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>> Holly Scherer: ...a Flash. Is it
really possible? Well hopefully today
you will pick up some tips on how
you can make some dinners in a
flash. My name is Holly Scherer and
I'm a registered dietician with
MHealthy. And before we get
started on talking about dinners
in a flash, I want to quickly
review the ChooseMyPlate graphic.
So when we're planning our meals
we're making sure that we consider
all the different food groups and
things that we wanta include.
Now you may not include all 5
food groups with every meal. That's
ok. Over the course of the day it's
great to make sure you're including
all the different food groups with
you meals and snacks. So using this
as a guide, we first wanta take a
look at the left side of the plate.
And try to fill our plate half with
fruit and vegetables. And, this
will make sure we get lots of
great vitamins and minerals that
we need. We get the fiber. It
helps fill us up and also lots of
great color. The next thing would
be on the right side, we put,...
actually split up the plate into
1 ...about 1/2,...a little bit
more than 1/2 grain. Preferably
whole grain. Which we'll be
discussing different whole grain
options today. And then the
rest of the plate would be filled
with some type of protein. This
could be a meat based protein. It
could be a fish. It could be a
vegetarian source of protein. Which
ever option that you decided to include.
The other thing to think about,
with your plate, is how big it
is. Over the years our plates
have gotten much bigger. Not
like your grandma's china. So,
10 inches is a good guide. If you
don't have a 10 inch plate, maybe
use a side plate as your meal...
and, for your meal. That will
help reduce your potion. Or just
be aware if your plates are large,
that you don't have to fill it.
Alright, so what...where's a good
place to get started with thinking
about preparing meals in a flash?
Well, you do have to do some
planning ahead of time to make
this happen. The number 1 you
want to keep some standard
staples on hand at all times.
And you might build this up
over the course of several months
if you don't have a lot of these
items. And that's ok. The idea
is that you would be able to
put together a quick meal, even
if you hadn't planned before you
went to the grocery store. You
would just always have certain
items on hand that could make a
quick dinner. A handout that is
included in your materials, is our
"Well Stocked Kitchen" hand out.
And this just goes through the
different areas of your pantry,
freeze, refrigerator, as well as
different food groups like grains
and meats. And identifies things
that you may want to keep on hand.
So, the fresh meat of course, if
you're not using by the expiration
date, you wanta make sure to put
it in the freezer. And the dairy
products you'd need to make sure
you're monitoring closely, the
expiration dates and not keeping
too much of a stock. If you
don't go through them that quickly.
But in general cheese, yogurt and
cottage cheese have a pretty
decent life in the fridge if you've
bought en them at a good time.
So your condiments and then you
have your different canned options.
In this area we always recommend
lower sodium, or no added sodium
options are the best. You can
rinse some of these items, like
the vegetables and the beans.
That will help reduce the sodium.
And then in the frozen section,
in addition to your meat, you
may wanta also keep some
vegetables, fruit and some
vegetarian type choices. And
now you can even get frozen
whole grain such as brown rice.
Which is helpful. It can be
quickly prepared. So going back
to our presentation; So keeping
an inventory of what you have in
your fridge, freezer, pantry;
when you run out of something that's
a standard staple that you always
wanta make sure you have, go ahead
and add it to your grocery list
for the next time. Another idea
that we're gonna talk about today
is planning meals around themes.
So, you may have a different theme
for different nights of the week,
and that will help keep planning
a little simpler. So the first
idea for a theme we're gonna look
at is using your slow cooker.
And this may be a good option
for a Monday because you may have
more time on the weekend to
prep items that you could just
throw into the slow cooker on
Monday morning. And,...there are
a lot of different options with
slow cooker recipes to make sure
you're getting the very nutritious
meals. And for some of your meats
that are lean and maybe tougher to
prepare, putting them in the
slow cooker in the liquid actually
helps keep them more tender.
So whether it be venison or another
lean type of pork or beef, the
slow cooker's a great place to
cook those meats. Vegetables also
tend to absorb more of the flavor
as well as the meat when they stand
in the slow cooker for a long
period of time. Next, maybe on
Tuesday night, you might wanta
think about having a fiesta night.
So there's lots of options here
as well. And you may even want
with any of these dinner meals;
you may think about making extra
so you can have lunch the next
day. Or if you know that you're
going to be out and about one
evening and not have any time
what so ever to put together
a meal, may be you wanta make
enough for your dinner meal the
next day. So eating the same,...
uh...the same thing 2 nights in
a row. Or maybe you skip a night.
Most of your cooked meats,
vegetables, will last 3 to 4
days in the refrigerator if you
put them away within an hour or
so after you prepare them. So
when thinking about the fiesta
night, there's some different
options here. You can use whole
wheat torttias. You could use
the whole grain pizza crust. We'll
talk about that more in a minute.
