Browsing Tag

Healthy Eating

FOOD

Food: Trying BluePrint Raw Green Juice

IMG_2477As an equal opportunity foodist, I’ve been hearing and reading about the health benefits of green juice for ages. While in Whole Foods, I stumbled upon BluePrint’s Raw Green Juice featuring a healthy-sounding mix of kale, apple, ginger, romaine, spinach, cucumber, parsley and lemon and couldn’t help but wonder….but how does it taste?

The answer – not terrible, but definitely not great. It tastes, well, like you might expect a healthy green juice to taste. It’s mild enough and the mix is well done so that none of the ingredients are overpowering, but I’m not sure it was for me. I actually found that adding a small splash of agave helped. But, at the $10 (yikes) price tag at Whole Foods, I probably won’t be hopping on the green juice revolution. I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing which is supplementing my frozen berry and banana smoothies with spinach, kale, Vega One and/or other green goodies. Not as nutritionally sound, but pretty darn tasty.

However, BluePrint also has other juice varieties that feature beets, etc., so I may have to try something a little less intimidating next time…

LIFE UPDATES

12 Photos From 2012

Inside the Mapparium

Inside The Mapparium

As the famous Ferris Bueller’s Day Off movie quote goes, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Despite always being on the go, I think I did a pretty good job carving out time for amazing food, time with friends, plus other adventures and experiences in 2012. From playing tourist in my hometown, to channeling my inner Martha Stewart, to personal and professional travels, here are 12 photos which celebrate 2012 and a little background behind them.

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RECIPES

Food: Canned Soup Made Better

IMG_0721While I’ve been known to whip up delicious homemade soup from scratch, time doesn’t always permit such fabulousness. So, when I’m short on time and a craving strikes for warm, hearty soup, I turn to a favorite boxed or canned variety and add a few simple ingredients to tailor it more to my tastes. My favorite trick? Taking butternut squash soup or sweet potato soup and thickening it with a few spoonfuls of 100% canned pumpkin. Then, I toss in a little cinnamon and nutmeg to taste. The end result is a rich, hearty soup that tastes almost homemade! Try this with Annie’s Reduced Sodium Butternut Squash Soup, or Trader Joe’s Sweet Potato Bisque and let me know what you think!

For more of my recipes, click here.

BOSTON, RECIPES, RESTAURANTS

On The Town: Panzanella Salad at Trattoria Newbury in Boston

Just an opinion, but every warm-ish fall day should be treated as though it might be the last, especially with daylight savings time hitting this weekend. From taking long strolls, to patio dining, I’ve been enjoying Boston as much as possible. Recently, I celebrated a warm day by snagging a prime patio table at Trattoria Newbury for lunch and couldn’t resist sharing a photo of my amazing Panzanella Salad.

Panzanella is an Italian bread salad that typically includes tomatoes, lettuce, cheese and beans. The version at Trattoria Newbury ($11.95) features a mix of bread, grilled chicken, fresh tomato, cannellini beans, arugula, basil, fresh mozzarella and red wine vinegar. The flavors worked very well together, though I’m not sure the cannellini beans were needed with the massive portion of grilled chicken.

The best part of this salad? It would be so easy to make at home for a dinner party! For color and a little more crunch, I might swap lima beans for cannellini beans and add a splash of balsamic vinegar to the dressing. But, that’s just me…

Trattoria Newbury is located at 264 Newbury Street in Boston’s Back Bay.

RECIPES

Home Cookin’: Vegan Pumpkin Pie Brownie Cupcakes via Oh She Glows Blog

You may not know this, but the most-read blog entry on my blog is how to use canned pumpkin as a lower calorie baking swap. Simply add canned pumpkin to your favorite boxed brownie mix et voilà – delicious, moist, reduced guilt brownies. While the end result is amazing, you cannot taste the pumpkin. So, when I discovered a recipe for Pumpkin Pie Brownie Cupcakes on one of my favorite vegan food blogs, Oh She Glows, a lightbulb went on. The flavors of pumpkin pie and brownies together!? I simply had to try this recipe!

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