April 2009 Archives

Microwave Exercise

Many people think that exercise doesn't count unless it's 30 minutes at a time. THAT IS NOT TRUE!! Any amount of exercise is good for you no matter how long or short you are doing it.

One of the groups of survivors that I work with recently did a series called "Setting Your Exercise Goals: Making Your Good Intentions a Reality".

One of the things that we identified in the group was what types of exercise you can do in as little as 2 or 3 minutes, or the amount of time you might be waiting for the microwave.

Here are some quick exercise ideas:

• Push-ups (on the wall or counter works just fine!)
• Calf raises (from a standing position, raise up on your tiptoes - try it without holding on to the counter and it's even harder! To make it more intense, squeeze your glutes while you raise your heels off the ground!)
• Take cans in and out of the top shelf of the cupboard. (the heavier the better!)
• Walk the stairs in your house until the microwave beeps
• Jump rope (without the jump-rope!)
• Write the ABC's with your foot. (Note, you cannot write the ABC's with your foot on the ground - try balancing on one foot while doing the ABC's with the other. Or you can do them seated.)
  

Those should get you started! Every 3 minutes will add up. Just find 10 times a day that you can do these and you are doing 30 minutes of exercise! You'll be surprised about how sore you can get in 3 minutes!

I'd love to hear what you do for exercise while the microwave runs!
- Julie

Oftentimes, the biggest barrier to healthy eating is time and lack of planning ahead. Microwaves are great cooking tools that make dinner QUICK! However, many of the traditional "microwave meals" aren't so healthy.

Most commercially sold microwave meals are loaded with sodium, chemicals as preservatives and fat. And rarely do they include fresh and colorful vegetables!

As an alternative, there are many things that you might not realize can function as healthy and convenient microwave meals. Here is one that I used the other day:

• one can of low-sodium vegetable soup
• one can of Eden brand rice and beans (Eden is a low sodium brand)
  
• one sweet potato.
  

I actually microwaved the soup, and ate it while microwaving the rice and beans. Then I added roasted peanuts and a little cheese to the rice and beans and ate that while microwaving a fresh sweet potato.

If it's a good, fresh sweet potato then you don't need to top it with anything. To give a bland one a little flavor, sprinkle it with olive oil and brown sugar. That's it!!

Ideas for healthy microwave meals include:

• minestrone soup, a 100 calorie bag of popcorn and an apple
• a steamfresh bag of veggies (get ones with no added flavorings!) with a can of Eden rice and beans
• Vegetarian chili over a potato

I would be interested to hear what other readers eat for quick and healthy meals cooked in the microwave!

I'll put a plug in here for one of my very favorite cookbooks: Zonya's "Lickety Split Meals for Health Conscious People on the Go!". She has an entire section for "5 Minute Meals" that will give you even more healthy and fresh quick meal ideas!

Stay tuned for the next post: Exercise in 3 Minutes! I can't wait to hear about your microwave ideas!
- Julie

My New Best Friend - The Crockpot!!

I hate coming home from work and having to think about what to have for dinner, prepare for it, make it and then FINALLY get to eat. I just want to come home and eat!

Enter the crockpot!

I have recently become more familiar with the crockpot. I actually have 2 crockpots now. One that is about 4 quarts and one that is 5. I was going to give away the 4 quart crockpot, but I'm rethinking. Just this week I had two going at once!

Time Saving Tips

In order to save time when it comes to cooking, I usually take a few hours once a week to cut up all the ingredients that I have in the fridge. If I know what recipes I'm making for the week, I'll get everything ready for the recipes ahead of time.

For example, I cut several onions up so that they are ready to cook with. I do the same with mincing garlic. You can also buy them this way, but doing it yourself can save some money. It's usually a little fresher if you do it yourself as well.

When it comes to prepping for the crockpot, I usually get everything out the night before, or the morning of so that I can just throw everything in, turn it on and head out. Once I get home, dinner is ready!

The other great thing about the crockpot is that it is typically food that you can freeze easily. The days that I have two crockpot's going, I typically freeze one of them in lunch/dinner size portions.

Here's a recipe to get started with. The good news is that leafy greens are in season right now, so be sure to get some great local leafy greens. Mine come very local... right out of my urban garden!

Savory Bean and Spinach Soup
This recipe came from Fitness magazine last month. Yum!
Makes: 6 Servings

Ingredients:

• 3 14 oz. cans vegetable broth
• 1 15 oz can tomato puree
• 1 15-oz can small white beans, drained and rinsed
• ½ cup uncooked brown rice
• ½ cup finely chopped onion
• 1 tsp dried basil
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 8 cups chopped fresh spinach or kale leaves

Directions:
1.    In a 3 ½ or 4 quart slow cooker, combine all but the spinach or kale
2.    Cook on low 5-7 hours or high 2 ½ - 3 ½ hours.
3.    Just before serving, stir in spinach or kale.

I found this to be great with a little Tony Chachere's seasoning salt.

ENJOY!!
- Julie