Medical Animations

Good for You

Keeping your mind and body healthy can be easier than you might think. With the right information and little bit of motivation, you can make small changes in your life that will lead to big results. To help you get started, be sure to read the summer edition of the Good for You magazine.

Recipes

Lentil Pita Pockets

Potato Salad
Makes 4 servings

3 organic potatoes, diced
4 ribs organic celery, diced
2 handfuls of fresh parsley, chopped
2 Tbsp prepared mustard
½ cup canola oil or reduced-fat mayonnaise
Salt & pepper
- Boil potatoes until tender. Drain, pour into bowl, and let cool.
- Add remaining ingredients and stir until completely combined.
- Chill for several hours or overnight.
Hint: If pressed for time, you can put the potatoes in the freezer after cooking to cool them down quickly. Then put the potato salad back into the freezer after adding the remaining ingredients. Stir often to cool it quickly and make sure it doesn’t freeze. Using this method, you can cut down the chill time to about 45 minutes.
Fresh Fruit Salad
Organic apples, diced
Organic pears, diced
Organic grapes
Organic strawberries, sliced
Pineapple chunks, canned, in juice
Oranges, peeled and diced
Kiwi, peeled and sliced
Mango, peeled and diced
Papaya, peeled and diced
Blueberries
Banana, sliced
Lemon juice, to taste
- In a large bowl, add some water and lemon juice. The amount of water will depend on how much you are making and add enough lemon juice to your taste.
- Add any combination of the above fruits to the bowl. When using canned pineapple, add the juice as well.
- Stir thoroughly. The lemon juice coats the fruit to prevent it from turning brown, so make sure you have enough liquid in the bowl to cover the fruit.
Organic Mashed Potatoes
Makes 4 servings

2 to 3 large organic potatoes
⅓ to ⅔ cup nonfat milk
Salt & pepper
2 to 3 Tbsp sour cream
- Wash, dice, and boil potatoes in water until soft. Hint: It’s best to leave the skin on the potatoes for added fiber.
- When potatoes are fork tender, drain and return to pot.
- Add nonfat milk, salt, and pepper. Mash until smooth. Add more milk as needed until of desired consistency. (I phased out the butter long ago and no one ever noticed!)
- Mix in 2 to 3 tablespoons of sour cream

Pasta and Bean Salad over Organic Lettuce

Baked Whole Chicken
Buying a whole chicken is a great value for your money. It takes a bit more time to cook and de-bone, but offers plenty of leftovers for another meal.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Thoroughly clean the inside and outside of the chicken.
- Pat dry, salt and pepper the skin, and place in a baking dish. Hint: To cut calories, you may want to cut off any excess skin and fat.
- Place the chicken in the preheated oven and bake until skin is lightly golden, then cover with foil and bake the remaining time covered to steam the chicken and keep it moist.
- Once the internal temperature is 170 degrees or greater (a general rule of thumb is that it should take 20 minutes per pound of chicken at 350 F), take it out of the oven and let it rest covered in the pan while you are preparing the rest of the meal.
- Cut the white meat off the bone and serve at this meal. Hint: When the entire chicken is brought to the table, people tend to eat more. Instead, offer a more appropriate portion of three ounces per person. Pick the meat off the rest of the chicken and freeze for later meals.

Carrot and Pineapple Bran Muffins

Barbecue Pulled Chicken

Pizza Dough
1 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 ¼-oz packet active dry yeast
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 ½ cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
- Place ¼ cup warm water in a small bowl. Stir in the sugar until dissolved, then sprinkle the yeast onto the surface of the water. Let the yeast float there for one minute, then stir it into the water. Let the yeast “proof” for 10 minutes. It should bubble a bit; if it doesn’t, the yeast is outdated and inactive.
- Pour the yeast mixture into a large bowl, then stir in the remaining water and add the olive oil, flour, and salt. With a wooden spoon, mix the dough until it forms a ball.
- On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for 10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic.
- Coat the inside of a large glass bowl with olive oil. Press the ball of dough into the bottom of the bowl, then flip the dough over so the oiled side is on top. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and let rise in a warm place until it has doubled in bulk, about 1 ½ hours.
- Cut dough into four pieces, shape into balls, space out in a plastic freezer bag, and freeze.
Hint: If you have one, use a stand mixer with a dough hook for mixing and kneading the dough to make the process a bit easier.
Made-to-Order Personal Pizza
Makes 4 servings, plus leftovers

1 recipe pizza dough

Assorted Toppings: ground beef, chicken, ground turkey, ham, green peppers, onions, olives, pineapple, jalapeño peppers, corn, beans, spinach (cooked and squeezed dry), cooked broccoli, etc.

