Healthy Snack Ideas

Eating healthy doesn't mean you have to give up snacks.  It's just the opposite, in fact.  Snacks are a very important part of your diet because they keep you going in between meals.  "Small meals/snacks eaten about every 2 1/2 to 3 hours tend to translate into more stable blood sugars throughout the day," says Elaine Magee, MPH, RD and author of Web MD Weight Loss Clinic's "Recipe Doctor." She adds, "When you graze instead of gorge, you avoid extreme hunger and tend not to overeat at any one meal." 

However, many people fall into the tempting trap of consuming snacks that taste good but contain little more than empty calories, such as potato chips or candy.  The trick is to find snacks that are high in fiber, protein and/or dairy and low in saturated fat and refined sugars.

Try This:

1. Go for a fibrous crunch.  Popcorn is a good place to start.  High in fiber and low in calories, this filing snack is considered by many to be one of the healthiest foods available – that is, without the salt and butter.  Try it with a little grated parmesan and a sprinkle of ground time.  You can also throw back a handful of nuts.  Don’t be afraid of the fat; nuts contain the heart-healthy kind of fat and are not only loaded with fiber, but are also protein-rich. 
2. Throw together a fruity treat.  Simply dip some sliced apples and/or bananas in a reduced fat peanut butter for that perfect marriage of fruit and nuts.  If sweeter is what you’re looking for, toss some fresh berries or sliced bananas in a bowl and add a fat free whipped topping.  For a more decadent treat and a supercharged dose of antioxidants, skewer your fruit and dip it in melted dark chocolate. 
3. Don’t shy away from the sliced veggies.  Pair them with your favorite dip and you’ll feel like you’re eating more than just rabbit food. For something fun, try adding your favorite taco mix or seasoning packet to a reduced fat Greek yogurt. Your veggies won’t know what hit them! 
4. Get fancy with yogurt.  By adding a touch of honey, agave or fresh fruit to a plain, reduced fat yogurt, you’ll give yourself a dairy-infused, high protein sweet treat that tastes like dessert. 
5. Think drink.  A flavorful skim milk chai latte tastes like a fat-filled sweet treat, but fear not.  When made with nonfat milk, a 12 oz serving packs 6 grams of protein with only 150 calories, according to Starbucks standardized recipe calculations.

Want more healthy eating ideas and strategies, download How to Eat Healthy Without Noticing: A Non-Dieter's Guide to Eating Better on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or via your iBooks app.

Hungry Girl Recipes that ROCK!

For those of you who have not yet discovered Hungry Girl, you're missing out.  Hungry Girl, otherwise known as Lisa Lillien, is a food-obsessed, health-conscious best-selling cookbook author and founder of hungrygirl.com. Hungry Girl is all about finding delicious guilt-free versions of the foods we all love.  Through her daily emails, Food Network show and cookbooks, Lisa shows us some great swaps and recipes that we can easily work into our diets in a sustainable way.

Since discovering Hungry Girl, I have dabbled with a number of her recipes - from breakfast to dessert to cocktails and more.  While some recipes leave me wanting more, others have me doing back flips.  And some simply require a little trial and error to get right.

Today, I'd like to share my current Hungry Girl obsessions -- dishes that I turn to on a regular basis that even my family enjoys (my ultimate goal)!

HG's Cheesy Beefy Supreme Wrap

Ingredients:

1 La Tortilla Factory Whole Wheat Low-Carb/Low-Fat Tortilla, Large (sometimes labeled Smart & Delicious Low Carb High Fiber)

1/2 cup frozen ground-beef-style soy crumbles (like Boca Ground Burger or Morningstar Farms Meal Starters Grillers Recipe Crumbles)

1/2 cup shredded fat-free cheddar cheese

1/2 wedge The Laughing Cow cheese, Light Original Swiss

1 tbsp. fat-free sour cream

1 tsp. taco seasoning mix

1/2 tsp. taco sauce

Directions:

