Can you improve your diet? What makes one food better than another? Could you shop at the grocery store only buying items located on the perimeter and nothing from the isles? Can you have a positive influence on those in your house or your friends? Scientists say being healthy is contagious....
The average meal in my household would consist of some type of meat entrée coupled with a small and optional side of vegetable. Sometimes items such as pasta and salad are also included, but for the most part the basic lay out is a lot of meat and milk. For the specific meal that I’ve chosen to change, I picture a roast beef sandwich with a side of French fries and milk. To me, this meal is the epitome of all bad foods outside of fast food, and so I’ve chosen to change it to a recipe that I’ve found on the internet (http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/quinoa-and-black-beans/Detail.aspx) that uses organic quinoa, a South American grain, and other important foods such as black beans, onions, and garlic. All of the mentioned foods are considered ‘super foods’ because of their being high in essential nutrients such as vitamins, fatty acids, fiber, etc. and for being low in bad food characteristics that could lead to heart disease and diabetes. Ultimately, I chose to change this meal because of the negative effects associated with too much red meat (http://preventdisease.com/news/articles/022405_red_meat_health.shtml) such as increased risked of heart disease and diabetes. Roast beef and French fries are prime examples of why Western culture has an increased risk of chronic diseases, because of their negative nutritional effects on the human body; the best diet is a varied one, and Western culture’s inability to recognize this fact has led to many deaths in the past and many more in the future if aspects about Americans’ diets aren’t changed. I chose to alter my own diet which will hopefully spread to my family’s diet because healthy bodies provide for healthy minds which allow for happy people; I say this because the quinoa meal has been somewhat of a hit amongst my family because of its flavorful/unique taste and the nutritional gains that come with it.
ReplyDeleteA meal that my family eats often is pizza. Usually we go out and eat pizza’s at Ci Ci’s pizza or Little Caesars’ however, it seems unhealthy to be eating such greasy pizza so frequently. When we order from Little Caesar’s it is often a cheese pizza with jalepeno toppings; this is really unhealthy because the pizza ends up really greasy with large amounts of cheese and practically no vegetables. Thus I decided to try and make my own pizza (with help from my mother of course). I used wholemeal pitta bread which has a lot of fiber (more so than other kinds of bread) which keeps one fuller longer and helps with digestion. I also used more vegetables and fruits than we usual eat because extra toppings cost more so often we have one topping and it usually is not vegetables. I put mushrooms, which contain vitamin B which are good for nerves, skin health and mental health. Not only that I added red peppers which have vitamin C which augments the immune system and helps heal the skin. Furthermore, I added tomato puree which has lycopene (an antioxidant) and a sufficient amount of vitamin C. I added pineapples to the toppings which is a great source of antioxidants, and manganese which is necessary for energy production. Then to add some protein (to strengthen muscles) I put ham as a topping. Lastly I sprinkled Mozzarella cheese to add a dose of calcium and protein to the meal. Although most of my family did not approve of the loads of vegetables I piled on (my family does not like healthy foods to be honest) they said the pizza still tasted quite good. They still prefer ordering pizza though. It could be that I am just not a very good cook and therefore they did not like my cooking, so I’m not going to blame the pizza. I actually enjoyed the pizza a lot. This version of pizza is much better than the one we usually eat because there are a lot more vegetables, and hints of protein here and there instead of full on cheese and grease.
ReplyDeleteMy family eats white rice everyday for dinner (and breakfast and lunch if we have the chance to). White rice isn't "bad" or "unhealthy", but it is stripped of its hard bran shell- which contains nutrients and vitamins that no other food can supply. Therefore, instead of just regular white rice, I added in Whole-Grain rice (filled with vitamins), black rice (which contains "health promoting anthocyanin antioxidants" as well as fiber), and black beans (which contains "protein, fiber and anti-oxidant related substances"). After drowning the black beans in a bucket of water overnight, cooking the rice was no problem since it was similar to cooking regular white rice. The experiment turned out to be a big success. My parents enjoyed listening to all the research done behind my "healthier food" and they also loved the fact that the rice alone contained much more beneficial components by itself. I was glad that the rice-experiment was appreciated, but now that it has been introduced, my mom makes rice that way more often than the regular white rice. I'm very tired of eating it now.
ReplyDeleteMLA:
Black Rice:
http://www.naturalnews.com/029735_black_rice_antioxidants.html
Black Beans:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=george&dbid=72
For my family, carbohydrates are a huge obstacle in reaching the goal of a healthy lifestyle. We eat a lot of pasta, breads, and dishes that require a lot of carbs. For example, since my family is always on the go, we love grilled sandwiches, simply because they are easy to make and very fast! Most of us load between two pieces of bread, cheese, a pile of meat, mayo, mustard, and all other kinds of unhealthy combinations. On, the side, we may have veggies, but most of the time, it is chips. Our drastic change started with the amount of meat that we put on the sandwich. Instead of two servings, we weighed 2 oz. of deli meat, the perfect size for a meal. Instead of several pieces of cheese, we added one slice of deli cheese, swiss. Rather than slathering the bread in heavy mayo, we used light mayo in the right tablespoon amount. The bread, of course, was whole wheat. Chips were replaced with a veggie or one of our favorite fruits, blueberries! We traded out a soda or tea with a glass of water with a hint of lemon to give it a spruce of flavoring! The meal tasted great and we didn't have to necessarily sacrifice our favorite parts of the meal. We focused on moderation and servings and cutting back on unnecessary carbs and sugars. My family had so much fun experimenting with the sandwiches and it even became a competition as to who could make the healthiest meal! Not only could we enjoy food together that was meeting our nutritional needs, but we had fun and bonded!
ReplyDeleteAverage meal of my family is white rice with some main dishes. However, my family also eat junk food(such as hamburger, frenchfries, and cheesestick)for lunch most of time. Since school lunch menus are usually composed with unhealthy food, we have to take it anyway because we don't have much options to choose. My father only have an hour for lunch time so he had to take some food that he can finish quickly. So, Instead of taking junk food for our lunch, my mother started to packing sandwich for rest of my familly. She put fresh vesitables like tomatoes, and lettuce. She also add organic ketchup and avocados,which contains lots of vitamins minerals, as well as heart healthy monounsatured fat. This decision helped us saving money and bring our healty back!
ReplyDeleteThe average meal at my house is typically a meat, salad, and a side of vegetables, and occasionally a baked potato. My family tends to eat pretty healthy meals, but we could do better when choosing what we have to snack on. Most of our snacks consist of fresh fruit which isn't bad, but some consist of popcorn, and chips which aren't good for you at all. Another fault my family has is when it comes to breakfast. My dad doesn't eat breakfast and my mom and I both eat cereal. While both of our cereal choices are fairly healthy, such as Special K, and Honey Bunches of Oats, they both have a decent amount of sugar (around 6). Not as much as a cereal such as Lucky Charms (around 12) but seeing that sugar only turns to fat, we could do better in choosing what we have for breakfast. Something good about my family's diet is that we rarely ever have sugar such as cookies and ice cream laying around our house. So while our snacks may consist of somewhat salty, buttery items we don't consume too much sugar on a daily basis. The only desert item we keep around is the 100 calorie pack of cookies which aren't that bad for you. I think it would be hard to not shop at all in the isles with all the processed food, but for the most part my family tries to stay out of that. Good eating habits are contagious, my mom started the health kick we have going on in our house and my dad and I quickly picked up on it. I go to the gym at least 4 times a week and my mom and dad try to go as often as possible. For the most part I would say my family and I are fairly healthy people.
ReplyDeleteOne meal that my family eats is cheeseburgers that my dad will make on the grill. With this we usually have a side of salad or French fries. The salad is ok, but it’s the cheeseburger and fries that aren’t very healthy. First of all, hamburgers are high in cholesterol. Eating hamburgers too often could higher your cholesterol which increases the risk of heart disease. Hamburgers also have a lot of saturated fats. French fries are high in fat and carbs which too much of aren’t good for you. To make this meal healthier, I replaced the hamburger patty with fish. I am not one for seafood, but this fish tastes kind of like chicken and is really good for you. The recipe I used was for a southwestern fish, using tilapia, black bean salsa, and seasoning. It is lean and a good source of protein and fiber. I also replaced the French fries with vegetables instead. Vegetables aren’t high in fat and carbs unlike French fries and contain more protein and fiber and vitamins that your body needs daily. Overall, the meal with fish and vegetables is way better for you than hamburger and fries because it contains nutrients that are essential to stay healthy and also it isn’t high in fat, cholesterol and carbs. By cooking this meal my family was not only able to be healthy but also sit down and have a nice family meal together, bringing my family closer. It encouraged everyone to have better eating habits and just to be healthier in general.
ReplyDeleteMy family eats tacos at least once a week. They are not terrible for our health, but we could make some minor adjustments to make them much healthier. We usually make our tacos with beef, but instead I made them with chicken. Chicken has much less saturated fat than the beef we usually use. There are several ways to cook the chicken, but I threw it on the grill and then added some chili powder, salt, and pepper to give it some flavor. We usually use McCormick taco seasoning mix, but the alternative has fewer calories, with the same basic taste. Also, instead of using flour tortillas, we bought corn tortillas. Corn tortillas have fewer calories, less fat, and fewer carbs. Ordinarily, I saturate my taco with sour cream, cheese, and salsa. For my healthier tacos, I cut out the sour cream, which is high in calories and fat, I also replaced the regular cheese with low fat cheese, which promotes bone health. And then, to add even more nutritional value, I added some vegetables. Tomatoes, lettuce, and onions go great with tacos and add balance to the meal. When I served this meal to my family, they loved it! I usually cook dinner for my family, so my cooking abilities were not under scrutiny. We have never been a very health conscious family, in fact my dad thinks that everything taste better with butter, so the fact that they enjoyed this meal was impressive. I think from now on we will make more of an effort to eat healthier meals, because I learned that you do not have to sacrifice flavor for health.
ReplyDeleteFor being heart healthy, it is important to eat a balanced meal with a variety of nutritional foods. For this little project I have taken an awful meal and turned it in to a healthy, yet, delicious meal. Everybody who is not a vegetarian can probably say this following statement is true: “Cheeseburgers are amazing.” So as you can see I have made a healthy cheeseburger. You are probably wondering how it’s possible to make a healthy cheeseburger, but it’s really not hard. On Wednesday February 16, I cooked a healthy cheeseburger for my family. To explain this process, let’s start out talking about the meat. Well red meat can lead to many different affects on the body such as increased heart disease, diabetes, and it even doubles the risk of colon cancer (http://www.naturalnews.com/007237.html). So for this healthy cheeseburger, I have used turkey instead of red meat. This is called a turkey burger. Turkey is healthier because it consists of less fat and is not as bad for your body as red meat. Secondly the bun, the part with the most carbohydrates, is very unhealthy, especially if the bread is white bread. So instead of the bun on the turkey burger, I used lettuce. Yes, lettuce. For one turkey burger I completely wrapped it up in lettuce, turning a cheeseburger into a salad. I’m not saying I ate it with a fork, but the lettuce was like a bowl, making it possible to wrap up the burger and eat it like a normal one. This cuts down the extra carbohydrates that are unnecessary and brings in the important, needed every day, vegetables. This lettuce being a vegetable makes your body healthy because vegetables go through your body smoothly, unlike the bread from the bun. The bread may get lodged up and stuck someone in your organs, taking it forever to come out. Vegetables are needed in everyday life and for this turkey burger; it makes sense to add it. As for the condiments, they remained the same; pickles, tomatoes, American cheese, ketchup, and mustard. My family was all up for the healthier choices and they really enjoyed my meal. My cooking abilities were decent, but at least I showed my family that I can cook a healthy and excellent meal. So now you can see why my version of a “cheeseburger” is healthier, but still delicious. My family really enjoyed my new and creative take on a cheeseburger, especially my mom because she usually does all of the cooking.
ReplyDeleteEvan Cliff, P.6
Of all the people in my family, none of us are great cooks. We cook the simplest of meals. The most common meal that my family makes is spaghetti. The main ingredients of spaghetti are noodles, meat balls, and sauce. Italian food, like spaghetti, isn't very healthy for you so I tried making a healthier version of spaghetti. Instead of regular noodles, I used whole grain noodles. Instead of ground beaf meat balls, I used ground turkey meat balls. When I tested this recipe out on my family, they all appeared to enjoy it, yet they still preferred the unhealthy taste of the original recipe. The healthier version of spaghetti was better for you because instead of beef, I used turkey, which has less fat. Also, when I replaced the regular noodles with whole wheat, it made the meal better for you because it has less carbohydrates, which are bad for you.
ReplyDeleteMy family loves pizza and because pizza is greasy and one of the worst meals for you i decided to make a healthy pizza for them. I have made the pizza many times before and I enjoy it but I had never made it for my mom and dad.
