Category: health

NEW RECIPE and review! Healthy Fruit Crisp

On By Cultivate WellnessIn Cooking, eating, health, Health and wellness, Nutrition, Recipes, wellness1 Comment

Fruit crisp Gwyneth

If you’ve been reading my blog, you know that I’m cooking my way through Gwyneth Paltrow’s latest book It’s All Good. It’s full of super healthy recipes that look amazing.  I’m approaching my project as a busy mom on a budget who loves to cook.  I sort of feel like Gwyneth doesn’t understand the “on a budget” part of life, so my goal is to determine how approachable her recipes truly are.

Two days ago, I had my next Gwyneth Paltrow recipe lined up to test. It’s her “Flourless Anything Crumble” which consists of 4 cups of any type of fruit, some maple syrup, olive oil, lemon juice, and cinnamon (all things that are affordable and easy to procure). It also called for almond meal and quinoa flakes for the topping rather than the standard oats and flour. I set off for the grocery store and that’s when the wheels came off of this plan. The almond meal flour was $12.00 and the quinoa flakes were $10. There was a time when I would have guiltily spent $22 on ingredients that would have languished in my cupboard long after using them *one time*. Today, however, I decided that Gwyneth Paltrow could take a seat. I decided to still make the crumble because it sounds good and I had the other ingredients. However, I amended the recipe to use oats and flour because a $22 homemade fruit crumble does not figure into my plans or budget. I can imagine the typical household in this country probably feels the same way.

I thought the resulting recipe with my changes was quite good, although much less sweet than a typical crumble.  I used a mixture of frozen peaches and blueberries.  I would highly recommend setting your expectations a little bit low for this and approach it as you would when you eat a piece of fresh fruit with maybe a little added *extra*.  It was indeed quite healthy, tasted yummy, and I even had it the next morning for breakfast.  My 10 year old ate her whole serving with gusto and my husband had two servings and then asked if I could make it sweeter next time.  This isn’t necessarily a dish you would make as a dessert for a special occasion, but perhaps a healthy dessert alternative for a weeknight.

Here’s the recipe, adapted from the original featured in It’s All Good.

Fruit Crumble

Ingredients:

4 cups fruit of your choice (apples, peaches, berries, etc)

4 tablespoons real maple syrup (or more to taste)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 cup white whole wheat flour or gluten free flour of your choice

1 cup oats (old fashioned or rolled)

pinch of salt (I use sea salt)

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter (or dairy free butter like Earth Balance), cut up into small pieces

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Toss the fruit with 2 tablespoons (or more to taste) of the maple syrup and lemon juice.  Spread out into an 8×8 baking dish.  Mix the flour, salt, cinnamon and oats in a large bowl.  Stir in remaining maple syrup and the 2 Tablespoons of olive oil.  Spread the topping on top of the fruit.  Scatter the butter pieces on the top.  Bake until the topping is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling, about 30 minutes. Serve with homemade whipped cream or ice cream for an extra treat.  Or, heat up leftovers in the morning and eat for breakfast with yogurt.

NEW RECIPE! Spicy Chipotle Salmon

On By Cultivate WellnessIn Cooking, eating, health, Health and wellness, Kids, Nutrition, Recipes, wellness2 Comments

Salmon finished chipotle

We all know how good salmon is for us, especially when it’s wild caught off of the coast of Alaska. It’s full of essential Omega 3 fatty acids (the good kind of fat that keeps your brain and heart working well).  It’s high in protein, too.  I make salmon at least once a week and I love trying new recipes to keep it fresh and interesting.

I decided to try this recipe posted by my friend Pronto Pup. He is a much funnier (and profane) blogger than I ever hope to be but he’s also a great cook.  It’s fun to read his cooking blog for new ideas.  He’s got kids around the same age as my daughter, so I get good insights into what recipes might be “child friendly”. My daughter is a pretty adventurous eater but anything spicy still can be hard for her to eat. He observed that this salmon recipe was a bit too spicy for his kiddos so I toned down the crushed red pepper in my version and my daughter really enjoyed it.  I think she prefers my lemon pepper garlic version but she still ate a good amount of this.

The original version is posted here (thanks Little Spice Jar!).

I did one thing slightly different than directed, which was to brush about half of the chipotle sauce onto the salmon before cooking and then reduce the sauce even further on the stovetop to use as a glaze after the salmon was finished.  The glaze was too strong for my daughter but my husband and I really liked it.  It had a full lime/honey/chipotle flavor and added some extra moisture to the fillet.

