Trader Joes Treasures Post # 2: Steamed Ready to Eat Lenitls

So in the spirit of keeping the momentum going and spreading the love about some great Trader Joes items, I bring you this post about another one of my favorite products- Trader Joes Steamed Lentils (ready to eat warm or cold).  This box of vacuum packed, pre-cooked lentils is full of potential and nutritional power! A 1/2 cup serving is only 120 calories, has 0 grams of fat, a reasonable 240 mg of sodium and 9 grams of protein!  In addition there are 20 grams of healthy carbs, with 2 grams of sugar and a whopping 8 grams of fiber/serving.

These lentils can be eaten right out of the package, as they are already cooked and they have a hint of seasoning, which is actually very delicious.  They are great in salads, soups, wraps and I have used them in my Lentil Taco Filling, Mediterranean Rice Salad and Lentil Sausage Pasta Sauce recipes.

If you have not tried them already, grab a box of the shelf in the refrigerated section!

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Recipe ReDux Post # 55 Cauliflower Mushroom Taco Filling

February Recipe Redux theme is Taco Tuesday!! So as you can guess, we were encouraged to develop a creative taco recipe :)   It is my belief that that the world can always use more vegetarian taco options so I decided to develop one to add to the mix!  I used two of my favorite veggies as a base -cauliflower and mushrooms, and simply sauteed them with some onions and basic spices and the result was really delicious.  Caulifower often has a potato-like texture, and mushrooms can be somewhat “meaty” in mouth feel so these two veggies worked very well as the filling to replace potatoes and meat, which are two popular types of taco fillings. This filling is very versatile and works well in tortillas, lettuce wraps, atop a salad or even as a yummy veggie side dish.  You can add beans, cheese or your favorite meat to pump up the protein.  I hope you will try it and also check out some of the other great taco ideas from the Recipe ReDux group!

Ingredients:

5 cups chopped raw cauliflower florets

4 cups chopped Portobello mushrooms

1 cup chopped white onion

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ tablespoon chili powder

½ tablespoon ground cumin

salt to taste (optional)

Directions:

After chopping up all the veggies add the mushrooms and the onions to a large pan coated with the tablespoon olive oil and sauté on medium high heat, stirring occasionally,  until starting to brown (about 5 minutes).  While the mushrooms and onions are cooking, steam the cauliflower al dente in a pot of shallow boiling water or in a microwave-safe dish in 1 inch of water (covered) for about 4 minutes.  Drain the cauliflower and add it to the pan with the mushroom-onion mixture. Add the cumin and chili powder, mix well to coat the veggies and continue to heat for about 4-5 minutes until lightly browned and tender. Add salt to taste if desired and serve.  This works great with tortillas, lettuce cups, or mixed in with black beans atop a salad or as a burrito bowl with beans, rice and cheese.

Make 5 cups 5 servings

Serving size: 1 cup  Calories  90 Protein 4 g Carb 13 g  Fiber 3 g Sugars 5 g Fat 3 g Saturated fat 0 g Sodium  40 mg

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Valentine's Recipe Round Up

Being that Valentine's Day is tomorrow, I thought I'd share some of my favorite recipes that make delicious treats for this special day... try one of them as a yummy and healthy alternative for your loved one!

Lovely Snack Mix

Date Cream Cheese Walnut Bites

Strawberry Almond Tarts

Almond Cranberry White Chocolate Oat Bars

Raspberry Yogurt Pops

Power Cookies

All Natural Hot Chocolate

Raspberry Banana Almond Bars

Mini Brownie Strawberry Sundaes

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In the News: The Mediterranean Diet May Protective Developing ADHD

It seems like the more and more research exploring the benefits of the Mediterranean diet is released daily!!  And now a new study has indicated that lower adherence to this diet may be positively associated with an increase in ADHD diagnosis amongst children and adolescents.

It was a case controlled study which involved 120 children and adolescents (60 were controls and 60 were previously diagnosed with ADHD). "Energy, dietary intake, adherence to a Mediterranean diet, and familial background were measured. Logistic regression was used to determine associations between the adherence to a Mediterranean diet and ADHD" per the research published in Pediatrics.  Lower adherence to a Mediterranean diet was associated with ADHD diagnosis and remained significant after adjusting for potential confounders. The factors that were associated with a ADHD diagnosis were less consumption of fruit, vegetables, pasta, and rice and higher frequency of skipping breakfast and eating at fast-food restaurants, along with high consumption of sugar, candy, cola beverages, and noncola soft drinks as well as low consumption of fatty fish. The researchers admitted that although this study does not establish causation it does warrant more research looking into the potential effects of consuming the Mediterranean diet with respect to development of ADHD.

Check out the study HERE

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Creative Ways to Eat More Fruits and Veggies

Check out this article I wrote for the Fit4D blog about ways to get more fruit and veggies in your daily diet!! Click HERE to read.

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Recipe Redux Post # 54: Kicked Up Tomato Soup

My challenge for Recipe ReDux this January was to create a “budget friendly” entrée that costs less than $3.00/serving.  I thought this was a great idea and brought Gabby in on the task so she could learn about the cost of ingredients in addition to helping me in the kitchen.  When I think of cost friendly, I think of canned ingredients so we looked in our pantry to see what we had.  Being that’s its been cold and rainy lately we thought a soup recipe would be in order and got to work combining what staples we had on hand.  We decided to do a kicked up tomato soup that actually included adding refried beans, corn, chili powder and cumin for some flair.  It was super easy to make and…..costs only roughly $ 1.00 per serving!!  You can add left over chicken or more beans  (like whole pinto or black) if you want to increase the protein and can garnish it with low fat cheese or sour cream as well. We hope you will try it along with the other budget friendly recipes from the Recipe ReDux group.

Ingredients:

32 ounces of vegetable broth

One 16 ounce can of corn  

One 16 ounce can of refried beans

One 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes

2 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

Directions:

Add all ingredients to a large pot and bring to a boil, stirring often. Reduce to medium-low heat and simmer (stirring occasionally) until warmed though and beans are uniformly mixed in, about 10 minutes. 

Makes about 12 cups, six servings

Serving size: 2 cups Calories 140 Protein 6 g Carb 24 g Fiber 7 g Sugars 19 g Fat 4.5 g Saturated fat 0.5 g Sodium 800 mg

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New Segment: Trader Joes Treasures!! Chili Lime Seasoning

One of my absolute favorite places to food shop is Trader Joes, and I'm sure I'm not alone!! Who doesn't love the place, right?  It has all the great basics- meats, dairy, produce, breads and staples but also a lot of fun specialty food products as well.  Almost every time that I am there it seems that I discover something new (unless I on a super rushed trip to grab just a few things!!).  So I thought I'd start a new segment to share some of my favorite finds with all of you.

First up....Trader Joes Chili Lime Seasoning. I found this yummy flavoring in the spice isle a few months ago and couldn't resist picking one up-  now I am hooked!  It takes chili powder up a notch by combining it with lime, red bell pepper and sea salt.  It's great on chicken, fish, ground turkey and even helps liven up cooked veggies too.  If you are feeling adventurous try sprinkling some on fruit like oranges or apples to give them some major zest.  I have also mixed some in ranch dressing or dips to add spicy flair.

1/4 teaspoon has 0 calories, 0 carbs/protein/fat and just 180 mg of sodium, so the nutritional stats are very reasonable too.

I hope you will give it a try and you may just see it turn up in some of my future recipes!

Disclamer: I was not contacted or paid by Trader Joes to write this post, all of the opinions are my own.

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