Ashley's Kitchen
HOW-TO:
DIY A Detox Salad Bowl
Start with 2 cups of mixed greens or dark leafy greens
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Add your choice of protein @ 3-4 OZ. think: grilled chicken or fish
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Add 1/2 cup choice of a low-GI grain, such as brown rice, buckwheat, millet, quinoa, or amaranth
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Add 2 cups of shredded/chopped raw or cooked vegetables
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Top with your choice of non-creamy dressing or lemon juice + a drizzle of oil
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Add 1-2 TB of healthy fat. I.E. sunflower or pumpkin seeds or 1/2-1/2 of an avocado
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Refrigerate your salad with the dressing on the side so that it doesn’t get soggy
Ashley's Kitchen
Gimme some pasta! Although I’ve never truly been a pasta fiend; I’ve had plenty of clients who are avid noodle lovers. While I’m not one to tell a client to “never” eat something, I am all about finding more nutrient-dense alternatives for their fave foods so they eat healthier without depriving themselves. Alas, my noodle negotiations below!
Vegetable-based bowls:
I’ve been loving the fresh veggie noodles made by Veggie Noodle Co because, realistically, not all of my clients are going to spiralize their own zucchini. They package zucchini, sweet potato, butternut squash, + beet noodles for you to munch on at any meal. Vegetables are packed with varied vitamins + minerals, so each one of these choices is nutritious! Not only are they all amazing in their raw form, they can be gently heated if you want that warm pasta bowl.
Lentil linguine:
Ok, so not always made in the form of linguine noodles, but lentil/bean-based noodles are all the rage right now. Why? Heck, anything with fiber AND protein are a solid win for anyone looking to lean up. The other day I used Ancient Harvest’s POW red lentil noodles with 25g of protein per serving to make a pasta salad for my daughter + I and now I’m obsessed! I simply mixed the cooked rotini noodles with some pan-grilled zucchini + onion and then topped it with a bit of Parmesan, olive oil, lemon, + sea salt. Voila- lunch!
Quinoa crazed:
The gluten-free community has been very aware of the corn/quinoa blend pastas on the market for some time, but I love to reintroduce the quinoa noodle that’s not mixed with a bunch of other, less healthy ingredients. The purest I have found is the GoGo Quinoa brand that boasts 5g of protein per serving + come in all shapes/types.
Gluten-Free Ramen rage:
I have been using Lotus Foods noodles for over a year now in many recipes because I love their flour combinations: Forbidden black rice, Millet-brown rice, Jade pearl rice, + Wakame-brown rice ramen are not only quick to prepare, but they are all whole grain, healthy pasta bowl bases.
Seaweed is so skinny:
Want to have a bowl of pasta where the noodles are under 50 calories? Um, that’s a big ‘duh’ for me! Kelp noodles are a rinse + serve pasta made from seaweed. I buy the Sea Tangle brand regularly. Now, hold off pre-judging these babies before trying them out! I know a lot of people cringe when seaweed is brought up, but they do not taste fishy, they are not a crazy flavor profile…they are crunchy, filling, + devoid of fat, sugars, + have 1 carb per 1/2 cup serving. In that serving you also get: 13g of calcium, 2.28mg of iron, + 52.8 micrograms of Vitamin K. Slam dunk seaweed!
Nutrition
Your average serving sizes visually defined
How you can do nutritional math in your head, visually
Most clients I have met over the last 12 years have not known the visual cues for proper serving sizes in the main food groups. This can be attributed to the fact that we have grown so accustomed to reading what it is on a box, a can, or a bag of food that we have not learned anything ourselves about the caloric count of what we eat as whole, fresh foods.
While I am not an obsessive calorie-counter because I preach a focus on quality over quantity, we do need to know how much of this quality we need. (See the word I used there? NEED vs WANT.) Over time, I boosted my own confidence in visually identified proper portions for food groups and putting it together to define an ideal meal time “plate” visually as well.
I will admit, it takes practice and some awkward plate shifting, analyzing, + general touching of your food- but with practice, you will start to immediately identify the standard visuals. See below for the 3 main steps to learning your visuals.
The approximate gram counts and calorie counts per serving of a major food group is below:
A good rule of thumb is to memorize this initially
- Carbohydrates: 1 serving = 15 grams/80 calories
- Protein: 1 serving of lean = 7 grams/55 calories, 1 serving of extra lean = 7 grams/35 calories
- Vegetables: 1 serving = 15 grams/25 calories
- Fruits: 1 serving = 15 grams/60 calories
- Fats/Oils: 1 serving = 5 grams/45 calories
Here is this information in real-life servings:
- Grains/Starches (15g = 1 serving) includes:
1 slice of bread, 1 roll, ½ C cereal, rice, or pasta, ½ tortilla, 6-8 small crackers, ½ bagel, pita, English muffin, or bun, ½ C potatoes, peas, or corn, 1/3 C beans
- Fruit (15g = 1 serving) includes:
1 piece medium fruit (ex: kiwi), ½ C cut fresh fruit, ½ C fresh juice, ½ C apple sauce (natural), ¼ C dried fruit (no sugar added), 15 grapes
- Dairy (15g = 1 serving) includes:
1/2 C milk substitute, ½ C Soy-based yogurt, Note: cheese is not dairy, it’s protein
- Vegetables (15g = 1 serving) includes:
½ C cooked veggies, 1C salad greens, 1C raw veggies, doesn’t include the higher starch veggies: carrots, peas, or potatoes
- Protein (7g = 1 serving) includes:
¼ C Tuna (canned), 1 oz or slice of soy cheese, 2 oz of crab, lobster, or shrimp, 1 slice luncheon meet, 1 oz. poultry, fish, pork
- Fats/Oils (5g = 1 serving) includes:
1 tsp butter/margarine, 1 tsp peanut/nut butter, 1 TB of most dressings, 1 tsp oil, 1 tsp seeds or nuts
Serving Sizes In Real Life Visuals
If you are out to eat and cannot decide how to make this more user-friendly, you can visualize the proper portion sizes easily with these helpful visual clues.
- Thumb tip or small marble: 1 tsp (to measure: oils)
- Thumb tip to first knuckle or large marble; 1 TB (to measure: butter or nut butters)
- Thumb or 2 large marbles: 2 TB solid food (to measure: nuts) or 1 ounce liquid (to measure: salad dressing, sauces, etc.)
- Golf ball or cupped handful: ¼ cup (to measure: beans, rice, etc.)
- Hockey puck or the inside of your palm from wrist to fingertips: 3 ounces (to measure: cooked meat, poultry, or fish)
- A 4×6 photograph: a slice of bread/whole grain
- Tennis ball: ½ C (to measure: fruit)
- Your fist, clenched, or a baseball: 1 C (to measure: vegetables)
Meanwhile, while learning to connect these visuals to food servings in your brain, you can utilize the plate method where, at lunch and dinner, visually this is your portion equation:
- YOUR PLATE = 1/2 vegetables + 1/4 lean protein + 1/4 whole grain starch (served with minimal sauce/dressings which serve as your fats)
Time to get learning- try to teach yourself these visual cues so that you can learn how to monitor your daily intake.