Easy Recipes with Greek Yogurt

by Pamela | August 9th, 2010 at 1:23 pm

Perhaps you have noticed all the new varieties of yogurt hitting the grocery stores, particularly the Greek variety.

image by Wolfgang Staudt

Greek yogurt, which is made in a very similar process to traditional American yogurt except straining to create a more creamy consistency, is all the rage right now. I personally love it. Typically it has less sugar and more protein than traditional yogurt. It can be a great substitute for sour cream or a handy ingredient for recipes.

But, just like my previous post on ingredient labels said, you have to read the label. For some reason, not all varieties have the higher protein content (around 15 g per servings) and lower sugar. I was surprised myself when I went to pick up another variety (the stores had a shortage of my favorite Dannon for awhile) and found only 6g of protein per serving in brand Y and some extra ingredients that didn’t make since for plain yogurt. I have no idea why the differences, but it reinforced my long standing belief in always reading the label. Look for a quality brand that has basic ingredients and higher protein content if you decide to give it a try.

I will also say it does taste different than traditional yogurt. It’s somewhere between plain traditional yogurt and sour cream. I usually like mine with something naturally sweet, like fruit, to cut some of the tangy taste.

Here are a couple of easy treats that you can make with Greek yogurt. If you are craving something sweet and creamy reach for one of these instead of ice cream.

Frozen Berry Yogurt

• 1 serving plain non fat Greek yogurt ( I like Dannon)
• ¼ cup frozen blueberries
• ½ frozen banana
• Sprinkle of stevia

1. Place berries and banana in a bowl and let set 5-10 minutes to partially thaw.
2. Add yogurt, sprinkle with stevia and stir until well combined.
3. Eat immediately. Makes 1 serving.

Chocolate Banana Yogurt

• 1 serving plain non fat Greek yogurt
• 1 tbsp natural peanut butter
• 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ banana (frozen or fresh)
• Sprinkle of stevia

1. Place all ingredients in a bowl, blend and serve. Makes 1 serving.

Please help me out by Retweeting or Liking this article on Facebook...thanks, Pamela!

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Cucumber Hummus Sandwich with Coconut Sweet Corn Recipe

by Pamela | July 22nd, 2010 at 10:24 am

This time of year there is absolutely no excuse not to eat healthy. The bounty of local produce provides a huge opportunity to eat clean and flavorful at the same time.

Right now, at least in my part of the country, the farmer’s markets are loaded with a huge variety and supply of wonderful food. Each item is bursting with flavor and ready to provide a fresh fantastic meal.

Normally I only post one a recipe a month, but because of the enormous amount of inspiration available I decided to change up my schedule. I don’t want you to miss out on an opportunity to enjoy some fresh vegetables at the peak of their season.

These two recipes use not only fresh vegetables from the farmer’s market, but homemade bread and hummus.  These two items are easy to make and add to the freshness of the meal.

Cucumber Hummus Sandwiches

• 2 servings of Artisan Buttermilk Bread (4 slices per serving for the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day)
• 4 tbsp hummus (I like Holy Moly Hummus from the book How It All Vegan)
• 8 slices of cucumber
• 2 servings roasted red peppers
• 4 slices of red onion

For each sandwich: spread 1 tbsp of hummus each on two slices of bread. Layer each slice with 2 cucumber slices, roasted red pepper and a slice of onion. Top with the remaining bread slices. Makes 2 sandwiches

Coconut Sweet Corn

image by IPBrian

• 2 ears fresh sweet corn
• ½ tbsp coconut oil

1. Preheat broiler on low.
2. Shuck corn and rinse to remove all strands of silk.
3. Brush coconut oil on corn, dividing the oil between the 2 ears.
4. Cover a jelly roll pan with aluminum foil and spray lightly with olive oil
5. Place corn on pan and into oven, about 4 inches away from heat.
6. Cook 3-4 minutes or until corn starts to lightly brown.
7. Remove from oven and serve immediately. Makes 2 servings.

