Recipe Corner: Very Berry Antioxidant Smoothie

Frozen berries are the “king” of antioxidants and provide a thick & creamy texture to this nutrient-rich smoothie. By blending fruit in their whole form, you get more fiber.

Makes 2 cups
1 cup Skim Plus milk
1 cup Dole frozen mixed berries
¼ cup low-fat Edy’s vanilla-chocolate swirl frozen yogurt
1 small ripe banana, sliced
Using an immersion blender:
Place ingredients in 16-ounce mixing beaker. Process ingredients with hand-held immersion blender until smooth.
Using a conventional blender:
Place ingredients in blender. Process until smooth.
Calories per cup: 160
* Smoothies were prepared using Cuisinart SmartStick 200-Watt Immersion Blender

Recipe Corner: Chocolate Peanut Butter Heaven Smoothie

Enjoy smoothies as a nutritious breakfast or as an indulgent dessert. Protein and monounsaturated fat from the peanut butter, potassium from the banana, and protein and calcium from the yogurt will give you a BIG energy boost!
Makes 2 cups
½ cup Skim Plus milk
2 tablespoons Hershey’s Lite chocolate syrup
2 tablespoons creamy Smart Balance peanut butter
1 small frozen sliced ripe banana (peel & slice bananas;freeze in zip-top bags)
1 (6-ounce) carton Dannon Light ‘n Fit vanilla nonfat yogurt
Using an immersion blender: Place ingredients in 16-ounce mixing beaker. Process ingredients with hand-held immersion blender until smooth.
Using a conventional blender:
Place ingredients in blender. Process until smooth.
Yield: 2 cups
Calories per cup: 230

How Big is Your Banana?
Banana Calorie Facts, (weight with skin):
Small 6” long (4 oz) = 90 calories
Medium 7” long (5 oz) = 105 calories
Large 8” long (7 oz) = 120 calories
Extra Large 9” long (9 oz) = 135 calories (1 cup sliced)
1 oz = 25 calories (without skin)

RECIPE CORNER: Zucchini & Basil Frittata

Frittatas are an Italian twist on the humble omelet. Frittatas combine eggs and various combinations of ingredients such as meats, cheese, fresh herbs, and my favorite…vegetables! My nickname for frittatas are vegetable vehicles because you can incorporate any leftover vegetables sitting in your fridge into this savory dish. The end result looks like a quiche, without the crust. You can prepare them on a stovetop, oven-baked, or use a combination of the two. Frittatas can be served in wedges at any meal, either hot or cold. Pair them with a salad, mixed fruit, whole grain bread, or a bowl of soup.
ZUCCHINI & BASIL FRITTATA
Pam cooking spray or 2 sprays of an olive oil “mister”
1 onion, cut into small wedges
2 crushed garlic cloves
2 eggs
2 egg whites
1 zucchini, trimmed & thinly sliced
2 carrots (4 ounces), grated
2 tomatoes, chopped
fresh pepper
1 Tablespoon shredded fresh basil

1. Spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray or olive oil mister over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic for 5 minutes.
2. Beat the eggs and egg whites in a bowl and then pour in a skillet. Using a spatula, pull the egg mixture from the sides of the skillet into the center. Turn heat down to low.
3. Once the base has set lightly, add the zucchini and carrots with the tomatoes. Add pepper to taste, cover skillet with lid, and continue to cook over low heat until the eggs are set to personal preference, about 15 minutes.
4. Sprinkle with the shredded basil and cut frittata into quarters.
Makes 4 servings; 100 Calories per serving

Recipe adapted from Just 100 Calories Cookbook

Recipe Corner: Delicious Chicken Salad Sandwiches

You can keep prepared chicken salad refrigerated for 3-5 days.

