Molasses Corn Muffins

The typical corn muffin is either loaded with fat or super dry.  Theses are neither! We borrowed the base of a Martha Stewart recipe and tweaked it to make it low in sugar (no refined) and fat.  This muffin is awesome with chili, stew, or reheated for a morning quick breakfast to go. We use organic ingredients whenever possible.

Made 10 muffins (1/4 c batter in each)
Ingredients:

• 3/4 c corn meal (we use organic stone-ground)
• 1/2 c whole wheat flour (could sub out oat flour if you'd like gluten free)
• 3/4 c skim milk
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp molasses
• 3 tbsp coconut oil (melted)
• 3 tbsp unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/2 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

*optional addition fresh/froze corn kernels (1/4 c) to add additional fiber

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray muffin tin with cooking spray 
2. Melt coconut oil
3. Add all ingredients into a bowl and blend
4. Using 1/4 c measurements, place into muffin tin.  Our made 10 muffins.  For the empty 2 containers, we add a little water to help the other muffins cook evenly and to prevent the pan from burning.
   
5. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until tester comes out clean.
6. Let cool for 5 minutes and remove from tin and enjoy! Click here for a vegetarian chili recipe to go with these.
   

Nutritional Benefits:

Coconut Oil: no cholesterol, non-inflammatory

Molasses: high in potassium (236 mg in each muffin), iron, calcium, and low in sugar

Whole Wheat Flour: higher in fiber & protein than white flour, less refinement allows for longer digestion and less spiking of glucose levels in the blood stream

Low in Fat

Low in Sugar

Nutritional Information per muffin:

Calories: 119

Fat: 5 g

Carbs: 15 g

Fiber: 1.4 g

Protein: 3 g

Asian Shrimp and Rice

Your own take-out, made in in less time than it would take you to order and pick up.  Not to mention-WAY healthier!  Shrimp is high in protein and very low in fat.  This recipe gives a little zing to the shrimp.  

Serves 4    Prep Time: 5 minutes     Cooking Time: 3 minutes (for shrimp, more for rice and greens))

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 pound of peeled and deveined shrimp (we buy it frozen so we can have a fast, go to meal on a weeknight-defrost in a bowl of cold water in 10 minutes)
• 1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil (to prevent sticking)
  

For the sauce: 

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tbsp tomato paste (or if not on hand, you can sub ketchup, but use organic, regular is full of corn syrup)
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 3 tbsp honey
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (less or more-we omitted for our kids and added after)
• 1/4 cup of chopped scallions
• 1/8 tsp sesame seeds

Instructions:

1. Mix shrimp ingredients together, let sit whille you mix sauce
2. Mix sauce ingredients, except scallions.  Heat sauce on low while shrimp cooks.
3. Grill shrimp on inside or outside grill.  Cook until shrimp is pink
4. Toss shrimp with sauce, mix in scallions and sesame seeds
5. Serve on top of brown rice and sauteed greens

Nutritional Benefits:

• Low in Fat: great for heart health and circulation
• High in Protein: great for healing & repairing tissues
• High in Fiber & calcium when eaten with greens and brown rice

Nutritional Information (shrimp in entire dish):

Shrimp:

Calories: 585

Fat: 12.6.g

Protein: 110.6

Iron: 90% of daily needs

Sauce:

Calories: 263

Fat: 0g

Protein: 4.5 g

Carbs: 62 g

Sodium: 2450 mg

Total per serving for shrimp plus sauce:

calories: 212

Fat: 3 g

Protein: 29 g

Carbs: 15.5 g

End of Summer Chowder

Most chowders are high in fat.  This one has none! This soup is made vegan, although if you want to, you can use stock instead of water (we don't think it's necessary). 

Take advantage of all the delicious veggies at the farmers market (or in your garden) right now.  Soups freeze very well.  We freeze ours in plastic quart containers for easy meals when we don't feel like cooking.  This will provide you with healthy options, instead of grabbing take-out.  So-go ahead, make a big pot right now :) all of the ingredients listed can easily be swapped out for other you have on hand.  

