Recipes for Dinner - Salmon Pinwheels, Cannillini Bean Salad, and Steamed Asparagus

Tonight I fixed a healthy meal for my Dad and I and thought it was a good one to share. I got some great Salmon Pinwheels stuffed with a Spinach stuffing at Trader Joe's (obviously not in Albany!) and served them with Cannellini Bean Salad and some steamed asparagus. Pretty simple and it took about 30 minutes to prepare. Maybe Rachael should do this on her 30 minute meals!

Salmon Pinwheels - ok, these came from Trader Joe's and are one of the main reasons I go there! If you don't have a TJ's near you, just use some plain salmon filets with your favorite seasonings. I thawed them out in their package in some cold water which took about 15 minutes. I sauted some garlic (2 small cloves) in olive oil (1 tblsp) and then put the Salmon Pinwheels in. I seared them on both sides and then put a little white wine in (about 1/2 cup of Savignon Blanc)and simmered for maybe 5 minutes. Done!

Cannellini Bean Salad - this is a recipe that I got off of the Food Network and is tried and true. It's an Emeril recipe, so you know it's good! Everytime I serve it it is a big hit and there's never any left - always a good sign. The official Food Network recipe name is Cannellini Bean Salad with Parsley Pesto. If you don't want to mess with making an official pesto with the food processor, it works just as good to chop the parsley by hand and mix it with the garlic and olive oil. I use italian parsley instead of the curly leafed kind. This takes about 10 minutes to prepare, but like a lot of things tastes better after it sits in the refrigerator for a little while. Try to make it ahead, but don't sweat it if you can't.

Steamed Asparagus - no biggie. Chop off the ends of the asparagus spears. Boil some water. If you have a steamer, use that, otherwise, you can just put a little water in the bottom of a pan and put in the asparagus for about 5-10 minutes. Steam it until it's al dente - just barely done. You don't want to over do it or it gets mushy. Better to be underdone than overdone.

And there you have it! It has ample protein from both the salmon and beans, good fiber from the beans and the asparagus along with an assortment of other nutrients like folate and vitamin K among others. You'll get some good fat from the Salmon and the olive oil used in the beans, and ample complex carbs.

I attempted to take a photo, and I realize I don't get any points for presentation, but hey, this is a normal home, not a TV set!

The search for the perfect travel yoga mat

I'm really getting excited about my trip to Acapulco now and am counting the days! I found out yesterday that I need to plan to take my own yoga mat. That oh so easy to pack yoga mat! Won't fit in my suitcase, won't fit in my backpack, what's a yogini to do? Shop!! So I started looking online for a mat and a bag to carry it. Of course I have a yoga mat already, actually I have 2, but neither will do for this. I need something light weight, that will roll up small, yet will still have enough cushion for my old bones, it needs to be at least 72" and it needs to be eco friendly. Neither of the 2 I already have meet those qualifications. But I'm sure I can find it on the internet!

There are many yoga mats for sale these days!!! So I quickly went to narrow the search down to eco-friendly yoga mats. Still there are many options: rubber, jute, cotton, something called TPE, and then there are blends of the above. From looking at product descriptions, dimensions, weights and reviews from customers, here's what I learned:
1) Rubber mats seem to be very popular for their bounce and cushioning, but many people complain about the rubber smell, and they are heavy with some weighing 5 lbs or more.
2) The jute blends are blended with rubber, so still stinky and heavy, but people say they have good grip.
3) The cotton mats are either too thin or too thick.
4) The TPE mats seem to be a good option. According to the website, Kulae that carries these mats, "TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) is 100% biodegradeable. Unlike the so called "eco" friendly rubber mats, no toxins or chemicals are used in the production of the tpECOmatTM. There is no latex, rubber or PVC. Furthermore, TPE does not smell and its closed cell technology means that your tpECOmatTM will not readily absorb bacteria and germs. " And they weigh about 2.5 lbs for the 72" length and 1/4" thickness which is what I really want. I can go a little lighter to 1/8" thickness and it weights in at 1.12 lbs which is better from a weight standpoint, but I'm a little concerned that it might not give my knees enough cushion.

