Roasted Cabbage and Carrots

Last month, while we were in North Carolina visiting our families, Travis' mom made us one of the most yummy side dishes...cabbage and carrots with a splash of lemon and garlic.  You  need to try it.  Seriously.

This is on our regular rotation of meals now - it's healthy, cheep and delicious - perfect!




Ingredients

1/2 head of cabbage
6 oz shredded carrots
1.5-2 Tablespoons olive oil
Lemon juice (1 Tablespoon + extra)
Garlic powder
Salt

Directions

Chop cabbage, separate leaves and discard hard white pieces.

Place into a Pyrex dish with carrots.

Toss in olive oil, 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, garlic powder and salt.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until done.

Add another splash of lemon juice and serve!

You won't be disappointed!

Making Running Progress

As you may know, I started running a few months ago.  Well..."running" was a very loose term.  A few months ago I started slooooowly jogging for very (very) short stints.  I was determined to at least give running a real shot.

I'm so excited to tell you that I'm actually making progress!!   Saturday morning I set out, planning on doing five 5-minute intervals (with about 3 minutes of walking between each).  I was pretty pumped about finally reaching 5 minute intervals and loved being able to enter 25 minutes of running into my fitness app (holy calories burned!).  That morning, my running intervals were 5 minutes, 6 minutes, 5 minutes...and then I finished with a 10 minute interval.  10 minutes!  I was SO pumped, and even felt GOOD after the run!

Since I felt so good, I decided to go running again the next morning (I usually run every other day, so this was different for me).  I started off and thought I'd shoot for three 10-minute intervals that day.  When I reached 10 minutes, I thought..."What if I'm not running a 10 minute mile? I definitely want to be able to say I ran a mile without stopping", so I decided to run for 12 minutes.  Once I hit 12 minutes I thought, "Oh man...I'm still ok...I can totally do 15"....and I did!  At this point, I decided it was best not to push my luck, so I walked for 3 minutes, and then took off again and ended up running another 15 minutes.

It's so encouraging to see the progress come more quickly.  I've been celebrating 30 second interval increases for months and was becoming weary of it, but am so glad I took things slowly and didn't get frustrated, because it paid off!  I think I've finally built up a (little) base that I can build on!

I got home and called Travis to tell him my fantastic news (he was on his way to a concert with a friend) and realized I had no idea how far I'd run.  That afternoon, I hopped in my car, zero'd out my odometer, and drove my running route to see how far it was.  I was pleased to see the loop is almost exactly 3.2 miles long - just over a 5k!

Know what that means?  I did a 5k in 33 minutes and was running a 10 minute mile!  Whoop!

Now let's see if I can do it again...

Wanna check out some of my other weight loss blogs?

20 pounds down
31 pounds down
40 pounds down

The Coolest Blogging Gig Yet

Guys...I've been bursting at the seams to tell you about an amazing project I got the chance to work on this summer.  On October 7th, PBS Kids is premiering a new animated show, Peg + Cat, that is so, so cute. PBS needed a few recipes that are mentioned on the show for their website, so I was contacted to help them!

The first of three recipes has now been revealed through a partnership with Whole Foods, so now I can share it with you!  This recipe is inspired by some pirates you'll see on the show.  It's a healthy snack, involves a fun craft, and teaches counting.  Check out the Pirate Fruit Salad instructions here.  You'll also be able to find this at your local Whole Foods and on their website soon - how amazing is that?

There are lots of other fantastic resources on the PBS Kids website you can explore, too.  If you have kids, you should definitely check these out!

I'll keep you posted as the others are revealed...in the meantime...go eat some fruit!  If you're feeling extra inspired, you could make some of this healthy lime fruit dip to enjoy with the Pirate Fruit Salad!



Here are a few posts other bloggers have written about the activity/snack combo - check them out!

The Mamma Maven used their Whole Foods bag to make the treasure chest and tailored the teaching to each of their kids - so cool.
Crazy About My Baybah's son looked like he had a great time.  He made SUCH a cute treasure chest!
Dancing Hotdogs did a cool video about the activity.
Spanglish Baby's kids helped with everything from shopping to washing fruit.
Ben Spark made his first trip to Whole Foods to get the supplies for the activity...and now he's a fan!

Cinnamon Sugar Almond Butter

A few weeks ago, when we went to Saratoga Springs, we bought some locally-made Cinnamon Sugar Peanut Butter.  Obviously it was amazing.  So good.  The downside of this yummy treat was its $12 price tag, so this afternoon, while at Costco, I picked up some almonds so we could make our own at home.  $12 almond butter is not a habit one can carry on for long!