Ingredients:

2 quarts of corn kernels from about 10 ears of corn: if using frozen use 8 cups

6 cobs of corn (after kernels have been removed)-if using frozen corn, it's fine to omit this 

3 sweet potatoes  skinned & chopped (about 3 cups)

4 cups of cubed eggplant (skin removed)

2-3 cups of cabbage 

4 cups onions
3/4 cup banana peppers

2 tbsp garlic chopped

12 cups of water

2 tsp dried thyme or 2 tbsp fresh thyme

1 cup of fresh basil chopped (can be replaced with parsley)

1 1/2 tsp salt

Pepper to taste

Directions:

Place all ingredients into pot

Bring to a boil, then simmer

Remove cobs

After Soup Was Puréed

Purée using a stick blender or by placing 1/2 of the soup into a blender.  This will make the soup creamy.  

For a creamier soup, you can add milk at the end (around 2 cups)

This recipe makes a large soup pot full.  This recipe is easily halved. 

Nutritional Benefits:

No fat

High in fiber

Cabbage: cruciferours vegetable which has been linked to preventing many cancers, antioxidant, and high in fiber

Sweet Potatoes: high in beta-carotene a vitamin A component which is an anti-oxidant and aids in healing, promoting tissue/cell repair

Eggplant: lessens free radiacals in the body (reducing cancer causinf agents), helps to lower bad cholesterol in the body, anti-oxidant, high in fiber
Peppers: high in Vitamin c, an anti-oxidant that helps fight infection

*note: this soup is higher in carbohydrates due to the corn.  If you are a diabetic, limit your servings.  The benefit however, is that this is a high fiber soup, which will take time for the body to process and breakdown, unlike other simple forms of carbohydrates.

www.altmandental.com

Chicken Masala

Indian food is delicious and full of vibrant flavors. Often it is high in fat and calories, hidden in coconut milk and gee (liquified butter). This recipe uses the flavors but cuts the fat, making this a heart healthy, high protein recipe. 

Ingredients:

1c yogurt (can use low/nonfat/or Greek yogurt)

2 tsp Garam masala (Indian spice blend of cumin, curry, all-spice)

2 tsp (divided) fresh grated ginger-save 1 tsp to add to sauce at end of cooking

1 tsp cinnamon (heaping)
1 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp cayenne (or less depending on your taste)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1-1.5 #s chicken thighs or breasts cut into strips
(plus additional below)

Mix above and marinate for 1-8 hours 

To pot on stove:

3 c chopped tomatoes

1 1/2 c chopped onion (large onion)

3 cloves garlic-chopped (can add 1/2 during cooking and other 1/2 at end of cooking-for maximum health benefits)

Simmer above and add 1/2 c of water if more liquid is needed 

Simmer until cooked and use stick blended to purée. 

Add marinated chicken and cook for about 15-20 minutes until cooked. Add garlic and ginger at end of cooking.

Nutritional Information:

Yogurt: High in Protein and calcium, beneficial bacterial cultures-great healing food

Chicken-high in protein and low in fat

Tumeric: Highly anti-inflammatory-used to decrease swelling topically or internally

Garlic: Anti-inflammatory, aids in blood flow/increased circulation, lowers triglycerides and cholesterol (best added at end of cooking)

Ginger: Anti-inflammatory, aids in blood flow/increased circulation (best added at end of cooking)

Tomato: packed with Vitamin C, which aids in healing, high in lycopene, an anti-inflammatory micronutrient that has been shown to fight cancer

For entire recipe (feeds 4)

Chicken Thighs (1.25#s)

Calories: 750

Fat: 40g

Carbohydrates: 0g

Protein: 100g

Fiber: 0%

Iron: 30%

Yogurt Sauce: 

Calories: 150

Fat: 8g

Calcium: 30%

Carbohydrates: 11g

Tomatoes: 

Calories: 97

Carbs: 21g

Fiber: 6.5 g  

Potassium: 1280mg

Vitamin C: 114%

Vitamin A: 90%

Onions:

Calories: 101

Carbs: 24g

Fiber: 3.4g

Protein: 2.2g

Potassium: 346mg

Vitamin C: 26%

Quinoa Coconut Cookies

Quinoa Power Cookies: makes 18 small cookies

Looking for a healthy cookie you could actually give to the kids in the morning? No added sugar, full of protein and fiber! 3 cookies = 180 calories, 4g protein, 6 g fiber, 6g fat plus lots of vitamins!

