Eat To Live, Not Live To Eat, plus a recipe for Bananas Foster a la Mode.

April 6, 2018

I recently read a statistic that really made me start to think about what we do to food and how food is grown. The World Health Organization estimates that, by 2020, two-thirds of all diseases will be the result of lifestyle choices. Of course there are other factors involved with this: physical activity, obesity, substance abuse and tobacco abuse are factors that play a role in developing a chronic disease, but this can’t be ignored!

Many of the American society’s health issues are related to our personal lifestyle choices; of course, my focus is the nutrition piece. So I guess the message is maybe we should do more conscious eating…. not saying we can’t occasionally include the foods we love, but learning to be more aware of the choices we make instead of being in automatic drive as we plow through our plate.

Tips to try to improve your health:

Let vegetables and whole grains be the base of your meal. Try to eat at least one meatless meal a week.
Keep fresh fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator or in the freezer…makes meal prep much easier if they are already there.
Minimize the amount of “junk” food you keep in the house, out of sight, out of mind.
Include lean sources of protein with your meals: chicken, fish, eggs, legumes, soy products, and other lean meats.
Eat throughout the day, avoid meal skipping or saving the bulk of calories till later in the day, spread the calories out evenly through the day.
Be sure to chew your calories and not waste those calories on sugar-sweetened beverages, drink more water.

One really good way to do more conscious eating is to keep a food log, just write down what you eat and drink for a few days. You might be surprised what you find out about your habits and find some easy places to make a change to have long-term impact on your health.

Bananas Foster a la Mode

Ingredients:

2 ripe medium bananas, sliced into ½ inch rounds
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1 ½ tbsp. light brown sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400° F.
Arrange the bananas in a 9x9 inch oven safe dish and sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar. Drizzle the vanilla extract over the bananas, wrap tightly with foil, and bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until the bananas are soft.
To serve, scoop ½ cup frozen yogurt into each of 4 dessert bowls. Divide the bananas among the bowls, and spoon the sauce that accumulates in the bottom of the baking dish over each. Serve immediately.

Nutrition Information: 175 cals, 0 gm fat, 0 mg chol, 67 mg sodium, 39 grams carbohydrate, 5 gr protein

Recipe from: Skinny Taste Light on Calories, big on flavor

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This is another in a weekly series of healthy recipes from Kay MacInnis, registered dietitian at Providence Health in Columbia, S.C.

Kay promotes health and wellness, helping cardiac and diabetes patients eat their way to healthier lives. She works in consultation with the trained chefs at Providence, combining her nutrition knowledge with their food prep know-how to create delicious, healthy dishes for patients and the public. She also conducts a number of health and wellness events for the public, including the monthly Providence Cooks! classes.

"She doesn't just give you the fish, she teaches you how to cook it."

– a Kay MacInnis fan and Providence Cooks! regular.