Chocolate Dipped Oranges

Part of my job as a Retail Dietitian is doing healthy food demonstrations. In one of my recent demos, I highlighted oranges; mainly because of cold and flu season (Vitamin C) and they were on sale.  It was so funny doing this demo because I got a ton of people saying either, "This is healthy?" or "I never thought to combine chocolate and oranges."  Most people have the impression that healthy eating is bland or boring. Then when you present these people with healthy recipes that taste good, they are in shock! The way you prepare food and how good it tastes is completely subjective. Get creative in the kitchen and try new recipes and spices to spruce up your meals! While you are at it, try my chocolate dipped oranges for a sweet snack:)

How to Select/Store Oranges
Select an orange that is firm, shiny, and heavy for its size. The fruit should be free of any soft spots or wrinkles. Oranges should be kept in a cool, well-ventilated area. You can store in the fridge for 2 weeks or at room temperature for 4 days.

My Chocolate Dipped Oranges :)

Chocolate Dipped Oranges
Ingredients
2-4 ounces of dark chocolate
1 medium orange, peeled and segmented

Directions
1. Line a baking sheet with wax or parchment paper.
2. Melt chocolate (microwave or double broiler). Dip orange segments in chocolate and transfer to baking sheet. Set aside until chocolate hardens. Serve at room temperature.

**I found it easier to only dip 1/2 of one side of the orange. This way I didn't lose any chocolate when I removed the oranges for serving. You can also use clementines instead!

For about 1/2 the orange with chocolate, your looking at about 180 calories. Not too shabby for a sweet treat. Not to mention the 75% of your daily value of Vitamin C :)


http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp

Gluten-Free Pizza Recipe

All this week, I have been experimenting with different types of pizza crusts (whole wheat, flax and chia seeds, cauliflower, eggplant, etc). Mostly good results; however, my favorite one was made with Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza Crust Whole Grain Mix. It was fairly cheap, $3.29 per 16oz bag, and tasted great! I was going to mix this with cauliflower; however, genius me left it in a brown bag in my kitchen and it went bad :/ I ended up using the recipe on the back of the bag for the crust and it is by far my favorite! I halved the recipe and make gluten-free cinnamon rolls along with it. Another win in the bag. Hope you enjoy as much as I did!

Gluten-Free Pizza 
Yield: two 12-inch pies or one 16-inch pie
Ingredients
1 pkg gluten free pizza crust
1 1/4c warm water
2 eggs
2T olive oil
1 yeast packet (comes in the bag)
Toppings: sauce, meat, cheese, etc

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, combine water and yeast. Let stand for 5 minutes.
3. Add eggs and oil to mixture and blend.
4. Add GF pizza crust mix and blend for 1 minute.
5. Split the dough in half and leave in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 20 minutes.
6. Place dough on greased pizza pan. Using wet hands (really important), spread out dough to cover the full pan.
7. Bake for 7-9 minutes.
8. Top with desired toppings and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
**I used just a basil pasta sauce, rotisserie chicken from the supermarket, fresh spinach, and shredded cheddar/mozzarella cheese. Quick and tasty!

My finished product!

Coco-Nut Balls Recipe

Ingredients
1/2c raw almonds
1/2c raw cashews
3/4c unsweetened, coconut flakes
7 dates (pitted)
1T coconut oil, melted
1-2T water

Directions
1. Food process almonds, cashews, coconut flakes, and dates.
2. Add coconut oil and 1-2T of water (depending on texture).
3. Roll into balls (will be sticky) and refrigerate.


This is one of those recipes where you can alter it to your taste buds (and pretty easily). It has a nutty-coconut flavor (a little strong). If you are not that big of a coconut fan, I would suggest dropping the flakes to about 1/4c. This will also cut back on some of the sugar. The dates give it a sweet taste; however, this is another ingredient you can cut back on if you are not the sweet tooth. Since the balls are a bit sticky, you can add in some extra nuts for some more healthy fats and protein (It will also help to firm it up). Hope you enjoy!

