A Life Less Sweet

Ode to an Onion

2011-05-08T15:33:00.000-07:00

I am a sweet onion fanatic. Not so very long ago, I'd have to sometimes settle for a stouter storage onion. Storage onions are fine for cooking, but they can be too pungent for truly enjoying raw. These days, I can always find a sweet onion at the grocery store. Even though sweet onions aren't the unusual treat that they used to be, I still get excited about onions this time of year. Why? This is Vidalia onion season! Juicy and sweet with thick layers, these onions are a wonder.

What makes Vidalia's special? Vidalia onions are grown in a very specific 20 county region of Georgia. The low sulfur soil and the unique climate result in the beloved sweet onion. (Say it like vie-dayl-yuh with a nice long I sound at the beginning. Georgians will leave the L sound out, but I'm from Mississippi, so in it goes.) The onions are especially sweet because of their low sulfur and high sugar content. In fact, a Vidalia onion can have as much sugar as an apple. The onions are harvested late-April through mid-June. They can be stored for sale as late as December in special, high-nitrogen storage units, but I generally see them in our grocery store in May and June.

How do you use Vidalia onions? I use sweet onions in any recipe that calls for an onion, but Vidalia onions are really best appreciated raw or lightly cooked. Slice one for a sandwich or add chopped, raw Vidalia onion to a salad to fully appreciate the sweet onion flavor. The onions are great in Classic Greek Salad (see recipe at the end). The thick onion layers really lend themselves to onion rings too. I love to use this onion ring recipe from Cooking Light.

I bought my first Vidalia onions of the season today. Although grown in Georgia, you can find these delicious onions nationwide. If you've not tried Vidalias, start looking for the word "Vidalia" on the little stickers on the sweet onions at your grocery store and snap them up while you can!

Classic Greek Salad
Adapted from Greek Meze Cooking

2 large, ripe tomatoes, cut into thin wedges (I tend to use lots of grape tomatoes cut in half lengthwise)
1/2 cucumber, halved and sliced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced into rings (I like to use red bell pepper)
2 oz. kalamata olives
1 large onion, finely sliced
6 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp finely chopped fresh oregano
salt to taste

Toss together the tomato through feta cheese. Combine lemon, oil, oregano, and salt in a small bowl, and whisk to make a vinaigrette. Add to the salad and serve.

Serves 4-6

Lunch for a Princess

2011-04-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

Do you ever get in a rut when you prepare food for your child? Make the same things over and over again or go to the foods that are supposed to be "kid friendly"? I'm certainly guilty of doing that. I have my go-to lunches for my daughter - like spaghetti and PB&J. Fortunately, she likes to remind me to think outside of the kid-friendly box sometimes.

I've inadvertently found that one of the best ways to get my children to try new foods is to simply to eat the food myself. That's precisely how I discovered one of my daughter's very favorite lunches - a wrap with a generous smear of goat cheese, roasted red peppers, sliced sweet onion, and tomato. I was enjoying a wrap of this very description one day when my princess said she wanted a bite...and then ate my whole wrap. She generally does not care for raw onion (or roasted red peppers for that matter), but in this wrap, she loves the "crunchy bits." Now I send this wrap for school lunch quite often.

If all else fails, I can depend on her drinking a smoothie for lunch. And why not? Packed with fruit and a little punch of protein, the smoothies we make for her are a smart and fun lunch, and again, a lunch that she stole from my husband who is also a smoothie fiend.

Don't be afraid to challenge your child's taste buds. They just might surprise you! What's your favorite non-traditional lunch to serve your child?

A wrap is always better with a fancy toothpick holding it together on a fun plate.

Princess Wrap

1 small flour tortilla
soft goat cheese
jarred roasted red pepper
sliced tomato
sliced sweet onion

Smear goat cheese down center of tortilla and top with remaining ingredients. Roll and eat.

Watch the ingredients in the tortillas! Many brands use hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils in their tortillas.

Princess Smoothie

1 banana
1 cup frozen strawberries (thaw a little before blending - 45 sec in microwave does a good job)
1 cup milk (dairy, soy, almond, or coconut)
1 spoonful of peanut butter
a squeeze of chocolate syrup

Place all in a blender and blend until smooth. Makes 2-3 servings

Add a little tofu to make the smoothie extra creamy and add an extra big punch of protein.

It's National Empanada Day!

2011-04-08T12:01:00.000-07:00

Who knew? What perfect way to end my blogging vacation than to celebrate the humble empanada on its very own day by resharing my empanada recipe. (As an aside, I always want to say em-pa-NYA-da, but I am trying retrain myself to say the word correctly: em-pa-NAH-da.) A couple of years ago a group of Latina women sold "authentic Latin food" at our local farmer's market. I fell head over heels in love with their corn and cheese empanadas. This recipe is my attempt at recreating their empanada. It falls short of the empanadas I enjoyed at the Farmer's Market, but it's still a darn good empanada, and it freezes well to boot. I make extra and freeze them to pack in my son's lunch box or to use on those nights when I just don't feel like cooking.

Empanadas de Choclo y Queso (Corn and Cheese Empanadas)

packaged frozen empanada shells (find in the freezer section)
2 TBSP butter
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 TBSP all-purpose flour
Lowfat evaporated milk (about 1/2 a can)
2 oz Monterey Jack cheese or cheese of choice
1 green onion, finely chopped
corn - 4-6 ears fresh or 1 can or 1 1/2 - 2 cups frozen (I used a bag of fresh corn that I froze last summer)
1 small can green chiles (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 F.

White Sauce - Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until tender. Whisk in the flour and cook for about a minute. Slowly whisk in the evaporated milk until your sauce is the desired consistency. Cook for a couple of minutes adding more evaporated milk if necessary. (My sauce at this point was very thick but pourable.)

Add in cheese, green onions, and corn as well as any other optional ingredients. Stir to combine well.

Place a tablespoon or two of corn and cheese filling in the center of an empanada shell. Wet the outer edge of the shell with a little water and press edges together to make a sealed pouch. Place empanada on an oiled baking sheet. Continue until all of your filling and/or empanada shells are used.

Bake at 400 F for 10-15 min or until empanada bottoms are browned. (You can also brush an egg wash over the top of the uncooked shells to brown the tops as well.)

Makes about 30 empanadas

Want more empanada ideas? Foodgawker has beautiful pictures of empanadas with links to the recipes. Get ready to drool! And while I haven't tried this recipe, Home Baked Memories has a wonderful looking Green Chile Chicken and Queso Empanada recipe. Enjoy!

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler! King Cake for Mardi Gras

2011-03-06T07:47:00.000-08:00

Care to guess what I'll be doing today? I've spoiled a few Wyoming folk, and they now plead for King Cake. Mardi Gras is this Tuesday, so King Cake time is quickly ending. King Cake is just as tasty if it isn't Mardi Gras season, of course, but it just doesn't seem quite right to have it past Mardi Gras. So, Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler! Let the good times - and the King Cake - roll!

Even though I grew up in coastal Mississippi where every town has their own Mardi Gras parade and schools get Fat Tuesday off, I don't have any memories of king cake until moving to Louisiana as an adult. I'm sure that I had my share of king cake as a child, but in Lousiana, I had lots and lots of king cake. It's a way of life down there during Mardi Gras season. We've continued the tradition in our current home of Wyoming to help my son, a Louisiana native, celebrate his heritage (not to mention it's just fun and tasty).

If you're not familiar with Mardi Gras, it's the season just before lent culminating on Mardi Gras day - the day before lent starts. It is the American South's version of Carnival. Mardi Gras is known for lots of rich foods, parties, and parades, and is celebrated from the Florida panhandle through southern Louisiana (and other places too, I'm sure).

What is King Cake? This traditional cake of Mardi Gras was brought over by the French settlers and has morphed into what we eat today. The cake is a sweet brioche often with a slight cinnamon flavor. Modern variations can be found stuffed with a cream cheese or fruit filling.

Everything about the king cake is symbolic. The circular or oval shape is to honor the three kings. The traditional Mardi Gras colors that decorate the cake are traditional too: purple represents justice, green represents faith, and gold represents faith. A small plastic baby (or bean) is often put inside of the cake to represent the baby Jesus. In Louisiana, whoever found the baby had to bring the next king cake. We're adding our own twist and saying that whoever finds the baby will have good luck the rest of the year.

King cakes are a Mardi Gras season tradition, but they've become so popular that bakeries make them and people buy them year round now. Seems like most bakeries in southern Louisiana will ship their king cake nationwide, but we choose to go the cheaper (and just as tasty) homemade route.

The recipe for this sweet treat looks daunting, I know, but it really isn't that bad. You need some time, but each step is actually pretty easy. It's even easier if you have a mixer with a dough hook to do the kneading for you. (I use the mixer to do most of the mixing, taking a little time to mix in the butter with my own hands. If you're using a mixer, 6 minutes of kneading with a dough hook seems to do the trick.) Enjoy!

I didn't use the traditional colors on my king cake - just what I had on hand! And if you look close, you can see the little plastic baby (totally optional) sitting on top waiting to be hidden inside.

Mardi Gras King Cake with Cream Cheese Filling

Dough:
1/2 cup warm water
2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup plus 2 tsp sugar
4 cups of flour, plus extra if needed
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup warm milk
5 large egg yolks
1 stick butter, cut into slices and softened
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Cream Cheese Filling (mix all ingredients together):
2 8-oz packages of cream cheese (low fat is fine)
2 cup confectioner's sugar
3 TBSP flour
2 tsp vanilla extract
a few drops of milk

Icing (Mix together using more or less milk to reach the desired consistency.):
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
3 TBSP milk

Pour the warm water into a bowl and sprinkle the yeast and 2 tsp of sugar into it. Stir and let the yeast/sugar mix set in a warm place for 10 min.

In a bowl, combine the flour, remaining sugar, nutmeg, and salt and mix well. Pour yeast mixture and warm milk into flour mixture. Add egg yolks and mix well using hands, spoon, or mixer. When mixture is mostly smooth, add in butter a tablespoon at a time. (I use my dough hook to get this going, and then use my hands to finish mixing the butter in.) Mix until dough forms a smooth ball.

Place ball of dough on a floured surface and knead, adding more flour as necessary. When dough is no longer very sticky, knead 10 more minutes until shiny and elastic. (Or use a mixer with a dough hook for about 6 minutes.)

Coat a large bowl with a little butter or oil. Place dough ball in the bowl and cover with a towel. Let rise in a warm place for a 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size.

After rising, place the dough on a lightly floured surface and punch it down. Sprinkle the sinnamon on, then pat and shape the dough into a long snake or cylinder. Use a rolling pin to flatten the cylinder into a long rectangle. Spoon the cream cheese filling along the center of the rectangle lengthwise. Pull the lengthwise edges of the rectangle together and fold under to surround the filling with dough.

Carefully move the long, cream cheese filled rectangle onto a baking sheet so that the seam is on the bottom. Shape into a circle and pinch the ends together. (A pizza pan works great for this!)

Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place again for 45 minutes.

After the second rising, bake in an oven preheated to 375 F for 25-35 min or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack and hide the plastic baby (or bean) inside the cake.

Spoon icing over the cake (it will be thin), and sprinkle green, purple, and gold colored sugar over the icing.

Meatless Monday - Greek Stuffed Peppers (Yemista Orphana)

2011-02-14T11:53:00.000-08:00

My husband and I love Greek food. We've been enthralled with Greek flavors for years now, but enthrallment turned to obsession after eating at a fabulous little Greek restaurant in Salt Lake City. The only thing that keeps me from cooking Greek food more is time. When I do make a Greek meal, we savor every morsel.

Last night I made an early Valentine meal for my husband - yemista, aka Greek Stuffed Peppers. My husband and I both really enjoyed these stuffed peppers. The kids thought this dish was only so-so. They both ate the stuffing without complaint, but neither were thrilled with the dish. I'm ok with that. Their little taste buds were challenged with something new, and they didn't balk at it - a success in itself. We will have this meal again (and again), and hopefully the kids will warm up to it.

This dish takes a little time, but it is really very easy to prepare. I stuffed bell peppers exclusively, but you could also stuff tomatoes, zucchini, or eggplant. If you stuff a vegetable with an edible inside (like a tomato), save the scooped out pulp and add it to your stuffing.

Enjoy and happy Valentine's day!

Yemista with a light Greek side salad

Greek Stuffed Peppers (Yemista Orphana)
adapted from Greek Meze Cooking - Tapas of the Aegean

8 bell peppers
2 TBSP olive oil
6 green onions, finely chopped
1 1/3 cup long grain white rice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup seedless raisins
1/2 cup pine nuts
3/4 cup diced tomato (canned or fresh)
about 2 1/2 cups water
salt and pepper to taste
4 TBSP chopped parsley
3 TBSP chopped fresh mint

To prepare the bell peppers, slice off the tops and scoop out and discard the seeds and ribs. Save the top; it will be a lid for the peppers after stuffing.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large skillet, heat 1 TBSP of the olive oil and add the onions. Cook for about a minute, then stir in the rice, garlic, cinnamon, raisins, pine nuts, and the tomatoes. (If you're using vegetables other than bell peppers, stir in the reserved scooped out insides now.) Add enough water to cover the rice and simmer, covered, for 10-15 minutes or until the rice is tender and the majority of the liquid has been absorbed. You can add more water while the rice is cooking if necessary.

Add salt and pepper to taste, and stir in the parsley and mint. Remove the filling from the heat. Stuff the bell peppers with the rice filling and place the tops on each pepper. Arrange the vegetables in a large roasting pan and pour in enough water to just cover the base of the pan.

Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the peppers and back for 50-60 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Serve warm or cold.

Serves 8

If you ever have the opportunity to eat at Aristo's in Salt Lake City, jump on it! Don't be afraid to take the kids. They are family friendly with a nice kid's menu with kid-friendly Greek fare. My daughter loves their kephtedes (aka Greek meatballs) and my son loves their pasta with feta cheese. Your kids will expand their taste horizons without even knowing it!

Go Red for Women!

2011-02-11T08:28:00.000-08:00

Many thanks to Sahar at Fatfighter TV for inviting me to be a part of Blog Your Heart Out. This is a cause that is close to Sahar's heart. Please take the time to read Sahar's post for today - I miss you, mommy.

Did you know that heart disease is the number one killer of women in the US? It's a statistic that I've heard before, but it always catches me a bit by surprise. Heart disease is stereotypically associated with men, but it's as big a problem - maybe bigger because the awareness still isn't there - for women. The American Heart Association started the program Go Red for Women in 2004 to raise awareness that heart disease is a killer for women too.

How can you be an advocate for change? Whether you're a man or a woman, the initial steps are the same, and if you're at this blog, it's likely that you're already starting to think about the food you eat - a big first step! The American Heart Association has lots of great looking heart-healthy recipes on their website. As a side note, the first recipe book that I remember actually spending money on was the American Heart Association Cookbook way back in the early '90s, long before I was really thinking about what foods I put into my body. Healthy food is still tasty food, folks!

Exercise regularly - even if all you can fit in is a walk around the block or set of jumping jacks in your cubicle - do what you can! Regular checkups and blood screenings can help alert you to problems early. Many communities - mine included - offer a complete blood screening at a manageable, reduced price at certain times of the year. Take advantage of this service if it's available! Find out what your cholesterol is and take steps to get it to an acceptable level. If you have high blood pressure or almost high blood pressure, talk to your doctor about how to manage it. Take control of your health before it takes control of you!

Go Red for Women! Become a member of the AHA's Go Read for Women campaign and take advantage of all they have to offer. Membership is free, and members receive a newsletter, a red dress pin, a 12-week BetterU nutrition and fitness program makeover, an online heart checkup, and the chance to share your own story with others.

Equal Exchange Chocolate Giveaway!

2011-02-04T08:39:00.000-08:00

I love Equal Exchange chocolates, so I was thrilled when they asked if I would like to review their new chocolate bars and hold a chocolate giveaway. Click over to A Life Less Sweet Reviews to read about these two new chocolate offerings from Equal Exchange (I like one so much I refused to share) and to enter to win a box of assorted Equal Exchange chocolate bars. Entries will be accepted until 11:59 pm Saturday, February 5, so don't delay!

Flavored Milk vs Veggies for Calcium

2011-02-02T13:03:00.000-08:00

Like to curl up with a nice cup of hot tea on these cold winter days? I've got a great Celestial Seasonings tea giveaway on A Life Less Sweet Reviews! Read about their new green teas and enter to win a box of each of the new teas!

Today I'm pleased to publish a guest post by Jenna Pepper. Jenna is a recovering picky eater and real food advocate sharing with parents the truth; kids can transform their taste buds. Whether you have a reluctant eater or a snack fiend on your hands, there is hope. She is involved in school food reform in Houston, TX Spring Branch ISD. Jenna is the author of the Eat to Learn program, which is in the first year of implementation at Sherwood Elementary. Fruit and vegetable consumption at school lunches is up 10% since the program began. Check out her blog Food with Kid Appeal where she can help you grow good eaters.

Questioning the belief that sugars in flavored milk are a necessary evil to get calcium in kids

Fear that kids won’t get enough calcium if they don’t drink daily milk is pretty common. Parents would fear this without marketing from the dairy industry because “growing bones” is mission critical for short people. The dairy industry makes this fear even worse by convincing school districts to serve flavored milk to students, so that kids don’t miss out on the calcium they need. If that practice wasn’t enough, the milk industry started its Raise Your Hand for Chocolate milk campaign to keep parents believing that flavored milk - with added sugar, usually high fructose corn syrup - is a necessity for a growing child. They play on a parents fear that their child’s growth will not be optimized unless milk is consumed daily.

Add to that the fact that most school food programs have removed a lot of the real food that contains naturally contains calcium from the menu, replacing it with factory food of little or no nutritional value. The nutritional value of the factory food is usually in the form of vitamin or mineral enrichment, versus naturally occurring nutrients in whole real food. In districts where greens are served in the hot lunch line, they are often overcooked unpalatable blobs of green that no child or adult would find appealing.

Is it accurate? Are most kids in need of extra calcium?

As Ed Burske reports in an article summarizing the findings by a panel of medical authorities regarding calcium intake among children, most children are not in need of extra calcium as the dairy industry has brain-washed parents into believing. Chairman of school nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health, Dr Walter Willet says that milk is not an essential nutrient. “We aren’t seeing a lot of children with factures,” he said citing lack of evidence suggesting children’s bone growth is impaired by lack of calcium.

What some parents might not know is that while milk contains more calcium than a serving of calcium containing vegetables, the calcium in some vegetables is more readily absorbed and utilized for bone health than it is from milk or other calcium enhanced products. That means that a serving of broccoli may do your child as much or more good as the milk. Last time I checked there is no high fructose corn syrup in broccoli. The question isn’t "is dairy a good source of calcium for bone health." The question is calcium from dairy essential? I’m not convinced. Animals in nature seem to get enough calcium to support their bone health from their diet, which doesn’t include dairy products past weaning from mother’s milk. If animals can get enough calcium from leaves, as Annemarie Colbin, author of The Whole Food Guide to Strong Bones suggests, perhaps humans can too. Exercise too is critical for bone health. I guess animals get plenty of exercise in their daily quest for food in the wild. Less so for humans who drive to the store and pick up a week’s worth of groceries in an hour or less.

But Kids Don’t Like Vegetables

Nope. Not true. I put this myth to the test in a Houston, TX elementary school. 400 students tasted 9 different vegetables and fruits including calcium containing broccoli and spinach. And do you know what happened? 4,951 tastes later the punch cards revealed that 82% of students from Pre-Kinder through 5^th Grade tasted all 9 items. Many kids asked for more spinach and broccoli. 25% of students voted a green vegetable as their favorite produce tasted, even when up against orange and pear.

Tasting spinach at a school Taste Off Competition.

I’m not asserting that kids prefer vegetables. Most kids would still pick chocolate milk over broccoli as their favorite. I’m saying that kids will eat vegetables. Parents, teachers, school food service professionals listen up. Kids will eat vegetables.

Step One: Serve vegetables in a palatable way - raw on a salad bar.

Step Two: Get the sugared-up and packaged stuff off the menu.

Step Three: Teach students that vegetables fuel their brain.

Step Four: Watch veggies (and calcium) go down the hatch.

It took me two years to fall in love with kale. My mistake? Cooking it. It is so much better chopped in thin slices added to other greens in a salad. Varieties other than curly kale work best raw in salads. Don’t believe me? Try leafy greens like kale raw in your next green salad. See what the kids think.

Thanks so much, Jenna! Great information and food for thought. At my son's school, they offer chocolate milk, 2% plain milk, or a small cup of juice (half the amount of the milk cartons!) for their lunch. While I wish that they would also provide an easy source of water with their lunches, I've been pleasantly surprised this year that the majority of the kids choose the unflavored milk! The kids also happily get veggies from the salad bar (the first thing in the food line) and eat them. Small steps, but important ones!

What are your Superbowl foods? And a giveaway!

2011-01-30T08:53:00.000-08:00

The Superbowl is one week away! The three things I think about when I hear Superbowl? Football, commercials, and food. And the food almost always includes chips. I've got a great Garden of Eatin' chip giveaway on A Life Less Sweet Reviews. Hurry over and leave a comment to enter!

Superbowl food is about fun food. Food you can pick up and maybe get your fingers a little messy. A past favorite of mine? Rotel dip. You know - Velveeta with a can of Rotel mixed in. I like Rotel dip, I'll admit it, but Superbowl food doesn't have to include fake cheese. I'm going to give just a few options that are just as fun, but maybe up the flavor factor a bit.

First up, sliders. How can you go wrong with itty-bitty hamburgers? I like to make my own buns for my sliders, but you could simply substitute a dinner roll for the bun to save a little time. (Watch those ingredients if you buy your rolls!) And if you're not in the mood for a hamburger, try a chicken slider or a roasted portobello mushroom slider for a vegetarian option.

Nachos are always great football food, but they can be more than fake cheese poured over chips. Try going for a more sophisticated nacho. These nachos are easy to make and delicious.

Or go for an nontraditional nacho. These Beans and Sweet Potato Nachos are healthy and delicious football food.

One of my favorite finger foods is bruschetta. Traditional bruschetta is simply toasted bread rubbed with garlic and drizzled with a little olive oil and salt and pepper. Modern bruschetta is toasted bread topped with whatever makes you happy. My favorite bruschetta is toasted bread topped with a smear of basil pesto, chopped tomato, and crumbled goat cheese. So simple and so good!

Of course, dips are a must for the Superbowl. This year, I have my eye on this Mediterranean 7 Layer Dip recipe from Cooking with My Kid. I'll make my own hummus as the base. (Hummus alone would make a great Superbowl dip.) This Creamy Garlic and Herb Dip from Cooking Light looks great for vegetables and chips alike.

Want some more ideas? Cooking Light, Epicurious, and Eating Well all have some great looking Superbowl recipes.

Eat your applesauce and help the Breast Cancer Foundation!

2011-01-28T09:02:00.000-08:00

Click over to my review blog - A Life Less Sweet Reviews - to read about how Musselman's applesauce is partnering with the National Breast Cancer Foundation this month. I've also got a great Cinnamon Apple Pancake recipe from the cookbook Substitute Yourself Skinny for you. What are you waiting for? Go read about it!

For Shame, Girl Scouts!

2011-01-16T20:53:00.000-08:00

'Tis the time of year for cute little girls in brown vests to smile at your door with an order form for boxes of irresistible cookies. Girl Scout cookies really do have a mystique about them, don't they? What is it about these cookies that makes everyone drool?

I know! Maybe it's the partially hydrogenated oil!

Yeah, sorry, total buzzkill here. Since we gave up high fructose corn syrup (HFCS for the uninitiated) a few years ago, I have been disappointed in Girl Scout Cookies. This wholesome organization promoting good things for girls, well, you'd think that the product they sell would be a little more wholesome for their clientele. I don't begrudge the cookies at all, but I do have issues with the ingredient lists.

To keep things simple, we'll focus on the two ingredients on my "do not buy" list - HFCS and partially hydrogenated oils. The first is an automatic signal that this product contains cheap, fake ingredients, and the second contains trans fat. (Need reasons to eliminate partially hydrogenated oils and artificial trans fat from your diet? Read my post on trans fat.) Of course, because of lax labeling laws, Girl Scout cookies that contain partially hydrogenated oils can claim to have 0% trans fat. By law, a product can claim to contain 0% trans fat if it has less than 0.5 g of trans fat per serving. So, a product can contain a measurable amount of trans fat, albeit small, and claim to have none.

So, which cookies have the offending ingredients? Here's a rundown:

Samoas (my favorite in times past) - partially hydrogenated oil
Tagalongs - partially hydrogenated oil
Thin Mints - partially hydrogenated oil
Caramel DeLites - partially hydrogenated oil, and HFCS
Peanut Butter Patties - partially hydrogenated oil, and HFCS
Peanut Butter Sandwich - partially hydrogenated oil
Thanks-A-Lot - partially hydrogenated oil, and HFCS
Lemonades - partially hydrogenated oil
Dulce De Leche - HFCS

The only cookies with ingredient lists free from partially hydrogenated oil and HFCS: Trefoils, Shout Outs, Shortbread, Do-Si-Dos, and Thank U Berry Much. Both Do-Si-Dos and Thank U Berry Much contain invert sugar, so if you are concerned about processed free fructose in your product, these would be no-nos as well.

