Category: Meal Planning

Menu
Planning

Now you now know how to eat healthy, what to eat, and what to avoid… And hopefully you have gone shopping, and have rotated all the foods in your fridges and cupboards… you are all ready for a fresh clean start!  What types of foods can you create with all this in mind? This week we’re giving you the 411 on menu planning:

Menu planning can be tricky, particularly now that meals are not always composed of a meat, a starch, and a vegetable. If you are entertaining, then you want the meal to flow, present well, and be satisfying for your guests. Here’s a checklist to help you:

  • Check with your guests to see if they have any special dietary requirements.
  • How much time do you have?
  • Ask yourself what is in season and what the weather is like. Have your guests been active (for example, skiing all day)? Is it the middle of summer? Perhaps everyone will  want  to be sitting outside on your dec Do you want a culinary theme (Asian-inspired or Italian- inspired, for example)?
  • From a health perspective, two thirds of your menu should be composed of low-starch vegetables and leafy greens, and the remaining third should be a protein dish. You can incorporate one dish that is a starchy vegetable, a legume, or a gluten-free grain like quinoa or lentils.  Add a healthy dose of fat to help your body absorb all those wonderful vegetables!
  • Now choose your main dish.
  • If you have chosen a meat dish, pair it with two or three lighter vegetable dishes or salads. If the meal is dark in color with richer flavors, like a vegetable curry or a chicken stew, pair it with a green salad and an acidic dressing.
  • Now, think balance in textures and colours: don’t start with a soup and serve a stew as your main course. Don’t serve a quiche as your main course and serve pie for dessert! Pick different colors and textures of dishes to compliment and balance your main dish.
  • Don’t use the same cooking method for all of your courses, or you will over-commit oven or stovetop space.
  • Make sure one or two of your dishes can be made ahead.
  • It’s probably not a good idea to experiment with a new recipe when you are hosting guests.
  • Serve the meal family-style if kids are involved, so they can pick and choose what they would like to eat.  Reward them for trying new foods.
  • When in doubt, pair your main dish with a simple green salad.

For more detailed information on Menu Planning, pick up your copy of the Recipes for Life Boxed Set here.

Access your complementary recipe here.

 

Health Coach Rita Thomas and Chef Erin Holm hope to inspire families, friends and communities to live happier, healthier and more delicious lives. Sign up for their weekly health and recipe blog to start your journey to good health.

Sample
Menus

Hello!   Here is a sneak peak at the type of Menus you will be able to create using our Recipes:

 

New Year’s Eve Dinner

  • Winter Salad with Pomegranate and Fennel
  • Seafood Chowder
  • Mocha Pudding Cake

Vegan Supper

  • Portobello Mushroom Pizzas
  • Asian Beet and Avocado Salad
  • Zucchini Spaghetti “Zoodles”
  • Banana Gelato

Picnic Party

  • Southwestern Quinoa Salad
  • E’s Crunch Salad with Hard Boiled Eggs
  • Coconut Slaw
  • Comfort Cookies

Spring Celebration

  • Steamed Artichoke
  • Coconut Lime Beurre Blanc on Wild Salmon
  • Bok Choy with Shiitake Mushroom Sauce
  • Açai Cheesecake with Fresh Berries

Italian Night

  • Watermelon Gazpacho
  • Butter Lettuce with Shaved Asparagus and Truffle Vinaigrette
  • Rustic Tomato Sauce on Quinoa Pasta
  • Chocolate Avocado Mousse

Burger Night

  • Bountiful Burgers
  • Coconut Coleslaw
  • Sweet Potato Salad

Low-Carb Night

  • Kale Caesar Salad
  • Lasagna-Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
  • Frozen Fruit Platter

Deck Dining

  • Grape and Watercress Gazpacho
  • Seafood Louie with Guacamole
  • Apple and Pear Crisp

Brunch Buffet

  • Great Green Juice
  • Watercress and Blueberry Salad
  • Powerhouse Frittata
  • Hummingbird Breakfast Muffins

Big Winter Warm-Up

  • Vitamin A Soup
  • Classic Roast Chicken
  • Cauliflower Rice
  • Sauté of Super Greens
  • Holiday Pumpkin Pie

 

Health Coach Rita Thomas and Chef Erin Holm hope to inspire families, friends and communities to live happier, healthier and more delicious lives. Sign up for their weekly health and recipe blog to start your journey to good health.

Top 10 Foods to Avoid

We hoped you enjoyed last week’s 10 Basics of Healthy Eating. It was full of great tips, tricks and insights into how you can get jump-started on healthy eating right away! This week we have for you a list of the the top foods you should eliminate from your diet, or at the very least, consume in moderation!

  1. Avoid gluten and grains whenever possible. If you don’t buy into all the stories of the negative effects gluten has on the body, read Wheat Belly by cardiologist Dr. William Davis.
  2. Avoid dairy unless you can find a safe, raw, and unpasteurized source. Besides the fact that not everyone can properly digest dairy, studies have found that countries with the lowest rates of dairy (Africa and Asia) have the lowest rates of osteoporosis. So, contrary to popular wisdom, the less dairy you eat, the better your bones will be.
  3. Avoid genetically modified foods (GMOs) at all costs. There have been copious amounts of research done on the damaging effects of GMOs, so don’t mess with this.
  4. Stay away from artificial sweeteners and eat all natural sugars in moderation, including fruit.  The less sugar or sweeteners you consume the better.
  5. Avoid processed food, junk food, and food with additives and preservatives: a lot of condiments fall into this category.
  6. Avoid soy products unless they are fermented because they can actually affect your hormone levels and not in a positive way!
  7. Eliminate foods labeled low fat, because low fat means added sugar. Don’t be afraid to eat healthy fats from nuts, seeds, avocados, and healthy oils. Fat makes you feel more satiated.
  8. Avoid foods cooked at high temperatures with low-smoking-point oils.
  9. Do not eat anything grown in a factory farm. There have been plenty of in-depth investigations showing the terrible cruelty to animals practiced on factory farms. You sure don’t want all this negative energy transmitted into your body.
  10. Avoid hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils. Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils are either semi-solid or solid at room temperature and are only one molecule away from plastic; plastic does not break down, as you can imagine. This oil can create thicker blood with a gummy substance that flows through your blood and can easily lodge in your arteries and build up arterial plaque. It doesn’t take anywhere near as much time as you may think for this to occur. Some studies have shown that negative health effects of eating processed foods occurs within only minutes of consuming such foods.

So stay away if you can… and refer to the 10 basics of healthy eating for what you can be doing.

For more detailed information on Healthy Eating and Choosing the Right Foods For You, pick up your copy of the Recipes for Life Boxed Set.

Access your complementary recipe here.

Health Coach Rita Thomas and Chef Erin Holm hope to inspire families, friends and communities to live happier, healthier and more delicious lives.
Sign up for their weekly health and recipe blog to start your journey to good health.