Wondering how to open a pomegranate? 

Yeah – I’ve been there, too.

I mean, it’s sort of a strange fruit, filled with all those tiny little scarlet dots (aka arils), which are actually the only part you eat. 

No doubt, if you’ve never tackled one before, it can seem a bit daunting. 

Like my son said to me one time, “Anyone attempting to open a pomegranate, who hasn’t done it before, definitely wouldn’t have any idea how to attack the beast.” Haha – so true!

But – I promise! – it’s not one bit hard at all. This is actually a really easy beast to wrangle. And soooo worth it!

The only tool you need is a sharp knife, plus maybe a cutting board.

And it truly only takes a couple of minutes, start to finish!

How to Open a Pomegranate (Step by Step)

Our tried-and-true method is basically just 4 easy steps:

(1) Cut around the blossom and remove it.

(2) Make shallow, vertical cuts (just through the outer skin) down from the blossom area.

(3) Beginning at the hole from the missing blossom, gently pull the pomegranate apart into sections.

(4) Pluck out the delicious arils … and enjoy!

That’s it! So easy! 

For the uninitiated, let me break it down into a bit more detail, step-by-step.

One note first, though: Before you begin, you may want to protect your counter or cutting board with a sheet of parchment or waxed paper. If you cut your pomegranate properly, there really shouldn’t be any problem with juice going all over the place. All of the fruit’s juice is contained inside the arils, so if you don’t cut into the arils, the process should be mess-free. But still, if this is your first try, you may want to play it safe, just to be sure.

Ok. Ready? Now here’s the in-depth version of those 4 easy steps …

How to Cut a Pomegranate

Step (1)  Using a sharp knife, carefully cut around the blossom at one end. It’s the end that sort of looks like a dried-out crown. (The other end is the stem, where the pomegranate used to be attached to the tree.)

Remove the blossom to create a hole.

BTW – I’ve seen other websites that tell you to slice off the entire top of the fruit, rather than just carving out the blossom.

But, if you use that method, you run the risk of cutting too far into the fruit, and actually cutting into some of the arils. If you do that, you’ve got a bigger mess on your hands and have also wasted some of the precious arils – which is why I prefer to carve out just the blossom instead of hacking off the whole top.

Step (2)  Next, find the ridges that run vertically down the pomegranate. Feel those slight bumps? Cut between those bumps (in the “valleys”), running the knife vertically down from the hole where you removed the blossom.

The key here is not to cut too deeply. You really want to keep the cuts shallow, scoring just through the outer skin – without puncturing any arils below.

How to Peel a Pomegranate

Once you’ve removed the blossom and scored between the ridges, all you have to do to reveal those treasured arils is to pull the sections apart.

Step (3)  Gently put your thumbs into the hole where the blossom used to be.

From there, you can easily separate the pomegranate into several sections, along the lines you scored with your knife.

How to Seed a Pomegranate

Step (4)  Now that you’ve cut the pomegranate open and gently pulled it apart, you can pluck out the gorgeous arils.

They easily come loose, and if you’re careful, you shouldn’t have any problem at all with messy juice, since none of the arils should be cut or broken open.

I just pop out however many arils I need, picking out any little bits of the white pith that come out, too.

The “Water Method”

Some people like to pop the arils out over a bowl of water. This allows the arils to fall to the bottom of the water, and the white pith to float to the top.

And, some people take the water idea a step further and actually submerge the entire pomegranate in the water as they pick out the arils. If you’re really messy or working extra-fast, holding the pomegranate under the water will ensure that if you do happen to break open an aril and squirt a bit of juice, the juice will stay in the water and not squirt to stain your clothes.

Honestly, though, I don’t bother with the water. It’s just not necessary, and I usually don’t want my arils all wet before using them in a recipe, anyway.

Totally up to you, though, if you decide to use the water or not.

Storing the Pomegranate Arils

After you’ve removed the arils, you can store them in the fridge for several days.

Or, if you know that you don’t need all of the arils right away, I suggest simply leaving any extra arils still attached inside the fruit. Once you’ve taken out all the arils you need, close up the pomegranate sections around the remaining arils, put the fruit in a zipper bag, and refrigerate the extra arils for later (mmmmmm … like for snacking!).

Other Methods for Cutting a Pomegranate

Oh, sure – I’ve tried other methods. Specifically, like the one that says to cut the pomegranate in half at the equator and then hold it upside down while you bash on it to jostle loose the arils.

What a mess that was!

Maybe my hands are just too small, but I found it difficult to grip the pomegranate properly, and only a few arils came loose (flying out all over the counter).

Plus, since slicing the pomegranate clear through also cut some of the juicy arils open, each time I bashed on it, staining red juice went flying everywhere, too.

Not my favorite!

I quickly went right back to doing it my old way. My method is basically what I’d originally learned to do from an article I found on Delish, and it works beautifully for me, every single time!

Can You Buy Pomegranate Arils, Already Peeled?

Yep!

The alternative to deseeding your own pomegranate is to let someone else do the prep work for you, so you don’t have to deal with cutting a pomegranate at all.

You can simply buy the pre-packaged cups of arils you sometimes find in the grocery store’s produce department. It’s an awesome shortcut, for sure!

But there are a couple downsides to that.

1. It’s pricey. Whole pomegranates definitely aren’t cheap, but those little containers of arils are even more expensive. 
2. They also simply don’t keep as long as a whole pomegranate. I’ve actually had pre-packaged cups of arils go bad before the expiration date. Even once I’ve cut open a pomegranate, I feel like the unused arils last longer than if I’d purchased them in one of those little cups. As I mentioned above, if I haven’t used all the arils, I usually leave the rest, still attached to the peel, and sort of close the pomegranate back up and store it in a tightly sealed plastic bag in the fridge.

So, now that you’ve successfully got all those pretty pomegranate arils staring at you, what do you do with ’em?

Oh, friends, there are so many options!

How to Eat a Pomegranate

Pomegranate arils can be eaten plain, straight out of the fruit. Or they can be refrigerated for several days. They’re also terrific:

• sprinkled in salads
• as a topping on oatmeal
• layered with Greek yogurt, granola, and other fruits in a parfait

Or, try them in one of our pomegranate recipes!

5-Minute Pomegranate Salsa

Ruby-red pomegranates mix with cilantro and just a little onion and minced jalapeño for a uniquely delicious and truly stunning salsa! With its red and green colors, it's perfect for the holidays, and it wins raves every single time (everybody asks for this recipe). Bonus: this super-fast salsa can even be made ahead!

Get the Recipe!

Christmas Salad with Citrus-Champagne Vinaigrette

Sweet and tangy pomegranate arils are absolutely delicious paired with crunchy pistachios and juicy oranges on top of this vibrant holiday salad. It's definitely fit for a celebration, all topped off with a sprinkling of creamy goat cheese and a refreshingly light champagne vinaigrette. A memorable party salad!

Get the Recipe!

Christmas Fruit Salad

This beautifully layered, red and green Christmas Fruit Salad features pomegranates, dried cranberries, pistachios, apples and grapes ... plus a luscious dressing and crunchy topping. So much more special than typical fruit salad recipes, but it takes hardly any extra time at all (and can be prepped ahead, too)!

Get the Recipe!

Quick and Healthy Angel Food Cake Dessert with Vanilla-Honey Oranges

This 5-ingredient, easy dessert features warm, toasty cake under a cascade of pomegranate-studded winter fruit, all perfectly accented by a little honey and a splash of vanilla. Shortcuts and prep-ahead steps make it super-fast for entertaining, or even for a special weeknight treat!

Get the Recipe!

Can You Eat Pomegranate Seeds?

You sure can – pomegranate seeds are edible.

I used to think that the juicy, red arils basically were the pomegranate seeds – that they’re the same thing. 

But, technically, as the Pomegranate Council explains, the pomegranate seeds are the tiny crunchy bits safely encased inside each aril.

You just eat the teeny little seeds right along with the arils.

I’ve seen a few websites that suggest you can spit out the seeds if you want to, although I can’t really imagine doing that. Totally unnecessary. The seeds add a bit of texture and are so small they’re no bother at all!

I’ve been eating pomegranates practically every night this holiday season (no kidding!). I really love them!

And now that you know how easy it is to open a pomegranate and snag those wonderful, juicy little arils for yourself, I hope you’ll be able to enjoy this winter treat all season long, too!

The post How to Open a Pomegranate (Easy and No Mess!) appeared first on Two Healthy Kitchens.

Why We All Need a Grocery Shopping Plan Now

With nearly everyone stuck at home these days, we all need a lot of food on hand – probably more so than ever before, for two particular reasons:

(1) To feed the hungry people who now spend all day roaming the house, looking for things to do … and things to eat. They used to take their hungry, food-seeking selves off to school or the office. But now, they’re just HERE. And they’re hungry! 

(2) To avoid running out to the store any more than absolutely necessary. Filling our pantries, fridges and freezers with foods that keep for a long time will help to keep our families (and everyone else out there) safer, by cutting down on how often we’ve got to head to the grocery store.

As a food blogger, I’m used to planning epic shopping trips with multiple meals and photo shoots carefully sketched out.

If I didn’t plan well, I’d spend practically every single day running to the store … and ain’t nobody got time for that … even in a “normal” world!

The Goals

So, a couple of weeks ago, I mapped out a specific plan for grocery shopping in our “new normal” – with the goals of:

• Adhering to our reasonably healthy eating habits, with plenty of fruits and veggies mixed into more “shelf-stable” or “pantry staple” meal plans.
• Being able to keep the fam fed for 4 weeks without any (or very, very minimal) additional trips to the store.
• Stocking the pantry and freezer (without rampant hoarding) with long-term-stable ingredients we’d have on hand in an emergency, in case we couldn’t leave the house at all.

It’s working like a charm so far! And I’m excited to share my ideas, in the hope that my plan will help some of you, too!

Basically, what I’ve created for myself is a 4-tier plan for each main grocery run (which, again, I hopefully won’t have to do more than once a month).

The 4-Tier Plan: Step 1 (Hurray! Fresh!)

Step 1 is to plan recipes and foods that involve ingredients that won’t keep well – you’ll plan to enjoy these in the very first days after your shopping trip.

• Think of special, family-favorite meals that will cheer everyone up! (But that may have unique ingredients or items that just won’t keep for more than a few days.)

• Be sure to grab delicate fresh fruits and vegetables that will be delicious (and nutritious) for just a couple of days – those that don’t store well for very long. Depending on what your store has available, these might be things like fresh tomatoes and berries, and tender lettuces for crisp, refreshing salads.

• This is also a great time to use fresh meats and buns or bread, before you freeze them for longer storage (more about that later).