I would really like to buy some cookies from the cute girls selling them that I'll see at my grocery store, but I probably won't - not even the ones on the short list. Unfortunately, the Girl Scout organization has no real incentive to clean up their cookies' ingredient lists because people will buy the cookies - boxes upon boxes of them. It's unfortunate that this organization chooses to sell a product with trans fat and other undesirable ingredients in them - cheap cookies made with cheap ingredients that are unhealthy even in small amounts.

For shame, Girl Scouts!

If you'd like to check out the ingredients for yourself, please visit the Girl Scout Cookies official page where there is a link to all of the nutritional and ingredient information for all of their cookies.

I know many young Girl Scouts and will not be confronting them with this information. I'll speak with my pocketbook and my blog, but I see no reason to rain on some little girl's parade. I also won't be haranguing my friends who do buy Girl Scout cookies with this information. Education is great, but in the right time and place.

Meatless Monday - A roundup of some of our favorites

2011-01-10T06:02:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've had a Meatless Monday post, but that isn't because we've abandoned the idea. I simply haven't developed any new recipes lately and have been coasting on old favorites. I thought that today I would reminisce about some of our favorite Meatless Monday meals. These meals are a few of many that I turn to over and over again.

The meatless meal I turn to the most? Frittata! It's so easy and a great way to use up leftovers from the fridge. The variation that I make the most is a simple frittata with potato, onion, and cheese, but any vegetable is at home in a frittata. For dinner tonight, I have a Roasted Vegetable Frittata in the oven (recipe compliments of The Parsley Thief).

Super easy frittata with broccoli, potato, onions and cheese.

These amazing Quinoa Burgers are on the menu for later this week. I'm not a fan of fake meat in general, but these are an exception. They have a meaty flavor thanks to the portobellas, but the texture of the quinoa and overall flavor sets it apart. It's a veggie burger that doesn't try to be fake meat. I'll probably pair this burger with these interesting Oven-Baked Garlic Parmesan Fries from Babble Food.

Quinoa burgers are just as tasty as leftovers.

Ah, pizza - a joy for kids and parents alike. Use a good crust and high quality ingredients, and pizza becomes something you don't feel guilty feeding your kids. We had my Fantasma pizza last week. The kids had a homemade cheese pizza, but my daughter finally discovered that she really likes the Fantasma too.

Fantasma Pizza

I have a thing for dumplings. Not the kind that you find floating in a dish of chicken and dumplings, but dough filled with good stuff. Think gyoza or calzones. Think Corn and Cheese Empanadas and Baked Vegetable Wontons. Make extra and freeze for a handy lunch or dinner some night when you don't feel like cooking.

Baked Vegetable Wontons are easy and delicious and freeze well too!

There are so many more wonderful meatless dishes that I could share again! Nachos, rice and beans, pasta...I'll save those for another Monday. In the meantime, don't be afraid to set the meat aside for a day, and if you can't commit to going meatless for a whole day, then spread it over a week. It's easier than you think, and your stomach and taste buds will thank you!

What's your motivation?

2011-01-02T13:58:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time I ate anything I wanted and didn't think about ingredient lists. Once upon a time I didn't care if the food I ate was heavily processed and shelf stable for years. Once upon a time I would happily eat a Twinkie.

And then I had kids.

The way I think about food changed forever once that happened. For one thing, both of my children had major food intolerances. We happily removed all traces of dairy, eggs, and wheat (along with a few other things) from our diet when each child was an infant to keep them happy and healthy. That experience proved to us how shockingly easy it is to radically change the way we eat for the better and still have plenty of good foods at our disposal.

My kids have both outgrown all of their food intolerances, thankfully, and we can eat whatever we want. I am trying to instill a love of fresh, minimally processed foods into them. I'll admit - it's hard. Processed foods surround my kids - in school, at friends' houses, at any out-of-home activities they attend. Some are even in my pantry. Processed foods are easy, full of weird ingredients, and are often packed with sugar, fats, and salt. And kids love them. They're like a bad Saturday morning cartoon for their taste buds.

Here's something I have personally noticed. Once you make the switch away from heavily processed foods, your taste perception of processed foods changes. For example, I've always had a bit of a love affair with Campbell's condensed soups. It's rare that I cook with them now, but it does happen, and when I do, the food tastes...gloppy. It has an unreal aftertaste to it. Real food tastes better.

My kids are clearly my catalyst, but this blog is also my motivation. Sharing our journey helps to keep us moving forward to a healthier diet and lifestyle, hopefully in a common sense sort of way. I try not to be judgmental about how others are eating, but I also try to stay true to our own eating ideals.

Lest you think we've got it all figured out, we're not perfect - far from it. This blog is my soapbox, and I use it to talk about the positive changes and foods we are eating and to learn about the different things we eat. You should know though that we still have a long way to go. I have my vices (like artificial sweeteners), and I won't apologize for them. I have an insane sweet tooth and eat way too much sugar. I don't exercise enough. You get the picture.

In addition to all of those negatives, though, I have an intense desire to pass along a love and understanding of good foods to my children, and I fully believe in teaching by example. That's really what this blog is all about - learning about food and the sometimes fast, sometimes slow transition to eating better.

So, what's your motivation?

Black Eyed Peas Two Ways

2011-01-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

Do you have New Year's Day meal traditions? I hail from the South, which embraces the humble black eyed pea. The traditional Southern meal to start the New Year has black eyed peas, greens, ham, and sometimes cornbread - or some variation on this culinary theme. Each component is symbolic. The black eyed peas represent coins or prosperity. Greens represent money, and cornbread is the gold. Ham? Well, it's just tasty.

I have to admit, while I grew up in the deep South, this was not a tradition of my family. My parents much preferred other field peas, such as purple hull or zipper peas, to black eyed peas. I ate a lot of field peas growing up (though not by choice), but never, ever black eyed peas. I live in Wyoming now, and field peas other than the black eyed variety are not an option here. I still am not a lover of field peas. I would much rather have some delicious green "English" peas or lima or butterbeans. My husband and son, however, love them, and I regularly cook black eyed peas to satisfy them.

While I am not a big fan of the flavor of black eyed peas, I do like what they have to offer nutritionally. Black eyed peas (and other field peas) are legumes and are essentially considered a bean. They are high in soluble fiber, a good source of protein, and low in fat. While they aren't a powerhouse for vitamins, they are an excellent source of potassium and contain a surprising amount of iron and zinc (and even a little calcium). Black eyed peas are great as a side dish or can be the star of the meal thanks to their protein content.

As a nod to my husband's - a fellow Southerner - culinary heritage, we will be having black eyed peas on New Year's Day. The rest of our meal won't be so traditional, though it will all pay tribute to our Mississippi roots. I have a couple of different black eyed pea recipes that I use depending on my mood. Both are easy, neither have meat in them (though I do use chicken bouillon), and both make black eyed peas something that even I can eat without fuss.

I use frozen black eyed peas exclusively. Canned peas are deceptively salty and not the right texture, and dried peas take longer to cook. If you can't find frozen peas, I would recommend trying dried peas. You'll need to cook them longer, but you can control the final texture and saltiness. I also use chicken bouillon to flavor the peas in one of the recipes. You could substitute chicken or vegetable broth for part or all of the water, use a bouillon or your choice, or use just plain salted water instead.

If you're looking for a black eyed pea recipe to ring in the New Year, give one of these a try and have a prosperous start to 2011!

Dried Black Eyed Peas

Easy Black Eyed Peas
1- 12 to 16 oz bag frozen black eyed peas
1 tsp chicken flavored Better Than Bouillon (or bouillon of your choice)
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half
water to cover
salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients into a medium-size pot. Bring to a boil and let cook for 1.5-2 hours or until the peas have reached the desired tenderness. Stir occasionally and add water to keep the peas just covered.

Tasty Black Eyed Peas
adapted from The 30-Day Diabetes Miracle Cookbook

1/2 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1 clove garlic, minced
1 - 12 to 16 oz bag frozen black eyed peas
1 1/2 cups water (or more if necessary)
1 1/2 tsp light molasses
1/4 tsp dried oregano leaves
1 1/2 tsp chicken flavored Better than Bouillon (or bouillon of your choice)
3/4 tsp salt or to taste
1 TBSP canned tomato paste

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan and saute the onion, celery, and garlic 4-5 minutes or until tender. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Cook for 1.5-2 hrs or until the peas have reached the desired tenderness.

It's always a good time for chai!

2010-12-01T15:27:00.000-08:00

Mmmm...chai. My love affair with chai began many years ago when I was a graduate student in Colorado. My husband and I were fresh from Mississippi and happy to try all of the ethnic foods that were at our disposal in Boulder. Chai tea at our favorite Indian restaurant was always a treat.

Fast forward a decade or so. Suddenly chai tea lattes are all the rage anyplace that sells coffee or hot drinks and for good reason! While I often buy chai lattes when out getting a hot drink, I find that almost all coffee house chai is too muted for my taste. Coffee house chai lacks the spicy strength that first enamored me to the drink long ago in those Indian restaurants.

My solution - both for my taste buds and my pocketbook - is to make my own chai. A couple of years I came across a wonderful recipe for chai that was my staple until just recently. I spent some time reading about chai and came up with my own recipe, and I'm happy with the results. I start with whole spices and water and boil them to get every bit of spicy goodness into my tea. The result is a wonderfully fragrant drink that I can enjoy when I want at home without breaking the bank.

This recipe for chai makes a lot - 3 quarts of wonderful, spicy chai tea. The spices steep in water for a long time, so it's nice that it makes such a big batch. I love that I have enough chai to last me a week (or, um, 2-3 days when it's really cold out). I use decaf English breakfast tea, but you could use whatever tea makes you happy - a nice Earl Grey, a simple orange pekoe, rooibos or whatever. I find that an English breakfast tea compliments the spiciness without overwhelming it.

Last, this combination of spices isn't magical. Try substituting coriander seeds for the allspice. Add some nutmeg. To keep that true chai flavor, don't skimp on the cardamom seeds.

If you've only had coffee house chai, make a batch of this chai! You might be surprised by the difference!

Cathy's Chai

2 heaping tsp of whole cardamom seeds
4 cinnamon sticks
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
2 tsp of allspice
1 1/2 tsp whole cloves
1/2-1" of a small knob of ginger, peeled and roughly cut into chunks
12 cups of water
10 single-cup bags English breakfast tea or tea of choice

Add all of the spices to a large pot. Top with water. Note the level of the water. Bring to a rolling boil, and let boil for 20 min. Add water to bring back to the original level and reduce heat. Let the water/spice mix barely simmer for another hour.

Remove from heat and add the tea bags. Let tea bags steep for 5 min. Add water to original level. Pour the chai tea through a strainer into a large pitcher.

Add sugar and milk to taste. I like to use demerara sugar cubes and just a splash of skim milk.

Do you make your own chai? What combination of spices do you use?

Pumpkin in granola bars!

2010-11-18T06:09:00.000-08:00

I roasted a pumpkin for the first time ever last weekend. It was easy, but time consuming, and frankly not much cheaper than buying canned pumpkin*. Honestly, unless I find a stellar deal on pumpkins in the future, I'll probably stick to using canned pumpkin.

After roasting my pumpkin, I pureed the cooked pumpkin and used it to make pumpkin muffins and these yummy granola bars from Meal Makeover Moms. I tweaked the recipe to suit my tastes, but it remains true to the original recipe. One nice thing about this granola bar - the fat is fully replaced with pumpkin! I am not opposed to fat in the granola bars I give to my kids (as long as it isn't partially hydrogenated), but I love the fact that they're getting an extra dose of super-nutritious pumpkin when they have one of these bars.

These bars are good - full of pumpkin, but they don't have an over-the-top pumpkin taste, which means that even a non-pumpkin fan like myself will find these enjoyable. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
adapted from Meal Makeover Moms

3 1/4 cups rolled oats
3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 TBSP flax meal
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup pumpkin puree *
1/4 cup honey (a little less is fine too)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 7"x11" baking pan (I used a Pyrex pan) with cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk oats, spices, flax meal, and salt together. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the brown sugar through vanilla extract together until smooth. Pour over oats mixture and stir until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Evenly press oat mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes.

Cut into bars with a sharp knife.

Makes about 15 small bars.

Want some more pumpkin recipes? Meal Makeover Moms has lots of great tips and recipes for using pumpkin puree!

*Many thanks to Elana for reminding me that pure pureed pumpkin and pumpkin pie filling sit on the grocery store shelf next to each other and look almost exactly alike! When buying canned pureed pumpkin make sure that the ONLY ingredient is pumpkin!

Kitchen tips

2010-11-07T20:31:00.000-08:00

Did you miss me? I'm back, and today I'm going to share just a few random kitchen tips that I use quite often in my cooking. I'll admit, these are not rocket science, but sometimes even the obvious is not so obvious until someone points it out. Maybe one of these tips will resonate with you!

While I adore any cream laden recipe, my husband does not tolerate cream very well, and let's face it, cream is high in fat and calories! My solution? I substitute lowfat evaporated milk for cream in cream-based sauces. This substitution won't work for every dish, but it makes a remarkably good sauce in dishes where cream is used but is not the main sauce component. Evaporated milk works better than plain milk because it has a more luxurious mouth feel - even without all of the fat - than regular milk.

Here's an obvious tip - use twice the cinnamon called for in a recipe for a more pronounced cinnamon kick. I like an intense cinnamon flavor, and often recipes just don't quite have enough cinnamon umph for me. So, I just double the cinnamon. In general, it doesn't change the overall flavor profile, just gives a little more cinnamon-y goodness.

Trying to increase the amount of whole grains in your diet while still indulging in baked goods with a light texture and flavor? Revamp your baked goods recipes by substituting white whole wheat flour for half of the all-purpose flour. White whole wheat flour has all of the nutrition of regular whole wheat flour (read more about the differences and similarities between the two flours) but with a much milder wheat flavor. Because whole wheat flours have much less gluten than all-purpose flour, the texture of whole wheat baked goods is different. By substituting only half of the refined flour, the texture of the baked good will be mostly preserved.

Have a recipe that calls for buttermilk but you don't have any? Try this old buttermilk substitute - add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to a cup of milk. Stir and let sit for 5 minutes or so. Works like a charm every time! You can also use lemon juice, but because the acidity of lemon juice could change from lemon to lemon, the results may not be as consistent.

I love using completely all natural, plain jane peanut butter. I don't like the layer of oil the separates on the top, though, because it splatters and is messy when I stir it in. I could pour it off, but then I'm pouring off the good-for-you fats and am left with a dry peanut butter. A friend clued me in on an easy solution recently - simply flip the jar upside down and store in your pantry until ready to open and mix. When you open the jar, the oils will all be in the bottom, making it just a little easier to mix the oil in without splattering it everywhere.
Another natural peanut butter (or any nut butter) tip - after you mix the separated oil in completely, store in the fridge. The oil will solidify and won't separate (or at least will take a very long time to separate). As a bonus, your peanut butter will also stay fresher longer!
Last, what do you do if your child goes to a school that has banned peanuts? Don't fret over lost peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! Just quietly make the switch to almond butter. It's an awesome peanut butter substitute. Jarred almond butter is more expensive than peanut butter, so look for store ground almond butter to keep the cost down. And if nut butters of all sorts are banned, check out sunflower seed butter or soy butter.

What's your favorite kitchen tip?

It's Pumpkin Muffin Time!

2010-10-26T17:57:00.000-07:00

I've posted these muffins before (um...many times before), but they're just so right for this time of year that I'm posting them again. Full of pumpkin-y goodness, they're a nice foil to all of the sweets that are making the rounds this week. Plus, these muffins are surprising kid pleasers. I haven't met a kid yet who doesn't scarf these muffins down.

As a bonus, you can frost these with a simple cream cheese frosting for a delicious and more healthy cupcake. I served frosted pumpkin muffins at my son's Halloween party last year. The kids loved them!

This recipe remains basically unchanged, but I seem to keep upping the amount of pumpkin I add to my muffins. I like them packed full of pumpkin, but you could use a little less if you wanted.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Muffins

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1- 15 oz can pumpkin (be careful not to get a can of pumpkin pie filling!) or about 2 cups roasted pumpkin puree
1/3 cup olive oil
2 large eggs
2 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line mini-muffin pan with muffin cups.

Mix together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin-pie spice, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth. Mix together flour and baking powder and add to the pumpkin mixture. Mix until just combined.

Add batter to each muffin cup so that each cup is about 3/4 full. Bake until puffed and golden brown and a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean, about 18-20 min.
Makes about 3 dozen.

If you don't have white whole wheat flour on hand, you can use regular whole wheat flour for a final product with a slightly wheatier taste or change the flour proportions to 3/4 cup all-purpose flour and 3/4 cup regular whole wheat flour.

Cowboy Pizza

2010-10-15T08:34:00.000-07:00

Do you like applesauce? Then you'll want to read about the new applesauce offerings from Musselman's on A Life Less Sweet Reviews! These applesauces will undoubtedly become pantry staples for snack time at my house.

This past weekend we took a trip up to West Yellowstone, MT to play tourist and visit the geysers. A friend of ours told that we absolutely had to try the BBQ Pizza at the Wild West Pizzaria in West Yellowstone. What makes this pizza special? Baked beans! A pizza with a BBQ sauce base and baked beans - it definitely peaked our interest. We did visit Wild West Pizzaria, but we ended up getting other pizzas instead of the BBQ Pizza. I was too skittish about the baked beans (I'm pretty picky about my beans), and I must admit that I greatly prefer pork BBQ to beef brisket BBQ, which is what the restaurant uses.

Of course, the first thought in our head was that we could make it at home using the ingredients that suited us. We did, and let me tell you, this is one good pizza!

The Meat
We put our own spin on it by using pork BBQ. My husband and I are both from Mississippi originally, and if there's one thing that we love, it's pork BBQ. I don't have the time or inclination to babysit a pork shoulder slowly cooking on the grill all day, so I cheat and use a crockpot. The result is delicious, juicy pork BBQ meat. Simply put a bone-in pork shoulder or butt in a crockpot and cook it on low for 10 hours or so. I add a little BBQ sauce on top and sometimes a little liquid smoke (which is literally smoke that has been condensed and collected) at the beginning. When it's all finished, the meat should be super tender and practically falling off of the bone. Cut it up or use a couple of forks to shred the meat. What we didn't use on the pizza tonight I plan to freeze for future use.

I think that this pizza is divine with shredded pork shoulder meat on it, but it would also be good with shredded beef brisket, BBQ chicken, or even thinly sliced sausage. Choose what works best for your palate and time constraints.

The Sauce
Take a stroll down the BBQ sauce aisle and take a look at the ingredients. One thing you'll instantly notice is HFCS. It's rampant in BBQ sauces. There are a few good ones out there that are cane sugar based instead, though. Stubbs uses cane sugar instead of HFCS. Bullseye does as well. Both are tasty, but we typically buy Bullseye BBQ sauce. Bullseye is what I used as the BBQ sauce base for this pizza.

You could, of course, make your own BBQ sauce. Honestly, I haven't had much luck with making a BBQ sauce that really suits my taste buds. I tend to go the easy route when it comes to BBQ sauce and just buy it.

Whether you choose to buy or make it, watch those ingredients!

The Beans
I've said it before, but I am not a huge bean fan. I do, however, like baked beans - at least some of the time. As with BBQ sauce, I go the easy route with baked beans and buy them in a can. One of these days I'll get around to trying my hand at making them, but not yet.

Baked beans are another item that often has iffy ingredients. Partially hydrogenated oils and HFCS are common ingredients. I like to use Bush's Baked Beans, which are cane sugar based and have no trans fat. Because I am not completely content with the flavor straight out of the can, I add some ketchup, mustard, and sometimes just a little brown sugar.

Now it's time to put it all together! We made this as a grilled pizza which really was a good choice for this pizza. The grilled flavor definitely complimented the ingredients. It would still be good as a plain ole pizza cooked in the oven, though!

Cowboy Pizza

BBQ sauce
shredded, cooked pork shoulder (or meat of your choice)
baked beans
thinly sliced onion (to taste)
shredded cheddar cheese (to taste)

Spread 2-3 TBSP of BBQ sauce (adjust the amount to your own personal taste) on pizza crust. Top with thin layer of baked beans, meat, and onion. Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top. Finish grilling or cook in oven.

If this is your first time grilling pizza, zip over to my post on Grilled Pizza for some tips. You'll also find the breadmaker pizza dough that I like to use. It's good for grilled pizza or pizza cooked in the oven!

The Snack List

2010-10-12T21:37:00.000-07:00

Plain and simple, this post is all about snacks. Here you'll find most of the snacks that I turn to day in and day out. Healthy snacking is still tasty snacking! I am by no means perfect. When I'm tired or in a rush - or when my kids pester me enough - I all too often head straight for the crackers or the few processed snacks that we keep around. As you'll read, I think that crackers and processed snacks can and do have a place in healthy snacking, but they should be just a small part of the snacks that are served. (You can read a good article about crackers and snacking at It's Not About Nutrition.)

I hope that this snack list will give you some ideas or inspiration. And I hope that you'll share ideas with me too!

Fresh Stuff
Fruits and vegetables really should be the first snack offered, but I'll admit that they too often play second banana (excuse the pun) at snack time around here. To combat that, I always send fresh fruit or vegetables as one of their school snacks and afternoon snacks are automatically the fresh stuff most of the time. If you set a rule that afternoon (or morning) snacks will only be fruits or vegetables, it becomes the way it is and the grumbling is at least manageable. Some ideas:

Carrot sticks, celery sticks, sugar snap peas served with or without dip
Celery stuffed with Laughing Cow cheese, nut butter, or pimento and cheese
Edamame!
Apple wedges with peanut butter or cheese
Fresh fruit smoothie (keep it simple and mostly fruit!)
Fruit kabob
Pomegranate seeds are always fun and tasty

Nutty Granola Bars

Baked Goods
I love my simple baked goods! These are great for snack or even for breakfast. Wrap in aluminum foil, and they make a great school snack. (See my caution about buying prepackaged goods below.)

Pumpkin Muffins
Homemade granola bars - My Nutty Granola Bars are always wonderful, and I recently made these granola bars from Mark Bittman that are very different from my baked granola bars but very good.
Makeover Banana Bread

Nuts and Seeds
Packed full of protein and good fats, nuts and seeds are a great midday pick-me-up. You can serve them plain or mix it up a little. Pre-shelled nuts and seeds can be salty, so look for nuts that are low or no salt.

Homemade trail mix - mix some nuts, seeds (pumpkin and sunflower seeds are staples here), and dried fruit...and maybe some dark chocolate chips if you're feeling like a super-nice mom. (See my caution about dried fruit below.) Add some Cheerios or other cereal if you want.
Almond Butter Balls - these are super easy to make and highly addictive.
Nuts in the shell - for some reason, nuts still in their shell are a hit with the kids. There's nothing like the challenge of breaking the shell to liven up snack time!

Make it fun!
Snacks often are no-nonsense out of necessity, but sometimes it's ok to have a little fun with them too. Take an ordinary snack and put a little twist on it.

Use Nutella (or other chocolate/nut spread) sparingly for some fun snacks. Favorites here are graham crackers with Nutella and almond butter, and tortilla wraps with Nutella and sliced banana or strawberry.
Chocolate covered strawberries are a snack that will leave your kids smiling.
Serve cheese cubes or cut up fruit with a fancy toothpick. My kids love to spear cheese or fruit with little plastic sword toothpicks that I found at the grocery store.
Cut out snacks with cookie cutters for fun shapes

Packaged foods have their place
Crackers. Need I say more? Packaged or processed foods do indeed have their place at snack time, but it is so easy to rely on crackers and other processed foods too much. When you buy processed foods, be sure to look at the ingredient list and understand what you're buying. HFCS and hydrogenated oils are automatic no-nos for me, but ideally the processed food would have a simple ingredient list that is not too high in bad fats, sugar, or sodium as well. All of those make foods taste good, though, so it's common for packaged foods to be high in one or all of them.

Don't feel bad about using packaged foods as part of snack time, but understand what you are serving and make sure that packaged foods are just a small part of snack time!

A few packaged goods that stay in my pantry:

Stretch Island fruit leathers and fruit roll-ups
Crackers of various types
Pretzels
Cliff Z Bars
Cheese and cheese sticks

Caution!
Some processed foods always sound better than they actually are. If it seems too good to be true, well, it probably is. A few to look out for:

Yogurt-covered anything sounds so good, but it rarely is. Read the ingredients! That yogurt covering has little resemblance to the yogurt you buy in containers. Instead, you get a product that either contains partially hydrogenated oil or some other weird oil (like fractionated palm kernel oil) that is high in saturated fat.
Granola bars seem to be breeding grounds for sugar of every kind - corn syrup and HFCS if you're buying a conventional granola bar, high maltose corn syrup and cane sugar if you go organic. Plus, they often are high in added saturated fat and a playground for weird ingredients.
Dried fruits. While some are simply fruit that has been dried (like raisins and prunes), so many dried fruits have added sugar. Many even have HFCS in them! Pineapple and papaya are often packed full of extra sugar. I still use many of the added sugar dried fruits, but I try to use them appropriately and not as the main part of the dish.

Don't forget that you are in control of snack time! If you don't want you or your child to eat something at snack time (like a sack of Cheetos), don't make it an option. Get it out of the house or lay down the law that snack time is for healthy foods.

And if this list of snacks doesn't satiate you, check out the blog Fix Me A Snack. Cindy has pages and pages of delicious, healthy, fun snacks to choose from (including our beloved Almond Butter Balls). She even has 101 uses for yogurt - a snack option that I didn't even begin to touch on here.

