Posted by Jennifer Lee on August 18, 2012 0 Comments
Easy Spanish Rice: Transform a few simple ingredients
found at a convenience store into a tasty side dish.
Last week we took our
healthy eating challenge to the convenience store. Our goal was to prove that
with a little effort (and creative thinking) you can eat healthy on the road
even when healthy choices are few and far between. Along with black beans we
served up a side of easy Spanish rice and mixed veggies.
Easy Spanish Rice
Prep time: 5
minutes Cook time: 20
minutes Makes about 6
to 8 servings
Since we were limited to the
ingredients found in a convenience store, and the only fresh produce we could
find was a lonely banana, we had to work in a few extra spices to infuse flavor
into our Spanish rice recipe. The convenience store only offered canned tomato
paste, but if you can find them it’s always better to use fresh tomatoes and
onions when making this dish.
Ingredients:
2 cups medium grain rice
3 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 Tbsp tomato paste
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1) Heat a saucepan over medium high heat, then add the olive oil and heat for a
minute or two. Add the rice and cook until lightly browned, about 3 to 4
minutes.
2) In a separate saucepan, whisk
together the tomato paste, chicken broth and garlic powder, then add the rice.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes.
3) Serve with a side of
black beans and colorful veggies.
What we Liked: We could certainly make
this meal healthier by eliminating the BPA-laden cans and using farm fresh
tomatoes from a roadside stand. Better than a corn dog and a soda? You bet! It was encouraging to show my kids that even when
fast food choices seem like the only option, there is always a way to eat
healthy if you try.
*What are your favorite, easy ways to serve Spanish
rice?
About the author: Jennifer Tyler Lee is a mom
of two children and the creator of Crunch a Color -- the
award-winning nutrition games that make healthy eating fun. Like most parents,
she struggled to get her kids to eat healthy, balanced meals, so she decided to
make it into a healthy eating
game. Winner of the Dr. Toy and Parent Tested, Parent Approved
awards, Crunch a Color has been featured by Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution,
Laurie David’s Family Dinner, Kiwi Magazine, Dr. Greene, and Yum Food & Fun
For Kids, among many others, as a simple, fun and playful way to get kids to
eat healthy and try new foods! Jennifer’s passion is making mealtime fun, easy
and healthy for busy families. Her easy recipes, quick tips, and new food
adventures are regularly featured at Pottery Barn Kids, Jamie Oliver’s Food
Revolution, The Huffington Post, and on her weekly recipe blog at crunchacolor.com.
Posted by Jennifer Lee on August 17, 2012 4 Comments
Stopping at a convenience store on our road trip, the
healthy food choices were scarce. But nestled between the canned spaghetti and
corn chowder we found a healthy friend: black beans.
Convenience stores are a
frequent stop on any road trip. Notorious for their unhealthy food choices,
they are usually a place I try to avoid. But we were on a different mission
this vacation. Amongst the candy bars and cranked up sodas, we were determined
to find a healthy choice. Our goal: prove that if you try, you can cook a
healthy meal even if you’re limited to foods found at a convenience store.
Hidden at the back of a
dusty, low shelf was the ticket I was looking for: black beans. Packed with protein,
and budget-friendly, we decided to make black beans our new food of the week.
Bonus points for trying a new food and managing to find a healthy choice among
a raging sea of salt and sugar.
How to Cook Black Beans
Prep time: 5
minutes Cook time: 8
hours
Luckily, the place we were
staying on our trip had a well-stocked kitchen, so we decided to learn how to
cook black beans in the slow cooker. You can just as easily use a good ol’
fashioned stockpot.
Ingredients:
1 lb bag, dried black beans
6 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 Tbsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1) Sort the black beans, removing any debris or broken beans. Soak in water
overnight. Be sure the water fully covers the beans.
2) Drain the beans, then add
to your slow cooker along with the chicken broth, the garlic powder, and a dash
of salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
3) Set the slow cooker to
low and cook the black beans for about 8 hours, or until the beans are tender.
4) Serve warm with a little
bit of corn and a sprig of parsley or mint for garnish.
Crunch a Color Kids Vote: Hello Mr. (Black) Bean!
