Spicy Sausage and Black Bean Skillet

This is a quick, easy and healthy dish which works great as a weeknight meal and is awesome for a leftover lunch or mixed in with eggs for breakfast!  If you are not into spicy just sub your favorite mild chicken or turkey sausage and hold the chili peppers and spicy seasoning!

Ingredients:

1 pound spicy chicken sausage (if on gluten-free diet use GF brand such as Trader Joes or Aidell’s)

2 red bell peppers, chopped (2 heaping cups)

1 white onion, chopped (1 cup)

2 Anaheim chili peppers finely chopped (1/4 cup)

1 teaspoon olive oil

One 14 ounce can of black beans, rinsed well and patted dry

1/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth (*use a gluten-free brand such as Progresso Natural or Trader Joes if you are on a gluten-free diet)

A dash or two of Cajun seasoning (optional)

Directions:

Add the 1 teaspoon olive oil to a large pan or pot and put in the sausage onions, bell peppers and chili peppers and sauté on medium-high heat until just starting to brown (about 7-10 minutes), stirring frequently. Then add the black beans (seasoning) and broth, cover to simmer, stirring occasionally until the broth has mostly evaporated and the whole mixture is brown and tender (about 5-7 minutes).

Makes 7 cups, 7 servings

Serving size 1 cup Calories 230 Protein 12  g Carb 25  g Fiber 7 g Sugars   11 g Fat 8 g Saturated fat 2.5 g Sodium 710  mg

This photo was taken by Gabby!

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Gabby’s Eats: Fruit Salad With Strawberry Yogurt Dressing

In Los Angeles it seems as though Fall weather will never be upon us- we have had some of the hottest temps of the year here in September!! That being said we are still enjoying our fair share of salads, Gabby included. She asked to make a fruit salad recently and I was interested to see what she would come up with…the result was quite delicious. Her idea of blending yogurt with part of the strawberries that were actually included in the recipe made a simple but yummy dressing. Here in California, the Summer fruit is still tasty so we thought we’d sneak this last Summer-ish recipe in as a post. If some of the listed fruits are not available in your area you can always substitute others and use frozen thawed strawberries as well. Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

1 cup cubed peaches (or pears)
1 cup cubed apples
1 cup sliced strawberries
1 cup low fat strawberry yogurt (we used and highly recommend Trader Joes Organic)
2 Tablespoons chopped walnuts

Directions:

Wash, dry and cut up the fruit. (Gabby used a kid’s safe knife with my help). Add all the chopped apple and peach and ¾ cup of the strawberries to a medium bowl. Put the last ¼ cup strawberries and the yogurt in a blender and process in high speed until smooth. Pour the dressing over the salad and sprinkle the walnuts on top. Chill if not serving immediately.

Makes four servings

Serving size: 1/4 th of the recipe Calories 120 Protein 4 g Carb 19 g Fiber  2g Sugars 15 g Fat 3.5 g Saturated fat 0  g Sodium 25 mg

Gabby's Shot:

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Recipe Redux Post #26 Ginger Apple Walnut Bars

September's Recipe Redux theme is "Get Your Dehydrator On" and we were asked to show how we like to dehydrate food or develop a recipe using dehydrated fruits or veggies.  Sadly I do not own a dehydrator and don't seem to be home long enough to do an all day low temp oven dehydration method so I decided to go with creating a recipe using store bought dried apples- my favorite dehydrated fruit!  I have also come to adore ginger over the last year so I decided to do a snack bar recipe that married apples and ginger together with some crunchy walnuts thrown in. If you are not a big ginger fan you can omit it and then these will simply be apple walnut bars which are delicious as well. The neutral almond butter base works great with these bars and the chewy apples and oats plus the crunch of the walnuts it an awesome combination.  So try them out to eat for breakfast, snack or dessert and check out the other cool dehydrator creations from the other Recipe Redux bloggers too!

Ingredients:

1 cup creamy or crunchy almond butter (I used Trader Joes Crunchy Salted)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup pure maple syrup  
1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses

¾ teaspoon ground ginger (optional- then these will just be apple walnut bars!)

3/4 cup oats (old fashioned, not quick, use a gluten-free oats such as Bob's Red Mill if you are on a gluten-free diet)

½ cup chopped dried apples 

¼ cup chopped walnuts

Wax or parchment paper

Directions:

In a medium sized bowl, combine all of the ingredients and mix well. Press mixture into an 8 by 8 inch pan. (Lining the pan with a large rectangular piece of parchment paper, placing the mixture on one side and then folding the paper over to press down works nicely. The dough will be a bit crumbly, but will come together nicely as you continue to work with it and pat it down into the pan.) Chill in the fridge for an hour or more (if you can wait that long!) and cut into 8 bars and serve. Wrapping the individual bars in wax paper and storing in baggies is great for convenience.  Store in the fridge. These bars also freeze well!

