15 Snacks That Make Calories Count!

I read an article last week reporting that one-fourth of the calories children consume come from snacks. It made me wonder: how many calories do I consume in snacks? Well in fact, according to my food journal, the answer is one-quarter. Interesting. So what's the big deal?

The study, conducted by health professors at two Universities, found that fourth- and fifth-grade students consumed 302 calories from calorically-dense, nutrient-poor snacks such as cookies, potato chips and candy, but only 45 calories from fruit and vegetable snacks. They found that many children have greater control over the foods they consume as snacks than those they eat at mealtimes. The researchers concluded based on their findings that more health education is necessary to guide positive snack choices.

I'm passing this information along because I think it's important news for adults and children alike. Do you realize how many calories you're consuming at snacks? Are these snacks rich in nutrients? Or are they "empty calories?" It makes sense to eat snacks throughout the day because it can help you keep your energy level stable and keep you from getting too hungry before your next meal. I would say it's appropriate for one-fourth of your daily calories to come from snacks too--but it's important to make those calories count. Snacks should come from the same healthy food groups from which we build our meals. It's certainly okay to eat enjoy treats sometimes, but most of the time make sure your snacks pack a powerful nutrient punch. Here's some ideas to get you started.

• ½ of a sandwich (turkey, chicken breast, or lean ham)
• ½ of an English muffin with 1 tablespoon Nutella^®
• 6 whole grain crackers and 1 piece light string cheese
• ½ cup fat-free frozen yogurt with 1 tablespoon nuts
• 2 rice cakes (4 inches across) with 1 tablespoon peanut butter
• ½ cup canned fruit (in juice) with ¼ cup cottage cheese
• 6 ounces non-fat or light yogurt with 1 tablespoon granola
• Mini pizza: ½ of an English muffin with 1 tablespoon tomato sauce and 1 ounce part-skim mozzarella cheese
• ½ pita bread with 2 tablespoons hummus
• 3 cups light popcorn
• ½ cup sugar-free pudding with 1 tablespoon walnuts
• ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
• 6 ounce non-fat or light yogurt
• Small granola bar, made with whole grains and/or nuts and fruit
• Small apple with 1 tablespoon peanut butter and 1 cup baby carrots (my favorite afternoon snack!)

How do you make your snack calories count? What are your favorite nutrient-packed snacks?

Article source: Food Navigator, Image credit: Robert Cochrane

Jordan's Got the 'Goods!'

Congratulations to our Mother's Day Give-Away winner: Jordan from St. Charles, Missouri. She won 24 nimble bars (by Balance Bar), a fashionable pouch, headband and Mother's Day card (a prize valued at $54.98). Way to go, Jordan!

When asked how she inspires her family to eat healthy, Jordan shared this health-inspirational post:

"I inspire my family to eat healthy food as part of our daily life by teaching them why we eat veggies, organic meat and drink milk. I teach them what is in the food that we eat. Each night we talk about the food that I prepared for dinner, what vitamins are in each dish and how they benefit our bodies. My daughter is 4 and she can tell me what carrots do for her body and how kale and spinach can make her strong to play with her friends outside. She claims the healthy dinner gave her the energy to run faster then all of her friends. It's the best part of the day! And she loves food; good food. Now when she is offered a cupcake or chips at lunch she turns them down, claiming there aren't enough 'goods' in them and that she will be tired. Pretty smart little girl if you ask me. She will now choose an apple over ice cream (well most of the time that is :)."

I think this is such an easy, practical way to positively encourage healthy eating at home, especially in your kiddos. I selected Jordan's response because it captured the inspiration behind the GoodFood blog. Good food tastes good and it's good for you. It's that simple.

I'm with Jordan. Give 'em the goods, girl! Talk about healthy eating daily and why it's important. Your kids (and the rest of your family) will grow up loving good food too.

Happy Mother's Day! If you have any other ideas for inspiring healthy eating at home, please share with our community by commenting below.

