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Tag Archives: Recipes
Sweet & Savory Energy Bars
1 Cup lightly salted peanuts
½ Cup crispy rice cereal
½ Cup old fashioned oats
1/3 Cup sunflower seeds (or your favorite seed)
¼ dried blueberries
6 dried apricots (chopped)
3 tbsp. mini chocolate chips
½ Cup honey
- While preheating your over to 325°F, line an 8-inch baking pan with foil. Coat with cooking spray.
- Combine all ingredients, except the honey in a medium sized mixing bowl. Pour the honey over the top and mix well.
- Spread this mixture in your lined baking pan. Press mixture down in to the pan firmly. It may help to spray another piece of foil and use this to press down evenly on the energy bars.
- Bake for approximately 30 minutes. Keep a close eye on the energy bars and remove them whenever the edges begin to turn golden. Do not remove from pan and cool for 10 minutes.
- This recipe makes 6 servings. You can cut and store them in the pan. Or remove them the pan, cut them and store them in a separate container. Enjoy!
Cooking Fresh in the ‘Off Season’
As winter settles in throughout most of the country, are you finding that you’re tired of cooking from a can? When spring arrives, it’s exciting to start buying fresh and cooking light, fresh meals with seasonal fruits and vegetables. But, why wait until spring? Instead, adjust your recipes to include fresh fruits and vegetables that are in-season throughout the winter months. Here are a couple of freshtastic foods that have more flavor this time of year than any other!
Brussels Sprouts: If you just said “Gross!” under your breath, you should be ashamed! The days of mushy canned brussels sprouts are gone forever… at least for us. Instead, we’ve found ways to bake, broil and sauté these little gems into tasty side dishes full of flavor and freshness.
Simple and Light Roasted Brussels Sprouts from Food Network
Fresh, Citrusy Brussels Sprouts with Walnut-Lemon Vinaigrette – If you close your eyes, you may think it’s summer
Sautéed Brussels Sprouts with Bacon & Onions – Talk about comfort food!
Pears: Growing up, canned pears were always a favorite snack in my house. Probably because they were canned in sugary syrup. But, have you tried a freshly sliced pear that’s never seen the inside of a can? I prefer a freshly cut pear over the canned variety any day. So, for the spring and summer, remember that an apple a day will keep the doctor away. But, for the winter months, switch to pears for a naturally sweet treat. These are great fresh or cooked in to your favorite dish as a replacement for apples.
Sweet Potatoes: There is a reason that sweet potatoes are a staple at every Thanksgiving and Christmas meal… they are at their finest during the holidays. Although sweet potato casseroles are the most common way we see sweet potatoes prepared, there are so many different ways to cook and enjoy them.
Spiced Sweet Potato Chips – Forget store-bought chips. This is the only snack you’ll need all winter!
Two-Toned Mashed Potatoes – A sweet twist on an old holiday favorite!
Because of the selection of frozen foods in most grocery stores these days, we can enjoy most foods all year long. However, if you have a hankering for fresh (never frozen, never canned) foods in the winter months, remember that there are foods that are in season this time of year. You may have to think outside the box to prepare them. But, rest assured that your palate will appreciate the change in flavor! For a larger list of seasonal fruits and veggies, visit fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org. What are your favorite fresh fruits and vegetables during the winter months? Share them here on the blog, on Facebook or on Twitter.
Create Your Best Thanksgiving Menu Yet
It’s finally here! Although Thanksgiving is rolling in a little later this year, if you’re like me, it still found a way to sneak right up. It’s pretty easy to cook the same foods that you’ve been cooking for the last 20 years. Even though you keep thinking that one of these year’s you’ll lighten up your Thanksgiving meal, time gets away and looking up new recipes just gets pushed off until next year… again! So, to make it a little easier, we’ve pulled together our list of favorite sites to find lighter versions of your favorite Thanksgiving classics.
It’s important to remember that the key to a healthy Thanksgiving plate is still portion control. Although adding lighter, healthier ingredients to your foods is a great addition to a healthy diet, portion control is still very important. TIP: Fill your plate with your favorite fruits and vegetables. Then, fill in the holes with those other foods that you wait all year to enjoy. And, remember, don’t be too hard on yourself. Enjoy your favorite Thanksgiving foods on Thanksgiving. Just remember to get back to your healthy daily eating habits quickly after the holiday!
Mayo Clinic: As a trusted professional in health and medicine, the Mayo Clinic is a great place to turn when looking for health information. They have incorporated some great healthy Thanksgiving recipes in to their site. Sorted by dish, they are easy to search and find.
Simply Organic: Offering a full line of organic seasonings, Simply Organic has created a website chocked full of healthy renditions on many holiday classics. Plus, you can bank on the fact that the recipes will be full of flavor!
Eating Well: There motto is “Where good food meets good health” and they aren’t kidding! These guys have put together a great resource for healthy cooking with recipes, menus and news. Thanksgiving is no exception… you’ll find some great recipes. Including a healthy spin on one of my favorites, green bean casserole.
Readers Digest: We’ve been turning to Readers Digest for everything, including the best holiday recipes for years. Now, you can get healthy recipe ideas from them too! If you’re looking for a side dish, this is the place to go!
EatRight.org: Of course the dietitians over at the Academy have great resources for every holiday, event, age and topic. They’ve also put together a little shopping guide for Thanksgiving. It’s not a lot. But, it’s got a few tips for shopping with a healthy Thanksgiving meal in mind.
Pinterest: Of course, every recipe imaginable can be found on the new super recipe book… Pinterest. I’m a huge fan of this Healthy Thanksgiving board by Brittany Mullins though. If I had the time, I would try EVERY single one of these recipes. Maybe if we split it up, we can cook through this board together!
Fill your Plate with Colorful Foods
As spring shows its beautiful face, it seems more appropriate than ever to fill our plates with colorful foods. Right now, fruits and vegetables are starting to show up in the grocery store with a new found sense of purpose! Their more colorful, more flavorful and fuller than they’ve been in quite a few months. So, let’s take advantage of the season and eat healthy!
We all know that, according to MyPlate, we should fill half our plate with fresh fruits and veggies. But, as we all know, it’s just hard to do that in the winter. We find ourselves having to get more creative to get the fruits and veggies that we need. But, this time of year, throw creativity out the window and start slicing up fresh foods to fill your plate. Plus, spring encourages us to go RAW… getting back to the basics. One of our RAW-10 Steps to Reducing America’s Waistline- tips is to avoid processed and prepackaged foods. So, in light of that and in celebration of spring, we’ve decided to share a few of our favorite RAW
recipes with you! Plus, if you haven’t had a chance to view our RAW tear pad, now is a great time. This handout will help you teach patients about the importance of ‘getting back to the basics’ by enjoying fresh foods and physical activity.
Snap Bean–Corn Salad with Yellow Tomato Vinaigrette
Source: Delish.com
Grilled Chicken and Garden Vegetable Penne Pasta with Oven Roasted Tomatoes
Source: MidwestLiving.com
Pomegranate-Glazed Chicken with Blackberries
Source: Health.com
NCES HealthBeat Blog 