Curry Chicken Salad

 A nice blend of savory and sweet to spice up your sandwich or salad greens!

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked chicken (I cooked it by boiling in a pot of water so it comes out really moist) or use leftover turkey instead of chicken if desired

¾ cup chopped celery

½ cup sliced apples

2 tablespoons golden raisins

2 tablespoons chopped cashews

½ cup nonfat Greek yogurt

¼ cup light mayo

½ teaspoon white vinegar (or rice vinegar)

½- ¾ teaspoon curry powder

Directions:

Put the chicken, celery, apples, raisins and cashews in a medium bowl.  In a smaller bowl combine the yogurt, mayo, curry powder and vinegar well and pour over the chicken mixture.  Fold in the dressing and mix well.  Chill if not serving immediately.

Makes 3.5 cups, 7 servings

Serving size ½ cup Calories 120 Protein 13 g Carb 7 g Fiber 1 g Sugars 5 g Fat 5 g Saturated fat   1 g Sodium 410  mg  

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No Bake No Fuss Mini Brownie Strawberry Sundaes- Recipe ReDux Post # 2

When I was a child I used to adore the strawberry sundaes at McDonald’s, loving the combo of the soft creamy vanilla ice cream with the gooey sweet strawberry topping.  Using a high quality light vanilla ice cream with heated natural (lower sugar) preserves in a petite portion, really creates the same flavor without a ton of fat and sugar.  To take it up a notch try it on top of this no-bake rich chocolaty brownie bar recipe that I just created and that is one delicious and reasonably healthy mini sundae!  Just a tad bit over 100 calories- WOW….

Ingredients:

For the Brownie

½ cup creamy or crunchy unsalted natural almond butter (I used Trader Joes Raw Unsalted Crunchy)
¼ cup pure maple syrup

½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1.5 tablespoons cocoa powder

3/4 cup oats (old fashioned, not quick)(*use a gluten-free oats such as Bob's Red Mill if you are on a gluten-free diet)
¼ cup chocolate chips, measured, then finely chopped

Wax or parchment paper

For the Toppings

1 cup reduced sugar/natural strawberry preserves (I used Welch’s Natural)

1 cup light vanilla ice cream (I used Breyer’s Natural)

chopped almonds (optional, for garnish)

Directions:

In a medium sized bowl, combine the maple syrup, cocoa, vanilla and almond butter and mix well.  Stir in the oats and chocolate chips and mix some more. Press mixture into an 8 by 8 inch pan. (Lining the pan with a large rectangular piece of wax/ parchment paper, placing the mixture on one side and then folding the paper over to press down works nicely since the dough is a bit sticky.) Chill in the fridge for an hour or more (if you can wait that long!) or in the freezer for 10-15 minutes and cut into 16 squares.  Heat the strawberry preserves in microwave (about 10-15 seconds per tablespoon). Top each brownie with 1 tablespoon ice cream and 1 tablespoon strawberry preserves and garnish with additional chopped almonds. Wrapping any leftover individual brownie squares in wax paper and storing in baggies in the freezer or fridge is great for convenience.  

Makes 16 mini sundaes

Serving size: 1/8th of recipe  Calories 130 Protein 3 g Carb 17 g Fiber 1 g Sugars 12 g Fat 6 g Saturated fat 1 g Sodium 5 mg

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In The News: Eating Breakfast Decreases Type 2 Diabetes Risk!

I am a dedicated breakfast eater so I was thrilled to see this latest research in the news about breakfast consumption decreasing ones risk for Type 2 Diabetes! A recent study conducted by epidemiologist Andrew Odegaard, reports “overall, our findings show an inverse relation between increasing breakfast frequency and Type 2 Diabetes, probably mediated by BMI." Also, those eating breakfast more times per week had the lowest risk:  "those who ate breakfast 5 times or more had a 31% reduction in Type 2 Diabetes risk" the researchers note.  To see more info on the study click HERE. And enjoy a healthy breakfast everyday- check out all my breakfast recipes HERE!

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Single Serve Banana Pecan Baked Oats

As a follow up to last week's post about the awesome fuel potential of bananas,  I thought I'd post another yummy banana recipe.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/3 cup rolled oats (if you are on a gluten-free diet use a gluten-free brand such as Bob’s Red Mill
1 egg white (2 tablespoons liquid egg whites)
1 tablespoon milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)
½ very ripe banana, mashed
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tablespoon chopped pecans
1 tablespoon unsweetened coconut flakes (optional) cooking spray

 Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl. Spoon into a small ramiken or small oven safe baking dish coated with cooking spray and bake for 20-25 minutes, until top is firm and inside is slightly soft.

Makes one serving

Serving size:

1 baked oat dish w/coconut Calories 270 Protein 8g Carb 38g Fiber 6g Sugars 13g Fat 11g Saturated fat 4g Sodium 65mg Serving size:

1 baked oat dish w/o coconut Calories 230 Protein 8g Carb 37g Fiber 5g Sugars 13 g Fat 7g Saturated fat 1g Sodium 65mg

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