Now, tell me...what's on your snack list?

Homemade taco seasoning - easier than you think!

2010-10-07T13:16:00.000-07:00

When you make tacos, do you buy the little packets to taco seasoning at the grocery store? That's certainly what I did up until a few months ago. Buying the little packets of taco seasoning would always drive me bonkers. I would spend way too much time reading ingredients trying to find the packet with the least offensive ingredient list. Partially hydrogenated soybean oil, BHT, malic acid, monosodium glutamate, maltodextrin (the first ingredient in Old El Paso brand taco seasoning!) - what are these ingredients doing in powdered taco seasoning?!?

The obvious solution? Make my own! Now I have a little container full of homemade taco seasoning that sits at the ready. It's a simple mix of seasonings with just enough salt to suit our taste buds and a little cornstarch to help thicken the juices a bit. I might try adding just a little cocoa powder next time to give it an unexpected twist and a little depth.

This is great on any kind of taco, but we've found that our favorite way to use it is on chicken tacos. I finely dice cooked chicken breast (maybe a pound), and then add a tablespoon or two of taco seasoning and about 1/3 a cup of water. Bring to a boil, and you've got fantastic taco meat!

The next time you think of making tacos, don't reach for that packet of taco seasoning. Make your own! It will taste better, and you'll know exactly what is in it.

Homemade Taco Seasoning

4 TBSP chili powder
3 TBSP paprika
3 TBSP ground cumin
2 TBSP onion powder
1/2 TBSP garlic powder
2 tsp salt
2 TBSP cornstarch

Mix well and store in an airtight container. To use, add 1-2 TBSP along with 1/3-1/2 cup water in place of store bought taco seasoning.

And if you just can't bring yourself to make your own taco seasoning, consider using McCormick Taco Seasoning Mix, which has a very simple and straight forward ingredient list.

"Corn Sugars" - Coming soon to an ingredient list near you?

2010-10-05T11:08:00.000-07:00

If you are a regular reader of this blog, then you probably have already read the news. The Corn Refiners Association has petitioned the United States Food and Drug Administration to change the name "high fructose corn syrup" to "corn sugars." The reason they give for wanting the name change? Audrae Erikson, president of the Corn Refiners Association says,

Clearly the name is confusing consumers. Research shows that 'corn sugars' better communicates the amount of calories, the level of fructose, and the sweetness of the ingredient. (1)

Take a moment to either stare at that quote incredulously or to laugh hysterically. I think that I did both.

Why the change? Could it be that sales are down? Much as "dried plums" sound more appetizing to the buying public than "prunes," the Corn Refiners Association is betting that "corn sugars" will appease consumers. "Corn sugars" does sound nicer than high fructose corn syrup, doesn't it? And there is the added plus that many who question whether they want HFCS in their food because of bad press (or maybe the ridiculous HFCS ads from the Corn Refiners Association) might not notice the name change and will buy foods with "corn sugars" in the ingredient list. (All of the above is my own opinion and conjecture.)

HFCS factory

Let's review how HFCS is made. Where do these "corn sugars" come from, anyway? Are the kernels that they use to make HFCS just bursting with sugars waiting to be harvested? Um...no. High fructose corn syrup is made from corn starch. The corn kernels go through a series of mechanical and solvent washing steps to separate the corn starch from the rest of the kernel. The corn starch is then converted to dextrose (aka glucose) by acids and/or enzymes. The glucose is further converted to fructose enzymatically. (Read more on corn syrup production at the Corn Refiners Association and HFCS production at SweetSurprise.com.)

Got that? Those "corn sugars" are not found naturally in corn in any appreciable amount. "Corn sugars" are really corn starch that has been chemically converted to glucose and fructose.

Frankly, if the Corn Refiners Association wants to clear any confusion for the American public, they should change the name to glucose-fructose, which is the terminology used in Canada and much more representative of the actual product, in my opinion. But, glucose-fructose doesn't evoke the same fuzzy feeling as "corn sugars."

When is the change coming? The FDA has 6 months to rule on the name change. If they agree to allow the name change, products will slowly shift to using the term "corn sugars" instead of high fructose corn syrup over the subsequent 12-18 months.

Want to read more? Just a few of the articles on the subject that have been posted over the last couple of weeks. Read and come to your own conclusion on the name change!

(1) A New Name for High Fructose Corn Syrup from The New York Times
One More Time: Corn Sugar Chemistry from Food Politics by Marion Nestle
Help Rename High Fructose Corn Syrup from The New York Times
Fortunately, 'Corn Sugar' Has Become a Sticky PR Mess from Dr. Andrew Weil
CornSugar.com from the Corn Refiners Association

What do you think about the name change?

Meatless Monday - Meatless Meals for Carnivores

2010-09-27T01:00:00.000-07:00

Ah...Meatless Monday! We have been committed to the concept of Meatless Monday (though our meatless day is not always on Monday) for over a year now. You know what? It was an easy transition. But what do you do if you are a committed carnivore who likes the idea of going meatless but are afraid that finding tasty vegetarian meals will be hard?

Enter the cookbook The Meat Lover's Meatless Cookbook: Vegetarian Recipes Carnivores Will Devour. If you can't find good recipes on this blog ('cause there are a lot of great meatless recipes in the A Life Less Sweet archives - just do a quick search on Meatless Monday), then this is a great cookbook to turn to.

The Meat Lover's Meatless Cookbook is filled with recipes that made my husband and I drool. The recipe organization is unusual, but it works. There are 52 "menus" - each with a main dish and at least one side dish - divided among the four seasons of the year plus a few "wild card" menus that are great anytime of year. I wasn't sure what I thought about this layout at first, but I find that I really do like the "menus" even though I'm just as likely to make a summer dish in winter as in summer.

Another thing I like...no fake meat! After all, if you're a carnivore, why bother with fake meat? These recipes don't have to rely on gimmicks to be good. They are delicious vegetarian recipes that will appeal to vegetarians and carnivores alike.

Each recipe is keyed with icons for gluten-free, kid friendly, dairy optional, vegan, and leftover bonus. The key is a quick visual that is nice for those with special dietary limitations, parents looking for some thing kid-friendly, or a busy cook that wants a meal that will stretch more than one day.

For our taste test, I made three recipes from the book. We tried one of the summer menus - Zucchini and Corn Studded Orzo, and Goat Cheesy Roasted Pepper - and supplemented with a side from another menu - Roasted Cauliflower with Tahini Sauce. All were excellent. The kids loved the orzo. So did my husband who still waxes poetic about that dish. The sides were excellent too, though my goat cheese hating son didn't appreciate the Goat Cheesy Roasted Pepper, and neither of the kids were thrilled with the cauliflower (the adults were, though!).

Zucchini and Corn Studded Orzo, Goat Cheesy Roasted Pepper, and Roasted Cauliflower with Tahini Sauce from The Meat Lover's Meatless Cookbook

All in all, I am very pleased with this cookbook. The recipes we tried were easy to follow and very tasty. There are many others in the book that will be going on our menu soon!

And now a couple of recipes from the book! The Tempeh Hoagie-Letta is the amazing looking cover photo recipe and the Kale Chips are the accompanying side. We haven't tried these yet, but if the sandwich tastes half as good as it looks, it will be a winner!

Tempeh Hoagie-Letta

Tempeh:
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp sesame oil
juice 1/2 lime
1 clove garlic, chopped, plus 1 whole clove
1 tsp hot sauce of choice (optional)
1 (8 oz) package soy tempeh (multigrain or flax is fine, too), sliced into thumb size pieces, about 1/2" thick
3 TBSP vegetable oil
salt
4-6" hoagie rolls (look for something soft)
olive oil, to moisten the rolls
A few slices of smoked Gouda or provolone cheese per sandwich (optional tasty treat)

Fixins Salad:
1/2 medium size onion, cut through root in half, then slice into half moons
1 tsp dried oregano
2 TBSP olive oil
1 large or 2 small celery stalks, washed thoroughly, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/2" slices
juice 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup good quality olives (green and/or black), pitted and roughly chopped
1/4 cup pepperocini or your favorite pickled pepper, chopped roughly
1/4 cup roasted peppers (1/2 to 1 medium sized pepper), chopped roughly (jarred is fine)
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped finely
salt and ground black pepper

In a shallow baking dish, combine the soy sauce, mustard, sesame oil, lime juice, garlic, and hot sauce (if using) and whisk with a fork to blend. Add the tempeh, making sure it's covered in marinade. Allow to marinate about 30 minutes, turning to coat the second side after 15 minutes.

In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the onion, oregano, oil, celery, and lemon juice and stir. Allow to sit about 15 minutes. The onion will mellow out a bit with the citrus.

Stir in the olives, pepperocini, roasted peppers, and parsley. Taste for salt and pepper, and season accordingly (the olives and pickled peppers are salty, FYI).

Can be made several hours or day in advance. The salad gets better the next day.

Heat the oil in a wide skillet over medium heat. Remove the tempeh from the marinade and transfer to the skillet to pan-fry. Don't crowd the skillet; if necessary, cook the tempeh in batches.

Cook until golden brown on both sides, about 10 minutes. With tongs, transfer to a paper towel to drain. Sprinkle immediately with salt.

Slice the rolls in half (but not all the way through; keep attached along one edge). In a dry skillet or under the low setting of your broiler, toast the rolls, cut side toward the heat source, until slightly crisp on the inside. Remove form the heat and rub the insides with the whole garlic clove.

Drizzle a small amount of olive oil on each roll half to moisten. Add the cheese, if using, followed by 1/2 cup of salad, topped off with four pieces of tempeh. Push the tempeh down to meet the salad, squish both sides of the foll, and dig in.

Makes 4 sandwiches

Kale Chips
From the book The Meat Lover’s Meatless Cookbook by Kim O’Donnel. Excerpted by arrangement with Da Capo Lifelong, a member of the Perseus Books Group. Copyright © 2010

1 bunch (4 to 5 cups) Lacinato kale (also sold as Dinosaur kale)
1 TBSP olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

With a sharp knife, remove the stem and middle rib of each kale leaf so that all you have left are leaves. Wash the leaves, then dry thoroughly, preferably in a salad spinner. With a knife, cut the leaves into small pieces (ideally 3" long, 2" wide).

Transfer the leaves to a medium size mixing bowl and add the olive oil, salt and red pepper flakes (if using). With your hand, coat leaves with the seasonings; the leaves will glisten a bit.

Place the kale in a single layer on a baking sheet, giving the leaves plenty of room to roast. Cook for 8 minutes, maybe a few seconds more. Remove from the oven and enjoy.

Makes enough chips for 4 sandwiches or a bowl of TV snacks. Best eaten within 24 hours, stored in a paper bag.

Many thanks to Da Capo Lifelong Books for providing a sample copy of The Meat Lover's Meatless Cookbook for review. All opinions held in this review are my own.

Saving Summer's Bounty

2010-09-20T08:46:00.000-07:00

I'm at it again. Summer is gone - has been for a while here - and fall is full force. And so starts my yearly ritual of buying beautiful, in-season produce from the Farmer's Market and other sources and freezing them. There is nothing better in the middle of winter than pulling out a pack of corn that was frozen the summer or fall before. The taste is so different from the frozen corn that I can buy at the grocery store. And so, every year I have a few things that I like to tuck away into my freezer. This year it was raspberries (thank you previous homeowners who blessed us with a huge, mature patch of raspberry canes!), corn, carrots, basil, and peaches. (You can see how I freeze these foods in my post on freezing from last year.)

Carrots - I froze carrots for the first time last year, and what a treat they were in the middle of winter! Carrots from the grocery store are great, but the carrots I can get at the end of summer, both from my own garden and from my favorite local farm (Evergreen Farm in Star Valley, WY, in case you're interested) are so tender and sweet and very unlike those at the grocery store. I simply slice the carrots into coins, place the coins in a single layer on a baking sheet, and freeze. Once they're frozen, I'll transfer them to a container and use them all winter in soups and other recipes.

Basil - Amazingly, this is my first year to freeze basil. There is nothing quite like fresh basil, but fresh basil in the middle of winter is expensive! I have high hopes that freezing the basil from my own garden will be successful. I'm trying it two ways. Both ways start with finely chopping the basil in a food processor. In the first way, I drizzle in a little olive oil as well and then freeze in small portion sizes using an ice cube tray. In the second way, I put the chopped basil in an ice cube tray and then cover with water. So far, the basil in both methods looks great! We'll see how they fare in the middle of winter.

Peaches - I've talked about peaches before. This year, I took my plethora of peaches from Palisade, CO and made a peach BBQ sauce, peach bread, and these fabulous peach crisps in a jar and froze them all. I first came across the recipe for Peach Crisps in a Jar on a fabulous (and now gone) blog called Eating Well Anywhere. I make several (10 this year) and pop them in the freezer to eat later in the winter. It's a fabulous treat when there is snow on the ground outside. This year, I added some fresh blackberries to the filling. Any berry or stone fruit would work well in this recipe.

Peach Crisps in a Jar
from Eating Well Anywhere

3 peaches
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp sll-purpose flour
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1 TBSP all-purpose flour
1 TBSP brown sugar
1 TBSP cold butter
pinch salt
3 half pint canning jars

Preheat oven to 350 F. Peel peaches. Place one sliced peach into each canning jar. Sprinkle each jar with 1/2 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp flour, and 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Shake the jar a little to let the flour settle. Cut brown sugar, butter, and salt into butter. Top each jar with 1/3 of the mixture.

Bake for 40 minutes or until juices bubble on a baking sheet. Let jars cool completely. Cap and place in freezer.

To reheat, I simply put the frozen jars into a 400 F oven and bake until it reaches the desired temperature - usually 20-30 min.

Anyone else trying to save a bit of summer for the middle of winter? What's going in your freezer or pantry?

Chicken and Vegetable Soup that will make your mouth happy!

2010-09-14T01:00:00.000-07:00

I'm still here! As much as I love writing this blog, it's always a little hard to get back into the swing of things after taking a self-imposed break. But, the kids are back in school, and I have a lot of ideas on the back burner, so hopefully you'll see more posts here in the near future.

My husband is a huge soup fan - HUGE! Me, well, not so much. I like my comforting tomato soup, but I usually have a hard time getting excited about soup. My kids would agree. They groan when they find out I'm making soup, which turns out to be quite a bit during the colder months. This soup, however, has grown on both my kids and me, so much so that my son declared, "This soup is delicious!" upon eating it recently.

I like to go all the way when I make this soup, and it becomes a two day affair. I start by making a simple chicken stock. The cooked chicken goes back into the soup the next day, and I'm left with a flavorful soup base that is way better than any broth or stock from a box. One advantage of making the stock the day before is that I can let it cool in the fridge overnight and then skim off the solidified fat layer the next day. If you're vegetarian, you could start by making a vegetable broth and forgo the chicken, of course. And, if you don't have the time or inclination or are just feeling lazy (we've all been there), you could skip making the stock altogether and use canned or boxed broth instead.

The second day is reserved for actually making the soup. The vegetables cook for a good hour, which lets the flavors really meld. If you don't have the exact vegetables listed in the recipe on hand, use what you have or what you like...but the combo of vegetables in the recipe really does make an amazing soup.

Oh, and the name? I don't know where the soup recipe originally came from, but my version is a permutation of a soup recipe from my husband's cousin Susan. I've changed it up a bit to suit our tastes, but this soup will forever be Susan's Chicken and Vegetable Soup to me.

Susan's Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Stock:
1 whole chicken (I tend to get as small a chicken as I can find, which is still pretty big)
3 quarts water
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)
1 TBSP peppercorns
2 carrots, chopped
1 onion, quartered
1 stalk celery, chopped

Place all ingredients in a large stock pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered until the chicken is fully cooked. Turn off heat, remove chicken, and let cool. When cool enough to handle, remove meat from the bones and chop. Set cooked chicken aside for the next day. Place the bones back into the stock pot and bring to a boil again. Cover and simmer for another 40 min. Pour liquid through a colander or strainer into a container. Refrigerate overnight. The next day, skim the congealed fat layer before continuing on with the soup.

Soup:
stock from above
2 lbs corn (frozen is fine)
2 lbs tomatoes (or 2-15 oz cans diced tomatoes with juice)
2 cups chopped okra (frozen is fine)
2 cups baby lima beans (frozen is fine)
1-2 onions, chopped
3-4 carrots, chopped
3-6 cloves garlic, finely chopped (to taste)
1 TBSP sugar
2-3 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
reserved chopped chicken

Add stock through pepper into stock pot. Bring to a boil and cook uncovered for 1 hour. Add chicken about 15 min before serving.

Serves 8-10

This makes a lot of soup! I take the extra and freeze it to use on a night when I don't feel like cooking. If you halve the recipe, freeze the extra stock for another day.

Don't be fooled by a pretty label!

2010-08-24T20:11:00.000-07:00

I have gotten pretty darn good at spotting foods that contain HFCS and those that don't. But...sometimes even I am fooled. A couple of weekends ago my family and I were dining at a favorite restaurant of ours. My husband bought a root beer.

Henry Weinhard's Root Beer - Gourmet Soda, Draught-Style Head

We could have a whole separate discussion about the negatives of sodas in general. But, I'll be the first to admit that I like a good soda. Once upon a time I loved Coke. Not so much anymore. Cokes taste too sickly sweet to me now, and I almost always regret it when I order one. But, there are cane sugar based specialty sodas out there that do float my boat (Virgil's Real Cola, for example). I rarely buy sodas, but I do occasionally like to indulge in a soda as a special treat.

But I digress. My husband bought a root beer. It was a nice looking root beer with a fancy label. A label that screamed cane sugar and not HFCS to me. I liked it so much (a rarity with root beer) that I traded my iced tea for his soda. As always, I flipped the bottle to look at the ingredients. I can't help it. It's what I do. You can guess what's next, right? Take a look at the ingredients:

In case you can't quite read that, the second ingredient is high fructose corn syrup. Curses!

So, lesson learned. Don't be fooled by pretty labels. Looks can be very deceiving!

Terra Chips Review and Giveaway!

2010-08-11T06:55:00.000-07:00

Every now and then I am contacted by a company about reviewing their product, and I can't help but get excited because I know that it's a good product. This is one of those times. I love TERRA Chips and was thrilled when they contacted me to do a review and giveaway.

Head on over to A Life Less Sweet Reviews to read the review and enter the giveaway! This is a good one!

Ranch vs Ranch

2010-07-27T01:00:00.000-07:00

My son has decided that salads are not a bad thing...as long as he has his ranch dressing. He likes one very specific kind of ranch - Annie's Naturals Cowgirl Ranch Dressing. That's it. Try to substitute with Hidden Valley Ranch, and he'll turn his nose up. (I know. I tried just last week when we were out of Annie's ranch.)

Sometimes I get in a rut buying things because I know that they're HFCS and trans-fat free, so I buy them without even thinking about them. I realized this was the case with my son's salad dressing. So, I thought it was time to do a little investigating. On that note, let's take a look at the ingredients lurking in both Annie's Cowgirl Ranch and Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing.

Annie's Naturals Cowgirl Ranch Dressing
Canola oil, water, apple cider vinegar, buttermilk powder (cultured nonfat buttermilk), sugar, sea salt, whole egg powder, onions, garlic, chives, xanthan gum, parsley

Wow! Not bad! They even put their ingredient list in plain site on their product page - always a good sign. The only ingredient that gives pause is xanthan gum.

What is xanthan gum? Xanthan gum is an additive that is used to thicken and stabilize foods. Xanthan gum is especially useful in products that require an emulsifier like salad dressings. Xanthan bum is found in toothpaste, foods, and even medicines. It has a remarkable thickening ability, so just a little xanthan gum can thicken a large amount of salad dressing.

Xanthan gum is made by fermenting sugars (glucose and fructose) with the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris. The resulting polysaccharide (or many sugars chemically bound together) is precipitated and ground into a fine powder. Liquid is added later to form the gum. Xanthan gum can be made from a variety of sources - wheat, soy, corn - but corn syrup is the most common starting material in the US.

Am I worried about xanthan gum? Not really. Do I wish it wasn't in Annie's salad dressing? Well, sure, but it seems to be the price we pay for buying a shelf stable salad dressing in all honesty. For the most part, I think that Annie's has done a great job keeping their ranch salad dressing as free from "strange" ingredients as possible.

Ok, now let's look at the competition:

Hidden Valley Original Ranch Topping and Dressing
Vegetable oil (canola and/or soybean oil), water, egg yolk, sugar, salt, cultured nonfat buttermilk, natural flavor, spices, less than 1% of garlic (dried), onion (dried), vinegar, phosphoric acid, xanthan gum, modified food starch, monosodium glutamate, artificial flavors, disodium phosphate, sorbid acid and calcium disodium EDTA as preservatives, disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate.

That's quite a difference, isn't it? In addition to the xanthan gum, there are a host of other preservatives and "strange" ingredients. I don't recognize many of the additives in the ingredient list, but frankly, I don't feel compelled to become familiar with them right now.

Needless to say, I'm happy that my son likes Annie's ranch dressing over Hidden Valley ranch!

Do you have an ingredient that you'd like to know more about? Have a food question that you'd like answered? E-mail me! I love learning about the foods that we eat and am always looking for ideas.

Pasta Primavera

2010-07-25T18:21:00.000-07:00

Just a short and sweet note today to recommend this wonderful Pasta Primavera from Meatless Monday. We ate it tonight using roasted squash, red bell peppers, onions, sauteed onions, and topped with chopped fresh basil. Delish! If you're looking for a relatively quick, light, easy meal that all will enjoy, this Pasta Primavera fits the bill!

Our new drink obsession

2010-07-24T18:12:00.000-07:00

This post is really about my husband's drink obsession, but it's a good one. The inspiration was from a friend of mine. This friend would keep pitchers of water with submerged orange and citrus slices in her fridge in the summer for a light drink with just a little citrus kick. I love this idea! But while this is a great idea for home, it isn't always convenient when you're on the go.

The solution? A product called True Lemon. These little packets with crystallized lemon juice are easily portable and really do have a fresh-squeezed lemon flavor. When I first bought some True Lemon to try, my husband was underwhelmed to say the least. It's grown on him in a BIG way. He adds a packet (or 3) to his water at home. He adds a packet (or 5) to his water bottle before a big hike. He adds True Orange to his hot chocolate for an orange zip. He is totally addicted.

True Lemon and its companions, True Lime and True Orange, have simple ingredients - always a plus. True Lemon contains: citric acid, evaporated cane juice, lemon juice, lemon oil, and ascorbic acid (vitamin C). If you want a truly sugar-free product, well, this isn't it, but I don't mind the small amount of sugar in the packet. I suspect that it helps carry the flavor through in a more pleasing way, and it's better than using an artificial sweetener. The box says that each packet is the equivalent of about a tablespoon of juice.

My husband likes True Lemon the best with True Orange a close second. I like True Lime the best. True Orange is all smell and no flavor for me. The kids, well, they're not sold on these. In fact, they don't like them at all. They also don't like water infused using citrus slices either.

If you want a refreshing citrus zip in your water, tea, or whatever drink you're imbibing in and don't always have fresh citrus on hand for the task, give True Lemon a try. You can even go to their site and request a free sample. I've got a few packets that live in my purse now for those times when I want a little flavor in my water without all of the sugar or sodium.

(Oh...and this isn't something that you have to limit just to drinks! My husband likes to use a packet on peas, and True Lemon has a whole section devoted to recipes using their products. I won't be replacing fresh lemons with these little packets, but they do have a valid place in my pantry!)

I have no affiliation with True Lemon. All samples were purchased with my own money, and all opinions are my own.

Meatless Monday - Grilled Pizza

2010-07-12T01:00:00.000-07:00

I've been intrigued by the thought of a grilled pizza for a while now, but I've also been a bit intimidated by them. I shouldn't have been! As long as you prepare all of your toppings ahead of time, grilled pizza is easy and fast - a perfect meal for a summer day.

If this is your first time to grill a pizza, zip over to Slice, the pizza blog from Serious Eats. They have a wonderful tutorial on making grilled pizza. I have three tips from my experience grilling pizza. First, I was glad that my pizza dough was not a super soft dough. Having a slightly stiffer dough made it easier to get the dough on the grill. (You can find the recipe for the dough I used at the bottom. As always, it's a breadmaker dough for simplicity.) A pizza peel is nice, but not entirely necessary. We would have been fine using just a pizza pan and some tongs to get the crust on and off of the grill.

Second, preparation is key! Have all of the ingredients for the pizza chopped and ready to throw on the dough quickly. Once you flip the crust, you want to get the ingredients on as fast as possible to give them a little time to cook. This pizza is done in minutes, so take your time beforehand to do a nice mise en place.

Third, if the ingredient needs to cook, do it ahead of time or make sure that they are cut appropriately. As I said before, the pizza is done in minutes. There simply isn't much time for the ingredients to cook. So, you might want to consider slicing your onions paper thin or else roasting or sauteing them ahead of time; otherwise, you'll be eating hunks of warm, raw onion, which may or may not be what you're looking for.

We made a plain cheese pizza for the kids and a Greek pizza for us. They both turned out absolutely delicious. (I actually forgot to add roasted red peppers to our Greek pizza. It was still great, but the roasted peppers would be a nice addition.) Next time, we'll be making a BBQ chicken pizza at my son's request.

If you have a grill, give this a try. Grilling a pizza is surprisingly easy and definitely tasty - and it keeps the heat out of your house on a hot summer day to boot!