ReplyDeleteIngredients:
whole grain pizza dough
organic pizza sauce
turkey pepperoni
2% mozzarella cheese
portabella mushrooms
Usually when we order pizza out we get the meat supreme or something with pepperoni and sausage on it. By replacing the sausage with a vegetable, the mushrooms, we eliminated the fat from the sausage. By using turkey pepperoni instead of regular pepperoni, I was able to cut out even more fat from the meal. Cheese, while a good source of diary, also contains much fat and by using part skim (2%) mozzarella cheese some of the unneeded fat was cut out. The organic tomato sauce was made from all natural ingredients and contained half the calories and sugar in the local store brand sauce. The whole grain crust allowed us to get the carbohydrates we need but eliminated an excess amount of carbs.
My family and I do not have a lot of time where we all get to sit down to eat dinner because of our busy schedules. Ordering pizza sometimes is the easiest way where we all can get something we like, while not having to put in an extra effort to cook. I suggested to my parents that instead of ordering pizza, I could make homemade pizza that would be healthier and more cost effective and I would cook the pizza too. I went to Tom-thumb where I could find and healthy type of crust that did not have trans fats or cholesterol and little sodium. I also thought it would be a good idea to add vegetables such as mushrooms, green onions, and olives. For the cheese I used a shredded smoked mozzarella. Over this pizza I thought was healthier than ordering pizza, because my pizza did not have near the trans fats and grease that pizza from Papa John’s or Little Caesar. My parents thought that the pizza tasted great, and even though my brother did not eat it because he does not like vegetables, I thought the pizza was a success. My parents told me that whenever they’re in the mood for pizza they would call me instead to make a pizza, instead of ordering out.
ReplyDeleteMy family is pretty italian with the pizza and everything, but one thing that my mom loves to cook (and we love to eat) is spagetti (or a type of pasta). What I decided to do was find a pasta recipe that was a little healthier with less calories and with fresher ingredients. I found this recipe that had fresh ingredients; it was called rotelle with sun-dried tomatoes and black olive sauce. It was great! Although the actual sauce didn't look appetising (kind of green because of the parsley),The pasta was whole grain and all of the dressing was pretty much organic. I found the chicken broth with the least amount of sodium, only 3% (70 mg). My parents and sibling loved it. Although it was a little salty and strong, it tasted quite natural. It was full of flavor. I also had the chance to give it to a family friend and she loved it as well. She thought that not only it tasted great, but it was great for her diet.My version has way fewer calories and has ingredients that aren't as processed as the the tomato sauce and spagetti;So i completely call it a success!
ReplyDelete-Izma Aviles (6th)
Megan Donaldson Period-3rd
ReplyDeleteMy family loves seafood and fish so we eat that a lot. The only thing is we often eat it fried which is obviously not as healthy for you. And on the side my mom usually makes something that was either canned, frozen or loaded with butter. So i chose to make salmon with asparagus and mashed potatoes. I wanted to make something that was healthy and that my mom could make in quickly since she is always in a hurry so I got my recipe from "25 minute meals" cookbook. I found a recipe for salmon that looked very healthy so I used that. What I did was get fresh salmon from the store and placed that in a baking dish then i made a glaze which consisted of butter, honey and, dijon mustard. After I brushed my glaze over the salmon I sprinkled parsley flakes and shredded parmasean on top then I cut fresh asparagus and arranged it around the salmon. Then I put the baking dish in the oven and started on the potatoes. I cut fresh potatoes and put them in a bowl and mashed them the old fashion way. Instead of loading then potatoes with butter I put milk in them to make them creamy and adding only a little butter. Then i added some parmasean on top as well. The meal was delicious and my family thought so too! They enjoyed it and asked me to cook more. The difference between an ordinary meal for my family and this healthy option was that instead of frying salmon the make it flavorful, I lightly glazed it so the salmon would be healthy and would keep its protein. Then instead of making sides that came out of a can or box i used fresh vegetables. My mom usually covers the asparagus in butter or salt but instead to make the asparagus flavorful i baked them with the salmon in the same glaze. Then for the mashed potatoes my mom usually uses the boxed potatoes where you just pour the packet in a pan and add water milk and butter but i decided to use fresh potatoes and add more milk then butter. The taste was just the same as the boxed potatoes! In the end the meal was a success and my family really liked it.
The original meal was our weekly spaghetti with meat sauce. I improved the meal by using ground turkey instead of ground beef to make the meat sauce. I started off by boiling a large pot of water and cooking the pasta. While the pasta was cooking, I cooked a pound of ground turkey in a skillet and added a jar of spaghetti sauce. I drained the water from the pot and placed the pasta on a plate. Lastly, I topped the pasta with the turkey spaghetti sauce on individual plates. Everyone, as in just my parents, thought the turkey meat sauce tasted identical, or nearly the same as the ground beef. Even my father, who is quite picky at the dinner table, enjoyed my home cooked meal. My turkey spaghetti sauce version was healthier than the original ground beef sauce because it contained less fat. It was a nice experience cooking for my parents. With them both being teachers and working all day, what to have for dinner is always stressful. I bet a home cooked meal from their son hit the spot.
ReplyDeleteTH
5th Period
Nick Martinez
ReplyDelete1st Period
A meal that my family and I constantly enjoy for dinner is a rather large and delicious one. It consists of homemade hamburgers, using ground beef and white bread buns, french fries that are usually packaged and frozen, Heinz ketchup, and nice side of pasta. After researching nutritional alternatives to every single item, and incorporating my already supreme knowledge of human anatomy and the effects that certain foods have, I felt up to the challenge of creating my own healthy feast. I started out by using ground turkey instead of ground beef, as it is clearly a leaner meat with more protein and significantly less saturated fat per serving. I then swapped in wheat buns for the white buns as they are composed of complex carbohydrates instead of refined sugars. I then switched the Heinz ketchup with a certain type of organic ketchup from Tom Thumb, which contains less sugar and tastes just as yummy. As for the side of pasta, I decided to go with whole wheat pasta instead, as with the bread situation it is composed of whole wheat carbohydrates instead of refined sugars. Ultimately the entire meal was just as delicious and a bit more satisfying considering that we were all aware that it was a much healthier meal than the one before. I now consider myself a professional nutritionist and that nobody has as much knowledge about the subject as I do. I plan on living to the age of 130 as a result of my superb eating habits, which I believe I will most certainly abide by throughout my years.
My family tries to eat healthy, but we love carbs! My family has pizza at least once a week whether it’s Papa John’s, frozen, or homemade. I have made homemade pizza before, which is much healthier than the others because I make it from scratch. It is far less greasy and contains fewer preservatives. All that is put into the pizza is flour, water, yeast, sugar, olive oil and salt. You have the choice of making your own sauce or using some that is already made. My family usually goes for the Classico. Lastly, we put on the toppings. We put on mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, bell peppers, spinach, pepperoni, and mushrooms. This recipe is definitely healthier than ordering or frozen pizza, but we can still make it healthier. Instead, I tried wheat flour rather than white flour. Also, I made homemade sauce using fresh tomatoes, olive oil, parsley, clove garlic, salt and pepper. Lastly, I put on low fat mozzarella cheese, fresh cut tomatoes, bell peppers, mushrooms, and spinach. This new version of pizza is much healthier for my family. This way, we will know exactly what ingredients are put into our pizza. It will be more natural and contain far less preservatives. Overall, the meal turned out really well! Everyone seemed to like it!
ReplyDeleteMy family doesn't cook hardly at all, every night usually consists of going out together, or just doing our own thing. However, for a change of pace, i decided too cook turkey dogs instead of beef dogs. They weren't hard to cook, i just put them on the grill for a set amount of time. Turkey is healthier for you because they don't contain preservatives or chemical additives. i also uses wheat buns instead of white buns. Everybody liked my dogs and told me that i should do it again sometime.
ReplyDeleteMatt Wachter 2nd
A meal that my family eats a lot of the time is pizza. The cheapest pizza we get is from Little Caesar's. Pizza is one of the worst meals I can think of that my family eats. A way to make eating pizza healthier is a recipe I found from seventeen.com under the health tab. I made a pizza using whole wheat pita bread, a little bit of tomato sauce, skim shredded mozzarella, and a few leaves of basil. My family loved the pizza and we are now going to substitute our usual take-out pizza with the healthier version.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Cotton
3rd
My mom likes to make spaghetti with meat sauce. Hamburger meat can be fattening and high in cholesterol. White pasta has a lot of calories and carbohydrates. The sauce is also a processed one, filled with sodium. So, I replaced the hamburger meat with lean ground turkey meat, which has more protein. I also used whole wheat pasta. I bought an organic tomato sauceI cut up lettuce, peppers, and carrots to make a salad because vegetables are crucial. The whole preparation only took about thirty minutes. My family really liked it, not only did it taste good, but it was so much healthier. After this experience, my family has definitely taken more steps to eat healthier, such as using whole wheat products and incorporating more vegetables and fruits into our diets. My family generally eats pretty healthy, but we've become even healthier!
ReplyDeleteSierra Wollmar 3rd
February 21st
over the weekend ben, linley, julie, and i got together for brunch and made whole grain waffles. Instead of using just the regular materials, we used things such as whole grain flower, wheat germ, and flaxseed. it really wasnt that hard to cook. Basically we mixed all the materials together and put it in the waffle iron.
ReplyDeleteCody Marr 3rd
A popular dish in my family is the traditional spaghetti and meatballs with a side Caesar salad - however, though it is tasty, the usual dish is full of carbs, preservatives and unhealthy chemicals. I wanted to make this dish a little healthier.
ReplyDeleteThe easiest decision was switching from regular pasta to whole grain pasta, as regular pasta is filled with excess starch and lacking in essential carbs. Also, instead of using processed meatballs (the ones that you can store in the freezer and heat in the microwave,) I decided to take meat out of the equation and use chopped-up, steamed eggplant as the source of protein. I topped the dish off with organic marinara sauce.
As for the side salad, I reframed from using the store-bought Caesar dressing and made a homemade, organic version composed of lemon sauce, salt, pepper, anchovy paste, light mayo, olive oil and garlic. I chopped up the lettuce, and topped the salad off with crumbles of toasted whole wheat bread. And, of course, everyone drank water instead of soda.
Generally speaking, the dinner was a hit. Even though everything tasted slightly different - it was strange not having meatballs, and the Caesar dressing wasn't as creamy or rich as we were used to - everything was delicious, and it was nice to know we were eating healthier. I cook now and again for the family, but everyone agreed that it was one of the best meals I had made in awhile.
My family eats spaghetti very often. It is good and somewhat nutritious, but it gets very boring. Often times, my mom will put hamburger meat in the sauce which makes it greasy and fattening. So I made Creamy Chicken and Rosemary Rigatone. Chicken is a great source of protein. The rosemary added needed flavor and greens. It was fresh rosemary so it was not artificial. The pasta was wheat pasta, which added fiber to the meal. We also had salad with our pasta. The meal turned out very well and my family enjoyed it greatly. I love cooking for my family and trying new recipes, so this assignment was so much fun:)
ReplyDeleteMegan Clemens, 6th period
Susan Philip
ReplyDeletePer. 1
My family and I try our best to eat healthy, but we're also huge fans of carbs. Most of the time we like to eat either white rice or spagetti. We also tend to grab some takeout food a couple times a week due to our busy schedules. For our spagetti dinner, I decided replace white pasta with the whole grain pasta, because whole grain consists of complex carbohydrates. Then instead of adding beef I added some more vegetables into the pasta: bellpeppers, broccoli, onions, and carrots. For the finishing touch, I shredded some low fat mozzeralla cheese. Surprisingly my family found it delicious and we're pretty happy with our new and improved meal!
A lot of the time, my family likes to grill burgers. They are very tasty, however, it is not the healthiest choice for dinner. Instead of cooking these same burgers, I decided to make turkey burgers as a healthier alternative. Turkey patties instead of beef patties are healthier because there is not as much fat. Instead of melting cheese on top like we usually do, I decided to leave the cheese off. As a replacement for the fatty mayonnaise, I used mustard. Mustard doesn't have nearly as much fat as mayonnaise. The bread was the last step in making our dinner healthier. White buns have a higher number of calories in them than wheat buns. White bread turns right into sugar where as wheat buns take longer to digest, leaving your body with more nutrients. As a side, i had fresh fruit instead of beans and chips! My family was happy with my cooking and didn't even notice it was a healthier version of what we normally cook.
