Category Archives: Going Healthy

Going Healthy, Going Reviews

High Antioxidant Carrot Bean Dip with Mary’s Gone Crackers

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Mary’s Gone Crackers recently sent me a package with four of their Super Seed Cracker varieties to try. They provided them free of charge and only asked for a delicious recipe in return. Make a healthy recipe and get awesome organic and nutritious crackers? Win-Win!

Mary's Gone Crackers, bean dip, healthy recipe, football

I’ve been enjoying their Original Crackers for a few years already, but the different flavors were a nice change. My favorite way to enjoy is by pairing them with baby carrots for a super crunchy snack with a little sweetness from the carrots balancing the light saltiness. And of course dipping in cottage cheese, plain Greek yogurt, crunched on salad, and bean dips are all spectacular uses. On our recent 9 Year Anniversary trip to Travaasa Austin, Going Mom and I both snacked on the crackers in delight.

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Anchovies + avocado + Mary’s Gong Crackers = Delicious!

I have an affinity for dips, so it didn’t take long to decide on creating the perfect dip for these lovely crackers. Taking my love of pairing carrots with Mary’s Gone Crackers, I knew just what to do. With steamed carrots, beans, and several health-boosting herbs and spices, the dip was done in under 10 minutes.

Mary's Gone Crackers, bean dip, healthy recipe, football

The flavor was just like a good bean dip with a little sweetness added from cooked carrots. Turmeric adds some earthiness and a host of health-promoting benefits. One of them being that it helps to retain beta carotene from the carrots.

Mary's Gone Crackers, bean dip, healthy recipe, football

Mary’s Gone Crackers are one of the few foods I feel good about eating even though they are packaged. No added oils (even helthy ones usually get damaged from high heat processing), lots of delicious nuts and seeds, and all organic make them a great choice for anyone. And if you love crunchy, then these are the crackers for you! Seriously, just crumble them on a salad or over eggs, they are wonderful.

I’ll stop going on and let you try for yourself. Once you grab a box (or five), make this High Antioxidant Carrot Bean Dip to share or keep all to yourself.

High Antioxidant Carrot Turmeric Bean Dip

by RC Liley

Prep Time: 5 Minutes

Cook Time: 5 Minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 15oz can of pinto, black, or garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 cup steamed carrots; Use pumpkin puree if you don’t have or don’t want to use carrots
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tbsp dried parsley (dill or basil would be good too)
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne powder
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Let me keep this simple…

Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend until smooth; scrape down the sides once or twice to get everything.

Enjoy your new dip!

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Have you tried Mary’s Gone Crackers before?
Ready for football season to start or could you care less?

Mary’s Gone Crackers provided their products free of charge in exchange for this recipe posting. All opinions are strictly my own and I was not compensated in any other way.

Food, Going Healthy

Five Things To Do With a Sweet Potato

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The sweet potato as well as all potato varieties are incredibly underrated vegetables. Both offer distinctive nutritional benefits, but are completely different vegetables from each other. Sweet potatoes actually come from a completely different family in the plant kingdom. While many sources hold sweet potatoes on a pedestal claiming they are far superior to the regular “baking” potatoes, they both have a welcome place in our diet.
Baked Sweet Potato
Just like the regular spud, sweet potatoes come in many varieties and range in color from a pasty white to a deep red; each imparting unique tastes and textures. Although sweet potatoes taste sweeter than their distant “white” cousins, they do not spike our blood sugar as much as the regular spuds.
One reason is the fact that sweet potatoes have almost double the amount of fiber than their counterparts; fiber plays a major role in slowing digestion and releasing sugar. Both varieties offer similar amounts of vitamins and minerals, but sweet potatoes come out on top for antioxidant content. So, don’t skip out on baked potatoes as they have a lot to offer in flavor and nutrition, but I want to focus on the sweet tuber today.
First, let’s look at how to select your sweet potato. WHFoods.com has great tips on how to select and store a sweet potato:

Choose sweet potatoes that are firm and do not have any cracks, bruises or soft spots. Avoid those that are displayed in the refrigerated section of the produce department since cold temperature negatively alters their taste.

Sweet potatoes should be stored in a cool, dark and well-ventilated place, where they will keep fresh for up to ten days. Ideally, they should be kept out of the refrigerator in a cool, dry, dark place not above 60 degrees F / 15 degrees C, which would fit the characteristics of a root cellar. Yet since most people don’t have root cellars, we’d suggest just keeping your sweet potatoes loose (not in a plastic bag, but if desired, a brown paper bag with multiple air holes punched in it will work) and storing them in a cool, dark, and well-ventilated cupboard away from sources of excess heat (like the stove).

