5 Diabetes Superfoods
The typical western diet is lacking a group of key nutrients including: calcium, potassium, fiber, magnesium and vitamins A, C and E. Here is a list of 5 foods you should incorporate into your diet with a low glycemic index and will help provide the key nutrients listed above.
- Beans
High in fiber and a good source of magnesium and potassium - Berries
Packed with antioxidants, vitamins and fiber - Whole Grains
Great source of magnesium, chromium, omega 3 fatty acids and folate - Nuts
An ounce of nuts can go a long way in providing key healthy fats along with hunger management. Other benefits are a dose of magnesium and fiber. - Sweet Potatoes
Great source of vitamin A and fiber
Click here to get a list of 5 more superfoods from the American Diabetes Association web site.
Frozen dinners from the grocery store often promise a quick solution for dinner. Some entrée’s are labeled healthy, most are not. However, if you take a closer look at the nutritional content of the dinner you are about to purchase you might surprised by the results.
A study done by a top university found that the labels on frozen foods are off by as much as 8%, according to the report. Meaning those foods can have even more calories, fat and sodium than listed.
Dream Dinners and Dinners for Life provide an easy, healthy alternative to the single serving frozen dinner from the grocery store that is also a stress free solution to the daily dilemma “What’s for dinner?” Also, we’ve done the analysis for you – calories, carbohydrates, sodium, fats, cholesterol and portion sizes. Our healthy meals are perfect for the whole family; with everyone enjoying the same dinners, sticking to a healthy meal plan is easy.
Many frozen dinners loaded with unhealthy additions
by Jean Enersen of KING 5 News
Watch News Report
Find a Dream Dinners or Dinners for Life location near you and start eating healthier today!
Portion Distortion in America
Anyone ordering fast food or eating at restaurants has probably noticed that food portions have gotten larger. Some portions are available to “super size”, while others have simply grown in size and provide enough food for at least two people. These growing portion sizes are changing what Americans think of as a “normal” portion at home, too. The National Institute of Health is calling it: portion distortion. Here are there definitions:
A “portion” can be thought of as the amount of a specific food you choose to eat for dinner, snack, or other eating occasion. Portions, of course can be bigger or smaller than the recommended food servings.
A “serving” is a unit of measure used to describe the amount of food recommended from each food group. It is the amount of food listed on the Nutrition Facts panel on packaged food or the amount of food recommended in the Food Guide Pyramid and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
We know it is challenging to make a lifestyle change that will improve your health. Studies show that by simply making a habit of eating at home, persons with diabetes have a better chance of effectively controlling or improving their health.
Many of our customers find that serving Dream Dinners or Dinners for Life meals to their families at least 3 times a week has helped them learn better portion control and has helped with reducing stress around analyzing calories, carbohydrates, sodium, fats, and cholesterol. Even better, our healthy meals are perfect for the whole family.
For more information visit:
Attend a Diabetes Expo Near You!
Attend an American Diabetes Association EXPO and learn how to live healthy, be active and change the future of diabetes for you and your family.
The EXPO’s are FREE and may include health screenings, cooking demonstrations, product and service exhibitors as well as leading experts talking about diabetes management and prevention. Get the latest information on preventing and managing diabetes and its deadly complications to help keep you and your family’s health.
For more information call 1-888-DIABETES (342-2383). Here is a list of EXPOs through November 2010, find the one nearest you.
April
Hartford, CT
Connecticut Expo Center
April 17, 2010
Phoenix, AZ
Phoenix Convention Center
April 24, 2010
May
Seattle, WA
Washington State Convention & Trade Center
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Los Angeles, CA
Long Beach Convention Center, Exhibit Hall A
May 15, 2010
June
San Antonio, TX
Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center
June 26, 2010
October
Minneapolis, MN
October 9, 2010
November
Pittsburgh, PA
David L. Lawerence Convention
Saturday, November 6, 2010
*List may change at any time.
Baby Spinach Salad with Fresh Mango-Lime Dressing
Dream Dinners Recipe
Baby Spinach Salad with Fresh Mango-Lime Dressing
(Serves 6)
Salad Ingredients:
12 cups baby spinach, pre-washed & dried
½ cup cashews, roasted, unsalted pieces
Dressing Ingredients:
2 ½ cup mango, peeled, seeded, diced
¼ cup sweet red bell pepper, minced
¼ cup fresh orange juice
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
3 Tbsp. red onion, minced
2 Tbsp. cilantro leaves, chopped
2 Tbsp. brown sugar, packed
¼ tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
- Place all dressing ingredients in bowl and combine well.
- Toss spinach with dressing, serve garnished with cashews.
Pairing Suggestions: goes great with Dream Dinners March 2010 Menu items Citrus Marinated Fish Tacos or Dijon Honey Lime Grilled Salmon!
Nutritional info per serving: 159 calories, 4 g protein, 28 g carbohydrate, 6 g fat (1 g saturated, 3 g monounsaturated, 1 g polyunsaturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 4 g fiber, 180 mg sodium.
Dream Dinners Adds Prize-Winning Recipes to March Menu
New recipes make time and money-saving meal assembly service even more delicious
After tasting the way through hundreds of entries from across the country, Dream Dinners, Inc., the nation’s leading meal assembly chain, is pleased to announce the four grand-prize winners of its second annual recipe contest. In addition to receiving a $500 Dream Dinners gift certificate, the four winning recipes now appear on the March 2010 menu.
