New Fun Find: Maple Almond Butter

Oh, do I love, love, love this! I found it as I was searching the health food isle for something new to try. It comes in individual pouches to buy (instead of having to buy a whole box only to find out that you hate it). I tasted it first before spreading it on my banana. It has a slight crunch to it, but not as crunchy as Jiff Crunchy Peanut Butter. It is a tad sweet and a tad salty....works perfectly for me! When I shop next, I am going for the big jar on this one :) Enjoy!

Take Your Vitamins!

As a dietitian, I like to try and steer people to the path of getting nutrients from real food. As a real person, I know that not everyone eats that many fruits and vegetables every day. Daily vitamins are a good supplement (not substitute) for daily nutrients. With so many vitamins on the shelves these days, which one to choose? Well, I did a little experiment at work the other day for a presentation about vitamins and their effectiveness. Check it out!

I had three bottles of vitamins: Women's One a Day, Alive! and something very expensive from the health foods store. I took cups of warm water, plunked a vitamin in each cup and waited. Within 5 minutes, the Women's One a Day dissolved almost completely (the least expensive of the three). After 20 minutes, the Alive! vitamin's slimy coating finally came off so that the real vitamin could start to dissolve (totally dissolved within 30 minutes). The most expensive, health food store vitamin - after an hour it began to soften. After two hours there was a copper type substance that began to cloud the water. After 3 hours, I threw it out!

Here is a cool article about what can be in your vitamins: http://www.do-dietary-supplements-work.com/vitamin-supplements-solid.html  Stay healthy!

Slush Mug

I found this cool mug that turned beverages into slushies! I figured that the kids would love something like this, especially with all of the warm weather coming. As a note from the dietitian...remember that many hidden calories are from beverages. Making a fun slushy from orange soda, as the fun advertisement shows, will add a good (and unneeded) 100 calories (including juices!). So, what does a mom with a slush mug do? Use infused waters for freezing!

Squeeze some lemons, limes and oranges into your water and store in the fridge for everyday hydration as well as using it in the mugs. Or crush a few pieces of fresh pineapple with some mint leaves. Or slice up cucumber with some fresh lemon juice. Smash strawberries with lemon. The combinations could be endless - pick a fresh fruit, vegetable or herb and try it out!

Chia Seed Peanut Butter Cookies

Chia is grown commercially for its seed, a food that is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, since the seeds yield 25–30% extractable oil, including α-linolenic acid (ALA). Chia seeds are typically small ovals with a diameter of about 1 mm (0.039 in). They are mottle-colored with brown, gray, black and white.

These hearty cookies are wonderful! This recipe makes about 12 cookies.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 Tbsp Chia Seeds

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup peanut butter

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup dark or semisweet chocolate chips

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or use a non stick cookie sheet.

In a medium bowl, whisk together oats, baking powder, flour and chia seeds. Set aside.

 In another bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter with sugar until creamy. Add peanut butter, eggs and vanilla and mix until incorporated. Slowly stir in the oat mixture to combine. Add chocolate and fold in.

 Place heaping tablespoons of dough (I use a small ice cream scoop) onto the cookie sheet. 

Bake for 12 minutes and cool before eating. Enjoy!

Love This: Workouts

Roasted Cauliflower

I remember once when a friend of mine was trying to cut down on carbs and she heard that mashed cauliflower was a good substitute for mashed potatoes. She wasn't happy with the result :( I don't know why that stuck in my mind, but this weekend I wanted to see what else I could do with cauliflower....roasting it seemed to be a great idea.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Wash the fresh cauliflower head and break off all of the green leaves. Place the whole head into a glass baking dish. I drizzled mine with a little olive oil and sprinkled it with sea salt. Place it into the oven and cook it for about a hour and 10 minutes. If the flowers are tender sooner, take it out.

Cut off the flowers and serve (or eat it standing over the oven like I did). Enjoy!

Brussels Sprouts "Pizza"

I saw something like this dish a while back on a foodie blog. That recipe had pumpernickel pizza dough and bacon, so mine is a tad different but good enough for the kids to eat it :)

Wash these little babies off and pick off the outside leaves that look a little limp. I use a mandolin to get the slices thin enough, but you can use a knife. I used the 1/4" setting to slice up the whole container. Watch your fingers!

Heat up the pancetta in a medium heated pan. No need to add oil...there is plenty in the meat already! Brown it on both sides for just a minute or two. Because the meat is very thing, it only takes a short amount of time.

 While the meat is browning, set up an ungreased cookie sheet with slices of rye/pumpernickel bread with thinly sliced fresh (the really soft kind) mozzerella cheese.

No need to add any oil to the pan, just use the drippings from the pancetta! Cook the slices for about two minutes, stirring most of the time.

 Top the cheese with a slice or two of pancetta and cooked sprouts.

 Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Enjoy!