If you are like us, your stress level is at an all time high and you are beginning to feel the effects of prolonged stress in your body.  The constant release of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline weakens your immune system and leads to dangerous health problems like high blood pressure and heart disease.  Living a lifestyle that counteracts effects of stress should be part of your overall plan for wellness and self care.  Diet is a powerful lifestyle tool that can alleviate stress and mitigate the damage it does to your body.

Certain foods are natural mood enhancers that help you remain calm in stressful situations.  Other foods actively repair the damage stress does at a cellular level, giving your body a powerful ally to fight the effects of stress.  There are lots of different foods that will help you with stress management; these foods generally fall into the following five categories:

1.       High in vitamins that fight the effects of stress and strengthen the immune system like blueberries, almonds, broccoli, beef and oranges

2.       High in potassium and/or magnesium like spinach, avocados and apricots

3.       High in folate/folic acid like leafy greens, broccoli, artichokes and arugula

4.       High is Omega 3s like walnuts, fish and spinach

5.       High in fiber like whole grains, artichokes, oats and broccoli

By combining these types of foods you can use your diet to help manage the level of stress in your life.  Many foods in these categories are available throughout the year in Arizona.  The wide variety of fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy and herbs available from local farms, at the farmer’s market and in local grocery store give you a rich resource for creating a delicious, stress busting diet.

Let’s see how you can eat across these categories throughout the day to maximize the stress management benefits.  Below is a sample menu offering ideas on how to incorporate the different types of foods at every meal.  Full recipes can be found at Fill Your Plate via the links provided.

Breakfast

Start the day off right with a delicious bowl of oatmeal which is full of fiber and helps to boost the level of serotonin, a mood enhancing chemical, in your brain.  Add a handful of blueberries and you get a rich source of vitamin C, additional dietary fiber and stress-busting antioxidants.

For a hearty brunch option, serve up a Zesty Papa Protein Scramble that incorporates spinach and avocados which are filled with magnesium and potassium and fiber-rich artichokes into an appetite appeasing, stress fighting meal for the whole family.

Lunch

Looking for a light lunch?  Try The Farmer’s Favorite Salad which is filled with stress-busting magnesium-rich spinach, walnuts that offer the benefits of Omega 3s and leafy greens packed with folate and topped off with a delicious dressing.

If you are in need of a hearty mid-day meal to fuel your afternoon, Tostados made with lean steak offer the stress reducing benefits of beef and the heartiness of beans, corn, and cheese.  Whip up some fresh guacamole to add the stress busting benefits of avocados to your tasty Tostado.

Dinner

Beginning with a fresh Avocado & Tomato Salad, a dinner filled with stress reducing foods is easy to pull together and fabulous for gathering the family around the table.  Choose Rosemary-Sage Steak with fresh steamed broccoli for your main course and keep everyone at the table with Apple Crisp with almonds for dessert.

The variety of stress busting foods available from Arizona’s farms make it easy to eat a diet designed to fight the stress in your life and keep you healthy and hearty for years to come.

Related Articles:

• Fresh Arizona Fruit: More than Just Desserts (fillyourplate.org)
• Top 10 Arizona Grown Foods that Are Natural Energy Boosters (fillyourplate.org)
• Spring Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing from Jan D-Atri (fillyourplate.org)

By Wendy Kenney, AZFB

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, and Brent Murphree’s post about his favorite Mexican Restaurants in the Southwest, I thought I would add mine.  Now if a restaurant is not on a list doesn’t mean I don’t like it, it just means that I haven’t been there or don’t know about it.    As a side note, I live in the East Valley.

1.            Guedo’s Cantina & Grille. My husband and I have been going here for years.  And although this place looks a little worn for wear, the food is absolutely amazing.  We always get a two mixed steak and pork tacos with cheese, and a side of rice.  It’s a family-owned business and as far as tacos go, it’s our favorite.

2.            Tia Rosa’s, Gilbert, Arizona.  Tia Rosa’s has been in the East Valley for many years and is family owned as well.  Their meats are slow cooked and melt in your mouth.  But what I go there for is their fish tacos; fresh grilled, buttery sweet, white fish on corn tortillas, with plenty of cheese and a tasty homemade salsa.  I also always have a shrimp taco.  I’m always amazed at the plump little white shrimp, nestled in two corn tortillas, covered with home-made pineapple salsa and mounds of freshly grated cabbage, and cheese.

