Nutrition Know How

What gives your salsa its kick?

For me it is the chile peppers that we use. A member of the Capsicum genus, the chile, was one of the wonders that Christopher Columbus brought back from the new world. This pungent pod plays an important role in providing a range of spiciness from mild to mouth-searing. There are more that 200 varieties of chilies used in cooking around the world. Chilies range in length from 1/4 inch to 12 inches. beware the ribs and seeds—they’re actually hotter than the outside flesh because they contain concentrated amounts of oil, capsaicin, which gives their kick, but can irritate and burn the eyes, nose and skin. Wear rubber gloves while handling chilies and wash your hands thoroughly with soap (to break down the oils) afterward. Don’t cut chilies under running water because the irritating oils become airborne.

Which chilies should you use for your salsa? That depends on how much spiciness you want in the final product. As a general rule, the larger the chile the milder it is. Small chilies are much hotter because, proportionally, they contain more seeds and veins that larger specimens.

Some of our favorites include, but are not limited to:

Anaheim chile (mildly hot) Slim chilies in various shades of green, between 5 to 8 inches long. They have a tough skin, but peel off easily if first charred over a flame and then steamed.

Fresno chile (very hot) Short and cone-shaped, ranges in color from light green to bright red when fully matured.

Habanero chile (extremely hot) Orange when ripe, hottest of all chilies. Lantern shaped chile, native to the Caribbean and the north coast of South America.

Hungarian wax chile (moderately hot) A large (3 to 5 inches long and up to 1 1/2 inches in diameter) yellow chile. They have a distinctly waxy flavor, are also called banana chilies.

Jalapeno chile (very hot) Smooth, dark green (scarlet red when ripe) have a rounded tip and are about 2 inches long and 3/4 to 1 inch in diameter. Easily seeded. In their dried form, jalapenos are known as chipotles.

Poblano chile (mildly hot) A dark green chile with a rich flavor. The darkest poblanos have the richest flavor. About 2 1/2 inches wide and 4 inches long. Tapering from top to bottom in a triangular shape. Ripe poblanos turn a reddish-brown color and are sweeter the green. When dried, poblanos are called ancho chilies.

Tomato Salsa

• 3 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped (3 cups)
• 1 small green bell pepper, chopped (1/2 cup)
• 8 medium green onions, sliced (1/2 cup)
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 Tbsp finely chopped seeded jalapeno chilies
• 2 to 3 Tbsp lime juice
• 1/2 tsp salt

Mix all ingredients in a glass bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour but no longer than 1 week.  About 3 1/2 cups.

Don’t forget that not matter which chilies you choose to add kick to your salsa, serving it with baked chips, crackers, vegetables, fish, chicken or eggs will give you low-fat flavor that you deserve.

Welcome to my final blog investigating the three behaviors that research shows contribute to childhood obesity.  So far we’ve discussed ways to decrease the frequency of eating out and reduce sugar-sweetened beverages.  From the above picture, can you guess what the final behavior researchers identified as contributing to childhood obesity?  If you guessed portion size, you’re right!  If not, you’re in good company as many Americans no longer know what a healthy portion size looks like.

Behavior #3: Provide kids with age-appropriate portions.

What does the research show?
Doubling an age-appropriate portion of an entrée caused children to consume 25% more of the entrée resulting in a 15% increase in the total number of calories consumed.  In other words, kids (and adults) eat more when served larger portions.

What can you do as a parent, grandparent or childcare provider?

Serve Your Kids Age-Appropriate Portions
A young child does not need to eat as much as an adult.  This is so easy to forget.  When you are serving food, keep this simple suggestion in mind: For children 1-5 years old, give about 1 tablespoon of each food for each year of your child’s age.  For example, if you’re having mixed vegetables and macaroni and cheese for dinner, you’d serve a 3 year old child 3 tablespoons of the vegetables and 3 tablespoons of macaroni and cheese.

Allow Your Children to Serve Themselves
Another technique practiced in Head Start is to allow your child to serve himself/herself.  Research found children consumed 25% less of an entrée when they were allowed to serve themselves as opposed to being served a large portion by an adult.

Respect Your Child When He/She Is Full
Although my 6 month old daughter can’t talk, she is able to let me know when she’s full.  At the start of her rice cereal feeding, she’s excited and amazed at the wonderful substance on the spoon.  She opens her mouth like a bird eager for the next spoonful.  Sometimes she eats all of the rice cereal in the bowl and other times, she only eats a few spoonfuls with no desire to eat any more.  She starts finding the floor fascinating and has lost all interest in the rice cereal.  I offer her the spoon again and she jerks her head to the side.  It’s hard for me to throw away the leftover cereal made with breast milk, but my daughter knows when she is full and I respect her feelings. 

Help your child maintain their innate ability to identify when they are full by allowing them to stop eating when they are full even if there is food still on their plate.

 Role Model Healthy Portions
Our children are growing up in a world where 20 oz. bottles of soda and multi-serving snack packages are the norm.  Giant cookies seem to be more common than the traditional cookies these days.  With all the super-sized portions kids see at restaurants, fast food places, gas stations, and convenience stores, it’s important to show what healthy portions are in your home.  I repeat this role modeling advice over and over because the most powerful way you can influence the eating behavior of your children is for you to do the behavior you want them to do.

