The first image the phrase “The Happiness Machine,” brings to mind is somewhat similar to the insanity of Willie Wonka’s candy factory: Happiness pumped out in the form of chocolate, bubble-gum, schnozzberries, and golden tickets. Maybe that vision isn’t so far off. Coca Cola has launched an online video that’s gone viral, dubbed “The Happiness Machine.”

The gist: Coke kicks off “The Happiness Machine” with a YouTube video, as they plan to travel to college campuses across the U.S., installing their “happiness machines” and watching the fun begin. The video delivers on its promise of happiness, bringing the unknowing participants to their knees in laughter (one girl even hugs the machine!), and an equal number of laugh-out-louds to its online viewers. I know for me, it totally made my week knowing that something so small could bring a whole cafeteria of college students together (even if that something had to be empty calories – c’mon Coke, you do make water too!).

So remember, the next time you’re buying a soda, you may end up with 20… or a balloon animal… or a pizza… or a six-foot sub sandwich…

Happy Snacking,

Lindsey

Curious how your town measures up in local produce against the rest of the U.S.? Want to know if you’ve got the most fast food restaurants in your state? The USDA just launched a neat tool that’ll show you! The Your Food Environment Atlas tool lets you assemble country-level statistics based on food choices, health, and community characteristics so you can see how your town or state compares to others across the nation.

Obviously the chillier states are the low end of the local-food scale right now, but I wonder if the map will reflect seasonal changes in fresh produce availability? I guess I’ll have to wait until summer to see… it feels so far away! Start getting ready for summer now by finding a farmers’ market near you. Check out the USDA’s Farmers Market Search to find your local market, and start supporting your inner locavore this summer!

Happy Snacking,

Lindsey

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By Jessica Maillet from A Fete for Food

Thanks to all who participated in the Super Breakfast Bowl Challenge! I definitely have a whole slew of new recipes I’m going to be trying out!

Today’s winner is Nour from Practical Nutrition with her recipe for Banana Walnut Flax Muffins! Nour will be the proud new owner of Futter Nut Butters walnut butter and Mollie Katzen’s cookbook, Get Cooking.

Banana Flax Muffins

No time for breakfast? Make these delicious and healthy muffins ahead of time and grab on your way out. Made with whole wheat, flax seeds, walnuts, canola oil, and bananas, these muffins are an excellent source of many good-for-you foods. Even kids would love it!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
• 3/4 c ground flax seeds
• 1/4 c sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 egg
•  tsp vanilla
• 1/4 c canola oil
• 1/4 c reduced fat milk
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/2 c walnuts

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients (flour, flax, sugar, and baking soda). In a separate bowl, mix the liquid ingredients (egg, vanilla, oil, milk, and bananas).

Stir the liquids in the dry ingredients. Fold in the walnuts. If the batter is too dry, add more milk. Pour into 12 paper-lined muffin cups. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. 

Thanks to all who took part in this blog challenge!

Jess

A Fete For Food

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By Corinne at Green Grapes Blog

WooT-WooT! Folks—we got a winner! A Ka-Ka-Ka QUINOA WINNER! And, that winner is Ms. Carolyn Goodwin!

In response to last week’s post on the many health benefits of quinoa and call to the new-ingredient-breakfast-eating challenge, we received many calls to action—calls to action-cooking quinoa that is! BUT, there could only be one winner to claim Super Breakfast Bowl Challenge victory! And that winner, determined by a random number generator, is Carolyn’s Quinoa Breakfast

Carolyn, take it away…!!!

I love my quinoa breakfast, which I’ve been eating almost every day for about six months and still look forward to each morning. This makes a batch that’s enough for about a week. I usually eat it cold, sometimes I warm it up. I pour a little plain kefir over it, or milk is good, nut milks are tasty too. It’s just good food, any way you eat it. Besides the wonderful nutritional value of the quinoa, you get a healthy dose of nuts, fruit, cinnamon, and coconut oil. And the combination of the cinnamon and the coconut oil tastes fabulous.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups quinoa
  
• ¾  cup raisins (or to taste)
  
• ¾ cup chopped cashews or pistachios (or to taste)
  
• ¾  cup diced apples (or to taste)
  
• 2 tsp cinnamon (or to taste)
  
• 1 to 2 Tb coconut oil
  

Directions:

Rinse the quinoa thoroughly, and soak overnight in water with a little yogurt added if desired. Put the quinoa with water to cover (quantity of water is not important, since you’ll be draining it later) into a saucepan, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain any remaining water, and put the quinoa in a steamer (or just in a sieve over boiling water), steam for an additional 10 minutes. This method produces piles of fluffy quinoa, much better than just boiling in water. Put the warm quinoa in a bowl, add the remaining ingredients, and fluff with a fork. Can be enjoyed warm or cold, with milk, yogurt or kefir or all by itself.

Cheers!

Again, CONGRATS Carolyn! Send your mailing address to TheSuperBreakfastBowlChallenge@gmail.com and you’ll be receiving some awesome lip-lickin’ goodies on behalf of Newman’s Own Organics—everything from dried fried to decadent delightful dark chocolate. And, YES this is a nutrition blog … BUT folks if ya don’t know by now, I fully support a daily treat! Come on now … I’m all about the 90:10 “rule”—90% lean, green, mean disease-fighting machine foods—fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean proteins/legumes, healthy fats—and a daily indulgence! So … Carolyn enjoy!

Happy Healthifying!

Corinne at Green Grapes Blog

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By Janel Ovrut at Eat Well With Janel

Welcome to the Lentil Day winner announcement for the Super Breakfast Bowl Challenge! We had so many tasty looking lentil submissions to choose from. You guys really are creative using little legumes in your morning meal! I’m glad I cooked up and froze a big batch of lentils weeks ago so I have plenty to use in all of these new recipes. They all looked so tasty I had to leave it up to the random number generator to choose and the lentil winner is….Julie from The Doctors Rheum! I never would have thought to combine pear and lentils but love this Pear Lentil Patty recipe.

Pear-Lentil Patties

This was a total experiment based on what I had in the house!

1. Cook 1/2 cup lentils in 1 cup water until soft.
   
2. Caramelize 1/2 a sweet yellow onion in EVOO with a dash of cumin and a dash of cinnamon.
   
3. Chop a ripe pear.
   
4. Combine all ingredients in a food processor pulsing several times until just combined.
   
5. Shape into patties and cook on a hot pan or griddle like pancakes.
   
6. Made: 4 large patties

I added a beaten egg to see if it would hold together better and it made it a little soupy. Use your imagination. They seem to me like “sausage” patties so I put one on a toasted English muffin and put a poached egg on top. The taste is a sweet/savory mix. They did not hold together too well but the ones that fell apart could be used as “sausage” crumbles.

Congrats Julie and thank you for the superb recipe and photos! Make sure you send your mailing address to thesuperbreakfastbowlchallenge@gmail.com so we can send you your prizes: the awesome book Thrive—The Vegan Nutrition Guide and the handy book 101 Optimal Life Foods by Registered Dietitian (aka Gu-a-titian) Dave Grotto.

Thanks again to everyone who submitted a recipe! And if you haven’t yet, don’t forget to send in your quinoa, andwalnut recipes! It’s time to challenge your morning meal!

Janel from EatWellwithJanelblog.com

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By Elizabeth Jarrard at Don’t White Sugar Coat it

Thank you to everyone that submitted a Flax Seed recipe! They all looked delicious and I can’t wait to try out some new recipes that all have our little omega-3 friend-Flax Seed. There’s no way I could have ever picked my favorite, or “the best” recipe, so I headed over to random.org to help me choose! Without further ado, The Winner of the Flax Seed Super Breakfast Bowl Challenge
is….

