Healthy Monday: Semi-Homemade Fried Rice (Vegetarian)

Studies suggest we are more likely to maintain behaviors begun on Monday throughout the week. That makes Monday the perfect day to make a change for your health and the health of our planet.

I (finally) cooked!

Kind of.

Source

It was semi-homemade fried rice, courtesy of Trader Joe’s frozen section.

Semi-Homemade Vegetarian Fried Rice

Ingredients (serves 2 – we have big appetites)

  • 1 bag of frozen veggie fried rice from Trader Joe’s (“4 servings” supposedly)
  • 1 bag of frozen vegetables (medley of beans and carrots)
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil

Directions

  1. Heat oil in a wok over high heat. Add vegetables. Saute for 1-2 minutes.
  2. Beat eggs in a cup. Add to veggies. Scramble the eggs and veggies for 2-3 minutes, or until the eggs are mostly done.
  3. Add in the rice. Continue to cook for 5 minutes or so, or until the rice is heated through.
  4. Serve!

Delicious. Semi-homemade is the way to go when you don’t have much time or motivation to cook. I got the ingredients for this dish from the new Trader Joe’s on the upper west side. It was a nice ~1.5 mile walk each way.

Healthy Monday: healthy-ish home cooking (whether it’s semi-homemade or fully homemade – homecooking is probably better than restaurant-made) and lots of walking.

What is your favorite semi-homemade dish to prepare? What is your favorite Trader Joe’s product?

Some related posts…

Weekend Link Love – 11.21.2010

Not too much to report on this week. Here are some great things I read in the last seven days:

And here are some useful sites that are not new to this past week, but I want to share anyway:

  • Khan Academy. A former hedge fund analyst started making videos on various science and math-y topics to tutor his cousins remotely. Turns out that he’s quite good at taking complicated subjects and explaining them via YouTube. He has videos on everything from Harmonic Motion (physics) to Organic Chemistry to basic Math and more.
  • Cal Newport’s Blog, Study Hacks. He’s the author of 3 books, How to Be a High School Superstar, How to Become a Straight-A Student, and How to Win at College. He has great tips for non-students, too.
  • Joshua Bell plays violin in a metro station. No one notices. This says something about our ability to appreciate beauty in unexpected places.

Think that’s it! Come back for Healthy Monday tomorrow. I haven’t decided what I am posting about yet.

Joe’s Ginger Review (Chinatown)

Joe’s Ginger

The other week we went to Chinatown in search of soup dumplings.

We ended up not at Joe’s Shanghai (1+ hour wait) but instead at the sister of Joe’s Shanghai: Joe’s Ginger. I believe they are run by the same people. We went here with Bobby’s parents so this must have been in mid-October. The soup dumplings were delicious by the way. Next time we go we are going to just order a whole bunch of dumplings.

Healthy Monday Tip #5: Avoid Processed Foods

Healthy Monday is a public health initiative founded in 2005 in association with Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University, and Syracuse University. HM’s goal is to end chronic preventable disease in the U.S. by offering people and organizations a weekly prompt to start and sustain healthy behaviors, intentions, actions and initiatives. For most Americans, the week begins on Monday. Studies suggest we are more likely to maintain behaviors begun on Monday throughout the week. That makes Monday the perfect day to make a change for your health and the health of our planet.

***

Last week’s semi-controversial post, “Stop Thinking, Start Eating” had some interesting responses. The main thing that people seemed to criticize me for was this: ok, “real food” is great… but what the heck is “real food”?

For me, eating real food means avoiding processed foods, but aside from that eating everything from fried chicken to fresh salads. (I think that) nearly all of the health problems in our society come from eating processed foods. Not from eating meat, or fat, or even white bread – no! The problems start when we start eating chemicals and preservatives and pre-packaged sweets or snacks.

Why avoid processed foods?

