Happy New Year and Third Birthday To My eNourishment Blog!

Getting ready to ring in 2012 and I can't believe this past year has gone by already! Today also marks year number three of blogging since my creation of eNourishment in late December of 2009, yay!! It has been a another busy year with a lot of fun new developments here in the blogosphere - I have added a Gluten-free section (since I have started eating this way myself), have had the opportunity to highlight some awesome fellow RDs/nutrition bloggers in my Shout-Out segment, plus I have just started to review some cool food products as well..enter my Fabulous Food Finds category! And, as always, it has been a year full of yummy recipes that I have had a lot of fun creating, eating and sharing with all of my family, friends and dedicated readers! Thanks for your support and stay tuned for more in 2012!

P.S. here are a few of my favorites from 2011......

Ridiculously Easy Peanut Butter Chocolate Oat Treats




Versatile Chicken Soup


Summer Corn Salad





Mexican Pizzas




Pumpkin Pancakes




Enjoy, Happy New Year and Best of luck to everyone in 2012! :) Marie

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Mediterranean Cucumber Boats

A fun, festive and healthy appetizer for holiday parties and beyond!

Ingredients:

4 Persian cucumbers, ends trimmed, peeled, halved and seeded (makes 8 “boats”)
5 tablespoons hummus or baba ganoush (use store bought or you can make my recipe for baba ganoush, find it HERE
4 teaspoons chopped kalamata olives
4 teaspoons crumbled feta or goat cheese (I used President reduced fat feta)
4 teaspoons finely diced tomato

Directions:

Spoon about 2 teaspoons hummus into each cucumber half, sprinkle with ½ teaspoon each of cheese, tomatoes and olives and serve. Chill if not serving immediately.

Makes 8 servings

Serving Size 1 boat: Calories 35 Protein 1 g Carb 4 g Fiber 1 g Sugars 1 g Fat 1.5 g Saturated fat 0 g Sodium 100 mg

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Quick Apple Treat

A nice light breakfast, snack or dessert

Ingredients:

1 medium sized apple, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon butter or margarine
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons oats (if you are on a gluten free diet use gluten-free oats, such as Bob’s Red Mill)
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons vanilla greek yogurt

Directions:

Coat a small pan with the margarine on low heat, add the apples and cover stirring occasionally for 2-3 minutes. Meanwhile combine the oats, cinnamon and brown sugar to a small bowl. Add the oat mixture to the pan with 1 tablespoon water, mix, cover and heat for another 1-2 minutes. Put into a bowl, top with yogurt and serve

Makes one serving

Serving size: the whole recipe! Calories 190 Protein 4 g Carb 36 g Fiber 6 Sugars 23 Fat 4 g Saturated fat 2 g Sodium 45 mg

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Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Aside from being gluten-free, these cookies are also delicious!

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cup oat flour, gluten-free brand such as Bob’s Red Mill (you can make your own to by grinding gluten-free oats in food processor
½ cup gluten free rolled oats (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
1 teaspoon baking powder (if you want very thin flat cookies use baking soda)
1 egg
1 stick butter (1/2 cup), slightly softened
¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup chocolate chips (use a gluten-free brand such as Nestle)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, oats and baking powder in a small to medium bowl. In a larger bowl, mix the brown sugar, egg and butter. Slowly start adding the flour mixture to the larger bowl with the egg/sugar mixture until a soft thick dough is formed. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Refrigerate the dough overnight or at least a few hours for best results.
Drop the cookie dough in rounded spoonfuls (or use a small ice cream scooper) onto a baking sheet to make 24 cookies. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Serving size: 1 cookie Calories 100 Protein 1 g Carb 13 g Fiber 1 g Sugars 9 g Fat 5 g Saturated fat 3 g Sodium 85 mg

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In The News: Higher Dairy Protein Diets + Exercise Help With Weight Loss And Protect Bones Too!

With the New Year approaching, many of us will set goals to eat healthier and even lose weight. Following lower calorie diets, namely ones higher in protein can produce weight loss but unfortunately this can come at a price- weakening bones (along with many other issues) if diets are not planned well and leave out key nutrients like calcium and vitamin D. A new study just published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism has shown that calorie-restricted diet higher in protein - mostly from dairy foods - and lower in carbohydrates coupled with daily exercise, produced weight loss but also will likely prevent bone loss in the long term too. The researcher's report "Our data provide further rationale to recommend consumption of dairy foods to aid in 'high quality' weight loss, which we defined as loss of fat and sparing of muscle, and the promotion of bone health in young women."

The study was done in young women, who are in a key position to protect bones, but I think the results are important to anyone, especially women of all ages. To read an article in Medical News Today that summarizes the study click HERE and the journal abstract of the study can be found HERE


Check out my calcium rich recipes like my Ridiculously Easy and Healthy Fruit Yogurt or double up on my Strawberry Banana Snack Smoothie

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