Recipe of the Week: Tuscan-Style Tuna Salad

Recipe of the Week: Catalan Sauteed Polenta & Butter Beans

Recipe of the Week: Creamy Avocado & White Bean Wrap

Recipe of the Week: Lemon Chicken Stir-Fry

Recipe of the Week: Tilapia & Summer Vegetable Packets

Recipe of the Week: Spinach Salad with Steak & Blueberries

SUMMER IS THE SEASON OF THE BERRY!

Summer Berries

Delicious, colourful berries are in season. Here's what to do with them. Temporarily stained fingers and tongues are a cheap price to pay for the oodles of health benefits and bold, sweet flavours of berries — available all summer long. When colourful punnets of these warm-weather staples start appearing in abundance on market shelves, grab them, as there's very little you can't do with this versatile fruit.

Health Benefits

If you add one food to your diet this year, make it berries. They taste great and are very nutritious. Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries are rich in antioxidants, which may reduce the risk of certain types of cancer.

Selecting and Storing
When choosing berries, be sure to examine the punnet carefully for any signs of mould. Once mould has started it can spread quickly from berry to berry. Shop at supermarkets, or fruit markets with a high turnover, or at farmer's markets where the food has travelled the shortest distance, to ensure the freshest fruit. Because berries are fragile, keep them in their original containers or arrange them in a shallow pan (to reduce pressure from stacking), cover them with a paper towel and put them in the fridge. Don't wash them until just before you're ready to use them.
Blueberries freeze especially well. Arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze until hardened, then transfer them to a resealable bag. Incidentally, frozen berries taste great and retain much of their nutritional value. In a pinch, you can substitute them for fresh in baking and smoothies. In fact you'll find that frozen berries are actually better to bake with than fresh berries. The juice from fresh berries has a tendency to bleed into cake and pancake mixture.


Cooking with Berries
Keep a punnet or two on hand in the fridge all week. Their price goes down significantly when they're in season and given their health benefits, you'll want to enjoy them in these ways and others:

• Toss a handful of berries into your morning cereal to pump up its nutritional value.
  
  
• Start off the day with a fresh berry smoothie: Blend a mix of whatever berries you have on hand with half a banana some low fat plain yogurt and skimmed milk. Sweeten it with a bit of honey if necessary.
  
  
• Fold a handful of berries into your low fat or fat free yogurt.
  
  
• For a berry sauce to drizzle over pancakes, or fresh or frozen yogurt, puree 150g berries with 50g sugar and 1 tablespoon lemon juice until smooth. Fold in another 150g whole berries with a spoon.
  
  
• Top a bed of greens with a few berries and a tangy vinaigrette.
  
  
• Marinate (yes, actually marinate) strawberries with 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and 1 tbs of icing sugar, for a very Italian take on dessert.
•  http://www.weightwatchers.co.uk/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=30271

Recipe of the Week: Turkey & Tomato Panini

Recipe of the Week: Pork Chops with Quick Rhubarb Sauce

Try This Summer Recipe!!

Monthly Recipe: Turkey Burgers with Mango Chutney

Better Your Breakfast

Losing weight doesn't mean crash dieting or cutting out all of the things you love.  In fact, little changes can add up to create a big impact.  Try the following suggestions, courtesy of Fitness magazine, to cut calories from the most important meal of the day:

"When ordering eggs, ask for them to be cooked dry," suggests Alyse Levine, R.D., dietitian and the nutrition adviser for Livestrong.com.  "Chefs often overpour the oil or butter."  Calories saved = 250


Slice your bagel lengthwise into thirds.  Keep the ends and toss the center and "you'll have the illusion that you're eating a full bagel," says Dawn Jackson Blatner, R.D.  Calories saved = 120


Order Canadian bacon instead of sausage on your breakfast sandwich. Calories saved = 100-200


Eat half a grapefruit.  "Its high water content can make you feel fuller and keep you from overeating at your main meal," Blatner says.  Calories saved = 100


Make your own parfait instead of buing one.  Use a cup of fat-free plain Greek yogurt, a half cup of sliced strawberries or blueberries and a quarter cup of a crispy whole grain, high fiber cereal.  Calories saved = 151

Share your favorite brunch dishes with friends.  "Split a 500-calorie waffle and a 600-calorie omelet four ways," says Leslie J. Bonci, R.D., director of sports nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.  "You won't overindulge or feel deprived."  Calories saved = 225-325


Use three ounces of sliced chicken breast in your omelet instead of having three ounces of sausage with your eggs, says Marjorie Nolan, R.D., spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.  "Add veggies and salsa for a little kick."  Calories saved = 120

Wells Weighs In Winners

Recently, the members of the winning Wells Weighs In team stopped by the Y to collect their prize money.  In just five months, the team managed to lose just under 18 percent of their collective weight!

Congratulations to Second Time Around for their life changing success they found in this program.  A special thanks goes out to Caylor-Nickel Clinic for their generous donation of the grand prize money.

If you would like to share your personal weight loss success, email Lauren Almdale, Program Director at lauren_almdale@fwymca.org