TIP OF THE DAY: [Almost] Ready To Eat, Good For You Foods

January 8, 2016 at 8:44 am · Filed under Diet Nibbles, Healthier Options, NutriNibbles-Organic-Health

Rebel Fish Cajun Blackened Salmon

Top: Purdue Short Cuts, ready to heat and
eat. Center: Rebel Fish salmon fillets
microwave in 90 seconds. Bottom:
Swanson Flavor Infused Broth, flavorful by
themselves or with added veggies and/or
protein.

Forty-five percent of Americans usually make New Year’s resolutions. The Top 5 New Year’s Resolutions include weight loss (#1) and healthier eating (#5). [Source]

Now for the bad news:

Just 10% of people who fully commit to making resolutions are successful at keeping them.

1 in 3 people ditch their vows by the end of January.

66% set fitness goals as part of their resolutions, but 73% of them give up before meeting their goal.

Many of us sabotage a good eating plan because it’s usually easier to make bad choices than good ones. But it’s really easy to make small fixes. Just pick three better-for-you foods to incorporate into your diet, using the new USDA Nutrition Guidelines.

Here are some of the foods we rely on: tasty and good for you, and either ready to eat or ready to heat and eat. We promise: You won’t be disappointed.

9 OPTIONS THAT ARE READY TO EAT OR READY-TO-HEAT & EAT

When you’re tired and/or pressed for time, it’s easy to microwave something. Stock up on good-for-you products to microwave:

Cooked Chicken Breasts. We buy grilled, boneless, skinless, individually wrapped chicken breasts at Trader Joe’s. A package of five is under $7, and they’re shrink-wrapped for a four-week shelf life. You can find roasted cooked chicken and turkey from regional brands as well as Perdue and Tyson. Add a healthy sauce—dill-yogurt or mustard-yogurt, marinara, pesto, vinaigrette or anything with no added sugar—and microwave. Or, stop a bed of whole grain or a salad.

Pre-Cooked Or Frozen Fish Fillets. Rebel Fish Salmon goes from package to plate in 90 seconds. It can be cooked in all of the traditional ways (baked, broiled or pan fried), but it’s specifically designed to be microwaved. There are six flavorful rubs: Cilantro Lime, Lemon Pepper Herb, Barbeque, Maple Mesquite Smoked Sea Salt, Cajun Blackened and Thai Chili, so it doesn’t gets boring. Serve it with grain, mixed vegetables, on a Caesar salad, in a salmon taco or other good-for-you preparation.

Flavored Tuna, Tilpia & Salmon Pouches. Chicken Of The Sea and StarKist have 90-calorie pouches of already-seasoned fish that turn a bag of washed salad into lunch; or be used as a topper for grains or pasta. Chicken Of The Sea has the best flavored salmon options—Barbecue, Lemon Pepper, Sweet & Spicy and Sriracha—as well as flavored tuna pouches and flavored tilapia in Marinara, Santa Fe, Teriyaki and Yellow Curry. StarKist has flavored tuna Hot Buffalo, Lemon Dill and Thai flavors.

Whole Grains. There’s a proliferation of heat and eat grains: 90 seconds in the microwave. We like the Lundberg Heat and Eat Bowl of long grain brown rice, and the Village Harvest whole grains (freekah and three whole grain blends) that are ready in five minutes.

Swanson Flavor Infused Broth. This is not your mother’s diet broth, but nicely-seasoned alternatives that can be drunk straight or loaded with chopped vegetables, cooked proteins, etc. Mexican Tortilla Flavor Infused Broth, Thai Ginger Flavor Infused Broth and Tuscan Chicken Flavor Infused Broth have just 25 to 30 calories a cup, plus whatever you choose to add. We keep a container in the fridge at work for a protein-filled “coffee break.” At home, we add diced chopped vegetables (you can buy them prepared), enoki mushrooms or leftover cooked grains. And of course, these broths can be used in recipes, of which there are many on the Swanson website.

Low Sodium Canned Beans. Prepare them as a side, plop them into infused broth, add them to green salads. We also mix them with scrambled eggs and use them as omelet fillings.

Hummus. A nutritionist’s delight, America has gone hummus- happy and flavors proliferate. Even people who aren’t big hummus fans can enjoy flavors like Boar’s Head Fiery Chipotle Hummus or Tribe Everything Hummus, which has all the toppings of an “everything” bagel. Get a bag of baby carrots and you’re set for snacking.

Oatmeal Cups. Last year we switched to Modern Oats Oatmeal Cups as a quick microwaved breakfast. Whole grain, fast cooking and easy to eat on the go (BYO spoon), the only question is the 17 grams of sugar. But compared to the bagels, toast, breakfast pastry we used to eat, it’s a way better choice. Pick Nuts & Seeds over the fruit flavors for 14 grams of sugar, plus added nutrition from the nuts and seeds.

Fruit Desserts & Snacks. Fresh berries, frozen banana slices and baked apples are some of our go-tos. But at 90 calories per serving, Bare Apple Chips are like candy to us, even though there’s no sugar added. This is a brilliant product from BareSnacks; Try it and you’ll be hooked. You can also make a low-calorie dip by adding noncaloric sweetener and cinnamon to plain fat-free yogurt, but really, the chips alone are just heavenly.

What are your go-to, good-for-you foods? Let us know!

Low Sodium Canned Beans

Oatmeal Cups

Bare Fruit Apple Chips
Top photo: Flavored tuna pouches are really yummy. Second photo: Low-sodium canned beans can be served at breakfast, lunch or dinner. Third photo: Oatmeal cups are convenient and so much better than bagels and doughnuts. Bottom photo: The best sweet snack with no added sugar.