Holy Station

Archive for the ‘Healthy Food’ Category

Fruit is a popular ingredient to use when making desserts because it is naturally sweet. It is also colorful, nutritious and you can eat it cooked or raw, making it a versatile ingredient.

There are many different ways to use fruit to make dessert recipes. You can serve a simple fruit platter, a fruit and cheese platter, fruit pies, fruit cobblers, fruit jello recipes and much more. You can use fresh fruit, frozen fruit, or canned fruit.

Healthy Recipes with Fruit

Fruit contains natural sugar but is very nutritious and a great source of energy too. If you want low calorie recipes or low fat recipes using fruit, what about making some sugar free jello and adding fruit slices before the jello sets?

If you are using canned fruit, you might want to rinse the sugar syrup off it before using it in a fruit recipe. Frozen berries and other frozen fruit should be defrosted before you use it, unless the recipe says otherwise, because it is covered in ice crystals and will be very watery when it thaws, diluting your dessert perhaps too much.

Unusual Fruit Recipes

Nearly everyone has enjoyed a fruit platter or a fruit jello recipe but have you ever tried deep fried ice cream with blackberry coulis or a fruit pizza recipe? Recipes like these bring the fun factor back into cooking with fruit.

Wrap a cube of vanilla ice cream in a thin pancake and deep fry it, then serve it with a blackberry coulis for a delicious gourmet dessert.

Alternatively, what about topping a pizza crust with chocolate sauce, marshmallows, and slices of your favorite fruit? This delicious dessert combines indulgence with nutrition for a guilt-free dessert experience and you do not even have to bake it.

Easy Baked Pear and Pecan Pie

The following recipe is simple to prepare and serves six to eight people. Pears go wonderfully with spices like cinnamon and nutmeg and the pecans add a wonderful crunch. If you have apples to use up instead of pears, use those instead.

You will need:

2 1/2 cups peeled fresh pear slices 1 cup all purpose flour 1 cup plus 1 teaspoon white sugar 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice 1/2 cup chopped pecans 1 lightly beaten egg 3/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon melted butter
How to make it:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch pie pan with 1 teaspoon of butter and arrange the pear slices in the pan. Dust them with 1 teaspoon of sugar, the cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. Mix the rest of the sugar with the rest of the butter in a medium bowl. Add the flour, egg, pecans, and salt and spread this mixture over the pears. Bake for an hour or until the pie is golden brown on top. Serve hot or chilled in slices, with cream or ice cream.

Carrots are a great way to get into juicing…. they are a great staple for any juice recipe. They provide a good base to mix in and experiment with other vegetables. They are not too sweet and not too bitter. Here are a few carrot juice recipes to get you started . When you prepare the ingredients keep the skin on (if using organic produce) and benefit from the nutrients just under the surface of the skin.

Carrot-Ginger-Apple

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 inch piece of ginger

1 apple

4 carrots

Cut the ginger leave the skin on. Core the apples. Slice off the tips of the carrots and put through juice extractor.

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Carrot-Apple-Beet

INGREDIENTS:

1 apple

4 to 6 carrots

Think spinach and the cartoon Popeye comes to mind. It is not so much of a mystery why the creators have decided to create this character. It is the only way to convince kids to eat their spinach. High in iron and vitamins, the spinach has a slightly bitter taste that needs a little getting used to. But with the following preparations, even most discriminating kids will come in for seconds.

24-HOUR SPINACH SALAD RECIPE

Ingredients:

1 pound Fresh Spinach — torn in pieces

1 pound Bacon — chopped

1 Head Lettuce — torn in pieces

1 medium red onion — diced

6 Eggs, Hard-Boiled — cut in wedges

3/4 cup Mayonnaise

3/4 cup Miracle Whip

8 ounces Swiss cheese

Directions:

This is a layered salad, don’t mix until serving time.

Place prepared spinach in bottom of large bowl, sprinkle with salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Add prepared bacon, do not mix. Add onion and prepared lettuce, add the eggs.

Mix both mayonnaise and Miracle Whip and pour over eggs, cut up the Swiss cheese and place over mayonnaise. Cover and let the salad set for 24 hours. Mix and stir just before serving.

