Healthy Movie Theater Snacks

May 21st, 2013 | Posted by Nicole in Food Review - (0 Comments)

Mysterious movie theater popcorn. Even though many theaters have made changes to cook with canola oil and get rid of the partially hydrogenated oils (unhealthy trans fats), movie theater popcorn can not possibly be healthy. Right?

First, I like to know exactly what I am eating. The fact that the information is scarce is a red flag. If they are not willing to display the ingredients, it makes me think the popcorn is still unhealthy. You have to call or write to your local theater to find out the ingredients, and then, if you state you have an allergy or food intolerance, they will tell you what you need to know.

Seriously? They tell you the calories (as if that is supposed to help you figure out if it is “healthy”), but not the ingredients.

movie popcorn calories

Anyway, all that I know is some movie popcorn might still have trans fat, and if it doesn’t, then it probably still contains plenty of byproducts: likely MSG and/or diacetyl. You may remember when diacetyl was in the news for possibly causing lung disease and/or Alzheimer’s. However, this study was done on the workers in the popcorn factory.

Conclusion: I still do not eat movie theater popcorn because I don’t trust it, and there are plenty of other healthy options.

The AMC theater that I went to sold all kinds of healthier alternatives including hummus, fruit chips, pop chips, and Odwalla bars:

movie hummus

healthy movie snacks

My sister got this teeny tiny pack of chocolate raisins (yes, a slightly healthier choice). Good for portion control, but bad for the wallet ;-)

movie candy

I still did not purchase any of these “healthier” choices. I snuck in my own popcorn. Sorry, but I don’t like the movie theater choices ;-)

I brought in this white cheddar popcorn:

healthy cheese popcorn

The ingredients are very simple: popcorn, canola oil, whey, maltodextrin, cheeses, salt.

Mr. Cyclist thought I was ridiculous sneaking this in, but then he did enjoy it as well.

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Szechuan Peppercorn Fish Marinade

May 19th, 2013 | Posted by Nicole in Recipes - (0 Comments)

I recently posted my new favorite marinade and/or sauce for fish here. The marinade is made of spicy, numbing szechuan peppercorns, olive oil, mayo, garlic, lemon, and Thai red chili paste.

It is amazing! It kind of reminds me of sriracha sauce (also a new favorite of mine).

sriracha

Anyway, we have perfected the recipe ingredients, so here you go:

Ingredients:

  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/2 tsp. ground pepper
  • 2 tsp. szechuan peppercorns, ground (you can do this with a spice grinder or mortar and pestle)
  • 1-2 Tbsp. light mayonnaise
  • 3 Tbsp. roasted red chili paste
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 tsp. crushed garlic
  • pinch of salt

Pour this mixture on the fish:

szechuan fish sauce

We have also used the sauce on white fish, and it turned out just as tasty!

spicy fish recipe

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Crock Pot Recipe: Lentils, Chicken Sausage, Kale

May 4th, 2013 | Posted by Nicole in Recipes - (1 Comments)

I discovered this light and more natural chicken sausage at the grocery store the other day:

Lean chicken sausage

healthy chicken sausage

Most turkey and chicken sausage you find will be closer to 9-16 grams of fat per link, and will contain many more preservatives or additives. Since this sausage was so light, the taste was so-so. I would not recommend using these sausages for cooking in a mixed dish because of the lower fat content. They do not add flavor to the meal because they are so light (and typically, that is what you use sausage for!). These sausages would be much better grilled by themselves. Or, cook your dish first, and then add the sausage at the very end.

For recipes, I would use a slightly higher fat sausage–I tend to choose this Al Fresco brand  (or Aidell’s brand) when they have it at the store. Their products have 5-10 grams of fat.

Anyway, let’s move on to the recipe!

crock pot lentils with kale

Crock Pot Lentils with Kale and Sausage

Ingredients:

  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 shallot, minced (optional)
  • 2 tsp. minced or crushed garlic
  • 1.5 tsp. dried sage (fresh would be better)
  • 1 tsp. dried parsley
  • 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
  • 10-12 oz. natural chicken or turkey sausage (not too low fat like the ones I used!), sliced
  • 1.5 cups dry lentils
  • 1 large bunch of kale, leaves torn from the stems
  • 1 cup water
  • 1.5 cups reduced sodium chicken stock (you may need to add a little more as it cooks down)
  • 1 cup red wine

Directions:

  1. Heat your crock pot on high. Meanwhile, prep your vegetables.
  2. Add olive oil, onions, shallots, garlic, and seasonings and allow to heat up in the crock pot.
  3. Next, add your sliced sausage, and stir to combine.
  4. Next add the lentils, liquids, and lastly, the kale.
  5. Cover and heat on high for about 1 hour.
  6. Reduce to low heat for 4-5 more hours.