Makes 8 bars

Serving size: 1/8th of recipe  Calories 300 Protein 10 g Carb 25 g Fiber 4 g Sugars 15 g Fat 20 g Saturated fat 1.5 g Sodium 20 mg

An InLinkz Link-up

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Oatmeal Raisin Pancakes

These are kinda like eating warm soft oatmeal cookies for breakfast! 

Ingredients:

1 cup oat flour (if you are on a gluten free diet use a brand such as Bob’s Red Mill or you can make your own to by grinding gluten free oats in food processor)

¼ cup oats if you are on a gluten free diet use a brand such as Bob’s Red Mill or Trader Joes, GF)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

¼-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ cup egg whites

1 cup nonfat milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3- 4 tablespoons raisins

Directions:

In a small bowl combine the baking powder, flour, oats, brown sugar and cinnamon together.  To a larger bowl add the egg whites, vanilla and milk and whisk together. Then slowly whisk in the flour mixture to the liquid until a smooth, thin batter is formed. Stir in the raisins and mix well. Allow to thicken for about 10-15 minutes for best results. (This batter is even better when stored overnight.)Add ¼ cup (for 1 pancake) to a non stick skillet, or one coated with cooking spray and heat on high heat for 1-2 minutes each side.  Repeat with ¼ cup mixture 5 more times for a total of 6 small/medium pancakes.

Makes 6 pancakes

Serving size: 1 pancake Calories 100 Protein 3 g Carb 17 g Fiber 2 g Sugars 6 g Fat 2 g Saturated fat 0 g Sodium 50 mg

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In The News: Eating More Potassium Rich Foods May Cut The Risk Of Stroke and Death In Older Women

New research published in the American Heart Association's journal Stroke suggests that post-menopuasal women who eat foods higher in potassium are less likely to have strokes and die than women who eat less potassium-rich foods in their diet. There is good evidence from past studies have shown that potassium intake can lower blood pressure, but focusing on potassium alone and its effect has not been looked at as much, so this was a welcomed study.

Researchers worked with 90,137 postmenopausal women subjects, ages 50 to 79, for an average 11 years. They looked at how much potassium the women consumed, as well as the rates at which stroke or death occurred  during the study period. Women in the study were stroke-free at the start and the average dietary potassium intake was 2,611 mg/day. Results of this study were based on potassium intake from food only, not from supplements.

The results:  

"The researchers found:

• Women who ate the most potassium were 12 percent less likely to suffer stroke in general and 16 percent less likely to suffer an ischemic stroke than women who ate the least.
• Women who ate the most potassium were 10 percent less likely to die than those who ate the least.
• Among women who did not have hypertension (whose blood pressure was normal and they were not on any medications for high blood pressure), those who ate the most potassium had a 27 percent lower ischemic stroke risk and 21 percent reduced risk for all stroke types, compared to women who ate the least potassium in their daily diets.
• Among women with hypertension (whose blood pressure was high or they were taking drugs for high blood pressure), those who ate the most potassium had a lower risk of death, but potassium intake did not lower their stroke risk."

4,700 mg of potassium is the daily amount recommended per the USDA.  According to Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller, Ph.D., study senior author  "Only 2.8 percent of women in our study met or exceeded this level. The World Health Organization's daily potassium recommendation for women is lower, at 3,510 mg or more. Still, only 16.6 percent of women we studied met or exceeded that. Our findings suggest that women need to eat more potassium-rich foods. You won't find high potassium in junk food. Some foods high in potassium include white and sweet potatoes, bananas and white beans."

She did caution that there are some people who have too much potassium in their blood, which can be dangerous to the heart. "People should check with their doctor about how much potassium they should eat," she said.  This especially applies to those with kidney problems.

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Gabby’s Eats: Simple Summer Salad

One of the best things my daughter and I did this Summer was to plant a small garden on our patio.  We bought an awesome Gronomics elevated raised bed planter online, got some good organic soil and seedling plants at Home Depot and it was all done in a few hours!

A little water each day and the garden took care of itself, thriving in no time.  It became a habit of mine to water it in the early morning before leaving for work at dawn, therefore I never really got a detailed look at it’s the progress  since I was in a hurry (and it was barely light out). So when Gabby and I went out this afternoon in the bright sun to water it and get a good look we were shocked to find 4 whole cucumbers had grown and were ready to  pick!  Gabby was super excited and announced she wanted to make up a salad recipe using them ASAP.  We grabbed a handful of fresh basil from the garden as well and got to work in the kitchen.  

A non- lettuce chopped style salad was Gabby’s plan so we washed and cut up tomatoes and carrots in addition to the cucumbers and complimented them with some diced basil, olives and a basic oil and vinegar dressing. 