Christine of Hot Mama Health with her Nutty Granola ‘n Flax

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup Oats
• 1/2 cup Ground Flax Seed
• 3/4 cup slivered almonds
• 3/4 cup walnuts
• 3/4 cup peanuts
• Salt to taste (added to dry ingredients above)
• 3/4 cup Apricots (Chopped) or your favorite dried fruit
• 1/2 cup Raisins
• 1/2 cup Dried Mango (Chopped) or another dried fruit of your choosing
• 4 tablespoons of vegan butter
• 1/2 cup Packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup Honey
• 1/3 cup Orange Juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Chop the dried fruit and set aside.
2. Mix dry ingredients (oats, flax seed, almonds, walnuts, peanuts, and salt) in a bowl and spread out onto a baking sheet w/ built up sides.
3. Roast dry ingredients in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees, stirring occasionally.
4. In a pot melt the 4 tablespoons of vegan butter
5. Once the butter is melted, mix in brown sugar, honey, and orange juice.
6. Stir until ingredients are completely mixed, remove from heat and add 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
7. Stir ingredients.
8. When the nuts are done roasting, transfer to a bowl and add the melted wet ingredients, stir.  Once mixed well, add the dried fruit. Mix well.
9. Put granola in an 8 x 8 pan, pack in firmly. Put in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees. When you see the sides are browning, it’s time to remove.
10. Let cool completely, overnight is best.
11. Cut into granola squares OR take the squares and place in a large bowl and pull apart with hands to make a chunky granola!
12. Can eat plain, on top of oatmeal, or on top of your favorite yogurt!  Delicious and rich, also makes a great dessert

Congrats Christine and thank you for the excellent recipe and photos! Send your mailing address to thesuperbreakfastbowlchallenge@gmail.com. Christine will be receiving Perfect Pancake Mix from Purely Elizabeth (gluten free and delicious!) and a whole slew of Vega Goodies
and a tea top brew travel mug from Mighty Leaf Tea Company!

Thanks again to everyone who submitted a recipe! And if you haven’t yet, don’t forget to send in your lentil, quinoa, and walnut recipes! It’s time to think outside the (cereal) box!

Cheers!

Elizabeth

Don’t (White) Sugar-Coat It

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By Lindsey Toth from Healthy Blog Snack

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s Day weekend, and I hope you’re ready for the winner of The Super Breakfast Bowl Challenge #1: Avocado!

First of all, thank you to everyone for all of your submissions. I was amazed with your breakfast creativity, and impressed that so many of you stepped up to take on the challenge – congrats to all of you on your breakfast creations!

Although all of your creations were amazing, unfortunately there can only be one winner. So using the random integer generator, the winner of The Super Breakfast Bowl Challenge #1 is…

Drum roll please…

Danielle of Coffee Run with her fabulous Rocky Road Oatmeal – congratulations Danielle!

Danielle took on our challenge and created a delicious Chocolate Chai Pudding with avocado, which she incorporated into a whole slew of breakfast creations – including her delicious looking Rocky Road Oatmeal. Congratulations on the win Danielle, send us your address at thesuperbreakfastbowlchallenge@gmail.com, and be on the look-out for your prizes in the mail: The Chef’n Vibe Avocado Slicer, courtesy of Kitchen Stuff Plus, an avocado gift pack, courtesy of Avocados from Mexico, and a ton of Newman’s Own Organic products.

Now, time to share Danielle’s Rockin’ Rocky Road Oatmeal recipe…

Rocky Road Oatmeal

Ingredients:

Chocolate Chai Pudding

1 ripe avocado, peeled and pitted

12 oz. (1 block) silken tofu

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. allspice

Sweetener, to taste (I used 5 packets of Nu Naturals Stevia. You could also use agave- starting with 1/3 cup and adding more if desired)

Rocky Road Oatmeal

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup almond milk

1/2 cup water

Slices of banana

Coconut Cream

Crushed Walnuts

Chocolate Chai Pudding

Directions:

Chocolate Chai Pudding

1. Blend ingredients together
2. Serve and enjoy as a pudding! Or incorporate into the oatmeal as follows…

Rocky Road Oatmeal

1. Cook oats with water
2. Top with/mix in rest of ingredients (including Chocolate Chai Pudding)
3. Serve and enjoy!

Thanks again to everyone who submitted a recipe for the avocado challenge, and stay tuned for the winner of the Flax Seed Challenge tomorrow. There’s still time to submit your Flax Seed breakfast recipes today, so challenge yourself today!

Happy Super Breakfast Bowl Snacking!

Lindsey Toth at Healthy Blog Snack

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By Jessica Maillet from A Fete for Food

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We live in a nutty world where “foods” come packaged, bagged, boxed, and wrapped. It’s time to forgo the outer shell and crack into some real superfood: WALNUTS!

Walnuts have often got a bad rap, commonly being touted as the “fruitcake nut.” It’s time to redeem them and bring them into the nutritional limelight!

But first, what’s in it for you?

Futter Nut Butters agreed to let a lucky reader of the Super Breakfast Bowl Challenge try two jars of their awesome products! I bet you’ve never tried walnut butter before… here’s your chance! I also have a cookbook from Mollie Katzen called “Get Cooking.” Katzen is one of the experts for the California Walnut Board and her cookbook is no-nonsense, simple recipes that are chock-full of whole foods and delicious ingredients.

Onto the 411 about these nutritional gems…

Nutritional Lowdown

A little less than one-fourth cup of chopped walnuts, or a one-ounce serving, (or about 14 halves) provides 180 calories and 18 grams of fat. Whoa! EighTEEN grams of fat?! Well, 13 of these come from the polyunsaturated fat, and 2.5 grams come from alpha linolenic acid (ALA), a precursor to EPA and DHA, or the omega-3 fatty acids that we all hear are healthy for our heart. (After all, February is Heart Health Awareness Month.) But let’s not stop there. An ounce of walnuts also contains 4 grams of protein, fiber, manganese, phosphorus, iron, zinc, and a host of other good-for-you nutrients.

What’s ALA again?

Alpha linolenic acid is the omega-3 fatty acid precursor that is found in plant sources, as opposed to EPA and DHA, the omega-3s often heard about in fatty fish. Although there is no Dietary Reference Intake set by the government for ALA right now, the FDA recognizes that we should get 1.6 grams of ALA daily (for the purpose of nutrient content claims.) Since one ounce of walnuts contains 2.5 grams, you’re golden!

Aren’t walnuts going to make me fat?

Nope. Remember, calories in equals calories out, so while walnuts have more calories per gram than bread or meat, they can (and should) be incorporated into your diet, if, for nothing else, a chance to get in some much-needed ALA.

I’ve seen walnut oil in recipes. What’s this all about?

Walnut oil, like the more commonly recognized peanut oil, is the oil extracted from the nut. Walnut oil is a rich, luxurious nut oil and is great whisked with some balsamic vinegar and poured over a spinach salad with toasted walnuts and dried cranberries. Walnut oil has a relatively low smoke point, so it’s best not to heat it; buy it in small amounts, because the high amount of polyunsaturated fat oxidizes quickly when it comes in contact with air. As such, it’s best to refrigerate walnut oil and walnuts that have been cracked open or ones that you buy chopped. And, if you open a bag and they smell like paint thinner, toss ‘em! They’re rancid and are apt to do more harm than good.

How do you open shelled walnuts?

Here’s how it’s done. Kind of.

How do I get walnuts in for breakfast?

When I’m on the run and don’t have time for a steaming bowl of oats with chopped walnuts or nut butter, I snag one of these bars from my freezer. They’re simple to make, easy to transport, and very very delicious! I originally had the idea when I was training for a half marathon and buying Clif Nectar bars like they were going out of style. They were expensive, and I needed another way to meet my craving.

So, I have this corny and slightly inappropriate joke about this recipe that involves a date with a walnut, but I think I’ll keep that one to myself. Anyway, here’s a fabulous recipe for The Walnut-Date Breakfast Bar. In fact, it is my version of the Lemon, Vanilla and Cashew Clif Nectar Bar.

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The Walnut-Date Breakfast Bar

(Note: They are not a beautiful food, but they sure are tasty.)

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup chopped dates

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

2 tsp olive oil

Directions:

Add walnuts to food processor and pulse on high until walnuts are a crumbly powder. Transfer to a bowl. Add dates to food processor and pulse for about 20 seconds. Add walnuts, lemon juice, olive oil, and walnut powder and pulse until mixture is a fine paste. Transfer to a bowl and mix with your hands to combine. Make 8 1″ mini-bars, transfer to a Ziplock bag or wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate. If you double the recipe, freeze them for later!

Nutrition Info: 1 bar: 120 calories, 3.5 gm fat (polyunsaturated), 23 gm carbohydrate, 2 gm fiber

For more information and recipes about walnuts and fabulous recipes, visit the California Walnut website.

