I found these graffiti eggplant in the market today and immediately thought of making ratatouille and a vegetarian roasted dinner. Roasted dinners are my favorites – you put everything in the oven and then serve when done. The house smells great and there is little attendance time. Plus you are more efficient with energy use because everything goes in the oven.

Here are the main ingredients:

2 eggplant, cubed

1 yellow squash

1 zucchini

1 onion

garlic – minced – 2 cloves

1 shallot

1 cup mushrooms

1 bell pepper

2 cans no-salt-added diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tsp parsley

1 cup water or broth

Place all ingredients in a large covered casserole:

Bake for 1-1/2 hours.

We also added a steak potato and a fancy yam:

And a spaghetti squash:

It is easy to make this delightful squash -you cut it in half, remove the seeds and place it cut side down in a covered baking casserole. A microwave can cook it in 10 minutes, but we chose to throw it in the oven with the ratatouille and the yams.

And in the mean time, while these items baked, we made an heirloom tomato salad and the snack bowl for the week.

This is celeriac – it is a root that has a distinct celery flavor. It is delicious when put in soups and when shaved or minced finely for salads.

These are heirloom tomatoes. They are non-hybrid, open pollinated tomatoes that are very intriguing in the number of colors and shapes they are available. Generally they are interesting and very flavorful. It was our best choice for the winter market and since we were going vegetarian there is more room in the budget for fun items like these.

The salads, we decided, should be individuals – diners have their choice of red or yellow heirloom tomatoes, complete with julienne (thin strips) of celeriac and shaved organic carrots. We topped these with olive oil and balsamic vinegar glaze and black pepper:

I also bought huge pears and honey crisp apples – so those got washed and put in a bowl in the refrigerator – waiting to be snacks for the week. I noticed they disappear faster when put in a bowl:

It took about 1-1/2 hours for the ratatouille, potato, yam and spaghetti squash to cook until perfect. (The oven was 375-400 degrees):

Here is a shameless plug for our new store:

http://nutritioneducationstore.com

We have a new Apple Specials page where you can get our Apple eCookbook, handouts, apple toss game directions and an apple food model free with the purchase of any item on the page or for a small fee if you just want that by itself.

http://www.nutritioneducationstore.com/catalog/Apple_Specials-97-1.html

We were featured on http://www.usapple.org/educators/applestore/index.cfm as a great apple resource!

You are not alone. The obesity levels among children are alarming. Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure are now more common in adolescents and teenagers than in decades past and we are actually getting requests for these materials. TV and video games converge with high-calorie density palatable foods and busy parents to make the struggle of healthy for kids tougher.

We wanted to share 7 of our No Battles Better Eating Lessons to help you help parents, teachers and childcare providers to help kids make better choices and love the right foods. Our engaging activities are designed to make fun quality time for all, rather than a battle. We believe everyone should enjoy their food.

1. Smell It
Fresh herbs engage many people. How fun to take a leaf, rub it between your fingers, or chop on a block, and have a wonderful aromatic smell. Best bet? MINT! It is in their favorite candy and can go in home made tea, on top of fruits, in salads and tabouleh. Start learning about herbs together – smell them in the store, buy a new one each week, grow them in the summer.
Mint Tea, Salad

2. Bake It
Banana Mini Muffins
Chocolate Chip Cookies for Kids
A great icebreaker, and snack maker, is to bake muffins. They can be a snack on the go, breakfast, dessert. Of course you don’t want to eat 12 in one day. But you get the idea. We find they love to bake, and then take to school. We have also included a cookie recipe. Reason: if you want them, don’t buy them; make them! It cuts down on cookie snacking and baking is a fun and positive way for all kids to help in the kitchen.

3. Make It
The end goal should be in mind. Do you really want them going into the world without knowing how to cook a decent dinner? No one has time for cooking lessons. But they do have to make dinner and it is great to make it a family affair when you can.

• A 2 year old can help set the table or stir lettuce in a bowl.
• A 5 year old can make fruit plates.
• A 10 year old can be responsible for packing their own lunch every day – do it the night before.
• A 13 year old can make dinner. After they learn to cook, let them plan and execute a great dinner.

