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Roasted Beets {Recipe}

This is a super simple recipe for roasted beets. This is the technique I use for almost all roasted veggies. Sesame oil is always optional but can be added for some extra depth. It really gives a nice smoky flavor if you use toasted sesame oil.

Simple Roasted Veggies: Beets

Ingredients

  • 4 large beets
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • salt & pepper (1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper to taste?)
  • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
  • 2 teaspoons dried basil OR a handfull of fresh basil

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400F.
  2. Mix together the olive oil, (optional) sesame oil, salt and pepper, and sesame seeds.
  3. Chop the beets in approximately 1-inch cubes and toss them in the olive oil mixture.
  4. Bake on an oiled baking sheet (I like to use foil for easy cleanup) for 35 minutes or until tender.
  5. Sprinkle with basil; serve.

Inspiration found {HERE}.

Do you like beets?

I always have. Growing up we would have pickled beets often (one of my Grammie’s recipes). I didn’t have roasted beets until I was probably in my 20s but I loved them at first bite.

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Roasted Sesame Eggplant {Recipe}

I made this a few weeks ago, but it was very delicious and it’s worthy of a post. Farmers’ markets have started to have some really delicious eggplant. It’s a summer / early fall vegetable.

Roasted Sesame Eggplant

Ingredients

  • Eggplant
  • Sesame Oil
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Ground black sesame or regular sesame (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
  2. Cut the eggplants in half, and then in 2-3 inch pieces.
  3. Place the eggplants facing up on a greased baking tin. Drizzle with sesame oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and sesame (optional).
  4. Bake for 25-30 minutes. They should be starting to get a little bit mushy so they will be really flavorful.

Inspiration for this recipe came from {HERE}.

Great served as a side or for snacking.

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Keri’s 8 Foods Cleanse [The New You (and improved!) Diet]

A few weeks ago I received a copy of Keri Glassman’s new book, The New You and Improved Diet: 8 Rules to Lose Weight and Change Your Life Forever (it’s on the the Kindle too).

new-you-and-improved-diet

I was very excited for this book because Keri’s 3 taglines for this book are:

  • Eat more, not less!
  • Catch some zzz’s!
  • And have more sex (you heard me!)

Sounds like a plan anyone in their right mind would want to follow and enjoy following – nothing like the typical restrictive diet.

Keri catapults you right into her plan. She intros a quickstart “Eight Foods Cleanse” early on – page 27 to be exact. I figured if I am going to give this book a proper review (to come…) I should at least try out the cleanse. To be honest, I haven’t ever really followed a proper “diet” plan. I generally just try to eat less/move more. I’m really interested to see if I feel any different at the end of this “cleanse”. In the past I’ve tried doing the “raw/juicing” thing, “macrobiotic“, etc…

Cleanse… yes, that word with bad connotations. Keri’s 8 Foods Cleanse is not really a cleanse in the usual sense of the word – no long days of sipping juices with your stomach rumbling – this cleanse is simply eating a few simple, wholesome foods for just 4 short days.

I am jumping right in today, though I did make a few mods based on what I had in my kitchen this morning (yes this was a last minute decision). I’ll go shopping tonight for the proper ingredients! Here’s what my day will look like:

  • Breakfast is 1 egg and 2 egg whites with black pepper and ground black sesame (those spices are my own touch on this). I’m also having a cup of organic coffee with unsweetened almond milk and this chocolate stevia (Thanks Ron!). (Keri’s plan doesn’t include coffee… I am easing my way into this, so I’m gonna have it for now.)
  • No morning snack – I have breakfast ~10am so there is no time for a snack before lunch.
  • Lunch – a salad of romaine, seaweed, tomato, apple (leftovers) + 1/2 cup chickpeas + 1 hard boiled egg + 2 teaspoons EVOO. (Yum!)
  • Snack: 1 Ronnybrook plain whole milk yogurt with cinnamon. (This is what I have in the fridge – this is off plan.)
  • Dinner: TBD – Salmon & greens I believe, and I need to go get an avocado.

This cleanse may be a little low in calories, but it’s only 4 days – and after a few months of indulging (during renovations we didn’t have a kitchen – and even if you’re careful, eating out for every single meal can get really old really fast). I think I can follow it for 4 days and then start adding in more of Keri’s favorite Empowering Foods.

