Sweet as a Peach

Summertime is here and that means peach season is upon us… and I love peach season! You don’t have to live in Georgia to know the joy of a sweet peach. This fragrant, juicy fruit is slightly tart, has soft flesh and each bite gives you mouth-watering flavor.  Peach season is short and they ripen quickly, so they need to be eaten fast. But they are sooo tasty (and good for you, too!) so buy them fresh while you can. 

My favorite? White peaches.  They look similar to yellow peaches with the skin on, but they are a bit sweeter in taste and a little less tart. Peaches are on the “dirty dozen” list, so be sure to buy organic whenever possible.

Just one large peach gives you vitamin A, vitamins C & E (antioxidants), potassium, fiber and has about 70 calories. They are low glycemic (won’t spike your blood sugar) and give the most benefit when you eat the skin. Just make sure to wash thoroughly before eating.

Peaches are great on their own (eat the skin, please!) and can be baked, grilled or diced and served with a dollop of yogurt.  Ripened peaches can be diced and put in the freezer for future use. Besides eating peaches fresh from the farmer’s market, you can blend them into this healthy creamy smoothie for a cool summer treat. 

Have a Peachy Summer!

May Madness

There is just something about the month of May that leads me to believe it is going to be an easygoing month, but it always ends up feeling like I’m on the tilt-a-whirl carnival ride. Lots of action, most of it unpredictable and, while it’s annoying at times, it leaves a smile on your face at the end. I have three great things to share with you this week, all the result of a ride that is still not over. March has nothing on May Madness! I wonder what the second half of the month will bring?  Here are a few good things that left a smile on my face. Hope they do for you, too.

ONE - The first is a brand new recipe to make mornings a little more fun.  Ever had a banana split for breakfast? This one is delicious… and nutritious!  Here’s a link to my recent guest post on MindBodyGreen.  I like to make this recipe with the Cinnamon Chia Peanut Butter I blogged about a few weeks ago, but it’s just as delicious with almond butter.  Here you go…  Breakfast Banana Split.

TWO - Since we just celebrated Mother’s Day, I thought I’d share another recent guest post, this time on the FitLife site.  Moms will always give advice and while you might think some of your mom’s advice is outdated, I take a second look at how mom’s wisdom stands true today.  Check it out. I’d love to hear your mom’s favorite words of wisdom, too!

THREE – Thrive Market! My new favorite online market for getting healthy foods at wholesale prices (yes, that’s why it’s on my sidebar :).  Think of it as a Costco for good food… delivered right to your front door.  Thrive Market is an online shopping club on a mission to make healthy living easy and affordable for everyone. Not just food. They offer beauty, vitamins and household items, too. Chia seeds for under $8, gluten-free search button, staples and splurges… this deserves a look!

Wishing you a week of health and happiness... and not too much madness!

Food for thought…“You can’t exercise your way out of a bad diet” – Mark Hyman

Quinoa for Spring... Bring it on!

Need a new fresh way to incorporate quinoa into your day? Here’s a new recipe for reinventing the quinoa salad with some of spring’s tasty offerings.

Strawberry Sugar Snap Quinoa Salad

This salad is packed with nutrients and flavor!

Strawberry season is in full swing and there is nothing quite as mouth watering as fresh, juicy (organic) strawberries. A great source vitamin C, they do not ripen after being picked, so choose fragrant, bright red berries when you are at the store and eat them within a few days.  They add just the right amount of sweetness to this salad.

Sugar snap peas are also in season and bring their own dose of vitamin C along with vitamin A and some iron.  They taste good raw or lightly steamed and add a nice bunch of crunch to the mix.

Quinoa is its own powerhouse, a seed that acts like a grain and is considered a complete protein.  It is gluten-free and gives you fiber, magnesium, folate and iron. It is flavorless and can be eaten warm or cold, as breakfast or as a main course. It cooks quickly, so it’s easy to prepare. It’s even better for you when you sprout it. 

Pumpkin seeds give us a healthy dose of zinc, magnesium and plant based omega-3’s. Toast them in a low-heat oven to preserve vital nutrients. 

Combine these ingredients with some herbed goat cheese and a tangy dressing and you’ve got a great salad that works as a main dish when served on a bed of greens or as an easy, make-ahead side for dinner. Great for a pot luck, too!

Nutrient Notes:

Manganese - Plays a role in fat and carbohydrate metabolism, calcium absorption, and blood sugar regulation. Manganese is also necessary for normal brain and nerve function.

Magnesium is important for every organ in the body -- especially the heart, muscles, and kidneys.

