Category Archives: All blog posts

Easter Treats – Make ‘Em Worth It


It’s Easter weekend and for many would-be healthy eaters it’s a test of endurance to survive the seemingly endless parade of Easter treats that arrive in stores at this time of year. Frankly, whether you celebrate Easter or not, I think the retailers make it hard to resist the onslaught of sugar-laden treats with which they fill the aisles. And that’s all BEFORE the family feast scheduled for Easter Sunday!


My philosophy around Easter Treats is pretty simple. Pick the ones that are unequivocally worth it to you and enjoy them without guilt this weekend.

Personally, I treasure the tradition of an Easter dinner eaten among family and friends and ours includes a host of Eastern European traditional foods: a rich egg bread called “paska”, baked ham, kielbasa (aka Polish sausage), pickled eggs and beets, freshly grated horseradish, and many other family treasures. I look forward to this annual meal and to the tradition its preparation upholds so I eat it without a trace of guilt!

And as for those sweet treats? My personal “worth it” list includes:

1) Cadbury Mini Eggs…not the kind with the yolk centers but those little pastel- candy-coated-solid-chocolate gems…
2) Starburst Jelly Beans….”original” flavors please – none of the tropical stuff
3) My newest obsession…Martha Stewart’s Chocolate Babka (oh my word)

I can’t wait until Easter morning when I “discover” my basket that holds those chocolate eggs and jelly beans. And truth be told, we’ve already cut the first loaf of babka since this was the first time I’ve ever made it and I wanted to make sure it was worthy of an Easter Day appearance…believe me…it is. That’s it pictured at the top of this post.

My advice to those of you trying to get through Easter without derailing your healthful intentions is to figure out which treats are worth it to you…then have them…and skip the rest. Peeps don’t do it for you? Then by all means, LEAVE THE PEEPS IN THE STORE! But hey, if Peeps are your thing, then enjoy their once-a-year appearance and be done with it till next year!

It’s a bit late to offer up this last idea, but I’d also suggest not opening any Easter treats until it’s actually…well…Easter! While retailers would have us believe we should be filling our carts with candy as soon as Valentine’s Day has passed, in truth it’s probably best to just wait to buy or make Easter treats until it’s time for Easter. This makes it much easier to resist the temptation to open and eat entire bags of the stuff before the holiday has even arrived. (And yes, the same advice goes for Halloween!)

Well, I’m off to color eggs with my little guys….Happy Easter one and all!


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A little something to snack on…


Whether you believe that snacks are a nutritional necessity or an evil temptation, the truth is that not many of us live a snack-free life. Personally, I plan 2-3 snacks into my day…and the key word there is plan. I find that having a plan and always (I mean ALWAYS) having a healthful snack option nearby keeps me from caving into less healthy temptations on a routine basis.

When I’m hungry for a snack, it’s not always for the same thing, so having a variety of cold and hot, creamy and crunchy, sweet and savory options on hand lets me feed my body what it’s asking for…instead of always trying to make a packaged nutrition bar work. When what you are craving is cold and creamy…trust me…no nutrition bar is going to do the trick.

So here are a few tips on planning for snacks and also some of my favorite snack ideas.

1) Keep snacks in the places you most often are – your home, your purse or briefcase, the office, and even the car! This way you are never in a situation where you find yourself hungry and pulling into a CVS for that bag of Twizzlers…or Doritos…or whatever it is you fall for when you fall off the wagon.

2) Have healthful snacks prepped and stored at eye level in the fridge and the pantry so they are the first thing you see when you open the door.

3) Buy snacks when you buy your meal ingredients – build them into your grocery list for the week and make sure there are enough to last until the next grocery trip.

4) Portion snacks into small resealable bags so you have built in portion control. Mindless eating from an open box can quickly turn a snack into a meal-sized indulgence, so pre-empt this problem with a little advance legwork.

So…now that you have a few ideas for how to manage the snacks, what are some great options to keep on hand? Here are a few of my favorites…but as always, let your taste preferences be your guide.

1) Hummus with red peppers or baked pita crisps – you can buy pita crisps or make your own by brushing pita bread with a little olive oil, sprinkling with salt and pepper and oregano, cutting into triangles, and baking in a 400 degree oven for 8 minutes on each side. Yum.