Together these two recipes provide a quick and easy summer supper full of flavor and nutrition.

So tell me, what’s your favorite fresh summer meal?

Please help me out by Retweeting or Liking this article on Facebook...thanks, Pamela!

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Thai Chai Protein Shake Recipe

by Pamela | July 8th, 2010 at 10:38 am

I’ve had more than one person tell me that tea must be the secret to my success.  Since I eat all the time it must be the cups and cups of tea I drink each day that keep me fit. I laugh and tell them, no it’s my workouts, what I eat and how much I eat that are what keeps me healthy and fit.

image by *saxon*

I do love tea. Tea has a long list of health benefits including:

• Lowers the risk of certain cancers due to the high antioxidant content
• Increases metabolic rate
• Boosts the immune system
• Lowers stress hormones
• Inhibits the growth of bacteria that cause bad breath
• Lowers the chance of stroke

I could go on and on. New potential benefits are found every day. Tea also tastes good. On a cold day nothing is better than a hot cup of tea. Sitting back at night with a good book and cup of tea is a perfect way to end the day.  On a hot day, nothing is more refreshing than iced jasmine green tea.

Green tea, by the way, is my normal morning tea.  Jasmine pearls most of the time. However, lately I have been drinking some amazing tea a friend of mine, Jeremy, gave me to try. It’s a black tea called Thai Chai (or Chai Thai, we aren’t sure) and it is a perfect morning beverage.

Traditionally when you order a chai tea at a coffee house, it is blended with milk, sugar and spices. While you get the health benefits you can also get a potential calorie bomb.  Instead of giving up milky chai, I thought, why not turn it into something healthy.

That’s how this month’s recipe was born.

image by visualpanic

Thai Chai Protein Shake

• 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder (I like Designer Whey Vanilla Praline)
• 6 oz brewed black chai tea
• ½ cup vanilla almond milk
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
• A dash of nutmeg
• Ice cubes (to your liking, I normally use 2-3)

Place all ingredients in blender and combine until smooth.

Creamy, tasty and healthy. This could also be a good pre workout shake as well due to the caffeine in the tea, a little energy kick for your workout. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Please help me out by Retweeting or Liking this article on Facebook...thanks, Pamela!

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Triple Protein Salad Recipe

by Pamela | June 10th, 2010 at 10:53 am

Have you ever noticed when someone is dieting they try to live on salads? I see people trying to fill themselves up with nothing but lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers. Not an easy task for sure. I can only imagine that they are pretty hungry an hour later.

image by jmayer1129

Or they put together a pretty good salad. Maybe some chicken for protein with nutrient dense vegetables like broccoli and spinach. Then they kill it with the giant ladle of salad dressing.

I like salads when they are done right. Lean protein, nutrition packed veggies and the perfectly put together flavor enhancing dressing. No bottled dressing for me anymore either. Salad dressings are actually really easy to make and you can make just enough to last for few days. No more getting bored with a flavor, watching it go bad or having 6 different jars of dressing open in the refrigerator.

I was so excited when I received one of my favorite magazines, Clean Eating, in the mail a couple of months back and saw one of featured covered articles was 9 Homemade Salad Dressings. Before I get into the details of the dressing, I do want to do a quick promo for Clean Eating. This is, in my opinion, one of the best sources for clean eating recipes. I have every issue since the magazine started  in 2008. And they just keep getting better and better. If you haven’t picked it up, do it. You will not be disappointed.

Okay, so back to the article.  I got to it and found, indeed, some amazing dressing recipes. I would have loved to have tried some of their salad recipes but, alas, they contained meat. As you probably know by now I am a vegetarian. So I decided to take some of my favorite protein sources and throw them together to create my Triple Protein Salad (with Clean Eating Magazine’s fantastic Orange Herb Dressing).

Orange Herb Dressing

• 2 tbsp fresh orange juice
• 2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp EVOO
• ½ tsp dried tarragon
• ¼ tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp orange zest
• Black pepper to taste

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together all ingredients.

Now you can build your salad.

