Renee Shelton's Blog

Posted by Renee Shelton

Smart Choices Program was first started by the Keystone Center, Food and Nutrition Roundtable, in 2007. The 'Smart Choices Program', first began to give consumers a quick peek at a product regarding its overall nutrition, and has been under scrutiny by many who wonder why products often containing high amounts of sugar are labeled as a 'smart choice' when shopping. For consumers who don't read labels, picking up a commercial package with a label stamped with a 'Smart Choice' and green check mark gives essentially a green light to eat it without reading the nutritional details.

Here is a criteria of foods that qualify and general nutrition information, from the Smart Choices Program.

This program is administered by the American Society for Nutrition (ASN) and NSF International, not the FDA. Even the FDA is concerned with the possibility of people choosing products that are more refined rather than the fresh foods themselves in this letter cowritten by the Senior Advisor for Food Safety at the Food and Drug Administration and Deputy Undersecretary for Food Safety at the Department of Agriculture.

The FDA has been looking at other labeling, such as the UK's Food Standards Agency Traffic Light Labeling. Unfortunately, not many companies here in the US would appreciate being singled out with a red light, but perhaps that would make it easier for consumers who don't read lables to easily spot those products that are excessively high in sugar, salt or other criteria.

Posted by Renee Shelton

Caesar's Pasta Specialties

They now have new Potato and Spinach Potato gnocchis and other pasta dishes that are gluten-free and wheat-free and are made from rice. These two new items are also vegan pasta products, and perfect for those who suffer from Celiac desease. Since they are lactose-free they are great for people who want to enjoy pasta dishes who might also suffer from other gastointestinal problems. Available at Whole Foods Market.

Posted by Renee Shelton

While commercial pizza may not be an everyday healthy eating item, many companies are coming up with new ways to draw in customers with fresh takes on their traditional pizza such as providing nutrition information, creating menu items with all-natural ingredients and lower sodium items, and identifying those items for customers with dietary restrictions.

Here are links to ingredient allergen, nutrition or ingredient sensititivity info from different popular quick serve and commercial pizza companies:

Pizza Hut -

• Food Alergen and Sensitivity Table - This is a .pdf file from Pizza Hut with which pizzas have peanut, tree nuts, eggs, wheat, milk, soybean, fish, shellfish allergens, and which have MSG or gluten for those who have sensitivity to those items.
• They also have an exchange list for their pizzas, with starch, high fat meat, medium fat meat, lean fat meat, very leat fat meat, fat, carbohydrate, vegetable and free food exchanges.

Pizza Pizza -

• Also has a similar food allergen table in .pdf for with information on which of their pizzas contains an allergen: listing these top food allergens - peanuts, tree nuts, sesame seeds, milk, eggs, fish/shellfish, soy, wheat/gluten and sulphites.
• And if you are looking for a certain ingredient to avoid, they have an ingredient list .pdf file that lists all the ingredients for their menu items, including their Halal items.

Dominoes Pizza -

• Dominoes has a whole nutrition portal page dedicated to calculating calories (their Cal-O-Meter), ingredients list, nutrition info, and lighter options list of items.

Papa John's -

• Their allergen info is done in an Allergen Question and Answer format, and Papa John's Pizza nutrition info can be looked up for all their core menu items.

Little Caesars -

• Their info was harder to get to, and Little Caesars nutrition info just had the basics, like cals, fat, carbs, etc., although they did have a suggestion for those on strict vegan diets and still want to enjoy their pizzas.

Posted by Renee Shelton

Beef is an excellent source of quality, complete protein, and high in B-Vitamins, Iron and Zinc. While several cuts of beef do have the reputation of being high in saturated fat, here are some great tasting lean cuts of beef to try.

For a listing of 5 of best, read Five Great Lean Beef Cuts for Healthy Cooking: Lean Selections and Best Ways to Prepare Them for Maximum Tenderness.

• Top Round Steak: Best methods for cooking are grilling, broiling and pan-frying.
• Top Sirloin Steak: Top sirloin steaks are great broiled and grilled. They are often pan-fried, also.
• Bottom Round Roast: These are great braised. They are used in the same way as Eye Round Roasts.
• Chuck Shoulder (Pot Roast): Best methods are brasing this roast until it is tender. When looking for a pot roast, this is a great one to look for.
• Strip Steaks: Best methods for cooking are grilling, broiling and pan-frying.
• Flank Steaks: Often marinated prior to cooking, this cut is great both grilled and broiled. Cut accross the grain to ensure that each bite is tender.
• Tri Tip Roast: Great choice for roasting and barbecuing. Can withstand higher heats without loss to tenderness.
• Eye Round Roast: Often overlooked, this cut is great when braised. It can also be roasted in the oven.