Assorted Sauces: pizza sauce, BBQ sauce, olive oil

Part-skim mozzarella cheese
- Take pizza dough out of freezer and leave on the counter to thaw for about an hour.
- When the dough has thawed, come back and oil a cookie sheet with a bit of olive oil. Press out the balls into four individual size pizzas. Let rise for 15-30 minutes.
- Take an opportunity while the dough is rising to clean out the fridge … oops, I mean assemble the toppings! Put out the toppings and let family members build their own pizza, or make a few different varieties and everyone can have a taste of each.
- Bake crusts at 425 for 5 minutes. Take out of the oven and top with your favorite toppings.
- Bake finished pizzas at 425 for 10-12 minutes and enjoy!

Helpful Hints

Quick and Easy Meal Planner

The key to eating healthier is planning. Here's an easy menu planner for a full week of healthy, delicious meals. The recipes are listed above.

Sunday - Traditional Family Meal

Baked Whole Chicken, Organic Mashed Potatoes, Steamed Broccoli

It’s nice to prepare a traditional meal on Sunday — especially one that includes enough protein leftovers to use for another meal later in the week. Because dark meat contains more fat, serve the white meat at this meal and save the dark meat to be used sparingly in another recipe (like Wednesday’s barbecue chicken). You can stretch the white meat of a large chicken to feed four if you stick to three-ounce servings. Hint: A three-ounce serving is about the size of the palm of your hand.

Use Sunday to get ahead of the game.

Prep for the week by washing fruit, cutting vegetables, cooking dried beans for later use in recipes, making and freezing pizza dough, and baking healthy treats.

Monday - Light and Lean

Pasta and Bean Salad over Organic Lettuce, Cut Fresh Fruit

There’s nothing better than a light summer meal to start out the week. While it’s best to use whole-wheat pasta in this dish, you can substitute regular pasta if your family stages a protest. This recipe also makes great leftovers so prepare a double batch and enjoy for the next few days. Hint: To increase the nutritional content, you can also combine half whole-wheat and half regular pasta.

Tuesday - Pantry Put-together Dinner

Lentil Pita Pockets, Chilled Fruit

This recipe can be prepared in about 30 minutes from items in your pantry, is a good source of protein, and is excellent either hot or cold. The secret is to use what you have. If you don’t have carrots and bell peppers, throw in some frozen vegetables instead. Almost anything will work. Round out the meal with some chilled canned fruit (like pineapple) for dessert. Hint: Avoid canned fruit in syrup.

Wednesday - Barbecue Bonanza

Barbecue Pulled Chicken on Whole Wheat Buns, Potato Salad, Tossed Salad

This recipe for barbecue chicken sandwiches is a great way to use up Monday’s leftover chicken, and it cuts down significantly on the preparation time. If you don’t have leftover chicken, you can use chicken thighs for a higher fat (but less expensive) option, or substitute lower-fat (and more expensive) chicken breasts. Hint: To avoid exposure to harmful pesticides, remember to buy organic potatoes for the potato salad.

Thursday - Balcony Burgers

Burgers on Whole Wheat Buns, Baked Chips, Fruit Salad

Some evenings it’s fun to shake things up a bit. If you live in an apartment, try surprising the family with dinner on the balcony. And if you have a home with a back yard—even better! Using lawn chairs and tray tables, a crowded balcony becomes a dinner adventure. Bring out a CD player for some music and prepare a typical summertime barbecue with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. Hint: Remember to buy lean hamburger meat and to broil the burgers in the oven if you don’t have a grill so any extra fat can drip away.

