Maple Glaze

Ok so frostings are not the healthiest thing, but at least this one is fat free and a little goes a long way. Try it on my Autumn Apple Cake, Speedy Snack Cake or Fall Pumpkin Cookies recipes.

Ingredients:

½ cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons water
½ teaspoon maple flavoring/extract

Directions:

Whisk all of the above ingredients together in a small bowl until a smooth glaze is formed.

Makes 1/4 cup, 12 servings

Serving size: 1 teaspoon Calories 20 Protein 0 g Carb 5 g Fiber 0 g Sugars 5 g Fat 0 g Saturated fat 0 g Sodium 0 mg

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Garden Medley Frittata

A frittata is an Italian-style flat omelet that's baked in a skillet, so you will need to use a cast iron or oven safe type. This recipe adds a healthy dose of veggies and just a touch of cheese plus basil for a nice blend of flavors. It's perfect for breakfast, brunch or even dinner.

Ingredients

½ cup chopped red bell pepper
¼ cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped zucchini
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1 cup spinach
2 cups egg substitute (like Eggbeaters) or liquid egg whites
1-2 tablespoons chopped basil
2 tablespoons crumbled goat cheese (*use a gluten-free brand such as Trader Joes if you are on a gluten-free diet)
ICB or olive oil sprayer (or 1 teaspoon olive oil)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray an 8 inch oven proof skillet with ICB or olive oil (1 teaspoon lightly drizzled or sprayed on to the pan using olive oil sprayer) and put on medium heat. Add the onion and peppers and sauté for 3-5 minutes. Throw in the zucchini and mushrooms and sauté a few more minutes until tender. Stir in the spinach and cook for another minute until it starts to wilt. Pour the egg substitute over the vegetables, sprinkle with cheese and basil and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes, until the egg starts to set and the edges start to brown a bit. Remove from heat and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the egg is firm and fully cooked throughout.

NOTE: If you don't have an oven-safe skillet, you can pour the egg mixture into a baking dish and add the cooked onions, zucchini, mushrooms and pepper as well as the goat cheese, and basil and just bake the it in that dish. If you do it this way, add 5 to 10 minutes to the baking time and check to make sure the egg is fully cooked before serving.

Makes 4 servings:

Serving size: 1/4 or recipe Calories 90 Protein 14 g Carb 6 g Fiber 1 g Sugars 4 g Fat 1 g Saturated fat

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The BAD/BETTER/BEST of Foods Challenge Post # 7

APPLE DESSERTS



BAD – apple pie

Apple fritters can be anywhere from 300-800 calories, 50-70 grams carb, 19-30 grams fat and no fiber what-so-ever. Make that a la mode and calories can skyrocket to 700-1200, be up to 100 grams of carb and 70-80 grams fat!

BETTER/BEST -baked apples.or a few of my apple dessert recipes!

My recipe for Baked Apples, a very generous serving, has only 178 calories, 40 grams of carb, 3 grams of fat and 6 whole grams of fiber. If you want something fancier than that, try my Apple Cinnamon Whole Grain Bread Pudding for a mere 115 calories 20 grams of Carb, only 3 grams of fat and 4 grams of fiber. OR for a bite size treat make some Apple Dessert Wontons- only calories 50 a pop with no fat!

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Ridiculously Easy Borscht

Another quick, easy and super healthy soup that’s filling yet ironically not full of calories!

Ingredients:

Two 14 ounce canned beets, chopped (regular, not pickled) or fresh cooked, about 3 cups
¾ cup chopped onions
¾ cup thinly sliced celery
¾ cup sliced carrots
1 cup shredded cabbage
Two 14 ounce cans chicken or vegetable broth (*use a gluten-free brand such as Progresso Natural if you are on a gluten-free diet)
ICB or olive oil sprayer (or 1 teaspoon olive oil)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Put the onions, carrots and celery into large sized pot sprayed with ICB or olive oil sprayer (or 1 teaspoon olive oil) and sauté on medium heat until just before tender (about 7-10 minutes). Put in cooked beets, cabbage and broth and bring to a light boil. Reduce to low heat and simmer about 10-15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Variations:

If you are watching your sodium you can use low sodium chicken/vegetable broth in place of regular.

Makes 6 cups, 6 servings

Serving size: 1 cup Calories 50 Protein 2 g Carb 11 g Fiber 3 g Sugars 7 g Fat < 1 g Saturated fat 0 g Sodium 740 mg

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Guest Recipes: Pork Tenderloin with Fennel and Apple and Wild Salmon with Fennel and Orange by Susan B. Dopart, M.S., R.D

While attending a diabetes conference in San Francisco last week I was fortunate meet a fellow dietitian and cooking enthusiast, Susan B. Dopart, M.S., R.D. She is a nutrition and fitness expert based in Santa Monica, CA and has recently published a book as well! It is called A Recipe for Life by the Doctor's Dietitian (by Susan B. Dopart, M.S., R.D. and Jeffrey M. Batchelor) and you can find out more about it if you click HERE to link to her website. I thank Susan for contributing these wonderful recipes to my blog.



