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Fun with Food: Healthy Game-Day Snacks

Jan22

healthy game-day snacks variety

Before I became a mom, I used to be a huge fan of football.  Since my daughters were born, football has slid way down on my priority list, but this past Sunday I finally got excited about it again because both the Green Bay Packers and the New England Patriots (my two favorite teams) were playing in in the NFC and AFC Championship games.  I was hoping they would both win and play each other in the Superbowl, but that didn’t work out this year.  Maybe next year! 🙂  To prepare for watching the big games, I wanted to create some fun, HEALTHY, football-themed snacks to serve my family.  The image above shows what I came up with, with a little bit (ok, a lot) of inspiration from Pinterest. 🙂

Watermelon Football Helmet

healthy game day snack

My favorite snack item was the Watermelon Football Helmet filled with fresh fruit.  I had a lot of fun making this.  I found a tutorial on You-Tube, and it was super easy to make.  I used a mini watermelon because that is all I could find at the stores since watermelons are not in season right now here in New England.  It turned out to be the perfect size for my family of 5.  If you are preparing this for a large gathering, you may want to use the larger size watermelon if you can find one.  I used a large platter that we use for Thanksgiving to display it, and I arranged fruit around the helmet to improve the appearance.  Since my two favorite teams were playing, I printed out a logo for each one, and I taped one to each side of the helmet.  You can customize it to your liking by printing out and attaching the logo of your favorite team.  The You-Tube Tutorial is below.  If you cannot see it, click here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VfaMMavb0g&x-yt-ts=1421914688&x-yt-cl=84503534

Healthier Buffalo Chicken Dip

Healthier Buffalo Chicken Dip

My Healthier Buffalo Chicken Dip recipe is made with all REAL-food ingredients.  I like to serve it with celery, carrots, and organic corn chips.  You can find the recipe on my blog here.

Football Cheese and Cracker Platter

football cheese and cracker platter

This snack is not 100% real food and is probably the least healthy of the 3, but I’m including it because my daughters had a blast assembling the Football Cheese and Cracker Platter shown above.  While browsing Pinterest, I came upon this image which inspired the cheese and cracker platter.  I printed out the picture and gave it to my daughters along with a box of Town House Crackers, a block of yellow Sharp Cheddar Cheese, a block of White Sharp Cheddar Cheese, a knife, and some pepperoni.  They had so much fun making it, and they were so proud of their creation!  That’s really what this is all about…having fun and making memories! 🙂

What are YOUR favorite Healthy Game-Day snacks?  Share them in the comments below! 🙂

Movie Review: Fed Up

Dec26

I just watched the Food Documentary “Fed Up” last night, and I thought it was REALLY good!

Fed Up Movie Cover

My Rating ***** 5/5 stars

Why Did I Watch This Movie?

I watched this movie because I really enjoy food documentaries.  I find them inspiring, and they motivate me to want to eat healthier.  My friend told me her 7th grade son saw the movie in school, and it really had an impact on him.  So, I decided to check it out at my local library, and I’m glad I did! 🙂

Summary

Fed Up is a 2014 food documentary film.  It focuses on the causes of obesity in America.  Evidence is presented to show how sugar and processed foods contribute to obesity.  The main message of the movie is to encourage people to minimize processed foods and sugar, and instead eat REAL FOOD.

Check out the movie trailer now: 

What Did I Think?

I LOVED this movie!  I enjoy watching food documentaries anyway because I feel inspired by them.  I think it is important to know WHAT we are eating and WHERE it is coming from.  It is scary to think that many people have no idea what is in their “foods” and where it comes from.  Many Americans are overweight and malnourished because they are filling up on “foods” that provide no nutrition and really are not foods at all.  This is very dangerous because it contributes to many health issues that could easily be prevented.

I think everyone should watch this movie, including children.  I think is is important to educate as many people as possible to get them to understand that their bodies need REAL food.  We all need to be better educated on the impact processed foods and sugar have on our bodies and overall health.  If we don’t get educated, it could have dangerous consequences.

I think one of the most important steps to eating more REAL foods and cutting out processed foods and sugar is to learn how to read ingredient labels.  There is a wonderful video to teach you how to read ingredient labels on the blog 100 Days of Real Food.   100 Days of Real Food is also a wonderful resource for finding REAL food recipes.

Check out the Fed Up movie official website here to find out more about the movie or to take the FED UP 10 Day Challenge.

