The Empty Nest Kitchen

Cooking for Change: Healthier Eating Habits for Mid-Life

• Christine Van Bloem • Season 2 • Episode 37

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Mid-life is about taking back control and time, and finally taking care of you. The importance of dietary choices becomes even more relevant as we age. This week I'm talking about my love for chicken nuggets and mozzarella sticks, and sharing a few quick recipes for feel good food that tastes great too. You'll hear practical tips and recipes for butternut squash power bowl and fish tacos, to help you incorporate nutritious and delicious foods into your routine. The episode concludes with an invitation to a free masterclass focused on easy-to-make, healthy recipes that help you feel great!

00:00 Introduction to Culinary Medicine and Menopause

01:08 The Rise of Menopause Discussions

01:29 Supplements vs. Diet

02:14 Personal Journey with Food

03:55 The Importance of Healthy Eating

05:15 Mediterranean Diet Essentials

06:30 Delicious and Healthy Recipes

09:29 Join the Free Masterclass

10:43 Conclusion and Invitation


Masterclass, Wed., Feb 5, 4pm ET. Register here.



Speaker 2:

So ever since I started my certification process for my culinary medical professional certification, I have been really interested in how the Mediterranean diet affects women in menopause. Now, a bunch of episodes back, I talked to you a little about this because I was so shocked that in the program that I used, that I went through, It was never mentioned. Not once. And with so many women, and maybe it's because I'm the age I am, and the people I know are my age, right? I have been really fascinated that it hasn't been something that's been really discussed. And lo and behold, in the past several months, it seems like talking about menopause and perimenopause is the talking point. Now, so I was at the beginning of that curve, I'm very pleased, but there are a lot of people now they're talking about a lot of things. And one of the things that I'm seeing is that tons of people are trying to sell supplements and things that you can take a pill you can take that is going to make you feel better as you're working your way through both peri and menopause.

Speaker 4:

And I am definitely not here to yuck your yum. You do you. If a supplement is the way that you want to go, I think, I hope that you have a lot of success with that. I hope it works really well. And I would love, and I mean that, I would love to hear all about that. But I think a bigger thing that we can do, and a better thing we can do, is use how we're eating to really help us manage all of that. Now, I'm no athlete, right? I'm no competitor when it comes to sporty stuff. Ask my sister in law Mo about my tragic Zumba industry where I flicked my hand and my Pinky finger was numb for three months. So know that I am not coming to you here as an athlete who has fueled my body for peak performance. I've never done that. Heck, I grew up in the seventies and the eighties latchkey kid at home, taking care of my brothers. I made fried ham sandwiches every single day. Everything came out of a can and listen, my mom made dinner every Night bless her heart, but I did not learn about eating. Well when I was younger I didn't and I formed really bad habits. Listen, I Love a 10 piece chicken nugget from McDonald's haven't had one in a million years And we all know that they're just an SDD right a sauce delivery device. I love Mozzarella sticks and jalapeno poppers from Arby's. Heck yeah, I do. Give me a crispy Coke while you're at it. But as a heart attack survivor and a woman in her late fifties, I just, it's not even that I can't eat that way anymore. It's that I really don't want to. Sure. The occasional mozzarella stick trip. Sure. It's going to happen, but It's not how I eat as a matter of routine anymore because it makes me feel yucky. It makes me feel kind of gross and I am all about now realizing that I've had some life threatening things happen, not just for me, but for my husband. Food has become a much bigger deal and it's taken me, oh gosh, I hate to say almost 50 years to get to this point. Going through culinary school was amazing and we didn't use anything processed. It just wasn't part of the deal. I lost so much weight in cooking school. Oh my gosh, I looked amazing and we were eating, you know, things with 42 percent heavy cream in them. That means that's 42 percent fat. You can't even find that where I live now.

