Slashing calories at your game day celebration

Here in St. Louis we're gearing up for Game One of the World Series tonight! And since football season is already in full swing, not only do St. Louisans have their minds on the game, but so do other sports fans around the nation. Watching your favorite team just wouldn't be the same without the tailgating fun that surrounds it--but these celebrations typically include high-calorie, diet-blowing snacks. Never fear! You can enjoy the fun and fill your gaming crowds' bellies with some healthier game day options without blowing your diet plan. Build your menu from some of the following selections to include delicious, healthy ingredients while slashing calories (and don't worry--nobody will know!):

• White chicken chili with jalapeno cornbread
• Turkey sliders (mini burgers made with ground turkey breast)
• BBQ pork tenderloin sliders (cook the pork in a crockpot, then shred with a fork)
• Mini roast beef sandwiches served with spicy mustard and horseradish sauce
• Boneless wings (oven-baked chicken tenderloins: dip in low-fat buttermilk and roll in bread crumbs, then bake) served with choice of sauces and celery sticks
• Layered bean dip with baked tortilla chip "scoops"
• Veggie platter with low-fat salad dressing and hummus
• Tomato, basil, and marinated mozzarella bites on a toothpick
• Caramel apple bites (slice apples and drizzle with lemon juice to prevent browning, serve with caramel dip)
• Chocolate-dipped pretzel sticks and chocolate-covered raisins (easy to make by melting chocolate in the microwave on low)

Do you have other healthy game-day crowd-pleasers that you like to serve? Please share by posting a comment.

And oh yeah...GO CARDS!!

Dietitian’s Tips to Make Halloween a Treat (Not a Trick)

To me, Halloween marks the beginning of the fall holiday season. Although Halloween is supposed to be spooky, it doesn't mean you have to dread its effects on your health or weight management plan! Let’s face it – resisting Halloween candy is hard to do.  But you can have a guilt-free Halloween while enjoying a few treats as long as you have a few tricks up your sleeve!  In fact, if you allow yourself a treat here and there, you’re more likely to stick to your diet.  With a little knowledge and planning, you can still enjoy the fun (and some candy) while maintaining your health and weight management goals.

Remember that all desserts and sweets should be eaten in moderation.  Although it is okay to treat yourself sometimes, desserts are a source of empty calories and fat.  And they don’t provide many healthy nutrients.  Limit yourself to one serving of dessert or less per day and make sure to count it as part of your meal plan or calorie goals. Here are some of my tips for handling Halloween temptations:

• Purchase the candy you plan to give away only a couple days before Halloween so it's not in the house for long!
• Buy mini or fun-sized packages of candy only.
• Consider fun-sized, healthier options like chocolate teddy grahams, animal crackers or 100 calorie packs of cookies. Don't worry; I know kids don't want raisins and apples for Halloween...but these are snacks that kids like!
• Throw away (or give away) any candy that you or your kids don't particularly like.
• Out of sight, out of mind! Keep some candy in the pantry, on a shelf that you don't see as soon as you open the door.  Not in the candy bowl on the table!
• Consider this a teaching moment with your family. Certainly allow kids to have a few more pieces of candy than usual on the night of Halloween.  But in the days following, set some limits about how much candy is allowed. It’s never too early to teach kids about food and nutrition. Remember, if you don't need it, neither do the kids!
• Keep some candy, especially chocolate, in the freezer. It won't go bad as quickly and you'll have a little treat option for months to come.
• Increase your activity level if you plan to indulge a little more than usual.
• If you have a sweet tooth, don’t always reach for the candy jar! Instead try low-fat chocolate pudding, flavored yogurt, berries drizzled with honey or apple with peanut butter. These healthy “desserts” provide good nutrition too.

Happy Halloween! I know it's early, but we're planning ahead :)

Avocado Tomatillo Salsa

Once again, here’s a co-op driven recipe (I belong to a local co-op that delivers “surprise” baskets every other week). Seems as though the produce I received from my last two co-op pickups was just begging me to make Mexican! Included in my baskets were: tomatillos, cilantro, limes, avocados and tomatoes…so I thought, “how about a green salsa?” I created this recipe, which was friend-approved at our dinner get-together last night:

Ingredients:

• 2 large tomatillos, peeled, washed and cut into small cubes
• 1 small tomato, cut into small cubes
• 1-2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped (I used one and the product had just a little “kick”)
• 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 lime, rolled on the counter and sliced in half
• 1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• Kosher salt, dash
• Fresh ground pepper, dash
• 1-2 avocados, removed from peel and cut into small cubes (when ready to serve)

Instructions:
Add all ingredients, except lime and avocados, in a small bowl. Squeeze both halves of the lime over mixture. Mash with potato masher until about 1/3 of the ingredients are left in cubes and some juice has formed in the bottom of the bowl. Stir and refrigerate for 1-2 hours to let the flavors marry. When ready to serve, gently fold avocado into salsa mixture. Serve as an appetizer with baked tortilla chips.

