Looking for healthy snacks to keep you feeling full during the work day? HalfHourMeals is here to help!
Having healthy snacks on hand will help deter you from making bad decisions and hitting up the vending machine when you should be hitting up veggies instead.
To help you curb your cravings, we’ve compiled a list of 10 healthy snack ideas for work that are only nutritious but are easy and quick to make as well.
1. Edamame
[Source: HalfHourMeals.com]
Summer is just around the bend and what better way to celebrate everyone’s favorite season than with refreshing cocktails under the sun?
To celebrate the arrival of summer, HalfHourMeals has compiled a list of 15 must-try cocktails. From white wine sangria to passion fruit mojitos, we have all the recipes you need to keep cool this summer.
So without further adieu, here are 15 amazing drink recipes you have to try this year:
1. White Wine Sangria
[Source: TasteofHome.com]
Eating healthy is one of the best ways to ensure your energy levels are high and your productivity is at its best. While many of us strive to maintain a balanced diet, it’s difficult to know which foods we should be eating and which foods we should be avoiding. Luckily, we’re here to help.
If you’ve noticed a decrease in energy and an inability to focus on your daily tasks because of tiredness, we have the information you need to boost productivity and feel better overall.
Here are 30 delicious and healthy meal/snack ideas that will increase your energy and attention span so you can get your job done quickly and efficiently: (more…)
Deep-fried foods are deliciously tasty but they don’t exactly have a reputation of being the healthiest snack selection. Fortunately, over the past few years, deep-fried food lovers have perfected the recipe using healthier oil alternatives which make these fried feasts almost as equally healthy as they are delicious.
The key to making your deep-fried delights a little healthier lies in the oils you use for frying. Choose healthy oils like canola and rapeseed to fry your foods. Stay away from corn oil as it’s the worst for this type of cooking. The makeup of corn oil changes as it heats up, making it the least healthy of all the oils to choose from.
Researcher A. Hope Jahren of the University of Hawaii in Honolulu explains why you should opt for canola and other sunflower oils instead of corn oil, especially when frying:
“Corn oil, although initially hailed as a highly polyunsaturated fat that could lower cholesterol, contains considerably more heart-harmful saturated fat than canola, sunflower, or safflower oils, and less heart-protective alpha-linolenic acid than soybean oil, making it the least healthy choice.”
As long as you use the appropriate ingredients, deep-frying your foods from time to time can be a nice change from your traditional meals.
Here are 7 foods everyone should try deep-fried at least once:
1. Deep-Fried Zucchini
America’s Favorite Cookie is about to celebrate its 100th birthday and we have the scrumptious recipes you can serve on this special occasion.
March 6th, 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the first sale for the popular cookie company and they plan to celebrate the event in high style. In addition to a new marketing campaign launch, the reputable brand – now owned by Kraft Foods – is also launching a new limited-edition product called Birthday Cake Oreos.
In honor of the anniversary, we’re featuring our 5 favorite Oreo recipes.
So, without further adieu, here they are:
Click images for full recipes.
1. Deep-Fried Oreos
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle requires a lot of time and effort. There are so many elements to healthy living that it’s difficult to keep everything organized and prioritized. Fortunately, technology has made it a lot easier to keep you on track and new apps for portable devices like the iPhone and iPad have simplified some of the most annoying parts of healthy living.
1. SparkPeople Diet & Food Tracker
Price: Free
Description: Used in combination with the SparkPeople website, this app – designed for compatibility with iPhone, Android and Blackberry – is very effective for managing diet plans and nutritional goals. You can track your caloric intake each day, search for foods to see their nutritional value and view optional meal plans with recipes and menu items. The downfall is that you have to upload recipes through the site (you can’t do it from the app).
The other day I received my Saveur Magazine in the post, and laid it aside until I could delve into the latest publication, to read what this Special Edition is about. This culinary magazine delivers high quality that I feel is a must have. Let me share what I saw because I want Half Hour Meals members to do a lot of grilling this season. When we know more about a subject, we tend to relax and feel comfortable stepping out of our kitchens and into the great outdoors. Why not draw from experienced cooks and chefs so you can serve your family exciting flavors, and avoid the hum-drum routines where we seem to get stuck.
“Cooking With Fire” talks about how we are fast becoming a “BBQ Nation”. Within the pages their writers explore American comfort foods, which they claim have evolved into an edible art form. Could this be right? The other day I watched a segment of a program on the Food Channel about a company in Texas, that can turn just about any large object into a newly designed grill. Imagine! They showed a baby carriage grill and so many others, that after I watch the taped show, I will tell you more on that score. This month Saveur reveals to us we are a people who love to cook over open fire, and that Americans have turned this into a finger-licking journey. Sounds tasty.