3.            Matta’s was voted best Mexican Grill and Cantina in the East Valley for 2011 and it’s certainly no mystery why.  When we’re looking for traditional style Mexican food with plenty of cheese and gravy, we go here.  Their enchiladas can’t be beat!

4.            Blue Adobe Grill, with food cooked in the New Mexican style, this restaurant is a chili-lover’s dream.    The food is different from any of the traditional fare you’re used to.  If you’re a foodie, this restaurant is a must.

These restaurants are my favorite’s, what are yours?

Related articles

• Top Mexican Food Restaurants of the Southwest
• Fresh Arizona Fruit: More than Just Desserts

You are invited to help create the Piñon Grill Spring/Summer Dinner Menu. On April 28, 2011 at 6pm guests will be dazzled with large sample portions of 18 different items. There will be three items in the six categories of soup, salad, beef entrée, pork entrée, seafood entrée and desserts. For just $39 guests will taste and vote for their favorite dish in each category. Items receiving the most votes will be included on the new menu.

For an additional $16 those over 21 years old will be provided a wine pairing with each course.

A portion of the proceeds will benefit The Foothills Food Bank & Resource Center that serves the needy in the Valley of the Sun.

Reservations are required. Call 480-367-2422 and make your reservation today! Piñon Grill is located at Millennium Resort, 7401 N. Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale 85253.

You’ve heard that “an apple a day keeps the doctor away and while that may or may not be true, apples are definitely an American favorite.  So much so that we celebrate the apple throughout the year. .”  In Arizona we have access to delicious apples all year round.

Here are some little known apple holidays.  December 1^st is designated as National Pie Day and Eat a Red Apple Day, December 2nd is National Fritter (we are thinking Apple Fritter) Day, and December 3rd is National Apple Pie Day.

Apples are in season in Arizona from July to September but farmers are able to keep us supplied with these delicious treats long after the season has ended.   The holidays bring our favorite apple cider, apple pie, chocolated covered apples, and many other apple desserts.   We also like to decorate our holiday trees and tables in luscious Red Delicious apples.

Here are some fun apple facts.  Did you know that?

• The average person eats 65 apples a year?
• The largest apple ever picked weighed more than three pounds
• Apples float because 25% of their volume is air
• One medium apple contains only 80 calories
• China produces more apples than any other country
• There are more than 7,500 varieties of apples in the world with about 2,500 of those varieties being grown in the U.S.
• Red Delicious apples are the most popular with Golden Delicious coming in a close second
• The only apple native to North America is the crab apple
• More than half of the apple crop in the United States is turned into applesauce and apple juice
• The more apples a person eats, the lower his or her risk of developing lung cancer
• Apple juice was one of the earliest prescribed antidepressants
• Johnny Appleseed was actually John Chapman, an American pioneer born in 1774 who planted apple seeds in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio
• Apple cider vinegar While long used as a folk remedy, became well known in the U.S. in the late 1950s, when it was promoted in the best-selling book Folk Medicine: A Vermont Doctor’s Guide to Good Health by D. C. Jarvis.
• Fresh apple cider is raw apple juice that has not undergone a filtration process to remove coarse particles of pulp or sediment.  It is typically sold during the fall and during holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
• Hard apple cider was the most common fruit beverage in the U.S. up to the mid 19th century. Without refrigeration, fresh juice was very perishable, so apple juice was allowed to ferment to a low alcohol content, usually around 5 percent alcohol. Next to water, this cider was the cheapest and most widely available beverage year-round.

Here’s a delicious Apple-Raspberry pie recipe you could cook up to celebrate National Apple Pie Day in style.   Go to FillYourPlate to discover Arizona Apple Farmers and to look up more delicious apple recipes.

Apple-Raspberry Pie

• Pastry for 2-crust pie
• 4 lg. apples (Gala, Golden Delicious or Granny smith)

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Roll out half of the pastry and fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Spread raspberry jam over bottom of the pie crust. Thaw and drain raspberries. Pour juice into a small saucepan, stir in cornstarch and  a ¼ cup sugar. Bring mixture to a boil over low heat; stir in the drained raspberries; cool. Combine flour and 1/3 cup sugar.