Strawberries: 10 Ways to Eat Them

Jul7

10 Ways to Eat Strawberries

Nothing says summer like fresh strawberries!  In my previous post 9 Reasons To Pick Your Own Strawberries, I mentioned that I had been on 6 fun-filled strawberry-picking excursions with my daughters last month (and I’ve even been again since that post!)  One would think we would have more strawberries than we know what to do with, but the truth is I’ve been having trouble keeping the strawberries long enough to make anything out of them.  My girls devour them (sometimes even before we get home!)  It wasn’t easy, but I did manage to save some strawberries to make a few things. Here are 10 delicious ways to use those fresh-picked, juice-dripping strawberries!

1.  Eat them just as they are!

Of course, this is the healthiest (and our favorite) way to eat them, and they don’t last long.

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2.  Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries!

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Who doesn’t love the combination of chocolate and strawberries, right?  And truly, they couldn’t be easier to make! It requires 2 ingredients – Fresh picked strawberries & Baker’s Dipping Chocolate (you can find this in the baking aisle of your local grocery store – next to the chocolate chips.)

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Simply melt the chocolate as instructed, dip your strawberries, place on a tray on waxed paper, and enjoy!  If you prefer the chocolate a little bit harder (as we do), place in the refrigerator for about 10-15 minutes.

3.  Strawberry Jam

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This was our first attempt at making strawberry jam.  Although this particular recipe didn’t go over well with my family, I’m including it in here anyway since we spent the time making it.  Based on the reviews, it is very popular and it does seem like most people enjoyed it.  We halved the recipe since I didn’t know if we would like it and I wasn’t sure how much it would make.  It ended up filling 4 mason jars (8oz each).  Since I normally try to minimize the amount of sugar I put into recipes (and this time I didn’t), for us it seemed way too sweet.  I think next time I would use much less sugar.  You can find the recipe we used here: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/strawberry-jam/

4.  Strawberry Parfait

July 2, 2014 207 crop parfait

This is one of our favorite choices for breakfast.  Simply use your favorite yogurt, fresh strawberries (chopped) any other desired fruits, and granola.  Layer and enjoy!! 🙂

5.  Strawberry Banana Smoothie

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Nothing beats a refreshing, fruit-filled smoothie on a hot day!  You can use any fruit you have on-hand, but here is one of my favorite combinations:

  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup fresh strawberries
  • 1 cup fresh pineapple, chopped into bite-sized pieces
  • 1 frozen banana

Blend all ingredients together until smooth.  Enjoy!! 🙂  Note:  Make sure at least one of your ingredients is frozen to make your smoothie cold.  In the absence of frozen fruit, you may want to add some ice to make it cold.  If this doesn’t appeal to you, try my other Strawberry Banana smoothie recipe, my Strawberry Banana Peanut Butter smoothie, or create your own yummy combination!

6.  In a salad

I love strawberries in my salad!  I also like to add blueberries, grapes, pineapple, cashews, and chocolate chips in addition to the lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers! 🙂  The fruit adds a wonderful juiciness that practically eliminates the need for salad dressing.  YUM!!

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7.  In  your cereal

We love adding fresh berries to our cereal.  Yum!!

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8.  Freeze them.

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If you have more strawberries than you know what to do with, you can freeze them for later use.  To freeze, begin by removing the stems.  Lightly rinse them and allow to dry.  Then, place them on a piece of wax paper on a cookie sheet in the freezer.  Once frozen, transfer to a ziploc freezer bag.

9.  Topping for cheesecake, ice cream, or pancakes

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My kids absolutely love this stuff!! Here is the recipe we used (next time I’m going to double it!):

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups fresh-picked ripe strawberries
  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

  1. Wash strawberries and remove stems.
  2. Chop strawberries
  3. Combine sugar, vanilla, and 1 1/2 cups strawberries in a saucepan. (Set aside remaining 1/2 cup strawberries.) 
  4. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.  Cook until sauce thickens, about 15 minutes.
  5. Remove from heat.  In a blender, puree mixture.  Add in the 1/2 cup strawberries you had previously set aside.
  6. Store in refrigerator.

The original recipe can be found here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Supreme-Strawberry-Topping/Detail.aspx

I was also hoping to make strawberry pie and strawberry shortcake with fresh-picked strawberries this year, but unfortunately strawberry season is now over in my area so I’ll have to try those out next year.

10.  Strawberry Pie

Update 7/9/15:  I made Strawberry Pie with my daughters this season, and it was delicious!  The link to the recipe I used may be found on my blog Stacy Loves here.

strawberry-pie2

11. Strawberry Ice Cream

Update 6/16/16

This strawberry ice cream, made with freshly picked strawberries, is the perfect treat on a hot, summer day!  The recipe can be found on Stacy Loves here.

Strawberry ice cream recipe

What is your favorite way to eat strawberries?  Do you have a favorite use for strawberries that is not included here?  Please leave a comment below.