Gluten Free week!

It's been a while since I've done a theme or "challenge" so I thought I'd give this gluten-free diet a try! I counsel lots of children and families on how to follow strict guidelines for celiac disease and those with wheat allergies and give them ideas of foods they can and can not have. I hear time and time again how difficult this diet is to follow (and truly, it is!) and families always express concern about how they can follow this, so I really think the best way to sympathize with them is to try it out myself and walk in their shoes. 

I went to my grocery store heaven (a.k.a. Wegman's) and scoured their gluten free (GF) section for a few inspirational ideas for my week. I purchased GF lasagna noodles, instant oatmeal, waffles, and rice crackers. Honey Nut Chex, fruits, veggies, pistachios, chicken breast and GF chicken sausage completed my grocery run and I'm excited to create some GF meals this weekend/week! 

I have to say that the prices for some of these items were a bit higher than I usually pay and I think that is a very difficult thing for many families that need to follow a GF diet. Amazon.com does have an amazing selection of gluten-free items though that you can buy in bulk and really save so check it out! 

Up first on my menu is going to be a chicken salad that can be eaten on it's own or with gluten-free bread, corn tortillas or rice crackers and tomorrow gluten-free lasagna with veggies & chicken sausage! I'll definitely welcome any suggestions from all of you! I know there are some amazing blogs out there 100% devoted to this gluten-free need :) 

Quick & Easy {healthy} Blue Cheese Dip!

I'm so excited about this recipe! So fast and easy to whip up in my Magic Bullet blender from ingredients I usually have on hand already. Plus, it is very low in fat, full of calcium and totally satisfies your blue cheese need, especially on game day for those chicken wings and veggies!
Here's what I used:

• 1 container of plain fat free greek yogurt (5.3oz each)
• 3 wedges of Laughing Cow Light, Blue Cheese flavor
• 2 T blue cheese crumbles, divided

Here's what I did:

Throw yogurt, cheese wedges and 1 tablespoon of blue cheese crumbles into your food processor. Blend until smooth. Stir in the other tablespoon of blue cheese crumbles for a chunkier dip. Serve! Makes about 1 cup of dressing/dip.

Calories for total recipe: 235; Calories per 2 tablespoons: about 30

This will pair perfectly with the baked buffalo tenders I'm making for the Super Bowl. Also on the menu are sweet potato fries, venison chili, and a variety of raw veggies. More {healthy} game day recipes to come! :)

Festive Spiced Nuts

(Sorry, this is a little late! I meant to write this post around the holidays and never got the chance! But these were delicious and can be made all year round :) Maybe a great little snack for your super bowl party!) 

Yum Yum YUM!!! I've been reading on a lot of food blogs and in my health magazine all about spiced nuts for the winter season and that got me motivated to try them! I love the sweet roasted almonds/pecans that you can get at local fairs, carnivals and winter gatherings and during my Florida trip I remember my brother buying some honey roasted cashews from a local vendor at a flea market we visited...to die for!!!

I flipped back to my Vibrant Life issue for November/December to get some inspiration for a "lighter" version. After these came out of the oven I could barely keep myself from devouring the pan right then and there (The smell was incredible! Your kitchen will just smell like the Holdays!). The taste is sweet, smokey and a bit spicy!

Here's what I did (recipe adapted from Vibrant Life, 2010):
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

• 1 Cup Cashews, raw unsalted
• 1 Cup Almonds, raw unsalted
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 tablespoon of raw sugar (honey may also be good as well!)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Combine nuts with canola oil and mix well.  In a small bowl combine sugar, spices, and salt then add to nut mixture and coat well. Pour onto baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 10-15 minutes, stirring occassionally until lightly caramelized and fragrant. Allow to cool. Store in airtight container. Perfect for holiday parties or gifts! 

Pork Tenderloin Chili

Big shout out to Nick's Backfire Brand for the chili seasoning that I used in this recipe! It was amazing and I love their spices and mixes!! Once the weather turned cold here in Baltimore I just could not wait to make a big pot of chili. It has to be one of my all-time favorite meals, especially in the fall during football season :) I don't think many things can beat a nice cold weekend with family and friends, a big pot of chili with a bunch of fixings, corn bread, and nice cold beer.

