The Best Food Begins with the Best Ingredients! Eat Deliciously, Rockford, AND Know Your Food
Hi, Friends!
It is week 3 of our Eat Deliciously, Rockford! initiative to encourage everyone to cook at home and incorporate small daily changes to build a delicious, healthy life.
How was your week last week?
The first month of 2020 has come and gone. I don't know about you, but I am so happy not to have made a "new year's resolution." To me, it has always been one more thing to feel guilty about. And who needs that?
Let's continue to focus on the steps we have taken to make progress toward being a healthier human. What did that look like for you? For me this week, I worked late a couple more nights than usual, so that meant we did not cook at home. Ugh. Definitely less healthy. But, on the plus side, the majority of days I got 10,000 steps in. If you're thinking, "there's no way between work and my other obligations that I could fit that many steps in"--not to worry. A new Harvard study says that you can see health benefits with just 4,400 steps per day...and it doesn't matter if it's power walking or just running errands, doing chores or walking your dog. Click here to read details of the study.
The important thing is to move more and sit less.
Get outside, even in winter!
I'm personally inviting you to join me for some food and wine, while we talk about tips to stay on budget and eat healthy, delicious food.
On Sunday, February 16th, 1 - 2 pm, at Choices, I will be sharing ideas of how to eat deliciously AND affordably. It's a great opportunity to sit down with me, the owner, and get to know me a little better while getting some great information.
There is a $3 admission fee which will include the presentation, food and wine. All who attend will receive a $3 Choices coupon that can be used toward any purchase in the store.
I would love to meet you, so hope you can make it!
Eat Deliciously, Rockford!
If you're going to eat delicious and healthy food, it all starts with your ingredients. Take time to read the labels of the foods in your pantry and refrigerator.
The best food to fuel your body has no label (fresh fruits and veggies) or only one ingredient (frozen fruits and veggies, whole grains, nuts, milk, meat). If you're cooking from scratch at home, you get to decide what goes into the recipes you prepare. You chop the veggies, choose the meat (if any) and oils, add spices, salt, and/or sugar. You may have heard these words of grocery shopping wisdom "shop the perimeter of the store." The perimeter usually includes all of the categories I listed above (except at Choices, you'll find a few of these options in our bulk department which is not part of the perimeter of our store.) This helps keep processed foods out of your diet. Processed foods are often filled with preservatives, artificial colors and flavors, ingredients you cannot pronounce, and more salt, fat, and sugar than you would normally cook with yourself.
A general rule of thumb is that the longer the list of ingredients is, the more processed the food is. Are you pretty good about reading the nutrition label (the one with calories, sugar, fat, etc.)? Don't forget to start with the ingredient list! Remember that ingredients are listed with ingredients that make up the greatest amount listed first, then listed in descending order. If a product has 5 or less ingredients, all that you know and can pronounce, you can feel good about the product. The longer the list grows, the more unfamiliar, unpronounceable ingredients, the more highly processed the product is.
Going back to the nutrition label, one of the most important parts of that label is actually the serving size! Serving size is often overlooked, but can sometimes be deceiving when you're trying to determine the nutrition value of a given product. If serving size is 1/2 cup, and you eat 1 cup, then you need to double the nutrition information listed on the panel. Also, pay close attention to the grams of sugar listed. Sugar is not your friend, and has now been added to so many processed foods. The newer nutrition labels now include both total sugar and ADDED sugar. This change helps you understand exactly know how much sugar you are eating, and how much of that sugar was added by the manufacturer. You can click here to read more about nutrition labels.
Check out the video below to see reading labels in action.
KALE.
Do you eat it?
Do you think that you should eat it,
but you're not sure what it might taste like, or how to prepare it?
This was one vegetable that was not in my wheelhouse before owning Choices. Greens are so good for us, but sometimes overlooked for some of the standards (corn, green beans, peas.)
Just because kale and other greens are healthy, does not mean that they have to taste weird (bad.) Lucky for me, it turns out that the very first recipe I tried, is the one that became a family favorite. Yep, even my college aged son loved it! I know, a miracle to get him to eat anything besides pizza and burgers! haha
SPICY PARMESAN GREEN BEANS & KALE
I think this recipe is so successful is because the kale and mushrooms are mixed with a familiar veggie (green beans) At first, I used less kale and mushrooms than it called for. And over time, I increased both. You can include the spicy red pepper flakes, or leave them out. You can top with parmesan, or leave it out if you're vegan. This is such a winner that it has had a regular place in our side dish rotation ever since we first tried it! Click here for this Food Network recipe from Giada de Laurentiis.
More Events of Interest
Taking Place at Choices in February
Free Heart Health Check
Thursday, February 13th
2 - 5 pm
February is National Heart Month!
From the website www.healthfinder.gov:
Did you know…
“Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States. Every year, 1 in 4 deaths are caused by heart disease.
The good news? Heart disease can often be prevented when people make healthy choices and manage their health conditions. Communities, health professionals, and families can work together to create opportunities for people to make healthier choices.”
We are excited to have Karen Radtke, MSN, APN, Holistic Nurse Practitioner & Board Certified Health Coach at the store offering FREE Heart Health Checks.
This screening is non-invasive and will include a blood pressure check and a mini self assessment to determine your risk for heart disease.
No appointment necessary. Just stop in!
Be proactive! Take care of your heart!
DISCLAIMER: All information provided, particularly any information relating to specific medical conditions, health care, preventive care, and healthy lifestyles, is presented for general informational purposes only. It should not be considered complete or exhaustive and does not cover all disorders or conditions or their treatment.
The information provided is not intended as a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or health care provider, and may not necessarily take your individual health situation into account.
Equal Exchange Fair Trade Chocolate Demo
Friday, February 14th
11:30 am
Our special customers deserve some chocolate on Valentine’s Day!
A representative from Equal Exchange will be at Choices to offer samples of their fair trade chocolate.
Stop in and try these delicious treats and learn more about why Fair Trade is an important attribute we look for, especially for coffee and chocolate.
Eat Deliciously, and Save Money, Too!
Don’t forget to check out our sales flyer every month. Since there are over 1,000 items on sale, not all of them can appear in the flyer. So, when you visit the store, just look for the bright yellow tags on our shelves to identify the sale items! Click here or the image below to see the full February flyer.
