My Recipes: Turkey Meatballs!

My first (food) love will always be Italian. I can probably blame at least 80 of the 100 lbs I gained on this amazing genre. 

Little diet tip its impossible to lose weight eating pasta and fatty cheeses every day. So when I began this journey I set out on a mission to create healthy, low carb but also delicious Italian meals…

Turkey Meatballs with sautéed Onions, Green & Red Peppers in a Garlic Marinara Sauce.

Ingredients

1 lb Ground Turkey

3-4 Links Italian Sausage (pork or turkey)

2 Pieces whole wheat bread (crust cut off)

3/4 cup milk

Can of Diced Tomatoes

Can of Tomato Sauce

1/2- 3/4 cup Parmesan Cheese

3/4 shredded Mozzarella Cheese

3 tsp dried Oregano

3 tsp dried Basil

3 tsp dried Parsley

1 tsp dried Thyme

2 tbsp Minced Garlic

1 small onion diced

Salt and Pepper to taste ( you won’t need much salt due to the sodium in the cheese and Sausage)

You can supplement your favorite Spaghetti Sauce for the homemade version if time is an issue. Just make sure it’s not loaded with sugar and salt.

 

Cooking Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350°

In a large bowl combine bread and milk and soak till bread has absorbed milk. Stir mixture until smooth. This will add moisture to meatballs…trust me. Remove meat from sausage casings and add to bowl. Also add Turkey meat, Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese, dried herbs, pepper and garlic. Mix with hands or spoon until all ingredients’ are combined. Form into large golf balls and place an inch apart on ungreased dish. Should yield 15-17 meatballs.

Bake in oven for 30-40 minutes,

In a sauce pan, heat Olive Oil over medium high heat and cook onions till translucent. Add Garlic. Reduce heat to medium and add both cans of tomatoes. Cook for 30 minutes. Add 1 tsp of Salt, Pepper, Oregano, Basil, Parsley and Thyme. Simmer on low heat until rest of dinner is complete.

While Sauce is cooking, sauté onions and peppers in garlic and olive oil. Right before serving add a ladle of sauce into pepper mixture.

Variations:

• Use Turkey Sausage instead of Pork to save on Fat. As you can see below 11g is a bit high but in now way bad and i made this with pork.
• Don’t add salt to meatballs to save on sodium. There should be enough in sausage and cheese. Again you see below that the sodium is really high. Way higher than I normally would like but this just means you need to watch your sodium intake on your other meals..no biggie.
• Serve with Whole Wheat Pasta to add Fiber

Enjoy!

Food Items To Avoid: Oatmeal….No Joke.

If there is such a thing as a self-proclaimed “super food”, then oatmeal would take the title. It’s known to lower cholesterol, which makes it good for the heart. It’s a “hearty” meal that sticks around for hours, which leaves you satisfied and guess what..It’s not fried..So, it must be good for you, right??? Well the answer would be yes (to a certain extent) and a BIG FAT NO!

OK lets start with the good. (quick pointers)

1. Over 40 studies have shown that eating oatmeal may help lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease.
2. Oatmeal can help you control your weight.
3. Oatmeal contains a wide array of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants and is a good source of protein, complex carbohydrates and iron.
4. Oatmeal is quick and convenient.

So, those are really good points. To be honest, I can’t really deny the good things that Oatmeal brings to the table. It’s a tremendous food choice but there are some negatives and you need to know them especially if Oatmeal is part of your daily diet. LETS GET US SOME KNOWLEDGE!

1.The Carb to Fiber Ratio is WAAAY Off. Oatmeal is very high in carbs and not all that high in fiber. Looking at the Quaker Oats Nutrition Facts you’ll see that every serving has about 27 grams of Carbs to only 4 grams of Fiber. Not terrible mind you but not great either. I always shoot for a Fiber to Carb ratio of 30% or higher. Unfortunately, Oatmeal is at a measly 14%. What does this mean? Well, more carbs mean more sugar in your blood stream and also means more stored energy. Also, if you consume too many carbs in one sitting, your body will store the excess as fat (if you don’t burn it off). This is especially bad for those people with high blood pressure and really bad for those looking to lose a lot of weight.

