and a stuffy nose). I felt pretty great by the time Wednesday rolled around, but I also felt completely behind on all of my weekly "chores". You know how that goes.....

You probably think I'm crazy because I didn't go to the doctor for a diagnosis, but I just didn't think it was necessary. I'm not one of those people who goes to the doctor unless I really think I need to. So many people said to me, "Gina, go to the doctor!", but I could feel myself getting better each day so why would I do that? I had my own doctor right in our house:

Nick + lemon lime Gatorade + oatmeal + Campbell's Select Harvest Chicken Noddle Soup + Popsicles and Fudgesicles + DayQuil and NyQuil = All Better!



And now I'm back in the kitchen! Have you ever tried parsnips or turnips? The parsnip is the long one that looks like a white carrot. The turnip is the round one that looks like a potato. Parsnips are a starchy vegetable (meaning they have about 15 grams of carbohydrate per 1/2 cup) and turnips are a non-starchy vegetable (they have about 5 grams of carbohydrate per 1/2 cup).


If you've never tried mashed turnips, you're missing out! I served this to Nick the other night and he loved it (or at least, he "liked" it). I think it helped that I sprinkled some bacon salt on top, but real bacon would have been even better, had I thought to purchase some when I was at the store.

Ingredients
(1 serving)

1.5 turnips
2 tsp margarine or butter
1/4 cup skim milk (or almond milk)


Directions
Blend everything together with a Magic Bullet or food processor (you can double or triple the recipe if you're using a food processor)

Mashed Turnips Nutrition Facts
(one serving, minus any seasoning)


Compared to mashed potatoes....

Ok, so they both scored an "A" according to this site, but the mashed turnips have significantly less calories and less carbohydrates, which is good for those who are either diabetic or watching their weight. The mashed potatoes are better in some respects, as they have more fiber, more protein, and more Vitamin C.

GREEN MONSTER SOUP!


When I was sick all I wanted was soup. I started to realize I had missed out on a lot of delicious soups this winter. The other night I just grabbed any cooked vegetables I had in the fridge and threw them in the Magic Bullet to create my own soup....

Ingredients

1 cup raw spinach
1/2 cup spaghetti squash
1 turnip
1/4 cup parsnip
1 cup low sodium broth
1 tsp olive oil


Directions

- Blend all ingredients together!

- Top with cheese and add chunks of chicken (if you want....)

This soup was surprisingly delicious. I ate it in 2.5 seconds.

Question: Have you ever tried parsnips or turnips? What about REALLY green soup?!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Top Five Ways I Keep My Heart Pumping!

If you've never tried Tempt Hemp milk (made by Living Harvest), you must (and I'm not just saying that because they sent me free coupons to try their product.) It's just so creamy, rich, and delicious. In fact, I sometimes use hemp oil for dressings and to marinate meats/poultry. I enjoy the unique flavor and of course the essential fatty acids are an added bonus.

I recently wrote a post for Living Harvest's blog, titled "Top Five Ways I Keep My Heart Pumping!". Go ahead and check it out if you're interested. I'd love you for it ;)

Happy American Heart Month to you!

Whole Wheat Bread Pizza, and a Fire

I know I said I wasn't going to post all week, but I lied. I'm feeling better, but still not 100%. I'm super behind in just about everything on my "to-do" list, but rather than stress about it (and make my sickness worse!) I'm just going to take everything one day at a time.

Tonight's dinner will be pizza made with whole wheat bread.

One slice whole wheat bread topped with pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, fresh spinach, turkey pepperoni, parmesan cheese, and red hot. This will be served with broccoli and cauliflower on the side.

After dinner? A nice romantic fire while we watch The Bachelor break two more hearts.

Question: Do you watch the Bachelor like Nick and I do? If so, does your boyfirend or husband pretend to hate it like Nick does? (I swear he LOVES it!).

Sick As A Dog

Yep, after telling everyone "I never get sick" I finally got sick. I shouldn't be surprised. I refused to get a flu shot (I'm terrified of needles) and I work right next to a fast clinic (there is a fast clinic in the grocery store where I work, and it's right next to my office), so there are sick people around me all the time. But of course I thought I was "too healthy" to get sick, and I figured my body could fight anything.....I was wrong!



I had a fever last night, but it's gone for now. I've been eating hot chicken noodle soup, egg whites with cheese, and lots of Popsicles. My mom, a registered nurse, says the old wives tale of "starving a flu" just isn't the correct recommendation. I figure if I still have an appetite, why wouldn't I eat?! Obviously my body needs energy if my stomach is grawling.

Anyway, I probably won't be posting this week, unless I miraculously get caught up on all of the million things I have not done in the past couple days. We'll see!! Have a great week everyone. I'll see you soon :)

Black Bean....Pancakes!

The votes are in! The two most popular names for my granola bar were Candid Bar and Complete. There were also several votes for Gina Bar and Ceres. The two I like best are Complete and Ceres (Ceres means "goodness of agriculture and grains" in Latin). You can still give me your opinions if you haven't yet, as I'm still deciding....


I've been completely preoccupied lately by my granola bars, my e-book (I'm about half way done already!) and house decorating (I met with our decorator yesterday and I'm so excited to get the ball rolling), but I'm still making time to cook healthy, yet simple meals for dinners and lunches. Once a week I take about 90 minutes to prepare meat, vegetables, and all of the components for Nick and my lunches for work the following week. For about a month I was making Nick bean burritos with whole wheat tortillas, refried beans, cheese and salsa, but the other day I decided to try something with my food processor.

I remembered I had put this in Nick's stocking:

Nick claims he "will eat anything that has bacon in it", so I just had to give this a try! It was sort of a joke, but at the same time, it tastes really good.

I decided to create a new bean burger recipe. After creating the bean burgers I realized they were more like bean pancakes. Here is the recipe;

Black Bean Pancakes

Ingredients
(Makes ~ 9 pancakes)

1 can black beans (15 ounces)
3 cups old fashioned oats
2 large handfuls of spinach
1 egg
Any seasoning you choose

** I added a bit of salt and some of this bacon flavoring, which also has salt. This was not included in the nutrient analysis below. **


Instructions

Drain the can of beans, but leave a little liquid (don't drain them until bone dry!). Add to your food processor with two cups of oats and the two handfuls of spinach. Puree until smooth. Add your seasonings, puree again. Next, add the last cup of oats, but do not puree, simply mix them into the bean and oat puree.

Get a skillet and heat it to medium heat. Drop several clumps/balls (a little more than 1/4 cup each) onto the skillet and let the one side get cooked. After about 30 seconds flip the clumps/balls and then flatten the clumps with your spatula and cook on other side for about a minute. Then flip to other side for another 30 seconds. Finished!

Nutrition Facts
(Serving Size: 1 pancake)

I know they do not look appealing, at all, but they were delicious!

** No, I do not always buy organic ketchup. This ketchup, however, happened to be the same price as the conventional, so I bought it! **

Question: Have you ever set out to create something, but then ended up creating something else instead?!