Chocolate Mousse with Raspberries

Ok guys — this might be the best treat of 2015: Chocolate Mousse that you can eat for breakfast!

Sounds too good to be true? I thought so too, until I tried this recipe.

This is a creamy, thick and decadent mousse that’s low in sugar and high in fiber and protein – so it can be a guilt-free dessert OR breakfast!

How is that possible?

Well, thanks to this awesome combination of chia seeds, buckwheat groats, and hemp seeds from Nature’s Path, some unsweetened cocoa powder, a dash of honey, some yogurt to thicken it up, and my trusty blender: I was able to create this chocolate mousse in under 20 minutes.

I topped it with some fresh raspberries, but you can top it with any fresh fruit you’d like.

This recipe makes four HUGE servings, so you can use it as a grab & go breakfast (save it in 4 mason jars and you can eat each serving throughout the week), or you can divide it into smaller servings and use it as a dessert for your holiday dinner.

Either way, you won’t believe how easy it is to make and how good it tastes!

Print

Chocolate Mousse with Raspberries

Total Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Calories per serving: 253

Fat per serving: 9.4g

Nutritional Info Per Serving: 253 Calories, 9.4g Fat (2.5g Saturated), 55.6mg Sodium, 30.6g Carbs, 8.2g Fiber, 12.9g Sugar, 15.8g Protein

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Nature’s Path Qi’a – Original
• 1/4 cup organic unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup 1% organic milk
• 1 tbsp honey (use 2 tbsp honey if you want it to be sweeter)
• 1 cup plain fat free or 2% Greek yogurt (I used the one from Stonyfield
• 20 raspberries

Directions

1. Add Qi’a, cocoa powder, milk and honey to blender; purée until smooth. Chill, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes or until thick.
2. Fold in yogurt. Divide among 4 serving dishes. Garnish each with fresh raspberries (5 per serving)

Notes

Adapted from Nature'sPath

3.1

http://pickyeaterblog.com/chocolate-mousse-with-raspberries/

Recipe by: The Picky Eater, pickyeaterblog.com

4 Healthy Quinoa Breakfast Recipes

The weather has finally changed (so happy it took this long to get cold this year!) and with these cold weather mornings, I’ve been craving warm and comforting breakfasts.

Normally, I have oatmeal and tea in the morning, which is great, but around this time of year I start to feel like mixing things up a bit. Enter: quinoa! One of my favorite grains that’s packed with protein and fiber, quinoa in the morning will keep you feeling full all the way to lunchtime.

Here are 4 easy recipes to try, where quinoa is the star of your breakfast dishes!

#1 | A Warm and Nutty Quinoa Bowl

The Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup dry quinoa
• 1 cup of 1% organic milk
• 1 tbsp chopped nuts (I like walnuts, but any nuts are fine)
• 1 cup of fresh berries
• 1 tbsp ground flax seed
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

The Directions:

Cook the oats and quinoa according to the package directions (usually I do a 1:2 ratio of oats/quinoa:water). Once cooked, add in the milk, nuts, berries and flax. Let sit for a couple minutes until the mixture thickens, then top with ground cinnamon and enjoy!

#2| Apple Quinoa Pancakes

The Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of apples (boiled and smashed into a paste)
• 2 tbsp of all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 tbsp nuts (chopped) – any nut will work, choose your favorite!
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla

The Directions: Mix the vanilla into the egg and beat for a couple of seconds. Add the flour, quinoa, apple mash, and the nuts and mix well. Heat a pan on low, spray the pan with cooking spray. Drop one spoonful of the pancake batter onto the pan, cook until lightly browned on both sides.

#3 | Quinoa Banana Smoothie

The Ingredients:

• 1 large ripe banana
• 1/4 cup cooked quinoa
• 1/8 cup rolled oats (cooked)
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 cup 1% organic milk
• 1 cup fresh strawberries
• 1 tbsp almonds

The Directions: Add all of the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy!

