Favorite Frozen Fruit Treat!

I just wanted to share with everyone my favorite sweet treat. A little background about me...I've always been someone who loves eating ice cream every day, regardless of how cold it is outside. January in Minnesota and you'll still find me eating ice cream. I've discovered Edy's Fruit Bars, and they are amazing. My favorite is strawberry. The tangarine and lime are a bit tart but still good. The strawberry is the best and the sweetest. Trader Joe's has some fruit bars, but they are not quite as good as Edy's. If you've never tried them, it is worth checking them out. Here is the link for the bars.... Edy's fruit bars....YUMMY!!!!

Dedication has Paid Off!

As you may know the original intent of this blog was to teach me healthy eating habits so that we could lower Kevin's cholesterol and to model a healthy lifestyle for our children. We'll my dedication to the blog and to my family has paid off!!!!!

Baked Cauliflower and Side Dishes....

We are still doing a lot of healthy eating. I have not had time to post a lot of new recipes, besides I don't like posting recipes unless I can share the actual recipe with my readers. I am going to start now looking for less main dishes and focus on side dishes and desserts. I've tried so many main dish meals that I know which ones I really like and we can start recycling them.

My sister told me about a recipe that she does to make cauliflower and broccoli more appealing to kids. Instead of serving fresh or steamed broccoli or cauliflower, she suggested to take head of either ( I chose cauliflower) and break it up into pieces. Put it in a container and toss it with some olive oil and salt. Then, bake it at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes or so. I ended up turning the cauliflower about half way through because it started to get too brown on some sides. This is a dish that you'll really have to watch so it does not burn. Anyway, the dish was a pretty good. The cauliflower got soft but not mushy and almost had a "fried" taste like french fries. It is worth a try in making it.

As you know, I am always talking about how whole grains and whole wheats are better for us than white flour. I found this recipe booklet put out by the Gold Medal flour company that contains several whole wheat recipes that look quite interesting.

My goal is to find some more yummy recipes with you all. In the meantime, if you happen to find a recipe, food idea, health tip, etc... that you want to share, please put it in a comment or email me and I'll post it.

Thanks for reading...here is that cookbook link:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/gm/wholewheatbaking/

Sirloin and Feta...Can Life Get Any Better?

So, Thursday night was sirloin night. Who would have ever thought that a sirloin dinner would be healthy? I thought that red meat was "bad" for your health. But according to this recipe from the American Heart Association you can eat red meat. I am assuming in moderation like anything else in life!

This dish was amazing! Our daughter loved every bite. The tomatoes, feta and kalamata olives were so flavorful yet light at the same time. Since the sirloin was a four ounce serving we did not feel stuffed afterwards. The dish was quick to make, very delicious and perfect for summer.

You really should try this one!!!

http://heart.org/HEARTORG/General/Sirloin-with-Tomato-Olive-and-Feta-Topping_UCM_304721_Recipe.jsp

Lemon Sauced Chicken with Asparagus .....

Tonight we tried an American Heart Association recipe that was called "Lemon Sauced Chicken with Asparagus." This was a very good dish, but not what I had expected (looks wise). When I think of lemon sauce, I think of a yellow or hollandais sauce like substance. It was not pale yellow in color at all. It was actually a brown sauce because of the ingredient soy sauce. The look of the dish was similar to a dish that you might find in an asian restaurant.

The recipe first called for chicken breasts or turkey breast tenderloins. We had turkey because we already eat so much chicken.

http://heart.org/HEARTORG/General/Lemon-Sauced-Chicken-with-Asparagus_UCM_307605_Recipe.jsp

The dish was a hit, even our daughter really liked the dish. She gobbled the chicken but left the asparagus. This dish would have gone well with a side of rice and salad with a tangy vinagrette dressing!

Healthy Eating PDF Cookbook

I just found this cookbook online at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and thought I would share. It has some great information in regard to getting started with healthy eating, and it also has tons of recipes. I'll try some recipes from here and then tell you what I think of them over the next few weeks. In the meantime, try some of the recipes yourself and let me know what you think by leaving a comment at this blog entry!

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/other/ktb_recipebk/ktb_recipebk.pdf

Back on Track...

It has been a hectic few weeks. We've been pretty busy so I have not tried any new recipes. We are still eating healthy but we've been repeating some other recipes, ones that I've posted about in the past. Remember that I said that I wanted to start trying recipes that are already online so that I can share them with my readers? Tonight I tried a recipe from the American Heart Association called Pot Roast Ratatouille and Pasta: here it is...  http://heart.org/HEARTORG/General/Pot-Roast-Ratatouille-and-Pasta_UCM_304677_Recipe.jsp

I screwed up a couple of ways with this recipe. The recipe calls for a 1.5 pound roast. I bought the correct type of meat but the smallest roast size was 3.0 pounds. The recipe called for a cook time of 2.5 hours. I knew that I would have to increase the cook time, but I did not know by how much. I started out by increasing it by 30 minutes. Well, to make a long store short, I needed a total of another hour and a half to have the roast turn out tender.

I've learned from trial and error that if you cut into a roast that has been cooking a while, and it is gray, it is not done. Roasts should be tender!!!! I think one of the biggest mistakes people make when cooking roasts is that they don't cook them long enough and they turn out "tough"...low heat and longer cook times (often covered--so it doesn't dry out) should help make your roast tender.

So, since the roast took so long to make, it was not even close to being done for dinner.

In the future, I would brown the meat in a pan and then I would put the roast and all of the other ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. I am sure it will give the same results as what we got in the oven and you don't have to stay at home because the oven is on. Also, for the summer it is nice to keep the house cooler without having the oven on.

When the roast was finally done, my husband said that it was amazing and he is looking forward to leftovers. The roast calls for a pasta to accompany the the dish, we are serving brown rice with it instead. 

Just wanted to add one more thing that if you don't know how to prepare eggplant, just take the skins off and slice it up like you would any other vegetable. I read online that you can leave the skin on, however often the skin is tough and does not cook well.

Try it, you'll like it! Once you've made it, come back and leave a comment on this blog and tell me what you think of the recipe!