During my last Sunday morning farmers market run I stopped by Nick's stand and picked up some of his hot-style Chili Fixens. I took out my pork tenderloin from the freezer a couple days ahead of time to thaw in the fridge and thought...mmmm...it might make a nice pairing. I've really only had vegetarian, beef or ground turkey in my chili but never pork. Why not try it out?! And it also gave me another opportunity to use my croc pot!

Results? Fantastic if I do say so myself! I served my spicy chili over a bed of whole grain rice, and topped it with a sprinkle of cheese and diced avocado.

Ingredients:

• 2# lean pork tenderloin
• 1 can/bottle of beer 
• 28oz can stewed tomatoes, whole with juice
• 1 small can of tomato paste (I think it was 4-6oz?)
• 1 package of chili seasoning
• 1 can (14oz) dark red kidney beans or chili beans with juice

Spray slow cooker with nonstick spray. Combine seasoning mix with beer and stir gently to combine. Place pork, beer/seasoning mix, tomatoes (crush them by hand), in cooker and cover. Let cook on low heat for about 6-7 hours. Open cooker and shred pork, add beans and stir to combine. Re-cover and cook for another hour on low. Mine came out a bit thicker than I would have liked it but you can always add extra liquid (beer, water, broth, tomato sauce) if you like it more soupy. I think when I serve left-overs (I froze a bunch!) I'll add a bit more liquid. 

I love serving chili with a bunch of toppings like diced onion, cheese, sour cream, avocado, tortilla chips or fritos, etc. What's your favorite chili? How do you like to eat it?? 

Semi-Homemade Tomato Soup

I had the most amazing weekend in the Windy City with the boy this past weekend! We went out with some great friends, had a special date night and he even took me to an indoor farmers' market!! We did, of course, eat out quite a bit but I surprised myself by sticking to healthier choices. Salads, fish, egg whites, fruit, veggies all played large roles in my meals but I still snuck in a few treats (wine and chocolate of course ;) ) and tried to practice portion control.

One thing we did want to try for our one home-cooked meal was an easy bread recipe found in the NY Times that MB actually sent to me!

 Seriously, you mix the simple ingredients, let it sit about a day, and bake! No heavy kneading. No special ingredients. No major baking instructions. No precise measuring. AND it tasted great! We got some delicious cheese from the market as well as a jar of tomato soup that was good on it's own but needed a little jazz. Who doesn't love grilled cheese and tomato soup??

Ingredients:

• 16oz jar prepared tomato soup (we used Tomato Mountain)
• 14oz can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 large shallot, chopped
• 1/2 cup Half 'n Half, warmed (can also use fat free half&half or lowfat milk)
• 1T olive oil
• 1 bunch fresh basil, chopped
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Red pepper flakes, to taste

Heat olive oil in a medium sized saucepan over medium-low heat, add chopped shallots and cook a few minutes until softened and slightly translucent. Add tomato soup, half & half, tomatoes, spices and stir. Turn up heat to medium high until soup begins to boil then lower to a simmer for about 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally. Add basil and cook a few minutes more to heat through. Perfect on a cold winter night! 

Almond Crusted Tilapia with Browned Butter Sauce

I'm finally back to posting! I took a mini hiatus due to Thanksgiving and work but I have a few great recipes that I have been meaning to post from the past month! 


(Originally created on 11/11/10)
I love fish! It is so good for you...low in fat, filled with protein, great source of GOOD fats (Omega 3s!) and great tasting. But sometimes I get bored with simply broiling my fish with lemon (that way IS good though!). So while on my walk on this brisk fall day I got to thinking about what I could do differently and got a craving for a macadamia crusted halibut that I had at a local restaurant...I remember it being light yet satisfying and slightly sweet and nutty. 


I always keep almonds in my cabinet for a high protein snack along with tilapia in the freezer for easy dinners (great, low cost fish that you can buy fresh and then freeze fillets or you can also work with already frozen pieces), so I thought I'd give it a try! I still need to work a bit on the browned butter sauce but I think it turned out well for my first try and I'm excited to build on this :)


Here's what I did:


Ingredients:

• Tilapia fillet (maybe 4oz)
• 1/8 cup crushed almonds
• 1T whole wheat flour
• 1 egg white, beaten

• 1T butter
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Splash of FF milk, room temperature or warmed
• Pinch of parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

Dip whitefish fillet in whole wheat flour and shake off excess. Dip fillet in egg white and then coat in crushed almonds, pressing them into fish well. Place on prepared cookie sheet and bake in oven for about 15-20 minutes or until cooked through.


