Apple Peel Pancakes

 

As the seasons change it is fun to try new recipes and get re-inspired with healthy fresh ingredients. This time of year we can start looking forward to going to the pumpkin patch or apple orchard to pick our own for an adventure or go to the grocery store to fill our carts with locally grown late summer/early fall produce.

Something my family loves is slow cooker apple butter from the fresh harvest of apples I bring home. Last year when making the apple butter I had a lot of apple peels and got inspired to make use of them. In doing some research on spiralized recipes I realized I could come up with my own “Apple Peel Pancakes!”

Apple Peel Pancakes are a great way to make use of leftover peels. They are whimsical to look at, easy to make, and tasty to eat.   And, because of the peel used, they are packed full of fiber, vitamins and minerals. Here is the recipe I came up with riffing off of a recipe from Spiralize this! cookbook by Martha Rose Shulman:

Apple Peel Pancakes

• 2 cups apple peel, cut into 4 inch strips with scissors
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• ½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 ½ cups buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• Cooking Spray

Directions

1. Preheat griddle to medium high heat.
2. Heat butter in a cast iron skillet. When melted add the peels and brown sugar to the butter. Sauté for 3 minutes, just until they begin to color. Remove from heat.
3. Sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt.
4. In another bowl whisk together the eggs, then add the buttermilk, whisk together, then add the oil and vanilla, whisk together again.
5. Add the dry ingredients to wet ingredients, whisking together. Do not over mix. A few lumps are fine.
6. Spray griddle with cooking spray. Drop batter in ¼ cup LivSpoon amounts onto the griddle. Distribute a 12th of the apple peel across the top of each pancake.
7. Cook until bubbles begin to break through, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn and cook about 1 minute on the other side, or until nicely browned. Remove and place on a platter in a warm oven while the next batch of pancakes is cooked. Continue until all the batter is used.

Serve while hot. Makes 12 4-inch pancakes.

Nutritional Information

Serves 4. Serving size: 3 pancakes. Calories: 370; Fat: 17.3g; Carbohydrates: 43.3g; Dietary Fiber: 3.5g; Protein: 11.8g.

Tips

Use slow cooker apple butter as an alternative to maple syrup.
Freeze leftovers to enjoy these pancakes on another occasion for a quick fix breakfast.

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Monday Motivational Meal - Moroccan Spiced Oranges

 

 

 

 

It is always nice to have a variety of tried and true side dishes that you can add to a menu to complete a meal. I look for flavor, color and ease of preparation when I add favorites to my list of side dishes. This Moroccan Spiced Oranges recipe from @cookinglight is a light and flavorful choice...especially when you serve it up in Livliga for right-sized joyful eating! 

Get the recipe here.

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Monday Motivational Meal - Spicy Apple Chutney

 

Chutney is a great condiment to add zest and dimension to any meal. There are many varieties. The best is to make your own with fresh fruits from your local market or your own fruit trees. Check out our recipe and don't forget to use our handy, lifestyle enhancing Livliga plates to measure up your chutney as part of your balanced meal.

Get the recipe here.

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Spicy Green Apple Chutney

 A Great Summer Canning Recipe

 

Chutney is a great condiment to add zest and dimension to any meal. There are many varieties. The best is to make your own with fresh fruits from your local market or your own fruit trees. They tend to use less sugar than jams or jellies and are an additional way to make the most of seasonal foods to enjoy through out the year.

 

We have this young apple tree that has produced an abundance of apples. In fact, there were so many apples that we were advised to reduce their numbers by half! Of course, the Midwesterner in me could not just throw away the little green apples…I had to come up with something fun to do with them. So here is the result…Spicy Green Apple Chutney! Seems this is a very British thing to do…all recipes were from uk sites. The one I liked best and used as a basis for the recipe below was from Ball. It is actually yummy and will be great with meats.

Our little green apples required a lot of cutting and coring…we did not bother to peel them…which makes the chutney even higher in fiber and antioxidants.

 

Spicy Green Apple Chutney

Ingredients

• 6 granny smith apples (about 8 cups), cored and quartered
• 2 cups apple cider vinegar
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• ¾ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 ½ tsp mustard seeds
• 1 ½ tsp dried crushed red pepper
• 1 ½ tsp grated fresh ginger
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½  tsp ground black pepper
• 1 ½ tsp  butter or olive oil
• 2 cups thinly sliced shallots
• 2 ½ ounces water
• 1 ½ cups thinly sliced dried apricots

Directions

1. Cut each apple quarter vertically into 3 chunks. Place apple, vinegar and next 7 ingredients in a stainless steel or enameled Dutch oven. Cook, stirring often, over medium-low heat 30 minutes or until apples are tender.
2. Meanwhile, melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots and water; cook, stirring often, 15 to 20 minutes or until shallots are caramel colored.
3. Add shallots and apricots to apple mixture. Cook, stirring often, 15 to 20 minutes or until thickened.
4. Ladle hot apple mixture into hot jars, leaving a little headspace. Wipe jar rim with a clean cloth. Centre lid on jar. Apply band, and adjust to fingertip-tight.

Makes about 8 - 8 ounce jars of chutney.

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Monday Motivational Meal—Quick Pickling Kohlrabi and Apple

 

There is nothing more delectable than freshly made quick pickled fresh fruits and vegetables, especially during the warmer months. They go with absolutely every meal and can add something special to make each meal interesting, including backyard barbecues and picnics. We made a fresh batch up in our Summery Aveq Serving Bowl and served it up in one of our Aveq Just Right Set bowls for the perfectly presented meal. 

Get the recipe here.

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Quick Pickling – Kohlrabi and Apple

 

Last summer, thanks to joining a Farm Cooperative, I discovered quick pickling. I was presented a kohlrabi and wondered what I should do with. My go to for such conundrums is to check out Cooking Light. Low and behold I found a great Quick Pickling recipe that included kohlrabi! There is nothing more delectable than freshly made quick pickled fresh fruits and vegetables, especially during the warmer months. They go with absolutely every meal and can add something special to make each meal interesting, including backyard barbecues and picnics. Pickling is also great for the gut. Although quick pickling is stored for convenience and not for the long term, it still keeps easily in your refrigerator for a couple of weeks.  And keep in mind, the sugar you use is not all absorbed so the carbs per serving are only 5g and counts as a low carb food.

Kohlrabi and Apple Quick Pickles

Ingredients

• 2 cups rice vinegar
• 2 cups water
• ⅓ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 3 medium kohlrabi bulbs, peeled and thinly sliced (15 oz.)
• 1 small Honeycrisp apple, cored and thinly sliced (7 oz.)
• 1 small cucumber, thinly sliced (6 oz.)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 4 dill sprigs
• 2 tablespoons pickling spice
• 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper

Directions

1. Combine vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until dissolved.
2. Place kohlrabi, apple, cucumber, garlic, dill springs, pickling spice, black pepper, and crushed red pepper in a large bowl or 8 cup measuring cup. Pour hot vinegar mixture over kohlrabi mixture. Let stand and cool to room temperature, about 1 hour.
3. Transfer mixture evenly into 2 (1 quart) glass jars, covering kohlrabi mixture with vinegar mixture. Seal each jar with lid, and completely cool in refrigerator, about 4 hours. Store in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

Nutritional Information

Servings: 2 quarts. Serving size: ⅔ cup. Calories per serving: 20; Fat 0g; Protein 1g; Carbohydrate 5g; Fiber 1g; Sugars 3g; Added sugars 1g; Sodium 64mg.

 

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Celebratory Watermelon Margarita

 

There are many reasons to celebrate life and special events. The key is to have a fun, healthy drink you enjoy that can add to your sense of celebration without costing you a week’s worth of calories. Also, in this day and age, you want a drink to serve that can be offered with or without alcohol…as we have done below. During the summer months a favorite of ours is to create mixed drinks with fresh fruit. The fresh fruit punches up the flavor and keeps the calories and carbs down since very little or no added sugar is necessary. Here we offer a Watermelon Margarita, originally from a @CookingLight recipe, that has both an alcoholic and non-alcoholic version.

Celebratory Watermelon Margarita

 

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons sugar (optional: for the rim of the glass)
• 1 lime wedge (optional: for the rim of the glass)
• 3 ½ cups cubed seeded watermelon
• ½ cup tequila or coconut water (*nav)
• 2 tablespoons sugar or honey
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon Triple Sec (orange-flavored liqueur) or fresh orange juice (*nav)
• Lime wedges or watermelon balls (optional)

*non-alcoholic version

Directions

1. Place 2 teaspoons sugar in a saucer. Rub the rims of 6 glasses with 1 lime wedge; spin rim of each glass in sugar to coat. Set prepared glasses aside. If you prefer not to use the sugar, then rim the glass with the lime only.