Curious about how portions have changed over the past 20 years? Check out the following sites:
http://hp2010.nhlbihin.net/portion/portion.cgi?action=question&number=1
http://hp2010.nhlbihin.net/portion/portion2.cgi?action=question&number=1

 I have loved green plants for as long as I can remember.  Looking through seed catalogs in the winter brings grandiose ideas of lush gardens and bountiful crops.  Every spring I cultivate my raised beds and plant hope (otherwise known as tomatoes, carrots, beets, and any other type of vegetable that I can squeeze into my 6 raised beds).  I water and weed during the summer, and wait for great things to happen.  In a perfect world, this is where I would reap the rewards of what I have planted.  Not so.  After the bunnies ate all of my zucchini plants and my squash, I planted 6 jalapeno pepper plants.  These were eaten immediately.  My beets were gone about a week after the rabbits ate my spinach.  We did get one meal of spinach-and it was great.  The carrots were next.  They are still limping by-but I am doubtful whether or not we’ll see anything this fall.  I have now planted cucumbers and spaghetti squash.  My son calls this “squishy squash!”  The bunnies are starting to eat this too.  The tomatoes are doing great!  I have had three turn red-then disappear.  Apparently the woodchuck that lives behind our fence loves shopping at my garden too!  I have five more ripening-and will hopefully get to try at least one. 

After all of this, you’d think I’d quit trying (as this is my 16^th year!)  Nope-I love planting and watching things grow.  I love working out in the garden after work.  There is something very relaxing about being outside and working in the dirt.  I ask the kids if they want to help weed, and then they leave me alone!  It’s great exercise-bending and lifting and pulling.  I sweat.  It keeps me moving.  Sometimes we actually get to eat what I have grown.  I have a great herb garden.  It is a mess, and somewhat overgrown-but I love planting basil seeds in the spring, and grilling Margareta pizza in the summer.  A small amount of basil at the grocery store costs about $3.   I pay $0.10 a packet for my seeds, and get basil all summer long, and I share it too.  I am able to make huge amounts of pesto in the fall before the first freeze.  Store purchased pesto is expensive, and mine tastes better!  I actually grow dill to watch the caterpillars eat it and turn into beautiful butterflies.  My kids love the caterpillars, also.

 What does all of this prove?  By now, you’re thinking that I’m nuts!  Not so.  Gardening keeps me sane.  I get some exercise, I calm down after work, and I save money at the local store.  A recent study was able to prove that the average family can save around $400 a year by growing their own produce.  It all helps.  I also raise a large amount of lavender to use in homemade gifts at Christmas.  By October, I am ready to clean everything out, and I am praying for snow.  But then January comes around again, and the seed catalogs start arriving.  I wonder what I’ll grow next year?

A major component to losing weight is to eat less food or in other words decrease your calorie intake.  I know easier said than done, but small changes really can make a big difference. Gradual weight loss, between 1-2 pounds per week, is what is recommended to improve your chances of sustained weight loss.  Fad diets encourage you to lose weight quickly and by drastic changes that are not sustainable.  Sustainable weight loss begins with making small practical and realistic changes to the way you eat and your physical activity level.  These small steps can lead to big changes that improve your health and quality of life. 

Below are my personal favorite ways of cutting calories:

• I know I’ll make the members of the “Clean Plate Club” cringe but don’t clean your plate.  Stop eating once you feel full.  If you are concerned about being wasteful save the leftovers for a snack or your next meal. 
• Share your meal.  I must admit it does annoy my husband when I suggest we do this at a restaurant.  Although, in the end we both leave the restaurant feeling satisfied and not uncomfortably full.  Plus, we saved some money.
• Stock your work desk with nutritious snacks so that you can resist the urge to hit the candy machines.  Some of my favorite “in my desk snacks” include: dried cranberries, mini bags of microwave popcorn, and granola snack bites.
• Limit yourself to 12-20 ounces of “fun fluids” per day.  Fun fluids would include any type of drink that contains calories but very little nutrients such as regular pop, specialty coffee drinks, fruit drinks, and alcoholic beverages.  If you can’t live without your caffeine and 12 ounces won’t do the trick switch to diet pop, or a “skinny” coffee drink.
• Drink water.  Often times we mistake hunger for thirst.
• Chew gum.  Often we eat because we are bored and not really hungry.  Try chewing sugar free gum instead.
• Eat slower.  This is a tough one for me and I have to really think about it but it works.  If I take my time and enjoy my food, I am able to notice my body’s cues and stop before I am overly full. 
• Popsicles aren’t just for kids.  It’s summer and it is hot here in Nebraska.  Sugar free popsicles are a low calorie way to refresh and hydrate. 
• This isn’t a way to cut calories but one of my favorite ways to burn calories.  Always have a pair of walking shoes in your office.  When you start to get tired, get up and walk around the building a few times.  It is a great way to clear your mind and will make you a more effective employee. Go ahead and have your boss give me a call about this one.

How do you cheat calories?  Share by posting a comment below.

This refreshing summer drink recipe won’t break your calorie bank.  There are only 70 calories per serving.

Berry Lemonade Slush
4 servings

1/3 cup lemonade flavor drink mix (dry)
1/2 cup water
3 cups ice cubes
1 cup strawberries, fresh or frozen, thawed    

1.  In a cup, mix together lemonade flavor drink mix and water.
2.  Place ice cubes and strawberries in a blender.  Pour drink mix into blender and process on high for 10 seconds.
3.  Stop blender and stir with a spoon.  Blend an additional 5 seconds or until smooth.  Serve right away.

Nutrition Information per Serving:  Calories 70, Total Fat 0 g., Saturated Fat 0 g., Cholesterol 0 mg., Sodium 10 mg., Total Carbohydrate 19 g., Dietary Fiber 1 g., Sugars 15 g., Protein 0 g., Vitamin A 0%, Vitamin C 50%, Calcium 0%, Iron 2%.