After my most recent grocery run, a couple of our first dinners were:

• Our beloved Easy Honey-Glazed Salmon, served alongside fresh, perfectly roasted spring asparagus

• And, hearty and comforting Orecchiette with Sausage and Spinach (which deliciously packs in 10 ounces of lovely, fresh spinach!)

The 4-Tier Plan: Step 2 (Phasing in Staples)

Next, plan meals that involve a somewhat larger amount of shelf-stable items (like dried pasta, canned beans, or freezer items) … but that still also include produce or meats with a slightly longer “shelf life.” 

For example, peppers typically last at least a week if they’re properly stored in the crisper. Apples, broccoli and cauliflower generally stretch even longer.

And pantry staples like onions, garlic, potatoes – as well as “winter” squashes like butternut squash and spaghetti squash – will usually keep for weeks.

These types of produce items will allow you to rotate fresh fruits and veggies into your menu plans, without running back to the store.

Some of the recipes I’ve made in the last couple weeks that fit into this “Tier 2” category include: 

• Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower Pasta with Parmesan, Lemon and Garlic

• And the surprisingly delicious Parmesan Roasted Broccoli Stalks (with the leftover broccoli stalks from the pasta recipe above – since we don’t want to waste anything!) 

• Lightning-Fast Cheesy Three-Pepper Ravioli with Italian Sausage (pictured below)

For even more recipes ideas, take a peek at our recent post on Healthy, Easy Pantry Staples Recipes!

The 4-Tier Plan: Step 3 (Getting Creative with Shelf-Stable Go-To’s)

Step 3 is where you start to rely exclusively on pantry-staple items, and on pre-packaged meals and items that you can freeze.

Think about menu plans that would get you through several weeks if – in a worst-case scenario – you truly weren’t allowed to leave the house at all.

My goal here is to be able to prepare meals that aren’t just ramen noodles, canned soup, and frozen hot dogs! I want to be able to cobble together meals that still have some nutritional value (since eating well is a key part of staying healthy).

In this phase, I’m not necessarily focused on mapping out exact recipes to make. It’s more about grabbing basics that I know I can piece together into a variety of meals.

I had to think hard about how I could creatively accomplish this. Here are some ideas:

Pantry Ingredients

Of course, I wanted to have plenty of things like peanut butter, rice, dried pasta, canned beans, quinoa, and chia on hand. Even if I don’t have a specific plan for what I’ll make with them, these kinds of shelf-stable ingredients can morph into all sorts of meals.

• Rice and pasta are the perfect base for practically any sauce, stir fry or skillet meal you can dream up. And if you choose more nutritious brown rice and whole-grain pasta, they add a lot of keep-you-full fiber and extra nutrition to the meal.

• Peanut butter and canned beans add protein to snacks and meals, perfect for when you begin to run low on meat.

• Quinoa and chia are some of the only plants that have all the amino acids needed to be complete proteins, and they keep for months and months (and moooonths!) if you store them in the refrigerator or freezer. I’ve been making Chia Seed Pudding every couple of days this past week (because you know we’re obsessed with it)!

Meats

In addition to buying already-frozen shrimp and fish, I also purchased fresh meats to freeze: lean ground beef or turkey, rotisserie chicken, turkey sausage, and chicken breasts. I broke the packages down into amounts (about 1 pound each) that I can grab for making various, individual meals.

I don’t necessarily need a specific recipe planned for each of these. I know I can make something up on the fly as long as I’ve got some basics to work with. 

A key here is to store the meats properly, in freezer-safe bags, wraps and containers, so they’ll maintain their quality and last as long as possible without freezer burn.

When you’re ready to use some of your carefully frozen meats, be sure to thaw them properly, too – and not by leaving them out on the counter all day! You definitely don’t want to end up with a case of food poisoning right now (although it’s not a fun thing to endure anytime!), when nobody wants to have to go to a doctor’s office or hospital if it can possibly be avoided.

Note, too, that most lunch meats usually don’t freeze all that well. So, if your family loves deli sandwiches, those should fall under Step 1 above – and be eaten in the first few days after shopping.

Breads

Buy breads and rolls and re-package them for freezing. Tightly wrap them in layers of freezer wrap and store in air-tight freezer bags. And, of course – reach for whole grain choices to boost your nutrition while you’re trying so hard right now to stay healthy.

Cheese

Most “standard” cheese freezes pretty well, too. 

Frozen Produce

Frozen fruits and veggies! These are a lifesaver when my supply of fresh produce runs low.

Some of our go-to favorites?

• We frequently use those microwaveable packs of green beans and also carrots anytime we need a quick side dish – those two veggies hold up great in the freezer! Frozen edamame is terrific, too (and perfect to keep on hand for whirring up a batch of Edamame Hummus).

• Frozen fruits are fabulous in smoothies, or in fruit-filled pancakes and muffins.

• And frozen peas, corn, and mixed vegetable blends are super useful in a lot of recipes we make – like our Crock-Pot Creamy Chicken Corn Chowder and our Easy Chicken Pot Pie Hand Pies (pictured below).

A bonus here: frozen fruits and vegetables are frequently even more nutritious than fresh. Surprised? It’s because they’re typically flash-frozen at the very peak of ripeness and freshness, locking in a lot of nutrients that fresh vegetables often lose in the days and weeks that they’re shipped and stored before you finally eat them.

Freezer Meals and Meal “Kits”

If you’re buying completely shelf-stable or freezer-stable meal kits, try to find the most nutritious options you can. I know you want to get out of that grocery store as quickly as possible, and this really isn’t the ideal time to spend extra moments reading all the ingredient labels.

But instead of just grabbing freezer pizzas or 27 boxes of Stouffer’s mac-and-cheese, try to look for meal kit options that include leaner meats and at least some veggies.

Or get a bit creative and envision how you could add some of those frozen fruits and veggies we just talked about into the meal kits, to boost nutrition. You could stir frozen broccoli into your Stouffer’s mac and cheese … or peas into that box of Kraft mac.

This is also the stage where we all might be making a few compromises, and eating foods that wouldn’t normally be our very first choice. Or, where we’re cobbling together meals out of a variety of items that we wouldn’t always think to put together. Which leads us to …

Bonus Fun!

• Brinner! – This could be an especially great time for wonky but fun meal ideas – like “Brinner” (aka Breakfast for Dinner). Everybody loves Brinner, and turning the day upside-down a little helps break up the monotony.

• Family Chopped! – Or, model a contest after the popular TV show “Chopped!” Challenge the family to root through the pantry, freezer and cupboards and propose the most creative and delicious meal they can dream up. Whichever idea gets the most votes from the rest of the fam becomes that night’s dinner!

Bottom line: be flexible, and you could easily buy yourself several additional days before you have to head out to the store!

The 4-Tier Plan: Step 4 (Stocking the Freezer As You Go)

In this step, I try to plan how I can double or triple recipes I’m making in steps 1-3 … to easily stock my freezer with healthy, homemade meals as I go (so I don’t have to rely on ramen noodles and canned soup)!

As a food blogger, I often make multiple (multiple!!) batches of a recipe, because we test our recipes so thoroughly and exhaustively before we publish them for you. And, since you know I hate food waste, that means I often end up freezing portions of leftovers that we can’t eat quickly enough. 

So – lucky me! – I already had individual serving-sized bags of my beloved Instant Pot Sweet Potato Soup (pictured below) in the freezer.

And, of course, whenever I make some Quick and Healthy Snack Bites, I quadruple the batch, so we’ve almost always got grab-and-go baggies of those stockpiled in the freezer. Pretty sure there’s some Crazy Pineapple Chili and some Classic Turkey Chili, too. A good start already!

You can do a deep-dive into all of our make-ahead, freezer-friendly recipes by scrolling through the freezable recipes in our site’s recipe index. Here are just a few examples that rely mostly on common or pantry-staple ingredients:

• Crock-Pot Creamy Chicken Corn Chowder and also Crock-Pot Southwestern Chowder

• Easy Chicken Pot Pie Hand Pies

• No-Bake Blueberry-Almond Oatmeal Bars with White Chocolate (great as a snack or a dessert!)

Making a Perfect Grocery List

It can be difficult to make a perfect plan when you can’t be certain if all the items you need will be in stock. But, you definitely want to be sure you get everything you need (so you don’t have to head back out to the store again). And you want to be able to get out of the store as quickly and efficiently as possible.

A great list can make all the difference!

A couple of tips to help you map out your perfect list:

Tip #1 – I find it’s super-helpful to draw little lines on my grocery list to section off each recipe.

That way, if a major ingredient for a certain recipe is unavailable, I’ll know which other items are specifically for that same recipe, and I can skip those, since I won’t be able to make the recipe anyway. (Before you ditch an entire meal you’d planned, though – think about whether you could sub in some other ingredient for the one that’s out of stock. This is a great time to allow yourself to be a little creative with recipes. Sub in what you can find, and even if the recipe doesn’t turn out precisely as it’s supposed to – you’ll still be winning!)

Tip #2 – Always number your grocery list based on zones or aisles.

This can vary based on how your store is laid out. But, as an example, I mark all my fresh produce items as zone #1, all canned goods and shelf-stable items are zone #2, the freezer section is all coded as zone #3 … and so on.

This makes shopping so much faster, since you can be sure you’ve gotten ALL the items you need from, say, the produce section, before you move on. And you don’t have to waste time doubling back.

Tip #3 – In the store, cross off each item as you go.

I like to use a highlighter to cross things off, which makes it really easy to quickly see what’s left on my list. And, I can still read through the colored highlighter marking, in case I need to make changes to recipe plans when I come to an ingredient that’s out of stock. (If I scratch through list items with a pen, I can’t always read them later on if I need to).

Shopping Tips in the Store

Check Outdates

Don’t just grab the first item at the front of the shelf. Especially with items like milk and eggs, take the extra moment to find the longest outdate range you can, so you know your “stockpile” items will stay fresh longer.

Buy Staged Produce and Milks

If you have the option, select produce like bananas, mangoes and avocados (produce that often is sold slightly underripe) to use in “stages.” For example, choose a banana or two that are ripe and ready immediately, then select a few more that are slightly greener and won’t be ready for a couple days, and then pick a few more really green ones that will take even longer to ripen fully. 

Also, it can be a bit more expensive, but you can stretch how long you’ll have fresh milk by purchasing Fair Life ultra-filtered milk, or some other milk alternatives (like almond or coconut) that don’t outdate as quickly as “regular” cow’s milk. To be the most budget-conscious here, buy as much “regular” milk as you know your family will use by the outdate, and then supplement with just a container or two of the more expensive choices to use after the “regular” milk is gone.

Remember that Frozen Fish and Produce Are Often Fresher Than “Fresh”

We’ve already mentioned that frozen fruits and vegetables are – nutritionally speaking – generally considered to be great alternatives to fresh, since they’re usually frozen at their very best.

You might be surprised to know that fish is often somewhat similar in this regard.

