The Munchies

Ecclesiastes 3:13
And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.

Today's topic was originally going to be on a different subject, but a friend of mine asked for some suggestions for healthy snacks.  She's pregnant right now, so the munchies tend to hit her especially hard, and in this case, in the middle of the night.

I've found several healthy snacks that help me through those times of when I get the munchies.  Changing to a healthy lifestyle doesn't mean no more snacks, just better, healthier ones.  Life is meant to be enjoyed, not endured; including snacking!

Fruit - seems simple enough right?  I always keep my favorite fruit on hand.  I really like Halo oranges, they are seedless, nice and cold out of the fridge, and they're so little and cute!

Apple slices - Need I say more?

Grapes, another quick go-to snack for when you want something sweet.  You can throw them in the freezer, they are a wonderful frozen treat.  You can also toss frozen grapes into a glass of water for some easy flavored water.

Strawberries - by themselves of course are pretty outstanding, but dipped in some unsweetened dark chocolate kicks them up to another level...yum.

I think you get the idea with fruit, so say you have a salty tooth, then what?  Here are some of my favs:

Snap Pea Crisps by Calbee (Caesar is my favorite flavor) - these have replaced potato chips in my life!  They are baked, full of fiber and protein, and you can eat like 20 of them and they are only 50 calories & 15 grams of carbs!

100 calorie packs of almonds by Evergreen .  There are  roasted flavors such as, cinnamon roast, vanilla roast, or dry roasted.  I keep few packs of these in my purse so I can always have a healthy snack on hand.

A note to self on 100-calorie packs; they are not all created equal.  I stick to 100 calorie packs of nuts instead of cookies or crackers even if they are baked. The nuts have no carbs and no sugar, the others, although they are 100 calories, still have carbs and sugar.

Zucchini crisps - this one is great if you have a little time to make them.  You slice up some zucchini & toss them with a beaten egg; then mix together in a separate bowl a 1/4 cup  of parmesan cheese, 1 teaspoon of minced garlic & 1/4 cup of panko bread crumbs & a little pepper.  Toss the egg-coated zucchini in the dry mixture; then spread them out flat on a cookie sheet & bake in an oven pre-heated to 450 degrees for about 30 minutes & voila, a tasty, healthy, homemade snack.

Popcorn - l love popcorn!  Get some natural white popcorn, (none of this microwave in a bag stuff)  put a tablespoon of coconut oil in a heavy pot with a lid, melt the oil and put in a 1/3-1/2 cup of popcorn, put the lid on and shake constantly over a med-high heat until the kernels stop popping. Pour into a heat resistant bowl, salt lightly.  Super tasty!  Be creative and flavor with cayenne pepper if you like it spicy, or some parmesan cheese.  Or hey you could sprinkle some parmesan cheese and cayenne pepper on your popcorn for cheesy & spicy at the same time...I'm gonna have to try that!

Veggies - Can't go wrong snacking on veggies, I have found that making a healthy dip helps me to eat more veggies.  There are two that I really like, one is a Garlic & White Bean Dip from Eating Well Magazine, and a Feta and Herb Dip, also from Eating Well Magazine.  I dip anything from celery, broccoli, asparagus or  snap peas in these tasty dips.    See below for recipes.

Garlic & White Bean Dip

For this simple-as-can-be dip, rich-tasting poached garlic is pureed with convenient canned beans, a little bit of onion and a dash of lemon juice. Use it as a dip for crudités, veggies or as a spread on a sandwich.

2 cups garlic oil & 2 cups bean dip | Active Time: 50 minutes | Total Time: 2 1/2 hours

Ingredients

Poached Garlic & Garlic Oil

4 cups water
4 heads garlic, cloves separate but unpeeled
1 1/2 cups canola oil
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Bean Dip

1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 15-ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed (see Tip)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Preparation

