What’s in Your Pumpkin Spice Latte? (And a Healthy Alternative!)

Ahhh, how I love Pumpkin Spice Latte! Although it comes out in early September, when it’s still plenty warm – hot, even – it signals the start of Autumn for me. With my transition to healthier eating, I’ve mostly switched to Pumpkin Spice K-Cups, but every now and then, I still treat myself to a Pumpkin Spice Latte.

That being said, I was shocked to see in the October issue of Prevention that a 16 ounce serving of Pumpkin Spice Latte:

  • 380 calories, as many as seven Chips Ahoy! cookies
  • Eight grams of saturated fat, 40% of your dietary reference intake
  • 49 grams of sugar, nearly double the amount found in 16 ounces of cola
  • 51 grams of carbohydrate, almost as much as four slices of white bread

As Sister just so wisely said, “That’s why you can’t get them all year long.” Touche!

I stumbled upon a fabulous Pumpkin Spice Smoothie recipe on an equally fabulous website, Healthful Pursuit. Compared to the same size Pumpkin Spice Latte, it has half the calories and sugar, a third less carbohydrate and even a nice amount of fiber! Given that, I think you could add a little whip with no guilt!

Also on the site, something I must try: Pumpkin Pie Breakfast Quinoa Bake.

 

 

It’s the Greatist!

I had a very leisurely Saturday this weekend. Plans to do something didn’t work out, and I ended up spending the entire day at home, much of it in bed. But it wasn’t an unproductive day, as I spent a lot of it online – researching recipes, shopping for a few hard-to-find items and learning how to make my life easier via Pinterest. While I was on Pinterest, I also discovered what is my new favorite website: Greatist.com.

According to the site’s about page: “Everyone has a choice to be more fit, healthy, and happy. And though our goals and ambitions are often similar, each person is unique, every story different. A greatist is someone who chooses better to improve their fitness, health, and happiness. Greatist.com is the trusted health & fitness source for the young, savvy, and social.”

So, what’s so great about Greatist? Here are three great examples, and these are just from the Trending Greatist Hits section:

There’s still a lot of information on the site that I want to go through, and after a quick look, these are at the top of the list:

It could take me weeks to get through this site! Luckily, they have a “daily tips” email list that I subscribed to; maybe that will help keep me in the know!

Check out this site, folks. It’s GREAT!

Do you have a great go-to website that you can’t live without? Tell us about it, and be sure to include the address!

 

 

 

10 Secrets to Healthy Cooking

I’m spending the morning going through a stack of magazines by my bed, and I found a great article in Eating Well: 10 Secrets to Healthy Cooking. (On the magazine’s website, it’s titled 10 Best Cooking Tips for Making Healthier Homemade Meals. Odd, but it’s the same article!)

I learned some of these when I was meeting weekly with Traci, my nutritional counselor, and he one I remember the most was #2: Try cooking wit less oil. Almost any time I took a recipe for Traci to review, she recommended either reducing or cutting out cooking oil all together.

I thought these tips were pretty good, so I thought I’d share them. While you’re at Eating Well, check out their recipes. I pulled a couple to try this weekend, including Barbecue Pulled Chicken and Zesty Shrimp and Black Bean Salad.

LeanGreenMP Makeover: Step One

Today, I did a major makeover on the recipe page, and I’m really excited about it! I’ve been searching for a plug-in to better organize my recipes, and thanks to April Blake, I found it: Recipage. (Thanks, April!)

Here are some of the great features on my Recipes page, thanks to Recipage:

  1. New “featured recipes” section
  2. New “recent additions” section
  3. Ability to search recipes by keyword and ingredients
  4. Ability to browse by one of four categories: course (snack, entree, etc.); dietary (clean eating, low sodium, etc.); key ingredient (quinoa, spinach, etc.); and cuisine (i.e. Italian, Mexican)
  5. Ability to browse recipes alphabetically by recipe name

It’s a much better format, and again, I thank April for her recommendation.

While I was updating the page, I updated a few recipes and deleted some others. What you’ll see now are recipes that I use on a regular basis. In the next week, I hope to be adding some new ones, too. Since I knew I would be updating the page eventually, I held off on posting new ones!

Next up? Tweaking the theme. The fonts I one loved are now driving me crazy! I want something cleaner, easier on the eyes. Stay tuned!

Take a look at the new recipe page, and let me know what you think!

Presentation is Everything!

If what Carrie Latet says is true — thatPretty is the queen that rules our land — then my side salad occupied the throne at today’s brown bag lunch  meeting. Looked pretty darn good for Bibb lettuce, walnuts, carrots, grape tomatoes and raisins. (Traci: I know, I know. It’s teeny. But, they’re veggies nonetheless.)

 

Make Your Own Ranch Dressing Mix – No MSG!

Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix

Ingredients

½ cup dry buttermilk
1 tbsp dried parsley, crushed
1 tsp dried dill weed
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dried onion flakes
1 tsp salt
½ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp ground pepper

Combine all ingredients in your food processor and grind until it becomes a fine powder. Store in an airtight container.

Three tablespoons = One store bought packet

Another Smoothie Recipe

I haven’t tried this one yet, but hope to this weekend:

Pumpkin Smoothie

Serves: Two
Prep Time: Five minutes

1 c. vanilla soy or almond milk
1 frozen peeled banana
4 pitted dates
1 c. pumpkin puree
2 ice cubes
1/8 t ground nutmeg
1/4 t ground cinnamon

Place all ingredients in high powered blender; process until smooth and creamy.

Apple Pie Smoothie

I made this yesterday, and it was fabulous!

Apple Pie Smoothie

Serves: Two
Prep Time: Five minutes

Ingredients:

2 medium apples (no need to peel)
3 pitted dates
1/4 c. walnuts
1/4 c. raisins
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t vanilla extract
1 c. soy or almond milk

Blend in high powered blender until smooth and creamy.

Festive Food for Frightful Halloween!

How precious are these?

They’re Carrot-Orange-Quinoa Pepper Jacks, courtesy of the fab Spabettie! I made just one small change; I could’t find carrot-ginger juice and don’t have a juicer, so I used orange juice instead.

They are delish, cute and easy! I made a batch of ten so I could have some to eat, some to share.

A few hints with the orange peppers:

  • Test their “standability.” I bought one that wouldn’t stand up, so I just leveled the bottom with my knife.
  • Look for orange peppers with a large surface for carving.
  • Spabettie used a small paring knife to carve, but I used a (brand new, clean) X-acto knife.
  • No time to carve? No worries; they’re just as cute as a plain pumpkin. (That even allows you to use them at Thanksgiving, too!)

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY with This Recipe!

I have not been this happy about food in quite some time!

I love eating better, and I love even more how it makes me feel. But happy or excited about food? Not especially. I can’t even say I was excited about food before, except maybe when I got to eat something I hadn’t had in a while, like Bob’s Pizza in Gramma’s old town.

But last night, I made Glazed Tofu, and it made me happy!

Years ago, there was a great Chinese restaurant on Decker Boulevard called The Orient. It was one of a kind. Recipes were named after local celebrities who frequented it, and you always saw someone you knew there. I’m not a huge fan of Chinese food, but there was one dish there I loved, cheese tofu. Never had anything else like it. Until tonight! The Glazed Tofu isn’t exactly the same thing, but darn close.

I found this recipe in Nutrition Action Newsletter, which I discovered through Mom. I love the newsletter, and I’m thinking about giving a subscription or two for Christmas!