Unless you live near the body of water where your fish was caught (like on our nation’s coasts), the “fresh” fish in your grocer’s case was very likely flash-frozen at sea – just like the still-frozen fish that your grocer is also selling. Your grocer may simply have already taken the step of thawing the fish that’s on display in their “fresh” case.

You can read more about this HERE and HERE, but the main takeaway is: don’t automatically shy away from frozen fish, assuming that the “fresh” stuff in the display case is always better. It might be the exact same catch … and if you buy it still-frozen, you can stock your freezer with healthy fish that you choose when to thaw and use!

Safety at the Store

To keep yourself – and all the employees and other shoppers – safe, follow a few common-sense guidelines:

• Take a little bottle of hand sanitizer and a couple of sanitizing wipes with you. Wipe down your cart thoroughly before you begin shopping, and sanitize your hands a couple of times during your shopping trip, especially after touching high-traffic touch pads or the door handles on the freezer cases.

• Be sure to maintain an appropriate social distance. If an aisle is too crowded, skip over it and come back to that aisle in a few minutes. Don’t crowd into the checkout lines, either – give other shoppers enough space.

• Sanitize your hands (and your phone) as soon as you settle into the car, and give them a thorough washing as soon as you walk in the door at home. There are some suggestions that it can also be a good idea to give food packages a quick wipe down, too, as you’re putting groceries away. And it’s always – even in “normal” times – important to rinse produce before you eat it.

• If you even suspect you may be ill (or if you’re in a particularly at-risk category or just want to be extra careful) consider utilizing the home delivery many supermarkets offer, so there’s no need for person-to-person contact at all. There’s generally an up-charge for this service, and you may not have the flexibility to substitute for ingredients and change-up your game plan on the fly. But, it’s definitely an option that could come in handy.

For even more thoughts on safe shopping practices, I thought this article from Epicurious was interesting.

What Are Your Best Tips?

I’m sure our strategies will change and evolve in the weeks and months to come, but this is what’s working for me right now. I hope my ideas help you a little bit, too! (Please feel free to share this article with friends and family that might find it helpful in planning ahead and staying safe.)

Everyone’s shopping habits are different, though. And some people have more storage space than others to stock up. I’d love to hear about your own personal situation and challenges, and what nifty tricks you’re using!

Leave us a comment below to help other people who might be in a similar situation to yours!

The post Once-a-Month Grocery Shopping: The 4-Tier, Stock-Up Plan for Healthy Eating appeared first on Two Healthy Kitchens.

The world can be a frustrating place for a foodie. Sometimes you just don’t have time to cook. Sometimes you have to watch the picky eaters in your life order the exact.same.meal at every restaurant (don’t they get bored??).

And sometimes … you have to get your wisdom teeth out. And suddenly the world is full of so many scrumptious, inedible foods!

So that brings us to the big question …

What Can I Eat After Wisdom Teeth Removal?!?

Without a little planning, it can be a dark, dismal, and HUNGRY journey through recovery! But fear not, friends – there’s hope! I’ve recently survived these difficult days without starving to death, thanks to a bit of creativity (and the insane amount of soft foods we stockpiled beforehand).

And I’m here to make sure you can, too! (Photos of me looking like a puffy-cheeked chipmunk not included.)

First off, though, I want to be clear that this post is in no way intended as medical advice! Everyone’s surgery will be somewhat different, and you should absolutely listen to the advice your surgeon and other medical professionals give you.

With that said, these ideas are some of the things my mom and I found to work well for me – that we thought might be helpful for you, as well!

So without further ado, here are some foods I found yummy, and tips I found useful, during my days of laying around with ice on my face. (Oh, and pssst … ice helps! A lot!)

Cheat Days! (aka Indulgent Foods to Eat After Wisdom Teeth Surgery)

Wisdom teeth removal can be pretty painful, and it steals a good couple of days from your life. But I discovered that it also grants you an amazing immunity – you cannot be looked down upon for eating an entire carton of ice cream in one day!

Getting responses such as “Oh, you poor thing,” rather than blatant disgust when you explain that you’ve eaten cheesy mashed potatoes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner is pretty exhilarating!

My mom did a fantastic job of stocking up on all the soft, yummy things you usually wouldn’t find in our pantry (read: anything she thought might tempt me to eat, so my meds wouldn’t make me nauseous). And while maintaining a healthy diet is always important … during recovery, sometimes finding things that are appetizing takes precedence! So if you’re ready to treat yourself to a cheat day (or several!), here are some of the things that were easy for me to eat with four big ol’ holes in my mouth:

1) Ice cream and milkshakes

These probably seem like super-obvious suggestions, right? Just make sure to pick flavors without any crunchy cookies or candy or nuts swirled in. And DON’T use a straw for those milkshakes (more on that later).

Healthy Upgrade: There are plenty of options for frozen yogurt and low-fat ice cream that are a bit healthier but still yummy! Or, try our “Instant” Peanut-Butter Banana Ice Cream (maybe without the fun toppings, though). It takes just 5 minutes and 5 ingredients and is full of fruit and protein!

Starting with a base of healthier ice cream also makes for healthier homemade milkshakes. For a real boost of nutrition (and a surprise superfood ingredient), try our Healthy Shamrock Shake. It’s sooooo good!

2) Pudding

Also obvious! But stick to the smooth stuff – no tapioca or rice. And, even though it’s delicious, definitely save the chia pudding for later!

3) Italian Ice/Shaved Ice

This feels realllllly good on a sore mouth!

We grabbed a bunch of store-bought flavors on a whim, but later we found this super-easy Lemon Italian Ice recipe that would be so perfect, too.

4) Jell-O

Almost as fun to eat as it is to play with! Individual, store-bought cups offer handy single servings and the option of buying some different varieties to keep things interesting.

Healthy Upgrade: Make some of our Layered Rainbow Jell-O before surgery day. Even when you’re holding ice packs on your face, is anything more cheering than a rainbow?!?

If you wanna take the healthy upgrades even further, you could try ditching the store-bought Jell-O packs and make your own Homemade Jell-O with natural ingredients and natural sweeteners … and without any dyes or additives. Talk about a healthy upgrade, right?!?

5) Mashed potatoes

These were hands-down my favorite recovery food! Just be sure they’re really, really smooth, especially the first day or two. (Mmmmmm!) I indulged in buttery, cheesy mashed potatoes at practically every meal those first few days. Seriously – I ate a lot more than I should really admit … 

6) Mac & Cheese

Granted, this isn’t always a super “junky” junk food – done right, it can be pretty healthy. But I found that creamy, decadent, artery-clogging Stouffer’s brand was the softest and easiest to chew. (Also … uh … yum! Worth it!)

7) Pancakes

Here again, these aren’t necessarily unhealthy! You know that, here at THK, we usually go with whole wheat, which actually makes pancakes really nutritious. But this might be one time to grab a packaged brand like Eggos – they’re so soft and easy to chew!

Healthy Upgrade: If you’re gonna try to stick with a bit of nutrition, our Perfect Whole Wheat Pancakes recipe is simple to whip up, and can even be made ahead and frozen.

Plus, we’ve got tips to make them into fun, cheerful shapes! (To, yanno, distract you from the holes you’ve just had drilled in your face.)

Either way, they’re a lot softer drenched in syrup … oh, and pro tip: keep some fraction of the guilt out by using pure maple syrup!

8) Cream soups

The perfect “sick food”! I honestly didn’t eat much soup, since it just didn’t sound enticing on a hot July day. But, practically any other time of the year (especially here in Ohio), it would’ve been a slam dunk. 

Update 2021: Here’s an idea that would’ve been perfect for those hot days, if only I’d found this recipe sooner! Check out this Chilled Peach Soup. It has a shockingly unanimous 5-star rating on more than 2,000 reviews. And it sounds sooooo perfectly cool and satisfying – on those bleak wisdom teeth days, or any day!

9) Cream pies

Definitely too tasty for their own good! You may have to skip the crust (at least for the first few days), but the rich, smooth filling of a chocolate silk pie is a perfect post-op indulgence.

Healthy Foods for After Wisdom Teeth Surgery

Of course, while cream pies are delicious, the lingering threat of heart problems later in life is … well … not so much.

While it’s a bit more of a struggle to find foods that are yummy, don’t hurt to eat, AND provide one or two decent bits of nutrition, it’s certainly doable – I found a lot of yummy treats that I was able to feel good about eating!

1) Applesauce

Another of my personal favorites. I felt like a true third-grader again, sitting on the couch watching Disney and eating applesauce! If you’re going with store-bought, I’d recommend trying some cool flavors so you don’t get bored. (But also be on the lookout for brands which avoid questionable ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup.)

Or, try our Easy Homemade Applesauce, which is surprisingly simple to whip up, and can be frozen to stock your freezer before surgery.

2) Yogurt

Try to find low-fat varieties, or grab some Greek yogurt for a little extra protein.

3) Cottage cheese

To keep things interesting, try the little “Cottage Doubles” cottage cheese packs that come with a side container of fruity jelly to mix in – yum!

4) Oatmeal

I’d skip steel cut oats at first, since they’re a bit chewier. Just go with simple, thin oatmeal, maybe sweetened with a drizzle of maple syrup. 

5) Smoothies

You can pack a lot of nutrition into a smoothie, especially if you use plenty of whole fruit and even veggies. Whir in some nonfat Greek yogurt to give you filling protein. Just remember that you can’t use a straw to drink ’em!

Try our Classic Strawberry Banana Smoothie, our “Elvis” Peanut Butter-Banana Smoothie, or our Pineapple Orange Creamsicle Smoothies (pictured below). Or, for even more refreshingly smooth and creamy ideas, take a peek at our collection of All-Time Best Healthy Smoothie Recipes!

And, for a really unique visual guide to building all sorts of smoothies, check out Taste of Home’s guide to smoothie recipes. It’s filled with cute graphics to help you easily blitz up lots of other yummy, creamy, soooooothing creations!

6) Hummus

It might feel sort of lonely without its pita chip friends, but a few spoons of hummus is a soft, creamy way to get some protein. If you want to make your own, try our Edamame Hummus for great flavor, smooth texture and terrific nutrition.

If you’re a Mexican food lover, a similar bet would be bean dip or refried beans – maybe dotted with some tangy queso fresco cheese, or with a bit of gooey, comforting cheddar melted on top. Ali at Gimme Some Oven has a homemade version of Refried Beans that you can try, if you’re not a fan of the canned stuff.

Another idea: try the super-easy Garlic White Bean Mash in a Flash (catchy name, huh?!?) from Nagi at the popular blog Recipe Tin Eats.

7) Cheese

This may sound like an odd food to eat on its own, too, without crunchy crackers as a base. But remember that string cheese in your elementary school lunchboxes? I say it’s about time we admit that eating straight-up cheese is delicious at any age!

