Archive for the ‘Healthy Recipes’ CategoryX-MAS LITE, AND A HAPPY NEW YEARMonday, December 28th, 2009
When I go to Spain she cooks for me. She doesn’t get tired and she never makes excuses to avoid cooking. Everyday I spend there she asks me in the morning: “ What do you want to eat today?” On Christmas Eve I wanted to know what she was making. She told me she was going to cook light, since they had been overeating for a few days and she doesn’t like going to bed while still digesting heavy food. She made white fish with shrimp, saffron rice and spinach with garlic. I’ve tried this recipe before and I am going to adopt it for New Year’s Eve. This is how it goes: You take 2 white fish fillets; it can be any kind of white fish, from pangessius to cod. You place them in an oven-safe dish, applying olive oil to the bottom part, in contact with the dish. Then you take about ¾ lb of uncooked shrimp, cut them in very small pieces and place them over the fish, covering the whole surface. Then apply mayonnaise on top, being careful not to disrupt the shrimp on top of the fish. A good way to apply the mayonnaise is by using a rubber spatula, which allows you to make the surface smooth. How much mayonnaise to apply? I don’t know, enough to have the shrimp completely covered. Be generous! Then you only have to place in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until you observe the mayonnaise is turning brown. The saffron rice is prepared just the way you would prepare white rice, but adding saffron. Take 1 cup of rice, ½ onion and 1 garlic clove. Warm up 2 ½ cups of water and in the mean time start sautéing the onion and garlic in about 3 tablespoons of olive oil. When the water is about to boil, add the rice to the onions and garlic and, immediately, cover it all with the boiling water. Add 1 envelope or 1 tsp of saffron and allow cooking for about 20 minutes. Add salt while it is cooking. The spinach part of the meal adds even more color and texture. In a wok, place 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 3 garlic cloves. When the garlic starts to get golden, add the spinach, stirring until they are done; it takes a couple of minutes. Be aware, spinach reduces in size a lot when you cook them. Plan to use a large amount if you are feeding 4 people or more. I usually buy a big tub containing 16 oz of spinach at the grocery store. If we don’t eat it all at one meal, no problem, it tastes good if you microwave it the next day. This will be my New Year’s Eve dinner. This year my family and I decide to create a new tradition for Christmas Eve. We decided to cook something humble and easy, since we are celebrating the birth of He who was Humble and Modest. We made fried potatoes, eggs and Spanish chorizo. This combination constitutes the typical Spanish meal for when you don’t have anything else ready. If you visit friends or relatives unannounced at mealtime and they don’t have enough food prepared to share, they will make you a good plate of fried potatoes with eggs and chorizo. All fried in abundant olive oil. It is not calorie-free, as no food is, but it is natural and simple. From now on, fried potatoes with eggs and chorizo are going to be my family’s Christmas Eve meal. A tradition I hope my kids would continue for years to come in their own houses (if they ever move out of mine, that is). Note: if interested in buying good Spanish chorizo, visit www.latienda.com. Happy 2010 to you all! Marta Katalenas M.D. Posted in Healthy Eating, Healthy Recipes | No Comments » The Emotional Impact of Obesity on ChildrenMonday, December 14th, 2009
Studies cited by the American Academy of Pediatrics (www.aap.org) find that “obese children have lower self esteem and self confidence than their thinner peers.” No big surprise. Kids haven’t learned to separate their sense of “self” from their body image, so when they perceive themselves to be less attractive than other kids, they believe they have less value, too. Unfortunately, this belief is reinforced by everything they see on TV and in magazines, which trumpet beauty as the most important asset a person can have. We know better, but our kids don’t. The other kids your children are around don’t know better, either, which means that overweight children get more than their fair share of teasing, and they have a harder time making friends. Remember how important your friends were when you were a child? Imagine getting through one hour on the playground without friends to play with, watching the other kids from a distance. Inside the classroom, your child’s schoolwork can suffer because of a lack of self esteem. Then poor grades make them feel even worse about themselves creating a downward spiral. What you can do The first and most important piece