Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal, Nut Butter Cookies

I have not posted any desserts on here. I make them occasionally--in fact I have a yummy pumpkin cheesecake recipe to share. Sugar in all it's forms (granulated, powdered, honey, maple syrup, sucanat, etc.) is something I'm trying to eat much less of!

My husband loves cookies! They are not my preferred choice of dessert--but he loves them so I make them. I also don't prefer chocolate in desserts--I love anything with fruit and I love cinnamony desserts--baked goods like cinnamon rolls, pumpkin anything, crisps--oh how I love crisps--I will share my healthified versions of those!

I have made a couple different batches of these cookies and I finally think I got it!

Recipe:

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup Greek or strained yogurt

1/2 cup your favorite nut butter (cashew, almond, peanut, sunflower)

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup brown sugar or sucanat

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups rolled oats (I don't use instant--I like the whole regular ones better)

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

2-4 Tbl. flax seeds

* Optional: 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut (sometimes I use it sometimes I don't)

* 1/2-1 pkg of your favorite chocolate chips (I never seem to use the whole package but you are welcome to. I would add raisins or craisins and a little cinnamon if I wasn't making them for my husband or kids).

* just a side note--use natural nut butters--that means they are ground and nothing is added to them. It's really a switch you should think about making for the health of you and your family. Regular peanut butters are loaded with hydrogenated fats and high fructose corn syrup--2 of the worst ingredients to put into your body. Once you adapt to not having the sweetness natural nut butters are so much yummier--I promise they are! You can actually eat them in moderation and not feel guilty--they are good for you!

Directions:

1. Cream butter, yogurt, nut butter, sugar together. Add vanilla and eggs.

2. Add dry ingredients and mix.

3. Add chips or raisins. You could also add 1/2 cup of your favorite chopped nuts.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for about 8-10 minutes depending on your oven.

Eat these while they are warm--cookies are so much better that way--especially these ones!

Nutritional Yeast

I got this info off of a few different Internet sites. I personally have not used it very much--but when I make certain vegetarian dishes I have added a bit. Remember not to add too much--even though it can be a source of health--in excess it becomes unhealthy--as with most things!

A terrific food, providing nutrition, enhancing flavor, and adding taste to your favorite meals and drinks.
An excellent source of protein (52%), containing essential amino acids. Gluten Free.
Rich in vitamins, especially the B-complex vitamins. An excellent source of folic acid, which is important for formation, growth, and reproduction of red blood cells.
Commonly known as T6635+ Vegetarian Support Formula™. This yeast is easy to use and blends well with liquids. It can be used in almost any recipe and in small amounts will enhance the flavor.
Grown specifically for its nutritional value. Naturally low in fat and salt.

Welcome to The Best Natural Foods Topics of Interest Section. This page provides an overview of the topic of nutritional yeast. You can find more detailed information about nutritional yeast and other important dietary topics in our new book, The Best Natural Foods on the Market Today.

Nutritional yeast is a tasty product you can find in natural foods markets. These yellow flakes are a pure strain of yeast called Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In the same family as edible mushrooms, yeast has been used in food and beverage production for more than 5,000 years. Today, the same strain is used to brew beer, make wine, and leaven breads as well as develop the nutritionally-rich food called nutritional yeast *.

Each batch of nutritional yeast is grown on a mixture of cane and beet molasses for a period of seven days. B-vitamins are added during the process to provide the yeast with the nutrients it needs to grow. When harvested, the yeast is washed, pasteurized, and dried on roller drum dryers before it is ready for market. It is then used by food manufacturers in food products, added to boost the nutrient levels in pet foods, and simply packaged for sale in natural foods stores.

Red Star® is the leading producer of this product, providing almost all of the nutritional yeast sold in the bulk section of natural foods markets. Vegans (strict vegetarians) have used it for years as a source of vitamin B-12, an essential nutrient found primarily in animal products. Health seekers who strive to eat primarily a whole foods diet use nutritional yeast because it tastes really good with certain foods and adds extra nutrients to their diet. It can be added when you cook quinoa in quinoa recipes, in salad dressings made with flax seed oil, or even sprinkled on top of free range chicken.

