A great dessert/snack to make with the kids!

4 large round organic apple slices with skin on

4 teaspoons almond butter

1/2 mango

1/4 cup strawberries

1/4 cup blueberries

1 kiwi

1 tablespoon orange juice
Wash fruits well before use. Cut the mango, strawberries, and kiwi into small dice. Transfer to a mixing bowl, add blueberries, and mix with the orange juice. Spread a teaspoon of almond butter over each apple slice. Top with the prepared fruits and serve immediately.

Option:

You can top with a tablespoon of low-fat Greek yogurt and/or a little cinnamon. Feel free to change the fruits such as with banana, papaya, grapes, and so on.
Per Serving: 174 Cal (32% from Fat, 6% from Protein, 62% from Carb); 3 g Protein; 7 g Tot Fat; 1 g Sat Fat; 4 g Mono Fat; 30 g Carb; 4 g Fiber; 21 g Sugar; 57 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 4 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol

Adjust thickness with more stock, if needed. If a thicker consistency is needed, for example for spread, you may add more basil leaves and/or a few more nuts. Option: Substitute pistachios with walnuts or pine nuts (the classical pesto recipe).

Per Serving: 80 Cal (66% from Fat, 13% from Protein, 21% from Carb); 3 g Protein; 6 g Tot Fat; 1 g Sat Fat; 4 g Mono Fat; 4 g Carb; 1 g Fiber; 1 g Sugar; 70 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 54 mg Sodium; 3 mg Cholesterol

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Thought it was good for me???

It has a funny name and is fairly rare. As a result, most people don’t understand Celiac disease. Want to be one of the educated folks who understand this difficult disease? Read on for a crash course.

Something Like an Allergy

When someone has Celiac disease, his or her body has a negative reaction to gluten. This negative reaction causes the small intestine to go crazy. More specifically, millions of villi (tiny hair-like substances that line the intestines and help the body absorb nutrients from foods) get damaged whenever gluten is ingested.

Since gluten is found in all sorts of foods, it is difficult for individuals with celiac to get well-rounded diets. Rye, barley, wheat, and grains that come from these foods all contain gluten. Since these foods have to be avoided by individuals with celiac disease, people living with celiac disease are at high risk for some other dangerous conditions.

To Complicate Matters

The most obvious complication that can arise as a result of celiac disease is malnutrition. After all, if you can’t eat a variety of important foods, you’re going to have a hard time staying nourished. This leads to dangerous weight loss, fatigue, and growing problems. But celiac disease’s complications don’t end there.

In addition to malnutrition, celiac disease increases your risk for type 1 diabetes, gastrointestinal cancers, and thyroid disease. As each of these conditions come with even more potential complications, recognizing and treating celiac disease properly is your best chance at living a normal, productive, and healthy life.

Find and Fix

Most of the time, individuals with celiac disease will suffer from some embarrassing symptoms. Diarrhea, weight loss, and abdominal pain and bloating are the most common symptoms, and these are often accompanied by depression or frequent bad moods. As these symptoms are often mistaken for indicating other conditions, it is important to undergo proper medical screening to ensure you receive a proper diagnosis. For an accurate diagnosis of celiac disease, you may have to undergo a physical examination, blood tests, and biopsies of the small intestine.

Once the condition is diagnosed, treatment is as simple as beginning a new diet that completely removes all gluten. Unfortunately, as easy as this new diet sounds on paper, it can be difficult in real life, as gluten sneaks its way into foods ranging from breads to sandwich meats. If you have celiac disease, you’ll also have to be on the prowl for foods that may have been contaminated with gluten products. Your favorite kind of ice cream may not contain gluten, but if it was made alongside a bread factory, you may have to find a new dessert of choice.

If you’ve been to many parties, you have probably been to a dud or two. And with your upcoming party, you may fear the same fate awaits you! But grab your fears and toss them in the trash, because with these tips, your party is sure to be the talked-about event of the year!

Try a Theme

Anyone can have a party. For a memorable party, go with a theme. No matter what you love, you can use your passions as you plan your party. From a Hawaiian luau or a beach party to ghosts of music past or favorite movie stars, your theme can be whatever you choose.

To make sure the theme sticks, make every aspect of your party stick with it. This requires you to go beyond decorations for your shindig. Make every piece of food and every drink you serve go with the theme of the party. Having a hard time finding appropriate food and drinks?

Make some of your favorite dishes and drinks and give them appropriate names. Remember-it’s your party, and a good party requires creativity!

Sell, Sell, Sell!

Convincing people that they’re in a tropical paradise is no easy task. Especially if they have to drive through a winter wonderland to get there. That’s where your positive energy comes in. If you’re apprehensive about your party and don’t think everything about it is fantastic, how do you expect others to get excited? To make sure everyone who comes to your party remembers nothing but a good time, sell the party’s theme constantly. If you’re convinced the party is a blast, so will your fellow partygoers.

