healthy eating

Now that fall is on its way, the fresh summer bounty is dwindling down; but the truth is your diet doesn’t have to hibernate for the winter. You can get lots of great foods in the canned and frozen food aisles that are full of nutrition at a price that will have you dancing to the cash register. In this post, I’ll share some of my favorite picks and recipe ideas.

Canned beans

Not just the “musical fruit,” beans provide complex carbohydrates, protein, and fiber. In fact, a one-cup serving provides one-third of your day’s protein needs, half your fiber needs, and 65% of your folate needs (an important B-complex vitamin that helps prevent osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease, anemia, and homocysteine buildup in the blood). For less than a dollar a can, you can-not go wrong! Try cannelini beans, black beans, kidney beans, lentils and black-eyed peas. You can buy them with no salt added, low sodium, or rinse them before use to remove about half the salt.

Recipe ideas: add to salads, home-made bean dip, three bean chili, and breakfast burritos.

Tune in this Tuesday, September 22 on The Rachael Ray Show when the bestselling author and Eat This, Not That guru, David Zinczenko, stops by to give us the shocking nutritional truth about 14 buffet table faves.

From chili and turkey wraps to tator tots and the dicey salad bar, Zinczenko will show us how simple swaps at the cafeteria can add up to pounds lost over the course of the year without ever dieting.

Much is made about the rising tide of obesity in the modern world. There are many explanations. Ultimately, it’s mostly alterable if you have the will to do something about it. But, there are many things working against you in the process.

One example is the hectic schedule that most of us keep. Say what you will about the idealism of the ’50s, with mom at home doing the housekeeping. One of the benefits was that there was a home-cooked meal. That’s still a very real possibility, even with both parents working. But it’s certainly more of a challenge.

A study by Cornell University researchers examined the dietary problems we face when people work hectic hours and don’t take the time to make home-cooked meals. The researchers found that parents who work long and unusual hours are more likely to grab fast food on the way home, or buy prepared meals.

Still think you can’t afford to eat healthy? Think again! Hands down one of my greatest pet peeves is when people say they can’t afford to eat healthy. Whether it’s choosing a $1 candy bar in lieu of a 17 cent banana or buying a $3 coffee instead of a 50 cent low fat yogurt, people make food choices every day that don’t make nutrition a priority. But would you ever think that salmon, which is rich in omega-3 healthy fats to promote heart health and brain health, would be cheaper than hot dogs made with who knows what?

Check out this table that cost-compares sources of protein. Salmon comes out well above hot dogs, ground beef and ham for “cost per pound.”

Every night, when I pack lunches for the next day’s school and work, it becomes a chore to try to find something that’s tasty and healthy and won’t kill my budget. My kids love granola bars. I try to avoid the bars that are more like candy, with extra sugars and even M&Ms, and stick with brands such as Cascadian Farms and Kashi, but they can be pretty pricey over the course of a month.

I decided to try my hand at making my own, and scouting around I found a really great recipe original to Faith and Family magazine and reposted on several blogs. It appears to be fairly healthy, with whole wheat flour and oats and sweetened with honey, which doesn’t affect the blood sugar as badly as honey. A bonus when you make your own is the lack of high fructose corn syrup and trans fats, and you can literally whip up these bars in minutes.