Spoonful of Sugar Free

Registered Dietitian

Alex@Spoonful of Sugar Free

Tomato Buns

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I apologize in advance for the following pictures’ poor quality. My sister borrowed my camera for this week, so I’m taking the pictures with my phone. Not very good quality photos, but trust me when I say the food tastes good!

Sauteed Cabbage and Oregano

~This might be my favorite side dish-ever. It is fresh enough for the summer, and hearty enough for the winter. Above all, it is simple to make. Leftovers make great additions to salads.

Serves 8

Ingredients

  • 1 head of cabbage, chopped (any color)
  • 1 large tomato, chopped
  • 1 medium-sized onion, chopped (any color)
  • 3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 Tablespoon oregano
In a saucepan, saute the onions with the olive oil on medium heat. Next, add the tomato, cabbage, vinegar, and oregano. Stir as needed to prevent burning. Cook until the cabbage is golden and soft, about 15 minutes.
Tastes great served with my 5-minute burgers and Homemade Potato Wedges.
Also I found a great gluten-free, grain-free replacement for Hamburger buns: Tomato Slices! 

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

Ketchup or mustard?

I’m a mustard girl all the way! Never have liked ketchup (it is always full of sugar anyway!).

Kuna Cocoa

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I’ve talked about the benefits of chocolate before on my blog; but while driving home today I listened to another great testimony of chocolate’s wonderful health benefits, so I decided to talk about it again.

I don’t know exactly what radio station it was on, but I found an article that talks about it similarly HERE. I recapped what I learned and what I thought was the most interesting below.

(Picture Source) 

A medical professor at Harvard University, Dr. Norman Hollenburg, spent years researching the Kuna tribe in Panama. Some of the Kuna people still live on an island off the coast of Panama, but others moved on to live in the mainland. Dr. Hollenburg found that four of the most common killers, stroke, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, affected fewer than 1 in 10 of the Kuna living on the island compared to the much higher percentage of people living on the mainland. He also said that he has yet to find a Kuna from the island with Alzheimer’s. What’s the difference? Those living on the island drank an average of 5 cups of cocoa every day. 

This cocoa they drink is not the Hot Chocolate we are used to. This is pure chocolate scraped fresh from the pods and made into a paste to make the cocoa drink. No milk. No sugar. Just pure chocolate. Chocolate contains a powerful flavanol called epicatechin, which can also be found in tea, wine, chocolate and some fruits and vegetables.

So get your chocolate on!

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Grain-Free Bitter Chocolate Cake for One

Chocolate Covered Almonds

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

What is the darkest chocolate you will eat? If you don’t like chocolate, your crazy.

I can’t eat anything less than 100%. I like it bitter.

I am Cookie Monster!

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Give me Cookies!

I am going to be out of town for a tennis tournament again this weekend, so I made a huge batch of High Protein Cookies.

Ginormous.  Huge. Like a triple batch of my original recipe.

They will probably be all gone by this weekend.

Why shouldn’t I eat cookies for all my meals?

They are High in Protein.

They have Vegetables in them.

And they’re full of Healthy Fats!

Not to mention super yummy!

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

 

If you were to eat one type of food all day long what would it be?

Perhaps eat pounds of nuts and nutbutters? Vegetables all day long? Eat an entire Chocolate Cake?

I would probably choose various types of oatmeal because I could change it up to create savory or sweet oatmeal.

 

Easiest Dinner

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Great to hear about all of your in-a-rush breakfast recipes, but what about dinner?

My vote goes towards stir fries, like the one I had last night. My basic stir-fry recipe is as follows:

Your Basic Brown Rice Stir Fry

~Stir fries are easy, quick, healthy, filling, and tasty! 

  • Cooked Brown Rice
  • Chopped Vegetables (any leftovers you have in the fridge will do. For this batch I used carrots, garlic, onion, bell pepper,
  • Protein (tofu, beans, meat, eggs. For this batch I used scrambled eggs and toasted white beans)
  • Oil to grease pan (I used sesame oil)
  • Soy sauce (or any other oriental seasonings you may have)
  • Optional: chopped peanuts or sesame to top
I didn’t provide measurements because that is the whole point of stir-fries! You can put whatever you want in them, and make it for however many people you want. It makes a simple dinner for one, and a filling, inexpensive dinner for 15! Simply grease a pan, mix ingredients, and stir until golden.
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In other news, check out my tire:
While driving home the other day, my tire blew up. I didn’t just have a flat tire-it blew up! Have you ever seen such a crazy thing?

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

What are your favorite in-a-hurry dinner recipes?

And have you ever blown up a tire like mine? Or done any other crazy things to your vehicle? Give me your stories!

Banana Blueberry

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Have you made Breakfast Oat Cakes yet?

They are easy to make, portable, versatile, filling, tasty, and healthy.

This batch I made “muffin-style” by baking it in muffin tins with liners instead of on a cookie sheet. Works just fine.

I added 2 mashed bananas to the batter and a handful of fresh blueberries. 

Perfect for breakfasts on-the-go, brunches, or even an afternoon snack.

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

When you are in a rush in the morning, what do you usually grab to eat? Or do you eat breakfast?

I usually like to plan ahead if I know I am going to be busy the next morning by making some Oat Cakes, a smoothie, or some High Protein Cookies. However, if I don’t have time to do this, I will grab a piece of fruit (usually a banana) and some nuts.

Spicy Tomato Cure

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This Drink/Soup I mentioned yesterday did wonders.

Originally found off of this site. A few tweaks and I share it with you!

Spicy Tomato Cure

~Perfect cure for congestion or sore throats. It works fast and tastes great. Instantly soothes. 

Ingredients

  • 2 cups V8 vegetable juice
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
  • Hot Sauce (the more the better!)
  • ground black pepper, to taste
Mix all ingredients in a saucepan and heat until steaming. Slip slowly and re-heat as needed. Let it sit in your throat, and breathe in the fumes.
Flavor Idea:
Add worcestershire sauce and celery to make it taste like a Bloody Mary.
I drank mine with a fresh lemon-cucumber-celery juice. It really did do wonders!
Capricin (found in hot peppers) is soothing to the stomach. In addition, it’s a pain killer (good for sore throats), and is also one of the main ingredients used in herbal recipes for killing fungal infections like Candida.

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

Do you like spicy foods?

I used to hate spicy foods-mild salsa for me, please! But now, I don’t mind a little spice now and then.