Butter sauce for salmon
Here’s the sauce as I’m incorporating the butter. It’s really rich and yummy.

The preparation for the salmon is so easy, and cooking it was pretty foolproof.

Salmon waiting to be baked
The salmon prepared with chipotle butter sauce and lime zest. Just wrap it up in the foil and bake in the oven. I love that I didn’t have to clean a roasting dish afterwards.

I usually make a roasted veggie on the side but since I was making dessert (check back for the recipe and review on that!) I felt pressed for time and did corn on the cob and frozen green beans instead.

I will absolutely make this dish again and can’t wait to try tweaking the flavors a bit next time just for the fun of it.

NEW RECIPE! Roasted Chickpeas, Easy After School (Or Work Or Sports Or Whatever) Snack

On By Cultivate WellnessIn Cooking, eating, health, Health and wellness, Kids, Nutrition, Recipes, wellness3 Comments

chickpeas roasted up close

The poor chickpea.  It gets such little respect. No one can even agree on what its name is.  Is it a garbanzo bean?  Is it a chickpea?  No one really knows.  But before you give up on these little legumes, you should know  they are versatile and yummy and full of goodness.  For instance, 1/2 cup of chickpeas have both 6 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber.  The average adult needs about 24-35 grams of fiber a day depending on how many calories a day you consume.  And while the amount of protein you need is widely debated, it is a good idea to consume a good-quality protein at least 3-4 times a day to keep your blood sugar in check.  I was recently told that my afternoon carb cravings were a result of too little protein in my diet.  I am not sure if that is scientifically sound advice or not, but I have noticed that when I add a protein rich afternoon snack, I don’t feel the need to hoover a bag of Goldfish crackers. 

Roasted chickpeas are so easy to make, and don’t let the fact you have to turn on your oven scare you off of this recipe.  I make these a lot on weekends because I am home puttering around.  Here’s how it works:

INGREDIENTS:
1 15 oz can of chickpeas (double or even triple the recipe if you’re feeding more than just a few people)

Olive oil

Salt/pepper/garlic salt/garlic powder/cumin/cinnamon/whatever spices you want to use (don’t use all of these together, that would be nasty)

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Rinse and drain the chickpeas well in a colander.

Spread out onto a baking sheet, and blot dry with a clean towel or paper towels.

Drizzle about 1-2 T of olive oil over the chickpeas and shake the pan to coat.

Sprinkle salt, pepper and whatever spices you want on the chickpeas.  If you are using cinnamon you might want to skip the salt and pepper.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, and then shake the pan or use a spatula to move the chickpeas around so they evenly bake.

Bake for another 10 minutes or so, until golden brown.  The outside should be crispy and the inside should be tender.

Good luck keeping them around for more than a few minutes!

Until next time…

Nutrition Niblet of the Week

On By Cultivate WellnessIn health, Health and wellness, Nutrition, wellnessLeave a comment

peas and carrots in a flower

This week in my Nutrition Consultant program, we are learning about the digestive system.  There are a lot of buzzwords: villi, microvilli, brush border, bolus, chyme.  The digestive system isn’t sexy and fun, to be sure.  But it’s very important to know how your digestive system works, because about 80% of your immune system resides in your gut.  If your digestion is off or you aren’t feeding it the things it needs, then your immune system could be less than optimal.

Since I want to keep these tidbits easy and quick to digest (see what I did there?), I’m going to focus on one thing today.  If there’s only one thing you change in how/what you eat, it should be S L O W I N G   D O W N.  Digestion starts before you even put a piece of food in your mouth — it actually starts in the brain.  When you anticipate eating, your brain starts sending signals to your body to prepare.  That’s why when you see something delicious, your mouth waters.  It’s amazing what your body is capable of doing when you get out of its way.

When you eat too quickly and under stressful circumstances, you don’t allow for proper digestion. If you, however, chew your food slowly and thoughtfully, then the saliva is able to break down the food the way it’s supposed to before it starts its journey through the rest of your digestive system.

Chew your food slowly, and chew a bunch of times before you swallow.  Eat in peace.  Don’t gulp.  Lose your stress for a few minutes so your body isn’t in fight or flight mode.  When you do this, you allow your digestive system to work the way it was meant to, digesting the food in the proper way at each stop (mouth, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, etc).  When you eat in a hurry or under stress, or in the car or standing up or in front of the t.v. (we’ve all done it) then the food isn’t being digested properly, the nutrients aren’t being absorbed appropriately, and you can end up with chronic indigestion, food sensitivities, and a sub optimal immune system.

