Powered by Youth Support + Advocacy Service (YSAS), febfast is the great Australian pause from alcohol, sugar or something of your choice for the month of February in support of disadvantaged young people aged 12-25 across the country. At Eat Smart, we turned out minds to how we can help the environment throughout febfast, by going without take away coffee cups! Here is our review on 3 of the different types of reusable coffee mugs we use in our office!

Acrosteel Drinkware Mug $9

Now this is the basics of all basics when it comes to reusable coffee mugs. The Acrosteel coffee mug is made of double wall glass, and a silicone lid and band. These mugs can be found on your daily grocery shop at Woolworths, and are sticking to a budget whilst saving the environment. This mug definitely serves it’s purpose, though we do have reports that the silicone lid does get loose after a few months, so if you plan on sipping your cappuccino in the car on the way to work… don’t wear white! (We know from experience).

Keep cups! $15 – 35

If you have a keep cup, you know you are a little bit hip, and a little bit trendy. Keepcups come in small, medium and large and fit under most coffee machines. The original keep cup was made of plastic, though this got some bad reviews saying the plastic isn’t giving the coffee connoisseur the flavour they were after. In 2014 Keepcup bought out a a glass model. KeepCup’s Brewcup is made with tempered soda lime glass, a silicone lid and a plastic or cork band. Eat Smart dietitians who use the Keepcup say it is the perfect size, doesn’t drip and fits perfectly in their car coffee holders when on the go!

Frank Green Reusable smart cup $25- $35

Now there is no argument that the Frank Green coffee cup is aesthetically pleasing, the sleek rounded edges of the cup give the cup a modern and clean look. The Frank Green ‘smart cup’ reusable coffee cup is made from a BPA free and non-toxic plastic that claims to be stain and odour resistant. There is also a thermo plastic outer layer which keeps your coffee hotter for longer and has a nice grip feel to it. But lets talk about the really impressive thing here, the smart cup is also installed with a cafépaychip so you can literally swipe your cup to pay for your drink. Faaaaaancy. Though be warned, one Eat Smart team member has mention that the cup is not the easiest to drink out of!

Healthy Meat Pie

Recipe:

• 300g sirloin steak (or your favourite cut will do)
• 150g grilled mushrooms
• 2 onions (pan fried until golden and soft)
• 1 cup cooked spinach
• 4 cooked carrots (diced)
• 1 cup frozen thawed peas
• 3 tbs gravy powder
• 1 sheet puff pastry
• 1 egg
• Sea salt and pepper

Method:

1. In a hot frypan place a little oil, season the steak with sea salt and pepper and cook it for 2 mins on each side until rare. Set aside to cool.
2. Mix together in a large bowl steak (and any juice in the bottom of the bowl), mushrooms, onion, spinach, carrots and peas. Sprinkle over the top gravy powder and combine.
3. Place mixture into 4 oven safe ramekins.

4. Cut circles of puff pastry to fit ramekins, and brush with beaten egg.

5. Cook in a fan forced oven on 180 degrees until golden brown.
Healthy Lamingtons from “The Healthy Chef – Teresa Cutter” 

Cake:

Coming back into the work routine after the Christmas/New Year’s break can be hard so why not take the hassle out of the mornings and make a quick breakfast smoothie that you can make within two minutes and drink on the way to work or at work!

We’ve asked our Eat Smart team what their fav quick and yummy smoothies are…..they are low GI to help stabilize your blood sugars and keep your energy levels stable throughout the morning AND contains healthy fats to keep you full and satisfied for longer!  WIN WIN:-)

Bec’s Breakfast smoothie

• 150ml low fat milk
• 2 tbs traditional oats
• 4-5 whole walnuts
• ¼ scoop WPI protein powder (or can replace with 2-3 tbs skim milk powder)
• 1 tsp honey or maple syrup
• ½ frozen banana
• ICE (depending on how thick you want your smoothie will determine how much ice you put in….the more ice the thicker it will be)

Blend and enjoy!

Lauren’s Green Smoothie

• 250mL coconut water
• 1/2 apple
• Big handful of baby spinach
• 1/2 lebanese cucumber
• A few mint leaves

Blend and enjoy!

OR if you have a little more time…….

