The Many Faces of Stir Fry

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I’ve mentioned a lot about stir-fries in my previous posts, but I’ve also gotten a lot of emails asking for more information.  So I’ll tell you exactly what to do, step by step.  Tomorrow I’ll tell you where I get my foods at the best prices.

1.  Choose your protein source.  I personally choose from 3 oz of salmon filet, shrimp, chicken breast, or canned tuna (but I like my tuna cold not stir-fried.)  You could even use an egg or 2 and make it omelet or frittata style.

Choose your veggies:  Use 1-2 cups of anything you like except for potatoes, corn or shelled peas (these are counted as grains for our purposes.)  Some ideas:   onions, garlic, mushrooms, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, squash (zucchini or yellow), snow peas, bell peppers, okra, spinach, clinatro, parsely, or lamb’s quarter.  You can use fresh or frozen or a combination of both. 

Choose your seasonings:  Just salt and pepper is fine!  Or try a southwest blend:  cumin, chili powder, garlic, and a dash of oregano.  Lemon pepper or seasoning salt are also nice.  I have also purchased premixed cajun blend and hickory smoke blend.  For an oriental flair try garlic and ginger.  I just shake these into the pan right out of the jars.  I go my smell, taste, and look to see how much.  Start light.  You can always add more spice.

2.  Prepare a large skillet (I like cast-iron, but use what you have) by spraying lightly with non-stick spray.  The trick is to add your ingreidents to the pan in order of cooking time needed.  For example, raw chicken takes several minutes to cook, but spinach should just be barely wilted.  I start by sauteeing any super hard vegetables like baby carrots, broccoli or cauliflower. After cooking for a few minutes, I add onions and garlic with my protein source and half of the seasoning.  Next I add softer vegetables adn cook until everything is crisp tender and the meat is cooked through.  At the end I’ll turn off the heat and  toss in any greens like spinach and just stir around until they are slightly wilted.

Examples

3 oz Salmon burger with baby carrots, onions, sugar snap peas and fresh mushrooms.  Seasoned with lemon pepper.

3 oz chicken breast with 1/4 cup black beans, red onions, baby bell peppers.  Seasoned with cumin, chili powder, garlic, and seasoning salt.  Topped with mixed greens and shredded carrots.  (Salsa and cilantro would be awesome.)

3 oz shrimp with onions, baby bell peppers and spinach.  Seasoned with cajun blend.

Salmon burger with broccoli, onions, carrot slices and fresh mushrooms.  Seasoned with seasoning salt.

Chopped chicken breast with frozen oriental blend, seasoned with garlic, giner and soy sauce.

Chopped chicken with cubed fresh pumpkin, broccoli, mushrooms, red onions, and baby carrots.  seasoned with ginger and lemon pepper.

Salmon filet with baby carrots, broccoli, baby bell peppers, fresh mushrooms, and kale.  Seasoned with cajun blend.

There’s no reason to get bored with stir fries!  These are just a few examples to help you create beautiful, healthy and fat burning meals for yourself!

Guest Post: Combining Fitness and Family

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I’d like to introduce you to a new blogger, Candy AKA Imperfect Mama.  Candy enjoys exercising while playing with her kids and has some great frugal tips for us to include fitness in our daily routines.  We might not even notice we’re exercising!:



