Healthy | 20something cupcakes

your new favorite snack bars + giveaway!

July 20, 2012 — 96 Comments

Raw. Organic. Vegan. Gluten-free. Kosher.

Daaaammmmnnn.

These bars have it going on, right?

And more than that, they taste ah-mazing.

I first tried a Pure Bar when I received one in my swag bag at BlogHer Food in Seattle. I was immediately intrigued by the clean list of ingredients and stellar nutrition info. The flavor was Banana Coconut, which of course sounded delish enough – but with all of the healthiness going on in there, could it actually taste good?

Yes. pure organic bars - review + giveaway

This was thrilling news for me, because on extra-busy days (is there such thing as a day that’s not extra-busy? I didn’t think so) bars like this are a life-saver. I’m generally super-picky about ‘em, because I don’t want a lot of preservatives but I also want a good mix of protein, fiber, fat, and calories. Tasting good is an obvious bonus, so Pure Bars are a triple-win!

When I reached out to the company to get my hands on more, they happily obliged – and what’s even better is that they’re sharing the love with you, too!

In Healthy Eats, Product Reviews fiber, giveaway, healthy, protein, snack, snack bars

easy homemade ceviche.

December 29, 2011 — Leave a comment

Making ceviche at home might be one of my new favorite activities.

Now, that I’ve finally discovered a fresh seafood market just minutes away… I mean, come on…we only live in the boating capital of the world. You’d think someone would have had this covered sooner.

This place is seriously awesome, and if you happen to live in Fort Lauderdale, I highly recommend it. Not only do they have an incredible selection of fresh seafood, they’ll even cook it for you, if you ask! Now that doesn’t really interest me, because you know I want to take it home and soak it in a big bowl of citrus to make ceviche…but, it’s a nice idea, don’t you think? And if all of that wasn’t enough, this place even sells baguettes from my favorite Las Olas bakery - making it a total and complete one-stop shop. Boom!

In Fabulously Simple, Starters fish, healthy, mexican recipes, rick bayless, seafood

the salad bar: grilled chicken BLT salad.

July 18, 2010 — 7 Comments

You will love this salad. Trust.

I mean, it has bacon. And tomatoes… But not just any tomatoes. Roasted cherry tomatoes.

Something magic happens when you roast tomatoes; in fact, I think it was this salad that got Daniel to first warm up to the little red guys. I know, it’s hard to believe there are people out there {and lots of them} who hate tomatoes. Well, there are. And they probably just haven’t tried them roasted.

And then there’s the dressing. It’s a buttermilk dressing (a lower-fat version, of course) with these little bits of chopped green onion swimming throughout it. It’s creamy, tangy, and the perfect match for this salad.

BLT Salad with Grilled Chicken and Buttermilk Dressing

Recipe adapted from Steamy Kitchen: Fresh Flavors Fast Cookbook from Martha Stewart Everyday Food

6 slices bacon
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
2 tablespoons light mayonnaise
1-2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 green onion, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 bag romaine lettuce (or 1 pound romaine hearts, coarsely chopped), or other salad greens of your choice
1 pint cherry tomatoes
2 grilled chicken breasts, sliced

Preheat oven to 400°. Arrange bacon in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Arrange cherry tomatoes on another sheet pan; drizzle olive oil overtop and season with salt and pepper. After 12-15 minutes, the bacon should be crisp; after about 10 minutes, the tomatoes should be done. Take them out accordingly, crumbling or cutting the bacon into large pieces.

In a large bowl, whisk together buttermilk, mayonnaise, vinegar, and green onions. Season with salt and pepper. Fill a bowl with the lettuce, adding the tomatoes, bacon, and chicken; add dressing and toss to coat. Serve immediately.

In Fabulously Simple, Healthy Eats, Salad Bar bacon, buttermilk, chicken, healthy, roasted cherry tomatoes

You are what you eat.

If it’s true, I want to be a high-protein, low carb, deliciously firm, skinny-inducing EGG.

I love eggs cooked any way really. But hard-boiled, they become such a perfectly simple and healthy snack.

And the best part is, they are SO easy to make! What I like to do is make a dozen or so at a time. If that seems like a lot, and you don’t have a hungry egg-devouring machine named Daniel who lives with you, make a few less.

Perfectly Hard-Boiled Eggs Everytime:

Try to boil your eggs when they are a few days old. The fresher the egg, the more difficult they will be to peel.
Place the eggs in a single layer in the bottom of a pot.
Take the pot to the sink and fill ‘er up, covering the eggs with about an inch or two of cold or room-temperature water.
Throw some salt in there.
Now put your pot of eggs on a burner and bring them to a boil.
Once boiling, remove the pot from the burner, cover it, and let the eggs sit in there for about 10-12 minutes.
Take the eggs out and get them into a bowl of ice water (you can also pour the water out of the pan, fill again with cool water, pour out, fill again, etc. until they cool off).

And voila! Perfectly cooked, easy to peel, hard-boiled eggs.

I like to let them cool a little and then peel away. I just find it to be easier to get this out of the way, but you can leave them in their shells and peel later if you prefer. After peeled I put them in a Tupperware and now I have easy, healthy snacks ready-to-grab for the week.

Other uses:

Add to your tuna salad
Make an egg salad
My Best Friend’s Egg Bowl: Using a fork, crush up a few eggs (higher white-to-yolk ratio*) in a bowl, heat them up in the microwave, add salt + pepper and a dash of olive oil

*White-to-yolk ratio: Some people like to eat only the whites of the egg to cut out the cholesterol and fat in the yolk. Because I like the taste and protein-content of the yolk, I find a happy middleground by using a higher white-to-yolk ratio rather than cutting out the yolks entirely.