ReplyDeleteAllie Winkle
Deinhammer-6
Two weeks ago I took meat off the menu, with the exception of two days. I believe that you really could shop around the perimeter of the grocery store, as it includes some of the healthier foods in the store. Fruit, Dairy products, fish & red meat, and vegetables. I do believe that eating healthy is contagious, because when you see other people eating healthy, you feel bad about eating junk food. For two straight weeks I've been really trying to keep a vegetarian diet, however, it is difficult starting off. Most people ignorantly ask how vegetarians get protein and other minerals and vitamins found in meat, and they have to realize that meat isn't the only source of such important additives. Eating healthier can drastically increase your healthy life style, and reduce your chances of hear disease by a strong 40%. A strong and effective vegetarian diet has also been linked to a 40%-50% less chance of developing any serious form of cancer. I do think that eating healthy can indefinetely have a positive influence of those around you, such as family and friends. For example, when I told my mom that I was sticking to a vegetarian diet, she gladly joined me.
ReplyDelete- Scott V.
A meal that my family eats frequently is pizza. My family is very busy and we are always doing something at different times and going 100 mph in different directions so making a pizza is very easy for us but not necessarily the most healthy. What I did to improve the meal was to make a pizza with a wheat crust and make it thin so there wasn't as much carbs. Also, we normally eat our pizzas with lots of meat so to improve that I didn't use any meat i put veggies and fruits on the pizza. I put spinach, mushrooms, and peppers on half of the pizza and i put pineapples on the other half of the pizza. I normally dont like all that stuff on my pizza but it was really good! and my family loved it too!!! (: My parents really liked that i was trying to make healthier meals for our family and we decided that we are all going to try to start eating better with all of our meals. The version of pizza i made was better because the wheat crust had fiber in it and since wheat is harder for your body to break down it makes it work harder. The veggies and fruit have vitamins in them that your body needs so that makes them better than meat. All around it was a much better meal for me and my family! (:
ReplyDeletep.6
My dad grew up in the country and as a result grew up on eating lots of casseroles and as we call it “country cookin.” A meal my family consistently eats is chicken fried steak with green beans, mashed potatoes and yeast rolls. This meal is very unhealthy for obvious reasons, the first being the fried chicken. We all know that any fried food, albeit delicious, is extremely unhealthy due to the greasy oils used. In addition, the green beans from a can we use are not healthy because they contain preservatives which add unneeded fats and unhealthy substances to our meal. Mashed potatoes are unhealthy because they are fatty and contain a lot of butter and salt. Lastly, the yeast rolls are high in carbohydrates which is too much sugar. In an effort to make this family meal in my household more healthy I helped my mom create a more “organic” country meal. Instead of frying the chicken we grilled it which immediately made the meal healthier because no greasy oils were used to make the chicken. We used fresh green beans from the grocery store produce isle instead of green beans out of a can which completely omited the preservatives of green beans in a can from our dinner. Instead of making mashed potatoes we just sliced potatoes and grilled them with the chicken. In doing so, we didn’t use high amounts of salt and butter and just simply ate the potatoes by themselves. Instead of yeast rolls we used wheat rolls which added more grain to our meal. My mom and dad thought that the meal was good for it being a healthier version in comparison to our unhealthy version. Though all of us missed the delicious taste of chicken fried steak and delicious, buttery mashed potatoes! The meal was much healthier for us all because it did not contain any preservatives, butter, salt and greasy oils.
ReplyDeleteSamantha LaRoe
Deinhammer 6
An average meal that my family eats for dinner consist of take out hamburgers and french fries. We all know that this isn't the healthiest meal, but it is so good so we look over the bad for the tasty. Well instead of buying fast food, i decided to buy hamburger meat that consist of the least amount of fat. From this i hand made the patties and seasoned them up and put them on the grill. Then we used whole wheat hamburger buns and placed lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles with the burger. Then as a side item i made a homemade salad with tomatoes, green onions, and a vinaigrette dressing. I also served baked chips instead of french fries, because it is healthier overall. The overall preperation and time to cook took about 45 minutes, which wasn't bad at all. My whole family enjoyed it, because it still tasted like the food we would normally buy, but better because it was fresh. Another reason why this newer meal is better than the other one is because it is home-made and it isn't as processed as buying a meal from a fast food restaurant. Also my family really enjoyed my cooking abilities and and the seasoning i added to the food. So overall it was a success and my family is now try to make more home-made meals.
ReplyDelete~Natalie Meddaugh, 7th
One fast and easy meal to make at my house is pizza, whether it is frozen or we go out and order it, pizza is a family favorite. With it being such a commonly eaten meal, it isn’t very healthy for us to continually eat the large amounts of grease and carbohydrates that come along with it. To give a healthier choice for my family to eat, I decided to make a pizza of my own. Instead of using thick white bread crust, I decided to use thinner whole wheat crust. Instead of using store bought and pre-made pizza sauce I made my own sauce using: fresh basil, oregano, crushed black pepper, minced garlic and of course fresh tomatoes. I added a part-skim mozzarella cheese for less calories and lots of vegetables on top! Replacing the usual pepperoni with vegetables will really make the pizza a lot healthier by providing your body with fiber and iron that you regularly wouldn’t get. After I fed this pizza to my family, they were all very pleased with me for making them a healthy yet delicious meal!
ReplyDelete-Courtney Warren
It seems that at least once a week my family has some kind of pasta dish, whether it be spaghetti, chicken alfredo or lasagna. This past week my family was planning on having spaghetti so i asked my mom if we could change it up a little with the ingredients, and asked if i could help make it. She was a little taken back by my offering to cook but as soon as i told her it was for school she quickly understood. When we make spaghetti we use the white grain noodles, this time instead we used whole wheat noodles which are much healthier for your body. We also normally purchase the store brand sauce that has lots of preservatives and unhealthy things, this time we bought a different brand that advertised much healthier advantages. The biggest difference in our meal was the absence of meat, we always ad meat to our sauce to ad lots of flavor and make the meal more filling but this time we did without. The overall response to the meal was a sub par one including my own opinion and we will probably go back to our old style, but this made me thing of other alternatives i can use while making food so i can be healthier.
ReplyDeleteTyler Fenner-7th
My family and I are always on the move and usually don't have time to sit down and have my father's healthy and excellent cooking. My meals usually consist of on-the-go fast food such as Sonic or Subway so i can eat quickly and move on with the day. My mom and little brother usually stop by Wendy's or McDonald's in between all of the things they have to do. These foods and restaurants are good for when you need a quick meal to move on with a busy schedule but they are all very unhealthy and full of unnecessary fats and carbohydrates. So one day we decided to take time out of our busy schedules to sit down and have my dad's cooking every night after we get everything done. His cooking consists of steak, beans, assortments of healthy fruit and veggies, and on good nights, fresh cooked catfish with scallop. These are all way healthier than the usual fast food restaurants around the city especially the catfish which is healthy for the heart and brain.
ReplyDeleteNormally my family eats rather healthy dinners when we're together, however, my mom is usually never home when it's time to eat dinner so i usually just snack on things. Usually i'll have one or two breaded chicken breast and that's usually it. Obviously the chicken part is good but i usually never get in the vegetables i need to satisfy my body. So tonight i decided to improve this by making some (non breaded) pieces of chicken with asparagus on the side.
ReplyDeleteFirst i boiled the chicken because it had been frozen beforehand, and then i added some random seasoning i had seen my mom add to our chicken before. While the chicken was boiling, i got out some fresh asparagus from the fridge. I did a mini stir-fry with the asparagus-occassionally adding some pepper as well as some zero calorie spray butter. Once the chicken and asparagus had cooked through, i made two plates of it for my mom and i. She said that the asparagus was awesome but the chicken seemed a little dry. Overall, i thought the meal was a success and even though the chicken was dry, i at least know how to cook a simple meal that it very filling.
Carly Danner 7th
My family frequently eats a breakfast meal that you could say isn't necessarily approved by a nutritionist. This breakfast consists of eggs, bacon, breakfast rolls, pancakes, and hash brown. In order to change this very unhealthy meal I thought about different ways to alter each food item or replace it with something that is much better for your health. Beginning with the eggs, I only cooked the white of the egg and left out the yolk. The whites of the eggs are actually healthy for you and removing the yolk took out the unhealthy part. Instead of having regular bacon I bought turkey bacon that is actually slightly healthier than regular bacon. The way I cooked the bacon really made a difference though. Instead of cooking it in a frying pan I cooked it in one of the greatest inventions of all time, the George Forman Grill. This made the grease part of the bacon much less because instead of just sitting there it ran off the grill. For the breakfast rolls I switched to just regular sliced bread that had a slight amount of butter on it. I took out the hash brown completely out and replaced it with vegetables. Even though this isn't a usual breakfast item I thought it fit nicely with the meal. The pancakes had to go too and got replaced by a variety of fruit. I prepared this meal for my family and some of our close friends and it was a definite success. Everyone felt that the meal was prepared well and they felt that even though they were still having a good breakfast it was a much healthier version of the usual one. This made everyone feel a bit more healthy and overall the experiment went very well. This version was much better because the unhealthy parts of the meal were either fixed or taken out completely.
ReplyDeleteMy family has a very busy schedule, and a lot of the time we don't have time to actually cook a meal. Therefore, we get take out pizza from Parmas at least once a week. Pizza is not the healthiest choice because it is high in total fat, saturated fat, sodium, carbs, and calories. Typically a slice of pizza at Parmas is 300 calories, making it difficult to limit calorie intake. The bread used to make the crust contains a lot of white flour and therefore a lot of carbs. Excess carbs result in an overproduction of glucose. When your body runs out of room to store glucose, the extra glucose turns into fat. This is why carbs must be limited in order to obtain a healthy diet. The cheese and toppings such as pepperoni and sausage are all very fattening and greasy. They contain high amounts of salt and fat which are bad for your health. However, there is a way to make a healthier pizza. We will start with a whole grain crust. Whole grains add fiber to your diet which will keep you feeling full longer and is crucial for a healthy digestive system. Next, use lots of tomato sauce. Tomatos are a powerful antioxidant that may help prevent chronic disease. After the tomato sauce, it's time for the cheese. However, in order to create a healthy pizza, the cheese needs to be limited. The cheese is actually where a lot of the calories come from. Next, don't use any greasy meats like pepperoni or sausage. These meats are high in fats, so use chicken, shrimp, or just skip the meat all together. Last, add a lot of vegetables to top it off. They are low in calories and nutritious. My family enjoyed this new and improved healthy pizza. We all agreed that it is a much better option than take out pizza. It doesn't take very long to make and is just as delicious. :)
ReplyDeleteMacaully Shumate
Deinhammer 6th
My mom makes dinner almost every night, and although she likes to try her new recipes, we almost always have soft tacos at least once a week. With those tacos we usually have rice, beans, chips, and queso. I asked my mom if we could eat the same meal, except focus on making it as healthy as possible. Instead of using flower tortillas which have 150 calories in one, we used corn tortillas that have only 50 calories. We made sure to buy fat free grilled chicken and I didn’t let anyone put sour cream in their taco. We still used cheese but bought the fat free kind and we cut up fresh avocados and used them to help make it flavorful. We ate white rice instead of the usual mexican rice and bought healthier beans. This little change helped decrease the fat within the entire meal. Instead of having chips and queso, we made “pico de gallo”, with fresh tomatoes, onions, cilantro, and limes. Our stomachs are able to digest healthier foods more easily helping our body’s become healthier too! My family actually enjoyed the meal and said it wasn’t as bad as they thought it would be. Even though it tasted just as good as our normal meal, we were able to cut out so many calories and use a lot less fattening foods.
ReplyDeleteKatie Carlson
Sixth :)
The McMinn household loves Italian food, especially me, but it tends to be on the very unhealthy side. Normally we eat bowtie pasta with some tomato or Alfredo sauce with some amazing French bread. Recently, though, I decided to do a little research and find a healthy, but fantastic Italian meal. I still got bowtie pasta, but I chose the whole grain pasta instead of pure white pasta. The ingredients include turkey sausage, 1 cup of cherry tomatoes, 3 cups of spinach leaves, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and salt and pepper. After I mixed it all up and sautéd it, I made a nice green salad with wheat bread as a side. It’s still Italian, so it’s still not the healthiest choice. By choosing wheat over white and healthy vegetables and meat, the meal automatically becomes healthier than the 1,000 calorie Chicken Alfredo dish.
ReplyDeleteMy family grew up eating lots of veggies, fish, and meat. They don't ever eat any fast food or fatty foods like burgers and fries, at most they might eat it twice a year. Since they grew up eating pretty healthy, I as well have. My mom steams lots of vegetables marinated in some sort of seasoning to give it a delicious taste! They also love eating salmon. I've grown up eating salmon about once a week, which is a lot for me! I really love eating it because it doesn't feel too heavy in my body and I don't feel overwhelmed even after eating too much! After eating veggies, fresh meats and fish, I never really get that gross greasy feeling because generally everything I eat is really fresh. Although I'm not as healthy as my parents, I will eat fast foods and easy to make packaged foods, but I try to reduce that as much as I can. That is one way that I can improve my diet. I can also drink more water, because I know I don't drink as much as I should everyday. I feel that the better the tasting food, the more greasy and fatty it is for you! But that's only in some cases. Healthy food is delicious and if I could get fresh food through a drive through, I would definitely go there than Wendy's or Chick-Fil-A (which is one of the healthier fast foods). I think that if I begin to pick up on healthy habits I could help my friends and family do the same by offering alternatives to those bad foods!
