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Food Review: Celebration Roast

FitSugar — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:00:00 -0800

Surrounded by vegetarians and vegans, the arrival of the holidays always leaves me a little perplexed as to what's best to serve them during a festive meal. I don't want to slight them by giving them a bunch of side dishes, but I am not a fan of Tofurky and Now and Zen's Unturkey. My vegetarian and vegan guests will have the pleasure of eating a Celebration Roast this Thanksgiving. It's a meatless alternative to turkey that omnivores have been known to gobble up.

To hear how it tasted, read more.

Made by the Field Roast Grain Meat Co., the Celebration Roast looks a little like a ham or pork roast because of the appearance of darker outer skin with lighter "meat" on the inside. The "meat" of the roast is made entirely of grain that's been mixed with spices, herbs, lemon, and lentils. The center of the roast is stuffed with a delicious "sausage style stuffing" made up of apples, butternut squash, and mushrooms. As for the sausage flavor you can choose from Lentil Sage or Sundried Tomato, I opted for Lentil Sage. I love that each roast is made by hand, which shows when you are shopping for them - they all look just a tiny bit different.

The roasts come fully cooked and just need to be heated for about 15 minutes in the oven. It has a nice texture that isn't slimy or rubbery like some fake meats, and all the seasonings give it a nice savory flavor. I think the reason the Celebration Roast tastes so good is because it's not aspiring to be something it's not. Instead of trying to be a synthetic meat, the natural flavors and texture of the grains and seasonings are showcased. I'm pretty certain I'll be munching on this in addition to the turkey on Thanksgiving. An added plus is that it tastes good cold and will make a really good sandwich for the day after.

The Celebration Roast comes in two sizes, 1 or 2 pounds ($8 and $16, respectively) and is carried nationwide by Whole Foods. A 4-ounce serving contains 280 calories, 10 grams of fat, 6 grams of fiber, 5 grams of sugar, and 31 grams of protein.

If any of you decide to try the Celebration Roast this holiday season please let me know what you think!

Delilicious: Leaf Us Alone Brussels Sprouts

LilSugar — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:30:18 -0800

Your little sprout can help you bake up this healthy side dish for your holiday meal. Chef Lisa Barnes claims, "Although they are one of my favorites, I realize Brussels sprouts are not welcome by many. I think they get a bad rap because they are usually boiled, bland, and still rock hard in the center. Peeling the leaves and discarding the center core makes for an entirely different taste and texture. And yes, you and your kids may even have a new green favorite. Note this takes time and patience, but little hands make great peelers."

For the delicious and kid friendly recipe, just read more.

Leaf Us Alone Brussels Sprouts
From Petit Appetit: Eat Drink and Be Merry

Ingredients

1 pound Brussels sprouts
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a jelly roll pan with aluminum foil.

Cut off bottom stem or core of each sprout. Carefully peel away the leaves until it becomes too hard to peel. Cut off bottom core again and peel more layers. Continue cutting and peeling until it is too difficult to peel apart.

Place leaves in a large mixing bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice and stir until all leaves are coated. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and stir again.

Spread leaves onto prepared baking pan in a single layer. Roast for 10 to 12 minutes, until leaves are cooked and start to crisp with golden edges.

The author, Lisa Barnes, says, "I brought these to the table to peel while my children were having a snack. It must have looked interesting as both my four year old and 18 month old starting peeling, too. I told them they were Brussels Buddies. My son just kept telling his dad 'We’re only eating the skins.' ”

*Makes 6 servings

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Tired From Tryptophan?

FitSugar — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:00:57 -0800

When you hear the word tryptophan, you probably think of turkey and sleepiness. What you may not know is that tryptophan is one of the 10 essential amino acids our bodies need in order to synthesize protein. It helps produces messengers that communicate with our nervous system, and yes, it's also related to relaxation, restfulness, and sleep. Turkey isn't the only source of tryptophan, though, so take this quiz to learn about this amino acid and what other foods contain it.