Go Greek Chicken Salad
Makes 2 servings; 1 serving (1 cup) = 173 calories

6 ounces of cooked skinless chicken breast, roughly chopped
1/2 cup choppped cucumber
1/3 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup crumbled fat-free feta cheeses
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt (Dannon)
2 tablespoons light mayonnaise
2 tablespoons canned sliced black olives
salt,pepper to taste

1. In a medium bowl, mix yogurt and mayo.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients until coated.

Enjoy over a leafy green salad OR Scoop 1 cup chicken salad on a 100-calorie multigrain Arnold sandwich thin. (bread + chicken salad = 273 calorie meal)

Sweet ‘n Chunky Chicken Salad
Makes 2 servings; 1 serving (1 cup) = 145 calories
4 1/2 ounces of cooked skinless chicken breast, roughly chopped
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
1/3 cup seedless red grapes, halved
1/3 cup chopped apples
1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt (Dannon)
2 tablespoons light mayonniase
1 packet of Splenda
1/4 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
Dash salt

1. In a medium bowl, combine yogurt, mayo, Splenda, lemon-pepper seasoning, and salt, stirring until mixed well.
2. Sitr in chicken until fully coated with yogurt dressing.
3. Mix in cucumber, grape halves, and apples.
Enjoy over a leafy green salad OR scoop 1 cup chicken salad on a 100-calorie multigrain Arnold sandwich thin. (bread + chicken salad = 245 calorie meal)
Recipes adapted from Thr Hungry Girl Cookbook.

Step Ahead at Community Health Fair

Temple Beth-el in Hillsborough sponsored a health fair for the community offering many different services – blood pressure checks, blood glucose tests, dental tips and many other services. Step Ahead participated to increase awareness about the obstacles with obesity and offered educational material as well as tests for BMI and body fat percentage. The fair was a great success with many community doctors and organizations volunteering their time and services. It was a wonderful day and a great opportunity for many professionals to share their expertise with the community.

Step Ahead looks forward to more community activities and continuing to promote awareness and helpful information to encourage healthy eating as well as lifestyles.

New Study: Sitting is not Healthy – Not News to Us at Step Ahead!!!

A new study coming out of London shows that long periods of sitting are not healthy for people and leads to an increase in many different medical problems. At Step Ahead, we have been telling people this for years – the human body was not made to be sedentary – it needs to move. Most importantly, it does not matter how you move – you can walk, shop, go to the gym, play sports or keep active around your house or your office. We encourage all of our patients to MOVE as much as possible – get up from your desk when you are at work at least once every hour, try and get up from watching television during commercials and get a glass of water or do some quick “pick ups” around your house, when on long calls, stand up and pace around your room or office – either way, you are moving! Any type of movements helps stimulate your bones, keeps your circulation moving in a healthy manner, gets your muscles working and keeps you looking and feeling better!

At Step Ahead, we push for 10,000 steps a day to help promote healthy weight loss as well as weight maintenance – however, you don’t always HAVE to get to this goal, just making the effort, understanding that you need to keep your body moving as much as possible is what works. We are here to help you feel healthier and stay that way – with our multifaceted approach with our physician, registered dietitian and personal trainer – we can help make you meet your goals!

New Tests Recommended to Diagnose Diabetes

New Tests Recommended to Diagnose Diabetes

A recent announcement by the American Diabetes Association has recommended a new test to help in the diagnosis of diabetes that will make it easier for both patients and doctors. The new recommendations are based on using the test – called the glycosylated hemoglobin or HbAic- to make the diagnosis. This test helps determine the average range of sugar in an individual’s system over the past 2 or 3 months. The advantage of this test is that the patient does not have to be fasting to take the test and get accurate results.

The ADA recommends using the following guidelines in diagnosing diabetes:

A HbA1C between 5.7 and 6.4: pre-diabetes or high risk to develop diabetes

A HbA1C greater the 6.5: diabetes

The use of this test to help in the diagnosis of diabetes should help more patients and their physicians diagnose the condition and treat patients before they develop any serious consequences from the disease. The earlier diabetes or the risk for diabetes is recognized, the more likely lifestyle changes can be made that can prevent the disease. At the very least, the lifestyle changes can actually PREVENT the side effects often found with diabetes.

It is well established over the past decades that keeping your HbA1C below 7.0 will greatly reduce your chance of developing any of the side effects from diabetes – such as heart disease, kidney disease or eye problems. Now using this same tool to find early diabetes will help patients learn to help themselves earlier and hopefully, more successfully.

Avoid Being too “Sweet” – Artificial Sweeteners can lead your weight up!!!!

Avoid Being too “Sweet” – Artificial Sweeteners can lead your weight up!!!!

New studies have confirmed the long held view that eating more of the artificial sweeteners will immediately keep your calories down but in the long run can make you crave more of those high calorie foods! These artificial supplements can actually increase your cravings for high calorie foods and in the long run, increase your calorie intake! How can this be when they do not add any calories to your food or beverages?

