How fitting that on Thanksgiving Monday my blog be on nutrition!  And I refer to it as "the season" because now we head into "holiday" time and for some the most difficult time for people to be healthy and well.  Along with all of the tempting treats and extras there is the added stress of the holidays from dealing with family to shopping to over extending ourselves.  So what I've found for today is about specific nutrition ideas that we could use n between all those big parties that will help us stay on track so we can enjoy those parties and functions a little more.  I am getting better at adding in some great tasting healthy dishes to a turkey dinner.  How about a pumplin pie parfait full of plain low fat yogurt that even my dad enjoyed!!  (He refuses to eat yogurt but when he doesn't know it ..... )  Or I found a delicious sweet potatoe recipe that doesn't involve marshmallows, just lots of taste.  In the coming weeks I will try to bring in ideas about stress and excercise during the holidays.

Açaí berries (ah-sigh-EE or ah-SIGH-ee)  Brazilian surfers eat theirs with granola, and we know what their bodies look like! Packed with twice the disease-fighting antioxidants of blueberries, açaí has already made Oprah's list of Top 10 Superfoods and The Washington Post called the blackberry-flavored fruit the "new pomegranate." But you may find it easier to sip yours: Celestial Seasonings sells an açaí-green tea blend, and açaí martinis are on chic bar menus everywhere.

I must say I haven't bothered to hunt down this berry yet.  I'm very wary as to how much good is really in an acai-green tea blend.  I think you're better off with the actual juice.  So if anybody has found a good source at a reasonable price let me know.  I've also learned that you are better off eating your fruit rather than drinking it.  Juice ends up being a lot of sugar.  At least eating the whole fruit means you're getting the fibre too.  So just something to consider.  I need to find out more information on this little berry for sure.

Quinoa (KEEN-wah)  Dry quinoa looks a bit like sesame seeds but when cooked it becomes fluffy with a hint of crunch, making it an excellent substitution for rice, cous cous, and pasta. Quinoa's major claim to food fame, however, is what RealAge researchers call its "nutritional profile." A cup of quinoa has more protein than a quarter-pound hamburger and more calcium than a quart of milk. Yowza. It's also loaded with iron, magnesium, and a bevy of other minerals and B vitamins. No wonder the Incas named it "the mother grain." Try it in this warm winter salad from our friends at Eating Well.

This is a seed that I am a big fan of.  Notice I mention it's a seed not a grain so if you have a gluten allergy this seed won't bother you.  It's easy to cook (takes like 15 min. instead of 45 min. for brown rice) and as you can see it is good for you - with the protein you can easily make leftovers into a complete meal!  I have a receipe that you can get from the Rose Reisman site www.rosereisman.com for a Quinoa Greek salad.  YUM!!!  You get your peppers in there too - you went them because they are loaded with Vitamin C!  I highly recommend Rose's site if you are looking for healthy brownie recipes and other healthy ideas.  She even has some cookbooks out.  I need to add them to my collection for sure! 

Matcha (MAH-cha)  When you drink a cuppa matcha (also spelled maccha), you're getting green tea's powerful antioxidants to the max, because you're actually consuming the whole green tea leaf in powdered form. In Japan, slightly bitter matcha is traditionally served syrupy thick. But in the US, you'll find matcha stirred into lattes, sprinkled on ice cream, and used to bolster energy drinks and turn smoothies into pick-me-ups (it's said to boost alertness). Just be respectful of matcha if you're caffeine sensitive: Ounce for ounce, it has almost as much caffeine as coffee.

I know with green teas they recommend you drink it with lemon to aid in absorbing the antioxidants and I am hesitate about trying green tea with milk just because having chocolate (70% and higher cocoa content) with milk (hot chocolate for example) the milk inhibits the body from using the antioxidants from the chocolate.  So I can't imagine it's much different with the tea.  So I recommend that when you are choosing healthy foods that you keep them as close to their pure form as possible to allow for maximum benefit.  And actually when you're dealing with any type of food you will get the best from it in it's purest form.  The only exception to the rule is tomatoes (lycopene becomes easier to access when the tomatoes are cooked) and corn (canned corn is better canned because it has been heated).  I think I've blogged that info before.  Below I've found a few good quotes on choice - something we will all deal with during the holiday season.

There are two primary choices in life:  to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.  Denis Waitley

Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice.  It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved.   William Jennings Bryan.

I may have given you this quote before but it's so fitting through out the holidays:
For 24 years of my adult life, by choice I weighted well over 200 pounds.  I say "by choice" because I have never "accidentally" eaten anything, so when I choose to eat too much, I have chosen to weigh too much.  Every choice has an end result.  Zig Ziglar