The tomatillos add a unique, light tartness to this salsa and the avocados cool it down. Refreshing! This is a super easy-to-make recipe that's, of course, also super healthy. It’s lower in sodium than canned salsas and the avocados are rich in healthy unsaturated fats. Again, the co-op has nudged me to be a little more creative…I would be unlikely to purchase tomatillos on my own, but now I’ve created a new recipe that I’ll make again in the future!

If you have leftovers, remember you can always use them! I’m going to use my leftovers this week to top a grilled ahi tuna steak. I love it when I can enjoy my recipes twice in different ways and save myself some energy in cooking later in the week.

Fresh From the Garden: Hearty vegetable soup

I’m going to wrap up this year's Fresh from the Garden series with a recipe using those extra veggies you may have frozen or canned over the summer. You can’t beat a hearty, homemade vegetable soup when you start to feel that chill in the air! I had some okra and celery (received from the co-op) that I’d chopped and frozen just for this cause. Canned tomatoes? Frozen corn or butter beans? Green beans? Whatever you’ve got—toss it in. There’s a host of options and a lot of leeway to get creative. Think stew beef, barley, chicken or rice as additional options. My favorite way to cook it is in the crock pot because then I can say I’m cooking dinner while I’m at work! Plus the slow simmer blends the flavors that make you just want to cuddle up at home. What could be easier for busy families? Plus it's a dish that all can enjoy. Mix up a batch of cornbread to go with it…now we’re talking comfort food!

This is really very much of a no-recipe recipe, but here’s a base to get you going:

• 1 pound meat
• 6 medium potatoes, cubed (swap these out for soup made with barley or rice)
• 2 cups celery, chopped
• 2 cups okra, chopped
• 2 cups frozen corn
• 2 cups frozen peas
• 4 carrots (2 cups), chopped
• 2 cups frozen, cut green beans
• ½ large yellow onion
• 32 ounces low-sodium vegetable broth (or chicken broth)
• 44 ounces (3 cans) diced or whole tomatoes, no salt added
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon basil
• ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Stove recipe:
Lightly brown meat in an 8-quart pot. Drain off fat. Add all other ingredients, stir to combine, cover and simmer for at least one hour, or until vegetables are tender.

If you’re cooking it in the crockpot, brown your meat first on the stove. Add all ingredients to the crockpot and cook on low heat for 6-8 hours.

Makes approximately 28 cups (just 100 calories each!).

So that’s it for the summer harvest, but it doesn’t mean the healthy recipes end here. Subscribe to be a GoodFoodie and don’t miss a thing!

Are you interested in seeing how these recipes are used in a weekly meal plan? Need help with weight loss? Visit my website for more information about my services, including pre-designed meal plans, coming soon!

Fresh from the garden: Roasted tomato tapenade

Served atop torn focaccia: also a delicious option

This tapenade is perfect for the cooling weather that’s ending our summer harvest. The roasting brings out the flavor in the tomatoes, so you can use your possibly less-than-desirable late-bloomers. I drew inspiration for this recipe from the August 2011 issue of Better Homes and Gardens. It’s surprisingly versatile—I would serve it at a special occasion, dinner party or casual Friday night at home. Dish it up as a perfect transition from cool, crisp summer dishes to warm and comforting fall ones.

Roasted Tomato Tapenade

• 2 pounds (6 cups) red and yellow cherry tomatoes, sliced in half if large
• ½ cup pitted Kalamata and pimento-stuffed green olives, sliced in half
• 2 tablespoons capers
• 4-6 cloves fresh garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
• ½ teaspoon Kosher salt, divided
• ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper, divided
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 6-8 basil leaves, chiffonade (or 1 teaspoon dried)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange tomatoes in a single layer and drizzle with about ½ tablespoon olive oil. Roast on upper rack of oven for 10 minutes. Add olives, capers and garlic to baking sheet. Sprinkle with half the salt, half the black pepper and red pepper. Continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes or until tomatoes start to crack (or burst when lightly pressed). Meanwhile, whisk remaining olive oil, vinegar, remaining salt and pepper, and basil in a serving bowl. Remove tomato mixture from the oven and pour into bowl. Gently fold to coat with olive oil mixture (don’t worry if the tomatoes start to burst—it’s better this way!).

Serve warm aside toasted focaccia (I first tried this with rosemary focaccia—delish!!) or crusty French bread. Use leftovers on top of baked tilapia.

If you like olives or traditional tapenade, this deeply flavorful dish will soon become one of your winter faves! And don’t forget the wine J