Did you know that 10-15% of the population experiences beeturia, aka: red urine after consumption of beets? Are you one of them? If so, not to worry. It's a harmless condition. My friend is married to an internist who gets phone calls about it quite often....
Beets contain two special antioxidants, betanin and vulgaxanthin, which may have detoxifying effects.
Beet Salsa
Serves 4-6
3 medium beets, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
2 1/2 Tbsp lime juice
2 tsp honey
1/2 tsp salt
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Submerge beets to blanch for 4-5 minutes. Remove and strain into a large colander and rinse immediately with cold water. Allow to drain for 5-10 minutes.
Place beets into a large bowl and add jalapeno, red onion, and cilantro. In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, honey and salt. Add liquid mixture to beet mixture and fold to combine.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes prior to serving.
Nutrition Info per 1/4 cup: 40 calories, 0 g fat, 1 g protein, 8 g carbohydrates, 1.5 g fiber
It's fun to bake while you are pregnant. These really interesting (and never before experienced) cravings lead to interesting recipes. This is one of those.
The texture of these cookies is a little bit more like bread than a cookie- so soft and moist. It's hard to eat just one!
Banana Split Cookies
Makes ~20 cookies
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 ripe banana, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3 rings pineapple, chopped (~1/2 cup pineapple tidbits)
4 oz dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
20 Marciano cherries, drained (one for each cookie)
Preheat oven to 360 degrees. Combine butter, mashed banana, sugars, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Use a mixer to mix well.
In a smaller bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix dry ingredients into wet. Fold in pineapple and chocolate. Place cookie batter into refrigerator for 20 minutes.
Lightly grease a baking sheet. Scoop spoonfuls of batter onto sheet, leaving ~ 2 inches between each drop. Top each drop with a cherry. Bake on middle rack for 8-10 minutes, until edges are lightly brown and centers are set. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes prior to transferring to waxed paper to finish cooling.
Store in an airtight container.
Do you like my boot glass? It brings out the cowgirl in me. That needs to happen every now and then. I'm sure our baby will love it. And I am sure that he/she will love beets too. Just wait until I get to make baby food! Look out!
Berry Beet-utiful Smoothie
Makes one generous serving
1 small beet, peeled and cubed
1/3 cup frozen blueberries
3-4 large strawberries, stemmed
2 tsp honey
1 cup vanilla unsweetened almond milk
Ice cubes
Place all ingredients into a blender and mix until a puree is formed. Continue to add ice cubes until desired consistency is achieved. Enjoy!
Nutrition Info per 1 smoothie: 184 calories, 2 g fat, 3 g protein, 34 g carbohydrates, 6 g fiber
A falafel: fried hummus patty. Except mine are baked. And full of flavor, thanks to roasted red peppers and tzatziki.
Little Baked Roasted Red Pepper Falafels
Makes ~ 15
1 can chickpeas, drained and thoroughly rinsed
1 jarred roasted red pepper
3-4 green onions, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, packed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 Tbsp flour
Tzatziki
1 cup low fat plain Greek yogurt
1 tsp dried dill
1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp salt
Dash fresh ground black pepper
Falafels: Combine all ingredients into a large food processor. Mix until a smooth puree is formed. Transfer puree into a bowl and place in refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a baking sheet generously with olive oil spray. Drop 1 1/2 Tbsp chilled mixture onto baking sheet. Bake on middle rack for 18 minutes, gently flipping patties halfway through baking.
Tzatziki: Whisk together all ingredients and place into a covered container for one hour prior to serving.
Nutrition Info per 1 falafel: 52 calories, 1.5 g fat, 1.7 g protein, 6.5 g carbohydrates, 1.6 g fiber
Frozen tater tots are often coated in flour, making them in-edible for those avoiding gluten. It's so easy to make your own! Using yams instead of potatoes will up the vitamin and mineral content, and give you more flavor.
Yam Tots
Makes ~ 24 tots, depending on size of your yams
2 medium yams
2 egg whites, divided
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp milk
1 cup corn meal
Wash yams, them wrap them in foil and bake them at 425 degrees for ~45 minutes. Yams should be softened, but should still "pull" at your fork when you poke them. Remove from oven and place in refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight.
Peel chilled yams, then chop the flesh and place cubes into a food processor. Pulse to create a course puree. Scoop puree into a small bowl, then fold in one beaten egg white, olive oil and salt.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together remaining egg white and milk in a small bowl. Place cornmeal into another small bowl.
Prepare a baking sheet lightly with baking spray. Mold 1 Tbsp yam mixture into a small ball. Dip into egg white mixture, then roll in cornmeal and place onto baking sheet. Repeat with remaining yam mixture, spacing balls 1" apart on sheet.
Place baking sheet into oven on middle shelf and bake for 25 minutes, flipping balls over halfway through cooking. When outside coating is lightly browned, remove from oven and allow to sit for 2-3 minutes prior to serving.
Nutrition Info per 6 tots: 152 calories, 1.8 g fat, 4 g protein, 27 g carbohydrates, 4 g fiber, 173 mg sodium
Since I've been pregnant I've been really conscious of my protein intake. I do not eat a lot of meat, and I don't really want to. This is a quick, delicious way to get in a bite of protein (and some other healthy stuff too). Yes, I do realize that I could just eat a spoonful of peanut butter. But adding some fiber and omega-3s is more my style.
No-Bake Peanut Energy Balls
Makes 8
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup peanut butter (remember low fat= more sugar-- go natural!)
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp almond milk
1 tsp chia seeds
Whisk together peanut butter, honey, and almond milk. Fold in rolled oats. Roll ~1 1/2 Tbsp of mixture into a ball. Continue with remaining mixture. Place balls onto a plate and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Sprinkle chia seeds onto a large plate. Roll each refrigerated ball into the seeds, distributing them onto each ball evenly. Return to refrigerator and serve chilled.
Nutrition Info per 1 ball: 103 calories, 6 g fat, 4 g protein, 9 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber
We went to Las Vegas last month. I know what you're thinking. What was a pregnant girl doing in Vegas? Well, this pregnant girl was shopping, eating (mainly pistachio gelato), and spending quality time with fantastic friends. Another of the spectacular things that I ate was Buffalo Chicken Dip at Holsteins. All you Pinteresters out there may be familiar with this one-- it gets a lot of attention. One bite and I knew that I had to health-ify it a bit by adding some veggies and not using ranch dressing as my base. The verdict? Just as good, if not better (spoken by my hubbster).
Lighter Buffalo Chicken Dip
Serves 6
1 lb chicken breast, trimmed, boiled and shredded
3/4 cup hot sauce
1/2 cup low fat ricotta cheese
1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles
3 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 cup yellow onion, chopped
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together hot sauce and ricotta cheese. Fold in shredded chicken, celery, onion and 1/4 cup of blue cheese. Transfer mixture into a shallow baking dish and sprinkle with remaining blue cheese. Bake for ~20 minutes or until bubbly.
Serve hot with celery and carrots sticks, pita chips, or tortilla chips.
Nutrition Info per 1 serving (~1/2 cup): 195 calories, 7 g fat, 27 g protein, 4 g carbohydrates, 0.5 g fiber