Nutrition Facts (Per serving of 2 balls)
Yield: 35-40 balls
Calories: 94
Fat: 5.5g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Carbohydrates: 11g
Fiber: 1.4g
Sugar: 8g
Protein: 1.4g

**Calculated using sweetened coconut flakes. If using unsweetened flakes, calories/carbohydrate/sugar content will decrease.

Lemon Protein Bites

A few blog posts ago, I posted a recipe for Peanut Butter Protein Balls which are a quick boost of protein for you if you are on the go. One of the best things about that recipe is it is so versatile. Have a sweet tooth? Add some mini chocolate chips! Want some more protein? Add some chopped nuts and chia seeds! I love taking the protein bites with me to work/the gym. After finishing a work shift, I will pop a few in my mouth before heading into the gym. This helps to keep me fueled for my workout and cross the bridge between breakfast and lunch.

I am also a huge fan of lemons, as in I will eat a raw lemon :), so the last time I made this recipe I bumped up the lemon juice to 2-3T! I also ran out of dates before making this a second time, so I subbed cranberries. You can also try raisins or another dried fruit (I always go with the unsweetened dried fruit)!

Lemon Protein Bites
Ingredients
1c raw cashews
1c raw almonds
9 dates (pitted) or 1/4c dried, unsweetened, cranberries (You can cut back on fruit depending on how sweet you want it; this will cut back on the sugar in the nutrition facts portion).
1T lemon juice

Directions
1. Food process cashews and almonds.
2. Add dates/cranberries and lemon juice.
3. If mixture is dry, add more lemon juice or water.
4. Roll into balls and refrigerate.


Nutrition Facts: Per lemon bite
(yield about 40 balls)
Calories: 54
Fat: 3g (1g MUFA, .5 PUFA)
Carbohydrates: 5.5g
Fiber: 1.2g
Sugar: 3.5g
Protein: 1.5g

Faux Cookies Recipe

In another blog post a few weeks ago, I had a recipe titled, "Faux Cookie Dough." The support group class I lead had challenged me to try baking the cookie dough. I invested in this challenge today and had an awesome result. By this awesome result I mean I baked 65 cookies and ate 5 so far today :)

I didn't use my original recipe, but a modified one from My Whole Food Life, which has a ton of awesome recipes. I have the recipe below with the nutrition facts. You would probably get the same, or a similar result if you baked the "Faux Cookie Dough."

Faux Cookies
Ingredients
2.5 cups chickpeas, rinsed and drained
4tsp vanilla
1.5 cups peanut butter
2T honey
2tsp baking powder
1/2c chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Food process all ingredients except chocolate chips.
3. Fold in chocolate chips.
4. Roll into balls and place on a greased baking sheet.
5. Bake 10 minutes.

Nutrition Facts per 1 cookie (yield=5.5 dozen)
Calories: 50
Fat: 3g
Sodium: 65mg
Carbohydrate: 5g
Sugar: 2g
Protein: 1.5g

Just for comparison purposes, I have the nutrition facts for a regular chocolate chip cookie.

Nutrition Facts per 1 cookie
Calories: 50
Fat: 3g
Sodium: 36mg
Carbohydrate: 8g
Sugar: 4g
Protein: 1g

Peanut Butter Yogurt Dip

Looking for a quick and healthy fruit dip? Feast your taste buds on this creamy and light option! It is perfect with apple slices (or even a banana). Packed with 4g of protein and only 80 calories per serving, it is a great dessert to satisfy your cravings. But be forewarned! You may find it is tasty enough to eat with just a spoon :)


Peanut Butter Yogurt Dip
Ingredients
1c plain greek yogurt
1/2c peanut butter (I use natural peanut butter with the ingredients being only peanuts and salt)
1tsp cinnamon
4 squirts of Redi Whip (more or less depending on your taste buds)

Directions
1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl and chill.
2. Serve with fresh apple slices or bananas.


Nutrition Facts (Per 2T; yield approximately 1.5cups)
Calories: 80
Fat: 5.5g (4g Monounsaturated)
Sodium: 40mg
Potassium: 90mg
Carbohydrate: 2.5g
Fiber: .8g
Sugar: 1g
Protein: 4.3g

Flax/Chia Seed Mix Recipe

In my last couple of blog posts, I talked about the health benefits of chia seeds and some easy recipes.   While chia seeds are not the cheapest food on the shelf (about $8.99/bag), I did find another great alternative to plain chia seeds that was about $2 cheaper; a Flax Chia Blend.

