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Reap the Health Benefits of Flax Seeds With These Recipes

February 18, 2016 by

Flax seeds are some of the healthiest foods on earth due to their high levels of omega-3 fatty acids and other beneficial nutrients, and luckily, it’s very easy to incorporate them into many of your favorite foods. Here are just a few great recipes that will help you to reap the health benefits of flax seeds!

Oatmeal Cranberry Lemon Cookies [Bob’s Red Mill]
This unique recipe offers the best of both worlds: the sweet, chewy taste of cookies and the bodily benefits of a health food. These cookies are also gluten-free, vegan, and low in calories, making them great for all kinds of diets.

Kale and Banana Smoothie [All Recipes]
Fuel up in the morning or after a workout with this quick and easy recipe that not only uses flax seeds, it’s also packed with fruits and vegetables. Simply blend kale, bananas, and soy milk with one tablespoon of flax seeds for a drinkable snack on the go.

Banana-Flax Breakfast Muffins [Vegetarian Times]
Keep these flax-filled muffins on hand throughout the week for a quick breakfast that you can eat on your morning commute. The combination of bran and flax is great for digestive health, while four whole bananas offer a boost of potassium.

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Fresh Rosemary Steals the Show in These Mouthwatering Recipes

January 21, 2016 by

Though rosemary is just a simple herb, it often becomes the major flavor in the dishes that it seasons. If you love the taste of pine-like rosemary and want to find more recipes that incorporate it, things like salts, meats, and vegetables are all perfect pairings. Check out these recipes that really let the rosemary shine!

Rosemary Chicken with Zucchini [Real Simple]
Chicken is one of the very best foods to season with fresh rosemary. This recipe creates a fast and easy dinner in just one simple step because it involves seasoning the vegetables, chicken, and potatoes beforehand and freezing them for up to three months until you're ready to cook.

Rosemary Sea Salt [Martha Stewart]
Martha Stewart’s rosemary sea salt enables you to sprinkle fresh rosemary onto just about any dish that needs a boost of flavor. All it takes is one box of kosher salt and two bunches of fresh rosemary to create a long-lasting supply of this savory seasoning.

Rosemary Roasted Potatoes [Food Network]
When it comes to herbs, why mess with a recipe that works? These roasted potatoes are one of the most commonly used rosemary recipes, but that’s because it just takes so perfect. Simply toss some small red potatoes in olive oil, salt, rosemary, and a few other common seasonings to create a versatile side dish that’s great with any meal.

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Healthy Rice and Potato Dishes That Won’t Weigh You Down

August 20, 2015 by

Starches and whole grains are important for feeling energized, but if eaten in excess, they can make you feel heavy or weighed-down. These delicious and nutritious recipes from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute incorporate rice and potatoes into your diet in a way that benefits your body and provides proper portion sizes.

Delicious Oven French Fries
Though fast food French fries are anything but healthy, this oven-baked alternative provides the same classic taste without the added fat and salt.

Wonderful Stuffed Potatoes
By stuffing a baked potato with low fat milk and cottage cheese instead of the usual sour cream, you can save calories and still get the same savory taste.

Candied Yams
The holiday favorite gets a healthy makeover in this fast and easy recipe, with sweet brown sugar and tangy orange juice for a boost of added flavor.

Scallion Rice
The addition of green onions and bullion gives this simple, low-calorie rice dish a little something extra, and makes it perfect for eating with a variety of meats, vegetables or stir-fries.

Sunshine Rice
Perfect for pairing with grilled chicken or for eating on its own, this rice recipe contains unique ingredients like hot sauce, almonds, and lemon juice for a distinctly flavorful taste.

For more healthy rice and potato dishes, visit the NIH website by clicking here.

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Allergic to Dairy? Watch Out for These Surprising Sources of Lactose!

July 9, 2015 by

If you’re lactose intolerant or a strict vegan, you likely already avoid food products with lactose in them. This is a fairly simple way to cut lactose out of your diet, but did you know that there are quite a few other products that contain hidden lactose in their ingredient lists? Here are three surprising sources of lactose.

