Turkey Bacon, Spinach, Mushroom Pizza

Today I wanted to intake some extra protein because of the workout I did today.  I've been in the mood for a homemade pizza so I invented this little recipe.  It was absolutely delish (as Rachel Ray would say). 

Recipe

Calories:  375 calories

Ingredients:

• 1 Arnold's Sandwich Thins Bread (Or any low calorie thin bread)
• 1/3 cup Tomato Sauce
• 1 Turkey Bacon
• 1/4 cup Baby Spinach 
• 2 mushrooms
• 1/2 cup Park Skim Mozzarella Cheese 

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• Cook the turkey bacon quickly in a frying pan
• Split the bread in 2
• Spread tomatoe sauce on each slice of bread
• Place a bit of cheese on each slice to help the toppings stick to bread
• Add the spinach, bacon, mushrooms
• Add the remaining mozzarella cheese on top
• Place the pizzas in the oven for 25 minutes or until baked to taste

Benefits

Spinach:

• Healthy arteries:  Choline & Inositol contained in spinach helps prevent the thickening and hardening of arteries
• Diabetes: Helps stabilize blood sugar for diabetics
• Antioxidants:  Filled with flavonoids filled with antioxidants and anti-cancer agents
• Vitamins:  Rich in Vitamin C, A, K
• Superfood:  Due to the the extremely high nutrients and low calories contained in spinach, it is considered a superfood

Mushrooms

• Fiber:  Mushrooms are high in fiber which is great to lower cholesterol levels and helps move food through the bowels
• Protein:  Helps build and repair muscles
• Diabetes:  Ideal for low energy diet for diabetics.  Contains natural insulin and enzymes which help break down sugar
• Antioxidants:  Contains Ergothioneine, a powerful antioxidant.  Effective in protecting the body against free radicals
• Vitamins & minerals:  Calcium (helps bones), Iron (great in preventing anemia), & Potassium (helps lower blood pressure)

Pecan Crusted Apple Tarts

I saw Curtis Stone make his healthy version of Pecan Pie and I thought it was interesting.  I thought I would try making it, but changed a few things and made my own version.  After making it, I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy it because it wasn't as pretty as I envisioned it, but I have to say it was delicious and light.  It definitely satisfied my sweet tooth.  If you like cooked apples and pecans, you will love this recipe.  It's healthy, low in calorie, nutritious, and most importantly, DELICIOUS.

Recipe

6 servings:  180/serving

8 servings:  145/serving

Apple Filling

5 medium apples

1 Cinnamon Stick

1 orange

1.5 cups of Apple Cider

¼ cup cranberry juice

1 tsp Vanilla extract

1 tsp Light Brown Sugar

Pecan topping

1/8 cup whole wheat flour

2/3 Rolled Oats

1 tsp Ground cinnamon

1 tsp Canola Oil

1 tsp Splenda

¾ cup Pecans

Instructions:

• Peel , core, and slice the apples      
• Cut the orange in half and squeeze the orange over the sauce pan
• Place the cinnamon stick, cranberry juice, apple cider, and vanilla extract into the sauce pan
• Place the pan over medium heat and bring to a simmer
• Once the sauce has come to a simmer, add the apple slices
• Lower the heat, place a cover, and cook apples until tender (not mushy) – about 10 minutes
• While the apples are cooking, combine all the ingredients (except pecans) for the topping in a mixing bowl
• With your hands (or a fork), work the ingredients together to thoroughly combine
• Add pecans and toss
• Once the apples are cooked, transfer them to an oven ready pie dish with a slotted spoon
• Leave the remaining liquid cooking over a medium heat for another 10-12 minutes to create a thin sauce.
• Remove the sauce and let cool.  It will thicken.
• While the liquid is thickening, place the topping over the apples in the pie dish
• Place the dish in a pre-heated oven of 400degrees until the topping begins to brown.  Becareful not to burn the pecans.
• To serve: Place dessert in a serving bowl and top with sauce.  YUM

 Nutritional Benefits

Apples

• Low Cholesterol:  The pectin in apples lowers LDL (bad) cholesterol.  The high levels of quercetin and naringin has been associated to the prevention of lung cancer.
• Blood Sugar:   Phytonutrients helps regulate the body’s blood sugar levels. 
• Fiber:  Apples are pretty high in fiber which helps with digestion.
• Anemia:  Due to the amount of iron, apples is a great fruit to help counteract anemia.  Iron helps raise the lack of hemoglobin in the blood.
• Energy:  Apples are known to take away weakness and naturally provide energy.

Pecans:

• Antioxidants:  The vitamin E found in pecans  may provide a key element in providing neurological protection.  Antioxidants help protect against cell damage and help fight diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cancer and heart disease. 
• Low  Cholesterol:  It is the saturated source of plan sterols that lessens cholesterol

Chickpea Salad (Main or side dish)

The recipe below can be used as a side dish or as a primary dish due to the large amount of protein in chickpeas. 

Chickpea Salad is not only delicious, and filling, but it is full of nutritional value, including cancer and disease fighting properties.  This salad is great in promoting heart and colon health.  Enjoy…

Recipe

(4 servings – 285 calories per serving)

Ingredients

·         1 cup of dry chick peas (or 1 can, preferably low sodium)

·         1 Onion

·         1 medium carrot (6 baby carrots)

·         ½ cup of parsley

·         2 tbsp of EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

·           1 tbsp of vinegar

Instructions

·         Boil 1 cup of chick peas for  about 5 minutes and allow the chickpeas to soak for 2 or more hours.