As you’re recovering from wisdom teeth surgery, though, skip harder cheeses like cheddar. Soft cheeses like fresh mozzarella are the way to go. (You might not feel quite up to eating even really soft cheeses for the first day or two, but after that, you’ll probably be able to give it a try.)

8) Scrambled eggs

Another protein-packed idea here! Try mixing in some shredded cheese for flavor. Or, serve them on top of mashed avocado – pretty much like our Breakfast Avocado Toast, without the toast!

9) Bananas

These can require a little bit of chewing, but you can either mash them up, or wait a day or two until you’re ready to be a bit more adventurous.

10) Fish and salmon

And speaking of being adventurous, when you’re ready to try actually chewing again, fish is a great “real food” to start with – especially soft, flaky fish like salmon. I ordered salmon at my first restaurant meal after my surgery, and I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to eat.

I also love our Easy Honey-Glazed Salmon recipe (and would definitely recommend it once you’re starting to eat a bit more normally again)!

Little Spoons Are Good! (But Straws Are Bad.)

Those first few days, probably at least 80% of the food you’ll be wanting to eat will be eaten with a spoon. For real – think about it!

Luckily, in a food blogger’s household, there’s never a shortage of silverware. Since we like to mix up our photoshoots with fun plates, props, and cutlery, we have entire basement cabinets filled with mismatched bowls, cute-patterned napkins … and different-sized spoons!

And again luckily, that includes an adorable, tiny silver spoon (Oyster spoon? Appetizer spoon? Collectors’ item? Who knows!), which my incredible dad was smart enough to suggest. Brilliant!

If only we’d had more of those little guys! I think we washed that spoon about 10 times a day, because I ate everything with it! It was so much easier to fit into my swollen mouth, and just so much more comfortable to eat with.

This may seem insignificant; a minor change. But friends, let me tell you: it is not!

As silly as it sounds, I’m really not sure I can recommend it highly enough: find yourself a baby spoon, or an appetizer spoon, or some sort of small spoon to eat with!

While you’re at it, you may want to invest in a long-handled spoon, as well (like the white plastic ones in our photo above). Since you’ll most likely be banned from drinking through straws for at least a week, those long, slender spoons are great for eating the last dribbles of a milkshake or smoothie – two delicacies you’ll almost definitely want to enjoy.

Hey, skipping straws saves the sea turtles AND saves you from opening a hole from your mouth into your sinuses. Apparently, this hole would sometimes cause liquid you drink to come out your nose. I personally thought this would make an excellent party trick. (Not sure my mom agreed.)

Cooking Is Also Good!

If you’ve had your wisdom teeth out, or are planning to soon, you’ve probably heard the term “dry socket” tossed around. The medical definition for it is, I believe, “something you really don’t want.”

It happens when the clot around the extraction site doesn’t form right, comes loose, or dissolves prematurely – and, from what I’ve heard, it’s extremely painful. To reduce the risk of developing it, you’re advised not to do anything that would significantly raise your blood pressure in the days following your surgery. 

Read: you lay in bed. Maybe get up to walk to the fridge.

So after two days of binging on pudding cups and Netflix – banned from running, kickboxing, drumming, heavy lifting, brisk walking, and even sneezing (ah yes, I’ll just … control that …) – I started to kinda miss my healthy lifestyle. My poor, lonely sneakers!

Not that I wasn’t enjoying my implicit permission to be an absolute couch potato, but … yeah, actually, I wasn’t really. I was bored out of my mind, I felt like I was wasting away, and I really just wanted to go for a run.

Well. I couldn’t do that.

But my mom and I did come up with some fun ways to get me up and moving without, yanno, actually really being up and moving. We went to see a movie (bonus: sitting in the dark, no one can see your swollen face), read books on the porch, painted our nails, played bored board games, and, of course, cooked!

Cooking was a very fun but not-too-taxing thing to keep me busy … and, hey, I got some food out of the deal!

On careful investigation, I found that our own website here is full of yummy, soft recipes! In addition to some of the recipes I’ve linked to in this post, you can prowl through our Recipe Index to look for others you might want to try as you start to feel better.

Hugs and Good Luck!

Let’s be honest with each other here.

Recovering from surgery is never going to be exactly a hoot and a half. But hopefully, with the right foods and the right mindset, it’ll be as manageable for you as it was for me!

Again, this post isn’t intended as medical advice or a comprehensive list. Be sure to follow your doctor’s advice, tailored to your own situation and medical needs. But with that in mind, I hope you find some of these ideas helpful!

Sending hugs and wishing you a quick recovery!

The post What Can I Eat After Wisdom Teeth Removal? appeared first on Two Healthy Kitchens.

We first got some questions on this red-hot topic back when we posted our very first kale salad, but it seems that even now – nearly four years later – people are still wondering, “Seriously … do I have to massage kale?”

Hold up there. Massage kale? Maybe you’re wondering if you heard me right.

Yep … you did!

Massage. Kale.

Not kidding. It’s totally a thing.

But is it a thing you actually have to do???

I don’t know about you, but if I ever find myself with enough extra time in my day to be doling out massages, my kale sure isn’t gonna grab the first spot in line!

So the answer is no … and also yes. Basically: it depends.

You’ve got options.

But let’s back up a sec …

What Does “Massage Kale” Mean???

It means pretty much exactly what it sounds like it means: you grab up your would-be salad greens and give them a good rubdown, usually with some combination of olive oil, salt, and/or a bit of acid like lemon juice or vinegar.

The exact ingredients involved in the massage vary from one recipe to the next.

But Why Do People Massage Kale?

It actually makes sense, even though it seems ludicrous. All on its own, kale (especially the curly green variety you most commonly find in grocery stores) can be pretty wily – a bit too course, bitter and poky-chewy to be really enjoyable right off the bat.

Massaging the kale helps to break down the tough cell structure and gives the kale a softer texture and (some people feel) a gentler flavor, that’s more appealing in a lot of raw preparations like salads, and is supposedly easier to digest, too.

When You Don’t Have to Massage Kale

Remember I told you that you’ve got options? If you’ve got better things to do with your time than hand out rubdowns to veggies, read on …

There are a couple of reasons that I generally don’t bother with those massages.

First of all, there are other ways to achieve basically the same outcome, of making your kale more tender and softening it for a salad or some other raw recipe.

I think that, when kale first became a superfood craze, a lot of books and websites recommended massaging as the most obvious way to deal with raw kale. But, over time, I’ve certainly found (and I think a lot of other people have found this, too) that massages aren’t the only way to turn tough kale into a true delight.

One other little problem I have with the idea of massaging kale is that I don’t want to have to figure out how much oil or vinegar or salt to leave out of a full, finished salad recipe, to account for the little bit I’ve already used in the process of giving my kale its rubdown. Each recipe would be a bit different, and I just can’t be bothered to sort that out every time – nor do I want the “massage oil” I concoct to throw off the balance of flavors in my finished recipe.

So Here’s What I Prefer:

1) My favorite method for perfectly softening kale is simply to chop my kale a bit finer. Smaller, confetti bits of kale are a terrific size for lots of chopped salads, perfectly textured (but not too wilted) … with no massage needed!

2) In addition, kale leaves’ tough cellular structure will automatically tend to soften upon standing, once you’ve dressed your salad (like with an oil-and-salt-and-vinegar dressing combo similar to what you’d have used if you’d done the whole massage thing).

So, if you want bigger pieces of kale in your salad but can’t be bothered to schedule a vegetable masseuse, you can simply try making your salad a little ahead of time, and let your dressing do all the work for you!

Between those two methods, I find that even coarser, curly kale turns out to be exactly the right texture for raw salads. It’s still got a bit of “chew” and life to it, but it’s not too tough or bitter … a terrific backdrop for the other flavors in my kale recipes!

Three NOT-Massaged Kale Salads That Use These Methods

All three of our kale salads rely on a combination of the two methods described above to turn tough green kale into the perfect partner for other hearty, wholesome ingredients:

• Tuscan Kale Salad with Honey-Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Easy Kale and Quinoa Tabouli Salad
• Kale Chopped Salad with Berries and Freekeh (or Quinoa)

We don’t like our kale to be so limp that it can’t hold its own in these recipes! But, remember that if you personally like your kale more wilty, you can just chop the leaves more finely or let it sit a little longer after you’ve dressed the salad!

Other Times When You Can Skip the Kale Massage

• If you’re cooking kale, you shouldn’t need to massage it first, as it’ll break down and soften during the cooking process.
• Also, many people consider lacinato kale (also called dinosaur kale or Tuscan kale) to be a bit more tender and less bitter, so if you’re using that variety in a raw recipe, you may find you have less need for massaging (or even for finely chopping and pre-dressing as I suggest above).
• And, if you’re using a very tender kale leaf, like baby kale, you probably don’t need to worry about massages at all, either. (I found a couple of great reads for you, if you want to learn more about different types of kale, or grab some more ideas about how to use different varieties of kale in recipes.)

Bottom Line: Do you have to massage kale? No.

But … you probably do have to do something in order to soften it a bit before eating. That something just doesn’t necessarily have to be a massage.

Because I’m pretty sure I should be getting a massage before my kale does … and I just bet you feel the same way!

Helpful Resources

• • Although I own a lot of knives (and frequently have to whittle down my collection), my hands-down favorites are my Victorinox chef’s knives. Unbeatable prices and top Cook’s Illustrated ratings convinced me to give them a try, and I’ve never looked back. I own both the 8-inch and the 10-inch, but the 8-inch is my go-to. It’ll turn a pile of wily kale into beautiful confetti bits in no time!

Let Them Eat Kale! by Julia Mueller

The Book of Kale by Sharon Hanna

• I get loads of compliments on my inlaid-wood cutting board. I’ve had it for four or five years now, and it still looks gorgeous – I adore it! It was made by a local (to me) Ohio artisan named Stu at The Custom Cutting Block.

The post Do You Need to Massage Kale? appeared first on Two Healthy Kitchens.

Here at THK, we’re all about saving steps where we can. It’s one of the things you guys love about us.

So, you might wonder why we almost always use low-sodium broth (aka reduced-sodium broth or lower-sodium broth) in our recipes … only to have to take an additional step later in the recipe to add in a bit of salt and adjust the seasoning.

Good question!

Let’s start from the beginning …

What Is Low-Sodium Broth?

Many brands of beef or chicken broth will market a “standard” or “regular” broth, as well as a low-sodium version. The biggest and most obvious difference between the two options is that (no surprise here …) the reduced-sodium broth has less sodium in it than the “regular” broth.

What Are the Other Differences Between Low-Sodium Broth and Regular?

Interestingly, though … if you take a quick peek at the ingredient lists, you may notice that brands sometimes change up the exact formulation of their low-sodium broth, so that, besides being lower in sodium than the “regular” version, there may be other differences, too. For example, one mainstream national brand includes MSG in its “regular” version (surprise!), but not in its low-sodium counterpart.

