Quinoa: more than a brown rice substitute for lazy and scatter brained cooks

Quinoa is a versatile super food that's easy to cook
photo: pfctdayelise

Have you entered quinoa into your meal rotation yet?  If not, you need to update your menus, because quinoa is a delicious super food.

Quinoa, which is pronounced KEEN-wah, contains all 8 essential amino acids, which makes it a complete protein.  It is a good source of fiber, iron, manganese, magnesium, and phosphorous.  It contains B vitamins as well.

When cooked, quinoa is light and fluffy, with a nutty flavor.  One of my favorite things about it?  It cooks in a mere 15-20 minutes.  This tends to be especially important at my house, because I never seem to get the brown rice on the stovetop in time for a good 40 minute simmer.

But quinoa is more than a brown rice substitute for lazy or scatter brained cooks; it can be a side, a lunch, a breakfast, even a dinner.  Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Be a lazy cook who claims she's a purist: simmer for 15-20 minutes, fluff with fork and serve.  It is a perfect side to accompany salmon, pork, or chicken
2. Add quinoa to soups to increase their nutritional content.  I recommend adding it to lentil soup
3. Add diced vegetables to it.  I love quinoa with diced tomatoes, feta cheese, and a drizzle of olive oil.  Diced zucchini is a good addition as well
4. Make it a breakfast food.  Add frozen mixed berries.  Add chopped walnuts and a drizzle of maple syrup.  Add sauteed apples and cinnamon.
5. Make it a salad.  If you have leftovers from dinner, add it to salad as a healthy substitute for croutons.  Or try my favorite.  Toss with grapefruit sections, avocado slices, and chopped onion.  Drizzle with olive oil and add a dash of salt and pepper.

How do you like your quinoa?  I'd love to get inspired by your favorite recipes.

Soup's On!

Make soup a nutritional powerhouse with a few, easy additions
photo: Jules

I love salads, because they are easy to make, offer a big dose of nutrients, and are light and healthy.  In the warmer months, they are my "go-to" lunchtime meal.  But I must admit that salads just don't cut it during the depths of the winter season.  Waiting for my son at the bus stop in temperatures below 0, shoveling the front walk, scraping the snow off my car, and fighting the bitter cold that makes its way through the 100-year-old windows in my house leave me wanting something a little more substantial and a little less, well, cold.  A lunch from the stove top, rather than the refrigerator, is what appeals.

Does this mean I am destined to put on a few pounds during the winter months?  No way!  Here's my secret: think of soup as your winter salad.  You can make your average can of soup, which may be lacking in both taste and nutrients, a delicious and nutritious lunchtime meal in a matter of minutes.  Here's how:

1. Soups tend to get a bad rap because of their sodium content.  Read the labels carefully, and select low sodium varieties
2. Dress up your soup with many of the same ingredients you love in your salad.  Doing so gives you control over your meal, allowing you to take it from nutritionally okay, to a real powerhouse of vitamins, minerals, and protien that will keep you satisfied for hours.  Here are some ideas to inspire:
1. Add diced tomatoes and thinly sliced zucchini to chicken noodle or chicken barley soup
2. Drop a handful of frozen spinach in beef barley soup
3. Add chopped frozen shrimp to butternut squash soup
4. Throw leftover brown rice or quinoa in lentil soup.  Then top with finely grated pecorino romano
5. Chop broccoli and asparagus and fold into vegetable soup
6. Slice kale or swiss chard into ribbons and add to minestrone
7. Sprinkle your favorite soup with ground flaxseed
8. Add cannellini beans to kale soup 
3. Toast some whole wheat crusty bread and drizzle with olive oil.  Serve with your soup.

Sounds delicious, doesn't it?  Start creating, and your sure to tickle your taste buds and satisfy your nutrient cravings.  

Have you been leaning forward too much?

The forward head is a common postural flaw
photo: V Ugnivenko

A forward head seems to be the result of living a full life: one with a great job and great friends.  Hours sitting in front of computers dreaming up the latest business strategy combined with countless evenings leaning forward to listen to the passions and pursuits of our friends and loved ones can, unfortunately, lead to a forward head.

And so it is that I have yet to encounter a client who did not have a forward head.  While ideally the skull should de directly above the shoulders, most of us have a head that hangs in front of the shoulders.  Here are a few things to keep in mind as you practice Pilates and go about your daily activities.

1. There is a notch on the back of your head called the external occipital protuberance (EOP).  When this point and your nose are on the same plane, your head is in neutral
2. When people who have forward heads lie on their backs, it can cause the cervical spine to overextend.  Place a pillow or pads under your head to avoid unnecessary tension in the neck
3. The cervical spine should follow the thoracic spine.  Whenever you flex, extend, laterally flex, or laterally extend the spine, the cervical spine should follow.  Though for many of us it is the first instinct, you never want to lead with the head
4. Before flexing the upper spine, gently nod your head to lengthen the back of the neck.  You should have space between your chin and chest to place a small ball or fist

Shoulder blades: with freedom comes responsibility

The shoulder blades have great freedom of movement
photo: Magnus Manske

They say with freedom comes responsibility, and so it is with the shoulder girdle.  Because the shoulder blades, or scapulae, do not attach to the rib cage or spine via bone, they have a great deal of freedom and mobility.  The blades can move up, down, in, and out.  They cant rotate up or down.

When it comes to Pilates, the responsibility associated with this freedom and control comes in the form of awareness and stability.  Just as it is important to engage the abdominals before movement, it is important to stabilize the shoulder girdle before movement.  Careful attention to stabilization prevents you from taking too much tension in the neck and shoulders.  It helps you complete exercises with greater success, and it ensures that muscles are trained properly.

Here are some tips:

1. Sit cross legged on the floor.  Put your hands on top of your head.  Now move your elbows back towards the midline of your body.  Keep this positioning and bring your arms down.  This is how it feels when your shoulder girdle is stabilized
2. When flexing the spine, stabilize the shoulder girdle to avoid undue tension in the neck
3. When extending the spine, begin the movement by stabilizing the spine.  Do not lead with the head or neck
4. Review your posture in the mirror before moving.  The shoulders should not round forward, nor should they be pinched toward the spine