We are a pretty fit and active family.  By fit and active, I do not mean we go to the gym multiple times a week, we are constantly weighing and taping ourselves, and only eat whole, organic foods.  By fit and active, I mean we eat what we want in moderation and we are active in normal, ordinary ways while maintaining a  recommended body weight.  We are always looking for fun ways to spend time together as a family while still being active and raising our heart rate from more than a jog from the kitchen table to the couch.
Some people think that to be active and healthy, you have to spend a lot of money.  I am here to tell you that is simply Not True.  You can be healthy and active on any budget, including one that has no money in it for fitness equipment.  The only equipment you need is your body, but I’m sure many of you have some of this other stuff, too.  Some of these are no-brainers, others are things you may not have thought of before.
First–explore where you live on foot!  We live on a small hobby farm in the middle of nowhere, but I realize that some of you may live in the middle of a city.  Regardless, explore your surroundings.  Take a walk in the woods on your property, walk around your apartment building, or walk to the corner market next time you need a loaf of bread.  Instead of getting the mail when you pull in the driveway, park your car in the normal spot and then walk to the end of your driveway to get the mail.  Walking is free and you will see so much more than you realize when your kids are pointing things out from their vantage point.  Not only are you getting exercise, but you are spending quality time together.
Second–explore your extended area on bike!  Put helmets on the kids, throw the baby in the bike stroller and go for a bike ride to the park or lake or neighbor’s house to deliver a get-well card.  It doesn’t matter where you go, it matters that you are being active, getting fresh air and spending time with your family.
Three–play outdoor games together when the weather permits.  On summer evenings you’ll often find our entire family outside playing basketball, softball or badminton until the sun goes down.  Even if you don’t have a basketball hoop, I’m sure you have a ball and a laundry basket that will make do in a pinch.  You’ll sleep better after all the activity and fresh air, too.

Four–if the weather isn’t allowing you to be outside, turn on some music and dance!  You can create your own choreographed moves, play freeze dance (turn down/pause music and then everyone freezes until music starts again) or simply dance like crazy.  You will all be laughing like crazy in no time and no one will even realize they are exercising in all the fun!

Five–every 2 years we celebrate the Olympics with our own family version.  For the summer Olympics in 2008 we had an Equestrian event with stick horses, an obstacle course, a bike race, and a relay foot race.  For the winter Olympics in 2010, we played hockey in the driveway with a tennis ball, had a sled race, made snowballs and threw them at a target, and also had a snow angel contest.  All of this was done at no cost, in our yard, and was a ton of fun.
Six–turn some chores into fun and active events.  Need to sweep the floor?  Play floor hockey with a couple brooms and a ping-pong ball.  Need to pick up toys or dirty clothes?  Turn it into a game of basketball by tossing the toys/clothes into a basket and other family members trying to block shots.
I could go on and on, but the whole point of this post is to give some ideas, and help you realize that just about anything can become a fun and active family event with a little bit of imagination and some ambition.  You do not need a lot of money or gadgets to be an active, healthy family.  Just find what your family likes to do and make it something that will get your heart pumping, too.  You’ll all be thankful for it.

Reduced Fat Peanut Butter Spread Recipes

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We love peanut butter around here.  But when I’m losing weight, grabbing a thick gooey peanut butter sandwich just isn’t an option.  One 2 T serving of peanut butter has 190 calories; 17 grams of fat, and 8 grams of protein and that doesn’ t count the bread or the jelly.  With these peanut butter spread recipes, I can still get a hint of peanut butter but with nearly half the calories and fat.   There are lots of options for blending peanut butter.  Choose the one that most appeals to your tastes.

Peanut Butter/Cream cheese Spread

1/4 cup Fat free cream cheese

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (all natural is fine)

1 packet stevia sweetener like Purevia® or Truvia®.

Blend all in a food processor or electric mixer with a whip.  Chill. 

2 Tablespoons has 111 calories; 8 grams of fat; 4 grams of carbs; and 6 grams of protein

Peanut Butter/Tofu Spread

Use the recipe above except substitute 1/4 cup or 2 oz of soft silken tofu for the cream cheese. 

2 Tablespoons has 105 calories, 8.8 grams of fat; 3 grams of carbohydate, and 5 grams of protein

Peanut Butter Cottage Cheese Spread

Use the recipe above, but replace the cream cheese with 1/4 cup skim milk cottage cheese, pureed smooth.  This one really needs a food processor.

2 Tablespoons equals 106 calories; 8.3 grams of fat; 4 grams of carbohydrate; and 6 grams of protein.

The Adaptable Omelet

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Omelets are a wonderful breakfast, because they are full of protein.  If we exercise before we eat breakfast, our bodies are forced to use body fat for energy.  But sometimes it’s not physically possible to exercise first.  Then, a protein rich breakfast gives similar results.  With few or no carbohydrates to draw energy from, the body will burn it’s own fat.