This dish could cook all day if you were to go to work and come home for dinner. The lentils need a while to cook and soften. This is an easy, full of fiber, complete meal!

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It’s the Beet!

April 23rd, 2013 | Posted by Nicole in Recipes - (0 Comments)

Beets seem to be one of the most disliked foods out there. Every time I go through consults with patients, the most popular dislikes are beets and liver.

I am not a huge fan either. However, I do like beet chips that have been baked in the oven and I like them cut up in small itty bitty pieces on a salad.

beet salad

I was inspired to make this salad recipe after I went out to eat and enjoyed a similar goat cheese and beet salad.

Ingredients: Greens (spinach), sliced red onions that you have marinated in the pickled beet juice, sliced pickled beets, goat cheese, and candied pecans.

For dressing: A tiny drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette or just a little balsamic glaze.

beet salad with goat cheese

Easy! And, it has a nice pretty color for presentation. Even if you are not a fan of beets, I suggest trying them this way!

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Quinoa and Egg Breakfast Bake

April 16th, 2013 | Posted by Nicole in Recipes - (0 Comments)

I found this recipe from Whole Foods and Fit Sugar while on Pinterest.

What a  great idea it is! They use quinoa as the bottom “crust” part and then the egg filling with some spinach, and topped with a small amount of cheese.

quinoa breakfast bake

I only modified the recipe slightly because I used frozen spinach (and more of it) and a few other tweaks.

Quinoa and Egg Breakfast Bake

Ingredients:

  • 1 teaspoon butter or butter substitute to grease the pan
  • 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
  • 6-7 eggs
  • 2-3 egg whites
  • 1 1/4 cup nonfat milk
  • 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
  • 3 tablespoon chopped onion
  • 1 teaspoon chopped thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 cups chopped frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
  • 1 cup finely shredded Romano or Parmesan cheese (and I mixed in some leftover Gruyere we had)

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease your baking dish (the recipe called for an 8×8 dish, but I used an 11.5 x 8.75 baking dish). Do not use 9 x 13–it will be a little too big.
  2. Rinse your quinoa in a colander.
  3. Whisk together your eggs, spices, and milk. Stir in the quinoa.
  4. Pour into the baking dish. Then, stir a little and shake pan a little to let the quinoa fall to the bottom of the pan. Don’t worry–you probably won’t be able to see this, but it will work.
  5. Gently stir in your onions and spinach into the egg/quinoa mixture in the pan.
  6. Bake covered for about 40-45 minutes until it has set. Uncover and sprinkle the cheese on top and bake for another 17-20 minutes until golden.

quinoa egg bake

You could even eat this for lunch or dinner (I am going to eat for lunch today with a side of raw sliced peppers). It is the perfect balanced meal because it contains complete proteins, fiber, vegetables, and a pinch of fat ;-)

Tip: Make it ahead of time, the night before, and then you can just reheat in the morning. Since it takes a while to bake and cook, I made mine at about 9:30 pm and finished cooking it close to bedtime!

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Coconut Oats and Pollen Week

April 13th, 2013 | Posted by Nicole in Eats of the Week | Healthy Living - (0 Comments)

Did you know that bee pollen may actually be good for us? I know, it sounds ridiculous. But, I got to thinking about it after this pollen filled week. Here is Georgia, the pollen count reached 8000 and we are at peak pollen season. It’s fine if you don’t suffer from allergies, but for those who do, we kept up inside. Blurgh.

Total Pollen Count for 4/11/2013: 8024

Anyway, fyi, bee pollen is thought to be the next up and coming superfood due to its antioxidant content, and mysterious supposed healing qualities… We can not really say for sure what it may be good for, but a lot of scientists and doctors have been experimenting with it in areas such as in chemotherapy healing.

So, before the pollen hit, we got engagement pictures taken in the most beautiful spring weather!

engagement photo

And, in the meantime, I have been neglecting my blog. Poor blogosphere… Oh well, sometimes it is good to take a break.

…Just like I took a break from eating oatmeal. Sometimes I’ll eat oatmeal for weeks, then I take a month long break until I find a new way to cook it. Well, I have discovered a new oats creation!

coconut oatmeal

Coconut oats!

Cook some plain oats with your favorite milk (or water), add a pinch of cinnamon, 1 packet of stevia, and add 2 Tbsp. of unsweetened coconut. Make sure the coconut you buy is the unsweetened flakes in the bakery isle. Heat for a few minutes as needed, and enjoy! I usually stir in 1-2 Tbsp. of chopped walnuts to make it more filling.