Don’t forget- you have the weekend to test your recipes and submit your breakfast recipe for avocado by Sunday, Monday for flaxseed, Tuesday for lentils, Wednesday for quinoa, and THURSDAY for the wonderful walnuts! I REALLY want you to win that walnut butter and Mollie Katzen’s cookbook! Make sure to email your breakfast creations to thesuperbreakfastbowlchallenge@gmail.com!

Best of luck and happy breakfasting!

Jess

A Fete For Food

afeteforfood@gmail.com

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By Corinne Dobbas of Green Grapes Blog

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Okay—perhaps a semi-cheesy title, but hey—after ya read why quinoa should be your new ladle to your pot—or for those who don’t take a liken’ to the kitchen—bread to your sandwich … you’ll see why…

Quinoa, pronounced keen-wah, is a nutritional powerhouse, according to not just I, but the ancient Incas. In fact, quinoa was so highly revered by those from its motherland—South America—that this lil’ protein, fiber-filled nugget was referred to as “the mother grain.” That’s a pretty gosh darn BIG title, if I don’t say so myself!

Today, dozens of foodie-nutrition blogs, health mags, and popular press tout quinoa’s “mother grain” status and often refer to it as “the super grain of the future.” However, I like to think of quinoa as the super grain of all time—past, present, and future (ya know … just to be clear here). But, before we get ahead of ourselves, I must provide you with the disclaimer that although quinoa presents as a grain … it’s actually the seed of the plant, Chenopodium quinoa. This plant is related to beets, chard, and spinach … who knew?!? Okay, I’ll refrain my inner dorkdum…but, really—isn’t that cool?

A Nutrition Lover’s Ode to Quinoa

What makes quinoa so absolutely fantastic is:

• It’s a WHOLE GRAIN! …okay, a whole seed!
  
• It contains more protein than any other grain or seed!
  
• It’s a complete protein! Meaning quinoa contains all the essential amino acids, or building blocks, our bodies need to form new proteins and keep our lean, green, mean, disease-fighting machine system in top-notch!
  
• It’s splashed with a good dose of gut, heart, and healthy- weight lovin’ fiber
  
• It’s laced with lysine! No—this is NOT somethin’ to worry about! Lysine is an amino acid essential for tissue growth and repair.
  
• It’s gluten and wheat free—those with wheat/gluten allergies, rejoice!
  

A Foodie’s Ode to Quinoa

• Its fluffiness accompanied by crunchiness offers up an escape from the ordinary grain.
  
• Its delicate nutty flavor tantalizes the palate.
  
• It’s a pretty cheap tasty health food!
  
• Although mellow yellow is the most popular variety, quinoa exists in many different colors, including orange, pink, yellow, purple, and black.  Get lookin’ for it and experiment with color in the kitchen!
  
• It’s versatile! Quinoa can be used in soups, salads, breads, puddings, breakfast cereal—you name it, and I betcha quinoa can do it!
  
• Quinoa will adjust to your foodie schedule. It can be cooked in a pinch–in the microwave—or with more time—on the stovetop.
  

Now, for a lil’ Super Breakfast Bowl Challenge Fun!

Today, we’re eating breakfast and lickin’ up new b-fast duds while we’re at it! The new b-fast food today is—can you guess?!?—quinoa! Now, I usually dig my quinoa ensconced in a smattering of veggies… at dinner time (I tell ya, I’m addicted to my oats), but NOPE—not today my friends. See—even I had to challenge myself! Today, I had to get creative … so, I thought of what flavors, textures, and smells jive together. And, by-gosh-by-golly-gee … I think I got a winner!

Cinnamon-Cran Quinoa

Servings per recipe: 1

Prep Time: 3 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup quinoa
  
• 1/2 cup water
  
• 1/4 Tablespoon of Cinnamon
  
• 1 Light Laughing Original Cow Wedge
  
• 1/4 cup dried sweetened cranberries
  
• 1 tablespoon of honey or brown sugar

Directions:

• Cook quinoa (microwave for 4-5 minutes in 1/2 cup water. If heating on stovetop, follow package instructions. Generally, the ratio of quinoa to water is kept to a 1:2 ratio)
  
• When done cooking and still hot, add the Light Laughing Cow Wedge to the Quinoa and stir until creamy and dissolving
  
• Add cranberries, cinnamon, and honey or brown sugar to the mix and stir!
  
• Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts per Serving: 338 calories, 4 grams fat, 70 grams carbohydrate, 10 grams protein, 5 grams fiber

Step Up & Send in Your Quinoa Breakfasty Goodness!

If Ms. Healthy in a Skillet (aka yours truly) can whip something up, you can too! AND—I want to see watcha got! So … send in your quinoa breakfast duds to TheSuperBreakfastBowlChallenge@gmail.com along with a picture of your FAB dish and its recipe! If ya win, not only will YOU be featured on all 5 of our blogs, BUT you’ll get a bunch of Newman’s Own Organics products—everything from delicious, decadent, dark chocolate to dried fruit to super sassy soy crisps!

Looking forward to your Quinoa Recipes!

Happy Healthifying!

Corinne at Green Grapes Blog

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By Janel Ovrut at Eat Well With Janel

Welcome to Lentil Day of the Breakfast Blog Challenge!!! Have you been trying new breakfast recipes this week? I like to tell my clients that breakfast never has to be a big sit down meal when you’re rushing to get ready in the morning. Any healthy food will do to jump start your metabolism and energize your day (aim to eat within 45 minutes of getting up!). Even if all you can manage is a little handful of almonds as you’re running out the door, or a piece of fruit on the train and a yogurt when you get to your desk will do for breakfast. But this week we’re hoping to inspire new breakfast ideas with the Breakfast Blog Challenge and I was challenged with finding a good breakfast recipe using lentils!

Lentils are a fan favorite in our home. Funk devours them daily in his lunch salad, and I love a good lentil soup or Indian dish that’s chock full o’ lentils. But for breakfast?! I was up for the challenge. The Breakfast Blog Challenge.

Elizabeth told me about a lentil breakfast muffin she discovered on the Malomeals blog and after lots of web searching, I found the recipe on Post Punk Kitchen (recipe below).

This was my first major attempt at baking since my hip surgery, which means my balance was off on all accounts. I wanted to have a batch of warm muffins in the oven when Funk came home from work but instead he came home to a batch of lentils all over the floor. Oops. Fortunately I had made a double batch of lentils so I went back to attempt the muffins again (with Funk’s supervision this time).

When I finally got to taste my Lentil Muffin, I really enjoyed the chai tea flavors! Delish! They taste fantastic with a berry jam smeared on top and they’re so filling! One muffin plus an orange kept me satisfied til lunch, which is a rarity! All that protein and fiber from the little lentils as well as whole wheat flour will help hold you over.

The true taste test was with my mom. She took me to a doctor’s appointment so I brought her some muffins, not telling her any ingredients, and just advising her to eat them with jam on top, and left it at that. When I came out of my appointment, mom told me she got hungry and enjoyed a muffin where she, “Could see and taste all of the ingredients! Raisins…coconuts. It was good!” I kept my lips zipped and decided to let my mom discover, when reading this post, that she loved a lentil muffin. Who woulda guessed it!? You love lentils, mom! Now that was a Breakfast Blog Challenge success!

I can’t wait to see what you submit for your lentil recipe in the Breakfast Blog Challenge. Don’t forget, you could win the awesome book Thrive—The Vegan Nutrition Guide. And a new prize was just added! You can ALSO win the book 101 Optimal Life Foods by Registered Dietitian (aka Gu-a-titian) Dave Grotto. Two prizes! Just remember to email your recipe and pics to thesuperbreakfastbowlchallenge@gmail.com by Tuesday, February 16^th. Good luck!

- Janel of Eat Well with Janel

Lentil Breakfast Muffins/Cake

Wet Ingredients:
2 c chai tea
2 c cooked lentils
4 T fresh ginger (I left this out)
¾ c coconut
1 T cinnamon
1 t ground cloves (I used pumpkin pie spice here)
1 t coconut extract (or vanilla or almond)
¼ c flax meal
¼ t kal stevia (optional) or 4 t liquid sweetener (I used 4t agave)
1 T vinegar

Dry Ingredients:
4 c whole wheat flour
1 T baking powder
1.5 t baking soda
½ c sugar
1 t salt
Optional: 1 c raisins – great option! I’d suggest adding some plump raisins

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 375

Place the wet ingredients in a blender and blend

Mix the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, make a well and fold the wet ingredients in until just combined.

Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and scoop a quarter  cup into the tins.  Bake for 15- 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Or spray a 9 by 13 baking pan and place mixture in there.

Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

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By Elizabeth Jarrard at Don’t White Sugar Coat it

Hey there! This is Elizabeth from Don’t (White) Sugar-Coat It and I’m here to represent Flax Seeds. So why should flax be a part of your Super Breakfast Bowl? Don’t underestimate these little seeds-they pack a nutritional punch!  No doubt you’ve heard all the buzz about Omega 3 fatty acids. These good fats have been shown to lower heart disease risk. Flax seeds contain are one of the greatest plant-sources of those omega-3 fatty acids. Flax is also very high in fiber, which helps to keep your cholesterol low, and intestines functioning. One tablespoon of ground flax has almost 4 g of fiber! It is loaded with phytochemicals, and lots of antioxidants. It is also high in lignans, a phytoestrogen, which may balance female hormones, and prevent cancer.

Even better is how easy it is to let a little flax into your life. Flax can be added to your cooking in its milled or whole seed form. The whole seeds will give a tasty crunch to baked goods, while milled flax greatly increases the nutritional value. You see, by grinding the seeds, you let your body easily absorb the nutrients, rather than letting them just pass through. You can put it on top of cereal or oatmeal, or toss it in your smoothies, muffins, scones, crepes, waffles and pancakes. Need an egg? Grind up 1 Tablespoon whole flax seeds (2.5 T flaxmeal) to replace one egg. Transfer to a bowl and beat in 3 tablespoons of water using a whisk or fork. Not only can these “flax eggs” make a recipe vegan, but they add a little omega-3 boost to your baked goodies!

So what are you waiting for? Head over to your grocery store of choice and pick up some flax seeds! If you’re still a little afraid, you have some time to warm up to these little powerhouses. According to the Flax Council of Canada Whole flax seeds can be stored at room temperature for up to a year. Ground flax seed should be refrigerated in an airtight, opaque container, eh? There’s also flax seed oil, but then you miss out on a great source of fiber-so I stick with the seeds!

I use flax on a daily basis, but here’s a recipe I’d love to share with you for breakfast scone! I like manipulating recipes, so significantly adapted one from Ricki Heller’s Sweet Freedom

Pear Ginger Scones

Ingredients:

1 tsp apple cider vinegar + almond milk to make 1/2 cup (rice or soy milk would work as well)
1/4 cup honey (or agave)
3 Tbsp Apple Sauce (or if you don’t want to make it low-fat, 3T light tasting oil)
1Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1.75 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 Tbsp ground flax meal
1.5 tsp baking powder
.5 tsp baking soda
.75 tsp salt
1 pear, diced. or if you want to use dried pears, about 1/2 cup, diced
2 T almond milk to brush tops with

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

Mix the wet ingredients together and set aside. Then mix the dry ingredients and slowly add the wet to the dry. Once mixed, fold in the diced pear, and then scoop onto baking sheet in desired scone shape.

Put in pre-heated over for 6-8 minutes. Remove, brush tops with almond milk and return to oven for another 6-8 minutes. Knowing thy oven is almost as important as knowing thy self, so your baking times may differ from mine.

This recipe is so easy to play with-try Apricot Pear, Orange Anise, Plum Pecan, Lemon Blueberry, and any other combination!

What breakfast bowl would you put flax in? I’d love to know! And for a little extra incentive, there’re prizes!!! If you send in a picture of your breakfast item along with its recipe to thesuperbreakfastbowlchallenge@gmail.com by next Monday, you will be entered, and I will randomly choose a winner of a SUPER Prize pack which includes: Fantastic Grab bag of Vega Products and Purely Elizabeth’s Perfect Pancake Mix and A wonderful Mighty Leaf Tea Top Brew Mug!

Not only that but we’ll feature your winning recipe on all four blogs

Look at that- Cooking experience, health, creativity, great prizes, and free publicity all in one-what more could you ask for??

Don’t forget about Lindsey’s avocado richness, and stay tuned for Janel’s lentil bake-off tomorrow!!

Cheers!
Elizabeth
Don’t (White) Sugar Coat-It

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By Lindsey Toth from Healthy Blog Snack

Welcome to the beginning of The Super Breakfast Bowl Challenge everyone! I hope you are all revved up and ready to challenge your early-morning selves with some breakfasty goodness.

Today’s the day we tout the wonderful characteristics of the Avocado. You can review the complete challenge perks and guidelines here, but to recap, send your creative avocado breakfast creations +pictures to thesuperbreakfastbowlchallenge@gmail.com by Sunday, February 14^th. The winner of today’s challenge will get The Chef’n Vibe Avocado Slicer, courtesy of Kitchen Stuff Plus, an avocado gift pack, courtesy of Avocados from Mexico, and a boat load of Newman’s Own Organic products.

Now for the Avocado Fun!

The avocado is actually a fruit, not a vegetable, and is native to the Caribbean, Mexico, South America, and Central America, although you could try growing one in your own home or backyard if you’d like. These pear-shaped fruits pack a mean nutrient-rich punch, weighing in at about 250 calories each, less than 5 grams of fat per serving, 80 micrograms of lutein and 19 micrograms of beta-carotene (which both help to maintain eye health), and over 20 other vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. In short, avocados are nutrient powerhouses!

Fat?! What?!

You heard correctly when I said avocados have fat in them – did you know they had fat? Yep, a fruit with fat. Who’da thunk? This isn’t greasy, fried-food fat though, it’s a heart-healthy fat called monounsaturated fat. Monounsaturated fat is good for your heart because it has actually been shown to reduce bad cholesterol levels – LDL cholesterol – in your blood, lowering your risk for heart disease and stroke.

Shopping for Avocados

So how do you know if an avocado is ripe for the pickin’ at your local supermarket? First off, try to avoid ones with dark blemishes on the skin, or ones that are overly soft. The best way to tell if an avocado is ready for immediate consumption is to gently squeeze the fruit in the palm of your hand. Ripe, ready-to-eat fruit will be firm, but it will wield slightly to the pressure. If you plan to use the fruit in a few days, pick avocados that are extra-firm, so they will be ripe by the time you want to use them. Only hard, and unripened avocados at your stores? When you get home, place the unripened fruit in a brown paper bag and store it at room temperature until it’s ready to eat – you can even throw in an apple or a banana to accelerate the process, as these fruits give off a ripening agent called ethylene. Soft fruit can be placed in the refrigerator until it is ready to eat, but not more than a few days because it can become too ripe.

How Do I Eat an Avocado?

One of the trickiest things about avocados, I think, is figuring out how to eat them. They are an awkward shape, with an awkward pit, and an awkward skin. Awwwkwaaaaaaaard. So, what’s the trick to digging into this delicious fruit?

1. Start with a ripe avocado, and run your knife lengthwise around it to split the avocado in half.
2. Now the tricky part: removing the pit. If you’re up to the challenge, use a knife to strike the pit, making it stick. Once the knife is stuck in the pit, rotate it, and pull the knife and pit out of the avocado. If that seems a little too Evel Knievel for you, you can use a spoon to scoop it out.
3. If you’re looking for pretty slices, gently use a butter knife to slice strips of avocado (careful not to slice through the skin), and then turn the skin inside out to release the meat. If you’re making a spread or a dip, and don’t care what it looks like, just use a spoon to scoop the avocado out.

Avocado Breakfast Toast

There are a zillion ways to eat an avocado: topped on a salad, mixed as guacamole, rolled into sushi – the list is endless! My all-time favorite way to eat avocado though, is in Avocado Toast. I found this recipe in the cookbook Muscle Chow, from the fabulous folks at Men’s Health magazine, and made a few tiny recipe tweaks to fit my personal fancy. The foreword of the book was written by David Grotto, RD, LDN, who is a leader in the field of nutrition and dietetics. I figured if he was on board, the book must be worth checking out. Use your shopping and eating skills from above to take this toast for morning test drive!