Take the quiz

Healthy Carrot Soufflé

FitSugar — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:50:12 -0800

When my sister moved to Georgia a few years ago, I had the chance to spend Thanksgiving with her. Amongst all the dishes on the table was a Southern staple that I thought about for months after coming home - brown sugar and maple glazed carrots. I wanted to make this dish at my own Thanksgiving dinner this year, but was shocked to find out how much sugar and butter the recipe calls for. I decided to try and make my own healthy alternative to the dish and I think you'll be happy with the results.

There's barely any butter in my version and the dish has much, much less sugar. I also decided to make it into a souffle (I'm using the term loosely here!) to cut back on oil and give it a creamier taste and texture. This would be a great side dish for your Thanksgiving meal and it's an awesome replacement for a candied yam dish - carrots have fewer calories than yams and are exploding with vitamin A. Chances are your guests won't even know the difference!

Check out the recipe when you read more.

Healthy Carrot Soufflé
original recipe

Ingredients

2 1/2 pounds of peeled, cut carrots
1/3 cup of plain lowfat yogurt
2 eggs and 1 egg white, beaten
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
Pinch of salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Steam carrots until tender, about 20 - 25 minutes.
Place carrots in a food processor or blender and mix until smooth.
Combine yogurt, eggs, butter, maple syrup, and vanilla extract into the carrots.
Pulse in flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt to the mixture.
Transfer mixture to a 2-quart baking dish that has been lightly coated with cooking spray or butter.
Bake in oven for 45 minutes or until set and firm.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

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Snack Attack: Nutty Craisin Cottage Cheese

FitSugar — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

If you're looking for a snack that'll fill you up, give you energy, and also satisfy your need for something creamy, crunchy, or sweet, then have I got the snack for you. It's made with only three ingredients, so it's super simple to whip up, and has become my new favorite afternoon snack.

To learn how this snack is made and find out how many calories and grams of protein it contains keep reading

Learn to Love: Persimmons

FitSugar — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:00:01 -0800

Now that berry season is long gone, I'm expanding my breakfast fruit horizons. Celebrate the cold weather with pomegranate seeds in your oatmeal, or slice pears or persimmons and serve them with nut butter on toast or whole-grain waffles.

You probably know how to pick and slice a pear, but persimmons have a steeper learning curve. They're worth learning to love, so read more.

Persimmons come in two varieties: hachiya, which are orange-red and shaped like acorns, and fuyu, which sort of look like yellow-orange tomatoes. The hachiyas are bitter and astringent when they're not ripe, but when ripened, they have a soft, jelly-like texture. Fuyu persimmons are a bit firmer like a pear when ripe and can be sliced up like apples.

This fruit is an excellent source of antioxidants and chock-full of vitamins. One persimmon packs 55 percent of your daily allowance of Vitamin A and 21 percent of your recommended Vitamin C, plus six grams of fiber. In addition to having persimmon for breakfast or a snack, you can slice them up and serve them in a pretty Fall salad.

Have you tried persimmons? Tell me how you like to eat them in the comments.

Which Thanksgiving Food Is Worth the Calories?

FitSugar — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:30:08 -0800

Thanksgiving is almost here and you either have one of two attitudes - eat whatever you want because it's a holiday, or watch your calorie intake so you don't gain weight. If you don't want to cringe the next time you step on the scale, then you probably only want to splurge on the foods that are really worth it. So tell me . . .

Healthy T-Day Dessert: Pumpkin-Carrot Bars With Cream Cheese Frosting

FitSugar — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:30:05 -0800

Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and my love of all things pumpkin is hardly waning. From yogurt to muffins, I relish this tasty flavor of Fall. If you're looking for a pumpkin pie alternative, these pumpkin-carrot bars are delish. The bit of cream cheese frosting adds a deceptive element of decadence.

Low in calories while remaining full of flavor, these pumpkin bars make a great dessert - perfect for potlucks (much easier to share with large groups than pies) and they're relatively guilt-free. They're high in vitamin A - and trust me you cannot even taste the shredded carrot - and a bar only contains 70 calories and less than two grams of fat. With nutritional stats like that, it's OK to go back for seconds.

Check out the recipe when you read more.

