Healthy Holiday Recipes from the LV Community!
Posted: December 9, 2014 Filed under: Food, Health | Tags: holidays, light, lightened, lighter, party, Pot-luck, potluck, recipes, renovated, revamped, slow cooker, transformed, vegetarian Leave a commentLifeVest recently held its first virtual “potluck” featuring users’ favorite healthy recipe renovations! From veggie-filled sides to revamped casseroles to an array of convenient, make-ahead Crock-Pot meals, we received a hearty round of recipes to now display at our virtual table. We’ve selected a few of our favorites to share with you, so grab a seat with us and get inspired for your next holiday gathering. Also, we’d like to extend a warm thank you to our entire LifeVest community and all whom swapped a recipe with us!
Renovated Sweet Potato Gratin
Link Love: Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes
Posted: November 14, 2014 Filed under: Food, Health, Recipes | Tags: appetizer, cooking light, gravy, health, healthy, holiday, ideas, light, mashed potatoes, meal plan, menu, recipes, renovate, revamp, roundup, sweet potatoes, thanksgiving, transform, vegan, vegetarian, weight loss 4 Comments4,500 – The average number of calories eaten per American on Thanksgiving.
Rather than take on that fitness feat, this year we’re making a commitment to give thanks to our health. Join us as we celebrate Thanksgiving both by practicing moderation, and also by revamping some of our favorite holiday dishes. The menu below allows you to dig into many of the classics with a slightly healthier spoon, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie included.
Green Sans Bean Casserole: Baked Greens Casserole with Crusty Crumb Topping via Cia Chow Read the rest of this entry »
Spiced Oven-Baked Rutabaga Fries
Posted: November 4, 2014 Filed under: Food, Health, Meatless Monday, Nutrition, Recipes, Weight loss | Tags: broiled, chili, chili powder, food, french fries, fries, health, healthy, ideas, low calorie, low fat, low-carb, oven, oven-baked, recipe renovation, recipe renovator, recipes, roasted, rutabaga, simple, spiced, tips, transformed, tricks, turnip, vegan, vegetarian, weight loss 1 Comment
“They’re like French fries but without as many of the calories and fat,” said LifeVest member Laura Meier.
Bingo. Laura’s description of rutabaga fries sounded great to us, and it didn’t take us long before we set out to discover its truth.
Since joining the program, LifeVester Laura is over halfway to her goal of losing 50 pounds, and now has a new goal of maintaining a healthy lifestyle for the long run.
“We’re going to keep encouraging each other and thinking smarter so we can remain feeling good,” says Laura who set out on her journey to health in partnership with her husband. “You have to think long-term. Otherwise, it’s all for nothing. Why go back when you could feel good for life?”
Laura told us she loves finding new ways to transform some of her favorite recipes into healthier versions. It keeps her feeling both satisfied and excited about continuing on.
She has always loved french fries, and we do too, so we were thrilled to hear about her latest version that enables her to remain on the right track toward her goals.
Rutabagas have just 1/2 the calories and 1/2 of the carbs that potatoes contain. So, inserting them into the standard oven-baked fry equation sounded like a genius idea to us.
Often mistaken for a turnip, the root veggie has that same sweet bite of a turnip with the starchiness of a potato. This makes them perfect for slicing up into flavorful fries, ones that luckily come without too much detriment to your diet.
At just 65 calories per cup, the winter veggie (in season Oct. – March) has become no small fry in our recipe book. Rather, thanks to Laura, it’s our new fry-making go-to.
We were thrilled with the crispy results upon our first batch, and are excited to experiment with other spices and herbs. We’d encourage you to do the same after first trying the chili powder version below.
As Laura shares, “It makes us, especially my husband, think we’re having a burger and fries.” She serves her ruta-fries alongside turkey burgers with lettuce swapped for the bun, a combo we can get behind.
Let us know in the comments, how do you make your favorite comfort foods healthier? We’d love to hear what you’re doing to transform some of your favorite recipes, and thank you to Laura for sharing this idea with us!