2) Greek yogurt and a Granny Smith Apple – I buy the plain nonfat yogurt and flavor it by adding a dash of cinnamon, a little stevia sweetener (like Truvia or Pure Via), and a touch of vanilla extract. This keeps the sugar contact down and has a delicious fresh natural flavor.

3) Nonfat cottage cheese with red grapes – There is something wonderful about the contrast of the sweet red grapes and the slightly salty, creamy cottage cheese.

4) Roasted almonds and dried tart cherries – Another variation of the sweet/salty combination and I like how the chewy cherries pair with the crunchy almonds.

5) String cheese and cut raw vegetables – Highly portable for on-the-run snacking occasions. Try red and yellow peppers, radishes, snap peas or asparagus for variations on the ubiquitous carrots and celery.

6) Cracked Pepper and Olive Oil Triscuits with thinly sliced Havarti or fresh mozzarella and sliced grape tomatoes – maybe add a sliver of basil? Awesome.

7) Single serve containers of Healthy Choice Soups – so easy to keep in your desk for when what you really want is a warm, savory, mini-meal in the middle of the afternoon.

Enjoying healthful snacks as a bridge between meals is something that really works for me and for many of my clients. Have fun experimenting with ideas of your own – and share some of your favorites here as comments if you’d like!


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Talkin’ ‘Bout a Revolution


While I have always liked the Tracy Chapman song Talkin’ ‘Bout a Revolution…it’s not the reason for this particular post. Instead, I’m inspired by what superstar chef Jamie Oliver (of Naked Chef fame) is up to with his new show “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.” Airing on ABC on Friday nights at 9PM EDT, I caught up on the first episode via DVR last night. And I have to say that I was simultaneously impressed with his incredible chutzpah and appalled by the reception he got from the very people he was trying to help. His philosophy is so sane and so balanced that it’s hard to imagine anyone ARGUING with him…but argue they did. It reminded me that food is personal and when someone threatens established habits of an entire city as he does in his show (set in Huntington, WV – deemed the unhealthiest city in America by the Center for Disease Control) it can get a little ugly!

In the show, Jamie focuses on improving school food and on teaching people to cook from fresh, whole ingredients. He doesn’t completely eschew sweets or treats, but views them as occasional indulgences, not as everyday fare. There’s an incredible scene where he dumps out all the food one family eats in a week on the kitchen table and everything…I mean everything…is “golden brown”. Not a color to be seen. This is how America eats??

Here is the philosophy Jamie outlines on his website…see what you think.

“My philosophy to food and healthy eating has always been about enjoying everything in a balanced, and sane way. Food is one of life’s greatest joys yet we’ve reached this really sad point where we’re turning food into the enemy, and something to be afraid of. I believe that when you use good ingredients to make pasta dishes, salads, stews, burgers, grilled vegetables, fruit salads, and even outrageous cakes, they all have a place in our diets. We just need to rediscover our common sense: if you want to curl up and eat macaroni and cheese every once in a while – that’s alright! Just have a sensible portion next to a fresh salad, and don’t eat a big old helping of chocolate cake afterwards.

Knowing how to cook means you’ll be able to turn all sorts of fresh ingredients into meals when they’re in season, at their best, and cheapest! Cooking this way will always be cheaper than buying processed food, not to mention better for you. And because you’ll be cooking a variety of lovely things, you’ll naturally start to find a sensible balance. Some days you’ll feel like making something light, and fresh, other days you’ll want something warming and hearty. If you’ve got to snack between meals, try to go for something healthy rather than loading up on chocolate or potato crisps. Basically, as long as we all recognize that treats should be treats, not a daily occurrence, we’ll be in a good place. So when I talk about having a ‘healthy’ approach to food, and eating better I’m talking about achieving that sense of balance: lots of the good stuff, loads of variety, and the odd indulgence every now and then.”

I suppose it’s easy for me to view his philosophy as balanced when it lines up so well with my own! I’d love to hear other points of view on his philosophy, the Food Revolution he is trying to start, or the show in general….check out his site…or the show…and tell me what you think by commenting here.

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