Here is the mat I'm leaning towards after my extensive research: http://www.kulae.com/TpECOmat-plus-Yoga-Mat-p3.html
It meets all of my qualifications and I can get it in the 1/4 " thickness - 5 inches and 2.5 lbs rolled up (still gonna be cumbersome no matter how you slice it!). This company only makes eco yoga products and 5% of their profits go to charities in what they call "karma's real" which is very cool. They were also really helpful as I was trying to make my decision. I love good customer service!

Now for a bag to carry it. I rarely ever check a bag when flying, and eventhough I'll be gone for 2 1/2 weeks, I'm going to try and carry on. I mean most of what I'll be taking is yoga shorts & tops and bathing suits. How much space can they possibly take? (famous last words, I know) Normally I'll take my rolling suitcase and a backpack, but since my yoga mat won't fit in either, I needed a new solution. Option 1 was to bungee cord the mat to my current backpack, but there aren't any bungees on my backpack (it's about 25 years old and pre-bungee) and if I just wrap them around the backpack it will be really cumbersome to get stuff in and out of it while traveling. Ditto if I bungee it to the suitcase, and it probably wouldn't meet the size limits then either. So I pulled up the trusty internet and again went shopping. I found the perfect thing on eBags, a site I've visited often and usually find exactly what I need. This bag needed to replace my backpack, so needed enough space for my laptop, books, small purse, toiletries, snacks, my iPod and/or Blackberry, travel docs, etc, etc. , and the yoga mat. I think this bag will be perfect! The only thing that would make it more perfect is if it was also eco friendly, which I don't think it is, and I didn't find anything similar that was. Maybe the folks at Kulae can come up with one!! http://www.ebags.com/ebags/value_set_kalya_town_square_terrace/product_detail/index.cfm?modelID=106806. It's got pockets galore, a sling for the yoga mat that comes out of a hidden compartment on the bottom, a water bottle holder also in a hidden compartment on one end and a pocket for your iPod/MP3 player on the other end, and it's big enough for my laptop and other stuff. To top it off, it comes with a smaller matching purse, was on sale, had free shipping and a lifetime warranty! Needless to say, it's on it's way to me now.

Now I just need for everything to show up before next Thursday, and I'll be all set!

When do I really need to buy organic?

I just returned from the grocery store and I always have to pull out my little cheat sheet on when to buy organic and when it doesn't matter so much. So I thought I'd pass this on to everyone so you can make your own cheat sheet.

The things you should always buy organic because conventionally grown these are typically sprayed with pesticides or chemical fertilizers:
Peaches
Apples
Sweet Bell Peppers
Celery
Nectarines
Strawberries
Cherries
Pears
Grapes
Spinach
Lettuce
Potatoes

These are typically ok to purchase conventionally grown:
Onions
Avacado
Sweet Corn (frozen)
Pineapples
Mango
Asparagus
Sweet Peas (frozen)
Kiwi
Bananas
Cabbage
Broccoli
Papaya

Milk, eggs, chicken and other animal products should be raised without hormones or antibiotics. Packaged and canned products are typically processed with all kinds of yucky stuff like high fructose corn syrup, so I usually opt for the organic versions or skip them altogether. Canned beans are where I'll make an exception (but rinse them before using). Read the labels!

There are differing schools of thought regarding whether or not frozen is as good as fresh. My thinking is that frozen veggies that are really fresh frozen and haven't thawed out are probably just about as good nutritionally as fresh, and are certainly better than canned or no veggies at all. The biggest unknown is whether or not they've been allowed to thaw along the way to the grocery store. But certainly if you are freezing your own veggies, are using really fresh veggies, and aren't leaving them in the freezer for a really long time, you should get just about as much nutrition value from them as if you had eaten them straight from the garden. But not everything freezes well, so I typically stick with things like corn, peas, butter peas, and okra. And I like frozen spinach too. No way are you going to have a frozen tomato that tastes as good as one right out of the garden! That said, you can freeze tomatoes for using in soups and stews. And it's really nice to be able to pull something like butter beans and corn out of the freezer in the winter to remind you that spring planting season is right around the corner!

Need a little energy boost this morning? Try these Yoga poses.