What we Liked: Learning how to cook black beans was easy and made a healthy,
inexpensive meal. They would also make a great addition to a healthy lunchbox. We
served our black beans with a side of mixed veggies and Spanish rice. Tune in
next week when we show you how we transformed a few other simple ingredients we
found at the convenience store into these healthy side dishes.
* What are your favorite recipes featuring black
beans?
About the author:Jennifer Tyler Lee is a mom
of two children and the creator of Crunch a Color -- the
award-winning nutrition games that make healthy eating fun. Like most parents,
she struggled to get her kids to eat healthy, balanced meals, so she decided to
make it into a healthy eating
game. Winner of the Dr. Toy and Parent Tested, Parent Approved
awards, Crunch a Color has been featured by Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution,
Laurie David’s Family Dinner, Kiwi Magazine, Dr. Greene, and Yum Food & Fun
For Kids, among many others, as a simple, fun and playful way to get kids to
eat healthy and try new foods! Jennifer’s passion is making mealtime fun, easy
and healthy for busy families. Her easy recipes, quick tips, and new food
adventures are regularly featured at Pottery Barn Kids, Jamie Oliver’s Food
Revolution, The Huffington Post, and on her weekly recipe
blog at crunchacolor.com.
Posted by Jennifer Lee on August 04, 2012 9 Comments
Our family may be taking a vacation, but our healthy eating habits are not. How we plan to keep eating healthy on the road.
Camera. Check. Sunscreen. Check. Blankies. Check, check. We’re geared up
and ready for our big summer adventure. But as much as we want to take some
time off for summer fun, we don’t want our healthy eating habits to take a
vacation. Eating healthy on the road is notoriously difficult, with unhealthy
choices at seemingly every turn. How to resist? Make it a game! This month, our
new food adventures are all about finding the healthiest food on the road.
Eating Healthy on the Road Tip #1: Pack Your Own
You know how you’re always better at eating healthy in the morning? Same goes for eating healthy on the road. You need to start on the right foot! We packed a healthy lunch in our nifty PlanetBoxes for the first leg of our journey. Green beans with nut free basil pesto for dipping, a cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread, and blueberries and strawberries for dessert. Three colors, plus a protein and healthy grains earns us lots of Crunch a Color points! The objective: resist the lure of fast food joints at the airport. We also packed some reserves – whole-grain bread sticks, natural peanut butter, almonds, some fresh fruit, and water – so if we’re in a pinch we can still choose a healthy snack. We’ll just need to remember to take a break from all the exciting sights and sounds to power up!
* What are your tips for eating healthy on the road?
Share your comments.
Craving more new recipes to try? Catch up on last
week’s recipe: Strawberry Lemonade.
About the author: Jennifer Tyler Lee is a mom of two children
and the creator of Crunch a
Color™ -- the award-winning game that makes healthy eating fun. Like most
parents, she struggled to get her kids to eat healthy, balanced meals, so she
decided to make it into a healthy eating game. Winner of the Dr. Toy and
Parent Tested, Parent Approved awards, Crunch a Color has been featured by
Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, Laurie David’s Family Dinner, Kiwi Magazine,
Dr. Greene, and Yum Food & Fun For Kids, among many others, as a simple,
fun and playful way to get kids to eat healthy and try new foods! Jennifer’s
passion is making mealtime fun, easy and healthy for busy families. Her easy
recipes, quick tips, and new food adventures are regularly featured at Pottery
Barn Kids, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, The Huffington Post, and on her
website, www.crunchacolor.com.
Posted by Jennifer Lee on August 01, 2012 0 Comments
A sip of sunshine, this strawberry lemonade is worthy of any roadside
lemonade stand. Even better that it’s made without refined sugar!
I’m a big fan of “old-fashioned” anything – tree houses that nearly
touch the sky, hopscotch and marbles, and of course, lemonade stands. The
neighborhood kids can always count on me and my kids to stop by their stands on
hot summer days. But the average stand sells what amounts to sugar water. We
decided to take on a new challenge for our roadside lemonade stand this year:
make lemonade without using refined sugar.
Experimenting with Strawberry Lemonade
We started by adding blended strawberries to our fresh squeezed lemon
juice, hoping that just the simple sweetness of the berries would do the trick.
Not so -- still too sour. Thanks to a tip from our good friend Amy The Family
Chef, we added a touch of agave to our summer sipper, a natural sweetener
similar to honey but a lot less sticky. If you can’t find organic agave at your
local natural foods store, there’s always Amazon!