2. Most People Don’t Eat Plain Oatmeal. Raise your hand if you wake up in the morning and boil a fresh bowl of plain boring oats with no additives (sugar, syrup, fruit etc). (que jeopardy music)… waiting…still waiting…No one? Exactly…Lets be honest, most people instead go for the sugar loaded, sodium filled, chemically filled replacement Oatmeal better known as Quaker Oatmeal, Cinnamon and Spice flavor. Really? 33 Carbs to 3 grams of fiber and 13 grams of sugar??? Really? REALLY?? Thats not at all healthy. Also, the FDA  recommends the average person needs to get about 300-400 calories per meal. One packet of Oatmeal only has about 160 calories. So you’ll have to double your serving just to get enough food to last you. Not a good idea. All you’ve done is consumed 66 grams of carbs (roughly all you need for the day if you’re on a weight loss diet) 6 grams of Fiber, 8 grams of protein (not bad but not good) and 26 grams of sugar. Please tell me what’s healthy about that?

BUT LYELL ITS GREAT FOR THE HEART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3. Is Oatmeal Good For Your Heart?

I guess in a way it is. I mean it’s low in fat.

I don’t think so. Try this: Have a serving of slow-cooked (e.g., steel-cut, Irish, etc.) oatmeal. Most people will consume oatmeal with skim or 1% milk and some dried or fresh fruit. Wait an hour, then check your blood sugar.

If you are not diabetic and have a fasting blood sugar in the “normal” range (<100 mg/dl), you will typically have a 1-hour blood glucose of 150-180 mg/dl–very high. If you have mildly increased fasting blood sugars between 100 and 126 mg/dl, postprandial (after-eating) blood sugars will easily exceed 180 mg/dl. If you have diabetes, hold onto your hat because, even if you take medications, blood sugar one hour after oatmeal will usually be between 200 and 300 mg/dl.

This is because oatmeal is converted rapidly to sugar, and a lot of it. Even if you were to repeat the experiment with no dried or fresh fruit, you will still witness high blood sugars in these ranges. Do like some people and pile on the raisins, dried cranberries, or brown sugar, and you will see blood sugars go even higher.

The blood glucose effects of oatmeal really don’t differ much from a large Snickers bar or bowl of jelly beans. [1]via Heart Blog

I know that second paragraph is hard to understand at first so go back and read it again. RIGHT NOW. For you lazy peeps I’ll summarize. If you have high blood pressure or you’re diabetic, eating Oatmeal can increase your blood sugar to extremely high and possibly dangerous levels. Why? Well, as I stated above, Oatmeal is high in carbs…carbs turn into sugar  which can lead to high blood sugar levels. As Ron Burgandy so eloquently stated,”It’s science”..

 

So, what you’re saying is that I should avoid Oatmeal like the plague, right? OF COURSE NOT! Oatmeal is great and when used correctly it is a wonderful part of any diet. Now, there are obviously some good aspects of Oatmeal and some that should be very alarming. So know your medical history and eat smart. To be honest, my diet right now consists of Oatmeal at least 2-3 days a week. So obviously I think eating Oatmeal is OK. The key is moderation and not falling into the trap that the flavored versions are good for you. THEY ARE NOT! DON’T DO IT!!!!

If you are going to eat oatmeal, do so with caution. Add only fresh or dried fruits and especially don’t add brown sugar, butter and syrup to “add flavor”. I would suggest even adding a scoop of Fiber supplement as well. Also, don’t make it your only item for breakfast. Maybe eat one serving and throw in an egg or two.   

Be smart, do your homework and don’t fall for fancy advertisements that are designed for you to buy their crap!

 

 

Products You Should Try to Avoid: Low Fat or Fat Free Foods

For some reason marketing companies think by slapping the words FAT FREE on a label of pure crap makes it healthy. Stealing a line from one of my favorite movies Tommy Boy:

If you want me to take a dump in a box and label it FAT FREE I can, I’ve got the time..But if you want to live healthy and enjoy what you eat than I suggest you eat a quality, tasty product from me.