I woke up at 4:00 a.m. this morning and couldn't go back to sleep. I really hate it when that happens! Rather than toss and turn all morning until my alarm clock went off, I decided to pick up the book I've been reading in hopes that it would make me sleepy. But it didn't. Of course now I'm feeling sluggish and not fully rested, but I want to get a yoga class in today. So I was trying to think of something that would give me some energy, but wouldn't wreck my blood sugar or jack me up on so much caffeine that I won't be able to sleep later. I happened to go to the Body & Soul Magazine website to look for something I saw in my latest issue, and found these 3 yoga poses that are supposed to "stretch and strengthen the spine, increase vitality, reduce tension, release impurities, and improve focus -- everything you need to face what lies ahead." And it's called "Morning Wake-Up". Sounded perfect!

As it turns out, these are 3 poses are a variation of poses that we commonly do to start yoga classes at the studio where I've been going. And I like them so much that I commonly do them to start my yoga practice at home. They are great to loosen the hips and as I found from reading this article awaken vital energy. According to Kundalini yoga tradition, "a built-in supply of energy lies dormant at the root of the spine, like a bulb that rests underground, waiting for a cue to bloom. " These poses help provide that "cue" and gets that energy flowing.

Give them a try next time you feel tired and sluggish. I feel better already!

The Yoga Connection

As I mentioned before, I was re-introduced to yoga by my good friends Mike & Beverly last summer. I've practiced yoga for several years, but like my other exercise routines, I had gotten out of practice. When Mike & Beverly told me they were going to Thailand to do yoga with their nephew, I asked if I could camp out on their floor. I initially had no intentions of doing yoga, but REALLY wanted to go to Thailand. But the more I investigated, the more I wanted to try to do a week of yoga. It has been a great gift!

Within weeks after I returned from Thailand, I found out that my Dad was ill. Fortunately, I had just taken a retirement package from Delta, and was able to go to take care of him. As you might imagine, my life changed greatly. I left my home near Atlanta and went to South Georgia where I grew up and where my father still lives. I've felt anxious, frustrated, sad, out of control, and worried among other emotions (thankfully not all at the same time) and yoga has not only helped me calm myself and focus, but has also been a great form of exercise.

As I retired, I really wanted to "do something different", and I found many of my friends saying the same thing. I decided while I was not working to pursue looking for something different and teaching yoga seemed to make sense for me. I was encouraged by others as well. When I stumbled upon Integrative Yoga Therapy, I was really interested. When I found that there would be a two week intensive training in Acapulco in February, I was ready to sign up. I called Beverly and she was ready to sign up too, so we did! We will be going to Bambuddha Retreat Center on the beach in Acapulco for 2 and a half weeks! I am so looking forward to it!

I hope to be certified to teach in March and I want to find someplace to teach ASAP. I've already started talking with the teachers at the yoga center where I attend now, and have gotten good information and encouragement from them all.

I'm not exactly sure how things will work out, but I hope to be able to teach yoga and maybe do some nutrition and wellness consulting part time while taking care of my Dad. We'll just see what the next few months bring....

10 Foods to Fight Inflammation

I ran across this article called "10 Foods to Fight Inflammation" in Better Nutrition magazine I thought would help explain further some foods that are inflammatory and what to eat to fight inflammation. There are also some good recipes here for Spinach Salad with Blueberries and Walnuts, and Spicy Sweet Potato and Spinach Soup.

Rawls Whittlesey - Certified Nutrition and Wellness Consultant

I've always been into nutrition it seems, and for most of my adult life, I've really had to watch my weight. And over the years I've watched it go up and become harder and harder to get rid of! In high school and college I played sports, and never really had to worry about it, then in my late 20's after gaining about 25 lbs, I got myself into the gym and by my 30's was in the best shape of my life (at least I thought). Then came the back problems, and I ended up having back surgery which really limited my ability to do any major aerobic exercise. I continued exercising, but the drop in my workouts and no change to my diet didn't keep me in the same shape. Go figure! When work became more intense (stressful, long hours!!!!!) my workouts became less frequent. Then I just got to where I dreaded going to the gym and felt guilty when I didn't. I was feeling so out of balance, and nothing worked to help me lose weight, I had no energy, I was sure I was hormonal, and I didn't know what to do. I was fortunate enough to find an Integrative Medicine doctor, Dr. John Kim, and he helped me weed out fact from fiction when it comes to nutrition, inflammation and healthy living. He also introduced me to Dr. Andrew Weil (more about him later). Fast forward to 2008, and I was re-introduced to yoga by some really good friends when we went to a yoga retreat in Thailand (see my travel blog ). That was in June, and I've hardly started a day without yoga since then and I've lost 10+ lbs. Then my Dad got sick and his diet became extremely important; important to me because I dropped everything to take care of him and had to figure out how to keep him nourished properly.

