Link of the Week: Diet and Risk of Cancer

It is amazing how many diseases develop over time due to poor eating habits. It's so hard to control what we eat sometimes because there are barely any immediate consequences...besides feeling sluggish after those fries. But when it comes to diet, you have to think long term. Will what I am eating now negatively affect me in 10, 20, 30 or more years if I continue to eat this way? What if I continue to eat the same amount while my metabolism slows with age? Am I armed with the determination and willpower to exercise more and eat less to avoid gaining excess weight?

This is why so often we dietitians stress lifestyle changes. Ryan and I have this joke when we come to the choice of an escalator or stairs. One of us will say "It's a lifestyle" and then choose one route or the other. Because it truly is a lifestyle. Do we look for opportunities to put a little physical activity into our day and temporarily boost our metabolism? Park a little farther away perhaps instead of circling the lot for ten minutes to find the closest spot possible? In addition to having an active lifestyle, it's good to cultivate a lifestyle of healthy eating. Crash diets are not lifestyle changes. They are stressors on your body. When seeking to lose or maintain weight, you must make changes that you can sustain for the rest of your life.

There are many different types of cancer caused by many different things and they are treated in different ways. However, you can reduce your risk of many types of cancer by being active and properly nourishing your body.

The following link is to an article on the website of Central Baptist's Cancer Center. It provides some great tips about physical activity, food, and supplements. I suggest you read it and take it to heart! Not only will following these guidelines reduce your risk of cancer, but they will also make you healthier and less disease-susceptible overall.

Over Power Cancer

Semi-quick Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Yesterday I was craving ice cream and a smoothie just wasn't going to cut it. We didn't have any in our freezer and I'm not about to hop in my car and drive to Kroger just for ice cream (not to mention the fact that most of the brands sitting on those frosted shelves have a book-long list of ingredients).

So not wanting to break the calorie bank, I decided to come up with something myself. I was inspired by this recipe for a low-calorie quick ice cream, but I wanted to make a single serving and I wanted to standardize the recipe a little more. I toyed around with some ingredients and put them in the freezer and tried not to think about it for an hour and a half. It was frozen around the edges when I got it out so I blended it with some ice cubes and it came out like this:

Not bad. Certainly looks yummylicious.

But after ten seconds it looked like this:

And by the time I finished...I would have had to call it soup if anyone had asked me what I was eating. The ice cubes made it too bland and there was way too much liquid. Plus when I calculated the nutrition information it was a little higher in calories than I wanted it.

So I tinkered around some more and gave the new mixture a little more time in the freezer. I waited to eat it until today, but if you start checking on it after 4-5 hours, it should be frozen enough. The goal is to get it frozen solid if possible.

I know you're thinking...that's not quick!! But here's what you could do. Make a bunch of single servings and freeze them so whenever you want one you can pull it out!

Here's my final recipe:

Semi-quick Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Makes 1 serving

1/4 banana
1/2 cup unsweetened plain or vanilla almond or soy milk
1/2 tbsp peanut butter
1/2 tbsp chocolate chips (mini if you have 'em)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp instant expresso (optional...but tasty!)
1/2 tsp maple syrup (you can use 1/2 packet stevia instead if you wish...)
1 teensy pinch of salt

Mash the quarter of a banana in a freezer-safe container. (I always keep frozen bananas cut up into fourths in my freezer for smoothies and occasions such as this.) Add the other ingredients and whisk. Freeze for at least 4 hours. Thaw for a few seconds in the microwave until you can get it to slide out in a few chunks. Blend. (I used my Big Boss individual size blender...which is awesome and I would recommend to anyone.) Enjoy!

You could easily multiply this recipe by how many servings you want to make.

And it turned out like this! And it stayed like that until I finished consuming it. It was also the perfect amount of sweetness and just peanut buttery and chocolatey enough.