Ingredients:

2 slices of whole wheat bread, toasted

2 teaspoons of Dijon-honey mustard

½ avocado, peeled and sliced

½ tomato, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon of extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon of dried basil

½ tablespoon of ground flaxseed

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Spread 1 teaspoon of the Dijon-honey mustard on each piece of toast.
2. Add half of the avocado and half of the tomato to each slice.
3. Drizzle each slice of toast with the olive oil.
4. Sprinkle both slices with the basil, ground flaxseed, and the salt and pepper
5. Eat with caution – this can get messy but it’s totally worth it!!

We Challenge YOU!

Now that you’re in-the-know on the awesomeness of avocados, don’t forget to send us YOUR crazy avocado breakfast creations. If your creation is chosen, you’ll be the lucky winner of The Chef’n Vibe Avocado Slicer, an avocado gift pack courtesy of Avocados from Mexico, and a ton of Newman’s Own Organics products – AND your recipe will be featured on all four of our blogs!

Stay tuned for Elizabeth’s flax seed post tomorrow!

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Happy Super Breakfast Bowl Snacking!

Lindsey Toth at Healthy Blog Snack

Happy Friday Snackers!

Just thought I’d spread the blogger word that I just worked with Kate Geagan to post a fantastically tech savvy post on America’s Green Nutritionist’s™ blog: 7 Ways to Go Green on Your Mobile Phone.

Check out some of the great mobile apps available to help you Go Green in 2010, and while you’re there, check out Kate’s site – it’s phenomenal!

Happy Snacking,

Lindsey

Are you ready to get challenged?!? NO … really—are you?! Because we are ready to have some true healthifying blogger fun!!!

So—what’s the dealio with this so called “challenge?”

Okay—here’s the 411.

Five of us nutrition ladies—Jessica at A Fete For Food, Janel at Eat Well with Janel, Elizabeth at Don’t White Sugar Coat It, Lindsey at Healthy Blog Snack, and Corinne at Green Grapes Blog, invite YOU to take the Super Breakfast Bowl Challenge! If you accept, you’ll incorporate a food that typically doesn’t make it onto your breakfast plate or into your usual b-fast bowl—or hey, if you’re really in a jam … your hand or napkin. Simply put, as long as ya eat breakfast within an hour of your rise-n-shine time, incorporate the chosen breakfast item, and send us a pic of your b-fast duds along with its recipe within six days of the highlighted item’s post—you’re good to go and eligible for prizes!!!!!!!!!!

Woo-hoo! Yes, we said prizes.

The Deal

But, before we get on to prizes, let’s talk a lot more nitty-gritty, shall we??? I know—details, details, details…

Starting next week—on February 8^th—we’ll each have a day where we’ll post why our ingredient is AWESOME and invite you to use the ingredient in your breakfast within the upcoming week.

The Five Super Breakfast Bowl Challenge Ingredients, Revealed:

• Avocado – Monday, February 8^th
  
  • Pics and recipes needed Sunday, February 14^th
• Flax Seed – Tuesday, February 9^th
  • Pics and recipes needed Monday, February 15^th
• Lentils – Wednesday, February 10^th
  • Pics and recipes needed Tuesday, February 16^th
• Quinoa – Thursday, February 11^th
  • Pics and recipes needed Wednesday, February 17^th
• Walnuts – Friday, February 12^th
  • Pics and recipes needed Thursday, February 18^th

Now, to get clout and be eligible to receive a FAB prize—you’ll need to send a pic of your breakfast item along with its recipe to thesuperbreakfastbowlchallenge@gmail.com within six days of the ingredient’s post date (noted above).

So for example, if I write about the avocado’s awesomeness next Monday, then you have until Sunday to send in a pic of your avocado breakfast goodness! AND—if you win, on Monday, the picture of your breakfast along with its recipe will be posted on ALL of our blogs!

So… Basically…

Each “ingredient post” will appear on each of our 5 blogs and each person who sends in a breakfast pic with the chosen ingredient AND recipe will be eligible for a prize! But … wait, there’s more! The winner—chosen by a random number generator—will be featured on ALL of our blogs along with your name and blog/website name, if ya got one.

Don’t ya love it?!? Cooking experience, health, creativity, great prizes, and free publicity all in one!

So, if ya use all five ingredients and submit a pic each time, you’ll have FIVE opportunities to win some pretty fabulous items—if I don’t say so myself! Plus, get publicity across the blogosphere!

PRIZE TIME!

Now, what you’ve all been waiting for!

Below are the items you could nab if you enter each Super Breakfast Bowl Challenge!

1. Avocado: The Chef’n Vibe Avocado Slicer courtesy of Kitchen Stuff Plus + lots of Newman’s Own Organics fun + an avocado gift pack courtesy of Avocados from Mexico!
2. Flax Seed: Fantastic Vega Products and Purely Elizabeth’s Perfect Pancake Mix
   and A wonderful Mighty Leaf Tea Top Brew Mug!
3. Lentils: A truly terrific text, Thrive—The Vegan Nutrition Guide and the book 101 Optimal Life Foods by Registered Dietitian Dave Grotto.
4. Quinoa: Newman’s Own Organics loot—everything from delicious, decadent, dark chocolate to dried fruit!
5. Walnuts: Mollie Katzen’s get cooking. cookbook and a jar of walnut butter and a jar of chocolate walnut butter, courtesy of Futters Nut Butters
   

GO ON—Challenge yourself to a Super Breakfast Bowl!

There’s never a time like the present! Send us your Super Breakfast Bowl Challenge pics with their recipe—come on now, you must share the health—and you could win some good loot in addition to some good ol’ blogger fun!

We’re looking forward to hearing about your breakfast creations!!!

Lindsey at Healthy Blog Snack

Jessica at A Fete For Food

Corinne at Green Grapes Blog

Janel at Eat Well with Janel

Elizabeth at Don’t White Sugar Coat It

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Happy Breakfast Bowl Snacking!

Lindsey

New York residents were shocked this week by the new ads released by the New York City health department, equating drinking soda with drinking FAT.  That’s right; straight up ooey, gooey, yellowey, lardy, fat. If it sounds disgusting, oh just you wait ’til you see the actual commercial. Check out the nausea-inducing, fat slurping ad below.

Yum yum yum, right? Eh no, absolutely disgusting; but think about this:

I’ll be interested to see how effective this ad campaign really ends up being, how long it will take for the cola companies to lobby hard enough to shut it down, and if the sales of regular sodas are actually affected.

If you saw this commercial on TV, would it make you think twice about reaching for your regular cola?

How effective do you think this campaign will be?

Happy Snacking,

Lindsey

HOORAY HOORAH! Healthy Blog Snack has been chosen for the Beautiful Blogger Award! But wait – there IS a catch! The rules say I have to share 7 zaney facts about me with ya’ll, and then nominate another 7 bloggers for this fabulicious award. A big THANKS to Corinne at Green Grapes Blog for the nomination – reading your facts was a hoot!

Okay, now time to get down-’n-dirty with these facts:

7 Little Known Facts About Lindsey Toth

1. I used to want to move to the Caribbean to be a dolphin trainer when I grew up. I was convinced me and my dolphin were going to be the next Flipper. True story.
   
2. My belly-button is confused: it’s half inney, and half outey. I used to really want to get it pierced, but figured it already looked weird enough and a piercing would just draw attention to its weirdness. As I grew up and watched all of my friends take out and retire their belly-button rings, I was thankful for my dysfunctional belly-button.
   
3. I love writing, and one of my life goals is to write and publish a book. I haven’t decided yet if I’m going to write a spicy romance novel or the next revelation in nutrition advice – I guess you’ll just have to wait and see .
   
4. I save brown smooshy bananas in my freezer. The brown ones are the sweetest and make the best banana bread!
   
5. One of my favorite hobbies is rock climbing. I love the challenge that indoor climbing walls present. An ideal Saturday for me would be spent sweating it out at an indoor climbing gym, or even better, outside on some real rock.
6. My newest mindless and guilty pleasure is watching The Jersey Shore L. It just boggles my mind that these people actually exist! And let’s face it, it really is absolutely hilarious.
   
7. When I was 18, I spent time in Australia as a volunteer, helping to build a land and wildlife preservation school in order to educate young people on the importance of eco-friendly and sustainable living.
   

