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Monday, October 31, 2011

LINI

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www.facebook.com/pages/Lini-Project/126393387391049?v=info

Friday, October 28, 2011

What's for supper tonight


 The soup was delicious!  Unlike pumpkin soup, I did not have to sweeten it at all.. possibly from the sweetness of the apples.  I also used fat-free half and half which will also save calories.  Charlie NEEDS meat for supper, so I make these turkey meat balls quite often and make a double-batch and freeze half to be cooked later on a night like tonight when we're too busy to cook a full meal!
This is also a well balanced meal with fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy, and grains (bread crumbs... it's a stretch) all in one, easy meal!

Curried Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
8 servings 
Ingredients
  • 2 butternut squash
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (or oil)
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger root
  • 1 tablespoon curry powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
  • 2 apples, cored, and cut into 1 inch dice
  • 1/2 cup fat free half and half

Directions

  1. Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. (For a less messy cleanup)
  2. Cut squash in half lengthwise; discard seeds and membrane. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and a drizzle of oil.  Place squash halves, cut sides down, on the prepared baking sheet. Roast in preheated oven until very soft, about 45 minutes. Scoop the pulp from the peel, and reserve.
  3. Melt butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion, garlic, ginger, curry powder, and salt. Cook and stir until the onion is soft, about 10 minutes. Pour the chicken broth into the pot, and bring to a boil. Stir in the apples and the reserved squash, and simmer until the apples are very soft, about 30 minutes.
  4. Pour the soup into a blender/food processor, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender. Puree in batches until smooth. This is a frustrating step, but it makes a HUGE difference in the texture of your soup. Return the soup to the pot, stir in the half and half, and reheat. 

    Nutritional Information
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories: 160
    • Total Fat: 6.4g
    • Cholesterol: 17mg
    • Sodium: 306mg
    • Total Carbs: 27g
    •     Dietary Fiber: 6.6g
    • Protein: 2.5g
     

    And Meatball Nirvana 
    4 servings
    Ingredients
    • 1 pound extra lean ground turkey
    • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
    • 1 small onion, diced (and sauteed)
    • 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
    • 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
    • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
    • 1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
    • 1/3 cup skim milk
    • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
    • 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

    Directions

    1. Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
    2. Place the turkey into a mixing bowl, and season with salt, onion, garlic salt, Italian seasoning, oregano, red pepper flakes, and Worcestershire sauce; mix well. Add the milk, Parmesan cheese, and bread crumbs. Mix until evenly blended, then form into 1 1/2-inch meatballs, and place onto a baking sheet.
    3. Bake in the preheated oven until no longer pink in the center at 160 degrees, 20 to 25 minutes.  
    Nutritional Information
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories: 343
    • Total Fat: 16.8g
    • Cholesterol: 95mg
    • Sodium: 940mg
    • Total Carbs: 15.3g
    •     Dietary Fiber: 1.5g
    • Protein: 31g
    **(NOTE: these meatballs have a LOT of sodium.  If you are watching your sodium intake, consider making your own Italian seasoning blend using garlic powder instead of garlic salt, and sodium-free bread crumbs.)

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Raw milk: what to think?

So, seeing as I am on a campaign against raw milk (and after being questioned by my dear Melissa about it...) I thought it might be time for me to do a little research.  Nothing came up in terms of a "raw milk" search through research articles on my school's library site, so I had to settle for an online search.  Which is a scary thing.  There's a lot of stuff out there... most of it unfounded on research and full of politics and opinions.

Like this:

He makes some CRAZY claims on what raw milk can do for you and fails to mention ANY health risk you take in doing so... which IS scientific and is DOCUMENTED by the Centers for Disease Control.

Would you eat raw chicken?  Maybe you do, I don't know. But you probably don't because you know it's unsafe... and while you MAY not get sick... there's the risk for it because it's raw and filled with all sorts of microorganisms.  Would you ever feed that to a child?  Or an elderly person?  Or pregnant woman?  Probably not.  No one questions whether or not raw meat can cause illness.

I view raw milk in a similar way.  Milk began to undergo the Pasteurization process over 100 years ago.  That simply means that it is heated to a temperature that can kill germs and then sustained there... and then cooled to a temperature that milk should be stored at.  Milk from the store is also homogenized to make it creamier... this just means they sift it through teeny-tiny holes to smoosh the fat, protein, and sugars together.  This makes it creamier and the "fat-globules" smaller to keep the milk from separating.