And don't worry--we're not leaving the Dads out! Look for the Father's Day Give-Away post in the next couple of days. Submit your entries for a chance to win 15 Balance BARE Bars in 3 flavors, a water bottle with a compartment to hold your BARE bar and a 'BARE' hug Father's Day card.

Fish Tacos with Mango Avocado Salsa

Cinco de Mayo got me thinking about my love affair with seafood tacos. It all started with the shrimp tacos at Pujols 5 Restaurant, here in St. Louis. Then there were the shrimp tacos I ate on my honeymoon in Cancun. I fell in love with this dish! It may not sound very appealing, and admittedly I was a little skeptical about it myself at first, but believe me--it's delicious. And of course, nutritious and super simple to prepare!

This is the version I recently came up with at home using tilapia. As it often does, my inspiration for the accompanying salsa came from the ingredients I received in my biweekly co-op! Prepare the salsa ahead of time to allow flavors to marry.

Mango Avocado Salsa

Cut the following into small, bite-sized pieces:

1 cup tomatoes (any kind)

1 avocado

1 mango

1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped

4 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped

1 lime, cut into quarters

Dash of the following:

Kosher salt, to taste

Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Crushed red pepper

Add all ingredients in a small bowl. Squeeze the lime over ingredients. Add seasonings to taste. Gently mix to coat in lime juice. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

Fish Tacos with Mango Avocado Salsa

Serves 4.

Ingredients
4 4 oz tilapia filets (fresh or frozen and thawed)

Seasoned and ready to go!

1 lime, sliced in wedges
4 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
Olive oil
Crushed red pepper
Kosher salt
Fresh ground black pepper
Chili powder
Cumin
Paprika
8 yellow corn tortillas (the thinnest ones tend not to crack)
8 tablespoons Mango Avocado Salsa
8 teaspoons plain, non-fat Greek yogurt or low-fat sour cream, for topping
Spring mix or lettuce, shredded, for topping

Place tilapia filets on a plate. On each side of the fish, season by repeating the following: drizzle olive oil, squeeze lime and lightly sprinkle each of the seasonings. Allow to marinate in the fridge for 30-60 minutes.

Heat a medium non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add fish and cook on each side for about 3 minutes. Flip the fish gently with a spatula, as tilapia flakes very easily. The fish is done when it is opaque in the center (white throughout and no longer pink). While the fish is cooking, warm tortilla shells in the microwave for about 10 seconds. Each filet will fill 2 corn taco shells. Split the fish between shells and top with lettuce, salsa and sour cream.

Enjoy with brown rice and a Mexican beer :)  It will make you feel like you're over-looking the ocean in Cancun!

It's Our First Birthday!

The GoodFood blog published its very first post one year ago today, May 3, 2011. Now that's a cause for some cake! Over the past year, we've published nearly 100 posts--all with one message in mind: Healthy food does taste good and with Liz's practical advice, eating a healthy diet is achievable and it will help you reach your health and wellness goals. I hope my blog has served its purpose: inspiring you to work harder to make good food (as in healthy food) a major part of your life, push through the tough times when it's not so easy to maintain your goals and to try fresh and healthy recipes as a way to expand your healthy eating horizons.

We're growing rapidly, just barely falling below 2,000 pageviews last month. A record for us! We're forming partnerships with blog communities, fellow health professionals and vendors in an effort to keep the GoodFood blog useful and up-to-date. Help us continue to grow over our second year by passing along the GoodFood name and following Liz (RDbyyourside) on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest (looooove Pinterest!). Of course, if you're looking for more help with your diet, participate in one of RDbyyourside's events or meet with Liz personally for nutrition education.

Some highlights from this year included:

• Some fab new recipes that are super healthy too (but you'd never know it!). Some of my faves? 
• Spring Asparagus and Penne Salad with Goat Cheese
• Roasted Garlic Hummus
• Creamy Golden Oatmeal
• Whole Wheat and Flax Pancakes
• Debut of the new MyPlate logo for National Nutrition Month
• Ten Commandments for healthy eating--my "principles to live by" for a healthy lifestyle
• Reviews of some healthy products that I hadn't yet tried, including two of my favorites:
• Balance Bar's BARE Chocolate Almond
• Banana Cinnamon Quinoa Cereal by Cocomama
• For the New Year: 12 nutrient-packed foods to eat more of in 2012
• My first experience with a local co-op, which I LOVE!! Thanks Community Helpings :)
• My 2011 summer garden. Hoping for even more improvement and a bigger garden this year!

