Guilt Free Peach Mango Cobbler

Guilt-free Peach Mango Cobbler

(post-workout - 45 minutes)

1 cup whole wheat pancake mix
4 scoops vanilla protein powder
1 tbsp fresh, shredded, orange peel
3 whole peaches, peeled and sliced
1 mango, peeled and sliced
1 cup water
1/2 cup Splenda
2 tsp cornstarch

Preheat oven to 375°F. In a mixing bowl, prepare the whole
wheat pancake mix following the instructions provided on the
box, making sure to use water instead of milk in your
preparation process.

Once the mixture is complete, take 4 scoops of protein powder and mix into the whole wheat
pancake mixture, one scoop at a time, ensuring that the
mixture remains slightly watery and not too thick. If the
mixture does thicken up too much, simply add small portions
of water while stirring in the protein powder to maintain the
consistency. When the protein powder has been folded in, add
1tbsp fresh orange peel and mix it throughout.

On a cutting board, peel and slice mango and peaches into
wedges. In a saucepan, mix fruit wedges with 1 cup of water
and 1/2 cup of Splenda. Heat saucepan on medium-high heat,
allowing water to come to a slight boil. After the water begins
to boil, remove 3 tablespoons of water from the saucepan and
place into a small bowl. In bowl, dissolve 2 tsp of cornstarch
thoroughly in the water, then place back into the saucepan.

Once the mixture turns thick in consistency (usually about a
minute or two), turn off the burner and remove the saucepan.
Pour the fruit mixture inside an 8-inch oven dish, and pour the
pancake mix on top of the fruit. Place oven dish in the oven
and bake for roughly 20 minutes at 375°F, or until pancake
topping begins to crack. Remove from oven. Allow to cool for
several hours on countertop or overnight in the fridge. Serve
cool.

Makes 4 servings.

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NUTRITION INFORMATION
(per serving)
Calories 334 kcal
Protein 26 g
Carbohydrate 44 g
Fat 6 g
Saturated 1.6 g
Monounsaturated 2.1 g
Polyunsaturated 2.0 g

Last-Minute Holiday Meals: Santa Fe Chicken

Last-Minute Dinner Solutions

By Elizabeth Yarnell
eDiets Contributor

The holiday season can often be hectic and stressful. You've got lots to do with little time to do it. So when it comes to cooking dinner, most of us want a meal that's simple, quick to prepare, tastes great, and easy to clean up

Ask almost anyone who is in charge of putting the daily dinner on the table what the most dreaded chore is and you'll likely hear a complaint about meal planning. Figuring out what to make for dinner day in and day out is something many of us loathe. We'd like something easy to make, a recipe that won't require hours in the kitchen -- and it would be great if the meal was good for our family as well. And, of course, if it doesn't taste great, we might as well give up before we even start.

Typically, preparing exciting weeknight meals takes forethought, special trips to the grocery store for specific ingredients and a couple hours set aside for preparation and then the clean-up of multiple pots and pans after dinner. We all want to serve our families dinners that are as good for them as they are good tasting, but let's face it, only a few fortunate ones have the time to find interesting and achievable recipes, shop for fresh ingredients and spend hours in the kitchen every day of the week.

More likely, we find ourselves racing from the morning send-off through two careers, soccer practices, piano lessons, the dry cleaners and the other tasks that make up our busy days. And that's just before dinner. Afterward, there's homework, household chores and everything else that didn’t get done during the daylight hours. Really, who can blame us for choosing to eat out, bringing food home or reaching for highly-processed and expensive frozen meals?

Here's a solution for our time-crunched lives: quick, healthy and easy infused one-pot meals. With a few strategic purchases stocked in your freezer and pantry, you can bring out your inner intuitive chef and eliminate the drudgery of meal-planning.

Almost the opposite of crock-pot cooking, which requires that you think about dinner in the morning or it won’t be ready, infused one-pot meals can cater to your last-minute mentality, allowing you to get a nutritious dinner on the table in about an hour with only a few minutes of actual hands-on preparation and less than 50 minutes of unattended baking.

Infused one-pot meals offer a healthy, balanced meal of protein, energy-providing carbohydrates and a variety of vegetables to offer the range of vitamins, minerals and nutrients that we all need.

Here’s an easy, last-minute recipe to throw together out of your freezer and pantry for a nutritious and delicious meal that doesn’t require any forethought. So, even if you’re a last-minute mom or dad, you can still serve up a meal to be proud of at a moment’s notice.

Santa Fe Chicken

2 15-oz. cans black beans, drained & rinsed
2 green onions
4 pieces frozen boneless chicken
2 8-oz. cans green chiles or 8-12 Tbsp. prepared salsa
1 bell pepper, cut into 1" triangles
2 15-oz. cans corn kernels, drained
2 14-oz. cans tomatoes, diced, drained
2 6-oz. cans black California olives, drained and sliced

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray inside of 3 1/2 or 4-quart cast iron Dutch oven and lid with canola oil.

Open cans of beans, drain and rinse well. Pour in a layer across bottom of pot.

