This recipe is oh so healthy!

Oatmeal has soluble fiber which can help you lower your LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels and possibly reduce your risk of heart disease.

Flaxseed is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids.  Omega 3s are polyunsaturated fats, and you need them for good health.  Our bodies can’t make omega 3s, so we have to eat them.  That’s why it’s good to eat foods like flax, walnuts, and salmon.

Check out this link to see how The American Heart Association answers questions about “better” fats

Cinnamon may help lower cholesterol and help you maintain a lower blood glucose level, but the research isn’t solid yet.  One thing we do know is that it tastes great in oatmeal!

So what do you want on top of these wonderful oats?

Here are the options again:

#1 – raisins, a pinch of brown sugar and almonds

#2 – dried cherries, a little bit of honey and pecans

#3 – dried bananas, a little bit of maple syrup and granola

I can’t wait to see which topping wins!! Vote by leaving a comment.

As I started planning our next set of meals for the Fall/Winter menu, I thought about customer feedback and the suggestion that brown rice is a little, well, boring.  Brown rice is definitely a reliable staple in a healthy diet, but I listened to what you had to say and decided to trade some of the rice for other grains to add a little variety to the menu.  Which brings us to…barley. 

When you think of barley, your next thought might be “beer!”—but it’s actually a wonderful grain to add to your regular diet.  Pearled barley is the most common kind, and it is most often used in soups, though it also can be used in pilafs, salads, or stuffing.  We’ll be using it in two Fall/Winter meals:  beef and barley stew and mushroom-barley pilaf.

Hearty Vegetable Beef and Barley Stew - a new addition to the lunch menu.

As new recipes are being developed, the staff members here at Good Measure are guinea pigs—trying each new recipe after it’s been cooked.  Both the stew and pilaf were big hits, with people commenting on how hearty the stew was, and how much they enjoyed the barley’s chewiness in the pilaf. 

Aside from variety, why are we including barley in these meals?  For one thing, barley is very heart healthy.  A half-cup serving of the cooked grain contains only 100 calories, less than a half gram of fat, and no cholesterol.  Barley is also high in soluble fiber, so it could lower your LDL cholesterol level and potentially reduce your risk of heart disease.  Pearled barley has about twice as much fiber as brown rice, and it has a nuttier flavor, so it’s a great alternative when you’re tired of rice! 

Along with other nutrients, it also contains these vitamins and minerals:

• B vitamins – helps your body turn food into energy, keep your nervous system healthy, and are important for normal digestive system function
• Selenium – a mineral which may help prevent cancer
• Iron – helps your body use oxygen
• Zinc – helps maintain your immune system and keeps your skin healthy

For more information about whole grains and their nutritional benefits, check out these sites:

Health Gains from Whole Grains

All you ever wanted to know about barley – focus on health and nutrition

What foods are in the grain group?

The weather is just starting to warm up and the official start of spring has begun!! This is perfect timing for the introduction of Good Measure Meals’ new spring summer menu. The first delivery for the new menu is next week!! This is a very exciting time for me. I have been working on the menu with our chefs for the last 6 months. It is finally time for us to get to see all of our hard work come together.

My goal is to raise the bar with every menu update. This time I have changed 40% of the meals. That is up from about 35% with past menus. This means you will see even more new side items, new flavors, new menu combinations, entirely new meals and recipes. Since this is our spring menu – I’ve incorporated seasonal produce and increased the number of cold lunches and salads. 

Here is a preview of some of the new things you will see next week:

· Angela’s Special Chewy Granola Bars made with Wheat Germ, Oats, Dried Fruit, Honey and Almonds

· Peachtree Panini Sandwich with Roasted Turkey, Fresh Spinach, Provolone Cheese and Peach Dijon Mustard. Garlic and Herb Pasta Salad with Garden Vegetables.

· Huevos Rancheros layered with Corn Tortillas and Black Beans, Tomatoes, Cheddar and Monterrey Jack Cheeses. Turkey Sausage Links. Southwestern Style Red Skinned Potatoes.

· Grilled Chicken with Blueberry Ginger Chutney over Long Grain Brown and Wild Rice Pilaf. Asparagus and Button Mushrooms.

· Tomato Striped Ravioli topped with Mediterranean Style Tomato Sauce with Eggplants and Zucchini. Parmesan Broccoli and Cauliflower Florets.