Posted by Renee Shelton

Here are some ideas for making great tasting and healthy salads:

• Use mesclun mixes. These are mixes made of specialty or baby lettuces and herbs. They are sometimes made from heirloom or Asian lettuce and leaf vegetables and can add color and flavor to a green salad. Many varieties are rich in Vitamins A and C and many provide Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids.
• Add fresh herbs to the salad. Fresh basil and parsley are easy to grow in a planter box or the garden. Other fresh herbs to try are chives, chervil, tarragon. Growing a fresh Fines Herbes planter box will give you an abundance of herbs for fresh food menu items like salads and can be added to soups and sauteed dishes.
• For some crunch to a salad, instead of adding processed and heavily salted croutons, sprinkle with a serving size of toasted almonds or pecans. You'll get added fiber and antioxidants along with a crunch. Seeds such as toasted pumpkin seeds are also a good choice.

Posted by Renee Shelton

Here are some brands to look for when shopping for a Greek yogurt. Read the labels when buying a Greek yogurt. Traditional Greek yogurt will have limited ingredients. Greek-style yogurt may have thickeners like pectins. Both will generally be thicker than ordinary plain yogurt.

1. FAGE Greek Yogurt Available Flavors and Styles: Plain, Cherry, Strawberry, Peach, Honey Full fat, lowfat, fat free Contact Page for Fage Greek Yogurt
2. OIKOS Organic Stoneyfield Farm brand of Greek Yogurt Available Flavors: Plain, Vanilla, Blueberry, Honey OIKOS Store Locator Contact Page for Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt
3. Greek Gods Yogurt Available Flavors and Styles: Plain, Non fat, Pomegranate, Vanilla, Fig, Honey Greek Gods Store Locator Contact Page for Greek Gods Yogurt
4. Chobani Greek Yogurt Available Flavors and Styles: Original, Low fat. Non fat in Plain, Vanilla, Honey, Peach, Blueberry, Strawberry Contact Page for Chobani Greek Yogurt
5. Voskos Greek Yogurt Avaliable Flavors and Styles: Plain in Original, Lowfat and Non fat. Non fat in Fig, Strawberry, Honey, Honey Vanilla, Blueberry Contact Page for Voskos Greek Style Yogurt
6. Trader Joe's Brand Greek Style Yogurt Store Locator for Trader Joe's Contact Page for Trader Joe's
7. Cascade Fresh Greek Style Yogurt Store Locator for Cascade Fresh Greek Style Yogurt Contact Page for Cascade Fresh

Posted by Renee Shelton

Tips for Eating Healthy: From the article 6 Tips for Eating Healthy

• Read nutrition labels and ingredient lists on food packages
• Limit your intake of processed foods
• Plan menus for making meals at home
• Broil and bake instead of fry
• Go whole-grain instead of white
• Watch portion sizes

Tips on Eating More Fruits and Vegetables: From the article: 5 Tips for Eating More Fruits and Vegetables

• Offer fruits and vegetables for snacks
• Try organic foods for the most popular fruits and vegetables at home
• Go fresh or frozen instead of canned
• Add fruits and vegetables to recipes
• Grow your own at home (they will always be available)

Looking to Lower Cholesterol? Try a non-dairy milk for breakfast cereals, drinking and baking. Read the resource product guide list of choices that include milk made from:

• Soy
• Brown rice
• Oats and grains
• Almonds, cashews and other nuts
• Hemp and other seeds

Know the Differences Between Fats: Know which fats are the good fats and which are the bad ones.

The fat types include these:

• Saturated
• Unsaturated (poly- and monounsaturated)
• Trans fats
• Dietary Cholesterol

Posted by Renee Shelton

Soy Milk Companies:

Silk Soymilk

Provides shelf-stable cartons and refrigerated products. They also provide soy yogurts and soy coffee creamer. Soymilks come in many different flavors and styles.

WhiteWave Foods Company: customer service, 888-820-9283.

Select Soy

Shelf-stable soy beverages in selected flavors and styles.

Pacific Natural Foods: customer service, 503-692-9666.

Edensoy

Shelf-stable soy beverages and soy blends with rice milks. All Edensoy soy beverages are organic.

Eden Foods, Inc.: customer service, 888 424-EDEN (3336).