If you start cooking more at home and teaching them to help – you get a built in helper, a healthier kid, more quality time, less money and running around and better meals for all. And here is a really fun idea – eat dinner in their room! One night my son had a chef’s table in his room for my birthday. On nights that he has a lot of homework we eat in his room while he works at his desk.
Tortilla Pizza for Kids to Make
Beware of Kid’s Restaurant Meals – Calories Given

4. Buffet It
We had a huge turn in better eating when I began making a buffet. While an all-you-can-eat buffet in a restaurant is usually a recipe for disaster, it is a great idea at home! Why? Because you can cook a variety of healthy dishes to eat over a few days. Everyone loves to come to the kitchen and fill their plate with their favorite healthy food. And you can serve “just healthy stuff” so they eat more of that. Pasta, lean chicken, many veggies, salad, fruit. It is festive, it is fun, and they might surprise you with what they start putting on their plates when it is their idea.
Here is a Roasted Buffet Dinner

5. Assemble It
Tacos, burritos, baked potatoes, salads – put out the healthy ingredients to make these and let them make their own. Everyone loves to be creative – even the picky eaters. And a comment like, “wow yours looks the tastiest” goes a long way in positive reinforcement.
Make Your Own Fajitas

6. Ready It
Slowly but surely the donuts, crackers and cookies can disappear. The baby carrots, diced peaches, apples, watermelon, yogurt, nut butter sandwiches and more can be ready in the refrigerator. A beautiful bowl of bananas is on the table. Change them up so you don’t get bored! If it is ready, it will get eaten – the path of least resistance is the surest way to better habits.
Fruit Ready Now in Pictures
More Healthy Snacks for Familes

7. Earn It
The most surefire way to a better appetite is to burn more calories – run, walk, play – limit screen time.
More Activity Ideas for Families

We hope you have found these useful. If you have a fun way to keep your kids engaged let us know and we will share.

Judy

A recent trip to our favorite farmer’s market in Homestead (Robert is Here) yielded many prizes. We know it is not so warm everywhere as here so we thought we would share some tropic love and particularly to get ready for Nutrition Month – back to basics – why not develop a love of fruit and learn about new ones!?

Here are the names:

The Caneel fruit is most exquisite and easy to use. You let it sit out until it gets very soft and then you scoop it with a spoon. We decided to use an ice cream scoop to display its beautiful golden flesh in neat round balls. It tastes like an egg custard and it has a texture like velvet.

The Black Sapote is equally rich in its flavor and texture. It looks and tastes like chocolate. We were quite struck with it when we sliced it in half after allowing it to soften. Look at how beautiful the color is!

We could envision serving it with a little whipped cream and chocolate shavings but we never quite got that far because it was swooped from the platter. The texture is like avocado but the flavor has a distinct cocoa flavor.

The mango is so lovely – inside and out – look at its color:

Here is part of our platter:

• The sapodilla is on the left front – it tastes like a sweet pear steeped in cloves. Directions: peel the skin off, remove core and cut in cubes.
• The passion fruit is so colorful and aromatic – truly exotic. Directions: cut them in half and loosened the seeds, which are the edible part.
• Next to the passion fruit you will see the black sapote (chocolate fruit). Directions: cut in half, scoop out pulp away from seeds and peel; we like to cut it in chunks like cookie dough.
• The mango is sliced and on the right. Directions: peel away the skin, slice the fruit in thin strips from the pit.

And here is the other half of the platter:

• Apple bananas, far right. Directions: peel and quarter lengthwise. Sprinkle with Key lime juice for flavor and to keep them from turning brown.
• Ugli fruit, wedges in the center. Directions: remove the peel like a tangerine; separate the sections which come apart easily.
• The scooped Caneel is on the middle left and looks like pumpkin ice cream. Directions: cut in half and use ice cream scoop to form the soft flesh into balls.
• Mango is on the left here again.

Here is the whole platter:

The Ugli fruit was a great surprise. We have seen them in the grocery store but never paid them much attention. But it was obvious from their abundance and the reputation of Robert’s that these fruits were very fresh so we had to try one.

Ugli fruit tastes like lemonade candy! And look at the sections – they are large but they come apart very easily. We love these and would buy them again and again!

Here is a photo of the Ugli fruit, the pomelo and the grapefruit just for comparison:

Here are the sections from the Red Indian River Grapefruit and the Pomelo – they were so sweet and juicy and this plate was gobbled for breakfast! Directions: peel the fruit, remove the core and seeds, cut into wedges – removing any more seeds that appear.