We always, always urge you to read labels carefully so you know exactly what you’re buying.

But, for the purposes of this article, let’s focus specifically just on the fact that low-sodium broths have less sodium … and what that means for all of us in our home kitchens.

So, Why Use Low-Sodium Broth?

One word: Control.

It’s widely acknowledged that Americans consume far more sodium than we need. But, one of the benefits of cooking more meals at home is that you can control lots of factors – including sodium intake. Why would you add more sodium to your food than you need to, right?

As a health-minded cook (and recipe developer), I’m keenly aware of lots of nutrition parameters, including sodium. I’m always looking for the exact perfect crossroads … keeping things as healthy as possible while adding just enough salt to make a recipe taste fantastic. Control.

To be more specific:

1) If I start a recipe with a lower-sodium broth at its base, that allows me to adjust the seasoning at the end of cooking, while still keeping the sodium levels in check. Sometimes a final hit of salt (or a bit of salt added in steps along the way) really makes the flavors of a recipe pop, even more than the same amount of salt, added all at once earlier in a recipe, would.

Most chefs will tell you that it’s best to salt at various stages throughout a recipe, and controlling the amount of salt I start out with in the broth gives me some wiggle room, so I can still add salt at other points in the recipe (like at the end) without going overboard.

2) Also, different people have different perceptions of saltiness, depending in large part on how salty the food typically is that they’re used to eating. So, while I like to write my recipes with a fairly concise measurement of salt that I think will be perfect to make the flavors sing, I know that different THK readers may want to adjust the salt they add at home slightly to fit their own tastes. Again … low-sodium broth gives us all that ability to control the flavors as we finish a dish.

3) Lastly, it’s particularly important to note that, if your broth is going to reduce much throughout the cooking process, that can amplify the salty taste. What I mean is that, as a broth reduces and there’s less liquid, the liquid you still have will have a higher concentration of sodium and a saltier flavor.

If you start with a “regular” or saltier broth, you may find that your final product is waaaaaay too salty once it’s reduced. In cooking school, they taught us not to use salt (or in some cases you’ll see recommendations to use very, very little) in preparing homemade broth and stock, specifically so that it wouldn’t become salty as it reduces.

And of course, a broth that starts out lower in salt gives you far more flexibility – far more control – when you’ll be using it in a wide range of different recipes with different flavors and sodium profiles.

An Added Benefit

One further benefit to using low-sodium broth is that those broths are also typically fat-free. Granted, most brands of “regular” broth don’t have much fat in them, anyway. But I prefer to trim even that little bit of unnecessary fat and go fat-free. When it comes to purchasing broth, fat-free and low-sodium typically go hand-in-hand.

Ok … So How Much Sodium Is In Low-Sodium Broth?

Seems like an easy question, right?

But, the amount of sodium in reduced-sodium broths actually can vary quite a bit from one brand to the next.

Again … the best thing to do here is to invest a few minutes in reading some labels and find a brand that has an ingredient list and nutrition label you feel good about.

Then, you can adjust the final salt in any recipe if needed, depending on the amount of sodium that was in the brand of broth you chose to begin with.

What About No-Salt-Added Broths?

For most recipes here at THK, you’ll see that we don’t go all the way to a no-sodium broth. For most recipes, we find that having some salt in the broth is an ideal starting point and seasons the dish a bit at the beginning, but still allows us room to adjust at the end.

That’s not to say that no-salt-added broths can’t be a terrific choice, especially for people on significantly sodium-reduced diets. But, for our recipes, we generally find that we get the spot-on results we’re looking for by starting with low-sodium broths.

How Can You Use Low-Sodium Broth?

Easy! If you aren’t in the habit of grabbing reduced-sodium chicken or beef broth at the store, I think you’ll find it’s pretty easy to substitute into most recipes you’re already making.

Just remember that different brands have slightly different flavor profiles and levels of saltiness, so you want to find the brand that you like best, and adjust from there. Be prepared to taste your recipes at the end, adding a final flourish of salt if needed to punch up your dish a little. But … surprise … you may find that you need a lot less salt than you think!

Here are some different recipes that use low-sodium broth in a variety of ways – from the base for soups, to a flavor boost in casseroles, to the liquid needed for creamy-dreamy sauces:

• Quick and Easy Chicken Noodle Soup with Rotisserie Chicken
• Chicken Fajita Quinoa Bake
• Easy Chicken Pot Pot Hand Pies
• Cheesy BLT Pierogi Skillet Dinner

The post Why Use Low-Sodium Broth Instead of “Regular”? appeared first on Two Healthy Kitchens.

~ Looking for the best healthy cooking tips, tricks and swaps? We’ve always got a lot up our own sleeves here at Two Healthy Kitchens, but we were curious about other bloggers’ favorite secrets, too. So we asked them … hundreds of them! And here’s what they had to say … ~

The best. Absolute favorite. Most loved. Bestedy-bestest.

That’s what we’re all about here at Two Healthy Kitchens – the very best final version of all our recipes, the very best ways to make recipes more healthy and also more delicious, the very best resources and tips and secrets for healthy cooking.

The best.

Sure, we’ve got our THK-favorites. But we were curious: what about other bloggers? What are their very best, most beloved, healthy recipes and secret strategies?

So … we just came right out and asked.

We asked literally hundreds of other food bloggers for their favorite, best, tip-top, bestedy-bestest. And we’re so excited to share their answers with you over the next few weeks! So much wonderful inspiration!

First up, this week: we asked those hundreds of fellow bloggers to tell us about their favorite healthy cooking tip, trick or swap … and to share a recipe that showcases it.

You’re gonna love what they had to say!

So many ideas that are perfectly in line with what we’re always doing here at THK, plus many more great suggestions and recipes that we’re dying to try … and we know you will be, too!

In no particular order, here we go … enjoy! (And try not to drool on your keyboard.)

_______________________________

#1 – Eat More Veggies

By far, this seemed to be the most common theme, woven through so many responses we received. And food bloggers are insanely creative in their strategies with veggies! From swapping in “zoodles” (you know … Zucchini + nOODLES = zoodles!), and that darling-of-the-moment (cauliflower), to simply amping up ingredient lists with more vegetables … the tips came pouring in!

One of the hottest, amp-up-the-veggies strategies right now is subbing in vegetables in place of pasta … like using spaghetti squash instead of spaghetti (because … well, they’ve both got that spaghetti-thang going on). Or using shaved or spiralized veggies like zucchini as your noodles – yup, seems like “zoodles” are everywhere these days!

We’re absolutely ga-ga over these four brilliant sub-in-the-veggies recipes (clockwise from top left):

• Eggplant Parmesan Using Eggplant Noodles from Courtney at Know Your Produce
• Spicy Avocado Sauce Over Chicken & Zoodles from Kelly at Tasting Page
• Lasagna Stuffed Spaghetti Squash from Ari at Ari’s Menu
• Asian Peanut Spaghetti Squash Stir-Fry from Lisa at Snappy Gourmet

Christine at Cook the Story pretty much hit the veggie-nail on the head when she told us, “We skip the meat a couple of times a week and make the vegetable and/or a healthy grain the star!” So easy, right? (And about those healthy grains … be sure to see tip #2 below …)

Christine continues, “To that veg or grain, we add a bit of decadence so that it’s not boring and so that everyone wants to dig in. In my meatless Italian Cauliflower and Quinoa Bake we have a lot of veg, healthy quinoa and then some oozey melted cheese to make it all come together.”

Mmmmmm … we hear ya, Christine! It’s hard to argue with this …

All in all, we think Kirsten from Farm Fresh Feasts sums Tip #1 up perfectly: “Get vegetables into your kitchen! Because once you’ve got healthy food (already paid for) in your kitchen, you have more incentive to figure out what to do with it, or you’re wasting your own money!” Brilliant, right? And so simple!

Kirsten shared her wonderful post, filled with lots of other great suggestions for wheedling in tons more veggies, plus her recipe for Roasted Celeriac and Potatoes, as a delicious example:

And hey – if you’re loving this idea for pumping up nutrition, simply by adding in loads of veggies, you’ve found a home here at THK. It’s one of our favorite healthification strategies, too! We could go on and on listing recipes where we’ve used that very same technique, but here are just a few you’ve really gotta try (clockwise from top left):

• Hoisin-Glazed Mini Meatloaf “Muffins” Over Asian Noodles and Vegetables
• Parmesan Spaghetti Squash with Italian Sausage
• Lightning-Fast Cheesy Three-Pepper Ravioli with Italian Sausage

_______________________________

#2 – Cook with More Whole Grains

Ok, this is another of our favorite little tips here at THK – there are just so many nutritional benefits to subbing in whole grains to replace white pasta, white rice and other less healthful choices. From more vitamins and micronutrients, to a big wallop of fiber, to better glycemic index profiles – whole grains are a quick, easy swap with big dividends!

Dara at Cookin’ Canuck had an awesome take on this, saying, “If I had a dollar for every healthy benefit that whole grains offer … well, I’d go out and buy more of them!” Yup – well played!

Here’s her recipe showcasing just how jaw-droppingly gorgeous that big nutritional wallop can really be: Hearty Mushroom, Farro & Ginger Soup (yeah … yum …)

Kevin over at the blog Kevin is Cooking swaps wheat berries in place of basmati rice, specifically for his better half, who suffers from Type 2 Diabetes, since wheat berries “are more slowly digested, absorbed and metabolized and cause a lower and slower rise in blood glucose and, therefore, insulin levels.”

But wonderfully nutty, chewy wheat berries are a nutritionally fabulous sub even if you don’t have diabetes! Try Kevin’s recipe for Saffron and Orange Wheat Berries with Pomegranate and see for yourself …

Want even more nutrient-rich, fiber-pumped, whole-grain inspiration? Here at THK, we’re bursting at the seams … from quinoa to freekeh to farro to whole wheat pasta … the list goes on and on! And we’ve written a couple of posts to help you get started. You’ll be cooking whole grains like a pro in no time …

• How to Cook Quinoa (And Why You Should!)
• What is Freekeh? (And How Do You Cook It?)

_______________________________

#3 – Ditch the White Flour in Baked Goods

Now that we’ve got you on board with swapping out white rice and pastas in favor of more nutritious, whole-grain options, let’s talk about baking. White flour just doesn’t have the nutrition – the fiber, the protein, the micronutrients – that lots of other options offer. It’s one of the first places we look when we’re trying to amp up the healthfulness of baked goods.

Johlene at Flavours and Frosting offers a brilliant idea for this. She explains, “I love making my own flour with whole almonds like in my Homemade Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies.” Be sure to check these cookies out because (double-score!) they’ve even got honey instead of refined white sugar!)

