Spoonful of Sugar Free

Registered Dietitian

Appetizers

Easy Ginger-Miso Dressing

By

I have been hoarding this recipe for a long time…

It is my absolute favorite homemade salad dressing! I have been searching and searching for my favorite salad dressing served at Japanese Steakhouses, and when I made this dressing I realized it tastes just like it!

Ginger-Miso Dressing served atop fresh kale, red peppers, grapes, cucumbers, and avocado

Easy Ginger Miso Dressing

~This salad dressing is gluten-free, nut-free, dairy-free, vegan, gluten-free, and, of course, sugar-free!

Serves 1

  • 1 Tablespoon minced ginger
  • 1 teaspoon miso
  • teaspoons of lemon juice or water

In a small bowl, mix the ginger and miso together. Add a teaspoon of lemon juice (or water), and whisk. Add more lemon juice (or water) in teaspoonfuls until desired consistency is reached.

I like my dressing thick, but thin enough to pour. Feel free to double or triple the dressing as needed depending on the size of your salad and the number of people you are serving this to.

Health Benefits

  • Ginger: Ginger is best known for helping digestion. Ginger can help when you feel nauseated or cramped. It can also minimize the symptoms from colds, allergies, and respiratory conditions.
  • Miso: Made from soy, miso is high in iron, copper, manganese, vitamin B12, and vitamin K. It naturally contains probiotics that help the digestive system. Studies have also shown that consuming miso reduces the chances of getting Breast Cancer for women.
  • Lemon Juice: Helps stimulate and aid in the digestive system, and helps to get rid of toxins in the body. It can help the skin stay healthy and clean while decreasing the amount of phlegm in the body.

Compare all of these wonderful benefits of the Ginger-Miso dressing America’s most popular salad dressing, Ranch.

2 tablespoons of Hidden Valley ranch dressing has 140 calories, 14g fat, 2.5g saturated fat, 260mg sodium, 1g sugar, 1g protein.

Ingredients:ย Vegetable oil, egg yolk, sugar, salt, buttermilk, spices, garlic, onion, vinegar, phosphoric acid, xanthan gum, modified food starch, MSG, artificial flavors, disodium phosphate, sorbic acid, calcium disodium EDTA, disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate.

Not only is the ranch made mostly of oil, but it is full of unhealthy preservatives. It also contains harmful MSG. I think I’ll stick to my ginger-miso recipe.

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

What is your favorite salad dressing? Do you like making your own, or is there a certain store-bought variety you like?

Usually I just drizzle some balsamic vinegar and olive oil on my salads, but I fell in love with this Ginger-Miso recipe as soon as I created it!

Friends by Recipes Recap

By

Well, my Friends by Recipes Challenge has come to a close. I had so much fun making all of your recipes! It was also great to make more friends through a creative way. Below is a recap from my 11 friends I made from 11 different recipes. Click on the pictures to access the recipes.

Anita's Oatmeals: Savory Oats and a Pina Colada
Cindy's "Donut Holes"
Teenage Health Freak's Apple Bars
Eat Move Love's Blueberry Muffins That Take the Cake
Emily Elizabeth's Marathon Mud Pie
Sarah's Zucchini Hummus
April's True Porridge
Katie's Single Lady Pumpkin Muffin, Better-n-Rice Pudding, and Fudge Babies
Lauren's Spicy Sweet Potato Apple Bread
Deb's Adobo-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin

Kiki's Toasted Coconut-Crusted Cheesecake

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

What was your favorite recipe? If you had to make one, which one would you make?

 

#6 Friends by Recipes: Zucchini Hummus

By

Welcome to day six of my Friends by Recipes Challenge!

Today, I would like you all to meet a spunky girl named Sarah who owns the Smart Kitchen blog!

She is a fairly new friend of mine, and I am loving every bit of her posts! She combines “Healthy, Economical, Creative, and Realistic” to create fantastic tasting food!

Today I am sharing her Zucchini Hummus with you!

Sarah's Hummus

 

Raw Zucchini Hummus
(Makes about 3 cups or so)

2 medium large zucchinis, peeled and chopped
Juice of 1 large lemon (5-6 Tbsp.)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. paprika
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/3-1/2 cup raw tahini
1/4 c. chopped sweet onion

Combine all ingredients into a food processor. Blend away! Serve as a dip with raw veggies, crackers, or whole grain pita bread (or chips!).

 

Following her recipe, I placed the ingredients in a food processor….
And devoured it with a red pepper! (I’m eating a veggie on top of a veggie!!)

This was so, so good! It has a lighter flavor than regular hummus, but it still packs a punch! I will be making this again, Sarah!

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

What is your favorite hummus flavor?