Unlike active baking yeast, nutritional yeast is grown solely for its nutritional value. It should not be confused with brewer’s yeast, a by-product of breweries and distilleries. nutritional yeast is a low-fat, low-sodium, kosher, non-GMO food that contains no added sugars or preservatives. The cane and beet molasses used in the growing process does not make nutritional yeast sweet and is not a source of simple sugars.

Broccoli Soup

I have to say I'm probably one of the few people that LOVES broccoli. Truly honestly I love it--raw, steamed, in stir fry, in any dish. I loved the cheesy broccoli soup--but alas--it's loaded with lots of bad fat and unwanted calories--it really quite defeats the purpose of healthy broccoli. So I set out a week ago to remake it into something healthy and just as tasty.

I think I succeeded--well only partially. I loved it--I ate it about 4 or 5 times. My husband liked it. But my girls were polite the first time they ate and said they liked it but when I tried to feed it to them for leftovers they told me how horrible it was and they didn't like it. So to get them to eat it a second time I grated some sharp cheddar cheese and loaded up their bowls-- then they ate it--they are kids--and small ones at that--the extra fat was good for them!

I have to warn you as with any of my recipes--nothing is quite exact--I'm sorry. I promised I would do better--but it's hard. I'm a dumper--I just sprinkle here, and add something more, taste and add something else. Sometimes I follow a recipe exactly and then just substitute a few ingredients to make it healthier--but this time I read a few recipes online and combined and essentially came up with my own version.

You won't want to make this unless you like the taste of broccoli--because there is no cheese covering it up, unless of course you want to add some like I did for my girls!

Recipe:

1 bunch of Leeks

1 sweet onion

2 cloves of garlic

1-2 Tbl. olive oil

2-4 cups of frozen broccoli (you could use fresh--but since we're cooking it and frozen is cheaper--I saved the fresh for garnishing)

3/4 cup frozen peas

1 quart of broth (veggie or chicken--I make my own chicken broth)

1/2 cup Greek yogurt (you can use regular just strain it through a cheesecloth and strainer first--it makes it thicker and creamier, almost like cream cheese)

1/2 - 3/4 cup raw sunflower seeds (buy the non roasted, non salted, raw ones--they are better for you)

salt and pepper to taste

Optional: 1/4 cup Nutritional Yeast

Directions:

1. In a large pot saute chopped leeks, onion, and garlic in olive oil. Saute them until tender and onions becomes translucent. This usually takes about five or so minutes. I usually add some salt and pepper at this point--not too much you can always add some more later.

2. Add the frozen broccoli--saute about 5 or so more minutes. Then add the frozen peas and saute for a couple more minutes.

3. Add the broth and simmer for about 10 minutes. Just make sure all your veggies are nice and warm--you don't have to over cook.

4. Puree the hot soup mixture. Be careful if you do this when it's hot--the lid wants to explode off the top. Oh what a horrible mess that would be! I would recommend letting it cool a bit first. Add about a 1/2 - 3/4 cup of raw sunflower seeds in one of the batches you are blending. These help make the soup creamy and add some nutritional value.

5. Put pureed soup back in pot heat up again--you don't need to boil it. You can add the yogurt and nutritional yeast at this point. The nutritional yeast has a lot of protein and also B-12 vitamins--don't over do it though. For this large batch of soup I added about 1/4 cup. It also has great flavor. If you are unfamiliar with it I'm going to post a little information about it. If your soup is too thick for you you could add some water to thin it out. If you'd like it creamier add a little more yogurt.

* I garnished with chopped fresh broccoli (you could steam some and add it to the soup to make it chunkier. I also garnished with a few raw sunflower seeds (you could sprout the seeds before for even more nutritional value--but I didn't last time). I made some fresh whole wheat bread and it was the perfect meal.

