Category: healthy recipes

April 10, 2013

Healthy Acorn Squash Bowl

Squash was a pretty rare treat in my family’s household growing up. In fact, I never once had spaghetti or butternut squash until I made them for my own grownup self. Since squash only comes out during certain times of the year and mom only felt like making them on rare occasions, they were pretty special when we did have them. Mom liked to roast the squash and then fill it with butter and brown sugar. Oh, so yummy!

In order to relive that lovely memory, I decided to prepare some acorn squash for myself. Only this time, I didn’t want to drench it in fat and empty calories. I added cranberries and nuts to the healthy acorn bowl to amp up the nutrition content. It tasted like fall, even though we’re on the verge of spring, but it was excellent!

Acorn Squash Bowl

Ingredients:
1 acorn squash
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp sliced almonds
1 Tbsp dried cranberries
Drizzle of honey

Directions

Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds and pulp. Helpful hint: those serrated spoons used for eating grapefruit work perfectly for scraping out the pulp.
Wrap the squash halves in aluminum foil, leaving the cut edges open. Place the squash on a cookie sheet or roasting pan with the cut sides facing down. Pour a thin layer of water into the bottom of the pan. This will make the final product turn out moist and tender.
Roast the acorn squash at 450 degrees for about 45 minutes or until fork-tender.
Remove from oven and let cool to your desired temperature.
Sprinkle the remaining ingredients into one half of the squash and drizzle with honey. Use a spoon to scrape out the flesh and add-ins and enjoy.

For 1/2 of the squash with the indicated add-ins, the approximate nutrition content from SparkPeople is:
Calories: 208
Carbs: 51g
Fat: 3g
Protein: 3g

I mean, that’s a lot of food for 200 calories!!!

I love how some childhood memories revolve around the smells and textures of delicious food. I have a similar precious memory of eating grapefruit with my mom as a child. I will definitely be sharing this treasured tradition with my Peanut.

April 9, 2013

Weekly Food Prep

Well, since it has been made public, I can tell you that I’ve been following the Self Magazine Drop10 plan, with workouts courtesy of Tone it Up. I got a copy of the entire plan before it was published because I signed up to be a VIP tester. Along with the workouts with K&K, I’ve been following the plan pretty religiously, with a few meals out here and there. This week, my menu looks something like this:

Breakfast:

Cheesy Eggs on Toast: 338 calories.
I sauteed the edamame, carrot, soy sauce and oil mixture ahead of time on the stove at home and then I make the eggs separately at work in the microwave. I mix them both together for the final product.

Lunch:

Sausage and Pepper Roll: 320 calories.
I used the substitution guide and chose mushrooms instead of peppers. I also couldn’t find chicken sausage at my grocery store, so I used two breakfast turkey sausage links instead.
I packaged the mixture in baggies for each day, making them easy to grab and go in the morning.

Snack:

Lentil Salsa Dip n Chips. 189 calories
Lentils make this dish look like gray mush. This does not look all that appealing, but I assure you, it tastes great. I think I’ll be adding this snack to my regular rotation. It is rather filling.
I packaged the chips in baggies for quick pre-portioned snacks, as seen above in the first picture.

Dinners:

Spaghetti
Turkey meatballs
Stir-fry
Scalloped potatoes and ham

This last one isn’t on the plan, but I’ll make sure to have the recommended 450-calorie-sized portion from the recipe we’re making. We have ham leftovers that we really don’t want to go to waste.

200 Free Calories:

Often get spent on 2 girl scout cookies and a spoonful of peanut butter. Once in awhile, I’ll have a diet cherry 7up with a shot of Southern Comfort. #YOLO, right?

*Note: Calorie calculations are based upon information entered into the SparkPeople nutrition counter. I entered the brand names and types of food that I used specifically. Self.com has a little bit different calculations than I came up with.

I usually do all my prepping for the week on Sunday, after Hubster does the grocery shopping. This week’s menu took me 1 hour from start to finish, including cleanup. I don’t do a whole lot of dinner prep beforehand though. We usually make dinners and eat them fresh as we go, but I do sometimes make some of the grains ahead of time.

I love this Drop10 plan! I’ve noticed that the balance of protein, carbs and good fats is keeping me pretty satisfied all day. I do have to add in a banana or other snack around mid-morning on days where I’m extra active. Those are the only days where I feel a bit shaky if I don’t eat a little extra.

