All posts in category Food

Dried Herbs on Evergreen Boughs

Looking for a way to continue to enjoy your dying Christmas tree? Try using it as a drying rack for your fresh herbs. I simply pulled (or touched at this point!) off some of the tree’s needles. I cut fresh basil, rosemary, and mint and tied them with yarn to the tree limb. I started them off by my kitchen window (as seen in this picture), but then read where the moist and aromatic air of the kitchen is not the ideal place for them and neither is the sunlight. So find a place that lacks sunlight and has dry air, hang your herbs there, and enjoy the drying process (1-4 weeks) and the last of your Christmas tree! Use your herbs in your favorite dishes or in a decorative fashion.

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by M. Terry on December 24, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Health and Beauty, Nutrition, Recipes

Tagged dried herbs on Christmas tree, recycling Christmas tree

Posted by M. Terry on December 24, 2013

https://wholetothecore.com/2013/12/24/dried-herbs-on-evergreen-boughs/

Lemon “Poppy” Seed Scones

My oldest daughter decided that we should have a Christmas tea party. Therefore, we did. My mom hosted this tea party on Saturday and it was requested that I make lemon poppy seed scones. I used my orange date scone recipe as my base and decided to replace the poppy seeds with chia seeds- always looking for a way to add a healthy twist! Here is the recipe that left little remaining on the serving plate:

Lemon “Poppy” Seed Scones

1 cup organic whole-wheat flour

1 cup Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-free flour mix

1/4 cup organic coconut sugar

1/4 cup local honey

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons chia seeds

6 tablespoons extra virgin coconut oil

1 large egg, slightly beaten

1/2 cup almond milk

Zest and juice of one lemon

1. In a large bowl, combine flours, sugar, salt, shia seeds and baking powder. Stir until mixed. In a medium bowl, whisk together coconut oil and honey. Add to flour mixture. In that medium bowl, mix egg, milk, and lemon juice and zest. Add into flour mixture. Gently stir just until combined and dough forms a large ball.
2. Preheat oven to 350°. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured baking sheet. With floured hands, pat dough into an 8-inch round, about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut round into eight pie-shaped wedges. Bake until lightly browned around the edges, about 20 minutes. Cool on a baking rack. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over warm scones if desired.

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by M. Terry on December 23, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Food, Nutrition, Recipes

Tagged clean eating scones, extra vitgin coconut oil, healthy scones, lemon poppy chia seed scones

Posted by M. Terry on December 23, 2013

https://wholetothecore.com/2013/12/23/lemon-poppy-seed-scones/

The Fat Cell Cycle – Know It to Stop It

I love this explanation of the vicious cycle of obesity. Dr. Scott Isaacs is an endocrinologist and weight loss specialist out of Atlanta, GA. You can ‘like’ him on Facebook to receive his frequent tidbits. This particular article was published in Publix’s Family Style Magazine, so pick one up to read the full article. I love finding these educational treasures! Take a few moments to read this article about the correlation between inflammation and disease…very eye-opening!

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by M. Terry on December 13, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Fitness, Motivation, Nutrition

Tagged Inflammation fat cells, obesity and inflammation

Posted by M. Terry on December 13, 2013

https://wholetothecore.com/2013/12/13/the-fat-cell-cycle-know-it-to-stop-it/

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree! How Healthy Are Your Branches!

This was my oldest daughter’s creation last week. An edible Christmas tree…creative and healthy!

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by M. Terry on December 9, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Food, Nutrition, Recipes

Tagged Christmas appetizer, healthy Christmas snacks, vegetable Christmas tree snack

Posted by M. Terry on December 9, 2013

https://wholetothecore.com/2013/12/09/oh-christmas-tree-oh-christmas-tree-how-healthy-are-your-branches/

Quick Green and Orange Sauté

Eating health can be easy. Case in point? This warm and delicious saute that I made for my post-run meal (with leftovers for a weekend of The Nutcracker rehearsals and performances!)

What I used:

chunks of cooked sweet potatoes
chopped kale
sliced brussel sprouts
chopped carrots
chopped celery
diced onion
minced garlic
fennel seeds
Parmesan cheese
pepper and a bit of salt
touch of nutmeg
coconut oil

What I did:

I heated the coconut oil over medium high heat. I tossed in onion, garlic, carrots, and celery and cooked for a few minutes. I added all the other veggies and fennel seeds and cooked an additional 10 min. or so. I ended it by mixing in the salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cheese. Warm, flavorful, and addicting!