of advice is: Don’t become part of the problem. Don’t try to tease your child into changing their eating habits. Making fun of your child’s weight is not the way to help them lose a few pounds. Instead of positioning yourself as the enemy, become part of your child’s support system. Reinforce everything you love about this special person, every unique and wonderful quality. Let your home be a haven from the stresses of the world. At the same time, do encourage healthier eating by setting a positive example. Be honest with yourself. Do you prepare healthy meals for your kids? Do you make healthy choices when grocery shopping? Start by creating a more active life for your family by getting involved in fun activities with your child. Even taking a brisk walk around the neighborhood can be fun, and it can give you and your kids a chance to chat about your day. Being fit and healthy physically increases your child’s chance to be happy. Next time you reach for an unhealthy snack, think about the cost to your child’s long-term happiness. By Dr. Marta Katalenas Posted in Healthy Eating, Healthy Recipes | No Comments » Grandma Liliana’s Cranberry Salad: Nutritious and Delicious for ThanksgivingTuesday, November 17th, 2009
One of our Thanksgiving traditions includes a recipe from my mother-in-law Liliana, who is an excellent cook. She mixes her own traditions of Italian-Yugoslavian cooking with her many years of experience and practice and the results are out of this world. You can’t visit her without planning on gaining a couple of pounds, though. Ingredients:
Preparation:Place the fresh cranberries in a blender and blend until finely chopped. Add 1 cup of water to make the blending process easier. After blending, place them in a colander to allow all the water and juice to drain out. Whip the whipping cream until it is nice and fluffy (it takes some elbow work). Add a cup of sugar to the cranberries. Mix the cranberries with sugar and the whipped cream; add the nuts and the canned pineapple, after draining the water out of the can. Add the marshmallows. Refrigerate until ready to serve. o for a 1-hour walk in order to burn calories after! Enjoy. Marta Katalenas M.D. Posted in Healthy Eating, Healthy Recipes | No Comments » Paella Recipe- A Special Delivery for the J. FamilyThursday, October 29th, 2009Paella, the rice-based Spanish dish, is one of the most internationally known recipes. It is also very versatile, allowing many variations as long as two main ingredients are consistently present: Rice and Saffron. I still remember an invitation to a paella cookout in California many years ago. Our hosts had prepared an outside burner, the typical paella cooking pan and a large array of “yummy” ingredients to add. When they started cooking they pulled out a container of “yellow # 5” food colorant and added it to the pan. My husband and I instantly looked at each other and said: “ It is not paella”. I will leave up to you to consider the importance of real saffron when preparing a good, real paella. Saffron adds the typical yellow color to the rice, but it also adds its characteristic flavor. Other than that, this dish can really take many ingredients. Even the rice can be of any kind. Here in Texas I buy the medium or long grain HEB brand and it makes a fine paella. The J. family is moving to Hawaii; Mr. J. wants a recipe to prepare paella on the beach for his friends and family. Therefore I am going to give you my personal, family paella dish the way I have been preparing it for years. I always follow the same steps and, although I have never made paella on the beach, I do prepare it for friends as a home party and I do prefer having some steps ready and made in advance. I am going to explain my steps as I follow them when I make my own paella. I will describe what you need to prepare at home and how to bring it to your party; at the end you only have to mix it all and the results are going to be exceptional, I promise. I also want to take this opportunity to send our regards and best wishes to all our patients and parents who are members of the Armed Forces. Ingredients/utensils you may need to research and find in advance:You are going to need a paella dish. It is a shallow, metal or clay dish which you will use to cook the paella. The other two ingredients to look for in advance are Spanish paprika, called “pimenton” and saffron. You can find both a www.latienda.com Most paella dishes contain some kind of meat. I use chicken because everybody likes it, but you can add beef or Spanish chorizo, or a combination of both. The ingredients and the preparation will list the chicken recipe first, as it must be cooked in advance before adding it to the paella. Chorizo can be added directly; simply cut into pieces.
