I never really knew what to do with these little guys until I started making these poppers a few years ago. Now- I am super excited when I get these peppers in my Spiral Path Farm veggie box.
Have you seen these little peppers in the grocery store or at your local farmer's market? They usually come in orange, yellow, or red. The peppers are about the size of a large jalapeno, but they are sweet like bell peppers. I never really knew what to do with these little guys until I started making these poppers a few years ago. Now- I am super excited when I get these peppers in my Spiral Path Farm veggie box. I have always liked poppers, but sometimes the traditional jalapeno poppers are a bit too spicy for me. So I got the idea to use these sweet peppers, and then add pepper jack cheese for just a little spice. Perfect! Plus, by making these appetizers at home you really cut down on calories and fat since they are baked in the oven.
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We all have our weaknesses when it comes to healthy eating. It could be a love for french fries, a soda addiction, or in my case- sugar. I have read countless articles like this one from WebMD that talk about the negative effects of sugar on your health- weight gain and a higher risk for heart disease among others. One of the sugar hurdles I worked for months to overcome was switching from flavored to plain Greek yogurt. In March of 2012, I was at my sister Rachel's house when she served me plain Greek yogurt with frozen fruit and granola. I couldn't do it- it was too sour tasting and not palatable for me. I made it a goal to slowly wean myself off the sweetened yogurt, and I'm proud to say that I have been eating plain for a few months now! My favorite flavor of yogurt was Chobani Low Fat Pineapple, it has a whopping 18 grams of sugar- no wonder it's so delicious! The nonfat plain yogurt only has 7 grams of sugar. I wanted to share Rachel's yogurt method since it helped me, maybe it can help you make the switch to plain yogurt too. First, gather your ingredients: your favorite bag of frozen fruit, and a container of plain Greek yogurt. Pour your desired amount of fruit into a dish to defrost. If I'm at home, I let the dish sit out on the counter for about 30 minutes to defrost. If I'm talking my yogurt to work, I put the fruit in a small plastic container and it defrosts in the fridge for about 3 or 4 hours. When the fruit thaws it develops a bit of juice- this is the trick to flavorful yogurt. When you're ready to eat add the fruit and juice to your yogurt container. Stir everything together! If you are just starting the switch to plain yogurt, also sweeten with a bit of honey. Every time you eat your yogurt, try using a little less honey until eventually you can eliminate it altogether. For an extra special treat, top your yogurt & fruit mixture with something crunchy. My favorite toppers are either Easy Granola or Cocoa Roasted Almonds.
You'll see when I posted the Easy Granola recipe back in November I was still eating the flavored yogurt. Now, I really enjoy the tangy flavor of the plain. And since I use fruit and a topper with a {tiny} bit of sugar, it is still a satisfying snack for this sweet loving girl. Oh, Whole Foods, how I wish we had one of you in Harrisburg. Until then, I can stalk your website recipes. My stalking paid off when I stumbled upon this date bar recipe. Each week I typically make my Workweek Granola Bars, but a girl occasionally needs some variety. These bars were a great change of pace. I followed the Whole Foods Oat-Date Bar Recipe almost to the letter, but I (of course) had to add dark chocolate chips. I cut my batch into 8 bars. These bars were a bit more complicated than my regular granola bars since they involved some blending, so I don't see myself making these every week. If you are new to the homemade granola bar thing: welcome, you won't be sorry. Here are my other favorite bar recipes to get you started:
Workweek Granola Bars Rachel's Pumpkin Snack Bars I never thought to make my own cocoa roasted almonds until my sister, Rachel, asked me why I was still buying the prepared kind from the grocery store with all the weirdo ingredients. Hmm, make my own? Rachel got her cocoa roasted almond recipe from the blogger Clean Eating Chelsey, so I based my almonds on her recipe too. I eat these almonds as a snack, mix them with my daily yogurt, or even put them on ice cream.