Grilled Greek Pizza
(See How to Make Grilled Pizzas for a lesson on the process)

Sauce:
3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup tahini
1 clove garlic, minced
juice from 1/2 of a lemon, about a TBSP

Mix together ingredients and set aside until ready to use.

Toppings:
black olives, chopped
green onions, chopped
sliced roasted red bell peppers
feta cheese to taste

Shape pizza dough as desired. Cook pizza dough on a medium hot grill (350-400 F) for a couple of minutes. Flip the pizza and add the sauce and toppings as quickly as possible. Close the grill lid and let the pizza cook for another couple of minutes or until cheese is melted and the dough is cooked as desired. Use a pizza peel or some tongs and a pizza pan to remove the pizza from the grill and enjoy!

Breadmaker Pizza Dough

1 1/3 cups water
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 TBSP sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp gluten
1 1/2 tsp bread machine yeast

Place all ingredients in your breadmaker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Program for Pizza Dough and press start. When the machine beeps at the end of the cycle, immediately remove the dough from the bread machine and place in an oiled bowl. Let rise for another 30 min. Use the dough for pizza or pizza rolls.

Meatless Monday - Quinoa Burgers

2010-06-28T01:00:00.000-07:00

I am not a fan of fake meat. I generally don't like the taste or texture of fake meat - especially when they're bean based. Plus, I'm not a vegetarian. If I want to eat meat, I'll do just that. I don't need the fake stuff. (Shameless admission - the kids and I do actually like - yes, like - Quorn nuggets. At one time they were a favorite lunch around here for the kids, and I would happily do clean-up duty on leftovers. But as they're uber-processed little chunks of corn smut pretending to be chicken, we try to limit our use of them now.)

And yet, today I'm writing a post about quinoa burgers...a patty that my son still thinks has meat in it somewhere despite being told the contrary. A friend brought these to the playground a couple of months ago and let me try one. It was love at first bite. These patties do have a meaty flavor thanks to the portobello mushrooms in them, but these are not patties that pretend to be meat. The quinoa gives them a distinctive, wonderful texture. These patties are great on a bun like a burger or just on their own. I like to munch on them cold the next day.

Do you know about quinoa? Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is a nutrient-dense seed that has a kind of nutty flavor when cooked and an interesting slightly crunchy flavor. Quinoa is protein rich, and unlike most plant-based foods, the protein in quinoa is a complete protein. Quinoa is gluten free and a good source of fiber, as well as other nutrients such as manganese, magnesium, iron, and phosphorous. Once a relatively unknown seed, I've seen quinoa recipes popping up in abundance lately. For this recipe, I used Inca Red Quinoa from Ancient Harvest Quinoa, but my kids seem to prefer the traditional, light-colored quinoa in other recipes.

Quinoa Burgers
(I mixed in shredded zucchini in my burgers, but I think that shredded carrots or red bell pepper would also be good.)

2 portobello mushrooms (8 oz), stems removed, cut into 1" pieces
1 small zucchini
1/4 cup minced shallot (or substitute chopped onion and garlic)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
3/4 cup quinao, cooked according to package directions (about 2 cups cooked)
3/4 tsp salt
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup fresh whole-wheat breadcrumbs*
1/2 cup oats (I pulsed mine in a food processor to give them a crumb quality. May use 1/2 cup breadcrumbs if you prefer.)

Pulse mushrooms in a food processor until finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl. Shred zucchini, and squeeze out excess moisture in a towel. Add to the mushrooms.

Heat 2 TBSP olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the shallot and red pepper flakes and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and zucchini and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan, quinoa, and salt. Let cool completely and then stir in egg, breadcrumbs, and oats. Cover and refrigerate until cold and firm, about an hour.

Heat a TBSP of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Shape the quinoa mixture into small patties of the desired size. My patties were between 1/4" and 1/2" thick. Cook about 3 min on each side until crispy on the outside and cooked through.

Serve on buns or by themselves. Makes about 15 small patties.

*To make fresh breadcrumbs, break bread into pieces and put into a food processor. Pulse the food processor to make breadcrumbs.

The disturbing reality of how our brain works

2010-06-24T20:21:00.000-07:00

I'm back! The family and I made our yearly trip back to Mississippi to visit family, eat fresh stuff that is a long way from being in season here, and reconnect with our Southern roots. While traveling, I had an opportunity to read a book that had been provided to me through a book reviewer program. (They provide the books, I provide the opinion.) I found the book to be fascinating, so I hope that you'll indulge me as I give you my review!

The Invisible Gorilla: And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us by Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons.

Are you the type of person that notices and reliably remembers little details? Are you a good multitasker? Do you have vivid, detailed memories of events in your past? Are you an excellent driver even while talking on the phone? If you answered yes to any of these questions, this book will rock your world. Chabris and Simons break down these misconceptions to show how single-tasked our brain is and how malleable our memory and perception are.

The title comes from a psychology experiment that the authors performed. They filmed a basketball game using their students as actors/players. They then asked volunteers to count in their heads the number of passes made by players of one team while ignoring the passes of the other team. Halfway through the one minute video, an actor in a gorilla suit came to the center of the screen in the video, thumped her chest, and then walked away. The gorilla was on screen for a full 9 seconds. After watching the video, they interviewed the volunteers and asked them, among other things, whether they noticed anything unusual in the film. Half of the volunteers didn't notice the gorilla at all! This kind of single-minded attention - when we are so focused on the task at hand (in this case, counting passes) that we miss things we think we couldn't possibly miss - is shown to be anything but unusual.

This book is not a textbook, but rather an intriguing and entertaining exploration of how the mind does (or doesn't) work through anecdotes that illustrate scientific studies. I found it to be a quick and somewhat disturbing read. I don't like to think of my memory as an ever-changing kaleidoscope. I like to think that I'm decent at multitasking. I'd like to hope that all of those people driving around and talking on phones - hands free or not - really can react the way they need to. Reality and current research, however, don't support these misconceptions I have about myself and others.

Don't read it expecting answers on how to change the way you think to overcome these limitations of our brain. Instead, this book makes you recognize your limitations, and by recognizing these limitations of our brains we can perhaps approach the information constantly streaming at us and adjust how we interpret it.

Many thanks to PTA Interactive for providing the book for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Meatless Monday - Homemade Pizza Sauce

2010-06-07T08:48:00.000-07:00

If you're like me, you're sometimes torn between fixing a meal that your kids will eat and like and fixing something more "adult." I'm a big believer that not every meal should be what is typically considered kid-friendly. How are our kids' palates supposed to expand if they don't try new, complex foods? And yet, it's oh so nice when adult and kid-friendly collide.

To that end, I give you this pizza sauce. Pizza - as kid friendly as it gets. Homemade pizza sauce - more complex than what they'll get at Pizza Hut or from a pre-packaged sauce, and yet they still love it!

I've adapted a pizza sauce recipe that originally came from a wonderful, but now gone, blog called Eating Well Anywhere. It's a surprisingly super-simple recipe that starts with tomato paste. The recipe calls for red wine, but if that is not a staple in your household, an old trick of mine is to replace red wine with broth and balsamic vinegar. Just a little balsamic vinegar - try a tablespoon or two - does a decent job mimicking the complexity that red wine adds to a recipe.

If you're looking for a good pizza sauce, give this one a try! It makes a lot and freezes well. I tend to make a double batch and freeze the extra in ice cube trays so that the sauce is ready to use in small portions. One of the best things about this sauce? I know exactly what is going into it! No worries about HFCS (which is rampant in pre-packaged pizza sauce) or other undesirable ingredients.

Homemade Pizza Sauce

1 TBSP olive oil
6 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup red wine
1/4 cup broth of your choice
1 6-oz can tomato paste*
1/4 cup water
1/2 TBSP brown sugar (more or less to taste)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 TBSP chopped fresh oregano or 1 tsp dried oregano
salt to taste
5-6 fresh basil leaves, chopped (I'm not a fan of dried basil, so I just don't go there)

Saute olive oil and garlic in a saucepan over medium heat for about one minute. Add red wine and scrape up any bits of garlic from the pan. Add broth and tomato paste and stir until combined. Add remaining ingredients through the salt. Stir until combined and then cook for another couple of minutes. Add water or broth to thin to the desired consistency. Stir in basil at the very end.

You can leave it chunky or put the sauce in a blender (or use an immersion blender) to make the sauce smooth. If you have picky kids, blending is probably a good idea. My kids were a little put off (but not for long!) the first time they saw the bits of herbs in their pizza sauce.

*If you're concerned about the chemical BPA in canned tomato products, look for tomato paste in a tube. And Muir Glen has announced that they are switching to a metal can packaging that does not contain BPA starting with the next tomato harvest.

Nutty Granola Bars - better than one from the store!

2010-06-02T12:26:00.000-07:00

Have you ever looked at the ingredients on a box of granola bars? While there are definitely some bars out there with decent ingredients, the ones I seem to see the most in lunch boxes have ingredient lists that disgust and shock me. Take, for example, Quaker Oats Chocolate Chip Chewy Granola Bars, a staple in our household before we started really paying attention to ingredients:

GRANOLA (WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED OATS, BROWN SUGAR, CRISP RICE [RICE FLOUR, SUGAR, SALT, MALTED BARLEY EXTRACT], WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED WHEAT, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN AND COTONSEED OILS* WITH TBHQ AND CITRIC ACID ADDED TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS AND/OR SUNFLOWER OIL WITH NATURAL TOCOPHEROL ADDED TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS, DRIED COCONUT, WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, SODIUM BICARBONATE, SOY LECITHIN, CARAMEL COLOR, NONFAT DRY MILK), SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS (SUGAR, CHOCOLATE LIQUOR, COCOA BUTTER, SOY LECITHIN, VANILLA EXTRACT), CORN SYRUP, CRISP RICE (RICE FLOUR, SUGAR, BARLEY MALT, SALT), INVERT SUGAR, SUGAR, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS, GLYCERIN, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL*. CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF SORBITOL, CALCIUM CARBONATE, SALT, WATER, SOY LECITHIN, MOLASSES, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, BHT (PRESERVATIVE), CITRIC ACID.

Holy moly! Partially hydrogenated oils are listed not once, but twice! But, of course, they can still claim to be trans fat free because the total amount of trans fat is less than 0.5 g per serving. They make a big deal out of being "Made without high-fructose corn syrup" but the bars still contain invert sugar (sucrose broken down to glucose and fructose) and corn syrup solids. It's not all bad, but it certainly isn't good either. But, to make up for the massive ingredient list, the taste is a definite kid pleaser.

Well, guess what? The taste of my homemade granola bars is also a definite kid pleaser, and I can control exactly what goes into them. They're a cinch to make, and probably cheaper per serving than store bought granola bars (though I haven't done the economic analysis to actually confirm that statement).

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you've seen my granola bars before...more than once even. I've tweaked it just a bit and wanted to share the latest and greatest (in my opinion) incarnation of this recipe. For this latest version of my granola bars, I've replaced 3 tablespoons of butter with applesauce. This replacement did not significantly change the texture or flavor. (I should note that I tried using even more applesauce and less butter, but I did not like the end result.)

Feel to use whatever nut butter you like or leave the nut butter out all together. I've had friends and readers tell me all sorts of wonderful modifications they've made to this basic granola bar recipe - mashed banana, coconut, raisins and other dried fruits. You're only limited by your imagination! (And maybe your child's taste buds.)

Nutty Granola Bars

3 cups rolled oats (quick oats are fine)
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon (optional)
5 TBSP butter, softened
3 TBSP unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup honey
3 TBSP and 1 and 3/4 tsp packed brown sugar
3 TBSP nut butter of choice (optional)
1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips (optional)
3 TBSP flaxseed meal or wheat germ (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 F. Lightly grease a 9"x13" pan.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well.

Firmly press mixture into the prepared pan. Bake at 325 F for 20 min or until golden brown. Let cool for 10 min and then cut into bars. Let bars cool completely in pan before removing or serving. (This is so important! They'll be very crumbly until they are absolutely cool.) On hot summer days, might want to store in the fridge so that they're not as crumbly and the chocolate doesn't melt.

Makes about 24 bars

More HFCS-free ketchup options!

2010-05-31T06:58:00.000-07:00

It's Memorial Day - a day to remember and honor those men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Take a moment to remember those people who gave their lives while serving your country where ever you should happen to live.

Memorial Day is also the traditional unofficial start of summer. It doesn't matter that we were watching a parade in parkas and occasional spits of snow just two days ago, it's summer! Tonight we will be firing up the grill and enjoying a slice of watermelon (my family's Memorial Day tradition). For us, ketchup and grilling seem to go hand in hand, so I was thrilled to see that we have more ketchup options.

When consumers speak with their pocketbook, companies listen - at least the smart companies do. Hunts is the latest company to remove HFCS from their products. The entire line of Hunt's ketchups is now HFCS free! Hunts' ketchup now consists of five simple ingredients: tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, salt and other seasonings - no HFCS, artificial ingredients or preservatives. Hunts says that the switch is "in direct response to consumer demand." We have a bottle of Hunts ketchup sitting in our fridge now, and it is a good ketchup.

Once upon a time, the only ketchup we bought was Heinz ketchup. My husband was in love with the texture and flavor of Heinz ketchup over all other ketchups. Then we gave up foods containing HFCS, and Heinz was no more in our household. Most Heinz ketchups still contain HFCS, but they now have two HFCS-free options. The first has been around a while - Heinz Organic Ketchup, a good but expensive ketchup. The second is a new offering - Simply Heinz Tomato Ketchup. The ingredients in Simply Heinz are basically the same as Hunts - simple with no HFCS, artificial ingredients or preservatives.

Kudos to Hunts for changing it's entire ketchup line and Heinz for introducing another ketchup that is HFCS-free with simple ingredients!

What kind of syrup do you buy?

2010-05-26T13:20:00.000-07:00

Back when we dined in blissful ignorance on HFCS-containing foods, our favorite syrup was Log Cabin. The first ingredient in Log Cabin's list at the time was HFCS. So, we switched to pure maple syrup. I am happy to report that Log Cabin has since removed HFCS from it's syrups, but we've stuck with real maple syrup even though it is more expensive. (If you're avoiding HFCS, read those ingredients! Most artificial maple syrups still use HFCS.)

Using real maple syrup has its advantages. First, it isn't nearly as viscous as Log Cabin and the other artificial maple flavored syrups, and with the thinner consistency a little maple syrup goes a long way - and that's a good thing because it's expensive! Second, did you know that maple syrup actually has some health benefits? It contains a ton of manganese and zinc - two trace elements and natural antioxidants that are good for your health. It's also loaded with calcium - the same amount as whole milk! That just blows my mind - in a good way. Of course, hopefully you're not consuming a glass full of maple syrup, but it is nice to know that it's in there. Last, it has fewer calories than corn syrup. (Though it doesn't have fewer calories than the "light" artificial maple syrups out there. That "light" designation often comes at a price, though, as the "light" syrups are often full of other artificial ingredients.) With all of that going for it, I can overlook the steep price, I suppose, and not feel so bad when we have a syrup laden breakfast.

You might think that maple syrup is maple syrup, but not so. There are different grades and different classifications within the different grades, and they all have different flavors. When we first switched to maple syrup, I was used to the more subtle maple flavor of the artificial syrups. The flavor of the Grade A Dark Amber real maple syrup that I could find in my grocery stores was too intense for my taste. With just a little digging, I learned that Grade B actually has a stronger flavor than Grade A, and that Grade A Medium Amber and Grade A Light Amber are most commonly used as table syrups. It strikes me as funny that Grade A Dark Amber is what I can find in grocery stores.

Amazon came to our rescue, as usual. We were able to order some Grade A Medium Amber maple syrup, which had a much less pronounced maple flavor that was just right. We have since come to enjoy a deeper maple flavor and now buy Grade A Dark Amber maple syrup. I won't lie, it is expensive. I buy in bulk (a gallon at a time either through Amazon or directly from the farm) and store the extra in my fridge to save money. A little goes a long way for us, so I don't feel bad paying the money for the real deal.

Just why is maple syrup so expensive? Maple syrup has not always been so expensive. Prices have gone up dramatically in the past five or so years. The increase in prices isn't a conspiracy by the maple syrup producers. We can blame the weather for the stiff increase. Maple syrup is produced from sap collected from certain maple trees. This sap collection depends on freezing cold nights and warm days. Recent warm springs have played havoc with sap collection. Add to this increasing demand for the real deal, and prices remain high.

Ah, well. I'm still content to be buying real maple syrup. The benefits outweigh the cost in my household.

Meatless Monday - Roasted pineapple and sugar snap peas

2010-05-17T01:00:00.000-07:00

Now that we are fully committed to eating meatless at least once a week, I bought a subscription to Vegetarian Times last December. This past month there was a recipe that just jumped out at me. It practically begged me to make it. So...I did, of course. The crazy thing about this dish, pulled from the book Supermarket Vegan: 225 Meat-Free, Egg-Free, Dairy-Free recipes for Real People in the Real World, is that it's main component is pineapple. With it's natural sweetness, Hawaiian-Style Sweet-and-Sour Roasted Pineapple and Bell Peppers definitely stretches how I define a main dish. Served over brown rice, it works. The only change I made to this dish was the addition of basil as a garnish. The basil was a great addition and kind of cut the sweetness a bit. I think that cilantro would work well as a garnish too.

Step out of your dinner comfort zone, dear children. This is a thought that I express to my kids often. If they had their way, it would be pizza and macaroni every night. Alas, mom has different ideas about dinnertime. My son thought that this dish was so-so. He didn't love it, but he didn't hate it either. My daughter steadfastly refused to eat it, but once she took her mandated bite, she declared that she liked it. (She still didn't eat it all, though.) My husband and I liked this pineapple dish a lot and will have it again.

We served the pineapple dish along with some sauteed sugar snap peas. My kids seem to like raw sugar snap peas better than the sauteed version, but I think that they're both tasty. To saute, simply heat a little butter or olive oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the sugar snap peas and saute until they turn a bright green. Don't over cook or they'll be mushy! Add salt to taste.

Hawaiian-Style Sweet-and-Sour Roasted Pineapple and Bell Peppers
closely adapted from Vegetarian Times magazine

3 cups cubed fresh pineapple
1 medium red bell pepper, cubed
1 medium red onion, cut into thin wedges
1 TBSP tasted sesame oil
1 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP brown sugar
1 TBSP sweetened coconut flakes (optional)
1 TBSP lime juice
finely chopped basil (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 F. Arrange the pineapple, bell pepper, and onion on a baking sheet. Drizzle with the sesame oil, olive oil, and brown sugar. Add salt to taste. Toss to coat

Roast pineapple mixture for 30 minutes or until lightly browned, turning once. Remove from oven and sprinkle with coconut flakes and then drizzle lime juice. Toss well. Serve hot or at room temperature over rice. Garnish with basil if desired.

Serves 6

Sweet potato in cookies? Really! And it's GOOD!

2010-05-13T10:26:00.000-07:00

You read the title right...sweet potato cookies! These cookies get two big thumbs up from both of my kids. Moist, delicious cookies that are LOADED with sweet potato. It's a good match when you think of it. Sweet potatoes do have a lot of natural sweetness, and the sweet potato's flavor is not so in-your-face. It blends nicely with the rest of the ingredients, and you don't really realize that you're getting a hit of sweet potato.

Before you get too excited, these are still cookies in all of their sugary, refined flour goodness. (Wait, is that an oxymoron?) I'm with Cindy at Fix Me A Snack - sometimes a cookie just needs to be a cookie. But that doesn't mean that you can't sneak some good stuff into it, right?

If you remember seeing this recipe in the distant past, well, I've changed it ever so slightly. I replaced just a little of the butter (ok, a whole 1/4 cup!) with applesauce. I can't tell the difference. I used a combo of cinnamon chips and white chocolate chips in my last batch, and only made half of the cookies with raisins (a nod to my raisin-hating little boy, who is actually slowly but surely making peace with dried grapes even if he will never be a fan of them). I love the addition of the raisins. While I think that a chocolate chip would overpower the subtle flavor of the cookie, feel free to use whatever chip or dried fruit makes you happy. (And see my note at the very end about chips.)

These cookies are very moist, and they get their moisture from the sweet potato. I go all out and use a full 3 cups of mashed sweet potato. It's a forgiving recipe, so you can get away with as little as a cup of mashed sweet potato. They get moister as they sit overnight, so put a layer of waxed or parchment paper in between the layers of cookies in your cookie jar.

Sweet Potato Cookies

1-3 cups sweet potato, cooked** and mashed
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup margarine or butter, cold
1/4 cup applesauce
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup quick cooking oatmeal
1 cup raisins (optional)
cinnamon or white chocolate chips to taste (optional)
2 TBSP flaxseed meal (optional)

Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs and dry ingredients. Mix in mashed sweet potato and then any optional ingredients. Drop by teaspoonful onto a greased baking sheet (or use parchment paper without grease). Bake at 350 F for 10-12 min. Let cool completely and store in an airtight container.

**For those that aren't cooking inclined, there are lots of different ways you can cook your sweet potato. You can roast in the oven, unpeeled, at 425 F for about an hour or until tender when pierced with a fork. Or you can peel and boil or steam sweet potato chunks until tender. Or you can cut into small cubes and microwave the cubes with about a 1/3 cup of water in a microwave-safe container for about 12 min.

Note on chips: Be careful when you buy your chips! White chocolate and cinnamon chips so often contain trans fat (in the form of partially hydrogenated oils). I used Ghirardelli's white chocolate chips and King Arther Flour's cinnamon chips. Both are blessedly trans fat free! So, flip that bag over and check the ingredients before buying your chips. It would be a shame to ruin an otherwise wonderful cookie with a dose of trans fat!

Meatless Monday - Greek Wheat Berry Salad

2010-05-10T08:30:00.000-07:00

Some of my favorite family-friendly Meatless Monday go-to meals - pizza, nachos, egg dishes, and pasta or grain salads. Today I want to reshare my favorite pasta/grain salad. This salad is great made with wheat berries, pasta, rice, or even quinoa, and kids and adults alike love it! Hope you enjoy learning (or maybe relearning!) about wheat berries, and definitely give the salad a try!

Do you know what a wheat berry is? It's the whole wheat grain - what they grind to make whole wheat flour. It's also delicious cooked in its whole form! I have been eying recipes made with wheat berries for a while now, but only tried using unground wheat berries last week. Wheat berries turn out to be surprisingly simple to cook and they taste quite a lot like brown rice. In fact, I couldn't convince my son that it wasn't brown rice!

Uncooked soft white wheat berries

Before heading to this week's recipe, I want to take a moment to explore the humble wheat berry. First, what makes the wheat berry desirable? Well, it's a whole grain. All of the nutrients and good stuff (like fiber) remain inside the little berry. Unlike brown rice, wheat berries stay good for a long, long time. I've read reports of wheat berries that were stored in a cool, dry environment that were good as many as 20 years later! That might be a little extreme, but stored in a cool, dry location they will indeed last many years, and stored in a freezer they will last indefinitely. This is in contrast to ground wheat berries - aka whole wheat flour - which has a relatively short shelf life. Keeping the berry whole keeps all of the good stuff inside of the berry stable and secure.

I'm sure that there are many, many different variety of wheat berries, but I'm only going to talk about a couple of them - red and white wheat berries. Hard red wheat berries (I'm going to talk about both Spring and Winter wheat together) is the type of wheat that is used to make traditional whole wheat flour. It's also used to make all-purpose flour, though white all-purpose flour is made from only the endosperm with the nutritious bran and germ removed. (As an aside, non-whole wheat flour is often "enriched, " meaning vitamins and nutrients that were lost when the germ and bran were removed are added back in. Whole wheat flours are not enriched because those vitamins and nutrients haven't been removed in the first place.) Hard red wheat has a relatively high protein content. There is also a soft red wheat that has a softer endosperm and a lower protein content making it good for pastry and cake flour.

White wheat berries are a relatively new variety, having only been added as a market class in the US in 1990. White wheat and red wheat are nutritionally equivalent. The main difference in the two wheat varieties is that white berries have fewer phenolic compounds and tannins in the bran resulting in a milder flavor. White wheat is lighter in color than its red cousin and has a sweeter flavor. White wheat comes in both a hard and soft variety, just like red wheat. The two flours can be used interchangeably. (For a great comparison of the performance of the two flours, check out this article at The Fresh Loaf.)

The great thing about white wheat is the flavor. I have great success substituting white whole wheat flour for all-purpose flour in my baking because it doesn't really change the flavor. As with traditional whole wheat flour made with red wheat, baked goods behave a bit differently when cooked with whole wheat flours, so all-purpose flour is still a good thing to have around. I'm not much of a baker, but I find that I can substitute 1/2 - 3/4 of the all-purpose flour with white whole wheat flour and have good results, depending on the recipe. Using white whole wheat instead of all-purpose doesn't change the flavor of the end product appreciably, but it may change the texture. If you haven't tried white whole wheat flour yet, buy some and give it a try!

Back to whole wheat berries and the recipe... I used soft white wheat berries for this recipe, but you can use whatever variety you have on hand. My grocery store only recently started selling wheat berries in their bulk bin section and carry both hard red wheat and soft white wheat berries. I'm giving you the recipe basically as I prepared it, but like most of my recipes there's a lot of flexibility. Feel free to increase or decrease the amounts of any of the ingredients to suit you taste. We served this salad as a main dish at room temperature, but it's also good cold. Make the recipe your own and enjoy!

