It can be challenging to find time to eat well, sleep well, exercise, and even relax when you are caring for a loved one, but poor self-care can negatively affect your physical and mental health over time — possibly contributing to cardiovascular disease, weight gain, diabetes, depression, memory loss and […]
It’s holiday baking time, and lots of folks are looking for recipes that are decadent, delicious, and gluten free. Here at YRMC’s Your Healthy Kitchen, I’ve been testing gluten free chocolate chip cookie recipes for weeks, and have two great recipes to share. The first utilizes a variety of gluten […]
Osteoporosis is a silent disease that affects millions. In fact, the National Osteoporosis Foundation estimates that nearly half of American adults over age 50 are at risk of osteoporotic fractures in the hip, spine or wrist. This includes 50% of women and one in four men. That’s why it’s so […]
Earlier this year, I joined a group of physicians, dieticians, public health professionals, chefs, and research scientists who gathered virtually at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Napa Valley, California for the 17th Annual Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives Conference. For three full days we were treated to intriguing presentations […]
Spring is in the air and we are digging in the dirt here at YRMC’s Your Healthy Kitchen! Growing vegetables, fruits and herbs in a backyard garden can be a never-ending source of joy, learning, and of course, delicious food. However, gardening in a high desert environment can also be […]
Jim Vorves is one of many multi-talented employees who walk the halls at YRMC. As a talented cook, musician and Desktop Support Manager for YRMC’s Information Systems Department, Jim qualifies as a true Renaissance man! He kindly joined me on the set of YRMC’s Your Healthy Kitchen to share one […]
What’s the easiest way to ensure you’re getting the nutrients you need from a plant-based diet? “Enjoy the rainbow,” said Danyelle Schott, Certified Nutritionist and Certified Personal Trainer at Yavapai Regional Medical Center (YRMC). “The more colors – like red apples, orange peppers, green kale and purple grapes – the […]
Busy kids require a lot of nutrient-dense fuel to learn, grow, and enjoy healthy, active lives. Because snacks are a big source of energy in most kids’ diets, it’s important to provide a variety of little meals that contain slow burning, un-processed carbohydrates for energy, beneficial fats for developing brains, […]
After a long day, there’s nothing better than coming home to a dinner that is hot, delicious and ready to eat. If you’re like me and don’t have someone at home making dinner for you, put your vintage Crock Pot (or sleek new slow cooker) to work! Crock Pots […]
Are you ready to shake up your diet, savor simple, flavorful meals, meet some neighbors, and learn a whole lot about healthy eating along the way? You can start right here at YRMC HealthConnect, where we’ve been stocking the library at YRMC’s Your Healthy Kitchen with dozens of stories packed […]
Should you follow your heart or your head? When it comes to what you put on your plate, the answer is to follow the Mediterranean diet and both your heart and your head will thank you. In the spirit of Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month in June, the James Family […]
Risotto is a hearty, belly-warming dish that’s traditionally made with just a few simple ingredients: short grain Arborio rice, flavorful stock, pungent onions, wine, creamy butter and Parmesan cheese. While traditional risotto is delicious, it’s not terribly nutritious; after all, it’s essentially a dish made with a lot of white […]
Rita Carey Rubin, host of YRMC’s Your Healthy Kitchen, recently caught up with Chloe Woodruff, professional competitive cyclist and founder / manager of the Stan’s-Pivot Pro Team, presented by Maxxis. Woodruff, a World Cup competitor, also happens to be a long-time Prescott resident. Woodruff shared some great tips on how […]
One of the best health strategies is to prevent illness before it happens, especially when it comes to type 2 diabetes. While our genetics are hard wired, there are steps you can take to prevent diabetes and reduce your risk. In fact, before type 2 diabetes is diagnosed there’s a […]
It takes time to become an excellent chef, and Hiroshi Horikawa has been honing his skills for a lifetime. Hiroshi started training as a sushi chef in Japan at age 15, and has operated restaurants in the U.S. for decades. Today, he and his wife, Eriko, own Esoji Teppan Steak […]
Rita Carey Rubin, MS, RD, CDE, host of YRMC’s Your Healthy Kitchen recently joined Sandy Moss on the set of AZTV’s Sandy and Friends to share some creative ways to enjoy the flavor, beauty and nutrition of fresh summer herbs. In this segment she makes a delicious, quick sauce from […]
Along Granite Creek Trail, just a few blocks from Prescott’s Courthouse Square, gardeners are harvesting, watering, weeding, chatting and laughing among the plots of zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes and other fresh-for-picking produce at Prescott Community Gardens. The beauty is, any member of our community can participate. Spring, summer and fall garden […]
Shake up your morning with a powerhouse breakfast. Try ingredients like quinoa, buckwheat and amaranth for a new way to start your day. Rita Carey Rubin, Registered Dietician, Diabetes Educator and host of Yavapai Regional Medical Center’s Your Healthy Kitchen says that many people tend to be creatures of habit, […]