Pork Tenderloin with Fennel and Apple

A good dish for company that has a nice combination of sour with sweet.

Serves: 4
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:
1 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 large shallots, sliced
1 medium sweet-tart apple, Fuji or Pink Lady, cored and thinly sliced
1 large fennel bulb, trimmed, cored and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon fennel fronds, chopped and divided
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 475 degrees, and position racks to upper and lower thirds of oven.
Wash tenderloin, pat dry, and rub with 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Toss shallots, apples and fennel with 1 tablespoon of oil and place in roasting pan. Place pan on lower rack for approximately 20 minutes, stirring twice until tender.

During roasting of apple mixture:
Heat ½ tablespoon of oil in large oven-proof skillet over medium heat. Sear and brown the pork on each side for two minutes. (Do not force turning the meat, since as it cooks it will easily turn).

Once the pork is browned, transfer the skillet to top rack in oven. Roast until internal temperature registers 145 degrees, approximately 12-15 minutes or barely pink. Transfer meat to plate or cutting board to rest for 10-15 minutes.

Place apple and fennel mixture in skillet. Deglaze pan with 3 tablespoons of vinegar. Slice pork and place on patter. Top with apple and fennel mixture. Garnish with fennel fronds if desired.

Variation: Chop apple and fennel mix similar to a chutney style.

Serving size: ¼ recipe Calories 227 Protein 32 g Carb 15 g Fiber 3 g Fat 2 g Sodium 98 mg




Wild Salmon with Fennel and Orange

Serves: 4
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10-20 minutes

Ingredients:
1 ½ pounds wild salmon (filleted and skinless)
Juice of half a lemon
½ Fennel bulb (sliced in 1/8 inch slices) and fronds
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
Lemon slices (6-8 large)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter (broken into pea-sized pieces)
⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Juice of half a naval orange

Preparation:
Rinse salmon with juice of half a lemon, and pat dry. Lay 1 ½ feet of tin foil, shiny side down on the counter. Lay fennel slices with some fronds, half of the grated fresh ginger, and half the lemon slices on the tin foil making a bed, so the salmon will not touch the tin foil.

Place salmon on the bed, with the filleted (edge with there the skin was attached) side down. Scatter butter pieces and red pepper flakes on top of salmon. Sprinkle the other half of ginger, lemon slices, and a few slices of fennel and fronds over salmon. Finish with juice of the orange on top.

To make a packet take the long ends of the tin foil fold together and seal over fish. Then take the short ends of the tin foil and fold in to seal.

Grill packets over medium heat 4 to 5 minutes, and flip packet over for another 4 minutes. Remove and invert back over. Open packet and serve.

Variation: Place in oven for 20 minutes at 400 degrees or until desired doneness.

Serving size: ¼ recipe Calories 281 Protein 4 g Carb 4 g Fiber 1 g Fat 13 g Sodium 81 mg

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Broccoli Smashed Potatoes

Add a boost of broccoli nutrition and flair to your mashed potatoes with this simple recipe.

Ingredients:

1.5 pounds new potatoes
2 cups broccoli florets
½ cup fat free half and half
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese (*use a gluten-free brand such as Trader Joes if you are on a gluten-free diet)
½ to 1 teaspoon garlic powder
¼ cup chives
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Wash and scrub potatoes and cook them by boiling in a large pot of water until soft when pieced, about 25-30 minutes. Meanwhile cook the broccoli until tender- by either boiling them in a pot of water, steaming in a pyrex dish in an half inch of water or even quicker, put them in a Glad® Simply Cooking™ Microwave Steaming Bag and heat on high for about 2-3 minutes. Drain and cool the cooked potatoes and broccoli for 5- 8 minutes and place in a large bowl. Mash them together with a fork for a minute or two In a small bowl whisk together the half and half, garlic powder, parmesan cheese and chives together and pour them into the potatoes and broccoli. Continue to mash until desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 4 cups, eight servings

Serving size: 1/2 cup Calories 140 Protein 5 g Carb 28 g Fiber 4 g Sugars 0 g Fat 1 g Saturated fat 0 g Sodium 45 mg

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The BAD/BETTER/BEST of Foods Challenge Post # 7

SNACK FOODS

BAD – potato chips

A typical one ounce serving of chips (which doesn’t amount to much in comparison to finishing off a whole bag) runs around 150-170 calories and 9-11 grams of fat- 30-40 percent of which is saturated fat - the “bad” kind that is linked to heart disease.

BETTER- whole wheat pretzels

Try an ounce of these instead which will amount to 100-120 calories and 0-1 grams fat, none of which is saturated. Most of them contain as much as 2-3 grams of fiber too.

BEST- air popped popcorn

An ounce (which is a generous 3 cups popped ) will only cost you 90-100 calories and 0-1 grams of fat (none is saturated) and you’ll get a bonus of 3-4 grams fiber as well. Popcorn is actually considered a “whole grain” food. Try it in my Ridiculously Easy Sweet and Spicy Snack Mix recipe.

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