Oswego Nutrition

Celebrate Earth Day by eating more vegetarian or plant based foods. Quinoa, pronounced keen-wah, is a gluten free alternative to rice or couscous. It is a grain like product grown for its edible seeds in South America. It has a light and fluffy texture with a mild slightly nutty flavor. The best part about quinoa is its high nutritional value. It has the highest protein content compared to other grains. It is also a complete protein meaning it contains all of the essential amino acids our body needs.

Diets high in fruits, vegetables and whole grains may reduce cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Get your whole grains in today by trying our Quinoa Stir Fry dish at lunch. You will also be supporting “cutting out meat, one day a week” for Meatless Mondays.  

This is a guest post by Nutrition Intern, Ashley Fiorille.

Every system in our body depends on water. We used to believe that we should be drinking eight cups of water a day, but that has recently changed. The amount of water you need depends on how active you are and it is different for everyone depending on their body size. The Institute of Medicine determined that an adequate intake for men is roughly 3 liters (about 13 cups) of total beverages a day. The adequate intake for women is 2.2 liters (about 9 cups) of total beverages a day.

How do you know if you are drinking enough water? The darker your urine is, the more dehydrated you are. You want your urine to be as light as possible, which indicates you are well hydrated. If you are thirsty it means you are already dehydrated.

It’s easy to get water around campus whether you are at the dining hall or at a cafe on campus. The cups in the dining hall hold 10 ounces, a little more than 1 cup. Try to drink at least 2-3 glasses of water at each meal.

March is National Nutrition Month and this year’s theme is to “Eat Right, Your Way, Every Day”. We are all unique individuals with different taste preferences.  Our diets therefore should match our own personal style. Cultures and traditions play a role in our diets as well. Passover begins tonight and many people will be eating Matzo and other traditional Jewish foods.  

One of my personal favorite things to eat is a nice big colorful salad. I start with a spring mix/spinach base and add lots of toppings… vegetables, fruits, nuts/seeds, and a protein usually. Some of my favorite toppings include edamame, avocados, walnuts, almonds, tomatoes, pineapple, strawberries, tuna, and chicken. All of these good toppings are available to you at the dining centers. I can make a different salad every day combining different flavors to please my taste buds. How do you like to eat right every day?

This is a guest post by Nutrition Intern Ashley Fiorille

Transitioning to college life is hard, especially when it comes to adjusting you’re eating habits. Freedom from parental supervision can lead to poor choices in everything from food to sleep, study, and partying habits. Researchers found the following behaviors, along with unhealthy food choices to contribute to weight gain among college students:

1.  Skipping breakfast: always make sure you have time go to the dining halls during breakfast hours to start your day and metabolism off with a healthy meal. This will help you stay full until lunch and not overeat later in the day.

2.  Overdoing all-you-can-eat dining: the dining hall have many fresh and “heart healthy” options to choose from. To try and stop overeating at the dining hall, you can log onto SUNY Oswego Dining page and get nutrition fact and calculation of total nutrients for items you choose using the “My Plate” tab.

3.  Late-night eating: When you are at late night, try to choose healthier options including fresh fruit or the salad bar.

4.  Too many high-calorie liquids: try to go for healthier choices like water, tea or skim milk.

5.  Eating larger portions: the dining hall is set up to give you the right portions for the items you ask for. When you ask for seconds or thirds, that is when you are starting to eat larger portions then you probably should be.

Are you looking for a vegetarian meal for Meatless Monday? Try these dishes I made last Fall at the Delicious and Nutritious Cooking Class. The meal starts off with a super nutritionally packed avocado and lime dip with corn chips. The entrée is a grilled Italian Vegetable Panini with steamed sweet potatoes on the side. The dessert is apples sautéed with just the right amount of butter, cinnamon and real maple syrup to make it taste oh so yummy! I hope you enjoy it as much as we all did J