I feel like I haven’t been a slave to the numbers on this plan either. Self Magazine does most of the dirty work for me, so I don’t have to. The substitutions are amazing, because I can use whatever I have on-hand or left over from a different meal. I eat mostly the same thing every day for breakfast, lunch and snack. Dinners we switch up and I try to incorporate meals that my whole family will eat. Heck, Self even includes a steak dinner. And of course, Hubster totally went for that.

I could hardly take it when I saw that Karena and Katrina are in the development stages of getting their own reality series on Bravo. I couldn’t say anything before it was published, but now I’m geeking out about it. I hope Bravo does an amazing job of catching them behind the scenes and maybe even broadcasting some workout sessions with them. I don’t know too many of the details, but I think that would just be too cool.

Tomorrow I will share a squash recipe with you that I also prepared on Sunday. Stay tuned!

March 21, 2013

Baby English Muffin Pizzas

As promised in a previous, I am sharing my recipe for my family’s mini English muffin pizzas. Since they’re made with a whole wheat “crust,” piled with veggies, and come with insta-portion control, they’re a great meal to add to your family’s lunch or dinner rotation.

Ingredients:

1 pkg whole wheat English muffins
1 small can marinara or pizza sauce
1 cup or so of part-skim cheese
Toppings of choice: sliced olives, spinach, chopped mushrooms, sausage, bacon bits, artichokes, etc.
1 garlic clove, chopped
basil to season

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees.

2. Spread the English muffin halves on a baking sheet.

3. Spread a spoonful of sauce over each muffin and sprinkle with the desired amount of cheese.

4. Sprinkle with toppings of choice. Try to pile ingredients in thin layers. Thick toppings will cause the mini pizzas to heat inconsistently and weigh them down.

5. Season with chopped garlic and a pinch of basil. The garlic really makes a difference for the mouth-watering factor. Take my word for it.

6. Heat the pizzas in the oven until the cheese melts and the bread starts gently browning, about 10 minutes. Serve with your choice of side.

We have these mini pizzas on our weekly family menu quite often. They’re so simple to make, pretty darn healthy, provide a great opportunity to sneak in extra veggies, and each family member gets to customize their pizza to their liking. They’re a much better alternative to greasy overloaded delivery pizza–and quicker too! Plus, it’s a fun little meal to put together as a family. My four-year-old loves helping me make these.

And just for kicks, I had to show you the litter that our knucklehead pit bull just had.

February 25, 2013

Weekly Food Rundown

I am one of those people that can eat the same thing every day for five days. It makes prepping on Sunday for the week a whole lot easier. I try to plan what I’m going to have for the following week by Friday. That way, I can put together the grocery list for Hubster by Saturday (he does the grocery shopping. Whew!) and prepare everything on Sunday.

Here’s what’s in my lunch bag this week–all healthy and as “clean” as possible. I am participating in a health bet (more on that to come), so I have been making very health-conscious decisions about my weekly fare. Even more so than normal! Here’s what’s in my lunch bag for the week and the approximate calorie counts for how I prepared them:

Breakfast:

The Breakfast Cookie with coconut flakes and raisins from the Fitnessista
368 calories

Snack #1:

Cottage cheese with pineapple bits (1/2c and 1/4c respectively)
119 calories

Lunch:

Lentil meatloaf from SparkRecipes (with a few tweaks) + 1 banana
259 calories

Snack #2:

Chickpea broccoli salad with raisins from Eating Well
180 calories

It took me all of about 1 hour to prepare a week’s worth of food on Sunday night. That is a very short amount of time compared to the time it would take to prepare all these meals–or different meals–separately throughout the week. While working in the kitchen, I am always preparing multiple things at once. For example, while the lentils are simmering, I’m mixing up breakfast cookie batter ingredients. I also have a tendency to choose very easy recipes so I’m in and out of the kitchen as fast as possible. I’m a low-maintenance cooker–I like my food healthy, fast, easy and tasty. You know, no pressure.

The breakfast cookie is awesome because it tastes like an indulgence. And, because you prepare it the night before, you have zero to prep the next morning. This is good for me, because I’m always running perpetually late on weekday mornings. The breakfast cookie is actually my recipe for being on time. No joke!

I’m on a chickpea kick, so I googled “easy chickpea recipes” and came up with this whole chickpea slideshow on Eating Well. I chose a simple super nutrient-dense salad that tastes amazing. I would probably add chickpeas to anything. Well…except breakfast.

