Archive for June, 2010

Nuts, more good info

June 23, 2010 · Filed under Advice from the Experts · Tagged ,

“So far, the best evidence of heart-health promoting properties have been shown for walnuts and almonds but other nuts appear to have similar benefits.  According to the Food and Drug Administration, eating about a handful (1.5 ounces, or 42.5 grams) a day of most nuts, such as almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, some pine nuts, pistachio nuts and walnuts, may reduce your risk of heart disease.  Nuts are high in calories and fat, but the fat is mostly unsaturated.  Nuts are loaded with  healthy monounsaturated fat, fiber and vitamins and minerals too.  Macadamia nuts have more saturated fat than the others, but they are higher in monounsaturated fats and have been shown to reduce cholesterol.  Choose nuts that are unsalted and not roasted in oil.”

Personal Nutritionist, Mary Hartley

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Peanut Butter Noodles

June 8, 2010 · Filed under Chicken, kids, Recipes, Trader Joe's · Tagged , , ,

From the Trader Joe’s Cookbook

PB Moodoos! (Peanut Butter Noodles)

Posted in Eating In
10/08/09

“Here are my ingredients.  I usually just use cucumber and carrots but I saw broccoli slaw today and decided to change it up a little bit.

IMG_0650

2. Cook the noodles, grill the chicken breast ( I dont put salt or pepper on it since the sauce is salty already), cut the cucumber into discs and then sliver, cut the green onion.

3. The SAUCE –

1/4 cups of peanut butter (I like unsalted TJ’s peanut butter)

1/4 cups Trader Joes soyaki ( the island version works too)

1/4 cups water

2 teaspoons of sesame oil

whisk together!

4.  Put the noodles in a bowl, chicken, cucumbers, carrots, sesame seeds and the sauce on top!”

photo

 

Thanks Christina for sharing that!  I didn’t have all the fresh veggies and I went more a Hot Thai dish route, but it was yummy and gobbled up by all!

I made the sauce in the bowl, tinkered with it a bit til the taste was where I liked it, (added a splash of soy milk, a bit more PB and a splash of soy)

(I also poured a little of the sauce over the raw chicken pieces before cooking.)

Strained the noodles and threw them into the sauce bowl hot and all, got all the noodles covered in sauce and then placed the coated noodles in a pretty serving bowl and added the chicken on top with some green onion.

 

So as you can see a cold/veggie/summer salad version and a warm, Thai dish all in one!  The adults all added red pepper flakes to ours for the full HOT & SPICY deal!

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Tomato-Goat Cheese Gratin

June 5, 2010 · Filed under Recipes, Veggies

Sweet, juicy tomatoes are a great source of vitamin C, and the super-healthy antioxidant lycopene. Adding a little fat helps your body absorb lycopene more easily, so Laura Pensiero suggests her Tomato–Goat Cheese Gratin (adapted from Hudson Valley Mediterranean: The Gigi Good Food Cookbook):

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for the dish

1¼ cups coarse fresh bread crumbs from crusty bread (or unseasoned dried bread
crumbs)

1½ pounds (about 3) large tomatoes, sliced 1 inch thick

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup (4 ounces) crumbled goat cheese

3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

2 tablespoons freshly grated Grana Padano or parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Oil a 9-inch square or oval gratin dish or casserole.

2. Combine the olive oil and the bread crumbs in a small bowl, and set aside.

3. Arrange a third of the tomato slices, slightly overlapping, in the prepared gratin dish. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and sprinkle with one-third each of the goat cheese, bread-crumb mixture, and chives.

4. Repeat with two more layers of tomatoes, salt and pepper, and cheese, crumbs, and chives.

5. Sprinkle the Grana Padano over the top. Bake in the middle of the oven until the gratin is bubbly and the crumbs are golden, 15 to 20 minutes.

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Cookies.

June 2, 2010 · Filed under Baked Goods, kids · Tagged , ,

I don’t bake, honestly because between the dough and the hot baked goods I would weigh 400 lbs!  But there are so many “clean and healthy” versions of old favorites out there that I started keeping recipes I would like to try.  Then my friend Amy emailed me asking for tips on how to satisfy her sweet tooth.  Eating healthy is not Amy’s problem, that she has always done pretty well…but the sweets call her name and she loves to bake!

So I asked Amy to start testing some of these recipes and to let us know when she finds a good one!

This recipe came from my friend Jennifer and has been stamped “Approved” by Amy!

Clean Eating Chocolate Spiked Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

Two cookies=200 calories/5g of protein/4g of fiber

Amy’s actual feedback:

“So I made the cookies, and while the recipe doesn’t make a lot and I did share them-  they were good they lasted two days.  The recipe was pretty easy and except for the flax meal, I had everything.  The dough was good (I know, I know salmonella) but that is part of the fun of baking cookies.  They were of course best straight from the oven, but I saved two for Betsy and a friend for after school and they stopped playing at the park to eat the cookies and two almost 5 year-olds gave them a definite thumbs up.  I thought they might be dry the next day, but my mom sampled them (and kids) and they were still very good.  I think next time I will try putting some dried cranberries in there too.   I won’t say they will replace regular old chocolate chip cookies all the time, but they most definitely could satisfy my cravings, and of course being that they are “cleaner” it’s better. ”

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