Zinc helps heal wounds and plays an important role in the immune system, reproduction, growth, taste, vision, and smell, blood clotting, and proper insulin and thyroid function.  

*sources: www.umm.edu; www.whfoods.com;

March Meal of the Month

March brings spring and that means lots of great produce is coming our way.  St. Patrick’s Day might be behind us, but it has inspired me to come up with a menu for this month that celebrates green and spring! Gluten free and meat free, this simple March Meal is light and flavorful.

Gluten Free Pesto Pasta with Oven Roasted Shrimp – The combination of shrimp and pesto always tastes good and by roasting the shrimp in the oven with a little garlic, you’ll be adding just enough extra yum to make this pasta dish a hit. My choice for the pasta is Tinkyada brand brown rice spirals, which is a great shape for the pesto to cling to in all the nooks and crannies.  Toss with this homemade pesto sauce.  Top your pasta with the oven-roasted shrimp and fresh grated parmesan.  My version (photo) uses "zoodles" (noodles made from zucchini with this nifty gadget) in place of pasta. 

Note:  if you’re in a hurry you can try Pasta Perfetto or Cibo Naturals brand pre-made pesto in the refrigerated fresh pasta section of your store.  If you choose a different brand, read the ingredients list before buying! Avoid those with whey protein isolate and soybean oil.

Herb Focaccia – Here is where I take a shortcut.  I buy a fresh baked focaccia loaf from the bakery department and then heat it in the oven. I serve plain, but offer a ‘dipping’ sauce of olive oil and Italian herbs on a small plate.  If you are gluten free, try Canyon Bakehouse’s Rosemary and Thyme Focaccia (usually in the freezer section of your store).

Snap Pea Spring Salad – spring means fresh sugar snap peas and these crunchy peas are great tossed into a salad with a bright tasting lemon dressing.  Simply add 1 ½ cups of fresh, cut up sugar snap peas to spinach, toasted slivered almonds and chopped cucumber. Toss with a dressing made of olive oil, fresh lemon juice, dash of Dijon, salt and pepper. If you want a more formal snap pea recipe, check out this version by Bon Appetit.

More spring veggies to keep an eye out for include artichokes, asparagus, broccoli and green beans. What are your favorite greens for spring?

Is There A Dragon In Your Smoothie?

Want to add a burst of color and nutrition to your morning smoothie? Then consider adding dragon fruit to your next blender mix.

Dragon Fruit, otherwise known as Pitaya (pronounced pee-ty-uh), is a brightly colored fruit from a climbing cactus plant.  It’s common in southern Asia and is starting to make an appearance here in the U.S.

It is a bright magenta-pink exterior with green leaves that look a bit like dragon scales (thus it’s nickname). The interior can be white, green or magenta, all speckled with tiny seeds.  This wild looking fruit comes with a punch of nutrients, too: vitamin C, high fiber, B-vitamins, magnesium and omega-3’s from the seeds.

If you can find one in your grocery store (or Asian market), simply cut open, remove the peel and eat the speckled flesh.  It has a mild taste similar to kiwi or melon. Another way – and a much easier way! - to get some Pitaya in your life is to add some to your smoothie by buying it in frozen smoothie packs in your grocery store’s frozen fruit section. Look for the PitayaPlus brand (which is raw, organic, non-GMO, and no added sweetener) or ask your store manager if they’ll start to carry it. Here’s a recipe to get you started. Why not try adding a little dragon to your day?

Blend the following ingredients until desired consistency: 

Dragon Fruit Smoothie

8 oz. coconut water

½ cup pitaya or 1 frozen pitaya packet

1 banana

½ cup plain Greek yogurt

large handful of spinach

4 ice cubes

*add more or less coconut water to adjust consistency

It's That (Pumpkin) Time of Year Again

October isn’t my favorite month, but October brings pumpkins and that means pumpkin pie and pumpkin pie is definitely a favorite of mine!

This fruit is more than just a big round gourd to carve into a jack-o-lantern for Halloween and pumpkin goes beyond filling a piecrust for your Thanksgiving table. It can be a gourmet filling for ravioli or the base of a hearty fall soup. It’s great in risotto and homemade pumpkin bread, too.  Its flesh and its seeds are filled with nutrients and health benefits and can be eaten in a variety of ways.

Here are a few benefits of pumpkin:

·      1 cup of cooked pumpkin gives you 200% of the recommended intake of Vitamin A. It’s full of carotenoids, which aid your vision.

·      There are 3 grams of fiber in a 1 cup serving which helps fill you up and keep your digestion balanced.