After selecting a sweet potato or five following the tips above, here are some of my favorite ways to enjoy:

Sweet Potato Soup

 

1. Sweet Potato Peanut Stew or Bisque – Eatingwell.com provides a great recipe I use and change as needed. Instead of the tomato juice their recipe calls for, I use canned chopped tomatoes; sometimes I toss some cubed and cooked chicken breast in after pureeing for a protein boost. The peanut butter provides healthy fat that enables the body to better absorb the beta-carotene in sweet potatoes.

Chocolate Sweet Potato Pudding Puree

2. Sweet Potato Chocolate Pudding – So good. Cube and steam the sweet potato in the microwave, throw all ingredients in a blender with a little milk, and blend away! Add avocado for extra creamy nutrition; trust me. This is great hot or cold and with or without roasted peanuts added for a little crunch.

Roasted Sweet Potato

 

3. Roasted Sweet Potato – either cut into fries or simply cubed, I love baking these in a 375 degree over for 30 – 45 minutes. The roasting brings out the sweetness of the spud and is even better with cinnamon sprinkled on top. For something savory, toss with whole garlic cloves, ground cumin, and parsley to roast in the oven; this is great served cold too!
Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili

 

 4. Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili – If you haven’t combined sweet potato with black beans yet, make this now! When it’s hot outside, make it a cold salad instead by cutting out a few steps.  Try adding sliced avocado for a cool and creamy addition with extra nutrition.
Eat Me.......seriously
Eat Me…….seriously

5. Sweet Potato Pancakes – a great change from regular flour pancakes for a special weekend breakfast; try this recipe I found on Pinterest you will love it! I use half unsweetened applesauce and half plain full fat yogurt instead of just yogurt. Whisk plain yogurt with peanut butter (Like NuttZo!) and honey for a tasty topping; sliced bananas with extra cinnamon is a great way to really up the flavor!

The potato is a versatile food and can be prepared in less than 10 minutes for when you have no time to spare. Kelley and I have found the Jersey Sweet Potato to be our favorite so far; we simply rinse and microwave for 4 -5 minutes and enjoy topped with plain full fat Greek yogurt. Similar to my squash puree mixtures, I sometimes use cooked sweet potato instead; this makes for a very creamy and delicious treat when mixed with frozen berries or bananas.

Don’t be scared to eat more potatoes, both sweet and regular are great nutritional powerhouses. Buy organic so you can just rinse the skin and eat it to obtain the vital vitamins and minerals it has within. If you do not buy organic, you might be better off peeling the potato to limit the amount of pesticides you ingest.

How do you enjoy sweet potatoes?

Going Healthy

Sugar-Free Peanut Butter Protein Granola

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One absolutely essential thing I learned as I became serious about my health is that food matters!

Like gas for your car, the higher octane (quality), the better it runs. Same for your body, higher quality, wholesome food will help it fire on all cylinders by performing better physically and mentally.

Over the years I became fed up when searching for food without added non-food ingredients I can’t pronounce. So I started making my own as much as possible. Like, for instance, granola.

I used to be a cereal fanatic years ago. You usually find some form of sugar as the second ingredient along with processed grains made to resemble “O’s” or little leprechauns. Tasty, yes, but not worth putting in my body.

As my health views changed, I switched from the sugary kind and found low to no sugar varieties as much as possible. But even then it’s still processed into shapes and conveniently packed into a perfectly shaped box. I finally decided there were better alternatives than pouring crunchy clusters into a bowl for a “healthy meal”.

Looking to fill the gap to get my cereal fix, I created a quick and easy recipe for granola. Most granola has a lot of sugar and processed vegetable oil added; I wanted to avoid both.

With the help of stevia and tasty fruit like ripe bananas, applesauce, or pumpkin puree (yes, it’s a fruit), avoiding fat and sugar is easy. Omitting low quality oil and using fruit puree as a substitute allows your recipes to have sweetness with way less calories from fat.

Here’s something that is healthy and fairly simple to make.

Sugar and Oil Free Peanut Butter Protein Granola

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 325.
  • Mix the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl using a wire whisk.
  • In a separate mixing bowl, add all wet ingredients and mix well.
  • Add the wet to the dry and stir until well combined.
  • On a parchment lined cookie sheet spread the mixture out evenly and bake for 30 – 35 minutes. Every 10-15 minutes stir the granola for even baking.

I used to make this all the time for Kelley and myself, but had to put an end to it for a while. If you’re wondering why, it’s because we became dangerously addicted to its delicious crunch. We’d both sit at work and mindlessly chomp away until it was gone! You can have too much of healthy food too.

Although it’s wonderful alone, my favorite way to enjoy this granola is with plain Greek yogurt, NuttZo, and frozen blueberries in a cup.

Refills usually always happen.

Make this for yourself and family to help fuel the day or as a healthy snack anytime of day.

Are you a cereal addict?

In milk, yogurt, or both?

What’s your favorite form of cereal; flakes, o’s, clusters, or tiny sprouted crunchy grains like Ezekiel (The only boxed cereal we use now)?