NYE

Forget new year resolutions and just make everyday the best possible.  Every day is a gift and every day should matter.  A new year may be a fresh start to some, but taking care of yourself should be all the time not just after the ball drops.  So be the healthiest you can all year round, don't just have a resolution to do things different, put so much pressure on yourself and then be discouraged when you don't follow through.  Just do your best every day, that's all we can do.  Even if it's just eating a healthy breakfast or going on a walk on your lunch break.  Every little bit matters, you matter.

I hope everyone has a safe, healthy and happy new year!

Baked Chickpeas

The recipe calls for:

2 (15 oz) can chickpeas, rinsed & drained

2-3 tbs cooking oil

1 tbs cayenne pepper

1 tbs chili powder

a pinch of salt & pepper

-- Preheat oven to 400.
-- Whisk together the cooking oil, cayenne pepper, chili powder & salt/pepper in a bowl. Add the chickpeas & toss until they are all coated. Spread them on a baking sheet.
-- Bake in oven until the chickpeas are slightly browned & crispy, about 30 mins.

Seasonal Baking

Like I've said before I am not the best baker, but I am happy to see that I am getting better with practice. Below are two recipes for a Low Fat Pumpkin Roll and Nutella Cookies. In both recipes no regular sugar was used, instead I used Stevia. This alone lowers the calories per serving.

The recipe calls for:

3 eggs

1 cup stevia (or sugar)
3/4 cup flour

2/3 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

1 cup confectioner's sugar & some for dusting

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbs butter, softened

8 oz low fat cream cheese

-- Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 15x10x1 inch jelly roll pan & line it with parchment paper. Grease & flour the paper.

-- Beat the eggs on high for 5 minutes in a large bowl. Gradually add the stevia or sugar & pumpkin. Then add the flour, cinnamon & baking soda. Spread batter evenly in pan & sprinkle the walnuts on top.

-- Bake for 15 minutes. Immediately turn the cake onto a linen towel dusted with confectioner's sugar. Peel off the paper & roll it up carefully in the towel. Let it cool.

-- Make the filling: Mix the confectioner's sugar (1 cup), vanilla, butter & cream cheese together until smooth.

-- Carefully unroll the cake. Spread the filling over the cake to within 1 inch of the edges. Roll up again. Cover and chill until serving. Dust with additional confectioner's sugar if desired.

The recipe calls for:

1 cup nutella

1/2 cup stevia

1 cup flour

1 egg

-- Preheat oven to 350. 

-- Blend all the ingredients together well & form into 1 inch balls. Place the balls on a cookie sheet & press down firmly with the bottom of a glass.

-- Bake for 8 minutes. Cool. Enjoy!

Homemade Turkey Burgers

These burgers are so easy and quick to make.  It has very little ingredients which makes it a cheap meal to make for the family.  They are extremely healthy, a great source of protein and only about 140 calories each.  Skip those greasy 1,000 burgers at the restaurants and go home and make these just as tasty burgers.  I ate this for dinner with no bun tonight, but a great way to have that still would be to toast a multi-grain english muffin.  I used salsa as the condiment, but you can use whatever you prefer.  For example:  Ketchup, BBQ sauce, pickles, etc., all which don't contain many calories.  Or instead of garlic powder add your favorite spice.

The recipe calls for:

1 small onion, chopped

1 cup salsa

1 tsp garlic powder

1 lb fat-free ground turkey

-- Mix all the above ingredients in a large bowl.  Separate the mixture into four patties.

-- Spray cooking oil into a large pan.  Place the patties in the pan and cook on each side until the patties are cooked all the way through.  Approximately 10 minutes on medium for each side.

-- Top the burger with some salsa and ENJOY!

Turkey Chili

A simple "use what you have" recipe by Bethenny Frankel.  It's a great recipe to use substitutes with either by using what you like better or what you have on hand at the time.  It's a very healthy recipe with a little kick to it!  It freezes well so you can enjoy it on any chilly fall or winter day this season!

The recipe calls for:

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1/4 cup each:  red, yellow & green peppers, chopped

1/2 lb ground turkey

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 garlic clove, minced

1 can (24-27oz) tomato puree

1 can beans of your choice, drained & rinsed

1 or 2 zucchinis or yellow squash (or both), cut in small pieces

-- Saute onion in a little oil in a pot.  Then add the chili powder, cumin & salt/pepper to taste.  

-- Stir in garlic & peppers followed by the tomato puree, zucchini/squash.  Simmer until soft.

