Tag Archives: nutrition

Make Your Pancakes and Eat Them Too ~ Recipe Make-Over

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pancake

My kids love pancakes. Who doesn’t love pancakes? It occurred to me this morning that my pancake recipe would be perfect for the MomActive Recipe Make-over series. I changed my old recipe by using half regular white flour and half buckwheat flour. I have tried other combinations of different flour but this seems to be the tastiest. I also use two tablespoons of agave nectar (or honey) instead of sugar. We also use the agave nectar in place of syrup. If you aren’t familiar with agave nectar I highly recommend you try it. It is sweet and delicious and can be used as a replacement for sugar in many things.


Yummy Pancakes
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3+ cup skim milk (I am generous with the milk because we like thinner pancake)
1 large egg
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 tablespoons agave nectar (or honey)

1. Combine flours, baking powder and salt.

2. Beat the milk, egg, butter and agave nectar.

3. Combine dry ingredient mixture with liquid mixture and stir.

4. Warm and grease griddle or pan with non-stick cooking spray and cook those babies!


Do you have a favorite recipe that you have made over? Would you like MomActive to make-over a recipe for you? Please let us know!
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Arnold’s Oroweat Sandwich Thins

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I love bread, I hate bread. OOOoooh I really love breads. I’ve always eaten whole wheat and whole grain breads. My children have never had a sandwich with white bread and I hope that they never do.

I’m not sure why I hadn’t heard of these before but apparently “other” parts of the country have had Arnold’s Oroweat sandwich thins for some time. I saw them at our local store and instantly caved to the buy one/get one deal. I tried both the whole wheat and the multi-grain varieties.

Did I like them? You bet! They aren’t huge fluffy rolls but they are quite delish and I’ve made a gazillion things with them! The obvious things are sandwiches and veggie/turkey burgers, but here are a two of my favorite things to do with them:

Mini Pizza:
I just use sliced tomatoes, bit of fresh basil and some LF Mozzarella

Panini:
Use a bit of Pam spray in a sandwich press (or pan) and grille your favorite sandwich


Are you avoiding high fructose corn syrup? I have become vigilant at looking for this. I actually buy a lot of the different Arnold’s breads and most (if not all?) do not contain high fructose corn syrup. These contain 19 grams of whole grain per serving, another thing I look for when I buy breads. The best part? They are only 100 calories and if you are a point counter like me, they are only one Weight Watcher point!

Have you tried the Arnold’s Oroweat Sandwich Thins? What have you made with them? Share your ideas with us!


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Recipe Make-Over ~ Emeril Lagasse North African Lamb Kebabs

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I’m starting a new Saturday Recipe Make-Over series. You can submit your favorite recipes (send to Bryan dot Fiona at gmail dot com) and I will make them over so that they are tasty yet healthy and lower in fat. If you have favorite made-over recipes that you would like to share please send them in and we will post them for all to see. Since I’m not a laboratory scientist I wont be providing caloric details but it is quite amazing how a recipe can change for the better with just a little tweeking here and there.


Today, I’ll be making over one of my favorite recipes from Emeril Legasse. You can find this online at FoodNetwork.com. This is a dish my family loves and is perfect for the summer grilling season. I’ll highlight the changes I made in red.


North African Lamb Kebabs

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 to 2 1/2 pounds boneless leg or shoulder of lamb, cut into 1-inch cubes with some of the fat attached
  • (2 cups whole cherry tomatoes)
  • 6 warm pita breads, for serving (I substitute Lettuce tossed with a bit of fresh squeezed lemon juice here)
  • Yogurt Dipping Sauce, recipe follows

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the onion, lemon zest, lemon juice, parsley, cilantro, mint, salt, cumin, paprika, pepper, and olive oil. Add the lamb to the marinade and toss to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours.

Soak 8 to 10 bamboo skewers in warm water for about 1 hour before assembling the kabobs.

Preheat the grill to high, and lightly oil the grill grates to prevent sticking. Thread the lamb (and cherry tomatoes) onto the soaked skewers and place on the grill, turning to evenly cook, about 12 to 14 minutes.

