January 19, 2010
· Filed under Recipes, Veggies, side dishes · Tagged grean beans
Green beans seem to be a staple in our home year-round. This recipe actually came out of the back of an Oprah magazine over two years ago and we make these roasted green beans at least once a week. This recipe really is as easy as it comes and makes for a quick veggie with any meal, or works to accompany a fancier dish should you be entertaining. (I have emailed this recipe upon request every time I have served it.)
Slow-Roasted Green Beans with Sea Salt and Olive Oil
INGREDIENTS
- 3 pounds green beans , ends trimmed (mixing yellow and green beans makes for a nice presentation when entertaining you can also buy beans already trimmed if you prefer)
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (just eye-ball it and drizzle over the beans)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 300°. Place beans in one layer on a large baking sheet with a rim. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and toss with hands. Place in oven and roast 20 to 25 minutes, until tender and slightly golden in spots. Remove and serve warm or at room temperature.
I have also served these with crumbled feta or goat cheese on top.
December 28, 2009
· Filed under Recipes, Veggies, kids
Who didn’t grow up on grilled cheese?
Does this look familiar?
Grilled Cheese of the past!
So that sandwich above is white bread, fried in butter, LOADED with fat! IT tastes GREAT! But at 500 calories (high in fat and sugar) who eats that on a regular basis? You think of it as a treat for yourself, or easy kid food, right? NO MORE!
Even the grilled cheese can be CLEAN food, and healthified!!!
Green Apple & Cheese
So the first thing I used my new mandolin on was a grilled cheese with green apple sandwich! TO DIE FOR! I had tried this before but my apple slices were too chunky and thick, and tasted cold when I ate the sandwich. With the mandolin they were PAPER-THIN & Perfect!
My perfect Grilled Cheese Sandwich:
- Two slices grainy, nutty, high-fiber bread
- Cover both slices with a yummy mustard of your choice
- place thin apple slices on one side
- place thin slices of your favorite cheese (low-fat or not, moderation is the key to cheese, a little goes a long way, it is being melted afterall)
- place in pan coated with pam or olive oil
- place a brick covered with tin-foil, or another heavy pan
- flip, repeat, and serve!
For my kids I might add a bit more cheese, and a little less mustard! Get creative and use the grilled cheese as a place to fit in some veggies….cheese does amazing things and will allow you to add in some more fruit or veggies in an easy, quick way!
Try to choose a bread that has no sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and too many things you can not pronounce. ALWAYS find a bread that has 2 – 3 grams of fiber per 100 calories, a good rule of thumb. I don’t buy bread that has under 4 grams per slice. It is just such an easy way to get in 8 of the 25 grams we are suppose to have per day! If your family has always eaten white, highly processed bread start changing it out slowly. If you have little kids high-fiber bread is all they will ever know, just serve it, they won’t know any better and you are doing them a good deed that will last a lifetime!
Grilled Cheese with Herbs
Grilled Cheese & Pear
Tomato with Ham & Cheese
Grilled Cheese with Veggies
This last one pretty much looks like it has last nights salad on it, and you know what…what a great way to use left-over salad!!!
December 22, 2009
· Filed under Appetizers, Snacks, Veggies, kids · Tagged cucumbers
The two foods we consume the most in our home are hummus and cucumbers. I would say both are eaten most every day, and often together. My husband taught the kids to use cucumber slices like chips to scoop up their hummus and they love it! This little snack-bite is simple, easy, tastes great and can be made to look festive for the Holidays! We put this out while preparing dinner, which lets us snack, without filling up before enjoying our meal!
1 container of hummus
1 English cucumber, sliced
1/4 cup jarred roasted red peppers, cut into small strips
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, or some cilantro
Place humus onto cucumber slices, top with a roasted red pepper strip and garnish with cilantro or thyme. Serve immediately.
*Another version of this snack is to sprinkle the hummus with lemon pepper instead of the roasted red-pepper strip.
*Use a vegetable peeler or zester/scorer to take off strips of the cucumber to make a decorative edge. Or pull the tines of a fork down the outside length of the cucumber without peeling to make a decorative edge.
December 11, 2009
· Filed under 411, Reference/Books/Help, Veggies
December 9, 2009
· Filed under Recipes, Veggies
I have no idea why but I have a hard time with carrots. Cooked, raw…doesn’t matter, I just usually pass! But when eating seasonally, and locally, carrots are a common staple at my local co-op so I have been keeping an eye out for appealing carrot recipes.
I was browsing the spices at Whole Foods yesterday when I found these fabulous little packets of mixes (sans all the junk) from Simply Organic Foods! This of course led me to their website last night and there are just TONS of cool recipes! This one caught my eye because my house is HUGE on Agave syrup, and this recipe called for it!
Doesn’t get much easier people.
Baked Glazed Carrots
INGREDIENTS:
Mix it all in an oven safe dish, bake at 350 for 40 – 50 minutes.
I had some pre-cooked lentils from Trader Joe’s in the fridge so I added those about 10 minutes before the carrots were done, GREAT COMBO!
Note: I ate this as my dinner, since the lentils added protein. My Husband ate his with a steak and said it was a great combo. The kids found it a bit too spicy so I would probably split the batch next time and just cook theirs with less seasoning. If you are ever making a taco dinner, or having a Mexican Fiesta and you have a vegetarian or Vegan coming serve this dish, it would be excellent in a taco shell!