Here’s a statistic that’s hard to swallow: an estimated 40% of food produced in the United States – that’s about $165 billion dollars worth – winds up in a landfill, never making it to a store, onto a table, or into a hungry belly! A large percentage of wasted food […]
Here’s a great health trivia question: What vegetable most effectively lowers blood pressure, improves cardiovascular health, and gives athletes a competitive edge? You might already know the answer – it’s beets! Research shows that some of the natural chemicals in beets lower cholesterol; improve oxygen delivery to muscles; and help […]
What does Registered Dietician and diabetes Educator Rita Carey Rubin reach for when she needs a quick, healthy snack? “Nuts and seeds are the perfect snack!” says Rita, host of YRMC’s Your Healthy Kitchen, “They’re filled with protein, fiber, healthy fat and a little carbohydrate and they tend to be […]
Colorful fruits and vegetables, like vibrant fresh herbs, juicy red tomatoes, and bright orange carrots are packed with a variety of compounds, called phytochemicals, that help to keep us healthy everyday. However, for preventing and reversing disease, plants that are deep red, purple, blue, or even black (which is often […]
Your Healthy Kitchen, YRMC’s cooking and nutrition program, headed down the road in November to the Prescott Valley Event Center, to cook and visit with the Northern Arizona Suns! Six talented NAZ Suns players and their trainer, Jervae Odom, graciously took time out of their busy schedules to talk about […]
Perry Erwin, owner and lead chef at Shoe Chef Unlimited, stops by the Your Healthy Kitchen studio to share his authentic Tofu Tikka Masala recipe with Rita Carey Rubin, Registered Dietician, diabetes Educator and host of YRMC’s Your Healthy Kitchen. Shoe Chef Unlimited is a mobile catering business that serves […]
There are as many salsa recipes as there are cooks, especially in the Southwest. After all, salsa means ‘sauce’ and can be made with an endless variety of fresh and seasonal vegetables, fruits and herbs. Salsa pairs well with grilled, roasted or stuffed vegetables, eggs, a bowl of beans or […]
Rita Carey Rubin, Registered Dietician, diabetes Educator and host of YRMC’s Your Healthy Kitchen brought a pile of pumpkins and lots of great tips to AZTV’s Sandy and Friends. When we think of pumpkins, we often think of fall decorations, and aside from pumpkin pie, we don’t think much about eating them. Rita […]
It happens every year – we anxiously wait to enjoy the tomatoes we planted in June, and then suddenly, they all seem to ripen at once! Fresh, just-off-the-vine tomatoes are delicious (and perhaps best) with just a pinch of salt, or in a simple salad layered with fresh basil and […]
It’s summertime! That means that the gardens at Mortimer Farms in Dewey are brimming with fresh produce like strawberries, zucchini, summer squash, potatoes and onions. Rita Carey Rubin, Registered Dietician, Diabetes Educator and host of YRMC’s Your Healthy Kitchen stopped by Mortimer’s for a tour and an al fresco cooking […]
Here come greens and vinaigrette’s for your simple summer salads! Your Healthy Kitchen from Yavapai Regional Medical Center covers all you need to know. Rita Carey Rubin, host of YRMC’s Your Healthy Kitchen, Registered Dietician and Diabetes Educator, uses mild leaf and butter lettuce and Romaine, as well as bolder […]
Peeling and separating garlic cloves is easier than you might think! Rita Carey Rubin, Diabetes Educator, Registered Dietitian and host of Yavapai Regional Medical Center’s Your Healthy Kitchen shows you how the “pros” do it. Rita recently hosted a cooking demonstration at a Dorn Organic Home in Prescott. The group had […]
Believe it or not, a healthy lifestyle can definitely include rich, delicious sweets. The secret is to use the right ingredients and enjoy them in moderation. Rita Carey-Rubin, Registered Dietician, Diabetes Educator and host of YRMC’s Your Healthy Kitchen shares the reason why. “If you want to eat something sweet, […]
Fifth graders from Coyote Springs Elementary School in Prescott Valley, Arizona recently visited Yavapai Regional Medical Center’s Your Healthy Kitchen at the AZTV studios. They, along with their teacher, Brittany Kominska, made Pesto Pizza with a Crispy Cauliflower Crust. This Pesto Pizza Recipe is easy and nutritious, and the best […]
Back by popular demand: More whole grains recipes! It’s important to have variety in our diets for many reasons. First, when we enjoy lots of different vegetables, fruits, grains, and even spices, fats and proteins, we benefit from a wide array of fibers, vitamins, minerals and phyto-nutrients. When we vary our […]
Whole grains contain fiber, healthy oils, and nutrients like magnesium, zinc, and B vitamins, which help our bodies maintain good blood sugar levels and a healthy metabolism. Rita Carey Rubin, Registered Dietician, Diabetes Educator and host of YRMC’s Your Healthy Kitchen breaks down the parts of the whole grain and […]
Students at Lincoln, Taylor Hicks and Granite Mountain School in Prescott are happy to have a new area of study. Thanks to FoodCorps, part of their day includes growing, harvesting, preparing and tasting foods from their own school garden. FoodCorps is a nationwide team of AmeriCorps service members whose goal […]