Place frozen soy crumbles, Laughing Cow cheese and taco seasoning mix in a small microwave-safe bowl. Heat in microwave for 45 - 60 seconds. Remove, add taco sauce, and mix well. Lay tortilla out on a large microwave-safe plate, and then warm it in the microwave for about 10 seconds. Place the soy crumble mixture in the center of the tortilla. Next, cover the mixture with the shredded cheese. Place the tortilla, open-faced, in the microwave for about 40 seconds (until shredded cheese has melted slightly). Remove plate from the microwave, and place sour cream on top of the melty cheese layer. Then, wrap the tortilla up by first folding in the sides and then rolling it up from the bottom. With the seam side down on the plate, heat the wrap in the microwave for another 30 seconds.

What I love most about this meal is that it tastes really fattening (in a good way).  But with 267 calories and 6 grams of fat, this delicious protein-packed, fiber-rich Taco Bell swap gets two enthusiastic thumbs up from me! 

HG's Exploding Chicken Taquito

Ingredients:

1 can (10 oz) 98% fat-free chunk white chicken breast in water, drained and flaked

1/2 cup salsa

8 small (6 inch) yellow corn tortillas

1/3 cup shredded fat-free cheddar cheese

1/4 tsp dry taco seasoning mix

Optional: additional salsa and/or fat free sour cream for dipping

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine the chicken and salsa, and mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.  Dampen two paper towels, and place tortillas between them. Microwave for about 1 minute, until tortillas are warm and pliable. Set aside.Remove chicken mixture from the fridge, and drain any excess liquid. Add cheese and taco seasoning, and mix to combine. This is your filling. Set aside.

Place one tortilla flat on a clean dry surface (keep the rest between the paper towels), and spoon about 2 heaping tablespoons of filling onto the tortilla. Spread it evenly across the entire surface, and roll tortilla up tightly, so that you have a cigar-shaped tube. Secure with toothpicks, if needed, and place seam side down on greesed baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling.  

Bake in the oven until crispy, 14 - 16 minutes. (Don't worry if they crack and "explode" a little!) 

My family went nuts for this and it couldn't have been easier to make.    

Faux Fried (Baked) Onion Rings or Zucchini 

Hungry Girl discovered an extremely nutritious way to "faux fry" anything from fish, to chicken to onion rings and zucchini -- using FiberOne cereal.  While I love the idea behind this healthy swap, this one took some tweaking.  Because FiberOne was originally intended as a cereal, it is naturally sweet, which typically breadcrumbs are not.  So, my goal was to authenticate this extremely healthy swap as a tasty breading.  Here's how I did it:

Ingredients:  

1 cup FiberOne cereal

1/2 cup seasoned Panko breadcrumbs

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp ground thyme

1 tsp dried oregano 

1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1 tbsp fat free milk 
1 egg or 1/4 cup egg substitute

1 medium sized zucchini, sliced; or 1 whole onion, sliced to form rings 

Directions:  

Preheat oven to 400.  Combine all dry ingredients in a food processor and blend until breadcrumb consistency.  In a medium bowl, beat egg with milk. Dip vegetables in egg mixture then coat with breadcrumbs.  Place on lightly greased cookie sheet.  Bake for 18 - 20 minutes.

Packed with fiber and protein, this healthy alternative to its fried counterpart is delicious -- and very easy to make! 

These are just a few of my go-to Hungry Girl recipes.  Stay tuned as I continue to experiment with more.

Want more healthy eating ideas and strategies, download How to Eat Healthy Without Noticing: A Non-Dieter's Guide to Eating Better on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or via your iBooks app.

Tips and Tricks for Eating More Fruits and Vegetables

How can I eat healthy and still enjoy what I'm eating? How can I sneak healthy foods into the diets of my two children and my husband (who, when it comes to eating, is like a third child)?