WILTED SPINACH SALAD WITH WARM DRESSING RECIPE

Ingredients:

2 heads spinach; torn

1 small can mandarin oranges; drained

1 avocado; sliced

Dressing

2 teaspoons sugar

2 green onions; sliced

4 slices bacon; chopped

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons water

Directions:

Tear spinach into bowl; season with salt and pepper. Fry bacon crisp; add vinegar, water, sugar and onion; heat to boiling. Pour over spinach. Toss until wilted. Add mandarin oranges and avocado.

SPINACH FLAMBE RECIPE

Ingredients:

6 bunches spinach — washed and dried

6 hard-boiled eggs — sliced

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

12 strips bacon, crisply fried — chopped

3/4 cup bacon drippings

1/2 cup malt vinegar

1/4 cup lemon juice

4 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 ounce brandy (100 proof)

Directions:

Tear spinach into bite-sized pieces and place in large salad bowl. Add egg slices, salt and pepper.

Mix remaining ingredients except brandy in small saucepan and heat until very hot. Heat brandy briefly, add to saucepan and ignite. Pour flaming dressing over spinach and toss gently but thoroughly. Serve on warm salad plates.

SHRIMP AND GRAPEFRUIT SPINACH SALAD RECIPE

Ingredients:

3 pink grapefruit

3 tablespoons wine vinegar

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 1/2 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 1/2 pound spinach, stems trimmed and leaves washed well

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

Directions:

With a sharp knife, peel the grapefruit, removing all the bitter white pith. Slice about 3/8 inch thick. In a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mustard, and 1/8 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Drizzle in 1/2 cup of the oil, whisking to combine. Season the shrimp with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add the shrimp, and cook, turning once, until pink, about 3 minutes per side. Add the grapefruit, cooked shrimp, spinach, and onion to the vinaigrette in the large bowl. Toss well.

Would you say there are 10,000 different chicken soup recipes out there?

Since making a commitment to eating healthier using the Weight Watchers program I have been looking for ways to incorporate more vegetables, fruit and fiber into my diet, and one of my favorite ways is with healthy smoothie recipes. Smoothies take just minutes to prepare if you have the ingredients on hand and are a healthy, high fiber snack that curbs my craving for something sweet (such as when I am craving a bowl of ice cream in the evening).

A simple fruit and soy milk smoothie is a great low calorie snack that fits well with the Weight Watchers program. If I am having a smoothie in place of a meal such as breakfast or lunch I like to eat a serving of raw almonds along with it or sometimes I will blend a scoop of whey protein powder into the smoothie. Whey protein powder is not only great for weight loss but it will help keep you satisfied until your next meal or snack. You can find whey protein powder in many supermarkets and drug stores near the weight loss or nutritional products.

Blenders are fine for making smoothies but I prefer using a personal size smoothie maker. That way I don’t have to pull out my large blender. There are several different personal size smoothie makers on the market that often comes with one base and two smoothie cups. Those are especially nice because you always have one handy in case the other one is in the dishwasher.

Some recipes call for adding ice to your smoothie but you wont need ice if you keep some frozen strawberries and blueberries on hand in the freezer. For bananas be sure to slice them first before freezing in freezer safe containers.

Both of these healthy smoothie recipes make one serving and come in under 200 calories. Calories are approximate depending on what type of milk you use. If adding whey protein it will bring the calories to approximately 270 calories depending on which brand you use (adding whey protein will bring the smoothie recipe up to about 5 Weight Watchers points which is a good low point lunch).

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

1 cup frozen strawberries
1/2 frozen banana, cut into pieces
1 cup nonfat milk, soy or almond milk
1 teaspoon honey (optional)
1 scoop whey protein (optional)
Combine ingredients in blender or magic bullet and blend until smooth.

Serves 1

Blueberry Banana Smoothie

1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 frozen banana cut into pieces
1 nonfat milk, soy or almond milk
1 teaspoon honey (optional)
1 scoop whey protein (optional)
Combine ingredients in blender or smoothie maker and blend until smooth.

Serves 1

Today’s parents know that kids need a nutritional lunch, even at school. But what exactly to put in-and how much of it-can seem confusing. “Healthy meals in general should focus on fruits, vegetables and grains,” says Mary Ellen Renna, MD, a pediatrician and author of Growing Up Healthy the Next Generation Way.

When packing a lunch box, include:

6 ounces of grains. Choose as many whole grains as possible, since they contain fiber and vitamins that refined grains lack. Look for whole grain breads, tortillas, pastas and cereals. 2