I also have a goal to incorporate more lentils into my diet since they’re amazing. I never had any growing up and only recently discovered their magic. I’ve been researching lentil recipes for awhile now in an attempt to add more lentils to my recipe library.

Dinner will depend upon my family. I have some healthy butternut squash mac ‘n cheese up my sleeve as well as mini whole wheat English muffin pizzas (DIY to come). By the way, no I am not a vegetarian, but I do try to eat as little red meat as possible and am willing trade meat for healthier vegetarian options sometimes.

Perhaps one day, I can build up a nice array of these meal plans to help you, my readers, create your own healthy weekly menus. Would you be interested?

How do you prepare for the week?

January 21, 2013

Documentary: Food Matters

Have you seen Food Matters on Netflix yet? If not, you need to check it out. It’s not one of those documentaries that shows the gory conditions of chicken farms or meat factories. It’s actually an encouraging documentary about how healing food is. I heard about this through a friend, and I can’t encourage you enough to watch it.

Source

We all know people who pop pills as soon as they’re diagnosed with something that they potentially have the ability to reverse. Instead of treating the root cause of the problem, they rely on medicine to fix it. How many more cases of diabetes or heart problems could we prevent if we all focused on good whole foods? This really hits me close to the heart. I want people to thrive, not just survive, trite as it may sound.

One tidbit I was shocked to learn was that huge doses of vitamin C were given to some cancer patients in a study and it helped! But the researchers were shunned from publishing their findings in any of the major publications. Even the information we get from rock-solid, research-based, scientific publications can be skewed. Wow!

I’m also enamored with the idea of eating as medicine. I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been sponging the material in this book. My mindset about food has completely changed since checking out The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth at the library. I mean, I knew fruits, vegetables and other whole foods were good for your body, but only in a really generalized sense. I would read about a vitamin or antioxidant here and there in an article, but never focused squarely on one food at a time, learning about all the healing properties that one cup of spinach or button mushrooms offer your body.

I highly suggest both of these resources, even just from the library. Check out the Food Matters website too. They have some really amazing resources on there. Happy researching!

January 4, 2013

Green Tea Health Tonic

When life hands you lemons, make some lemon-spiked green tea. Of course!

Seriously though, lemons help your body absorb much more of the antioxidant catechin found in green tea. Don’t take it from me, take it from this study done at Purdue. What do catechins do? They sweep away DNA-damaging free radicals, helping prevent cancer and the common cold.

Here’s a recipe for green tea with a health kick.

Green Tea Health Tonic:

1 cup brewed green tea
1 slice fresh lemon
1 tsp honey
1 dash cinnamon

You know what to do. Mix it all together. Well, you’ll probably want to squeeze out the lemon juice into the tea and discard. But you know that, right? I have plans to drink this regularly and especially when I start feeling under the weather.

Such a simple drink, but here’s the amazing health scoop:

Green Tea: you already know green tea is good for you. But check out this article that outlines just how good it could be for you.

Lemon: As stated above, absorbic acid (vitamin C) helps your body absorb significantly more catechins from tea. Vitamin C itself is very beneficial to your immune system. Lemon is also used as a detoxifying digestive aid and has antibacterial properties. Read more here.

Honey: has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. It could also hamper the growth of food-borne pathogens. The darker the honey, the higher the antioxidant content. Honey soothing for coughs as well. Read more here.

Cinnamon: Could help regulate blood sugar levels and fight inflammation.

Did I ever tell you that my little 4-year-old son loves tea? In the winter, you’ll find us poring over the selection at the grocery store and trying new flavors each week. We have lots of fun with it.

We’re really digging tea at our house this season. What are your favorite flavors/brands?

Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist or doctor, just an average person trying to eat and drink better. I’m simply presenting information as I have researched it, from what I consider reputable sources. Consult a professional before making any dietary changes.

January 3, 2013

Tone It Up Plan and Love Your Body Update

I finally did it! After all the time I’ve known about Tone It Up and wondered about the Nutrition Plan, I finally bought it. It took the Cyber Monday deal they were offering (and some nicely-timed bonus money) to finally push me over the edge. I got a TIU hat, water bottle, journal, Beach Babe workout DVD, packet of PerfectFit and a TIU decal for ordering that day. You know me, I’m always searching for a good deal! But really, I’m so glad I finally did it. I didn’t quite know what I would be getting, but it’s well worth it.