Ingredients:
For the chicken: - 1lb of small chicken wing drumsticks - ½ onion - 1/3 of green pepper - 2 garlic cloves - ¼ cup of white cooking wine - 2 tsp of Spanish paprika (pimenton) - 3 tbsp of olive oil For the Paella: - 2 cups of white rice - 5 cups of water - 1 medium onion - ½ green pepper - 2 garlic cloves - 1 carrot - 1 lb of large shrimp, uncooked - ½ lb of scallops - 18 little neck clams - 3 squid fillets - 2 envelopes of saffron (or two teaspoons of powder saffron) - 2 Knorr chicken bouillons - ½ cup of olive oil - Salt What to prepare at home: You can make the chicken in advance as follows: In a medium saucepan add 4 tablespoons of olive oil and heat for a few minutes. Add the minced onions, garlic and green pepper and allow cooking for about ten minutes. Add the chicken drumlets and cover. Pour in ¼ cup of cooking white wine, cover and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 3 tablespoons of water and 2 teaspoons of Spanish paprika (pimenton) and allow cooking for an additional 10 minutes. Allow the chicken to cool off, place in a container and refrigerate until ready to take to the beach. - Make another container with fish: clean and peal the shrimp (optional); rinse the scallops and cut the squid fillets in medium pieces. Add a few spoons of water and place the container in the refrigerator until ready to take to the beach. - The clams are going to be pre-treated before we add them to the paella. Clams may contain sand inside and I advise to rinse them and then place them in boiling water for just a few seconds until they open. As they start to open up, spoon them out of the water and place them in a container with a few spoonfuls of the cooking water and reserve in the refrigerator until ready to go to the beach. - The water used to boil the clams is NOT to be discarded. It contains flavor from the clams and will be used later, when we cook the rice. You can strain it through a cloth (like a cloth napkin) and keep refrigerated until needed. Later when I indicate to boil 5 cups of water to make the rice; you can use the clam’s water as part of it. - Cut up the onion, bell pepper, garlic and carrot in small pieces and reserve. Keep in a container and refrigerate. Preparation (at the beach):
Start by bringing 5 cups of water to boil. Part of that water can be the water you saved when you boiled the clams. If it is not enough, just add more fresh water to make a total of 5 cups. Add the 2 knorr chicken bouillons and the saffron to the water and bring it all to boil. While the water is heating, place the paella dish on the fire and add ½ cup of olive oil. When the oil is warm, pour in the cut vegetables you have prepared at home, stirring occasionally and cooking until the onions are transparent. Add the cooked chicken you have prepared, with all its sauce and vegetables. Stir in as it starts to warm up. Then add the raw fish (the mixture of shimp, scallops and squid) and stir frequently while it cooks. At this point you will smell the fish and the juices from the chicken and vegetables combining and people will start to gather around you. After about 10 minutes, and while still maintaining a medium heat, pour in the rice. Stir it around until all the grains are wet with the juices from the other ingredients, just a couple of minutes. Then you add the near-boiling water (with the saffron and chicken bouillons melted in). Stir all the ingredients together for 5 minutes; reduce heat where the paella is now cooking at an even, low heat. At this point you may want to add salt to taste and insert the clams throughout the paella. Continue cooking until all the water is absorbed and the rice is soft, about 20 minutes. Good luck and Good Appetite! Posted in Healthy Recipes | No Comments » Celebrating Columbus Day: The Potatoes and Paprika ExperienceMonday, October 12th, 2009Take out your pots and pans to celebrate this fall holiday with a typical recipe from the Old World that adds flavors originating in the New World. When Christopher Columbus navigated the oceans in search of a new route to reach the valuable spices of the time, he could not have imagined that one of the fruits of the discovered New World would contribute to the striking of so many palates over the centuries. He brought to Spain an unknown type of the Capsicum pepper which, when cultivated in the region de La Vera, gave rise to the famous Pimenton de La Vera, a spice used in so many dishes of the Spanish cuisine. The region of La Vera is located in the province of Caceres, around the river Tietar. It provides the right climate, with the appropriate amount of humidity and sunshine to create this unique red pepper. When harvested in the fall, the peppers undergo a unique process of drying using the smoke from oak wood responsible for the exceptional taste. The dried peppers are then milled, stored and distributed from the La Vera region to the world. Some of us are familiar with the paprika pepper powder that we buy at the store. This one has a distinctive taste and it is the real one if bears the denomination “Pimenton de la Vera”. Here is a perfect fall dish adding flavor and nutrition that can be enjoyed by young and old when the temperatures start to go down. Potatoes with Beef and PimentonIngredients (for 4 people):
Preparation: Dice the onions, carrots and green pepper and cook them in 3 tablespoons of olive oil until the onions are transparent. Add the beef and stir in the Pimenton, allowing to cook, covered, for 15 minutes. Add the potatoes, cut in medium size pieces. Add water until the potatoes are barely covered by the water, add a teaspoon of saffron and cook partially covered for 45 minutes at low heat, stirring frequently. Add salt to taste. Allow resting for a few minutes before serving. Posted in Healthy Recipes | No Comments » Beef with “Camouflaged” VegetablesFriday, October 9th, 2009I had a great time recently at the Parent’s Summit Conference at McNeil High School in Round Rock, TX. The organizers did a superior job at putting together lots of relevant information for parents. My participation consisted of a talk about a Practical Approach to Children’s Nutrition. I designed my presentation to provide practical advice parents can take home and apply right from day one. I’ve learned that is what parents want, rather than theory only. One of the attendees suggested I should post my “Beef with Camouflaged vegetables” in my blog, and so I’ve provided it below. Many parents know that kids reach an age where they try very hard to avoid vegetables, even the ones they used to love when they were younger. It is a texture issue, for the most part, but it also involves a challenging attitude kids adopt while learning. My advice to overcome those moments is to be creative and continue offering the same vegetables in a way they can’t refuse them. Check out this recipe; it has everything, from tomatoes to leeks, to anything you can imagine. This recipe is my first choice when, at home, I realize I have fresh vegetables that start to look “sad”. You know what I mean. We often buy fresh vegetables to prepare a particular dish and what is left over stays in the refrigerator until it is not longer alive. Well, right before that point is when I cook them with meat, and the end result is a delicious and nutritious main dish for the whole family.
