9 Foods To Help Your Heart

What you eat can help your heart. Foods that are rich in fiber, omega-3 fats and antioxidants top the list of foods to include. Incorporating these foods into your eating routine can help to lower your total cholesterol, increase healthy (HDL) cholesterol and drive down lousy (LDL) cholesterol levels. Try these quick ideas:

Flax: Opt for ground flax seed or liquid flax seed oil. A favorite liquid flaxseed oil is Barlean's Omega Swirl Flaxseed oil, it tastes SO GOOD and is great on plain yogurt, in smoothies or as a topping for oatmeal.

 

Brown rice: When you're out to eat ask for brown rice instead of white rice, there is more fiber and nutrients! And when cooking at home trade-in white rice for whole-grain brown rice or brown rice blends.

 

Walnuts: The nut that is loaded with the most heart helping omega-3 fat are walnuts. Try adding them to quick breads or muffins, oatmeal, salads and trail mix for heart helping crunch.

 

Quiona: This seed cooks up similar to brown rice and is full of fiber and a complete source of protein. It works great as a stand-in for rice with stir-fry or in grain based salads like tabbouleh.  

 

Oatmeal: Start your morning with a bowl of hot oatmeal! If you are short on time, cook up a batch of oatmeal and then store in an air tight container and heat your portion of oatmeal every morning. Try topping oatmeal with fresh fruit to limit the amount of added sugar.

 

Berries: The bright red and purple colors of berries are linked to helping heart health and they go great in a salad or as a side dish at most meals. Try adding a serving of fruit to every meal!

 

Salmon: Some fish like salmon, mackerel, tuna, herring and sardines have heart helping fats. The American Heart Association recommends having heart healthy fish two times per week.

 

Avocado: A fruit that is rich in monounsaturated fats which can help boost healthy (HDL) cholesterol levels. Try using avocado as a spread on sandwiches instead of mayo, adding avocado to salads and serve guacamole as a dip for sliced veggies or multi-grain tortilla chips.

 

Beans: All types of beans are full of fiber which helps to lower cholesterol levels, add in beans to soup, salads and rice dishes to increase the fiber. If you're worried about kids picking them out, opt for light colored beans like pinto beans to help them blend in better.

  

Back to School Lunch Solutions

This week I visited the 10! Show in Philadelphia and Bridge Street in Central New York to share some tips to make back to school lunches a little more exciting (and healthy too) plus ways to make whole grains part of your day.

Here are some more details and tips to get you ready for back to school.

Make Fruit and Veggies Easier: At the start of the week, fill a bin in your refrigerator with single serving bags or containers of sliced and prepared fruit and veggies! Then each day when filling lunch boxes aim to have half of the contents be fruit and/or vegetables.

Be creative! Use sandwich cutters like those from The Lunch Punch (http://www.thelunchpunch.com/lp) to create fun shapes. Or switch up sandwiches with a sandwich on a stick: use cubes of meat, cheese, bread and veggies!

Think Outside the Sandwich: Try kid 'sushi'! Mix together chopped veggies (like broccoli and carrots) with light cream cheese or tofutti (cream cheese substitute), spread the mixture evenly over a multi-grain flat bread or tortilla. Then roll up the flat bread and cut into slices. This lunch idea was inspired from some of my aunts on family vacation.

Work in Whole Grains: Whole grains are nutritional powerhouses, some examples include: whole wheat bread, brown rice, millet, buckwheat, oats and quinoa. They get all of their nutrients because the whole grain is intact and provides fiber, vitamins and minerals. Make it a goal to have whole grains at all meals and snacks like: KIND Healthy Grains granola with fruit for breakfast, whole wheat bread or wraps for lunch and mini funny face pizza on whole grain flat breads for snack.

For more ideas on back to school, head to my Website to watch the video segments from this week!

Cooking with Kids - Try it!

My tip of the day is if you have kids in your life, cook with them! The kitchen can surely get a bit messy but it is totally worth it. Frequently I cook with our three and one year old and we make everything from oatmeal at breakfast to quinoa for dinner. Five of the best parts:
1. You get to spend time with your children.
2. It makes meal preparation more eventful.
3. It will get them excited about the meal.
4. They will be more likely to eat what you make.
5. You can answer 1000+ questions about the foods (e.g. where does oatmeal come from?).

Need a recipe to try? Grab my Grilled Asparagus and Quinoa Salad recipe.

The only downside is more cleanup but get them to help with that too! Share your cooking with your kids story with me via my Web site, click here.