First, with the wealth of health information and recipes out on the web, I didn’t think I really needed to spend a significant amount of cash on this plan. However, once I got the plan, it was much more helpful and organized than I could have probably mustered on my own. You are given plenty of recipes and meal options for all six “meals” of the day. Plus, the girls have certain food groups timed throughout the day for optimal metabolism-boosting and sports performance. Every new season brings along new updates to the plan–all included for free! It’s super exciting whenever a new update comes out.

The emphasis of the plan is on Lean, Green and Clean foods. In other words, “real” foods or the closest to nature-made foods as possible. So far, I’ve noticed that when I eat on this plan for a week and then indulge in “unreal” foods for one meal (i.e. taco or burger + cookie), I get a stomachache. I guess that could be a good incentive to keep eating as healthy as possible. This is how we should be eating all the time anyhow, so I don’t consider it a “diet” per se.

You can tell that Karena and Katrina put a ton of work and manpower in putting the plan together. Plus, once you’re part of the team, you’re really part of the team. There are so many special “members-only” perks and challenges that once you sign up, you finally feel like part of the TIU “in crowd.” I didn’t quite realize what I was missing until I went all-in.

This week kicks off the Love Your Body series and I’ve been doing everything they tell me to and then some. Here’s a breakdown of what we were supposed to do to prepare.

List 5 Things I Love About My Body

*I should’ve added: “Strong pain tolerance.” I am so thankful for that. This was a tough exercise to do. It was hard to come up with five things and it felt vain, but really, it’s good to be thankful for what our bodies can do. I guess I’m also thankful for strong lungs, powerful abs (my baby doctor almost didn’t make it in time), and a kick-a$$ immune system.

Fitness Goals for 2013

Whoa whoa, what’s that you see? Become a personal trainer? Yep, it’s on my list of things to do before I turn a certain age (ahem) in June. NASM it is! I’ll keep you posted. I guess since I’ve finally written it now, it must happen right? Good incentive.

Workouts so Far

Monday: Rest day

Tuesday: 40 minute Tabata Inferno on the Supreme90Day system + 20 minute barefoot treadmill run (we’ll talk more about this later).

Wednesday:

AM: 35 minute shoulders and arms on Supreme90Day
Lunch: 30 min brisk walk w/ friend
PM: 45 Cupid’s Cardio interval run on treadmill w/ friend.

Thursday:

AM: 40 minute Cardio on Supreme90Day + 1 mile walk to work (in 20-degree weather)
Lunch: 30 min brisk walk with mom and sis
PM: 1 mile walk home + TBD

I already have plans to go with another friend to the gym tomorrow (Friday) at lunch for strength training along with cardio in the morning.
Pre-planning + Recruiting Friends = Success.

How are you doing so far this year? What are you Fit Goals for 2013?

December 26, 2012

Super-Power Roasted Chickpea Salad

Take a whole bunch of amazingly vital nutrients and put them into a single dish and you might get something close to this Chickpea Salad. It’s chock-full of clean ingredients that boast healthy levels of vitamins and nutrients to help keep your body in tip-top shape.

According to a fun book* I got per request for Christmas, this is just a handful of the beautiful things that the ingredients could do for your body:

Garbanzo beans: Since chickpeas are a legume, they reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. Their high fiber content makes them aces at slowing sugar absorption, reducing cholesterol levels, keeping you feeling full, and lowering colon cancer risk.

Tomatoes: Tomatoes cooked in oil are rich in lycopene, which means they provide some protection against certain cancers. Eating tomatoes with fat makes them more easily absorbed by the body. Tomatoes are also a good source of lutein, which is beneficial for the eyes in a number of ways. Not to mention all the vitamins that the red veggie offers.

Onions: Onions are a potent cancer-fighting food. Onions “contain a whole pharmacy of compounds with health benefits.” They are also antiinflammatory, antibiotic and antiviral in nature.

Button mushrooms: They are a nutrient powerhouse. Get the book. Read page 51 and start adding these mushrooms to your daily meals.

Spinach: A great source of vitamin K and calcium, which together help build strong bones. No wonder why Popeye popped those cans like a pill! It is also a great source of flavanoids, which are antiinflammatory and anticancer agents. It’s great for women because of its folic acid and iron content. There are too many benefits to list!