More information to come, but for today, just try to slow down when you eat. Be mindful and give a little thanks.  And let me know how it works for you!

NEW RECIPE! Grilled Salmon with Grilled Lemon Vinaigrette

On By Cultivate WellnessIn Cooking, eating, health, Health and wellness, Recipes, wellness3 Comments

I continued making my way through the It’s All Good cookbook this evening with a grilled salmon recipe.  I bought salmon at the farmer’s market  a couple of weeks ago from a man who catches it himself from the waters off of Alaska and packages it right on his boat.  Then it’s flash frozen.  He told me that when I’m cooking it, it should smell like the ocean and not fishy.  Well, he was right.  It smelled fresh and tasted even more delicious.  It was definitely a quality piece of fish.  I served it with roasted Brussels sprouts and quartered potatoes.

salmon grilling
Love the color of fresh salmon

The recipe was so simple even a tween could make it.  I think I’ll be teaching my almost 11 year old this one.

Salmon (the wild-caught kind from the Atlantic ocean has the highest concentration of Omega 3’s) is so healthy for you.  Omega 3 fatty acids are wonderful for heart and brain health.  They also promote  healthy joints and skin, and reduce the risk of heart disease.  According to the American Heart Association, adults should have two servings of omega 3-rich foods per week.

GRILLED SALMON WITH GRILLED LEMON VINAIGRETTE (adapted from the It’s All Good cookbook)

INGREDIENTS:

  • Four 6-oz salmon fillets or one large fillet of equitable size
  • 2 T olive oil for grilling, plus 1/2 cup for the dressing
  • Sea salt
  • 2 lemons, cut in half
  • 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley or cilantro
  • 2 tablespoons chopped chives (I like the Lighthouse brand of dried chives in the off-season)
  • Black pepper
  • Garlic powder

METHOD:

  • Heat a grill pan over high heat.  Add the fish, skin side down and drizzle with the 2T of olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and garlic powder.
  • Cook until firm, about 4 minutes on each size.  After you flip the first time, add some fresh black pepper and more salt and garlic powder.
  • At the same time, grill the lemons, cut side down.  Watch them and remove when they are softened and the flesh has darkened.
  • When the salmon is done, transfer to a platter and let rest.
  • Squeeze the grilled lemons into a bowl that already contains the 1/2 c olive oil and chopped herbs.
  • Serve salmon with the dressing on the side
lemon grilled
I’ve never grilled lemons before but I love the sweetness they take on.
roasted veggies
It’s hard to go wrong with simple roasted potatoes and Brussels sprouts.
Salmon plated
The finished meal.

I think we will have to make the granola next — it’s back-to-school and we are needing some quick and healthy breakfast options.

Until next time!

Peanut Butter and Banana Wraps For Back To School

On By Cultivate WellnessIn health, Health and wellness, Kids, Nutrition, Recipes, wellness1 Comment
peanut butter banana tortilla
Peanut butter, bananas and granola wrapped in a whole grain tortilla

Now that it’s back-to-school time, I have received several requests from friends for easy after school snack ideas.  I’ll admit, sometimes we just go with a Kind bar or a Lara bar (both options have less sugar and minimally processed ingredients).  But many times it’s apples and peanut butter, guacamole and whole grain tortilla chips, a whole wheat pita with some olive oil, a piece of fruit, or some fresh veggies.  Sometimes I get creative and try new things.  The after school snack is a great time to try new ideas with your kids, because they tend to be ravenous when they come home from school and more willing to try new foods!

One of my daughter’s favorite easy but delicious snacks is a whole grain tortilla filled with banana and peanut butter.  You could also add granola in there for added “heft”, especially when using this as a breakfast or lunch idea.  These wraps travel really well, so put them in your kids’ lunch boxes, and bring them along for when you need a quick dinner between activities.  There’s great protein and healthy fats in the peanut butter.  The banana is full of potassium and fiber (you could also use apples in here).  The granola has a nice crunch, especially if it’s homemade and/or one that isn’t crammed with sugar (I really love the Purely Elizabeth brand).

Keep an eye here for more healthy snack ideas. If you have any recipes for snacks your kids like, please comment and share below!

Quinoa and Veggie Salad

On By Cultivate WellnessIn Cooking, health, Health and wellness, Nutrition, Recipes, wellnessLeave a comment

Quinoa salad

Ok, so last night we were lucky enough to be invited to a private event at the Children’s Theater Company in Minneapolis which included the coolest theater experience we’ve ever had (a fully immersive and interactive performance of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) followed by a traditional lobster boil by Smack Shack.  It was amazing.