ReplyDeleteMargaux Paylim
P.6
A meal that my family likes to eat is fried chicken, mashed potatoes and rolls. Although this meal is delicious, it is not very heart healthy. In order to make this food more nutritious, I proceeded to grill the chicken breast as opposed to fry it. In addition, I baked whole wheat rolls instead of white rolls because there are fewer preservatives and artificial ingredients in wheat rolls. I also bought organic potatoes and cooked them in the oven with no butter. Unlike mashed potatoes which typically consist of heavy amounts of butter and salt, these potatoes did not have any butter or extra fats. After I cooked the meal, my family said that I was a good cook and they actually thought the new heart healthy option was more delicious than our original meal.
ReplyDeleteSpaghetti and meatballs is a favorite meal at my house. It is not horrible for your health, but it contains lots of carbs and not too many vegetables. So, in order to make a healthier version of spaghetti and meatballs, I used whole wheat pasta to cut out some carbs and get more nutrition, and I ground up spinach leaves and squash into the meatballs to obtain a serving of vegetables. The vegetables could not even be tasted...which is a good thing :) and the whole wheat pasta really didn't make a difference on the flavor, either! My family loved it! Even though my cooking isn't always quite up to par, my family said they would love to eat it again, and next time I might even add more vegetables since they really didn't make it taste much different. Overall, the spaghetti was much healthier than what we normally eat, and it tasted the same, if not a little better, than it usually does.
ReplyDeleteEmily Fowler
My family eats spaghetti about once a week. My mom usually makes it with regular Prego sauce and Barilla spaghetti noodles. It's not the least healthy meal in the world, but it definitely isn't the healthiest. I made the spaghetti healthier by making spaghetti with organic noodles and 100% Natural Prego Veggie Smart Smooth&Simple Sauce. The sauce I used has 50% of the recommended daily vegetables in every 1/2 cup serving. The noodles I used were Mrs. Leeper's Corn Spaghetti. There are 100% organic, wheat free, and gluten free. The spaghetti I made was healthier that my mom's usual spaghetti because the sauce I used had a much higher serving of vegetables and the noodles were organic so they contained no extra unhealthy add-ins that regular spaghetti noodles contain. My family hated my spaghetti! My brothers and dad took a few bites of it then wouldn't eat the rest because they said it was horrible and my mom ate it because she loves healthy organic foods. All-in-all, this spaghetti recipe will never be made at my house again although it was a much healthier option than the typical spaghetti we eat.
ReplyDeleteMornings are often chaotic at my house since everyone sleeps in till the last possible second. The most important meal of the day, breakfast, is often neglected. My mom has a cup of coffee with buttered toast, and my dad only eats a granola bar. On Sunday morning I woke up early and cooked my family a breakfast that consisted of scrambled eggs, chicken sausage, toast, hot chocolate, and fruit. The hot chocolate was a healthier choice than the coffee because it does not contain any caffeine and contains less sugar. The chicken sausage has less fat in it than a regular sausage, yet still has just as much protein and tastes delicious. Scrambled eggs are high in protein which gives your body energy, so I cooked these as well. Butter isn’t exactly the most nutritious thing to spread on toast, so I purchased organic jelly as an alternative. Various sliced fruits were also on the menu, including oranges, blueberries, apples, bananas, and strawberries. The fruit are a good source of vitamins and antioxidants not to mention they taste great. My family thought that the food I cooked was delicious and much better than their usual breakfast, and would really enjoy it if I cooked more.
ReplyDeleteTravis Tarleton
3rd
So, about two months ago, my dad picked up one of those waffle irons you see at those hotels with free breakfasts. It's been one of the greatest investments ever because my brothers and I use it pretty much every single day for a quick and easy breakfast that is also delicious. However, waffles smothered in syrup is definitely not the most healthy breakfast in the world. So, to healthy it up, Cody Marr and I got together to make a little brunch for ourselves and two friends (Julie DaSilva and Linley McCord). The recipe we followed was a recipe for whole grain waffles. Not only did we create them entirely from scratch, we also served them with a small amount of warm maple syrup and a side of a banana and cinnamon apple sauce. The waffles were definitely a huge success in both the realms of taste and health. We greatly improved on how much junk we were taking into our bodies.
ReplyDeleteEveryone in my family loves pizza. We have pizza at least once every two weeks. Most people know that pizza is high in total fat, sodium, and calories. But there is a way to make a pizza healthier. I used a whole-grain crust, because whole grains add fiber. Adding a lot of sauce is good, because tomato sauce is high in lycopene, which is a powerful antioxidant. Then I used a low-fat cheese to lower saturated fats. The toppings I used were chicken and vegetables such as onions, olives, mushrooms, and peppers. Everyone in my family liked the pizza, not just because they knew it was healthier, but also because they thought it tasted better.
ReplyDeleteMy family often eats Chili over white rice. We usually drink sweetened tea with it. The original recipe calls for a pound of ground beef, chili seasoning, one can of kidney beans, and one can of tomatoes. We added in the white rice on our own but it stayed in the recipe. In order to make it better, I used lean beef instead of the regular kind. I also drained as much fat from the meat as I could. Then instead of using just one can of kidney beans and one can of tomatoes, I used two cans of each in order to double the benefits and nutrients. Finally, I used brown rice instead of white rice because it is just better for you. Instead of sweetening the tea with sugar, I left it unsweetened and gave the option of sweetening it with Truvia® which is an all natural low calorie sweetener. The cooking was basically the same, I still cooked the meat like I would and added in the tomatoes, beans, and seasoning and let it simmer as usual, and boiled the rice (just a little bit longer than white rice). I also decided to give everyone a bowl of salad with a blush wine vinaigrette dressing instead of ranch which is usually what we eat on salad. My family enjoyed the larger quantities of beans and tomatoes but for the most part, they didn’t like the rice as much as white rice. They also didn’t like the Truvia as much as regular sugar, but it was an acceptable substitute. The salad was a hit because everyone liked the dressing which is tasty and healthy. So overall, my meal was healthier because I used twice as many beans and tomatoes, which are good for you, I used brown rice instead of white rice because it contains more fiber and other nutrients because it is less refined, and I also added a salad for a serving of vegetables with an all natural dressing which is healthier than a fatty ranch.
ReplyDeleteMy family is usually pretty busy, so we tend to eat out a lot. Chicken is a pretty big staple in our diet, whether it be in the form of a sandwich, nugget, or in a bucket. Having all of that fried food so frequently is not very good for a healthy lifestyle. Recently, my family has been trying to make time to cook at home, so my dad and I use the grill to cook chicken which we buy at the grocery store. The grilled chicken is much healthier than the fried fast food chicken, which is fried in fatty oils that soak in to the chicken. We also like to grill certain vegetables also. My mom is actually the one who pushed for the change so she enjoyed the new food. My brother and sister however were skeptical because they didn’t think that the grilled foods tasted near as good as the fried.
ReplyDeleteBrandon Mullins
7th period
For my family, I decided to change up one of our favorite meals that is typically not a dinner entrée, but in my house it is- pancakes. First I looked up a tasty yet heart healthy recipe for pancakes and found it is a common food to make guilt free. The one I found consisted of:
ReplyDelete1 ripe mashed banana
1 tsp of cinnamon
2 cups of whole wheat flour
1/2 cup of soy milk
1 1/2 cups of water
2 tsps of baking powder
1 tsp of vanilla
So I mixed all the ingredients, and found the consistency to surprisingly resemble that of regular BISQUICK pancake mix. The only obvious difference was its color and texture slightly. However, when I tasted the batter, it did not at all compare to the tasty goodness of regular batter. Nevertheless, I went ahead and made six pancakes. I noticed that either my flipping skills drastically improved or the new mixture was for some reason not prone to easily burn in the pan. I also learned how flip the pancakes in the air thanks to the new make up of the pancakes. Overall, my mother was the only one to like the pancakes- saying they reminded her of gingerbread. My step dad and I do not like gingerbread... In the end our meal was definitely heart healthy thanks to the use of whole wheat flour. The use of soy milk also added to the healthiness of the meal. Now, since I had to buy a whole bag of the new flour, looks like my family will have no choice BUT to be healthy at least for a few more servings of pancakes. Taste-wise- I will stick to my fatty pancakes while enthusiastically bake the healthy for my mother. Especially since I threw up in the middle of the night, all of the mixture I had consumed.
Most families don't really eat pasta but our family loves pasta. My family normally cooks ground beef, and boil the pasta and have store bought sauce. Looking into our food there is so much fat and cholesterol in our food. I love this meal but it can be so much healthier. So I decided to take out our ground beef and instead of cooking with the store bought pasta sauce my mom taught me a way make the sauce using tomato paste and actual tomatoes. So instead of having a processed pasta that is full of fat and calories i made a sauce that was healthy and has less fat and calories. i also brought in some actual fruits that make this meal even healthier because you are receiving nutrients from a fruit and still having one of your favorite meals.
ReplyDeleteMy family loves to eat spaghetti! Well we normally eat it with with ground hamburger meat and "normal" pasta. Well pasta is a bunch of carbohydrates to begin with and not that hamburger is awful for you is a lot of red meat. So I made dinner for my family. The change in the recipe was I used whole grain spaghetti and turkey meat instead (all of this was mixed with spaghetti sauce from a can, I am no Martha Stewart). Well my alterations turned out to be successful! I liked it and everyone else seemed to too. So we will definitely be keeping that change from now on. Also with the meal we had a glass of milk (except my dad, he only eats it with cereal), fruit salad comprised of mandarin oranges, green and purple grapes, peaches, and chucks of honeycrisp apples. Also the infamous cup of broccoli (the frozen kind, again not Martha Stewart). But hopefully in the future I can stuff to make even the slight change to make it healthier.
ReplyDeletePeriod 1
One meal that my family eats frequently is hamburgers. They're pretty greasy, and don't seem very healthy. After looking at some heart healthy recipes online, I came across a recipe for turkey burgers. The recipe substitutes regular ground beef for very lean (93%) ground turkey meat, as well as a little bit of lean ground sirloin. Instead of using regular hamburger buns, I replaced them with whole grain buns. I also eliminated the cheese on the burgers. When I cooked the burgers, I didn't add any oil to the pan like my mom does, and when grease built up in the pan I poured it out rather than letting it soak back into the burgers. The general verdict was that they were a lot better than expected, and didn't feel as greasy as the original recipe. We thought the original burgers tasted better, but we felt better about eating them.
ReplyDeleteMy family is the type that tends to not think much about meals until we are all hungry, at which point we have no desire to wait for a home cooked meal. This leads to many dinner where I either whip something up or we just eat whatever can be cooked fastest. Often times when I cook, I try to keep what I do as healthy as possible. One of my favorite things to make is a pesto pasta with chicken, mostly because its extremely simple. To make it as healthy as possible I tried using whole grain pasta because it contains the entire grain seed, which has vitamins, minerals and fiber that are otherwise lost in the refining process. After cooking the pasta, I sauteed two cloves of garlic and once tender, I added the chicken and flavored it with red pepper flakes. As soon as the chicken is cooked, you simply toss it together with the pasta and you're finished.
ReplyDeleteMorgan Harnois 7th
One meal my family eats sometimes is chicken fried steak and rice. So instead of making the chicken with all batter, I decided to make them grilled chicken and salad. By replacing the chicken fried steak and the rice, it saved us a lot of calories, carbohydrates and fat. My dad helped me season the chicken because i've never made it before, and in the salad I put tomatoes, cucumbers and italian dressing. My family thought the meal was good and they want me to make it again.
ReplyDeleteFor breakfast my family usually eats omelet. The main reason why we eat omelet for breakfast is because it's easy to make. Just mix egg, milk, salt and pepper and cook it in a frying pan! I decided to make my breakfast omelet healthier by adding more vegetables. This morning I added mushroom, spinach and onions into my omelet. Also, instead of using whole milk I used skim milk. My mom and dad enjoyed it and I thought it tasted good as well! Just by adding few more ingredients I was able to make my breakfast healthier. This is a good idea especially for me because I usually don't eat that much vegetables everyday.
