Healthy Living: Stuffed Tomatoes to Complement Your Dish

You can eat right without losing the taste. Eating healthy sometimes requires adjusting our taste buds to food of higher nutritional value. Stuffed tomatoes is an excellent recipe that is full of nutrients that support your fitness goals, doesn’t require much time, and holds its natural tastes.

If you’re looking to make a simple side dish to complement your rice or sit in sizzle with your steak consider stuffed tomatoes. It is a low calorie option that doesn’t take much effort to prepare and complements a wide variety of pallets. This is a helpful recipe that improves on just about any dish you are planning to serve.  

It is beneficial to incorporate a healthy amount of tomato into your diet. Research has shown that the tomato protects against cardiovascular disease, ultraviolet light, osteoporosis, and cognitive dysfunction (Burton-Freeman & Reimers, 2011). It also acts like an antioxidant that removes harmful pollutants from the body. 

182 calories

Directions:

-Cut tops off of tomatoes and scoop out pulp.

-Use blender to chop olives, carrot, garlic clove, oregano and vegetable broth.

-Place pulp mix in frying pan and sauté with wine or vegetable broth. Cook a couple of minutes until tender. Let cool for a couple minutes.

-Mix in bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and basil.

-Stuff each tomato with the pulp mixture and replace tops.

-Put stuffed tomatoes in greased baking dish. Cook at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. 

Ingredients:

-         4 tomatoes

-         1 carrot

-         1 stick celery

-         1 onion

-         1 garlic clove or salt

-         Oregano

-         2 tsp olive oil

-         1 tbsp white win or vegetable broth

-         2/3 cup bread crumbs or healthier alternatives.

-         4table spoon parmesan cheese.

-         Basil 

Burton-freeman, B. & Reimers, K. (2011). Tomato consumption and health: emerging benefits. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 5 (2).

Hillcrest Farmer's Market Brings Flocks of Followers

Purchase Picture Dr. Murad Abel

The ancient medical philosopher by the name of Hippocrates stated, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” What we put in our mouth has a natural impact on our overall health. Hillcrest Farmer Market is a trend setter in setting the pace local bazaars that seem to be making their way into the downtowns of many major cities. They offer a wide range of vegetables, fruit, food, seafood, flowers, and homemade products made by local artisans and small farmers who seek to strengthen their home based businesses.

One of the best features of this market is that it is fun to simply just peruse the offerings even if you don’t immediately busy something. One can spend more than an hour eating, browsing and crowd watching. The smell of grilled food permeates the air with small white blooms of smoke that rise as beacons to taste bud delight. Sauce dripping hamburgers, freshly charred lamb meat and sweet pies are some of the tantalizing treats that will make their way across your nose.

If you are more interested in the fruits and vegetables plenty of farmers make their way to the market from the city’s outskirts to display their harvest. Some of the best deals in the city can be found on this street right out in the open for you to pick over. At times you will find the prices less than half the local supermarket as farmers seek to unload the rest of their items. You can’t get fresher than dirt to mouth existence of local farmer market products.

Freshly cut flowers are almost always on the shopping list. Hillcrest Farmer’s Market offers choice flowers from local greenhouses that have been babied from nursery to market graduation. Recently cut and well manicured they attract their own crowd of enthusiasts. Buyers put them on their kitchen table to brighten and room and freshen the atmosphere. Few things beat the natural décor of Mother Nature’s handiwork.

One of the main attractions is the natural and small manufacturing groceries offered by vendors. Want to cook something for the grill? Buy grass fed chicken or pick up some natural beef. Perhaps you need some smoked cheese or organic eggs. The market focuses on organic and naturally produced offerings without all the preservatives and pesticides.

Hillcrests Farmer Market’s website offers a lot more information that may be helpful for you to find the products and vendors that frequent the market. Enjoy some of the pictures.

Open every Sunday 9-2 p.m.

Lincoln Street and Normal Avenue
3960 Normal Street (Hillcrest DMV Parking Lot)
San Diego, CA 92103

http://hillcrestfarmersmarket.com/

Tips for Eating Healthy While Dining Out

Eating at restaurants can be one of the most damaging activities for your diet if you don’t know how to handle it. Healthy choices and options are available if you avoid fast food establishments. Knowing how to lower the bad effects of exceptionally tasting food is important for both enjoying your life and maintaining your fitness goals. Don’t bite your nails…make the right choices!

Most restaurants cook for taste and price while ignoring the health needs of their customers. A growing trend in healthy and organic eating is pushing many restaurants to both label their calories but also their ingredients. Offerings are slowly but surely changing to be healthier but yet are not consistent enough across the country. 

Delicious bread, creamy pasta, and butter packed potatoes. Tastes great….more filling! It is also filling out your pants. Look for options and choosing alternatives will help you dine in style, enjoy your offering, and avoid gaining weight. 

Taking a few steps can save you those extra calories and may keep the unhealthy foods away. Consider the following approaches when eating out:

-Understand the Menu: Read closely and ask questions if you are unsure.

-Avoid Pasta, Rice, and Cheese-based Sauces: Pasta, Rice and Cream-based sauces are loaded with cholesterol raising agents and fat. Find items that are better alternatives. 

-No Bread Basket: Don’t even both bring the white bread basket to your table. It is way too tempting when you’re hungry. 

-Order a Glass of Red Wine: Red wine is known to have positive health effects. You can choose this option when browsing the drink menu.  

-Ask for An Alternative Side Dish: The menu might include something beneficial with a poor side dish. Ask to remove the side dish and exchange it with vegetables or something better. 

-Go for the fish or lean meat: If you are unsure what to order then seek the fish, meat or chicken breast. 

-Pick restaurants with a healthy menu section: Some restaurants offer a health section that has a great benefit in selecting appropriate options. 

-Choose Salad and Soup: When there is no option choose a salad and soup.

-Look up Menus Online: Looking up menus and prices can help in saving you time, money and your waistline. Make sure they have what you want before frequenting.