This citrus plate made a lovely centerpiece and we enjoyed using these in our meals all week long:

The orange platter kept in the refrigerator and these were wedged and peeled for dessert and lunchboxes:

One good idea was to peel and wrap the tangerines so they could be “on the go” with us or ready for lunch boxes – less messy for the person eating them on the go:

The star fruit were very plentiful and their playful shape can come in handy for fruit salad or as a tart garnish for fish. I was able to snap a photo of them growing on the trees in the nearby Fruit and Spice Park in Homestead. Directions: slice them thin – no peeling needed.

We do have more cooking instruction materials here:

Cooking Demo Volume 1 and 2

MyPyramid Cooking Demo Kit

25 ingredients 15 different meals

Here is a fun steak dinner – but without the steak! It was made in 20 minutes flat – and all we had to do was cut the potato. On the plate: steak oven fries, steak roasted mushrooms, salmon steak and steamed green beans.

Heat oven to 450 degrees.

1 cup whole mushrooms, washed

1 bag green beans

1 salmon steak – 3 ounces

2 teaspoons barbecue sauce

1 potato

vegetable oil spray

garlic parsley powder

black pepper

no-salt-added ketchup

balsamic vinegar or glaze

Cut 1 potato in wedges and place on cookie tray that is lightly sprayed with vegetable spray. Sprinkle potatoes with garlic-parsley mix and black pepper. Place in oven for 15 minutes and turn over for the last 5 minutes. Potatoes are done when crispy on the outside but tender on the inside.

Place salmon in baking dish and spread the top with the barbecue sauce. Put in the oven and bake 15 minutes.

Place mushrooms in a baking dish and bake 15 minutes.

When potatoes, mushrooms and fish are almost done, microwave the green beans until tender, about 3 minutes.

Serve all together. We garnished the potatoes with a drizzle of ketchup and the mushrooms with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar glaze (you can also use balsamic vinegar).

Enjoy!

February is heart month – here are more popular topics for hearth healthy cooking:

What to do with a can of beans – because beans help lower cholesterol but what does someone do with a can of beans? Here is a great dinner that would be a good cooking demo topic

http://lighterspoon.com/2008/09/what-to-do-with-a-can-of-beans/

The art of working with ground turkey breast – because many people substitute turkey breast for beef but it is tricky to do:
http://lighterspoon.com/2007/03/penne-pasta-and-the-art-of-working-with-ground-turkey-breast/

Pasta With Fresh Veggies:
http://lighterspoon.com/2008/05/pasta-with-fresh-veggies/

Super Tapas – for more appetizers and snacks and veggies:
http://lighterspoon.com/2010/01/super-tapas/

Stir Fry – more veggies – would maybe pair this one with the pasta:
http://lighterspoon.com/2009/05/stir-stir-stir-fry/

Mediterranean Pizza – because everyone loves pizza – but this one is much better for your heart – and tastes great!
http://lighterspoon.com/2009/05/mediterranean-pizza/

And here is one more fun theme – 25 heart healthy ingredients turned into 15 different inexpensive meals:
http://lighterspoon.com/2009/11/watch-our-show-25-ingredients-for-15-delicious-meals-what-we-bought-for-63/

One of our subscribers called and requested healthy appetizers for the Super Bowl. We got to work right away on the project and decided to have a little fun with a tapas theme. Tapas means little plates and these dishes originate from many Mediterranean countries. So, we started making many small plates of vegetables and fruit and stored them away.

We had some people over the next day and exclaimed that they were getting our Super Bowl fare. The end result? Empty plates! That is always good.

Now, these are very simple. Simple enough for kids to make. And they are healthy.

Veggies with Cucumber Yogurt Dill Dip

1 cup strained non-fat yogurt (you can buy this in the dairy section of your grocery store or strain nonfat plain yogurt over night in a strainer with a paper towel on the bottom)

1/2 cup diced cucumber

1 tsp fresh chopped dill

dash garlic powder

Mix the dip and place in a small serving bowl. Surround with cucumber sticks, baby carrots and bell pepper rings.

Chips with Low-Salt Salsa

We figure everyone loves chips so we know we will not get away with leaving them out. We picked tortilla chips and salsa because the salsa is made from veggies. And the blue corn chips have plenty of anthocyanin which is good.