·         Pressure cook the chickpeas until soft (about 30 minutes)

·         Allow the chickpeas to cool

·         Chop the onion, carrot, and parsley and place in a bowl

·         Add the chickpeas to the bowl

·         Pour in the EVOO and add the salt

·         Mix all the ingredients

·         That’s it…your done.  Enjoy

Nutritional & Health Benefits

·         Chickpeas (Main Ingredient)

o   Folic Acid (Vitamin B9): helps facilitate many of the body’s processes, including cell maintenance and repair.  The benefits of folic acid include preventing colon cancer and heart disease.

o   Fiber:  We all know that fiber helps regulate bowel movements and remove toxic waste from the bowels much quicker, but it also helps prevent many chronic diseases and cancers, especially colon and breast.  It helps reduce bad cholesterol, which reduces the risk of heart disease.  It also can help reduce blood sugar levels, making this a great choice for diabetics. 

o   Protein:    The chickpea is a great choice for vegan/vegetarians since it is high in protein.  Your body uses protein to build and repair body tissue.  It is an important building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, and blood.   Along with fat and carbohydrates, protein is a macronutrient meaning that your body requires larger amounts of it. 

o   Low-fat:  This is a low-fat food…need I say more?

·         Onion:

o   Antiseptic:  Onions have an antibacterial and antifungal property.  These properties support cancer prevention, especially colon, as it helps suppress the growth of potentially harmful bacteria in the colon.  It has always been used as a natural remedy to help with inflammation and infections.

o   Lowers Blood Pressure and prevents cardiovascular disease

o   Iron:  Helps deliver oxygen to the blood.  This is a great food for those who battle with anemia.

o   Low Glycemic Index:  Small fluctuations in our blood glucose levels.  This is great for diabetics because it not only helps control your blood sugar by causing small fluctuations, but it can also help bring down insulin levels. (much like chickpeas)

·         Carrots:

o   Beta Carotene:  It’s not an old wives tale, carrots do help your vision.  Beta Carotene also is instrumental in supporting a healthy colon and sugar level.

o   Farcarinal:  What????  I know I had never heard of this either, but it’s what give carrots the ability to reduce the risk of many cancers, especially colon. 

o   Vitamin A:  Great vitamin to promote healthy lungs.  Studies have shown that by eating one carrot a day, you can reduce the risk of getting lung cancer by 50%.

·         Parsley:

o   Antioxidants:  Free radical can cause a destructive process in our cells, causing the molecules within the cells to become unstable.  Antioxidants stop this cellular chain reaction of oxidation by neutralizing the free radicals. Antioxidants stop this cellular chain reaction of oxidation by neutralizing the free radicals.

o   Vitamin C:  Helps support a healthy immune system

o   Beta Carotene:  Please see above (carrots)

o   Folic Acid:  Please see above (Chickpeas)

·         Olive Oil: 

o   Fatty acids:  Helps prevent blood from clotting.  It helps lower triglycerides and raise good cholesterol.

o   Antioxidants:  Please see above (Parsley)

o   Gallstones:  Helps lower the incidence of gallstone formation

o   Colon:  Helps prevent colon cancer

o   Vitamins E, K, A

·         Pinch of Salt

Healthy eating = An enjoyable experience

Many of us associate bland, tasteless, and non-enjoyable food with dieting and living a healthy life.  I believe this is why so many people fail with weight loss.  Healthy food DOES NOT need to be bland and boring. 

I have never been extremely heavy, but I have battled with weight loss since the birth of my second daughter.  I have tried a few fad diets and didn't like them at all.  Actually, they do...but only temporarily.  Generally speaking, once you lose the weight and start eating normal again, the weight just comes back on.  Here are a few of my thoughts and questions on a few fad diets...

Slim-fast - Do you really want to drink those shakes for the rest of your life?  Won't that get boring?  Don't you want real food?
Fat-burning pills - If you like to feel anxiety and your heart palpitate, I guess this is for you.  But are you willing to take them till the day you die. 
South Beach Diet (High protein diets) - Yes, protein is excellent and it is important for those who live extremely active lifestyles, but it's not the only nutrient you need.  Eliminating carbs is the wrong way to go.  Eating the right kind of carbohydrate is what you need to do.

I think you will agree with me that when you work hard and lose weight, you would LOVE for that weight to never come back.  I'm here to tell you that it's possible.  It's possible to lose weight and keep it off.  How?

You must change your eating habits & live a healthier lifestyle. 

In this blog, I want to give you recipes that are low in calories, high in nutrition, and taste delicious.  I will not only provide you with the recipe, but also with the calorie counts and benefits for each ingredient. 

I love food.  All kinds of food:  Fried food, greasy food, sweet food, salty food, healthy food.  I love them all.  When I eat...it's an experience...and I enjoy it.  I know there are more of you out there that love food as much as I do.  That's why I want to help you realize that healthy food can be just as delicious and enjoyable.

Living a healthy lifestyle has 2 main ingredients: Eating right and exercising.  In this blog, we will focus primarily on the first ingredient, eating right.  I will have another blog dedicated to exercising and living an active lifestyle called "Andi's Idea of Blissful Living".

I encourage each reader to provide comments, thoughts, questions, and suggestions on foods they would like me to write about.

This is a journey I am not taking on my own, but with everyone who takes the time to read my blog.  I pray that I may be a light that shows you how to be a better and healthier you.

Off to prepare my first recipe...