·      Contains beta carotene, an anti-oxidant which helps to prevent cancer

·      Gives you vitamin C, which aids collagen production and keeps wrinkles at bay.

·      1 cup of cooked pumpkin contains more potassium than a banana. This helps balance your body’s electrolytes, especially after a heavy workout.

·      Pumpkin seeds – aka pepitas- are a great source of magnesium(good for your heart), and zinc (helps your immune system).

As much as pumpkin pie is a favorite of mine, Clean eating is still a priority so I have found a healthy, delicious way to get my pumpkin fix (and I don’t have to wait until Thanksgiving dinner to be over!).  It’s a pumpkin smoothie (recipe below). This smoothie is a great for breakfast or an afternoon snack – the taste of pumpkin pie without all the unhealthy ingredients found in a pie.

Pumpkin Smoothie  (makes 1 serving)

½ cup pumpkin puree

1 ½ cups milk alternative (I use almond milk)

1 serving protein powder

½ banana

½ tsp pumpkin pie spice

3-4 ice cubes

Blend until well combined.

[Print Recipe]

Enjoy!

There has been a lot of press lately regarding the non-existent pumpkin in Starbuck’s Pumpkin Lattes and so of all the seasonal pumpkin items you can enjoy, keep this one off your list!

For the Love of Avocados!

Creamy, delicious avocados… one of my most favorite foods to eat! And not just as a dip to scoop up with tortilla chips or as a topping on a salad. They are even delicious to eat straight out of the peel with a squeeze of lemon or a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

If you don’t already love this fruit that moonlights in the vegetable world, please give it another chance! There are dozens of varieties of avocados, Haas being the most common. Their tough green skin contains “a whole lotta goodness” inside.  Here are just a few of the many reasons avocados should be a part of everyone’s diet:

Avocados have…

·      10 grams of fiber (for one medium sized fruit)

·      vitamins A, B6 and C

·      magnesium,  iron and protein

·      twice the potassium of a banana

·      ‘good’ monounsaturated fats

·      omega 3’s, which reduce inflammation in the body

Avocados typically show up in a bowl of guacamole, but there are dozens of ways to incorporate them into your life.  Have you tried these?

·      Use mashed as a spread on sandwiches in place of mayonnaise

·      Add to a smoothie for a creamy nutritional boost

·      As a facial mask for your skin

·      As a key ingredient in dairy-free chocolate pudding

·      Bake an egg in the center of it

·      Grill it

·      Use as a hair conditioning treatment

·      Stuff with chopped tomatoes and balsamic dressing

·      Dress up your next batch of ahi-poke with chopped avocado

And my new favorite… Avocado “Fries”!

I had my first taste of a fried avocado in a vegetarian taco and loved the crunch and creamy taste combination, but not the fried part and since fried foods don’t make my ‘clean eating’ list, I needed to find an alternate way to get that same taste combination.   I’ve had this recipe for ages and can’t remember exactly where it came from and how it ended up in my ‘try it’ pile of recipes, so I can’t officially give credit to its creator, but it’s easy and delicious. 

 Avocado Fries

2 ripe avocados

¾ cup panko flakes

¼ cup nutritional yeast

pinch each of sea salt and pepper

 ½ cup milk alternative

3 tbsp flour

Heat oven to 400F and line a small cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil. Cut avocados in half, remove pit and then carefully scoop (in one piece) the flesh out with a spoon.  Next, cut each half into quarters (or 6ths if it’s a large avocado).  In a bowl combine panko, nutritional yeast and salt and pepper.  In a separate bowl whisk flour into the almond milk until well combined. 

Dredge each slice in the milk mixture, then gently coat with the breadcrumb mix until evenly covered.  Place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat until all avocado slices are coated.  Bake for 10minutes, turn over then bake for additional 10 minutes, until golden brown.   Serve hot with a dip made from plain, whole milk Greek yogurt mixed with chipotle hot sauce.

Resources:  foodreference.com, Californiaavocado.com, naturalnews.com

It's All About Dressing

It’s all about dressing…

Of course when it comes to making an impression out in the world, what you wear can make all the difference, but I am talking food here.

Salads, to be exact.

Are you one of those people who takes time to put together a healthy salad full of wonderful healthy ingredients and then do you blow the whole “healthy” thing by pouring a bottled, processed salad dressing over the top?

Or do you even realize that the dose of dressing you poured over your carefully assembled bowl of veggies even makes a difference?

It does.