As a thirty-something mother of two, I see more and more the role nutrition plays in my life and in the lives of my family members. I want to eat what I like, but I want to look good. I want to have good cholesterol and triglycerides levels when I see my doctor, and I want the scale to be friend, not foe. I also want to arm my children with healthy immune systems, lots of energy and strong bones, among other things. And I'd like my husband to realize he's no longer nineteen and cannot simply eat what his precious (and aging) heart desires.

These seemingly simple, yet deceptively difficult goals require a little creativity and some trial and error to achieve. That is why I have begun to experiment in my kitchen. And I'm proud to report that my little test lab has produced some great crowd-pleasers (and by crowd, I mean my little, but picky, family of four) that have since been incorporated into our family menu.

For the purpose of this blog, I thought the best place to start would be with fruits and veggies.

For most of us, meeting the three to five serving-per-day requirement is not as easy as it sounds. Add kids to the mix and difficult suddenly becomes downright daunting. Luckily, I have discovered some great ways to sneak nature's goodness into some tasty meals.

Homemade Apple Sauce with Agave:

If you like apple pie, you'll want to add this recipe to your collection. This versatile dish can be enjoyed as a breakfast meal, a side dish or even as a dessert. 

Ingredients:

8 medium apples

1/4 cup agave syrup

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 cup water 

Directions:

Peel, core and dice the apples. In a medium saucepan, add all ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Once softened, mash apples with fork or potato masher. Serve warm or cold.

When I make this for my family, it is usually completely gone before it even has time to cool! 

Veggie-Infused Marinara Sauce:

Pasta. Pizza. Mozzarella sticks. What do these tasty foods have in common aside from their wide appeal among kids and adults alike? They are all made with, or accompanied by, marinara sauce. Marinara sauce is not only very easy to make, it also makes for a great secret home to some power veggies, such as carrots, onions and even wheat germ (yes, I know this is not a fruit or a veggie... but it's healthy for you nonetheless). 

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 28 oz can whole or pureed tomatoes

1 large onion, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 large carrot, pealed and chopped

1 fresh thyme sprig

1 tbsp chopped fresh basil

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley

1 1/2 plus a dash of salt (more or less to taste)

1/2 plus a dash of pepper (more or less to taste)

1 Tbsp wheat germ 

Directions:

Heat olive oil in sauce pot. Add carrots, celery and onions and a dash of salt and pepper. Sautee until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook another 2-3 minutes. Add canned tomatoes, herbs, wheat germ and remaining salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer covered for about 1 hour. Blend sauce with either handheld or stand-alone food processor till combined and smooth. 

Hearty Vegetable Soup:

This is a good one, courtesy of a friend who has been successfully feeding her children only the healthiest of foods since before they had teeth. While my family loves this soup for it's hearty, rich flavor, I love it for it's powerful nutritional content. When I serve this meal, I feel content in knowing my children are filling their little bodies with some great power foods.  It's a cinch to cook and even easier to store for a quick meal later in the week.

Ingredients:

2 quarts vegetable or chicken stock

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

4 medium carrots, chopped

2 medium celery stalks, chopped

1 clove minced garlic

3 tbsp tomato paste

1 bay leaf

2 cans of navy beans, kidney or cannellini beans, drained

1 cup frozen peas or edimame

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Heat olive oil in 5-quart pot until hot. Add onion and sauté on low heat until translucent, approximately 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute more. Add celery and carrots for 3 more minutes. Stir in tomato paste for another two minutes. Add stock and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes on low.

Add beans, peas and salt and pepper to taste. For thicker stock, ladle out 2 cups, blend in a blender and return to stock. Add your favorite noodle and you've got a meal!

OTHER EASY TRICKS:

- Sweeten a bowl of strawberries with a pinch of sugar for a syrupy treat.

- Top your favorite berry or sliced banana with a fat free whipped topping

- Bring a bag of carrots in the car for drive-time munching

- Keep frozen fruit on hand for a quick homemade smoothie

Want more ideas and strategies, download How to Eat Healthy Without Noticing: A Non-Dieter's Guide to Eating Better on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or via your iBooks app.