-- Add turkey meat & beans, let simmer for 30 minutes.

Cinnamon, A Metabolism Booster!

Studies have shown that cinnamon can boost your metabolism.  Not saying it will boost it for the whole day or raise your metabolism in the long run, but by using cinnamon your metabolism can boost 8% for about 20 minutes after consumption.  This isn’t a huge boost, but it’s something.  I know when I am on a diet or trying to loose a few I will take any calorie save or calorie burner to help me meet my goals.

Here are some great foods to add cinnamon to:

-- Coffee, sprinkle some in each cup you have.

-- A multi-gran english muffin with a little spray butter.

-- Applesauce

-- Emeralds Roasted Cinnamon Almonds.

-- Oatmeal

-- Cinnamon Burst Cheerios

-- Iced Tea (Click here for Dr. Oz’s recipe)

A lot of these are breakfast foods or snacks, but with fall around the corner this is a perfect time to add the flavor more into your meals as well.  I know every time the season comes around I always see different dinner recipes either in magazines or from family/friends that use this spice.  A big one around the holidays is sweat potatoes.  In my research I have found it is also very common to add cinnamon to meats.

I will be sure to post about a yummy cinnamon spiced dinner recipe I try!  In the mean time if anyone has any to share, feel free! :)

Nutritional Supplements

Protein bars are pretty popular among people nowadays.  I have tried a few kinds before and some of them weren’t very good at all.  It’s hard to find a protein bar that is good for you, but also good for your taste buds.  I found that some are too strong with a protein taste and they taste too healthy that they weren’t enjoyable so it keeps you from eating them.  I don’t eat a lot of meat on a normal basis so I like to look for alternative ways to get the nutrients that my body needs.  While in the check out aisle at Walmart the other day I came across a brand of nutrition bars called Luna.  Luna is a whole line of products specifically for women.  The bar I had was called “Nutz over Chocolate” and it has the “Core 4” vitamins and minerals needed in it, calcium, folic acid, iron and vitamin D.  Along with this bar being 70% organic, it has 9 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber.  The bar is only 180 calories and is a good meal supplement because they definitely fill you up.  I had it for breakfast and it was very tasty!  It’s one of the good protein/nutrition bars out there.

So if you’re looking for a supplement like this, check them out!  For more information on this brand and additional flavor options go to Lunabar.com.

Another protein meal bar I like is made by Kellogg’s.  See picture below.

Baked Falafel

I have never eaten falafel let alone made it before.  I honestly didn’t even know what it was when I heard of it until I looked it up online.  It is a middle-eastern dish.  Foodie Nick recommended falafel at one of his favorites places in NYC in my interview with him.  The version he loves isn’t the healthiest version, it’s more so the cheat day kind, when calories just don’t matter.  Most falafel is deep fried so that is why it’s more of a fatty dish usually, but I researched and found a lot of healthier baked recipes.  I picked out the one the best suited the amount of time I had to cook and the flavors I wanted.  This recipe doesn’t take too long and it was a great dinner.  After seeing the ingredients I was a little skeptical of how it would come out, but not only was it healthy, it also had tons of flavor and was so delicious!  Instead of patties you could make them in to small balls and this would be a nice appetizer dish instead of a meal.  There are so many different ways you could eat this.  A lot of what I saw was in sandwich pitas with lettuce and some sort of dressing.  I used what I had and had it over some arugula and sprinkled a little bit of ranch dressing on it.

Try something new! ENJOY!

The recipe calls for:

1/4 cup onion, chopped

1 can (15 oz) garbanzo beans, drained & rinsed

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tbls flour

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp olive oil

-- Squeeze the chopped onion in a paper towel to get out the water and put it aside,

-- Add the beans, parsley, garlic, cumin, coriander, salt and baking soda in a food processor. (I used a food chopper though.)  Process the ingredients until it is coarsely pureed.

-- Mix the onions and bean mixture together in a bowl.  Stir in the flour and egg to the bowl.  Shape the mixture into four patties and let them sit for 15 minutes.

-- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

-- Add the olive oil to a large pan.  Once the patties sat for 15 minutes add them to the pan and cook them on each side for about 3 minutes.

-- Place the patties on a baking pan (sprayed with a little oil) and transfer them into the oven for about 8 minutes or until they are heated through.