We made the salsa quickly from low-sodium canned tomatoes.

1 14 ounce can no-salt-added diced tomatoes

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp garlic powder

dash hot pepper sauce

Place in food processor and pulse until the salsa is chunky. Pour into serving dish and surround with white and blue corn chips.

Tomato Pinwheels

Tomato Pinwheels look impressive but they are very easy to make.

1 whole wheat tortilla (we tried to find one that is lower than 300 mg of sodium)

2 tablespoons prepared hummus (we tried to find one that is not too high in sodium – the varieties in our deli varied so it paid to read the label – this one was less than 100 mg of sodium per serving)

1 chopped plum tomato

1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes

Spread the whole wheat tortilla with the hummus. Place the diced tomatoes on one end and roll tightly. Cut in 1 inch pieces and arrange in a circle on a plate. Place the grape/cherry tomatoes in the center.

Veggies With Hummus

Here is another small veggie plate that is not the standard stale veggie platter you find in most grocery stores – and it is a way to use up the hummus from the pinwheels.

1 cup hummus
1 cup celery sticks
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes
1 cup broccoli florets (tops)
Arrange the veggies on a plate surrounding the hummus. If you want a little red color on the hummus you can add a little tomato paste.

Fruit Tapas

Dried fruit is popular in the Mediterranean. We made a platter with figs (cut them in half so they look better), dried cranberries, dried plums (this is a sneaky word for prunes), and apple wedges. We cheated and used the apple wedges that are already cut and in bags in the grocery store.

By making these 5 small plates and arranging them around the room you have a nice appetizer spread or great snack plates in your refrigerator. Use them for the Super Bowl or for any time of year – for parties or after school snacks. Everyone loves the variety!

Here is a rosemary plant that is shaped like a holiday tree – to add wonderful smells to your kitchen – and flavor to many dishes including potatoes and poultry. We used fresh chopped rosemary on a delicious casserole of low-fat scalloped potatoes for a video series for healthy potato dishes. This “tree” makes a lovely decoration and every cook loves fresh herbs. Rosemary tastes wonderful when it is minced finely and added to dishes near the end of the cooking process.  It adds a flavor that is reminiscent of pine.

And a gingerbread house – for families on the go – decorating our pre-fabricated house became a fun family project that allowed us to bond without stress  - everyone could help and there was not much mess. (Not to mention that we have something to admire instead of too many calories to tempt us.)

I bought the gingerbread house from Whole Foods as a sort of last minute purchase because it was peanut safe (my son has a peanut allergy) and I thought it would be a great way to have something fun for us to make together without the work and calories of cookies this year.

Here is how I made the royal icing (which does dry pretty hard and it makes a great non-fat icing to hold the candies on the house):

1 pound powdered sugar

1 tablespoon egg white powder (I like this because it is pasteurized and it is a great staple for baking for when you run out of eggs – look for it in the baking section of the store)

1 tablespoon water (more or less)

Mix and add the water slowly until the consistency is thick like paste. The amount of water is always a variable based on the sugar and the temperature of the ingredients.

We used peanut-safe candies and had a great time decorating – we did it side by side until we had all four sides complete.

An extra house was a hit as a gift to my sister and her family – she and her kids were decorating it today and they will probably take it to an elderly relative to enjoy. As for ours – we have begun to eat it – but just a few pieces of the roof. I guess that is the other thing about a house – you just don’t gorge on it like you do a platter of cookies!

And here is a batch of calorie-free Holiday Tea that went together in minutes and made a lovely table centerpiece:

3 quarts water

6 red tea bags (we chose red fruit tea and red rooibos tea – there are many choices in the grocery store you just have to pick your favorite), caffeine free

1 orange, cut in quarters

1 lemon, cut in quarters

1/2 cup cranberries

We mixed everything and let it stand at room temperature until our guests arrived. Serve with ice and enjoy! It was great for kids or adults.

For our party goods – we served a wonderful array of healthy tapas – these small plates held various combinations of raw veggies with healthy dips, chips with home made salsa, and fruits that were a mix of dried and fresh.

Our guests were delighted that they were sampling our “super bowl snack fare” – and much to our delight all of the veggies disappeared! We will be showing that soon – we have more video recipes to come to get you ready for Super Bowl Dipper Parties.

Thanks to a wonderful reader and member who called to request Super Bowl recipes – we are happy to oblige and will have something to post soon!

