Latest info, recipes, tools & gadgets to create a healthy diet
Posts tagged healthy snacks
Focus food: Jicama
Mar 6th
Jicama (said hick-ama) is a root vegetable used in Mexican cuisine. Although I’ve eaten this delectable, juicy, crunchy tuber, I’ve almost never found anyone else who has. Of course I haven’t asked any Mexicans, so that might be the problem. Whenever I include it in a dish I get a suspicious, “What’s that?” as they carefully guide the alien food to the edge of their plate. I tell them what it is, encourage them to take a taste, and almost without fail I have a jicama lover after just one bite.
Jicama is that ugly food that tastes amazing!
Jicama is usually More >
Cooking For A Crowd
Jan 31st
How do you feed a crowd healthy, nutritious, delicious food?
This past weekend I needed to cook two meals a day for eight people. I have to admit that I had a terrible time getting the proportions right. The first day I made way too many grains, the second not enough.
Also, because there was no kitchen where I had to serve I had to make all the food in crock pots. It was tasty, but the vegetables were more of a soup than a dish and the grains got overcooked and mushy.
Another problem I had was just how much salt, herbs, More >
All Around Baking Mix
Jan 20th
When I became a vegetarian there weren’t a lot of good vegetarian cookbooks, plus most of them were for ovo-lacto vegetarians and I don’t eat eggs. For years I pined away, wishing I could make good muffins, cakes, pancakes, and the like. I tried all the egg replacers and found them to really be lacking. I did manage some decent treat using things like applesauce and yogurt, but sometimes I didn’t want their distinct flavors in what I was preparing.
Finally I began to play around with it myself and found that it is incredibly easy to make everything from cookies More >
Fantastic “Healthy” Cookies
Jan 17th
Of course all cookies are a treat, but if you make them as healthy as possible you can give them out more freely. Whole sugars, such as Sucanat, have all the nutrients and minerals still intact. It’s still a sugar, but it is used by the body differently and doesn’t cause a loss of nutrients and minerals to process it, like white sugar does.
I developed this cookie recipe after becoming vegetarian and dropping eating eggs, as well. I don’t miss them, as this is a really nice soft cookie. I’ve made awesome double carob cookies (with both powder and chips), More >
Great Cracker Recipe
Oct 25th
One of the things I’m doing right now is trying to find really tasty, healthy snack foods, especially what I call crunchy-salty snacks. We’ve got a good stash of sweet treats, but finding recipes for healthy crunchy-salty snacks has been a challenge. We’re trying to avoid fried foods, too. Often either the list of ingredients or the steps to make something are daunting. As I’ve said before I’m always for tasty and quick.
Anyway, I found this great cracker recipe in Yoga Journal, so I’m going to share it with you.
These were reprinted in YJ from Eat Well, by Charity Ferreira More >
Delicious Fall Fruit Smoothie
Oct 11th
Green smoothies may look strange, but they taste delicious!
Using fall fruits can make excellent smoothies. Below is a recipe I prepared recently.
Pear-Banana Smoothie
- 1 pear, peeled and quartered
- 1 banana, peeled and broken into several pieces
- 4 chard leaves with stems, washed and cut into large pieces
- 1 cup soy milk
- ½ cup vanilla yogurt
- ½ tsp Chinese five spice
Put all ingredients in a high speed blender or Vitamix and puree until smooth.
You can substitute almond or rice milk; ½ cup plain yogurt, 1 tsp vanilla extract, whole sugar to taste; leave out the Chinese five spice, add cinnamon and/or ginger; frozen banana for fresh.
By continuing More >
Keeping Kids Healthy
Oct 7th
Very dear to my heart is helping kids to stay healthy and vibrant. Today over 30% of children are considered obese, what a tragedy. Obese children usually make obese adults, and obese adults leave themselves open for many more diseases than adults within their normal range of health.
One thing we need to remember is that kid’s taste is different than adults. Finding recipes for kids that they really like is an important key to the success of a healthy diet. If the kids don’t like the food, they won’t eat it. They’ll trade with their friends for food less desirable, but More >
Traveling Snacks
Sep 13th
Peanuts get kind of old after awhile. Looking for inspiring travel snacks.
I have to admit I’m dreading the flight I’m taking tomorrow, just a little. The main reason is that I have a special diet and it is nearly impossible to get food either on the plane or in the airport that meets my needs.
At least this time on the way over I don’t have to worry too much, because it will be after dinner and all I’ll need is something to snack on. I’m taking some peanuts and raisins for that.
Coming home, though I’ll be traveling right through the More >
More Healthy After School Snacks
Sep 9th
Use peanuts to make Gorp. My favorite snack in high school.
Now that the rhythm of the school year is settling in, you might be looking for some new ways to feed hungry mouths when they arrive home from school. Giving them something nutritious and tasty will keep them away from empty sugar and carbs.
Most kids like peanut butter, so finding almost anything and putting peanut butter on it is a hit. One of my favorites is peanut butter and banana (also great for a sandwich). A good way to make this a less messy treat is to cut the banana More >
Unusual Apple Snack
Sep 6th
Powdered black salt is a pretty pink, but smells like eggs!
Staying on the theme of apples, since the new crop is coming in now, I’d like to share with you an unusual, but very tasty apple snack. I was told about this idea by a lovely Indian woman when I was in the local international store picking up some spices. She was buying black salt. I had no idea what it was, but it looked interesting, and I like to try interesting things.
In its solid form it looks almost black in color, thus the name. When it is broken into More >