Healthy Food Series: How to Prepare an Artichoke...

When I was a kid, my grandparents owned a trucking company in Northern California mostly hauling fruits and vegetables to market. One of the perks was that when loads were over weight, my grandparents were often the recipients of free, fresh produce which they shared with family and friends. This is how we got most of our artichokes. The rest came from the awesome farmer's market under the freeway in Sacramento. Once only available in the spring, artichokes are now showing up in stores in the not quite summer, not quite fall in between time we find ourselves in right now.

Aside from being yummy and just plain fun to eat, the humble medium sized Artichoke also boasts over 10 grams of fiber, only 1 gram of sugar and is loaded with minerals making it a healthy veggie and a great choice to complete almost any simple dinner. Here's the how to:

Wash your artichoke and cut off the top and the stem with a sharp knife.  (Serrated works a little easier, but mine was not clean at the time, so I muscled through this part with a chefs knife).  Peel off the tough bottom 2 rows of leaves off and squeeze some lemon juice on the places you cut and also on the end of the stem.

Peel the stem with a small paring knife and cut off the other end too.  This is a yummy part of the artichoke, so don't throw it out ...  :)  Be sure to rub lemon juice all over the stem too, or it will turn a gross brown color.

Put your artichokes upside down in a steamer with some water in the bottom. (My steamer is really small, so I put it in the bottom of the big pot upside down.)  Cover and steam for 20-45 minutes.  (Don't forget to add the stems.)

You can check to see if they are done by stabbing the bottom (where the stem was) with a fork.  Artichokes will be tender when they are done cooking.








Now that your artichokes are ready to eat, peel off a leaf at a time  dip it in your choice of mayo, melted butter or other sauce you like and scrape the edible part off with your teeth like this:















When you get to the middle the leaves are super tender and can be picked off in one clump and eaten in one or two bites... Just be careful not to take too big a bite because you may get some sharp tips in it from the very middle.

You will be left with a hairy looking artichoke heart.  So take a butter knife and gently scrape the hairs {choke} off  of the artichoke heart wiping your blade in between cuts on the side of your used leaf bowl.   Be careful not to cut too much of the heart off when doing this, because the heart is the best part.

Dip and enjoy the heart!















Keep it healthy, yummy and fun!
Kristin

Healthy Foods Series: Dessert!

So then, what do I do when I just must have something sweet?  Once in a while it happens, so here are my top 5 things I love to have for a health{ier} dessert.

#5  Make a healthier smoothie - 1 banana, 2 cups of yogurt, 1 cup of water, 2 cups of soft fruit and some fiber or flaxseed

#4 Make toast with whole wheat bread that has some fiber in it, and top with honey and butter or honey and peanut butter.

#3 Have a ramekin full of thawed frozen cherries or blueberries or fresh peaches or strawberries plain or with cream... no sugar needed, fiber included in the whole fruits.

#2 Make scones and serve with perfectly ripe fruit, a drizzle of warm honey and cream.  Scones: Mix 2 Cups of whole wheat flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 2Tbsp. sugar, and 1/2 tsp salt.  Cut in 1/2 cup of butter until it is the size of peas.  In a big measuring cup beat 1/2 cup of cream or milk with 1 egg and then add it to the flour mixture. Give it a quick stir, form a dough ball on your un-greased baking sheet, cut it into 6ths, spread them out and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.  Serve it warm with lots of fruit and only a little cream and honey.

#1 Send my DH out for baklava!!!

Image Source: Norwegian Wood Bakery

I use honey sparingly, but try to use it whenever possible for my sweetener because it is natural, has no funny disgusting taste or after taste, has a low glycemic value which means it doesn't tank my blood sugar and it's just plain yummy.

What are your favorite low sugar or low glycemic desserts?

Keep it satisfying,

Kristin

Healthy Foods: Cheeseburger Salad

Ok, I know some of you out there will be like, "Cheese isn't healthy and hamburgers are greasy," but bear with me on this one because this is low sugar and well... You know by now... "It's not the fat people."  LOL! This is more of a method than a recipe because you can switch it up to include ingredients from your favorite burgers for a change, but this is what my kids love. If it's too hot, you can do it on the grill too {summer perk!}

Make your hamburgers into patties and add salt and pepper to taste and cook them until they are the degree of done-ness that you prefer and turn off the burner. Put your cheese of choice on top and add a lid. It will melt on it's own while you make the salad.

Meanwhile, wash, dry and chop your lettuce and add it to your salad bowl with chopped veggies and dill pickles. I added red bell peppers, cucumber, tomatoes and dill pickles. It would also be yummy with avocado, canned beans that have been rinsed very well, left over cubed salted potatoes, a little green onion or chives etc...

I made dill pickle viniagrette (equal parts pickle juice and extra virgin olive oil), tossed the salad and put it in individual bowls topped with a cheeseburger patty and served it with a glass of milk. My kids LOVE this one the way it is, {no sugary ketchup needed} but you could do salsa for dressing, or ranch, or if your kids like garliky cooked mushrooms and their liquid, that would be a good dressing. Use your imagination!