As I began to research nutrition for my Dad's condition, I started realizing that I really liked this topic, I've known much of this information for a while, and it's all coming together for me now as more of a nutrition plan for life long health as opposed to a way to lose unwanted weight. That coupled with the yoga, and I'm making some important changes to live better! Since I've not been working (I "retired" from Delta Air Lines in June), and have been taking care of my Dad for the last six months, I decided that I needed to make the most of the free time I have, and started looking for a way to get certified as a nutrition consultant. That's when I found out about the American Fitness Professionals Association, and their Nutrition and Wellness Consultant certification. I found the course material and text books to be well done and up-to-date. I confirmed a lot of the information I already knew, and learned a lot more in the process. I learned the why's and why nots of some of the things I've learned over the years, and learned more about how to counsel individuals who need nutrition and wellness advice.

It's important for me to say here that I am not a Physician nor Registered Dietician and therefore, I strongly recommend you talk to your doctor before implementing any of the information, recommendations, and suggestions that you find in my blog. Each person has a unique make up and I am mostly speaking in generalities here. Wellness may look different for each individual so you should speak with someone familiar with your health history to develop your own plan.

I'm starting this blog to share my learnings and to help people understand how to take the tons and tons of nutrition information and make some sense of it. I hope to post some recipes and meal plans too.

So, the first bit of advice I'm going to give is to listen to the CD from Dr. Andrew Weil called "Taking Care of Yourself". It is excellent and is a good start towards helping understand what is really important when it comes to nutrition, supplements, exercise, and wellness. In case you aren't familiar with Dr. Weil, "Andrew Weil, M.D., is a world-renowned leader and pioneer in the field of integrative medicine, a healing oriented approach to health care which encompasses body, mind, and spirit. Dr. Weil is an internationally-recognized expert for his views on leading a healthy lifestyle, his philosophy of healthy aging, and the future of medicine and health care." I copied that from his website, http://www.drweil.com/. He's written a number of books and produced many CDs on these topics as well. His advice makes sense and I can tell you it's made a huge difference in my life.

One of the biggest things I've learned in the last couple of years is that inflammation is the root of all evil when it comes to maintaining a healthy body & mind. It is the underlying cause of most major illnesses. Here's what Dr. Weil has to say about the Anti-inflammatory diet and why it's important: "The anti-inflammatory diet counteracts the chronic inflammation that is a root cause of many serious diseases that become more frequent after age 60. Normally, inflammation occurs in response to injury and attack by germs. It is marked by local heat, redness, swelling, and pain, and is the body's way of getting more nourishment and more immune activity to an area that needs them. But inflammation isn't always helpful. It also has destructive potential. We see this when the immune system mistakenly attacks normal tissues in such autoimmune diseases as type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus. And we now know that inflammation also plays a causative role in heart disease, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, as well as other age-related disorders, including cancer."

All that to say, you should think seriously about following Dr. Weil's Anti-Inflammatory diet. On his website is the Anti-Inflammatory Food Pyramid along with suggestions for how to follow it. Check it out!!!

I'll refer to the Anti-Inflammatory Food Pyramid frequently, because there are things that some people may find different than your basic USDA food pyramid. I've learned with my Dad's friends who so generously want to bring food over, but need to adhere to his dietary plan, that it's not always so obvious how to cook in a way that is anti-inflammatory. I hope I can help clarify what to cook, how to prepare it, etc., and I'll refer to Dr. Weil and others to do that frequently.

That's it for my first blog post. Check back often!