Strawberry Lemonade Without Sugar
This simple strawberry lemonade is best made with farmers' market fresh organic lemons, organic strawberries and organic agave nectar. Squeezing the lemons is the best part, and a fun project for the kids!
Prep time: 10
minutes Cook time: 0
minutes Makes 8 to 10
glasses of lemonade
Ingredients:
10 lemons (about 1½ cups of lemon juice)
1 pint strawberries
8 cups of water
¼ cup of agave
A few sprigs of mint
Directions:
1) Slice and squeeze the lemons. We did this part outside, with a sieve
over a large bowl (it’s messy but fun!).
2) You should end up with about 1½ to 2 cups of lemon juice.
3) Load the strawberries into a blender. Add about one cup of water. Blend until smooth.
4) Pour the strawberry lemonade mixture into a large serving pitcher. Add the remaining 7 cups of water.
5) Add a few sprigs of mint, ¼ cup of agave, then stir. Add a little more agave if you like a sweeter taste.
6) Chill in the refrigerator before serving. Then enjoy!
Crunch a Color Kids Vote: Lemonade for sale!
What we liked: No need to spoil a good thing with loads of refined sugar. We enjoyed
making this classic summer treat with a twist. A glass of fresh strawberry
lemonade anyone?
What are your favorite ways to beat the summer heat?
Craving more new recipes to try? Catch up on last
week’s recipe: Veggie Pizza.
About the author: Jennifer Tyler Lee is a mom of two children and the creator of
Crunch a Color™ -- the award-winning game that makes healthy eating fun. Like most
parents, she struggled to get her kids to eat healthy, balanced meals, so she
decided to make it into a healthy eating game.
Watch her picky eaters tell the story of how they turned into healthy eaters playing the
game. Follow @crunchacolor on FacebookTwitter and Pinterest to tune into
Crunch a Color's healthy eating adventure and Jennifer’s tips and kid-friendly,
easy recipes. Crunch a
Color™ is a proud supporter of non-profit kids' nutrition programs including
Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution and FoodCorps. Available at www.crunchacolor.com and in stores
nationwide at Pottery
Barn Kids.
Healthy no bake cookies continue to be a favorite on our lunchtime menu.
Quick and easy
(for you or your kids) to make, these tasty no bake cookies use sunflower butter instead of
peanut
butter to create a delicious batch of nut-free, healthy, no bake cookies that are great for
dessert or a lunchtime snack. Watch how easy these tasty, healthy no bake cookies are to make.
Healthy No Bake Cookies
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 0 minutes
Makes about 12 cookies
Ingredients:
½ cup oats
¼ cup whole wheat flour
¼ cup sunflower butter
¼ cup honey
1 Tbsp powdered sugar
Directions:
1)In a small bowl, combine the oats, flour,
sunflower butter and honey.
2)Mix well.
3)Use a tablespoon to portion a small amount of
dough into your hands. Roll into a ball the size of a large marble.
4)Roll the balls in the powdered sugar.
5)Serve immediately or refrigerate for later.
Optional: Add dried cranberries or raisins for a little pop of color.
*Cooking tip: Lightly grease a measuring cup before adding the
honey. It'll make it easy for the honey to slip right off into the
mixing bowl.
Our healthy no bake cookies were inspired by the fabulous Aviva Goldfarb at www.thescramble.com.
About the author: Jennifer Tyler Lee is a mom
of two children and the creator of Crunch a Color™ -- the
award-winning game that makes healthy eating fun. Like most parents, she
struggled to get her kids to eat healthy, balanced meals, so she decided to
make it into a healthy eating game. Watch her picky eaters tell the story of how they turned into healthy eaters playing the game.
Follow @crunchacolor on FacebookTwitter and Pinterest to tune
into Crunch a Color's healthy eating adventure and Jennifer’s tips and
kid-friendly, easy recipes. Crunch a Color™ is a proud supporter of non-profit
kids' nutrition programs including Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution and
FoodCorps. Available at www.crunchacolor.com and in stores nationwide at Pottery Barn Kids.
This simple strawberry lemonade is best made with farmers' market fresh organic lemons, organic strawberries and 