• 3 cups baby spinach
• 2 oz baked Italian tofu
• 2 hard boiled eggs (whites only)
• ¼ cup chickpeas

Toss these ingredients and drizzle with 1 tbsp of Orange Herb Dressing

The three protein choices each bring a little something different to the recipes. Chickpeas not only provide protein, they are an excellent source of fibers as well. Tofu (made from soybeans) is a complete protein with an added calcium boost. Eggs have the highest biological protein value (100) of any single food protein, meaning essentially all the nitrogen that is absorbed from it can be retained. Between the 3 ingredients your protein needs are well covered.

Using spinach, instead of lettuce, gives you another nutrient boost. Spinach is a great plant source of iron. The vitamin C in the orange juice helps aid in the absorption of the iron as well. (A tip: if you take a vitamin with iron in it and get nauseous from it, try drinking it with a little OJ).

Give this one a try and tell me what you think? Any other Clean Eating Magazine fans out there? Tell me which of the 9 dressings you tried and liked.

Please help me out by Retweeting or Liking this article on Facebook...thanks, Pamela!

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How To Cook Beans in a Crock Pot

by Pamela | May 20th, 2010 at 10:25 am

Since I am a vegetarian you might suspect that I eat a lot of beans. I do. I really like beans. They are versatile, full of protein and fiber and inexpensive.  I can use them for chili, tacos, in pasta dishes, with quinoa, or “meatballs”. They are by all accounts an extremely versatile food.

image by Kris Haamer

I used to rely on canned beans. I am a busy lady and canned beans provided me with a nice measure of ease and convenience.  Then my war on sodium happened and I realized that canned beans were a huge contributor to going over my daily sodium intake goal. (The guideline I use is 2300 mg.)

My husband had been trying to convince me for months to start making beans from dried.  Who has time for that, I would say? He said he would do it as long as I gave him enough notice. While I appreciated his offer of help, I knew that his was a system that would not work well in the future.

Then another alternative appeared. Cooking beans, one pound at a time, in the crock pot and freezing them. Genius!

At the time, I didn’t own a crock pot. So the first step was getting one.  We purchased a Crockpot. It’s simple, no frills but works perfectly.

Then I purchased the dried beans. One pound each of kidney beans, black beans and chickpeas.  One pound of dried beans can typically be purchased for about the same price as one can. One can is typically about 1 and a half cup of beans.  A pound of dried beans will yield about 4 to 5 cups cooked beans. Talk about getting more bang for your buck.

I found the instructions on how to cook the beans on the web site for Iowa State University from their Food Science and Nutrition Dept. Here is the process for the “tootless” crock pot beans:

image by 46137

1. In a large pot, heat 10 cups of water to boiling.
2. Add cleaned dry bean, boil 2-3 minutes (blanch).
3. Remove from heat, cover and let stand 4-16 hours (soak).
4. Drain, discard soak water, rinse beans with fresh, cold water.
5. Pour beans into crock pot, cover with fresh water and cook on low setting for 8-12 hours.

And that is it! So easy.  I made all 3 types of beans I purchased and I have to say the chickpeas turned out the best. I think I let the kidney and black beans cook too long. They aren’t has hardy as the chickpeas so I would recommend staying closer to that 8 hour cook time.  Post cooking I simply let cool, put in freezer bags and stored in the freezer. Now when I need beans I just defrost what I need.

I love it! I always have beans on hand, I saved money and it helps keep my sodium consumption under control. Give it a try and tell me what you think! If you need a good recipe try my Black Bean Quinoa Salad.

Please help me out by Retweeting or Liking this article on Facebook...thanks, Pamela!

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Vanilla Coconut Protein Pancake Recipe

by Pamela | May 10th, 2010 at 10:44 am

Sometimes I struggle to find blog topics. I know you might find that hard to believe, since my content comes out so consistently and dependably. Yet on occasion I do ask for suggestions to help me out.

image by IPBrian

One suggestion I received was for more information about coconut oil. That one question started a wonderful chain of events that has led to, in my opinion, the tastiest protein pancakes ever.

