Apple Recipes

This week's challenge is to remember to eat an apple.  I thought I would provide a few fun ideas getting your apple a day eaten in case you want to eat it in some other form and need a little variety.

• Core the apple whole, then slice it in rounds, spread a little peanut or some other nut butter, then sprinkle with a few chopped nuts and maybe a couple of chocolate chips for a sweet treat.
• Take an 8 oz container of vanilla Greek (or regular) yogurt, mix in a heaping table spoon of peanut butter, sprinkle cinnamon and then use it to dip apple slices.
• On Sunday, when prepping your veggie bags for the week, chop about 5 apples, toss with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 1/4 cup of brown sugar and a generous sprinkle of cinnamon (you can even do less sugar and more cinnamon).  Pour it into a greased baking dish and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.  Each morning you can heat some up to eat with oatmeal for breakfast or eat it on it's own.  Or even eat it cold with some chopped nuts and yogurt.

Enjoy apples!

2014 Weekly Challenge #18 - An Apple a Day

You know that old saying "An apple a day keeps the doctor away?" Turns out it might be more true than you thought!

Apples are the perfect snack food. They are crunchy, sweet (but not too sweet) and delicious and also chock full of nutrition. Apples are low on the glycemic index which helps stabilize your blood sugar. They are also high in fiber which is not only good for your digestive system, but also helps you feel satisfied. As an extra bonus, apples don't need to be refrigerated and come in their own "wrapping" making them the epitome of a "grab and go" snack.

Your challenge: Eat an apple a day. When you do your grocery shopping, branch otu and try more than one variety of apple. Pay attention to what your favorites are, and make this challenge a part of your regular eating routine throughout the year. Be sure to come back to the blog and post a comment letting us all know what your favorites are so we can all try them too!

Have a great week, and remember: An apple a day DOES keep the doctor away, and so much more.

Blood Orange Salad

We have warm sunshine!  Spring will soon be here. But we are also still enjoying delicious winter citrus.  This is a great salad from the beautiful blog, Skinny Taste for a Blood Orange Salad with Gorgonzola, Pecans and Baby Greens. This is a great lunch salad or side dish with your dinner.  Dark leafy greens, the citrus and nuts provide anti-oxidants, Vitamin E and Vitamin C.  It's a delicious source of good nutrition.  You could even add chopped turkey or chicken for protein and make it an entree salad.

Enjoy Blood Orange Salad with Gorgonzola, Pecans and Baby Greens!

2013 Weekly Challenge #24: Eat Local!

You hear it all the time: Eat Local! But why?

Here are 8 reasons to eat local foods (taken from about.com):

1. Local Foods Are Fresher (and Taste Better)
Food that was picked within the last few days tastes way better than food that was picked (unripened) and trucked thousands of miles to get to you. And fresh food lasts longer, too.

2. Local Foods Are Seasonal (and Taste Better)
It must be said: Deprivation leads to greater appreciation. When does a cozy room feel best? When you've come in from out of the freezing cold. Fresh corn in season tastes best when you haven't eaten any in 9 or 10 months--long enough for its taste to be a slightly blurred memory that is suddenly awakened with that first bite of the season. Eating locally means eating seasonally, with all the deprivation and resulting pleasure that accompanies it.

3. Local Foods Usually Have Less Environmental Impact
Those thousands of miles some food is shipped? That leads to a big carbon footprint for a little bunch of herbs.

4. Local Foods Preserve Green Space & Farmland
The environmental question of where you food comes from is bigger than its "carbon footprint." By buying foods grown and raised closer to where you live, you help maintain farmland and green space in your area.

5. Local Foods Promote Food Safety
The fewer steps there are between your food's source and your table the less chance there is of contamination. Also, when you know where your food comes from and who grows it, you know a lot more about that food.

6. Local Foods Support Your Local Economy
Money spent with local farmers, growers, and artisans and locally-owned purveyors and restaurants all stays close to home, working to build your local economy instead of being handed over to a corporation in another city, state, or country. Since the food moves through fewer hands, more of the money you spend tends to get to the people growing it.

7. Local Foods Promote Variety
Local foods create greater variety of foods available. Farmers who run community-supported agriculture programs (CSAs), sell at farmers' markets, and provide local restaurants have the demand and the support for raising more types of produce and livestock. Think Brandywines, Early Girls, and Lemon Boys instead of "tomatoes."

8. Local Foods Create Community
Knowing where your food is from connects you to the people who raise and grow it. Instead of having a single relationship--to a big supermarket--you develop smaller connections to more food sources: vendors at the farmers' market, the local cheese shop, your favorite butcher, the co-op that sells local eggs, a local café that roasts coffee.

Your challenge this week: Eat LOCAL by shopping at a Farmer's Market near you. Take a look around and choose food that is seasonal, local, delicious and healthy. Your body will love you for it!

To find a Farmers' Market near you, visit: www.cafarmersmarkets.com

2013 Weekly Challenge #16: An Apple A Day

You know that old saying "An apple a day keeps the doctor away?" Turns out it might be more true than you thought!

