Secret Menus

Since I am always on the go, I am constantly looking for quick easy foods to devour on my short lunch breaks or my drive to class. So after years of this routine I have become somewhat tired of certain fast food restaurants, that was until I discovered their secret menus. Since everyone loves a good secret let me share a few of the “secret” items I have discovered with you guys.

• At Subway try the pizza sub its tomato sauce, pepperoni, cheese, and your choice of toppings on bread. Then it’s all toasted and melted.
• At In-N-Out Burgers try the Veggie Burger also known as the Wish Burger. This burger has no meat or cheese, but it’s topped with grilled onions, lettuce, double serving of tomatoes, and topped with sauce.
• At Chipotle try a Quesorito it’s like a quesadilla, however you put the same toppings you would on a burrito in a Quesorito and it’s all baked together into a crispy compact pocket.
• At Burger king try a Veggie Whopper. This burger has a very similar taste to the original Whopper however the only difference is that the beef is substituted for with a veggie patty.
• At Starbucks try the Cake Batter Frap – this is when you order a vanilla Frappuccino and ask the barista for both the vanilla bean and almond flavorings. This blend creates the flavor of cake batter.

Not all restaurants participate in secret menus, but most do. Especially In-N-Out, their secret menu really is not a secret at all it’s actually on their website. The items I listed where just a few I ended up loving over the years, but if you would like to explore more secret menus check out this article.

Calorie Data to Be Posted at Most Chains

I was traveling through New Port California about six months ago and stopped at a local chain restaurant BJs.  Usually on vacation I enjoy myself and don’t pay attention to what I’m eating because I work so hard and tell myself to relax during vacation time. So burgers, nachos, sandwiches, pizzas, steak and pasta which we all know are high calorie foods, I sit back and enjoy. Except this time I was craving anything of course besides my usual clean food. When I was glancing through the menu I noticed the calories on everything, OMG!!! Not only me but my boyfriends family who is overweight and doesn’t watch what they eat were shocked to see the amount of calories in a burger, pizza, etc. Of course at the time I was like darn, but I appreciated it being nutrition student.  Only a few states have this requirement, which I think it should be in every state to help with obesity in the United States.  Any American who walks into McDonalds, starbucks, burger king, any big restaurant chains around the nation will now be able to see these nutrition facts.  They are required to put calorie information on their menus and drive through signs. So in other words it’s impossible to make excuses for high calorie food and consuming a high amount. This could affect the decisions of enough people to create a public health benefit; this is improving the nation’s nutrition. I’m a strong advocate to promote anyone to making better decisions, so I’m pleased to see that some states and hopefully all will be doing this. 

Who TO #FF

Marion Nestle @Marionnestle- Marion is a nutrition industry leader. She is a NYU Professor and author. Her tweets are insightful and the information she tweets about is useful.

Sample tweet: Beef Products Inc to suspend making pink slime at 3 of 4 plants. Will address consumer concerns.

Dr. Mehmet Oz @DrOz – Host of the Dr. Oz Show, and cardiac surgeon. If you enjoy Dr. Oz’s TV show, you will certainly enjoy his tweets. He has daily tips to staying healthy and is keeps you up with daily health twitter chats.

Sample tweet: #OzTip Prevent a heart attack naturally. Lower blood pressure & cholesterol by eating 5 different colors of antioxidant rich foods a day.

Joy Bauer @joybauer- Joy Bauer is an RD and health and nutrition expert other today show, and an author. She tweets health advice, links to helpful articles on breaking health news, and fun recipes.

Sample tweet: Just 15 minutes of exercise day may boost life expectancy by three years. That's proof that every little bit counts!

Eat Right @EatRight- The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is correct science based nutrition information and advice. This is a page that anyone interested in the field of nutrition should follow.

Sample tweet: Careful w/ cutting boards! Germs lurk in cracks! Use 2 different boards 4 raw meats & ready-to-eat foods

U.S FDA @US_FDA- The US Food and Drug Administration tweets the most up-to-date news and information and food safety.

Sample tweet: Mission Foods Voluntarily Recalls Taco Dinner Kits Due to Possible Undeclared Milk Allergen.

Mark Sisson @Mark_Sisson- mark is a well-known author and blogger who tweets great daily tips and advice on health, fitness, and nutrition.

Sample tweet: Are you incorporating plenty of leafy greens in your diet? 

If you want to find more people to follow on Twitter check out this article. 

Top Ten Free Health and Fitness Apps

Our phones now have an app for everything. We can share photos, video chat, play games, watch movies, and listen to music just to name a few. Personally though I enjoy downloading apps that help me make smart choices, our phones are called smart phones after all. From my experience I have put together a list  apps that help with our health, and the best part...they're free!

1.  My fitness Pal - this app helps monitor your calorie intake, so you can work towards your ideal weight.
2. Skin Spot Check –this app allows you to take a picture of a spot you’re worried about, and in 24 hours a dermatologist will send you a diagnosis.
3. Fast Food Calories-this app has mostly every fast food restaurant’s menus and lets you see just how many calories are in each meal or item.
4. Fooducate- this app scans food bar codes and lets you compare them so you can make better decisions.
5. Instant Heart Rate- lets you put your index  finger on your camera to calculate your heart rate
6. Web MD- just like the website you have access to all of the health information you desire.
7.  Daily Ab Workout- this app gives you access to lots of easy to understand and time conscious videos to help strengthen your abs.
8.  Pret-a-Yoga –this app is for yoga beginners; it demonstrates yoga piece by piece and is a great learning tool
9.  Lose it! - is a great weight loss tool. It lets you set weight goals, calorie budgets, and it tracks your progress.
10. StepTrackLite- this app has a pedometer that helps you track how many steps you’ve been taking.