Lauren’s Coffee almond smoothie:

• Soak 15 almonds in warm water for 20 mins.  Drain.
• Add 1 cup cold water, the soaked almonds, 1 fresh date or 2 dried dates, 1-2 tsp cacao, 1 shot of coffee or 1 tsp instant coffee dissolved in hot water.

Blend and enjoy!

Kellie’s Fast and Furious smoothie:

TIP:  Puree up all different berries and bananas, mangoes, melons once they are looking a bit sad and tired, and freeze them in ice cub trays, and once they set, tip them out and then store them in ziplock bags (~3-4 ice cubes per bag).

• 1 bag frozen fruit
• 150ml low fat milk
• 2-3 tbs yoghurt

This recipe is great for a quick, no chop, no mess on the run smoothies……. way cheaper than the shop versions of these, and no wasting tired fruit!!

Steff’s ‘Chocie chimp’ smoothie

• 1 x frozen banana
• 1 x scoop chocolate protein powder OR just cocoa
• 1 x tablespoon peanut butter OR other favoured nut butter
• 1 x teaspoon chia seeds
• Sprinkle cinnamon
• 200ml lite milk of your choice
• + Ice

Annnnnd Whizz!!

Other recipes for on-the-go Breakfast smoothie ideas:

Peach Powerhouse   

• 1 cup Milk (of your choice)
• 2 Tbs Low-fat vanilla yoghurt
• ½ cup Frozen peaches
• ½ cup Strawberries
• ⅛ tsp Ground ginger
• 2 tsp Whey protein powder/Sustagen (vanilla)
• 1/4 cup traditional rolled Oats
• 3 -4 Ice cubes

Berry Blitz

• 1 cup frozen unsweetened raspberries
• 1 cup almond or rice milk (Chilled)
• ½ cup frozen pitted unsweetened cherries
• 2 tsp Honey
• 2 tsp Finely grated fresh ginger
• 1 tsp Ground flaxseed
• 2 tsp Fresh lemon juice

Veggie Delight 

• 2 medium carrots chopped
• 1 small green apple chopped
• 1 slice grated ginger
• 1 tablespoon psyllium husk
• 2 tablespoons WPI protein powder (neutral flavour)
• ½ cup water

Been working hard at the gym? Don’t feel like you are getting any stronger? Not seeing the results you are after? Maybe you need some nutrition advice to help with gaining lean mass?

We have all heard that fitness is 30% exercise or training, and 70% nutrition. And that is 100% right. You can train as hard as you are physically able to, though won’t see physical results if you do not fuel or re fuel your body appropriately. So here are out top tips for gaining lean mass!

• Eat at least 4-6 meals/snacks per day – you need to take in more kilojoules from food and drink than you expend or burn.
• Include some protein at each meal and snack to assist muscle maintenance and growth.
• Before any training session, have a carbohydrate based snack.
• After completing every training session, you need carbohydrates for recovery, plus protein to provide amino acids for growth and repair.
• A great option for immediately after a strength/resistance session would be 20-25g of whey protein (fast absorbing). Carbohydrate to complement this could come from adding milk to the whey protein or by including a carbohydrate food as a snack or within your meal.
• Have a big glass of milk (400ml) before bed to help build muscle overnight – this provides a slow release source of protein.
• Make use of all your fluids – instead of drinking only water, maybe have an extra milk drink.
• Make sure that your diet is still not too high in saturated fat, so that you don’t gain extra body fat.  But you certainly don’t need to be on a ‘no fat’ diet! Healthy fats (good oils, avocado, nuts and seeds etc) may be included to add extra kilojoules as well other important nutrients.
• Last but not least…. unfortunately you have to ensure you are training hard!!!!

If you need any help with designing a nutrition program to suit your training goals, contact an Eat Smart Dietitian!

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a hormonal disorder characterised by an excess of the androgen hormones and affects approximately 5-10% of pre-menopausal women. This results in disruptions to a woman’s normal menstrual cycle and the failure to ovulate normally.

Women with PCOS may experience a range of symptoms, including acne, difficulty managing body weight (especially abdominal fat), insulin resistance, menstrual disturbances (irregular, light or absent periods) or symptoms associated with menstruation such as cramps and abdominal bloating, and excess growth of body hairs.  Those with PCOS also have symptoms of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high triglycerides.