The winning Dream Dinners recipes are:
- “Bacon and Bleu London Broil” by Rebecca Rode of Branford, Conn.
- “Simmered Chinese Chicken with Jasmine Rice” by Kristi Van Ness of Yorba Linda, Calif.
- “Sage Crusted Pork Chops” by Brenda Crawshaw of Framingham, Mass.
- “Citrus Marinated Fish Tacos” by Megan Parcell of Vacaville, Calif.
The second annual Dream Dinners Recipe Contest solicited nationwide entries during the fall 2009 season, and called for recipes in four categories – steak, chicken, pork and seafood. Out of hundreds of entries, Dream Dinners reviews the top 10 recipes in each category and tests them for ease of preparation, taste and presentation to select the grand prize winners.
“The recipe contest is a fun way to involve our many loyal guests,” said Stephanie Allen, Co-founder of Dream Dinners “Most people who use the Dream Dinners’ service are repeat customers who visit our stores routinely every month in order to cook several meals at once, and they have made Dreams Dinners a standing part of their lifestyle and cooking routine. Many of our visitors are themselves wonderful cooks, who simply enjoy the time-saving convenience that meal assembly offers, so this contest is a way to share the spotlight with them!”
Visit Dinnersforlife.com to: Find a location near you | Preview our March Menu
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Most Parents Don’t Realize Their Kids Are Overweight or Obese
Half of the mothers who took part in a study thought that their obese four or five year-old was normal weight, as did 39 % of the fathers and when it came to overweight children, 75 % of mothers and 77 % of fathers thought that their child was normal weight. Further, mothers and fathers of overweight and obese children were significantly heavier than the parents of normal weight children. These statistics certainly give us something to think about.
Many kids are spending more time in front of the TV, computer, or playing video games these days. As a busy parent, we seem to have less and less time to prepare a nutritious, home-cooked meal. Fast & easy is the new reality for many families.
The best way to help your kids learn about a healthy lifestyle is by example. This means doing something as simple as sitting down to dinner as a family or starting an exercise routine together. Getting more sleep and reducing time spent in front of the TV, computer or playing video games also makes a difference. Doing one or more of these things helps your children live a healthier life.
There are many resources on the subject, here are a few recent articles with some great ideas, facts and tools:
- KidsHealth.org > Kids BMI calculator
- Article -3 Home Habits Help Youngsters Stay Slim
- Article – Most Parents Don’t Realize Their 4 Or 5-Year-Olds Are Overweight or Obese ScienceDaily (Jan. 29, 2010)
We believe that families who eat together and play together, live happier, healthier lives. For those of you who checked your child’s BMI – were you surprised to find your child is classified as overweight, obese or close to the 85th percentile? What small step could your family make to help encourage a healthier lifestyle for your family? We would love to hear about it!
Stir-Fried Sugar Snap Peas with Mushrooms Recipe
Here is a great recipe that goes well with our Asian Pork Loin!
Stir-Fried Sugar Snap Peas with Mushrooms
(Serves 6)
Ingredients
3 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 cup button mushrooms, sliced ¼” thick
4 cups sugar snap peas, fresh, cleaned of strings & stems
2 Tbsp. water
2 tsp. lite soy sauce
2 tsp. fresh garlic, minced
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. black pepper
Directions
1. Combine water, soy sauce, garlic, salt & pepper. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in large frying pan or wok until hot.
3. Add mushrooms, stir-fry 2 minutes to brown. Add sugar peas and water/soy sauce mixture.
4. Stir-fry 4-6 minutes or until tender.
Nutritional info per 2/3-cup serving: 74 calories, 2 g protein, 6 g carbohydrate, 5 g fat (I g saturated, 2 g monounsaturated, 2 g polyunsaturated), 2 g fiber, 172 mg sodium
Even Small Dietary Reductions in Salt Could Mean Fewer Heart Attacks, Strokes and Deaths
Heart health month isn’t just about awareness but also about providing some simple solutions. You have probably heard or read the statistics regarding salt intake in our everyday diet before we even pick up a salt shaker and while it may be some time before the “fast food” and “junk food” industries reduce the salt in their products, there are a few simple adjustments you can make to help reduce your daily salt intake.
- Buy low-salt or reduced -salt versions of your favorite foods
- Choose fresh or frozen over canned when possible
- Salad for lunch or dinner? Leave out the croutons or bacon
- Limit your intake of high sodium foods (bacon, tuna, pickles, olives, gravy, etc)
- Take the salt shaker off the dinner table
- Use high-salt condiments, such as ketchup and mustard, sparingly
Reducing salt in the American diet by as little as one-half teaspoon per day could prevent nearly 100,000 heart attacks and 92,000 deaths each year according to a new study done by researchers at Stanford University Medical Center and Columbia University Medical Center. Such benefits are on par with the benefits from reductions in smoking and could save the United States about $24 billion in health care costs, the researchers add. For more information about this study check out this great article in Science Daily (Jan. 21, 2010)
To learn more about what you can do to decrease sodium in your diet check out these great resources:
