Granola balls ...

I LOVE granola bars.  They usually combine a few of my favorite things: sugar, oats, sometimes chocolate, and fruit.  

Since so many processed foods, including granola bars, also have a lot of other junk in them as well I've been buying Lara bars and Odwalla bars.  Both of these bars and super tasty but also a bit pricey.  My simple solution is making my own granola bars, well I was inspired by the fit foodie finds blog and a recipe I found on the whole foods website for granola/power balls.  (the funny name helped too)

This week I made a small batch and here's the recipe that I used:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of almond butter (chunky)

1/8 cup honey

1 cup oats

1/8 cup coconut (shaved)

hand full of pecans

palm full of dark chocolate chunks (I know, my measuring is really precise)

Method:

Combine honey and almond butter in a sauce pan over medium heat until almond butter is melted with honey, remove from heat

Mix in oats and all the other goodies

you can mix the chocolate in here or you can wait for it to cool a bit depending on if you want it in chunks or mixed throughout.  I chose to have melted chocolate.  

Roll the mixture into about 1 inch balls (sort of like you do for peanut butter or snickerdoodle cookies) and let them cool on wax paper. 

My creation from this week, tastes very much like chocolate odwalla bars!  

Give them a try!  Add whatever dried fruit or nuts you like to the mixture to create a custom snack.  

Recipe challenge, Ethiopian curry ...

I have an amazing friend who allowed me to have her CSA (community supported agriculture) box while she was on vacation.  The CSA is a great way to change up eating since all you receive is what the farm is growing, in season.

Last week I got a head of cabbage, and I had no idea what to do with it.  The only thing I could initially think of was cole slaw, but I'm deathly adverse to mayo :(  After asking around I got the amazing suggestion from a co-worker to try ethiopian curry.  According to her it was really easy.  At first I was skeptical, thinking curries are for seasoned chefs that actually know what they are doing.  But, after looking at the recipe it looked easy enough, so I gave it a shot.

Here's the recipe that I got from a blog:

1/4 c olive oil
1 onion, sliced thin
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp chopped garlic
1 shredded head of cabbage, small
5 cubed potatoes

Method:
Heat olive oil on medium head, then add onions and cook for about 5 minutes.  Then add all the spices and the cabbage, cook for 5 minutes.  Add potatoes and cook covered for approximately 30 minutes on medium-low heat, or until the potatoes are soft.

Ethiopian curry

The original recipe called for carrots and you add the carrots when you add the onions in the oil.  I didn't have carrots so I left them out, and the recipe turned out amazing.  I got some naan from the market to compliment this dish.  The great thing is that this dish is hearty, delicious, and vegetarian.  An added bonus is the vibrant color of the turmeric in our white dish ware.  

Part-time Vegetarian. Vegging-out!

For about 7 1/2 years I was a vegetarian, and it was primarily because I was deathly afraid of food-born illnesses and bacteria.  I started eating meat again near the end of college, and I've recently been reconsidering this choice.  The last month or so I've taken the meatless Monday challenge a bit further and gone without meat during the week but eating meat on the weekends.  This time my reasons were more environmental and overall health focused.  I still get plenty of protein through hard-boiled eggs and beans, and I've been trying to buy organic veggies for my recipes to reduce the exposure to harmful pesticides used to grow conventional veggies.     

Whether it's meatless Monday, totally Vegged-out Tuesday, without meat Wednesday, or sans-meat Saturday  the single day vegetarian movement is growing faster then ever.  Why would you want to skip one day eating meat?  Well, 1 calorie of meat uses significantly more natural resources then 1 calorie of veggies/fruits.  

There are other important reasons as well, such as overall health.  There is a correlation with decreased overall health and high consumption of meat.  The decrease in overall health is caused by things such as obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, and cancer.  It's still not clear whether the meat is to blame or it's the lack of veggies since so much more of the American plate is taken up by protein.  Additionally, there is a correlation of those who eat a plant based diet and overall better health.  Vegetables and fruits are packed with nutrients and minerals.  

So, how do you get started?  Well, if you are currently a heavy meat eater, then try just one meal without meat.  You will get to try out tons of new recipes!  Once you can handle one meal, then try a whole day.  The meatless monday link above has some great recipes.  It's summer time and the best time to try new vegetables from the local farmer's market!

This is an investment in overall health and wellbeing that will payoff for not only you but also your family.  I'm looking forward to sharing healthy eating habits with my children just as my mother passed on to me.