Cornmeal-Crusted Chicken Nuggets with Blackberry Mustard

A featured recipe from Eating Well Magazine....

very kid friendly, and ready in about 20 minutes.

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh blackberries or raspberries, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 pound chicken tenders, cut in half crosswise (see Tip)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 3 tablespoons cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

eparation

1. Mash blackberries (or raspberries), mustard and honey in a small bowl until it looks like a chunky sauce.
2. Sprinkle chicken tenders with salt and pepper. Place cornmeal in a medium bowl, add the chicken and toss to coat (discard any leftover cornmeal).
3. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook the chicken, turning once or twice, until browned and just cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes total (thinner nuggets will cook faster than thicker ones). Serve the chicken nuggets with the berry mustard.

Tips & Notes

• Chicken tenders are the lean strips of rib meat typically found attached to the underside of chicken breasts. They can also be purchased separately. Four 1-ounce tenders will yield a 3-ounce cooked portion. Tenders are perfect for quick stir-fries, chicken satay or kid-friendly breaded “chicken nuggets.”

Chinese Style Stuffed Peppers

1 pound ground turkey
3 cups cooked rice
3 tablesppoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
12 diced onion
1 teaspoon diced garlic
11/2 cup diced Chinese vegetables
4 large bell peppers.
2 teaspoons Thai style chili sauce

Brown turkey burger, crubling as it cooks, add veggies, onion and garlic, soy sauce and teriyaki sauce cook until the meat is browned and the veggies are tender. Add the cooked rice mix well. Set aside to cool

Cut the very top off the peppers  carefully remove the core. Scrape out the white membrane. Fill the peppers with the mix rice mixture.

Top each pepper with an additional tablespoon of teriyaki sauce.

Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes, or until the peppers are tender.

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

1 head of cauliflower cut into chunks

1 small onion

1 small bell pepper

5 tablespoons butter

3 1/2 cups water

2 teaspoons of salt

Melt 2 tablespoon of butter in a large stock pot. Add the onion and 1/2 the bell pepper. Simmer about 5 minutes until tender. 

Add the water and 1/2 the cauliflower. Set aside one cup.   Bring to a boil. Add 1 teaspoon of salt.  The simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. 

Add the rest of the cauliflower and simmer for another 15 minutes. 

Mean while, melt the rest of the butter in a small sauté pan. 

Cut the cup of cauliflower in small florets. Sauté them with the rest of the bell pepper for 15 minutes. 

Blend the cauliflower until smooth. Add enough of the cooking liquid to make on smooth, but not too thick. It should coat a spoon. 

Stir in the rest of the salt. Serve with a garnish of the sautéed veggies. 

  

Lift Your Mood With Food

Top 4 Food Strategies to Lift Your Mood

 

Are you feeling as chipper as you’d like? When negative feelings have taken hold of you, you might have tried adjusting sleeping patterns and ramping up workouts to combat their ill effects. However, it’s likely that they didn’t fully adjust your mood.

 

That's probably because you overlooked one major factor. How and what you eat can have a significant impact on your mood each day. And while you're busy eating high-sugar foods to "comfort" yourself, you're doing more harm than good.

 

Adjusting from a cranky mood to a cheerful one is actually more about what you feed your body than anything else. By making wise, healthy food choices, you can expect your mood to improve almost immediately.

 

Use these food strategies to uplift you and heighten your positive feelings:

 

1.      Cut the sugar. Be warned. Sugar is the enemy of stable, positive moods! You'll almost always get a rush from a sugar binge. But you can almost always expect the crash that comes when it hits your blood stream, too!

·        Sugar sometimes helps when there are other factors affecting your energy level. But avoid turning to it as your source of energy.

·        Remember that sugary foods have other negative effects apart from the crash. Excess sugar is stored in your body and puts you at risk for weight gain, skin reactions, and even diabetes.

2.      Increase intake of nutrient-rich foods. While many nutrient-rich foods might not be as "exciting" as sugar, they're better for you. They help your bodily functions perform optimally and actually elevate your mood.

·        Folate, thiamine, and magnesium are believed to heighten your mood. Research has shown that these minerals positively impact those with depression.

·        Although you may not be suffering from depression, you can likely expect the minerals to work wonders for your mood over time.

·        Choose foods like lentils, leafy greens, pistachios, and pumpkin seeds as great sources of these minerals.

3.      Eat smaller, more frequent meals. Try breaking your arsenal of healthy foods into smaller meals. It might take more effort to have five meals instead of three, but your results will make your effort worthwhile.

·        Larger meals are harder for your body to process. Your metabolism slows down after consumption of a large meal. As a result, you'll likely feel sluggish.

·        Sluggishness doesn’t always lead to a bad mood. But lacking the energy to be productive can result in a negative outcome. That can, in turn, affect your mood!

4.      Stay hydrated. You've heard lots of stories about water doing wonders for your body. But you probably didn’t know that lack of it affects your mood. Believe it or not, water may be the key to addressing that lingering bad mood you've been in.

·        Neglecting to stay hydrated daily can lead to uncomfortable side effects. In most cases, a mildly dehydrated person experiences headaches, fatigue, tension, and anxiety.

·        These things definitely affect your mood, and you'll quickly become the person nobody wants to be around!

·        Dehydration also impacts concentration, reasoning, and alertness. It's very easy to get frustrated with yourself when you're far from being on the ball.

 

It's always important to consider the impact of diet. Remember that your body performs in accordance with what you give it. Give it a healthy selection of foods so it has the best chance to keep you in a positive state of mind!