Jonnell, Registered Dietitian

Many Americans (44%) plan to set a New Year’s Resolution this year, and if you are among those setting a goal, congratulations!  Goal-setting (no matter what time of year) is an important first step in accomplishing what you are setting out to do.  Research does support this:  Those who make a resolution are more likely to reach their goals than those who do not.  The following are some practical tips to help you in setting a New Year’s Resolution as well as some tips to succeed in meeting your goal.

Create measurable goals. Instead of making a rather vague goal such as “I will eat healthier this year”, set a specific goal such as “I will eat 2 ½ cups of vegetables each day”.

Break down your goal into small, realistic steps. If you are now only eating ½ cup of vegetables each day, it might seem overwhelming to find ways to eat 2 ½ cups of vegetables.  Breaking your goal into smaller steps will increase your likelihood for success; you will be able to see some progress towards your goal and may find it less daunting to start off with a smaller goal such as 1 cup of vegetables per day for the first month, 1 ½ cup of vegetables a day for the second month and so on.

Make a plan. How do you plan on adding those vegetables into your diet?  Make a specific plan such as packing ½ cup raw vegetables in your lunch each day.

Ask for help. Whether you need support from family members and friends  or you need professional help to meet your goal, do ask for help.

Track your progress. Track how well you are doing, and notice if there are times that your goal is not being met.

Reevaluate your plan.  Every two weeks check your progress.  If you are not making progress towards your goal ask yourself why and what you can do to change that.  Maybe you’ve been packing baby carrots every day and you are tired of them; the change may be something simple such as adding variety.

Be patient. It may take a while to reach your health goal whether it is eating more vegetables, getting more exercise, quitting a bad habit, or losing weight.  You may have days when you don’t meet your goal.  Remember that improving your health is worthwhile, so don’t give up!

Shauna, Cheese Monger

Happy New Year!

It’s that time to make New Year’s resolutions. Mine’s pretty simple this year, I want to eat better food. I want my ingredient labels to be short and the products I eat to be good for me as well as good tasting. I also want to eat more local products. This is an easy thing to do. The hard part is to admit that I need glasses to read my ingredient labels.

Cheese will always be a big part of my diet. I eat some everyday and you know the list of ingredients is usually about four of five things. Milk, cultures, salt and rennet. That’s a nice short list and for local, well, I have a long list of amazing cheeses to pick from. Cheese is high in fat and there is always the choice of low fat cheese, but my philosophy is eat a good cheese with a lot of flavor and you will eat less of it. A good flavored cheese is like a bowl full of jalapenos, no matter how much you like them you will not finish the whole bowl, you are satisfied with smaller amounts. So if one of your resolutions is to eat healthier, don’t cut out the cheese. What a sad sad year that would be.

Happy New Year and I will see you at the store in my much hated glasses.

Jason, Artisan Baker

Did you know that Harmons is working diligently on placing a pastry chef in every store? Right now about half of the stores have one! That being said, let me tell you about the Eclairs they make. First of all every component is made from scratch; the pate a choux is a light pastry dough that is also used to make cream puffs, french crullers and other delicious treats. Then comes the pastry cream, it is used to fill the pate a choux. You would think that would be enough, right? Well, then is then topped with the Ganache, which is made mostly of heavy cream and chocolate. Put it all together and there you have deliciousness! You can pick them up today for a $1.99 each (which in my opinion is a steal), at the Bangerter Crossing, Brickyard, Station Park, Draper, 7th Street, District, Emigration Market and St. George stores. Feel free to ask the pastry chefs about the pastries that they make – they are very passionate about their craft!

Phil, Pharmacy Manager

Calendars are here . . . Our popular calendars are here featuring the artwork of Norman Rockwell. Please stop by the pharmacy to get one free of charge. Included on the bottom of the calendar are the phone numbers to our 15 pharmacies. Thank you for choosing Harmons!

Fun and safe New Year’s activities are taking place for wild three evenings in downtown Salt Lake as part of the EVE celebration – December 29th, 30th and 31st. Enjoy music, art, comedy, bouncy balls, lightshows, fireworks and more. For a schedule of events visit eveslc.com. Kids 10 and under are free with a paid adult. Pick up your EVE tickets for only $12 at any Harmons location.