Greek Wheat Berry Salad

2 cups wheat berries (I used soft white wheat berries)
6 cups water
1/2 tsp salt (or chicken bouillon)
2 cups chopped grape tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup chopped kalamata olives
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
3 TBSP white balsamic vinegar (regular balsamic vinegar would work well too)
3 TBSP olive oil
1/4 tsp salt or to taste
1/4 tsp pepper

Boil wheat berries in water with 1/2 tsp salt (or chicken bouillon) for 40-60 min or until they have reached the desired tenderness. (Desired tenderness is subjective, hence the big window.) Drain in a colander.

Combine wheat berries, tomatoes, green onions, olives, basil, and feta and mix well.

In a small bowl, combine the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, remaining salt, and pepper. Use a whisk to emulsify a bit. Pour over the wheat berry mixture and mix to coat the salad well. Serve and enjoy!

Serves - 4

What do you know about "the silent killer"?

2010-05-06T17:58:00.000-07:00

High blood pressure - the silent killer. How much do you know about it? Did you know that up to 1 in 3 people have high blood pressure and only about 75% even know it? High blood pressure, aka hypertension, often doesn't have any noticeable symptoms, but it can still wreak havoc on your body if not treated. Side effects of untreated high blood pressure can include:

increased risk of stroke,
kidney damage,
coronary artery disease,
heart failure,
cognitive impairment,
and on and on.

Take a look at the website 1in3People.com for a very nice and easily digestible look at hypertension facts and risks.

Here's the good news...high blood pressure is preventable!

I recently had a chance to review a book geared toward people struggling with high blood pressure - Bringing Down High Blood Pressure by Chad Rhoden, M.D., Ph.D. Now, I do not have high blood pressure, but I still found this book to be informative and useful. I think that it's just as useful as a comprehensive guidebook for preventing high blood pressure in the first place.

The book starts with a chapter explaining the basics of blood pressure, what causes high blood pressure, and risks associated with it. The scientist in me actually wanted more information in this chapter, but it gives a decent overview of the subject. The author then quickly moves on to talking in depth about lifestyle changes that help many people bring their blood pressure down to normal levels. Guidance on effective changes in diet and exercise is provided, including recipes. (Take a look at the end for one of the recipes from the book. There are actually quite a few good looking recipes.) Stress management is discussed (though I would have liked to have seen more on this issue...it can be a weak point in my household).

And for those who still can't bring their blood pressure to a normal level using lifestyle tools, the role of medication is discussed. Each of the major groups of blood pressure medication is presented along with what they do, cautions, and side effects. This book is not the end all resource in discussing these medications, but I found the chapter on medications very useful in understanding the different types offered a little better. Medication questions not answered in this book are better discussed with your doctor regardless.

There is even a chapter on alternative high blood pressure treatments - the good, the bad, the unproven, and the unsafe. The author treats this chapter with a refreshingly open mind. The focus is on using alternative therapies to compliment traditional ones.

Should you read it? If you've been dealing with high blood pressure for a while and have it under control, it might not be anything new to you. If you have recently been diagnosed with hypertension or are in the pre-hypertension category and are looking for a comprehensive resource to help you understand what is going on and what steps you can take to lower your blood pressure, I would recommend this book. A lot of this isn't rocket science - sensible diet advice, exercise more, stress-reduction advice - but the book provides a plan for people to follow.

On to the recipe! We made this recipe and really enjoyed it. It makes a great light side. The book has several other good looking recipes - like crispy edamame and omelet casserole.

Caribbean Sweet Potato Salad
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
1 cup corn
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 TBSP fresh lime juice
3 TBSP cilantro, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 TBSP canola oil
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cucumber, halved lengthwise and chopped
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup finely chopped peanuts

Place sweet potato in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down, and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Once the potatoes are tender, add the corn kernels. Cook another 30 seconds. Drain in a colander and halt the cooking with cool water.

In a large bowl, mix together the mustard, lime juice, cilantro, and garlic. Slowly whisk in oil. Mix in salt and black pepper.

Add the dressing, cucumber, and onion to the sweet potato mixture. Toss well. Serve at room temperature or cooled. Toss the peanuts in just before serving.

Serves 6

Many thanks to PTA Interactive who kindly provided a copy of the book Bringing Down High Blood Pressure for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Meatless Monday - Homemade pizza and nacho rolls

2010-04-26T01:00:00.000-07:00

A big thanks to Nurse Practitioner Schools for including this blog in its list of 100 Best Blogs for Parenting Advice! I'm looking forward to checking out some of the other blogs on the list!

I'm retrieving an oldie but a goodie for today's Meatless Monday post. We had these for dinner tonight, and I sent one with my son for lunch last week. Such a good little hand held meal!

My son is a picky eater - just like his mother. He gets bored easily with sandwiches - also just like his mother - so I've started a running list of sandwich alternatives to serve at lunch. This recipe for Ranch Chicken Pockets at Megan's Munchies gave me an idea for making homemade pizza rolls. (And, yes, the pizza rolls are really just little calzones, but it's more fun to call them pizza rolls!)

These pizza rolls are great because you can make them ahead of time and throw them in a lunch or even freeze them to eat later. Even better - you can customize them however you want! We've made Megan's Ranch Chic ken Po ckets (using HFCS-free ranch dressing, of course) - delicious - and nacho pockets as well as the pizza rolls. The flavor combos that would work with this idea are endless. Maybe hummus with fresh oregano and feta cheese or...well, you get the idea. Go crazy!

One note - be careful buying pizza sauce! HFCS is a common ingredient in packaged pizza sauce. Once upon a time, we were fans of Boboli's pizza sauce, but alas, it contains HFCS. There are several brands out there that don't have HFCS in it, though. We used Rustic Crust's One Top Tomato! Old World Tomato Sauce. It's a pretty good sauce, and comes in nice three-packs that are convenient.

On to the recipe!

Start with some pizza dough. You can buy some frozen pizza dough or make it yourself. I went the make it yourself route with a little help from my breadmaker. (My pizza crust recipe is at the bottom.) Not sure that a Jiffy crust kind of pizza dough would work well here as the quick dough made from the box tends to be a little too flimsy in my experience.

Take a little ball of the dough and roll it out. The dough will puff up a bit when cooking, so make it as flat as you possibly can. You can make your circle of dough big or small. I like to make them on the small side - better for lunch boxes and small hands.

Next, put a little of whatever you want in the middle of the circle. For pizza rolls, we used a little smear of pizza sauce topped with cheese for the kids and added some sauteed onion and mushroom for the adults. For nacho pockets, I used a smear of fat-free vegetarian refried beans (basically just smushed pinto beans) topped with some shredded cheddar cheese and a dab of salsa.

Apologies for the poor quality of my food pictures! Still, you get the idea...

Fold the dough over, and crimp with a fork to close. I've taken to doubling the seam over and crimping again to keep it from opening while cooking, but those of you that are better bakers than I am probably won't need to do that.

Bake in a preheated 400 F oven for 10-15 min until the rolls are lightly browned. Let cool and enjoy!

And if you need another good pizza dough recipe for your breadmaker, here's one that I've adapted to my own tastes from The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook. This dough is softer than the dough recipe that I've posted in the past, and I like it better because of that.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

1 1/3 cups water
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 TBSP sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp gluten
1 1/2 tsp bread machine yeast

Place all ingredients in your breadmaker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Program for Pizza Dough and press start. When the machine beeps at the end of the cycle, immediately remove the dough from the bread machine and place in an oiled bowl. Let rise for another 30 min. Use the dough for pizza or pizza rolls.

Why I make my own bread (or ode to my breadmaker)

2010-04-22T17:38:00.000-07:00

A little over a month ago, I decided that it was silly for me to buy bread from the grocery store. My reasons are numerous and simple.

I have a great bread maker that does all of the work for me. Just dump in the ingredients and press start - the machine takes care of the rest!
Around here everyone likes fresh baked bread so much more than store bought bread. In fact, they like it so much that I thought it might be a problem. Fortunately, the "must eat it all now!" feeling that came with homemade bread is wearing off. Now it's just the way it is.
I can control the ingredients. The breads I make have simple ingredients - nothing in the way of fancy dough conditioners or preservatives. I like that.
It's cheaper. We weren't buying the super cheap bread at the grocery store (because the super cheap bread usually amounts to super cheap ingredients that give me the heebie-jeebies). It would be even cheaper if I had a warehouse store around and could buy bulk flour.

The big thing has been finding good bread machine recipes. I struggled with this for a while, and then Kara from Itty Bitty Bistro recommended this amazing book - The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger. Love this book! Every bread I've made from it has been a hit. The recipes are easy to follow and work. And there are about a zillion recipes (ok, or maybe just 300) in here for every type of bread you can imagine - and a few non-bread items (like jams) that you can make in your breadmaker. If you've got a bread machine and are looking for a good companion book, I highly recommend this book!

The next problem was storage. For a while, we would wrap our loaves in aluminum foil, but that method was messy and wasteful. A lot of the bread bags and boxes sold aren't designed to hold the tall loaves made in a bread machine. A couple of weeks ago I ordered this breadbox, and I've been very happy with it. It holds my loaves perfectly. (A note here, I like to make 1.5 lb loaves. A 2 lb loaf from my bread machine might still be a problem with this bread box.) And this bread box has done a great job keeping my bread from going stale. It even has a little cutting board in the bottom for slicing bread. My only complaint would be that it's a little cumbersome getting at the bread because you have to physically pull the box apart. On the flip side, because of the way it's constructed, I can adjust the interior volume to fit my loaf size.

My go-to sandwich bread of the moment is a simple white whole wheat bread from the King Arther Flour Company featured in the book. It makes a very tender 100% whole wheat bread that is great for toast or sandwiches. We also have a favorite cracked wheat bread for sandwiches, but I'll let you get a copy of the book from your library, a friend, or the bookstore to take a look at that recipe and all of the others!

White Whole Wheat Bread
from The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook

makes a 1 1/2 lb loaf

1 1/4 cups water
2 TBSP nut oil or olive oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
3 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1 TBSP gluten
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp bread machine yeast

Place all ingredients in the pan according to the manufacturer's instructions. Set crust on dark (I actually like a medium crust) and program for Basic or Whole Wheat cycle. Let cool to room temperature before slicing.

Gorgonzala Sliders to make your mouth happy!

2010-04-20T17:03:00.000-07:00

I know that most of the recipes that I've shared recently have been meatless, but believe it or not, we eat meat as part of our meals a lot too. Confirmed omnivore here! I've shared before that my kids complain equally well about meat and meatless meals. In fact, with a few notable exceptions, my kids aren't huge fans of meat in general. This meal is one of those notable exceptions.

I started making all of our own bread recently (more on that in a day or two), and that act kind of spurred the creation of this sliders recipe. Why? Well, now I make my hamburger and hot dog buns from scratch (thank you, bread machine!) and can make cute little slider-size buns.

Wait? You don't know what a slider is? Sliders are really just small hamburgers. I've read that the term was originally coined to describe the small White Castle burgers, but sliders has since come to encompass any small burger.

My kids until recently have not been big fans of hamburgers. And gorgonzola cheese? Forget it! But combine the two and put it on these fabulous buns, and they scarf them down. They're really that good. I like to top mine with some caramelized onions, tomato, and just a little ketchup. The kids just want their sliders plain with ketchup on the side to dip in when the mood hits them.

The buns are a recipe that I found at RecipeZaar made specifically for bread machines. (I do not make bread by hand if I can help it!) The only change that I've made to the recipe is substituting white whole wheat flour for half of the all-purpose flour. (Ok, and I don't brush with egg or add sesame seeds either.) The whole wheat flour gives it a little chew, but they still are very soft rolls. It's a great recipe for rolls, hamburger buns, or hot dog buns. Just mold to the appropriate shape and let it rise!

Gorgonzola Sliders
I used ground elk for the sliders in the picture, but hamburger works just as well. I also add more gorgonzola than seems sane, but I promise, it's a flavor combo that really works. I mixed about 4 oz of crumbled gorgonzola cheese into about 1/2 lb of hamburger. Mold into patties that will fit your buns, and broil or grill. Top with caramelized onions or your topping of choice and enjoy!

Enjoy!

Meatless Monday - A Greek Meze Feast!

2010-04-19T01:00:00.000-07:00

Do you know what a meze is? A meze (pronounced meh-ZEH) is like a Greek tapa. They're little bites that taken together make a meal. Greek food is full of wonderful vegetarian mezethes. Serve a few together and you have a fabulous meatless meal!

I did just that this past weekend. My husband is a freak when it comes to Greek food. He loves it...craves it, which is really too bad since we live in meat and potato country with nary a Greek restaurant to be found. I like a good challenge when I have the time and inclination, so I set out to give him a homemade Greek meze feast.

I made all of these for one grand meal, but you could take one of these mezethes and make it a centerpiece of a good meal. They were all fabulous and well received. Even my picky son tried and liked pretty much everything. (A major victory! We happened to catch him at an adventurous moment.)

Without further ado...here we go!

Dolmades (aka stuffed grape leaves), falafel, flatbread, and tabbouleh. Dips, olives, feta cheese, and basmati rice were added after the picture.

First up, dolmades or stuffed grape leaves. I used Emeril's recipe as my base, but made a few changes in how it was cooked. This was my first time making dolmades. I'm not a huge fan of dolmades in general, but my husband thought these were great (and even I thought they were ok). *Recipe at end of post*

I made tzatziki for dipping. I don't think that this is a terribly authentic tzatziki as it's my twist on a friend's interpretation of tzatziki, but it is very good! *Recipe at end of post*

I used Tyler Florence's Tabbouleh recipe without any changes. It was very good. A tip I read elsewhere said to stick to curly parsley. Italian parsley can be too tough for this parsley salad.

I turned to my own falafel and hummus recipes. They hit the spot every time.

Instead of pitas, I made a flatbread. This recipe for flatbread from Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking is fabulous and easy. I make a double batch to get eight pieces of flatbread. The flatbread can be eaten straight or filled with various mezethes to make an impromptu sandwich.

Also on the plate, basmati rice with pine nuts, some kalamata olives, and some crumbled feta cheese to round out the meal.

Do you have any favorite mezethes?

Dolmades
olive oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup pine nuts
1 cup basmati rice, cooked
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 TBSP minced mint
2 lemons, juiced
1 (8 oz) jar of grape leaves
broth (chicken or vegetable) or water to cover
2 TBSP olive oil

In a large pan, heat a couple of TBSP of olive oil. Add the onions and saute until translucent, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and pine nuts and saute for 2 minutes. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and allow to cool slightly. Add the rice, salt, raisins, mint and juice from 1 lemon and mix well. Set aside.

Blanch the grape leaves in boiling water for a couple of minutes and then quickly cool in cold water. Cut the stem from each grape leaf as needed.

To assemble the dolmades, place 2 to 3 tsp of rice filling near the stem end of the leaf. Fold and foll the leaf into a small package. (See this link for an excellent demonstration of how to wrap dolmades.)

Place the dolmades in a large Dutch oven seam side down. Stack them if necessary. Pour the remaining lemon juice and 2 TBSP of olive oil over the dolmades. Cover with a heavy plate and add water and/or broth to cover to the level of the plate. (Note: The plate is very important. Dolmades not weighted down by a plate will unwrap while cooking. I used a plate and put a mug full of water on top for extra weight.) Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes.

Serve at room temperature.

Tzatziki
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tsp lemon juice
3 TBSP tahini
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 diced cucumber, seeds removed
salt to taste

Mix all ingredients together and serve.

Real food for lunch! Fish Sticks

2010-04-15T01:00:00.000-07:00

Do you use Cool Whip? Or maybe you did once upon a time and then were turned off by the ingredients. Then you really should check out Truwhip. A great tasting whipped topping that is completely HFCS and trans fat free! I'm giving away two coupons for a free container of Truwhip whipped topping. Head on over to A Life Less Sweet Reviews for a chance to win!

Yesterday I talked about working to reclaim lunches in our household. While I am generally quite content preparing more complicated and time-consuming dinners, the same cannot be said of lunch (and even less so of breakfast). Fast and easy rules the day when it comes to lunches. What to do when you have a child that doesn't care for the traditional fast and easy lunch - the sandwich? Well, in the past I've turned to a box of macaroni and cheese, but it's time to put that crutch away. In that light, I hope to show you a few of the new lunches making the rounds at our house here and there over the next several weeks.

First up, baked fish sticks! I am not a fan of fish, so this is not a meal that I've turned to in the past. My kids, however, are big seafood fans - especially my son. I was struck by the (maybe not-so-novel) idea of making homemade fish sticks for my kids as an easy lunch option. Ok, yes, this takes a bit of work, but what makes this easy is that I can prepare a lot of fish sticks and freeze them. Voila! Lots of future super-easy lunches!

I used cod because I assumed that this was a fish used in a lot of processed fish sticks, and cod was one of the more inexpensive fish the day I was shopping. I know next to nothing about fish, so use whatever makes you happy.

The verdict on these fish sticks - my son loved them! My husband thought that they were tasty too. They were easy to reheat in the oven after being frozen. A little bit of up-front effort seems to have yielded quite a few quick, healthy lunches!

A note on the recipe...I have turned into my mother. It always drives me slightly crazy the way my mother doesn't really use a recipe. She uses a little of this and a pinch of that and a temperature just so. I like a recipe - ingredients and amounts written down to follow precisely (or change how I see fit, as I usually do). Well, when I'm making up a recipe on the fly, that's not how I work. Just like my mother, I use a little of this and a pinch of that. Sometimes I think ahead and write down what I do so that I can more easily share the recipe...and sometimes I don't. The following recipe is hopefully an accurate representation of how I prepared these fish sticks. It's at least very close! You should certainly modify to suit your own tastes. Use the seasoning that makes you happy. Don't have panko? Use all regular bread crumbs or cornmeal instead. Make it yours and enjoy!

Homemade Baked Fish Sticks

1 lb fish fillets (I used cod)
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs (read the ingredients! Some brands of panko have some pretty sketchy ingredients.)
2 eggs, lightly beaten and thinned with about 1 TBSP of water
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp ground thyme
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp seasoning salt (or to taste)
cooking spray (like Pam)

Preheat oven to 400 F. Lightly coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Combine the flour, thyme and garlic powder in a shallow bowl. Pour the thinned egg into a separate shallow bowl. Last, combine the breadcrumbs and panko in a third shallow bowl or plate.

Cut the fish fillets into 1" wide strips. Sprinkle the fish on all sides with the seasoning salt. Dredge each strip first in the flour mixture, then in the egg, and last in the breadcrumbs. Place the coated strips on the baking sheet. Lightly spray all of the strips with oil.

Cook the fish for 10 min or until flaky.

To freeze:
Place cooked strips neatly on a baking sheet. Make sure that there is a little space between each strip. Cover with foil or plastic wrap and put in freezer for a few hours until the strips are completely frozen. Store in a container of your choice.

To reheat, cook the frozen strips in a 400 F oven for 10-12 min or until strips are completely warmed.

Want some more healthy lunch ideas? I love the weekly menu planning posts at Super Healthy Kids. Lots of wonderful ideas for every meal of the day ripe for the pickin'!

Babble.com recently listed their Top 50 Mom Bloggers. No, I didn't make the list, but I was nominated in the "Who Do You Like" category. Care to make my day and give my blog a thumb's up? Go here and vote for A Life Less Sweet!

What's for lunch? A closer look at boxed mac 'n cheese.

2010-04-14T13:28:00.000-07:00

When it comes time to feed your kids lunch, do you ever turn to a handy box of macaroni and cheese? I must admit, I do. I serve it too often when my son is home. A dear friend of mine recently asked me what I thought of the ingredients in Annie's brand mac 'n cheese. Now, I read ingredient lists - religiously - but nonetheless, I couldn't recall a thing about the ingredients in boxed mac 'n cheese outside of the fact that none have HFCS or trans fat in them. Time to change that!

Without further ado...let's learn a little more about the ingredients in boxed mac 'n cheese.

First up, Annie's Deluxe Elbows and Four Cheese Sauce. The ingredients in all of the Annie's boxed mac 'n cheeses are virtually identical. I chose this particular variety because it's what my kids are most likely to eat at home. Take a look at the ingredients:

Organic wheat elbow pasta, four cheese sauce [cheddar, asiago, parmesan and monterey jack cheeses (pasteurized milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes), water, cream, whey, natural sodium phosphate, salt, natural flavor, lactic acid, sodium alginate, annatto extract for natural color]

Really and truly...I was pleasantly surprised by the ingredient list. Nonetheless, there are a few ingredients that look scary, so let's break it down a bit more. I'm going to skip the common, every day ingredients.

Whey - simply the liquid leftover after milk has been curdled and strained during the cheese making process.

Natural Sodium Phosphate - an additive with lots of different potential functions. Sodium phosphate can help prevent off flavors in foods, is an emulsifier, is a leavening agent, is a texture-modifying agent, and is a buffering agent. Concentrated sodium phosphate (much more concentrated than the small amount present in processed foods) is also used as a laxative for enemas.

Sodium phosphate is produced by reacting mined phosphates with caustic soda of lime to produce phosphate salts. Where does the "natural" come in? I'm not sure. Perhaps it can be called natural as it produced by reacting substances found in nature. Or maybe they extract it from some other plant or animal source (much as natural nitrates are found in celery). Plus, adding natural makes it sound more friendly, doesn't it?

Is it safe? The Center for Science in the Public Interest categorizes sodium phosphate as "safe." As a food additive, the concerns surrounding sodium phosphate are relatively minor. Consuming too much phosphate can interfere with calcium absorption leading to osteoporosis concerns. The small amounts present in a box of mac 'n cheese shouldn't pose a problem with calcium absorption, but it could conceivably be more of a concern if someone is consuming lots and lots of processed foods.

Natural Flavor - What exactly is natural flavor? Get ready...under the US Code of Federal Regulations, natural flavor is defined as,

"the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product or roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products therof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional."

Basically, "natural flavor" is a clearing house for anything used in small amounts strictly for flavoring. It could come from from meat, dairy, wheat...anything derived from a natural source. There is little way to know what the composition is from product to product unless the manufacturer agrees to disclose when asked. Understandably, "natural flavors" is a controversial ingredient listing. To add more fuel to the fire, "natural" flavorings really may not be any better than "artificial" flavorings. You can read a bit more about the controversy surrounding "natural flavor" here and here. (I'll note that Annie's states that their "natural flavors" do not contain any of the top eight allergens.)

Lactic Acid - used to add tartness and as a preservative. Lactic acid is what gives sourdough bread it's characteristic flavor and what makes sauerkraut sour. Despite the name, lactic acid as an ingredient is a non-dairy product typically produced through a bacterial process.

Sodium Alginate - a very effective algae derived thickener.

Annatto Extract - a natural colorant derived from the dark red seeds of the Annatto tree, a tropical evergreen.

What do you think? I actually think that Annie's does a pretty good job keeping their mac 'n cheese as free from additives as possible. Granted, this is still not what I would call a "real" food. A home cook isn't going to reach for a jar of sodium phosphate or sodium alginate when making cheese sauce at home (though cheaper cheeses may contain these ingredients), but it seems about as additive free as a box of shelf-stable mac 'n cheese can get.

Now...for fun, let's compare that old stand-by, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.

Enriched Macaroni Product (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate [Iron], Thiamin Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], Riboflavin [Vitamin B2], Folic Acid) Cheese Sauce Mix (Whey, Milkfat, Milk Protein Concentrate, Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Contains less than 2% of Citric Acid, Sodium Phosphate, Lactic Acid, Milk, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Enzymes, Cheese Culture)

The first thing I noticed is that the Kraft mac 'n cheese uses enriched flour. Many of the vitamins and minerals are stripped away when making wheat into white flour, and often flours are enriched in an attempt to add some of that goodness back. The Annie's product that I picked to evaluate doesn't use whole wheat pasta, so other than the fact that Annie's flour is organic, it isn't necessarily any better than what Kraft is using - both use white flour pastas. Honestly, I'm a little surprised that Annie's pasta isn't enriched.

Moving on...the Kraft product has the same sodium phosphate and lactic acid, but they add a few more artificial goodies to the mix - like two kinds of artificial yellow food coloring. Let's take a closer look at some of the other strange ingredients in the mix:

Milk Protein Concentrate - For such an innocent sounding ingredient, milk protein concentrate (MPC) is actually fairly controversial. MPC is pasteurized milk that has gone through an ultrafiltration process. In the filtration process, the big protein molecules are retained while lactose, milk, and minerals are washed away. The high-protein retentate is then spray dried to produce MPC.

Sounds innocuous, right? Ethicurian.com had an interesting article last year detailing the concerns surrounding MPC. The biggies - potential contamination and the unknown. Much of the MPC used in the US is an imported product. Big concerns over the purity and origins (is the MPC produced from cow or yak milk, for example) of imported MPC exist. MPC isn't included on the FDA's list of "Generally Recognized As Safe" additives that are allowed in foods because the necessary testing for inclusion on the list hasn't been done yet.

Sodium Tripolyphosphate - yet another phosphate! This one (also known as STP) is different because it is a polyphosphate. In foods, STP is used as a texturizer, binder, and preservative. STP is also a strong cleaner in more concentrated form and is often found in detergents and soaps. STP is generally considered to be safe as a food additive.

Calcium Carbonate - a common substance found in rock and marine shells around the world. Calcium carbonate is often used as a calcium supplement.