Whole eggs are the best choice because the yolks are full of vitamins!  But if you feel the need to go yokeless, 1/4 cup of egg substitute or 4 egg whites works too.  I don’t worry about cholesterol in the yolks because the egg whites are full of lecithin which naturally combats an overload of cholesterol.  It makes me smile how God created everything so balanced!  I know some of you are on a special yokeless diet from your doctor, and you can follow that and still make a yummy omelet. 

When you use 2 large eggs with vegetables (no cheese or meat) like I’ll show you below, this breakfast has only 200 calories! 

1.  Start your omelet by beating 2 eggs (or 1/4 cup egg substitute) in a custard cup (or small bowl) until they are uniform in color and frothy. Set them aside.

2.  Prepare 1/2 cup chopped vegetables from any of the following:  onion, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini, broccoli, spinach, lamb’s quarter or kale.  Place it in a small non-stick skillet (I use cast-iron) sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and saute until crisp-tender.  For a fancy omelet you can move the cooked veggies to another dish during the next step.  Otherwise just pour your eggs right on top of them.

3.  Pour your beaten eggs into a warm skillet and let cook on one side until a  skin has cooked on the bottom.  Gently lift up the cooked egg and tilt the pan so the liquid eggs can run underneath and cook.  Keep lifting and tilting until the surface is fairly solid.  Then sprinkle your vegetables right on top.   

4.  At this point you can flip the whole circle (my favorite way) and let the top side cook for a minute or so until firm, or you can just leave it on the one side and fold in half, so the inside is still soft.  Flip the omelet to a serving dish, enjoy!

Tip:  I use a pan that is the size I want my omelet to be when I’m done.  My omelet pan has an 8 inch diameter.

Adapt it!

Try adding special herb blends to your eggs to change the flavor.  For example, mushrooms and broccoli with lemon pepper is great

Or tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, and peppers with basil and garlic–is a pizza omelet

Or peppers and onions, with chili powder and cumin is a fajita omelet.

The combinations are limitless.  I hope you’ll leave a comment with your favorite combo or one you’d like to try.

Cheese?

I love lots of gooey melty cheese.  But adding it to my omelet uses up calories I’d rather save for later in the day. I’ve been making mine without and it helps me spread my calories out through the day if I skip it in my omelet.  If you are really missing cheese, try 1 teaspoon of grated parmesean with your veggies.  It only adds 5 calories, but tons of flavor.

How to Think Thin

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I’m not a naturally thin person, but I’ve lived with several.  I noticed there is a big difference between the way we think.

A thin person thinks:

1.  I am a small person, and I need very little food to keep me going. (Or I have a small stomach)  I’ve been told these things when I comment that someone didn’t eat much for dinner.  I know, none of my business.

2.  I’m not really hungry right now, I’ll eat later

3.  This is really good, but I’m full now, so I think I’ll stop. (They can even leave half their dessert behind if they’re not hungry!)

4.  I’m too busy to eat right now.

5.  I don’t need food to have a good time.

6.  I ate a lot yesterday and I’m just not as hungry today.

7. I can eat a small portion because I can always have more later.

If you ask a naturally thin person what they think about food, they probably can’t tell you.  The main differnce is a naturally thin person doesn’t think about food a whole lot, while I can’t stop thinking about food. 

A thin person might tell you they eat a lot.  And sometimes they do.  When a thin person eats a lot, it will almost always be in public.  But when a heavy person eats a lot, it will almost always be in private.  After a day of heavy eating a thin person will take the next few days and eat very little–less than they normally do.  It’s natural and they don’t have to think about it.  It’s like the variable calorie consumption I told you about yesterday.  Varying how much we eat day by day keeps the metabolism pumping. 

A naturally thin person may genetically have a faster metabolism than the rest of us, but usually that only allows them an extra 200 calories a day,  about as much as a cup of milk and 2 graham crackers.  I think that the bigger key to their metabolism is the choices they make without thinking about it, make their metabolism run faster.  They fidget; they eat a variable rate of calories; they know their hunger signals and stop eating before they are stuffed.