Since baking is such a science, subbing out flour can be tricky at first, but it’s worth the effort. Start slowly, by swapping out just a quarter or maybe a third of the white flour in your favorite baking recipes, and gradually increasing from there.

Or, start with tried-and-true recipes … where someone else already did all the recalculating and testing for you! Here are some of our THK faves for cookies, muffins … even pancakes … that all feature nutritious whole grains … and are a fully-tested slam dunk, every time! (clockwise from top left):

• Kentucky Derby Chocolate-Pecan Cookie Bars
• Whole Wheat Pancakes
• Healthy Double Chocolate Muffins with Fresh Strawberries

_______________________________

#4 – Swap Avocado for Butter in Baking

Wait … what?!?!?

No, really, stick with us on this one for a sec!

Since we’re talking cookies and baking, now’s the perfect time for this crazy-awesome swap!

We’ve all been subbing things like applesauce and fruit purees into certain baked goods for years now. So, this isn’t really such a big leap at all, and Taylor over at Food Faith Fitness is a true healthifier extraordinaire (so, we were really intrigued to see which make-it-healthier strategy from her arsenal she chose to share with us as her fave)!

Taylor explains, “This recipe uses avocado as the fat, which contains the super heart-healthy mono and poly-unsaturated fat that is so key for our bodies to function.” And – yay, Taylor – she’s also cut out the processed white flour and subbed in whole wheat pastry flour! Bonus! (See the subbing whole grains tip, above.)

Still not convinced? She swears, “You know when you freshly bake a batch of cookies and they’ve got that pillowy-soft-fresh-from-the-oven thing goin’ on? These cookies keep that always. Even days after baking them, and letting your freezer do it’s worst. No joke.”

And you know we don’t joke about yumminess around here, friends. Give Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies a try! And then … mail us some …

_______________________________

5) Make Recipes Creamy-Dreamy … Without the Cream!

Sure, making sauces, casseroles, and even drinks wonderfully, lusciously creamy is super easy if you use cream, full-fat milk, even half-and-half.

But … with a little creativity, you don’t have to! We thought these much healthier ideas were deliciously fabulous!

Laney at Life is But a Dish explains, “You don’t need heavy cream to make soup silky smooth! Try using almond or coconut milk instead!” Works like a charm in her crazy-richly-creamy yet so-much-healthier Butternut Squash Soup:

And hey there, mac-and-cheese! You could use a little makeover, too, you fat-filled, comfort-food little devil!

We’re so impressed with how Sam at Pancake Warriors ingeniously used (wait for it … ) VEGGIES ( ahem … refer to trick #1, above!) to create the creamy, satisfying sauce for her Secretly Healthy Macaroni and Cheese. So smart! She says, “All of the flavor with none of the guilt! Seriously, this cheese sauce made me rethink everything I knew about macaroni and cheese.”

Well, ok then … how do you NOT give this one a shot?!?!

Kristy, who blogs over at The Wicked Noodle, gave us other great options. She suggested, “I use cottage cheese or tofu in smoothies. I also use tofu in creamy soups in place of cream.” Such simple swaps that add up to a big difference in the long run!

Check out these strategies in action in Kristy’s recipe for Creamy Summer Corn & Potato Chowder, and her beautiful Tropical Smoothie Recipe (3 Ways) …

_______________________________

#6 – Bake Instead of Fry

French fries, fried fish, fried pickles … well, it’s right there in the name, isn’t it?!? “Fried”! And it’s gonna end up right in your arteries, too. But you can get all the crispy-crunchy texture you love without the frying! Simple and so much better for you!

Case in point: these scrumptious Za’atar Baked Onion Rings from Carla at Chocolate Moosey. Panko bread crumbs yield a big crunch, without the frying!

Mmmmmmm … and while you’ve got that oven fired up, you might want to try our own spin on healthier fries … Cheesy Oven-Baked Pizza Fries!

Oh, yes we did! And you should, too!

_______________________________

#7 – Sub Greek Yogurt in Place of Butter, Oil and Mayo

Ahhhhhh … another of our THK-favorite strategies! Gotta love Greek yogurt! Thick and rich and tangy … and loaded with protein but not all that fat. No wonder so many bloggers said using Greek yogurt as a sub for naughtier, higher-fat ingredients was their favorite healthy cooking trick!

Christie at Food Done Light showcases this in her recipe for Thyme, Rosemary & Yogurt Marinated Turkey Breast:

And Ari at Ari’s Menu uses Greek yogurt in place of mayo in her Cranberry Apple Chicken Salad (just like we do in our own Healthy Chicken Salad with Grapes, Apples and Tarragon-Yogurt Dressing).

Ari promises, “No one will know the difference when there are other flavors hangin’ out in there.” We couldn’t agree more! This strategy is a must-try, and so is Ari’s chicken salad recipe …

We’ve got lots more Greek yogurt inspiration for you, too! From dips to salads, sweet to savory … here are just a few more ideas from our own blog (clockwise from top left):

• Hearty Fruit and Nut Salad with Greek Yogurt Dressing
• BLT Egg Salad
• Greek Yogurt Coleslaw (one of our all-time most popular recipes EVER!)
• Healthier Reuben Dip

_______________________________

#8 – Make Your Own Condiments

A surprisingly large number of the bloggers we polled said that one of their favorite healthy cooking strategies was making their own condiments and dressings. Makes sense, though, right?!?

When you make your own, you can totally control what goes in, and avoid the preservatives, fat, high-fructose corn syrup and soaring sodium levels that sometimes ride along inside those store-bought containers. As an added plus, making them yourself can often save money, too!

With these easy recipes for all sorts of condiments and dressings, making your own is a snap … and so very delicious! (clockwise from top left):

• Asian Salad Dressing from Meggan at Culinary Hill
• Easy Enchilada Sauce from Debi at Life Currents
• Tahini Dressing from Debi at Life Currents
• 5 Minute Homemade Ketchup from Tracy at Served from Scratch
• Vegan Mayonnaise from Charlene at That Girl Cooks Healthy
• Fiery Habanero Hot Sauce from Mel at A Virtual Vegan

_______________________________

#9 – Plan Ahead

What can save you from swerving into the McDonald’s drive-thru, glumly ordering a dinner that you really don’t feel good about serving up? Planning, friends … planning!

You know we’re always looking for ways to help you pre-plan for healthy eating success … with make-ahead tips, freezing instructions, and big-batch cooking ideas. So, we were thrilled to receive these great, save-the-BUSY!-day ideas from other bloggers, too!

As Sara over at The Organic Dietician says, “… a little thinking ahead can make a huge difference between fast food and real food. Keep your freezer full of already prepared meals, prepped recipe ingredients, and grocery staples.‪” She’s got a great post full of ingenious freezable meal ideas, plus this terrific recipe for (totally freezable!) Green Lentil Chili …

Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean (a fellow Ohioan – shoutout on that one!) is in total agreement, and with her Freezer Chicken Tenders, which bake straight out of the freezer, you won’t need to head to the drive-thru … and your kiddos won’t want you to! Total win, even on busy nights! And so easy …

Mmmmmmm … and the great make-ahead recipes ideas just kept coming! We’ve been drooling over this super-easy Layered Chicken Enchilada Pie from Marjory at The Dinner Mom. (Psssst … this one’s doubly-awesome because it includes a Greek yogurt swap, too! Yep – tip #7 is woven right in, along with all the make-ahead convenience! Double bonus points for this one!)

_______________________________

Whew! That’s gotta be enough healthy cooking inspiration to keep ya busy for at least the next week!

But don’t worry … we’ll be back next week with a brand-new healthy recipe! And we’re so excited to share more bloggers’ best recipes in this Best Healthy Recipes Series in the weeks to come.

So many more deliciously nutritious ideas we just can’t wait to tell you about!

CHECK OUT ALL THE OTHER SUPER-POPULAR RECIPES IN OUR “VERY BEST HEALTHY RECIPES” SERIES!

• 11 All-Time Best Healthy Breakfast Ideas (Part 2)
• 5 All-Time Best Healthy Smoothie Recipes (Part 3)
• 10 All-Time Best Healthy Snack Ideas (Part 4)
• 11 All-Time Best Healthy Salad Recipes (Part 5)
• 6 All-Time Best Healthy Side Dish and Vegetable Recipes (Part 6)
• 13 All-Time Best Healthy Vegetarian Meals (Part 7)
• 11 All-Time Best Healthy Chili and Soup Recipes (Part 8)
• 11 All-Time Best Healthy, Easy Chicken Recipes (Part 9)
• 9 All-Time Best Healthy, Easy Seafood and Fish Recipes (Part 10)
• 7 All-Time Best Easy, Healthy Dessert Recipes (Part 11)

The post Food Bloggers’ Best Healthy Cooking Tips and Swaps … with Recipes! appeared first on Two Healthy Kitchens.

So, you’re looking for healthy recipes, huh?

Surfing online sites? Maybe struggling to make a grocery list?

Well, you’ve definitely come to the right place! Two Healthy Kitchens was created for people just like you! (And we’re tickled pink that you’re here!)

Maybe you’re looking for a healthy Tuna Noodle Casserole, or a healthy Flourless Chocolate Cake, or a healthy Lemon Meringue Pie? Great! Except … we haven’t posted any of those recipes (yet!).

But wait … we still want to help! Our goal is to be your go-to for healthy inspiration and recipes … and if we don’t have the exact recipe you’re looking for, we want to be the ones to help you find it!

Where NOT to Start (Skip the Obvious)

Now, a lot of people start looking for recipes in what are, arguably, the most obvious places – big sites like Food Network and Allrecipes. We love those sites as much as the next guy (or gal ), and they’re jam-crammed full of yummy ideas.

But, if you’re looking for HEALTHY recipes … there are some specific strategies and more targeted healthy recipe websites you might find far more useful. Little gold mines of healthy recipes just waiting to be discovered by hungry, nutrition-minded people (like you!).

Try some of these on for size …

Yummly … Custom Searches, Shopping Lists and More!

If you love Pinterest, you can take your recipe finding-and-collecting fun to a whole new level with Yummly! We’ve watched this recipe site really skyrocket in popularity in the food blogging community lately, and it’s definitely worth a peek.

Unlike Pinterest, Yummly is focused solely on recipes. It has a powerful recipe search function (so you can more easily narrow down and search out those HEALTHY recipes!) and is happy to offer recipe recommendations it thinks fit your preferences.

But here’s what’s really great … Yummly also has the super-cool added features of a digital recipe box and a smart shopping list (with the Yummly apps for iPhone, iPad and Android). I know, right?!? So useful!