Studies have confirmed that these sweeteners are actually “so” sweet, that they can over-stimulate your sweet sensors in your brain. By doing this, although they do not actually add any calories, they act like “high calorie” or “high glycemic” foods and increase your insulin and your cravings for more sweets and carbohydrates. In contrast, if you were to eat foods such as fruits, berries or carbohydrates in combination with other food types like fats or proteins, your cravings and/or insulin levels do not rise as much. Actually, these foods, although giving you calories at the onset, actually tend to keep you more full and satisfied for longer periods of time. At the same time, they are giving you some of the more important vitamins and nutrients that you require!

Are there other harmful effects of these artificial sweeteners? No – at this point in time, all studies have disputed any relationship between artificial sweeteners and cancers or other life threatening ailments. In moderation, they are not harmful in the long run. However, the concern is when taken in large quantities, such as in diet drinks, when large quantities can be consumed “unconsciously” or in short periods of time. These habits are what tend to lead to poor eating practices and the tendency for weight gain or at the very least can make it more difficult to find success with weight loss.

So what do we do – only drink water? Well, water is probably one of the better drinks to consume however, in moderation; everything can be tolerated and safe. I would recommend trying to keep the “diet drinks” down to 2 or 3 a day and always try and mix it with a snack such as nuts or veggies – they can help offset the future hunger the drinks may bring!

Recipe corner

Chocolate Dream Parfaits for Two:
2 Chocolate VitaTops, thawed (Vitatops are found in the frozen dessert section of your supermarket)
2 Jell-O sugar-free chocolate-vanilla swirl pudding snacks
4 Tablespoons fat-free Reddi-Whip
Break Vitatops into small pieces and distribute between two parfait galsses. Spoon one pudding cup into each parfait glass. Mix Vitatop pieces and pudding together and finish off with Reddi-Whip!
Makes 2 servings; 1 parfait = 165 calories

Strawberry Shortycakes:
3/4 cup angel food cake mix
3/4 cup Cool Whip Free, thawed
3/4 cup all-fruit strawberry preserves
3/4 cup sliced fresh or frozen (thawed) strawberries
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a 12-cup muffin pan with baking cups (ungreased).
Place cake mix in a mixing bowl and add 1/2 cup water. Using an electric mixer, beat at low speed for 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium and mix for 1 minute. Let batter sit for 2 minutes.
Evenly distribute batter among baking cups and bake for 12-15 minutes, until tops are golden brown.
Cool cupcakes completely, then carefully peel from baking cups and plate them. Top each cupcake with 1 tablespoon of preserves, 1 tablespoon of Cool Whip and garnish with strawberries.
Makes 12 servings; 1 cupcake = 68 calories

Cinnamon Vanilla French Toast Nuggets:
2 Arnold’s whole wheat hot dog buns
1/3 cup egg beaters or egg whites
1 teaspoon Coffee-mate french vanilla powdered creamer
2 dashes of cinnamon
Split each bun in half and cut each of those halves into 4 pieces, leaving you with 16 chunks of bread.
In a small bowl, dissolve powdered creamer in 1 tablespoon warm water. Add egg beaters and 1 dash cinnamon and stir together.
Bring a large pan sprayed with PAM to medium-high heat. Soak bread in egg mixture and place them in the pan for 3-5 minutes, flipping occasionally to cook all sides.
Remove from heat and plate 8 nuggets among two bowls. Sprinkle with another dash of cinnamon and enjoy!
Makes 2 servings; 8 nuggets= 151 calories

Recipes adapted from Hungry Girl Cookbook: 200 Recipes Under 200 Calories

Sari’s Low Calorie Treats Class a Success

Last evenings low calorie treat class was a grand success! Sari presented different recipes for goodies under 200 calories. Thankfully – she brought samples!!!! There were delicious Cinnamon Vanilla French Toast Nuggets, Strawberry Shortycakes & Chocolate Dream Parfaits – they looked and tasted great. All these goodies are able to be prepared in under 30 minutes and are easy, healthy and great treats to surprise any guest. If you were unable to make the class, don’t worry, just write to Sari and she will be happy to send you her recipes.

The most important treat that Sari brought to all last evening was the understanding that staying healthy and fit can be fun to put together and delicious to eat. The more you learn, the more you plan and the more you share with others, the easier your journey will be!!

Join Sari and all of us at Step Ahead to welcome in 2010 – and make this your best year yet!!