Appetizers For Any Crowd

What do you do when you want to eat healthy but your friends and family don't share your enthusiasm? You can persuade them that healthy doesn't mean boring by bringing some tasty treats!

First off: Stuffed Mushrooms

You Will Need:

• Medium sized portabella mushrooms
• Salsa
• Diced olives, bell pepper, and onion
• Black beans
• Cheese

What To Do: 

1. Wash and hollow out the mushrooms and place on a baking sheet
2. Fill with salsa, olives, bell pepper, onions and beans
3. Sprinkle with cheese
4. Place under a medium broiler for about 5 minutes

If you look closely you'll see the mushrooms on the right are vegan (made with Daiya mozzarella style shreds) and the mushrooms on the left are made with regular cheese. You can stuff these with any combination of things that would taste amazing. Feta, tomato and spinach is good with seasoning or you could do them like mini pizzas with tomato sauce and toppings. The possibilities are endless!

Second: Spinach Rolls 

My mom used to make a variation of these for gatherings and everyone loved them. They're still one of my favorite snacks.

You Will Need:

• Tortillas 
• Hummus 
• Spinach
• Toothpicks
• Lunch meat (optional)

What To Do:

1. Spread a tablespoon or two of hummus over the tortilla in an even layer; not too thick or it will get messy. I used tomato basil tortillas and roasted red pepper hummus for extra flavor.
2. Layer the tortilla with spinach, again: not too much.
3. If you'd like, place a few pieces of lunch meat on top. If you're skipping the meat, double up on spinach.
4. Carefully roll the tortilla away from you, making it as tight as possible. It helps if you only put the toppings on 3/4 the tortilla so they don't fall out when you roll it up.
5. Insert toothpicks to hold the roll together, about 1 inch apart.
6. Carefully cut between the toothpicks, and serve.

Rolling these up is really difficult so it might take a few tries. Once you get the hang of it they're actually pretty - and of course delicious!

Almond Joy Muffins

Everyone knows (or should know) that muffins are not an innocent breakfast food. It is exactly the same as eating cake for breakfast and about as nutritiously sound. Hidden underneath that fruit and nut "healthy" appearance is usually tons of empty carbs and fat. Sometimes we just want cake for breakfast so here's a quick easy out-of-the-ordinary and more nutritious muffin.

What You Need:

• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup steel cut oats ("Old fashioned")
• 1/2 cup organic cane sugar (or substitute)
• 1 egg (or: 2 egg whites, 1/4 cup egg beaters, 1 tablespoon powdered egg replacement)
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup organic milk (or soy, rice, almond)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut (or 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract)
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds (or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract)
• 1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

What To Do:

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Combine flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix well.
3. In a separate bowl mix applesauce, egg, milk, vanilla, and other extracts if you're using them. 
4. Stir the liquid mixture into the dry mixture.
5. Add chocolate chips and coconut/almonds if you're using them.
6. Either grease the pan or use muffin liners and spoon mixture evenly into muffin tin. 
7. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the muffin comes out clean.

Please note that these will not rise up to be gigantic topped muffins you're used to. The whole wheat flour and oatmeal make them less fluffy and more dense. If you need fluffy muffins you can use half white flour, half wheat and use quick cooking oats instead of steel cut.

These muffins are way better than your average muffin because they are not only tasty but using whole grains and skipping the oil helps pack in a good amount of protein, fiber, and nutrients so you won't be hungry or tired an hour after you eat. 

Slow cooker black bean chicken

So I've fallen behind again but I just figured out an easier way to post from my phone so hopefully I'll be less lazy about it. I take pictures of almost everything I make, planning to write about it later but then I get too lazy to upload the photos or write about it and a few days go by and I forget what I even made!

This is my first attempt at a mobile post so forgive the 2 megapixel pictures.

For whatever reason we've been craving mexican food so today I'm doing a really easy slow cooker recipe.

You will need:
•1 cup black beans
•1 cup brown or wild rice
•1 lb chicken breast
•1 cup salsa
•seasonings of choice (taco seasoning, garlic, etc.)
Optional: cheese, avocados, eggplant

What to do:

1. Place the chicken, rice, and beans in the crock pot or dutch oven. Add enough water for the beans and rice as described on their labels.
2. Pour the salsa and seasonings of choice on top of the chicken.
3. Cook for 6-8 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high.
4. When serving, dish out hot contents and top with additional salsa, avocado slices, or cheese.
5. For an all-veggie option, use eggplant instead of chicken. The beans are a good source of protein.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Vegetarian Beef Stew

Is that an oxymoron? Why yes it is! After the vegetarian experiment, I decided to continue with it and my husband decided he couldn't give up all meat all the time. So what happens now? A lot of creative recipes.

Beef stew was a favorite of mine growing up bust mostly because I LOVE cooked carrots and despised anything with ground beef. This week, hubby requested beef stew because he had picked up some nice meat at the farmer's market - free range, grass fed, hormone and antibiotic free - and we needed to use it even if it was 100 degrees outside.

What does a new vegetarian who loves beef stew do?? She finds a replacement!

What You Need:

• Packaged stew meat or chuck roast cut into pieces
• Vegetables of choice (carrots, peas, potatoes, radishes, eggplant, etc.)
• Edamame (soybeans)
• Low-sodium broth
• Package beef stew seasoning

What You Do:

1. Place all the ingredients in a slow cooker or crock pot with 1-2 cups low sodium broth
2. Mix the packet of beef stew seasoning with water according to package directions and add to crock pot, saving about 1/4 cup for edamame, if desired
3. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4 hours.
4. Heat a small amount of stew seasoning mix (or broth) in a separate pan and add shelled edamame. Cook on low for about 20 minutes to heat through and infuse flavor. 
5. When serving: for regular beef stew, dish up from the slow cooker. When serving for non-beef stew, avoid the meat and add 1/4 cup cooked edamame instead. 