  • I don’t think that the human body recognizes them as food the same way that it does non-processed foods. I don’t really know the science behind this; it’s just a hunch.
  • People have been eating “bad” things like red meat and butter for years, but the truly awful epidemics – obesity, heart disease, diabetes, etc… – did not really become epidemics until the advent of processed foods. Maybe it’s correlation and not causation; I think it’s better to be safe than sorry.
  • Avoiding processed foods is (I think) less restrictive than avoiding, say, meat or dairy or some other random set of foods that some health professional deems unworthy. I think pretty much everyone is in agreement that processed foods are crap.
  • It’s nice to eat things that were prepared by real humans instead of machines.

Examples of processed foods I would probably avoid:

  • Oreos and other pre-packaged cookies. (This does not include pre-made cookies from Whole Foods – those are fabulously delicious.)
  • Pringles and other chips that are not recognizable as a potato.
  • Breads that don’t go moldy. (Scary.)
  • Sugary candy like Twizzlers. (If I’m going to eat candy it’s going to be something with fat, like chocolate or peanut butter.)
  • Twinkies. (Ha. I have never had a Twinkie.)
  • Fake butter or margarine.
  • Ritz crackers (these don’t go moldy as far as I know).
  • And so on…

In the ideal world we wouldn’t have to worry about how to find real food. But we do. I’ve found that a lot of it comes down to WHERE you want to eat, and not WHAT you want to eat. For example, going to a fresh Mexican restaurant is much preferable to eating at Taco Bell. Or getting a nice juicy burger from a deli is probably better than getting it at McDonald’s.

Remember that your diet will not ever be perfect.

We can and should try to avoid the clear yuck foods (like those on my list above). We can try to set good examples for our friends and families. Little things really do add up, and they can start a revolution 😉

Do you have a list of no-no’s? What foods do you eat that other people might think are “bad for you”?

For more Healthy Monday tips, check out the archives.

Healthy Monday Tip #4: Walk for Exercise!

Healthy Monday is a public health initiative founded in 2005 in association with Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University, and Syracuse University. HM’s goal is to end chronic preventable disease in the U.S. by offering people and organizations a weekly prompt to start and sustain healthy behaviors, intentions, actions and initiatives. For most Americans, the week begins on Monday. Studies suggest we are more likely to maintain behaviors begun on Monday throughout the week. That makes Monday the perfect day to make a change for your health and the health of our planet.

I mentioned yesterday that I quit the gym and got tons of great responses. In keeping with the “quit the gym” and “fit for free” theme, today’s Healthy Monday Tip is…

Walk for Exercise!

I wrote about this once before (walking for health). Walking is something that you can add in to your daily routine no matter what – no matter how old you are, how fit you are, where you live, or how much time you have. I am a 24 years old, I work full time, I’m moderately fit, and I live in New York – and I walk every day.

How to Fit in a Daily Walk

  • Walk to work.
  • Walk home from work.
  • Take a 20 minute walk in the morning before your morning routine.
  • Take a 20 minute walk after lunch and/or dinner.
  • Have a date-walk with your significant other and chat about life instead of plopping on the couch to watch TV.
  • Go to the park and walk around with a camera; take pictures of pretty flowers.
  • Walk around your city or town and check out all the Christmas decorations.
  • Go window shopping (might be a good idea to leave the wallet home).

Why You Should Walk

  • It’s heart-healthy (apparently so is a 3/4 cup serving of oatmeal).
  • It’s good for your brain – as we get older our brains shrink… but the shrinkage is less for people who walk more. (I’m not kidding.)
  • It puts you in a good mood and fights depression.
  • It’s good for your bones (weight-bearing activity).
  • Walking a mile requires the same amount of “work” as running a mile. So why run if you can walk?

How to Walk?

  • Make sure you have proper posture. Stand tall as you walk; don’t lock your knees. Think of how monkeys walk (but don’t overdo it that much or else you will look like a goof).
  • Walk with your arms, too. It’ll increase the exertion.
  • Short and fast steps are good if you want to get your heart rate up, but…
  • Slow and steady steps are good too. Just get moving.

That’s all for today’s Healthy Monday. I’m off to… walk to work.

How much walking do you do?