Colorful Kale Salad

by sheilaobb | Feb 23, 2011 | Uncategorized

I decided to make this salad because it sounded really healthy — I didn’t expect it to taste so good! It also is a very pretty dish with a ton of color. Just because it’s not summer doesn’t mean you can’t make beautiful dishes with fresh ingredients. This is an awesome way to use fresh local winter produce and it would be a perfect dish to pass.

And I know I said this already, but it tastes amazing. My taste tester who is a self proclaimed vegetable hater loved it.

After his first bite he exclaimed,

“Whoa, what is that!?”

To which I replied,

“Good or bad?”

And he answered,

“Good, very good!”

And proceeded to eat 2 servings. (more…)

Lunch at Your Computer Could Make You Fat

by sheilaobb | Feb 22, 2011 | Uncategorized

What are you doing right now, while you’re reading this post? Hopefully nothing, hopefully I have your complete and undivided attention, but in reality that’s probably not the case. We live in an age of multitasking. We are rarely doing just one thing at a time — and one activity we multitask the most during is meal time. We watch TV during meals, we read the paper, we browse the internet or work at our computers, we play games, drive and talk on the phone while eating. The possibilities are endless.

Most of us have heard (or realized after the entire bag of potato chips is gone and we don’t know what happened) that eating in front of the TV causes us to eat more during that meal or snack. That is because you’re distracted and not paying attention to the signals your body is giving you and you aren’t giving your brain enough cues about what you’re eating.

But it turns out that eating a meal while distracted or multitasking can even make you over consume foods later in the day! (more…)

Mix-and-Match Chickpea Salad

by sheilaobb | Feb 18, 2011 | Uncategorized | 1 comment

I came home from the YMCA the other night, didn’t have anything planned for dinner and didn’t want to spend any time in the kitchen (I had been hoping that someone else would have prepared something in my absence, but that didn’t happen). I stood in front of the cupboards hoping for inspiration and came away with a can of chickpeas. The dish that evolved from that can is extremely versatile. It could be a main dish or a side dish — We ate it with some chicken sausage wraps that were topped with spinach and avocado — and it could include a wide array of different ingredients depending on what you have on hand at that time. Here’s is the recipe for what our salad included but you could go in a million different directions with it so feel free to mix-and-match. And share your winning combination with us! (more…)

oMMMMMmmmlete Muffins

by sheilaobb | Feb 16, 2011 | Uncategorized

Mmmmmm. Just so you’re warned before you being making these: they won’t last long and this recipe only makes 5 muffins, so a double batch might be a good idea. I actually decided to make these muffins on a morning I had to fast for some testing at the doctor’s office, which was a very bad decision. I was able to refrain from tasting them but it was painful.

I’m sharing this recipe with you for a couple reasons. They are SUPER easy and fast to make. They would make an excellent breakfast and are a great way to get in veggies and protein during your first meal. They would also make a great 2nd lunch. And they are delicious. So, here is the recipe.

1/3 cup cottage cheese (I used 2%)
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 tablespoons water
a couple good shakes of dried dill
1/3 cup chopped smoked salmon
1 tablespoon of almond meal/flour
a handful of fresh spinach, chopped
1 tablespoon grated parmesan (optional)

First, preheat your oven to 400. Here all all the ingredients you’ll need to mix together (except the water). Here I have some Bob’s Red Mill almond meal, which you can find at Whole Foods. We have almond flour available for purchase at the clinic for our clients.

I decided to add the spinach last minute.

So, you mix everything except the parmesan together in a small bowl.

And spoon the mixture into a lined muffin tray. When I make cookies or muffins, I really like to use an ice cream scoop to spoon the batter out; it works really well and cuts down on mess. Bake for 15-18 minutes.

On a side note, I love this brand of muffin liners (If You Care brand found at Whole Foods). They are naturally non-stick so you don’t need to grease them and you can use them without a muffin pan if you don’t have one. You just sit them on a baking tray and pop them in the oven.

While the muffins were baking I freshly grated a little bit of parmesan. This is optional…

When 15 minutes are up, take the muffins out, sprinkle a little parmesan on each and pat it down gently. Then stick them back in the oven for 5 more minutes.

The finished product! Yum!