Friday - Pizza Night

“Made-to-Order” Personal Pizzas, Salad

This recipe is a great way to use up leftovers without anyone knowing. Begin by making homemade pizza dough. It’s much easier than it sounds, and this recipe is very forgiving. Make a batch on a Sunday afternoon and freeze it in four balls. On pizza night, take out the dough and leave it on the counter to thaw for about an hour before you prepare the pizzas according to the recipe. These pizzas are much healthier than take-out, a great use of leftovers, and a wonderful opportunity for the family to cook together.

Saturday - Continental Breakfast

Carrot and Pineapple Bran Muffins, Nonfat or Low-Fat Plain Yogurt, Fresh Fruit

These muffins are a little time-consuming to make, but well worth the effort. They contain little added sugar and fat, taste great, and are a healthy way to start the day. Saturday is errand day for most of us and we typically eat lunch out. If lunch is the major meal of the day, make dinner something simple like a sandwich, fruit and yogurt, or leftover pizza.

Saturday Night - Ice Cream Sundaes

This is a healthier version of ice cream sundaes that doesn’t sacrifice on taste. Start with large ripe bananas, peeled and cut in half. Cut each half long ways into 3 strips and lay into the bottom of a small bowl. Top with 2 scoops of low-fat vanilla frozen yogurt. Spoon ½ cup chilled crushed pineapple (packed in juice) over the top and/or a handful of fresh blueberries or sliced organic strawberries. If you really want to splurge, top with a few chocolate chips or a sprinkling of nuts. The result? A delicious low-fat “ice cream” sundae with at least two servings of fruit. (Chocolate or nuts adds additional fat and calories, but small amounts, eaten occasionally, are fine.)
Shopping List
One of the worst things you can do is go to the grocery store without a shopping list. Here's a list you can take with you to make sure you get everything you need for the recipes listed above.

Produce

5 lb bag carrots
12 Roma tomatoes (or the equivalent on sale)
6 large organic potatoes
2 bunches organic red leaf or romaine lettuce
2 yellow onions
1 head of garlic
1 organic green bell pepper
1 bunch organic celery
1 bunch parsley
Assorted fresh fruit

Bakery

Whole-wheat pita pockets
Whole-wheat hamburger buns

Grocery

Baked potato chips
Shredded wheat cereal, plain, unsweetened
Active dry yeast
Olive oil
Unbleached all-purpose flour
Balsamic vinegar
Apple cider vinegar
Mayonnaise, reduced-fat
Canola oil
Honey
Reduced-fat ranch salad dressing
8-oz bag dry macaroni
1 bag dry Great Northern beans
1 bag dry lentils
8-oz can tomato sauce
1 can pizza sauce
Two 16-oz cans pineapple chunks, in juice
16-oz can crushed pineapple, in juice
1 bag frozen broccoli

Dairy

8-oz block of part-skim mozzarella cheese
8-oz package shredded, part-skim mozzarella
32-ounce carton plain nonfat yogurt
Nonfat milk
Sour cream
Eggs
Low-fat vanilla frozen yogurt

Meat and Poultry

Whole chicken
1 package chicken thighs (if not using leftover chicken for Barbecue Pulled Chicken Sandwiches)
1 pound lean ground beef (makes 4 burgers)

*This list assumes that the following ingredients are readily available in the kitchen: salt, pepper, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, lemon juice, sugar, butter, sweet paprika, chili powder, and prepared mustard.
Too much stress? Simplify your life
Free your mind for happier thoughts by getting rid of unnecessary things:

Debt. People with high debt have worse physical health. Tighten the budget. Cancel the credit cards. Do whatever it takes to reduce your debt and the stress it brings on.
Technology onslaught. Being perpetually connected to your TV, phone, e-mail, text messaging, and the Internet is debilitating. Bask in the occasional peaceful, quiet, unproductive moment.
Clutter. Tackle one pile at a time, one day at a time — your desk, a junk drawer, your shoe collection. Feel the power of a fresh, clean start.
Negative people. Share your time with positive people you care about. Let toxic people find someone else to agitate.
Activity overload. Decide what’s enough. Let the rest go. (Your kids don’t have to play every sport or belong to every club.) Downtime can be a good thing. Less is the new more in life. Try it, and enjoy.

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