healthy Archives - Cupcakes and Cutlery

Clean Eating Recipes

June 17, 2014 By Sharon Garofalow 4 Comments

I found myself in a really crazy, unhealthy spot a month ago. I was concurrently taking antibiotics for a sinus infection, along with steroids for said infection, a muscle relaxer for a strained muscle and had a pain shot for the pain from said strained muscle which I was instructed not to take with my headache pill because they would not react well together. I looked at all of that and just stopped. I don’t want to be taking all of that. It just shows how unhealthy my whole life is. I don’t fault the doctors for just layering all of that on, they can’t be the only director of our health at this point. Gone are the days where they truly care about our overall health and focus more on the ailment at hand. Which leaves us to be the controller of our temple. And my temple was falling apart. In conjunction with Andrea’s challenge, I decided that I need to make some changes in my life. And I’m starting with food. I attribute all my cellulite to processed foods and see that my kids are consuming an awful lot of junk food in our crazy, busy life. So while I am not going whole hog (I refuse to throw away the food that is in my freezer and cupboard simply to start over – there is far too much money invested in that to throw it away), I am changing our meals a little at a time and taking this time to really learn about clean eating. My kids don’t love it but they are trying. My husband is totally on board. And I have to say, aside from trying to get in enough protein to keep me feeling full, the food has been delicious! I wanted to share a few of the things I have made recently with you. So feel free to change these up to suit whatever your diets needs or flavor preferences are. And not all of these recipes might not be the cleanest as written, I know I can modify them to be.

Fantastic Clean Eating Recipes

This cold, roasted veggie farro salad is AMAZING! I brought this to a barbecue and everyone loved it. I was able to make most of it the day ahead so it is a great entertaining recipe. I left the cheese out of mine but served it for anyone else who wanted it. And the leftovers were fantastic too!

A strawberry vinaigrette? Yes! SO good! Perfect on baby spinach and chicken and whatever. I have not made her whole salad recipe as she has it in this post, I just wanted to try out the dressing recipe for my son who doesn’t like salads. This didn’t make him like salads. But it made me love this dressing.

I’ve been addicted to popcorn because I get snacky and feel like it is probably a pretty safe, clean bet. Well, probably better than cheetos. I have not tried this Sea Salt and Coconut Popcorn recipe yet but it seems like the perfect snack when you need a little treat.

I made this strawberry chia seed jam to replace the hopped up stuff I had been putting on my kid’s sammies. Chia seeds are amazing. They sort of congeal making the fresh cooked strawberries not runny but, duh, like jam. And it tastes amazing! And it is super easy. And you can see how you could use all different kinds of berries to make more combos. Mmmmmmms, maybe a little ginger peach chia jam for my oatmeal?

I have not made this yet but how crazy does this coconut “bacon” sound? I know it will probably never really take the place of legit bacon but I love coconut and might be another great way to add some texture to salads. I try not to have too many nuts around the house because of an allergy so sometimes my salads aren’t as well-balanced, texturally speaking.

I’ve started a clean eating board on Pinterest if you want to find more recipes to try out. And don’t forget to browse Andrea’s site for some REALLY helpful posts on healthy swaps and how to handle the prep involved for making clean eating meals a priority.

Ellie Krieger’s Tricolor Salad with White Beans and Parmesan

August 12, 2013 By Sharon Garofalow 4 Comments

Being a blogger, I get emails every day pitching something or other. Most of the them are lame, from a PR person who has never read my blog and has no idea what I’m all about. They mostly get a quick “delete” from me. The only ones that have any hope of being read are the ones that have recipes. I love recipes. A few months ago I was sent a pitch about a recipe by Ellie Krieger for the Saturday Evening Post. Whatevs. But the recipe sounded kind of good. So I kept it tucked in my inbox.

The ingredients are simple, mostly shelf stable and the salad, as a whole, is entirely uncomplicated. That is my kind of meal. While her recipe calls for raddichio and endive (which I sometimes do for company) I generally just stick with the bagged arugula. You guys, I love arugula. And it comes in a bag, ready to go, no extra prep. If I am going to eat something healthy for lunch, it has to be easy.

