This weekend will be a true test of my willpower and determination. I am going to be away from home and I am not sure how many meals I will eat in restaurants, but we will be on the road for many hours and convenience stores and big stops are not the best place to find a healthy snack. It's like finding a needle in a haystack, except you're looking for a bruised apple in a pile of slim jims and potato chips. I will at least have supportive people around me and hopefully they will help me make good decisions!
To help myself (and anyone who reads this) remember that healthy food is good food, tasty food, delicious food, I think it's time to share some recipes. I have picked three recipes for today- a snack, a meal, and a dessert. They do not all need to be eaten in the same day or at the same mealtime, but they are all delicious! The dessert is really a once in a while treat for the 2nd and 3rd cycle dieters, but it is much healthier than alternatives!
Snack Time! -or- "I can smell that pepsi, and those chips, and that damn chocolate bar, and I hate you for it. I need something to eat while watching tv or I might steal the candy right out of your mouth"
Kale Chips are lovely. Really. You wouldn't necessarily think crispy cabbage leaves are going to be so delicious. But Curly Kale is just that. It's in the cabbage family and is a cousin to broccoli and collard greens.
Kale Chips
Ingredients
1 bunch of Curly Kale
Olive oil
salt
pepper
Directions
So it's pretty simple. Preheat your oven to 275 F. Take as many stalks or leaves of Kale as you want to make yourself a nice snack. Kale keeps very well, so you don't need to make it all at once if you don't want to eat a lot of it, I usually do about 4 cups at a time, so 4-5 leaves. Rinse the leaves well under running water, opening up the leaves up a little as sometimes gunky sandy bits hide in there. Shake the leaves dry or pat with a clean towel so that they don't have much moisture left on them.
Use scissors or your hand to cut/rip the leaves off the hard stalks and then cut /tear the leaves into bite sized pieces. Place these in a large mixing bowl or right on a big baking sheet. Drizzle with a little olive oil (1-2 teaspoons is plenty) and toss with your hands. Love that Kale. Massage it. Get in there and make sure that the leaves are decently coated and that everybody has a little olive oil shine on them. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and spread the leaves out into one layer on the baking sheet.
Bake for about 12 minutes, then toss with tongs or hands (don't burn yourself and don't worry if every piece doesn't get turned over) and bake for another 12 minutes or so until all of the Kale pieces are lovely and crispy and maybe a little golden on the edges. Toss these into a serving bowl (or the big mixing bowl you used to give them the olive oil rub down) and enjoy!
What's for dinner? -or- "Oh Dear God I am SO freaking sick of Chicken and Fish, and I still have 10[feels like 10 million] days to go on this Stupid Diet, I am going to DIE or go on a Village Destroying RAMPAGE if I don't eat something Wildly Delicious RIGHT NOW!"
Many people think they don't like Eggplant. Maybe you don't. But maybe you haven't tried it in all of it's lovely ways to find the way you like it most. Me? I tried it first in a restaurant where it was prepared by people who were used to working with it and prepared it in the most delicious of ways. And I fell in love. Eggplant, bamboo shoots and other veggies in a delightful silky Thai Red Coconut Curry spooned over heaps of steamed Jasmine Rice? Heaven. Eggplant sliced thin and dipped in light tempura batter and then fried to a delightful golden brown, crispy on the outside, creamy and luxurious on the inside? I'm salivating at the thought of it (should have had breakfast before writing this, I guess).
I tried a couple times to cook eggplant and I wasn't enjoying it as much as I wanted to. I tried to make Ratatouille with eggplant in it, I followed the recipe and everything. But I didn't care for it so much. Truth be told the eggplant was a bit rubbery and undercooked. I tried to make Thai Coconut Curry too. That also was not as good as the restaurant curry. And me and deep frying.. well lets just say that if I did succeed at making fried tempura vegetables I would have to lose a LOT more weight, so I didn't even try.
I did however reach a breaking point and decided to try eggplant one more time after reading the Eggplant Parmesan recipe in the 17 Day Diet book that sounded scrumptious. I made it once according to the recipe and have since altered it to be faster and a bit easier to clean up afterward. If you are completely and horrendously opposed to the idea of eating Eggplant, or are having a hard time finding it, you may substitute chicken/turkey breast cutlets instead, as I did for Robert.
Eggplant/Chicken Parmesan
Ingredients
1 large Eggplant
Low fat or fat free shredded parmesan cheese (not the stuff from the dry shaker in the pasta sauce aisle. REAL Parmesan cheese)
1-2 Tbs Olive Oil
Garlic powder or roasted garlic paste
Salt and Pepper
1 Cup low carb/no added sugar marinara/spaghetti sauce
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 F. Peel the eggplant and slice into 1/4 inch thick rounds. Preheat 1 Tbs Olive oil in a non stick frying pan over medium high heat. Season Eggplant with salt and pepper and saute 4-5 minutes per side until golden brown and slightly tender. Do this in batches so that you get a good sear and don't overcrowd the pan. Transfer cooked eggplant pieces to a baking sheet that has been sprayed with non stick cooking spray. Top each eggplant round with a sprinkling of garlic powder or a smear of garlic paste and some parmesan cheese (I would say about 1 TBS per large slice). Bake for 5-10 minutes until parmesan is melted and bubbly. Top each round with a spoonful of marinara sauce, spreading to coat them. If desired, sprinkle some more parmesan cheese on top of sauce. Bake for 20 minutes until everything is hot and bubbly and delicious.