It's smooth, sweet, and a really fun way to switch up your snacks!  Almonds have vitamin E, potassium, magnesium, iron, and calcium.  They're a good source of protein and fiber and have a high monounsaturated fat content (the healthy kind of fat!), so they're a great thing to add to your diet.  Adding cinnamon to foods can help regulate blood sugar, reduce LDL cholesterol levels, and can even reduce pain linked to arthritis. It's good for you...and it's delicious!

Ingredients 

2 cups roasted, salted (or unsalted) almonds
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Makes about 1 cup of almond butter
1 Tablespoon = 75 calories

Directions

Place almonds in a food processor.  (I used a small food processor, so you could double this in a large one easily.)  Start processing.  At first, almonds will crumble.  Then they'll start to stick together, so you'll need to pause and scrape down the sides as needed.  The almonds will become thicker and thicker (continue scraping as needed) until all of a sudden they'll turn a corner and start to look more like butter!

Once it's well on its way to "peanut butter" texture, it'll be time to add your flavors.  Add sugar and cinnamon, then process to combine.  Scrape down the sides and around the blade to make sure there aren't any pockets of flavor hiding and continue processing until you reach your desired consistency.

Transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator.

Just be careful - even though there are lots of health benefits to the foods used to make this treat, it's also high in calories.  Use a tablespoon to measure!

Enjoy with some apple slices, on a banana, or a bagel thin!

Baked Plantain Chips

A few months ago I had my first taste of Plantain Chips, when NatureBox sent me some snacks to review.  I loved having them at the house so I could munch on something (yummy and healthy) while I was cooking dinner and was sad to finish off the bag.

Last weekend I decided it was time for some more chips, so I purchased several plantains, grabbed my trusty mandolin, and got to work!  These chips are super crispy, just salty enough, and only use three ingredients.  They're also 1,000 times (maybe I'm exaggerating...) healthier than regular chips, so you don't have to feel bad while enjoying them.

I decided to make chips out of 5 plantains so we'd have some for a while.  By the end of the cooking process, we only had 4 plantains-worth left.  :)

Tip - use plantains that are more green than ripe - they hold up better during the slicing/flipping stage!

Ingredients
1 plantain
1/2 Tablespoon olive oil
Salt

Directions
Using a mandolin, thinly slice each plantain.  (Be careful of your fingers!)  Transfer sliced plantains to a bowl and cover with 1/2 Tablespoon olive oil.

Lay plantain chips in a single layer on a Silpat mat.  Sprinkle with salt.

Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until edges brown, flipping plantain chips over halfway through.  If your plantains are thicker, they will take longer to bake.

Transfer to a plate and let cool.  Store in an airtight container when not snacking!  They last for just a few days, so eat up!

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I Love NatureBox - Healthy Snack Giveaway!

What's better than delicious snacks?  How about delicious snacks that you 1) don't have to make, and 2) don't have to brave the grocery store to find!  Today I'm going to tell you about one of my favorite companies that makes both of these possible.

NatureBox is a snacking subscription that delivers healthy snacks to your doorstep every month.  For $19.95 a month, they'll send a box of nutritionist-approved, delicious snacks to your doorstep for you to enjoy.  It's a fantastic way to vary your snacking, since there are different snacks each time.  The easiest way for me to stick to my diet healthy lifestyle is to keep things interesting, but I typically have a hard time doing that with snacks.  It's always an apple, banana, granola bar, or yogurt...gets pretty old after months and months, and isn't something that'll last long-term.  It was really nice to have four more options (that I know are good for me) waiting for me at home this month!

Here's what was in July's NatureBox.

South Pacific Plantains - Plantain chips with sea salt
Cherry Crumble Granola - Soft-baked granola with dried cherries (2 bags in our box)
Mango Almond Bites - Mango and crispy rice squares

Tuscan Summer Mix - Italian-spiced seed, nut and dried fruit mix

My favorite were the plantain chips - they were SO delicious and the perfect salty treat, and I loved that there were only three ingredients in them!  A handful of these staved off hunger while I cooked dinner at night.

Travis' favorites were the Tuscan Summer Mix and the Cherry Crumble Granola.  I really enjoyed topping my regular yogurt with the Cherry Crumble Granola - the tart cherry made a regular Chobani much more interesting!

Now for the fun part!  NatureBox has agreed to do a giveaway for Much Ado readers, so someone will have the opportunity to try a box at no cost!  Just leave a comment below telling me why you'd like to win, your go-to healthy snack, and a way for me to contact you if you're the winner!  You'll have until Thursday to enter, and I'll announce the winner on Friday!  Here are the rules:

• The winner will receive a different NatureBox than the one I described above (it will be a future month's box, likely July or August depending on delivery schedule), but will be the exact same size/format as the one mentioned above.
• Only available for US residents.
• At this time, NatureBox is unable to customize boxes for specific dietary needs or personal preferences for the winner's box.