I am not a fan of beans. Most of them are pretty grody if you ask me. So I was pleasantly surprised that I love cannellini beans. They have a really mild flavor and are creamy tasting.

Oh hey, there is my son. Some days he just REALLY wants to be in my photos. Today was one of those days.

The trick to this super simple dressing is good quality ingredients. I remembered this olive oil from when we had the private chef cook for us in Palm Springs. She dressed a simple salad for my kids with this and a little lemon juice and I remember it tasting so fresh and almost buttery.

Similarly, a good balsamic is sweet and rich without being too tart and well, vinegar-y. A quick shake up of the oil and vinegar and you have the most amazing dressing. Ever!

Finish off the salad with some good parmesan (are you seeing a theme here? With a salad this simple your ingredients need to be good stuff. I’m not talking super expensive. I have a grocery budget and I can’t afford the top shelf stuff. What I mean by “good stuff” is not the pre-shredded parmesan in a bag. Even buying a brick of it from your store’s cheese shop can be good enough. And check the ingredients for the balsamic. They should be balsamic vinegar and not say “grape mist”).

My son is a VERY picky eater. And he LOVES this salad. I think it has everything to do with the balsamic being so sweet and the fact that he is a fiend for parmesan. The first time he tried it, he tried to manuever around the beans. I don’t blame him. But now he eats all of it. Once he started this, I got him to eat other types of salads too. So thank you Ellie Krieger.

And if I am being honest, I eat a crap load of it out of a huge bowl. It is THAT good. And it is a salad so it is totally healthy, right? I think this would be a great salad for company. And I eat it for a main course but it would work just as well as a side. Seriously, do it. Well played, Ellie Krieger’s PR company, well played.

Ellie Krieger’s Tricolor Salad with White Beans and Parmesan

Drinkwel is the Vitamin for People who Drink

July 26, 2013 By Sharon Garofalow Leave a Comment

*I asked to review this product because I really hoped it would work for me. Drinkwel graciously sent me some to try. All opinions are mine.

Dearest Drinkwel,

I love you. Will you be my best friend forever?

Sharon

I am not a lush. But I like a drink or two. Especially in summer when I’m on vacation without my kids. BUT! I get the worst hang overs. So when I came across Drinkwel online, I felt like I needed to try it. During the summer I usually take several mini trips. This year Drinkwel came along with me to my girl’s trips in Scottsdale and Palm Springs. And it will go with me and my husband to Mexico in a few weeks. And I’ve used it several times in town. The verdict? Consider me a huge fan.

So how do you use it? Well, it’s a supplement that helps how your body handles the toxins from alcohol. You take 3 capsules with lots of water before you drink and then another 3 with lots of water before you go to bed. I’m not going to get all technical and tell you how it works, you can check that out over on their website. All I know is that when I took it, I felt GREAT the next day. I want to disclose that I was not hammered on any occasion so I can’t say how it works if someone were to REALLY indulge.

This doesn’t make me feel like I should just go ahead and drink way more than I usually would. But it gives me a little reassurance that the next day I won’t be relegated to bed. Or the couch with kid’s asking me to do ridiculous things like make them breakfast.

Sharon + Drinkwel = BFF 4EVA

There are several ways to buy Drinkwel including the 90 capsule bottle and also travel packs that are super easy to take on a night out with you. Have you tried it? I would love to know what you think!

*All opinions are mine. As always. Forever and ever. Amen.

An easy way to enjoy fresh fruit from Dole

June 6, 2012 By Sharon Garofalow 3 Comments

Dole is rocking my world right now. You may have read my post from yesterday about their new Shakers product. I’m obsessed. But they also sent me these fresh frozen fruit cups to try out too! I made a pre-dinner smoothie for them to work in a serving of fruit and it couldn’t have been easier.

The Dole frozen fruit single serving cups come in a two pack and are kept frozen. With detailed thawing instructions on the back for optimal enjoyment, Dole has made it even easier to have a healthy alternative, fast and ready to go.

You simply remove the plastic lid and use however you want to!

My kids were so into these! We decided to make them in to a quick smoothie before dinner (but I figured this would be their usual fruit serving they would usually have at dinner so it wasn’t like I was giving them a treat right before dinner – I’m saying this mostly for my mom’s benefit in case she reads this. She would be appalled that I gave the kids something right before dinner. The horror!)