Merry Christmas to all!

Cranberry-Poached Pears:

Watch this video and learn to make a stunning dessert with a pear, some cranberries, water, sugar and spices – all in about a minute and a half!

Here is the recipe:

4 pears, peeled, halved, cored

1 cup cranberries

1 cup water

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup Splenda (use brown sugar as a substitute)

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Place all in microwave container and cover and cook on full power for 6 minutes. Pears are done when tender. Serve warm on a plate – as shown – or cover and refrigerate for later use.

Citrus Pummelo Cup

Here is the recipe for the Citrus Pummelo Cup:

1 large pummelo or grapefruit

1 tsp warm honey (we warmed it briefly in the microwave)

zest and juice of 1 lime

segments of 1 tangerine

Peel, core and deseed pummelo or grapefruit as shown in the video.  Cut into segments and remove seeds and core again as needed. Stack the segments on a plate.

Drizzle with warm honey, lime zest and juice. Garnish with tangerine segments. Cover and chill until ready to serve. Serve in glasses or dessert dishes.

The pummello is a fruit that resembles a grapefruit – we have found them to be somewhat of a conversation piece – they are very large! They are juicy and very sweet – we liken them to grapefruit candy!

Apple Ambrosia

We made this recipe using Ambrosia Apples – the title of those gave us the idea. The pineapple is tasty and the acid in it keeps the apples white for a few days!

Victoria Shanta Retelny, RD, LDN, exclaimed, “The videos look great, Judy.  They are so sleek and simple.  I love it!  I am going to make the apple ambrosia tonight with my kids” when she got to preview our videos (our authors do have priveleges).

We love this dessert, too!

2 apples, cored and diced

1/4 cup crushed pineapple in juice, with juice

1 cup light nonfat vanilla yogurt

1 squirt of whipped cream – about 2 tablespoons

1 tablespoon toasted almonds, chopped

Mix all together. Cover and chill until ready to use. Serve in glass bowl and top with more crushed pineapple and toasted almonds. MMMMMMMMMMMMM!

Members get to embed these videos – PLUS they are receiving a holiday issue of CFFH:

December

• December ‘09 Full Newsletter (PDF)
• For Consumers:
• Does Mammography Prevent Breast Cancer?
• Food News You Can Use – Winter Shopping
• Recipes: Winter Fruits: More Fruit, Fewer Calories
• Handout: Reduce Breast Cancer Risk
• Handout: Cook at Home and Save
• For Professionals:
• Presentation Ideas: Social Media Tips
• Breast Cancer Reduction: Research Update
• Bonus Handout: 2010 Recipe Calendar
• December ‘09 Full Newsletter (Word)
• Become a member today!

Here are more fruit and veggie educational items from our new store:

PLUS  - here is one more reason to visit our store – sign up to be on our mailing list and receive a Word file for a  2010 Recipe Calendar from Food and Health Communications!

http://foodandhealth.com/shop/pages/FreeHandouts.html

Do you need a simple shopping list that can help you make more meals at home? You are in luck! Here is our new video that is now available – it is called 25 Ingredients, 15 Delicious Meals – Stock Your Kitchen to Make Fast and Healthy Meals All Week.

The premise of our show and lesson is that you only have to buy 25 common inexpensive ingredients and you can make many simple easy to make meals all week. Our neighbors, family and friends have all loved this video and they have been cooking at home a lot more.  Here are a few highlights from this segment – and then you get to watch at the end!

First of all – this part astounded us the most. If you roast a chicken and then make a few meals with the leftovers you save a lot! Here is what we saved for 6 different chicken meals – $63 and almost 2000 calories:

More than half the cart was produce:

You can see we made our list by 3 simple categories: 1) fruits and vegetables, 2) whole grains, 3) fat-free/skim dairy products

And here are a few of our secrets for keeping the cost down:

a) there was no soda, candy, cookies, packaged cereals or chips – just produce, whole grains, lean protein and nonfat dairy products – we shopped the perimeter

b) the only items we bought were “on the list”

c) we did rely on some staple seasonings – like dried oregano, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, garlic powder, pepper, olive oil, vinegar, sugar and cinnamon (we believe the cost was more than offset by items leftover)

d) we bought bulk produce and kept the protein lean and easy on the budget

Here is the first segment of our show that discusses what we bought at the store:

And now for our special offer – you see, we worked very hard on planning the meals and menu, shopping for the food, preparing it and shooting it many times, and we don’t accept advertising dollars (we don’t want our editorial and helpfulness to customers tainted by a handout from a food manufacturer) PLUS we know you all are very busy – and times are tough – and people are stressed so they really want to see something new and compelling to help them eat better and with less effort and expense. Here is our offer:

Buy our new DVD/CD bundle which includes a 20 minute video on DVD with all 5 segments:

1) What to buy

2) Roast it once, serve it many times (how to roast a chicken and prepare 6 yummy meals from it all week)

3) Make meals with pizza, potatoes

4) Include fish, wraps and vegetarian items

5) Buy healthful items for tasty snacks and desserts

The DVD is 20 minutes long and moves fast with music and simple to follow directions. It comes with handouts and a leader guide so you have all the recipes, the shopping list, tips and more. AND it comes with a PowerPoint show with over 50 slides and speaker’s notes so you can show it again and again and use our many charts in more of your programs. PLUS you get the photos of the meals! How cool is that?!

But wait – there is more:

All orders come with our 100% satisfaction guarantee – you are completely 100% satisfied or we refund your money. PLUS you receive free phone support, lifetime updates and extra little perks as needed – like an extra photo, handout, or clipart to promote our program at your site.
We have 1000’s of satisfied customers and we love what we do! Why spend the money on the food and all of your time taking, editing and sorting photos or hours and hours on a PowerPoint show? PLUS our dietitian, photographer, videographer, writer and graphic artist will make you look professional and allow you to give a compelling presentation that will have clients and attendees asking you for more! Don’t miss out!
PLUS if you buy the DVD/CD set, you will get all of our photos from the slides and the photoshoot – there are well over 50of them – some that were not even featured in the show.  Take a look at our slide show!

Buy this DVD/CD set now and get a your items shipped to you with the the 20 minute DVD on how to shop, the PDF file for the recipes and leader guide and kitchen tips, PowerPoint with over 50 slides plus over 50 compelling high-quality photos plus , plan menus and prepare 15 tasty meals  (PLUS we will add a free download account that has over 8 free handouts and all the time access to unlimited updates PLUS you receive our free toll-free phone support with our materials). Why spend hundreds of dollars and over 30 hours to shop, photograph, research and edit for a Video and PowerPoint show when you can spend just $59 and give your audience something relevant, compelling and useful for their health.

Premier Communicating Food for Health members are allowed to embed this video – to find out more about this membership which helps you do more with less for less than $6 per month, click here.

The photo above shows how much sugar is in 2 breakfast pastries.

They say a picture speaks 1,000 words.  While we read labels more than the average person and investigate all sorts of items in the grocery store or fast food outlet, nothing prepared us for this photo shoot. It is not because we spent over $200 on food, or that the studio was congested and busy for days while we discussed, reshot and reshot to get the look just right or the message across; and it is not because there are scribbled notes, empty boxes and piles of papers printed from fast food sites on my desk. It is more because while it is one thing to WRITE about what is in processed food, it is quite another to SEE what is in the processed food! In the end we have a PowerPoint show that is now over 70 slides!!  You can see it in its entirety in a flash file above this paragraph.

The photo below shows the amount of fat and sugar in a chocolate bar:

And this one is striking – more for its portion size – do you really think a hungry person is going to keep the portion of this pizza to just 1/6th of a slice?

And speaking of portions – our way of weighing things is on a postage scale – this big sandwich (from the deli of our store) weighed 18 ounces and we noted it would cost $6 to mail it – way too big!:

We did have a bit of good news – the oven fries we made from fresh potatoes come without added fat or salt – and tasty thanks to the oven crispiness and no-added-salt ketchup:

I think this next whole meal photo shocked us the most – it had over 50 grams of fat and over 3200 mg of sodium for the whole dinner. It didn’t look like all that much food yet it was more than 1000 calories – and all foods are common for what someone might choose if they didn’t watch our show – 1 crunchy-fried chicken breast, 1 biscuit, macaroni and cheese, and oven fries.

If you choose baked chicken, cole slaw, mashed potatoes and a biscuit you don’t fare that much better:

Take our poll and guess how much sodium is in this plate – it will be fun to see what our readers think:

We will post the answer in the comments next week.