After receiving the request, I happened to start following Tropical Traditions on Twitter. One day they sent out a tweet offering samples to bloggers to try out. Not one to pass up an item to try, I requested my sample of coconut oil.

I’ve used coconut butter before, but in very small quantities. When the 32 oz jar of coconut oil arrived, I was a little shocked and began to ponder how I was going to use up 32 oz of coconut oil.  So I started to do a little research to see how I might incorporate more coconut oil into my cooking.

It turns out that coconut oil is sort of the new but somewhat misunderstood oil of the moment. Sure coconut oil has been around for awhile, but vilified because it is a saturated fat.

The thing is, as more and more research is telling us, not all saturated fats are created equal.  The saturated fat in coconut oil is mainly lauric acid (which is also present in breast milk) and is a medium chain fatty acid (unlike the long chain fatty acids found in animal products). Medium chain fatty acids are more easily digested and more readily converted to energy, making it a “cleaner burning” fuel.  Coconut oil is also trans fat free, contains no cholesterol and studies have shown it to actually raise HDL levels. HDL is the good kind of cholesterol we want to have circulating around our bodies.

Combine all that with the fact that it is very stable at high heat without breaking down, making it a great cooking alternative for stir fries, sautéing or baking.

Armed with the facts, I started to ponder my new recipe options. This is where the moment of genius occurred. I had been toying with a new protein pancake recipe. I had olive oil on the original ingredient list when I thought why not try the coconut oil instead?

What I am about to share with you is my brand new Vanilla Coconut Protein Pancake recipe. It is my husband’s new favorite, the top of all the pancake recipes I have presented to him. I concur, they are super tasty. In the picture you see my plate with blueberries on top. For something that only feels like a guilty pleasure, try natural peanut butter instead.  I hope you enjoy these as much we have. Let me know what you think. Also visit Tropical Traditions. They have an amazing assortment of coconut products as well as other recipes to help you give coconut oil a try.

Pamela’s Vanilla Coconut Protein Pancakes

• 1 cup vanilla soy milk (you can also substitute vanilla almond milk)
• ¾ cup quick oats
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• 6 oz Fat Free Greek yogurt
• 2 egg whites
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp  coconut oil
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 scoop Designer Whey Vanilla Praline protein powder
• Olive oil cooking spray

In a medium bowl, add oats to soy milk and let sit 5 minutes

In a separate bowl, mix Greek yogurt, egg whites, vanilla extract and coconut oil till smooth. 

Add yogurt mixture, whole wheat flour, baking powder, and whey protein powder to the oat mixture. Mix thoroughly.

Spray a well heated griddle lightly with olive oil cooking spray. Pour batter onto griddle and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side or until they are lightly browned.

Makes 8 pancakes.

Please help me out by Retweeting or Liking this article on Facebook...thanks, Pamela!

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Black Bean Quinoa Salad Recipe

by Pamela | April 8th, 2010 at 10:33 am

My love of Mexican food is often derailed by the time it takes to prepare some of my favorite dishes and the use of some not so healthy ingredients.  When I found this fantastic recipe for Enchiladas Verdes in Vegetarian Times I felt like my prayers had been answered.

image by IPBrian

I have various enchilada recipes but most of them take more time and energy than I have on the average day. I have one that requires roasting peppers and making sauce from scratch that is amazing, but takes at least 3 hours to prepare. Who in the world has 3 hours to make dinner? Not me. Enchiladas Verdes take only about 30 minutes (not including draining time for the cottage cheese).

To round out the meal, I created a super simple side dish that can be prepared while the enchiladas cook.  For a protein packed dinner try  the combo of Enchiladas Verdes (or Enchiladas Not So Verdes as I call them since I use red salsa) and Black Bean Quinoa Salad. Follow the link to Vegetarian Times above for the enchiladas and check out my recipe below.