Due to the insulin resistance, women with PCOS have an increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.  Those with PCOS also increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

Dietary management of PCOS is important, with studies pointing towards the importance of eating a lower carbohydrate diet (40-43%) and replacing these carbohydrates with monounsaturated fat.  Now, when we say ‘lower’, it does not mean NO carbohydrate.  Wholegrains are an important component to the diet, as they provide us with fibre, antioxidants and a variety of vitamins and minerals. They improve our gut health and help prevent conditions such as diverticulitis and cancer.  But carbohydrate should be portion controlled and ideally consuming carbohydrates which are of a low glycaemic index.  Examples of low glycaemic index (GI) carbohydrates include sweet potato, lentils, legumes, wholegrain bread, oats and pasta.

Studies have also shown that weight loss improves the presentation of PCOS.  A weight loss of 5-10% of body weight can drastically improve insulin sensitivity by 70% (or in less technical terms, improves how well you can process carbohydrate in the body and therefore will store LESS carbohydrate as fat).  “Healthy fats” are also seen as very important in the diet.  Substituting excess carbohydrate with foods high in monounsaturated fats, such as avocado, olive oil, canola oil and nuts.  Additionally adding ‘omega 3s’ foods to the diet, helps decrease cardiovascular risk.  You can do this by adding chia seeds or flaxseeds to your cereal or yoghurt or aim to consume at least 3 serves of 90g fatty fish (such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, trout, herring, per week).

So what can you take away from this?  Portion controlling your carbohydrate, eating low GI carbohydrates as well as including some good fats in your diet can help improve your symptoms of PCOS.  To help tailor a plan to suit your individual needs and preferences, consult one of our dietitians for a nutritional plan.

One of the hardest meals to work out what to eat when you’re pregnant is lunch.  Concern of listeria and food poisoning risk means that your usual ham and cheese sandwich is not as safe as it once was!  Some suggestions which will hopefully inspire a more interesting lunch are;

• Tuna on rice: Don’t be scared to have fish during your pregnancy due to mercury concerns!  It is important to have fish during your pregnancy, just chose those lower in mercury.   Fish such as tuna and salmon are high in omega 3s and are lower in mercury so can be eaten 3 x/week (150g serve).  Tinned tuna or salmon is so quick and easy and if you are low in time, mix with microwave brown rice or quinoa.  Throw in either some left-over vegies, frozen vegies or dice up tomato, capsicum and cucumber and wallah, you have an easy, healthy lunch!
• Toasted wrap or sandwich with left-over chicken and salad.  As long as you have cooked the chicken fresh the day before and stored it correctly (below 5°), there is no reason you cannot have a toasted chicken wrap or sandwich with the left-overs.  Food safety guidelines recommend you reheat food to at least 60° so that it is steaming hot.
• Egg salad.  Eggs are high in protein and a good source of vitamin D.  Chop up your salad ingredients of choice and add a boiled egg as your source of protein.  Why not add some tinned beans such as chickpeas or cannellini beans to bump up the protein and fibre content!
• Mini pizzas:  Use a wholegrain wrap, a sprinkle of cheese, vegies of your choice and either some meat/chicken or try chickpeas/beans for extra fibre.
• Left-overs:  Left-over pasta, stirfry or other dishes as long as stored correctly and reheated to at least 60°.
• Quick and easy at work: Avocado + tomato + hard cheese on 2 slices of multigrain or sour dough toast.  This has been a go to for many of our Eat Smart dietitian during pregnancy!
• A hearty soup with a slice of grainy bread or a roll
• Omlettes or frittatas: omelettes and frittatas are a great way of getting some protein and a good whack of vegetables in a delicious meal.  Pop in some corn or sweet potato or serve with a slice of grainy bread.  Just make sure you eat straight after cooking.
• Sushi and rice paper rolls.  Once again, there is no reason you could not have these, just make it yourself and DON’T use raw meat of course!
• Another quick and easy, Baked beans on toast.  They are great for breaky but also make a good emergency lunch when you are running low on food.

 As we enter spring and recognise Women’s Health Week, Eat Smart would like to share our support in providing recipe inspiration designed at improving women health!

These recipes are enriched with plenty of dietary fibre for bowel health and weight management; omega 3 for joint health, heart health and brain function; and phytoestrogens to help reduce menopause symptoms. 