Apple Puffed Pancakes

This weekend I was ready for Fall. Oh I love fall--crisp weather, beautiful colors, and the food changes. Savory dishes, cinnamon, nutmeg, squash, pumpkin, apples. Don't get me wrong--I love love love summer and all the fresh fruits and veggies--but when fall rolls around my body seems ready for the change. It's not crisp and cool here yet--in fact it's been in the 80's still--but I made some fall dishes.

The first one is a favorite--oven baked puff pancakes. I had to do some modifying to make these healthier--and I succeeded. They were great! Enjoy these on a nice fall morning soon--they are quick and easy and healthy.

Recipe:

2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour

2/3 cup milk (you can use skim, almond, rice, goat)

4 TB. Honey

3 large eggs

4 egg whites (I used the egg beater egg whites)

1 apple cored and diced

1 TB. butter

1 tsp. cinnamon

dash salt

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a casserole dish place 1 TB. butter--place in oven for a few min. enough to melt butter. The take out spread butter around pan and add the apples and cinnamon. Put back in the oven and bake for about 5 min. while you mix up the pancakes.

2. I mix in my blender--it's fast and easy. Mix milk, eggs, honey, salt, and whole wheat pastry flour.

3. Pour over cooked apples and bake until puffed and golden. About 15-20 min.

4. I served with Grade A Maple Syrup and Apple Butter--I found apple butter with no added sweeteners--it's yummy.

Healthified Spinach Artichoke and Roasted Red Pepper Dip

I have to tell you I normally don't pick or taste while I cook--but I couldn't help myself on this one. By doing so I made an important discovery--the dip is much better cold not cooked. Oh it was fine cooked--about like every other spinach artichoke dip but cold--I keep craving it cold--I'm going to have to make another batch to satisfy my craving! I love fresh spinach and that is why when it's cold it's so delectable! Plus it was creamier. When you use low-fat and less cheese when it gets hot it's not as smooth and creamy--a little more cottage cheesy. Don't get me wrong--I just made it sound horrible hot--it wasn't--we still managed to devour it and my girls loved it! The first picture is baked the 2nd is raw/cold.

Recipe:

* 1/2 pkg. reduced fat or fat free cream cheese

* 1/2 cup Greek yogurt

* 1/2 cup yogurt drained (you drain your yogurt by putting a cheesecloth over a strainer and letting it sit in the fridge for a few hours--I usually let mine sit overnight. It makes a thick creamy yogurt the consistency of cream cheese/sour cream).

* 12-16 oz. of artichoke hearts in water not marinated

* 1 roasted red pepper chopped

* 1/2 cup good Parmesan cheese grated

* 2-3 cups fresh chopped spinach

* 1 clove garlic

* 1 Tbl. lemon juice (I didn't use it in this batch--I forgot--it would be good either way).

* Salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine softened cream cheese, yogurts, artichoke hearts garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper in food processor or blender. Mix--pulse.

2. Pour into bowl and add roasted peppers, fresh chopped spinach, and Parmesan cheese.

3. I serve mine with the best healthy chips I've ever tasted. The brand is: Food Should Taste Good. I can get mine in the grocery store in the health food section but you can order them online. We've tried the multi-grain, sweet potato, and jalapeno. The sweet potato are our favorite with the multi-grain right up there with it. They have about 11 different flavors. Online you have to buy a case of 12 but you can mix and match all the flavors. Sorry for the plug but they really are good. I promise I'm not getting paid to say any of this! Serve with your favorite whole grain chip or cracker. Make sure it doesn't have hydrogenated fat or high fructose corn syrup! Those are major ingredients you really don't want!

4. If you still want to bake it after all of my hype not to you can. Bake at 350 for about 25-30 min or until it's bubbly and browning.

