Love at First Bite! Nut Butter Crispies with Cacao Nibs Recipe

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Jennifer FIsher

Who doesn’t love a crispy rice treat? I do, but not those prepackaged ones made with corn syrup, white puffed rice and a ton of other ingredients and preservatives I can’t pronounce. Plus, there’s only a scant trace of protein in one of those gooey squares; that means I’ll be crashing lickity-split from my carbohydrate high. What’s a girl got to do to satisfy her sweet tooth and get a little snap, crackle and pop going on? Mix up her own healthier version of this favorite treat from childhood, that’s what! I have a hunch you are going to fall in love with this healthy snack recipe – package them up and give them to your favorite sweetie for Valentine’s Day!

My version of crispy rice treats, Protein Nut Butter Crispies, features puffed brown rice, a 100% whole grain, that hasn’t been enriched or fortified with any weird stuff. A couple scoops of protein powder (you can use any brand or flavor) adds long-lasting energy that is perfect before a workout or to help build back up damaged muscle tissue afterward. Almond butter and honey helps hold everything together with delicious taste while cacao nibs lend an extra dose of crunchiness to this fun-to-eat treat.

You may be wondering, “Just what are cacao nibs and why should I be eating them?” Cacao nibs are little pieces of cacao beans that been have roasted, hulled and prepped for the chocolate-making process. While I like to think of them as “nature’s chocolate chips,” cacao nibs don’t really add any sweetness to a recipe. In fact, they are a tad bitter (in a good way) and have a slightly nutty flavor with chocolate undertones. Here are some other good things to know about cacao nibs:

Cacao nibs are abundant with magnesium, a mineral needed for in excess of 300 biochemical reactions in the human body including muscle and nerve function and maintaining a steady heart rhythm.
Unlike chocolate bars, cacao nibs pack in a lot of fiber in a small serving – one ounce of cacao nibs has nine grams of fiber.
Cacao nibs are rich in iron, a necessity for the production of red blood cells — and a good thing for women, runners and other athletes who need more iron (up to 30% more) than the average Joe. One ounce of raw cacao nibs provides six percent of the daily recommended value.
Cacao nibs provide more antioxidant benefits than eating the darkest chocolate bar around. You’ve probably heard that the darker the chocolate, the better – experts suggest picking a bar with as much as 70% cacao (it can take a while to get used to the less sweet taste). Since cacao nibs are the basis for chocolate candy (after being ground into a paste and mixed with sugar and milk solids), you’re skipping all the unhealthy stuff and going straight to the unsullied source of nutrients..
Get creative with cacao nibs! You can eat cacao nibs straight out of the bag, mix them into oatmeal or sprinkle on Greek yogurt – or mix in cacao nibs into any of your recipes for baked goods.

Protein Nut Butter Crispies with Cacao Nibs Recipe

2 cups puffed whole grain brown rice cereal
2/3 cup (2 standard scoops) chocolate protein powder
¼ cocoa nibs
1/4 cup almond butter
1/4 cup honey (I like Wholesome Sweetener’s Fairtrade Organic Honey )
Optional: 2 Tbsp. chocolate candy-covered sunflower seeds

Place puffed rice, protein powder and cocoa nibs in a medium-sized bowl and toss together until combined.

Warm almond butter in the microwave for about 20 seconds so it’s more malleable. Spray spatula with baking spray and scoop out warmed nut butter on top of dry mixture. Drizzle honey on top of this and stir everything until combined. Mixture may be a bit crumbly, that’s okay.

Using hands, form mixture into approximate 1 ¼” diameter balls, packing tightly. Repeat process with remaining mixture.

If desired, lightly press tops of nuggets into candy-coated chocolate sunflower seeds or another topping of choice.

Makes 18.

Healthy Dessert Recipe | Broiled Grapefruit with Feta & Balsamic Syrup

Posted on January 13, 2014 by Jennifer FIsher

Fruit for dessert or a sweet side dish, nom-nom-nom! I’ve been on a poached pear kick and before that it was figs. This summer my fruit fetish was focused on the fuzzy, ripe peach. The nearby (Fredericksburg, Tx) peach orchards are famous and I actually still have a huge haul of peaches that I prepared for the freezer. I pull out a few of those peaches when I need a little taste of sunshine summer in the middle of winter.

Some of the ingredients for my favorite citrus salad!

Citrus is another favorite fruit of mine and its peak season is winter! Oranges, tangerines, grapefruits and more – I had all of these citrus fruits in my backyard growing up. I wish I would have taken better advantage of the bounty! A mixed citrus salad is one of my favorite sweet side dishes; I could eat it every day. Check out the healthy dessert recipe I recently whipped up. It may sound like a strange combination of ingredients but, trust me, it’s insanely good – Broiled Grapefruit with Feta & Balsamic Reduction .

