Yummy (healthy) salmon patty recipe

Here is a recipe that I adapted from the Chicken of the Sea Salmon Pouch. The kids loved it – they dipped the patties in ketchup.

Ingredients (makes about 10 patties)
2- 7 ounce Pink Salmon pouches (skinless and boneless) or you can used the canned Salmon (skinless and boneless)
¼ cup omega-3 fortified light mayo
2 eggs
1 ½ cups whole wheat bread crumbs (divided)
½ cup wheat germ (divided)
¼ tsp garlic salt
1 tbsp lemon juice
Optional - finely chopped onions 1 cup and finely chopped red bell pepper 1 cup

-- Combine Mayo, optional ingredients, lemon juice, garlic salt and stir in salmon, egg and 1/2 cup of bread crumbs and ¼ cup wheat germ – mix until well blended.
-- Form mixture into balls and roll in remaining bread crumb/wheat germ mix and flatten into cakes about ½ inch thick.
-- Add patties to skillet with 2 tbsp olive oil and cook. Or you can bake at 425, just spray baking sheet with either olive oil or canola or vegetable oil and spray the salmon cakes with the oil as well and cook about 30 minutes.

Let me know what you think.

Eating Fresh, Whole Foods Challenge

We need to eat fresh, whole foods -- I know, they are not convenient and they go bad if you do not eat them in time. However, it is important to teach our families and ourselves how to eat fresh, whole foods vs. relying heavily on processed foods (which typically have several of the good nutrients stripped out as well as added ingredients that we do not need). For example, new research shows that as produce ripens there is an increase in powerful antioxidants from the break down of chlorophyll, which could be beneficial for health. These are compounds that are found in the whole fruit. By only eating processed foods that are enriched or fortified to make up for the stripped-out nutrients, you can miss out on eating a set of nutrients that need to work together in the whole food to protect your health. There are several nutrients that come in bundles and work together, such as vitamin A and the carotenoids like lutein and zeaxanthin that take care of our eyesight; or vitamin E and the tocopherols that work together as antioxidants.
Teach yourself and your families to rely on fresh, whole foods and only use processed foods occasionally. This does not mean you should give up your canned fruits and veggies. Although, these are somewhat processed, they are an easy and convenient way to reach the desired 5-10 fruits and veggies a day. Just make sure you are also including fresh, whole foods in your daily diet. And, based on the new study, make sure your produce is ripe. Try this today, count how many processed foods you and your kids eat vs. the number of fresh, whole foods. Try to make sure that at least half of your food intake is fresh and whole. I am going to join you in doing this -- I will write down everything that I eat today and run a nutrient analysis on my foods and will report back tomorrow. I will post what I ate, count the number that were fresh and whole, plus add the nutrition information for my day's menu.
There is no formal definition of "fresh, whole foods," so, for the sake of this challenge, we will include minimally processed whole grains, natural dairy and meats as fresh as well as whole fruits and vegetables. If you are like me, you may be concerned with pesticide contamination or added hormones and antibiotics, if so, make sure to choose the all natural, and organic varieties.

Tips for eating Halloween candy

Here are some tips to cut down on eating too much candy --
-- Dump the candy on the floor with the kids and create a pile of your favorites (both you and your children).
-- Throw away (or donate to your child's daycare treasure box or good manners award chest) all candy that does not make it into your favorite piles.
-- Keep 5 pieces of your favorites for yourself -- again, either throw away or donate the rest of your pile.
-- For the kids, give each 5 Ziploc bags and let them put three pieces in each bag (this assumes the candies are snack size - if they are full size, then just one per bag).
-- Each day (for a total of 5 days, they do not have to be consecutive days) they can enjoy a bag -- Make sure they balance the treat with something healthy like nuts or fruit (that also goes for mom).

Eating Like My Kids: I did it!