A Tasty Snack Idea

Here's an idea for a healthy, easy and flavorful snack!  In the picture are some garlic water crackers and a Light Laughing Cow cheese triangle.  There are many flavors to choose from.  Some types are blue cheese, swiss, garlic & herb, the one pictured and a few others.  The mozzarella sundried tomato and basil is only 35 calories a triangle.  You can't beat that!  You could also use whole grain pita chips (I recommend Stacy's Pita Chips) or any other cracker type that you like.  It's a great little treat or even a healthier version of cheese and crackers to put out when you have people over.  It would pair great with a nice glass of wine. :)

Salmon Salad

This recipe is as easy to make as your basic tuna or chicken salad.  You can have it alone or as a sandwich.  For lunch one day I brought just the salad to work.  I had some leftover Kellogg's Savory Herb Crackers so I added a little of the salad to each cracker.  This helped fill me up more and they went very well together.  You could also probably make this into a sort of spread instead of salad as well by adding more olive oil and mustard.  This would keep the salad on the crackers better.  For those that aren't a fan of capers, a nice substitute could be some chopped up olives, green or black.  I think the flavor of olives would go just as good with this salad recipe.

The recipes calls for:

1 cup flaked salmon
1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tbsp capers
fresh dill, chopped

-- Cook the salmon, let it cool and then use a fork to make it flake,
-- Mix all of the above ingredients in a bowl.  Add as much dill as your taste buds prefer.
-- Pair the salad with something you like or eat it by itself and ENJOY!

Interview with Foodie Nick

For all the Bethenny Frankel fans out there who watch her show "Bethenny Ever After" on Bravo, I have a special treat for you! I am sure you know who Nicholas Feitel is, aka Foodie Nick, who has appeared on her TV show multiple times. He's definitely one to stand out, from his awkwardness to his intellect of food, it's easy to fall in love with his cameos on the show. He has worked for Bethenny by writing for her blog and participating in a food crawl with her. In his every day life he also does a lot of improv at places in NYC. After reaching out to Nick on his blog & through Twitter, this amazing writer/foodie agreed to do a question interview for me. I am so honored that he took his time to make me a very happy fan! Below are the questions I asked and his responses. 

ME: Hey Nick! It's great being able to talk to you. I'm a huge fan! I really want to check out some food trucks in the city. What is your favorite food truck to get something healthy to eat? What do you order there?

NICK: I really love The Bistro Truck, though I guess I am not a subscriber of so-called "healthy foods". Bistro Truck features cous-cous with different Moroccan-style meats on top, with a side mesclun salad. The clarity of flavor is really awesome here, the meals are incredibly filling for the price and nothing is fried. Even cous-cous as a grain is comparatively lighter than other such carb-heavy options you might find.

ME: What is your favorite food truck when calories just don't matter? What do you order?

NICK: Big Gay Ice Cream for dessert (try their store!) where I routinely get the Bea Arthur and I guess if I could eat anything lunch-wise, maybe the full super-shawafel platter from Freddy's King of Falafel/Shawarma. Just greasy and huge and filling and Freddy always packs in some extra.

ME: I know you did The South Beach Diet, you look amazing! How do you keep the weight off? I know with being a foodie and having such a passion for all kinds of foods, it must be hard.

NICK: Thank you. The diet itself was pretty easy and works well for men particularly (especially those who don't drink coke or beer often to begin with). It's easy losing the weight because there are regimented rules and noticeable results from those rules. It's the maintenance part that's tricky. There are no rules in phase 3 of SB, just your best judgement and as we all know that can change from day to day. Eventually you get more confidence in yourself, you know when to let loose and eat that extra meal or that 8-topping fro-yo and know to adjust the next day. Eventually I'll get more confidence in myself but for now I weigh myself every other day and use the shame/pressure of that to motivate my eating habits.

ME: Lastly, I know you venture out to so many different places in the city to eat, but do you have a love for cooking as well? If so, what's your favorite meal to make?

NICK: Nope. Don't even have a working stove in my very small apartment. Back when I did cook though, I made a mighty good turkey bolognese that I learned from my spectacular cook of a mother and a mustard vinaigrette salad that I learned from my pops. Maybe if someone ties me down or I grow up a bit I'll start cooking again.

ME: Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate you doing a question interview with me. Good luck with all that your future has to offer! :)

I am very excited for Nick's food truck recommendations. A visit to the city will be planned in the future to check out all the places he mentioned. I will be sure to post all about it. Thanks for reading!

Check out Nick on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Feitelogram

Check out Nick’s Blog:  http://feitelogram.wordpress.com/