  1. Medications. It may seem hard to believe, but your prescription medication or that over-the-counter pain reliever may contain lactose. The most common culprits are birth control pills, quick-dissolve Vitamin D tablets, and digestion remedies, but there are often others on the list as well. Because many brands use the sugar as a filler or base, it’s a common ingredient in many medications that come in pill form.
  2. Grain mixes. Pre-packaged items like waffles, cookies, potato chips, and granola bars may contain lactose in the same what that medications do. The lactose sugar is used as a filler that helps the rest of the ingredients to stick together, and even if you purchase a boxed mix that you bake yourself, it’s often difficult to avoid the lactose.
  3. Processed meats. It may seem strange that meat products would contain lactose, but it’s often found in processed types like hot dogs, sausages, and lunchmeat-style cold cuts. To avoid the lactose, purchase kosher or an openly lactose-free brand instead.

8 Surprising Sources of Lactose [Best Health]
Lactose Intolerance [NIDDK]
Learn to Detect “Hidden” Lactose [Cornell Women’s Health]
Hidden Sources of Lactose [Lactose Ninja]
What is “Hidden” Lactose? [Lactaid]

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Want to Cut Calories in Your Favorite Baked Goods? Try These Oil Substitutes!

March 5, 2015 by

Replacing the oil in a recipe is a simple way to make your baked goods a bit healthier, but choosing the right oil substitute and the correct amount can be complicated. Here are a few of the best foods to substitute for oil in your cakes, cookies, and breads.

  1. Fruit purees. Fruit purees like canned pumpkin, applesauce, and bananas are sweet and tasty substitutes for fattening oil. They impart the same moist texture to your baked goods, and they have a light, flavorful taste. Most chefs recommend using between 3/4 cup and one cup of any puree for every cup of oil.
  2. Yogurt. Plain yogurt also makes a healthy oil substitute. Simply replace half of the oil with 3/4 of the amount of yogurt in order to cut fat and add a creamy texture to any dish. You can also use low-fat or fat-free yogurts to make it even healthier.
  3. Buttermilk. Replacing the oil in a recipe with buttermilk is an easy way to maintain the moisture while also cutting calories. Simply replace every cup of oil with 3/4 cup of buttermilk mixed with 1/4 cup of butter or margarine and prepare the rest of the recipe in the usual way.

Common Ingredient Substitutions [AllRecipes]
What Can You Substitute for Oil While Baking a Cake? [Livestrong]
Healthy Substitutes for Oil [FitDay]

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Three High-Potassium Foods Beyond the Banana

February 19, 2015 by

Potassium has many important health benefits beyond preventing muscle cramps after a workout. This essential mineral helps prevent hypertension and fatigue, and it also regulates your heart rate. Here are three foods that are high in potassium for you to add to your diet:

  1. White beans. Cook up one cup of these beans to get 29 percent of your daily value of potassium. Add them to your soups or make hummus for a healthful boost.
  2. Avocado. Here’s a good excuse to go in for seconds on the guacamole: 1/2 cup of pureed avocado contains 16 percent of your daily value of potassium.
  3. Mushrooms. Add them to stir-fry or saute them alone; mushrooms pack in the potassium in small doses. One cup of sliced white mushrooms gives you 12 percent of your daily value.

Top 10 Foods Highest in Potassium [Healthaliciousness]
15 Foods That Are High In Potassium [Health.com]
Food with More Potassium than a Banana [Huffington Post]
Potassium and Your CKD Diet [National Kidney Foundation]

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Today’s Imponderable: Why Does Popcorn Pop?

December 4, 2014 by

Popcorn is a tasty snack to make while having a movie night at home, and its noisy popping sounds make it especially fun for the little ones. By now you’re probably used to the popping noise of popcorn, but have you ever wondered how this happens? What is it that makes popcorn pop, while corn on the cob simply cooks?