Ingredients: 1 cup raw almonds 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1 teaspoon water 2 tablespoons Hershey's dark cocoa powder 1 tablespoon whole wheat flour Combine brown sugar & water to form a "syrup." Stir almonds in the syrup until coated, then add the cocoa powder & flour and toss until coated. Spread almonds onto a non-stick foil lined baking sheet and roast for 25 minutes at 275 degrees, stirring 2 or 3 times. Pumpkin Bars are a go-to snack for my sister, Rachel. They are so good, I knew that I wanted to share them on here, so I asked her to do this guest post. My mom and I both ate a bunch of these pumpkin bars when we were at Rachel's over the thanksgiving holiday. Enjoy!
A few weeks ago, I wanted to make ranch dip so I went to the grocery store planning on buying the packet of Hidden Valley Dressing mix. I picked up the packet, looked at the ingredient list, & saw the first ingredient was "malodextrin." What even is that? Ugh.
Change of plans: I decided to search the internet to find an easy dip recipe, and found the Pioneer Woman's delicious Homemade Ranch Dressing recipe. Such a better choice. She has a lot of optional ingredients listed, so here the combo I used: Ingredients: 1 clove garlic 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley 2 hearty tablespoons chives 1 cup Canola Oil Mayo 1/2 cup light sour cream a few dashes worcestershire sauce 1/2 tsp paprika black pepper to taste Chop your garlic clove, then mix with salt & mash with your knife until it gets paste-like (see the original recipe for a tutorial of this process). Finely chop herbs, then mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Chill for several hours before serving. Good with chips, veggies, or other favorite dippers. Got this smoothie idea from my sister, Rachel. The key is using coconut milk instead of regular milk- I bought SO Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk out of the refrigerator case.
Ingredients (for one): 1 frozen banana 1/2 cup frozen pineapple chunks 1 cup coconut milk 1 scoop vanilla protein powder 1 tsp honey Blend is a strong blender until smooth & creamy. Mmm, smoothie. How could something that tastes like a milkshake not be good? I usually have one for dinner on Wednesday before yoga.
Ingredients: 1 frozen banana 1/2 cup frozen raspberries 1 cup 2% milk 1 scoop vanilla protein powder Blend in a strong blender until smooth. I eat a greek yogurt every day, and really like adding something sweet & crunchy. I used to buy Kashi GoLean Berry Crumble cereal for my yogurt, which was an easy lower calorie option. Even though Kashi uses natural ingredients, there are still a LOT of ingredients listed on the side of the box.
Last spring when I was visiting my sister Rachel, she had homemade granola available for us to eat with our yogurt. I figured that I should be making my own too, and have experimented to come up with this simple recipe- only 8 ingredients! Pictured here with a Chobani Pineapple yogurt. Easy Granola: 2 cups rolled oats 1 t vanilla 1 cup sliced almonds 1 t cinnamon 2 T brown sugar 1/2 t salt 2 T canola oil 2 T honey Combine all ingredients in a bowl, toss until almonds & oatmeal are coated. Spread mixture out onto a baking sheet lined with non-stick foil. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 40 minutes, stirring about every 10 minutes. Once cool, store in a ziplock bag or tupperware container. This recipe usually lasts me 2 weeks or more. Every Sunday I have been making a batch of granola bars. Up until about two months ago I was buying about 2 boxes of granola bars a week for my husband and I to take in workweek lunches, and I got to thinking that there had to be a better way. I knew it was possible to make granola bars at home- my friend Tracy makes these big, hearty bars that are so good.
I went on the hunt for a really simple recipe that was doable for me to make every week, and I found one here. This recipe is a keeper because it calls for walnuts & chocolate chips, but it's so easy to do substitutes to create a different type of bar each week. I always use dark chocolate chips, but instead of walnuts I have tried dried cranberries, dried cherries, or almonds. I am sure any dried fruit or nut would be good. I am positive this is healthier- no artificial ingredients or preservatives. I still haven't figured out if this is saving me money or not- these can't cost more than $5 a week, right? |