The coconut is nice because it adds a little bit of fat to make it satisfying and a hearty breakfast. Have you tried adding coconut to your oats?

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Fish in Foil

March 17th, 2013 | Posted by Nicole in Recipes - (1 Comments)

Happy St. Patty’s Day!! Today, I have a recipe for you with a little bit of green ;-)

I rarely cook fish in a foil packet or parchment paper because it doesn’t get crispy. But, what I discovered is that it becomes super moist and packed with flavor.

fish in foil packet

I followed this tilapia recipe from Key Ingredient, except I used green beans instead of asparagus for the vegetable. It turned out like a gourmet meal! And it was nice and light.

Here is how to lay out the foil with fish and ingredients on top:

cook foil packets

how to make foil packets

Wrap them up tightly and place on a baking sheet. It makes for easy clean-up!!

You can use parchment paper as well for a more natural choice.

Then, Mr. Cyclist made some homemade french onion soup to go with it!

homemade french onion soup

It felt like a gourmet dinner! But, the fish recipe was so easy.

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Protein Almond Butter

March 11th, 2013 | Posted by Nicole in Recipes - (0 Comments)

I was getting a little creative with my normal almond butter spread for breakfast. I mixed a brown rice protein powder with almond butter and almond milk. Spread it on top of Ezekiel bread, and you have a balanced breakfast!

almond butter with protein

  • 1 slice Ezekiel
  • 1.5 Tbsp. almond butter
  • 1 Tbsp. vanilla brown rice protein powder
  • sprinkle of cinnamon
  • almond milk or any milk to moisten the mixture
  • drizzle of real honey on top (1 tsp.)

I eat this warm out of toaster oven. I’m sure you could eat it cold, but it always tastes better when the honey becomes warm.

Nutrition Facts:

nutrition facts for almond butter toast

I ate some blueberries to go with this to make it more of a complete meal :)

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KIND Bars

March 7th, 2013 | Posted by Nicole in Food Review - (0 Comments)

In honor of National Nutrition Month, KIND sent me a box load of treats last week. So sweet of them!

kind bars shipment

They included a lot of their bars and a few bags of granola. As you know, I generally don’t buy granola because I figure I can make my own cheaper and healthier.

But, I absolutely loved their granola. It turned out to be a breakfast treat. I enjoyed it because it wasn’t too high in sugar and the calories weren’t outrageous. Most contain about 5-6 g sugar per 1/3 cup serving.

I like some of their bars–mostly only the ones with 4 grams of sugar. These ones are all nuts compacted into a bar with some type of flavor like vanilla extract.

My favorite was the vanilla almond:

vanilla almond kind bar

Eating it in the car before I go to the gym! 7 g protein and 5 g fiber. Love that.

Overall, I have pretty good things to say about KIND products, except double check your ingredient label. Like I said, try to choose the flavors that have the least amount of added sugar (4-6 g is pretty good).

Thanks KIND!

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Eats this Week: Best Salad Ever and The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

March 4th, 2013 | Posted by Nicole in Eats of the Week - (0 Comments)

We had a lot of tasty eats this week! Mr. Cyclist and I discovered that if you roast little mini peppers they become even more sweet and delicious.

We ate them with a turkey burger (I left off the bun because I was saving room for chips hah):

turkey burger with roasted peppers

All you need to do is get the big bag of mini peppers from Costco or your local grocery store (if you can find them there) and then roast them on a baking sheet in the oven under the broiler until they brown. We add some olive oil and a few spices.

Next, we added those same peppers to what I am calling the best salad ever (for the moment anyway).

shrimp avocado salad

Lemon shrimp, avocado, Romano cheese, roasted mini peppers, spinach, onion, sun-dried tomatoes and a few olives. So tasty!

For another dinner, we took more avocados and put them on top of a vegetable omelet.

omelet with avocado

Served with a side of spiced black beans for a complete meal.

Last night, Psycho Holiday Baker made a batch of some of the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever had. Even my Dad couldn’t stop eating them! And he doesn’t usually care much about cookies. The recipe was from Savory Sweet Life.

best chocolate chip cookies

For today, we went to one of those make-your-own stir-fry restaurants.

At first, I was horrible at putting together ingredients, but now I am a pro. Haha. Anyway, first I made a vegetable and tilapia curry mix:

tilapia vegetable red curry

And then, a second small vegetable mix with vodka sauce! It was amazing:

vodka sauce stir fry

Look at all of those veggies!

make your own stir fry

I don’t think he really liked getting his picture taken.

Now, it’s time to make some gumbo and relax. I already did my exercise by wandering around on a trail in the woods with Mr. Cyclist! Hah. Typical for a day off.

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