Healthy Snacks: Part 2

This next installment of Healthy Snacks is one of my favorites : French Toast ! I think that this wonderful meal can be enjoyed morning, noon or night. Even as a healthy snack ( eating a smaller portion). The classic way to make it is egg and maybe a little cinnamon... not so bad! The toppings are usually the calorie killer. A lot of sugar mixed with some unhealthy fats can make for a healthy treat gone bad. 

Don't get me wrong, a little indulgence here and there never hurt anyone. I just like to think of ways to incorporate indulgence without the extra lbs. :-)

This is my spin on the beloved anytime meal to make it a little more healthy.

Ingredients:

• 1-2 slices of 100% whole wheat bread
• 1 tsp of cinnamon
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen mixed berries
• 2 tbsp of honey or agave

Serves 1 person. 

Heat pan to medium, mix eggs and cinnamon well. Dip the bread in the egg batter and let cook fully or until golden brown. Once the bread is cooked , allow it to slightly cool just so it is warm. Now it's time for the healthy toppings! Add the Greek yogurt to one warm piece of bread ( not hot or else it will melt too fast). This gives the effect of heavy whipped cream. You get that creamy texture without all the calories. 

Next add the honey or agave. This sweetens up the tart yogurt and blends nicely with all the other toppings. Once those ingredients are added you can do one of two things with the berries. 

A. Puree berries with 1/2 teaspoon of honey or lemon juice and serve as a "syrup"

B. Add whole berries on top of yogurt and honey

Once all the toppings are added, place the final piece of french toast on top and garnish with the remainder of the berry syrup or honey.

I promise, if you love classic french toast with fruit you won't be disappointed! Variations of this are welcomed! Try any other fruits or even a fat free cream cheese as your topping.

Enjoy!

- Christina

Use What You Have

Use what you've got, save money.

We've all heard it all before. By reusing things in your home you can eliminate clutter, find new uses for old things and save some money in places you didn't expect. This post shows some of the things I've re-worked and re-used!

1. paper bags

Bags from grocery stores and shops make surprisingly fun gift wrap. Use pretty markers ( I used metallic ones) to add personal touches to the wrap.

• In being green , it's always smarter to use your re-usable bags at stores. But, if you do forget them ( and that's happened plenty to me) opt for paper over plastic and use it later on for this!

2. Old broken glass tiles & card stock

I had a lot of this around and was trying to think of what to use it for. Finally I came up with the idea of a fun frame for work. I hot glued the tiles to the 10x19 inch cardstock frame I made. It will frame my new chalkboard I painted on the wall!

** Instead of tiles you can use colored paper, beads, fabric or felt.

3. Toilet paper rolls

Toilet paper and paper towel rolls have a lot of craft functions.

-Shape them for stamps ( like i did in the heart tree pic)
-use as puppet or character bases
- modge podge paper or tissue paper onto them and construct a solid bottom for a faux flower vase

•The heart shape stamp is simple to make. Create your heart by pressing in the middle. Secure with string or tape. Dip in paint of choice and voila!


4. Chalkboard items

• Ok, so this isn't using what you've got exactly but with this one product you can transform a lot of what you've got!

I am totally in aw of chalkboard paint. The ability to take a not-so-nice houseware item and transform it for little money is priceless! I have painted everything from plastic utensil holders to the tops of side tables at work.

I think that the best pieces used with this paint are frames. Paint the glass with chalkboard paint and that's it. You've got a tangible platform for your thoughts, to-do list, meal plans etc. You can usually find this paint at any craft or home repair store. I just bought some for $3.99!

More uses coming soon!

Thanks for visiting,

Christina

   

Healthy Snacks: Part 1

Hi everyone!

Sorry I've been MIA from the blog world. I'll spare you the details but long story short my laptop was stolen out of my car. But no pity party wanted here, you live and you learn!

Lately I've been experimenting with a lot of fun recipes that are healthy and also taste good! Today's post I begin to share just two of my healthy snacks. Don't worry though, there are many more to come! 

If you're anything like me, you love a good snack. And if you're also anything like me, you know that snacks can include excess sugar and fat. I find myself often searching the internet for easy and yummy snack ideas. Although I've found many, I wanted something made from scratch. This is going to be first of many healthy snack posts with recipes from moi! 

For a sweet tooth, this recipe is a life saver. But this is also a great recipe for kids, adults and an altered version makes an amazing homemade baby applesauce ( one of my best friend's unborn baby was in mind for that one ). 

**This recipe does require a dehydrator. I bought one this past Christmas and it's been amazing! Homemade beef jerky, dried fruits, veggies and other tasty treats. For anyone that plans on making their own dried snacks regularly it is highly recommended. There are great deals on amazon, eBay and most home stores.

 

Homemade fruit leather

Ingredients for Applesauce/ fruit leather

• 4-6 apples of your choice ( I used gala)
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon 
• 2 teaspoons of honey
• lemon juice

These ingredients alone can make a delicious applesauce. For a baby food apple sauce use organic apples and puree in a blender or food processor.

For the fruit leather, refer back to all ingredients listed. Peel each apple and puree everything together. Spread evenly onto the fruit leather dehydrating sheet ( this comes with most dehydrators). 

It is usually best to do this in the afternoon because it takes about 12 hours to go from applesauce to fruit leather. This way, you can go to sleep and enjoy your fruit leather as an early afternoon snack the next day. 

Homemade Apple "Chips" 

• 4-6 apples of choice

• lemon juice ( if desired) 

Slice each apple through the core ( about half an inch thick) so each slice has a piece of the core in the middle. If you have an apple corer use this before hand. If not, just cut out each center before placing each slice in the dehydrator. 

You can cover each slice with lemon juice for a little tang. Most of the zip from the lemon juice disappears once dehydrated and leaves a sweet taste that compliments the natural apple flavor.

Allow the apple slices to dehydrate for 10-12 hours. Both the fruit leather ingredients and the apple slices can be dehydrated at the same time. This allows you to make one snack two different ways!

Check the apple chips after 10 hours and once they are light and airy they are ready to eat! Check the fruit leather after 10 hours also. Mine took about 12 hours but to be safe, always check it at 10 hours. 

Once they are done, enjoy! These both last for weeks if sealed in am air tight container or zip lock bag.

Check back soon for more CT Green Gal updates. Thanks for reading and feel free to leave a comment !

xo-

Christina