Summer is Here - 6 Tips To Keep It Healthy

visit farmers markets - Buy local! Visiting farmers markets to pick-up local produce and get to know who is growing your food. Plus often times farmers markets have different varieties of foods like golden beets or rainbow carrots (pictured right). If you are traveling out of town, check out the farmers markets in the area too, visit Local Harvest's web site and just enter a zip code to find the markets and hours for where you are traveling!

get active - Summer is the perfect time to take advantage of the long hours of daylight and work in extra activities like: biking, running and swimming.

snack smart - Stock up on healthy items like trail mix, low fat Greek yogurt parfaits with fresh fruit and granola, pistachios and dried fruit, carrot slices and hummus and popcorn.

sip mostly water - Your body is 60-70% and staying hydrated is a must, sipping on water allows your body to maximize absorption. Especially when the weather gets hot, having plenty of fluids helps to keep you cool! Aim to have mostly water and save sweetened drinks like iced teas and lemonade less often!

enjoy fruits and vegetables - There are so many fruits and vegetables that are in season and at their best in the summer time! Maximize the flavors of the season by incorporating fruit and vegetables at every meal. A favorite pick of the summer so far at our house has been Driscoll's Season's Finest Blackberries - they are truly the best... so sweet, give them a try if you see them at the grocery store.

try new recipes - Look for recipes to incorporate seasonal foods like, rhubarb! Check out my Strawberry Rhubarb Muffin recipe that I shared with Men's Fitness. Search Web sites like: Rachel Ray, Food Network, Pinterest and Molly's Facebook page for recipe ideas and inspiration.

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!

Think Outside of the Sandwich

Are you tired of packing the same old lunch? Add the ingredients to your next grocery shopping list for these simple and delicious lunch ideas.

Parfait in a Bag: Pack a single serve cup of Chobani Greek Yogurt, 1/4 cup whole grain cereal (like low fat granola or Cherrios), and 1/2 cup fresh sliced fruit (like berries). Pack a bowl or cup and then at lunch combine the three containers for a delicious on the go parfait. Add in a piece of fruit (like a pear or apple) and 1 ounce of almonds to snack on later in the day. To drink: bring along a water bottle with unsweetened Passion Tea!

Mediterranean Platter: Pack a container with 1/2 cup of roasted red pepper hummus, a container with assorted chopped vegetables (red peppers, green beans, broccoli, carrots), 1/2 piece of whole wheat flat bread, and a baggie with one-ounce of Cabot 50% Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese diced into cubes. At lunch dip the veggies & flat bread into the hummus and grab a serving of dairy and extra protein with the cheese. To drink: bring along a water bottle with unsweetened Zen Green Tea.

Spinach Salad Bowl: In a bowl combine 1 cup of baby spinach, 1/2 cup chopped veggies, and then pack a bag with one-ounce (small handful) of walnuts and 1/4 cup dried cranberries. At lunch add the walnuts and cranberries to the salad. Try topping your salad with 1/4 cup of cottage cheese in place of salad dressing (this may sound crazy but is totally delicious), it will add 7 grams of protein plus a creamy flavor to the salad. To drink: bring along a water bottle filled with ice cold water and cucumber slices.

Snack Attack: Packing a bunch of little things can fuel you up at lunch time! Fill your lunch container with the following five items: a pack of Justin's Almond Butter, a bag of whole wheat crackers (5 or so), a bag of frozen grapes (will still be nice and chilled at lunch), a bag of sliced red peppers, and a container of Chobani Greek Yogurt. Eat these items all at lunch time or spread throughout the day as you are hungry! To drink: bring along a water bottle filled with ice cold water and lemon slices.

Disclosure: The products mentioned in this email are products that Molly Morgan suggests based on taste and nutrition profile and Creative Nutrition Solutions did not recieve funding from the mentioned products for placement in this blog post!

