Fast food doesn’t have to be a nutrition disaster.

Anthony and I met at the gym for a quick workout this evening. We both had a long day and just wanted a good, stress-relieving, energizing workout and a delicious, simple, healthy dinner.

Jason’s Deli to the rescue. I love hitting their salad bar for a quick, “fast food” meal.

Eating healthy really is possible even in real, busy, imperfect life.

I hope you are having a great week!

If you need a quick, easy, and healthy dip for your holiday weekend cookout, here is one of my favorites.

**I often double the recipe below if I’m taking this for a big group.

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can shoe peg corn, drained
1 – 6 oz. package crumbled feta cheese
4 scallions, chopped

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil (or a little less, depending on your preference)
2-3 Tbsp. sugar (more or less, depending on your taste)

Chop scallions. Combine scallions with black beans, corn, and crumbled feta. Whisk together vinegar, olive oil, and sugar. Pour over other ingredients and toss. Chill. Serve with tortilla chips.

The credit for this recipe goes to my RD friend, Brenda. This recipe is so easy and really really good.

I hope you have a great holiday weekend planned…we’re heading to my parents’ house for a cookout with the whole family including Anthony’s parents. Have a great weekend!

I think I created a new favorite “throw together” dinner.

This is so easy…it doesn’t even count as a “recipe”.

Start with a chicken breast- top with your favorite salsa and bake for about 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees. Cook quinoa and allow to cool. Add diced tomato, avocado, and corn salsa to the quinoa (I used Trader Joe’s Corn and Chile Tomato-less Salsa – it is delish). Serve the chicken over the quinoa mixture.

Simple, quick, and delicious.

And, when I do, I don’t cut corners to make it “healthier”.

Real sugar. Real butter. That’s the way I roll.

This is my attempt at Blueberry Banana Bread.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup fresh blueberries

1  1/2 cups whole-wheat flour

1/2 cup oats

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 stick real butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 cup mashed banana

1/8 cup chia seeds

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan.

2. In a medium bowl, dredge blueberries in 2 tablespoons of the whole-wheat flour. Gently stir blueberries together with oats, whole-wheat flour, soda, salt, and chia seeds.

3. In a large bowl, cream together the sugar, brown sugar, and butter. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in mashed banana. Add blueberry mixture to creamed mixture, and stir just until moistened. Spoon batter into the prepared pan.

4. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the loaf. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan, and cool completely on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

This is one of my favorite summertime salads. Quinoa is a great source of healthy carbohydrate, fiber, and protein. This salad is perfect on its own. For additional protein, add cooked and chilled shrimp or serve the quinoa salad as a side dish with grilled fish or chicken.

1 cup quinoa

2 cups water

1/4 cup raisins

1/2 cucumber, seeded and diced

1/2 red pepper, diced

7 leaves of basil, chopped

1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled

3-4 Tbsp. light Newman’s Own balsamic vinaigrette

Cook quinoa according to package directions. If you purchase quinoa from the bulk bin, it will need to be rinsed before cooking. I used Bob’s Red Mill, which is already rinsed.

After the pot has cooled briefly, place in refrigerator overnight to cool. The next morning, add all other ingredients and mix gently. Serve right away or store in the fridge until you’re ready to eat. Enjoy!

No thought required.

Very little work.

But it has to taste delicious.

Baby romaine, topped with:

• garden tomato (red + yellow)
• cucumber
• feta
• Kalamata olives
• grilled chicken

So good.

He is so good at cooking a quick and delicious dinner for us on nights when I work late. It is the best thing in the world to come home tired and starving….and an awesome dinner is waiting. 

This is one of our favorite “go-to” dinners on those nights we need something super-quick. Whole-wheat naan, topped with:

• basil pesto
• crumbled feta
• Kalamata olives

Plus tomato, cucumber and basil salad. 

Simple and perfect.

These are my favorite whipped banana oats, courtesy Kath Eats Real Food, topped with:

• dark chocolate chips
• blueberries
• blackberries
• raw almond butter
• CHIA SEEDS!

Chia seeds are my new obsession! I just tried them for the first time a couple of weeks ago and I can’t believe I waited so long.

Chia seeds are a good source of healthy omega-3 fats, fiber, and several other minerals. They have very little flavor, but when mixed into water, they form a gel. I really like the texture and consistency. I’ve been trying chia seeds on salads, in cereal, I baked some into banana bread last week, and this morning I added them to my oatmeal. I am a new fan. I love simple ways of adding more nutrition into the foods I normally eat.

I hope you have a great weekend….Have a yummy and healthy breakfast!

Playing with a new idea for my blog header….what do you think?

I am SO not technically saavy, but I found a great tutorial on photo-editing for the purposes of blog headers here on Clover Lane. It leads you step by step through designing your own header through Picasa, which is a free photo-editing site through Google- I’m just learning, but it is awesome! I can see Picasa being useful in multiple ways, not just for bloggers, but for anyone who wants to edit photos, make collages, etc.

Blogger note: If you are using a wordpress site, like I am, do be aware that the directions she has for adding the header to the site are for blogspot, so once the header is done….it is a different ballgame to change the header in wordpress. But, I love learning new things like this through the blog world!

Have a great weekend!