It’s hard to deny the benefits of eating fruits and vegetables. Dozens of research studies show that the more produce we eat, the lower our risk of developing a number of serious illnesses, including cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Although winter may not seem like the ideal time to enjoy […]
Today we are going to make a delicious recipe using brussels sprouts – one of the most unpopular vegetables thanks to our dear grandmother’s method of cooking them or better yet, boiling them to death. These fabulous miniature cabbage looking hearty winter vegetables can be prepared in so many fantastic […]
I was so pleased to welcome and cook with a very special guest; Elena Greenberg, a creative and passionate FoodCorps service member who works with our local schools and community to connect kids with healthy food. When you go to www.foodcorps.org, the first thing you see is a banner that […]
I was so pleased to cook in this beautiful kitchen today, designed and built by Dorn Homes. In addition to being beautiful this is also an organic home that was built with materials and features that provide a safe and healthy indoor environment for everyone living here. Today we are […]
When we think of pumpkins we immediately picture a jack-o-lantern on Halloween or a pumpkin pie during Thanksgiving dinner. There are various types of pumpkins and countless pumpkin recipes. If we are going to cook with pumpkins we are best off using the pie pumpkin variety; which tends to be […]
I cook with salt because it brings out the natural flavor in food. When you cook using a little bit in the beginning, a little bit in the middle and maybe a little bit at the end you actually use less salt than if you just wait until the end […]
Today we are going to make a few really easy, delicious recipes using tofu – one of my favorite high-protein, plant-based foods. While tofu is enjoyed daily in many Asian countries, it doesn’t make its way into American kitchens that often. That’s too bad, because tofu is a very versatile, […]
Recently, I bought a crate of gorgeous spring greens, grown locally at Whipstone Farm in Paulden and brought them to the set of The Morning Scramble with for my monthly live segment. We piled bok choy, tatsoi, spinach, baby kale, baby arugula, turnip greens, and radish greens on the kitchen […]
A Healthy Composed Salad is one which each component or ingredient is elaborately put together or arranged neatly on a plate rather than tossed like we typically get when we order salad. Change the presentation and change the experience for your guests by offering different ingredients and providing endless possibilities […]
Today we are celebrating summer family gatherings, picnics at the lake, backyard barbeques and also a special YRMC anniversary! Ten years ago, the YRMC East campus in Prescott Valley opened up its doors to the community. And since then, it’s grown into a state of the art hospital! I had […]
Today we are going to cook with a very healthy, very old grain that most of us probably associate only with beer – or soup. Any guesses what it might be? It’s barley! This little grain has been a staple in diets around the world for a longer time than […]
There’s no doubt about it. Preparing and eating meals together as a family are two of the most important steps you can take toward ensuring good health for your kids. Scientific studies show that children who frequently eat meals at home with their families tend to enjoy more fruits and […]
What we choose to drink each day really has a big impact on our health. Sugar-laden drinks like sodas, energy drinks, and even fruit juices and smoothies promote weight gain by providing extra calories, but can also damage our health in more subtle ways. Sugar has been shown to impair […]
Spring is the time to really enjoy greens! They are new, tender, they have a real mild flavor and they are really versatile. You can take spring baby greens and you can throw them in a salad, chop them up and put them into soups, a quiche, an omelette or […]
One of my goals as a dietician and educator is to get people cooking at home more often. After all, there is no doubt that good health starts with the foods we nourish our bodies with each day, and the more we cook at home, the better our chances are […]
To snack or not to snack…that is the question. Whether or not to snack during the day is actually a question I am often asked and my usual reply is – maybe! Having a snack between meals can be beneficial – if you are hungry or have low energy between […]
We concentrate so much on carbohydrates, protein and fat in our daily diets which is important; but I think what is more important is the food we put on our plate and the source of where we get these carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Getting a good balance of everything by […]
Celebrity chefs and butter-drenched recipes are common fare in today’s food-frenzied world. But visit Rita Carey Rubin’s kitchen on the studio set of Yavapai Regional Medical Center’s (YRMC’s) Your Healthy Kitchen and you’ll soon see that food can be both flavorful and healthful. Click here to watch Rita on AZTV’s […]
Today we are going to cook up some roots – which I think are some of the most under-appreciated plant foods out there. Other veggies, like cauliflower, kale, broccoli, and even brussels sprouts have had their day in the sun, but roots, like turnips, parsnips, rutabagas, beets, even carrots and […]
I was at the farmers market a few weekends ago, filling my basket with some beautiful winter roots and greens, when a fellow shopper commented on his bad childhood memory of eating mushy, waterlogged, mashed rutabagas. It wasn’t a great memory – and I really couldn’t blame him from steering […]
