Lynbrook | New Hyde Park | NY

Diet

Recipe of the Week: Crispy Carrot Chips

The entire batch of carrot chips contains only 79 calories and offers 4.1 grams of fiber; regular potato chips have 160 calories and only one gram of fiber. Don’t forget the Vitamin A benefits!

Yields:  1 serving
Cook Time: 1 hour
Calories per serving: 79

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 large carrots (or 3 medium)
  • 1/2 teaspoon olive oil (or melted coconut oil)
  • 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
  • Any other seasonings you like!

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Wash and peel the carrots. Using a mandolin slicer or a knife, tilt the carrot, and thinly slice diagonally to make oval-shaped pieces — if they’re too thick, they’ll be soft instead of crunchy.
  3. Place the carrot slices in a bowl, and toss with olive oil and salt.
  4. Lay the carrots in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with a Silpat or parchment paper.
  5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the carrots are dry and crisp. Watch them carefully toward the end, as they can burn quickly.

 

Find the original recipe here!

Recipe of the Week: Seven Vegetable Couscous

Prep Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Ingredients:

Seven-Vegetable Stew:

  • 3 cloves garlic, smashed
  • 2 small turnips, peeled and quartered
  • 1 medium yellow onion, quartered lengthwise, root end intact
  • 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
  • 1/2 fennel bulb, thickly sliced lengthwise, root end intact
  • 1/3 cup golden raisins
  • 1 tablespoon peeled, chopped, fresh ginger
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons each ground cumin, paprika, and sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 cinnamon stick, snapped in half
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 pound butternut squash
  • 1 small zucchini, cut into 2-inch rounds
  • 1 (15 1/2-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 4 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley, tied together with kitchen string
  • 1 cup canned whole peeled tomatoes, with their juices

Couscous:

  • 2 cups cold water
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 cups uncooked couscous
  • 1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Directions:

For the stew:

  • Put the garlic, turnips, onion, carrot, fennel, raisins, ginger, salt, cumin, paprika, sugar, turmeric, cloves, and cinnamon in a large soup pot with a tight-fitting lid. Add 2 cups water and bring to a boil over high heat; cover, reduce the heat, and simmer until the vegetables are somewhat soft, about 10 minutes.
  • Halve and seed the butternut squash and cut it into wedges. Tie parsley sprigs together with kitchen string. Add squash, zucchini, chickpeas, and parsley sprigs to the pot. Using your fingers and working over the pot, tear the tomatoes into big pieces and add them to the pot with their juices.
  • Simmer the stew, covered, until it is slightly thick and fragrant, and the vegetables are fork tender but not mushy, about 15 minutes. Remove cinnamon sticks.

 For the couscous:

  1. Bring water to a boil with the butter and salt in a small saucepan. Stir in the couscous, pull the saucepan off the heat, cover, and set aside until the water has been absorbed and the couscous is plump, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and fluff with a fork.

To serve, spread the couscous over a large serving platter and, using a slotted spoon, mound the vegetables in the center. Pour some of the broth over the vegetables and sprinkle with the almonds. Enjoy!

 

Original recipe from the Food Network 

Recipe of the Week: Shrimp and Veggie Stuffed Zucchini

Prep: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

  • 1 extra large zucchini
  • ¼ c olive oil
  • 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped
  • ½ lb. large shrimp, shelled, deveined, & halved
  • 1 large tomato
  • 8 cremini mushrooms
  • ¼ c grated Parmesan cheese
  • 8 leaves fresh basil, torn
  • Salt & Pepper, to taste
  • Garlic Powder, to taste
  • ¼ c grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven’s broiler and set the oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source. Grease a baking sheet.
  2. Cut the zucchini in half the long way, and scoop out the seeds and pulp, leaving a thick shell of flesh. Brush both halves of the zucchini with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and place them, cut sides down, onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake until the zucchini are hot and beginning to release beads of moisture, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the zucchini from the oven.
  3. Reduce the oven heat to 450 degrees F.
  4. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat, and cook and stir the garlic and shallot until translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.
  5. Place 1 tablespoon of olive oil, the shrimp, diced tomato, mushrooms, 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, basil, and the cooked garlic and shallot into a bowl, and stir to mix. Season to taste with black pepper, salt, and garlic powder. Stuff the mixture into the zucchini halves, and sprinkle each zucchini with about 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese.
  6. Bake the stuffed zucchini in the preheated oven until the cheese is browned and the filling is cooked through and hot, about 20 minutes.

 

Recipe of the Week: Moroccan Lentil Soup

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 5 ½ hours
Serves 12

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups chopped onions
  • 2 cups chopped carrots
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
  • 6 cups vegetable broth or reduced-sodium chicken broth
  • 2 cups water
  • 3 cups chopped cauliflower
  • 1¾ cups lentils
  • 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 4 cups chopped fresh spinach or one 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
  • ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice

 

Directions:

  1. Combine onions, carrots, garlic, oil, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon and pepper in a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker. Add broth, water, cauliflower, lentils, tomatoes and tomato paste and stir until well combined.
  2. Cover and cook until the lentils are tender, 4 to 5 hours on High or 8 to 10 hours on Low.
  3. During the last 30 minutes of cooking, stir in spinach. Just before serving, stir in cilantro and lemon juice.