#4 | Egg and Quinoa Sandwiches

The Ingredients: 

• 3 egg whites, 1 egg yolk, beaten
• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1/2 red onion diced
• 2 tomatoes diced
• 1/8 cup Chopped fresh herbs (your choice!)
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 2 slices sprouted wheat bread, toasted

The Directions: Add the quinoa, veggies, half the herbs, salt & pepper to the beaten eggs. Pour into a skillet over low heat (spray the skillet with cooking spray beforehand), and cook omelette style. When the omelette is done, top with fresh herbs and serve between two slices of sprouted wheat bread.

Hope these quick and easy breakfast recipes helps you to add some variety to your holiday breakfasts!

***

This post was sponsored by JCPenney.com

Giveaway: An Olive Oil and Honey Gift Box from The Olive Table!

I can’t believe it’s December already. This year has completely flown by – and soon it will be 2016! Before we head into the new year, I wanted to share one last giveaway from a company I have grown to love: The Olive Table. The Olive Table is a small company based in Woodstock, Vermont, and they import premium quality, single estate, extra virgin olive oils from the owner’s family property in Greece.

The Olive Table produces two extra virgin olive oils from 100% Koroneiki olives: a conventional olive oil, and a certified organic early harvest olive oil. The conventional oil is a light, delicate intensity oil and the early harvest oil is a greener, sharper-tasting oil with a bit more bitterness. Their oils are cold extracted, unfiltered, low in free fatty acids (less than .3%) and high in polyphenols. I served their oils with a cheese plate at a recent holiday party and they were a total hit! So rich in flavor, not watered down like a lot of olive oils you find at the store.

They also offer raw all natural Greek honey; the varieties currently available are Pine, Chestnut and Reiki (Mediterranean Heather). The ‘forest’ honey (Pine and Fir) are lower in sugar and therefore never crystallize, and their flavors are unique and pure. All of their products are naturally flavored and free of any additives or preservatives. I mix 1/2 tsp of their honey into my oatmeal every morning, and it is amazing.

And now one lucky reader has the opportunity to win a gift box from The Olive Table, containing two olive oils (one Private Reserve and one Organic Early Harvest) and two of the Honey varieties!

To Enter: You can enter in one of five ways (each option below counts as a separate entry):

1. Sign up for my free, monthly newsletter (it has healthy recipes and tips – no annoying ads  plus you’ll get a free healthy meal plan when you sign up!)
2. Subscribe to The Picky Eater via RSS or via email
3. Like The Picky Eater on Facebook
4. Follow me on Twitter (@pickyeaterblog)
5. Follow me on Pinterest

Then post a comment here for each option above that you chose. 

This giveaway will be open until Sunday, December 27th at 11:59pm PST. I’ll be selecting the winner at random (via random.org) and will contact them via email. I’ll be announcing the winner in the comments of this post on Monday, December 28th.

Giveaway: An Exclusive Chef’s Pan from All Clad ($99.95 value!)

I am always on the lookout for awesome cookware. Especially, non-stick cookware that’s not toxic or low quality – since cooking with non-stick pans makes dishes “burn-proof,” and it’s a much easier clean-up process too!

So when the folks at All-Clad contacted me about their NS1 Nonstick Induction Chef’s Pan (exclusively available at Williams Sonoma), I knew I had to give it a try!

I decided to use the pan to make a Lentil Bolognese dish that I had been dying to try for some time.

I used the All Clad pan to essentially make the “bolognese” sauce — which was filled with small French lentils, celery, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, carrots, garlic, and a bunch of savory Italian seasonings like rosemary, thyme and oregano.