OK, maybe that’s not the exact line but you get the point. Just because something says Fat Free doesn’t mean it’s healthy. Many low-fat foods contain high amounts of sugar (carbs) and sodium to make up for the lack of fat. Let me tell you, carbs and sodium are much worse for a person who’s trying to lose weight or lose body fat than so-called “fatty foods”.

Yet, if you walk down any isle in a grocery store it seems like every other food is labeled “fat free” “low fat” or “cholesterol free”. Why? Well starting decades ago “nutritionist” started a theory that dietary fat causes chronic diseases — dubbed the lipid hypothesis. [2]..Well it turns out they were VERY wrong.

Here’s an excerpt from a 2001 study by nutrition scientists at Harvard School of Public Health (quoted by Michael Pollan in In Defense of Food):

During the past several decades, reduction in fat intake has been the main focus of national dietary recommendations. In the public’s mind, the words “dietary fat” have become synonymous with obesity and heart disease, whereas the words “low-fat” and “fat-free” have been synonymous with heart health.

It is now increasingly recognized that the low-fat campaign has been based on little scientific evidence and may have caused unintended health consequences. [1]

Let me throw some science at ya..  The human brain is about 60 percent fat (every neuron is covered in a protective layer of fat). So depleting your body of the fat it needs can affect your brain function…. Michael Pollan writes in In Defense of Food: “Fats make up the structure of our cell walls, the ratios between the various kinds influencing the permeability of the cells to everything from glucose and hormones to microbes and toxins. Without adequate amounts of fat in the diet, fat soluble vitamins like A and E  can’t pass through the intestinal walls.”

Who knew Fat was good for you? Lets go a little further…

Did you know that there is no direct link between the cholesterol in eggs and heart disease? Or that the amount of saturated fat in your diet has no bearing on your risk of heart disease? The fact is our body NEEDS fat to survive and function properly.

Lets look at the differences in bad and good fats.

The Good:

• Monounsaturated Fats (MUFAs)-
  • Nuts including peanuts, walnuts, almonds and pistachios
  • avocado
  • canola and olive oil
  • Monounsaturated Fats have been known to help in weight loss, particularly fat loss
• Polyunsaturated Fats
  • Seafood like salmon and fish oil
  • Corn, soy, safflower and sunflower oils
  • Omega 3 fatty acids
  • Polyunsaturated fats also lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol.

The Bad:

• Trans Fats
  • Trans fats are invented as scientists began to “hydrogenated” liquid oils so that they can withstand better in food production process and provide a better shelf life. As a result of hydrogenation, trans fatty acids are formed. Trans fatty acids are found in many commercially packaged foods, commercially fried food such as French Fries from some fast food chains, other packaged snacks such as microwaved popcorn as well as in vegetable shortening and hard stick margarine [3]

 The Okay:

• Saturated Fats:
  • Saturated fats are mainly found in animal products such as meat, dairy, eggs and seafood.
  • These are labeled “okay” due to recent research showing little to no link between Saturated Fats and coronary heart disease. Though “Okay” to eat, you should try to cut back on your consumption of Saturated Fats in your diet.

 

So what did we learn?

• The right kind of fats are good for you and can actually help in weight loss.
• The wrong kind of fats can kill you.
• These “lower in fat” products have additives that will actually make you gain weight and are typically high in trans fats. 
• By eating the right kinds of fats you can lower your risk of heart disease
• Fat Free products aren’t the devil but should be eaten with restraint.

references:

[1] Types of Dietary Fat and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease: A Critical Review;” Frank B. Hu, Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol. 20 (2001) and In Defense of Food (Penguin, 2008) by Michael Pollan.)

[2] http://blogs.experiencelifemag.com/signs-of-life/2009/01/why-you-should-avoid-fat-free-foods.html 

[3] http://www.healthcastle.com/goodfats-badfats.shtml