I’ll be back later with my take on the rest of Keri’s Diet Rules – one of them is “Clean Out Your Closet” – so you know I am gonna love it.

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HEAB’s Butterfied Oaties

I have been meaning to make these for a while now, so when Heather linked to them the other day I knew I couldn’t put it off any longer. All I have to say is – I will never procrastinate with making butterfied oaties (or butterfied anything) again. When they first came out of the oven I was a little bit worried that I had messed them up – they were very crumbly and didn’t stay together – but it didn’t affect the taste at all, and I just put everything (whole oaties + the crumbled ones) in the fridge and they firmed right up.

I made a few changes based on what ingredients I had on hand, so here is my modified version.

Asian-ish Butterfied Oaties

Based on HEAB’s Butterfied Oaties.

Ingredients

  • 1 + 1/3 cups toasted oats (I toasted them in a pan on the stove – just heat the pan and stir them around for 5 minutes)
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 1 stick of softened butter
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup hydrated raisins (soak raisins in hot water for 5 minutes, then drain)
  • 1/4 of a chocolate bar, chopped up (check out the chocolate I used below – raspberry rooibos tea flavored dark!)
  • 1.5 teaspoons NuNaturals cocoa bean extract (sub out for vanilla if you don’t have it)
  • 2 heaping tablespoons sesame seeds (secret special ingredient!)

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 325F.
  2. Mix ingredients together to combine, then put in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.
  3. Make balls (I used a coffee scoop, about 2 tablespoons, to measure – then I mooshed them into a ball with my hands) out of the dough and put them on a baking tray.
  4. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool. Put in tupperware and put in the fridge so they solidify more.

Just a few notes:

  • I added a little bit more oats than the original recipe called for because my dough was really liquidy.
  • When they came out of the oven they were very crumbly, almost like granola. I just let them sit awhile, and then after I refrigerated them they were pretty solid. Still granola-y in shape (some had broken) but much firmer.
  • You could definitely cut down on the honey – they were pretty sweet.
  • Raisins optional – I added them because Bobby’s favorite cookies are oatmeal raisin.
  • Sesame seeds not optional! These were the best part.

We finished them all in one day (!). They are scrumptious. They are now a new favorite of Bobby’s 🙂 (and mine).

***

Have you made these oaties yet??

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Quick Healthy Snacking – Snack (Singular), that is!

Lara recently wrote about how *snacking* can be a great way to keep your appetite in check – snack, singular! When I say that snacking is healthy, I mean that a (single) afternoon or (single) after dinner snack is a great way to stave off hunger and avoid overeating because you’re ravenous.

I was over at my aunt-in-law-to-be’s house this weekend and she made a really yummy snack – just bread with mustard and melted cheese. She broiled it in the oven and voila – a healthy snack. We love to chat about recipes and life stuff. I am so excited to become a part of Bobby’s family! (I made gingerbread houses with her back in December.)

I recreated the healthy snack a few days ago after work – I wasn’t hungry enough for a big dinner yet, but I was definitely getting hungry… and didn’t want to wait and eat a big meal late at night.

Ingredients

  • 2 slices of whole wheat bread
  • mustard
  • shredded cheddar
  • parmesan ranch dressing (for dipping)

Method

Spread bread with mustard, top with cheddar. Broil for 3-5 minutes (until the cheese starts to melt). Dip in ranch dressing if you like, or have it plain. (This is my favorite ranch dressing because it’s parmesan ranch, and I love parmesan.)

Another favorite (recent) snack (singular!) is organic baby carrots with this fabulous dressing from Trader Joe’s – cilantro salad dressing. It’s creamy and delicious.

Perfect for after work when I’m trying to wait for Bobby to get home so we can eat together.

Exercise of the day: walk home from work (1.4 miles) + 30 minutes of Crunch: Burn and Firm Pilates (Ellen Barrett). (Yesterday’s TBD video ended up being nothing. Life gets in the way.)

Do you snack? What’s your favorite healthy snack?

P.S. If you want to do a guest post about any of the following: wedding, relationships, honeymooning, traveling, food, or health – let me know! Leave a comment below or just email me. I’m still soliciting guest posts for when I’m out for my wedding and honeymoon.