Doctors

So I have something to confess...I'm a bit of a Dr. snob! Yes it's true, I'm extremely picky when it comes to choosing a doctor. I value a Dr. that knows they don't know my body better than me--that also can admit they don't know everything, and that actually cares. Despite my healthy diet and faithful exercising regimen I have been having some health issues lately. The worst part has been the total and complete fatigue--horrible--my house is suffering! Anyway I have a lengthy list of weird symptoms.

I first went to my gynecologist--because--well I haven't been normal ever since I had a miscarriage this past spring. I've just felt out of wack. She did the normal fun exams us girls get to have once a year and then I had some blood work done. My results--well I'm pretty darn healthy! Everything looked normal so they told me. The only thing that was a little off was my overall cholesterol was a bit high--it was sitting at 241. They like you to be below 200--but they said they weren't concerned because my good cholesterol was so stinking high it kind of didn't matter--it was 93. I told you I eat healthy--good fats, veggies, fruit, etc.

But there is still this problem of fatigue, enlarged thyroid(that comes and goes), heart palpitations, acne, weight gain, numb/tingling feet and hands, etc--the list does keep going but I won't bore you with that. So I made an appointment to see a family doctor. I left frustrated and mad after she told me to wait it out for 2-3 months and offered to prescribe me anti-depressants!

So I picked up the phone and called goog-411. A free phone directory assistance for businesses. I said Chattanooga TN, and Endocrinologist. I found an endocrinologist and called to set an appointment. They were able to squeeze me in the very next day because they had a cancellation.

After waiting for an hour and a half I was at my wits end with my girls and with the doctor--my time is important too--I thought--I was tired. Finally I got my time with the Dr. I went in the back brought my girls and we sat down in his office--what no nurse? NO--it was just him. He talked with me asked me my symptoms, asked other questions that were not even related to my symptoms--so I thought, and asked who referred me--I told him I referred myself. He asked who my primary care doctor was and I told him I was in the process of changing--I saw the last one once. He said oh you didn't like her--I proceeded to tell him her "treatment" to me. He was surprised and disappointed by that. He then had me go into the exam room and he took my blood pressure, and checked different things--the normal things a nurse would usually check. Then we went over to the little lab and he drew my blood. We then went back to his office and he told me what he thinks I have and said we will talk more later. In 2 weeks I go back for some more tests--also waiting to see what the labs are of the blood he took yesterday.

So he didn't think I was crazy. He was good--he cared. He listened to me. I was amazed at his knowledge and his intuition. He's from India. We live in a fast paced world--doctors see as many patients as they possibly can in one day. He doesn't--he sees about half the patients a normal doctor would see--because he spends time with them and does all the evaluating himself. At first I thought maybe he was just trying to save cost and that is why he didn't have a nurse--but really it's how he gets to know his patients and how he diagnoses them. I experienced medical care that I have rarely had--if ever. It was refreshing. I felt like it was the way it should be. I will keep you posted on my diagnosis--but I think I am in good hands!

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

So I made spaghetti sauce from scratch the other day. Nothing from a jar or can (well the whole tomatoes were canned). It brought back memories of my childhood because my mom and dad always made spaghetti sauce from scratch--oh it' s so yummy!!! If you haven't guessed already I throw things together--I usually never follow a recipe exactly. That is why you'll see a range of how much of certain ingredients I put in--I promise I will try to keep better track! I inherited this quality from my amazing mom--she is a fabulous cook--of course also where I learned to love cooking and so many great tips and hints and recipes!

Recipe:

1-2 lbs. Ground Turkey Breast (I actually used 1/2 turkey breast 1/2 extra lean ground beef)

1 sweet onion diced

2 green bell peppers diced

1-2 cups grated zucchini

1 cup finely chopped mushrooms (I used baby bellas this time)

1-2 tsp. garlic powder

1 Tbl. dried basil (you could use fresh but I would add it later in the recipe or for garnish)

Pepper to taste

Sea Salt to taste

1 large can of tomato paste--or 2-3 smaller ones

1 102 oz. can of whole tomatoes. (yes this is huge about 6 lbs.--I bought it for around $2.5o at Sam's club--the whole tomatoes are better than already diced or tomato sauce. I opened the can and then used my bay mix (long skinny appliance with a blade at the end--you could use a blender or food processor) I blended the tomatoes in the juice to my desired consistency. I would have used it all but my pan wasn't big enough so I froze about a quart jar size of tomato sauce for later).