2. Combine watermelon and next 4 ingredients (through Triple Sec) in a blender; process until smooth. Fill each prepared glass with 1/2 cup crushed ice. Add 1/2 cup margarita to each glass. Garnish with lime wedges or melon balls, if desired.

Tip

If you own Livliga Aveq glassware use our beautiful beverage glass to make the drink even more festive and to make measuring that much easier by using the etched fill lines for your amounts.



Nutrition Facts

Serves 6. Serving size: 4 ounces. Calories: 105 for alcoholic version; fat 0.2g; poly fat 0.1g; protein 0.6g; carbohydrates 14.1g; fiber 0.4g; iron 0.2mg; sodium 1mg; calcium 7mg. 

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Monday Motivational Meal--Chicken Salad with Avocado and Mango

 

Have some leftover chicken and wondering what to do with it? Try this scrumptious Chicken Salad with Avocado and Mango to perk up your meal planning...and make sure to serve it up on Livliga's Celebrate dishware for added inspiration!

Get the recipe here.

 

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Monday Motivational Meal—Cranberry-Banana Muffins

 

These Cranberry Banana Muffins are filling and satisfying because of the whole wheat flour, fresh banana, applesauce and plain Greek yogurt used. And by using far less sugar they do not trigger the need for more sugary sweets as so many pre-packaged treats do. Make sure to serve them up on your favorite Livliga dishware to complete this delightful experience!

Get the recipe here.

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🍜SOUPS! 🍜Livliga's NEW eCookbook Available for FREE download NOW!🍜

 Discover Livliga's Lastest eCookbook!

Livliga is souper excited to introduce our new eCookbook all about soups! This is the perfect time of year to indulge in some healthy homemade soups to boost your immunity and tantalize your tastebuds. Check it out...its FREE! 🍜

Download our FREE Soups eCookbook

 

Inside you'll find:

    ▪    5 of our favorite healthy soup recipes
    ▪    How to feel full and satisfied without a whole lot of calories
    ▪    The way to boost your immune system through food
    ▪    The tools to support you in right sized eating

 

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Monday Motivational Meal

During the summer I want a little more fun and a lot more “easy” in my meal prep. I guess the sun and outdoors is calling me or the heat zaps my energy. With the summer months comes all kinds of in season fruits. It makes it easy to prepare a fresh fruit salad. This Stars and Hearts Fruit Salad is served up in Vivente...so cool and refreshing!

 

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Healthy Grilling that is Father’s Day Friendly and Diabetes Friendly

Let's celebrate our Fathers.  For many of us Father’s Day is synonymous with outdoor grilling and the smell of barbecue.  It makes us think about all we love about summer.

When June comes around we all look forward to spending more time outside, enjoying time with family around a picnic table and hanging out with friends by the grill.  The challenge is to stay mindful of what we are grilling and serving as we look for simpler ways to provide meals in the summertime. Eating healthy does not have to be time consuming or complicated.

Preparing your meats for grilling. There are simple ways for us to add flavor to our proteins without adding unnecessary calories. For instance, Walt and I have come up with savory rubs that are made up of pure spices and herbs with virtually no calories, absolutely no fillers, no sugars, and that are heart-healthy, bariatric-friendly, diabetes-friendly, gluten-free, and sugar-free. We also offer tenderizing marinades that make for juicy, melt in your mouth, family-friendly options. These are all offered on our blog, always for free. Check out some of the choices below:

Meat and Fish Rubs

Super Easy Chicken Marinade

Super Easy Chicken Marinade

Recipes for Easy Sides. To make it a meal, provide a few different salads that can make serving up healthy meals outdoors healthy and tasty. The great thing about summer salads is that they can be made ahead of time, at your convenience, and then served up later when it is mealtime.  Here are a few of our favorites from our blog:

Broccoli and Sweet Apple Slaw with Dried Tart Cherries

Classic Potato Salad

5 Fruit Salad

5 Fruit Salad

A simple meal hack.  Buy store-bought salads from pasta salad, carrot salad, or a green salad with various lettuces and then put them in your own bowls for serving. Help everyone measure out right-sized portions by hooking the recommended LivSpoon® (a stylish serving spoon with measurement) on the side of the bowl of the salads you are offering so people can naturally serve themselves appropriate servings. 

