Healthy Snack of the Day - Cucumber and Cheese Slices

Hi, I'm back posting!

I guess many people love cheese, and I'm one of them. I don't like milk though, and I avoid cream. But I always have butter and cheese in stock, since I consider it healthy foods ;)

Above photo shows a new snack combo that I came up with to eat between meals. My sons liked it too, so its going to be one of my standbys.

Just peel and slice a cucumber (remove the seeds), and accompany with slices of good quality cheddar cheese (mine is a New Zealand product: Mainland Mild Cheddar) and some olives to add color to the dish ;)

I'll try to come up with more healthy snacks of the day. If you have some to share, just post the link in the comments section.

I love pineapples!!!

As a child, I instinctively craved for fruits and veggies more than other kinds of food. I hated milk (as far as I can remember), and I wasn't really happy with the typical Filipino dishes of adobong manok o baboy (chicken or pork), bangus (milkfish) or tilapia, beefsteak and such...Besides, fruits are expensive so we didn't have as much of it as we wanted.
Now my family is more blessed when it comes to fresh fruits, because we are able to harvest our own! But I'm still not so happy because it is only me that really eats enough of the fruits. It is not easy to convince others to eat as much fruit.
For now, we have pineapples! I have waited for several months since I first saw the fruits grow from the plant, to its maturity. These were planted in our small farm in a nearby province. Though I have one pineapple plant here at home, which my brother gave to me upon seeing my delight for this beautiful creation.

Here's my previous post on how to easily make fresh pineapple-orange juice at home.

As an added bonus, when I serve pineapples, I save the cut leaves on top and use it to decorate my home. It lasts for a long time ;)

Three Veggies Stir-fry

This is my favorite way of cooking veggies. I hardly have the patience to cook elaborate dishes, but I also don't want to eat packaged or canned foods. Sometimes I do include a canned vegetable, when I'm in a hurry or when I wasn't able to buy it fresh from the market.
I limit the ingredients when I cook, to make it simpler but not to sacrifice the taste or nutrition. I used to overdo it when I have just stocked on veggies, and then I realize that I have few left to cook another dish or add to my fresh salad. So my rule for myself is to have 3 kinds of vegetables in my stir-fry, no more - no less. This does not include the garlic and onions, which are the basic ingredients and the herbs if I have them.

For today, I have some broccoli, red bell pepper and canned mushrooms. I'm also using leeks instead of white onion.

I saute the garlic first in 4T olive oil and 1T sesame oil.
Then I stir-fry the veggies, adding the broccoli first since it takes longer to cook. I don't really follow an exact procedure or recipe everytime I cook. After the veggies are done, I add the spices (oregano, basil and salt) and some Kikkoman soy sauce.

Lemon Grass (tanglad) Tea

I had been using lemon grass before in flavoring soups and other dishes, but only last year did I know that it can be made into an iced tea drink. We were able to try it first at a Thai restaurant, though I think their preparation is quite sweet. Its very simple to make, and I prefer to make it myself since it costs very little, and I can sweeten it as desired. The lemon grass can bought at the local market (known as tanglad) or in the supermarket. Just wash and cut it up about one inch lengths (using scissors is easier than using a knife).

Boil in filtered water, about one cup per stalk of grass, or according to desired flavor. Turn off the heat once the water has boiled, and leave for about 5-10 mins. Pour into glass or cup, drink hot or cold. Add sweetener, as desired. (Tip: raw honey is a delicious and healthy choice).
Lemon grass has many health benefits. It helps to detoxify the liver, pancreas, kidney, bladder and the digestive tract. It cuts down uric acid, cholesterol, excess fats and other toxins in the body while stimulating digestion, blood circulation, and lactation; it also alleviates indigestion and gastroenteritis. It is said that lemongrass also helps improve the skin by reducing acne and pimples and acts as a muscle and tissue toner. Also, it can reduce blood pressure.

Eating more Fruits and Vegetables

We all know fruits and veggies are healthy foods, but how much of it do we really eat? I would guess its just 10-20% of what we should be eating.
As for me, I have made a conscious effort to replace most of the meat dishes, fried foods, canned foods and other non-essential foodstuff with fresh fruits, steamed/sauteed or baked veggies or fresh salad veggies. I have also been eating more beans to replace the protein I used to get from meat. I have been very concerned with food ever since I got gastritis and ulcer in 2005. The only problem is its very hard to give up chocolate and coffee (which aggravates my digestive problems). Also, it gets more complicated having to deal with resistance from other family members (in my case, my two sons) of the changes that I want to make with food served at home.
Its also hard to stay disciplined in buying and preparing fruits and veggies all the time. Its so easy to grab convenience foods in the supermarket, isn't it? But I would say that my goal for a completely healthy diet is now 75% achieved. It is a slow process, but if you have health issues you better start now and every little improvement counts. And of course, it is better to start eating right while you still don't have health issues!

I found some helpful tips online:

The National Cancer Institute and the Food Guide Pyramid recommend five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables per day to ward off cancer and other diseases. Unfortunately, only about a quarter of adults eat this much, even though it is quite easy:
Here's a helpful plan. Always have: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbages, oranges, apples, watermelon, cantaloupes, bananas, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, other fruits and vegetables.

1. Include a serving of fruit and/or vegetables at every meal or snack. (Be sure to eat fruits at least 30 mins. before the meal or snack.)
2. Slice bananas or peaches onto your morning cereal. (I don't recommend adding fresh fruit to cereal. I'd rather just add honey to home-cooked cereal)
3. Pack an apple or orange for a mid-morning snack.
4. Ask for extra lettuce and tomato on your sandwich. (No-meat sandwiches are much better, if its fine with you)
5. Snack on crunchy raw vegetables like carrot, celery and jicama sticks, green beans, broccoli and cauliflower florets.
6. Add fruit to your green salad for a delicious twist. Try orange sections, sliced strawberries, pomegranate seeds or sliced apples.
7. Top pizzas with bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, spinach, basil and grated zucchini.

And lastly, here are 30 ways to stretch your fruits and vegetables budget:

Download the pdf here

And the winners are...

Many thanks to all who left comments and became followers of this blog! I hope you'll visit here once in a while, and I will try to interest you with real food, nutrition facts and fallacies,  and other trivia about health.

And now, for the winners...

I would like to congratulate the following:

Bheng
Lisa

Yay!

Again, thanks to all who joined the promo. To all the followers of this blog, another prize will be given away on April 15 :) All followers/subscribers are included in the drawing, except those who already won in this promo.

Blog Promo

I love fruits and vegetables and a lot of times I want to share the not so usual ways that I enjoy these. When I share it with my two sons, they used to roll their eyes before they eat what fruit or vegetable dish I have prepared. Now they seem to like it too ;)
I'm blogging about my quest for better food, that's naturally available, nutritious, and delicious.
Hope you will join me...

And now for my blog promo, I'm giving away this eco-shopping bag plus a few surprise treats to two people. To join, simply be a follower of this blog, or leave a comment, or both. Each follower and each commenter will get one raffle entry, so you can get two entries in all. There will be two winners, one from here in the Philippines and one from abroad. (prices include shipping). Last day to join is March 14. Entries will be raffled on March 15.