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Six Time-Saving Kitchen Hacks

4/26/2019

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1. Use a microplane grater for quick, finely minced garlic.

2. When cutting juicy foods like tomatoes, place your cutting board onto a rimmed sheet pan. This will keep all the juice in one place and make cleanup a breeze.

3. To quickly cool a pan between baking batches of cookies and avoid uneven baking, rinse the underside of the pan in the sink with cool water. It will cool the pan but keep the top side dry and ready for the next batch.

4. To save your fingers and time when eating pistachios, use half of a shell you’ve already removed to pry apart the remaining pistachios.

5. If you need an egg cooked quick, place it in a small microwave-safe glass and microwave for 35 seconds.

6. Rather than waiting for your butter to get room temp, cold butter can be easily sliced off in thin pieces with a cheese slicer.
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Coconut Oil Uses

4/24/2019

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Coconut oil has become quite popular and for good reason. It’s a healthy source of fats and its high smoke point makes it great for high heat cooking. There are lots of other uses for coconut oil too. Here are just a few:

  • Buttering your toast - switch up your morning by swapping butter for coconut oil
  • Coffee creamer - add richness to your coffee without using dairy creamer
  • Non-stick cooking - melt some oil in your skillet to make sure your eggs don’t stick
  • Skin and hair moisturizer - keep skin soft and heal damaged hair
  • Lip balm - heal chapped lips and even give them a small boost of sun protection from coconut oil
  • Burn and wound relief - antibacterial and anti-fungal properties of the oil help to keep infection away while the lauric acid speeds up healing
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Alternative EAster Basket Ideas

4/19/2019

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Easter is the second biggest holiday for candy sales in the United States after Halloween. Kids will expect a basket full of candy and while it’s fine to indulge every once in a while, the Easter Bunny may want to consider swapping out some of the sugar and artificial coloring for non-food items. Here are a few ideas that can help:

  • Crayons and coloring books
  • Chalk
  • Playdoh
  • Stuffed animals
  • Small toys
  • Puzzles
  • Ingredients to make slime
  • Legos
  • Water guns
  • Dress-up items
  • Kites
  • A small pot and some plant seeds to grow
  • Sticker packs
  • Tickets for a fun activity (bowling, movie passes, jump gym)
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5 Reasons we Like Peanut Butter

4/17/2019

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It’s cheap, delicious, and kids and adults both love it. Peanut butter is a quick and easy way to get some protein and make other foods more exciting. Consider trying the “natural” varieties of peanut butter, as they don’t have the added sugar and oils that others do. Here are 5 reasons we like peanut butter:

  1. Protein - Peanut butter is about 25% protein and most brands have 4g protein per tbsp.
  2. Low Carbs - A 2 tbsp serving is typically only 3% of your daily value of carbs.
  3. Macros - Peanut butter is a fairly balanced source of all three macros: carbs, protein, fat.
  4. Vitamins & Minerals - One serving contains calcium, iron, potassium, Vitamin E, and niacin.
  5. Easy - Peanut butter is easy to store as it doesn’t require refrigeration. You can keep it in your desk at work or take it with you. If you’re using natural PB, simply flip the jar every once in a while to keep the oil moving throughout.

SOURCES:
https://www.jif.com/products/peanut-butter/creamy-peanut-butter

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activated charcoal

4/12/2019

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For some time, activated charcoal has only been used in emergency rooms to treat overdoses. Now, however, it can be purchased over-the-counter in many different forms and is gaining in popularity due to its various absorption properties. Here’s what you need to know about activated charcoal:

•Scientific research on its over-the-counter uses is still very new and somewhat limited.

•It’s not the same stuff you use in your grill at barbecues or what you get if you burn dinner.

•Creating activated charcoal involves heating carbon-rich materials such as wood, coconut husks, or peat to extremely high temperatures.


•This heating is what makes the charcoal “activated” as it removes previously bonded molecules and makes it ready to absorb new ones.


•It can be purchased as capsules or powder and can even be found in toothpaste.


•Kidney health is one of its uses. Animal studies have shown that activated charcoal helps filter out undigested toxins and improve renal function.


•Excessive gas is another area activated charcoal can help. It’s thought that gasses trapped in the intestines can be carried out of the body in the charcoal and animal studies back this up.


•Charcoal and carbon has been used in water filtration for quite some time as a means to absorb and trap toxins.


•Teeth whitening and oral health is another area activated charcoal is being used. It’s thought to have antibacterial and detoxifying properties, but research in this area is still very limited.


•Skin care and deodorant uses are popular as the charcoal draws in and absorbs toxins, odors, and moisture.


SOURCES:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278691513008600?via%3Dihub
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3777856/
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0180835

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Why you should steam Your Vegetables

4/10/2019

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We all know vegetables are part of a healthy diet, but did you know the way they’re prepared can affect just how healthy they are? It depends on the vegetable, but some cooking methods can cause nutrient loss.

•As a general rule, it’s best to keep cooking time, amount of water used, and temperature to a minimum when cooking vegetables - that’s why steaming is one of the best methods for retaining nutrients.