Ingredients:

2 bananas

1 cup cooked quinoa (click here for directions on how to cook quinoa)

1/3 c rolled oats (we use organic whole oats)

1 c unsweetened reduced fat coconut flakes

1/4 c unsweetened dried tart cherries
1 tbsp cacoa powder (unsweetened/raw)
1 tsp cinnamon (heaping)
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

-Mix together above ingredients

-Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until slightly browned and cookies hold together (we bake our on a silpat to prevent sticking)
Before Baking:

After Baking (cookies don't spread):

T

These are the products we used in our cookies.  

They can be found in the organic section of most grocery stores.

*this recipe can be altered by the following:

-use other dried fruits such as cranberries, apricots, or raisins (these add sugar)

-chocolate chips or carob chips (the chocolate chips add sugar) can replace dried fruit

-chopped almonds can be added
-to decrease fat, replace dried coconut with more oats. Increase oats to 3/4-1 c oats depending on consistency
-can add 2 tbsp raw honey if recipe isn't sweet enough

Power Foods:
Bananas are high in Potassium which aids in blood pressure monitoring, muscle contraction, and keeps cholesterol levels in check.
Cacao powder: high in iron, magnesium, and antioxidants.  In its raw form the true benefits of cacao can be realized (vs. processed cocoa powder created under high heat where vitamins are damaged)
Oats: High in fiber, protein (yes they have a lot of protein!), and are a complex carbohydrate, which allows more time for the body to digest, keeping blood sugar levels from spiking
Quinoa: an ancient grain high  in protein and fiber.  Quinoa is gluten free
Tart Cherries: anti-inflammatory, be sure to get unsweetened (we dry our own when in season)

Nutrition Facts in each cookie (estimated)-if coconut was omitted calories/fat would be reduced
-60 calories
-2 g fiber
-1.2 g protein
-9 g carbohydrates
-2 g fat

Healthy Stuffed Banana Peppers

You don't have to have high calorie stuffed banana peppers to make them awesome. In season now, these spicy peppers are great stuffed with shredded zucchini, fresh herbs like basil and dill, with a small amount of shredded parmesan cheese mixed in. The liquid from the zucchini provides the moisture that is typically from high fat cheeses when you get them in a restaurant.

To ensemble (amounts vary based on number of peppers made, we used 5 peppers for 10 1/2s)

-mix together 1/2 c shredded zucchini, herbs, 1/2 c tomatoes, & 1/4 c low fat cheese like Parmesan, a little freshly ground pepper and pinch of salt (2:1 ratio of tomatoes/zuc:cheese)

-slice peppers in half (we wear gloves because the oils in the peppers can be hot and burn your skin!)

-cook on grill or in oven @375 until slightly browned 

Benefits of zucchini: Contains magnesium, an element needed for bone strength, folate-aids in tissue maintainence, and Vitamin C-repairs and rebuilds tissues

Benefits of Peppers-loaded with Vitamin C (1c provides 171% of daily needs Vit C) and fiber (4g in 1 c). Hot peppers also aid in blood circulation, which promotes healing

Benefits of Tomatoes: high in Vitamin C (1c provides 38% of daily needs) and Vitamin A (30% daily needs), in addition to being high in Lycopene, an anti-inflammatory nutrient linked to cancer prevention

Nutrition Information:

For entire recipe: 

-162 calories, w/o cheese: 54 calories

-Packed with Vitamin C 165% of your daily needs

-4 grams of fiber

-7g of fat

-28% of your Daily calcium 

That's a lot better than a typical stuffed banana pepper from a restaurant-where 1 pepper could be more than double the calories in this recipe and loaded with fat! Here you get 5 peppers (which is plenty for 2 people)

www.altmandental.com