GardenCuizine: June 2014

Monday, June 23, 2014

Is Your BMI above 30? Do You Skip Breakfast and/or Lunch? #GardenCuizine @eatright

Eating "...takes my time away"

"I'm not hungry during the day"

I hear these quotes on a daily basis from obese adults. Out of over one thousand obese individuals that I've counseled to date, I can attest that the majority do not eat breakfast and/OR lunch. Why is that?

I'm noticing the same trend with obese adolescents. In fact, studies have associated weight gain with increased fast food intake and skipping breakfast in adolescents as they transition into adulthood.

To make up for the calories missed, those who skip breakfast and lunch eventually eat and often end up over compensating and overeating even greater calories than a healthy breakfast and lunch would have provided.

Eating about every four hours fuels the body. Participating in physical activity increases lean muscle and boosts metabolism to burn more calories. Eating a portion controlled breakfast, lunch and dinner provides nutrition and energy for work, play and daily activities.

For meal planning and weight management support consult a registered dietitian nutritionist. If you're struggling with binge-eating be sure to discuss it with your doctor.

Make time to eat right

Food is important
Food is Fuel
THINK Food Groups
Plan ahead
Avoid Fast Foods
Portion Control
Select Quality Foods for Better Health

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Sold out! Blueberry Salads with Blueberry Vinaigrette Dressing #GardenCuizine #recipe

Blueberry Salads

with Blueberry Vinaigrette

Sold out! Blueberry salads with Diana's blueberry vinaigrette salad dressing sold out at Trinity Church's Blueberry Festival last night. Special thanks to the Healthy Garden in Moorestown, NJ for providing the tossed salads. A fun time was had by all who stopped by.

GardenCuizine Homemade Blueberry Vinaigrette recipe: click here
Related Links
Jersey Blues and Blueberry Nutrition

Photos and blog post Copyright (C)2014 Wind. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Black Bears in South Jersey @NWF cheers to Coexisting with Wildlife!

Our Yard is a

Certified Habitat for Wildlife

Black Bears are Wild all right

Black bears are expected in the Adirondack Mountains in New York, and in areas of Northern New Jersey, but in South Jersey backyards? Last year was the first time I thought about black bears in New Jersey after we had a bear cut through our yard! The police shouted through their mega phones to Harry and me, "Get in the house, a bear is in your yard!"

Today, since we've had another black bear strolling around the corner here in Mt. Laurel, NJ the past few days, it seems appropriate to post this video about black bears in the Garden State. For communities to coexist with bears, education is key. Check out the below video to learn more about black bears.

Remember, feeding black bears is illegal in NJ and NY. We let our bird feeders go empty during these past few days with the bear in town.

Related Links
Living with Black Bears
Certified Wildlife Habitat

Monday, June 9, 2014

Growing your own potatoes #GardenCuizine #organic

Planting Seed Potatoes

For years we've been growing our own potatoes. Although we've been getting decent harvests out of a single raised bed for a family of 3, we recently learned that by "hilling" the potato plants we could yield even more potatoes.

Start with quality seed potatoes. We ordered ours from Wood Prarie Farm, a family farm, located in Maine. Today, I planted out a 1/2 raised bed of Butte organic potatoes. They were planted in a trench about 6 inches deep. We don't have a lot of space to plant them 12 inches apart so they were placed 4-6-inches apart. The trench was then partially filled in with 1-inch of soil to cover the potato pieces. As the potatoes grow, the soil will be filled in a few times until it is mounded - called "hilling."

Before planting, the potatoes were cut in half leaving eye(s) in each chunk. This is another step that we've never done in the past. We've always planted the whole potato thinking that is what you were supposed to do. It worked for us, but for an even greater yield this time we are cutting the seed potatoes first as shown in the below video.

Check back in about 4-weeks or so for follow-up photos of our hilling process. We have to wait until the plants grow to at least 5-6-inches tall.

I found this gardening video helpful on how to plant seed potatoes:

Related Links
Wood Prairie Farm Organic Potato Growing Guide
Photos and blog post Copyright (C) 2014 Wind. All rights reserved.

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Homemade Blueberry Vinaigrette #GardenCuizine

Blueberry Vinaigrette

The inspiration for this recipe came from going to Trinity Church's annual blueberry festival to stock up on fresh blueberries. We buy several cases, rinse the berries, let them air dry, then freeze the blueberries in single layers on cookie trays. Once frozen the berries are easily stored in baggies until ready to use in recipes.

While at the blueberry festival, we usually get a bite to eat. The food is what you typically find at outdoor summer festivals: drinks, plenty of ice cream, desserts, water and hotdogs. I thought, wouldn't it be nice to have a refreshing tossed salad featuring blueberries and blueberry vinaigrette?

Yields: 2 cups (16oz.) dressing
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Blueberries
1/3 cup olive oil + 1/3 cup canola oil OR 2/3 cup Smart Balance oil blend
1 tablespoon (T) rice vinegar (can also use apple cider or red wine vinegar)
1 T balsamic vinegar
2 T Agave or Honey
2 teaspoons (tsp) coarse ground mustard
2 tsp fresh squeezed lime juice
1/4 tsp minced or grated ginger
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup water (or more if necessary to thin as desired)

Putting it all together

Rinse blueberries and remove any stems.
Add all ingredients to blender and mix.
Pour into washed and sanitized dressing bottle or cruet.
Enjoy blueberry vinaigrette on tossed garden salad topped with additional fresh blueberries.