This blend is again, a great source of Omega-3s and Fiber. It also has 2g of protein, no sugar, and is only 60 calories per 2T.

On the bag I purchased, brand name "Carrington Farms," I found a pretty simple and tasty recipe on the back: "Minute Muffin Top" (Recipe below). Besides baking this blend into muffins or other goodies, you can also sprinkle it on yogurt, oatmeal, or a pudding for a Omega-3 and Fiber boost! 

Minute Muffin Top (Modified Version)

Ingredients

1/4c Flax Chia blend

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp sugar (I didn't use the sugar with adding the peanut butter)

1/4 tsp baking powder (Original called for 1tsp)

1 egg

1 tsp oil

Handful of cranberries (about 1T)

1T peanut butter (The original recipe didn't call for this, but I used it as a topping after making the muffin)

**You can also try adding nuts!

Directions

(In the original directions, you mix everything in separate bowls, layer ingredients, and do a bunch of steps. I was too lazy to do all of that, so I just followed the steps I made up below and it turned out fine)

1. Spray a soup bowl with non stick spray. 

2. Mix all ingredients in a separate bowl, then add to soup bowl. 

3. Place in microwave for 1 minute and enjoy! 

(After cooking is where you can top with the peanut butter)

Nutrition Facts (with peanut butter, without sugar)

Calories: 380 (Pretty good for a breakfast meal) 

Fat: 26g (5g Polyunsaturated, 6g Monounsaturated, 4.5g Saturated) (I didn't calculate the exact amount of Omega-3s; but, it is about 6,000mg)

Cholesterol: 185mg

Sodium: 270mg (Mostly from the baking powder, original recipe called for 1tsp and bumped up the sodium to 600mg)

Potassium: 138mg

Total CHO: 23g

Fiber: 13g (About half the recommended daily amount! 25-35g is range for daily fiber intake) 

Sugar: 7g (Comes mostly from peanut butter brand I used and the cranberries)

Protein: 16g (Great protein boost for the morning! 1 large egg is about 6g Protein).

Vitamin A: 6.1% 

B-12: 8%

Vitamin C: 5.1%

Vitamin D: 10%

Vitamin E: 7.8%

Calcium: 23.6%

Iron: 23.7%

Manganese: 19.2%

Niacin: 10.1%

Phosphorus: 12.7%

Riboflavin: 10.2%

I used a recipe calculator from Spark People: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp

Don't let the calories rock your boat. If you think about all the other good stuff you are getting (protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, etc) and the fact that this is an all-in-one breakfast meal, you have nothing to worry about. I always say to my class participants "It is not just about calories. It is about what else is in the food you are eating." Hope you enjoy!

Faux Cookie Dough Recipe

On Thursday nights, I facilitate a weight management support group. I usually bring in a new recipe or food item; however, this week a member volunteered to make something. She said she would be bringing in a fake cookie dough dip she found in a magazine. I was a little skeptical on what it would taste like, after hearing the ingredients; but hey, I am always up to trying new things. This is definitely a MUST TRY recipe! Again, one of those recipes where you don't tell people what is in it until afterwards! It goes great with apple or banana slices.

Faux Cookie Dough Dip
Ingredients
1 1/2c chickpeas
6T brown sugar
1/4c peanut butter
3T oats
1T milk (almond milk can be used)
2tsp vanilla
Dash salt
1/8tsp baking soda
1/3c chocolate chips

Directions
1. Food process all ingredients except chocolate chips. (I find it best to food process the beans with some type of liquid--like milk--first to make it smoother).
2. Fold in chocolate chips.
3. Serve with apple/banana slices and enjoy!

Nutrition Facts (per 2T with recipe yield of 2cups)
Calories: 90
Fat: 3g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 100mg
Potassium: 50mg
Carbohydrate: 10g
Fiber: 1.5g
Sugars: 5g
Protein: 2g
B6: 5.3%
Calcium: 1.2%
Vitamin E: 1.4%
**Nutrition Facts will vary based on ingredients used