For sauce: In a small saucepan or sauté pan melt butter over medium-low heat. Add a pinch of nutmeg and cook, stirring often, until butter is lightly browned (about 3-5 minutes). Once cooked, remove from heat and add a splash of warmed skim milk and pinch of parmesan cheese and stir until well combined.


I served this with garlic snap peas and roasted broccoli sprinkled lightly with parmesan :) Enjoy!


(Estimated calories per piece of fish- 340)


*Note- I only made 1 serving of this to "experiment" and thought it came out rather well! I think that if you just double, triple, quadruple, etc the recipe it should come out just fine! 

Take-Along Egg Omelette

Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day but I know, for a lot of us, it can be difficult to get it in. Sometimes you really just are not that hungry in the morning. Sometimes you don't have enough time. And sometimes you just don't have something that you can grab easily that sounds good.


I'm usually at the hospital between 7:15 and 7:30 in the morning so I try to sleep in as late as I possibly can (and by late i mean 6am-ish). That, combined with having a roommate to share a bathroom with and trying to get to the parking lot in order to make a shuttle TO the hospital, my mornings are a bit rushed and there's no time for a good breakfast until I get to my desk. Usually I stick with my go-to oatmeal or another whole grain cereal, rice cake or whole grain bagel with peanut butter, yogurt, fruit, etc. but I was getting so bored! 


I love a good, hearty egg breakfast so I tried to think of a way to take an omelette or "egg-scramble" to work with me. My mom is amazing and bought me these really great Avon multi-colored travel dishes that come with plastic sealable lids (and are microwave safe!) so I grabbed one and went to work on my experiment (which, I'm sure has been done by most of you! but it's new to me! :D ).


I had a package of pre-cooked turkey sausage in my fridge and grabbed that along with my farmers market eggs, red pepper for a veggie, shredded jack cheese and some spices. I whipped this together in about 5 minutes and stuck it in the microwave for about 3 minutes and voila! A perfect ready made quick omelette :) It was sooooo good and made our office smell like we were out for brunch (sorry girls!).


I did this the night before, stuck it in the fridge and brought it to work to microwave the next morning. You'll need:

• 1 egg, 2 egg whites (or just 4 egg whites, or you can use egg substitute)
• Splash of skim milk
• 3 turkey sausage links, precooked (I used Jimmy Dean fully cooked) and diced
• 1/4 cup Jack cheese, shredded
• 1/2 small red bell pepper, chopped (could try mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, etc. too!)
• 1/2 tsp minced dried onion
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano

Beat egg well with splash of milk. Mix in cheese, sausage, red pepper, and spices. Spray microwave safe dish (mine is about 4-5 inches in diameter and about 2 inches deep) with non-stick spray and pour in egg mixture. You can either refrigerate overnight or pop in microwave immediately. Microwave on high about 2-3 minutes (may vary depending on your microwave so keep an eye on it!). 

This dish is about 354 calories and 35 grams of protein. 

I usually have it with fruit to bump my morning meal to about 400 calories and get some carbs in to get my brain going and hold me over until lunch :) If this is too much for you, you can always cut back on sausage (or remove it altogether!), add more veggies, use egg substitute and/or only egg whites, less cheese...make it your own!


Quick benefits of breakfast:

• Boosts metabolism and helps with weight control: When you're sleeping at night for those 8 hours (right?!) your metabolism slows down and goes into rest mode. You're basically fasting all night and in order to get your metabolism going again you need to add some fuel (break-fast). Studies show that people who eat a healthy breakfast every morning weigh less than those who skip out. It can also help to regulate your appetite for the day. If you eat a good, healthy meal in the morning it should hold you over until lunch so you won't overeat later on.
• Increases concentration: You need food to stimulate brain activity (especially good carbs!) and help keep you focused at work or school. Also, if you skip out on breakfast and begin to feel hunger sneaking up on you mid-morning, you're less likely to be able to concentrate on that meeting or test.
• So feed your brain and body and eat up! Even if it's something small like fruit and peanut butter or yogurt, a high fiber granola bar, cereal and milk, a whole grain bagel or toaster waffle, fruit smoothie, etc. just get something healthy into your stomach in the morning. Try to pair good carbs with lean protein and some fiber for maximum staying power.