The great news is anyone can learn to think like a thin person.  Watch one nonchalantly for awhile and see what you can learn.

Some Days You Should Eat More

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Yep, you read that right.  Our bodies were created to adapt to our environment.  Ever notice that the 50 degree day in the middle of winter feels really warm, but a 50 degree summer day would freeze us all?  It’s the same with our calorie intake.  Our bodies get used to a steady calorie level and adjusts it’s speed of metabolism to maintain your body size at that level.  So sometimes, even though you are very careful with your food choices, your weight loss slows down or stops.

There’s a theory called the “Set-Point Theory.”  The thoery goes, your body sets itself at a certain weight, so if you eat a whole bunch one day, your body revvs up it’s metabolism to use up the extra calories and keep you at the same weight.  If you eat too little, the opposite happens.  It takes a steady pattern of calorie changes to get the body to actually gain or lose weight.  Once it does, it will reset it’s “point” at the new weight, but in order to do that you have to work hard to maintain it for awhile to convince your body that it’s a good place to be.

Image Credit: Ivan Vicencio

The trouble is your body may reset itself at a weight that’s higher than you want.  Your low calorie diet can slow your metabolism to a crawl if you aren’t careful and you will experience the dreaded plateu.  One way to prevent that is to boost your calorie level by 300 calories one day a week.  This revvs up your metabolism for the day and keeps your body guessing where to land.  But it’s important you choose well where those 300 calories go.  Adding 300 calories of white flour and sweets will add water weight to your body by the morning.  It’s not fat, but it will feel like it.  Choose whole grains, fruit, veggies, and lean proteins–even for your extra calorie day.

Another way to keep your metabolism pumping is to follow an interval exercise program like we talked about a few days ago.  Doing both will insure you keep losing weight at a reasonable rate.  You may have noticed that some popular weight loss programs, like Weight Watchers®, have included floating calories, or extra points for you to use sometime during the week.  Now you know why!

Naturally skinny people eat in a way to benefit from set-point theory without even thinkng about it.  I’ll explain how to think thin tomorrow.

The Most Effective Type of Exercise….

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….is interval training.  Interval training trades periods of high intensity exercise with short periods of rest. 

Aerobic exercise strengthens the heart and burns fat, while weight/strength training builds muscles and strengthens the bones. The best kind of interval training combines the two. 

During the high intensity periods the power of aerobic activity is used and during the short phase of “rest” (lowering the heart rate slightly) strength training is used.  This allows you to get two workouts in the same time it used to take to get one.  It allows your body to enter the fat burning phase more quickly and since your heart rate stays somewhat elevated during the period of rest, the aerobic period continues through the strength training session.  An effective workout can be achieved in just 20 minutes!

No matter how excellent your exercise routine is, it is possible to out-eat any amount of exercise and still not lose weight. Exercise complements but doesn’t replace a healthy, moderate diet.

To get even more power from your interval workout, combine upper and lower body exercises at all times.  The larger the muscles you use the more calories you burn.  Your thighs (quads) and bottom (glutes) are the biggest muscles in your body.  For example,  if you are doing bicept curls, add a squat at the same time. For the best results use as many muscles at once that you can.

I use videos to help me know what to do next in my workouts,  My favorites are the Mama wants her body back series using a fitness band.  They are expensive though (and I’ve heard it’s hard to cancel the subscription to the videos–though I liked mine so much I didn’t want to.  I’m sure there are other good ones out there, and to be honest I haven’t used a ton.  Try to borrow any video from the library or a friend or look for an excerpt on youtube before buying a video.  Once you’ve decided on a title you’d like, check prices at Alibris.com and Amazon.com before buying.

You tube has several excellent training videos for free that will help you create your own interval routines.  To create your own routine all you need is a timer and the appropriate weights or restistance equipment of your choice.  Music is a nice touch. 