(DELETE THIS PART – Drizzle the pitas with sauce, then wrap the pita around the meat on the skewer, fold over and twist the skewer off the meat.) (Twist the skewer off the meat onto the salad and drizzle with yogurt sauce. Keep in mind that lamb is higher in fat than many other meats so you may want to be conservative with your serving sizes.) Serve.

Yogurt Dipping Sauce:

  • 1/2 cup plain (non-fat) yogurt
  • 1/2 cup (non-fat or low fat) sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or more to taste
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

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Snack Yourself Silly to Boost Your Metabolism

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Healthy snack

I’m an all or nothing kind of gal and this really isn’t a great trait when it comes to trying to eat healthy. I often find myself having eaten breakfast around 8am, Lunch around 1 or 2 and then Dinner around 7. There are times that I don’t snack much and this is a big NO-NO for several reasons. First, your metabolism is like an engine and if you don’t oil it regularly it gets sorta ticked off and slows down. For best results, you should be eating something every 2-3 hours during the day to keep your metabolism happy. The second reason is that, by only eating three times a day, I tend to eat more and make different choices than I might if I were not absolutely famished by the time I slowed down enough to eat.

This is a dilemma for lots of moms, whether you stay at home or work in or out of the home, there is no denying that we mammas are a busy bunch. Taking time to feed our bodies small nutritious snacks helps fuel us both physically and emotionally. Chances are that at the very time of day when your toddler is throwing herself down in the middle of Whole Foods telling you she hates you, is most likely the same time of day that your own body and emotions are struggling stay stable. This state of being is partially due to the fact that your child has turned into a demon and partially because your body is running low on enough energy and strength to handle the situation!

I think there are periods of time in our lives when things go a little crazy and we lose our way. We take shortcuts or consciously go against what we know because it is easier. When this is the case we just need to reel ourselves in and make changes going forward. So, if you are not fueling yourself appropriately STOP and make a conscious decision to change this. Here are a list of five of my favorite healthy snacks that have a wee bit of protein for extra mileage.


1. Celery with peanut butter
2. Apple slices and a string cheese stick
3. Low fat yogurt (1/2 carton) with 1/4 cup of cottage cheese
4. Handful mixed nuts (I like the South Beach mix from Planters) and a piece of fruit
5. Turkey/Cheese roll (I just roll up slice of turkey and a slice of cheese … so gourmet!)


What are some of your favorite healthy snacks?
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Friday’s Guest: Jennifer Leal on Nutrition and Smart Eating

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MomActive is excited to introduce Jennifer Leal of Savor The Thyme blog as our guest on this Friday’s radio program. We will discuss smart nutrition and the challenges we all face when trying to incorporate healthy foods into our childrens’ diets.


Jennifer is a stay-at-home mom with two children ages 3 and 5. She obtained a Master’s of Science in Immunology and worked for a large pharmaceutical company prior to becoming the creator of Savor The Thyme blog, which focuses on family-friendly healthy food and lifestyle. By coincidence, she happens to be my roommate for Blogher this year and I’m hoping she’ll turn a blind eye to the high calorie margarita that I plan to imbibe the first day we are there! There has to be some goodness in a margarita… I shall find it and expose it!

From the time she was a young girl, Jennifer witnessed the deaths of family members due to cancer, heart attacks, strokes and obesity related illness. Although, she cannot prove or say that many of the diseases/deaths in her family were caused by what they ate, it made her determined to raise herself and her children to respect their bodies through exercise and food.

You can find Jennifer on Twitter @savorthethyme. We are excited to welcome this active mom who enjoys Pilates and lifting weights, to help us figure out the real deal with our kiddos and nutrition!

Jennifer has been kind enough to share several links to family recipes that will help us all get started in the right direction.

Sweet Potato ‘Fries’
Strawberry Muffins
Sweet Potato Muffins
Turkey Meatballs
Alphabet Soup
Even Oatmeal cookies can be enjoyed but I sneak in a nutritional boost!

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