I woke up this morning feeling like I wanted to eat a bit lighter, and I had some leftover cooked quinoa and tofu from the Veggie Dumplings we made yesterday so I decided I’d make a salad for my family to have for lunch today.  I wanted something light and easy.  I had some fresh green onions and cucumbers from the farmer’s market in the fridge and peas in the freezer.  I always have garlic powder, salt and pepper, so those were no-brainers.  Below is the recipe I created, which is totally vegan.  It’s easy to sub out the tofu for another protein of your choice: beans, feta cheese, even shredded chicken.  

Quinoa super up close

QUINOA AND VEGGIE SALAD

Ingredients (makes 4 servings)

  • 3 cups cooked quinoa (I like adding a bit of vegetable Better Than Bouillon to mine when cooking)
  • 1/2 cup crumbled firm tofu
  • 2 green onions, white and light green parts only, chopped
  • 1/2 cup chopped cucumber
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or fresh garlic, minced
  • 1 cup peas
  • 1/2 cup parsley
  • course sea salt and pepper to taste

METHOD:

  • Mix everything together (think you can manage?)

This would be an easy salad to double the recipe and keep it around for lunches and side dishes all week.

EAT WELL!

Vegetable Dumplings — The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

On By Cultivate WellnessIn Cooking, eating, health, Nutrition, Recipes11 Comments

veggie dumplings

Remember those beauties?  Vegan Dumplings were the big winners in the poll for the first recipe I would test from Gwyneth Paltrow’s It’s All Good cookbook.  You’ll remember from a previous post that I received the book as a birthday gift, and that Gwyneth and I have a long, complicated history.  Mostly it’s me not being sure if I should love her or loathe her.  It’s so hard to decide.  Regardless, I love the look of many of the recipes in her cookbook and so I decided I would cook my way through it and report back. What I want to find out are:  Are her recipes approachable?  Can a middle aged busy mom without a nanny, a cook, a housecleaner and other household help actually find the time to make the creations within?  The only way to find out is to try.

I accumulated the ingredients for the dumplings pretty easily (you know what, I like to say potstickers better, and I think the way I made them are more like potstickers, so let’s go with that from now on).  It wasn’t a crazy list with lots of expensive, hard-to-find ingredients. 

My kiddo has been in camp all week and I really wanted her help with this one, so I waited until today to make these.  You’ll notice in the photos she’s wearing her Angry Birds pajamas.  In this house, we cook in our pajamas.

The end result is that they turned out amazing.  They were really delicious and perfect and we couldn’t stop eating them.  They might not be as beautiful as the stock photo I used above.  I’m thinking I should invest in a food styling course.

finished potstickers

The downside is that they are really messy to make, including a lot of splattering if you choose to pan fry them (which we did, because PAN FRYING IS AWESOME). The cleanup wasn’t fun, but then again it never is.  My best piece of advice is to always try to clean up as you go so it isn’t so overwhelming at the end.  Here is my kitchen at the end of everything.  SO. MUCH. MESS.

dirty kitchen

So here’s the recipe, adapted from Gwyneth Paltrow’s Vegan Veggie Dumplings (I can’t legally reprint the whole recipe here without her permission, and even though I emailed last week to ask for it, I’m guessing her people have better things to do, which may or may not include sourcing local and organic tomatillos for her kids’ lunches.)

Vegan Potstickers Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups green cabbage, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 small red or yellow onion, or even two or three green onions, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cup crumbled firm tofu (I haven’t tested this but I bet you could use ground chicken, turkey or other animal protein in place of the tofu.  You know it wouldn’t be vegan anymore, though, right?)
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 1/2 cup frozen peas
  • 1/2 cup cooked quinoa (I love adding a bit of vegetable Better Than Bouillon to my quinoa when it’s cooking.  It adds flavor)
  • 1 tablespoon reduced sodium soy sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
  • 2 tablespoons neutral oil (I used olive oil which technically isn’t a neutral oil but it worked out fine.  You could also use canola)
  • Pinch of coarse sea salt
  • 48 square wonton wrappers found in the refrigerated section, typically near the tofu
  • Dipping sauce for serving (see below for recipe)

Vegan Potstickers Directions:

  • Pulse the cabbage, onion and garlic in the bowl of a food processor until finely chopped.

potsticker filling in food processor

  • In a large non-stick skillet heat the oil over medium-high heat and add the cabbage mixture with a hefty pinch of sea salt.
  • Cook and stir occasionally until the veggies have softened, about 5 to 6 minutes.