West Soy and Soy Dream

Shelf-stable packs and refrigerated soy milks. Also frozen desserts.

Both from Hain Celestial Group: customer service, 800-434-4246.

Zen Soy

Soy milks and soy based puddings.

Contact form for company info.

Rice Milk Companies:

Rice Dream

Shelf-stable and refrigerated rice milks, in many flavors and styles. Also organics available and frozed desserts.

Hain Celestial Group: customer service, 800-434-4246.

Rice Milk

Shelf stable milk in plain unsweetened and vanilla flavored.

Grain Based Milks

Organic Oat

Oat based grain milk, in original and vanilla

Nut Milks (Almond, Hazelnut)

Organic Almond and All Natural Hazelnut

Milks made from almonds and hazelnuts. Select flavors and styles.

Both from Pacific Natural Foods: customer service, 503-692-9666.

Almond Breeze

Milk made from almonds, available in shelf-stable packs in plain or unsweetened varieties.

Blue Diamond Growers: customer service, 800-987-2329.

Seed Based Milks (Hemp)

Hemp Bliss

Certified organic hempmilk available in shelf-stable cartons in plain, unsweetened, vanilla and chocolate.

Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods & Oils: customer service, 800-665-HEMP (4367).

Posted by Renee Shelton

There are three basic types of oats available to the healthy cook for meal planning and recipe creating. Oats can be used as is for oatmeal, in meatloaf as a filler or binder or in fruit smoothies giving added thickness and a jolt of good fiber. Oats can also be ground up and used in place of some of the all purpose flour called for in recipes and baking.

Steel Cut

Often called 'Irish or Scotch Oats', these oats are cut rather than rolled. Rather than flat ovals, they look like chopped up rice pieces. Allow for longer cooking times when preparing them, and when made for breakfast steel-cut oats give a heartier, richer and more chewy texture than the regular instant oats usually used.

Old-Fashioned Oats

These are sometimes just called rolled oats and look like flat ovals. This kind of oatmeal has the kernals steamed first then rolled. These take longer to cook than instant or quick-cooking oatmeal but are much quicker than steel cut.

Quick Cooking Oatmeal

Also called instant, this type contains precooked oats that are dried and rolled, and cooking them is very easy, often times just very hot water. Instant oatmeal goes into shakes and smoothies well, and can be added to recipes for easy binding or fillers, like meatballs and meatloaf.

Posted by Renee Shelton

Here is a listing of links from the USDA for reference when making holiday meals:

Safe Internal Temperatures

Tips for Safely Stuffing Turkey

Turkey Stuffing Basics

Safely Roasting Lamb, Pork, Duck and other Holiday Meats

Food Safety Tips for Leftovers

Posted by Renee Shelton

Crayons Inc, a company based in Bellevue, Washington, has come out with drinks especially made for kids. They have all natural fruit drinks and all natural sports drinks. Both come labeled as "NO high fructocse corn syrup" on the front of the cans.

Posted by Renee Shelton

Roasted Cauliflower with Black-Eyed Peas: Salad with infinite possibilities.

Curried Cauliflower over Israeli Cous Cous: Vegetables simmered in a light curry served over large grained cous cous.

Posted by Renee Shelton

On average, women need about 2 1/2 cups of vegetables per day and men need about 3 cups, depending on age and physical activity levels. You are encouraged to eat more, and this is not counting the fruits that are separately recommended.

There are many vegetables to choose from. From dark green leafy vegetables to bright orange and red vegetables, starchy and waxy types, it is easy to mix and incorporate into menu planning. So what counts as a cup of vegetables? If you are not measuring, that depends on the vegetable itself and if it is raw or prepared. Beans and tofu are included in this list. Here is a general list:

Raw or Cooked:

• 2 medium carrots (sliced or cut up)
• 2 c raw leafy greens (equal to 1 cup cooked)
• 3 long spears of broccoli
• 1 large baked potato
• 8 oz. tofu
• 1 ear of corn, large
• 2 large stalks of celery
• 1 pepper (bell, sweet type)
• 1 large tomato
• 20 medium, regular french fries (adds fat calories)
• Beans or peas, dried: Cooked - 1 cup mashed or whole (chick peas or garbanzos, pinto, black, kidney, split peas, etc)

Posted by Renee Shelton

There are many kinds of dietary fat, including saturated, trans fats, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, and cholesterol. Read up on the types, know which to avoid and try one of the aternatives and substitutions listed.

The Skinny on Dietary Fats