Instantly Narrow Your Search with Detailed Preferences

Maybe even better yet, for people who are truly trying to focus just on HEALTHY recipes – there are settings that let you specify what type of recipes interest you, so Yummly automatically starts narrowing things down to help you focus in on the HEALTHY recipes you’re hoping to find. For example, you can specify that you’re interested in certain diets like paleo or vegan, that you have various food allergies like peanut-free or gluten-free, and even what cuisines interest you and how skilled of a cook you are:

Yummly can also filter recipes based on all sorts of other criteria, like special occasions and your taste preferences (how spicy you like things, for example), and even certain ingredients you want included in the recipes (so you can search for how to use up the leftover chicken that’s sitting in your fridge) or ingredients you want excluded (since you’re out of eggs and milk). Wicked cool, right?!?

Keep Organized with Recipe Collections (Mini Cookbooks!)

To keep all your recipes really organized, it’s a good idea to create collections (you Pinterest fans can think of these as being sort of like “boards” on Pinterest). Collections let you group your favorite recipes so they’re organized and easy to find – your own little cookbooks.

So, instead of just having one big hodgepodge of all the recipes you’re dying to try, you might have a collection of “Healthy Desserts,” another of “Healthy Super Bowl Recipes,” another of “Favorite Two Healthy Kitchens Recipes,” and so on.

Easily Add More Recipes to Your Recipe Box

One more really neat thing that’s going to make your life easy – Yummly makes it super simple to add recipes to your recipe box (and then to your collections)! Whenever you’re reading a blog you love (like … ahem … Two Healthy Kitchens :D), and you find a recipe you’re dying to try, all you have to do is “Yum” it. Right … but what does that mean? Well, you just hit the “Yum” button. Most bloggers have one. On Two Healthy Kitchens, it’s over here:

But what about when you’re on a site that doesn’t have a Yum button? No problem! Yummly has a handy bookmarklet that you can add right to your browser’s toolbar. Yummly tells you how to do that with a quick drag-and-drop method HERE, and if you have any trouble at all, they have a handy download option HERE. This is what it will look like on your browser bar:

Check Out Publisher Pages

A great way to start filling your Yummly recipe box with healthy recipes is to find healthy food bloggers you really love, and head directly to their publisher page to Yum some of their recipes (and don’t forget about organizing them into collections!). For example, Two Healthy Kitchens has a Yummly publisher page, filled with recipes from our site. When you click HERE to go to our publisher page, you’ll see only OUR recipes.

So – when you find a blogger whose recipes fit your preferences and healthy eating goals – this is a terrific way to find more of their recipes and add lots of them to your recipe box, all at once, for inspiration later!

So next time you’re at the grocery store, completely desperate for inspiration for a quick but nutritious dinner, you’ll have lots of handy ideas, plus you can easily generate a shopping list, too! Yeehaw! Dinner dilemma solved!

To get started with Yummly, you can find out more about how it works HERE, and to get to their help screen for even more info, you can click HERE.

Adapting to Pinterest Changes

Now, lest you think we no longer love Pinterest, let us assure you that nothing could be further from the truth! Pinterest is crazy-popular for a reason! Find stuff you love, then organize it into useful boards so you can find it again later! Brilliant!

Since so many of you are pretty familiar with Pinterest, we’re going to skip the basics (although if you’re not on Pinterest, you can learn all about how to get started HERE, but we’re warning you: it’s highly addictive!).

For those of you who’ve been using Pinterest practically forever, let us share a couple of tips that might help you use it more effectively, at least when it comes to maximizing it for finding healthy recipes.

Changes to Your Pinterest Feed

Pinterest has made some changes in the last year or so, and one of the biggest changes gets right to the very heart of what many people originally loved about Pinterest: the Pinterest “feed.”

When Pinterest first started, it was all about following other people (or bloggers, like THK) that you loved. Whatever they pinned would show up in your feed, automatically creating a stream of fresh ideas from people you chose to follow because you liked the kinds of things they pinned.

Great!

Except …

If you’ve taken a peek at your feed over the last several months, you may have noticed that more and more of what you’re seeing there isn’t from bloggers or other people you’ve chosen to follow. Nope. Now your Pinterest feed is probably pretty jam-crammed with a lot of “chosen for you” pins that Pinterest has suggested based on your preferences, and also “sponsored pins” that companies have paid to have prominently displayed.

Harrumph, right? But not to worry …

If you aren’t loving how your feed works anymore, it just means that you might want to slightly change the way you use Pinterest.

Using Pinterest Like a Recipe Search Engine

Rather than just being a fun way to scroll through whatever pops up in your feed, now Pinterest is more and more becoming a search engine, kind of like Google. This is actually not a bad thing for people (like you!) who are searching for healthy recipes.

One strategy, then, is to specifically search out HEALTHY recipes, rather than waiting for them to show up in your Pinterest feed. Use the Pinterest search bar just like you would Google – type key words like “Healthy Chicken Recipe” or “Healthy Desserts,” and you’ll get all sorts of ideas that fit those criteria. Then you can pin them to your own boards to save for later (or make them for dinner tonight!), just like always.

Make the Most of Time-Saving Rich Pins

Once you’ve found a recipe or two that you think you might like, there’s one more time-saving step that can help you quickly sort the healthier ones from the maybe-not-so healthy ones, without having to click all the way through to the recipe blog or website, and scroll through all the information there.

Lots of websites and blogs have taken the extra, super-helpful step of enabling their food pins to be what Pinterest calls “Rich Pins.” What that means to you is that, when you click on a recipe with “Rich Pins” enabled, you can quickly see all the ingredients in the recipe (and how healthy they actually are), without ever clicking through to the blog or site. (Unfortunately, not all sites have taken that step of enabling those super-handy Rich Pins.) You can see how a rich pin looks below:

Dig Deeper When You Find Sources You Love

Another way to maximize Pinterest: when you find a healthy recipe that looks truly phenomenal, or you make a recipe from a new website or blog you found, take a minute and dig deeper. Go to that site’s Pinterest page and follow them.

If they really are all about healthy eating, you might want to follow ALL of their boards. But don’t forget that you can also cherry pick just the healthy eating boards that interest you, and follow only those – you don’t have to follow every board.

Also, since there’s no guarantee that pins from sites and bloggers you follow are going to show up much in your feed anymore, you can actually go directly into their boards to discover what they’ve pinned there, and then repin anything that looks good to you, to your own boards.

Make It Easy to Find Your Recipes … Stay Organized

Just like I recommended with Yummly, though – it helps to be organized! So, rather than having one giant, disorganized board called something like “Healthy Recipes,” consider adding more specific boards like “Healthy Chicken Recipes,” “Healthy Desserts,” and “Healthy Snacks” so that you can easily find what you’re looking for in a snap! As an example, here’s what just a few of our boards look like:

Beyond Candy Crush … Facebook Groups

Ah, Facebook! That massive time suck that allows us to flash our Candy Crush skills (when we should be doing laundry) … and to find out about the children of that girl from high school that we didn’t even remember until she friend-requested us two years ago.

But Facebook can actually be an ally in your quest for healthy recipes!

So when you’re done playing Candy Crush, try this …

Join groups that focus on sharing healthy recipes. Easy, right?!?

My favorite is Healthy Whole Food Recipes – Sharing Group. Click HERE to check out the group, and then you can ask to join by using the little box on the right-hand side.

Choosing the Best Facebook Groups to Join

There are lots of recipe sharing groups out there, but if you’re really trying to stay healthy, stick with recipe groups that focus specifically on HEALTHY recipes. (Okay, okay … that’s almost too obvious. But with so many groups out there, the temptation to join any old recipe sharing group can overcome even the best of us … and suddenly your Facebook feed is full of temptation …)

Also, be very wary of any groups that allow people to type out entire recipes (unless they own the recipe). You see a lot of that on Facebook, but it’s really disreputable and unethical – basically it’s a violation of copyright law to republish someone else’s recipe in its entirety. Most bloggers won’t participate in groups that allow such shady practices. So to make sure you’re dealing with top-quality people (and their top-quality recipes), skip groups that allow that sort of conduct.

Huh … turns out Facebook really is so much more than cat videos!

Healthy Aperture and Finding Vegan

Both of these recipe sites allow you to search for certain topics, like “Pasta” or “Carrots” or “Healthy Breakfast Recipes,” and then show you recipes that fit your search criteria. From there, you can click through to the blog or website that published the recipe you’re interested in making.

Healthy Aperture is uniquely positioned as the only site of its kind that’s moderated by registered dietitians and solely focused on healthy food blogs. As an example of what you’ll find, here’s what Healthy Aperture served up when I searched for “pasta” … just a handful of the nearly 3,000 pasta recipes they’ve warehoused:

When it comes to the site Finding Vegan, don’t immediately shy away just because you aren’t vegan, or even vegetarian. It’s still a fantastic starting point for finding lots of seriously enticing, veggie-forward recipes – perfect for searching out recipes for things like oatmeal, veggie sides, salads, and smoothies. Just look at the gorgeous inspiration that popped up when I searched for “salad”:

The great thing about these two sites is that the recipes you’ll find there have already gone through somewhat of a screening process, so you’re more likely to find a “healthy” recipe that’s actually … well, healthy … and with a lot less searching, too.

The one downside is that sites like these rely on bloggers and content publishers (like Two Healthy Kitchens) to submit recipes to be included, and quite honestly, a lot of bloggers just don’t have the time to do that very often. So, you’re somewhat limited in the recipes you’ll see there, simply because a lot of great recipes are never submitted for consideration.

What Are Your Favorites?

Whew! Are you hungry yet? Is your head just spinning with all of the (healthy!) possibilities?

We hope we’ve inspired you and given you at least one new tool you’ve never considered before.

And now … we’d love to hear from you!

What are your favorite healthy recipe websites and online resources? Pop down to the comments and let us know! We’re excited to swap ideas with you!

The post An Insider’s Guide to (Truly Useful!) Healthy Recipe Websites appeared first on Two Healthy Kitchens.

Last week, I mentioned how inspired I was by all the fantastic egg recipes I tried at Ohio EGGStravaganza down in Columbus. Seriously delicious foodie nirvana that I’m still daydreaming about.

And of course, you already know we love eggs here at THK. (Uh-huh … flashback to all our breakfast bakes, huevos rancheros, egg salads and deviled eggs …)

So, when the Ohio Poultry Association invited me to join them at EGGStravaganza, I was pretty much like, “Hey, Poultry Association … bring it on!” Well, they did. And they exceeded my expectations!

I came home excited to create new recipes (like my Skillet Breakfast Scramble).

And even though I’d thought I knew a lot about eggs, I learned far more than I’d ever anticipated. So much that I can’t wait to share with you! (Because, you know, the food geek hidden within me thinks this stuff is just too cool!)

I talked with poultry farmers from across the state and was pleasantly surprised to learn that several of them were third- and even fourth-generation farmers. Sure, they were also business owners working hard to make a living, but I was so inspired by the realization that, among so many corporate giants in the food business these days, at the very deepest heart of it all, there truly are also still some real people, and real families, raising the food we eat.

