Archive for Healthy food

A lot of you know that I used to eat a lot of Raw foods and that I have recently been transitioning back into it.  I need to be as healthy as possible and try anything I can to keep my RSD in check.  I think last time I lacked support. A lot of my friends just laughed and poked fun.  Calling me things like “Hippie”…ya, tons of support.  I am certainly not a hippie, but I truly don’t like the way I feel.  Atleast on a Raw foods diet I have more energy, I’m in a better mood and I feel healthier. My pain may not go away, but anything that makes me feel a little bit better is better than nothing.

So, I have support this time.  I joined a meet-up class that meets every Sunday.  Every Sunday we learn about nutrition and bring recipes to share.  It’s like this awesome raw food pot luck!  There are some really amazing people up there. People that have even beat cancer with raw foods.  I’m not kidding!

So this week I made a Raw Apple Pie.  It was easy and cheap!  I was so nervous about taking this dish.  At the end of the meal it looked like the dish was licked clean! They even had a vote and I won best dish of the night!  There were children there and they wanted more!  I wish I had doubled the batch!  I am sure that this would be a hit with anyone!  Raw or not!  In fact, I am going to take it to the next gathering we go to where we need to bring a dish.

Raw Apple Pie Recipe – It’s GOOD FOR YOU!

What you will need

  • 6 Large Apples.  We used Delicious Red.
  • 12oz of Medjool Dates
  • 12oz Raw Pecans
  • Cinnamon
  • Lemon Juice

I used a large casserole dish so that it would serve more people.  This made for a thinner crust.  If you want a traditional pie, then use a pie pan and you will have a thicker crust.  The crust is AMAZING!
Raw Apple Pie Crust
Take the pecans and process them into small crumbs in the food processor.  Then add 1/2 of the dates (be sure to remove the pits!) and Cinnamon to taste.  I like a lot of cinnamon flavor.  Process this, occasionally scraping the sides down until you have a doughy consistency.
Raw Apple Pie Crust
You’ll want to press this down into your casserole dish or into your pie pan.  Again, I chose the casserole dish.  When you are finished pressing down your crust place this into the freezer to firm up.
Raw Crust
Next you want to prepare the apple filling!  Wash your apples.  You can peel them if you like, but I didn’t.  Too much trouble for me.  Take 4 of the apples and slice them.  Place these in a bowl.
Apples
Take the other 2 apples and chop them into cubes and place in the cubed apples in the food processor with the remaining Medjool Dates, 3 Tbsp Lemon Juice and Cinnamon to taste.
Raw Apple Pie Filling
Raw Apple Pie Filling
Process this until it is an apple sauce consistency.
Raw Apple Pie Filling
Then mix the processed apples with the sliced apples.
Raw Apple Pie Filling
After you have mixed this up and all the slices are coated you can spread this onto (or into if using a pie pan) your crust.
Raw Apple Pie
If you are not eating it right away, then put it in the refrigerator until you are ready.  It will be devoured!  If you do happen to have left overs then they should be put into the refrigerator and should keep well for 2-3 days.

13 Categories : Recipes

RawPestoPastaI’ve went down this road before.  Eating Raw and feeling really good.  Something always happens though and I fall off that wagon.

This time I am approaching it with a different attitude.

  • I will not deny myself something non raw that I want
  • I will try new things
  • I will put forth more effort

I felt great last time I went raw.  Granted I was only about 80% Raw, it was still a change.  I had more energy, acid reflux was gone and I effortlessly lost weight! This time I am going to try much harder.  Read more, find more Raw Blogs and Websites.

As I sit here typing out this blog I am eating my Raw lunch.  Raw Pesto and Raw Zucchini “Pasta”.  It’s so freaking good too!  Oh and it’s pretty.  I even took a picture of it!  Breakfast was a Strawberry, Banana and water smoothie, sweetened with Agave Nectar.  I love smoothies, so that is an easy thing to have daily.