Black Bean Quinoa Salad

• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• ½ cup cooked black beans
• Half an avocado, chopped
• ¼ cup red onion, chopped
• ¾ tsp cumin
• 1/2 tbsp dried cilantro
• Juice from half a lime.

Mix all ingredients and serve. Makes 2 servings.

How much easier can it get? With my newly purchased crockpot I always have beans cooked and ready to go and somehow always seem to have quinoa too. So not only is it easy, I usually have most of the ingredients on hand. Just give me an avocado and a lime and we are all set.

Try out both recipes and let me know how it goes. You can also check out our Recipes section for more healthy food. I love to hear what you have to say so please leave a comment below!

Please help me out by Retweeting or Liking this article on Facebook...thanks, Pamela!

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Healthy Snack Mix

by Pamela | March 4th, 2010 at 11:12 am

Today I have a confession to make. I sneak food into the movies. It was something my mother and I actually did when I was a kid, mainly for money reasons. The PTA sold tickets to movies during the summer break. They sold the tickets in bulk so we could afford the low price for the tickets, but concessions each time were too much of a strain on our limited budget.

Today I can afford to buy a snack at the concession stand, but the options are horrendous. Popcorn full of fat, salty pretzels with a sauce that may or may not really be cheese, french fries, chocolate, I could go on and on with the list of nutritional horrors. Since they do not have products that fit my life (other than the bottle of water I do buy) I am forced to carry a large purse full of snacks for myself and my husband.

One favorite healthy snack of choice for movie viewing is puffed wheat or puffed kalmut. Puffed wheat is low in calories and extremely filling.  I decided recently to take it a step further and create my own healthy snack mix. 

This mix combines the whole grain of the puffed wheat with good fats and a little sweetness. While I am not trying to encourage you to break the theater rules like I do, this is a much healthier alternative to the popcorn. (See the previous post A Nation of Over Consumers).  Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Pamela’s Puffed Wheat Healthy Snack Mix

• 2 cups puffed wheat or puffed kalmut
• ¼ cup vegan carob chips
• ¼ cup dried cranberries
• ¼ cup sunflower seeds
• 1 oz. almonds.

Mix all ingredients and enjoy. Store in an air tight container.

If you enjoy this recipe, please check out our other healthy food ideas in the Recipes section.

Please help me out by Retweeting or Liking this article on Facebook...thanks, Pamela!

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Healthy Super Bowl Snack

by Pamela | February 4th, 2010 at 11:24 am

Okay football fans, are you ready for the big game? I myself am not a football fan, but we always watch the Super Bowl at our house. I admit it is mainly for the commercials. Also who knows what might happen during the half time show?

The problem with the big game is that it has become more than a game; it has become an event to pig out. We do not need another excuse to chow down with abandon. We have too many of those already. So I wanted to give you a tasty quesadilla recipe that will not bust your calorie budget. If you are lucky you might still be able to squeeze in a few baked tortilla chips and guacamole.

Black Bean Quesadilla

• 2 whole wheat tortillas
• ½ cup low fat Mexican style shredded cheese
• ½ cup frozen corn
• ¼ cup chopped red onion
• ½ cup diced zucchini
• 2 cups chopped spinach
• ½ cup canned black beans
• ½ tsp cumin
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Olive oil cooking spray 

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Heat a non stick skillet over medium high heat. Spray with olive oil cooking spray.
3. Add red onion and zucchini. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
4. Add frozen corn and black beans. Cook until warm, about 3-4 minutes.
5. Add spinach, cumin, salt and pepper. Cook until spinach is slightly wilted. Remove from heat.
6. Spray a baking sheet or jelly roll pan with olive oil cooking spray. Lay both tortillas on the pan. Divide bean and vegetable mixture between both tortillas, placing filling on half of each. Sprinkle ¼ cup of cheese over bean and vegetable mixture on each tortilla. Fold other half of tortilla over the bean and vegetable mixture.
7. Place in the oven and cook until tortilla starts to brown. Serve immediately.

Please help me out by Retweeting or Liking this article on Facebook...thanks, Pamela!

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