Broiled Grapefruit with Feta & Balsamic Reduction Recipe

2 large Ruby Red grapefruit
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons coconut sugar
1 tablespoon crumbled feta cheese
1 tablespoon balsamic reduction (store bought or homemade)

Directions:

Preheat broiler on high.
Slice grapefruit in half crosswise. To prevent wobbling in the pan, slice a small amount of peel off the bottom of each half, taking care not to cut up into the flesh.
Use a paring knife to cut around segment edges for easier eating when done.
Sprinkle tops of grapefruit with even mixtures of the salt, pepper, brown sugar and feta cheese.
Place 4-inches under broiler; broil for approximately 3 – 5 minutes until tops are beginning to caramelize and feta is slightly melting.
Remove from broiler and drizzle with balsamic reduction.

Serves 4.

I ran the nutrition on this healthy dessert recipe – I’ll think you’ll love that it only has 43 calories per servings (!) and is packed with nutrients.

There are many other reasons to sing the praises of citrus. I know that the abundant vitamin C and other nutrients in citrus fruits are beneficial to my well-being. Vitamin C has been shown to offer protection against immune system deficiencies, cardiovascular disease, prenatal health problems, eye disease, and even skin wrinkling.

There’s not much that sours my mood more than buying fruit that isn’t ripe. Thankfully, it’s pretty easy to pick out ripe citrus fruit. Look for fruit that are firm and heavy for their size, with bright, colorful skin. You can store citrus at room temperature for several days; beyond this, keep in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator. Throw a few oranges or tangerines in your gym bag, they don’t need to be chilled, come in their own wrappers and will give you energy before or after your workout.

Go eat your citrus, people!

A Real Breakfast! Artichoke & Spinach Blue Cheese Baked Eggs

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Jennifer FIsher

This year I plan to start off every morning (okay, most mornings) with a healthy breakfast served on a real plate. I usually stay up too late and always wake up before dawn, making me so groggy and disoriented that the best I can often do for sustenance is a grab a protein bar or slurp a smoothie. While protein bars and smoothies are actually quite nutritious options for grab-and-go fuel, I aspire to slow down enough in the morning to actually have a conversation with the kids, give some attention to the dog, tune into current events (what year is this?) and enjoy a morning meal with all my senses. Then, after being properly fed, I can hit my errands, workouts and to-do list hard!

Pretty sure some eggs were eaten before (and maybe after) this workout at Ladybird Lake!

The incredible, edible egg is always one of my top choices in real breakfast food. Even on the busiest weekday mornings, it really doesn’t take that long to whip up a quick scramble or even microwave a 1-minute ramekin omelet. With just a little planning on Sunday night, a big breakfast casserole can be baked ahead and portioned out for the rest of the week. I plan to be a better planner – I promise!

This is a gorgeous recipe for Blue Cheese & Artichoke Baked Eggs I created for the blog at Lighthouse Foods. Typically baked eggs are doused in heavy cream before sitting in the oven, but I reduced the fat in this type of egg dish by using the company’s OPA Blue Cheese Greek Yogurt Dressing which is, not surprisingly, light, tangy and healthy! Served in individual gratin dishes, this healthy egg recipe is elegant enough to serve to company. Please visit the Living Litehouse blog for more gorgeous photos, but today I’m going to treat you to the full recipe right here, right now!

Blue Cheese & Artichoke Baked Eggs Recipe

Baking spray
3 to 4 ounces washed baby spinach
½ cup Litehouse Food’s OPA Blue Cheese Dressing (so good!)
2 Tbsp diced red onion
1 Tbsp sipped fresh chives
16 grape tomatoes
1 (7.5 oz) jar of quartered marinated artichoke hearts
8 large eggs
2 oz blue cheese crumbles

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. Lightly spray 4 ramekins or 2 gratin dishes with baking spray. Divide spinach evenly among dishes.

3. Drizzle even portions of blue cheese salad dressing over spinach and sprinkle with red onion.

4. Slice grape tomatoes in half and drain liquid from jar of artichoke hearts. Place tomatoes and artichokes around perimeter of dishes.

5. Gently crack egg over top of spinach mixture, taking care not to break yolk. Repeat for remaining 3 ramekins. If using 2 larger gratin dishes, use 2 eggs per container. Sprinkle tops with chives.