One of the hardest things for me is cheese and crackers.  This time I am going to experiment with cheese made from nuts. I think it will be a fun experiment with the kids too.  I do not have a food dehydrator, but will look into getting one.  I want to try making my own crackers.

Wish me luck!

24 Categories : Around Our House

This giveaway is closed!

looneyI’m going to post a few things that we make around here that the kids love!  I would love for you to share some of your own recipes and ideas in the comments.  Remember…each comment gets you an entry for the gift basket!  You can comment on any of the posts that feature Bugs Bunny and his Eating Right sign!

I think I mentioned before that we love Bento!  Bento is fun and you can really get kids to eat some different things by making it cool or pretty!  You can take healthy foods and shape them into characters that they love!  They will want to eat it even more if you let them help!

There are streams on Flikr dedicated to Bento!  You can get a lot of ideas from looking at photos.  There are some great ideas to be found!

One of my girls favorite Bento items are “Mock Sushi”

Turkey “Sushi” Rolls are easily made with bread, cream cheese, sliced turkey and veggies of your choice!  Take your bread slices and roll them out flat with a rolling pin or a cup.  Spread cream cheese on the bread and lay thin sliced Turkey at one end with some veggies.  A sliced tomato, match stick cut carrots or anything else you desire.  Roll it all up nice and snug!  Cut the roll in half, then cut those halves in half again!

Another fun one uses Nori Wraps (seaweed).  You take your Nori sheet and spread with mashed Avocado.  Layer on fresh spinach, match stick style carrots, green onions, garlic, sea salt, veggie slice cheese…oh yum!  Roll as directed and cut into the bite size sushi pieces.  Nori is packed with nutritional goodness!

I really need to make an effort to photograph some of our bento projects and post them.  The girls have a blast making and eating them!

MomLogic has some great ideas posted on healthy lunch, snack and dinner ideas for your family.

Please share some of your recipes here! You can leave each one in a separate comment for more entries for the gift basket!

I will be choosing with Random.org this coming Sunday!

Disclosure: I have been hired by Warner Brothers to help spread the word as part of their WB Word of Mouth Program. All opinions I post are my own.

31 Categories : Contests

atkins_cuisine_getCooking1

One of my biggest issues with diet is that I never get enough protein.  I don’t eat enough meat and I try really hard to up my protein with other things.  I always fall way short of the guideline that are set for me on healthy eating in that area.  I was really excited when I received 2 new items from Atkins!

  • Penne Pasta
  • All Purpose Baking Mix

Ok, now I know you’re wondering why that would be so exciting…well these products from Atkins are jam packed with protein and are things I like!

When you think of Pasta and Baking Mix I am sure you do not think of those as high protein food items.  Well, these are!  They are also packed with fiber, are low in sugar, and, of course, fit perfectly into a low-carb lifestyle! I mean really…Pasta as part of a healthy diet food?  Pancakes?  Uh, awesome!

Atkins also has cool recipes to use with the new products such as Penne with Fresh Tomatoes, Lemon and Feta or Rich Chocolate Brownies.  The best part?  No reason to feel guilty!

To celebrate the launch of these new products, Atkins has announced an online recipe contest where you can share your own recipe featuring the All Purpose Baking Mix or Penne Pasta and win great prizes. Recipes can be submitted to www.atkins.com by September 30, 2009

You can find out more about these products on the Atkins Site.  Did you know that the Atkins plan and all the tools you need are free for you to use?  I didn’t until now!  I will definitely be trying out more of the recipes and checking out the program as well!  I have seen so many people achieve awesome results with this plan.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Atkins and received samples to facilitate my candid review. In addition, Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.

1 Categories : Did You Know?

Organic?

by Brandy

horizon_basketSome of you already know about Organic foods.  Some of you may not know as much as you would like.  So, let’s look into this whole Organic thing…

What does Organic mean?