Apples are the perfect snack food. They are crunchy, sweet (but not too sweet) and delicious and also chock full of nutrition. Apples are low on the glycemic index which helps stabilize your blood sugar. They are also high in fiber which is not only good for your digestive system, but also helps you feel satisfied. As an extra bonus, apples don't need to be refrigerated and come in their own "wrapping" making them the epitome of a "grab and go" snack.

Your challenge: Eat an apple a day. When you do your grocery shopping, branch otu and try more than one variety of apple. Pay attention to what your favorites are, and make this challenge a part of your regular eating routine throughout the year. Be sure to come back to the blog and post a comment letting us all know what your favorites are so we can all try them too!

Have a great week, and remember: An apple a day DOES keep the doctor away, and so much more.

June Recipe- Watermelon

This month we’re focusing on watermelon.  It’s not just a fruit suitable for slicing and mixing in a fruit salad or eating plain on a hot day.  There are a variety of applications in recipes.  Just like strawberries, watermelon is a sweet addition to a savory salad.  You can also make this very easy watermelon salad and bring it to your next BBQ pot luck; Watermelon Salad with Mint Leaves.  Or try this unique appetizer, Watermelon Feta Bruschetta. 

Another tip- Make about a cup of pureed watermelon and add it to your favorite store-bought barbecue sauce and use it over chicken or pork. 

One cup of cut watermelon contains no fat and about 50 calories.  It’s also a source of some great nutrients such as potassium, vitamins B6 and C as well as the antioxidant lycopene.  When buying a watermelon, tap it and if it sounds hollow, it’s ripe.  The outside may have a yellowish spot where it sat on the ground while growing, and that’s fine but the rind should be green striped and smooth.

And lastly, here’s a drink recipe using watermelon; Watermelon Lemonade.  Sometimes it seems like a great idea to buy a huge watermelon.  But when you cut it up, it’s A LOT of fruit to eat.  Which is great, but if you want a way to use up some of it, try making this refreshing drink.  You can easily use agave to sweeten this instead of sugar or simply omit the sugar since the watermelon and the lemonade may be sweet enough.

2012 Weekly Challenge #16: An APPLE a Day

You know that old saying "An apple a day keeps the doctor away?" Turns out it might be more true than you thought!

Apples are the perfect snack food. They are crunchy, sweet (but not too sweet) and delicious and also chock full of nutrition. Apples are low on the glycemic index which helps stabilize your blood sugar. They are also high in fiber which is not only good for your digestive system, but also helps you feel satisfied. As an extra bonus, apples don't need to be refrigerated and come in their own "wrapping" making them the epitome of a "grab and go" snack.

Your challenge: Eat an apple a day. When you do your grocery shopping, branch otu and try more than one variety of apple. Pay attention to what your favorites are, and make this challenge a part of your regular eating routine throughout the year. Be sure to come back to the blog and post a comment letting us all know what your favorites are so we can all try them too!

Have a great week, and remember: An apple a day DOES keep the doctor away, and so much more.

Jodi's marmalade and granola

Photo via getnatured.com

Recently we asked you on Facebook for your favorite recipes or snack ideas. Bootcamper Jodi shared this recipe for marmalade and granola. Yum, thank you Jodi!

Marmalade and Granola
The key to the recipe is the marmalade. It can also be used as a substitution for jam with peanut butter, on toast or a muffin, or with a curry dinner as a condiment.

Mix together:
1/2 cup nonfat cottage cheese
1/2 cup nonfat yogurt
1 teaspoon marmalade (see recipe below)
2 Tablespoons granola, Kashi or Grape-Nuts

Marmalade recipe:
2 whole oranges (option: add strawberries with the oranges)
1/2 cup dates
1 cup apple juice concentrate
optional: chopped walnuts

1. Wash oranges and cut in quarters (do not peel).
2. Place in food processor with dates and process to chop fine.
3. Transfer to a sauce pan.
4. Add apple juice to fruit mixture and bring to simmer.
5. Cook until orange rind is very tender (stirring frequently), and marmalade is thickened.

If you have a recipe or snack idea to share, please email it to Mama Bootcamp food coach Allison Brewer (aka "Allibrew") at allibrew@gmail.com. Thank you!

Weekly Challenge #16: An Apple a Day!

You know that old saying "An apple a day keeps the doctor away?" Turns out it might be more true than you thought!

Apples are the perfect snack food. They are crunchy, sweet (but not too sweet) and delicious and also chock full of nutrition. Apples are low on the glycemic index which helps stabilize your blood sugar. They are also high in fiber which is not only good for your digestive system, but also helps you feel satisfied. As an extra bonus, apples don't need to be refrigerated and come in their own "wrapping" making them the epitome of a "grab and go" snack.

Your challenge: Eat an apple a day. When you do your grocery shopping, branch otu and try more than one variety of apple. Pay attention to what your favorites are, and make this challenge a part of your regular eating routine throughout the year. Be sure to come back to the blog and post a comment letting us all know what your favorites are so we can all try them too!

Have a great week, and remember: An apple a day DOES keep the doctor away, and so much more.