•Boiling often causes vitamins and minerals to be leached out into the water, that you’ll then pour down the sink as you drain the pot unless you’re making a soup.

•Cooking vegetables by any method causes the nutrients to change and the impact varies depending on the vegetable. Carrots notably keep their nutrients whether raw or cooked. Also, studies found carrots and potatoes weren’t nutritionally affected much whether they were boiled or steamed.

•Steaming was found to result in the best taste, texture, and flavor of vegetables in blind taste tests.

•When in doubt, go for cooking vegetables using a steaming basket over a pot of boiling water or microwaving in a covered dish with a small amount of water.

•Regardless of the prep method, getting vegetables on your plate and in your body is the most important thing!

SOURCES: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19397724
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Foods for healthy teeth

4/5/2019

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Along with brushing and flossing, your nutrition can play a big role in the health of your mouth. A balanced diet that’s full of variety will help increase your overall health as well as the health of your teeth and gums. Here are a few key things to look out for that can help support your healthy smile:

•Calcium for strong teeth and bones - Rich sources include milk, yogurt, cheese, almonds, dark green leafy vegetables, and tofu.

•Phosphorous for strong teeth - It can be found in eggs, fish, lean meats, dairy, beans, and nuts.

•Vitamin C for healthy gums - Tomatoes, citrus fruits, broccoli, spinach, peppers, and potatoes are all great sources of this vitamin.

•Snacking - Keep in mind that every time you eat, you are bringing on acids to your teeth so you want to minimize the severity as much as you can when it happens. Choosing healthy snacks like fruit, yogurt, raw veggies, or popcorn over sugary snacks will help keep your teeth and whole body in better shape.

•Sticky/Chewy Candy - The stickier a candy is, the worse it is on your teeth. Extra chewy or sticky candy like taffy or caramels will hang around on and in between your teeth for long periods of time after you’re done eating them. This gives bacteria plenty of time to turn those sugars into acids that can harm tooth enamel and cause cavities.

•Sour Candy - Candy that is both chewy and highly acid, such as extra sour candy, is a double-whammy on your teeth. Sour candy is high in citric acid, which delivers its own blast of harm on your teeth in combination with the sticky sugars left behind.

•Soda - If you need another reason to stop drinking sodas, think of your teeth. They take enough hits throughout the day from eating, the last thing you want to do is increase the time they’re exposed to acid and sugar even more. Drinking soda throughout the day keeps your teeth constantly bathed in sugar that can have harmful effects.
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Ice Cream vs Frozen Yogurt

4/3/2019

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When it comes to frozen desserts, you have lots of choices and some are better than others. Frozen yogurt is becoming increasingly popular, so let’s take a quick look at how a ½ cup serving of vanilla bean ice cream (listed first) compares to the same serving of vanilla bean frozen yogurt:

•Calories 🍦150  🍨100
•Total Fat 🍦9g  🍨2.5g
•Sat Fat 🍦5g  🍨1.5g
•Cholesterol 🍦50mg  🍨20mg
•Sodium 🍦45mg  🍨55mg
•Carbohydrates 🍦16g  🍨19g
•Sugars 🍦15g  🍨16g
•Protein 🍦3g  🍨4g
•Vitamin A 🍦6%  🍨2%
•Calcium 🍦10%  🍨15%

To sum it all up, frozen yogurt comes out ahead in calories, fat, cholesterol, and calcium. Ice cream wins when it comes to sodium, carbs, sugar, and Vitamin A. Keep in mind there are many different varieties of ice cream and frozen yogurt with varying nutrition, but it’s definitely something worth comparing next time you’re in the freezer aisle.
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    Author

    Amanda is a mother of three (10, 7, and 5) and has been married for 14 years.   My weight loss journey started July 17, 2008, one day after my daughter's first birthday.  Tipping the scales at 235 pounds at 5'3, being an over weight, over tired, out of shape role model no longer appealed to me and I knew it was time for a change.   Three pregnancies later, I had lost a total of 105 pounds.  I had run 2 marathons and dozens of half marathons.  Something was missing.  I was thin, but I wasn't fit.  I wasn't healthy.  I could feel it in my insides.  I was 136 pounds and a size 8.  Something didn't add up.   I got my certification in personal training, nutrition, weight management, and dove into supplementation and whole foods.  90 days later, I gained 10 pounds and lost two pants sizes (8 to a 4). 
     
    Continuing on this path, all of my clients wanted to know how I was doing it.  I always dreamed of creating a business that truly added value to people and improved their health.  My husband, Grant, and I decided it was time to take that leap.

    December 9, 2016, Simply Prepped Meals was born.  Based around the mission of providing whole food based nutrition to people's doorsteps, we set out to create a new idea that fast food didn't have to be expensive or bad for you.   Six months later, we built our permanent location in Cynthiana, IN.  Then, January 2, 2018, we entered into a partnership with the YMCA of Southern Indiana to continue spreading the word of meal prep and eating with purpose. 

    Amanda coaches individually as well as continues to drive their business.  Any questions about personal coaching can be directed to her at amanda@simplypreppedmeals.com

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