Actually as I ate the leftovers today lots of ideas came to mind:
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Add ground beef or ground turkey (already cooked) for the last 10 minutes, sprinkle with cheese and serve with whole grain chips
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Serve the glazed carrots/meat or lentils in a taco shell and add your usual taco toppings
The 411 on the Baked Glazed Carrots (w/o lentils): 130 calories, .5g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 270mg sodium, 31g total carbohydrate and 1g protein
The 411 on Carrots Nutrients: Vitamins A, C, K; potassium; alpha- and beta-carotene antioxidants; fiber.
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Nicer-Diced
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Cooked
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Blue Agave
October 28, 2009
· Filed under Fruit, Products I can't live without, Veggies · Tagged chopping, Fruit, Veggies
OK. I know what you are thinking, and you are right! I totally had insomnia and got sucked into this “infomercial”…and yes I called! But I am not even going to bow my head because it was a call that changed my life!!!! I have never ordered anything from the television prior to the Nicer Dicer, nor since, but this product ROCKS!
I don’t mind cooking, though 9 times out of 10 I will find a short-cut if there is one! If someone else can do it better than I can why would I re-invent the wheel? Thus my love for pre-made pie dough, Whole Food’s pizza dough, Trader Joe’s frozen Garlic Cubes…I could go on and on! Well the only thing about eating fresh and healthy that I frankly think BLOWS is all these darn fruit and veggies have to be peeled, cleaned, chopped or diced. I think if a recipe called for a bell pepper and you could just drop the whole darn pepper in…well more people would probably eat their veggies. I HIGHLY DISLIKE chopping and dicing. I know some of you may find it therapeutic and even relaxing-yeah for you! I do not!
So two years ago when I saw this infomercial I thought why not? Guess what, it is the real deal and it rocks! I am putting this video in so you can see 1st-hand how it works (sorry about the guys annoying accent)! I have had mine for two years and nothing has cracked, broken-notta! It really is a work-horse and gets used in our house almost every day!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssNVPIOoRFQ
And this is the only product of this kind I am endorsing! If you go buy a slap-chop that is your own fault!!! (NOT THE SAME THING PEOPLE)
October 19, 2009
· Filed under Veggies
Today Ellie asked for a “rab salad” for lunch. Well after a bit of translation I determined she wanted a “CRAB” salad, and that I could DO! Thanks to Dad for shelling the crab last night….we girls really enjoyed our “Rab” salad this afternoon!
I think for my kids, part of what makes it all fun is helping. I got out some cilantro, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, green beans and onion….then let Ellie choose what she wanted to put in her Crab Salad! I give her a cutting board and a plastic knife and she cuts and cuts (with really no progress) and gets to feel like she is making the Good Stuff! She also loves to grind the pepper!
Yummy!
October 13, 2009
· Filed under 411, Veggies
| |
| Serving Size 1 cup (155g) |
| |
| Amount per serving |
| Calories 42 |
Calories from Fat 4 |
| |
| Total Fat 0g |
0% |
| |
Saturated Fat 0g |
0% |
| Cholesterol 0mg |
0% |
| Sodium 28mg |
1% |
| Total Carbohydrates 10g |
3% |
| |
Dietary Fiber 2g |
| |
Sugars 4g |
| Protein 1g |
| |
| Vitamin A |
3% |
Vitamin C |
9% |
| Calcium |
3% |
Iron |
3% |
| Thiamin |
4% |
Riboflavin |
2% |
| Niacin |
6% |
Pantothenic Acid |
6% |
| Vitamin B6 |
8% |
Potassium |
5% |
| Phosphorus |
2% |
Magnesium |
4% |
| Zinc |
2% |
Copper |
3% |
| * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. |
October 13, 2009
· Filed under Recipes, Veggies
I think I was watching the Biggest Loser (like 3 seasons ago) when I first heard them talk about ”Spaghetti Squash”. So here is the news folks….sometimes I can be a little too LITERAL! Every so often when I was at the PCC or Whole Foods I would go to the pasta aisle and look for “Spaghetti Squash”. You know, Spaghetti made from squash. FTLOG! So just this week, 3 years- later I am standing at a local Farmer’s Market down in the Hood Canal area when right in front of me is this huge pile of yellow squashes and a sign that says “Spaghetti Squash”.
Duh. Why I am outing myself I have no idea, but long and the short of it is I brought home a bright yellow “Spaghetti Squash” and then went to my got to web-site for new recipes and ta da….tons of preperations….HUGE SHOUT OUT to www.foodtv.com.
search=following results Spaghetti Squash Recipes
So being a novice I went with the basic, simply “Spaghetti Squash w/ Marinara” for two reasons 1) It looked easy and 2) What is not good with Marinara dumped over it?
I must admit I am a convert, and already looking forward to leftovers for lunch tomorrow. The big surprise…….the family liked it too! I will admit the kids dumped parmesan cheese all over it, but hey…if you are going to “sell it” as a pasta you must let them treat it like one!
Huge hit. Another Vegan delight. And after a huge bowl, I don’t even feel that full. No spiked insulin….no deisre to be beached on the couch. All-in-all a good find!!!
August 12, 2009
· Filed under Veggies
YUMMY
One has to admit….this looks pretty damn good! At our house we eat at least one of these a day! Favorite preparations include 1) Using as a chip and scooping up humus 2) sprinkled with lemon pepper and 3) In a salad which often is just cut up cucumbers, sliced cherry tomatoes, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper!
CRUNCHY & CRISP!