For dessert. To make it super easy, offer fruit popsicles or get pre-made cookies out of the freezer like our original Rosemary Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies.  

Summertime meals can be easy, tasty, and healthy! 

Healthy Eating Tip: Introducing our new LivSpoons in the much-desired sizes of ⅓ cup and ¼ cup! Now Livliga is offering the completed suite of LivSpoons to make it convenient, comfortable, and a cinch to prepare and serve up healthy and right-sized meals anytime and for any season! Mindful eating just got a little more effortless!

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Fresh Strawberry and Banana Homemade Ice Cream With Jello

This recipe is easy to make (only 5 ingredients!), has a great fruit taste and a vibrant look to it. Perfect for a summertime refreshing snack or dessert. It is more of an ice milk or granita in texture. I added nonfat milk to enhance the protein in the recipe. If you are looking for something fun to do with kids this is it. This recipe can be used to make popsicles too. The secret is in the jello.

I am a firm believer that life should have its Guilty Pleasures. The key is to make them “healthy” and not destructive to our goals and life vision. This ice cream is just such a guilty pleasure. To make it look like plenty of ice cream and to make this special pleasure last longer and allow me to savor every bite I served it up in my Just Right Set® dishes and used my new Just Right Set® bariatric spoon. Check out the photos to see how its looks and how much pleasure I must have gotten out of my “healthy” guilty pleasure treat!

When I was working on this recipe I thought it would be fun to do a taste test with a few family and friends. The main ingredient difference for the taste test was the type of jello I used. I didn’t want to add additional sugar/substitute and I wanted to see (with a blind test, of course) which version people preferred. I tried the new “Simply Good” strawberry jello with real cane sugar, sugar-free strawberry jello and then banana creme sugar-free pudding jello. Hands down the winner was the sugar-free strawberry jello version. It had the brightest color and flavor of the three versions. The winning recipe is below.

Fresh Strawberry and Banana Homemade Ice Cream With Jello:

Ingredients

• 1 cup nonfat milk
• 1 ripe banana (can be frozen)
• 1 cup strawberries (can be frozen)
• 1 package sugar free strawberry jello (.6 ounce)
• 1 pinch of Kosher salt

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend well.
2. Pour mixture into an airtight container with a wide mouth for easy scooping later.
3. Place in the freezer for at least 4 hours.
4. Serve when ready or anytime there after for a tasty treat.

Tip

1. If the ice cream is too hard to scoop let it sit out on the counter for 15-20 minutes. In a hurry? Place the ice cream in the microwave on high for 10 seconds.
2. This recipe makes great popsicles too. Just pour in the molds and freeze.

Serves: 6   Serving size: ½ cup

Calories per serving: 52   Fat: .22g   Sodium: 121mg   Carbs: 8.42   Protein: 3.11

Looking for more healthy dessert recipes?

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Enjoy! And Live vibrant!

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8 Great Tips for Right Sizing Your Food Environment

Our eyes make all the decisions about the food we eat. That is why our food environment has such a profound effect on us, and the decisions we make about the food we eat. Brian Wansink, Ph.D., former director of the brand and food lab at Cornell University, has shown us the power of our food environment on our decision-making through his research. From his research we see there are ways we can be mindful in how we set up our environment for long-term success. Not surprisingly, much of what is recommended makes a lot of sense--common sense. Below are 8 great tips for right sizing your food environment to help you live a healthier lifestyle and sustain it long term.

1. Choose colors in your kitchen and where you eat that are calming and non-triggering. Think about color in the kitchen and where you eat. Color influences our mood. It is important that we pay attention to the colors we use in our lives, especially around food. Think blues and greens rather than reds and oranges.

2. Trim down your dinnerware. Assess the size of your tableware. Measure your bowls and plates. Dinner plates should not be larger than 10 inches. More importantly the well of the plate should not be larger that 7 inches. All plates should have rims. Bowls should hold no more than 14 ounces. Ideally you want a bowl just large enough to accommodate 1½ cups for servings of foods like soup, pasta and certain cereals with milk. (Check out Livliga dinnerware for what right-sized looks like.)

