Bananas: The Magical Fruit

My mom was right when she said bananas are the magical fruit, and apparently they also help with stopping hunger pains. A banana is loaded with Resistant Starch (RS), a healthy carb that fills you up and helps to boost your metabolism.

Here are some tasty ways to work this magical fruit into your diet, courtesy of Health.com.

Banana "Ice Cream"
Peel, slice, and freeze 1 small banana. Place frozen banana pieces in a blender with 3 tablespoons 1% low-fat milk; blend until thick. Top with 1 tablespoon of chopped walnuts.

Broiled Bananas
Slice 1 peeled banana in half lengthwise. Put banana pieces, cut sides up, on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle the banana pieces with 1 teaspoon brown sugar, and broil on high until the sugar bubbles and the bananas brown (about 2–3 minutes). After broiling, sprinkle with cinnamon —or drizzle with 1 teaspoon of rum for an extra-special treat.

Coffee and Banana Smoothie
Place 1 sliced peeled banana, 1 cup 1% low-fat milk, 1/2 cup of cold back coffee, 2 teaspoons of sugar, and 1/2 cup ice in a blender. Blend until smooth—and enjoy.

Roasted Rosemary Cashews

Tired of spending $7-10 on a small bag of gourmet herb-infused nuts? I am! So, I decided to make my own. You don't have to use just cashews, you can use a variety of mixed nuts for the recipe below.

Roasted Rosemary Cashews
Ingredients:

·         1 1/4 pounds cashew nuts

·         2 tablespoons of coarsely chopped fresh rosemary leaves

·         1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

·         2 teaspoons of dark brown sugar

·         2 teaspoons of kosher salt

·         1 tablespoon of melted butter

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place the cashews (*can also use walnuts, or any mixed nut blend) on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes until cashews are warm and golden brown. While cashews are baking, combine the rosemary, cayenne pepper, brown sugar, salt and butter in a large bowl. Toss the warm cashews with the mixture until they are completely coated. Serve warm in paper cups or bowls.

A Taste of Summer: Boardwalk Fries

Now that it’s finally feeling like summer, my taste buds are craving familiar flavors from my childhood. One of my favorite treats in the summer is boardwalk fries. We used to go down the shore every summer and hang out on the beach and boardwalk. My parents would treat us to Boardwalk Fries and frozen lemonades. They were so tasty with the malt vinegar drizzled on them, and the sprinkles of extra salt. But, now that I’m 3000 thousand miles from the nearest Boardwalk Fries, I’ll just have to settle for making my own.

Boardwalk Fries
Ingredients:

• 2-3 potatoes
• Oil  - for frying
• Salt
• Malt vinegar

First rule is to NOT peel the potatoes. Cut the potatoes in long, shaped sticks. Place about a ½ cup or so of oil in the bottom of your frying pan and turn it up to medium-hot. Wait for oil to start bubbling, then place your potato sticks in the oil. Fry till they are brown in color. Remove the fries and place on a plate covering with a paper towel. Pat dry and sprinkle on some salt. For a real boardwalk feel, serve in a paper with lots of malt vinegar.

Celebrate Earth Day!

My husband and I are going to celebrate Earth Day at the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica Saturday. This family-friendly festival is free to the public and will host over 60 eco-exhibits, live music and organic food. Some exhibits include: Free to Be Me Drum Circle, Star Eco-Station’s wild animals and California Science Center’s new ecosystems exhibit.

Thousands of people are expected to attend the event 10am to 7pm so we're going to stop by early and definitely join in on the cause by walking (biking, or taking the bus) to the event instead of driving. We're also going to bring our own reusable water bottles for refills of high-quality filtered water all day long at no cost.

In case lines are long at the food tent, I plan on bringing my own organic snack to the festival like granola bites.

• 4 cups of organic oats
• 1/2 cup of organic apple juice
• 1/2 cup of raisins
• 1/2 cup of dried fruit
• 1/2 cup of mixed nuts
• 1/3 cup of wheat germ

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and spread out in a thin layer on a cookie sheet. Cook mixture for 45 minutes, until oats are golden brown. Take mixture out and let cool for at least 15-20 minutes. Then, just break up and bring with you to the festival.