Avocado & Lime Dip

Serves 2                                                                                                  

Ingredients

1 Avocado

1 Lime

Tortilla Chips

Preparation

1. Cut open the avocado lengthwise. Remove and discard pit.

2. Scoop out the inside of the avocado into a small bowl and discard the outer skin.

3. Add the juice of 1 lime to the avocado and mash together.

4. Serve with tortilla chips.

Italian Vegetable Panini                                                                  

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 med. Portobello mushroom cap, sliced thin

1/4 small red onion, sliced thin

2 slices whole wheat Panini bread

Non-stick cooking spray

4 slices provolone cheese

1/2 c. baby spinach leaves

3 oz. jarred roasted red peppers, drained and sliced

1/4 tsp. Italian seasonings

Dash ground black pepper

Preparation

1.  In a small nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add mushroom and onion slices and cook 6-7 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.

2. Spray one side of bread with nonstick cooking spray.

3. Place bread, sprayed side down, on preheated grill pan over medium heat. Layer bread with 2 slices cheese, mushrooms, onions, spinach and red peppers.

4. Sprinkle with Italian seasonings and pepper, and top with 2 more slices of cheese.

5. Spray the other slice of bread with cooking spray then place sprayed side up over fillings.

6. Cook sandwiches 3-4 minutes per side or until bread is golden brown and cheese melts, weighing them down with a heavy skillet or pressing down with large spatula.

7.Cut sandwiches in half diagonally to serve.

Steamed Sweet Potato                                                                       

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 sweet potato or yam

1 tsp. parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Bring a medium pot with 2” of water to a boil.

2. Peel and slice sweet potato into quarters.

3. Place sweet potato into a steamer basket, then place the steamer basket into the pot. Steam until soft about 20-30 minutes depending on the size.

4. Transfer sweet potato to serving plate. Season with parsley, salt and pepper to taste.

Sautéed Apples                                                                                    

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 apple, sliced thin

1/2 tbsp. butter

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tbsp. maple syrup 

Preparation

1. Heat the butter over medium heat until it’s melted.

2. Add the apple and cinnamon and sauté for 10 minutes, or until softened, stirring frequently.

3. Stir in the maple syrup and continue to cook until it evaporates.

4. Remove from heat and serve.

This is a guest post by Nutrition Intern Ashley Fiorille:

I know when it comes to grabbing a cold beverage to drink on the go, many of us college students turn to the sugary, and tasteful choice of soda. Many of us don’t know how harmful drinking soda on a regular basis can be for our bodies. A 12 oz. can of Pepsi has 150 empty calories of sugar. Sugary sodas have been linked to obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Here are some steps you can take to reduce the amount of soda that you are consuming:

1.Take baby steps. If you drink 4 sodas per day, start by replacing 2 with a healthier alternative.

2. Make gradual changes. Start with diet soda, then switch to flavored water then regular water. Check out sugar free Mango & Kiwi Strawberry at the Dining Centers.

3. Once you’ve gotten comfortable with this routine, replace all of your sodas with a healthier alternative.

4. Find healthy alternatives you like by trying and experimenting with other beverages such as teas, skim milk, soy milk, and seltzer water. Vanilla Almond Milk, Chocolate and Plain Soy Milk are all served daily at the Dining Centers.

Welcome back to chilly Oswego! Did you make a New Year’s resolution to get healthy? Do you want to lose weight, eat better, or exercise more? Does it seem like you say this every year but always end up going back to your same old habits? You need an action plan! It can be very difficult, not to mention overwhelming, to try to change everything all at once. Choose one area to focus on first such as eating a balanced diet or starting yoga. If your end goal is to lose 10 pounds, look good in your bathing suit or to just have more energy, think small and baby steps! Set 1-2 realistic, specific, and action oriented goals and figure out how you will achieve them. This works for making any lifestyle change. Some examples are to eat 3 servings of fruit at least 4 days a week, switch to nonfat dairy products such as skim milk, or to attend an exercise class 3 days a week. The dining centers still have fresh fruit in these cold winter months to make meeting your goals a breeze! Take out a piece of hand fruit for a snack too. Consider signing up for SUNY Oswego’s weight loss challenge Take it Off next Monday February 4^th.