ReplyDeleteMy family cooks maybe once or twice a week, and when they do cook, it's usually something cooked on the grill, or tacos, or spaghetti. For the meal that I cooked, we had grilled chicken, pasta, broccoli, and some bread. To make it healthier, the chicken i used was organic chicken, and it was grilled instead of fried or baked. the pasta was whole grain pasta as opposed to white pasta. The bread we had was wheat bread too, instead of white bread. by grilling the chicken instead of breading it reduces the amount of carbs. The pasta and the bread, since they were whole grain, reduced the amount of carbs, as well as increased the amount of fiber. The meal overall was really good and my parents want me to make it again.
ReplyDeleteDavid Denton 2nd period
My family eats fried rice with fried chicken for dinner. Now that I think about it, it was not a good choice to eat because of the fat and cholesterol from the fried chicken and the contents that goes into making the rice. So I decided to change the way both food was cooked. Instead of breading the chicken with flour and regular eggs, I used bread crumbles and egg substitute. To season the chicken I sprinkled some hot pepper and a tad of salt. I placed the chicken on the pan to cook. For the rice I boiled brown rice. I also boiled white rice just in case some on my siblings strongly prefer to eat white rice. With both rice I seasoned them with hot pepper and spices. I also put some vegetables to add some color. When my family ate it, my mom was the first to say that it was nice. She was surprised that it actually turned out better that she expected. Some of my siblings preferred white rice but they still ate the vegetables. They liked it nevertheless. The meal overall turned out well. I know that the changes I made lowered the calories and carbs, but increased the fiber and nutrients that are so dearly needed for my body.
ReplyDeleteSoo La
ReplyDeletePeriod: 7th
2-22-11
In the weekends (usually Sunday) our whole family eats Alfredo Pasta with garlic bread. For the meal that i cooked I used tomato sauce instead of alfredo sauce. Using tomato sauce is healthier than using alfredo since alfredo contains alot of fatty substance. I also added vegetables, such as, green pepper, mushroom, onion, brocolli and red pepper. For the garlic bread I used wheat bread instead of white bread. My family enjoyed the meal I made for them and wanted me to make it again next time. They really liked the well- being food I had made for them. I am thinking to make pasta again this weekend!
A meal my family eats is pasta. Pasta seems healthy but when drenched in Alfredo sauce, it's not the healthiest thing in the world. There isn't much added with the pasta except for meat like Chicken. Something we tried to do was corporate some vegetables in there like broccoli, carrots and cauliflower. The taste wasn't much different but was still better in the long run since we were getting a serving of vegetables in our diet (which isn't often) I'm no cook myself so i had my mom help. Actually it was more me supervising while she did all the work. It was my idea so i guess that counts for something.
ReplyDeleteJaison Jose 3rd
February 22,20111
A meal that our family typically eats is tacos. We have them practically every sunday and they are really quite delicious. However, they are definitely not the healthiest things to be eating. They are packed with cheddar cheese that is high in fat, and also hamburger meet which is high in fat. Along with this every taco is wrapped in a 100 calorie tortilla which after a couple tacos begins to add up. So to make my family meal healthier, I decided to change a few things. I grilled chicken, and used that as the meat instead of our usual hamburger meat. I also bought some reduced fat cheese at the store. The meal tasted just as good if not better! The chicken made the fajita lighter than a taco and you could pack more meat into each one you had without feeling like you would die from all the grease you get with the hamburger meat. This resulted in getting full without eating as many tacos, reducing the number of tortillas, and cheese used, making the meal a whole lot healthier. My whole family enjoyed the change and I am sure we will continue to make our tacos my way from now on!The new meal tastes just as good, if not better, and also is way more healthy!
ReplyDeleteConner Heckmann
7th Period
My family generally eats pretty healthy meals. however, when it comes to snacking, we could eat a little healthier. In between meals, we usually eat chips or cookies. For my family, instead of making cookies like I usually do, I made crackers and spinach artichoke dip with milk and cream cheese instead of sour cream. My family liked the dip, but they thought it tasted better with sour cream.
ReplyDeleteAmelia Burke
5th period
After giving up meat over 7 months ago, I have been able to live a healthier lifestyle. The question about someones ability to shop at a grocery shopping buying food only on the perimeter shouldn't be a huge step for most people, since the foods found in those sections are generally more flavorful and healthy than the foods bought/found on the isles. Since becoming vegetarian I have also been able to convince friends to try giving up meat as well.
ReplyDeleteBeing from New York, my parents often cook Italian for dinner. While they are usually very tasty, these meals are often not the healthiest options for a meal. My favorite meal consists of meatballs and spaghetti. One way to make these meals healthier is to look for low fat meats when shopping for food. Instead of getting 20% fat ground beef, we should look for 4% fat ground beef or less. This is still very flavorful, but there are only a few grams of saturated fat in each serving, making it a far healthier alternative. As for the spaghetti, choosing wheat over white is the move to make. White carbs turn to sugar and are often processed, while wheat spaghetti consists of more natural ingredients. In making these minor substitutions, the meal will be much healthier yet still delicious.
ReplyDeletePeter Sblendorio
6th
My family eats a lot of meat, especially shishkabab. Normally, we just eat it with rice only. I decided to make our meal healthier by adding veggies into the mix. Afterwords we had a glass of milk. The veggies ended up making the meal taste better, but the milk was just weird. My dad said I was excellent at grilling but that doesn't matter because I already knew that. ;D
ReplyDeleteArian Bemani
6th
For the most part, my family (Mostly my mother and I- as we are the ones who cook) chose to make health conscious meals. But when we're in a quick fix- we're a pasta eating family at my household. Standard red sauce from a jar/can/box with pasta. It's a quick and easy meal, but unfortunately most prepackaged pasta sauces are laden with sugars and refined products. And pasta is a terrible source of empty carbs, and little to no fiber to aid digestion and to keep us feeling 'full'.
ReplyDeleteSo in order to rectify this I made a simple recipe from scratch. Replacing the store bought sauce with about 15 oz of hand chopped and diced tomatoes, 1 chopped onion, about 1 sliced red and green pepper, 5 cloves of garlic, chili spice, paprika, oregano, 2 tbs of olive oil and a touch of salt and pepper. I made a new sauce, cooking the veggies first before adding the tomatoes and allowing it to simmer for about 20 or so minutes.
For some protein I flaked apart some Tuna from a pouch (draining it as well) into the sauce at the very end.
To fix the pasta, I replaced it with buckwheat and a smaller portion size.
The entire family liked it- and it was pretty easy to make and cheap too! Only problem was cleaning all those pots, pans, cutting board, and everything else.
My family has hotdogs all the time and we just cook them in the microwave. They were pork and they are full of fats and acids we didnt need. To make it healthier we got turkey dogs and boiled them instead of using the microwave. We also cut down on the amount of soda that we drink and have a vegetable to go with our meal, usually corn. Before our family would have about 1-2 sodas a day and we always had an extra refrigerator full of dozens of cans of sodas. Well I'm awesome at cooking hotdogs i guess, but I think everybody is good at making those.
ReplyDeleteThe typical meal in my house when I cook consist of some sort of lean meat usually chicken, ground turkey, or pork. With the meat ill usually prepare baked potatoes to get some potassium and then either spinach, asparagus, or zucchini. Im sure I can improve my meal with salt intake and other seasoning but I want the food to taste good so typically I will use a lot. However I prepared a meal with no salt, butter, sour cream etc. and although it was a lot healthier the dish didn’t taste near as good.
ReplyDeleteBeing Asian, an average meal at my household consist of a bowl of white rice with Korean side dishes, along with Korean beef. Although my parents swear that this meal is healthy and fit for a athletic diet, I beg to differ. I decided to help make our average Korean meal healthier by practically changing the whole meal. First, I changed the plain old white rice to whole grain, brown rice mixed with lima beans. When reducing white rice and replacing it with brown rice, it lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes, and is an excellent source of magnesium, iron, selenium, manganese, and the vitamins B1, B2, B3, and B6. After changing the rice, I changed the type of meat my family eats. My parents absolutely love eat Korean beef called Pul-kogi, which is basically marinated cow meat, grilled to a tender, sirloin, perfection. I changed this tasty, sweet meat to a much healthier and more lean meat, chicken breast, which is the leanest part of the chicken and an excellent source of protein. Finally, I changed all the Korean side dishes which would consist of Korean spices and spice-flavored cabbage called Kimchi, with steamed broccoli and spinach (with a tab of salt). Not only will this new modified meal help the health of my family, but also allows a lower calorie intake and more essential nutrients.
ReplyDeletePhilip Roh 7
When I usually get home my go to meal is a bowl of Easy Mac mac and cheese, and a coke. In order to improve this I got my parents to help me make a healthier meal of mac and cheese for the whole family. Instead of using prepackaged stuff, we used real low fat milk and cheese, and boiled the noodles themselves. Overall the mac and cheese did taste better and I was able to enjoy more of it while being healthier and consuming less calories. At dinner my whole family also replaced our traditional sodas with water or milk, and we made low fat oatmeal chocolate chip cookies instead of the high in calories ice cream that we eat on occasion. In the end I was glad that I chose to do this because I felt better and more energized, and it showed me that I can still make healthy options no matter how much I am if I just prepare in advance.
ReplyDeleteMy family eats out a lot and our favorite place is Burger Island. The burgers are huge and greasy. So I decided that I would make homemade burgers with turkey meat instead of beef. Turkey meat produces less fat and grease. I also made a big pitcher of fresh strawberry banana smoothies. All in all, it turned out better then I thought it would, and everyone seemed to like it too.
ReplyDeleteMy family eats pretty healthy. My mom tries to prepare a balance meal with meat and vegetables on a daily basis. I personally think that I eat pizza and pasta very frequently. Whenever I try to cook pasta, I make it with whole grain pasta and use tomato sauce. Whole grain because it contains a lot of fiber which is really important for a healthy diet and tomato sauce instead of cheese simply because its less fatty. I believe that anything in good for you as long as it is in moderation. Too much of anything isn't good for you. Therefore, a proper diet and some exercise is the best way to keep yourself healthy.
ReplyDeleteEvery Sunday, my dad makes my family breakfast that consists of Sausage, Spanish Omelette, and Bacon. We eat this meal very often and in large amounts, which also need large amounts of oil. The best way for us to lessen the amount of fat and cholesterol consumed in such a meal is by reducing the amounts of oil, salt, pepper, and butter we put in all these things. I made this meal for my family this past sunday and make all these adjustments and it still ended up tasting great! Although salt and butter add flavor to the food, they shouldn't be poured into the foods as if they won't impact our waistline or our hearts. One additional change I made was adding more green peppers into the omelette to compensate for some lack of flavor! This idea worked out pretty well and my family enjoyed the spicy food because they can actually tolerate it!
ReplyDeleteRitika Harchekar
3rd period
"Fried Rice and Shrimp"
ReplyDeleteIn my household, we often eat fried rice and shrimp. The original recipe includes warm steamed cooked rice, soy sauce, salt and oil, pepper, and shrimp. I’m not a big fan of cooking but i gathered my mom’s tips on how to make the fried rice and changed it up to make it healthier. First i washed the rice then cooked it for about 20-30 minutes. While it cooked, i decided to cook the shrimp for the rice, avoided deep frying it and boiled it for about 10 minutes. Shrimp is actually low-fat, with a rich content of highly unsaturated fatty acids, which can lead to good cholesterol and lower blood cholesterol levels. After i cooked the shrimp, i left out soy sauce and salt because they were very salty and that would've damage our health. I also decided to add several vegetables with a pack of Green Giant sweetcorn, peas, and other mixed vegetables with the shrimp. When the rice was ready done, i added the shrimp and vegetables and a little bit of oil and stirred it until it looked ready. I served it to my family with water and a salad and they thought it was good, just needed salt. My little sister said it was to much vegetables and she liked chicken more but she enjoyed it and my mom and brother enjoyed it too.
My family and I usually eat healthy foods for launch and dinner.The average meal that my family eats is any type of meat with white rice and optional side vegetable. In order to make this recipe healthier I used brown rice instead of white rice, and I also used turkey instead of red meat because turkey is a little bit healthier for your body than red meat. This decision made us save a little bit of money and to have a better healthy lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteMy family normally eats pretty well, with most meals consisting of a protein, a serving of vegetables, a starch/carbohydrate, and salad with milk or water to drink. However, a popular "leftovers" meal is spaghetti noodles with grilled chicken, and basil pesto sauce. Instead of using regular noodles, we started buying whole wheat pasta. Not only is whole wheat better for you, it also tastes much better. For an extra nutritional boost, we began adding sauteed squash, onions, and mushrooms to the mix so as to include vegetables in the meal. Also, when in a rush I normally just throw a handful of pasta and chicken in a bowl. If I slow down and prepare a smaller portion, I will be less likely to eat more than I should. If still hungry afterwards, baby carrots or a cheese stick are a good side. Eating healthy is easy if you know what to modify and how, and natural foods often taste much better.