3. Make the first thing you see in your kitchen something healthy. Studies show we tend to pick the first thing we see so strategically placing a healthy food will help us choose better. A bowl of fruit is an easy visual that is also visually appealing. This is also true in your refrigerator…put the healthy foods in the front of each shelf.

4. Drink out of glassware that makes measuring 8 ounces easy. If we drink out of a large glass we are going to drink large amounts of whatever beverage is in our glass. This might not be an issue if it is water but the problem is we use the same glass for everything we drink. Our eyes automatically adjust to whatever size we live with. If we use large glasses we will over serve ourselves every time. Right sizing our glassware allows us to right size what we consume and gives our eyes an ability to adjust to right-sized servings. (Click here to see what right-sized glassware looks like.)

5. Hide trigger foods and make them difficult to get to. We make over 200 decisions a day about the food we eat. A lot of those decisions are about what we will or won’t eat. Most of the time it is about resisting tempting foods we see. Hide them from our visual field and you don’t have to keep looping that decision making to resist eating something we really don’t want to eat. “Out of sight, out of mind” is true.

6. Serve food away from the table where you eat. It is easier and psychologically helpful to serve up in the kitchen. Foods sitting on the table while you eat are too accessible and trigger us to think we want seconds. Put as much food as possible away as you are serving up, or portion it into storage containers, so it is ready for another meal for another time and not visible from your table.

7. Set an attractive table and sit down to eat. Attractiveness has a powerful affect on our sense of satisfaction. Placemats frame your plate allowing the plate and the food on it to look attractive and appealing. Setting the table and sitting down to eat both help us be mindful that we are eating a meal. We can enjoy the moment and process of eating which contributes to our sense of feeling full and satisfied at the end of a meal.

8. Scale down your food. Bring smaller amounts into your house and repackage your food into 1, 2 or 4 servings before putting it away so it fits with how your are preparing and serving your food.

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Easy and Healthy Dessert--Baked Apple

The Goodness and Deliciousness of a Baked Apple (photo by LivligaHome)

The texture and sweetness of a baked apple can be just the thing you need when you are wanting an easy, comforting snack or dessert. The great thing about baked apples is that they are easy to make and they can keep well in the refrigerator for serveral days so you can enjoy this treat more than once and with no additional work involved other than heating it up, if you so desire.

Apples have many health benefits. Remember the phrase "an apple a day keeps the doctor away?" It is true. Apples are extremely rich in important antioxidants, flavanoids, and dietary fiber. Research indicates that the phytonutrients and antioxidants in apples help reduce the risk of developing cancer, hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease. 

The trick is to avoid adding unnecessary calories when creating your baked apple. It is easy to pack in the calories by adding generous quantities of butter, brown sugar, and nuts, as well as other high calorie ingredients. I am always looking for ways to add flavor without breaking the bank on calories. Below is my updated healthy version for a baked apple.

Healthy Cinnamon Baked Apple

Ingredients~
1 medium apple, cored
2 teaspoons Splenda brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup white wine


Directions~
1. Wash and core the apple, leaving the bottom intact. 
2. Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together then fill the well in the apple with the mixture.
3. Place the filled apple in a baking dish. If only baking 1 apple surround it with foil for stability and to make a well around the apple for the white wine. 
4. Pour white wine around the apple. Cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. 

Multiply the ingredients by the number of baked apples you want to make. I often do 4 so my husband and I can enjoy them for dessert one night and then for a snack on another day.

Want to serve it to guests? Add a tablespoon of nonfat greek yogurt and sprinkle it with dried or chopped fresh mint for an additional 18 calories.

Serves 1. Serving size: 1 baked apple. Calories: 135.


Enjoy! And Live Vibrant!

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Crisp or Crumble- is there a difference?

Crisp or Crumble?

The other night a friend of ours made a “crumble” for dessert. We were in New York. It seemed a lot like the “crisp” I make so I asked him what was in his crumble. The ingredients were identical to what I put in my crisp. This then launched a discussion about the difference between a crisp and crumble.

Interestingly, we have a perception that there is a difference. Depending on who you talk to the differences are defined by which one includes nuts, oats or biscuit dough. Funnily, also depending on who you talk to, the differences can be the opposite of what you think. There is no clear distinction. Not even by country or region. Simply, it is based on your own frame of reference and tradition.

