Vitamins!

Vitamins!


I was thinking about vitamins today, for some reason (I know, what a gripping life I lead). I have taken a multi-vitamin every day (mostly) since I was a kid. I loved those Flintstones, and seriously wish that I could find an adult equivalent.

However, I really try to look at the nutrition profile of a vitamin before I throw money at it. Not all vitamins are made equal! For the longest time, I liked the One-a-Day brand – for most of my adult life, in fact. A couple of years ago, my husband convinced me to switch to the Centrum –duplicate by Kirkland Signature multi-vitamin, mainly because it was sold at CostCo (convenient!), had a better nutrition profile, and was cheaper! Win, win, win!

However, after a nasty reaction to these vits (terribly upset stomach), I’ve been taking the Nature’s Way Alive pills, and Wow! These vits are amazing. They aren’t cheap, but I can definitely feel the difference. I’ve so much more energy, and my mood is better. They have tons of vitamins made from real foods, and the difference is just astounding. I also take fish oil supplements and calcium to make sure that I’m getting what I need. The fish oil seems to help tremendously with mood as well.

I’ve stopped taking vitamins for periods of time – mainly to experiment with how much they “really” affect me. Like in college, I was really remiss with my nutrition in general (weren’t we all?), and I had very little energy and was pretty stressed or depressed quite a bit. I know that a lot of that was probably related to the stress in my life at the time (paying bills, school, full-time class and job, college life drama), but as I think back, I really think that better diet and a little more exercise would have helped me manage my stress much more effectively. Ah well.

I know that many people are against the idea of vitamins, and in theory, I agree. We _should_ be getting our necessary nutrients from our foods, but let’s be realistic: does anyone really eat the perfect diet every day? Nope. So it’s nice to know that even if I wasn’t able to get in my recommended amount of vegetables/protein/whatever, the vitamin ensures that I get it. Not that this is an excuse to eat unhealthy – I still eat a lot of vegetables and try to eat only whole grains and such. However, it’s like having an insurance policy – I’m not going to wreck my car every time I drive it (although I am a terrible driver! Watch out!), the insurance is there if I do?

What about you? Do you do vitamins? What kinds do you take?

Green Chocolate Cake Batter Smoothie!!!

So in light of all of the unhealthy (but so delicious!) things that I described eating in my last post, I thought that I'd post about something that I made that is both healthy and delicious!

A Green Chocolate Cake Batter Smoothie!!!!

It seems that the internet has been overtaken by the green smoothie movement, made very popular by Angela and her fabulous vegan blog and green monster movement. Katie had posted a yummy recipe about a chocolate cake batter shake, which gave me the idea for this yummy treat -- how about make that a green smoothie?

Ingredients:
1 very ripe banana
1/2 cup almond milk (or cow's milk, whatever your preference)
2 tsp chocolate butter OR 2 T cocoa powder
2 handfuls of fresh spinach
3 ice cubes

Dump all of this into your blender, and blend until smooth. Pour into a glass, pop in a straw, and drink up! Who says healthy isn't yummy?

Cherry Pie Snack Bars

I recently gave up desserts for Lent. Because of this, I've put a lot of baking on hold until after Easter (I know that you can bake other things besides desserts, but I've not been into bread lately. Horrors!). I've noticed, however, that I've been eating far more nut butter than I did, and I've been looking for other ways to snack other than sweets.

I bought a few Larabars, and discovered that the only one that I really enjoyed was the Cherry Pie flavor. Curious to make them myself (that's just how I roll), I found this recipe, and decided to share it here.

Recipe adapted from cleaneatingonline.com

Yield is 4 bars

About 7 dates
1/2 cup dried cranberries or cherries

2/3 cup of walnuts (pecans would work as well -- I just had walnuts)
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Am I the only one that thinks that date pits look like something from Star Trek?

Remove the pits from the dates and chop them up into small pieces. Dump into a food processor, then add the berries, cinnamon, and nuts. Pulse until very mushy (see pic for texture example).

Line a cutting board with plastic wrap. Scoop the mixture onto the cutting board, dividing into 4 parts. Pat each part into a bar shape, and wrap securely in the plastic wrap. Refrigerate and enjoy as a healthy snack!

Super secret ingredient brownies!

I love brownies. Growing up, they were my mother's go-to dessert, and I remember helping her prepare more of those Duncan Hines boxed mixes than I could count. In college, I continued my mother's tradition of always having a box of brownie mix on hand for a quick and easy dessert. So easy -- dump in the mix, add some eggs and oil, mix, and presto! In 30 minutes, you have brownies.