ReplyDeleteIlene Monh
ReplyDeletePeriod- 1st
My family and I love to eat Italian food, especially Fettucine Alfredo. Usually, I would just buy the pre-made cheesy alfredo sauce found in any grocery sauce to which i add a little salt, shredded chicken including the skin from Costco, and regular fettucine noodles. I would just boil the pasta and in another pot I would warm the sauce and add salt. I put the pasta on the plate, then the shredded chicken along with a lot of sauce. I didn't realize it at first, but the fettucine alfredo that I had always made was full of fat and sodium.
For the healthier version, the recipe consisted of...
9 ounces of dried fettucine
2 1/2 teaspoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons fat-free half-and-half
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated reduced-fat Parmesan, divided
1/2 teaspoons garlic powder, or more to taste
1/8 teaspoon salt, or to taste
3 tablespoons light butter
Chopped fresh parsley, optional
In the new meal, I used whole wheat fettucine noodles and cooked them. While I waited for that, I mixed the flour with enough half-and-half to form a paste and then add the rest of the half-and-half. In a skillet, I put the mixture along with the 1/2 cup of Parmesan, garlic powder, and sat. After the sauce thickened, I added th butter until it was all incorporated and also grilled two chicken breast with no fat. Putting the fettucine alfredo on the plates, it seemed that I didn't need to put as much sauce as I usually do. Normally, my mom loves my Fettucine Alfredo and this time she could taste the difference. The healthier version had a more homemade taste to it and a creamier texture. My mom and my sister felt that it wasn't too heavy in that the sauce was a lot lighter and it didn't make them feel stuffed. When I normally made Fettucine Alfredo, i didn't think that there was much harm to what I was putting into my body and my family, but when I made my own sauce and much more healthier versions of the ingredients, I kenw what I was putting into my food. The healthier version was much better since it wasn't made of any fillers or ingredients that weren't found in a normal grocery store.
My family eats fish sticks with green salad and ranch dressing often because it's quick and easy. This, however, is not very healthy so I decided to instead cook codfish for my family. I marinated the cod with honey and Dijon mustard instead of butter to make it lower in cholesterol and fat and I topped it with pecans for added crunch, flavor, and protein. I steamed broccoli and asparagus and tossed a green salad served with low fat dressing. Codfish is much healthier than fish sticks because it is not fried and it is much lower in calories. The addition of steamed vegetables also makes the meal healthier because it adds fiber and essential vitamins and minerals to the meal, but keeping it low in calories. The switch from ranch dressing to a low fat dressing is also makes the meal healthier because it lowers the fat and calorie content in the meal. My family loved the meal and thought it was delicious. It was surprisingly quick and easy to make. My family will definitely eat this meal more often.
ReplyDeleteSarah Barlow-5
I noticed how my family eats little to no FRESH vegetables in my house. We eat a plethora of cooked ones, but never fresh. So I took all the vegetables I was able to find in the refrigerator and made plenty of salad to serve for dinner. The salad was composed of carrots, cabbages, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, bell peppers, mushrooms, baked sweet potato bits, and ranch. According to a student experiment, raw carrots turned out to hold more vitamin C than when it is cooked, steamed or boiled; and vitamin C is important for fighting off high cholesterol. Lettuce (and other green leafy veggies) “has a considerably high level of vitamins C, E, B6, and folic acid—key nutrients in promoting a healthy immune system and reducing the risk of obesity, heart disease and other chronic illnesses”. Raw tomatoes, unlike canned tomatoes, hold natural anti-inflammatory properties and are also a good source of vitamin K. They also contain the antioxidant lycopene which promotes cardiovascular health and helps prevent cancer. Mushrooms contain a number of nutrients including niacin, pantothenic, riboflavin, selenium, thiamin, vitamin B6, and much, much more. Ranch on the other hand is very high in sodium which happens to be a down side of this meal; however, it is a great source of Vitamin K (and it brings the rest of the vegetable together). Many people tend to believe that raw vegetables contain more nutrients than cooked vegetables; however, this is not always true. In fact, a study from Cornell University proved that theory wrong by saying that many cooked vegetables may actually be more beneficial to consume than raw vegetables. But that doesn’t mean that raw veggies are always worse. In fact, hidden between the lines lie the very truth that important nutrients- ones which cannot be obtained once the vegetable is cooked- are only accessible through raw vegetables. My family had no problems eating salad since I didn’t exactly have to cook anything and they knew all the nutrients in salad would add to their health. However, next time, I might want to add lean ham or some cooked chicken to top the salad.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2008/06/green-salad-series-salad-health-benefits-2.html
http://www.naturally-healthy-eating.com/tomato-nutrition.html
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/7207/2
My family is very fond of eating burgers; however burgers are not necessarily the healthiest of foods. Usually my family eats burgers from fast food restaurants. These usually have melted cheese, beef, sesame seeded bread and maybe a slice of tomato and lettuce. Thus over spring break I chose to find a way to make burgers healthier while tasting delicious. I found that a common technique used to make burgers healthier is to mix dry cherries into ground beef. This increases antioxidants while decreasing the amount of fat. With the help of my mom I placed lean ground beef in a bowl and gently mixed cherries along with other garnishes (garlic, vinegar, breadcrumbs etc.) in order to add some flavor. Then I grilled the patties until they turned brown. Later I used whole grained bread (toasted) and added the meat in between them. I added a lot of vegetables, such as onions, tomatoes, and lettuce leaves. This new version is better because I cooked my meat differently by mixing the cherries into lean ground beef, and by grilling it. (I believe most fast food restaurants fry everything). I also added more fresh vegetables into my burger unlike those used at fast food restaurants. My family did not mind the new cooking but would still rather have a fast food burger because my family is very accustomed to eating unhealthy food. Although this new burger has less fat and provides more antioxidants (which help fight incoming poisons that are very prominent in the air and everywhere in society), my family’s taste buds prefer the unhealthy, taste of a Mooyah burger.
ReplyDeleteHana Lee (3/21/2011)
A habit that my family is gotten accustomed to would be eating out at different restaurants at least once or twice a week. Sometimes it may be fast food on the go, or it may be a sit down restaurant if there is time. Nevertheless, the meals that we chose are very unhealthy and are horrible for our bodies. One specific meal that me and my sisters have liked over the years would be the classic chicken nuggets/tenders/strips. From restaurants like Chick-Fil-A, Wendys, Chili's, or even J Macklins, wherever you chose to eat chicken tenders, they are one of the most unhealthy things you could choose. Because they are a popular fried food, all restaurants have their own version. But every version is fried. All fried foods have lots of fat, saturated fat, sodium, preservatives, and calories. They do not contain the proper nutrients, minerals, and vitamins that we should be getting daily doses of. Another potentially cancer-causing chemical that has been found in fried food that is cooked at high temperatures would be a chemical called acrylamide. Acrylamide is is found in many of the different food groups that have high carbs. It is not found to directly cause cancer, however is a chemical that should be kept to a minimum to avoid the risk. A new recipe that is a much healthier option for my family would be baked chicken tenders. Having the chicken being baked rather than fried eliminates the oil and grease that is always found on fried food. This new recipe calls for olive oil which is healthier than the regular corn oil and calls for 1/2 teaspoon of salt, which is significantly less than what most fast food restaurants would sprinkle on your fries alone. This option is much healthier for my family because it is something we can cook at home eliminating all the extra ingredients that are unnecessary.
ReplyDeleteMy family comes from South America so many of the things we cook are just flat out not good for our bodies. One traditional dish that my family enjoys are these corn pizza looking things that are called arepas. These arepas are fried in a ton of hot oil and inside them is cheese and sometimes even eggs if you're serving it for breakfast. When we make these we usually have french fries with them and rice. I decided that there was a much healthier way of having this traditional dish though and decided that it would be a good project to cook my own version of this meal and serve it to my family. Beginning with the arepa, i used less corn mixture and salt to create it. Instead of filling it with cheese i chose to fill it with something a bit healthier, steamed beef. Instead of deep frying it i put it in the George Foreman Grill so that most of the fat would run off it and it wouldn't be nearly as greasy. With the french fries instead of using ones that came from a bag that were pre-cooked I made my own french fries by cutting out potatoes and salting them and frying them. This made the french fries come from actual cut potatoes that were fresh and not processed. With the rice I just replaced it with vegetables since i couldn't really alter it. Overall my family really enjoyed the meal and everyone was impressed. They all felt that I altered out traditional meal into one that was still enjoyable but much more healthier.
ReplyDeleteMy family has a major sweet tooth. We all love desserts! We frequently eat chocolate chip cookies, so I decided to try to make them a little healthier, but still delicious. For starters, I reduced the amount of butter from 1 cup to half a cup. This helps to lower the fat and cholesterol of the cookies. Because butter is made up mostly of saturated fat, too much of it is a bad thing, so the less butter the better. I also decided to use egg whites rather than the whole egg. Egg yolks are very high in cholesterol and fats as well and it is better for your heart to just use egg whites. When I made the cookies, the dough was not as sticky as normal, and I think this is attributed to the lack of egg yolks, but other than that it does not make a big difference. I also reduced the amount of chocolate chips added as well. This was tough to do because we all love chocolate so much! However, chocolate is high in fat and too much of it is not good for you, so it was worth the sacrifice. When I put my cookies to the test, they passed with flying colors. They were delicious! We hardly noticed the difference. All of these changes lowered the fat content, the cholesterol, the sodium content, and calories. Too much of these things are not good for you, so by lowering their content, I made the cookies a little bit healthier. In addition, no one can eat cookies without milk, and we replaced regular milk with Soy milk to further reduce the fat content. I will probably make cookies like this from now on.
ReplyDeleteA common meal in my house is a balanced meal containing protein, carbs and a little bit of healthy fat such as avacado, nuts or olives. However, just because a meal is balanced doesn't mean that it is the most healthy for you. One meal that my family likes to eat is meatloaf. Generally meatloaf is made out of ground beef however I decided to make turkey meatloaf. The reason I chose to make turkey meatloaf is because turkey is higher in protein, less in fat and overall containing more vitamins and minerals making it better for you. However, you do not have to cut beef out of your diet because your body still needs some of the nutrients found in beef and your brain does need fat to function so eating a lean cut of beef really isn't too bad for you, turkey is just more lean and when going for healthy, turkey and chicken are healthier. Substituting the ground beef for ground turkey was very easy, they have the same texture and everything so I just made the meatloaf like I was using ground beef. Also, another way I made the meal healthier was instead of cooking it in a closed pan, I cooked it on a two piece broiler pan. I did this so that any grease or fat that cooked off wouldn't stay in the meat but that is would cook off and and be caught in the bottom layer of the pan that the meat was not sitting on. Usually with our meatloaf we like to eat mashed potatoes. Potatoes are healthy for you because they are a vegetable but they are very high in carbohydrates. Instead of making mashed potatoes I made edamame salad. Edamame is a soy bean and in the salad I included corn, edamame, and tomatoes. The reason I chose a soybean is because they are equal in both protein and carbohydrates so it is pretty balanced and less in caloric intake. Also, the multiple types of vegetables and the array of color provides more minerals than you would get if you just ate buttery mashed potatoes. To top off the edamame salad you can add a dressing of your choice (we used italian)adding the dressing adds a little bit of fat to your diet which overall helps balance your meal. My family really liked this meal, the only difference that was noticeable in the meatloaf was that it was a whitish color rather than a brown beef color, besides that, they tasted almost identical. Everyone also liked the salad because it was something different that we had never had before and was a nice change.
ReplyDeleteMy family is a traditional southern family, we love everything fried. We fry everything including our chicken. We have a ranch in east Texas and it seems that every time we are there we have fried chicken. Every time I eat it I feel unhealthy. The last time we went out i knew chicken was on the menu, but this time i asked my mom if we could mix it up a little and bake the chicken instead of frying it, so instead of glazing the chicken in heavy flour or corn meal we placed the chicken breast in pot with water and stuck it in the oven and let it cook. Baking the chicken is much healthier than frying it, when you bake it you keep many of the natural nutrients in the chicken. When you fry the chicken you also hundreds of calories and trans fat when you glaze the chicken in flour and corn meal. Also while frying you have to use vegetable and canola oil which also adds other things that are bad for your body. Even though frying chicken taste very good and is a southern tradition baking chicken is much healthier than greasy fried chicken.
ReplyDeleteOver the weekend I decided to make lunch for my family. I usually don't cook so it was a nice surprise for my mom. We usually just eat sandwich for lunch over the weekend since it's easy to make. It's not necessarily unhealthy since my mom just usually puts ham and cheese in it, but I thought I could put more ingredients to make it healthier. In addition to my mom's usual ham and cheese, I decided to add lettuce, tomatoes, asparagus and cucumbers (pretty much all of the vegetables I could find in the fridge). Asparagus has many benefits to our health. It is said that they can lower blood pressure and cholesterol. It still tasted good and my whole family enjoyed it. I think we got a good serving of vegetable by adding some into the sandwich. It only took me a few extra steps to take time and cut the vegetables and to make my usual sandwich into a healthier meal.