For three days, we all talked earnestly about raising chickens – from the challenges of protecting flocks against the current avian flu, to the pros and cons of cage-free environments, to the differences between brown eggs and white.

One woman discussed the wide variety of feed mixes her dietician develops for her flocks. (Yes! A dietician for chickens … who knew?!?!?) They create 15 different variations to meet the nutritional needs of the chickens in all sorts of different conditions, from different weather to different life stages. No, really – 15 feed variations! The farmer next to her chuckled, “Yep, our birds eat better than we do.”

We also visited the new (impressively environmentally friendly, LEED Gold certified) Bob Evans corporate headquarters. I have to be honest. As a healthy food blogger, I wasn’t sure that there would be a lot that resonated with me in biscuits and gravy and strawberry pie, not a lot that I could share with you, my health-minded readers … but I was wrong.

My inner healthy eating fanatic (who always hangs out with my inner food geek) did a quiet little happy dance, as their Executive Development Chef intently discussed their renewed focus on fresh ingredients and healthier menu items. How rejuvenating to hear that nutrition matters to a corporate giant like Bob Evans, and that our purchasing power (as health-minded consumers) speaks directly to recipe developers in executive test kitchens. That’s amazing. We matter, friends … keep making those healthy purchasing decisions!

I could go on and on. The nutrition-loving foodie in me just soaked it all up.

But, at this point, I can pretty much choose to either:

(a) Write an epic tome entitled “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Eggs … and a Whole Bunch of Stuff You Really Didn’t” or

(b) Hit you with my 7 favorite egg fun facts, courtesy of all my new friends at the Ohio Poultry Association and the fists full of educational literature they kindly offered.

I couldn’t quite hear you, but I’m pretty sure you chose (b). So here ya go …

My Top 7 Egg Fun Facts

1. Brown Eggs or White? There’s no real, substantive difference in quality or nutrition between white eggs and brown eggs – shell color is simply determined by the breed of the laying hen. So why are brown eggs more costly? Of course, the more expensive cage-free or organic eggs are often brown (because brown-egg-laying hens are frequently chosen to lay these, partially just due to consumer perception that brown is somehow healthier). But aside from that, the hens that lay brown eggs are generally a little larger and need more food, so even with everything else being equal, brown eggs are typically more expensive for that reason.
2. Why Aren’t All the Eggs in My Carton the Same Size? Ever wonder why some “large eggs” don’t look quite as large as others, or as the ones in the dozen you bought last week? I learned that the size labels (medium eggs, large eggs, etc.) are based on weight, not the shell’s circumference, and that the USDA has specific guidelines for the overall weight of an entire carton, which allows for a little bit of variance within that carton from one egg to the next.
3. Why Are Some Hard-Boiled Eggs So Much Harder to Peel? Ok, ok … I already knew this after we wrote our post on How to Hard-Cook Eggs, so it’s not exactly a new “Fun Fact” … but still, it’s cool enough to share with you again! So anyway … The fresher the eggs are when you hard-cook them, the more difficult they’ll be to peel. As eggs age, moisture and water inside the egg is lost and the membranes of the egg begin to shrink away from the shell … making an older egg easier to peel. So next Easter, plan ahead just a little and buy those eggs 7-10 days before your kiddos dye them for the bunny!
4. What Are Those Little Specks and Ropey-White Strands I Sometimes See in My Eggs, and Are Those Eggs Still Safe to Eat? (Honestly, haven’t we all wondered about this?) Turns out, the small little blood spots are perfectly safe to eat and are caused by an accident like a little rupture on the yolk’s surface while the hen was laying her egg. (No … it doesn’t mean the egg was fertilized … particularly since egg producers don’t keep roosters around!) And those white, ropey strands? A really prominent one actually indicates freshness (totally bonus, unless, of course, you’re making hard-boiled eggs as we mentioned above!). The white strand is called the chalazae, and it’s just there to help keep the yolk anchored in the center of the egg white. If either the little spots or the chalazae bother you, you can certainly remove them with a small, sharp knife, but there’s truly no need to do so.
5. So, Are Eggs Really That Nutritious? Yup! Eggs (so misunderstood and plagued with bad cholesterol-fearing press in the 1970s and 80s) have made a nutritional comeback … big time, and for big reasons. One large egg has around 70 calories (ahem, before you fry it in butter or use it to batter-dip fried chicken … just sayin’ …) yet contains 6 grams of protein, plus 13 essential vitamins and minerals. And while it’s true that the yolks contain all of the fat and cholesterol, they also contain 100% of an egg’s vitamin E, iron, choline, zinc, and vitamins B12, D, A and B6, plus most of an egg’s folate.
6. What Do All Those Important-Looking Numbers on the End of My Egg Carton Mean? On the end of every egg carton, there’s typically a sell-by or use-by date. There’s also a three-digit Julian date (001 for January 1 to 365 for December 31 … and everything in between!). The Julian date indicates the day the eggs were packed, which gives you further insight into their freshness. In addition, you’ll find another code that signifies the USDA packaging plant where your eggs were packed. If you’re really curious, you can actually use that code and learn which farm/packing plant produced the carton of eggs you’re holding – just key the four-digit code (sometimes preceded by a “P”) into the USDA’s form here in the section entitled “Search Plants by Plant Number.” It’s actually kind of fun! (Or, ummmmmm … at least it is if you’re in the Brotherhood of Food Geeks … and a little shout-out to you if you are!)
7. What State Produces the Most Eggs? And just to end with a slightly random fun fact that only my fellow Ohioans will appreciate: Ohio ranks second in the nation for egg production! (Ok, ok … Iowa is first, but who’s really counting?!?)

To Learn More About Egg Nutrition, Egg Production and Cooking with Eggs …

• The American Egg Board
• The Egg Nutrition Center
• The Ohio Poultry Association

The post 7 EGG-citing Egg Facts Every Home Cook Oughta Know appeared first on Two Healthy Kitchens.

What are two things that always get a leeeeeeettle challenging during the holiday season?

Uh-huh. You know where we’re going …

1) Healthy eating (hello, over-indulging at holiday parties!) … and …

2) Keeping your budget on track (because the kiddos just have to have that crazy-expensive-brand-new-coolest-toy-ever-that-costs-more-than-the-mortgage!!!).

Well, we’re thrilled to be part of the solution for both those struggles!

We were incredibly excited (and … ahem … more than a tad bit nervous) when Toni from Debt Free Divas asked to interview us for her fantastic podcast series, which focuses this week on the topic of eating healthfully on a budget. (So perfect for the holidays, right!?!?)

The Debt Free Divas are super-sweet ladies, who are also savvy financial coaches. They’ve built a phenomenal web site to assist their clients and reach out to readers worldwide. Their site offers lots of (free-of-charge!) inspiration, strategies and advice, to help everyone live debt-free. It’s bursting with wonderful information, including podcasts (like ours)!

In recognition of how restaurant meals can be really rough on your budget, the Divas launched the “Make All Meals @ Home This Month Challenge” … urging their site’s readers to make every meal at home during November.

Wow, right!?!?

To inspire people to take their challenge and see the impact for themselves, the Divas listed just some of the benefits of eating at home, including “sticking to a budget, eating healthier, and smaller portions.” We couldn’t agree more!

But it can take some tips, planning strategies … and (of course!) some fantastic, quick-and-easy recipes to make it happen!

We’re honored that the Divas turned to us to offer their clients advice on healthy, budget-friendly meal planning strategies and recipes!

We covered a lot of ground in just one short podcast … from our favorite appliance to speed up meal prep (Can you guess what it is???? Here’s a hint!), to ideas for purchasing healthy food more affordably, and suggestions for inspiring even the pickiest eaters.

Be sure to check out our podcast!

And consider taking the Divas’ Make All Meals @ Home This Month Challenge!

Your wallet (and your waistline!) will thank you!

Psssst … Grab Our FREE Ebook Full of Healthy, Budget-Conscious Recipes!

We’re giving away a free ebook entitled “Where Slow Food & Whole Food Meet – Healthy Slow Cooker Dinners from Our Kitchens to Yours.” It’s filled with more than 100 gorgeous pages of dinner recipes, specifically developed for this cookbook by top bloggers across the country!

Every recipe includes a full-color photo and a cost-per-serving breakdown. Plus, there are slow cooker tips, and suggestions for cooking affordably on a budget!

Everyone (everyone!) who subscribes to our Two Healthy Kitchens newsletter will receive a free, downloadable ebook version of the cookbook!

Just enter your e-mail in the box above! You’ll not only receive updates of our latest recipes, but you’ll also get a copy of the fabulous ebook delivered straight to your inbox (within a day or two) to download onto your computer or tablet!

And to make sure you don’t miss a single deliciously healthy moment … you can like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and check out our awesome recipe boards on Pinterest!

And for More Easy, Healthy, Budget-Friendly Dinner Recipes to Make at Home, Check Out:

• 3-Ingredient Crock-Pot Chicken Tacos
• Easy Mexican Ravioli Lasagna (Just 5 Ingredients and No Thawing or Boiling!)
• Lightning-Fast Cheesy Three-Pepper Ravioli with Italian Sausage
• Un-Stuffed Pepper Skillet
• Crock-Pot Creamy Chicken Corn Chowder

The post Healthy Eating on a Budget (Our First Podcast!) appeared first on Two Healthy Kitchens.

Green smoothies are all the rage on blogs and Pinterest – and for good reason!

The “green” in those green smoothies often comes from spinach – a superfood that’s low in calories, yet loaded with antioxidants, fiber and even a little protein. It’s also jam-crammed with vitamins and minerals, including folate, vitamins A and K, manganese, and magnesium. The list goes on and on!

Spinach is even thought to help fight some signs of aging – it’s no wonder Popeye looked so young!

Yep – just a handful of spinach blends a whole lotta nutrition into your favorite, already-healthy smoothies, and you can’t even taste that it’s in there. No, really! It’s just brilliant!

And sure – here at THK, we love green smoothies as much as the next guy (or … gal). Maybe even more!

But spinach goes way, way beyond smoothies!

Raw baby spinach has such a mild, almost unnoticeable flavor, that it easily melds itself into all sorts of recipes without creating even a little commotion.

In fact, you might have noticed that our last three recipes (Mediterranean Confetti Quinoa Salad, Creamy Tomato and Sausage Pasta, and our Healthier Take on the Shamrock Shake) all had baby spinach quietly lurking in them – it’s a snap to incorporate this health-food hero into recipes without disrupting other flavors and textures!

And you actually don’t even need a recipe! It’s so easy to tuck spinach into impromptu meals, snacks and warmed-up leftovers.

So, try this challenge:

The post Beyond Green Smoothies: Take the Spinach Challenge appeared first on Two Healthy Kitchens.