Here at TOPS, we’ve made a veggie skeleton, we’ve made “candy corn” by layering yellow and orange peppers with cauliflower on toothpicks, and now we’re at it again. We bring you, the Halloween vegetable tray! If you’re planning on heading to, or hosting, Halloween festivities this year make your veggie tray anything but ordinary in just a few simple steps:…
Pumpkin lattes, pumpkin-spiced ice cream, pumpkin cream cheese, pumpkin frosting, pumpkin candy…if you’ve been in a grocery store lately you’ve probably seen one of these treats. We are officially in the season of pumpkin-spiced everything. According to Registered Dietitian and nutrition expert for TOPS, Dena McDowell, these foods have one thing in common…and it has nothing to do with actual…
If you’ve read some of my past postings, you may have noticed that I kind of have a thing for veggies. And I don’t mean that in an “I-always-choose-carrot-sticks-over-potato chips kind of way.” Far from it. I still enjoy foods like chips and the occasional cheeseburger; I just love the versatility of vegetables. I love the endless list of nutritional…
Have you ever pored over a recipe, carefully planning every ingredient, only for it to turn out to be a big dud? If you’ve ever cooked or baked, chances are you may have made a flavorless side dish or cookies that could pass for hockey pucks. It happens. Throughout our weight-loss journeys, TOPS encourages us to keep trying and to…
A major natural food store chain took some flak last week for having bottles of water containing asparagus stalks on one of their store’s shelves. The asparagus water turned out to be a mistake and a big “oops” moment for the chain, but not drinking enough water shouldn’t be an “oops” for you. I’ve been paying more attention to this…
Whether you’re following a gluten-free meal plan, a strict vegetarian or vegan, or you’re a fan of the primal or paleo diet, I think we can all agree on these three words: vegetables are awesome. They’re so awesome, in fact, that they have their own day – Wednesday, June 17, is Eat Your Vegetables Day. I like the fact that…
Last week we had a nutrition presentation for staff here at TOPS Headquarters. A lot of great information was shared and employees had the opportunity to think about nutrition in a different way. One of the topics touched on was organic foods. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, organic agriculture uses methods that preserve the environment and avoid…
Like many football fans here in Wisconsin, I was very disappointed to see that our favorite team would not be making it to this year’s big game to be held in Arizona on Sunday, February 1. Even more depressing was thinking about how many calories were in the over-sized soft pretzel I had just eaten (with friends, in my defense)…
Whenever our at-work TOPS chapter needs a little pick-me-up, I like to plan a healthy tasting. In the past, we’ve made our own salsa, sampled unique fruits and veggies and even tried blended spinach in a smoothie. The above picture is from our most-recent culinary adventure. We usually only have about two tastings a year but it’s a great way…