So now that you know a few random bites of info about me, it’s time for me to announce the next 7 award recipients:

1. The Hip Hostess duo, Debbie and Andrea, at The Hip Hostess
   
2. Kim at Kimmy’s Kitchen
3. Helen at Tartelette
   
4. Nicole at Prevention RD
   
5. Stephanie at The Skinny Plate
   
6. Kristen at Eating RD
   
7. Kasey at Fit for Wellness
   

Congrats to the winners! I can’t wait to read all of your fun facts!

Happy Snacking,

Lindsey

Just goes to show that physical activity can be fun.  Every step counts folks, and these people just added a few more to their day!  Where do you get your steps in?

Happy Snacking,

Lindsey

In the spirit of the holidays…

NORAD, the North American Air Defense Command (the U.S. folks who track missiles) has been tracking Santa’s progress on Christmas Eve, ever since a misprinted phone number for contacting Santa was placed in a Sears Roebuck advertisement. This “wrong number” put boys and girls through to the Commander-in-Chief’s operations “hotline”.  The Director of Operations at the time, Colonel Harry Shoup had his staff use their radar to begin checking Santa’s progress from the North Pole and they have been providing this service to kids everywhere ever since.

This year, you too can track Santa’s adventures from your mobile phone using Google Maps for mobile. If you have an iPhone, T-Mobile G1, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, or Nokia phone with Google Maps, just search for “Norad Santa” to see Santa’s location on his way to your home. (Note: You’ll have to resubmit your query whenever you want to update Santa’s location).

If you have a supported phone but do not yet have Google Maps, you can download it for free at the Norad website or from the above Google link. If you’d also like to follow Santa’s progress on Christmas Eve from your home computer, go to this website (http://www.noradsanta.org/) to follow the action.

Good luck tracking Santa snackers, and I wish you all a safe and happy holiday season!

Happy Holiday Snacking!

Lindsey

Some of my completed Christmas sugar cookies

I love everything about the holidays: the blustery cold weather, brightly decorated homes, hot chocolate in cold hands, gingerbread houses, rosy red cheeks, white lights in snow-covered trees, and most of all – Christmas Sugar Cookies!

Honestly, I love my sugar cookies almost as much as Santa loves his reindeer, but only if they’re the right kind: frosting that’s not too sweet, cookies that aren’t too hard, and decorations that are just absolutely ridiculous. You might call me a sugar cookie snob, but I only go for a sugar cookie if it’s the cream of the crop.

Because I’m such a sugar cookie elitist, I am going to share with you what I deem to be the all-time secrets to making, baking, and decorating the best sugar cookies, as well as a video of me and my favorite sugar cookie recipe in action.  Watch as I work my way from ingredients to oven, then sit back and enjoy the music video of my cookie decorating fun – the best part!  Be sure to check out my ingredient list below, and watch the videos for the full “how-to” for baking and decorating these delicious sugar cookies (just hit the arrows on the sides of the playlist below to watch each step of the process).

A Healthy Blog Snacker’s 3 Secrets to Slam-Dunk Sugar Cookies:

1. Room temperature ingredients
   
   • Room temperature ingredients (specifically your butter and eggs), help to create the air pockets you need to make light, fluffy sugar cookies. Cold ingredients make it difficult to form those much needed air pockets, leaving you with hard, flat sugar cookies.
2. Roll your dough out directly on the cookie sheet
   
   • If you are making sugar cookie cutout shapes, this is a must. It’s a no-fuss way of creating those cute shapes, without having to worry about messing them up in transit to the cookie sheet. *Bonus tip* Use chef-grade parchment paper/reusable cookie sheet liners for non-stick fabulousness.
3. Dough chilled overnight for maximum shape making power
   
   • Again, if you’re making super santa and sleigh-bell shapes, ya gotta chill man! No seriously, chill that dough. If you’re impatient and try to roll it out immediately after mixing, the dough will be super sticky and you will end up one frustrated Christmas elf.

Have any great cookie tips? I would love to hear them!

Happy Snacking,

Lindsey

No, you are not crazy – it is, in fact, snowing on Healthy Blog Snack.  I experienced my first snow of the season this weekend in Boston, and it put me in such a merry mood as I signed off on all of my Christmas cards, that I thought I would spread the holiday joy with all of my readers.

Happy Holiday Snacking!

Lindsey

I loooooooove pasta. There I said it. Maybe I am going to Atkins hell, but I don’t care – good riddance I say.  Remember – no dieting! I love its slippery texture, I love the way it smells when it’s freshly boiled, and I love its versatility. It’s a complete staple food in my diet: I use it with traditional pasta sauce, topped with pesto, smothered in olive oil, whipped up in Asian stir-fry dishes, and yes, in my favorite, stuffed shells.

Normally I take all of my pasta in its whole grain form, and wouldn’t have it any other way. The slight nuttiness that whole grain pasta brings, along with its overabundance of B-vitamin goodness just warms my belly. Unfortunately, the large pasta shells used for stuffed shells do not exist in the whole grain form in my local grocery store (shame on you food industry – get with the whole grain goodness!). These enormous Italian shells (also known as lumache or snail shells) are typically made out of durum semolina wheat flour (*sniff sniff* for my whole grains).

Regardless, stuffed shells are still my favorite because:

1) They are absolutely delicious (duh – that’s my #1 food policy remember?!)

2) It’s pretty hard to mess them up; I mean where can you go wrong with pasta, cheese, spinach, more cheese, herbs, and even more cheese???

3) They are super filling! Three shells and I am stuffed!

I usually start this dinner out by just chucking cheese and herbs left and right around the kitchen, but I tried to quantify my ingredients this time for my snackers’ ease of cooking.  I also tend to make plenty of lower calorie improvisations along the way, to make this dish as friendly to your waistline as it is to your belly.

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Creamy Four-Cheese Stuffed Shells

Ingredients:

24 oz small curd cottage cheese

3/4 cup baby spinach

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1 cup of ricotta

¼ cup parmesan

2 egg whites

24 oz jar of pasta sauce (I used a garlic blend)

1, 12 ounce box of jumbo pasta shells

1 teaspoon parsley

1 teaspoon oregano

1 dash of garlic powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Boil pasta for 10-12 minutes, or until soft.
3. Spread the bottom of a 13×9 inch pan with a few spoonfuls of pasta sauce.
4. Mix the following ingredients in a large bowl: cottage cheese, spinach, ricotta, parmesan cheese, egg whites, parsley, oregano, and garlic powder.
5. Begin by taking each individual shell and placing a spoonful of the mixture inside, then laying the filled shells along the pan until the pan is full, or the noodles run out.
6. Pour remainder of pasta sauce over the shells.
7. Sprinkle lightly with parmesan cheese.
8. Bake for 25 minutes covered with foil.
9. Remove foil, and bake for another 10 minutes (total bake time of 35 minutes).
10. Remove from oven and enjoy!

Nutrition Information:

3 shells: 260 calories, 18 grams of protein, 7.4 grams of fat, 1.5 grams fiber, 27 grams of carbohydrate

What’s your favorite way to eat pasta?

Happy Snacking,

Lindsey

I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving holiday. Personally, I made it through hosting my first Thanksgiving dinner ever, and I am ecstatic! I learned all of the secret turkey soup tricks from mom, got the hush-hush pumpkin pie ingredients from dad, and saw more of the inside of a turkey than I care to mention – but it was so worth it!

So what was on my menu? I included many Thanksgiving classics, but also added a few healthy twists along the way:

• 14 pound turkey, brined in Williams-Sonoma’s Apple & Spices Turkey Brine for 18 hours
• Rubbed with compound butter: softened butter, mixed with rosemary and sage for flavor

• Hungry Girl’s lower calorie Save-the-Day-Stuffing, with a few of my own twists: a few teaspoons of poultry seasoning, a handful or two of dried cherries, and real egg whites instead of egg substitutes (we tripled this recipe to make enough for 4 + leftovers)
• Taste Test: We cooked half of the stuffing in the turkey, and cooked half of it in a pan. Which one won? They tasted the same! The lesson: Save time and calories by baking your stuffing in the pan, instead of in the bird (same delicious taste, sans the infused fat from the turkey)

• Hungry Girl saved the day again, with her low-calorie Rockin’ Lean Bean Casserole

• Chopped up Idaho potatoes, boiled with a few teaspoons of minced garlic for flavor
• Sea salt + skim milk made these ‘taters delish

• Flour mixed with the leftover juices from the turkey; the salt and herbs from the leftover turkey brine made this gravy the best ever!

