Friday, July 9, 2010

Vegetarian Tacos

Black bean and tofu tacos with homemade spinach tortillas



These are delicious, and are not just for vegetarians... some meat lovin' boys enjoyed them as well!

Spinach tortillas (recipe from tammysrecipes.com):

9 ounces fresh spinach, chopped (about 4-5 cups of packed, chopped spinach)
1 tablespoon water
2+ cups flour (whole wheat works great)
1/2 teaspoon salt or garlic salt
dash of pepper or seasoned pepper
1/4 cup oil

In a large pan or skillet over medium to medium-low heat, cook spinach in water. Cover, stirring occasionally, until spinach is wilted and soft.
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, pepper, and oil. Stir until crumbly.
Add the spinach mixture, including the water left in the pan from cooking. Knead or stir, adding additional flour as needed (may take a cup or more of extra flour) to make a smooth dough. Knead dough for about 5 minutes.
Divide dough into 8 parts (for 10 to 12-inch tortillas) or more (for smaller tortillas). Roll into thin circles on a lightly floured surface.
Brown tortillas in a pre-heated pan over medium heat for about 5 minutes on each side. Oil is not necessary in a non-stick pan.


Black bean and tofu mixture (recipe from Whole Foods):

1 (14 oz) package extra-firm tofu, drained
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1 T olive oil
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 can black beans, drained

Put tofu, chili powder, oregano, cumin, and salt in a bowl and mash together with a fork. Set aside.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and two-thirds of the onions and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add tofu mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the moisture has evaporated, 10-12 minutes. Add beans and remaining onions, stir well and cook until beans are heated through, about 2 more minutes.

Spoon mixture into tortillas and top with toppings of your choice (I used tomatoes, cilantro, avocado).

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Bulgur Wheat



I recently found Hodgson Mill's bulgur wheat with soy and love it! It is low in calories and fat but high in protein. It is also a great source of fiber and grains. Bulgur wheat can be used as hot cereal, a rice or potato alternative, and can be added to soups, salads, and baked products. I personally like to make tabouli and bulgur pilaf with it.

Nutrition Facts:
Serving size 1/4 cup dry
Calories 115
Total fat 1g
Total carbs 22g
Fiber 3g
Protein 10g

Delicious and Under 200 Calories!



Gluten free sugar cookie topped with Greek yogurt, fresh fruit, and cinnamon... great for breakfast or a snack!

I used a Cherrybrook Kitchen gluten free sugar cookie mix. Each cookie only has around 100 calories and no fat. The mix calls for 1/2 c of margarine, 1/4 c of rice milk, and 2 1/2 tsp of vanilla. Instead, I used 1/2 c of fat free vanilla yogurt and 1/4 c of soymilk.

Yoplait's Greek yogurt has 2 times the amount of protein as regular yogurt. Each serving has 130 calories, no fat, and 12 grams of protein. I used half of the single serving container to top the sugar cookie.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Greek Salad



Chop
1 cucumber
2 tomatoes
1 small red onion
1 green bell pepper
1 red pepper
1 avocado
1 c corn

Stir together equal amounts of red wine vinegar and olive oil along with the seasonings of your choice (I used a mediterranean herb mix) to make the dressing.

Mixed the vegetables and dressing together in a container and store in the fridge to allow the vegetables to marinade.

To serve, spooned some of the mixture on top of fresh spinach and sprinkled with feta cheese.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Are all desserts bad?

I used to think that in order to have a healthy diet, I needed to cut out dessert completely. But, by cutting them out, I only wanted them more. I found that there is nothing wrong with eating dessert, as long as I choose the right dessert. A few of my favorites are...
- Baked apples. Combine chopped apples with cinnamon, pecans, raisins and/or craisins, whole oats, a small amount of brown sugar, and a small amount of water in a pie pan and bake on 350 until the apples are soft.
- Fat free, sugar free pudding made with soymilk instead of milk.
- Frozen yogurt. My weakness was always ice cream, until I discovered Swirll's frozen yogurt. My favorite quote quickly became the quote on the back of the Swirll t-shirts, "will work for yogurt". Because I don't live near any Swirll stores, I began to search for fat free frozen yogurt at local grocery stores. There are a few options to choose from. Ben & Jerry's makes a few delicious "froyo" flavors. Great Value just started making frozen yogurt parfaits in individual sizes (I recommend raspberry and white chocolate) and Bluebell has 2 or 3 frozen yogurt flavors (I have not tried any of them).
- "Healthy Cookies". Two of my cousins (who should be writing this blog, they know way more than I do), a few of my sisters, and I came up with a recipe for healthy oatmeal raisin cookies.

"Healthy Cookies"
Preheat oven to 375
Mix:
3/4 c of apple sauce (instead of butter)
1/4 c of sugar (I use either brown sugar or all nature cane sugar)
2 eggs or 2 tsp of white vinegar

In separate bowl, mix:
1 1/4 c whole wheat flour
1 tsp backing soda
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt

Slowly add dry to wet while mixing

Then add:
2 1/4 c rolled oats
1/4 c raisins
1/3 c craisins
1 chopped apple
1/4 c chocolate chips (optional. I use dark chocolate.)
Can add coconut, currents, nuts, ect.
If the dough is too dry because of added ingredients, add a small amount of milk

Bake on greased cookie sheet for about 10 min
Makes 18 cookes

Nutrition Facts:
Serving size: 1 cookie with chocolate chips
116 calories, 2g fat, 23g carbs, 9g sugar, 3g protein
1 cookie without chocolate
100 calories, 1g fat, 21g carbs, 7g sugar, 2g protein

Enjoy :)

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! My intent for creating this blog is to share recipes, tips, and information I have learned about healthy and nutritious eating. I am new to this whole blogging thing (besides using xanga back in junior high days) and I am studying kinesiology and nutrition... probably the farthest thing away from english, so you will have to bear with me.

In my search to find a creative title for this blog, I ran across a few words on urbandictionary.com.
"Nutritarian - a person whose food choices are influenced by nutritional quality."
"Orthorexia - an eating disorder similar to anorexia, though instead of an obsessive desire to lose weight, those who suffer from orthorexia have an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating."

I decided to go with nutritarian. I love my cappuccinos and chocolate too much to consider myself having an "unhealthy obsession with healthy eating".

Speaking of cappuccinos, I am going to go make one right now :)