The pan is shaped kind of like a wok — with a deeper center and higher edges. It holds a TON of food, which made making this sauce really easy! And it is completely non-stick. I barely had to use any oil when I was making this recipe — and instead of using the oil for cooking, I just drizzled some extra virgin olive oil on top of the finished sauce for flavor. The recipe (coming soon in another post) turned out amazingly well. The husband LOVED it. He said it tasted just like a meat sauce and he couldn’t believe it was made with lentils! Layla was skeptical at first, but when mixed with some whole wheat rotini pasta, she gobbled it up.

And now, one lucky reader has the opportunity to win an All-Clad NS1 pan — a $99.95 value!!

Some more details about the pan & lid:

• It’s made with anodized aluminum, a rugged three-layer PFOA-free nonstick interior (ideal for healthy/low-fat cooking) and induction-compatible steel bases (prevents cookware from warping, protects stovetops from scratches)
• It’s dishwasher safe! Cleanup after this recipe was so easy!
• Like I mentioned, it has high sides and a broad cooking surface — so it’s perfect for one-pot-meals and everyday sautéing, frying, simmering and steaming.
• 12″ diam., 4 1/2″ high.
• Bonded three-layer nonstick system delivers unparalleled release, scratch-resistance and durability.

To Enter (open to US residents only): You can enter in one of five ways (each option below counts as a separate entry):

1. Sign up for my free, monthly newsletter (it has healthy recipes and tips – no annoying ads  plus you’ll get a free healthy meal plan when you sign up!)
2. Subscribe to The Picky Eater via RSS or via email
3. Like The Picky Eater on Facebook
4. Follow me on Twitter (@pickyeaterblog)
5. Follow me on Pinterest

Then post a comment here for each option above that you chose. 

This giveaway will be open until Sunday, November 15th at 11:59pm PST. I’ll be selecting the winner at random (via random.org) and will contact them via email. I’ll be announcing the winner in the comments of this post on Monday, November 16th.

Gluten Free, Vegan Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

As many of you know, I recently visited General Mills’ headquarters in Minneapolis, MN. As part of my visit, I was given the opportunity to create any recipe of my choosing (using cereal as one ingredient) in the Betty Crocker test kitchens – which are immaculate and filled with every cooking tool and ingredient you can imagine.

Since Cascadian Farm Organic is one of General Mills’ brands, and I give Layla their “Purely O’s” on a regular basis as an after dinner snack/treat, I decided that would be a perfect ingredient in a healthy breakfast cookie recipe, since I’ve been wanting to make one for a while.

I had my choice of every ingredient under the sun…

And so I chose: bananas, ground flax seed, peanut butter, almond butter, coconut oil, vanilla extract, rolled oats, Cascadian Farm Purely O’s (ground into a flour), almond meal, baking powder, baking soda, walnuts and dark chocolate chips.

The Ingredients

Adapted from Minimalist Baker

• 2 medium ripe bananas
• 2 flax eggs (2 Tbsp ground flaxseed + 5 Tbsp water)
• 1/4 cup natural, salted peanut butter
• 1/4 cup natural, salted almond butter
• 2 Tbsp refined coconut oil, melted
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1.5 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup Purely O’s flour (Cascadian Farm Purely O’s ground into a flour)
• 1/2 cup almond meal
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3 Tbsp raw walnuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (non-dairy for vegan)

(Note: to make these gluten free, use gluten free rolled oats, and gluten free oat flour instead of the ground up Purely O’s).

The Directions

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine flax seed and water and let rest for at least 5 minutes to achieve an “eggy” texture.

Step 2: In a food processor, combine bananas, peanut butter, almond butter, baking powder, baking soda, melted coconut oil, and vanilla. Process until combined.

Step 3: Pour the mixture into a bowl, and add oats, almond meal, Purely O’s flour (or oat flour), “Flax Eggs”, and walnuts; mix well. Refrigerate for 5 minutes to harden.

Step 4: Drop cookies by spoonfuls (I used a small ice cream scoop) on a lightly greased baking sheet or one lined with parchment paper, and press them out a little to expand (they won’t expand in the oven). After you’ve pressed the cookies, add 1 tsp chocolate chips on top of each one.