• Frozen bricks of squash made this dish easy, but still full of fiber and beta-carotene

• Topped with fresh whipped cream and made with dad’s secret ingredients – you can’t beat it!

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So dealing with this raw bird was an interesting experience for me. My mom had me digging around in its crevices for unspeakable parts, which I could not find for the life of me. Check out the video below to watch me as I went through the steps. You can hear some of my surprise as the neck was discovered and pulled from somewhere within the depths – eek!

My favorite part of the Thanksgiving holiday? The turkey leftovers soup! My mom makes the best turkey soup, and I was able to work with her first-hand this year to get the insider secrets.

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Mom’s Turkey Soup

The secret to this soup is improvisation. Have some extra bell peppers? Throw them in! Extra potatoes? Throw those in too! This soup will be unique from year to year, something that makes it all the more memorable – and that much more delicious!

The Night Before Thanksgiving

This recipe begins the night before Thanksgiving, giving you time to relax after your big Turkey-day feast.

The night before Thanksgiving, chop up one bag of celery, one bag of carrots, one yellow onion, and some leeks.  Don’t peel the carrots – you’ll get rid of a lot of the beta carotene if you do that!  Just make sure they are rinsed thoroughly.  One of my mom’s many secrets, is she uses the water that the mashed potatoes are boiled in as the initial liquid base for the soup; it adds back in some of the leached nutrients from the potatoes, as well as some of that great potato flavor.  So mix together the celery, carrots, onion, leeks, and the potato water in a pot, and let it sit so the flavors can begin to mix as you do the rest of your Thanksgiving day prep work (no heat, just leave it out on the stove).  Place the pot in the refrigerator to sit overnight before you head to bed.

Thanksgiving Day

The next morning, add in a bit of sage, rosemary, and poultry seasoning (to taste), and place the pot on the stove to begin simmering. This year, I added one bag of lentils to the mix at this point, for an extra OOMPH of plant-protein goodness (excellent idea by the way, it really added a nice fullness to the soup). Let the soup simmer all day, and all through dinner. If the liquid begins to look low at some point, either add more water, or some low-fat chicken broth, to replenish the evaporated liquid.

After you are stuffed to the brim with TGiving goodness, it’s time to clean up, and get back to the turkey soup. Clean all remaining meat off of your turkey to use for leftovers, or pass it on to your guests to take home. Now here is the genius part: Next, take your turkey carcass (yes, I said carcass), and plop it right into your simmering, homemade broth. The meat that you thought wasn’t salvageable will soften while the soup simmers and will easily fall off the bones. If you want to thicken the soup up a bit, warm up some cream, and add it into the soup (make sure it is warm before you add it, or the cream will curdle).

Let the soup simmer until bedtime, then place it in the fridge overnight (if your fridge is packed and you live somewhere cold, you can even stash the pot in the garage to keep it chilled overnight).

Day After Thanksgiving

Remove the soup from your refrigerator (or garage). Now, depending on the type of turkey you used, this may be an opportunity to remove some calories and fat. Some turkey is infused with butter to add moisture, which means their carcasses may also infuse your soup with more fat. Refrigerating your soup overnight will cause this fat to rise to the top and harden, where you can then skim it from the soup with a spoon to discard.

Next, it’s time to remove the bones. Be prepared, this will be cold and dirty. Dig your (clean) hands into the soup, and begin pulling up turkey bones. There will be plenty of leftover meat on the bones still, and you can use this as an opportunity to scrape this meat off into the soup. Feel around until you’ve removed all of the bones.

When you’re ready, place your soup back on the stove-top, and heat it up for dinner! Serve it piping hot with a slice of homemade garlic bread for the true leftover experience. Enjoy for days!

Looking for More Leftover Ideas?

Looking for more ideas on how to use up those leftovers? Check out some of these articles:

• Thai Tacos
• Turkey Tortilla Soup
• Turkey Pasta Casserole with Asparagus and Cheddar Cheese
• Curried Turkey Salad
• Turkey Casserole with Havarti Cheese
• Savory Turkey Cobbler

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Happy Leftover Snacking!

Lindsey

Mashed Potato Adventures

Corinne, Tessa, and I headed to Williams-Sonoma this Sunday for a free cooking class on Thanksgiving Techniques. I have been super excited to learn the ins and outs of cooking a fabulous Thanksgiving meal – as this is my first year hosting Thanksgiving dinner – and I couldn’t wait to dive into this class!

The Stories

The teacher was the sweetest little woman, who started off by reminiscing about her Thanksgiving meals-past, and telling us some really funny anecdotes: for instance, she actually took Julia Childs out for dinner once! She called ahead to the restaurant and said, “I’m bringing Julia Childs in for dinner this week, so please be sure to have a table ready for us.” Well when she got there with Julia, the host stared at her incredulously and squawked, “oh my goodness, she really is here for dinner! I thought it was a joke!” Can you imagine?! How absolutely mortifying! She also got it out of Julia that her favorite junk food to snack on was Goldfish Crackers!!

The Options

I loved all of the great stories, but I also loved the demonstration. The focus of the class was on mashed potatoes, an obvious Thanksgiving staple. Personally, I think mashed potatoes are the best part of the Thanksgiving feast, but there are soooooo many ways to make them – how’s a foodie to decide?! Red-skin potatoes, Idaho potatoes, Yukon Gold potatoes, or you could even try a mashed cauliflower-potato mix as a low-calorie alternative. Check out this article to help you choose the best potato for you, based on your preferences.  I whipped up a test batch of red-skin mashed potatoes yesterday (I love the skins in them!), but I think I’m going to try the traditional Idaho mashed potatoes for my Thanksgiving spread.

The “How-To”

Whichever potato variety you decide on, you start off by chopping your potatoes into small cubes, tossing them into a pan, and boiling them on the stove in enough water to cover them. I learned that you shouldn’t fret too much over how long you boil the potatoes for, because you can’t really over-boil them – great tip! After the potatoes were boiled, I was able to see Williams-Sonoma’s potato ricer in action for mashing the potatoes, and boy was it cool!  Does anyone use one of these religiously? Apparently you can use it for anything from veggies to pasta.  Check out the video below:

After the potatoes were “riced,” our teacher threw in some butter, cream, and a package of Williams-Sonoma’s bacon and chives mix, and voila! Delicious mashed potatoes – and so easy! We were able to try out the resulting potatoes along with Williams-Sonoma’s cranberry relish – delicious!

Regardless of your favorite dish, I think we all have a tendency to over-indulge during our Thanksgiving feasts, but there are ways to keep yourself in check. Here are five things I plan on doing this Thanksgiving to make it a healthier holiday:

My 5 Healthy Holiday Rules

• Get Moving
  
  • Pop that main course in the oven, grab your dog and your mom, and take a walk around the block a few times. With all of the stress and the food, it’s a great way to unwind and feel better about the indulging you’ll be doing later that day. Too cold outside to walk? How about some friendly family competition then? Get out your Guitar Hero or your Wii and let the battle begin! There are a ton of video games out there today that require a great deal of movement, and they are a fun way to bond with your family during the holiday season.
• Use a Smaller Plate
  
  • Research shows that bigger plates = bigger portions = more food eaten. Try starting off with a smaller plate, so you’ll eat less on your first time around. You will also be less likely to get up and get seconds because it’s just too much darn work.
• Listen to Your Belly
  
  • It takes 20 minutes for your belly to signal to your brain that it’s full, so wait for the message to come through! Wait 20 minutes from the time you begin eating, until the end of your first portion to decide if you are actually still hungry, or if your brain just hasn’t gotten the memo yet.
• Hydrate
  
  • Not only will water help to curb your appetite (it takes up space in your stomach, leaving less room for food), but it’s also going to help you with that day-after bloating. There is a lot of salt ingested during holiday meals, which can cause water retention and bloating. Keeping yourself hydrated will help keep your system flushed and control some of that water retention. Try keeping a bottle or glass of water on you throughout the day, so you have some water to sip on at all times.
• “Holiday” Does Not Equal “Don’t-Eat-All-Day”
  
  • Don’t pull a, “I’m saving all my calories for later,” stunt, because we all know it will just end badly – typically, it results in a, “I ate triple what I normally would have eaten today because I was famished!” type incident.  Treat the holiday just like any other day, and any other meal. Eat a good breakfast if you’re serving a late-afternoon meal, and if the main meal is in the evening, get a good lunch in as well. This will help you to avoid bingeing because you’re starving.