Do you know what’s IN that pre-made salad dressing?  Take a look at your ingredients list (not the front of the label!) and do a little investigating… do you see soybean oil? Not good, very inflammatory to the body.  How about Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)?  Bad!  How about corn syrup? A really-not-good-for-you genetically modified sugar. Caramel color? Bad again. Not to mention the level of sodium – sometimes as much as 500 mg of sodium for 2 Tablespoons of dressing. Really high, not to mention, who really uses only 2 Tablespoons of salad dressing? And don't get me started on the ingredients in ranch dressing (xanthan gum, modified food starch, propylene glycol)! Those are the regular versions… the light and fat free ones are worse. 

Don’t sabotage your healthy eating efforts by choosing those types of salad dressings.  Instead, make your own.  All you need is a jar with a lid and a few simple ingredients. If you want to have a fancier container to mix it in, you can always get my favorite Oxo dressing shaker here.  Below you will find three simple recipes for some of my favorite dressings. 

Once you have your shaking container, you need a few basics... here are a few of my favorites:

And what to do when you are eating out?  Ask for olive oil and vinegar and drizzle them on yourself.  If you really must buy dressing in a bottle, there is only one I have found that passes my ‘clean eating test’ and that’s Tessemae’s.  Short list of real ingredients you recognize and pronounce – nothing fake or mysterious.

So improve the way you dress your salad and give your health a boost at the same time.  After all, you’re taking time to fill your body with yummy veggies, might as well give them a well-dressed send off.

Apple Cider Vinaigrette

1/3  c. extra virgin olive oil

¼ c. apple cider vinegar *

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

salt and pepper 

Whisk all ingredients together until well combined

* can substitute balsamic vinegar or champagne vinegar 

Asian Flair Vinaigrette 

1/3 cup grape seed oil (or avocado oil)

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

3 TBSP Bragg’s amino acids (or Tamari/Soy Sauce)

dash of toasted sesame oil

salt and pepper

Whisk ingredients together and adjust to taste preferences. 

*optional: add a squeeze of lime juice or chopped ginger. 

Add toasted sesame seeds to salad after tossing with dressing.

Almost Caesar Dressing

Adapted from Dr. Weil’s Heatlhy Kitchen Vegetarian Caesar

1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 TBSP red wine vinegar

1 TBSP vegetarian Worcestershire sauce

3 TBSP Dijon mustard

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 cup grated packed Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1 1/2 cups extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons salt (or more to taste)

1 teaspoon freshly groundblack pepper (or more to taste)

 Combine all ingredients in glass jar or dressing shaker and shake until combined.

Those 'Funny Looking' Tomatoes

Summer brings us so many wonderful flavors from the gardens and fields. Peaches, plums, cantaloupe and watermelon fill the farmer’s markets and produce aisles along with tomatoes (which are technically a fruit, but are treated like a vegetable).

Most stores are piled high with your typical genetically-created, hybrid tomato that has been altered to look pretty, resist disease, have a thicker skin to survive long transport times and last longer in the store and in your kitchen.   There’s one problem with that long list of traits – flavor.  Hybrid tomatoes aren’t completely tasteless, but they leave a lot to be desired in the flavor department. Many people don’t like tomatoes and much of that has to do with the tasteless, mealy-like quality of your typical grocery store tomato (that was me, until I ‘upgraded’ my tomatoes).

Are you looking for a tomato upgrade?

Well, now’s the time to try something new.

Of all the wonderful ‘fruits’ of summer, one of the most delicious is the heirloom tomato. 

“A tomato is considered to be an heirloom when the seed has been saved and grown at least 50 years or more and has been passed down from generation to generation.” (veggiegardner.com)

You have probably seen this not-so-pretty tomato in the produce section of your grocery store in a range of colors from green to yellow to orange and red and some with stripes or color variations.  They are misshapen, and some have crevices, but as it is said, “don’t judge a book by its cover”.  Heirloom tomatoes are full of flavor and depending on the color you select, the flavor can vary, one variety even having a lemony taste and nearly all have less acid than hybrids.  (To learn more about the color-flavor connection, visit Tomato Headquarters.)

Try them on your sandwiches, in salads, on pizza or diced and tossed with pasta, basil, olive oil  and cheese. What’s my favorite way to eat heirlooms? I make a twist on the traditional Italian Caprese… I call it the “California Caprese”.  It combines the delicious flavor of an heirloom with the creamy goodness of avocado, fresh buffalo mozzarella and pesto. 

Here’s the easy recipe:

California Caprese

1 heirloom tomato, sliced

1 round of fresh buffalo mozzarella, sliced

1 avocado, peeled and sliced

pesto (homemade or premade)

Simply layer the ingredients in any way that looks good to you.  Sprinkle with a little sea salt and fresh ground pepper and it’s ready to eat.  Enjoy!