Peel, core and slice apples into thin slices. Toss apples in flour/sugar mixture; pour into pie crust. Spoon raspberry mixture over apples. Roll out remaining pastry and place over the filling; trim and crimp edges. Cut slits in top crust for venting. Beat egg white and water with a fork until frothy; brush over top crust. Sprinkle sugar evenly over top of pie.

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes; reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking for 30-40 minutes until crust is golden and juices bubble. Let pie set at least 1 hour before serving.

Provided by: Apple Annie’s Orchard

The Thanksgiving dinner is a great time for friends and family to gather to celebrate the year while feasting on a Thanksgiving meal, lovingly prepared. Chances are, by now, you’ve already begun pulling together the menu and started shopping for the ingredients. You know that your Arizona farmers and farmers’ markets have almost everything you need to feed the family and all the guests who will be arriving.

Whether you’ll be serving the traditional turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce or shaking things up with Arizona beef and different fixings, check with the local farmers for their offerings for your holiday table. When you sit down to your dinner, you will be carrying on a tradition that started with the Pilgrims and Native Americans in 1621. Did you know, though that Thanksgiving wasn’t recognized as an official American holiday until 1941?

One Thanksgiving holiday favorite is beef and there is nothing like Arizona Legacy Beef; they are the growers of Criollo Beef – this beef is aged for 18-21 days, is naturally lean and is antibiotic and hormone free. Can you imagine a juicy cut of prime rib as an addition to your succulent turkey?

For an appetizer, why not try 5 Minute Stuffed Medjool Date Appetizers made with fresh Arizona dates?  Green salads are always a hit at Thanksgiving; why not try our Grilled Romaine with Creamy Balsamic Vinaigrette on your table?  Did you know that Yuma, Arizona, is the winter lettuce capital of the world? Arizona  ranks second in the U.S. in head lettuce, leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, cauliflower and broccoli production, ingredients that are mainstays on our nation’s Thanksgiving table.  Look for Arizona farmers like McClendon Farms at an Arizona farmers market for these and all the fresh produce you need for your Thanksgiving dinner.

If you’re baking pies, look for Arizona’s own Hickman’s Eggs for the eggs to add to your recipes. As a matter of fact you can check out this delicious pumpkin pie recipe from Grandma Gertie – it’s sure to be a crowd pleasing dessert. You can also make homemade whipped cream to top off your pies or pour a tall, cool class of milk from Superstition Farms or Shamrock Farms to enjoy with your desserts.

Have some lime trees in your back yard? Why not make some limeade or use lime juice — squeezed from them after you’ve picked them fresh from the tree – to drizzle over your roasted or grilled veggies to add a unique flavor?

And if you’re thinking of wine, Arizona has award winning wines.  So for a local winery on our https://fillyourplate.org website.

Because November in Arizona is still warm, you might not want to heat up your kitchen with the turkey so we’ve provided you a recipe for a grilled turkey from our Fill Your Plate site.

Citrus Marinated Grilled Turkey

• 4 Oranges or Tangerines
• 1 Lemon
• 1 Garlic Head, Halved
• 4 Sprigs Rosemary
• 4 Sprigs Thyme
• 1 Tbsp Whole Black Peppercorns
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1-12 lb Turkey
• Kosher Salt
• Ground Black Pepper

Directions

Put all the marinade ingredients into a bowl and pour over a generous amount of olive oil. Squeeze everything together with your hands to blend flavors. Have the butcher cut the turkey into 4 pieces and remove the bones from the breast. Save the neck and backbone for the gravy. To marinate, put the turkey on a large platter and pour on the marinade. Turn the turkey over in the marinade to make sure it is well coated on both sides. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. Remove the turkey from the refrigerator about 1/2 hour before you are ready to grill it. Heat the grill to medium and wipe the grate with some oil. Wipe the marinade from the turkey and season it well with salt and pepper. Put the turkey on the grill, skin side down, and cook for 30 minutes. Turn the bird over and continue grilling, basting with more olive oil until the juices run clear and the internal temperature of the thigh is 180 degrees, about 1 hour total. Set aside, cover with foil, and let it rest for about 10 minutes before carving.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

What’s packed with protein, vitamins, minerals and nutrients and are cheap and easy to use? Eggs! Many nutritionists call eggs a “super food” because of their health benefits.  But not only that, eggs are economical.  With a serving of eggs costing less than 30 cents a meal, they can’t be beat for their powerful punch.

