29
Dec
2010
So Long Holidays, Until Next Year…

It was a white Christmas this year in Atlanta. A once in a lifetime thing! It hasn’t snowed on Christmas in Atlanta in 130 years.

We hibernated for a while inside, but then decided to try to go sledding (with no sleds) in the pitch dark. Still was a lot of fun!

On to the food: We had delicious crab cakes for an appetizer on Christmas.

The recipe came from a restaurant called Van Gogh’s in Roswell, GA. Best crab cakes ever!

They are a little difficult to cook because there is no breading filler to help hold them together. But, sometimes the messiest food is the most delicious.

I have searched the internet, and here is the recipe I found that seems the closest. The crab cakes are made with flour and a little heavy cream, and some spices. Then, there is a dressing that goes on top that is a mustard and leek vinaigrette.

How was your Holiday?

24
Dec
2010
The Psycho Holiday Baker: 10 Different Christmas Cookies in 2 Days

My Mom called in sick two days to make Christmas cookies.

She baked all day from 7 am until 5 pm. She is crazy! I know she loves baking and aspires to have her own bakery one day, but I find it hilariously intense. I think she used 6 pounds of butter. Gross.

She says one secret rule to baking good cookies is not to double the batch because it doesn’t turn out as well and it makes a huge mess.

Anyway, the favorite cookie was the peanut butter and jelly cookie (not my fav though):

Holiday Sugar Cookies:

Chocolate Peppermint Bark:

Thumbprint Cookies (we make these every year; they are a tradition, and my Dad’s fav):

Gingerbread Cookies (my fav because they are not too sweet!):

Chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips:

Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Kisses (my brother’s and sister’s fav):

Oatmeal Applesauce Raisin Cookies:

Cranberry Shortbread Hearts:

And then there were cinnamon chip scones (like Starbuck’s has!), but all that was left was crumbs.

My Mom still says she has to make lemon bars and Italian cookies (like my Great Grandmother made). That will make 12 different kinds of cookies–for the 12 days of Christmas! Hah!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

21
Dec
2010
Last Minute Holiday Treat

Let’s face it. Not all of us are amazing, organized, Holiday baking geniuses.

Mr Triathlete asked me to go to a Christmas party with him, and immediately I knew I didn’t want to go empty handed. I didn’t feel like making something elaborate, and didn’t have the time to go to the store. We were going to leave the house in 2 hours. What to do when I didn’t have much butter to bake with in the house?!

I did have cocoa powder, and chocolate chips! So, I set out to make brownies. And no, I wasn’t taking any measures to make these healthy.

Last Minute Gooey Brownies:

Ingredients:

1/2 C. all purpose flour

1/3 C. cocoa powder

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 C. granulated sugar

2 eggs

1/4 C. butter

1/4 C. canola oil

1 tsp. vanilla

1 C. chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray a square baking dish, or your favorite brownie pan with nonstick spa.

2. Mix the wet ingredients and sugar in one bowl. Mix the dry ingredients in another bowl. Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips (I also added peanut butter chips).

3. Pour in baking dish. Bake about 27 minutes.

4. Allow to cool at least one hour before cutting.

Now, you are not empty handed when setting off to your next party. And everyone loves brownies! How can anyone say they are a bad hostess gift?

19
Dec
2010
Festive and Healthy Christmas Appetizer

I was watching Giada the other day, and she was making skewered Greek salad. The red and green colors made me want to make something like it for a Holiday party I went to.

I came up with tomato, basil, mozzarella, and cucumber skewers:

Ingredients:

2 C. Grape tomatoes (2, 10 oz. packages will be enough)
1 large cucumber, peeled and sliced, then the slices cut into quarters
1 lb. fresh mozzarella, sliced into cubes for skewering
.5 oz. fresh Basil leaves (about 10 large leaves)
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. Balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. Greek seasoning blend
salt and pepper
bamboo or wood skewers (you may need to cut them in half if they are too large)

Directions:

1. Thread the skewers in this order: whole tomato, mozzarella cube, small piece of basil, cucumber, and repeat one time.

2. When finished, drizzle all skewers with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Greek seasoning blend, and salt and pepper.

Please note: I underestimated the time it would take to make these skewers, and I started to get very tired of making them. I had to call in backup, aka Mr Triathlete, to help me finish the job. It probably took an hour from start to finish. But, it was worth it because they were a hit at the party, and delicious and nutritious!

Nutrition Facts (per skewer): 94 calories, 7.3 g fat, 2 g carbohydrate, 5.7 g protein.