Stop Hosting and Relax

Want to see the party through a partygoer’s eyes? Then stop slapping snacks on people’s plates and get out in the party! Get involved in whatever fun stuff you have in store for those who come to the party. After all, how else will you truly know how fun the party is if all you do is serve, clean, and worry about everyone having a good time? Turning off your inner host or hostess helps you enjoy the party and will put everyone around you at ease, which helps them enjoy the party as well.

Invite Right

Want people to long for your upcoming party? You’ve got to let them know how great it’s going to be with a killer invitation! For the best invitation, consider the theme of your party and do something unique and memorable. Sure, you could get some party invites from a local store, but why not take matters into your own hands with some homemade invites that’ll catch attention and get them in the party mode instantly?

Remember Details

Now that you’ve got your food and drinks all set, and the decorations are picture perfect, you may think your planning is over. Well…you’re wrong. Once people begin showing up, do you know where they’re going to park? Where will you put purses and jackets? Also, what happens if someone brings a date, stretching your food and drink rations? Planning for anything and everything helps make sure your big party will go off without a hitch. Or at the least, planning helps it look like there weren’t any hitches.

Categories: Desserts, Low Calorie, Low Sodium, Low Fat, Low Cholesterol, Dairy-Free, Vegetarian

• 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 12 egg whites
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Be sure that your 10 inch tube pan is clean and dry.
3. Any amount of oil or residue could deflate the egg whites.
4. Sift together the flour, and 3/4 cup of the sugar, set aside.
5. In a large bowl, whip the egg whites along with the vanilla, cream of tartar and salt, to medium stiff peaks.
6. Gradually add the remaining sugar while continuing to whip to stiff peaks.
7. When the egg white mixture has reached its maximum volume, fold in the sifted ingredients gradually, one third at a time.
8. Do not overmix.
9. Put the batter into the tube pan.
10. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cake springs back when touched.
11. Balance the tube pan upside down on the top of a bottle, to prevent decompression while cooling.
12. When cool, run a knife around the edge of the pan and invert onto a plate.

Servings: 14, Calories: 136, Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 0mg, Sodium: 131mg, Carbohydrate: 29.9g, Protein: 3.9g

Oh Man!

Need to hit the store or a restaurant to pick up something to eat? There are some things you’d be better off avoiding. What makes these foods even worse is that the fat found isn’t just your everyday, run-of-the-mill fat. Much of it is trans-fat. These do much more than add unwanted weight to your arms, legs, and middle. Trans-fats are a highly dangerous fat that turns into cholesterol once in your body. In other words, these fats increase your weight and instantly increase your likelihood for suffering heart disease and stroke.

Here is where to watch for fat in the course of your dietary day.

Breakfast

Overflowing with 659 calories and 45 grams of fat, the Bob Evans Country Biscuit Breakfast may be the worst way to start your day. While it may taste good going down, the long-term effects of eating such an unhealthy breakfast counteract any happiness the flavor may provide. And if you’re drinking soda with your breakfast, it’s time to stop. There is no nutritional benefit to drinking soda, and when matched with the Bob Evans Country Biscuit Breakfast, you’re setting your body up for a short and diseased existence.

Lunch

If you’re heading out for lunch, you may want to steer clear of the Wild Buffalo Chicken Strip Basket at Dairy Queen. While you may expect chicken to be relatively healthy, these fried up goodies pack an 870-calorie, 96-gram punch. In the event you choose to take a drive to pick up some fries from another establishment, stay away from Jack in the Box’s large order of Natural Cut Fries. Dipped in grease and fried to fattening perfection, they come with 300 calories and 33 grams of fat.

Snack

Between meals, you need something to keep your energy level on high. What you don’t need is excessive fat. So stay away from Nacho Cheese Doritos. If you think there is nothing dangerous about those little chips, you may be surprised to learn that a single ounce (approximately 11 chips) has 8 grams of fat. Since you probably never eat a mere 11 Nacho Cheese Doritos, you’re probably getting a lot more fat than you think. Oh yeah – there are also 140 calories in that tiny bag, another reason to steer clear of the chips.

Dinner

It may not be the fattiest dinner dish available, but the 12-inch Blimpie Veggie Supreme is listed here because of the cunning nature of the item. The Veggie Supreme sounds like a perfectly healthy option for you and your family. However, with 1,106 calories and 56 grams of fat, this sandwich is not nearly as healthy as its name implies. If you’re hungry for a hoagie loaded with all kinds of goodness, you can easily cut the fat grams in half or more by making it yourself at home.

