Wellness

@ Moraine Valley

Kelly Devine Rickert

Healthy Tailgating!

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Football season is upon us once again, and that means tailgating, concession stands, and football game get-togethers. Most often these activities come with high calorie, high fat foods and beverages that can sabotage healthy diets. Here are some tips on how to navigate the football season.

(Obviously for health and calorie reasons, it is best to eat before you go to a game, but realistically speaking, here are some tips if you are going to eat at the game or party!)

• If eating at a game:
Healthier options: small popcorn, pretzel with cheese.
High Calorie foods to limit: brats, sausages, fries, large nachos, nuts and high calorie alcoholic drinks
• If tailgating: You have some control over the food choices so try and pack some leaner meats such as chicken breasts, turkey or lean burgers, chili, and chicken sausages with low calorie/whole wheat buns.  You can add some lower calorie side items such as baked chips or Sun chips. Healthier side items could also include fruit or side salads. Experiment with healthier dips like this avocado bean dip!  Pair with pita or whole grain chips or crackers.
• If going out to a bar or restaurant: Look out for high fat fried appetizers. The lowest calorie apps tend to be grilled shrimp or brushetta.  For your main meal try and order a grilled chicken wrap or turkey club sandwich (minus the mayo!) and limit your fry intake. If pizza is being served, try and order veggie or cheese and blot the top of the pizza with a napkin to save some of the fat calories.

And finally, try and limit your alcohol/soda pop intake as these beverages are high in calories and can really add up. The best advice is to drink a cup or bottle of water in between alcoholic drinks to stay hydrated.

Go Bears!

Kelly Devine Rickert MS RDN LDN

Cilantro Pesto Pasta Salad

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Recipe time!  Here is an easy and healthy recipe to add to your dinner table this summer!

Ingredients:

Pesto
2 cups tightly packed cilantro leaves
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¾ cup of extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt

Salad
2 cups halved grape tomatoes
2 cups diced zucchini
1 cup thinly sliced red onion
3 cups shredded or diced chicken breast
3 cups cooked whole wheat elbow macaroni

Directions:
1. Pesto: Add cilantro, garlic, walnuts, Parmesan, lemon juice, salt and pepper to a food processor. Pulse 4 to 5 times until ingredients are roughly chopped. Turn on the food processor, and slowly drizzle in the oil through the lid opening. Process until smooth. Add the yogurt to this mixture and process until well combined.
2. Salad: In a large bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients with the pesto. Gently toss to combine.

Beat the Bloat This Summer!

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BBQ’s, cottage weekends, parties, summer drinking all have what in common? An increase in calories, carbs and fat which unfortunately leads to some summer weight gain and bloating. So what can we do? Try these tips and tricks below to decrease your summer bloat and inch the scale back down.

1. Ditch the alcohol for a while and replace with caffeine free, water based drinks. Water, infused with with fruit, vitamin water zero, or other flavored waters with no calories work great!
Aim for 64-100 oz a day!(No pop as well!)

2. Watch the salty snack foods (pretzels, tortilla chips, cheese). And the dips they accompany! Try veggies and hummus, apple with peanut butter or slice of watermelon or cataloupe for a refreshing snack instead!

3. Up the fruits and veggies. Naturally high in water and fiber, these foods keep you full and satisfied, and keeps you hydrated with no extra salt. Add to meals or snacks!
Breakfast:
Add to egg wrap
Lunch
Add to your sandwich or wrap or choose a nice big salad for lunch
Dinner
Add a salad and a cooked veggie to help fill you up.

4. Decrease the cured and salty meats such as hotdogs, brats, frozen hamburgers, etc. Choose fresh meat or go meat free for a bit.

5. Cook at home! Often times people go out to eat more in the summer but during the week try and cook some simple meals at home. You control the salt and ingredients so less bloating for everyone!

Enjoy!

Kelly Devine Rickert MS RDN CSSD LDN
Moraine Valley Wellness Coordinator

10 Ways to Enjoy More Fruits and Vegetables This Summer!

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Put those fresh in season fruits and vegetables to use this summer. Below are 10 ways to boost your produce intake this summer!

  1. Stuff an omelet with vegetables. Turn any omelet into a hearty meal with broccoli, squash, carrots, peppers, tomatoes or onions with low-fat sharp cheddar cheese.
  2. “Sandwich” in fruits and vegetables. Add pizzazz to sandwiches with sliced pineapple, apple, peppers, cucumber and tomato as fillings.
  3. Wake up to fruit. Make a habit of adding fruit to your morning oatmeal, ready-to-eat cereal, yogurt or toaster waffle.
  4. Add grated, shredded or chopped vegetables such as zucchini, spinach and carrots to lasagna, meat loaf, mashed
    potatoes, pasta sauce and rice dishes.
  5. Make fruit your dessert: Slice a banana lengthwise and top with a scoop of low-fat
    frozen yogurt. Sprinkle with a tablespoon of chopped nuts. Or freeze some grapes for a quick evening snack.
  6. Grill colorful vegetable kabobs packed with tomatoes, green and red peppers, mushrooms and onions.
  7. Keep cut vegetables handy for mid-afternoon snacks, side dishes, lunch box additions or a quick nibble while waiting for dinner. Ready-to-eat favorites: red, green or yellow peppers, broccoli or cauliflower florets,
    carrots, celery sticks, cucumbers, snap peas or whole radishes.
  8. Make a veggie wrap with roasted vegetables and low-fat cheese rolled in a whole-wheat tortilla.
  9. Place colorful fruit where everyone can easily grab something for a snack-on-the run.
    Keep a bowl of fresh, just ripe whole fruit in the center of your kitchen or dining table.
  10. Variety abounds when using vegetables as pizza topping. Try broccoli, spinach, green peppers,
    tomatoes, mushrooms and zucchini.