I was delighted to see that Gabs could not stop snacking on the veggies as she prepared them and had two servings of the salad as well!  It’s a easy and healthy way to have a serving of fresh veggies. As we are nearing the end of Summer on this holiday weekend, it is a perfect time to throw together a simple, fresh and tasty salad like this one as a nice side to your accompany all your BBQ main dishes.

Gab's Shot:

Ingredients:

2 cups chopped cucumber  

2 cups halved grape tomatoes

1 cup chopped carrots

2 tablespoons diced fresh basil

¼ cup seasoned rice vinegar

2 tablespoons finely chopped olives (we used green and kalamata)

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Add the chopped veggies and olives to a medium bowl.  In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil and vinegar and pour it over the salad.  Mix well to evenly coat.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and eat!  Chill if not serving immediately.

Makes 5 cups, 4 servings

Serving size: a little over 1 cup Calories 90 Protein 1 g Carb 10 g Fiber 2 g Sugars 6 g Fat 4 g Saturated fat 0 g Sodium 330 mg

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Introducing a brand new Segment: Gabby’s Eats ....There’s a new little blogger on Net and Her Recipe Debut is Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Popsicles!

There have been many segments that I have added to this blog over the years but this is probably one that I am most excited about.  “Gabby’s Eats” was born out my love of developing recipes/blogging and wanting to involve my daughter in this creative process. I started this blog on Dec 28, 2008 and found out I was pregnant just a few short weeks after, so technically my daughter Gabrielle (aka Gabby) has been along with me the entire time.  As she has been growing up I have noticed her interest in cooking, recipe writing and blogging has been increasing. As a toddler she would want to be near me in the kitchen banging pots and pans and taking a peek at what I was making. Then when she became a preschooler there was more watching, making up pretend recipes, plus asking questions and begging me to help plate the food and take photos when I was creating a post. I let her help here and there but always feel a bit guilty that she was not getting more out of it since I am so busy and trying to move quickly.

Now that she just began elementary school, I recently decided it sure would be a good idea to actually get Gabby totally involved in my cooking and blogging in a more concrete way.  One typical weeknight and I was rushing to get dinner on the table and Gabby was doing what she often does, “cooking too” only in her play kitchen, which I purposely have located right next to mine.  She called out to me that she was making “the latest and the greatest new recipes” and began bringing me pretend tastes and samples.  Then, as usual, she tired of her make believe culinary world and asked to help me with dinner prep but being too busy I had to appease her with my usual “next time honey”  and she sadly went back to her pretend space.   When we finally sat down to eat,  and the idea hit me hit me and I asked her “would you like to make up REAL recipes with mommy?” Gabby’s face lit up so brightly and she belted out an emphatic “YES!!!”

We talked about how the purpose of mommy’s blog was to cook healthy food that also tastes great because both are important.  Then I asked her what healthy yummy recipe would she first like to make up.  “Chocolate chip popsicles” was the reply.  We got out a new little notebook and brainstormed while eating our dinner. I mentioned that there are healthy things about chocolate but only to a certain degree so we came up with adding yogurt and peanut butter to the mix too and this recipe was born.  Getting my daughter into the whole creative process of developing a recipe, testing/tasting it, figuring out its nutrition facts using an analysis program and blogging about it from start to finish was magical for us both.  She learns to create, cook, use the computer and camera and I not only get to spend time with her and teach her about healthy eating, but I also get some new recipe ideas from my little helper as well- a WIN WIN!

Hope you enjoy this recipe and look out for more upcoming Gabby’s Healthy Eats posts of original, nutritious, easy and fun recipes (not to mention the whole creative process) that can be enjoyed by kids and adults alike!

PB Chocolate Chip Yogurt Pops

This is a salty + sweet creamy treat that even has a bit of tang to it (think Pinkberry!) The chocolate chips want to sink to the bottom so you can blend them in with other ingredients as another option. 

(This photo taken and edited by Gabby herself!)

Ingredients:

12 ounces of vanilla lowfat yogurt (we used and highly recommend Trader Joes organic)

3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter  

1 Tablespoon honey

2 Tablespoon mini chocolate chips

¼ cup milk (we used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)

dixie cups, popsicle sticks and plastic wrap

Directions:

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and mix on high until a smooth mixture is formed.  Or another option is to blend the ingredients and then mix in the chocolate chip whole (but they do tend to sink to the bottom- both versions are pictured above). Pour the mixture into six Dixie cups.  Carefully place the filled cups in a container (a mini muffin tin works well) cover with plastic wrap, poke holes in it and add popsicle sticks in the center of each cup.  Freeze for 4-6 hours until solid and enjoy!   

Note: You can also freeze without the sticks, remove from the Dixie cups let soften a bit and eat in a bowl ice cream style which is delicious too!

Makes 6 pops, six servings

Serving size: 1 yogurt pop Calories 130 Protein 4  g Carb 17  g Fiber 0 g Sugars 9 g Fat  5 g Saturated fat 1.5  g Sodium 50  mg

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