Everyone knows that breakfast is the most important meal of the day but more often than not, many of us are more likely to pour a bowl of cereal than to eat anything else.  Eggs, however, can be a better breakfast choice both nutritionally and economically, whether fried, scrambled or hard boiled.

Health experts point out at that the best foods to help with all-day productivity are high in protein and low in refined carbohydrates.  Eggs fit this bill. Even if there were no price difference, eggs would be a much better choice over a bowl of cereal (especially the sugar-sweetened variety).   However there is a substantial price difference between eggs and boxed cereal.  Say you can scrounge five bowls from one box—that’s 90 cents a meal (without the milk). The current market price for eggs is 15 cents each (as of 10/15/10).  A dozen eggs, though, makes six meals—for an average of 30 cents per meal for two eggs.  By eating cereal over eggs, you’re spending three times as much money on a meal that’s not as healthy.

You can whip up a Tortilla Quiche (recipe from FillYourPlate.org) using Hickman’s Family Farm eggs and mix in some veggies and cheese for a healthful breakfast; scramble some eggs – again with veggies and cheese – and wrap them in a tortilla for an on the go breakfast treat; hard-boiled eggs are also a great on-the-go snack. Spend some time on the weekends to cook up a frittata, store in individual serving sizes and during the week they can just be reheated for a quick, easy meal.

In addition to being nutritional powerhouses, the protein in eggs is considered the gold standard when it comes to protein. There is the misinformation that eating eggs raises the level of “bad” cholesterol, but it is saturated fat that raises the bad levels and eggs contain very little saturated fat. Eggs contain the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, yellow/orange carotenoids that reduce risk of cataracts and age related macular degeneration. Eggs are an excellent source of choline, essential for function of all cells in the human body. Medical research also shows that women who eat at least six eggs a weak can lower their risk of breast cancer by as much as 44%.

When it comes to egg colors – white versus brown – is there a difference? According to the The American Egg Board, the answer is “no.” The color of the shell has nothing to do with the egg’s quality, nutritional value or flavor.  The breed of hen determines the color of the shell. Among commercial breeds, hens with white feathers and ear lobes lay white-shelled eggs; hens with red feathers and ear lobes lay brown eggs.  The reason we see more white eggs is because that’s what shoppers prefer to buy.

Do you really know how to boil an egg? Many people boil eggs for too long which leads to dry, green-tinged yolks. Here’s how to make perfect hard boiled eggs.

Arrange a dozen eggs in a saucepan, cover with 1 to 1 ½ inches of cold water, cover the pot and bring to a rolling boil. Cook for only 30 to 60 seconds; remove from heat and let eggs rest in the covered pot for 15 minutes. Drain, cover eggs with ice water for 10 minutes then drain and refrigerate them in the shell. Store the eggs in the refrigerator in a tightly covered container.

Here’s some cool facts that you might not know about eggs:

• To tell if an egg is raw or hard cooked, spin it. A hardboiled egg will easily spin.
• Double-yolked eggs usually come from young hens whose egg production cycles are not completely synchronized or by hens that are old enough to lay extra large eggs.  Genetics are also a factor.
• It’s said an egg will stand on end during the spring equinox – around March 21 – one of the two times of the year when the sun crosses the equator and the day and night are equal.
• Before refrigeration, the ancient Chinese stored eggs up to several years by immersing them in a variety of mixtures such as salt and wet clay; cooked rice, salt and lime; or salt and wood ashes mixed with a tea infusion. The treated eggs bore little similarity to fresh eggs, some exhibiting greenish-gray yolks and albumen resembling brown jelly. Today, eggs preserved in this manner are enjoyed in China as a delicacy.
• You really can have egg on your face as egg whites have long been used as a facial. Egg yolks are also used in shampoos, conditioners and soaps.
• Senior National Representative for the American Egg Council, Howard Helmer, is known as the Omelet King. He holds three Guinness World Records for omelet making; fastest omelet maker (427 omelets in 30 minutes); fastest single omelet (42 seconds from whole egg to omelet); and omelet flipping (30 flips in 34 seconds).

Egg nutrition fact: Serving size: 1 large egg; Price per serving: 15 cents
Nutrition per serving: whole egg: 70 cals, 4.5 g fat, 6 g pro, 6 percent Vit A, 2 percent Calcium, 4 percent DV Iron; egg white: 17 calories, 0 fat, 3.6 g pro

Here’s a delicious recipe from the files of Hickman’s Family Farms.   Their recipes demonstrate the egg’s unique ability to “move around the plate” as an ingredient in appetizers, snacks, desserts, soups, and salads – and as the star of a variety of entrees.