Or you could opt for nachos and
use torttias chips. So with the
torttia chips you just wanta be
careful how many you're using
cause the calories could add up
more so than maybe the torttias
or the pizza crust. And then you
wanta look for your protein and
that can be either a meat based
like a chicken or beef. Or it
could be a bean. The beans again,
could be a quicker option if you
don't have any meat prepared;
cooked ahead of time. Or if you
hadn't taken the meat out of the
freeze to cook; using just the
bean would be a really quick option.
And so getting your protein in there.
The vegetables maybe helpful if you...
even if it's just Tuesday night,
you could have prepped these on
Sunday. And depending on if you
like them raw or cooked, you could
do fajita style. And cooked...
do quick stir fry with a non-stick
pan. You really don't need any oil
to stir fry vegetables like peppers,
and onions. Just gotta make sure
you stir it quickly and watch your
heat so it doesn't burn. Using a
variety of reduced fat cheese
you'll still get some melting.
With a light cheese and save some
saturated fat. The better for your
heart. And then, depending on
what you like on top you may choose
a healthy fat with avocado or
guacamole. Some salsa or even
a little bit of light sour cream.
To top that off. So, one product
that we like to recommend for
quick, either fiesta, ...different
type of fiesta with a black bean
pizza and we're gonna have that...
we'll have that recipe in your
material. Or doing a traditional
pizza, is a pre made pizza crust.
And whether it's this brand or
another brand. You just wanta
look for whole grain or a 100%
whole wheat option to get some
more vitamins and minerals, and
fiber with your pizza.
Or if you don't wanta use the
full pizza crust here, you could
make little mini pizzas using
whole wheat English muffins.
So that's another option for
this type of meal.
Next we're gonna look at a salad
night. And of course with this
type of dinner, you would need
some time; either the night
before or on the weekend to prep
the vegetables. Unless you're
buying them already pre-cut. So
lot's of choices when it comes to
putting a salad together when
you're looking at your greens, the
darker the green, the more nutrient
rich they are. So think about more
like mixed greens, spinach, verses
you iceberg. If you're using a
bag to prep salad, once you've
opened the bag, if you don't finish
it, you wanta take that,...those
greens out of the bag and keep them
in a container. Preferably a glass
container. It'll help last longer.
And you may even wanta throw in
a paper towel. It helps absorb
some of the moisture so it...doesn't
go bad so quickly.
Here's some other things you can
add to your salad to make it a
complete meal. Well certainly we
wanta get some kind of protein
in there. Whether it's a meat
or even something like cottage
cheese. Again your beans. Quick
protein. Rinse the canned beans.
That's a great option. You could
do eggs once in a while. Edamame
we're gonna talk about in a minute.
Or maybe you wanta go with something
different like tofu, or try the
canned tuna. It's great to add
a little bit of fat to you salad.
It helps absorb some of the fat
soluble vitamins. And so we put
some options here. Whether it's
avocado, sunflower seeds, nuts,
olives. And then a little bit of
salad dressing. So with the
healthy fats you just wanta watch
the portions cause the calories
will add up very quickly. So, small
portions of these healthier fats.
And the dressing, you may opt to
put it on the side and dip your
fork in the dressing if you're
concerned about adding too much.
And lastly, maybe adding even a
different twist to a salad by
adding some fruit. And if you're
not quite full enough with the
salad you've made, maybe pair that
with a bowl of soup or some whole
grain bread, or crackers to get
some whole grain in there.
So Edamame. What is that?
This has been out for a little
while now. It's actually soybeans.
And you typically see them in the
freezer. You can buy them in the
pod like you see here. Or, you
can buy them already shelled. So
you don't wanta eat the pod. You
just eat the soy beans inside.
A lot of people just like to eat
them plain. They're a traditional
Asian type dish. The do add some
seasoning; soy sauce to them. But
they do have a little nutty flavor
if you just wanta eat them alone.
Also, you can add them to your salad
cold. Or some people like to
use them as a protein for their
stir fry. So there's a lot of
versatility and again a good option
that you can keep in the freeze
and it will last for a long time.
And as you can see on the nutrition
profile, pretty reasonable in
calories and low in fat. And a
little bit of fiber and a decent
amount of protein in a half a cup.
Alright, so next night. So we're
on Thursday night. So we're
running out of time. It's the
end of the week. We haven't prepped
a lot of things that are gonna
last this long. So what are we
gonna do for Thursday night?
Well let's try a baked potato night.
If you choose to put the baked
potatoes in the microwave it's
gonna speed up your time. You can
use white or sweet potatoes. What
ever your preference. And pretty
much any type of cooked vegetables
can go on those potatoes. Again
if you are looking for something
really quick, you wanta have some
frozen vegetables on hand. We'll
talk about a product on the next
slide that you could consider for
the frozen vegetables. And for
some protein you could use some
low-fat cheese or cottage cheese.
Maybe if you had some left over
chili you had made on another night,
you could add that. Get you some
protein and maybe a little bit
of low fat or light sour cream.
[PAUSE]
So what about frozen vegetables?
Is that a good option? Something
that you wanta have on hand. Definitely.
