Lunch Date Newsletter #23: The Health News & Recipes You Need to Know

Happy Wednesday! Here’s the health news you need to know from the last week plus recipes I’m loving and some photos of my grocery shopping, breakfasts and snacks. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week.

In the comments, I’d love to hear from you: what was one thing that made you happy last week?

My Recent Press:

• 7 Ways to Get Your Kids to Eat Fruit (And Love It!) – PBS Parents

What I’m Reading:

Food, Nutrition & Health:

• BPA and ‘BPA-free’ alternative linked to fetal brain changes (note: study done on embryonic zebrafish, not humans) – Los Angeles Times (link to original study)
• Why You Should Roast a Ton of Vegetables This Weekend – Bon Appetit
• Ditch the Diet Soda: Strategies and Tips – Holley Grainger, MS, RD
• Fight Obesity, Cancer and Diabetes With a Plant-Based Diet – Sharon Palmer, RD quoted in The Seattle Times
• How to Make Sense of the Constant Onslaught of Nutrition Studies – The Globe and Mail
• How to Grow Your Own Avocado Tree (as a houseplant or in a home garden) – California Avocados

Your Home:

• How to Create An Inspiring Workspace – Nutrition Stripped

Mindfulness & Meditation:

• Life Tips From The Ph.D. Who’s Discovering How Meditation Changes Your Brain – The Huffington Post

Parenting:

• 10 Tips for New Moms – The Lean Green Bean
• Pushing the Reset Button on Calling Kids “Picky” – Mom’s Kitchen Handbook (guest post by Maryann Jacobsen)
• Healthy Baby Foods and Hearty Soups – NourishRDs (guest blog post by Melissa of SuperKids Nutrition)

Style:

• Coach Mini Borough Bag – Coach
• J. Crew Calf Hair Pouch – J Crew
• Cotton Top with Lace – H&M
• Jimmy Choo Gamble Patent-Trimmed Calf Hair Point Toe Flats (on sale) – Net-A-Porter
• Hippie in Heels Bracelet – The Neshama Project (10% of proceeds go to charity)
• Dharma Earrings – The Tulsi Project
• Brilliance Pave Disc Post Earring – Michael Kors

What I’m Salivating Over: 

Breakfast & Breads:

• Scandinavian Muesili – EatingWell
• Wheat Berry Pudding – EatingWell
• Maple Nut Granola – EatingWell
• Crunchy Granola Wedges – EatingWell
• Slow Cooker Banana Oatmeal with Bananas and Nuts – FoodieCrush
• Nutty Blueberry Quinoa Oatmeal – According to Elle
• The Best Healthy Whole Wheat Pancakes – To Live & Diet in L.A.

Salads:

• Rainbow Chicken Salad with Almond Honey Mustard Dressing – Pinch of Yum

Main Courses:

• 10 Ways to Enhance Annie’s Mac & Cheese – Shutterbean
• A Veggie Burger Light Years Ahead of the Frozen Kind – Sharon Palmer, RD on Oprah’s OWN Network (video)
• Mustard Balsamic Baked Chicken with Roasted Vegetables – Joyful Healthy Eats
• Asian Chicken Wrap – Ellie Krieger
• Chicken Sofrito – Food & Wine on The Huffington Post

Desserts:

• [Skinny] Dark Chocolate Pomegranate Hazelnut Fudge – Joyful Healthy Eats
• Maple Nut & Pear Scones – EatingWell

Do you have a recipe you want me to include in my roundup next week? E-mail me at [sf_email]CarolineKaufmanRD@gmail.com[/sf_email] and I’ll take a look!

What I’ve Been Up To:

On a recent grocery shopping trip, I bought ingredients for this Seattle Asian Salmon Bowl (so so good) and replenished some of our favorite staples: Whole Foods’ honey roasted peanut butter from the grinding machine, large eggs, lactose-free 1% milk, whole grain bread (I loved this loaf of 100% Whole Wheat by Dave’s Killer Bread), and fresh fruit like raspberries and clementines/mandarin oranges.

One really great breakfast…A slice of 100% whole wheat bread, 1/2 a smashed avocado and a fried egg over-medium. Sprinkled with sea salt.

Breakfast for lunch here! A piece of 100% whole wheat toast with melted Cabot Sharp Cheddar, sliced California strawberries and scrambled eggs.

(Note: The cheese was sent to me by Cabot because I’m a Cabot Cheese Board member, and I have worked with California strawberries. But I buy and eat strawberries all the time because I love ’em!)

One of my favorite breakfasts these days. I mix 1/2 cup of rolled oats with 2/3 cup mixed water and 1% milk. Microwave for 3-4 minutes. Toss in fresh fruit and a dollop of hazelnut almond butter (or another type of nut butter). Coffee with 1% milk.

See you for another Wednesday lunch date next week!

Tell me: What was one thing that made you happy last week?