Ready to dig into a bowl of macaroni and cheese? I'll tell you what I'm ready to do...clean up our lunches! I won't promise to never serve a lunch made with processed ingredients again, but boxed mac 'n cheese is going to become a bit scarcer around here (though I can also guarantee that it will be made on occasion). We're becoming a little more conscientious about the processed foods we use. My kids will be eating puh-lenty of processed foods in their life. I can at least do my part to keep the food at home as nutritious and real as our life will allow.

Come back tomorrow for a giveaway and a great "real food" lunch alternative!

Good stuff from around the blogosphere

2010-04-09T09:40:00.000-07:00

Spring break is winding down here and so is my blogging break! To wade back into the swing of things, here are a few recipes that caught my eye the last couple of weeks. I can't wait to try these!

Our Best Bites has a Breakfast taquitos recipe that looks fantastic! I think that this will make a great Meatless Monday meal next week! Their baked chicken taquitos are also fantastic.

Do your kids like zucchini? Mine typically don't. Who can blame them? They can have a slimy texture when cooked and they have a pretty distinct flavor that can be an acquired taste. Never fear! Itty Bitty Bistro has a recipe for Zucchini Nuggets that is sure to make a zucchini lover out of any kid (or adult for that matter)! My kids are also crazy about these Zucchini Sticks from Cooking Light. We serve them with a side of jarred marinara to dip in.

Apples and Butter has a great looking Herbed Salad Dressing that I can't wait to try!

Weelicious has a great looking recipe that combines fruit and pancakes to make little breakfast bites. My daughter will love their Banana Bites. I'll probably substitute strawberry or apple for the banana for my son.

Serious Eats has a very yummy looking wings recipe. Their Soy-Dijon Chicken Wings make my mouth water!

Last, a great looking one-ingredient ice cream. The ingredient? Frozen banana! Just stick it in a food processor to make what tastes like soft serve banana ice cream. I first saw this idea at Choosing Raw, but I've since seen it (along with a good prep tip) at Our Best Bites. My parents have tried this and assure me that it is fantastic. I still haven't tried it, but I have some banana in my freezer just waiting to be used (unless my dear husband snags it for his smoothies again)!

Meatless Monday - Fantasma Pizza

2010-04-05T06:13:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the lack of posts lately! We're in the middle of spring break here, and even though we've had a continuous helping of snow, I've been enjoying my staycation. New posts are coming! Just not today... Today I want to reshare my recipe for my favorite pizza with white sauce. I really love this pizza. It satisfies the garlic monster inside of me.

I love pizza. And while I like me some pepperoni, 99% of the time I prefer to have my pizza meatless. With two kids in the house and a limited budget, I make pizza at home a lot. Thanks to my breadmaker, I can make a decent whole wheat pizza dough in about an hour. Because I can choose the quality and quantity of the ingredients, I consider my homemade pizza a healthy food and don't mind making it for my kids.

There's a restaurant in my town that makes divine pizzas. The crust, the sauce, the ingredients...I love everything about these pizzas! Cafe Ponza has a pizza that is particularly delicious - the Fantasma. This pizza has a white sauce for a base and is topped with roasted garlic, caramelized onions, pancetta, and herbs. For my home version, I left off the pancetta and made a great meatless pizza.

My pizza was very, very good. It takes a bit of time to get all of the ingredients prepared for the pizza, but this is actually a very easy pizza to make. Cafe Ponza doesn't need to worry, though, because my crust doesn't even approach theirs. Still, I'll make this again (and again)!

Fantasma Pizza

pizza dough (my breadmaker dough recipe is at the bottom, but use whatever makes you happy for your dough or crust)
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 large head of garlic, roasted
1 cup milk (skim or whatever you have on hand)
2 TBSP butter
2 TBSP all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried oregano
3 TBSP of thinly sliced fresh basil (or to taste)
olive oil
parmesan or romano, shredded (splurg on the real deal for this - no Kraft allowed!)

Caramelize the onions: Put the onion in a medium saute pan with a TBSP or so of oil and cook over medium heat until the onion is brown but not burned.

Make the white sauce: Gently heat the milk in a saucepan or in the microwave. Keep warm. In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Add flour and use a whisk to mix it in. Cook for 1-2 minutes. The flour shouldn't change color (this is a white roux). Slowly whisk the milk into the flour mixture. Cook the mixture, whisking continuously, until the sauce boils and is thickened. Remove from heat and add in 8-10 roasted garlic cloves. Put in a blender or food processor and blend to incorporate the garlic cloves. Stir in 1/2 tsp of dried oregano.

Preheat oven to 425 F. Prepare the pizza dough on a pizza pan. Spread a thin layer of the white sauce on the prepared dough. (You may have some white sauce left over.) Top with caramelized onion and basil. Place roasted garlic cloves liberally around the pizza. Finish with grated parmesan sprinkled over entire pizza - as much or as little you desire.

Bake pizza for 15 min at 425 F. Enjoy!

Breadmaker Pizza Dough
For a 1 lb batch of dough

3/4 cup warm water
1 TBSP olive oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 1/4 cups flour - can be completely all-purpose or a mix of all-purpose and whole wheat flour (I usually do about 1/2 white whole wheat)
1 tsp yeast

Combine water, oil, sugar and salt in breadmaker pan. Add in flour, and pour yeast on top of the flour. Put in breadmaker on "Pizza Dough" setting or consult your breadmaker's manual for the best setting.

Meatless Monday - Layered Greek Pasta Bake

2010-03-22T13:01:00.000-07:00

It's a busy, busy week here, so I am digging into the archives for today's Meatless Monday post. We had this Layered Pasta Bake again recently, and I was reminded how good it is. Despite the inclusion of zucchini and feta cheese, my kids are wild about this dish!

I came across a cookbook by Linda McCartney a few months ago at our local library - Linda McCartney's World of Vegetarian Cooking. For a cookbook with such a cheesy name, it's actually got quite a few good recipes in it, including this one. In fact, I liked the book so much that I now own it.

My kids do their best to pick around the zucchini, but they still love this dish - and even manage to get some of the zucchini into their bodies. I've considered pureeing the sauteed zucchini and hiding it in the sauce, but haven't gone to that effort so far.

Layered Pasta Bake

14 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup tomato puree
1 cup water
1 tsp dried thyme
2 cloves garlic, minced
10 sun-dried tomatoes, crushed (I used oil packed sun-dried tomatoes)
8 oz crumbled feta
3 cups dried pasta (penne or fusilli or rigatoni)
1 medium onion, chopped
3 medium zucchini, sliced
1/2 cup cheddar, grated
freshly chopped basil to garnish

In a medium saucepan, simmer the tomatoes, tomato puree, and water with the thyme, garlic, and sun-dried tomatoes. When the sauce has reduced and thickened a little (about 8-10 min), add the feta. Meanwhile, cook the pasta. Drain, and mix thoroughly with the tomato sauce.

Saute the onion and zucchini for about 5 min. (I think that I sauteed a little longer. My onions and zucchini were just starting to brown a bit.)

Spread half of the pasta mixture in a 13x9 baking dish and layer the zucchini mixture on top. Cover with the rest of the pasta mixture. Top with cheese and bake at 350 F for 20 min. Garnish with fresh basil before serving.

Now for a request. A reader and friend is looking for a tasty breakfast "cookie." Do you have one to share? I must admit, I am not having a lot of luck with this challenge! The couple I've tried so far have been heavy and not very appealing to any of us!

Meatless Monday - Nutty Granola Bars

2010-03-15T13:03:00.000-07:00

I've posted my Chewy Granola Bars recipe a couple of times before on this blog. It's a favorite around here and amazingly has remained pretty much unchanged for a couple of years. Unchanged...until a couple of weeks ago. Sometimes change just has to happen. Some added spice, a dollop of almond butter, and voila! Chewy Granola Bars are transformed into Nutty Granola Bars!

These granola bars are such a tasty and easy alternative to store-bought granola bars. And while they do have butter and sugar in them, the ingredient list is simple, and I can control what I'm putting in them. No hidden trans fat. Only whole grains. And with the addition of some nut butter, they get a protein boost. I feel content serving these as a snack to my kids - or even as a breakfast on special occasion.

I used MaraNatha No-Stir Almond Butter (free samples were provided by MaraNatha for a previous review and giveaway), but I think that any nut butter would be fine. I generally have only plain-jane natural peanut or almond butter on hand, and that is what I will probably use in the future. For the spice, I opted for pumpkin pie spice, which is a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Plain cinnamon would be a great substitute.

Give these a try! Sometimes change is a very, very good thing.

Nutty Granola Bars

3 cups rolled oats (quick oats are fine)
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon
1/4 cup and 3 TBSP butter, softened
1/3 cup honey
3 TBSP and 1 and 3/4 tsp packed brown sugar
3 TBSP nut butter of choice
1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
3 TBSP flaxseed meal or wheat germ (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 F. Lightly grease a 9"x13" pan.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well.

Firmly press mixture into the prepared pan. Bake at 325 F for 20 min or until golden brown. Let cool for 10 min and then cut into bars. Let bars cool completely in pan before removing or serving. (This is so important! They'll be very crumbly until they are absolutely cool.) On hot summer days, might want to store in the fridge so that they're not as crumbly and the chocolate doesn't melt.

Meatless Monday - Purple Smoothie

2010-03-08T08:36:00.000-08:00

My husband is on a smoothie kick around here, and we're all benefiting from it! The inspiration for his latest smoothie is Alton Brown. We recently watched Alton Brown's Good Eats show where he talks about his diet changes and his subsequent weight loss. (Lists, oily fish, and real food are all involved.)

Fruit packed smoothies are also part of his diet. The base of his smoothie consists of a purple juice (like acai juice or pomegranate juice), soy milk (because dairy is a food that triggers more eating for him), and enough fruit to make a 24 oz drink. Why use a purple juice? Purple fruits - think blueberries, pomegranates, acai berries - are known to be packed full of antioxidants. The great thing about this smoothie is that it's a fun way to get a lot of fruit into your diet fast. Kids (and adults too) will often go for a smoothie even when they won't eat a piece of fresh fruit.

This smoothie makes a wonderful snack. It could also be a breakfast - and a good one if paired with something protein rich. (I actually think that my husband's other tofu-based smoothie makes a better breakfast by itself because it has a lot more protein - good for getting you going and keeping you going all morning.) My husband used almond milk instead of soy milk, and he used POM pomegranate-blueberry juice for his antioxidant packed purple juice. (Disclaimer: I have received free samples of POM in the past. We actually bought the juice used in this smoothie, however.)

We all really liked this smoothie when it was first made and full of ground bits of frozen fruit. I hate to say it, but I'm the only one that still liked it once all of the fruit had thawed. While my husband thought that it was refreshing while icy, he found it too gelatinous once it had thawed overnight. Something to consider if you make this. You might want to drink it straight away while it's still icy!

Alton Brown's Purple Smoothie

(Use a mix of your choice of frozen fruits. These are just suggestions.)
1 banana
4 oz vanilla almond milk, soy milk, or regular milk
4 oz purple juice (such as POM pomegranate-blueberry juice)
4 oz strawberries, frozen
4 oz blueberries, frozen
4 oz mixed berries, frozen
2 oz mango, frozen

Put liquids in the blender first, and then add the frozen fruits a little at a time. Start the blender on low speed and work up to high speed for best results. Enjoy!

Good news if you're a fan of Ayala's Herbal Water! Use the coupon code HWmarch2010 on your order and get $5 off! This coupon code is good through 3/31/10. Happy drinking!

Meatless Monday - West African Peanut Soup (and other great nut butter uses)

2010-03-01T06:46:00.000-08:00

Today's Meatless Monday post is all about nut butters. Why? Well, I have a few recipes that use nut butters that I want to share with you, and I have a nut butter giveaway going on at my other blog! Jump over to A Life Less Sweet Reviews for a chance to be one of 4 winners of a $5 coupon toward any MaraNatha Nut Butter product!

West African Peanut Soup
Sometime in the last couple of months, I saw a couple of African soup recipes with peanut butter in them. I don't know why, but the idea really resonated with me, and I just had to make a soup with peanut butter in it. My husband thought that I was slightly crazy (what else is new?), but he's also always game to try something different.

Google West African Peanut Soup, and you'll get tons of different recipes. The common denominator in these soup recipes tends to be sweet potatoes, peanut butter, and tomatoes (either in juice or whole form). Some are quite simple with few spices, and some are very complex. I pulled what appealed to me from several different recipes to make my soup.

I like this soup a lot. I loved the complex taste that all of the different spices added to the soup. The peanut butter helped to thicken the soup and also added to the complexity of the flavor without being an overpowering flavor.

I liked it, but what about everyone else? Do I even need to mention the kids? I knew going into this that they weren't going to like this soup, so I made them a pizza instead. They did dutifully try the soup, and they dutifully told me that they didn't like it. Surprisingly, my husband was only so-so on this soup. He did like it, but not as much as I thought he would. We both thought that all of the spices gave it a very Indian flavor. (Is that typical of West African food? Or did I gravitate toward the soup recipes with lots of spices because I like Indian food?) He said that he would like the soup better served over rice and with a little chicken or sauteed tofu in it. I'll give those ideas a try next time around.

(Soup recipe at the bottom of the post!)

Almond Butter Snacks
My son's school went peanut free last year. Because of that, we've started using almond butter a lot. Anything we might want to make with peanut butter to take to school, I just substitute almond butter, and because both nuts are packed with protein and good fats, I feel good sending him with some almond butter snacks.

One of my favorite almond butter snacks couldn't be easier. Take two crackers of your choice, spread a smear of almond butter on one and a smear of Nutella (a chocolate-hazelnut spread) on the other, and put them together. Voila! A very tasty and easy snack for his lunch box that can double as a dessert! This is good using regular crackers or you can play up the dessert aspect and use graham crackers.

My other favorite almond butter snack comes compliments of Fix Me A Snack - Almond Butter Balls. These little balls are filled with good stuff and absolutely addictive. I make a double batches of Almond Butter Balls at a time and freeze them. I pull them out as a high-protein morning snack and have even been known to serve a couple along with breakfast. Seriously, give these a try. SO good!

Breakfast
Last, a simple breakfast using whatever nut butter tickles your fancy. I'm not a big breakfast fan. If it isn't quick and easy, then I'll probably just go without. Not the best eating strategy, but there you go. One of my quick and easy breakfasts is simply to quarter a banana, top with a smear of peanut or almond butter, a smattering of raisins, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Simple. Fast. Delicious. And nothing but good stuff with some protein to boot.

On to the soup recipe, as promised...

West African Peanut Soup

2 cups chopped onions
1 tsp grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chopped carrot
2 cups chopped sweet potatoes
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 can coconut milk
2 bay leaves
1 TBSP sugar (optional)
1 cup peanut butter
chopped green onions and chopped cilantro for garnish

Saute the onion in oil until translucent.
Add the carrots, ginger, and garlic. Stir in the spices (cloves through cinnamon). Saute a couple of more minutes.
Mix in the sweet potatoes, broth, tomatoes, coconut milk, sugar, and bay leaves. Bring the soup to a boil and simmer for 15 min or until the vegetables are tender.
Leave chunky if preferred or use an immersion blender or a regular blender to puree the vegetables as much as desired.
Return soup to pot. Stir in the peanut butter until smooth.
Serve topped with chopped green onions and cilantro.

Can't get enough of nut butters? Jump to A Life Less Sweet Reviews to read why we switched to natural peanut butter and to enter to win a MaraNatha coupon worth $5!

Meatless Monday - Baked Vegetable Wontons

2010-02-22T00:01:00.000-08:00

Hop on over to A Life Less Sweet Reviews to enter the giveaway for a gift box full of Ayala's Herbal Water! Enter by the end of Wednesday for a chance to win and try this unusual flavored water!

Today is not the first time I've talked about wontons. They're such versatile and simple little wrappers. Stuff with whatever you want, seal with a little water, fry or bake, and voila! Deliciousness!

I love, love, love the cream cheese stuffed fried wontons that you can buy at cheap Chinese restaurants. So, when I saw a recipe for Crispy Vegetable Wontons in Linda McCartney's World of Vegetarian Cooking, I thought that I would take the recipe and make it my own. My ingredients are slightly different from Linda McCartney's recipe, and her recipe called for frying the wonton. I wanted something a little lighter, so I decided to bake them instead.

We all loved these wontons. (Well, to be honest, my daughter wasn't thrilled with them, but give her 5 seconds and she might have a different opinion. Can you say picky?) I paired them with some edamame and brown rice and a little bowl of soy sauce for dipping. In the words of my son, "This is a keeper, mom!"

Baked Vegetable Wontons

1/3 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup cabbage, finely shredded
1/3 cup mung beansprouts
2 green onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup chopped shitake mushrooms
1 TBSP soy sauce
1 oz cream cheese
1/2 tsp sesame oil
small wonton wrappers

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Heat a tsp of oil in a saute pan. Add the carrots through mushrooms and saute for 2-3 minutes. Set vegetables aside and let cool.

Add the cooled vegetables to the rest of the ingredients and combine well. Put a generous teaspoonful in the center of each wonton. Dampen the edges of the wonton with water and fold the wonton wrapper in half, pressing at the damp edges to close.

Place each finished wonton on a baking sheet lightly coated with cooking spray. Cook wontons in hot oven for about 15 min or until wontons are slightly browned on the bottom. Serve with a little soy sauce on the side.

Water with a kick!

2010-02-18T20:05:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been really thirsty and craved something refreshing like water but with a little flavor? Not one of those sweet flavored waters, but just water with a pure flavor? Then you need to check out Ayala's Herbal Waters.

Click over to A Life Less Sweet Reviews for more on Ayala's Herbal Waters and a chance to win a gift pack of these waters in a giveaway!

It's almost Mardi Gras! Time for king cake!

2010-02-15T07:58:00.000-08:00

I'm diverging from Meatless Monday to share a wonderful king cake recipe with you to celebrate Mardi Gras. But...it IS meatless, so feel free to think of this as a delicious (and maybe unusual if you aren't from southern Louisiana or Mississippi) dessert edition of Meatless Monday!

Even though I grew up in coastal Mississippi where every town has their own Mardi Gras parade and schools get Fat Tuesday off, I don't have any memories of king cake until moving to Louisiana as an adult. I'm sure that I had my share of king cake as a child, but in Lousiana, I had lots and lots of king cake. It's a way of life down there during Mardi Gras season. We've continued the tradition in our current home of Wyoming to help my son, a Louisiana native, celebrate his heritage (not to mention it's just fun and tasty).

If you're not familiar with Mardi Gras, it's the season just before lent culminating on Mardi Gras day - the day before lent starts. It is the American South's version of Carnival. Mardi Gras is known for lots of rich foods, parties, and parades, and is celebrated from the Florida panhandle through southern Louisiana (and other places too, I'm sure).

What is King Cake? This traditional cake of Mardi Gras was brought over by the French settlers and has morphed into what we eat today. The cake is a sweet brioche often with a slight cinnamon flavor. Modern variations can be found stuffed with a cream cheese or fruit filling.

Everything about the king cake is symbolic. The circular or oval shape is to honor the three kings. The traditional Mardi Gras colors that decorate the cake are traditional too: purple represents justice, green represents faith, and gold represents faith. A small plastic baby (or bean) is often put inside of the cake to represent the baby Jesus. In Louisiana, whoever found the baby had to bring the next king cake. We're adding our own twist and saying that whoever finds the baby will have good luck the rest of the year.

King cakes are a Mardi Gras season tradition, but they've become so popular that bakeries make them and people buy them year round now. Seems like most bakeries in southern Louisiana will ship their king cake nationwide, but we choose to go the cheaper (and just as tasty) homemade route.

The recipe for this sweet treat looks daunting, I know, but it really isn't that bad. You need some time, but each step is actually pretty easy. It's even easier if you have a mixer with a dough hook to do the kneading for you! (I use the mixer to do most of the mixing, taking a little time to mix in the butter with my own hands. If you're using a mixer, 6 minutes of kneading with a dough hook seems to do the trick.) Enjoy!

Will you watch? The Olympics and other stuff worth looking at

2010-02-12T09:55:00.000-08:00

The Winter Olympics start this weekend! Living in a place that is snowbound much of the year and home to several past winter Olympic atheletes, I have a thing for the winter Olympics. And this year there is a little extra buzz in the area as several US and French Olympic skiers are in my area - skiing on my hill! (though admittedly on runs that I do not ski) - as their last training/racing stop before the Olympics.

A lot of the competitors have been training their entire lives for this one opportunity. If you want to follow and support Team USA, head on over to TeamUSAnews.org. You can register through the site and get the latest info and exclusive updates throughout the games.

Do you have an old ipod just collecting dust? The Autism Alliance or MetroWest in Natrick, MA is collecting old ipods to repurpose to autistic children and adults with sensory issues who could really benefit from the sensory isolation that an ipod can offer. Read more about the program here. And read more about how an ipod can help those with autism at MOM - Not Otherwise Specified.

Finally, a few recipes that I'm drooling over.

Homemade goat cheese from Kiss My Spatula. That's right. It looks surprisingly easy to make, and as I am crazy for goat cheese, this is a must try for me!
Indian Lental and Rice Pancakes compliments of Vegan Dad. I'm not the biggest bean fan (to put it mildly), but these really look good to me.
Chicken Enpanadas from Short Stop. I love my corn and cheese empanadas. These chicken empanadas don't look difficult and even come with a good looking empanada dough recipe!

Meatless Monday - Easy Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

2010-02-08T08:47:00.000-08:00

There is still time to enter the Equal Exchange Chocolate and Coffee gift bag giveaway! Hurry over to A Life Less Sweet Reviews for details!

I must admit, when I want to make spaghetti fast, I generally turn to a jar (Newman's Own Marinara to be exact). When I have lots of extra time, I'll make a delicious 3 hour meat-filled spaghetti sauce that the adults love, but my kids...not so much. My kids would so much rather have a meatless spaghetti sauce. Somehow, I managed to forget about my quick homemade spaghetti sauce along the way. Last week, I made it again and remembered how good and easy it is.

I came up with this recipe years and years ago. In the beginning, I was lucky enough to have an abundance of home-canned tomatoes from my husband's grandfather made from his home-grown tomatoes. Those tomatoes made the best sauce in the world. My mouth still craves them. Luckily, this sauce is still good with regular old store-bought canned tomatoes. I add a little soy sauce and balsamic vinegar to give the sauce a little depth. I also like to use fresh herbs, but you could use dried instead - just use less if you go the dried route.

The kids absolutely loved this spaghetti sauce. Next time, I think that I'll try replacing the sugar with a 1/4 cup of sweet potato instead. Oh - and don't be afraid to make extra! This sauce freezes beautifully!

Cathy's Quick Spaghetti Sauce

1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 lb 12 of canned crushed tomatoes
2-3 tsp fresh oregano, chopped
2 tsp sugar
2 TBSP tomato paste
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
pepper to taste
6 oz mushrooms, chopped
1-2 tsp fresh oregano, chopped
1-2 TBSP fresh basil, chopped

Saute the onion in a sauce pan for 3-5 min. Add pressed garlic and saute 1 minute more. Add crushed tomatoes and bring to a boil. Add next 7 ingredients (oregano through mushrooms). Simmer uncovered for 30-40 minutes until desired consistency is reached. Add salt to taste. Add remaining oregano and basil at last minute. Serve over spaghetti noodles.

I took a moment and used an immersion blender to puree the onion a bit after adding the crushed tomatoes. That step is completely unnecessary, but it made the sauce more appealing to my kids who have a thing about onion chunks.

Chocolate and Coffee Giveaway! You don't want to miss this!

2010-02-04T09:41:00.000-08:00

I adore chocolate. A few years ago, if I was eating chocolate, you can be sure that it was milk chocolate. Then we went dairy free for my then infant son for an extended period of time, and I discovered the bliss that is dark chocolate. Deep chocolate taste that is good for you (in limited quantities)? Sold!

So, I was thrilled when Mambo Sprouts contacted me about doing an Equal Exchange Chocolate and Coffee gift bag giveaway. Now...head on over to A Life Less Sweet Reviews to read more about Equal Exchange products and to enter this delicious giveaway!

Meatless Monday - Cheesy Spaghetti Squash

2010-02-01T08:54:00.000-08:00

Have you ever tried spaghetti squash? Growing up in the deep South, my family just didn't eat winter squash - ever. But I do distinctly remember having spaghetti squash as an older child. My mom and I thought that it would be super-cool to eat it like spaghetti noodles with spaghetti sauce. Now, lots of people absolutely enjoy spaghetti squash this way. I liked it so much that we never ate spaghetti squash again. Spaghetti squash was just not a flavor for me.

Fast forward a couple of decades to the next time I ate spaghetti squash. It was served as a side to my entree at a restaurant. I tried some - skeptically - and loved it! My taste has definitely changed over the years, but I think that the preparation of this spaghetti squash made all of the difference. This side was so simple - spaghetti squash, a little butter, and some cheese.

What is spaghetti squash? It's an oblong, pale colored winter squash whose flesh becomes stringy when cooked. It's really quite amazing how much it resembles spaghetti when cooked. It's has a mild flavor and a slight sweetness. Like most winter squash, spaghetti squash will keep for a long time after buying - as long as a month at room temperature.

On to the recipe! Give this a try some night - so easy and very tasty. We like to have meals of just vegetable sides. With it's unusual texture, spaghetti squash makes a wonderful addition to all vegetable meals.

Cheesy Spaghetti Squash

1 medium spaghetti squash
3 TBSP butter
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
salt to taste

Preheat oven to 400 F. Cut spaghetti squash in half and remove the seeds. Place cut side down on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 30 min or until squash is tender all the way through.

