Tag: snack

Produce pancakes

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One of the great things about being a teacher is the relationship you develop with students.

Sometimes I have some pretty personal in-depth conversations.

Other times things are light hearted and fun. People have questions for me or give me some tips.

Recently after one of my yoga classes my students and I were talking about losing weight and maintaining weight with healthy eating and exercise, including a regular yoga practice.

We talked about our go-to snacks and other things we love to eat.

We started talking about what I am calling produce pancakes.

Simple, healthy, delicious and filling.

The first recipe I tried were for the Sweet Potato Pancakes:

  • 1 large sweet potato
  • 2 eggs

I microwaved the sweet potato until it was soft enough to scoop out. Sweet potato “guts” went into a bowl with 2 eggs. Whipped everything together.

Depending on if you want sweet or savory you can add seasoning to fit your tastes. (Savory: garlic, salt, pepper, onion powder, etc. Sweet: cinnamon, pumpkin pie spices, etc.)

Sprayed some cooking spray into a skillet. Poured the “batter” in skillet.

The recipe made four pancakes.

The next day I tried the Banana Pancakes:

Super simple chia seeds snack

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I was perusing Twitter recently and came upon a recipe from SELF magazine called Make Ahead Chia Pudding Breakfast.

It was a simple recipe to follow. So I decided to try it.

I mixed the almond milk, chia seeds, honey and vanilla extract. I let it sit in the fridge overnight.

I ate half of the recipe along with some blueberries and blackberries atop as a snack between teaching cycle and heading off to teach a yoga class.

I’ve written about the benefits of chia seeds before.

I decided to do some more exploring about these edible seeds, which come from the desert plant Salvia hispanica.

According to Authority Nutrition, chia seeds:

Spicy cooking

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Most weeks I try to explore at least one “new” recipe.

I was looking at Hungry Girl’s website and found spicy Thai-style no-cook stir-fry.

It sounded yummy so I decided to give it a try.

I added the ingredients I didn’t already have to my grocery list. I decided to add a few other ingredients to it as well.

When I got home I realized I forgot to write a few things down.

I modified the recipe a bit and had it for lunch three times last week. Yup, I thought it was really yummy. I really enjoyed it. It’s filling and fairly healthy.

The HG version is fine. I just made some adjustments because of what I had on hand.

I didn’t buy broccoli coleslaw and decided to add rice to make it more substantial. As I was grabbing veggies out of the fridge I realized I did have some broccoli coleslaw. So that got thrown in as well. HG’s version is cold and mine is hot.

Here’s my spicy Thai-style stir fry:

It’s peanut butter time!

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Have you seen the 40-year-old Virgin?

Remember FRENCH TOAST? (Here’s a clip of that scene. Swearing is involved. So you’ve been warned.)

Ha ha!

Anyway, years ago Curt and I were watching some diner or cooking show and someone made peanut butter and banana French toast.

It sounded amazing. The version they made was super unhealthy.

I decided to take a stab at it with a healthy spin to it.

I don’t make a lot of breakfast. But I made this recipe recently and thought it would be a good idea to share.

Here’s my version of peanut butter and banana French toast:

  • 2 slices Sara Lee Delightful wheat bread
  • 1 tablespoon peanut butter (I prefer creamy, but for this recipe crunchy works better)
  • 1/2-1 banana
  • 2 tablespoons egg whites
  • 1 tablespoon fat free milk

The ingredients listed are for one serving. Double or triple ingredients for extra servings.

I like to smoosh the banana onto my bread. Other slice I spread the peanut butter.

Dip “sandwich” into the egg whites/milk.

Use cooking spray oil in the pan. Grill it up and enjoy!

You get some protein and a fruit. It’s yummy. And melty heated up peanut butter … Continue reading

Cheese, glorious cheese

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Sometime last week I decided to put myself through a cheese intervention.

Yup, the cheese eating has gotten out of control. I love cheese. I love hard cheese, soft cheese, stinky cheese, strong cheese, mild cheese, fake cheese. You get the idea.

At work, one of the snacks offered are Babybel cheese: Gouda, Bonbel, Original and Light. They are way to easy to eat and delicious and easy to grab one or two or three …

Last week when I realized I needed to stop eating so much cheese I would only have one or two Lights a day. (If I do cardio I need some protein on the shuttle bus ride home.) It was under control last week.

I don’t know what happened this week. But the cheese eating definitely increased.

The Laughing Cow also makes cheese wedges. The light wedges are only 35 calories. (The Light Baybel is 50 calories.) The wedges can be eaten alone, spread on a cracker or even melted into a meal. We have the wedges in our on refrigerator at home.

I do pack my lunches almost every day and include healthy … Continue reading

Comforting … food, booze & mani/pedi

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Doughnuts, wine and cheesy bites. Can't get much more comforting than this.Every day gets a little easier with my Joey gone.

When I am sad or depressed or even stressed I turn to food and alcohol. It’s not the healthiest option. But there are much unhealthier choices.

I took yesterday off from work. I just took it easy. I lounged around and watched movies. Eventually I went to the grocery and picked up some treats for myself.

In the early afternoon I headed to Galaxy Nails for a mani/pedi. They give the best legs and arm/shoulder massages. I was in heaven. (I used to get mani/pedis pretty regularly. But in an attempt to save money I have been holding off.)

After that I grabbed a slice of pizza and a side salad and walked back home. I came home and found a movie called In America on, which I had seen a preview and wanted to watch.

Eventually I got going on the dishes and cleaning up the house a bit as I hadn’t gotten much done over the weekend.

I had my cheesy bites and wine for … Continue reading

Snacky obsession

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Lately I have been having some major cravings for Roasted Seaweed Snacks from Trader Joe’s.

They have become my latest snack obsession.

I was at Trader’s last week and bought four packs. They went quickly. I kept thinking about those things today. When I got back to Emeryville after the shuttle bus ride I headed directly to TJ’s to get some more seaweed snacks. They had a decent amount in stock so I thought I better stock up myself as they don’t always have them.

So I bought 15 packs. They are only 99 cents. So how could I not stock up?

They are vegan and gluten free–neither matters to me. But does to some, so I thought it was worth mentioning.

If you eat the whole package, which is very easy to do, it is only 60 calories, 4 grams of fat, 2 grams of fiber and 2 grams of protein. There are just 4 ingredients: seaweed, sea salt and two kinds of oil.

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Dreyer’s Fruit Bars vs. Popsicle Ice Pops

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I have been trying out different treat/snacks lately. Since it is almost summer here I have been having more ice cream.

I had the regular Dreyer’s Fruit Bars and I had the sugar-free Dreyer’s Fruit Bars. And last night I tried the sugar-free Popsicle Ice Pops.

The SF Dreyer’s are 25 calories. They are really tasty. And taste like they have real fruit.

The SF Popsicle’s are 15 calories. They are fairly tasty. But they fall apart easily. Twice last night I had chunks fall off. So I guess I just have to be careful when I eat them.

I think I like the Dreyer’s better. But I do like that the Popsicle’s are lower in calories.

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I am loving Fiber One and blueberries

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The other night I wasn’t sure what to have for dinner. I was looking in the pantry and I saw that I had some Fiber One Original cereal. I grabbed that and added some blueberries that I had bought to add to my homemade smoothies.

I had that for breakfast yesterday, today and for a snack last night. (I have guitar class on Tuesdays–so I try to eat something at work about 5 p.m. and then eat a light snack around 9 p.m. at home.)

And now I am out of both the cereal and blueberries. Boo! But I will be buying some more at the grocery this weekend.

Yummy and healthy and filling–that is really the most important part.

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