To prepare poached garlic & garlic oil: Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from the heat, add garlic cloves and stir to submerge. Let stand until the garlic skins are softened and cool enough to handle, about 50 minutes. Strain the garlic, remove the skins and cut off the hard nub where the clove was attached to the head.
Place the garlic, canola oil and olive oil in a medium saucepan; bring to a gentle simmer over medium-low heat. Reduce the heat to low and maintain a very gentle simmer (it may be necessary to slide the pan to the edge of the burner). Simmer until the cloves are golden and very soft when pressed with a fork, 40 to 50 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes.
Transfer the cooled garlic to a sieve to drain, reserving the oil. Transfer the garlic to a food processor and puree until smooth, scraping down the sides occasionally. (If it makes more than 1/2 cup, store the extra in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.)
To prepare bean dip: Combine 1/2 cup of the reserved garlic oil, onion and salt in a large skillet. Cook over medium heat until the onion is softened but not browned, 6 to 9 minutes. Stir in beans and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. Transfer to the food processor, add lemon juice and puree with ½ cup garlic puree until smooth. Serve warm or cold. (Store extra garlic oil in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.)
Nutrition

Per 2-tablespoon serving : 123 Calories; 8 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 5 g Mono; 0 mg Cholesterol; 12 g Carbohydrates; 3 g Protein; 2 g Fiber; 139 mg Sodium; 173 mg Potassium

Tips & Notes

Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate garlic puree for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 6 months; refrigerate oil for no more than 1 week. Cover and refrigerate the dip for up to 3 days.
Tip: While we love the convenience of canned beans, they tend to be high in sodium. Give them a good rinse before adding to a recipe to rid them of some of their sodium (up to 35 percent) or opt for low-sodium or no-salt-added varieties. (Our recipes are analyzed with rinsed, regular canned beans.) Or, if you have the time, cook your own beans from scratch.

Feta & Herb Dip

Lots of freshly chopped herbs add zing to our white bean dip. Serve with assorted vegetables, such as baby carrots, bell pepper strips, radishes, snow peas, broccoli and cauliflower florets.

8 servings, 1/4 cup each | Active Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 15-ounce can white beans, rinsed
3/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
Preparation

Place beans, yogurt, feta, lemon juice, garlic salt and pepper in a food processor and puree until smooth. Add herbs; puree until incorporated. Chill until ready to serve.
Nutrition

Per serving : 32 Calories; 1 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 0 g Mono; 4 mg Cholesterol; 5 g Carbohydrates; 2 g Protein; 1 g Fiber; 167 mg Sodium; 77 mg Potassium

Exchanges: 1/2 starch, 1/2 very lean meat

Tips & Notes

Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

What are some of your go-to healthy snacks!  I'd love to hear from you....until next time, bless you!

Kill the Lazy Bug

The next part of the Put That Fork Down & Start Moving Around plan was to start moving.  At different times I had used every excuse in the book, like:

I don't have time
I'm too tired to exercise when I get home from work
I don't have time to exercise in the morning before I go to work
I don't want to mess up my hair
I don't want to spend money on a gym membership

Any of these sound famiiar?  When I really thought about it, the real reason was because I was too lazy.  As long as I used any of my trusty excuses, I felt like my lack of exercise was justified.  The Bible has a lot of scriptures about laziness, but the one that I thought summed it up best is Proverbs 13:4  Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.

You can want to get healthy and loose weight all you want, but you will get no results. OR you can work hard and prosper in your body with a healthy life!

At my job, I sit at a desk pretty much the majority of the day, and I would go home after work and aside from cooking and eating, then I would basically sit in my favorite recliner, wiped out from the day.  I was hardly moving around at all.  However,  my ever tightening clothes led me to get moving.  I didn't run out and get a gym membership, I didn't start out trying to run a half marathon, or buy P90X (although I already had  P90X, and hadn't touched it in over two years).

Like I've said earlier, when I had this whole get healthy revelation, I was recovering from surgery, so my ability to exercise was limited; but I didn't want to wait until I had clearance from the doctor before I started full-blown exercise.  So I started where I was, used what I had and did what I could.
At my job there's a small gym, so I would walk on the treadmill twice a day for 15 minutes on my breaks.  I wasn't power walking or anything, just a nice and steady 2.5 to 3.0 pace.  That way I stayed within my medical restrictions, didn't sweat out my hair, and got away from my desk.  Just that 30 minutes of walking each day I would burn up to 90 calories!  I would walk on my lunch our to go and pick up my lunch.  On at least one day of the weekend I would walk around my neighborhood for anywhere from 15-20 minutes.