Dessert

If there’s one food item to avoid purchasing, Baskin Robbins’ large chocolate Oreo shake is it. Containing an amazing 2,600 calories (yes – that’s more than you should eat in an entire day), 139 grams of fat, and 1,700 milligrams of sodium, this seemingly innocent after-dinner delight is one of the most dangerous additions to your diet. While it may look beautiful and taste fantastic, eating a large chocolate Oreo shake cannot be excused by anyone with a desire to live healthily

Yummo, Coach like!

Ever since you first heard of smoothies, your mouth has been watering. When you’re sipping on a smoothie, your mouth is in taste heaven. When there’s no smoothie in your hand, all you can think of are strawberries, bananas, and blueberries. But if you’re not careful, your smoothies can turn into nothing more than an average dessert.

To make sure your smoothie is as healthy as it is cold and delicious, you’ve got to have more than a good blender. You’ve got to have the right building blocks as well.

Building Block: Fruit

In a healthy smoothie, the most basic building block is fruit. Ideally, you want to go with fresh fruits that aren’t sitting in sugar water or have been made unhealthy in some other way. Rather, you want fruit straight off the vine or tree. Raw fruit that hasn’t been tampered with will ensure you the most powerful smoothie punch.

Some of the most common fruits found in smoothies include bananas, strawberries, and blueberries. But don’t let this keep you from getting creative. No matter what your favorite fruit is, you can toss it in the blender for a delightful, flavorful smoothie. From cantaloupe and mango to pineapple, raspberry, and melon, you can include any fruit you can find in your smoothie concoction.

Building Block: Juice

Once you’ve got your fruits picked out, you’ll need to find a complementary juice. As with the fruit choices, there is one juice that is picked much more often than the others: orange juice. However, you can toss in whatever type of juice you want to spice up your smoothie.

For variations on your favorite smoothie, give apple juice, grape juice, or cranberry juice a shot. Each different juice will affect the consistency, thickness, and flavor of your smoothie, so keep trying out juices until you find the perfect flavor for your pallet.

Building Block: Yogurt

When you have lots of different fruits and flavors, you’ll probably want something to pull them all together into one cohesive whole. Enter stage left: yogurt. Low-fat or fat-free is the best choice, and since most yogurt falls into one of these categories, it is also an easy choice to find.

With the right amount of yogurt in the mix, your smoothie will go from a yummy treat to a must-have each and every day. While you’ll probably rely on vanilla yogurt for most of your smoothies, using strawberry, strawberry banana, blueberry, or other flavors will enhance your smoothie instantly!

Learning and growing smarter and more aware isn’t always easy. It takes hard work, studying the latest findings of whatever piques your interest, and a third ingredient that makes the other two possible: food. But if you think all food is equal when it comes to powering up your gray matter, think again. If you’re feeding your belly the wrong foods, your brain may be paying the price.

How It Works

“Input, output, what goes in is what comes out.” The old children’s song holds many truths, including the fact that what foods go in your body affect what goes on in your brain and ultimately comes out of you. Just like your heart, your brain requires lots of oxygen to function properly. When oxygen-rich blood has a hard time getting to your brain for one reason or another, it becomes difficult to process information and remember events.

Other problems can also arise in the brain due to your diet. One is the build up of free radicals. Free radicals are damaged cells that roam free in your body and harm surrounding healthy cells. The best protection against excessive free radicals is eating plenty of antioxidants. If you don’t provide this protection, your brain can suffer as a result.

Brain Food No-Nos

As if they weren’t seen in a bad enough light, research has found trans-fats and saturated fats to have a bad effect on your ability to think. So avoiding foods high in these fats will help your heart stay healthy and your brain strong and ready to think for years to come. Other foods to avoid for a stronger brain include fast food of all kinds and anything that falls into the “junk food” category. In case you’re wondering, that includes greasy potato chips and just about anything you’ll see in the checkout aisle at the store.

On top of watching certain foods, you should avoid eating too much of anything – good or bad. By eating extra calories, the synapses in your brain that help you think can become less flexible, reducing your ability to learn at your maximum potential. It can also result in damage to damaged cells in your body, forming free radicals that have no regard for what cells it damages, whether they’re located in your arm or your brain.

Powered Up for Success

If you’re ready to beef up your brain, eating the right foods is essential. By including the proper foods in your diet, you enable yourself to learn better and enjoy better memory.

Foods that boost your brain’s potential include the following:

• salmon
• walnuts
• kiwi
• blueberries
• spinach
• orange juice
• strawberries
• other foods with omega-3 fatty acids, folic acid, and vitamin B

In addition to helping your brainpower today, researchers have found that eating the right foods can also help you ward off many frightening conditions, including dementia, schizophrenia, depression, and mood disorders. Don’t eat these foods, and you could actually be increasing your risk for these conditions and others. For the most effective brain-boosting diet, try eating smaller food portions at each meal, even if that means you have to consume more meals than the usual three a day.