The following video  by Holly Rigsby  is an interesting take on how to get the most out of your exercise time by using the right amount of added weight.  She has several other videos on her youtube channel with more exercise moves to add  to your routines.

Here is a second video from Holly which features some of her favorite interval moves. If you are still confused about what intervals are and how to do them this video will clear it up.

Disclaimer:  No business or person has sponsored this post.  The sources posted here are purely some I have personally benefitted from.

7 Ways to Boost Your Metabolism

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The older we get, the slower our metabolism tends to get.  But it doesn’t have to be that way!  Our metabolism naturally slows as we age and stop running around like a crazy animal!  You should see how my five children get going in the evenings, chasing each other around the circle in our home and screaming like hyenas.  For some reason when I reached adulthood, I quit acting like that, and I started to gain a little around my middle!

Some signs of a slow metabolism are feeling constantly cold when others are fine and having low energy or fatigue.

There are things we can do at any age to boost our metabolism and keep our dignity at the same time.  Here’s 7.

1.  Build muscle.  Weight lifting is great for you! It takes more calories to maintain muscle than fat and those with more muscle naturally use more calories each day just being.  On top of that weight training also increases your bone density which can ward off osteoperosis.

2.  Drink green tea, eat spicy (hot) foods, and drink ice water.  Consuming these types of things will give your calorie burning a boost.  It’s interesting to note that Green Tea’s metabolism effects don’t rely much on caffeine.  Though there is a small amount of caffeine present in green tea the other plant components have an even stronger affect on metabolism.

3.  Add fiber to your diet.  Fiber takes 10 extra calories per gram just to move through your digestive system. Aim for 28 grams of fiber each day.  Some foods, like celery, are so slow in calories and so high in fiber that it takes more calories to digest it than it has.

4.  Look for ways to add motion to your day.  You don’t have to chase around the circle in your house–but it wouldn’t hurt if you did.  Dance with your kids; park farther away; take the stairs.  If you have a spare 5 minutes, run up and down a staircase as many times as you can.  If you are on the phone, do squats. Standing side leg lifts are great if you are washing dishes.  And you can squeeze your stomach muscles tight while waiting in line.  (A good 10 second squeeze gives you the same benefit as a full sit up!)

5.  Plan your exercise for early in the day.  Your metabolism will stay elevated for several hours after you exercise, but if you do it right before sleep, this long term effect is lost.  Any exercise is better than none, but if you can do it early on you’ll get even more from it.

 

6.  Do interval exercises.  This can be as simple as sprinting for 1 minute and walking for 1 minute back and forth for your exercise duration.  Or you can do jumping jacks for 1 minute and lift weights for 1 minute.  With interval training you trade off high intensity exercise with low intensity exercise.  This technique allows you to burn more calories in a shorter amount of time and gives your after burn metabolism an even bigger boost.

7.  Check your vitamin levels.  Deficiencies in Vitamin D, Chromium, Iron, and the family of B vitamins will reduce your metabolism.  These types of deficiencies are fairly common.  Most multi-vitmains contain these ingredietns, but if you are concerned about your levels your doctor can order a simple blood test.

Salt

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Sodium is a mineral that is essential for health.  Sodium works with potassium to make our muscles contract.  It is also a key electrolyte in our blood.  It manages proper water levels in our cells and keeps us from dehydrating.  Sodium is essential for our hearts to beat and our nervous systems to work properly.  For another source about the health benefits of sodium read here and here.

 It’s true that many American’s overdo salt.  But as more and more of us turn away from processed and pre-packaged foods, that becomes less of a concern.  Daily recommended allowance is below 2300 mg a day or about 1 teaspoon of salt.  Sodium occurrs naturally in milk and is added to many dairy products like cheese, butter and cottage cheese.  It is high in commercially canned soups and broths, pickles, potato chips, soy sauce, and other condiments. 

When I was on my road to health, my doctor put me on salt pills.  My blood pressure was at dangerously low levels from a variety of reasons, one being too little sodium in my diet.  Now that I am eating real food again, I no longer take salt pills, but I do generously salt my food to taste.