Happy getting-into-the-Holiday-spirit!

16
Dec
2010
Recipe Slimdown: Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling

Starbuck’s has these decadent looking cream cheese filled muffins. I wanted to see if I could make a tasty yet healthy alternative. I came across Healthy Food for Living’s recipe for pumpkin cream cheese muffins. I modified a few things, but the muffins turned out delicious.

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:

Cream Cheese Filling:

4 oz fat free cream cheese, room temperature (when used as a filling, fat free cream cheese tastes fine)
1 Tbsp evaporated cane juice or granulated sugar
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (optional)

Muffin Mix:

canola oil cooking spray
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar free maple syrup
2 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp unsulfured molasses
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs, lightly whisked
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup lowfat or fat free milk (or buttermilk if you have it)
3 Tbsp. chopped walnuts and 2 Tbsp. brown sugar for topping

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper cups.
In a small bowl, stir together the cream cheese, sugar, and 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice until well mixed. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour through nutmeg).
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, honey, molasses, oil, and eggs until combined. Whisk in the pumpkin, vanilla, and buttermilk.
Add dry ingredients into wet and stir just until fully moistened.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin, filling each cup a little less than half way full; smooth batter with back of a spoon to even out. Spoon about 2 tsp. of the cream cheese mixture into the center of each cup. Top with remaining batter. Each cup will be almost completely full. Smooth tops with back of a spoon.
Sprinkle each filled muffin cup with the walnut/brown sugar mixture.
Bake muffins for 20-23 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean (a bit of cream cheese clinging to the toothpick is fine, but there shouldn’t be any raw batter).
Let the muffins cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes. Transfer muffins to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Nutrition Facts (per muffin): 188 calories, 7g fat, 0.8g saturated, 27g carbohydrate, 3g fiber, 6g protein. Excellent source of vitamin A (from the pumpkin!).

This makes these muffins a great snack or part of your breakfast! Enjoy!

15
Dec
2010
10 Days ’til Christmas

Now seems like a good time to start a Healthify the Holidays Christmas Countdown.

I went to OK Cafe the other day with my sister on a day when it looked like the inside of a snow globe (minus snow accumulation on the ground). I ordered vegetable soup, and it was so delicious and warm that it inspired me to make this recipe.

We will start with get-you-through-the-cold-days, vegetable soup.

This is a true vegetable soup. I tried to use all fresh ingredients. This helps make the flavor and texture delicious!

Ingredients:

8 oz. sliced mushrooms
1, 16 oz. can white beans, drained and rinsed.
16 oz. reduced sodium tomato soup
4 Cups reduced sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large zucchini, chopped
2 yellow squash, chopped
1, 16 oz. can no salt added diced tomatoes
Italian seasonings: dried or fresh parsley, basil, salt and pepper.
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 large carrots, sliced
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 large russet potato, diced
1 medium eggplant, diced and let sit in salt for 10 mins to draw out bitterness
1 1/2 cups corn (Fresh, cut off the cob is best. If not, frozen is ok)
Dash of Worcestershire sauce, and 3 Tbsp. tomato paste are the secret for added flavor

Directions:

Throw all prepared vegetables into large pot. Add 1 Cup water if you need more liquid. Bring to a boil, then simmer/heat on low for 3 hours.

This soup will last you all week. It’s cheap to make, super healthy way to get your vegetables, a great vegetarian option (can be made vegan by omitting Worcestershire and using vegetable broth), and lower calorie compared to other soups/meals. By making your own soup you are cutting down on sodium. Instead of eating 700 mg of sodium per cup, homemade soup can practically cut that in half!

Do you have a favorite soup recipe?

13
Dec
2010
Color Therapy for Your Blog

Find my post about what color your blog should be over at Hollaback today!

10
Dec
2010
Quick Homemade Pizza

I often have patients ask, is pizza ok to eat? Of course! But, when you have the opportunity it is best to make your own pizza rather than eat frozen, 50-ingredient pizza, or processed fast food pizza.

Short on time? Buy pizza dough from your grocery store bakery. Want whole wheat dough? Whole Foods sells it.

For the toppings:

The topping ideas are endless… For this particular pizza, I decided to use spicy chicken sausage, peppers, onions, and mushrooms. First, I cooked the toppings in a saute pan and deglazed the pan with white wine.

For the sauce:

I am a big pan of pesto. But, this time I did a garlic and olive oil “sauce”. First, spread olive oil on the crust. Next, top with chopped fresh garlic. Bake the crust for 5 minutes by itself at about 375-400F to let the sauce soak in to the crust, and to allow the garlic to cook.