One son doesn’t like pineapple so I kept it out of the initial smoothie. I added a Dole strawberry cup and a blueberry cup to some ice and about a cup of orange juice.

So fast and easy. Once I poured a glass for my pineapple hating son, I added the Dole pineapple cup to the blender and mixed that in for my pineapple tolerant son. I felt good about their “snack” and there was no hassle at all. These would be great for school lunches where you could put them in the lunchbox frozen. They would be great to take with you for a healthy snack on the go and there are tons more ways that they can be used! Dole is giving us all kinds of healthy options for summer. My favorite part about these is that they aren’t packed in syrup or any added sweeteners. Just fruit.

Dole has been touring around the country sharing samples of their two fabulous new products as well as bringing awareness to childhood obesity and nutrition and helping local Boys and Girls Clubs. If you are in the Los Angeles area, head to The Grove next Saturday to learn how your family can find healthier food options this summer as well as finding activities to do together. See all the info on their Facebook page (click the photo that says Shake it Up).

Dole’s Shake it up Summer Tour, Saturday, June 9, 2012

The Grove – 101 The Grove Drive, Los Angeles, CA 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm benefitting the Boys and Girls Club of Hollywood.

*I was given product for review. All opinions are mine! But I really think you are going to like these.

Banana Oat Smoothie

May 3, 2012 By Sharon Garofalow 6 Comments

How yummy does this banana oat smoothie look? I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I totally just had to look up how to spell banana. All I could hear while writing it was Gwen’s voice spelling it but I heard far too many n’s. Dang. How am I going to be able to help my kid’s with their homework if I can’t even spell banana?

If you don’t think I am a total loser and are still around, let me tell you about my new favorite breakfast. It is a smoothie recipe with banana and oats. I eat about 3 bananas a year, on average. They are not my favorite fruit by any means. But something about this recipe made me want to try it. And I’ve been trying to get off the ‘Tarts. Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts have always been my weakness and I attribute many a cellulite dimple to them. This smoothie is delicious and super satisfying. AND I have found that I make it when I need something sweet at other times of the day and feel so much better about that choice then when I eat a whole bag of Trader Joe’s Kettle Corn.

The excuse I used to tell myself was that I just don’t have time to put breakfast together in the morning and I have to grab something quick. But if you make it a priority, it quickly becomes part of the routine and you can make it in no time at all. There is little to no prep and as you get comfortable with your measurements you can put it together even more quickly. As I am a terrible judge of well, most guess-timations, I will continue to use a measuring cup to make sure I am not adding unnecessary calories. This recipe is modified a bit from this one on the Martha Stewart page (which was acting all wonky when I was trying to link to it but I think we all know where to find her if you want to see the real recipe). Here is what you will need:

1 bananananananana

1/4 cup oatmeal (uncooked – not quick cooking)

1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt

1/2 cup vanilla soymilk

a squeeze of honey (to taste – I don’t like things very sweet so I sometimes don’t even put it in)

dash or two of cinnamon

Add it all to the blender and get to whirring. The banana does not need to be chopped up, but you should break it up in to at least 3 pieces so that it will blend well. I chose to use soymilk instead of regular milk because (spoiler alert – it’s about to get gross) it makes me extra phlegmy. But I don’t like the tang of soy yogurt so that it why I use cow’s milk yogurt in it. Quite possibly, a dumb substitution but I can tolerate and enjoy it this way, so there.

And why should cocktails have all the fun. Add some pizzazz to your banana oat smoothie and drink up! I have also made several variations of this smoothie to change it up. I’ve added unsweetened cocoa powder – delicious! I’ve swapped the soymilk for orange juice and added a dash of vanilla – hello creamsicle. I’ve also added strawberries to change-up the flavor and added other spices, like nutmeg, for a match made in heaven. Depending on how long you blend it, your oatmeal will either be pretty darn smooth or a little bit more chewy. I find that this smoothie keeps me full and I feel good about what I am putting in my body. Then I only have the rest of the day to worry about screwing up my diet. Believe me. I can be the world’s worst eater. We’re talking cupcakes for breakfast, lunch and snack with a grilled cheese dinner. Now THAT’S bananas.