Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category

Winning Halloween Challenge Recipes

Monday, October 15th, 2012

Last week, we challenged our users to submit their best autumnal recipes. Here are a few of our favorites:

Warm Chestnut and Apple Autumn Salad
Ingredients:
6 cups arugula
6 cups coarsely torn curly endive
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 1/2 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1/2-inch dice
3/4 cup thinly sliced shallots
1 1/2 cups steamed chestnuts, coarsely chopped
3 tbsp. red wine vinegar
4 1/2 tbsp. walnut oil

Instructions:
1. Toss arugula and endive in large bowl.
2. Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add apples and shallots; sauté 5 minutes. Add chestnuts; sauté 1 minute. Stir in vinegar, scraping up any browned bits. Remove from heat; stir in walnut oil and remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Pour chestnut mixture over arugula mixture and toss.
Serves: 8
From: jusmig

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Scalloped Sweet Potatoes and Apples
Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 1 hr & 10 mins
Ready: 1 hr & 25mins

Ingredients:
6 sweet potatoes
1 1/2 cups peeled, cored, and sliced apples
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground mace or 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup butter

Instructions:
1. Place sweet potatoes in a large pot with enough water to cover, and bring to a boil. Boil until tender, then cool, peel, and cut into 1/4 inch slices.
2. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.
3. Arrange half the sweet potatoes in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Layer half of the apples over the sweet potatoes. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, salt, and mace, then sprinkle half of the mixture over the apple layer. Dot with half the butter. Repeat layers of sweet potato and apple, and top with remaining brown sugar mixture and butter.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes, until apples are tender and top is golden brown.
Calories: 191
Serves: 8
From: Shasha2u2

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Pumpkin Pizza
Ingredients:

1 pound prepared whole-wheat pizza dough, thawed if frozen
1 cup canned unseasoned pumpkin puree
1/2 cup no-salt-added tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 ounces sliced turkey pepperoni (1/2 cup)

Instructions:
1. Place oven rack in the lowest position; preheat to 450°F. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to the size of the baking sheet. Transfer to the baking sheet. Bake until puffed and lightly crisped on the bottom, 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Whisk pumpkin puree,tomato sauce and garlic powder in a small bowl until combined.
4. Spread sauce evenly over the baked crust. Top with mozzarella, Parmesan, and pepperoni. Bake until the crust is crispy on the edges and the cheeses have melted, about 12 minutes.
From: Amm0

Make Ahead Tip: Use leftover tomato sauce and pumpkin to make a second batch of pizza sauce. Refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze for 3 months.

Shopping tip: Look for balls of whole-wheat pizza dough at your supermarket,fresh or frozen and without any hydrogenated oils.

Nutrition Per serving: 280 calories; 6 g fat (3 g sat,2 g mono); 30 mg cholesterol; 35 g carbohydrates; 16 g protein; 3 g fiber; 602 mg sodium; 153 mg potassium

A Few of Our Favorite Links

Monday, August 6th, 2012

Wondering why you should bother kicking that soda habit? This infographic shows all the potential negative effects a quick chug could have on your body.

Over on Get Rich Slowly, they’ve listed the 16 ways to eat healthy without breaking the bank (scrapping soda is just one of the suggestions). Anyone who’s been on one of those “eat these exact meals” diets can appreciate the hefty weight that weight loss can put on your wallet.

We also loved this cool interactive guide from Men’s Health that covers exactly how to have the perfect, productive morning.

And we were drooling over these 10 quick and easy brown-bag-friendly meals from Shape. We would totally tote these to the office!

Plus another link from Shape: 10 healthy tofu recipes. Seriously, don’t knock it ’til you try it. Prepared well, tofu can be seriously scrumptious.

A Few of Our Favorite Links

Monday, July 16th, 2012

Our friends at Greatist did a great job answering this annoying question: Does eating at night actually cause weight gain? Check them out for the full answer, but the short version is: yes and no. The nighttime eating isn’t the issue, but it may cause you to sleep poorly or choose less-healthy foods, which can cause weight gain.

Who says all salads have to be served cold and on a bed of greens? We love the looks of this salad from Iowa Girl Eats, which packs light and protein-packed quinoa and shrimp.

Wanna know what you’ll look like when you hit your goal weight? Check out the My Virtual Model simulator to see. We can’t vouch for how accurate it is, but we had fun playing around with it! (Plus it could be a great source of motivation.)

We couldn’t believe our computer screens when we read this: vegan, dairy-free, soy-free, and gluten-free ice cream. Yes, ice cream. This recipe has bananas and avocados, and can be made with absolutely no “red” ingredients. We can raise a spoon to that!