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by M. Terry on December 5, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Food, Nutrition, Recipes, Uncategorized

Tagged quick easy kale sweet potato brussel sprout hash bake saute

Posted by M. Terry on December 5, 2013

https://wholetothecore.com/2013/12/05/quick-green-and-orange-saute/

Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake

This “cleaned up” cheesecake is a result of a summertime visit to The Cheesecake Factory, and my oldest daughter’s request to have it again. And since cheesecake is one of the few sweets that I do eat, I was happy to oblige!

Crust:

1 package (12 oz) of Country Choice Organic Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
2 Tablespoons organic butter, melted

Cheesecake:

2 (8 ounce) packages reduced-fat, organic cream cheese, softened
1 container (15 oz) Organic Ricotta cheese
1/2 cup organic sugar
1/4 cup honey
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (no trans fat PB like Jif or Peter Pan!)

Chocolate Drizzle:

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Garnish:

Unreal or Justin’s Peanut Butter cups, chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place cookies into food processor and process into crumbs.
Press cookie crumbs into bottom of 10-inch spring-form pan. Bake 5 minutes and cool on wire rack. Reduce oven heat to 300 degrees.
Beat softened cream cheese, ricotta cheese, sugar, honey and vanilla until creamy. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Divide batter equally into two bowls.
Melt chocolate chips in microwave in 30 sec. intervals, stirring each time until melted. Stir into one of the bowls of batter and then pour batter into slightly cooled crust. Microwave peanut butter in the same way as the chocolate chips and stir the melted peanut butter into the other bowl of batter. Dollop peanut butter batter on top of chocolate layer. With a knife, gently swirl the peanut butter layer with the chocolate layer.
Bake cheesecake at 300 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until center is almost set.
Place on cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
Place melted chocolate chips into a plastic bag. Cut the corner of the plastic bag and use it as a piping bag. Drizzle top of cheesecake with chocolate and add extra around edges to create “glue” for the peanut butter cup pieces. Place chopped peanut butter cups around the edges on the extra chocolate.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve. Carefully run a knife between the crust and pan before unlatching.

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by M. Terry on December 3, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Family, Food, Nutrition, Recipes

Tagged CHeesecake Facotry peanut butter cup cheesecake, healthy light clean peanut butter cup cheesecake, oragnic cheesecake

Posted by M. Terry on December 3, 2013

https://wholetothecore.com/2013/12/03/peanut-butter-cup-cheesecake/

Garlicky Spaghetti Squash Florentine – My Thanksgiving Contribution

This will be my addition to our Thanksgiving feast on Thursday. I did a trial recently and decided it was “share-worthy” and great for our Turkey Day table.

I simply baked spaghetti squash in the oven. As it was roasting, I also roasted its seeds and thin slices of garlic as well. While those aromatics roasted away, I sauteed a little more garlic, some onion, and mushrooms on the stove top. Towards the end of that 10 minutes or so, I added in the kale and turned off the heat. Once the squash was soft when squeezed, I allowed it to cool some and then scraped out the squash with a fork. I added the squash, a bit of nutmeg and salt and pepper to the pan with the veggies and gently mixed together. I finished it by garnishing with the roasted (and salted) seeds and the garlic chips, and finally with some nutritional yeast. Happy feasting everyone!

Also try the spaghetti squash as spaghetti and meatballs!

5 Comments

by M. Terry on November 24, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Family, Food, Nutrition, Recipes

Tagged Garlicky Spaghetti Squash Florentine, kale for thanksgiving, pasta alternative

Posted by M. Terry on November 24, 2013

https://wholetothecore.com/2013/11/24/garlicky-spaghetti-squash-florentine-my-thanksgiving-contribution/

Cranberry and Orange Quinoa Salad – “A Salad For Each Week” #13

This is a remake of a salad that I’ve had at Season’s 52. It is their Quinoa-citrus salad and is on their autumn menu. Eat it ‘as is’ or add in some of your future, leftover turkey and enjoy it as a full meal. Other additions could include your favorite chopped nut, some crumbled bleu cheese, or finely chopped spinach. And this can be eaten cold or warm. So many options!!

3 cups cooked quinoa
1/3 cup dried cranberries (preferably unsweetened)
1 teaspoon orange zest
2 tablespoons orange juice
1/4 cup diced apple

Place cranberries into a bowl and pour OJ and zest on top of them. Allow them to sit about 10 min. Add in the quinoa and apple and stir. It is actually better to make this ahead of time and then place in the fridge until ready to eat. Enjoy!