They have come a long way over the
years. And these new options where
you can steam them right in the bag;
in the microwave, definitely produce
a much tastier end product. And
there's a lot of different varieties
and even it doesn't have to be
a brand name. The store brands
have these types of things. What
you wanta watch out for is added
sauces or spices that are gonna
increase the sodium or the fat.
So, you definitely can find ones
that don't have anything added.
Those are the best options. Like
the one you see here. So, pretty
much no fat.Sodium pretty low.
And you're getting a little bit of
fiber in the one cup serving there.
So, and lots of varieties here.
So definitely wanta keep some
frozen vegetables in your freezer.
And these...some people ask,...
are they as nutritious as fresh?
And actually certain times of year
they are more nutritious than fresh.
And that's because their frozen
at their peak of ripeness. Whereas
the vegetables we get in the
winter time are traveling long
distances. And may have been
picked a little early so they can
make it to us before they go bad.
So, definitely, frozen is a great
option. Ok, now we're down to
Friday night. And you really are
tired and just do not feel like
cooking. So we're going to make
it a sandwich night. And how can
we make sandwiches more interesting?
Well let's look at some options.
So first thing, looking at your
bread. Lots of choices here.
You could do a var...variety of
whole wheat bread, torttias or
wraps. There's sandwich thins,
English muffins, bagel thins.
Lots of different options...whole
grain options for the baked.
Then looking at the protein, if
your doing some type of lunch
meat, you do try to look for the
ones that are nitrite or nitrate
free. Or, maybe you have some
left over meat from another night
that you can use for your sandwich.
Maybe try a frozen vegi-patti,
making tuna or chicken salad with
some light mayo or yogurt. I'll
give you again some many different
varieties with the protein.
Sandwiches, definitely are limitless
when it comes to vegetables.
Think outside of the box. Don't
always thing, "Just lettuce and
tomato." What are some other
things that you could pair with
your protein to make a little
more substantial a sandwich?
That's gonna fill you up.
Sorry about that. And what else
can we do to make sandwiches a
little more exciting? Maybe try
just a little bit of condiments
to add a little more flavor, or
spice. Like a special mustard or
a barbeque sauce. Not too much.
We don't want to add too much extra
sugar or calories. But just a
little bit to give it some flavor.
Or, look at adding a healthy fat
like an avocado would be a great
addition to your sandwich. What
about peanut butter and jelly?
Is it just plain old regular,
way Mom use to make it? No, you
can add certainly different
options to peanut butter and jelly
too. You could add some fruit.
Maybe use a little honey instead
of jelly. And what about grilling
it? Actually any of the sandwich.
Grilling or toasting the bread is
gonna give you a different flavor
and make it a little more appealing.
And lastly you probably want a
little more than a sandwich. So
maybe adding a side salad or some
veggie soups to get you some more
vegetables. Maybe a piece of fruit
or some kind of a dairy for some
more protein could give you a little
more satisfying meal.
Alright, so looking at a couple
different options for sandwiches.
Comparing the big old bagel of 360
calories. Pretty high in sodium
and even a little added sugar there.
Compared to a sandwich thin. There's
one brand you see there, but
there's a lot of different brands
out there. Or a bagel thin, similar
nutrition profile. So a lot less
calories. Sodium's a lot lower.
You've still got a lot of fiber.
And less sugar as well. So
you definitely want to check out
the different options for sandwiches.
So, these are the recipes that
will be with the materials that
we'll send you. So lets...a good
place to start. Or maybe it's
something you just want to try
once a month. Is go on line and
look for a new recipe to try. So
you don't have to redo everything
that you make, but trying 1 new
recipe a month. Maybe that's
gonna be great to add some more
variety to what you're doing.
So just to review. We wanta keep
standard staples on hand. Maybe
use the well stocked kitchen
handout as a guide. You do need
to do some planning ahead to make
sure you have those staples. But
if you have them, you may only
need to think about the night
before. What do you gonna have?
Do I need to get some meat out?
Are there any vegetables I need
to prep quickly the night before?
So when you come home, it's quick.
You just put it together. Doesn't
take a lot of time. And cutting...
one note on that, the smaller
you cut the vegetables or the
smaller you cut your meat, it's
gonna cook quicker as well. You
wanta make sure that your keeping
that grocery list when you run
out of items. Keep it ongoing.
And that will help you stay on
track. Also maybe help you not
buy things you don't need. You
do need to think about, you know,
whether it's on the weekend or
a day off, or night you're home;
what can you do to either prep
for that night or the next night?
If your gonna make a quick meal,
after...particularly if you're
coming home after work, you're
gonna have to have some things
done ahead of time. And we talked
about trying new recipes. So
hopefully today is giving you
some new ideas to think about. And
really just taking it 1 step
at a time. You don't have to go
from making 2 meals a night to
making 7 meals a night, or a week,
I mean. You can just try to add
1 more meal a week than you're
doing now and that's gonna be a
step up from what you have been
doing. Or if you're making meals
but you're just not happy with
the bal..nutritional balance with
of those meals. Again, try to
modify 1 meal a week. And after
a few months you'll be looking
good. So, thank you for listening
today. And we'll see you another
time.