The Scoop: Coconut Water

What is coconut water? It is the water that pools in whole green coconuts. In general plain coconut water is not very sweet (even though it has sugar) and naturally has sodium and potassium, which are electrolytes which help maintain fluid balance.

The type that I prefer to drink occasionally is Peach Mango Coconut Water which is flavored with fruit puree (check the photo in my recent Facebook post). It has 60 calories, 30 mg sodium, 500 mg potassium, and 15 grams of sugar in 8.5 ounces. What I like about fruit puree flavored coconut water is: it is flavored with fruit puree and it is nutrient rich!

Coconut water can be a stand-in for a sports drink but keep in mind a sports drink is only needed when a work out is going to be one hour of continuous (and vigorous) activity or longer. For light workouts or short workouts a sports drink is not needed and plain water will do.

The bottom line: coconut water is a great alternative to higher calorie beverages and look for vartities that are sweetened with fruit puree and do not have added sugar. But as with anything, some is good, more is not better!

What to Choose at the Grocery Store?

Over the weekend I did a Facebook post that included a picture of items that I picked up at the grocery store. It was cool to see what my friends comments were! The posts inspired me to write these tips to help you with your next shopping trip... 1. Make a list! Without a list in the grocery store, it's nearly impossible to leave the store with everything you need. 2. Try something new! There are so many awesome food choices at the grocery store, there is no need to feel bored or tired of what you're eating. Every trip, seek out something new! A new product I tried this week is a spaghetti sauce called Dave's Gourmet! (I'll report back on how it tastes) 3. Fill up on nutrient rich foods! Start filling your basket with mostly nutrient rich foods like: fruits, vegetables, low fat milk & yogurt, lean meat/ poultry/ fish, whole grain breads, whole grain cereals. This will help you to leave the store with the base of a healthy eating plan. 4. Splurge! Pick one item as a "splurge" like cookies, chips, ice cream and have that on hand to satisfy your cravings throughout the week. Believe it or not, if you plan in a splurge most everyday you're more likely to keep your portions in check! Pick up a copy of my book, The Skinny Rules for more simple strategies for cooking, shopping, and fitness too!

Superbowl Strategy

The amount of people indicating no guilt about dropping the ball on their eating plans on Superbowl Sunday? 60 percent of men and 46 percent of women idicated in the 2011 Supervalue Snack Down Survey by Harris Interactive that they would have no guilt about what they eat while watching the big game.

If you are thinking about what to serve up at your Superbowl party, my suggestion, is to strive for balance! Make your game day strategy to provide a mix of healthy items among some crowd pleasers (like chicken wings).

Here are a few healthier ideas to consider:
- Guacamole with colorful pepper slices (red, yellow, orange, & green)
- Baked chicken fingers with wing sauce
- Make your own trail mix bar: whole grain cereal, almonds, dried fruit, walnuts
- Fresh fruit kabobs (grapes, melon cubes, pineapple, berries) with Greek yogurt dip
- Milk bar: low fat milk with add ins like flavored syrup

Meatless Monday

I try to make every Monday a "meatless" dinner! This week was falfel with tzatziki sauce and roasted beets. If you have never tried falfel, you must... it's really yummy. Basically it's ground chickpeas that are spiced up. I wimp out and buy the boxed falfel mix (one of these days I will try making my own from scratch)! Falfel are pan cooked with canola oil until crispy (use some cooking spray too to cut down on the amount of oil).

The tzatziki sauce I made from scratch and here is the recipe (See below), it's quick and delicious. To serve falfel: Place the pan cooked falfel on a pita and top with veggies (cucumbers & tomatoes), reduced-fat feta, and tzatziki sauce.

Tzatziki Sauce
16 ounces plain greek yogurt
1 medium cucmber, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
4 cloved minced garlic
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

Combine all of the ingredients and chill. Serve with falafel.

The Skinny Rules, Pre-sale!!!

You can buy a copy of The Skinny Rules! It's available now for pre-sale from amazon.com!! It will come just in time to give you a boost this Spring to get you ready for bathing suit season.