ReplyDeleteWe love pasta in my family, especially baked spaghetti. Unfortunately, all of the cheese and red meat don't make it too healthy. So instead of making baked spaghetti I tried making Chicken and Sun-dried tomato Orzo. This meal is healthier because instead of using canned sauce with preservatives and adding in fattening cheese, this recipe uses more raw ingredients like whole wheat Orzo with artichoke hearts, marjaram and sun-dried tomatoes. Also, using chicken instead of beef makes this a leaner, more nutritional meal. My Family loved it when I made it and admitted that it tasted even better than the alternative
ReplyDeleteBreakfast is usually the most unhealthy meal of the day. They say breakfast is the most important because you need the sugars to start you day off. Some people take advantage of these sugary breakfast foods and begin unhealthy diets. One thing that my family makes for breakfast is pancakes. There are many things that can be done to this easy breakfast foods to make it more healthier. Instead of the normal pancake batter I use, I substituted it for whole grain batter. There is more nutrients in wheat than white. Usually, I drench my pancakes in fatty butter, but this time I used spray butter, a substitute that contains no calories. Then, I cut down the amount of syrup I use, and added blueberries on top to include fruit in my breakfast. With just a couple changes, I came up with a healthier alternative that my family loved!
ReplyDeleteAllie Winkle
Deinhammer-6
My family loves Pizza Hut Pizza:) So I suggested one night that instead of getting a pizza with extra cheese and pepperoni, that we get the normal amount of cheese and put vegetables on the pizza. I also thought we should have salad with our pizza, to balance things out and take in more vegetables. My family decided to go along with my idea and they were willing to give it a try. I went and picked up the pizza and the first thing I did when I got home was take napkins and take off a lot of the grease, hoping to decrease the amount of fat. My mom made a salad well I took care of the pizza. My family was overall happy and said that we will definitely do this again. Although it would have been healthier to make the pizza at home, time was an issue, along with supplies:)
ReplyDeleteIn my family, spaghetti and meatballs is eaten once if not twice every week. Because my family is Italian, we always use the family recipe passed down from my great great grandparents to make our own sauce and meatballs. Its common knowledge that Italian food is certainly not the greatest for the heart, so I decided I would see how I could make this frequently eaten dish as healthy as possible. First, I went to market street and instead of buying ground beef to make the meatballs out of, i bought ground turkey. It had a lot less calories and total fat than the ground beef did. Then, I bought whole grain organic spaghetti. The spaghetti itself wasn't too different nutrient-wise from the regular kind we usually buy, but it had fewer ingredients so I thought I'd give it a try. My cooking is no match for my moms, but overall it tasted pretty good. Everyone was a fan of the turkey meatballs and didn't mind the new pasta. Hopefully the turkey meatballs will catch on and continue to improve the recipe health wise.
ReplyDeleteOftentimes, my family eats a dinner meal consistent of chili and potato chips. However, this common supper meal is unhealthy for numerous reasons. For examples, the large amount of beef that my mother adds to the chili may take a long time to be broken down by the digestive system if not enough vegetables are ingested, as well. Moreover, a large amount of beef intake is high in saturated fat, which may lead to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, since saturated fat increases cholesterol. Thus, in extreme cases, heart disease may result. Although beef is also a great source of protein, zinc, iron, and vitamin B, its frequent intake within my family may be hazardous toward our health. Also, because the chili made by my mother generally lacks the vegetables common within most chili dishes, the possible vitamins, fiber, and minerals are non-existent within the meal. However, the most harmful component of this frequently eaten meal is the potato chips, since they are loaded with salt, preservatives, and are fried at very high temperatures. As a result, when these snacks are processed using high heat, acrylamide, a carcinogenic and neurotoxin substance is produced. Moreover, potato chips contain trans-fatty acids, which increase the risks of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes and are high in calories and low in nutrients. Thus, because of the unhealthy aspects of this meal, I decided to change the components to create a healthy alternative. For instance, I replaced the beef with white chicken, since it is a very lean low-calorie meat and provides a good source of protein. By acquiring large amounts of such protein, the body is able to repair tissues, make enzymes, and build strong bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, and blood. Moreover, I changed the main dish-chili- by adding steamed potatoes, which increases the amount of potassium and, thus, allows body growth and better cell maintenance, nervous function, and normal muscle contraction (including the heart muscle). Also, the potassium allows for a healthy fluid balance in the body, which is important for healthy blood pressure. Moreover, the potatoes provide for vitamin C, which is vital for a strong immune system, sufficient blood clotting, and for converting food to energy. Additionally, I added red beans, so that a higher level of protein, fiber for low blood cholesterol, and antioxidants for reducing risks of cancer, are all gained. Furthermore, I replaced the side of potato chips with carrots, since this food is able to reduce cholesterol, prevent heart attacks, and provide vitamin A, C, K, and potassium. Moreover, the carrots have carotenoids that are good for blood sugar regulation, affect insulin resistance, and lower blood sugar. Thus, I was able to make dinner much healthier by adding and replacing only a few key substances within the meal and my family enjoyed the alterations, as well. All of my critics seemed to enjoy the vegetable additions and carrot side and were impressed by my version, since it was better for our bodies and was also tasty.
ReplyDeleteA typical meal in my house is spaghetti with meatballs. Even though it's not that unhealthy of a meal, it can still be improved. Pasta carbohydrate and sodium levels are both very high. This can be improved my substituting regular spaghetti noodles with whole wheat spaghetti noodles. Doing so decreases the overall total carbohydrate and sodium intake. Also, I would substitute the normal meatballs with turkey meatballs. Turkey meatballs contain less calories and fat than normal meatballs and still taste delicious. I found a recipe for turkey meatballs and whole wheat spaghetti online.
ReplyDeleteSauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (28-ounce) can crushed fire-roasted tomatoes, liquid included
1 teaspoon finely minced canned chipotle en adobo and sauce, or more to taste
2 teaspoons chopped oregano leaves
1 sprig fresh rosemary
Salt
1/4 cup torn fresh basil leaves
Meatballs:
Cooking spray
1 pound ground turkey meat
1 slice fresh whole-wheat bread, crusts removed, pulsed into crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
1/2 cup finely grated carrot
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves, plus more for garnish
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 box (16 ounces) whole-wheat spaghetti
Macaully Shumate
Deinhammer 6
A typical lunch in my house would be a chicken caesar salad with sweet ice tea to drink. I made this healthier by using spinach leaves instead of ice burg lettuce. Because caesar dressing has the highest calories of any salad dressing, I swapped it for Italian dressing instead. I used lean, cut up, grilled chicken and wheat crutons. I also threw in some freshly cut tomatoes. Instead of drinking sweet iced tea, I drank water with lemon. Making these small changes not only reduced the calories to less than a third it was, it was a lot healthier for my body as well. I realized that when I was eating a caesar salad, I wasn't actually eating healthy at all. The salad was actually a lot better and it gave me a chance to try a new dressing, that I ended up loving.
ReplyDeleteKatie Carlson
6th Period
As a family that is always on the run we choose to make quick and sometimes unhealthy meal choices.Considering this I choose a quick and easy meal that is quite frequent in our household...spaghetti!! Preparing this meal took quite a bit more time then normal because I choose to use ground turkey meat rather than ground beef and whole grain noodles instead of white noodles.Even though these were small changes they would have saved us in calories if we would've ate portion sizes. However, we did NOT eat this meal ...we ended up making turkey sandwiches.If I were to ever consider making this meal again i would mix the wheat noodles with a few white noodles and change the sauce to organic.
ReplyDeleteMy family is a breakfast food kind of family, that is definitely our favorite meal of the day. One of the favorite dishes is french toast. Normally we like to use Texas Toast to make it. Thick delicious white bread! yum! :) Well I decided to use just plain old wheat, normal sliced bread. Not going to lie, it is definitely not as appealing. So I used pam spray on the gridle, dipped the slices of bread into eggs with a touch of cinnimon. Well normally we just use Hungry Jack Syrup, but to make it the meal more nutritional we substituted that syrup for boysenberry and strawberry syrup, which contained 30% real fruit. I even cut up strawberries to place on top of the Frech Toast. Then to finish it off, with whip cream, which I made from scratch (blending 1 pint of half and half with a cup of powder sugar). I know this is by far one of the worst meals to eat but hey I did knock out some calories and added nutritional value. I was well complimented by my family so I think I did alright. Did I miss the white bread? You bet! But hey, we all got to sacrifice here and there!
ReplyDeleteMorgan Halvorson
1st period
Being in a household full of people thats all ways in the run, i had to make something quick fast and unhealthy food choices....sooooo i made turkey burgers with whole burger buns. Turkey meat has a weird taste to it but i liked it. Eating turkey burgers made it more healthier and less that my stomach has to break down. Having less calories in my dinner made me and my family feel sooo much better.
ReplyDeleteOne meal my whole family loves to eat is breakfast. A normal Sunday breakfast my family eats its scrambled eggs with bacon grease in the eggs, bacon on the side, toast with butter, hashbrowns, and orange juice from concentrate. Well as i stated thinking, i figured i could make this meal much healthier by just substituting some of the items for healthier objects. So what i decided to do for my family is to use egg white with real bacon cooked completely. Then i made toast using wheat bread instead of white bread, real potatoes, and real orange juice not from concentrate. By doing this, i made one of our most favorite meals much healthier and more tasty. When i asked my family how they liked the food, they loved it and asked if i could make it some more. So for now on i'm in charge on Sunday breakfast!
ReplyDeleteNatalie Meddaugh, 7th
My family really enjoys making extremely fatty meals which always have a meat product in the mix, and nothing is more archetypal than my father’s grilled beef burgers with a nice side of French fries. Other than going to get fast food, nothing is really worse than this particular meal; this meal exists as the pinnacle of unhealthy eating for my family. With this in mind, I, who had been abstaining from beef/pork totally, developed the idea of fixing this meal to fit a healthier model. I decided to change this extremely fatty meal to a more lean meal of no meat and a healthier form of the potato; the beef burger became a veggie burger mostly comprised of soy and the French fries became mustard-roasted potatoes (see http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Mustard-Roasted-Potatoes-240694). This transition greater reduced the overall amount of ‘bad’ fats and stabilized the overall quantity of sodium. The veggie burger had more sodium than a beef burger, but the mustard-roasted potatoes had far less sodium than the French fries, so it seemed to even out. All in all, I chose to try this meal to create a trend that would hopefully reduce my family’s dependence on meat in their meals, but I’m not sure that will happen because the soy burgers were not much of a hit. My cooking was fine, but my family did not like the taste of the veggie burgers and chose to devour the potatoes instead. At least next time French fries won’t be on the menu. (http://www.vegansoapbox.com/veggie-burgers-vs-beef-burgers/)
ReplyDeleteAt my house everyone is fairly healthy. We don't keep very much junk food around to snack on, so its usually not hard to be healthy when i'm at home. The other nightI went to Sprouts and looked in the friut and vegtible section and bought bell peppers, zuchinni, squash and mushrooms. I cooked the vegitables with some olive oil and pepper. I also baked some sweet potatoes in the oven. My family said the meal was fairly good, but kind of boring.
ReplyDeleteMy family tends to prepare healthy meals for every dinner. However, I usually eat out with my friends at unhealthy resturants and miss the dinners. Lately, I try to eat at home more often instead of the convenience of fast food chains. My mom has always been concious of our family's health and cooks small portions, a variety of foods, and prepares them the healthiest way; like baking the chicken in oil rather than butter. To improve my diet, I ned to continue eating these meals.
ReplyDeleteMy family gets Papa Murphy's sometimes for family nights. Obviously this is not a very good option, so my mom and I started to make homemade pizza. Not only does it make us get up and be proactive, but it has significantly better health benefits than regular pizza. We get pizza dough mix, organic cheese, tomato sauce, olives and canadian bacon. We get to chooses exactly what goes on the pizza, and therefore what goes in our bodies. We resist from putting too much cheese on it, the canadian bacon gives us a good amount of protein, and the olives give us some of our daily vegetable intake. The pizza always tastes great and is fun to make!
ReplyDeleteEmily Alexanderson
3rd
One of the common meals that my family has is pizza. This varies from all types of pizza. Sometimes my mom will make it from the dough all the way to the finished product, sometimes we will buy a frozen pizza and sometimes we will even order from places such as Palio's Pizza or Domino's. Usually when we have this we have all varieties of toppings. This can range all the way from peppers to meatballs. Still we will always have the marinara red sauce and the cheese. So my idea to make this meal more healthy is to change the toppings. Yes, it is simple but it will help. Instead of all the unhealthy and fattening foods, I replaced them with more healthy options such as mushrooms, onions, artichokes, spinach and tomatoes. After trying this will all the new toppings I had never experimented with, the result wasn't exactly how I expected it to turn out. It was probably due to my awful cooking but it did not taste very good. Although it was very healthy, it was not very appetizing. Still it is a good option and it was fun experience.