If you’re looking for more free apps that help with your health make sure to visit Google Play

Desperate Housewives

Recently, my roommates and I have started watching Desperate Housewives from the very first season on Netflix. Since we don't have cable, we have to get creative with what we watch. Desperate Housewives is a soap opera that could be a little better in the acting area, however I still feel the need to watch it. My main concern with this show is that all of the "housewives" are way, way too skinny. Their ribs and collar bones are always popping out and it looks unhealthy. One instance that really stuck out to me was when one of the housewives, Gabrielle Solis, was pregnant. In one episode, after three months of being pregnant, she went shopping. While she was shopping she was trying on a dress and it was a little tight. The worker asked her if she wanted to go up to a size zero, she then got upset and exclaimed that he was a double zero and criticized the worker for calling her fat. She then decided that she would not eat for two days so she could fit into the dress. Wait, what? I don't think this is any way to promote how to be healthy, let alone while being pregnant. After 48 hours of crash dieting she finally fit into the dress, but what message has now been permanently left with the viewers? I don't think that something like that should have been allowed to air. Although that may have been a small scene in the entire episode, let alone the series, something that small can stick with women and kids for a lifetime. I think that this show should promote better health by making sure that the housewives are at a healthy weight.
Check out the clip of the episode (the scene is around 7:00 minutes.)

Road Trip

Road Trip

Over the weekend I went on an eight-hour car drive to Telluride, Colorado.  I love road trips because it gives me a chance to eat and drink all the junk food I normally pass up at gas stations. However, for this trip I made it my own personal goal not to purchase anything from the various gas stations along the way. I was on a tight budget for this trip, and thought that preplanning my road trip meals would be a great way to save a little cash and eat healthy.

The first step I took, on my quest to eat cheap and healthy, was to prepare a list of food and beverage opinions that would be easy to pack. I find going to the store with a set list helps me stay on budget, which was my ultimate goal for this trip.

 I would normally purchase items like cola, candy, and chips. But this time my list consisted of fresh fruit, deli meats, and bottled water. I chose to stay away from prepackaged food and instead bought ingredients to make my own meals. For example, I bought a bunch fruit to make fruit cups. This ended up costing me less and I avoided the extra sugar that is in prepackaged fruit cups.

By sticking to my grocery list I was able to save money and eat healthy. I didn’t purchase anything from a gas station and I know my body was very happy to receive nutritious food before a big weekend of snowboarding. Below I included my advice for people looking to stay on budget and eat healthy on the road.

Road Trip Tips:

1.     Determine your budget for groceries.

2.     Prepare a list before you go to the store and stick to it!

3.     Instead of grabbing a bag of chips, pick up some fresh fruit or string cheese.

4.     Make your own sandwiches instead of buying them pre-made.

5.     Stay away form soda and stock up on bottled water or 100% juice packs.

A "Lighter" Easter Sunday

Every Easter my family gets together at my Nana’s house for a huge Easter celebration! This year will be no different, except for the fact that we have all decided to not go overboard with all of the munchies we usually bring for our family holiday gatherings. Since my family knows I love to cook, I have been put in charge of bringing an item or two on Easter Sunday. With our “no-going-overboard-with-the-munchies-plan”, I am choosing to bring a “lighter” version of our traditional Easter favorites. First off, deviled eggs! This not-so-light egg-y deliciousness appetizer seems to be difficult to lighten up. So I am going straight to the internet to find a healthy version of this Easter classic at the Staples house…

Sure enough, I found I wonderful recipe to try out. FRENCH STYLE STUFFED EGGS. Mmm! Right? These sound sooo good! Here is the recipe to prove it… (It also got great reviews! I hope my family enjoys my lighter version of the good ole deviled eggs!) :) ENJOY!

Ingredients

·         8 large eggs 

·         1/3 cup minced reduced-fat ham 

·         1 tablespoon minced green onions 

·         1 tablespoon minced parsley

·         1 tablespoon low-fat mayonnaise 

·         1 teaspoon mustard

·         1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

·         1/8 teaspoon salt

·         1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

·         2 (1-ounce) slices white bread, torn into large pieces 

·         Cooking spray

·         Fresh thyme leaves (optional)

Preparation

1.     Place eggs in a large saucepan. Cover with water to 1 inch above eggs; bring just to a boil. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 12 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold running water until cool.

2.     Peel eggs; slice in half lengthwise. Remove yolks; discard 4 yolks. Place remaining 4 yolks in a medium bowl. Add ham and next 7 ingredients (through pepper); stir until combined.

3.     Place bread in a food processor; pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs measure 1 cup.

4.     Spoon about 1 teaspoon yolk mixture into each egg white half. Top each half with 1 tablespoon breadcrumbs. Coat breadcrumbs with cooking spray.

5.     Preheat broiler.

6.     Place eggs on a baking sheet; broil 1 minute or until breadcrumbs are toasted. Garnish with thyme leaves, if desired.