The baked spaghetti squash

When squash is cool enough to handle (but still warm), use a fork to flake out the stringy strands of squash into a bowl.

The baked squash after using a fork to flake the strands

Add in butter, cheese, and salt and mix well. Serve warm.

(As always, you should fiddle with the ingredients so that it suits your tastes. Add more or less butter. Use Asiago or Cheddar instead of Parmesan. The sky is the limit!)

I'm a one trick pony when it comes to spaghetti squash but would love to add some more tricks to my repertoire. What's your favorite way to eat spaghetti squash?

A not-so-nice surprise in your kid's graham crackers

2010-01-27T09:50:00.000-08:00

If you have kids, chances are you have a box of graham crackers sitting in your pantry. If you're a baker, you might have some graham crackers sitting around for a pie crust or maybe even some smores. Graham crackers seem synonymous with childhood and pies. Both of my kids' schools keep graham crackers on hand as emergency snacks.

Know what else seems synonymous with graham crackers? Trans fat and HFCS. Yum, yum!

It's been a while since I've bought graham crackers, but I did just that last week. I had a dessert recipe that called for graham crackers, and the kids thought that they would be a tasty snack as well. I went to the graham cracker aisle and did my normal box flip to scan the ingredients, and was disgusted to find that every single box of graham crackers in that particular grocery store had partially hydrogenated oils and usually HFCS too. Keebler graham crackers, Nabisco graham crackers, Teddy Grahams, graham cracker sticks of every sort, the store brand - every single one (and a few others that aren't listed) contained partially hydrogenated oils as an ingredient. And yes, those premade graham cracker pie crusts, they generally have partially hydrogenated oils in them too.

What's a mom to do? We've made a commitment to NOT buy foods containing partially hydrogenated oils (need some reasons to do the same? Read about trans fat here.), so I went on a search. Luckily, there are graham crackers without partially hydrogenated oils or HFCS on the market. Both of the other grocery stores in my small town carry at least one of the two that I know about.

We bought New Morning Organic Honey Grahams. And you know what? They tasted just as good as the graham crackers that use partially hydrogenated oils.

Another option that seems to be a common brand is Mi-Del Honey Grahams.

Or you could even go so far as to make your own. I bought some graham flour a couple of weeks ago in anticipation of trying this recipe for graham crackers.

And if you need a pre-made graham cracker crust option, look for Arrowhead Mills pie crusts. Graham cracker pie crusts are incredibly easy to make too.

The moral to this story? Don't assume that just because something is marketed toward your children that it is trans fat free! (In fact, these days it seems like if a product is marketed toward children, it's sure to be filled with sugar and less-than-desirable ingredients.) Flip those boxes over and read the ingredients! And also remember that just because one brand has an ingredient that you don't like, doesn't mean that they all do. I can usually find a substitute with an ingredient list that I can stomach with just the smallest amount of work. Or make it myself!

Meatless Monday - Making peace with tofu

2010-01-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

I've been busy on A Life Less Sweet Reviews! Jump over to find out how to enter to win a Gatorade G2 gift basket, how to get a free sample of tea, and more!

Start to delve into the meatless world and you are bound to run into tofu. My problem...I don't like tofu...at all. I don't like its texture, and I don't like the way it tastes. I pick it out of my miso soup. I cringe if I find it in my stir fry. But, as you may have guessed, I have found ways to use tofu that I do actually enjoy.

My exploration with tofu actually started when my daughter was a baby. She had a lot of food intolerances and was slightly anemic. Add in the fact that she really didn't like meat, and I started playing around a bit with tofu. Tofu, a soy product, is high in protein and other good stuff - like iron, manganese, and calcium. Tofu is also a complete protein, making it especially attractive if you're going meatless.

But how to get around the texture. Even the firmest tofu is on the squishy, slimy side. I've used a couple of methods to address this.

First, hide it! Silken tofu, which has a soft, custardy texture, disappears in a smoothie. In a dessert, it adds to the texture, but you never even know it's there. The taste? That texture? Totally disguised.

To that end, a couple of recipes for you. This Peanut Butter Power Smoothie is a fantastic smoothie. It's packed full of protein and is absolutely delicious. Drink it for breakfast or a liquid lunch, and it will keep you going for a while. (And yes, I know that peanut butter in a smoothie sounds totally weird. I didn't think that I'd like it either, but it really is good.)

And from Fix Me A Snack, silken tofu in a pudding - Chocolate Cinnamon Pudding. This pudding is really tasty, really filling. Make it in small portions and serve as a protein packed dessert or as an after school (or work) snack.

Second, transform it. While firm tofu in miso soup or added at the last minute to a stir fry makes my stomach turn a bit, if I cut it into small squares, marinate it for a while and then saute or bake it, the tofu transforms into tasty little almost-meaty blocks. The outside of the cubes develops a crust that really changes the texture of the tofu. The inside retains that tofu texture, but if you make your cubes on the small side, it's just a nice counter for the crust.

For a tutorial on baked tofu, check out this old post on "How to Make Tofu (So It Doesn't Suck)" at May's Machete.

For sauteed tofu, I drain firm or extra-firm tofu and cut it into small cubes (about 3/4 - 1" cubes) and simply marinate it in soy sauce for a while. I have no set time for marinating the tofu. In fact, sometimes I don't marinate it and just add soy sauce at the very end of sauteing - the crust soaks up the soy sauce. Then simply saute with a little oil over medium-high heat until your tofu blocks are crusty. Sprinkle with some green onions or garnish of your choice and enjoy!

How do you like your tofu? Any good recipes or tips for those of us that are tofu-phobic?

Good news for Gatorade G2 drinkers!

2010-01-12T17:29:00.000-08:00

Hip, hip hooray! Gatorade has listened to its customers and is ridding it's popular G2 drink of HFCS!

From an e-mail received from a Gatorade employee (the bold is their addition):

Gatorade’s G2, a low-calorie sports drink with less than half the calories of Gatorade but all of the same hydration benefits, can keep you energized and hydrated for your workouts or sports activities. Through our research and understanding of athletes, we have learned that many have a negative perception of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). Even though scientific research has shown that HFCS does not impact obesity, we understand the concerns, and HFCS has been removed from G2 to better address the needs of our consumers. And at only 20 calories per 8-oz, G2 is already a low-calorie option that active people can turn to for optimal hydration.

Additional details on the reformulated G2:
·         HFCS will be removed from all G2 moving forward.
·         The carbohydrate source in G2 will now be sucrose, which will fuel working muscles during activity to enhance athletic performance.
·         G2 provides an electrolyte blend that offers optimal hydration with 110 mg of sodium (per 8 oz) – the most important electrolyte for hydration – and carbohydrate levels designed to speed fluid absorption.

Ok, so they still don't seem to get the point of why many of us choose to rid our diet of HFCS, but we won't squabble over the details - it's gone now!

Good job getting rid of the HFCS in G2, Gatorade! Now...how about ridding the rest of your products of HFCS? Even your research shows that your customers don't think highly of HFCS!

Meatless Monday - Gallo Pinto

2010-01-11T00:01:00.000-08:00

I've mentioned before that I am not a bean fan, but I am slowly but surely finding ways to actually enjoy beans, much to my bean-loving husband's delight. The recipe that I'm sharing today caught me by surprise. A friend served it to me twice, and I fell in love with the dish and begged for the recipe. Turns out she got it randomly off of the internet and was happy to share it.

My friend first tried Gallo Pinto in Costa Rica, where it is the national dish. The name Gallo Pinto means "spotted or painted rooster," undoubtedly taken from the speckled coloring the beans lend to the rice. Gallo Pinto is often served as breakfast along side eggs, but we ate it as dinner along side some sweet potato fries.

An unusual feature of Gallo Pinto - Worcestershire sauce! Truly authentic Gallo Pinto uses a condiment called Salsa Linzano, but it seems that most Western adaptations of the recipe substitute Worcestershire sauce with success.

There are a zillion variations of Gallo Pinto out there on the web, but this is the version that I fell in love with. It's super easy and quick to throw together. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Gallo Pinto in the pot. It's good just like this!

Gallo Pinto filled with garnishes. YUM!

Gallo Pinto

2 TBSP oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small onion, chopped
3 cups cooked rice (I use brown rice)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
2-3 TBSP Worcesteshire sauce
salt and pepper to taste

garnish:
chopped cilantro
chopped avocado
green onions
fresh tomatoes
salsa

Saute garlic and onion in oil. Add seasoning and diced tomatoes. Add beans and rice and heat through. Spoon into bowls and mix in your choice of garnish.

Meatless Monday - Makeover Banana Bread

2010-01-04T00:01:00.000-08:00

Another big thank you to the people at Meatless Monday for featuring my Cheesy Broccoli Frittata recipe on their site this week! Jump on over there and look at all of the wonderful recipes and information that they have to offer!

File it under "Life's Great Mysteries"...I have a son who hates bananas with a passion - the smell, the flavor, the texture - but is absolutely crazy about banana bread. And yet my daughter who eats multiple bananas a day doesn't care for banana bread at all. Such is life with picky eaters!

Since discovering my son's love of banana bread, we've had it for breakfast a lot. I am NOT a morning person and don't like to make breakfast in general. Banana bread is great because it's so super easy to throw together the night before, and it's a great way to use up old bananas to boot!

I've taken a very good banana bread recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book (a wonderful wedding present many, many years ago) and adapted it to suit our tastes and lifestyle. I add some mini-chocolate chips to keep the kids coming back, but you could leave those out or replace them with nuts or raisins or whatever makes your taste buds happy. This recipe remains a work in progress, but here is the latest incarnation that gets 2 big thumbs up from everyone in my house (my daughter excluded)!

Makeover Banana Bread

1 cup white whole wheat flour (regular whole wheat flour would be fine as well)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
2/3 cup sugar
2 TBSP wheat germ or flax meal
2-3 medium mashed bananas (about 1 to 1 1/2 cups)
2 1/2 TBSP butter
3 TBSP plain, natural applesauce
2 eggs
2 TBSP skim milk
1/2 cup mini-chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large mixer, blend all of the dry ingredients (flours through wheat germ). Add the wet ingredients (mashed banana through milk) and mix on high speed for a minute. Stir in chocolate chips.

Pour batter into a lightly greased loaf pan. Bake in a 350 F oven for 55-60 min or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 5-10 min. Remove from pan. Enjoy!

What's your favorite go-to easy breakfast? I'm always looking for easy, healthy breakfast ideas - especially ones that can be prepared the night before!

Yikes! Thanks to a reader I just realized that I left out the sugar in the recipe above! This banana bread DOES have added sugar in it - I just forgot to include it when I typed it out. That said, the banana is sweet enough that if you use a full 3 bananas, I'm sure that you could significantly reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe (or leave it out completely if you don't have a sweet tooth like I do) and still have a good bread. Reducing the sugar is just not something that I've played around with in this recipe. BIG apologies for the blunder!

Trans Fat - What it is and why you DON'T want to eat it!

2009-12-30T00:01:00.000-08:00

The last of December Rewind! Last year we committed to drastically reducing our trans fat content. Well, we're not ones to do things half way when it comes to our food, and I'm happy to say that trans fat has been purged from our house! Why would we do this? Read on and learn about this fat and why you should avoid it - and how it could be lurking in your food even if the packaging claims to be "trans fat free"!

While the main focus of this blog has been on removing HFCS from our diet, we're also taking other steps to improve the overall quality of the foods that we eat. One of the things that we're doing is phasing out bad fats and replacing them with good fats. So today, I'm going to talk about our first target - trans fat.

What is trans fat?
First, let's have a little chemistry lesson and look quickly at the three main types of fatty acids (otherwise known as fats) - saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated. (You can skip this part if chemistry is not your thing.) A saturated fat has hydrogen attached to every spot on every carbon atom in the fat and is solid at room temperature.

A monounsaturated fat contains a double bond in the carbon chain - a place where a pair of hydrogen atoms are missing. Because they are missing hydrogen atoms, it is considered unsaturated. When there are more two or more double bonds, the fat is considered polyunsaturated. Mono and polyunsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature. Olive oil is an example of a monounsaturated fat, and omega-3 oils are examples of polyunsaturated fats.

a polyunsaturated molecule

Trans fat is made when hydrogen is added to liquid vegetable oil (a nice monounsaturated fat) during a process called hydrogenation. An unsaturated fat contains double bonds. Hydrogen atoms at the double bond are usually positioned on the same side of the carbon chain (a cis molecule). During partial hydrogenation, the molecule rearranges a bit and hydrogen atoms end up on opposite sides of the double bond. This structure carries the trans nomenclature.

Unsaturated fats with the cis structure are kinked. They don't stack well and so stay fluid at room temperature. Unsaturated fats with the trans structure are straight and stack together easily. Because they stack together so easily, trans unsaturated fats solidify at room temperature. Because of their unique structure, trans fats are softer than fully saturated fats.

a monounsaturated molecule in cis and trans configurations

Double bonds in a fat are susceptible to attack by free radicals. A more saturated fat with fewer double bonds is less prone to rancidity. Hydrogenating a fat removes the troublesome attack sites and makes the fat more shelf stable. Likewise, an unsaturated fat in the trans configuration is also less prone to attack by free radicals.

Why should we care about trans fat?
In a nutshell, trans fat is an issue because it is associated with all kinds of health problems. Trans fat can wreak havoc on your cholesterol levels - increasing your LDL (the "bad" cholesterol) and decreasing your HDL (the "good" cholesterol). A high LDL is a major risk factor for heart disease. HDL picks up excess cholesterol and takes it back to the liver, so higher HDL is a good thing.

Trans fat also increases triglycerides and causes more inflammation. Triglycerides are another kind of fat that may contribute to hardening or thickening of artery walls. Trans fat consumption is associated with an increased risk of stroke and type-2 diabetes.

Where is trans fat found?
So where does trans fat hide? Not surprisingly, it's found in shortenings, some margarines, and fried foods. Because trans fat increases shelf life and flavor stability, decreases refrigeration requirements, and gives a good mouth feel, it's also rampant in baked goods - crackers, cookies, snack foods.

You can spot trans fat by looking for partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated oil in the ingredient list. All partially hydrogenated oils contain some amount of trans fat. Fully hydrogenated oils do not contain trans fat - those oils are completely saturated. Unfortunately, an oil labeled simply as "hydrogenated" may actually be partially hydrogenated and contain trans fat. Unless the ingredient list specifically states that it is fully-hydrogenated, you should assume that there is some amount of trans fat contained in the oil.

Trans fat is also naturally occurring. Small amounts of trans fat are found in dairy and meat products. Some research suggests that this naturally occurring trans fat is not as bad as man made trans fat, but results are still inconclusive.

Does zero trans fat really mean zero trans fat?
In a word, no. The FDA's rule is that a product can declare itself as trans fat free if the total fat in the food is less than 0.5 grams per serving and no claims are made about the fat or cholesterol content. There are a lot of foods out there declaring themselves trans fat free that contain partially hydrogenated oils - and the trans fat that comes with those oils.

The amount of trans fat that you consume from these products is small, but those grams of trans fat add up if a person eats more than one serving or several products containing small amounts of trans fat through the day. The FDA has not set a "daily recommended value" for trans fat consumption, but the American Heart Association does have a trans fat consumption recommendation:

The American Heart Association recommends limiting the amount of trans fats you eat to less than 1 percent of your total daily calories. That means if you need 2,000 calories a day, no more than 20 of those calories should come from trans fats. That’s less than 2 grams of trans fats a day. Given the amount of naturally occurring trans fats you probably eat every day, this leaves virtually no room at all for industrially manufactured trans fats.

How to rid your diet of trans fat
Read the ingredients! Avoid foods that contain partially hydrogenated oils or hydrogenated oils. Avoid foods with shortening or margarine, as they usually - though not always - contain trans fat. (As a side note, there are shortenings that do not contain trans fat. They accomplish that by mixing a fully hydrogenated oil, which is very hard at room temperature, with liquid vegetable oils to achieve the proper consistency.)

It's been hard, but we have managed to eliminate trans fat from our home eating. I found that task to be even harder than getting rid of all HFCS. Partially hydrogenated oils are used in so many processed foods, but most use it in small amounts and can claim to be trans fat free. Perhaps eliminating - or at least greatly reducing - your consumption of trans fats would be a worthwhile New Years resolution?

Meatless Monday - Lettuce wraps to lighten up your New Year!

2009-12-28T00:01:00.000-08:00

Many thanks to the Meatless Monday organization for featuring my Savory Apple Pizza on their site this week! If you're looking for ideas on how to get started with Meatless Monday's, check them out. Lots of great recipes and information - and they even have a weekly newsletter chocked full of great information.

The new year is fast approaching! After a month of eating too many treats and heavier foods, I'm ready to lighten up and get back on track. Lettuce wraps are a great start!

Sometimes I have a favorite meal that is so mindlessly easy and simple that I wonder if I should even bother posting it. But I find that sometimes I don't think of these simple recipes or meals on my own, so I'm passing them along to you in case anyone else out there needs an a-ha moment.

Today's meal is one of those crazy simple meals - lettuce wraps. The variations are infinite, so have fun modifying to suit your own particular tastes. I find that these make a fabulous light lunch - kind of a hand-held salad. Here is my current favorite lettuce wrap concoction:

Place a nice, clean lettuce leaf on a plate. Most any leaf lettuce will do (my picture shows red leaf lettuce), but romaine hearts are especially good.
Smear a bit of goat cheese (or yogurt or hummus or salsa or whatever suits your mood) lengthwise down the leaf
Top with roasted vegetables - onion and yellow bell pepper in my case
Pick up and enjoy!

The yumminess doesn't translate so well in this picture, so just trust me - it's good!

If you've not roasted vegetables before, it couldn't be easier. For my onion and bell pepper, I spread thinly sliced onion and bell pepper in a single layer on a baking sheet. Coat with a little olive oil (you don't need much - just enough to coat), and cook in a preheated oven at 400-425 F for about 20 min. Voila! Roasted vegetables! When I'm on a lettuce wrap kick, I'll roast a ton and keep in the fridge to use throughout the week.

What is "nutritional yeast"?

2009-12-23T00:01:00.000-08:00

I talk about nutritional yeast a lot - mainly because it seems like most people haven't heard of it. If you're eating a vegan diet, nutritional yeast can be a wonderful and necessary source of B12. If you're not vegan, it's still loaded with good-for-you stuff and adds a wonderful depth to vegetables and soups. Read on to learn more about this unusual ingredient!

Have you heard of nutritional yeast? I hadn't until a couple of months ago when I reviewed a cookbook that used it as an ingredient. Now I find myself using it more and more. I love finding and learning about new foods, and thought I would share some of what I've learned about this odd ingredient with you.

So, what is nutritional yeast? Nutritional yeast is a deactivated form of the fungus (yes, yeast is a fungus) Saccharomyces cerevisiae that has been grown on a molasses-based medium. The molasses gives it more flavor than either brewer's or baker's yeast. The yeast is dried and sold as a powder or a flake. Nutritional yeast has a cheesy or nutty flavor - think cheesy umami flavor. It's often used by vegans for its cheesy flavor.

What's special about nutritional yeast? Nutritional yeast is loaded with protein (50% by weight!), B-vitamins, essential fatty acids, and folic acid. Some brands, but not all, are fortified with B-12. (The vitamin B-12 is produced by bacteria and then added to the yeast during the growing process. Not all companies do this, but Red Star apparently does.) The addition of B-12 makes nutritional yeast especially popular among vegans and vegetarians, as B-12 is an important nutrient that can be hard to get if you don't eat meat. It's also low in sodium, which is great when you're trying to impart a little extra flavor without loading up on sodium.

How do you use nutritional yeast? It's apparently a very popular topping for popcorn in some areas and because of its cheesy kind of flavor is often used in place of parmesan cheese in vegan diets. I've been sprinkling it onto vegetables like lima beans while I cook them. It adds a very subtle pleasant flavor to them. It could also be a salad topper. Its flavor is mild enough and pleasant enough that it really could be used on many different foods with good effect.

Where can you find nutritional yeast? You can order on-line or many health food stores sell it. Red Star is a very popular brand, and one of the brands that adds B-12 to the yeast. (If you're specifically consuming nutritional yeast for the B-12, read labels carefully! They aren't all fortified with B-12.) Nutritional yeast is sometimes sold as "savoury yeast flakes" or "vegetarian yeast."

Whatever you do, don't confuse nutritional yeast with brewer's yeast! I had two health food stores in my town tell me that they're the same thing - one even sold nutritional yeast (as vegetarian yeast) without knowing it. Brewer's yeast is a byproduct of the brewing industry and has a bitter flavor. It's the same deactivated yeast strain, but the growing medium is decidedly different resulting in decidedly different flavors.

Also don't use active, bread making yeast in place for nutritional yeast. Active yeasts are still alive and may continue to grow in your intestines resulting in you not getting all of the nutrients out of your food as you should.

Meatless Monday - Christmas Manicotti

2009-12-21T00:01:00.000-08:00

Zip on over to A Life Less Sweet Reviews for a chance to win a gift basket from Musselman's full of applesauces and pie filling! Great for snacking and baking!

December Rewind continues! I wrote about our Christmas manicotti tradition a few months back. This week seems like an appropriate time to bring back the manicotti since we will be enjoying it on Friday. Yum - I can't wait!

We have a Christmas tradition in our house - manicotti! I'm not really sure how it got started, but it's stuck. It's good, filling, and easy. Manicotti is not just for Christmas though, of course. It's a favorite year round with us.

Today I want to share my recipe for manicotti with you. The original recipe came from a magazine - Southern Living, I think - but I've changed it up a bit to suit my tastes. I use jarred marinara for my sauce - Newman's Own Marinara, to be exact - but feel free to use your favorite sauce, jarred or homemade. I also use a bit more sauce than the recipe below calls for. I like my pasta saucy! So, feel free to use more or less sauce depending on your tastes.

This dish is a real kid pleaser, and it's a great one to hide veggies in. I like to add sweet potato puree to the spaghetti sauce, but you could also add other veggies. Maybe saute some mushrooms and add to the spaghetti sauce, or cauliflower puree in the cheese sauce, or carrot puree in the spaghetti sauce, or shredded zucchini in the spaghetti sauce. You get the idea. The sauce and cheese flavors are strong enough that added veggies would add only a subtle flavor.

Easy, Cheesy Manicotti

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
2 cups lowfat cottage cheese
1/2 cup reduced-fat ricotta cheese
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 large egg or 1/4 cup egg substitute
3/4 cup sweet potato puree (optional)
12 manicotti shells, cooked per box instructions
1 large jar spaghetti sauce (more or less to taste)

Combine 1/3 cup parmesan cheese and the next 5 ingredients (cheese through egg).

Stuff each shell with about a 1/4 cup of the cheese mixture. Arrange in a 13x9x2" baking dish.

Mix spaghetti sauce and sweet potato puree. Pour sauce over shells.

Cover and back at 375 for 25 min or until thoroughly heated. Uncover and sprinkle with remaining parmesan cheese. Bake an additional 5 minutes.

A tip for working with the manicotti - if your manicotti tears, don't worry about it! Just put a little filling in the center of the pasta strip and fold the pasta around the filling. Put in the baking dish so that it stays folded in a cylindrical shape. No one will ever know the difference!

Turkey chili with a twist

2009-12-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

Another December Rewind post! We had this chili again this week. So good!

A few months ago I wrote a post on crispy granola bars with a brief review of Jessica Seinfield's cookbook Deceptively Delicio us. Let me recap the cookbook review a bit for you... Deceptively Delicious is a cookbook aimed at parents trying to get more vegetables into their kids. The recipes include vegetable purees that you mix in. Because the vegetables are pureed, texture isn't an issue and the flavor often blends right in. Personally, I think that these dishes served along side unhidden vegetables are a fantastic to get more vegetables into picky eaters!

The cookbook is aimed at parents, but you don't have to be a parent or picky kid to enjoy these recipes. The simple concept of boosting the nutritional value of everyday foods with purees is one that kids and adults alike can benefit from. It takes a little up front work to make the purees, but the results are great. I go through phases of using the purees in my meals. When I'm in the puree phase, I make a big batch and freeze in ice cube trays. This gives me ice cube size portions that are perfect for using in individual recipes.

We haven't tried many recipes from the cookbook, but one we come back to again and again is turkey chili. This is seriously good chili! (For the record, I am not a chili aficionado. If you are, you might do better to think of this as a really good turkey stew.) It's a juicy chili, but full of flavor.

My version is extremely close to the original. The only difference, really, is the puree I choose to use. The original version calls for half red pepper puree and half carrot puree. I never have those on hand, so I use straight sweet potato puree. If you don't feel like pureeing sweet potatoes (it gives it a really smooth, velvety texture), you can simple cook and mash. I like using pureed better - it seems to thicken the chili up a little more - but I've used straight mashed sweet potatoes too. One last thing - if you're out of flaxmeal as I was the last time I made this, you can simply up the amount of cornmeal by 2 tablespoons.

I think that I should note that the white specs that kind of look like congealed fat are actually specks of cornmeal! I'll say it again - I'm not a food photographer!

Turkey Chili
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 pound ground lean turkey
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBSP chili powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp pepper
1 (15 oz) can chopped tomatoes
1 (26 oz) carton reduced fat, low sodium chicken broth
1 cup pureed sweet potatoes
1/4 cup cornmeal
2 TBSP flaxseed meal
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Cook onion in oil until it begins to soften, about 2 minutes. Add the turkey to the pot along with the garlic, chili powder, salt, paprika, and pepper. Stir occasionally to break into the desired chunk size and cook until the turkey is no longer pink, 5-6 minutes.

