100 calorie Sweet Potato and Zuke Latkes

Posted by amanda in breakfast, budget, easy, healthy, recipe, sweet potato, vegetable, vegetarian, zucchini

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3 100-cal latkes with astro biobest plain yogurt!

I love love love latkes and regularly order them when I'm out for brunch, but I know they're not the healthiest way to eat a potato. Some experimenting with different grate-ables led me to this combo, which significantly improves the nutrition factor, and minimizes the caloric intake. Plus, this is a great way to use zucchini (I'm always wondering what the heck to do when I'm not making it into a risotto or my mom's curry-zucchini soup (coming soon!).

You'll need:

1 medium zucchini (funny ends sliced off)
1 big sweet potato (peeled)
1/4 cup onion (chopped as finely as possible, unless you really love onion and want longer strings in your latkes)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 tbsp canola oil
salt and pepper to taste

optional: plain yogurt (instead of sour cream) or your favorite applesauce (if you're that kind of latke person...I've never understood the applesauce thing)

Do: (do these things in order - you want to prepare the batter RIGHT before cooking to keep things from getting soggy, and while cooking, pour off any excess liquid for the same reason)

Slice your zuke lengthwise and remove its seeds.
Grate your potato and zucchini (coarsely) either in a food processor (preferred) or by hand on a grater.
In a big bowl, mix your egg, onion, salt and pepper: stir in your grated veggies.
Heat half the oil in a large skillet (med-hi, but more med than high).
You're going to do this the same way you do pancakes: add a heaping tablespoon of the mixed ingredients to the skillet, flattening down a touch with your spoon (don't overdo this - let the latke be once it's frying).
When the edges start to lightly brown, flip the lakte, and cook the other side for about a minute or two - depending on your oven, the first side can take from 2-4 minutes (mine is slow).
Remove and rest on paper towels to absorb excess liquid.
Repeat until your batter is used up (if you need, use the remaining 1.5 tbsp of oil to refresh your skillet).

Should make about 24 latkes. If you want to reheat them later, bake them at 375 on a cookie sheet for about 5 minutes.

Serve hot and enjoy guilt-free.

Foods for your Brain

Posted by CK in breakfast, tips

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Today marks International Literacy Day, a day that not only celebrates literacy, but also raises awareness about those who still lack literacy skills. In fact, a staggering 67.4 million children around the world are still illiterate because of various factors. As such, this post highlights the importance of food for the brain for better learning and concentration. While many still lack literacy skills around the world, those who are lucky enough to be in school need proper food in order to succeed. Indeed, the right foods for your brain will keep it clean and fully energized!

First, let's look at key foods for your brain (although various sources will give you slight differences, the ones listed below are good to know):

1. For short term memory, drink coffee, NOT energy drinks, you don't want to mess with your mental computer!
2. For long term memory and cognitive processing, eat FRESH blueberries, ripe berries don't contain as many nutrients. If they're out of season, buy them frozen!
3. To think faster, eat salmon or mackerel, NOT full-fat ice-cream. High levels of fat clog the blood vessels and are just plain not good for your brain, or body!
4. To energize, eat a high-protein salad with vinaigrette, NOT pancakes or bagels. Avoid eating a high amount of carbs when you need to wake-up, that's what puts you to sleep!
5. To calm down, eat low-fat yogourt or mixed nuts, DON'T drink soda. A study shoes that people who drink 2 1/2 cans of soda each day are more likely to be anxious and depressed.
6. To concentrate, drink peppermind tea, DON'T eat candy. In the long run, sugary foods cause highs and lows of sugar, causing fuzzy states of mind.
7. For good moods, eat aragula or spinash salads, NOT white chocolate. If you're going to go for the chocolate, grab the real deal (the darker the better) as white chocolate does not contain the euphoria-inducing mood boosters that real chocolate brings (because of the lack of cacao).

(Other brain stimulating foods can be found here)

Having said that, breakfast is the most important brain energizing meal of the day! Make sure you have a good breakfast before leaving the house in the morning (or bring it with you at work). It'll keep you alert all day long!

While the discourse around illiteracy is often centered around developing countries, many Canadians still have low levels of literacy and many children still do not get a proper breakfast in the morning. As such, le Club des Petits Dejeuners in Quebec aims at giving kids a proper breakfast in order for them to succeed. I think it's a step in the right direction and definitely one that could help raise levels of literacy in school.

