Frozen Dessert

Today I made a quick and easy frozen dessert with pudding and Cool Whip. It has a nice frosty quality, a little different than ice cream. Since it's made with skim milk, it's also good for you, and it can be portioned out into individual servings to control the calories and total carbs.


Ingredients: 
Large box instant sugar-free pudding mix
3 cups skim milk
Large container Cool Whip or store brand

Directions:
Whisk together pudding mix and milk. Add softened Cool Whip, and whisk until smooth. Pour into popsicle molds. Freeze.

 

Fresh Blueberry Muffins

This recipe for blueberry muffins uses heart healthy vegetable oil, sweetener in place of sugar, and lots of whole blueberries. The flour could even be substituted with whole wheat flour or a blend of whole wheat and white flour for a boost of fiber and whole grains.

 















Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sweetener for baking
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup skim milk
1 pint fresh or frozen and thawed blueberries

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray or line 12 muffin cups. 
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add oil, sweetener, eggs, vanilla, and milk, stirring well with a mixing spoon. Fold in blueberries. 
Spoon batter into muffin cups. 
Bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown. 

How to Make Healthy Nachos

As a dietitian, I'm always looking for ways to make foods healthier and to add extra vegetables to meals. Nachos are actually one of my favorite foods, but the typical nachos with salty cheese sauce would definitely be considered junk food. Preparing foods at home, rather than eating out, is a great way to reduce calories and improve the nutritional content of meals.

Start with tortilla chips, which are lower in saturated fat and sodium than most chips, just be aware of the serving size. Then add an assortment of your favorite vegetables, such as black beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers, and onions. Top them off with part-skim mozzarella cheese, which is the lowest fat natural cheese. Add salsa for another serving of vegetables. You can microwave each plate of nachos, or heat the ingredients in pots on the stove top when serving a group. Garnish with fresh lime and cilantro for extra flavor. I like to add a side salad with fresh greens and ranch dressing, as well.

Fresh Fruit

   Sometimes getting your friends and family to eat healthy foods is all about presentation. I recently prepared this fruit plate at a lunch with some friends, and it went over really well. With the ready-to-eat fruit, everyone would just walk by and grab a bite. 
   I used brown and green pears, sliced them longways, and then garnished the plate with blackberries and raspberries. Fresh oranges or apples would also be good, and kiwi or pomegranate for the garnish would taste wonderful.
  

Quick Quiche recipe

  This easy and healthy quiche is one of my mother's favorites. It was originally a Bisquick recipe that she found about 30 years ago. She has continued to use the recipe, with a few adjustments.   
  One of the best things about this quiche is that it can be altered with different vegetables or cheeses to suit everyone's own taste. Tomatoes, chopped ham, spinach, mushrooms, part-skim mozzarella cheese, or pepper jack cheese would all taste great. 
  The fact that the quiche is crustless reduces the calories, saturated fat, and trans fat significantly. It also has only 3 whole eggs in the entire 6 serving dish, but the whole eggs can be replaced with egg substitutes to reduce the cholesterol and saturated fat even more. 

Ingredients: 
2 cups fresh or frozen broccoli
   (Note: Do not cook the frozen broccoli.) 
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup green peppers, chopped
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups skim milk
3/4 cup Bisquick
3 eggs
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Instructions: 
Preheat oven to 400 F (reduce to 375 F for glass bakeware). 
Lightly grease 10 inch pie plate. 
Place broccoli, onion, green pepper, and cheese in pie plate. 
Beat remaining ingredients until smooth. Pour over vegetables. 
Bake 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown and knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Chicken Chili

Ingredients: 

1 lb. Northern Beans, dried

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast

2 medium onions, chopped

2 (4 oz.) cans mild green chillies, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbsp. oil

6 cups chicken stock or canned broth

2 tsp. ground cumin

1 1/2 tsp. oregano, dried and crumbled

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp. cloves, ground

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

3 cups Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded

1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

1 container reduced fat sour cream 

1 jar salsa

Instructions:

Soak beans in cold water overnight. Simmer chicken in large pot about 15 minutes. Drain, cool, and cube. Heat oil in same pot over medium heat and saute onion. Stir in garlic, chilies, cumin, oregano, cloves, and cayenne pepper. Saute 2 minutes. Drain beans and add to pot with stock, bring to boil and reduce heat. Simmer about 2 hours until beans are tender. Add chicken and one cup of cheese to chili and stir until cheese melts. Season with salt and pepper. Serve topped with remaining cheese, sour cream, salsa, and cilantro.