I did it! I ate like my kids all week. I recommend all moms try this -- I fed them healthier and I ate healthier. I actually had much more energy than normal -- I was eating about every 3-4 hours and trying to stay away from processed foods. Also, I realized that they eat much more fruit than I do. I make sure every snack includes a fruit - since I do not typically snack often, I was not getting as much fruit as my kids. So, last week I ate about 5 servings of fruits a day -- if everyone did this, based on population studies, we would have a lot less heart disease and other chronic illnesses. There are several good habits from last week that I will continue --
-- Eating breakfast sitting with the kids instead of in the car while driving them to school
-- Snacking on fruits, nuts and seeds in the morning and afternoon
-- Eating my meals at the same time everyday
-- Eating at least 5 fruits a day (I typically do hit 5 fruits and veggies a day but this takes me to a whole new level)
Looking at my list, I realize that these are recommendation that I typically give to my clients -- as much as I try to practice what I preach, as you can see, there is always room for improvement.
So, here is your challenge -- eat like your kids for a week and let us know what stuck. I already know of one mom considering the "Eat Like My Kids" Challenge -- a fellow blogger from mom-for-ma-tion.

Eating like my kids results

Here is the result of Monday's trying to eat like my kids. First as a reminder, here are the foods we ate --
B-fast - oatmeal, drinking yogurt
Snacks - sunflower seeds, mandarin orange cup, banana
Lunch - sunflower butter and all natural jelly on whole wheat bread, raw almonds, natural fruit leather, skim milk
Snack - baked Cheetos, grapes, skim milk
Dinner - Cooking light recipe, Sept. issue, p. 172 Chicken Pot Pie and Skim milk
Here are the results (I have also included the percentage of hitting my recommended intakes based on my gender, age, and activity level).
-- 2176 calories which is 97% of my recommended amount of 2245 calories
-- my macronutrient breakdown was -- 51% carb, 21% protein, 29% fat (all within the optimal
ranges of 45-65% carb, 10-35% protein, 20-35% fat)
-- my omega 3's intake was very low at only 20% of the recommended 1.1 grams
-- my fiber was 100% at 25 grams
-- cholesterol was 45% of the ok amount of 300 mg at 135 mg
-- my folate and iron were low
This is not bad for one day. We typically do not evaluate a diet on just one day of eating but instead look at the entire week. So, if you have a bad day it is ok, because you can make up for it. To improve my eating this week, I will increase my omega-3 intake by eating salmon, walnuts and flaxseed bread over the next few days. Also, I will add orange juice to breakfast to help increase my folate intake as well as a serving of beans with dinner to help increase my iron (and folate intake).
I said I would do this the whole week, so I am still eating like my kids. So far, I have really enjoyed taking the time to sit down and eat breakfast with them.

Eating Junk Food During Pregnancy - Bad Idea

A study just published shows a link between what you eat during pregnancy and breastfeeding and your child's future eating habits. "Our study has shown that eating large quantities of junk food when pregnant and breastfeeding could impair the normal control of appetite and promote an exacerbated taste for junk food in offspring," says lead author Dr Stéphanie Bayol. "This could send offspring on the road to obesity and make the task of teaching healthy eating habits in children even more challenging." Now, this study is interesting but it used rats so the results would need to be verified in humans. Click here for the report.

Fatness is Sweeping the Nation

I just came across the frightening CDC (Center for Disease Control) illustrations of how the growing American Girth has spread throughout the US over the past 20 years. As a dietitian, the CDC has shared these images with us several times over the past years. These images are now gaining attention and are visible to the public. All states are estimated to have at least 15% of their population as obese. It is scary to see how obesity really is a growing epidemic. I must warn you now, the following may give you a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach. Click here to see the increase of obese Americans throughout the US since 1985.

Two Angry Moms...making a difference

Check out Two Angry Moms...these women are on a mission to make school meals healthier. They are asking parents to join their children for lunch at their schools the week of Oct 15-19th and ask questions about the food and ingredients. You can also ask for a copy of their wellness policy.

Easy and Fun Summer Snack

My daughter and I just created a fun and healthy snack this morning that I wanted to share with you. The best part of this snack, besides the nutrition, is that your child get to have fun while eating it. You can eat this with your child but make sure you let her make your snack...she will love that she is making your food for once.
Ingredients:
Sliced bananas
Peanut Butter on a big spoon
Granola in a bowl
Preparation:
Let your little one take a slice of banana, wipe it against the peanut butter on the spoon (you may need to help depending on the age) and then dip the banana slice and peanut butter in a bowl of granola (the granola will stick to the peanut butter) and eat. We had fun this morning and my picky eater actually ate her snack. Also, I not only got to play with her but I ate healthy too.