If you don't end up winning, you should just head there yourself and give them a try.  You won't be disappointed!

Good luck!

*Disclaimer:  I was provided July's NatureBox at no charge.  All opinions expressed are my own*

Garlic and Herb Mashed Cauliflower

Husband has never been a fan of cauliflower.  Ok..."not been a fan of" is being generous.  He hates it.  Every time he walks into the kitchen when I'm cooking it he turns up his nose and makes a face like he's sucking on a lemon.  So...of course I took this as a challenge to see if I can get him to enjoy it!  :)

My friend Arielle told me she made some mashed cauliflower one night last week, so I decided to give it a try.  It was a hit!  It's similar to mashed potatoes, creamy, and full of flavor.  The best part is that it's low in calories and only uses 4 ingredients.

Ingredients

1 large head cauliflower
4 Laughing Cow Garlic & Herb Light Wedges
Chives
1/2 Tablespoon salt

Directions

Wash and boil cauliflower.  Once tender, drain and put into a food processor, pulsing until smooth.  My head of cauliflower made about 3 cups once 'mashed'.  Transfer mashed cauliflower into a medium bowl.

Stir in 4 Laughing Cow Garlic & Herb Light wedges and 1/2 Tablespoon salt.  Cut 6-8 pieces of fresh chives with scissors, and stir.  Then adjust accordingly to your taste!

A half cup serving is only 60 calories...so go ahead and have seconds.

Key Lime Fruit Dip

This weekend I made a huge fruit salad to take to an afternoon tea my friend Ann threw.  I made a lot more than I needed to bring, so I kept some at home for the week.  Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and grapes...so yummy!  I like eating fruit with yogurt some evenings, but decided to whip up a fruit dip on Monday to change things up a little bit.  Most fruit dips are so packed with calories it totally undoes the fact that you're eating fruit.  Cream cheese... Marshmallow Fluff...frozen lemonade...chocolate...sugar...sounds delicious, but is crazy high in calories!

What I came up with is much lower in calories, and still delicious - a Key Lime Fruit Dip!  The entire recipe is 270 calories, but you shouldn't eat the whole thing.  (Even though you'll want to.)  Share with 4 friends, and it's just 68 per serving!

Ingredients

1 cup Yogurt (Yoplait Lite 'n Fit)
1/2 cup Light Cool Whip
1/4 cup Light Cream Cheese
Zest of one lime
Squeeze of lime juice

Directions

Combine first three ingredients in a bowl and cream together until smooth.

Mix in lime zest, then give the lime a squeeze into the mixture.  Add more or less of the lime juice to your taste!

While you're here...wanna see some pictures from the tea?  I thought you might.  :)  The table was beautiful and food was fantastic!  We decided this may be the summer of tea parties - sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Ann and the table!

Allyn got up to get some water, and Amelia hopped right up into her chair - she wanted to have tea too!

Happy Day!

Sweet and Spicy Roasted Chickpeas

Husband is a huge hummus fan.  When we first got a Costco membership, I quickly realized we were making up for the membership fee in the money we were saving on hummus alone.  He's a huuuuuge fan.  Since hummus is such a big hit with him, I decided to give roasted chickpeas a try this week.

Since I'm not normally a huge fan of spicy things (I'm a huge wimp), I decided to make two kinds of roasted chickpeas - one set spicy, one set sweet.  Besides being a fantastic snack (they're low in fat and high in fiber), these are awesome because of how easy they are to make.  It's just a mix, stir, and roast recipe, and could easily be thrown in the oven after dinner comes out.

Ingredients

Spicy Chickpeas

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon cumin

1/2 tablespoon paprika

1/2 tablespoon hot Mexican-style chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

Large, 1 pound 13 ounce, can chickpeas (garbanzo beans) 

Sweet Roasted Chickpeas

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 teaspoons honey

Large, 1 pound 13 ounce, can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)

Directions

Strain and rinse chickpeas, then transfer to a large bowl.  Pour wet ingredients (olive oil and/or honey, depending on which you're making) over chickpeas and gently toss lightly.

Mix spices in a small dish to combine.  

Spice mix for "Spicy Chickpeas"

Cinnamon/Sugar Mix for the "Sweet Chickpeas"

Sprinkle dry ingredients over chickpeas and gently toss until they're evenly covered.

Spicy Chickpeas

Sweet Chickpeas

Cover cookie sheet (with sides) with foil, then spread chickpeas evenly.  Bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes, or until crispy and golden.  Toss chickpeas halfway through so they don't stick.

Enjoy!