I was using Myfitnesspal to track my movement and I was pleasantly surprised to discover how many calories I was burning by simply walking.

This alone eliminated most my excuses I had for why I wasn't exercising:  I had the time during my breaks at work, I wasn't sweating out my hair, and I hadn't spent one penny...it doesn't cost a thing to walk!

Once I got clearance from the doctor, I started gettin' my groove on at Zumba.  I don't like exercise, but  I love Zumba; for me it's a great way to trick my body into exercising by telling it we're dancing!  In an hour of Zumba, depending on the energy you put into it, you can burn 300-500 calories!  If you're not familiar with Zumba, it's a dance fitness program created by dancer & choreographer Alberto "Beto" Perez.  Zumba has dance and aerobic elements and the routines have moves like hip-hop, samba, salsa, and merengue with the occasional squats and lunges thrown in.  You might think, "How is dancing gonna get me to loose weight?"  I'm here to tell you, Zumba gets your heart rate up, you are moving and shaking things you forgot you had, and you get your sweat on!  There are classes everywhere, just Google what's in your area.  If you're in the Las Vegas area, there are two FANTASTIC instructors whose classes I go to:  Sheila Poole (who happens to be my sister) www.sheilapoole.zumba.com and Blanca Fehlman blanca702.zumba.com.  Click on the link for more information about their classes.

My point is, once I got moving, combined with cutting back the amount of calories I was eating, I felt better and I looked better.  I was getting my stamina up (when I first started Zumba I felt like I was gonna go into cardiac arrest), and I was getting stronger.

I discovered with exercising, I had to find something that I really enjoyed.  I had tried gym memberships, P90X, and other things that I really didn't like, therefore I never did any of it for very long.

I encourage you to find what you like, try new and different ways to get moving, every little bit counts!  Kill that lazy bug, and burn baby burn!

In my last blog I promised some recipes, I just tried this one tonight.  It had been swirling around in my head for some time, it's based on a recipe I had found that used rice.  I substituted quinoa for the rice, threw in lots of veggies and came up with this recipe...I found it to be very tasty.  I hope that you will try it and let me know what you think.

Very Veggie Quinoa Gratin

1/2 Cup uncooked quinoa
1 Cup low sodium chicken broth
1/3 Cup chopped celery
1/2 Cup chopped onion
1 Tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon minced garlic

3 Tablespoons olive oil

1 yellow squash sliced to 1/4 inch thick
2 zucchini, sliced to about 1/4 inch thick

4 roma tomatoes, sliced to about 1/4 inch thick

Table salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup rough chopped of your favorite mushrooms
1 cup spinach & kale salad mix
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

1/2 cup grated Parmesan, divided
Preheat oven to 450°F.
In a sauce pot, melt the butter and sauté the onion, celery & minced garlic over medium low heat.  Cook, stirring constantly for 4-5 minutes until the onions begin to get translucent.
Add  the chicken stock, cover & bring to a boil.
Once it's boiling, add the quinoa, reduce the heat to medium low to low heat, cover and cook for 15-20 minutes until all of the liquid has been absorbed & the quinoa has fluffed up.
While quinoa cooks, coat two large baking sheets each with a tablespoon of  of olive oil. Spread the squash & zucchini on one baking sheet and  the tomato slices on the other baking sheet in as close to a single layer as you can. Sprinkle with salt & black pepper. Roast tomatoes for 10 minutes and zucchini for 15, then remove from oven. Leave oven on.

Combine mushroom, kale & spinach, quinoa, eggs, thyme, half of your grated cheese and a half-tablespoon of olive oil in a bowl. Add a bit of salt & pepper.  Use the remaining olive oil to coat an 8x8 baking dish. Spread the rice mixture in bottom of dish. Arrange a layer of the zucchini & squash, then a layer of the roasted tomatoes. Sprinkle with remaining grated cheese and bake until set and golden brown, about15- 20 minutes. Remove from the over and let set for about 5 minutes.  Serve hot.

A few people have said they've had trouble posting a comment on the blog, I've discovered that you have to have a gmail email account in order to post.  The good thing is that creating a gmail email is free!

Until next time, keep it moving!