healthy

Yummy Healthy Smoothie

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So, how many of you are doing the “set a goal to lose weight” goal AGAIN this year?  Oh, come on, you know you did.  It’s like the number one New Year’s Resolution EVER!!  

Anyway, it hit me tonight, as I looked at my calendar (didn’t have time to check it yet this week.  What is that about?) that it was my week to post on Thursday.  

After cleaning the kitchen and living room this morning, vacuuming up copious amounts of pine needles from the Christmas tree, going to my 3rd Zumba workout this week, doing a couple of loads of laundry, going back to work after the long Christmas break, working like crazy to catch up at said work, getting my entry ready for our Arts Council photo contest, running to the bank, yadda, yadda, yadda….I got home from work and had about 30 minutes to breathe and throw down a fold-over ham sandwich before a 6:00 planning meeting at church, prior to the youth meeting at 7:00 pm.

I did NOT have time to whip up an amazing recipe to post, but I do have time to make a smoothie for my breakfast in the morning!  So I am going to go do that right now and snag a few pictures and then I will  be sharing that smoothie recipe with you!  Now we can work on our weight loss goal together!

Ingredients:
2 cups of frozen fruit, we like blueberries
1 cup low fat vanilla yogurt, we like to use 2 containers of Activia yogurt
1/3 cup of Whey Protein, chocolate flavor
1 heaping tablespoon low fat peanut butter
Honey, to preference
Ground flax seed, about a tablespoon or so
1/2 banana
1/4 cup quick oats (or less), or a packet of instant oatmeal of desired flavor
6 oz. low fat milk, we use 1%



1.  Place the fruit in a blender, food processor, or “Ninja” and process for a few seconds.
2.  Add remaining ingredients and process until desired consistency.
3.  Pour desired amount in a glass and ENJOY your healthy beverage.

 

Originally posted on January 3, 2013.




Super Moist All Bran Muffins

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Have you ever had a really moist, delicious bran muffin somewhere and then they don’t serve them anymore?  Back in the late 90’s, I think, McDonald’s was trying to offer more healthy options at breakfast.  You know, because how many Egg McMuffins can you really take?

My favorite thing was their bran muffin.  It came in it’s own little cellophane pouch so they could warm it for you if you preferred.  And then, just like that, they weren’t serving them anymore.  I haven’t been able to find a replacement for lo these many years.

Last week I was determined to Google and find a good recipe and this is the first one I found.  It is moist and delicious and, HELLO, has apple butter in it. Come on, don’t tell me you aren’t drooling over it right now.

I am also excited to use up my supply of cute cupcake papers that I just HAD to buy.  But since I have no kids at home, I haven’t been asked to make any cupcakes for school stuff, ya know?  No bake sales, no fundraisers, no kids’ birthdays at school…

 

Super Moist All Bran Muffins
Yields 18
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Ingredients
  1. 1 1/2 c. all-bran cereal
  2. 1/2 c. boiling water
  3. 1/4 c. canola oil
  4. 1 egg
  5. 3/4 c. sugar
  6. 1 c. buttermilk
  7. 1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
  8. 1 1/4 t. baking soda
  9. 1/2 t. salt
  10. 3/4 c. apple butter
  11. 1/2 c. chopped walnuts
  12. 1/2 c. chopped pecans
  13. 1/2 c. golden raisins
  14. Honey to drizzle
Instructions
  1. Preheat convection oven to 375 degrees F (regular oven--400).
  2. In a large mixing bowl, pour boiling water over 1/2 cup of the bran cereal, mix in oil , then set aside.
  3. In another bowl mix egg, sugar and buttermilk.
  4. Add sifted flour, soda, salt and remaining dry cup of bran to the wet bran mixture, then add wet buttermilk mixture and stir.
  5. Stir in apple butter, nuts and raisins. Mix thoroughly.
  6. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners and scoop batter into each. My batch made 18.
  7. Bake for about 12 minutes (16-18 non-convection).
  8. Drizzle honey on top of muffins.
  9. Transfer muffins to wire racks to cool.
Notes
  1. Original recipe notes that in lieu of cupcake liners you can grease the muffin pan or stoneware. I didn't know you could grease stoneware...
Adapted from Kevin is Cooking
Adapted from Kevin is Cooking
Mormon Mavens https://www.mormonmavens.com/

Mandarin Sunburst Salad

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Father’s Day was celebrated a day early for us this year so that we could get together with our oldest daughter and her family.  They were reserving Sunday for her husband to enjoy an easy day at home after church. 

