“One side will make you grow taller, and the other side will make you grow shorter.”
“One side of what? The other side of what?” said Alice.
“Of the mushroom,” said the Caterpillar and then it crawled out of sight.
gluten-free
Kindergarten Peanut Butter Cookies
Half-pint, a kindergarten graduate, can mix up a batch of these peanut butter cookies without help. What fun! With only Continue reading
Dried Pineapple Snacks
With all the flavor of fresh, ripe pineapple and a chewy, candy-like texture, Dried Pineapple Snacks are perfect for combating a case of midday munchies. Even better, this snack has Continue reading
Freshly Canned Pineapple
In my Midwest US community, pineapple is selling for $1.29 this week at Aldi. I have a sister-in-law who lives in Hawaii (I’m not irrationally jealous, really. Mostly.). Do you know what she told me pineapple is selling for in Hawaii – you know, where pineapple is grown?
$1.29
I can’t make this stuff up.
Today we’re taking advantage of this insanely low price by preserving pineapple in canning jars. It’s super easy, and tastes just like fresh Continue reading
Snacking Tokyo-Style: Plum Onigiri
Are you looking for an easy way to jazz up your weekday lunch?
All over Tokyo, food courts and convenience stores sell triangles of sticky rice filled with all sorts of wonderful goodies. Called onigiri, these snacks fit easily in the palm of your hand, are quite filling, and are very affordable – many cost the equivalent of $1 or less. Our whole family enjoyed sampling onigiri filled with pickles, plums, smoked salmon, and even hard boiled eggs. Our favorite were the plum-filled snacks, which we are creating today.
Onigiri mold
You can Continue reading
Detox Gazpacho
Put the chocolate Easter bunny down and back away slowly. I hear the siren song of sugar right along with ya, but we can do this! Instead of eating something which will lead us to wallow in guilt later, let’s eat something healthy and invigorating! This soup is one of my favorite detox foods, so I’m sharing it again.
Springtime tends to make vegetable lovers giddy with excitement. Unfortunately, it also makes us impatient, as the fresh, ripe flavors we crave become s l o w l y available. Right now, the zucchini at the market (not yet from my garden) looks fresh and delicious. Cucumbers and peppers aren’t half bad right now, either.
But those supermarket tomatoes?
Sigh.
Don’t even bother with springtime tomatoes. I think they’re just little cardboard orbs disguised as tomatoes.
So, what’s a vegetable lover to do? Cheat. Relax, I’m not telling you to cheat on your taxes or cheat on your calculus exam. We’re going to cheat by avoiding fresh tomatoes altogether, even in a dish which ordinarily features fresh tomatoes quite prominently.
How are we going to cheat? We’re going to use salsa and vegetable juice. Stay with me for a minute.
Salsa, whether home canned or store bought, is often a superior alternative to out of season tomatoes. The blend of tomatoes, onions, herbs, and spices offers a whole lot more flavor than whatever was picked green and trucked up from far away, gassed along the way to artificially force a red color (without doing a darn thing for flavor). Likewise, vegetable juice forms a perfect – and perfectly obvious – base for a simple gazpacho. If you don’t believe me, try this recipe. If I’m wrong, post a comment below!
Ingredients (Serves 4)
1 small zucchini, peeled and chopped
1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped (save one slice unpeeled for garnish later)
1 yellow pepper, seeded and chopped (set aside a small piece for garnish later)
1 red pepper, seeded and chopped (set aside a small piece for garnish, later)
1 clove fresh garlic, diced
1 cup salsa
2 cups tomato-based vegetable juice (such as V-8)
Directions
Add all ingredients except garnish to a blender and puree until smooth. Serve well chilled and sprinkled with colorful diced vegetables. If you’d like, add a dollop of sour cream. Enjoy!
Zucchini “Spaghetti” and Meatballs
The meal shown above, which includes three meatballs under that yummy grated parmesan, can be yours for just 360 calories. The same volume of canned ravioli (which is kinda gross anyway) will set you back a whopping 730 calories, and a comparable bowl of traditional spaghetti and meatballs weighs in at almost 800 calories.
A person of average weight would need to do over 1,200 sit ups to burn 800 calories.
Let that sink in.
The trick to enjoying savory, satisfying red sauce, meatballs, and parmesan cheese is to enjoy them with spiral cut zucchini instead of pasta. Yes, zucchini. All you need to cut a zucchini into spaghetti-like strands is about 10 seconds and this device:
If it looks gimmicky, rest assured – the Veggetti is Crowded Earth Kitchen tested, and we LOVE it! For the record, we have not been compensated in any way by Veggetti for this post – we’re sharing this with you because this product can truly transform your eating habits, helping you to reduce calories!
Veggetti Spiral Vegetable Slicer, Makes Veggie Pasta
Simply twist a medium size zucchini through the Veggetti into your favorite pasta bowl. Top with three meatballs, 1 cup of simple, homemade red sauce, and 1 tablespoon of freshly grated parmesan cheese. Viola! A hearty dinner with a healthy calorie count, no sacrifice required!
Eat well! BE well!