Baby Fat Portion Sizes for Moms

"Portion control" -- this is now the "buzz" phrase for controlling how much we eat. You can now see the food companies responding by the increase in 100 calorie (or less) snack packs now on the market, for example, one of my favorites is the Quaker Mini Delights 90 Calorie Packs, Chocolatey Drizzle. Too see a report on what people think of portion control click here.

Portion control is how we eat in our house -- we eat all the foods we like and through "portion control" manage how much we eat of all foods. What most do not realize, is that portion-control is not just about limiting the bad foods but it is also about including portions of good foods. For example, this past weekend I indulged in a juicy, grilled cheeseburger and made sure to add onions and green leafys, ate plenty of fruit off of the fruit tray and avoided eating my son's left over real beef hot dog and potato chips (this was not easy). We would love to hear how you "portion-control" your foods.

Moms need a good laugh

The other day my one-year old son took a yogurt and dumped the whole thing on his head, then proceeded to rub it in. My natural reaction was to clench my teeth and scream. But as I heard my 4 year old just laugh at the baby like it was the most hilarious thing he'd ever seen, I let go of the anger and joined in. You know what...as the three of us were laughing, I felt calm and more relaxed. In the often stressful life of a mom, you need a hearty laugh on a daily basis - it really makes things better. I guess that's why studies show that laughter is good for your health and can even make you live longer. (Bonus: less stress can help with weight loss, too.) Here's a great site, made especially for moms, for one of "those days," when a good laugh is what you need.

"Default" Dinner For the Inevitable Busy Day

Last night around 6:30 it hit me that I needed to make dinner. I had such a busy day with work, dropping off the kids at school, more work, a short work-out for me, more work, picking up the kids and t-ball practice -- that I completely forgot that the kids needed to eat something (And, oh yes, I needed to eat too). My husband was coming home late from work, so I could not ask him to get dinner started for me. At this point, it would have been easy to go to a drive through window and just pick something up. I did not, however, give in to my children's pleas for McDonald's, instead, I went home and made one of my "default" dinners. My "default" dinners are not alway completely healthy but last night the one I chose did not include chicken nuggets or macaroni and cheese -- it was just as easy, but much healthier. During dinner I started thinking about the nutritional value of our meal -- remember, I am a dietitian, so I cannot help it -- and decided to run a nutritional analysis on my "default" dinner. So, here is the dinner and the results of the analysis --
-- Sam's Club frozen chicken breasts without skin (I add soy sauce and my kids eat it with ketchup) -- microwave for less than 10 minutes
--Canned black beans (we sprinkle reduced fat feta cheese on top) -- microwave for less than 2 minutes
--Uncle Ben's whole grain 90 sec pouch (we add spray butter and soy sauce) -- microwave for 90 seconds
--Canned green beans -- microwave for less than 2 minutes
--Whole wheat bread slice (with spray butter)
--Skim Milk
The analysis showed a very low-fat meal, less than 10% a good amount of carbohydrates and an excellent amount of protein at 115% DV. Additionally, we ate 34% of the recommended amount of fiber, over 50% of the recommended amounts of most vitamins and 20%-50% of all minerals. The down-side was that folate, vit C and the omega-3 fats were low -- but remember this was just one meal. These nutrients could be made up in other meals. I would love to hear about any of your quick and healthy "default" meal tips.

Why this blog? Sorting through the confusion

Hi, I am Monica also a registered dietitian and mother of two. With all the responsibilities that come with Motherhood in addition to my work -- I still have to find the time and energy to stay healthy. I spend a lot of time taking care of my family as well as helping others in my practice to live healthy lives and sometimes (most of the time) I come last. So, to satisfy my needs and everyone else's needs -- I scour the earth, media, friends, patients and everywhere else to find easy ways to stay healthy. After doing this for a decade, I want to share what I have learned and continue to learn with as many people as possible. There is so much confusion as to what and how to eat that we created this blog. Our hope is that this blog will help you sort through what you read in magazines, hear in the news or even from friends and family to find what really works versus what is sensational and overstated information. On an almost daily basis, we will post helpful information and hope that you will share your wisdom or news that you have heard. Together we can help each other stay or become healthy.