· Carved Chicken stuffed with a Mango Chutney and topped with Chopped Walnuts. Brown Rice Pilaf. Gingered Black-eyed Peas.

And this is JUST the first week! There are a lot more new meals to come!!

Please let me know how you like the new menu by leaving me a comment here on the blog. The more feedback I get the better I can accommodate your wishes and wants.

I’ve been doing a lot of recipe testing this week. I’m working on the next spring, summer menu. It will launch at the end of March. Here is a preview of two new dinners.

Thai Mango Curry with Grilled Chicken over Brown Basmati Rice. This recipe was developed by one of our runner up winners, Benjamin Sessions, in our first annual recipe contest. Thank you Benjamin for this awesome recipe idea!

This is the vegetarian version (below) – made with sesame tofu.

Both will be served with stir fried vegetables.

AND

Chicken Piccata Pasta with a Lemony White Wine and Caper Sauce over Spinach Fettuccine Noodles.

The vegetarian version is similar but the chicken is replaced with a Cashew and Chickpea Patty.

These will be served with a sauteed vegetable blend.

Both of these recipes were evaluated by Good Measure Meals and Open Hand staff. I made minor tweaks to both recipes and retested them until I got the right flavor and everyone approved them.

Please let me know what you think. Are you excited for these new additions?

It is not too late to let me know what you want to see in the new menu. I will dedicate a meal to you. Just let me know what you want!

All of this cold and wet weather has got me thinking about tropical beaches on an island. What would I eat for breakfast if I was on an island right now? Coconut, bananas and pineapples, of course!

This was the inspiration for the newest breakfast bar idea for the 2010 Spring/Summer Good Measure menu.

I’m calling it “Tropical island oatmeal breakfast bar made with banana, coconut, pineapple and sliced almonds”.

Check out the pineapples, oats and bananas. The is just a small hint of coconut flavor.

Oats are an amazing and powerful little grain. They are loaded with soluable fiber. This is the type of fiber that helps lower LDL cholesterol, also known as ”bad” cholesterol. Soluable fiber appears to decrease the absorption of cholesterol in your intestines.

Eating 1 1/2 cups of cooked oatmeal adds 6 grams of fiber. If you add fruit, such as bananas and pineapples you can add even more fiber. One 3 oz serving of this breakfast bar provides 7.5 grams of fiber! Cheers to oats, espicallially when combined and baked with such delicious ingredients.

Our dietetic intern, Brooke, gives it a try. She highly approves!

It’s hard to think about warm weather food when it is in the 40’s and there is a forecast for snow. Welcome to my world. Sometimes I feel like a fashion designer, who is planning an outfit two seasons in advance. Here it is the middle of winter and I’m trying to think about the food that is enjoyable to eat in the spring and summer. Maybe it would help if I crank up the heat and dance around in my flip flops and beach hat? No, that just makes my feet sore and my heating bill sky rocket.

Usually I start by identifying the “wintery” meals that are currently in the menu. You know – the stews, root vegetables and heartier meals. These I will archive for next winter. The goal is to change about 35-40% of the menu. I keep the “all time favorites” in the menu – like pot roast, lobster ravioli and vegetable lasagna. I like to flip through old magazines from the months of March through August and cookbooks too – this helps the ideas start to flow. Then I just start asking around – our chefs are a great source for awesome recipe ideas.

Here is a preview of some recipes I have already tested for the upcoming menu:

Asian meatloaf topped with a hoisin glaze over wasabi mashed potatoes. Sesame spinach with toasted sesame seeds.

Chicken and feta tabbouleh salad with fresh mint, bulgur wheat and English cucumbers. Green leaf lettuce. Whole wheat pita pocket. Fresh melon salad.

Cool Southwestern Chicken Pasta Salad Tossed with Whole Wheat Penne Pasta, Roasted Corn and Black Beans, Topped with Cheddar and Monterrey Jack Cheeses. Fat Free Sour Cream.

Now this is how the blog is really going to come in handy! I want to know what YOU would like to eat this spring and summer. What do you want to see on the menu? Pretend like you are at the beach or at your family’s BBQ. What are some of your favorite summertime meals?

Let me know your thoughts by posting a comment on our blog.  Can’t wait to hear from you.