Kelly Devine Rickert MS RDN LDN

Moraine Valley Wellness Coordinator

Two Easy Salad Recipes to Beat the Heat!

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Well summer is finally here and what better way to beat the heat in the kitchen than to prep some yummy salads? Below are two of my favorite go to summer salads. The bean salad pairs great with your favorite BBQ items and is a hit at family parties. The second salad makes for a quick lunch or as a side with dinner. Either way they are chock full of nutrients!

Quinoa, Brown Rice and Black Bean Salad!

2 c quinoa and brown rice, cooked and cooled
1 lemon juiced and zested
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp cumin
1 small can no salt corn, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinses
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 large green pepper, chopped

Mix together and enjoy!


Best salad EVER!
Ingredients:
1 English cucumber (seedless)
4 Roma tomatoes
3 ripe avocados (cut down to 1 if salad is for one)
½ red onion
¼ cup cilantro
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Directions:
1. Place sliced cucumber, tomatoes, avocados, onion, and cilantro in a large salad bowl.
2. Toss with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.

Kelly Devine Rickert, Registered Dietitian, Devine Nutrition Inc

devinenutrition.com

Covid-19 Vaccine

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Benefits of Getting a COVID-19 Vaccine

Per CDC Website, 5/5/21

COVID-19 vaccination will help keep you from getting COVID-19

Once you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing more

  • After you are fully vaccinated for COVID-19, you may be able to start doing some things that you stopped doing because of the pandemic. For example, you can gather indoors without masks with other people who are fully vaccinated.
  • We are still learning how vaccines will affect the spread of COVID-19. Until we know more about how vaccines will affect the spread of COVID-19, people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 should keep taking precautions in public places like wearing a mask, staying 6 feet apart from others, avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces, and washing your hands often.
  • People are not considered fully vaccinated until two weeks after their second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, or two weeks after a single-dose Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen COVID-19 vaccine. You should keep using all the tools available to protect yourself and others until you are fully vaccinated.

COVID-19 vaccination is a safer way to help build protection

  • COVID-19 can have serious, life-threatening complications, and there is no way to know how COVID-19 will affect you. And if you get sick, you could spread the disease to friends, family, and others around you.
  • Clinical trials for all vaccines must first show they are safe and effective before any vaccine can be authorized or approved for use, including COVID-19 vaccines. The known and potential benefits of a COVID-19 vaccine must outweigh the known and potential risks of the vaccine before it is used under what is known as an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). Watch a video explaining an EUA.
  • Getting COVID-19 may offer some protection, known as natural immunity. Current evidence suggests that reinfection with the virus that causes COVID-19 is uncommon in the months after initial infection, but may increase with time. The risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19 far outweighs any benefits of natural immunity. COVID-19 vaccination will help protect you by creating an antibody (immune system) response without having to experience sickness.
  • Both natural immunity and immunity produced by a vaccine are important parts of COVID-19 disease that experts are trying to learn more about, and CDC will keep the public informed as new evidence becomes available.

COVID-19 vaccination will be an important tool to help stop the pandemic

  • Wearing masks and staying 6 feet apart from others help reduce your chance of being exposed to the virus or spreading it to others, but these measures are not enough. Vaccines will work with your immune system so it will be ready to fight the virus if you are exposed.
  • A growing body of evidence suggests that fully vaccinated people are less likely to be infected without showing symptoms (called an asymptomatic infection) and potentially less likely to spread the virus that causes COVID-19 to others. However, further investigation is ongoing.
  • Stopping a pandemic requires using all the tools we have available. As experts learn more about how COVID-19 vaccination may help reduce spread of the virus that causes COVID-19, CDC will continue to update its recommendations to protect communities using the latest science.

COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective

We understand that some people may be concerned about getting vaccinated now that COVID-19 vaccines are available in the United States. While more COVID-19 vaccines are being developed as quickly as possible, routine processes and procedures remain in place to ensure the safety of any vaccine that is authorized or approved for use. Safety is a top priority, and there are many reasons to get vaccinated.

None of the COVID-19 vaccines can make you sick with COVID-19

None of the COVID-19 vaccines contain the live virus that causes COVID-19 so a COVID-19 vaccine cannot make you sick with COVID-19. Learn more Facts about COVID-19 Vaccines

Moraine Valley Covid 19 Vaccine Clinic!

Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic offered by Osco
Monday, May 17, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. (first dose)
Moraine Valley Community College, Building M, Moraine Rooms
Link to register for an appointment: https://kordinator.mhealthcoach.net/vcl/1620140873290

Moraine Valley faculty, staff and students have priority registration through Wednesday, May 5. The link to register will open to the public starting Thursday, May 6, so save your spot today! You may share the registration link with your family and friends. A follow-up clinic for the second dose of the vaccine will be on Monday, June 7.

Any questions?

Kelly Devine Rickert

devinerickertk@morainevalley.edu