1. Saute onion until translucent. Add chopped pepper, mushrooms, and grated zucchini and Turkey burger. I had the veggies on the sides of the pan and put the meat in the middle--once it started to brown I mixed it all together and cooked until done. I use about 1 Tbl. of oil.

2. Once the burger is mostly browned I added my seasonings--basil, garlic, salt and pepper.

3. Add tomato paste and sauce. Bring to a boil then turn heat down and simmer for a couple hours. You really need to let it simmer because then all the flavors mix and the sauce thickens up nicely. I get leftovers for lunch today--I'm so excited!

4. I serve it with a whole wheat or whole grain pasta. Brown rice pasta is really nice if you've never tried that. It's lighter than the wheat--very yummy.

This will freeze very well--so it makes a large batch you can freeze it. We gave 1/2 away to another family otherwise I would have had to freeze some. Serve it with a little freshly grated Parmesan and it's perfect bliss!

Enjoy!

Southwestern Black Bean Salad

So I have to say I've had and seen quite a few different versions of this salad/salsa. I decided to tweek it a bit and it turned out lovely. I didn't add tomatoes because I also made fresh salsa to serve with it. And a plug for my cousins food blog which is wonderful! It's http://ahintofhoney.blogspot.com/ She has a similar salad/salsa on her site using cherry tomatoes.

Recipe:

1-2 Roasted Red Peppers

1-2 avocados

2-3 ears of corn (steamed and cut off cobbs)

1 can black beans rinsed

1/2 purple onion diced

1-2 limes juiced

1 tsp. cumin

chopped cilantro to taste

sea salt and pepper to taste

Just combine all ingredients and serve with tortilla chips, over some romaine, in a tortialla or plain is great too. To roast your red peppers all you do is wash them, cut the tops off, scoop out the insides, cut them in half, kind of smash them down. Place on a baking sheet with skins up, flesh down and broil. You want them nice and black on the outside. As soon as you remove them from the oven place them in a plastic bag and seal it. Let them rest for about 10 minutes and then the skins will just peel off and slice. I love roasted red peppers!!! You can also do them on the grill--just place the skins on the grill and blacken them--don't turn them though.

Whole Wheat French Bread

It's been awhile. I've been overly tired--and not feeling well lately. I am being checked for my thyroid so we'll see.

We had the missionaries over for dinner. The one recipe I want to share today is the whole wheat french bread. It was so good! I used Bread Flour for the first time and I am hooked!

Recipe:

1 Tbl. yeast

1 1/2 cups of warm water

1 1/2 tsp. of salt

3 Tbl. olive oil

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups bread flour

1. Dissolve yeast in water and add 1 tbl. honey or sucanat. Let it rest until it starts to bubble and foam a bit.

2. Add salt, oil, and 1/2 of the flour. I used my mixer--so I don't have to knead it my hand. You can use a kitchen aid or something like it or mix and knead by hand the old fashioned way.

3. Gradually add the remaining flour.

4. Knead (or let your mixer knead for you) until it is smooth and elastic.

5. Let rise until double.

6. Punch down and you can make into one large loaf (which is what I did) or you could make 2-4 smaller loaves.

7. I haven't mastered the art of making a french loaf--but you basically form into and oblong shape--pinch down the edges and then make diagonal slices along the top. I also sprinkled some parm. cheese and fresh rosemary on top.

8. Let it rise until it doubles again.

9. Bake at 375 for about 30 min. depending on your oven. It only took about 25 ming. in my oven.

I made an olive oil/butter garlic spread to go on it.

Use 1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup butter

1 clove garlic

1 tbl. fresh rosemary

Blend in foodprocessor. Chill for a few hours and serve with your warm bread!