Olive Oil: The phenols in olive oil are powerful antioxidants. The oil may have a significant effect on lowering blood pressure and reducing the risk of certain cancers.

Garlic: The medicinal qualities of garlic are astounding: “Garlic is lipid-lowering, antithrombotic, anti-blood coagulation, antihypertensive, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiviral and antiparasitic. In other words, it helps lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels, helps prevent plaque, helps protect against cancer and even helps prevent the common cold. Garlic is nutritional gold.

This week, I needed to make a light lunch that I could easily grab and munch on in between holiday events and preparations. I’m off of work for the holidays, which means plenty of non-nutritious foods are always within easy reach. Putting this salad within easy reach instead gives me a healthy alternative. For me, Christmas lunch is a free-for-all. Not so the rest of the week.

Superpower Roasted Chickpea Salad

Ingredients:

2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1/2 c fresh sliced mushrooms
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 c fresh spinach
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions:

Drizzle olive oil in a saucepan. Heat the onions, garlic and spinach over medium heat until onions start to look translucent and the spinach wilts. Add the rest of the ingredients and roast for another 5 minutes or so. Enjoy the salad, warmed or chilled, for at least another four days.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist or doctor, just an average person trying to eat better. I’m simply presenting information as I have researched it. Consult a professional before making any dietary changes.

August 29, 2012

Zucchini Pizza

How our countertop has looked all month

Last year, we had way too much zucchini. This year, we only had one plant, and we still have more zucchini than we quite know what to do with. So, we’re experimenting.

Besides slicing them up and putting them in eggs and making 11 batches zucchini brownies, we wanted to try some different ways of preparing the vitamin-loaded vegetable while we can, before they rot. Enter, mini pizzas:

Mini Zucchini Pizzas

Ingredients:
Large zucchini, cut into discs
Pizza sauce (or tomato sauce)
Shredded cheese of choice
Toppings of choice <–we chose spinach and mushrooms
Oregano and garlic to season, if desired

Spread a small spoonful of pizza sauce over each zucchini slice. Then, sprinkle a pinch of cheese on each. Finally, add your toppings. Cook in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until cheese melts. You can’t quite eat them like a slice of pizza as they’re still moist. Use a fork.

Next time I might try cooking them on a baking rack so they’re a little less floppy. So healthy! Enjoy!

August 16, 2012

Garden Veg Risotto Boats

I really hope this health food kick that I’ve been on lately really lasts. I always strive to eat healthy, but sometimes I don’t have the wherewithal to make it happen. Something about fresh backyard garden ingredients, farmer’s market picks, a certain Clean Eating book, and the lightness of summer has been perpetuating good things in my life and body.

I’ve been trying more new-to-me foods and making good on my pre-summer goals. In addition to all those goodies I tried a few weeks ago, we can now add eggplant, quinoa, bok choy, Swiss chard, and romaine hearts to the list. I have tried those things before, but I have never made a concerted effort to actually source them from the grocery store/farmer’s market and cook them myself. However, I’m sure glad I did. Some things just make sense–like eating foods packed with nutrients.

Last week, I made an abbreviated version of a risotto and stuck in some veggies I had on-hand in my kitchen. Here’s what I did:

Garden Veg Risotto Boats

Ingredients:
2 c minute brown rice
2 c fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth
1 can black beans
1 handful chopped zucchini
1-2 chopped garlic cloves
1 handful of quartered cherry tomatoes
soy sauce for seasoning
12 whole romaine leaves

Process:
Prepare the brown rice substituting chicken broth instead of the water indicated on the box. Towards the end of the cooking process, stir in your garden vegetables and rinsed black beans. Cook until the veggies heat through and the zucchini gets soft. Add a tablespoon of chicken broth here and there if it gets too dry.

Pretty scientific, huh? I’ve never been a good recipe follower and I encourage you to be the same way. Experiment with whatever veggies/legumes you have on-hand. Just use the abbreviated risotto base as a starting point. Basically, risotto is prepared by gradually stirring broth in as your brown rice is cooking, but I don’t have the patience for that.

I prepared two cups of rice, which was enough to feed me lunch for four days. Each day, I filled three whole romaine leaves with the risotto for lunch and squirted soy sauce over the top. They really do look like little boats, which makes them much more fun. I haven’t been this excited about lunch in a long time. All ingredients are either from my backyard or Aldi’s. Yep, I’m having a love affair with Aldi’s lately. Don’t tell anyone;)