Nourishing Fall Comfort Food

Today's post is from the strongest woman I know, Shannon McConnell, owner of Iron Moxie.  Shannon has advanced certification in kettle bell training and offers diverse, challenging workouts in Iron Moxie’s bright and vibrant studio.  The studio is well equipped with kettlebells of all sizes for beginner to athlete: couch potato to weekend warrior: young to old.  Kettlebells are complimented by training devices such as plyometric jump boxes, TRX, slosh tubes, sand bags, pull up bars, just to name a few.  Check out her class schedule and change up your exercise routine!

“…the comfort you desire and all the nourishment your body craves.”

Growing up in a working class family, both my parents worked. Ramen and Cup O’Noodles were easy meals. Sometimes, I still get a craving for this childhood comfort food. But I know eating any of these processed foods will not give me satisfaction.

I created a recipe that gives you all the comfort you desire and all the nourishment your body craves.  Spaghetti squash makes a perfect noodle with shape, color, texture. and is a nutritiously superior substitute for wheat or rice noodles. And fall is the perfect time of year to use spaghetti squash. Rice noodles have about 200 calories per cup and little nutritional value. 1 cup of spaghetti squash only has 42 calories and adds more nutrition.

This recipe assumes some leftovers. To balance eating well with a busy lifestyle, I like to cook enough for leftovers. If I grill chicken I will enough for several meals and use the leftovers in salads or recipes such as this. The spaghetti squash is best made ahead of time, either the day before. Use some as a substitute for your favorite pasta recipe and some for this soup recipe.

Squash Noodle Chicken Soup

• 1.5-2 cups pre-cooked spaghetti squash (see below)
• 2.5 cups chicken stock
• 6 oz diced chicken, grilled or baked
• 1 chopped leek
• 1/2 cup peas
• 2 cloves garlic
• Spike Seasoning – No salt
• 1egg
• 2 sprigs fresh basil finely chopped

Directions

1. Prep all ingredients. I often bake the spaghetti squash the morning or night before. Grill or bake the chicken if you need or just use leftovers.
2. Sauté leeks and peas in a couple tablespoons of broth until tender. Add rest of broth.
3. Add squash, chopped chicken, and garlic. While that heats. Scramble egg.
4. To finish add egg and basil. When soup starts to simmer it’s done.

Spaghetti Squash Noodles

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cut spaghetti squash in half and scope out seeds.
3. Fill a baking pan with about 1 inch of water
4. Turn squash halves face down in water.
5. Bake squash until tender. Depending on the size, cooking times can vary. 20-40 minutes. I pierce with a fork.
6. When squash is tender. Pull the pan out of the oven. I turn the halves so they are face up to cool.
7. After they are cool, use a fork to scrape the insides into a bowl. The squash will flake out just like noodles.

Food and Cholesterol - Simple or Not?

It would be so easy if simply eating less dietary cholesterol meant lower blood levels of cholesterol.  Unfortunately, the end result with this approach is often taking a statin drug to lower total cholesterol levels.  How come this approach doesn’t work?

First, the amount of cholesterol in your blood comes from both the cholesterol in your food (dietary cholesterol) and cholesterol that your body makes (endogenous cholesterol).  The amount of cholesterol absorbed from food varies between individuals, and the amount your body makes varies based on the amount in your diet.  It is estimated that approximately 75-85% of the cholesterol in your body is made internally, and 15-25% comes from diet.  Surprised?  Cholesterol is so important for health that our bodies closely regulate the amount.  Found primarily in cell membranes, cholesterol is also used to make steroid hormones, bile acid, and vitamin D. 

Second, there are other dietary and lifestyle factors that impact cholesterol levels.  Current guidance to lower cholesterol levels includes: reduce saturated fat intake to <7% of calories, limit dietary cholesterol to <200 mg/day, consider increasing soluble fiber to 10-25 g/day, weight loss, and increase physical activity. 

Where to start?  All of these guidelines can be met by increasing your daily fruit and vegetable intake and following a consistent exercise plan.  One of the easiest approaches is to use a “Healthy Plate” approach with ½ of your plate vegetables, ¼ of your plate lean protein foods (fish, poultry, beef, pork, soy), and ¼ of your plate starches/grains (whole grain rice, pasta, bread, etc.) with fruit for snacks.  Aiming to eat this way the majority of the time will increase fiber, decrease saturated fat and cholesterol, and likely decrease your calorie intake and weight.  Add in a brisk walk or more rigorous exercise 5 days a week and you may not only see lower total and LDL cholesterol numbers, but also an increase in HDL cholesterol (“good” cholesterol).

Eating this way requires a little planning and eating more meals at home.  If you are just starting out, try leafy green salads loaded with fresh vegetables to get used to filling half of your plate.  You will be a pro in no time and will be able to translate this way of eating to restaurant meals, buffets, and parties.  Start now and you will breeze through the challenge of holiday eating with ease.