Step 5: Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the cookies are slightly golden brown.

Step 6: Once the cookies are done, let them rest for a few minutes before serving. These will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container, even longer if refrigerated and even longer if frozen.

These cookies were absolutely delicious. Not too sweet, with just the right amount of chocolate to feel decadent, but still be really good for you! Grab two of these in the morning before heading out for the day, and it’s equivalent to a small bowl of oatmeal.

Print

Gluten Free, Vegan Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

Total Time: 60 minutes

Yield: 26 cookies

Serving Size: 1 cookie

Calories per serving: 114.3

Fat per serving: 7.1g

Nutritional Info Per Serving: 114.3 Calories, 7.1g Fat (2.3g Saturated), 11.8mg Sodium, 11.4g Carbs, 2.5g Fiber, 4.1g Sugar, 2.7g Protein

Ingredients

• 2 medium ripe bananas
• 2 flax eggs (2 Tbsp ground flaxseed + 5 Tbsp water)
• 1/4 cup natural, salted peanut butter
• 1/4 cup natural, salted almond butter
• 2 Tbsp refined coconut oil, melted
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1.5 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup Purely O's flour (Cascadian Farm Purely O's ground into a flour)
• 1/2 cup almond meal
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3 Tbsp raw walnuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (non-dairy for vegan)
• (Note: to make these gluten free, use gluten free rolled oats, and gluten free oat flour instead of the ground up Purely O's).

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine flax seed and water and let rest for at least 5 minutes to achieve an "eggy" texture.
2. In a food processor, combine bananas, peanut butter, almond butter, baking powder, baking soda, melted coconut oil, and vanilla. Process until combined.
3. Pour the mixture into a bowl, and add oats, almond meal, Purely O's flour (or oat flour), "Flax Eggs", and walnuts - mix well. Refrigerate for 5 minutes to harden.
4. Drop cookies by spoonfuls (I used a small ice cream scoop) on a lightly greased baking sheet (or one lined with parchment paper), and press them out a little to expand (they won't expand in the oven). After you've pressed the cookies, add 1 tsp chocolate chips on top of each one.
5. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the cookies are slightly golden brown.
6. Once the cookies are done, let them rest for a few minutes before serving. These will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container, even longer if refrigerated and even longer if frozen.

Notes

Adapted from Minimalist Baker

3.1

http://pickyeaterblog.com/gluten-free-vegan-oatmeal-breakfast-cookies/

Recipe by: The Picky Eater, pickyeaterblog.com

My Visit to General Mills

As you all know, a few weeks ago I took a trip to the General Mills’ headquarters in Minneapolis, MN. It was a jam-packed two-day visit, where I spent most of my time chatting with their team and the President of their cereal division (Jim Murphy) about the steps they’re taking to make their cereals healthier.

Before the trip, I was skeptical about General Mills’ efforts to make their cereals “healthier.” While some of their cereals like Yellow Box Cheerios, which are non-GMO, gluten free, and only have 1g sugar per serving, are good choices (and I’m a huge fan of their organic brand – Cascadian Farm), I was obviously concerned about their other cereals like Lucky Charms, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, etc. that have 10g sugar per 3/4 cup serving, and artificial colors/ingredients.

So what did I learn on the trip? Is General Mills just another big bad food company? What are their plans to make their cereals healthier? And what did we talk about for 2 days?