Frozen Bananas

Frozen bananas seem to be the next big thing, so today I tried some. They were wonderful. 
I first heard about the idea when Dawn Jackson Blatner, a registered dietitian, said in an article that sliced, frozen bananas could be eaten as a healthy dessert, and tasted like ice cream. That definitely got my attention. Then Joy Bauer, also an RD, suggested on her facebook page to puree the frozen banana slices or add peanut butter or cocoa. They can be eaten this way in a bowl, more like a scoop of a creamy dessert. 
Today I just sliced a banana in bite-sized pieces like I would for cereal, placed them in a container with a lid, and put them in the freezer for a few hours. They had to thaw for about 10 minutes when I got them out. They really did taste like bites of ice cream. This is a wonderful low-calorie snack, and is also great for children.  

Burritos

It's the weekend, so I decided to prepare some bean burritos to freeze for convenience during the work week. I used whole wheat tortillas, a can of refried beans, a chopped onion, taco sauce, and mozzarella cheese. The whole wheat tortillas and beans are good sources of fiber, and part-skim mozzarella cheese is the lowest fat natural cheese. 
Just put a scoop of beans on a tortilla, add some onions, a few spoonfuls of taco sauce, and top with a sprinkling of cheese. Then roll up the burritos, and place them in a container to freeze. 

For a quick dinner or something to pack for lunch during the week, just grab a burrito from the freezer. Microwave it, and you've got a meal. Add some fresh lettuce, tomato, and cilantro, or have chips and salsa. Just remember to check the serving size on the tortilla chips. 

Greek Yogurt

Yogurt is ideal for a snack, or a healthy option when you're craving sweets. Sometimes I get bored with the same old yogurt, so I recently tried Greek yogurt. It has a thicker texture than traditional yogurt, and a slightly stronger taste. Greek yogurt is still low in saturated fat (the bad fat), and has about twice the protein of regular yogurt. Greek yogurt is lower in calcium, but at 15% of your daily value, it is still a good source. 
The extra protein can help you stay full longer, and it is great for a post-workout snack. After exercising, eat a combination of carbohydrates and protein to help your body re-fuel and build muscle.   

Auntie's Fruit Salad recipe

1 can pineapple chunks

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

1 T. AP flour

1 bag red grapes

3 bananas

1 can peaches

Drain 1 can pineapple chunks over a sauce pan to get about 1 cup of pineapple juice. 

Combine juice, egg, sugar, and flour in the sauce pan at room temperature. Mix until the egg is thoroughly combined. 

Then cook over medium heat until thickened, stirring constantly.  

Let cool. 

Combine fruit in a large mixing bowl. Pour cooled dressing over fruit and stir thoroughly until all fruit is coated.

Food and Nutrition Tips:  This recipe is ideal year round, since any type of fruit can be used.  Just plan on about 5 cups of fruit total, and add the pineapple juice. Canned fruit and any seasonal fruit works really well.

This salad is very bright and colorful and tastes great. It's perfect for special occasions, and is also a healthy fruit salad to have at home. 

I have prepared this recipe for groups before, and they asked about the egg yolk and the sugar, worried that the dressing wasn't healthy. The salad contains about 5 cups of fruit-a lot of fruit! The dressing only has one egg yolk and a little bit of sugar, so it is not enough to make a big difference in cholesterol and sugar intake for this salad.

Diabetics should have about a 1/2 cup portion.