For me, I grew up using the term “crisp” for a fruit based dessert that was topped with a flour, butter, oat and brown sugar mixture and baked. A “crumble” was more like a streusel topping which had more sugar and no oats.

Other fun names that are similar to a crisp or crumble are slump, grunt, buckle and cobbler. You may just have to try them all!

What I like about a crisp is that it is more fruit and a lot less crust or topping. In my pursuit to keep making everything a little bit healthier, I have updated my crisp to be gluten free. The recipe is below.

Gluten Free Apple Crisp

Ingredients~

⅔ cup oat flour

½ cup rolled oats

¾ cup packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided

¼ teaspoon salt

⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg

6 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into pieces

7 cups Fuji or Gala apples, sliced and peeled

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

1 tablespoon lemon juice

¼ cup granulated sugar

Cooking spray

Directions~

1. Combine first six ingredients. Mix by hand or in a food processor until moist and crumbly.

2. Place apples in a large bowl; sprinkle with lemon rind, lemon juice and toss well. Next sprinkle with granulated sugar and remaining teaspoon of cinnamon; toss until mixed well.

3. Spray a 9x9 inch or 7x11 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Place the apples in the dish. Top with the oat mixture.

4. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Then reduce heat to 350 degrees for an additional 40 minutes, until apples are tender and the topping is crisp and brown.

Serves 8. Calories per serving: 290.

Enjoy and Live Vibrant!

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Apples and Autumn—My Favorite Apple Cake

This version of Apple Cake is healthier and easy to make (photo by LivligaHome).

Autumn is such a wonderful season. The air becomes crisp. The light from the sun is softer and the leaves on the trees turn amazing colors of orange, yellow and crimson. The best, though, are all the Fall Harvests like pumpkins and apples.

You can’t beat the variety of apples that you can choose from this time of year. Of course, they are delicious on their own. Picking one and eating it whole is the best of experiences. Each type of apple has its own personality of flavor from Delicious to Jazz to Gala to Ambrosia to Crisps. Just reading the names makes my mouth water with expectation.

It is also fun to cook with these apples. You can make it as simple as sautéing apple slices in a cast iron skillet or as complicated as baking an Autumn Apple Cake, which isn’t actually that complicated.

My in laws owned some farmland in Missouri that had an old apple orchard on it. It was the highlight of our autumn when the kids were little to go pick the apples and eat them fresh from the tree. The grandparents loved riding everyone around in a wagon pulled by the tractor. They also baked lots of great dishes with apples and the children helped. One of the favorites was an apple cake with chunks of the fruit in it. Today when I bake this cake I get a rush of happy memories and can still imagine the bumpy tractor ride.

Since we are happily living a healthier lifestyle these days, I have tweaked the recipe for healthier results. Get ready for the wonderful aroma of apples with cinnamon baking in your oven! Here is the recipe for the updated version:

Apple Cake

Ingredients

• 5 apples, peeled and cut into square chunks
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 5 tablespoons sugar
• 2 cups flour, unbleached
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup Trivia sugar baking blend
• 3 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 2 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Cooking Spray, canola flavored

Directions

1. Put apple chunks in a bowl and sprinkle with cinnamon and 5 tablespoons of sugar.
2. In a separate bowl, combine next 11 ingredients. Beat until smooth.
3. Pour half the batter into an angel food cake pan sprayed with the cooking spray. Arrange half the apples over it.
4. Pour in remaining batter and top with rest of prepared apples.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours until golden brown and tooth pick comes put clean.
6. Let cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pan while slightly warm.

Serves: 12 – 16. Serving size: 1 slice. Calories: 356/268.

Here are a couple of other recipes from my blog that incorporate apples:

• Apple Butter in a Crockpot
• Applesauce Bran Muffins
• Maple Mustard Pork with Caramelized Apples

Enjoy! And Live Vibrant!

Re-posted from Sheila’s Blog on TheEpochTimes.com.

 

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EASY RECIPE: Apple Butter For The Holidays

We all know I love to cook. Part of the fun of cooking is sharing. During the holidays this is particularly true. We all get out our family favorites, many that have been passed down through the generations. Unfortunately many of those recipes are packed full of fat and sugar and are not that healthy for you.

A couple of years ago it occurred to me that I could choose to make healthier holiday treats which would actually be a greater gift to those I love. You can still choose special recipes for just this time of year that everyone can look forward to but who said those special recipes needed to be unhealthy, artery clogging and diabetes promoting?