Some people have a higher need for salt than others:  Those who live or work in a hot dry environment where they sweat constantly; those who perform large amounts of sweat causing exercise or do weight training; those recovering from a illness that caused dehydration; pregnant women; those naturally requiring more salt; and those recovering from blood loss are a few.

If you are otherwise healthy with a normal or below normal blood pressure, and little risk for stroke, adopting a low sodium diet is not necessary and may be harmful.  This is definitely something to discuss with your doctor before you jump in making drastic dietary changes.

While it is true that taking in too much sodium can cause water retention; taking in sugar causes it more!  There’s no such thing as eating too little refined sugar and adopting a low sugar diet won’t harm anyone.  Eating sugar can also raise your bad cholesterol levels, so if you feel the need to eliminate a food without consulting your doctor–start there.

When you are eating adquate amounts of sodium, It is essential that enough water is also taken in to aid the kidneys when salt is present in the diet.  It is also essential that sodium and potassium are eaten in a good balance (5 x the amount of potassium to sodium) to keep the muscles working effectively.  For more information on the sodium potassium pump read here and here.

Which Salt?

Not all salts are created equal.  Plain iodized table salt is very cheap, (25 cents a can), but it is also highly refined and stripped of most of it’s natural minerals.  In addition the extra iodine can lead to too much iodine in parts of the world like ours where salty food is abundant.  Unrefined sea salt is better, made from evaporating sea water which leaves the salt behind and contains more natural minerals.   There are other types of salt like Himalayan Crystal salt which are touted to have even more minerals.  Use what seems right to you.

Fat and Alcohol

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Hi friends! I hope you aren’t getting bored with our discussion about types of foods and nutrients. It’s so important to have this foundation of knowledge so you can make the right nutritional decisions for you and your family. By giving you this information for free, I hope to save you from spending money on weight loss pills, programs and gimmicks. This is the last article on nutrition and tomorrow we will talk about ways to boost your metabolism so you will naturally burn more calories. And lots of yummy recipes are on the way too that will fit in perfectly with your fitness plan.

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Fat is essential for life but alcohol shouldn’t enter the body. I lump them together because they are both full of calories. Fat has 9 calories per gram and alcohol has 7 while proteins and carbs each have 4 calories per gram.

Drinking alcohol doesn’t make someone a bad person, but it’s not wise physically or financially. I do buy rum and vodka and keep them on hand for making vanilla extract, cleaning supplies, and for wound cleaning. Wood alcohol (which is sold at the drugstore as isopropyl alcohol) isn’t good for your skin. It is very drying and can kill skin cells. Grain alcohol has the same germ killing properties but is gentler on the skin.

When alcohol enters the body through the digestive system, bad things start to happen. For now, I want to focus on the effects of alcohol on weight loss. When alcohol is consumed the body immediately converts some of it to fat. The rest is converted by the liver into acetate which is sent to the blood stream to be used for fuel ahead of carbohydrates and fat. This process stresses the liver and compromises it’s ability to metabolize fat. Eventually it can cause liver disease or failure. It’s best to leave alcohol for washing wounds and in recipes where it will be evaporated away in the cooking process.

Fat on the other hand, while high in calories, contains essential fat soluble vitamins that can’t be absorbed any other way. It’s important to choose the right kinds of fat for optimal health and vitamin content. Fish oil, hemp oil, flax oil, and evening primrose oil are all good sources of Omega Fatty Acids. Olive oil, Almond oil, natural nut butters, and coconut oil are also healthy fats. I personally also use real butter even though it is more expensive that margarine. I believe the health benefits are worth the additional cost. It takes a relatively small amount of fat to meet your daily needs. 

During weight loss 30 grams of fat or about 2 T of healthy oil is plenty each day.  There are lots of fun ways to reduce fat in baking, salad dressings, and other traditional recipes.  When done correctly, you won’t even be able to tell.  More on that a little later in the month.  Tomorrow we will talk about ways to boost your metabolism!  Fun stuff there.