I can’t wait to put my rules into action and I really can’t wait to whip up my first Thanksgiving dinner – especially the mashed potatoes!

What’s your favorite Thanksgiving side-dish?

Do you have any holiday health rules that you swear by?

Happy Holiday Snacking!

Lindsey

Whoah! Extreme title right?  Well it was an extreme night!  Better grab the popcorn because this is a really big blog snack!

Friday night was date night with my fellow nutrition blogettes – Corinne, Janel, Jessica, and Elizabeth – and boy did we have an ambitious night planned.  First, we played our own foodie version of “The View,” as we taste-tested vitaminwater’s entire line of the new vitaminwater10 flavors. After that, we jetted off to Watertown, MA, for a fun-filled evening at Red Lentil – my first dining experience at a 100% vegetarian and vegan restaurant.

A Serving-Size Surplus

Now, I have to be honest up front: historically, I have not been the biggest fan of vitaminwater. It may be jam packed with vitamins, minerals, herbals, wonderfuls, moonbeams, and sunshine (which you will pee out of your system in a matter of hours, by the way) – but it’s also jam packed with sugar! That sugar jacks each bottle’s caloric total up to a whopping 125 calories! Yeah, you heard me!

But, what’s that you say? You say the bottle claims it only has 50 calories? Eh eh, not so fast. This is where your smart label reading skills come into play. Check out the serving size – 2.5 servings! Tricky, huh? Now 125 calories isn’t much on occasion, but on a daily basis it probably means you’re going to have to kick out some other tasty indulgence to balance the scales. I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather trade in a flavored water for a cookie any day.

Buyer beware, there are a lot of products out there that pull this trick, and many of them are those packages that appear to contain only one-portion:

Just another reason why you always want to flip over whatever product your honing in on to check out that little black & white box on the back.

vitaminwater10

vitaminwater is going for caloric redemption now, with their newest bev, vitaminwater10. This new draft in the vitaminwater line-up has significantly fewer calories than its evil alter ego, but wait! We can’t forget our new-found label reading skills just yet: don’t be fooled by the “10″ in the title; it has 10 calories per serving, but how many servings are there in one bottle do you think? You guessed it – 2.5!

So what will it take to burn off a whole bottle?

• A 25 minute nap
• 25 minutes of channel surfing
• 25 minutes of online shopping
• 25 minutes of online dating
• Brushing your teeth for 10 minutes

So while 25 calories for a sweetened beverage is a lot friendlier to your waistline (and leaves more room for that cookie later – yay!), the lesson is to always check those serving sizes so you don’t get carried away.

The folks at VitaminWater were nice enough to send me some of the new vitaminwater10 to test out on Healthy Blog Snack, so I rounded up my fellow faim femmes Nutrition Bloggers – Corinne, Janel, Jessica, and Elizabeth (from left to right in the video, plus me on the far right) – and we sat down for a good old-fashioned flavor face-off before dinner; check it out below!

*Note: We are in no way affiliated with vitaminwater, nor did they pay us to do this. We are just some foodie girls having a fun night on the town!*

Bottom Line

That said, it’s all about making choices and being aware of what you’re eating and drinking. I’m all for indulging in the occasional treat – cookies, brownies, cupcakes (I’m an Easy-Bake Oven girl at heart, can you tell?) – and I think flavored drinks have their place as well. But that is all vitaminwater10 should be in your food repertoire: a flavored beverage treat; it is not going  to change your life with its water soluble vitamins and aromatic herbs (though, its zingy labels will most definitely keep you entertained).

What I do like about vitaminwater, is that they have stepped up to the plate to offer vitaminwater10 as an option that’s toned down on the sugar, allowing for your flavored-drink indulgence sans the large amount of sugar and high number of calories.

So the wrap-up:

• vitaminwater10 = 10 calories per serving = 2.5 servings per bottle = 25 calories per bottle.
• A multivitamin costs about $0.08. vitaminwater10 costs $1.49 per bottle. If you’re looking for vitamins, it’s not the most cost-effective route.
• Sweetened primarily by crystalline fructose, a sweetener containing 98% fructose and 2% water/trace minerals. Crystalline fructose is estimated to be 20% sweeter than table sugar.
• If you must have a sweetened drink, this is a better choice than your regular soda, but that doesn’t make it good for you.
• Always check your serving sizes! Don’t take calories at face value.

After the tasting, we headed out to Red Lentil, for my first dining experience at an all vegetarian and vegan restaurant! The restaurant only opened a few weeks ago, but it has already become the bumpin’ place in Watertown to go. Luckily, we made reservations!

I ordered the Near East Seitan with Teff Crepe, and oh my goodness it was delicious! The dish consisted of pan seared seitan, braised in creamy fenugreek sauce, stuffed inside a teff crepe, served with wilted baby spinach and a black-bean-pineapple salsa.

Now, if a lot of that sounds foreign to you, not to worry – it did to me too! Janel, my vegan guru, enlightened me on seitan: Seitan is frequently used as a meat substitute in vegetarian dishes, as it has the consistency of chicken, but is actually made made of gluten, the protein in bread products. Teff is a type of bread that is often used in Ethiopian dishes (it’s the brown wrap you see below). All together it amounted to pure yumminess!

After all that food, I almost had to be rolled home! Best part? I had vegan leftovers for lunch the next day J.  If anyone has any other delicious vegan restaurants they love around the Boston area, I would love to hear your suggestions!

Whew okay that was a HUGE blog snack guys; I hope I didn’t wear you out!  Hope everyone’s week will be as choc-full of good food as my weekend was, and as always…

Happy Snacking!

Lindsey

The sun is shining, the leaves are changing, and Healthy Blog Snack has just been honored with the “Your Blog is Over the Top!“ award! Ms. A Fête for Food – Jessica – nominated me for this fabulous award, and I am absolutely thrilled to be receiving it. Thank you Jess!

Only thing is, the award comes with a few quirky and fun stipulations: 1) You must answer the following questions, 2) You must answer the following questions in only one word, and 3) You must nominate six other blog-tastic bloggers for the award.

 So without further ado, here we go!

Where is your cell phone? Table

Your hair? Ponytail

Your mother? Hero

Your father? Best

Your favorite food? VeggiePizza

Your dream last night? Crazy

Your favorite drink? Coffee

Your dream/goal? Happiness

What room are you in? LivingRoom

Your hobby? Writing

Your fear? Loneliness

Where do you want to be in 6 years? Successful

Where were you last night? Home

Something you aren’t? Unmotivated

Muffins? Doughnut

Wish list item? KitchenAidMixer

Where did you grow up? Michigan

Last thing you did? Cleaned

What are you wearing? Sweats

Your TV? DirtyDancing

Your pets? None L

Your friends? Amazing

Your life? Chaotic

Your mood? Kooky

Missing someone? Yes

Vehicle? MBTA

Something you’re not wearing? Contacts

Your favorite store? Bebe

Your favorite color? Turquoise

When was the last time you laughed? Today

Last time you cried? Grey’s

Your best friend? Banana

One place that I go over and over? Gym

One person who emails me regularly? Corinne

Favorite place to eat? Addis

Okay, steps one and two in the bag, though I may have cheated a little by making links out of some of the things (one word is hard people!).  Now on to the nominations!

First off is Kate, America’s Green Nutritionist

Next is Tufts’ very own Sweet Foodie, Caroline

Another fabulous Tufts blogger with an Italian twist, Leslie, with Pane E Pomodoro

The Meal Makeover Moms, Janice and Liz, helping parents, one picky eater at a time

Kelly’s, the The Picky Plate: A journal of healthy living and cherished moments

And lastly, a fellow aspiring registered dietitian, Elizabeth, with Don’t White Sugar Coat It

Ok bloggers, now it’s your turn to spread the food blog love. Send out those six nominations, and let’s hear your one-worders to the questions!

Happy Snacking,

Lindsey