6. Place dishes on a rimmed baking sheet and place on center rack of oven. Back for approximately 20 minutes or until egg whites have set and yolk has achieved desired level of doneness.

7. Remove from oven and sprinkle tops with an even portion of blue cheese crumbles. Let cool for 2 to 3 minutes before serving.

egg skilled with beef eggs potatoes

My “Top of the Sirloin” Steak, Sweet Potato and Breakfast Bake is a proven winner, especially with my Paleo pals who can’t seem to get enough! I love how cheerful the sunny-side up eggs look atop this dish which is sautéed, baked and served in a country cast iron skillet.

Why not ditch the drive-thru and make your own yummy sunrise sandwich at home? My Spinach, Turkey & Egg Breakfast Sandwich offers loads of nutrient dense ingredients. Cook up the egg anyway you like – scrambled, poached, fried or in the handy-dandy Hamilton Beach breakfast sandwich maker!

Oh, and I can’t forget the Steak, Egg & Avocado Breakfast Sandwich – the day will be a win-win-win thanks to these three powerhouse ingredients.

Pear Pressure! Healthy Dessert Recipes for Poached Pears and More!

Posted on January 6, 2014 by Jennifer FIsher

Fruit for dessert, when I was a kid I thought this was a fate worse than cleaning my room on a Saturday. Sheez, if I finished my meatloaf and polished off the peas, I deserved a GOOD reward, something sickly sweet like a Hostess cupcake or Bomb Pop. But, alas, my mom, bless her healthy heart, never (okay rarely) bought junk like this. Instead we had homemade ice pops, frozen bananas and the occasional chocolate chip cookie (whoot)!

But then, one day it happened – I gave into the siren song of a golden foil-wrapped pear. Straight from Harry & David, nestled in in a holiday gift basket. Although my rational self was saying “no,” just pass on that fruit for dessert and go straight for the chocolate, I couldn’t help greedily peeling off the sparkling paper and digging in — it was divine, it was to die for and I was completely woozy with pear intoxication. Still, to this day, if someone was to send me a basket of golden foil-wrapped pears, I would be beyond thrilled (hint, hint).

Pears poaching in pomegranate juice.

So, last year for New Year’s Eve, a family friend made poached pears for dessert. I’m not sure exactly what he did to make them so delicious, but they were sublime – easy yet elegant and just the right amount of sweet to top off the celebratory meal without making me feel even more stuffed than I already was. Inspired by these memories of pears past, I created my own recipe for dessert pears – Poached Pears with Pomegranate & Mascarpone Sauce.

If you want the full step-by-step video instructions on how to make this healthy dessert, you got it – I recently made this little poached pear how-to for Austin Fit Magazine online. The recipe is a super star!

Fast, Fit and Family-Friendly Recipes with TheFitFork.com – Poached Pears with Pomegranate-Mascarpone Sauce:

All this talk about pears being so fantastic for dessert (or anytime) and I never mentioned the health benefits. Pears are a great source of fiber and offer important nutrients including vitamin B2, C, E, copper, and potassium. They also contain a significant amount of pectin, a water soluble fiber which is thought to help reduce cholesterol and regulate the body’s use of sugars. Pears are a healthy choice in carbohydrates and provide longer-lasting energy thanks to their low glycemic load — this just means the carbs in pears are slow to convert to sugar before entering the bloodstream.

Poached Pear Bread from Cooking Light Magazine

This recipe for Poached Pear Bread from Cooking Light magazine made me do a double take, and probably you as well! Poached pears were placed right into quick-bread batter before being baked up into a rustic yet refined loaf of bread that, when sliced, reveals a mouthwatering cross-section of pear! Yes, please!

Another wonderfully warm, homey dessert featuring pears is my Cranberry-Ginger Pear Crumble – mmm, this is perfect for a cold winter treat! So, what are you waiting for? Grow a “pear” and get healthy — pears are perfect for dessert!

Do you have a favorite way to eat pears? Maybe for dessert or on a salad? Please share in the comments, I am always looking for new pear inspiration!

Eat Fit in 2014 – $200 MyFitFoods Giveaway

Posted on January 1, 2014 by Jennifer FIsher

It’s a NEW YEAR, a time when many of us start planning for improvements in our health and fitness – eating clean is always at the top of my list. Not only does enjoying healthy, nutritious meals and snacks keep me at a steady weight and help prevent a host of medical issues, it provides the quality fuel I need to perform my best as a runner and general fitness enthusiast. Typically, it’s easy for me to stick to the diet I prefer – lean proteins, low-glycemic carbs and heart-healthy fats. But, that’s because creating new healthy recipes and experimenting around in the kitchen is my passion. The only time I really fall off the wagon is when life gets super busy and over-scheduled – that can be frequently as a mom of three trying to keep a full work and training schedule.