Here is a quick recap:

• The cereal team at General Mills seems to really care about reducing sugar and removing all artificial colors/flavors from their cereals. All of us who attended (me and four other bloggers) expressed concerns over those ingredients, and everyone we spoke to at General Mills echoed our concerns. Over the past few years they have worked to reduce sugar content in their cereals down to 10g (max) per serving, and they are on a long term path to reduce that sugar even further.
• Change can’t happen overnight. Cereal production is amazingly complex and any change that starts now will take at least a year (if not longer) to appear on grocery store shelves. The team mentioned a 5 year plan to getting their cereals healthier, which I appreciated. Changing the ingredients in their cereals while still maintaining the flavors that many consumers love isn’t easy, so the key here is long term change.
• General Mills wants to give consumers healthier options for breakfast. Time and again we heard this from the team. They have families too, and they don’t want to be in the business of making food that’s the equivalent of a candy bar for breakfast. They see an opportunity (as a big company) to make a positive impact in the market — since their products are consumed by millions globally, if they make a change for the better, people will be healthier for it.
• We had all kinds of discussions and experiences. Everything from a detailed presentation on how Cheerios are made and how gluten-free is made possible, to touring General Mills’ headquarters (which is beautiful), to cooking in the Betty Crocker test kitchens (more on that later!), to creating our own ideal cereal and sharing that with General Mills.
• I shared a ton of feedback during our meetings. Reducing sugar to 10g in all cereals and removing artificials is a great start, and I think there is still a lot more that can be done, including:
  • Increasing fiber in their cereals that have less than 3g fiber per serving.
  • Reducing sugar to 6-8g per 3/4 cup or (even better – 1 cup) serving (instead of 10g per 3/4 cup)
  • Removing BHT from all cereals
  • Bringing the ingredients of their non-organic cereals closer to what the ingredients of their organic line (Cascadian Farm) is – this doesn’t mean making their non-organic cereals organic, rather I mean — making the ingredient labels more identical, e.g. if Cascadian Farm is using organic baking powder for their cereals, the GM brand cereal should use regular baking powder: See the equivalent labels for Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Cascadian Farm Cinnamon Crunch, or their Total Raisin Bran vs. Cascadian Farm Organic Raisin Bran.

The good news is that General Mills was really receptive to the feedback, and promised to keep me in the loop as they make further changes to their products.

Now a quick teaser on the Betty Crocker Kitchens: the kitchen was absolutely gorgeous. The walls are actually two-story windows which fill the room with light, and there is every baking tool and ingredient you can imagine. We were given a task of making something (anything!) using one of their cereals, so I figured – what better time to experiment with a recipe I’ve been wanting to create for a while: healthy oatmeal breakfast cookies! I chose to use Cascadian Farm Organic Purely O’s ground into a flour as an ingredient in the cookies. I’ll post the recipe very soon!

All in all, I thought it was a productive, helpful and fun trip, and I look forward to continuing to work with General Mills to make their products healthier overall.

(Note: This was a sponsored trip to General Mills. All photos were taken by General Mills – including the photos of my breakfast cookies which I’ll include in a separate post).

Apple and Date Salad with Brie

Print

Apple and Date Salad with Brie

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Calories per serving: 242

Fat per serving: 14.1g

Nutritional Info Per Serving: 242 Calories, 14.1g Fat (3.6g Saturated), 115.1mg Sodium, 27.5g Carbs, 4.7g Fiber, 18.1g Sugar, 5.8g Protein

Ingredients

• 1 pkg. DOLE Chopped Summer Garden Blend
• 1 Granny Smith apple, cored and sliced
• 1/4 cup pitted dates, chopped
• 1/3 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
• 1/2 cup red onion, chopped
• 2 oz. Brie cheese, chopped
• Salt & ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp apple jelly
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 clove garlic
• pinch of cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Combine apple jelly through cayenne pepper in a blender. Cover, blend until smooth. Makes about 1 cup of dressing.
2. Directions: Combine salad, apples, dates, walnuts,
3. onion and Brie in large bowl. Toss with Apple Dijon
4. Vinaigrette until coated as desired. Season with salt
5. and pepper to taste.

Notes

Adapted from Price Chopper and DOLE

3.1

http://pickyeaterblog.com/apple-and-date-salad-with-brie/

Recipe by: The Picky Eater, pickyeaterblog.com