Pumpkin-Carrot Bars With Cream Cheese Frosting
Modified from SparkPeople

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup Earth Balance (or other butter substitute)
2 eggs
2 large egg whites
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin pie filling
2/3 cup finely shredded carrot

Cream cheese topping:
4 ounces light cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon skim milk

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350° F. Spray a 15 x 10 jellyroll pan with cooking spray.
In small bowl, whisk flour, pumpkin spice, baking powder, and baking soda.
In larger bowl, use electric mixer to beat sugar, Earth Balance, and brown sugar until crumbly. Add eggs, egg whites, pumpkin pie filling, and carrots. Beat until well blended.
Add flour mixture and mix until well blended. Spread onto greased pan.
To prepare cream cheese topping: mix together cream cheese, sugar, and milk until thoroughly blended.
Drop teaspoon-fulls of topping over pumpkin batter and swirl and cut mixture into batter with a butter knife.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool in pan completely on wire rack before cutting into squares.

Makes 48 squares.

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Looking for more healthy recipes? Then check out the Healthy Recipe Group - the name pretty much says it all.

Don't Blow Your Healthy Habits at the Movies This Weekend

FitSugar — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:00:53 -0800

It's a big movie weekend, for sure. With New Moon finally out, I've already committed myself to spend an afternoon at the theater - the only complication is that I'm not so fond of the movie-theater fare. It's an admittedly challenging place to stick to healthy food choices, since there usually aren't any to begin with. Just in case you don't believe me, recent research is revealing just how unhealthy movie popcorn can be - and it's probably a lot worse than you think.

An article from WebMd highlights the Center for Science in the Public Interest's findings on the state of popcorn, which claims movie theater popcorn is just about as bad for you as "a pound of baby back ribs and a scoop of Haagen-Dazs ice cream or maybe two Big Macs" - and that's before you even add the butter. For the study, researchers sent samples of popcorn and toppings from three different movie theater chains and compared their findings to the chains' own nutritional information. What they found is likely to make you rethink how you view your movie treat.

The study's results show that the calorie count of movie theater popcorn ranges from just about 400 to 1,200 calories, and contains an alarming serving of saturated fat that's equivalent to three days worth of your daily recommended portion, and anywhere from 200 (in the smallest 6-cup size serving) to 1,500 milligrams of sodium. Additionally, the study revealed that both AMC and Regal theaters pop their popcorn in coconut oil, which has a saturated fat content of a whopping 90 percent. Cinemark theaters, which pops their popcorn in canola oil, earns the rep as the healthiest chain, with a significantly lower saturated fat content - ranging from 2 grams in the 420-calorie small size to 5 grams in the 910-calorie large popcorn bucket. But, keep in mind that popcorn is usually just a part of the order - add a soda or your choice of candy, and your order is easily nearing 1,700 calories.

To learn about healthier options at the movies read more.

To avoid a serious caloric overload on your movie outing, the solutions are simple. Opt to share a small, unbuttered popcorn, and request that it be popped without salt (according to the article, these chains will happily oblige), or knosh on something healthy before you head out. If you can, bring a small bag of almonds or a piece of fruit along. Be smart about your choices, and don't let one afternoon at the movies spoil your healthy habits. It's totally fine to indulge every now and then, but a 1,200-calorie serving of popcorn that packs more saturated fat than you need in three days is hardly a treat for your bod or health.

Thanksgiving Portion Primer

FitSugar — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:00:25 -0800

Few of us, if any, sit down to Thanksgiving dinner with a food scale in hand. Nevertheless, portion control on this day of feasting still matters. Using visual cues can certainly help keep your plate from turning into a pyramid of starch and fat.

Turkey: A serving of meat is three ounces and looks like a deck of cards.
Potatoes and stuffing: A typical serving size of a starch is 1/2 a cup. To keep from going overboard, visualize a tennis ball cut in half. Remember, carbs should only take up a quarter of your plate.
Veggies: A serving of veggies is similar to a rounded handful, but veggies should take up at least half of your plate. Load up on green beans, Brussels sprouts, and squash.
Salad: A cup of greens is considered a serving, so about the size of your hands cupped together.
Butter: A teaspoon of butter is about the size of the tip of your thumb.
Gravy: A tablespoon resembles the size of both a woman's thumbs.

Source: Flickr User walkering