Lemon Thins

As most of you know I have a major snacking habit. The thought of eating only three meals a day puts me into a panic. I need my snacks and bake almost everyday. However, I am also realistic about my snacking and try to make sure that I have a balance between healthy and indulgent. If I make a batch of brownies one day the rest of the snacks that I prepare for the week are nuts and healthy granola bars. I believe food and health in general is all about balance. I have a tread mill that I use for an hour each day. This hour of exercise makes it possible for me to sit and watch my favorite TV shows in the evening and enjoy the time just sitting and relaxing. Cookies are one of my favorite snacks. I could literally eat cookies for every meal, they are delicious. Since I love cookies so much I try to make cookies occasionally that are lower in fat and calories. Yesterday I tried a new recipe for Lemon Thins from the February 2013 issue of Eating Well magazine.

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It takes 45 minutes of total time, 30 minutes of which is active and makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies. I made a few changes to the recipe. First since I eat gluten free I used gluten free all-purpose flour instead of wheat flour. I also found that you need to make sure that the cookies are completely flat. If you don't roll out the cookies very thin they will not taste good. I actually used the side of the cup to roll the cookies after rolling the cup in granulated sugar. This method worked very well and I would recommend it. Additionally I allowed my cookies to bake for the full ten minutes to fully brown. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

With only 60 calories and 2 grams of fat this cookie is a snack that is healthier than many other cookie recipes. Plus they were a nice snack with a cup of coffee as a morning pick-me-up. The taste was not overly lemony, which was nice. I would say that they were a little dry. To me they tasted like they needed more fat. This could be partly due to the fact that I made them gluten free. Either way I would suggest increasing the amount of butter or using all butter instead of canola oil, which would be higher in saturated fat, but would vastly improve the texture and taste. The batter definitely needs more liquid, either with lemon juice or an increase in butter.

For the recipe go to Lemon Thins.

Eating Well North Country Braised Chicken

I have always been an active person. Growing up I was active in swimming, dancing, gymnastics, basically you name the physical activity and I was ready to try it. My eating habits have been mostly healthy as well, with periods of my life being vegetarian and vegan. When I got married I quickly realized that my husband and I were polar opposites in the healthy lifestyle boat. To him healthy was only eating 4 pieces of bacon instead of 6. Now don't get me wrong, I love bacon also, but I'm more of a one or two piece person and nothing more. When my husband and I were married around two years and I was pregnant with my first child my mother was diagnosed with cancer. I was 2500 hundred miles away and my son was nine days old when my mom passed away. This was the second woman in my family to pass away from cancer, my grandmother died before I was born. I quickly decided that I needed to change the way that I was creating food for my family and I started cooking as many things as I could from scratch. It has been a gradual process with my husband. I have gotten him to the point that meat is normally an ingredient rather than a centerpiece to a meal and he even asked for me to start making tofu once a week (score!). The one ingredient I have had a harder time convincing him to eat more frequently is chicken breast. My family prefers chicken thighs and I am always struggling to find a recipe using breasts that will be enjoyed. Last month I started receiving a new magazine, Eating Well, and I was excited to find a recipe for North Country Braised Chicken, that used chicken breast, and was low in fat and looked delicious.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. The total time is 45 minutes, with 30 minutes being active, and makes 8 servings. I had to go to multiple stores to find all the ingredients for this recipe. I was unable to find rutabaga at any of my local grocery stores, but was surprised to find that my local super store had them readily available. For the thyme I chose to use fresh instead of dry, I prefer the flavor when it is easily available. I had just bought a new dutch oven, so I was excited to try it out in this recipe. The one change that I made to this recipe was the cooking time. I found that my rutabaga took a lot longer to cook than the suggest 20 minutes, probably closer to 30-35 minutes to get to be fully tender. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

With only 5 grams of fat and 268 calories per serving, this recipe is very healthy. My two boys had never had rutabaga before and I was unsure if they would even eat any of it. It turns out I had nothing to worry about, they loved it. The rutabaga and pears had a sweet flavor and their tastes blended together perfectly. With 26 grams of protein, this recipe is healthy and delicious and might just convert my family to eating more chicken breasts.

For the recipe go to North Country Braised Chicken.