Happy Halloween from LifeVest!
Posted: October 30, 2014 Filed under: Nutrition, Recipes | Tags: adventures, broccoli, broccoli man, costume, costumes, DIY, food, funny, halloween, health, healthy, ideas, joke, recipes health, vegan, vegetable, vegetables, vegetarian, veggie Leave a commentHow does LifeVest dress up for Halloween? That’s a no-brainer. We turn ourselves into Broccoli Man, of course, our favorite super-health-hero for fighting cancer, inferior food choices, inflammation, vitamin D deficiency, and more.
This got us thinking, what might Broccoli Man be if he were to dress up for Halloween? We asked him, and following are some ideas he’s pondering. He’s hoping you might help him decide by telling him which one is your favorite.
Homemade Curry Pumpkin Seeds
Posted: October 24, 2014 Filed under: Food, Nutrition | Tags: autumn, boiled, cinnamon, curried, curry, DIY, easy, fall, fiber, food, halloween, healthy, homemade, magnesium, oven, protein, pumpkin seeds, recipes, roasted, simple, snack, snacks, vegan, vegetarian, yum Leave a comment
Put your carved jack-o’-lantern on your porch, but please pass along its seeds to your plate! Those tiny ovals will obtain an irresistible crunch upon roasting, meaning they have no place in the trashcan.
They’re also scary good for you. Legend has it that jack-o’-lanterns originated as a means to ward off evil spirits. However, we’re starting to think it’s the pumpkin seeds that deserve most of the credit for scaring off death. You see, pumpkin seeds contain a solid 150mg of magnesium per ounce. Research shows that meeting the recommended daily value of magnesium (442mg/day) is highly associated with a reduced risk of death. (That’s a 34% risk reduction for overall mortality, 59% reduction in cardiovascular death & a 37% reduction in cancer death, according to this study. Woah!)
In addition to that magical magnesium, pumpkin seeds are packed with protein, fiber, and heart healthy fat. This all makes them an incredibly satisfying snack — especially when you add a little salt and curry powder to the mix.
We’ve got the recipe below that shows you how to do just that, so get ready to go save your seeds and take them to the table.
“Turnip For What?” These 5 Turnip Recipes
Posted: October 15, 2014 Filed under: Food, Meatless Monday, Recipes | Tags: autumn, bitter, clean eating, diet, fall, hash, healthy, healthy recipes, healthy swap, holidays, low calorie, miso, nutrition, pasta, recipes, roasted, root veggies, roundup, salad, starchy, turnip, turnipforwhat, vegan, vegetarian, vitamin c Leave a comment
In a video-gone-viral, Michelle Obama says, “Turnip for what?” We’re responding to that question with this roundup of healthful turnip-central recipes.
The late autumn crop is particularly low in calories among the root vegetable kingdom – just 34 cals per cup vs. 116 per cup of diced potatoes – and is packed with vitamin C and other antioxidants. This makes it a great filler and addition to lighten up traditional starchy dishes, like Turnip Mashed Potatoes (swap 1/2 the potatoes with turnips), and some of the recipes you’ll find below.
Both the turnip’s greens and bulb can be eaten. Each provide a nice bitterness that pairs well with sweeter veggies, meats, and spices. See for yourself as you turnip some music and your stove, and dive into one of the recipes below.
Sweet Turnip and Carrot Soup via InFine Balance Read the rest of this entry »
Pumpkin Green Monster Smoothie
Posted: October 14, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: autumn, Breakfast, clean eating, fall, fiber, food, good monster, green, halloween, health, healthy, kale, latte, low calorie, low fat, monster, october, pumpkin, pumpkin spice, recipes, shake, smoothie, spinach, vegan, vegetarian, vitamin c, yum Leave a comment
In honor of Halloween and the season of pumpkin everything, we’re replacing bad monsters (300 calorie, 38 grams of sugar pumpkin lattes) with good monsters by inviting this recipe into our kitchen.