On the inside, popcorn kernels are filled with oil, water, and starch, and the outside is covered with a protective shell. Heating popcorn—say, in the microwave—causes the liquids inside to expand into steam. Because the hard outer coating leaves nowhere for the steam to go, it simply gets hotter and hotter inside of the kernel until it eventually reaches 365 degrees, which is hot enough to burst through the shell! The action of the starch and oil expanding so quickly and with so much heat transforms the mixture into the familiar foam-like puff that we eat as popcorn.

The next time you make a bag of popcorn at home, examine the kernels and think of the science behind your favorite movie snack!

What Makes Popcorn Pop? [Popcorn.org]
Why Does Popcorn Pop? [Tell Me Why Facts]
Why Does Popcorn Pop? [Mental Floss]
How Popcorn Pops [About.com]

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Sate Your Craving for Chocolate With These Molten Lava Cake Recipes

October 16, 2014 by

Molten lava cakes are the ideal dessert for a dinner party or other social gathering because their individual sizes give each person a little cake of their own to enjoy. When you cut into these warm, moist desserts an explosion of hot chocolate sauce spills out, which gives the cakes their fun name. If your mouth is already watering, try one of these molten lava cake recipes for dinner tonight.

Molten Chocolate Cakes [Food and Wine]
Food and Wine’s gourmet spin on the dessert classic brings an air of sophistication to the usual molten lava cake. Bittersweet chocolate and unsalted butter provide a rich, complex taste, and the thick chocolate inside is just the icing – or, rather, the lava – on the cake.

Molten Chocolate Cake [Pioneer Woman]
This recipe from the Pioneer Woman is just as indulgent as her other recipes, and the addition of an extra egg yolk ensures that the inside is even more runny than most lava cakes. Serve them with homemade whipped cream for an extra special treat.

Red Velvet Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes [Halfbaked Harvest]
This recipe not only uses a red velvet cake exterior, but a chocolate ganache center as well. If that doesn’t already sound decadent enough, a coconut whipped cream topping should do the trick.

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Think Beyond the Bouquet With These Lavender-Centric Recipes

August 21, 2014 by

Though lavender is a flower, it’s also a deliciously fragrant herb that can be used to add flavor to many sweet and savory dishes. By simply cooking or garnishing with this beautiful flower, you can transform the taste of an entire dish. If you haven’t yet explored the culinary wonders of lavender, these two simple recipes will give you a bit of inspiration.

Lavender Shortbread [Food Network]
Shortbread is known for its rich, crumbly texture and buttery flavor, which makes it a perfect companion for the floral notes of lavender. This recipe uses only six simple ingredients and takes just 50 minutes to make, but after it’s complete your whole home will be filled with the sweet, delicious scent. Simply knead the ingredients together, adding dried or fresh lavender flowers, and bake in the oven until each bar reaches the perfect golden brown.

Pepita and Lavender Brittle [Martha Stewart]
Most brittle candies have a rich, caramel texture, but this particular brittle is uniquely earthy and fragrant. The recipe uses Martha Stewart’s basic brittle recipe to create a crunchy base, while the pepitas, or green hulled pumpkin seeds, offer even more texture. To top it off, dried lavender cooked throughout adds a floral flavor that only the small purple flower can provide.

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USDA Guide to Calorie Counting

July 24, 2014 by

Counting calories is a daily chore that all dieters must face, and it may sometimes seem like it is taking over your life (or at least your meals). These helpful tips from the USDA can help you to manage your meals, keep your calories under control, and do it all while still enjoying the food you eat. Here are some of the tips:

  • Even if you carefully count calories, it's easy to exceed your empty calorie allowance. Empty calories are calories that come from added sugars and solid fats, and they have no health benefits.
  • When choosing proteins, choose only lean versions of beef or pork. A three-ounce portion of regular ground beef contains 64 empty calories, while a three-ounce portion of extra lean ground beef contains zero empty calories.
  • Breads and pastries with added sugar or butter contain significantly more empty calories than those without. A regular piece of white bread contains zero empty calories and approximately 69 calories, but a glazed donut contains 170 empty calories out of its total 255 calories.
  • Check the calories on the label before you consume any food, and make sure to eat only the recommended serving size listed on the label.

Find more calorie counting tips on the USDA website.

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