I decided that today we’ll be making some delicious and unusual types of pesto from unexpected ingredients with our very special guest, Aimee Novak, owner of Soldi Back Alley Bistro in Prescott. Welcome to ‘Aimee Novak’s Pesto Possibilities’. In this video you’ll discover a whole new way of looking at […]
We want to eat healthy in the winter, but just thinking about cold, crisp salads with this kind of weather. It’s just not happening. How do you get a salad to be comforting in the winter? The first thing to think about is using seasonal produce. Fortunately winter is a […]
I’m so excited to share my first of many visits to AZTV’s Morning Scramble with Sandy Moss, where I will be cooking all sorts of healthy and delicious meals to share with the community. As a registered dietician and certified diabetes instructor here at YRMC, I work with patients mostly […]
As you can see on this video, we are out on another field trip today – but we haven’t really gone too far – just to my backyard – where we are about to grill some of these gorgeous vegetables. If you’ve seen any of our previous videos, you already […]
You know, I have never met a vegetable I didn’t like, and I especially like vegetables that are simply prepared – allowing their own special flavors to shine through. That being said, it’s fun to dress them up sometimes, and just a simple sauce, pesto or spice blend tossed with […]
When the holiday season comes around each year, I start thinking about food (even more than I usually do!), and what I can prepare to make the holidays special. I do enjoy making holiday meals that take a little more time to prepare and that are a bit more decadent […]
There’s not a lot of cooking going on in our kitchen today – we’ll just be boiling some water and gathering some fruit, vegetables, herbs and spices together to make healthy beverages you can enjoy every day! What we choose to drink each day really has a big impact on […]
Today I’d like to talk about preventing cancer with healthy lifestyle habits, including exercise and, of course diet. Lots of good research over many years has helped us narrow down some really important recommendations for living cancer-free and these are summarized in a report that was published a few years […]
I am pleased to welcome a very special guest today, Dr. Pierre Tibi, Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the YRMC James Family Heart Center. I meet with many heart patients that come into our cardiac rehab program and they are usually very concerned about making changes to their diets to […]
Today, as you will see, is all about cooking with kale – one of the most nutritious greens you can find in the market or grow in your own garden. Kale belongs to the big family of cruciferous vegetables, which includes broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens, mustard greens, bok choy, Brussels […]
I’m here today with some very special guests, Stephen and Cindy Scott, owners of Terroir Seeds and Underwood Gardens, located in Chino Valley and online at UnderwoodGardens.com. Stephen and Cindy both have so much knowledge – for everything from creating healthy, fertile soil and growing food from seed to building […]
We’ve been using a lot of different herbs in our kitchen to boost the flavor, color and nutrients in meals. Although you may not be used to cooking much with herbs like parsley and mint – cilantro may be an herb you know and love. After all, in Mexican and […]
In an earlier post, we explored ways to use more fresh herbs in your kitchen, starting with parsley, one of the most nutritious, inexpensive, and versatile herbs. Remember, cooking with herbs adds a ton of fresh, vibrant flavor to meals, which helps you cut back on the amount of salt […]
I’m here today with my friends and co-workers, Andrea Klein and Kim Friend. Andrea, Kim and I form the diabetes education team at the YRMC Pendleton Wellness Centers in Prescott and Prescott Valley. Andrea shared her incredibly simple and delicious recipe for Cabbage and Bow Ties with us. And I […]
In our last post, we prepared a bunch of food for making delicious home-cooked meals during the week. We cooked a chicken, black beans, brown rice, and sweet potatoes and prepared some fresh broccoli and salad greens. For some of you, this might just be too much food to use […]
Today I want to talk a little about time – not the herb, but the clock variety – and how it often feels like we don’t have enough to do the things we want to do in a day, like cooking nourishing meals at home for ourselves and our families. […]
Today we’ll be talking about herbs, and making a few delicious dishes with one of the most nutritious, affordable, and versatile herbs that is always available – parsley! Herbs are an important part of any healthy kitchen. In addition to adding bright bursts of taste and color, they are also […]
Today, we’ll talk about choosing and caring for another essential kitchen tool – the cutting board – and we’ll also try a few knife skills that will get you cooking and creating some delicious, healthy meals right away. Along with a good knife and a sharpening steel, a good cutting […]
In our last post, we turned the foods we cooked in a few hours on a weekend into some delicious, quick meals. Let’s see what else we can make from our roasted chicken, sweet potatoes, black beans, salad greens and broccoli! You can turn leftover chicken into so many different […]