The creamy shake is packed full of nutrition and fill-you-up fiber, making it a great choice to add to your weekly, or even daily, breakfast rotation.
Feel free to play around with any toppings, as well as the thickness by adjusting the amount of soy milk you add to the blender. Sometimes we let this green monster spread its mighty power to a bowl, and dive in with our spoon instead of a straw. Regardless, get this good guy on your (table)side.
Meatless Monday: Curry Harvest Soup
Posted: October 13, 2014 Filed under: Food, Meatless Monday | Tags: clean eating, diet, easy, health, healthy, kale, light, low calorie, low fat, meatless monday, recipes, Soup, sweet potatoes, vegan, vegetarian, winter Leave a comment
Fall has fallen upon us, which means sweater, sweet potato, and soup season have all officially arrived! We love all three, especially that latter one, which we encourage you to add into your eat-clean-toolbox.
With the temps cooling down, it’s easy to slide away from light summer fare into heavier winter territory. However, jumbo sweaters are no excuse to add another layer to your diet or your tummy. Luckily with an arsenal of soup recipes on-hand, you can stay warm and satisfied without needing to take that path.
This particular recipe from our food blogging LifeVester Grace calls on an array of hearty harvest veggies to create a soup that’s both robust, yet light. That’s exactly the combination we recommend employing to stay slimming down and feeling good all throughout the season.
Perfect for both Meatless Monday and late October days when you want something a little warm and brothy, head on over to Grace’s blog for the recipe.
Then, as you continue to add more soup recipes to your eat-clean-toolbox, please share them with us! We’re suckers for soup, and would love to hear what’s filling your bowl.
3 Fall Pumpkin Oatmeal Recipes
Posted: September 23, 2014 Filed under: Food | Tags: autumn, banana, Breakfast, chocolate, cinnamon, cocoa, easy, fall, fiber, food, healthy, low calorie, low fat, make ahead, mason jar, oats, overnight, pie, pumpkin, quick, recipes, vegan, vegetarian Leave a comment
As summer officially comes to a close today, we’re bringing you a few pumpkin breakfast ideas to wakeup your autumn tastebuds. You’ll find all of the recipes below packed with both real pumpkin and oats, a favorite fall combination of ours. Both ingredients are filled with fiber, which means together, they’ll easily leave you feeling satisfied well into lunchtime. Studies show when you eat foods heavy on fiber, you can feel full on fewer calories. That’s clearly good for your waistline. Now, let’s make it good for your tastebuds, too, by creating a heavenly, pumpkin-pie-in-a-bowl meal.
Although similarly spiced, you can guarantee the following recipes are all better for your health than a slice of pie, but perhaps even creamier and certainly easier to create, too. From a warm, to a chocolatey, to a make-ahead option, you pick your choice. Then say hello to fall with a bright dose of orange on your spoon.
Meatless Monday: Tofu Bahn Mi Collard Wraps
Posted: September 22, 2014 Filed under: Health, Meatless Monday | Tags: asian, bahn mi, banh mi, clean eating, Collard wraps, collards, food, giner, healthy, light, lighter, low calorie, low-carb, lunch ideas, lunchbox, meatless monday, no bread, office lunch, peanut sauce, recipes, tofu, vegan, vegetarian, Vietnamese, wasabi, wraps, yum Leave a comment
The LifeVest office has been eating well lately, and we want you to join in with us!
For our last company lunch, our food blogger and LifeVester Grace brought us these Tofu Banh Mi Collards Wraps. Banh mi is a traditional Vietnamese sandwich, generally filled with some type of protein, and layered with cucumbers, cilantro, pickled carrots, and sometimes various other veggies. In its translation, the word “Banh mi” actually means loaf, or slice of bread, so generally, you’ll find all of those ingredients encompassed by an airy baguette. Grace’s version, however, is obviously a bit different — and healthier, too!
