What are the latest and greatest health-related products? How can I spice up my ho-hum workout? Are the new nutritious food products and health-focused restaurants worth my money? If you're asking any of these questions you've found the right spot!Note: While I'm a journalist with a Bachelor's degree in kinesiology and am a Certified Health Education Specialist, I don't replace the guidance/counseling that comes from a good chat with your doctor or dietitian. For more information, feel free to contact me at karlaswalsh@gmail.com!
Healthful Bites
As evidenced by the packed New York City streets—well, even more packed than usual—the city that never sleeps also never stops being a great tourist destination! In case you can’t make it this season, I took an active walking day around town (that’s my fitness-y angle ;) ) to capture snapshots of the festive decorations. So even if you’re not fighting the crowds near the Rockefeller Center tree, or its equally lovely, but overshadowed cousin at Bryant Park, you can experience the lights and a bit of the atmosphere of NYC at Christmastime.
What screams “holidays” to you? For me, it’s the lovely sparkling lights!
A good part of my weekend was spent baking and decorating Christmas cookies with my Mom—great bonding time and a fun way to unleash my creative side! Our recipe is not exactly a nutritious choice, but there are some healthy holiday dessert recipes out there. To celebrate the season, I decided to post a small round-up of better for you seasonal desserts so that you can indulge and still have a healthy, balanced diet for the day. Plus, if you bring a tray of these goodies to your parties, you can feel sly by sneaking a healthier treat under your friends’ and family members’ noses! :)
A selection of our festive treats!
Taste of Home has a marvelous round-up of lightened-up and dietitian-approved cookies. How cute are the wreath cookies?
Every year Eating Well magazine hosts a healthy holiday cookie recipe contest, which turns out wonderful (and often drool-worthy) cookie creations. Be sure to check out their handy article about five secrets for healthier cookies!
Be sure to check out this super handy guide, courtesy of FITNESS magazine, detailing the best ways to tweak traditional cookie recipes to be lighter. Everything from snickerdoodles to oatmeal to molasses cookies are covered!
Karla’s Five Cookie Baking Health Tips:
- To increase the nutrition of your cookie toppers or add-ins, consider freeze dried fruit pieces or dark chocolate
- Sprinkling cookies with colored sugars or “jimmies” before baking is generally a lower calorie route than frosting
- Utilizing cocoa powder in chocolate recipes instead of melted chocolate bars or pieces reduces fat
- Subbing whole wheat flour for part of the white flour usually is unnoticeable (and adds fiber!)
- Applesauce can sometimes be used in place of margarine, butter or oil in cookie recipes—although this takes some experimentation. Egg substitute usually works well in place of whole eggs if you prefer. I wouldn’t recommend these tips for cutout cookies, which need to be a specific consistency to bake as a recognizable shape.
And don’t forget, as we discussed around Thanksgiving, it doesn’t matter as much what you do during the few holiday meals (or snacks), but what you eat on a regular basis throughout the entire year!
Do you have any favorite holiday desserts? How about any tricks to improve the health quality of your treats?
During Thanksgiving break, I was lucky enough to meet up with my fabulous blogger friend Jenn for dinner while in Chicago! My sister Amy joined in the fun as well. This is a slightly belated dining recap, but I still wanted to share the experience with you :)
In true Chicago form, we met for pizza. Where you ask? Lou Malnati’s, the self-proclaimed home of the “BEST Chicago-style deep dish pizza in the world!” Amy and Jenn split the spinach deep dish pie, which I hear was great.
Not a huge deep dish lover myself, I went with the individual-sized thin crust. Sacrilegious? Maybe. Delicious? Yes. For the toppings, I ordered “The Lou.” It came topped with fresh spinach, sliced tomatoes and mushrooms. Usually The Lou is topped with three kinds of cheese as well, but I’m not a big cheese-on-pizza fan. (It still counts as pizza without cheese, right?) I know I’m a pizza purist’s worst nightmare, but something about the pools of grease that often accumulate on top of a pie turns me off.
The crispy crust and tangy sauce paired well together, and the vegetables really did taste fresh. I made it through about 3/4 of this tasty entree:
Festive colors for the current season, no?
The wait staff was pleasant and helpful, and our water glasses were kept full. The conversation and catch-up time with Jenn was the highlight of the night though! I forgot to snap a picture, but have this from an earlier Chicago visit:
Thanks for the lovely restaurant suggestion and great visit Jenn! Can’t wait to hang out again very soon.
Now I’d love to hear from you: are you a deep dish or thin crust fan? And what are your top topping picks?