 

Serving size: about 1¼ cups
Per serving: 153 calories; 2 g fat; 10 g fiber; 28 g carbohydrates; 9 g protein

Recipe of the Week: Slow Cooker Peasant Stew

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours
Serves: 6

Ingredients:

  • 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1.5 lbs
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 (10 oz) cans Diced Tomatoes with Green Chiles, undrained
  • 1 (16 oz) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 (16 oz) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
  • ? cup fresh cilantro

Directions:

  1. Rub the chicken thighs with cumin, sprinkle with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add the chicken thighs and cook about 5 minutes or until browned on all sides.
  2. Pour undrained cans of tomatoes into slow cooker. Stir in onion. Place browned chicken on top and cook on Low for 3 to 4 hours. Add in the beans and cook for an additional hour.
  3. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy!

 

Original recipe can be found here!

Simple Tips to Get the Most Out of Your Cardio Session

“Cardio” is a great way to burn calories and keep your heart healthy. It could be as simple as walking on the treadmill for 30-60 minutes. However, if you’re just going through the motions, you could be wasting your time. Here are some tips to make sure you are getting the most out of your cardio exercise!

Yes, it is true that the longer you stay on cardio machine, the more calories you may burn. However, you can burn more calories in a shorter period of time by simply increasing your intensity. Whether it be increasing the resistance on a stationary bike/elliptical, or increasing the speed or incline on a treadmill.

The “fat burn zone” of cardio is said to be at about 60-65% of one’s estimated max heart rate. At this intensity, 40% of your calories burned will be from fat. This is a fairly low level of intensity and would have to be maintained to for a much longer period of time in order to have a substantial benefit. When you increase your intensity to 75-85% of max heart rate, only 25-30% of your calories burned will be from fat. However, because more work is being done you will burn more total calories and consequently more calories from fat.

Along with changing the intensity, try changing the type of cardio you do once in a while. The human body is great at adapting, and once it is acclimated the same form of cardio may not exhibit the same training effect. If you usually walk on the treadmill, try the bike, elliptical, arc-trainer, stair stepper, rowing, swimming… Try them all!

Finally, it is very important that you eat! Starving yourself before can deprive you of the energy needed to complete a cardio session and starving yourself after will hinder your ability to recover from your workout. In the long run, “starvation” will negatively affect your exercise goals by decreasing muscle and retaining fat.

On other hand, you must make sure you do not eat too much! Just because the elliptical says you burned 400 calories doesn’t mean you’ve earned yourself a 400 calorie meal. Firstly, the machines can only estimate calories so that number may not be 100% accurate. Secondly, weight loss comes down to energy in vs. energy out. So in order to lose weight, you must eat less calories than you’ve burned.

 

By Dave McCalla

Recipe of the Week: Egg Muffin Cups

Servings: 12
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 cup red pepper measured after chopping
  • 1 cup green pepper measured after chopping
  • 1 cup yellow onion measured after chopping
  • 2 cups baby spinach – roughly chopped measured/packed before chopping
  • 1 cup mushrooms measured before chopping
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 4 whole eggs
  • 4 egg whites
  • Hot sauce (optional for drizzling on top)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a standard 12-slot muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside.
  2. Heat a large non stick skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add in oil, red pepper, green pepper, and onion.
  3. Saute 5-7 minutes, or until peppers are tender. Add in spinach and mushrooms and cook for an additional 2 minutes. In the last 30 seconds, add in minced garlic. Season with salt and remove from heat.
  4. Crack eggs/egg whites into a large 4 cup measuring cup and whisk together. Stir in cooked veggies.
  5. Pour the egg/veggie mixture evenly into the prepared muffin pan.
  6. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the tops are firm to the touch and eggs are cooked. Cool slightly and serve immediately!
  7. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for about 4 days. These may also be frozen. To reheat, pop them in the microwave until warm.

What is the 80/20 Rule for Nutrition?

Often times we tend to struggle sticking to a meal plan or being consistent with our eating. This can be attributed to an abundance of things such as: boredom, lack of discipline, scheduling, etc. A meal plan should be simple and not require you to torture yourself on a day-to-day basis. Yes, eating “clean” may require giving up some of your favorite treats- it requires diligence. However, it should also be something that you learn how to enjoy and fit into your everyday life. This is where the 80/20 rule comes into play.

The 80/20 rule goes under the premise that if you are eating clean and healthy 80% of the time, then it is okay to be not so good or indulge a little the other 20% of the time. The 80% should include whole foods, vegetables, lean protein, and avoiding processed food. Now, this can be easily misconstrued; what the 20% really means is that it should be consumed once per week and not allocating 20% of each day to unhealthy foods. If you have about 21 meals each week (breakfast, lunch, dinner), maybe 3-4 meals are less healthy. Think of this as a more indulgent home cooked meal and not binging on fast food. This “20%” can also be called your “cheat meal.” Sometimes a well timed cheat meal can help you stay on track mentally.

A well timed cheat meal may balance the hunger hormones levels in your body, both of which are correlated with an increase in metabolism and aid in weight loss. One of these hormones, leptin is released into the body as you eat and leaves you with a satiated feeling. When leptin levels are low, ghrelin, the appetite hormone, levels are high. After you eat, ghrelin levels will drop as your digest, helping you feel satisfied. Another benefit of having a cheat meal may be that it gives you something to look forward to.

A meal plan is easy to stick to if you know that Saturday night you can indulge a bit for dinner. If you’re looking for a plan that you can stick to long term or trying to incorporate healthier eating, give the 80/20 rule a shot!

 

By Tyler Palmquist