“Life getting in the way” is probably why some studies have shown that only 8 percent of New Year’s resolution makers have “stuck with it” by year end. However, that doesn’t have to be the case when it comes to maintaining a healthy lifestyle — especially when companies like MyFitFoods are around to help us meet our goals. When my schedule is slammed and I’m out and about during a mealtime, it’s easy to say no to (insert gagging noise) traditional fast food knowing I can hit one of the multiple locations of MyFitFoods in Austin to pick up a well-balanced, nutrient-packed, perfectly-portioned meal that also tastes damn good – way better than a (eek) McDonald’s salad.

Currently operating in California, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma and Illinois, this company is growing like crazy — check out the location map to see which store is nearest to you. When you drop into MyFitFoods, you’ll see all of their pre-packaged menu offerings on display to either grab-and-go– or heat up and eat in the café area of the store. When I say pre-packaged, I’m not talking about old school frozen meals – these are refrigerated meals made in their local kitchens with freshest produce, lean proteins, whole grains and healthy fats. All the nutrition information, calorie and ingredients are printed right on the label so that you can make the best-informed choices as possible. Also, a “best by” date is on the label in case you want to stock up on a few meals to take home for later.

From breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, you can count on getting a fresh, delicious and nutritious meal prepared with your health in mind at MyFitFoods. The menu is diabetic friendly and there are plenty of options for special diets including vegan, vegetarian and dairy-, gluten- and soy-free. After scanning the menu, it also looks like there are options for devotees of the Paleo diet too. Meals are sold in a range of portion sizes to meet your unique needs – I’m fairly active and am not trying to lose weight, so the Medium size works for me. But, you can get more or less – or buy a Large and share!

Another neat thing about the company is their 21 Day Challenge. On-site nutritional coaches will provide a complementary consultation on how MyFitFoods can help you lose weight, build muscle, increase energy levels and enjoy better sleep quality. Company founder, Mario Mendias, totally gets it – as a past personal trainer, he saw a need to make fit-focused meals for his time-crunched and non-cooking clients who were too often risking their hard work in the gym for a convenient yet unhealthy meal.

To help you make healthy living and eating an easy reality this year, MyFitFoods is letting me giveaway a $200 gift card. The winner can load up for a week’s worth of food at once or grab a healthy meal now and then – there are so many choices at MyFitFoods. Here are some of the yummy, healthy meals I enjoyed this week.

Good Morning Sunshine – With a taste of the southwest, lean ground turkey, converted rice and eggs topped with fresh pic de gallo and a pinch of real cheese. The medium size only has 430 calories and 29g carbs for nearly a pound of food that packs 40g of protein. I feel my muscles growing already!

Ancho Chicken Breakfast Tacos – Eggs and shredded chicken nestled into three corn tortillas along with ancho sauce make a very filling breakfast. The medium-sized dish has 450 calories 55g carbs and 30g protein to satisfy even the hungriest post-workout appetite.

Gimme More Chicken Salad – Thumbs up to this lightened chicken salad that is made with lean breast and Greek yogurt with just a dash of real mayo. Chopped celery, cranberries and tarragon add the finishing touches to the generous scoop that rests on a bed of chopped romaine with lemon wedges. Available in one size, 320 calories, 16g carbs with 28g protein and just 15g of fat which is way less than the fat found in traditional chicken salad.

Beef Fit Up! – It’s no secret I like beef, especially tenderloin. This low-carb dinner didn’t disappoint with sliced beef tenderloin cooked to medium and topped with onions and mushrooms over cauliflower mash and green beans. Here’s my tip for reheating so the beef doesn’t get overcooked: heat the veggies separately on high for a minute or so. Next, reheat the beef alone on the “defrost” button for just about a minute, basically to just take the chill off off rather than cook it. Replate and enjoy! Medium size is more than a pound of food with 450 calories, 18g carbs and 45g protein. I could have shared, but I didn’t.

Cilantro Lime Turkey – This is a light and lively dish that tastes really good; lean ground turkey is seasoned just right and served on a bed of converted rice mingled with cilantro. Broccoli rabe and a refreshing lime slice finish it up. The Medium portion makes a hearty yet healthy meal with 500 calories, 51g carbs and 39g protein.

Enter the Giveaway through the various options below – please note that MyFitFoods is currently operating stores in California, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma and Illinois (so please only enter if you live in one of these states — check out the store map for exact locations):

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