Not to scare you, but have you ever read the ingredient list or the nutritional content of those mixes? Whoa! It's good that they are so yummy, because man! The calories! The sugar!

It's true, making a batch of brownies that are reasonably healthy and delicious is quite a challenge. I found that using dark chocolate, wheat flour, and just enough butter to give it that salty-sweet flavor made for a tasty and somewhat guiltless brownie (I know, those words should never be strung together...but I just did). The secret ingredient? Dates. Yes, dates. Their texture and brown sugary flavor was the perfect replacement to reduce both the butter and sugar content. The result? A cake-y, somewhat chewy brownie that will satisfy my brownie craving!

Yield is 9 large or 18 small brownies.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 cup date butter (store bought or homemade)
1 tsp instant espresso
1 tsp warm water
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Using the double broiler method, melt the butter and chocolate together, making sure to stir to keep from scorching.

While that's going, whisk together the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Add the melted chocolate/butter, and combine. Mix in the date butter and cocoa powder.

In a small bowl, combine the water and espresso powder until well mixed, then add the mixture to the other ingredients.

Add the flour, and mix in, taking care not to overmix. Spray and flour a 9 x 9 pan, and pour in the mix. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and nuts, if desired. Bake for 30 minutes, cool completely before cutting. Refrigerate to store.

Apple Butter & Pecan Pancakes!

Breakfast is back! (Sorry, I love saying that). So after my failure with the cat treats, I wanted to make something that was pretty surefire, and these pancakes were just what the doctor ordered. Moist, fluffy, and bursting with sweet apple-y flavor, while also elminating the oil and sugar. No syrup needed on these babies (although Steve did, of course). The pecans added a nice bit of variety and an unexpected crunch that really put these over the top.

The star ingredient:

I recommend that you use unsugared, organic apple butter for the freshest taste. This jar was the only one in my local supermarket that did not contain any sugar or HFCS. I plan on homemaking my apple butter when this jar is done. I'll post my results (or lack thereof!).

Anyway, the ingredients:

1/2 cup apple butter
1 egg
1/2 cup milk (skim, 1%, soy, almond....doesn't matter)
1/2 cup wheat flour (or be a rebel and use unbleached white!)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon, or more to taste
1/3 cup chopped pecans

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon, combine with a spoon. In a separate bowl, combine the apple butter, egg, and milk, then combine until the mixture is nice and smooth.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients, taking care not to overmix. After the ingredients have been combined, stir in the chopped pecans.

Spray a griddle (or whatever pan in which you make pancakes), then spoon the batter into circles, flipping when the tops start to bubble. Cook until the tops are nice and brown, and the middle is done.

Makes about 8 medium pancakes.

Sandwich Thins

Everyone seems to be talking about the low-fat, healthy sandwich thins made by Arnold. Always interested in trying to substitute more healthy foods into my diet, I was anxious to try them. I've seen them turned into French toast, bagel substitutes, and of course, burger buns. Sure, I could have just went to a local grocery and bought them, but I had all of the items to make them on hand, and I love the challenge of something new. This recipe is a simplified version of the one found on Food.com.


This makes about 14 thins, depending on how you roll them out. They also freeze beautifully!


As always, first, the ingredients:

1 1/4 cups warm water
1/4 cup sugar
1 pkg (2 1/4 tsp) yeast
2 cups whole wheat flour
1-1 1/2 cup bread flour
1 tsp salt
1 egg
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp rolled oats (optional)

In a large bowl, combine water, sugar and sprinkle the yeast on top. Let sit for 10 minutes. 

Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl (start with only 1 cup of the wheat flour) and add half to the mixer bowl. 

Add the oil and egg and combine. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest 1 hour.

Add the remaining dry ingredients and knead for 5 minutes. Add additional more wheat flour by the tablespoon so that dough forms a ball. 

Spray 2 baking sheets with cooking spray. Spray your hands with cooking spray, as this dough is sticky!Pinch a small piece of dough from the ball, and roll in your hands to form a ball, and then flatten it between your palms. 

Place it on the baking sheet and press down, working the dough into a thin 5-inch round. Repeat until dough is fully divided. Brush the tops with water and then sprinkle with rolled oats, if desired.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees while you let the buns rest for 30 minutes before baking for 12-15 minutes. Let cool completely before slicing.