I really love Roasted Red Pepper Hummus! I usually like making my own, but when I’m busy I will grab a huge tub of Sabra from Costco! I like their roasted red pepper, too, but I also love their olive flavor. Sabra’s hummus is extremely creamy (probably because of the high-fat content ๐Ÿ™‚ )

 

Hallow-Excuses

By

Hello all! I know I haven’t been keeping up with my Friends by Recipes posts over the weekend, but give me a break! It was Halloween ๐Ÿ˜‰

I promise, I am in the kitchen right now baking all of your wonderful recipes! I will start posting them again as soon as I can!

But for now, how about a recap of Halloween?

My little brother received his new belt!
Made a fruit monster for breakfast! Grrr! Hiss!

Carved Pumpkins. Mickey Mouse was my sister’s, and Jack (the Pumpkin King) was my little brother’s. Ok…I didn’t carve a pumpkin because I wanted to roast mine ๐Ÿ™‚ Or maybe make a pie…
Helped my little brother go Trick-or-Treating! I mean….I helped Harry Potter go Trick-or-Treating ๐Ÿ˜‰
He got a load of candy! (Some were King-Sized!) And no, they were not sugar free ๐Ÿ™‚

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

How did you spend Halloween??

Oh yeah, and Happy November!

Looks Like a $20 Eggplant to Me

By

Hey all! I am so glad you enjoyed the Grain-Free Pumpkin Spice Bread Recipe! I am so glad that so many of you have already tried it and enjoyed it! A big shout out to Heather for making it so quickly and creating a yummy-looking vanilla-peanut butter variation:

IMG_6331.JPG
Heather's Grain-Free Bread

 

Also, I only have a few more spots left to fill in my Friends by Recipe Challenge. So hurry and send your recipes in so you can be included!

Now onto more colorful things….like eggplant! There really aren’t many purple vegetables out there.

Honestly, I had never really eaten or cooked an eggplant until about a month ago-when I fell in love with it! Eggplants are just so meaty, tender, and juicy. They can also be completely versatile and be cooked into many different dishes like baba ganoush, Eggplant Parmesan, or Stuffed Eggplant. It can even be used as a meat replacement!

Their vibrant purple color isn’t just for looks, though. The eggplant also holds truckloads of fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. In particular, the eggplant skin has aย anthocyanin phytonutrient calledย nasunin. Nasunin is a potent antioxidant and free radical scavenger that has been shown to protect cell membranes from damage.

It’s good for you and it tastes good! What can be better than that?

Plus they are in season right now! So get them before October ends.

I have been enjoying my eggplant stove top style:

Using a cast-iron skillet (or any other type of skillet or pan), preheat the stove to medium heat. Drizzle a bit of olive oil in the bottom of the pan. Then, slice the eggplant into slices. I probably sliced mine at about 1/4 inch thick.

Then, place the eggplant on the skillet and drizzle more olive oil over the eggplant. Sprinkle as many herbs as you want! Have fun! I used a combination of salt, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and smoked paprika.

Serve by itself:

Served with steamed spinach, guacamole, red peppers, and garbanzo beans

Or….Create your own masterpiece by layering the grilled eggplant with grilled tomato slices:

Beautifully topped with fresh basil. Doesn’t it looks like it could be served for $20 at a fancy restaurant?

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

What are your favorite uses for eggplant? Or have you ever tried it? If you haven’t, I strongly suggest you pick up one of those babies at the store today!

P.S. Katie is having a Coconut Butter Giveaway! Check it out!

Why I Love Muffins

By

First off, I know that I have left you in suspense for the winner of my Namaste giveaway…But now that I have finally settled down I can announce who it is! Using random.org, I RANDOMLY selected the winner…..#42! Congratulations Erin! I hope you enjoy your gluten-free goodies ๐Ÿ™‚
Now, onto what’s important, Muffins! Lately, I have been experimenting with different recipes, and also enjoying many of the results. I have a few of these sugar free recipes coming (like apple-carrot bran!).
Why I Love Muffins
  • They are super versatile
  • They can be made extremely healthy
  • Easy to bring on picnics, to lunch, during work or school, when you’re in a hurry, while you’re hiking…
  • They taste like dessert!
Whole Wheat Banana Muffins
  • I can smear some coconut butter “frosting” on a carrot cake muffin and eat it like dessert!
  • I can bring them on the plane for an easy breakfast
  • I can eat them for lunch with a smoothie
  • I can eat them before I work out for some energy
  • Adding protein powder is easy, and tastes good

  • Whole wheat, bran, chia, flax, are all high fiber add-ins that make them powerful muffins!
  • I can eat them for any taste I’m looking for (blueberry, carrot cake, nutty, poppyseed, chocolate…)
  • They are fun to make with family
  • They make great gifts! Just put them in a cute basket and tie them with a bow ๐Ÿ™‚
  • They can provide servings of veggies and fruit!
  • They smell good in the oven
  • I like to share them with friends
  • They taste good!

Why do you love muffins? Or do you love muffins?

Also, check out this giveaway for Artisana butters at Gluten Free Muse!