Note: You could use any veggie-friendly protein in lieu of meat but the edamame worked well with the vegetable medley we already had going. The beef stew seasoning mix we used also contained beef fat but I was OK with it since it tasted like the stew I loved growing up.

The Skinny on Fat

Along with many other things in the American diet, I think we need to reevaluate the role fat plays in our lives. It came to my attention yesterday when I heard a girl comment on how disgusting her friend’s protein shake was because he added peanut butter to it. I could understand if you didn’t like peanut butter, but she said it had too much fat. 

She commented on how high in calories it was because of the peanut butter. He responded with the fact that he wasn’t worried about the calories because they were healthy calories and he had run 8.5 miles that morning. I silently agreed with the man, and laughed to myself as the girl went on about how high in fat and oil the peanut butter was. I finally said: but it’s good fat. She replied: it’s still fat. So today I would like to present to you the skinny on fat.

I read somewhere that, "eating fat does not turn into fat in your body the same way that eating brains will not make you smarter." It sounds pretty simple since most people wouldn't eat brains, but why does fat get that bad rap?

All fats are not created equal. Just like carbs, there are beneficial fats and detrimental fats. In general, “bad” fats are the ones you find in processed foods: french fries, candy bars, ice cream, etc. “Good” fats are the ones you’ll find in pure, natural foods: nuts, pure nut and plant oils, fish, and vegetables like avocados and olives. Pretty simple, right?

Healthy fats benefit you. Unsaturated (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated) fats and Omega-3 fats provide great benefits to your body. They help regulate your blood sugar, improve your mood and cognitive function, protect your joints and nourish your skin. It has been proven that two servings of fatty nuts can alleviate mild depression. Most of these are best eaten raw, though. Even oils commonly used for cooking such as olive and canola are no longer beneficial once exposed to heat. These work best at low heat or when used as a salad dressing. 

Eliminate trans fats and saturated fats. Things that are processed, pre packaged or deep fried usually contain one or both of these types of fat. If you're worried about the fat from adding some avocado to your burrito, you might want to worry more about the lard in the tortilla. High fat meat and dairy also fall into these categories.

Read labels: anything “hydrogenated” is not going to benefit you. This process takes fats and infuses them with hydrogen to make them more shelf stable. This process makes the products difficult to digest triggering an array of problems from heart disease to cancer. The maximum daily amount of trans fats anyone should consume is 2 grams, but the FDA only requires labeling if the product contains more than .5 grams per serving. Considering this, a person could consume 4 servings of things claiming to have “0 grams trans fat per serving” and reach or exceed the healthy limit without knowing it. This is why it is so important to read the ingredients on packaged foods. If it has no package (i.e. fresh produce, nuts, beans, etc.) it’s probably free of bad fats.

Pair fats with carbs. WHAT!?!? No, we’re not talking donuts, here. We’re talking fruits, vegetables and whole grains - duh! Simple sugars are absorbed into the bloodstream very quickly, but pairing a simple sugar (like fruit) with a healthy fat (like nuts) lowers the glycemic index of the food helping your body absorb it more slowly and providing you with a steady stream of energy for longer.  So add some peanut butter to your protein shake, all fats are not created equal.

More information on good vs. bad fats. 

Day 31

Our days of vegetarianism are officially over but we did learn a few things in the process. At home it wasn't a big deal at all but eating out was a hassle. That is good in a way because it prevented us from going out too much. We decided we might continue to eat a few vegetarian meals per week and when we do eat meat, continue to make vegetables the focus instead of the other way around.

Here is a picture of our last veggie meal of the month: green salad with fresh tomatoes, onion, and bell pepper with lentils, barbecue tofu and feta cheese. YUM! I was sad to realize the dishwasher had not been run so we had to toss the pretty meal in a bowl. Oh well it was still delicious.

Bed Snack

This recipe was one my parents used to make when I was growing up. It's so simple and tasty I just had to share it.


When I was little, my parents would read a book to my brother, my sister and me while we ate a snack before bed. This snack we admirably named "Bed Snack" was made for us once in a while and was always our favorite.

All you'll need:

• Regular sized marshmallows
• Crackers

My parents made them with plain old saltines but I wouldn't pass up the chance to incorporate a few more whole grains so I used kashi 7 grain crackers. The whole grains help to lower the glycemic index since marshmallows have an alarming amount of sugar in them. The package I bought listed a serving as 4 mallows with each serving having 19 grams of sugar! Topping a carby cracker with a gooey mound of sugar probably isn't the best idea before bed so this might make a better mid-afternoon snack... especially if you're feeding it to your children.

What to do:

1. Preheat the oven to about 300
2. Lay out the crackers on a cookie sheet or pizza pan and top each cracker with a marshmallow. Be sure to center the mallow because they puff up in the oven and if it slides off you'll have a gooey mess.
3. Bake until the marshmallows are puffed up and light golden brown on top - about 5 minutes.
4. Remove and allow to cool before eating.

This is an easy one for the kids to help with (not putting them in or taking them out of the oven, of course) and they will love watching the marshmallows grow as they cook. People of all ages love a good sweet, salty, crunchy, melty treat once in a while!