Lindsey: Welcome back to Fresh focus, I am your host Lindsey, I’m sitting here with Beth and Abbie. We are all dietitians from Marion Illinois VA Health Care System.

Abbie: Thanks for having me on

Beth: Absolutely happy to be able to chat today with you two today, hey Abbie is this your second time being on an episode?

Abbie: Yeah, If you listen closely on episode 22 in the MOVE series, you’ll hear me promoting our MOVE! weight management program and my women’s only weight management group.

Lindsey: Yes, everyone needs to go back and check out that series too it’s the perfect time to revisit some of other episodes and Abbie we definitely need to have you back here to talk more about the womens MOVE program and just maybe we’ll see about getting you to host again so stay tuned tune everyone.
we wanted you to come on here to talk today since you have started a healthy teaching kitchen class we wanted to chat about some myths of healthy eating.

Beth: I just wanted to chime in here and take a second to brag.. Abbie has done a phenomenol job. I’m not sure if she’ll brag on herself so we want to brag on her.

And then we also in the next few episodes….we will hear from Megan who was a dietetic intern at the VA and now is officially working at the VA we heard… she had this great idea to talk about nutrition myths she has heard in her training and we thought it would be fun topic for us so that is why we wanted Abbie to be on and talk about some of those today.

Lindsey: I think one of my biggest myths I hear folks tell me is you have to accomplish all these things in a very short time period…. Like trying to overhaul everything about what you eat or cooking to set 14 goals or multiple resolutions at once. We don’t want anyone to be overwhelmed. What if you started with 1-2 small goals? Ask yourself maybe what skill you need to learn? Maybe taking a cooking class to learn some skills first before diving in and clearing out everything in your pantry or buying all kinds of items you aren’t sure how to cook up.

Beth: Exactly, that is a very good point, we just reviewed this in a Move class earlier, if you have a goal of trying out to go more plant based with your eating. Do you have some foods in your pantry and fridge now or do you know how to cook a meatless dinner? Maybe set a goal or resolution to meet wih a dietitian or setting a date with the grocery store to actually wonder around not just get grocery pick up or run in to get the same exact items you always get.

Abbie: I love this conversation already and we are just getting started. As Beth mentioned I have started teaching HTK classes as Marion received a grant for womens only and I do have a goal to expand so other veterans can attend as I feel that this class is beneficial to learn more about cooking and how to make it themselves. I often hear Veterans in my cooking classes say that they haven’t cooked in the past because they never learned how or it takes too much time.

Lindsey: What do you think the number one or most common myth you have heard so far is?

Abbie: That’s a good question I have to say one of the most common things I hear is that eating healthy is too expensive.

Beth: Yes we hear that all the time, don’t we, like on a daily basis, or we hear oh its just me and my spouse so its cheaper to just eat out for every meal.

Lindsey: Oh my goodness, yes. I actually had this conversation with my own family the other day, my husband really likes a certain chicken sandwich from a certain fast food chain but I found the similar chicken breast in the freezer section at the grocery store and the bun which is just like ike the restaurant version and costs way less to have at home.

Beth: Sometimes it just takes thinking outside the box or starting a new habit. Some of us get in a routine and we may eat out every Tuesday because that’s just something that we always do. Remember it does take a 3 weeks to 4 months to actually start that new habit and make sure we are making some of these changes and, so adding those new items to the grocery list may feel different at first you know just we want to look at ways to maybe save money and save time. Speaking of cost comparisons… Hey Abbie - don’t you have some, cost out of the recipes for the HTK classes?

Abbie: yes that is something fun that we like do, making changes with recipes, and looking how its better for you, not only for you healthy but better for your budget

We often talk about that in class a lot like for example we do a dinner week we do a recipe for black bean burgers.

I compare the cost of the ingredients such as a $0.50 can of black beans compared to a $6.40 1lb of ground beef that is needed to make hamburgers. In the end, we learn that the total cost of the black bean burgers including everything and the nutrition content far outweighs those of a regular hamburger. Sure it is may not be the exact SAME thing of the burger when you eat out at a restaurant, but it is a budget saver to swap the two out every once in a while.