Other organizations such as 1Goal aim to raise levels of literacy around the world! If you know of any organizations or good brain stimulating recipes! Leave a comment on this post! :)

Cheers!

-CK

Mayonnaise and bananas you say? NEVER?! Welcome to Miracle Bread

Posted by amanda in banana, bread, breakfast, recipe, vegetarian

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Image by L. Kelly Lyles

I love to bake banana bread. I love the smell, the batter's texture, the endless rotation of possible ingredients, the way it slowly chips away at the mountain of brown frozen bananas in my freezer door. This afternoon it was so chilly that I decided it was the perfect day for the first baking session of the season. It's been so hot this summer that our bananas haven't been keeping worth anything, so there were about 25 frozen fruits calling my name, and baby their time had come.

I wanted to hang on to the few eggs we had kicking around the fridge for breakfast tomorrow, so I made a few substitutions to my traditional recipe. Usually, I go the yogurt route, but having only fat free yogurt on hand means giving up on any kind of rising so guess what I did :) M couldn't, but it turned out great! This bread is just chewy enough but not wet like some healthy banana breads, certainly not too dry, and just sweet enough to make it feel like a treat!

Preheat your oven to 350.

Lightly grease a standard loaf pan (I always cheat and use cooking spray to keep this step really easy. If you do this though, reduce the salt in your recipe: I find cooking spray flavors the loaf more than other options, though it's still a much healthier way to do it).

• Mash 3 large overripe or frozen-and-then-defrosted bananas in a medium bowl.
• Stir in 1 tbsp warm water
• Stir in 1-2 heaping tbsp of Miracle Whip
• If you have it on hand, mix in 1 tbsp of your favorite low-fat-low-sugar yogurt for a little extra sweetness

In a larger bowl mix

• 1 cup of all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• .5 tsp salt
• 1.5 tsp baking soda
• .5 cup sugar

Make a well in the bowl of dry ingredients and pour the wet mix into it. Mix only until dry ingredients are absorbed. Fold in a small handful of chocolate chips, nuts, or whatever your creative little heart desires. Pour that beauty into your loaf pan and bake on the middle rack for about 35-45 minutes depending on your over. Take the opportunity here to check on it every once in awhile and let the deliciousness waft into your kitchen. Mmmm. WHIP IT GOOD!

Speedy Healthy Filling Breaky

Posted by CK in breakfast, recipe, vegetarian

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If you're anything like me, you often skip breakfast in the morning because your life takes over, although you know you shouldn't. If I do have breakfast, I usually have a simple bowl of cereal with skim milk, that'll often fill me up....for the next hour or so.

I stumbled upon an article this morning that gives a few good breakfast recipes for the on-the-go crowd. But first, they provide us with facts about the importance of having breakfast (source):

It keeps you slim: Breakfast eaters are less likely to be overweight than breakfast skippers, and successful dieters are also more likely to be breakfast eaters.

It keeps you healthy: Eating breakfast may reduce your risk of serious illnesses like heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer, and it strengthens your immune system so you're more resistant to common ailments like colds and the flu.

It keeps you sharp: Memory and concentration get a boost from breakfast. A study on children found that kids who eat breakfast score higher on tests and are less likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, and hyperactivity. It should help you at the office, too.

The Perfect Meal

You say you eat breakfast? Good boy. Even so, it's likely you're doing it wrong. "Most men make the mistake of eating too little in the morning, and then get so hungry they go overboard and eat a giant meal later in the day," says Evelyn Tribole, M.S., R.D., a nutritionist in Irvine, California, and author of Stealth Health.

A typical breakfast is just a couple of hundred calories, mostly in the form of simple carbohydrates that spike blood-sugar levels and leave the body starving for energy a couple of hours later.

Even a classic fiber-rich breakfast -- say a cup of raisin bran with blueberries and skim milk -- provides less than 300 calories and only about 10 grams of protein. An ideal breakfast needs to be much larger -- between 500 and 600 calories. And it needs to be packed with vitamins, minerals, and nutrients, including at least 20 grams of protein and at least 5 grams of fiber. That will give your body a high-quality, long-lasting, steady supply of energy to help you through the morning.

Here you'll find 7 breakfast recipes that you can make under 5 minutes!