Lunch Date Newsletter #21: The Health News To Know

Happy New Year’s Eve Day! I’m back with your mid-week news roundup. Have fun and be safe tonight. And make sure to keep a special eye on your pets – it’s an unusually busy night at the Veterinary Emergency Rooms (here’s why). Cheers to a healthy, happy 2015!! xx

Here’s my collection of articles and recipes from the last week, from the best way to make resolutions stick to a lemon peel twist hack.

What I’m Reading:

Food, Nutrition & Health:

• Transform Your Relationship With Food By Doing This One Simple Thing – Maryann Jacobsen for The Huffington Post
• Kalettes, Broccoflower, and Other Eye-Popping Vegetables for 2015 – NPR
• 15 Food Safety Resolutions for 2015 – The Cutting Board
• Snacking in 2015 to be shaped by occasions: Think late-night, sports and breakfast-fillers – Food Navigator
• Protein is the hottest functional food ingredient in the United States – Food Navigator
• Moms of food allergic kids need dietician’s support – American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology via Science Daily
• What’s the Best Way to Make a Resolution Stick? – The Wall Street Journal
• Produce marketers can use Sesame Workshop’s characters without paying royalties. Read about how Fowler Farms is using Elmo. – The Packer

Sleep:

• For Young Kids, Too Little Sleep Linked to Later Obesity – HealthDay
• Insomnia Slideshow: 20 Tips for Better Sleep – WebMD

Exercise:

• Get grounded with these 10 slow-the-heck-down yoga poses – well + Good
• Using weights to target belly fat – Harvard School of Public Health

Kitchen Techniques: 

• You’ve Been Peeling An Orange All Wrong – tablespoon <-this is pretty epic
• Sunkist Citrus Hacks: The Easy Lemon Twist <- It’s easy to make fancy new year’s eve martinis now!

What I’m Salivating Over: 

Breakfast:

• Creamy Blueberry-Pecan Overnight Oatmeal – EatingWell

Party Appetizers:

• Pistachio Basil Ricotta Spread with Honey – Snixy Kitchen
• Pickled Herring Smorrebrod (Danish Open-faced Sandwich) – Serious Eats
• New Years Eve Party Round-Up: 31 Festive Cocktail and Appetizer Recipes – Kara Lydon, The Foodie Dietitian
• Hot Spinach Dip – Skinnytaste

Slow Cooker Recipes:

• Honey-Orange Chicken Drumsticks – EatingWell

Main Courses:

• Asian Peanut Noodles with Chicken – Lightened Up – Skinnytaste
• One-Pot Paprika Chicken Thighs – Reluctant Entertainer
• Three Cheese Zucchini Stuffed Lasagna Rolls – Skinnytaste

Desserts:

• Chocolate Meringue Cake with Whipped Cream and Raspberries – Serious Eats
• Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (flourless, no butter) – Ambitious Kitchen
• Chocolate Covered Champagne Strawberries – Frosting and a Smile

What I’ve Been Up To:

I had to do a big grocery shop to replenish our staples and pick up ingredients for dinner, so I took some photos to show you how I filled up my fridge!

Some of the highlights:

(1) Wheetabix cereal. I’ve been eating 2 biscuits with lactose-free 1% milk and California strawberries for breakfast the past few mornings. It keeps me full and tastes great. The biscuits have 4 grams of fiber, 4 grams of protein, 2 grams of sugar, and 130 calories.

(2) Organic Valley 1% Lactose Free Milk. This is the best tasting lactose free milk – it’s rich and creamy and not thin and sugary tasting like others I’ve had. The 1% milk fat helps me stay full.

(3) Eggs: We always have eggs in the fridge. It’s our typical weekend breakfast and can be a quick lunch or dinner too.

(4) Brown Rice Cakes: I love these with freshly ground honey roasted peanut butter or hummus for a snack (you’ll see both of those in the cart too!)

(5) Clementines: The best snack when they’re in season!! Totally satisfies a post-dinner sweet tooth and makes an awesome afternoon snack.

(6) Celery: good for snacking with cheese, peanut butter or hummus – or all on their own!

Some holiday treats I made around Christmas! Clockwise from top left: Cinnamon sugar chocolate chip pull-apart bread from What’s Gaby Cooking; setting up for chocolate fondue with my family; posing with the warm pull-apart bread; the elf on a shelf stealing the last rugelach!

See you for another mid-week lunch date next Wednesday in 2015!