We picked up some amazing deep-fried barbecued chicken from Maw Maw’s Kitchen–a local southern diner. That was my husband’s idea because he really didn’t want to man the grill on his day.

I needed to add a couple of sides, so this ramen-inspired salad was just the ticket.  I also added Frosted Salad.  Great pairings! 

We had a delicious meal and then topped it off with Apple Pie and ice cream.  Good thing I had yoga the following Monday morning to start off a new week of working out at the Y.  Oh goodness. 

Mandarin Sunburst Salad
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Ingredients
  1. 2 pkg. ramen noodles, chicken flavor
  2. 1 pkg. (14-oz.) Cole Slaw
  3. 1 can (15-oz.) Mandarin oranges, drained
  4. 1 pkg. (5 or 6 oz.) dried sweetened cranberries
  5. 4 green onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
  6. 12-16 snow peas, cut diagonally into thirds
  7. 1/2 cup toasted, sliced almonds, divided (Opt. if you have nut allergies)
  8. 1/2 cup canola oil
  9. 1/3 cup sugar
  10. 1/4 cup white vinegar
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
  2. Open noodles packages. Reserve one seasoning packet for dressing and save other for future use, if desired.
  3. Break up ramen noodles into small pieces.
  4. Arrange noodles on an ungreased baking sheet and bake 10-13 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack covered with waxed paper.
  5. In a large bowl, combine Cole slaw, oranges, cranberries, onions, snow peas, 1/4 cup almonds and cooled noodles.
  6. Whisk oil, sugar, vinegar and reserved seasoning in a small bowl until well blended. Pour over slaw mixture and toss to coat evenly and combine all other ingredients. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup almonds over salad.
Notes
  1. This can be prepared 1-2 hours ahead of time and refrigerated to soften noodles. But you do want a little crunch!
Adapted from Fine Cooking
Adapted from Fine Cooking
Mormon Mavens https://www.mormonmavens.com/

Southwest Cornbread Salad

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Here’s a tasty, healthy summer salad that makes a great side dish to just about any cookout or family meal.  I used this for a cookout with my daughter’s in-laws just the other day.  Use your favorite cornbread recipe or do like I did and search our site.  I found this delicious recipe right HERE.  This is now my go-t0 cornbread–delicious!! 

A couple of things to note about this recipe: the pumpkin seeds are a little chewy so next time I am going to make it with sunflower kernels; the dressing is made with plain yogurt, so if you want a little sweeter taste use French or regular Vanilla; if you don’t like lime so much, just reduce the amount. My husband was skeptical about the dressing because of the lime.  Go figure.

And again, thanks for your continued support and patience as we try to work out our crazy lives so that we can cook again…and actually blog about it!

Southwest Cornbread Salad
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Ingredients
  1. 6 T. lime juice
  2. 4 t. sugar
  3. 2 c. plain yogurt
  4. 1/2 c. olive oil
  5. 1 (8 x 8 pan) cornbread, cut in 1 inch pieces
  6. 6 c. romaine lettuce, chopped
  7. 1 (15-oz.) can black beans, drained & rinsed
  8. 2-3 avocados, chopped
  9. 2 c. chopped tomato
  10. 1/4 c. toasted pumpkin seeds
  11. 1/4 c. cilantro, chopped
Instructions
  1. In a small bowl, mix lime juice, sugar, yogurt and oil.
  2. In bottom of a large glass bowl, distribute cornbread cubes to cover the bottom.
  3. Layer the following ingredients in this order: romaine, beans, avocado, tomato and the dressing.
  4. Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds & cilantro.
  5. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Notes
  1. Dip your serving spoon to the bottom of the bowl to be sure and get all the flavors from the foods! And if you make your own cornbread, try baking at 375 degrees in a convection oven for 18 minutes.
Adapted from Relish
Adapted from Relish
Mormon Mavens https://www.mormonmavens.com/