Serve this with a salad, and/or if you are trying to be friendly with starches and carbs serve it with spaghetti squash or whole wheat pasta. I love spaghetti squash myself, and you get more bang for your buck as 1 cup of spaghetti squash is worth only 1/2 cup of cooked spaghetti. I also like to sometimes saute sliced peppers and onions and put them in with the sauce for added veggie goodness.
Dessert. -or- "The part we have all been waiting for, and guilt tripping ourselves about. Dessert. It should be a four letter word. It's almost scandalous" (especially for those trying to eat healthy or lose weight)
I sat at my desk one day and I didn't particularly have any cravings, but I was thinking 'fall flavours are yummy, what sounds like good fall food?' And I came up with the name first before I had anything else. I knew that I had not invented anything new, but I was instantly excited and decided that I needed to make this a healthy recipe. And so I did research and used my baking know-how to adapt a recipe into this, and it is delightful. I put up the original recipe and my adapted recipe so that you can see the changes I made. The directions are for the adapted recipe
Apple Cinnamon Spice Cake With Maple Cream Cheese Glaze
Apple Cinnamon Spice Cake
|
Ingredients- Original Recipe
|
Ingredients- Adapted Recipe
|
|
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 large eggs 2/3 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt 2 tart apples, peeled and diced 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts |
¾ c whole wheat pastry flour
½
c rolled oats
¼
c all purpose flour
2
t baking powder
½ t baking soda
1
¼ t ground cinnamon
¼ t ground ginger ¼ t ground nutmeg ¼ t salt ½ c unsweetened apple sauce ½ c agave nectar
¼
c granulated maple sugar
1 t vanilla extract 2 large eggs 2/3 c plain fat free yogurt 2 apples, peeled, cored and diced |
Adapted Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray
and flour an 8- or 9-inch square baking pan or line a muffin tray with paper
liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the
dry ingredients (flour through salt.) Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer
with the paddle attachment, beat the apple sauce on medium speed and gradually
add the agave syrup, maple sugar and vanilla. Continue beating on medium-high
speed until well blended and light, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a
time, beating well after adding each egg, and scrape down the sides of the bowl
as needed.
Reduce the speed to low and add the
flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the yogurt in two additions.
Mix just until blended. Turn off the mixer, add the diced apple and stir in by
hand.
Scrape the batter into the prepared
pan and smooth the top. Bake cake for about 30 minutes, or cupcakes about 12-15
minutes, until the top is light golden brown and a toothpick or skewer inserted
into the middle comes out clean. Cool completely on a rack, and turn out onto a
serving platter before you frost it, or wait to frost until just before serving.
I
like to cut this cake into 9 or 16 pieces (4x4 or 3x3 squares are easy
to cut while the cake is in the pan or after it has been turned out onto
a platter). The 16 piece size is about one serving of grains/starch,
but the 9 piece size is not really much bigger and the argument can be
made that you will eat it faster and be less tempted by it if it is in
bigger pieces. :)
Maple
Cream Cheese Frosting/Glaze
|
Ingredients- Original Recipe
|
Ingredients- Adapted Recipe
|
|
6 ounces cream cheese, softened 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger pinch of ground nutmeg pinch of salt 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup (I like to use Dark Amber/Grade B) 1 cup confectioner’s sugar |
6 ounces low fat cream cheese, softened 2 T fat free evaporated milk 2 T pure maple syrup ½ t vanilla extract ½ t flax oil pinch of salt optional: 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger pinch of ground nutmeg skim milk powder to thicken consistency |
Adapted Directions
In the bowl of an electric mixer
with the paddle attachment, beat together the cream cheese and evaporated milk on
medium speed until smooth. Add the vanilla, maple syrup, flax oil, salt and
optional spice if desired. Beat on low speed until all ingredients are well
combined. Turn speed to high and beat until mixture is light and creamy. If you
find the consistency too runny or want more of a frosting than a glaze, add
skim milk powder in small increments and beat on low- medium until the desired
consistency is reached. Beat until well blended.
I did not care a whole lot for the thicker consistency with the skim milk powder, I prefer cutting the cake and plating it and then drizzling the cream cheese glaze over top just before eating it. Another option is to make whipped cream with 1-2 Tbs of maple syrup and optional spices, although that is a higher fat option (I used it once because someone I was serving was allergic to cheese products, and this made a lovely alternative. I let everyone serve themselves the whipped cream so that I could control how much I got and didn't eat too much)
This cake is moist and delicious and has an amazing aroma as it bakes and cools in your kitchen. And it should be a GUILT FREE treat because you worked so hard to cut out tons of fat and extra calories, and added extra fiber and nutrients from the oats and apples.
I hope you enjoy these recipes and by between the lines rantings. Happy Eating!
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