She's a chip off the old block (Dr. Mishner's!) with her passion for healthy eating,  and mostly healthy, somewhat exotic cooking! Julie Mishner has started a blog - jalapenoface.com - filled with recipes she has used, in a self-described miniscule kitchen!  They are special because they are for one or two people, they require very few ingredients and kitchen supplies, and very little time. We're proud to introduce her blog and feature one of her healthiest, most delicious recipes!

QUINOA TABOULE SALAD

Beet roots and greens are loaded with healthy nutrients.  To prepare greens, steam and flavor them as you would any greens such as turnip or collard greens.  For the beet root, I recommend grating them raw onto salads, or, wrapping in foil and roasting in a 400' oven for about an hour, until a knife slides in easily.  There are many ways to enjoy beets hot or cold. The beet root is a good source of manganese, folic acid, potassium, phosporous, magnesium, iron and Vitamin B6.  Betacyanin is what gives beet roots their rich purple-crimson color and studies show this has cancer-fighting qualtities.  Raw or cooked, beet roots are a great source of fiber.

Have you noticed that restaurant food is often more salty or fat-laden than anything you eat at home?  When you cook, even simple meals or microwaved steamed vegetables, you have the perfect opportunity to control what you and your family are ingesting, so use that to your advantage.  Cook with a good quality non-stick pan to cut down on cooking oil which has 199 calories and 14 grams of fat in just one tablespoon. (Olive oil has less, and using a spray like PAM is even better.)    Ditch the salt and experiment with herbs and seasonings, or a quick and simple variety of 'Mrs. Dash'.  Did you know you can substitute applesauce for cooking oil in recipes you bake? There are many healthy substitutions to try which will surprise you because neither you nor your family will miss the old ingredients.  Small changes in cooking methods and recipes add up to big health improvements!

Nutritional benefits of almonds and walnuts are more commonly known, but other nuts can provide a healthy variety for recipe ingredients or snacks as long as you are getting raw or roasted, not salted or sweetened.   Pistachios are rich in lutein, beta-carotene and vitamin E and can have cardiovascular benefits including lowering 'bad' LDL cholesterol.  Antioxidants found in pistachios (and many other foods) have been scientifically proven to help with a variety of health concerns including cancer prevention, improved immune function, healthier skin or reduced risk of heart disease.    Brazil nuts are an abundant food source of the antioxidant selenium.   A recent study showed that eating just one Brazil nut each day for 8 weeks significantly increased plasma selenium status as well as an increase in the enzyme glutathione peroxidase-1 which protects the body from oxidative damage. 

Monday's Kaizen Healthy Lifestyle class involved everyone in reviewing common food choices and identifying at least one nutritionally superior alternate.  The alternate had to be similar and tasty...no sense pretending you would just as soon eat cottage cheese as vanilla ice cream.  Many pairs were discussed - one item to Choose, one item to Lose.  For example, when looking at sugar content, their is no contest between orange Crystal Lite (choose) and carton orange juice (lose).  Significantly lower in sugar and calories are Emerald's Cocoa Roasted Almonds vs. peanut M & Ms.   Lose a lot of saturated fat by choosing olive oil over butter. Lose a ton of sodium by choosing low-sodium chicken broth over bouillion cubes.  Add fiber and a healthier carb by choosing rolled oats instead of bread crumbs in your recipes calling for filler.   You may have seen the book series 'Eat This - Not That', which is the same concept.  The problem with those books is they are NOT presenting a truly healthy choice with each 'Eat This' recommendation. They are simply saying one of the pair is better than the other... but it is often the lesser of two evils.  The Kaizen Healthy Lifestlye class is much more discerning.  Handouts from the 'Choose It-Lose It' class will be free to visitors at the upcoming Love Your Life Health Expo March 26 at Kaizen Total Wellness center in Lakewood Ranch.

Kaizen Total Wellness nutritionist Annette Shuchert was a featured speaker at the open house Thursday evening at Che Bella.

Annette showed how spending just a little more time reading the nutrition information on food labels can help us make important distinctions and much healthier choices.  For example, the healthiest looking skin is the most hydrated skin.  So in addition to drinking at least eight bottles of water each day, spaced throughout the day, we should pay attention to counter-hydration ingredients like sodium.  Even diet coke and yogurt have sodium we don't think about! 

Healthy Substitutions was the nutrition topic discussed in Monday's Healthy Lifestyle class. The Kaizen approach is not about deprivation, it is about making choices that will help you get your optimum nutritional value out of each calorie.

Smart substitutions are ones that provide more 'good stuff' like fiber and vitamins and less 'bad stuff' like saturated fats and sugar. The smartest substitutions do this without making you feel you are missing out on anything, like flavor, texture, or sense of fullness.

Here are some of my favorite substitutions. Please share yours with me!