Here is one more that is a good visual for sodium:

The left hand side shows the upper limit for almost 70% of the people in the US (>40 and at risk or having hypertension) or 1500 mg of sodium. The right side shows 4000 mg or what most Americans eat in a day. And while most of that DOES NOT come from a salt shaker, it is enough to fill one. We hoped that all of the foods we chose, which were boxed convenience meals, pickled foods and sauces and dressings, frozen dinners and fast food meals, gave a clear picture for where all of the excess salt and fat is coming in the diet.

After photographing all of the piles of sugar (the pastry and soda photos were compelling in our opinion), it was a bit underwhelming to shoot tiny piles of salt – it is just 1/4 of a teaspoon to add 590 mg of sodium. So, we opted to shoot them in teaspoons and tablespoons – we felt that made it more relevant because no one would add that much to their food.

And now for our plug and special offer  - you see, we work hard on these photos and buying the food, and we don’t accept advertising dollars (we don’t want our editorial and helpfulness to customers tainted by a handout from a food manufacturer, although we might take one from a produce maker such as the banana company! but we would let you know that!) PLUS we know you all are very busy – and times are tough – and people are stressed so they really want to see something new and compelling. Here is our offer:

Buy our new game which includes all 77 slides for our new game, Get the Nutrition Right for just $49!

But wait – there is more:

• All orders come with our 100% satisfaction guarantee – you are completely 100% satisfied or we refund your money. PLUS you receive free phone support, lifetime updates and extra little perks as needed – like an extra photo, handout, or clipart to promote our program at your site.
• We have 1000’s of satisfied customers and we love what we do! Why spend the money on the food and all of your time taking, editing and sorting photos or hours and hours on a PowerPoint show? PLUS our dietitian, photographer, writer and graphic artist will make you look professional and allow you to give a compelling presentation that will have clients and attendees asking you for more! Don’t miss out!
• PLUS if you buy the CD or the download, you will get all of our photos from the slides and the photoshoot – there are well over 100 of them – some that were not even featured in the show. Some that are good examples of what to eat and can be used anywhere, like this photo showing 4 pears with fewer than 2 small breakfast pastries:

Buy this game now and get a CD shipped to you with the PowerPoint with over 77 slides plus over 100 compelling high-quality photos  (PLUS we will add a free download account that has over 8 free handouts and all the time access to unlimited updates PLUS you receive our free toll-free phone support with our materials). Why spend hundreds of dollars and over 30 hours to shop, photograph, research and edit for a PowerPoint show when you can spend just $49 and give your audience something relevant, compelling and useful for their health. PLUS you get a Best Quick Meals handout package so they can prepare better meals on the run!

If you use a large serving bowl for dessert you will probably fill it. Does this mean the portion size is right? No. It probably means that the portion is going to be, on average according to our experiments, about three times LARGER than it should be. Over time, excess calories from over-sized portions can really add up.

For dessert dishes, it’s time to line up smaller options. Explore your cabinet or nearest dish outlet store. Look for small sauce dishes that can become petit dessert plates. Pictured here are sushi sauce dishes that doubled as dessert plates. We had fun mixing and matching with the dishes, berries, and sorbet flavors.

Members can receive a 2 page handout on this recipe and more – click here for more info

Here are the dishes:

Raspberry sorbet with fresh berries

Cabernet Sauvignon sorbet with fresh berries and shaved milk chocolate

Passion fruit sorbet and fresh raspberries

By serving the petite dishes on a small tray you allow the guests to pick and choose the flavors they like and it becomes a fun, gourmet style treat. This grand finale can help any home-cooked meal have a spectacular low-calorie finish that does not cost a lot. The portion control for the small container of sorbet helps us get many servings rather than a few big bowls.

Here are a variety of sauce dishes from our Crate and Barrel Outlet – from the bargain area – I decided to mix and match to make it fun.

And here is our #30 scoop that is one ounce. If you get used to using this scoop for fat-free ice cream and sorbet you will learn to use less and to judge portion sizes better. It also makes a gorgeous round ball. Our scoop was a little large so the serving size we used is about 1.5 ounces (volume). The package calls for 1/2 cup which is about 4 ounces (volume). We like to use a variety of fruits and we feel this was a fun and attractive way to manage portion control for dessert!

Members can receive a 2 page handout on this recipe and more – click here for more info