All Harmons stores are closed today. Enjoy this day with friends and family. Stores reopen at 6am Monday morning.

Jessica, Registered Dietitian

I feel like I just made it through all of my Thanksgiving leftovers and now it is Christmas, which means more leftovers!  I was pretty tired of turkey after three straight days of turkey sandwiches, turkey empanadas, turkey tacos, and on and on.  My family never made turkey for Christmas because we were all tired of it by then.  Our Christmas menu usually consisted of ham, chicken cordon bleu, and filet mignon, but we still had plenty of leftovers.  Whatever your Christmas traditions, I’m sure you find yourself with plenty of food leftover too.  If you start getting bored with ham sandwiches by day two, search for some healthy leftover recipes online and get adventurous this year—make it a pre-New Year’s resolution!

If ham is on your menu this year, try this fiber-packed Ham n’ Chickpea Soup recipe from Taste of Home (http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Ham–n–Chickpea-Soup):

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

½ cup uncooked orzo pasta
1 small onion, chopped
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 cup cubed fully cooked lean ham
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1 teaspoon rubbed sage
2 cups reduced-sodium beef broth (for even lower sodium, try Kitchen Basics no salt added stock)
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) reduced sodium diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (15 ounces) reduced sodium chickpeas or garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
4 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

Directions

• Cook orzo according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, saute onion in oil for 3 minutes. Add the ham, garlic, rosemary and sage; saute 1 minute longer. Stir in broth and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
• Drain orzo; stir into soup. Add chickpeas; heat through. Sprinkle each serving with cheese and parsley. Yield: 4 servings.

If you are looking for more creative, delicious, and healthy recipes, Cooking Light and Eating Well are two of my favorite sites right now.  Challenge yourself to try something new before the New Year!

Derick, Produce Manager

Christmas is going to be here! Our produce department has some great FRESH and DELICIOUS last minute gift ideas, from our Fresh Pack nut and candy gift packs to fruit baskets packed with only the best hand selected fruit. We are also ready to help with all your Holiday parties and dinners. Our Produce Sous Chefs are busy cutting fresh fruit and vegetable platters; Mashing mounds of Avocados and dicing tomatoes like crazy for our signature salsa and Game Time Guacamole. Let us help you make your holidays fresh and easy.  MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Chris, Meat Manager

Christmas time is here, and nothing says Christmas like a prime rib roast from Harmons. There are so many different recipes and most of them are fantastic. I thought I would give you just a couple tips to help in the cooking process.

There are 4 steps to make a perfect prime roast:

1. Place beef fat side up in an open roasting pan, on the roasting rack.
2. Do not add water. Do not cover.
3. Roast in oven at 350o F until meat thermometer reads 135o F for Medium rare
4. Remove from oven and allow roast to stand loosely tented with foil 15 minutes before slicing.

For other great holiday recipe ideas come in and ask one of our friendly meat associates.

Thanks for shopping at Harmons and have a Merry Christmas.

Karen, Kitchenwares Specialist

Christmas is in HOW many days?!?!? But I’m not done with my shopping!

Lucky for me, I work at Harmons. I can do all of my last minute shopping at work! Well, except for my kids stuff . . . pretty sure they don’t want a blender. The rest of my family and friends, on the other hand, are going to have a very Cuisinart Christmas!

Here are a few gift ideas that will help you to avoid the death trap that we call “The Mall” this year . . .

The Cuisinart Popcorn Maker: This gift is not only fun, but health conscious. With only a teaspoon of oil, you can have 6 full cups of popcorn. Much better than feeding your family that stuff that comes in a bag. Not only that, but the top doubles as a popcorn bowl, and the thing is dishwasher safe!

The Cuisinart Waffle Maker:  But Karen, who even makes waffles anymore? I do, I do! Too often, breakfast consists of a bowl of cereal and a piece of fruit. While my kids (gotta love em) will happily beg every morning for a chocolate covered, sprinkle coated, sugar sugar cereal, Mommy prefers to have a nice warm meal in their bellies more often than not. Eggs are fine, pancakes are great, but there is nothing like homemade blueberry waffles. Yum!! Continue Reading »