Speaker 5:

But if you're in the same boat as me, and maybe you didn't grow up with really great eating habits, or you didn't have anybody that was teaching you really great eating habits, maybe now is the time to lean into it a little bit. I think I've told you before that by 2030, 1. 2 billion, with a B, people in the world are going to be postmenopausal. I mean, that's a crazy, crazy thing, right? So, how can we, how can we handle it? Well, women typically need a lot more fiber in their diet. important. And I'm sure you can't walk out your door without hearing the word protein and how important lean proteins are. It's good stuff, right? And Mediterranean diet focuses In not just on those lean proteins, but on fruits and veggies, whole grains, which I'm addicted to fish, healthy fats, all of this good stuff.

Speaker 6:

And let's be honest here, eating well is more than finding some book that tells you to eat raspberries and pecans together, and ooh, isn't that satisfying? Just because it's a bit healthier doesn't mean that you can't have food that's easy to prepare, to have maybe a little guidance in that, and to have food that really tastes good and satisfies you. It doesn't have to be rabbit food. Right? It doesn't have to be a head of lettuce that you sprinkle some balsamic vinegar on because ooh, you don't want the oil. You deserve to eat really good food and you deserve to enjoy that process.

Speaker 7:

If you're into veggies, how yummy does a butternut squash Power Bowl sound with farro? And here's a hint, when you're cooking these whole grains, if you use some low sodium chicken or vegetable broth, it ups the flavor in it. tremendously. So you've got some faro that you've cooked. Trader Joe's has a great 10 minute faro that I love. You've got that ready. Maybe you pickle a red onion. Oh, do I have the best pickling tip for red onions? Slice those babies, put them in a colander. pour boiling water over them. It softens them enough that you can do a really fast pickle with some white vinegar, a bit of sugar, and a bit of salt. So you've got that. You roast some squash. Maybe you add in some pistachios for a little crunch and look at this. balanced, happy thing that you've got that's satisfying, that's filling, that makes you feel good, that fuels you and that isn't a bear to make after you've been working all day. You deserve that. What about a great fish dish. How about fish tacos where you're making your fish? How about an air fryer? Don't we love an air fryer where you season your fish and a great fish for empty nesters. A great way to buy fish is to buy IQF fish, which means Individually quick frozen. That's when you see that bag of six salmon fillets at the grocery store or the six cod fillets, whatever it is. Those are so wonderful because you can pull one out, thaw it, or you can pull two and I know fresh seafood is best. I understand that and I respect that. But also on a budget with the way everything is so crazy right now, It's so expensive and I don't want to go to the grocery store every single day, so I keep shrimp, salmon, cod in the fridge all the time because you can whip something up really easily there. You can season it with maybe a bit of lime zest. How about some chili powder, a pinch of salt, and maybe some pepper. Pop it in the air fryer. And while that's going, get a coleslaw mix. Are you kidding me? Cabbage and fish tacos? The best! You can get a little coleslaw mix to use instead of a whole head of cabbage. You can take a little bit of sour cream and mix it with lime juice. And there you've got a crema to go on top of it. Do those pickled red onions and put some of those on. Holy bananas, that is so delicious. This is the kind of food you deserve to eat.

Speaker 5:

So if this interests you at all, I wanted to invite you to a free masterclass that I'm offering on Wednesday, February 5th at 4 p. m. Eastern time. It's just an hour and I am going to go through and answer. So many questions and talk to you about really good food that's not hard to make, that's going to help you feel. really solid from the inside out. What is it? Good food? Good mood? So I'm gonna put the link, but you can find it at emptynestkitchen com slash masterclass. If you Go there today. You can sign up and if you can't make it, that's okay. You can sign up and I'll be recording the class and I will send the recording out. And it is all about how to eat well, good food and what that means.

Speaker 8:

And if you attend, I'm even going to have a free three night dinner plan for you, ready to go with recipes and a shopping list so you can give it a try at home yourself.

Speaker 5:

I hope that I'll see you there. So happy day, happy week. And I cannot wait to talk to you about heart health this month because ladies, we got to keep those tickers ticking. Thanks so much. Hopefully I'll see you in that master class. And of course I'll see you in the kitchen.