potsticker filling on stove

  • Add in the tofu, peas and quinoa and continue cooking until the peas are soft, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the soy sauce and sesame oil. Use a potato masher to smush up the mixture until it sticks together.  We allowed some of the peas to stay whole because we wanted a bit more texture.

mashing poststicker filling

  • Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.
  • Make an assembly line of several wonton wrappers and put 1 teaspoon of the filling mixture in the center of each wrapper. Wet your finger in a small bowl of water and use it to moisten the edges of each dumpling. Carefully fold the corners over making a triangle, making sure you press all the edges to form a good seal.

filling potstickers

  • Heat a bit of the neutral oil (like canola) in a large nonstick skillet set at high heat. Cook the dumplings for 2 minutes, or until they are golden brown on the bottom.

potstickers in pan

  • When the potstickers are browned to your liking on the bottom, add 1/2 cup of water to the skillet, putting the lid on and allowing the dumplings to steam until the wrappers are completely soft, about 2 minutes. Serve with the dipping sauce recipe below. ***Make sure if you are using a skillet that isn’t non-stick that you pay close attention to the potstickers because they will cook a lot more quickly than in a non-stick skillet. (See the photo below for what happens when you don’t pay close enough attention.)

burnt potstickers

  • Vegan Potsticker Dipping Sauce Ingredients:
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce (I use lower sodium)
  • 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Combine all ingredients with a fork or a whisk and serve alongside the potstickers.

EAT WELL!

Perfection Is An Illusion

On By Cultivate WellnessIn eating, health, Health and wellness, Nutrition, wellness7 Comments

Gourmet_hot_dogs,_corn_dog_and_home_fries

This morning I was scrolling through my newsfeed when I saw, for about the 3,654th time, a headline that said “THE 10 FOODS THAT DIETITIANS WILL NEVER EAT” .  I have a problem with headlines like these.  For one, all dietitians and nutritionists are not exactly the same.  They are a huge community of people who have very different belief systems about food.  It’s not like they all got together at some huge conference and decided “Hey, let’s vote on whether pretzels are evil, ok?”.  It doesn’t work like that.

Secondly, I am willing to bet that a vast majority of nutrition professionals indulge in “no no” foods all the time.  Not constantly.  But once in a while.  I’m willing to bet they have the same philosophy as I do, which is that life is too darn short to not have an ice cream cone once in a while.

I feel that statements like these set everyone up for failure.  Imagine you are someone struggling with healthy eating, just trying to do your best.  Maybe you are at the very beginning of cleaning up your diet.  Maybe you’ve ditched Flamin’ Hot Cheetos for some whole grain pretzels, and you’re feeling pretty good about it (as you should!).  Now imagine you read an article like the one above in which a dietitian says she will only consume a pretzel if she is quite literally starving.  What does that say to you?  What I’ve heard time and again by people who are working on eating healthier is that when they hear statements like these, the first thing they think is something like “Screw it, I’ll never be good enough and so I might as well go back to my Flamin’ Hot Cheetos”.

Blanket statements as they pertain to nutrition just aren’t helpful, in my opinion.  When I hear a nutritionist say that they would never ever in their whole entire lives eat a hot dog, I feel sad for them.  I love hot dogs.  I don’t care that they might contain weird animal parts.  Isn’t part of being ecologically responsible using up all the parts of the animal so we produce less waste?  And I just really love the way they taste.  So when I’m at a BBQ and that’s what’s served, I am ok with that.  I will throw some sauerkraut, pickles, onions, mustard and ketchup on that thing and enjoy every bite.  

Is 80% of my diet healthy, nutrient-dense foods? You bet! Do I love deep fried pickles once a year when I go to the state fair?  Oh heck yeah! You see, I think eating a healthy diet is what helps me walk 18 holes of golf (about 8 miles) while carrying my bag.  It is what allows me to keep my kidneys and brain and heart healthy so I can hopefully live a very long and contented life.  But if I subsisted only on chia seeds, kale, salmon and blueberries my whole life (all things I love by the way), without any of the added extras, I think it would actually decrease my quality of life.  There is something to be said about joyful eating, especially when it’s with people we love, and its affect on our happiness.

These are just my opinions.  Everyone is different.  But one thing I do know is that perfection is an illusion.  The perfect diet, the perfect marriage, the perfect job.  They don’t exist.  And while we are all chasing our perfection, we might be missing out on the best parts of life.