There are loads of photographs and a few memoirs by people who talk about growing up with BBQ playing a major role in their lives. “East vs. West” gently spotlights some of the North Carolina regional styles of grilling. Plus, a story by a woman who after being brought home by her then boyfriend, received daunting looks from her future Southern Mother-in-law, that saw her as a Yankee girl, one who didn’t have a clue about BBQ or college football. She talks about sauces and pulled pork, too. I liked the sides of hush puppies, slaws, and banana puddings (finished with slices of fresh banana and whipped cream on top).
“Ribs and Rituals” as it happens are big subjects in Kansas City, where they take this style of cooking quite seriously indeed. They lovingly smooth their sauces over their choicest meats they are prepping for the grill. The finished meats look perfect … no other word for it. Los Angeles and Mexico get into the mix as well, telling about how these communities gather “Sunday After Church” to cook an array of foods over hot coals and in-ground grilling.
Chef Murko of “Classic Cue’s” a featured restaurant mentions his love of cooking the dishes on his menu over grills and fire, too. Even Utah gets into the scheme of things. Everyone’s joining this party, oh, just look at that prime rib!
Well you need to buy this edition, because there is a whole lot more to see and read about, especially all of these gorgeous sauces in the bottles. I never knew there were so many. You’ll want to keep this in your cookbook bookshelf to refer to all summer long. It’s a keeper.
(I took these photos of my magazine. I love Saveur!)
This post is a challenge to each and every food blogger out there to show the children of America how much we care!
Share Our Strength, the national organization whose mission is to eradicate childhood hunger in America, is having their Great American Bake Sale once again. This year, food bloggers are answering the challenge in a big way!
Food bloggers from across the country are uniting to support the Great American Bake Sale National Challenge by hosting bake sales in their states on April 17. Efforts are being organized by Gaby Dalkin of WhatsGabyCooking.com. Gaby’s website has a list of all states with food bloggers who are coordinating the bake sale for their state. If you don’t see your state, or if you have questions, please e-mail Gaby @ whatsgabycooking@gmail.com.
I urge each of you to find out if there is a bake sale in your area and help any way you can. If there is no sale in your area, then please click here to donate directly to the national bake sale that benefits Share Our Strength’s efforts. I know that HHM food bloggers are the best, and I thank each and every one of you for your contribution on behalf of the Great American Bake Sale!
Hey Bloggers! Would you like to own a copy of Rose Levy Beranbaum’s new cookbook Rose’s Heavenly Cakes?
If so, here’s all you have to do. Bake one of the cakes included in this post. Then, write a blog post about your baking experience and the cake you created. Feel free to include pictures, audio, videos or any other form of media you enjoy using in your post. HalfHourMeals and BlogCatalog will then select 5 of the blog posts we enjoyed the most to share with our readers on our blogs and in BlogCatalog’s February newsletter. And, we will randomly select one of these 5 bloggers to receive a free copy of Rose’s Heavenly Cakes.
To enter the contest, simply write your blog post. Then, submit it to us by leaving a comment below with a link to your post. Finally, be sure to include a link or trackback to HalfHourMeals.com and SpruceTV.com in your post. All posts must be submitted by January 28, 2010 11:59 PM CST- in order to be considered.
Here are the recipes you can bake. (Just open each link and either bookmark the page or print it out.):
Chocolate Velvet Fudge Cake:
Picture
Recipe Page 1
Recipe Page 2
Classic Carrot Cake with Dreamy Creamy White Chocolate Frosting:
Recipe Page 1 and Pic
Recipe Page 2
Recipe Page 3
If you have any questions regarding this contest or if you have any problem viewing or printing the recipes, email jason@blogcatalog [dot] com with any questions. Be sure title your email Cake Contest so it doesn’t get overlooked!
For a little information about Rose Levy Beranbaum and her new book check out this page on SpruceTV.com.
Let me introduce myself to you by talking about a subject I believe is vital to your food’s integrity. The first subject that comes to my mind is what we learn in any cooking school or class and it is food safety. Number one is always Food Safety. The way you manage your cooking area and the proper handling of your food. The most important thing you can do is to work clean. Wash your hands not once, but at least twice being very sure to scrub your nails and the backs of your hands, especially along the lower part of your ring fingers. Many people do not clean their hands with great care. By incorporating a nailbrush, clean towels, paper towels, soap, new or cleaned sponges you will be off to a very good start.
The second on my list is to prepare your work space by cleaning it thoroughly, and when cooking with meat, fish, poultry or seafood, please insure you do not cross contaminate your tools, cutting boards or even your sink.
The next important factor once you and your work area are clean is to insure your food’s safety by storing it properly, always checking the expiration dates and by using fresh ingredients sooner rather than later. Rinse your food as a safety measure and lastly, I encourage you smell and taste your ingredients before you add them to the dish. Over time your palate will develop, as will your sense of smell, plus you will not have consumed any spoiled product.
Over the next week I will be getting to know the members. Should you have any questions just leave a comment and I will respond. I will also be featuring tips like these in future posts: Knife Safety, Teaching Kids To Cook, Highlighting Our Members and much more. I am very pleased that our community is growing. We will have such a good time right here at Half Hour Meals. I want to try your recipes.