Beef with “Camouflaged” Vegetables:• 2 lb Beef Roast Preparation: First, brown the meat with about 3 tablespoons of olive oil, turning it around often. Now you are going to cut up all the vegetables and add them to the pan. When you have them all in, add a cup of water, cover and allow to cook slowly for about 45 minutes. Stir every 15 minutes, turning the meat around to allow it to cook evenly. By allowing the vegetables to cook with the meat, we are going to create a mixture of flavors when the juices from the meat cook in with the vegetables, and the water from the vegetables creates moist for the meat to cook in. After about 45 minutes to 1 hour, take the meat out and slice it when cool. Using a hand blender, mix in all the vegetables in the pan until they have the consistency of a pure. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the meat to the mixture of blended vegetables and allow it to cook together for an additional 15 minutes. You now have a delicious beef roast, covered by a sauce made out of vegetables. Since you are going to end up with a lot of sauce, it is a good idea to separate part of it and use it with pasta. You can cook some mixed colored pasta bows or spirals and mix in the vegetable mixture, instead of using prepared spaghetti sauce. It has all the flavors from the meat juices and it is just delicious. Posted in Healthy Recipes | No Comments » Chicken Soup for the FluSunday, September 27th, 2009I don’t know when or who came up with the recommendation of chicken soup to treat or alleviate the symptoms of winter maladies, but it is a wise advice that can contribute to an easier course of the disease. Whenever we have fever, from a viral cold or the flu, we do become slightly dehydrated, and our body rejects nutrition in the form of a heavy meal. But a light, liquid, warm repast that provides just enough calories to get by and helps to curve the dehydration caused by the fever, may just be what we need to feel better. This chicken soup is made from scratch and it is very easy to prepare. Although it is easier to open a can, just think about the hidden ingredients added to the process, such as colorants and preservatives. You may then decide to start cooking! Chicken soup provides the right amount of calories to help you fight the cold, with a perfect balance of carbohydrates (provided by the pasta), protein (in chicken and egg), fat (from chicken meat), as well as fiber and vitamins (in vegetables). Chicken Soup Ingredients - 1.5 lb of chicken. - 2 stalks of celery. - 2 medium carrots - 1 medium onion - 2 garlic cloves. - 1 medium tomato. - 1/3 cup of “egg pastina” - 1 hard-boiled egg. In a medium size pot, place the first 6 ingredients and add water until they are all covered. Bring to a boil and cook in low until the chicken is tender and the vegetables are soft (about 30 minutes). Take out the pieces of chicken and set them apart to allow them to cool off. Leave the rest of the ingredients in the water and remove the pot from the stove. Using a hand blender, mix the vegetables in the water until the solid vegetables become liquefied. When the chicken is cool, separate the meat from the bones and cut the meat in small pieces. Add the chicken meat to the liquefied mixture of vegetables. Add the “egg pastina” in the form of stars or little bullets, and allow cooking for another 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Before serving, add the hard-boiled egg cut in small pieces. Posted in Healthy Recipes, Influenza (Flu) | No Comments » Good Breakfast – Good Morning – Good DayThursday, September 24th, 2009The secret to a good day is a good morning. And the secret to a good morning is a good breakfast. Weekends allow for more time to be creative, but this early morning recipe can also be part of an after-school snack, or for dessert anytime. Ingredients: • 2 slices of whole wheat bread. How to make it: Dip the bread into the beaten egg until the bread has absorbed the egg. Place 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan and fry the slices of bread, one at the time, until they are golden brown on both sides. Cut the nectarine, blackberries, and strawberries into small pieces and then place them into a saucepan with one tablespoon of olive oil. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. When the fruit is soft, and the mixture is impregnated with the juice from the fruit, pour it over the slices of bread. This breakfast provides all the nutrients necessary to start the day. The egg has protein; the bread introduces carbohydrates, and olive oil is a source of healthy fat. The fruits, even when they are fried, provide fiber and vitamins. Heating allows for flavors to mix and creates a tasty meal that is complete and nutritious, good for children and adults. Posted in Healthy Recipes | No Comments » Side Dishes Anyone? No, Thank YouMonday, September 21st, 2009When planning a low calorie diet for the family, we must take into account certain rules that, if applied on a regular basis, could decrease the number of calories ingested and increase the quality of the meal. We often think about a good dinner as a combination of a main dish and some added-on side dishes, in an attempt to increase the amount of vegetables and create variety in the diet. The thought is right, initially, but we may end up liking those side dishes so much that we eat less of the main part of the meal, and what we have added is just a few hundred calories to the meal and some pounds to our waistline. Instead, get used to eating only one item at a time, which will provide fully balanced nutrition at the end of the day, if you do it right. Children, especially, are prone to loading on potatoes and rice and leaving behind the protein part of dinner. I am not a fan of calorie counting but, as an example, one serving of mashed potatoes (1 cup) can add as much as 240 calories to a meal. One cup of cooked rice can approach 150 calories. Think about dinner as a meal you are going to plan in advance, something you can also prepare in advance and put in the freezer until ready to eat. A good example would be a good bowl of lentil soup/stew. It is easy to make, and we can include some other nutrients to its preparation to add flavor and texture. Ingredients for 4 persons: • ½ lb of dry lentils. The best ones are the “pardilla” variety. They are dark and small, and they tend to feel softer to the palate when cooked. Cut the onions, garlic, and carrots into small pieces and sauté in about 4 tablespoons of olive oil. When the onions are transparent and soft, add the lentils, stirring and mixing in. Immediately add water to cover the lentils and cook slowly until the lentils are soft. It takes about 45 minutes to one hour, depending on the quality of the lentils. Cut the chicken breast into very small cubes and brown in olive oil. Add two teaspoons of paprika or Spanish Pimenton to the chicken. Pour chicken into the lentils, and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Add salt to taste. This dish can be prepared in advance and frozen. *Pimenton is a grated form of dry red pepper typical of Spain. It is similar to Mexican Paprika, but the taste of Pimenton is much more intense, bringing out the flavor of the dishes in a more powerful way. Dinner should consist of one serving of this lentil stew. Nothing else. The adults in the household, or older children with a bigger appetite, may want to start with a green salad and end with a piece of fruit. But a toddler may decide to eat only the stew and still have a perfect dinner. Children eat more quality food when they are not given a lot of options. What is for dinner? Just a plate of lentil soup. If your child likes soft textures, put the stew in the blender and mix for a few seconds. If he likes the stew, but doesn’t like the harder texture of chicken contrasted with the softness of lentils, he may end up separating the pieces of chicken. No problem, next time cut the chicken even smaller, or skip it all together. After all lentils are 25% protein! By creating one-dish meals, your meal preparation time will be cut in half while still providing top nutrition. Try it! Posted in Healthy Recipes | No Comments » |
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Have I ever mentioned my mother is the best cook in the whole wide world? Well, she is. All I know about healthy eating I learned from her, even when my trials to emulate her are not that successful. My kids notice the difference first, and I don’t know why, since I follow her teachings to the smallest detail! This is what they tell me: “It is good, but Aya’s taste better”. We call her Aya.
As a pediatrician, I care about more than just your children’s physical health. Mental and emotional wellbeing are equally important. Sadly, the greatest preventable threat to your child’s physical health also threatens their mental and emotional health. I’m talking, of course, about childhood obesity.
My kids love Thanksgiving. Natalie likes to innovate: she is now looking for a new recipe to stuff the turkey. Charles rushes home to Round Rock to eat “real food”, as opposed to whatever-it-is he feeds himself in college. Patrick doesn’t care; he is as happy with macaroni and cheese. Hey, two out of three is not that bad! I still have hopes for the little one.
