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August 28, 2010

Thoroughly Cooked Eggs Are Safe to Eat

Filed under: General Information, Nutrition During Pregnancy — Tags: , , , , , — Elizabeth Ward @ 1:49 pm

When you’re pregnant, you should be cautious when it comes to food. With all the talk about the recent egg recall due to potential contamination with salmonella, you may be wondering if eggs are safe to eat. The answer is yes!

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, thoroughly cooked eggs are safe eggs. Salmonella is killed with proper cooking.

How do you know your eggs are thoroughly cooked? The yolks and whites are firm. If you’re making dishes such as quiche, frittatas or French toast casseroles, measure the internal temperature of the dish with a kitchen thermometer. It should register 160˚ F, and you’re good to go!

As always, wash your hands before handling food, keep your refrigerator at 33˚ to 40˚F, toss food that’s been left out of the fridge or the freezer for more than two hours, and keep eggs, and other raw animal foods, separate from other foods.

Visit eggsafety.org for more information about the egg recall and the safe handling of eggs, now and moving forward.

Have you seen my other blog at USATODAY.com?  It features tips for feeding your family healthy foods, and offers a weekly recipe that I prepare with my children as part of Cooking With My Kids.  Check out Pork Medallions with Cherry Sauce. Yum!

March 17, 2010

Healthy Eating for Two on A Budget

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , — Elizabeth Ward @ 12:15 pm

With the economy the way it is, and by that, I mean crappy, many people, including me, are cutting back on restaurant meals, and expecting more value from the foods we prepare at home.  If you have a baby on the way, and other children to feed, you may be particularly aware of the high cost of groceries.

Luckily, some of the healthiest, tastiest foods for your preconception, pregnancy, or nursing eating plan are among the most relatively inexpensive, and the most nutrient-rich.

Here are four of the items that I always stock in my kitchen because they provide good nutrition for the dollar, and because everyone in the family loves them, so nothing goes to waste.

• Milk: It costs about .25 for an 8-ounce glass, and can be used to make all sorts of entrees, snacks, and desserts, including a Cherry Banana Cooler (bananas are also a budget-friendly food) and Creamy Sweet Potato Soup (sweet potatoes offer great value for the nutrition they provide, too). Eight ounces of milk provides about one-third of the calcium you need for the day, and lots of other nutrients, including protein, and vitamins A and D.

• Eggs: You’ll spend less than $3.00 on a dozen eggs, which you can use to create many different delicious dishes, including an Egg Wrap. Hard-cook eggs to have as snacks along with whole grain crackers or a roll, and add chopped or sliced hard-cooked eggs to salads. Use eggs to make vegetable omelets, French toast, and fried egg sandwiches to have at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Eggs are an excellent source of high quality protein, several vitamins and minerals, and choline, a nutrient you must get from food.

• Canned beans: Surprise! Beans are a vegetable. In fact, they are THE vegetable with the most protein and fiber, so you get a lot for your money.  For less sodium, rinse canned beans well and try Bush’s Beans reduced-sodium varieties.  You really cannot go wrong with a can of beans; they’re super convenient, and they generally cost under $1.00. Use beans in place of some of all of the meat in chili recipes and in soups, salads, and pasta dishes.
• Pork tenderloin: Sick of chicken? Pick up some pork tenderloin.  Pork tenderloin is as lean as boneless, skinless chicken breast and nearly as versatile.  With pork tenderloin, what you see is what you get, and there is very little, if any, waste associated with it.  Plus, pork tenderloin is an excellent source of several B vitamins, iron, zinc, and choline. Grill, broil, or bake pork tenderloin.
What items do you have on hand in your kitchen? Drop me a line and let me know how you save money on food.
Have you seen my other blog at USAToday.com?  It features tips for feeding your family healthy foods, and offers a weekly recipe that I prepare with my children as part of Cooking With My Kids.  This week’s recipe is Chinese Chicken & Ramen Noodle Salad. Remember ramen noodles?  They offer the crunch in this elegant, easy-to-make salad.  Check out the recipe at http://tinyurl.com/4×2e5x.

September 14, 2009

Choline: Multivitamins Don’t Have Enough

Filed under: General Information, Nutrition During Pregnancy — Tags: , , , , , — Elizabeth Ward @ 10:39 am

Do you know what choline is? Most people do not, including women who may be pregnant, will become pregnant, or are nursing a child.

And, as if that wasn’t enough, choline happens to be very important during pregnancy and nursing, and women in this vulnerable population are coming up short for choline: only 14% of pregnant American women get enough choline in their diets.

Here’s why choline is critical. Choline helps to reduce the risk of neural tube defects (NTDs) that form very early in pregnancy, often before a woman knows she’s pregnant. During pregnancy, choline fosters brain development. Because choline is part of all cells, it is necessary to support growth during pregnancy and infancy; nursing mothers need more choline than pregnant women.

Mom and dad require choline, too. Choline helps to head off heart disease and breast cancer, and it’s necessary for muscle and liver health.

Prescription and over-the-counter prenatal pills, and multivitamins, do not contain enough choline to meet your needs.  Nonpregnant women require 425 milligrams of choline daily; pregnant women need 450 milligrams; and nursing women, and men over the age of 13 should consume 550 milligrams of choline every day.

The great thing about choline is that it’s found in a wide variety of foods you probably have in your kitchen right now. Foods rich in protein, including eggs, pork, beef, and salmon, have the most choline. Plant foods provide less, but it is possible to get enough choline from a vegetarian eating plan that is careful to include an array of foods.

Meet your choline needs by including choline-rich foods every day as part of a balanced diet.  Here’s a chart of the choline content of some favorite foods, adapted from Expect the Best, to help:

• Egg, 1 large*, cooked any way: 125 milligrams

• Ground beef, 3 ounces, cooked : 83 milligrams

• Pork tenderloin, 3 ounces, cooked: 76 milligrams

• Salmon, 3 ounces, cooked: 65 milligrams

• Chicken, 3 ounces, cooked: 65 milligrams

• Navy beans or kidney beans, 1 cup, cooked: 45 milligrams

• Milk, 1% low fat, 1 cup: 45 milligrams

• Broccoli or cauliflower, 1 1/4 cups, cooked: 40 milligrams

* All of the choline is found in the egg yolk.

To learn more about choline, visit www.cholineinfo.org.

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