Then, add the toppings, and sprinkle reduced fat mozzarella on top! Feel free to sing an Italian themed jingle at this point.

Presto: you have square pizza! Well, I do not recommend baking pizza on a baking sheet–does not make a very crispy pizza. Use a pizza pan. But, hey, that’s all we had.

For other tasty homemade pizza ideas see this post and this pizza:

8
Dec
2010
I Eat Vegetable Ice Cream

Well… not really.

The ice cream does have actual pumpkin in it. And it’s really not that bad for you… by my standards as far as ice cream goes.

INGREDIENTS: milk, skim milk, cream, sugar, corn syrup, pumpkin, whey protein, egg yolks, tapioca maltodextrin, spices (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger), salt, cellulose gum, mono and diglycerides, citric acid, Yellow #6, guar gum, carrageenan, dextrose, vitamin A palmitate

So, there may be more sugar in it than pumpkin, but oh well. It’s a yummy holiday dessert. And it only has 12 grams of sugar per half cup serving. Not so bad when most ice creams have close to 30 grams of sugar per 1/2 cup. Mr. Triathlete doesn’t like it much because he says it tastes “eggy”. I like to add graham cracker goldfish in it, or eating it plain is pretty good.

6
Dec
2010
Recipe Slimdown: Crunchy Baked Chicken Fingers

Who would’ve thought that an excellent healthy alternative to fried chicken fingers would be a pretzel-based breading?

I was trying to decide what to bread my chicken with, and all we had in the house was pretzels, plain cheerios, some bran flakes, and regular Italian breadcrumbs. So this is what I came up with, and it was delicious!

Healthy Crunchy Baked Chicken Fingers

Makes 2-4 Servings (Using 2 Chicken Breasts)

For the breading:

1/2 C. leftover plain cereal (cheerios, bran flakes, etc.)

1 C. plain salted pretzels

2 Tbsp. Italian seasonings

1 tsp. garlic powder

For the glue that holds the breading on the chicken:

1/3 C. mustard (any kind… I use a mixture of dijon and spicy)

2 Tbsp. honey

1 Egg

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray.

2. In a food processor, chop all the breading ingredients until only small chunks are left.

3. Mix the “glue” ingredients together.

4. Cut the 2 chicken breasts length-wise so that you get about 5 strips per breast. Dip each strip into the “glue” then into the breading, and place on baking sheet. Bake about 15-20 minutes until the pieces start to curl up off the baking sheet.

It was a white Christmas this year in Atlanta. A once in a lifetime thing! It hasn’t snowed on Christmas in Atlanta in 130 years.

We hibernated for a while inside, but then decided to try to go sledding (with no sleds) in the pitch dark. Still was a lot of fun!

On to the food: We had delicious crab cakes for an appetizer on Christmas.

My Mom called in sick two days to make Christmas cookies.

Anyway, the favorite cookie was the peanut butter and jelly cookie (not my fav though):

Holiday Sugar Cookies:

Chocolate Peppermint Bark:

Thumbprint Cookies (we make these every year; they are a tradition, and my Dad’s fav):

Gingerbread Cookies (my fav because they are not too sweet!):

Chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips:

Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Kisses (my brother’s and sister’s fav):

Oatmeal Applesauce Raisin Cookies:

Cranberry Shortbread Hearts:

And then there were cinnamon chip scones (like Starbuck’s has!), but all that was left was crumbs.

Let’s face it. Not all of us are amazing, organized, Holiday baking geniuses.

Last Minute Gooey Brownies:

I came up with tomato, basil, mozzarella, and cucumber skewers:

Now seems like a good time to start a Healthify the Holidays Christmas Countdown.

We will start with get-you-through-the-cold-days, vegetable soup.

Do you have a favorite soup recipe?

Find my post about what color your blog should be over at Hollaback today!

I often have patients ask, is pizza ok to eat? Of course! But, when you have the opportunity it is best to make your own pizza rather than eat frozen, 50-ingredient pizza, or processed fast food pizza.

For the toppings:

For the sauce:

Well… not really.

The ice cream does have actual pumpkin in it. And it’s really not that bad for you… by my standards as far as ice cream goes.

Who would’ve thought that an excellent healthy alternative to fried chicken fingers would be a pretzel-based breading?

Healthy Crunchy Baked Chicken Fingers

For the breading:

For the glue that holds the breading on the chicken:

Directions:

And yes, these make an excellent delivery device for barbecue sauce! And you are saving over 100 calories by using this method.

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