Nutrition Facts

  1 Serving
Amount Per Serving

  Calories 140.8  
  Total Fat 7.4 g     
    Saturated Fat 1.9 g     
    Polyunsaturated Fat 0.0 g     
    Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g  
  Cholesterol 0.0 mg  
  Sodium 192.9 mg  
  Potassium 199.1 mg  
  Total Carbohydrate 15.7 g     
    Dietary Fiber 1.8 g     
    Sugars 10.0 g  
  Protein 2.8 g

Loafing Around: An adventure in bread

When life hands you lemons...well you know the rest. But what about when life hands you a broken air conditioner? Make yeast bread! This is what I decided yesterday when I was sweating in my sauna (aka house) waiting for various heating and air companies to call me back.

So I leafed through one of my favorite bread cookbooks and found a recipe to play with. Despite my belief that 82 degrees would be the ultimate rising temperature...it didn't double in size. I did go a little crazy with the whole wheat flour and wheat bran. But it still ended up pretty darn tasty...especially smothered in peanut butter for my breakfast this morning!

One warning. This recipe will use almost every one of your measuring cups. Don't ask me why I did that. It wasn't on purpose, I promise.

Whole Wheat Bread
Makes 1 loaf (about 10 servings)

1 1/4 cups white bread flour
1 3/4 cup whole wheat bread flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup wheat bran
2/3 cup lukewarm water (you may need more...depending on a lot of things)
1/2 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp molasses

These are the bread flours I prefer to use:
Weisenberger Mills Whole Wheat Bread Flour
White Lily White Bread Flour

And this is what I use for wheat bran. It's great to throw in baked goods.

Bob's Red Mill Wheat Bran

1. Mix the flours and salt in a bowl. 

2. Stir in the yeast and wheat bran. 

3. Make a well in the middle and add the water, yogurt, oil, and molasses. Stir with a wooden spoon until it comes together. Add more water 1 tbsp at a time, if needed.

4. Turn out onto a lightly floured counter and knead for about 10 minutes.

5. Spray a bowl with cooking spray. Shape the dough into a ball and put it in the bowl. Cover with a damp dish towel and leave in a warm place.

Now leave the floury mess on your counter because you'll need it again and do something for 1-2 hours. Like read my blog! :)

6. Brush a cookie sheet with oil.

7. Turn the dough out onto the floured counter (glad you didn't wipe it up now?), punch it for fun, and knead for about a minute.

8. Shape into a ball and put on the cookie sheet.

9. Cover with the damp dish towel and let rise for another 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees while you're waiting.

10. Slash the loaf how you want and bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown.

11. Transfer to wire rack to cool and don't cut into it for at least 10-15 minutes so it can finish cooking in the middle!

For some reason it reminds me of Jabba the Hutt.

Nutrition Facts

  10 Servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories 166.8  

Total Fat 3.5 g     

  Saturated Fat 0.3 g     

  Polyunsaturated Fat 1.0 g     

  Monounsaturated Fat 1.7 g  

Cholesterol 0.5 mg  

Sodium 238.7 mg  

Potassium 59.8 mg  

Total Carbohydrate 29.2 g     

  Dietary Fiber 3.6 g     

  Sugars 0.5 g  

Protein 6.2 g

You could easily make the servings smaller if you like. I just happened to slash the bread so it naturally fell into 10 servings. Enjoy!

Link of the Week: Calorie Calculator

Today I am linking to a site that uses the Mifflin-St. Jeor equation to estimate how many calories you need per day. I like this one because it shows you not only how many calories you need to maintain your weight, but also how many calories you need to consume in order to gain or lose 1-2 lb per week.

Now, keep in mind that everyone is different. This equation is generally accurate, but since you have to average your activity level and your metabolism may be slower or faster than normal it may not be exactly right for you. Be sure to take into consideration the amount of calories you are currently eating and how that is affecting your weight.

Calorie Calculator

If you are actually going to be tracking calories, I recommend getting a profile with a site like MyFitnessPal. This website is a wonderfully easy way to track how much you eat compared with how much you should eat and it also has an app!