Lindsey: That is such a good tip, I’m going to have to definitely try that black bean burger. So talking about the myth of eating healthy is too expensive. What are a couple of strategies you talk about in your classes to help veterans shift the mind from this being a myth into action steps?

Abbie: I often suggest as a strategy to look at recipes. Like for example lets say you buy a bag of apples…. your weekly meal plan says for a few days with meals with products made with apples so you can use them within a few days. Look for 3 recipes with similar ingredients and plan your weekly meal plan that way so you can utilize leftovers and use the ingredients. I don’t want anyone buying a large bag of apples and potatoes and just throwing them away when they go bad.

Lindsey: That is a great point I mean, food is so expensive and we don’t just want to throw away. Especially right now. You should also add in utilizing your freezer for produce. Don’t just let things go bad in the fridge so I love to cut up for example my fruits and vegetables right before they are going bad, cut them up and put on a cookie sheet and freeze them on a cookie sheet for 20 minutes before I put in freezer bags, so they wont stick together, and then you’ll have items on hand for salads for your next meals or to use for smoothies or dishes later on.

Abbie: yea I love that idea too you definitely don’t want to put something in the freezer and find out later you can’t get it unstuck. You could also work on food budgeting too. Dividing paychecks or dividing times who goes to the grocery store and gets things done.

Don’t buy all your fresh fruits/ and veggies at the beginning of the month because then if you want something at the end of the month you may not have enough budget left for it. Its better to split things up such as if a recipe you want to use has mangos buy some frozen mangos and use what you need so it won’t go bad.

We also talk a lot about recipe replacements in my cooking class. If a recipe calls for a certain fruit or vegetable, don’t be afraid to replace it with a different fruit or vegetable you already have on hand. Let’s say for example your soup recipe calls for broccoli but you have leftover cauliflower after you made cauliflower mashed potatoes the other day. Use your leftover cauliflower instead of taking another trip to the grocery store just for broccoli.

Beth: we want to set yourself up for success not failure so I love these ideas we want to look at what ingredients to you have on hand what is in your pantry or freezer make a plan for weekly meals with items you have look at what days you may have some extra time to cook or look at your calendar ahead of time you know, don’t plan on making a large meal if you have appointments and wont be home until later that evening.

Lindsey: Think about what are your cooking days and non cooking days. If you have baseball practice every Tuesday night at 8pm that is an example of a non cooking day so on the non cooking days use a crockpot meal or soups that you pull out of the freezer or use leftovers for those days.

Abbie: That is a good point Lindsey, I’ll be using that in my class next week. And time management is the 3rd strategy to help with food cost and budgeting. With a few of my favorite recipes from the HTK pick some of those that fit best within your week. Like making mini egg bites earlier in the week if you have an early appointment the next day or plan to utilize leftovers for one evening if you know you’ll be working later. I know Lindsey mentioned this but yea tossing a bunch of items into a crockpot and letting it sit for 6-8 hours while you are busy and then you have a nice hot meal ready for dinner time.

Beth: Yes, I love coming home to a meal that is already ready when I walk in the door so definitely look up some recipes for that. Abbie your 3 strategies will come in handy for our listeners. So when anyone out there is listening to us and you feel that thought of I just cant make healthy eating changes because its too expensive think of some of these 3 strategies. What is your food budget—are you actually budgeting? Think of a few things that work for you. Just like dividing up those grocery store trips or buying some items in the freezer in bulk so you don’t run out or you aren’t throwing out anything you definitely don’t want to throw out any produce and do an inventory. Look at your recipe look at some of the items on hand and maybe substutite or find similar ingredients and utilize those on hand.

Lindsey: And last but not least I love the Time management one because its so important. Planning ahead can save you time and money and better prepare yourself for success when you are making those healthy changes. Remember reach out to your local VA dietitian for more individualized tips. This series we talk general terms but every person has different nutrition needs and we want you to review those specific needs such as if you need more heart healthy or diabetes options by meeting with a dietitian is the best way to help guide you.

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