One such recipe that is super easy and fun to share as gifts is Apple Butter you can make in your slow cooker. Once it is cooked you can divide it up in jars for gift giving...or just keep it in the refrigerator to enjoy at home with your family. The extra benefit to you and those in your household is the luscious smell of the apple butter as it is cooking in the crockpot. It is a classic holiday spice aroma. You will find yourself humming Christmas songs!

Apple Butter can be used as a healthy substitute for butter or margarine on toast, muffins or pancakes. Our favorite use is topping our oatmeal in the morning instead of using brown sugar. It is really good! Each tablespoon is 33 calories.

Ingredients Assembled In The Crockpot (by LivligaHome)

Here is the Recipe for Slow Cooker Apple Butter (originally from Cooking Light Slow Cooker):

Ingredients-
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 cup apple cider (or juice)
1 tablespoon cinnamon, ground
1/4 teaspoon cloves, ground
1/8 teaspoon mace, ground
10 apples, peeled, cored and cut into large wedges

Directions-
1. Combine all ingredients in your crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours.
2.  When done just mash with a fork or potato masher to get rid of any remaining big chunks of apple.
3. For gift giving, place the apple butter into sanitized jars while still warm and seal promptly. Make sure to make labels listing the content and date it was made.

 

Nutritional Information-

Servings: 16. Serving Size: 1/4 cup. Calories per serving 132; Protein .1g; Carb 35.3g; Fiber 3.1g; Sodium 6mg.

Oatmeal Topped with Apple Butter

Happy Healthy Eating!

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There is no “Singing the Blues” with Blueberries

Blueberries keep us the healthiest (LivligaHome)

A recent Harvard University study highlighted why we will never need to “sing the blues” if we eat blueberries. Blueberries have come out the clear winner in decreasing our chances of developing everything from heart disease, various cancers and diabetes.

I have been singing the praises of berries for a long time. They are a great way to add color to your plate. They are also very easy to prepare since there is no peeling or chopping required. Berries have the added benefit of being lower in sugar than other fruits and therefore per cup have fewer calories. The best is they provide a great pop-in-your-mouth snack for those of us who have to satisfy our oral fixations. Popping one blueberry in your mouth at a time takes more time and can help get over the hump of afternoon cravings. How great it is to know berries are also super healthy for us.

Doctors and Dietitians have been promoting the goodness of berries, all kinds of berries, in recent years for the antioxidants they contain and their anti-inflammatory benefits. Now this Harvard study shows that not all berries are made a like. In fact, the research showed that strawberries, as well as apricots, plums, peaches and oranges had no beneficial effect in reducing the likelihood of developing diabetes. The study tracked more than 185,000 people over 12 years.

Blueberries, grapes, apples and grapefruit, however, were shown to ward off the disease. In fact, blueberries were found to have the greatest effect on decreasing the risk of becoming diabetic. Researchers found that by eating at least 5 servings a week decreased a person’s chances of ever getting the disease by a whopping 26 percent. Eating only one to five servings a month was also found to be beneficial for avoiding diabetes, but to a lesser degree.

So the message here is we should be singing the praises of blueberries and making sure they are on the top of our grocery list each week. We will never need to sing the blues if we have a pint of them handy in our refrigerator.  Enjoy! And Live Vibrant!



Re-posted from Sheila's Blog on TheEpochTimes.com

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Mediterranean Diet- Moroccan-Spiced Oranges

 

It is always nice to have a variety of tried and true side dishes that you can add to a menu to complete a meal. I look for flavor, color and ease of preparation when I add favorites to my list of side dishes. They also need to be under 200 calories per serving so I can meet my overall goal of 500 calories or less for a meal.

I came across this Moroccan-Spiced Oranges recipe that I thought would be a great new side dish. It is easy to prepare and has wonderful texture and taste. With the cinnamon and orange together, it also is pleasantly aromatic. It has dates along with slivered almonds to make you feel you are indeed eating foods from an exotic land. It did not call for toasting the almonds, but as you can see, I did. I think that step added to the attractiveness of the dish. Next time I plan to put the oranges on a bed of bibb lettuce to make it even that much more attractive and substantial in completing a meal. The calories for this side dish are 167 calories. It received a two thumbs up from everyone in the family. A definite repeat and qualifies as a new family favorite.

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