So is raw milk dangerous?  Here is a graph that depicts the dairy-related disease outbreaks from 1973-2005.
I wish I could give better credit to whomever wrote the wonderful article I found, but they didn't say who wrote it!  They simply list over 55 sources used to collect their data on this hot topic.  But what we see in this graph is that, although only 1% of the population are raw milk drinkers, they account for almost HALF of all dairy-related disease outbreaks. That is seriously disproportionate. 

Raw milk promotors claim these unbelivable benefits, yet look at their summary nutrition:

There is very little difference between each of the categories. 

Another concern is that Raw Milk contains probiotics (like yogurt) that are killed during the pasteurization process.  I may need to do more research on this topic, but from what I can tell, milk is sterile (that means there is nothing living in milk) when it exits the cow... but BECOMES contaminated by environment:
• Mastitis and shedding of the pathogen directly from the cow’s udder into the milk
• Entry of bacteria into the milk from the cow’s skin, or via manure and dirt in the dairy environment
• Transfer of pathogens by vectors if they come in contact with the raw milk (for example, flies may carry pathogens on their legs and mouthparts)
• Human carriers transferring pathogens from their hands to the milk 


This not only means that probiotics would not naturally be present in raw milk, but that they would enter milk in the same way as E. coli or Salmonella.  In my opinion, it's not really worth the risk of getting E. coli along with a little healthy bacteria.

There is also some suggestion that grass-fed cows have lower risk for infected milk, but this, too needs more research.

In summary, if you DO decide to drink raw milk, be careful!  Know that you ARE taking a health risk with no proven benefits.  It is very clear that you are at increased risk of illness if you do so and that pasteurization exists for a reason!

Friday, October 14, 2011

Eating Disorders a New Front in Insurance Fight

 Anorexia nervosa has the highest death rate of any mental disorder.  And insurance companies are refusing to pay for the treatments these people need. 

I always thought I hated government and policy... but more and more I am seeing the staunch need for involvement in the political arena.  People's mothers, sisters, cousins, and nieces will be denied the medical care they need because insurance companies don't want to pay for it.  It's so frustrating!  We really need to change the way we do health in America. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/14/business/ruling-offers-hope-to-eating-disorder-sufferers.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

Monday, October 10, 2011

We're Not Buying It

www.preventioninstitute.org/notbuyingit
 This is a worthwhile video to watch and petition to sign.  It is estimated that half of all Latino children born in the year 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime.  This statistic will most likely increase not only for Latinos, but for other minorities and non-minorities as well.  Not only should we care about the health of our nation for the intrinsic value of health, but for the tremendous costs associated with obesity-related diseases and medical care.  It is in everyone's best interest to become a more fit and healthy country!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

iron intake

Iron is an important mineral to think about... especially for women.  As a non-red meat eater, I have thought about iron consumption my whole life.
What do you think of as foods with high iron content?

We have heme sources (animal) such as red meats, lean meats, seafood (shellfish or sardines) or organ meats.
And then we have non-heme sources such as dark leafy greens (kale! the super-food, broccoli, and collards), legumes, and iron-enriched grain products or yeast-leavened whole wheat breads.

We need approximately 18mg iron/day... so that could be a 2 cup spinach salad with 1/2cup chickpeas, 1 eggs, and 1/2 cup walnuts.  Your whole daily value of iron in one meal!

Equally as important as the AMOUNT of iron you consume is the absorption of iron.  Here are a few tips:

-Include Vitamin C with all meals. This increases how well iron is absorbed... and it's everywhere!  Bell peppers, kale, broccoli, strawberries, oranges, or kiwi, etc.  Seriously.  It's easy to find Vitamin C-rich foods!
-Try to have a heme-iron source at every meal if your diet permits.
-Avoid coffee and tea with meals.  This can affect the absorption.
-Avoid EDTA which is a chemical found in some processed foods.  Check your food labels.
-Decrease your milk consumption to 3 cups or less per day.
-And lastly, combine heme sources with non-heme sources to absorb as much as possible!

Also, if taking an iron supplement, try to take it on an empty stomach.  This may upset your stomach, so you can divide your dose into 3 doses throughout the day.

Hopefully these tips will keep you aware of iron sources and how to maintain them to keep up your energy and your mood steady!