My favorite post of the year was Up and Running. It's a short, personal story about inspiration, hard work, pushing through barriers, persistance to achieve something important, and the beauty and peacefulness of nature. I know the obstacles to exercise that I faced were short-term (hopefully) and honestly, not too severe, especially compared to some people's struggles. But I believe that sometimes it's the smaller struggles we face everyday that keep us from leading the healthy lifestyle we want to. I gained a great deal of perspective from this experience and was reminded that we shouldn't take what we have for granted. In this case, I mean good health. And I love the picture of the sunset too :)

So thanks to all my followers and visitors. Here's to a year even greater than the last! I'd also like to know...

Have you read anything inspiring on the GoodFood blog this year?
What would you like to read more about or see more of in our second year?
Tell me what your favorite post was!
Any other feedback on how we can improve?

Creative Ways to Curb Your Kid's Sugar Intake

I think I've made my point about the "sugar battle" lately, with the ultimate message being that it is okay to consume sugar in moderation as part of a healthy diet. However these days, sugar can sneak up on you! It’s hidden in foods where you don’t expect it--or at least don’t expect that much of it. According to a recent report from the CDC, 16% of kids’ daily calories come from added sugar. While sugar-sweetened beverages are often targeted as the culprit, the report shows that 59% of added sugars are found in foods. Some common sources of added sugar include store-bought muffins, spaghetti sauce, cereals, cookies and granola bars.

This is concerning because kids are adding hundreds of extra calories to their diets each day by consuming these foods. Not only does this equal weight gain over the years, but more nutritious items are often displaced from their diets. If your kid grabs a bag of chips, for example, after school, they’re missing out on servings of fruit, vegetables or dairy they could be eating instead.

If your kids are already accustomed to eating sugar-laden treats regularly, you might be wondering how you’re supposed to turn the tables now. The first step is to clean up the obvious sources of excess sugar in your pantry. Most of the candies, cookies, snack cakes, frozen treats, sugary cereals and sugar-sweetened beverages should hit the road. If you decide to keep some in the house, take some advice from Blue Zones author, Dan Buettner: place them behind closed doors either on a high shelf or very low shelf. Out of sight, out of mind. Next, here are some ideas that will satisfy your kids’ sweet tooth…but they’re naturally sweet! No sugar added and packed with nutrition.

• Trade sugar-sweetened yogurt for plain yogurt mixed with fruit and a touch of honey.
• Freeze bananas or grapes for snacks.
• For breakfast: enjoy unsweetened cereal with fruit sliced on top or make a parfait to go.
• Prepare plain oatmeal and top with ground cinnamon and sliced bananas.
• Buy a popsicle-making kit and get creative! Blend chopped fruit in a food processor, add some carbonated water and fill your popsicle molds for a delicious summer treat.
• Find recipes for homemade granola and muffins; you control how much sugar gets added.
• Trade cookies for graham crackers or animal crackers.
• Package dried fruit in snack-sized bags for on-the-go snacks.
• Freeze berries or lemon juice in ice cubes and let the kids add them to their water.
• Send low-fat pudding topped with sliced strawberries for lunch at school.

Let’s face it--we’re born to enjoy sweet tastes. And it is okay to enjoy sweet treats as part of a healthy diet, just on a more occasional basis. That’s what makes them treats! Teach your kids good nutrition habits while they’re young, including how to enjoy all the foods that are naturally sweet-tasting. And remember, it’s never too late! If you think it’s time to make some serious changes, get a plan of action and talk with your family. If you need help formulating your plan, find an RD near you.

Photo credit: grour razvan ionut