Enjoy!

BREAKFAST:

Ingredients:

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees.  Mix all ingredients except the blueberries in a bowl.
2. Spread over a large baking tray and bake for 30 mins, stirring occasionally until lightly browned.
3. Allow to cool and then mix through blueberries.
4. Store in a dry container.

LUNCH:

Ingredients:

750g pumpkin, seeded and cut into 1cm wedges

DINNER:

Spicy Chickpeas with Eggplant and Cous Cous

Ingredients:

60mls lemon juice

1 med. brown onion, cut in thin wedges

2 garlic cloves, crushed

6 (about 480g) baby eggplant, sliced

1 x 400g can diced tomatoes

250mls (1 cup) vegetable stock

1 400g can chickpeas, rinsed, drained

380g (2 cups) couscous

250mls (1 cup) fresh orange juice

75g (1/2 cup) currants

1 tsp olive oil

1 tbsp Moroccan seasoning (Masterfoods brand)

*(for a higher dietary fibre option, choose quinoa instead of cous cous)

Method:

1. Heat 2 tbsp of the lemon juice in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic. Cover and cook for 3 minutes or until slightly softened.
2. Add eggplant and spice mix and stir to coat well. Cook for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Stir in the chickpeas.
3. Prepare the couscous according to packet directions replacing 250mls (1 cup) of water with the orange juice. Stir in currants and olive oil and stand for 2 minutes.
4. Serve with the chickpea curry.

 SNACK:

Ingredients:

1. Preheat oven to 150°C.

2. Combine linseed, almond meal, pumpkin seed, walnuts and cranberries

3. Add oil, honey and vanilla and mix through until combined

4. Divide into 30 balls, place onto a baking tray lined with bake paper and flatten slightly.

5. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until golden and cooked through.

6. Rest on tray until cool and store up to 2 weeks.

Whether you are choosing vegan or plant based eating for religious, economic, ethical, environmental, human or health reasons. Plant based diets can provide your body with all of the required nutrients (vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrates, fats) but a little more planning and care is often required.  If you have made the decision to become vegan,then you should also make the commitment to ensure that your diet is nutritionally adequate.

If you are following a vegetarian diet, it is important to take extra care to ensure that adequate sources of protein are provided in your diet.

Protein is required for growth, repair and maintenance of body tissue and the immune system.  When protein is digested it is broken down into amino acids.  There are 23 amino acids provided by foods, of these eight are considered essential as they cannot be manufactured by the body.

Whole plant foods contain all the essential amino acids.  Soy protein in particular is high in all the amino acids and should be included in the plant based diet regularly.  Legumes (lentils, chickpeas, peanuts, soy), quinoa, amaranth, pistachios and pumpkin seeds are high in an amino acid called lysine which is the amino acid most at risk in a plant based diet.  Include lysine rich proteins in your diet daily.

Special Vegetarian Products

TVP or textured vegetable protein is a plant protein derived from the soybean.  It can be used as a meat substitute and comes mainly in the dehydrated form.  There are other products available also such as nutmeat, vegetarian sausages and ‘vegie’ burgers.  These products are not essential in the vegetarian diet and are more expensive than legumes.  Despite this, they provide quick and tasty meals for those times when you don’t feel like preparing a meal from scratch and should be relatively well-accepted by the non-vegetarians in your household (if there are any).  Quorn products (in the frozen section of the supermarket) are made from extracted protein from corn and may also provide a convenience protein source (Quorn does contain egg white so may not be suitable for Vegan eaters).

Getting Enough Protein Each Day

Adults need about 40-100g of protein a day. Vegetarian and vegan foods containing protein include milk alternatives and soymilk, soy cheese & yoghurt, legumes (e.g. chickpeas, lentils, kidney beans and other beans), tofu and other soy products, nuts and seeds. In order to consume the required amount of protein each day, vegans should eat at least 3 serves of dairy alternatives as well as at least 1 serve of meat alternatives at least twice per day.

One serve of meat alternatives provides about 12g protein and is equal to:

-       ¾ cup cooked legumes/beans (e.g. ½ can baked beans)

-       50g nuts/seeds

-       100g Tofu

If you have recently turned towards a plant based diet, and aren’t quite sure if your diet is adequate, come and see an Eatsmart dietitian at one of our 11 locations.