The easiest definition would be fruits, veggies and other things that are grown naturally.  This means without the use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, etc. Also, animals that produce products such as meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy and are not given growth hormones or antibiotics.

There is nothing like eating food in it’s natural state.   With Organics you have less to fear.  I feel better about giving my family Organic products.

Recently Horizon Organic sent me a coupon to try their Organic Eggs for free.  Fantastic! Just one more place you can feel better about what you are feeding your family.  I personally think they taste better.  The J-man…well, I didn’t even tell him.  He has some weird thing in his head about Organic food.  Who knows..needless to say what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him!  IN fact, in this case it reallllly won’t hurt him. It’s natural after all!hzn_12ctlg

At Horizon Organic®, we firmly support the organic standards and feel these guidelines are essential to producing the highest-quality organic dairy products. All Horizon Organic products are certified organic.

I have one extra coupon for free Organic Eggs from Horizon Organic and I am going to give it to one of you!

We’re gonna do this one a little bit different. I would love for you to visit Horizon Organic and leave a comment about something you learned thereThat will be your getting started comment! After that you can comment as much as you want as long as you use complete sentences that make sense! The winner will be comment #126! Good luck!  Oh…and don’t freak.  Comments are moderated, so I will approve them often.  Just keep on truckin’

Oh, and it ends when someone hits #126!~


133 Categories : Contests

Comments are now closedlog-cabin-bottle

Log Cabin has reformulated their pancake syrup by replacing High Fructose Corn Syrup with real Sugar!

The use of High Fructose Corn Syrup has sparked growing concerns amongst the health conscious.  Log Cabin has been a family household tradition since 1887!  I think it is wonderful that they are stepping up and making changes. Read More→

Categories : Contests

I love Italian food, the family loves Italian food too.  It’s one of those make everyone happy things!

Pasta is cheap…add a good sauce and you are rockin’ & rollin’There are so many things you can do with a good sauce.  You can make spaghetti, lasagna, a pasta bake, pizza….the list goes on and on.  It’s alllll good!

sweet

Ragu has just introduced two new flavors of the Old World Style sauces!

  • Sweet Tomato Basil, a smooth blend of Tomato and Basil
  • Margherita, a delicious mix of Tomatoes, Pizza Seasoning and Mozzarella Cheese

Thanks to Mom Central and Ragu I was able to givmarghe both new flavors a try!

The Ragu website is loaded with recipes to use with the new flavors so not only did I get to try a new flavor, I also got to test out a new recipe on the family….double score!

Up Side Down Deep DishFor the Sweet Tomato Basil sauce we had the Up Side Down Deep Dish Pizza!  The recipe calls for Spinach or Broccoli and we chose the spinach only for this dish.  This recipe was definitely a winner in my home.  Everyone thought it was delish!  I’m using the image from the website because I spent a few days with out batteries…YIKES!  Isn’t it so yummy looking?  Oh yea….definitely making this again!  I think next time I will use my own recipe and make the pizza dough instead of using frozen.  That way I can flavor the crust up like we normally do.

PastaFor the Margherita I chose to make the Pasta Margherita.  This is a very simple recipe that is sure to be a hit in other homes as it was in mine.  If your kids love Pizza they will surely love this pasta dish.  Cheap, Quick, Easy and Tastes good…all the important features of a good meal!  I’m sure there are many add ins you could do on this and make it to suit your family.  I’m thinking Olives next time????? Oh and yea…I stole the pic here too!  Hey, I have batteries now…but that food is long gone!

Over all…I have to say this sauce was great.  I liked both flavors a lot and so did the family.  I think if I had to choose a favorite I would have to choose the Margherita.  Mmmmmmm…………………………………

For you moms with picky eaters…did you know there is more than a full serving of veggies in every 1/2 cup of sauce??  Sauce those kids up mama!

You can find the recipes I used plus a ton more on the Ragu Website.  The next recipe I try is going to be the Slow Cooker Spinach Lasagna.

4 Categories : Did You Know?