Stir in the tomatoes. Add the broth, puree, cornmeal, flaxseed meal, and stir well. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, covered, 20 minutes. Stir in the beans and cook until heated through.

Voila! Fast, simple, and delicious! My daughter loves this chili. My son, eh, he's not a big soup or stew fan in general, and while he doesn't hate the chili, he's not a fan either.

What is "modified food starch"?

2009-12-15T17:02:00.000-08:00

People come to this blog for lots of different reasons, but two searches that really seem to pull people in are pumpkin muffins and modified food starch. This next post has generated a lot of comments over the months. Hope it helps to demystify this ingredient that is so prevalent in processed foods!

A reader asked me a little while back about the ingredient "modified food starch" - what is it and should it be avoided. Great question! Modified food starch is a very common ingredient, so let's find out a little about it!

Modified food starch can be made from many different grains - corn, wheat, tapioca, etc. - but for the purposes of this discussion, I'm going to focus on modified cornstarch. The principles are the same for all of the modified starches.

Why not just use regular starch?
Let's start by talking about unmodified starch. Starch, a long-chain carbohydrate, is the food reserves of many plants - including corn. In making cornstarch, the corn kernels are soaked and the outer covering removed. The embryo - or the center of the kernel that would form a new corn plant - is also removed. The remaining part of the kernel is mostly starch, which is dried and ground into a fine powder. (For a more detailed description of cornstarch processing, check out this article from the International Starch Institute.) Dent corn, a "field" corn, seems to be the corn most often used to make cornstarch.

Unmodified cornstarch breaks down when heated too much, which is why gravy made with cornstarch is often watery and thin when reheated the next day. Cornstarch also does not hold up well in acidic environments. To minimize the limitations of cornstarch, processed foods often use "modified cornstarch." Cornstarch is modified by applying different reaction conditions to produce the desired end product. The starch can be physically modified, chemically modified, or enzymatically modified. The starch retains its granular form and often resembles the original starch, but the modification results in improved properties.

How is modified food starch used?
Modified food starches are used in a mind-boggling variety of products - luncheon meats, orange juice, baked goods, biofuels, bioplastics, and the list goes on - for a variety of reasons. Modified food starches are used as gelling agents, insuring that foods maintain the correct texture in both frozen and microwaved foods. They're used as thickeners in fat-free dairy products. They're used as bulking agents to increase the bulk of a food without affecting its nutritional value. Modified food starches might be used as an anti-caking agent to keep foods free-flowing, or as an inexpensive way to control moisure in a food product. In low-fat meat products, modified food starch is used as a binder.

Is modified food starch dangerous?
The accepted answer to this question is that modified food starch is harmless. Modified food starch doesn't really have any nutritional value, but it does serve a useful purpose in processed foods. The one concern noted is that manufacturing of modified food starch is not tranparent. There is virtually no way to find out how the modified food starch used in a product was produced - what chemicals or enzymes were used, if used at all, for example - and the possibility of trace chemical contamination bothers some.

I'll note that people sensitive to wheat or gluten should avoid products with modified food starch as an ingredient unless it specifically states that the product is gluten free or states the specific type of starch used. Many manufacturers will use whatever food starch is cheapest or readily available for their product - corn, wheat, or otherwise.

Should you avoid foods with modified food starch?
That's a personal decision. If you don't like the idea of a heavily processed ingredient, then you would probably be happier without modified food starch in your life. Having done a little research, I'm not bothered by this ingredient, so personally, I'm not avoiding foods made with modified food starch.

News and personal observations on school lunches

2009-12-11T09:43:00.000-08:00

I'm putting December Rewind on hold for a day because a couple of articles that family forwarded to me have school lunches swimming around in my head. This is such an important issue! I've heard the argument that school lunches and vending machines are not the real issue when it comes to teaching kids how to eat healthy - that kids will face temptations all their lives, and they might as well learn to start resisting temptation now. But people, schools are institutions of learning. When you put junk in the schools, you are actively teaching the kids that junk is ok to eat. Those vending machines selling chips and sodas in schools - their very presence implies that eating and drinking junk is fine. Serving kids fast food as a school lunch (Dominoes pizza, anyone?) teaches them that these are good-for-you foods. Kids are paying attention to what they're served and what they have available to them! For some kids, school might be their primary place to learn about eating healthy, but instead they see more chips, more soda, more fast food. Let's stop pimping out our kids to the junk food industry and start serving them real food in schools.

I could go on and on.

Moving on to the news... First, a rather disturbing article from USA Today that asserts that fast food restaurants have higher standards for the meat that they serve than our schools do. So nice to know that our schools serve meat so cheap that McDonalds wouldn't touch it. Read more here.

Next, Miller-McCune talks about recommendations that the Institute of Medicine has for improving school lunches and the difficulty in getting these changes implemented. It's not all black and white - in fact, there's a lot of green (aka money) involved. I hope that the powers in charge at the USDA realize that feeding our kids healthy food and in essence teaching them about healthy food by the foods that schools serve can have potentially dramatic, money-saving consequences down the road. Think of the positive health consequences if we could teach kids early on about how to eat healthy - through example, not just talk. Find the article here.

And now for some personal observations. I posted some of my school lunch fears at the beginning of the school year. I eat lunch with my son at his school once a week, so I've had first-hand experience with his school lunch. My son quite often likes to buy his lunch, and I'm letting him despite my criticisms. Happily, there are quite a few good things to say about the lunches served at his school. The kids have a well-stocked salad bar to choose from at every single lunch. They also have a choice between two different fruits each meal. There is no dessert except on Domino's Pizza day (yes, that's right), which is every Thursday. The teachers and cafeteria workers actively encourage the kids to eat their fruits and vegetables. The school even provides a morning snack of fresh fruit to every child that wants it! Love that!

Amazingly, my son's palate has actually expanded because of his school lunches. He's discovered that he loves celery sticks and Clementines and has tried (and liked) foods that he wouldn't try at a restaurant or at home. Best of all, those new likes spill over to home as he asks for celery sticks with a little ranch dressing for a snack at home or happily eats an entree that he first tried at school.

The bad...well, these are still school lunches. The ingredient quality of the entrees leave much to be desired. The entrees are often bland and mushy and not at all appetizing (at least not to an adult). And did I mention the ingredient quality? Typically, the salad bar is the only vegetable option. That is not necessarily a bad thing as it is full of a variety of fresh vegetables that are good for dipping (and even occasionally cold green peas or cold green beans), but it would be nice to see a well-cooked vegetable offered alongside the entree.

I don't want to leave you with the impression that we're perfect eaters. We're not - far from it. Our food journey is far from over. But, as you know from this blog, we are doing our best to instill healthy eating habits in our children through example. I wish our schools would do the same. I think that things are starting to change for the better. We need to keep the conversation going to keep the positive changes coming!

The scoop on prebiotics

2009-12-09T00:01:00.000-08:00

Another December rewind! This post was originally in response to a question sent in by a reader. I love getting questions! I'm reposting this because prebiotics are popping up in more and more products, and I suspect that most people have no clue what a prebiotic really is.

One great thing about this blog is that through interacting with other people, I am learning so much. A commenter had a question about fructo-oligosaccharides - an ingredient she saw in one of her food products - and frankly I really didn't know anything about them. Hence this post! I love it when a question spurs me on to learn more about something - especially as I am relatively new to thinking about nutrition and what we put into our bodies in a more hardcore way.

What is FOS?
So, what exactly are fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) and what are they doing in our food and supplements? Let's start with the big word - oligosaccharides are short to medium chains of sugar molecules. Adding fructo to the word indicates that the chain is composed of several fructose molecules. So FOS is really just a bunch of fructose molecules connected to each other chemically. (Similarly, galacto-oligosaccharides are a bunch of galactose - or milk sugar - molecules strung together.)

Inulin, often used as a dietary fiber, is a longer chain of fructose molecules. Sometimes inulin is referred to as an FOS, but generally FOS are generally shorter chains of fructose, while inulin is a very long chain of fructose. Both FOS and inulin are found naturally in Jerusalem artichoke, burdock, chicory, leeks, onion, aspargus, bananas, wheat, leeks, and tomatoes. FOS can be synthesized by Aspergillus enzmatically acting on sucrose or by the degradation of inulin.

FOS actually behaves quite differently than a solitary fructose molecule. We don't have the right enzymes to digest FOS, so they pass through our stomachs and small intestines intact. The flora in our large intestines and colon, however, are able to feed on FOS. What's more, FOS is preferred by the good bacteria (such as the Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus strains), though bad bacteria (like Klebsiella, Clostridium, and E. coli) are able to digest it on a limited basis. Because FOS serves as food for friendly bacteria (the kind you find in probiotics), it's considered to be a prebiotic. Get it? Prebiotics feed probiotics.

The Good
There are quite a few health benefits associated with FOS. Have you heard that a happy colon equals a happy body? Well, the health and happiness of your colon and intestines is largely dependent on its bacterial population. The human gastrointestinal tract has a complex ecosystem of hundreds of different types of bacteria. These bacteria have enormously important functions, including protection from infection from foreign bacteria and providing nutrients, including B-vitamins and short chain fatty acids.

The good bacteria in our body feed on FOS with a much greater efficiency than the bad bacteria in our body. In that way, FOS acts as a selective food for the good bacteria. The hope with a prebiotic like FOS is that the good bacteria will get the extra nourishment and thrive at the expense of the bad bacteria, and the bacterial population in your gut will then be mostly good bacteria.

FOS consumption has been associated with a lot of positive results. It's been shown to increase calcium and vitamin K absorption in the colon. It also boosts the bacterial populations' ability to synthesize B vitamins (like riboflaven, niacin, and pyridoxine). The level of short chain fatty acids in the colon is also higher with FOS consumption. All good things for colon health.

Because we can't digest FOS, it serves as a low-calorie dietary fiber, and we all know that we need to be consuming more dietary fiber! FOS is sweet - about half as sweet as table sugar - and is finding popularity as a low calorie sweetener, which is one reason why it's popping up in more and more foods.

The Bad
Of course, everything isn't all sunshine and roses with FOS (and inulin). There are concerns surrounding prebiotics. The biggest concern is that FOS also feeds the bad bacteria. If the microflora in a person's gut is out of balance - with more bad bacteria than good bacteria - this could be especially troubling.

Some people who consume FOS have problems with gas formation, bloating, abdominal pain, and (to a lesser extent) diarrhea. These problems have been attributed in part to actions by bad bacteria. While many people tolerate and are benefited by consumption of FOS, others simply cannot tolerate it and experience intestinal havoc when taking FOS or inulin.

Some claim that FOS and inulin can help those with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but clinical studies simply do not support this. Not only does FOS not help alleviate IBS symptoms, some IBS sufferers experience a short term worsening of IBS symptoms when taking FOS or inulin.

What's the bottom line?
FOS consumption has a lot of potentially positive outcomes, but its interactions with bacteria in the gut are still not well understood. Each person's body chemistry is so different, and I suspect that the microflora population (good versus bad bacteria) in a person's colon determines to a large extent how effective - or detrimental - FOS is. For a colon in bacterial balance, FOS and inulin are probably beneficial. For a colon where the bad bacteria have an edge, FOS and inulin might not be such a good thing.

FOS is starting to pop up in a lot of different places. If you buy probiotics (aka good bacteria taken as a supplement), you might see FOS bundled in. Inulin is sold as a dietary fiber (Fiber Choice fiber supplement). And because both are sweet, they're starting to be used as sweeteners in foods too.

In the end, we've decided to be cautious with FOS and inulin. We have irritable bowel syndrome in our family and don't want to risk the detrimental effects that can potentially come along with FOS and inulin consumption. So, for now, we'll stick with natural sources of FOS and avoid FOS as a supplement.

Do you have a question about an ingredient or food issue? Ask! I'd love to try to tackle your question!

Meatless Monday - Frittata

2009-12-07T08:48:00.000-08:00

December rewind continues with another of my go-to Meatless Monday meals. Frittata is so easy to pull together in a pinch with whatever you happen to have in your fridge. You can add meat, of course, but it makes such a wonderful, protein-packed meatless meal, so why even bother with meat? Read on!

One of my quick, go-to meatless meals is a frittata. A frittata - at least the way I make it - is basically just a crustless quiche. I start it on the stove and end in the oven. It's a great meal to use up leftovers in the fridge. Virtually any vegetable is good in a frittata. You could even throw in a little meat if you want - a little bacon is a particularly good addition and sausage would probably also be good.

I am not a big fan of eggs - the taste does not appeal to me - so I like a frittata that has a lot of stuff in it. The egg acts more as a binder than anything, and all of the other flavors temper the egg flavor. My husband and I love this dish (though my husband likes quiche better - he's a crust fan), and it's growing on my kids too.

I like recipes. I like to fiddle with a recipe to make it my own, but I still like to have a base recipe to go by. Frittata is an exception. It's a very forgiving dish, and I usually just wing it. So, I'm going to give you a basic recipe, but don't be afraid to play around with it. Feel free to use less egg or more egg, different seasonings, a different cheese or no cheese at all, and of course whatever vegetables suit your mood. You can even go up or down with the oven temperature - just adjust the cooking time accordingly.

Without further ado, here is the basic recipe for the frittata that I made for our family last week. Enjoy!

Frittata

1 1/2 cups red potato, cubed
1 cup onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups broccoli florets, chopped and steamed
1/2 cup Jarlsberg cheese
4 eggs
1 cup skim milk
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Saute the potato and onion over medium heat in an oven-safe skillet with a little olive oil for about 10 min or until potato is tender. Stir frequently. Add broccoli florets and top with cheese.

Mix eggs, milk, salt, and paprika. Pour into skillet over broccoli/potato/onion mixture. Shake the pan a bit to distribute the ingredients. Cook over medium heat for 5-10 min or until the bottom starts to set up while the top is till a bit liquidy.

Move skillet to oven and cook for another 15-20 min or until the frittata has set up. A toothpick inserted about an inch from the center should come out clean.

Being a good guest while eating healthier

2009-12-02T07:03:00.000-08:00

Another oldie but goodie that seems appropriate this time of year. How do you handle holiday parties and dinners with friends when you've made a personal commitment to eat healthier? Here's my take on this dilemma!

I'm going off on a little bit of a tangent here today. I read a quote in a magazine recently that set my mind to wandering and my fingers to typing.

What do you do when you've taken on a healthier diet - say, given up HFCS and trans fat - and are eating food at someone's house? Maybe you're at a playdate and a friend is serving your child bright blue yogurt or maybe a sugary punch drink that you know is filled with HFCS. Do you call them on it? Do you tell them that you don't eat foods like that?

I saw this quote from Michael Pollan, the author of In Defense of Food and Omnivore's Dilemma, in Reader's Digest last week. He says:

I really care where my food comes from, but I also care about being a good guest. So I eat whatever is put in front of me and don't make special requests.

I completely agree with Mr. Pollan. I know that not everyone is on the same food journey that we're on. Some people are not at all concerned about the ingredients in their food, some people are on a very different sort of journey than we're on, and some people are way ahead of us in the foods they eat.

I have had mothers snub snacks that I've served at playdates in the past, and I found it incredibly rude. (I'll note that no food allergies were involved. Food allergies or intolerances completely change the picture.) You can serve me shrimp floating in a pool of HFCS and topped with globs of trans fat, and if it is my only choice that you're serving me as a host, I'll eat it with a smile on my face (or else take a cue from my father and declare that I ate a big lunch and am just not hungry). I'm happy to talk about what we're doing with our diet if it comes up organically, but I'm not going to belittle your way of eating. That just isn't polite and isn't what a good guest should do.

I do think that we should fight for the food that our kids eat. We should fight for better school lunches. We should make it known with our pocketbooks and e-mails and blogs that we won't tolerate trans fat or HFCS or whatever else gives you the heebie-jeebies in our food - especially when that food is marketed to children. We should lead by example and eat a good, healthy diet so that our children have something to model. But we should also remember to be gracious to our hosts.

What do you think? Do you challenge your host if they serve you something that doesn't fit a healthier diet? Or do you eat it what you're given without comment?

Meatless Monday - Sweet Potato Nachos

2009-11-30T05:52:00.000-08:00

I hope you enjoy this repost of a favorite Meatless Monday recipe!

Who doesn't love nachos? Nachos are a fun finger food for adults and kids alike. A couple of weeks ago I made an unusual one that is sure to become a favorite around here. What's so unusual about it? Sweet potatoes! These nachos are topped with a bean sauce and roasted sweet potatoes.

I think that we have established that I am not a bean fan. I am slowly but surely working bean dishes into our repertoire, though. I find that if a dish is heavily seasoned and the right kind of bean is used, I don't mind beans so much. The flavor of red kidney beans blend in nicely in a well seasoned dish. I use these beans in my turkey chili and in this dish. The bean sauce is really kind of like beans and salsa and is fine even for me.

And the sweet potatoes - divine! My husband said that every time he took a bite with sweet potato in it his mouth got a burst of delicious sweetness. The sweet potatoes are coated with wonderful, aromatic spices - cumin and coriander - that really compliment the sweetness of the sweet potatoes and the bean sauce. Plus, sweet potatoes, you'll remember, are really good for you.

At long last, it's recipe time! I adapted this recipe from Linda McCartney's World of Vegetarian Cooking, a cookbook that has provided many delicious recipes to our household. It's a different take on nachos, but one that is definitely worth your time!

Beans and Sweet Potato Nachos

1 1/2 lbs sweet potato, peeled and diced
3 TBSP olive oil
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp paprika
14-oz can diced tomatoes
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 14 oz can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups Cheddar cheese
corn tortilla chips

In a large baking dish, mix the sweet potato, 2 TBSP of the oil, and the cumin and coriander. Bake, uncovered, at 350 F for 50-60 min or until tender.

Heat the remaining oil in a pan and add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, and paprika. Cover and cook until the onion is soft, about 10 min, stirring occasionally. Add the tomatoes with their juices and simmer uncovered for 5 min. Stir in the beans.

Place some corn chips on an oven or microwave-proof plate, and top corn chips with the bean mixture, then the sweet potato, and finish with some cheese. Bake for 10 min until nachos are well heated (or microwave for 30 seconds or so to melt the cheese).

Serve with garnish of choice - cilantro, avocado, sour cream, or jalepenos for example.

A few of my favorite things

2009-11-27T10:34:00.000-08:00

Just in time for the holidays, Made from Earth is offering a special discount for A Life Less Sweet readers! Zip over to my Reviews blog for details or see the button on the sidebar.

The holiday season is upon us! Life is always busy here, but even more so this time of year. To that end, I'm going to be taking a little break during the month of December. Look for some of my favorite recipes and informative posts through the month of December instead.

But first...I want to share just a few of my favorite products - all HFCS and trans fat free, of course!

Tillen Farms Merry Maraschino Cherries - I have been searching and searching for a HFCS-free maraschino cherry, and I finally found them! Tillen Farms makes a maraschino cherry with all natural ingredients - Cherries, water, sugar, vegetable and fruit concentrate (color), natural flavor. I love these! Because they're colored with vegetable and fruit concentrate (another plus) rather than food dye, they aren't as garishly red as regular maraschino cherries. They are very sweet, of course, but they don't seem as gloppishly, syrupy sweet as regular maraschino cherries to me. In short, these are a winner here! And I love that I can once again make my desserts that call for maraschino cherries without compromising my food values!

My local grocery store carries these cherries,

but you can also buy them from the Tillen Farms site or Amazon

Crofters Superfruit Spread - I was lucky enough to win some Crofters Superfruit Spread from Fat Fighter TV a few months ago. I love these spreads! They're chunky and packed full of flavor with a very simple ingredient list. The Superspreads come in four geographical flavors - Asia, Europe, North America, and South America - each with it's own special antioxidant-packed fruit in addition to the Morello cherries and red grape base. Asia (with raspberries and yumberries) is my favorite by a hair, but I must say that I think that all of the flavors taste very much alike. The main flavor by far is the Morello cherries and red grape base, and it's a great flavor. These are spreads, so they're chunky and a bit loose (unlike a jelly, which is firm). My kids love these spreads on PB&J sandwiches. I like to eat the spread in a way that really lets the jelly flavor shine through - like on a cracker or a simple piece of toast.

Amy's Low-Sodium Cream of Tomato Soup - One of my comfort foods has always been tomato soup - Campbells Condensed Tomato Soup, to be exact. I grudgingly gave up this soup when we went HFCS free. Recently, we had a string of illnesses hit our house, and I craved my tomato soup comfort food. Amy's to the rescue! Amy's Low-Sodium Cream of Tomato Soup was love at first bite. It's got a nice ingredient list and a good tomato flavor and consistency. And while it still has more sodium than I would like, for a canned soup it's sodium content isn't too bad. You could, of course, make homemade tomato soup, but when you're feeling down and out, it really is nice to just pull a can out of the pantry and heat it up.

Julies Organic Ice Cream Sandwiches - Another pre-packaged luxury that was lost to us when we gave up trans fat. Seems like almost every ice cream sandwich on the market has either HFCS or partially hydrogenated oil - or both. These ice cream sandwiches are great! Nice size, good flavor, nice ingredients. And, once again, we get to enjoy the occasional treat of an ice cream sandwich!

Ghirardelli chips - Ghirardelli has two types of chips that have found their way into my pantry. First, their 60% Cocoa Bittersweet Chocolate Chips. I love these chips so much that I sneak a few when I need a chocolate fix. They have a good dark chocolate flavor and no trans fat. I just wish that Ghirardelli would make these chips in a mini-version!

Next, Ghirardelli's white chocolate chips. It's hard to find white chocolate chips that don't have partially-hydrogenated oils in the ingredient list, so I was thrilled to find Ghirardelli's White Chocolate Chips. Trans fat free! Perfect for holiday baking!

Happy Holidays to you all! Enjoy all of your favorite things!

Meatless Monday - Fun and yummy things to do with applesauce

2009-11-23T17:52:00.000-08:00

Musselman's recently sent me a couple of different types of HFCS-free applesauce to try and review. Applesauce is one of those products that is surprisingly hard to find without HFCS, so I was thrilled to try their products - one new and one old. I have to admit, my family is not a big fan of applesauce. It's a wonderful product (well, as long as it's free of added sugar), but we're just not likely to turn to applesauce as a snack. So, I decided to find other ways to use this applesauce. There are so many wonderful uses for applesauce! I'm going to share just a few that we've tried, but do a little search on recipes using applesauce and you'll be inundated.

Let me start by introducing the applesauces that I used for these recipes. First up, Musselman's Natural Applesauce. This applesauce has no sugar added - just apples, water, and a little vitamin C for freshness. This applesauce is a good, basic applesauce with a strong fresh-apple flavor. It's a good one to keep on hand for baking and snacking.

Next, a new variety from Musselman's. Musselman's Healthy Picks applesauce comes in three varieties - Raspberry Acai, Blueberry Pomegranate, and Key Lime Cupuaco. As with the natural applesauce, the Healthy Picks applesauce has no added sugar - a requirement if I'm buying applesauce. These applesauces boast that they contain antioxidant-rich superfruits as well as extra fiber, calcium, and vitamin C. To be sure, apple is the predominant flavor in these applesauces with the other flavors a very subtle undernote. They're good applesauces, but don't buy them expecting to be hit with a strong raspberry or blueberry flavor. Despite that, my son was totally enthralled with the idea of the flavors and actually ate more than one of these - a rarity!

On to a few uses for applesauce...
First up, as an oil substitute in baking. Yes, you can substitute some or all of the fat in your baked goods with applesauce! Fit Sugar has some tips for using applesauce as a fat substitute in baked goods - such as only replacing half of the fat with applesauce. Fats actually have a pretty important role in baked goods, so replacing half with applesauce will give you much better results than ditching all of the fat. The end product won't be quite the same as the full-fat version, but chances are that unless you're serving them side by side, you won't really notice the difference!

Make a slushy treat. Freeze a serving size of applesauce (spooned into a container or just use one of the small containers that some applesauces come in) for about an hour - just long enough for the applesauce to become slushy but not a frozen block. Serve it to your kids as a treat. They might not even realize that it's applesauce!

Use it to make french toast. I came across a great recipe to make french toast using applesauce - Apple Cinnamon French Toast. It's a hit in our house! It's the kind of breakfast you can throw together in 10 min - a breakfast even this morning grump doesn't mind making. The result was a piece of french toast with a slight apple flavor and a nice final texture. I'll keep applesauce around just to make this french toast on the fly!

Top Apple Cinnamon French Toast with a little maple syrup or sauteed apples with brown sugar and cinnamon for a wonderfully tasty breakfast!

Make some fun and wonderful smelling Christmas ornaments. My kids and I did this applesauce ornament craft last year. Applesauce plus a lot of cinnamon (I mean A LOT) and some cookie cutters equals Christmas ornaments that will actually hold their smell for a couple of years (though they're most pungent the first year). We'll make these ornaments again this year!

Last, I'll just mention that there are a ton of recipes out there that make use of applesauce - like Apple Quesadilla and Apple Pasta Salad. Or you can serve it on the side as a treat all by itself or served with latkes or other dishes. Whether you're using your applesauce in baked goods, in a craft, or in a unique dish, read those ingredients! Surprising ingredients lurk everywhere - even in applesauce. Applesauce is sweet enough on it's own that added sugar just isn't necessary - especially if you're baking with it!

What do you like to do with applesauce? I'd love to hear your favorite uses!