Keep it yummy!
Kristin

Healthy Food Series: Kids Love Pasta Salad

About a year ago, I was going through a hard time in the kitchen where it didn't matter what I made, or how good it was, someone in the house complained about it. So, I made up this recipe in my efforts to get out of my cooking "slump". This is one of my all time favorite summer dishes to make because it is quick and easy, is loaded with a ton of great veggies, is hearty enough for my husband to eat it as a meal with a glass of milk, and everyone in my family likes it... a lot! My four year old has told me on more than one occasion, "This is my favorite food, better than pizza." Anyway, I hope you like it!

Keep it healthy!
Kristin

Salad:

1/2 package high-fiber whole wheat noodles any medium sized shape
2 cups frozen peas
1/2 a red, orange or yellow bell pepper
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
(add more veggies that your kids like)
4 oz feta cheese well crumbled
20 (or so)kalamata olives chopped
chopped walnuts

Vinaigrette:
1/2 tsp each dried basil and oregano
pinch of garlic granules (or powder)
2 1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
5 Tbsp Olive oil*
plenty of salt and pepper to taste

Cook noodles according to package directions, drain and put back in the cooking pot. Meanwhile make the vinaigrette and set aside until the noodles are done then pour over noodles. Add the peas and mix until the noodles cool off a bit. Then chop and add the rest of your veggies, olives and cheese. You can serve it right away, but it does taste better after the flavors have a chance to meld for an hour or so in the fridge. Taste to check for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed. Dish it up and top with nuts right before serving. Complete your protiens with a glass of milk and enjoy. :) YUM!

*{I know this sounds like a lot of oil, but the salad needs it to keep the vinegar from destroying the pasta and it really doesn't taste greasy, I promise... and I could go on with the fat isn't bad thing, but you all watched Dr. Lustig's video... right?} ;)

Quick Healthy Snacks and Give-Away Winner Announced...

Congratulations to Rachel! She won the chance to pick out one free item in my shop! Stop by her Little Birdie Blog to say hello and let her know I sent you.

Now on to the snacks...

Ok so we all know that veggies and fruit are great snacks for the kids, but we all get bored with the same old thing. Here are some ideas for healthy snacks that you may not have thought of (at least for a while) to add to the lineup.  Enjoy!

Image Courtesy Heartfelt3

Bumps on a log (Peanut butter inside the celery with rasins or crasins on top)

Apple or orange slices with cinnamon sprinkled on them

Apple with peanut butter for dip

Peanut Butter or cream cheese and any kind of fresh fruit sandwich

Garlic Toast on high fiber bread

Roasted chickpeas... My kids LOVE these!

Make fruit kabobs

Dark chocolate milk (Put 2 tsp unflavored fiber powder and a very little bit of cocoa powder in a cup and add 1 cup of milk a little at a time while stirring or put it in the blender... The dextrin is sweet enough to make it like dark chocolate... you can add more cocoa as desired.)

Mexican style dark chocolate milk (add cinnamon to the recipe above)

Image Courtesy Prrint

Frozen Pea Salad (Peas frozen - do not thaw, sour cream, salt, pepper, a pinch of garlic granules and onion powder. Add chopped salted nuts to individual portions if you like. Store any extra in the freezer or it will separate... and no nuts in the freezer, unless you like them squishy later.)

Green cheese spread and crackers (with fiber in them) or celery...  I call it 'Monster Goo'

Toss chopped tomatoes and lettuce with pesto (or mild salsa) and a tiny splash of apple cider vinegar and salt to taste for a yummy salad (freeze leftover pesto in ice cube trays for future use)

Marinate a couple of sliced cucumbers and a few slices of onion in a couple of Tbsp. red wine vinegar, salt, olive oil 1 tsp. honey and a little water for a couple of hours in the fridge Serve cucumbers to the kids, toss the onions (or eat them yourself ;)  This is quite refreshing on a hot summer day and also makes a stellar side dish to go with grilled burgers.

Make a healthier smoothie (Add to your blender 1 cup of plain unsweetened yogurt, 1-2 bananas, and enough fresh or frozen strawberries, raspberries or blackberries to almost fill it up and add some fiber powder. Blend. One banana should be enough sweeten the deal, but you can add the second one if your strawberries are super bland.) Serves 4-5 people.

Image Courtesy HaveArt

Chimichurri Hummus (1/2 a recipe chimichurri sauce blended with one can drained chickpeas - I haven't tried this one yet, but I did make the sauce {It's delicious!} and this was the application that immediately came to mind. Let me know how yours turns out!)

Banana Delight (Mash a banana and add plain unsweetened yogurt to taste then add some fresh berries, serve with chopped walnuts or slivered almonds on top)

Harvest a couple of home grown tomatoes or cucumbers... Serve with a sprinkling of salt and eat.

Split an avocado with someone, salt it and eat. (This is also good with a tiny splash of lemon or lime juice.)

Keep it Yummy and Healthy!
Kristin