ReplyDeleteMegan Donaldson-3rd
ReplyDeleteMy family has eats pizza for dinner often so I chose this meal to make healthier. We usually buy the boboli pizza crust that comes in a package with pizza sauce. Then we top it with mozzarella cheese and pepperonis that both come in a package. I remember Mrs. Deinhammer saying that packaged foods are usually not good for you so I wanted to cook a meal for my family that didn’t include packaged foods. The boboli crust that we buy contains 360 calories per crust and the first ingredient listed in the nutritional facts is processed white flour. So I replaced these crusts with whole-wheat English muffin halves. Each English muffin half has half the amount of calories than the boboli crusts have. I then topped each of my pizzas with a blend of spinach leaves, walnuts, yeast, lemon juice, 2 tablespoons water, garlic and pepper to make a pesto sauce. Then I added fresh mushrooms, fresh tomatoes and half skim mozzarella cheese that I shredded myself. My family seemed to really enjoy this meal and so did I. The whole wheat crust, fresh toppings, half skim cheese and the home made pesto sauce were all ingredients that make this pizza more healthy and nothing came from a package. I would definitely cook this again! Each family member ate two of the pizzas and had a total of 350 calories, which is the amount of calories that just the boboli pizza crust contained. This was amazing to my family and me and they said I could cook it again anytime I wanted.
The only type of fish that we eat at my house is Tilapia. It is definitely one of the healthier meals that we eat, but what we usually have with it is mashed potatoes and spinach. The first thing that can be done to make this meal healthier is to grill the fish with various fresh vegetables such as squash, red onions, and bell peppers. These should be included to add more vitamins and proteins to the meal. Add a little olive oil to the foil to help with the cooking. The spinach that is used for the meal is fine, but it could even be home made. All that needs to be done is to get spinach leaves, a little bit of olive oil, garlic, and salt. For the mashed potatoes, use fresh potatoes, a limited amount of real butter, salt, and pepper. Preparing this for my family was really easy! It was actually pretty fun. They all really enjoyed the dinner that was prepared!
ReplyDeleteOn a regular basis, my family eats spaghetti. It is easily a quick dinner and fits well with our family's schedule. For years we've used marina sauce from the brand Prego and the store brand from tom thumb. However, for this blog I looked up the ingredients for each of the sauce and pasta and found bad results. The pasta brand we currently use has artificial flour and the sauce had at least seventy more calories than intake of pasta sauce should be. So, it seemed fit to try a much healthier version of spaghetti tonight for dinner. After going to Sprouts and Tom Thumb, I found a brand of whole wheat pasta of all natural ingredients, and for the sauce I chose Emeril's Home Style Marinara. The healthier pasta sauce had only ninety calories (which is very low for a pasta sauce)and also has natural ingredients (mostly). In all honesty, I thought the kind my family has always eaten still tasted far better than the healthier option. Either the new recipe I have for my pasta just takes some getting used to or I may never like it as much as the pasta I usually eat!
ReplyDeleteSo a popular meal in our family are Taco Bell's tacos. They're cheap, they're quick, and, if you have a few, they're filling. They're kind of the perfect meal for my family when we don't have a meal planned. So, I decided to make healthier tacos for my family last Friday. I got the recipe from the sites: http://www.eatingwell.com/healthy_cooking/quick_healthy_cooking/healthy_tacos, http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/eatingwell_taco.html, and http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/lean_spicy_taco_meat.html. They have less fat and saturated fat because they haven't been deep fried and they use lean ground beef and turkey. According to the site, each taco's nutritional value was: "261 calories; 5 g fat ( 1 g sat , 1 g mono ); 38 mg cholesterol; 31 g carbohydrates; 24 g protein; 5 g fiber; 582 mg sodium; 272 mg potassium." as compared to Taco Bell's crunchy taco (which a serving for us is at least 4 tacos): "670 calories, 38 g fat (14 g sat, 1.5 g trans), 110 mg cholesterol, 49 g carbohydrates, 1320 mg sodium, 11 g dietary fiber, 2 g sugar". The healthy tacos were much more filling. We each ate only one or two if we were hungry. In addition to the straight nutrition facts, Taco Bell is notorious for using low-quality meat and the healthy tacos had some of the best we could find. Overall, the healthy tacos were a success. They were filling, they were tasty, and they were healthy.
ReplyDeleteSince I was little my family and I loves starch of some pasta and casserole. So this weekend i made Chicken Alfredo with a little twist. For Noodles I put Brown Rice(help lower LDL Cholesterol), next i put diet butter
ReplyDelete2 skinless & boneless chicken breasts, pack frozen, some spices and Parmesan cheese. For the sauce, i put evaporated skim milk, diet butter
pinch of garlic powder,ground black pepper Parmesan cheese and flour. Meanwhile, the meal was finshed and i was scared to eat it once again but i tasted it and it was good....finally. The only thing that was bad was the brown rice and thats cause it was very chewy so imma try this next time and put white and brown rice or some whole grain noodles.
One meal that my family eats often is tacos. Our tacos usually consist of taco meat (hamburger meat), cheddar cheese, sour cream, salsa, and taco shells. In order to make the meal healthier, I replaced the taco meat with grilled chicken, replaced the sour cream with diced avocado, replaced the salsa with homemade pico de gallo (diced tomatoes, diced onions, cilantro, lime juice, and a dash of sugar), and replaced the tacos shells with corn tortillas. I also added black beans for flavor. The produce that I used was fresh from market street. Most of the items that were switched out taste similar to the original item, which made the transition to the healthier version of the meal easier. My family enjoyed the tacos, and we all appreciated a new twist in our dinner. My family also enjoyed my cooking, although my mom guided me through the entire process.
ReplyDeleteShannon Miller, 2nd period
My mom usually makes dinner around 4 p.m. and leaves it in the fridge because everyone in my family have such different schedules we can almost never eat together. So whenever we have the time to eat, we heat it up in the microwave. A typical dinner my mom would make for my family would include baked breaded chicken, a salad, and dinner rolls. For my challenge I came up with a few changes that would make this type of dinner much more healthy. Instead of the breaded chicken, my dad grilled some chicken breasts. By grilling the chicken and not having the breaded chicken, it eliminated the carbs and the white flour in the breading. I also eliminated the carbs and white flour by not making the dinner rolls and instead grilling zuchini, squash, and asparagus. To make the salad healthier, I used Newman's Own Lighten Up Lowfat Sesame Ginger dressing. The dressing contains 35 calories per serving and 1.5 g of fat. I also added carrots and celery to the salad and didn't add cheese and croutons. My family liked the changes especially my mom because she really likes to buy healthy foods and make our family health consious. My younger brother didn't like it becuase he is really picky and doesn't like vegetables.
ReplyDeleteKatie Perdue 3rd
ReplyDeleteMy mom is a very healthy cooker. We eat many home cooked meals by her and they are always delicious. She has raised me to eat whole wheat noodles and bread, more vegetables, and we don't add very many sides or sauces. Last night we had her famous pasta. It is only noodles, pieces of grilled chicken, chopped up almonds, and olive oil. She always cooks with whole wheat pasta noodles, grills her own chicken, and uses the nuts sparingly. As a side, we had broccoli, peas, and pineapple. There were very few things in the past couple weeks that I found I could make healthier.
So for this challenge, my family watched our weekend eating. Sunday is always on a messed up eating schedule. We have church, go out to eat, go back to church 5-7, then eat. For lunch we usually go to Panera (which is a fairly healthy sandwich and soup restaurant). However, we sometimes let ourself splurge with Pei Wei or Guero's. Sunday we decided to have Pei Wei. There aren't very many healthy options, but we did find a few improvements. We didn't order any egg rolls, my dad didn't order extra meat, and we all ordered extra vegetables. Alongside those changes, we all decided to not eat the whole meal and keep the rest for lunch the next day. First of all that saves us money by paying for a meal that split into two days. Also, it made us eat less calories during dinner and had a small portion for lunch. While at Guero's we all decided to be healthier. We kept each other from eating too many chips and salsa (they sneak up on you) and we all ordered in moderation. I order soup with a chicken taco, my mom orders two tacos with beans, and my dad got his normal meal and ate part of it at the table and brought the rest of it home for lunch the next day.
My family is a very healthy family. I have my mom to thank for keeping us so health conscious and making us think before we eat. Because of her way of eating, the only times we could truly improve were out restaurant meals. The meals still were not the best we could have, but they were definitely much better than the normal out-to-eat meal.
For the healthy heart diet challenge, i chose to enrich one of my family meals by substituting a side dish. Typically as a side, my brother and I eat Kraft brand macaroni and cheese. Although the macaroni and cheese is made with wheat flour which is better than white flower, macaroni and cheese is still not a very "healthy choice". After the cheese mix is added, a typical small box of macaroni and cheese contains 410 calories, 170 calories from fat, 3.5g of fat, 2g of saturated fat, 580mg of sodium, and 6g of sugar. To replace macaroni and cheese, i chose to substitute it with parmesan flavored cous cous, a healthier option that still retains a lot of flavor. Parmesan flavor cous cous contains 220 calories, 25 calories from fat, .5g of saturated fat, 510mg of sodium, and 3g of sugar. From the comparison, it's obvious that cous cous is a healthier choice as a side dish compared to macaroni and cheese. Especially since cous cous is just as easy to make and still tastes good. I cooked the side dish for my brother and I and we both felt that the substitution was worth it. It wasn't like we could tell that we were eating something healthier. Overall, I was very pleased with my substitution.
ReplyDeleteOne meal that my family has quite often is pasta, we usually eat white pasta with meat sauce. My family always gets lean beef, but it isn't as good for you as other options. My family loves seafood and fish, so for dinner I decided to make pasta with shrimp in a lemon garlic sauce. So I started off by buying fresh shrimp at Market Street and I bought whole wheat pasta to substitute the white pasta we usually eat. I started off by boiling water for the pasta, while that was cooking, I cooked the shrimp in a little bit of fresh lemon juice. Once the shrimp was cooked I added a clove of garlic, more lemon juice, and a small amount of butter to the shrimp for more flavor. So instead of serving my family our usual heavy pasta with meat sauce that is filled with sodium and fat, I decided to give them a lighter, healthier meal that had omega 3 in it. The only unhealthy part of the meal I prepared was that it had butter in it. My family really liked the new way to have our pasta but they weren't too wild about the whole wheat pasta. Next time, we are going to try and have half whole wheat noodles and half white noodles to see if that makes this dish even better!
ReplyDeleteI have an "Eating Right" cook book that my family gets a lot of our recipes out of. My family loves red meat:steak, burgers. So for a meal to substitute beef burgers or even turkey burgers, which we usually eat, I made cilantro-salmon burgers. I combined fresh cilantro from Sprouts and 1-inch cuts of fresh salmon from Market Street with a dash of pepper and salt, then put the mixture into a food processor. I cooked the patties in a pan on the stove. For buns I used whole wheat buns. By using salmon, I added Omega 3 into the meal and reduced some of the sodium and cholesterol that regular burger has. The wheat buns added more fiber to the meal. Usually with burgers we have barbeque beans or fries, but with the cilantro-salmon burgers I made fresh asparagus on the grill and sliced up fresh bananas and strawberries. The asparagus substituted some of the starch and carbohydrates that fries have with more protein and nutrients. The fruit provided natural sugars that do not count in your recommended daily intake of sugar. Overall the meal was very healthy and on a warm evening it was a light and refreshing meal that my parents enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteOften when life is a bustle, my family would eat plain ramen noodles, which offer minimal nutrition, but rather an imbalance in nutrition contribution. In order to improve upon the meal, I cut up some onions, leeks, mints, and various greens to substitute the flavoring packet. To increase the nutritional output, I added vegetables and several slivers of beef for protein and essential amino acids. My family enjoyed the meal immensely and is thinking upon ways to improvise in the future. I chose this meal because I ate ramen often and I believe my meal, in comparison to a plain packet of ramen offers a balanced diet which consisted of the necessary nutrition needed in a healthy meal. Most definitely, I can improve on my diet for there must be a reason behind my high cholesterol. I believe foods which provided the best source of nutrition to satisfy the necessary minerals per day is healthier. I don’t often shop, but should I be put to the test, I could not buy only from the perimeter for I eat cereal and oatmeal in the morning. I believe I could have a positive influence to the upon my friends should I make the effort to lead a healthier life.
ReplyDeletePeter Tran
Period 7