Tuscan Dinner Omelet

3 Jumbo Eggs
½ cup fresh zucchini
½ cup feta cheese
½ cup jack cheese
½ cup fresh tomatoes
½ cup grilled eggplant
½ cup sun dried tomatoes
2 tablespoons fresh garlic
margarine to coat non-stick pan
2 teaspoons fresh basil
(Grilling eggplant: slice eggplant and grill on barbeque about 2-3 minutes; omelet mixture: whip 3 jumbo eggs and 3 tablespoons water)

Over high heat, coat non-stick pan with butter, pour egg omelet mixture, on one side of mixture put eggplant, cheeses, sun dried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, garlic, and zucchini tilt pan scraping and scooping egg mixture to allow cooking. Fold top over fresh ingredients, place in broiler for about 2 minutes, plate it, and for topping add more sun dried tomatoes, fresh basil, and more cheese. Serve with Arizona White wine for a delicious dinner omelet.

By Tracy Taylor Grondine

A recent effort by scholars to uncover the origins of America’s obesity problem turned up some interesting findings. Their research, while unorthodox, yet highly entertaining, examined 52 artists’ paintings of The Last Supper from the year 1,000 A.D. to the year 2,000 A.D.  The results: Portion size has been increasing for 1,000 years

The researchers argue that enlarged portions are not a recent phenomenon, as critics suggest. Instead, they say it’s been a trend for the past millennium. Looking at the 52 paintings of The Last Supper, the meal entrees gradually grew by about 70 percent and the bread by 23 percent. Furthermore, the size of the apostles’ plates increased by nearly 66 percent.

While some critics blame modern farming and the advent of take-out food in the last 40 years for America’s fat problem, the authors instead suggest it’s a natural consequence of “dramatic socio-historic increases in the production, availability, safety, abundance and affordability of food” that started more than 1,000 years ago.

Yet, why now is obesity becoming such a prominent issue socially, commercially and even politically?

Everywhere you look, attention is being drawn to America’s eating habits. First Lady Michelle Obama recently launched a campaign urging children to eat healthy and get moving. Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, whose hard-line diligence paid off in reforming the U.K’s school lunch program, has now set his sights on America’s students.  And the head of Sony Pictures within the past few weeks has made a plea to movie theater owners to provide healthy snack alternatives to popcorn and candy.

One can argue that food portions have grown significantly over the last 20 years. Take movie popcorn for example. Twenty years ago the average size of the theater treat was five cups, equal to 270 calories. Today, movie goers instead typically buy a tub that weighs in at 630 calories.

The super size trend continues in everything from bagels to burgers to pasta dishes to desserts. What used to be considered an extra large soda is now deemed a medium. Unfortunately, America’s waistbands have reacted accordingly.   Approximately 65 percent of U.S. adults are overweight or obese. 

It’s not just food portions that have increased. The size of plates, bowls and cups have, as well. In the early 1990s, the standard size of a dinner plate increased from 10 to 12 inches. Correlating studies find that the larger the container, the more people consume, whether they are hungry or not.

So, what is the right portion size? Think of it this way. Your hamburger should be the size of a deck of cards, a slice of bread the size of a cassette tape, a baked potato the size of a computer mouse and a portion of pasta should be the size of a tennis ball.

But, portion size is not the only factor playing a role in our weight problem. A sedentary lifestyle, coupled with stress (which is arguably America’s number one health problem) and personal food choices are all culprits.

Unfortunately, we don’t have statistics reaching back to the date of the original Last Supper to correlate the affordability and safety of our food supply with growing portion size.  But that would be too black and white anyway. America’s obesity problem can’t be pinpointed to one industry or one lifestyle habit.  Like Leonardo da Vinci’s brilliant masterpiece, it has many layers and can’t be simplified in one brushstroke. It requires thorough examination.

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Tracy Taylor Grondine is director of media relations for the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Arizona Farm Bureau is a grassroots organization dedicated to preserving and improving the Agriculture industry through member involvement in education, political activities, programs and services.

For more information contact Julie Murphree at (480) 635-3607 or go to http://www.azfb.org.