Slice green onion into rings and arrange on bean layer. Rinse chicken and arrange on top of onions. If using chiles, blanket the chicken with them. If using salsa, spoon over the chicken, using as much or as little according to taste. Add bell peppers, corn, tomatoes and olives in layers.

Cover and bake for 45 minutes, or until the aroma wafts from the oven. Serves 4.

Per serving: calories 321, protein 34g, carbs 32g, fat 6g, cholesterol 75mg, sodium 377mg, fiber 10g

This is a great meal to make when you don't have any fresh vegetables in the house. Stock up on the canned or frozen ingredients and you'll be able to whip up this southwestern staple in a jiffy.

Be sure to drain all cans well, refill with fresh water and drain again to remove extra preservatives and sodium.

Elizabeth Yarnell is a certified nutritional consultant and the author of Glorious One-Pot Meals: A New Quick & Healthy Approach to Dutch Oven Cooking, a guide to a guide to preparing quick, healthy and balanced one-pot meals. She is also a mother of two preschoolers. Visit Elizabeth online at www.GloriousOnePotMeals.com to subscribe to her free newsletter

Happy Holidays! Eggnog Recipe

Marlene Koch DietWatch This recipe got a "yum" from every single taster -- along with a few "are you sure it's light?" comments. I made it for the holidays and it was a hit. You can now find low-fat versions on the shelves but I have yet to see any that are low in sugar. In fact, the light or low-fat versions have even more sugar than regular. Once made, this keeps very well for up to a week in the refrigerator.

Ingredients

• 1 cup 1% milk
• 1-1/2 cups non-fat half and half
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 3 large eggs, well beaten
• 2/3 cup Splenda granular
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 cups 1% milk*

*Option: substitute 1/2 to 1 cup brandy or rum for milk if desired

Method

1. In a large saucepan, whisk together 1 cup 1% milk and next 4 ingredients. Place on stove and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and forms a thin custard.
2. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and nutmeg. Stir in remaining milk and cool. Chill and store in refrigerator until served.

Yield: 8 servings
Per Serving: Calories, 100; Fat, 3 g; Saturated Fat, 1.5 g; Sodium, 80 mg; Carbohydrate, 11 g; Dietary Fiber, 0 g; Protein, 6 g.

Which part of egg is best for you?

What is better for you: whole eggs or egg whites?
Tom Venuto
"How to burn body fat and keep it off for life,
without supplements, pills or starvation dieting":
Burn the Fat

I was on a weekend trip with some friends recently and one of my friends was cooking breakfast for the whole group. I went over to see what he was cooking and saw he was getting ready to make a big batch of eggs. Well, to my shock and horror, I noticed that he was cracking the eggs open and screening the egg whites into a bowl and throwing out the egg yolks. I asked him why the heck he was throwing out the egg yolks, and he replied... "because I thought the egg yolks were terrible for you...that's where all the nasty fat and cholesterol is" And I replied, "you mean that's where all the nutrition is!"

.................................................... Fat Burning Index of egg parts: Egg white 0.735 Whole egg 1.643 Egg yolk 2.53 (what's Fat Burning Index?)

This is a perfect example of how confused most people are about nutrition. In a world full of misinformation, somehow most people now mistakenly think that the egg yolk is the worst part of the egg, when in fact, the YOLK IS THE HEALTHIEST PART OF THE EGG!

By throwing out the yolk and only eating egg whites, you're essentially throwing out the most nutrient dense, antioxidant-rich, vitamin and mineral loaded portion of the egg. The yolks contain so many B-vitamins, trace minerals, vitamin A, folate, choline, lutein, and other powerful nutrients... it's not even worth trying to list them all.

In fact, the egg whites are almost devoid of nutrition compared to the yolk.

Even the protein in egg whites isn't as powerful without the yolks to balance out the amino acid profile and make the protein more bio-available. Not to even mention that the egg yolks from free range chickens are loaded with omega-3 fatty acids.

Yolks contain more than 90% of the calcium, iron, phosphorus, zinc, thiamin, B6, folate, and B12, and panthothenic acid of the egg. In addition, the yolks contain all of the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K in the egg, as well as all of the essential fatty acids.

And now the common objection I get all the time when I say that the yolks are the most nutritious part of the egg...

"But I heard that whole eggs will skyrocket my cholesterol through the roof"

No, this is FALSE!

First of all, when you eat a food that contains a high amount of dietary cholesterol such as eggs, your body down-regulates it's internal production of cholesterol to balance things out.

On the other hand, if you don't eat enough cholesterol, your body simply produces more since cholesterol has tons of important functions in the body.

And here's where it gets even more interesting...

There are indications that eating whole eggs actually raises your good HDL cholesterol to a higher degree than LDL cholesterol, thereby improving your overall cholesterol ratio and blood chemistry.

And 3rd... high cholesterol is NOT a disease! Heart disease is a disease...but high cholesterol is NOT. You can read the following article about why trying to attack cholesterol is a mistake, and what the REAL deadly risk factors actually are... Cholesterol myths

So I hope we've established that whole eggs are not some evil food that will wreck your body... instead whole eggs are FAR superior to egg whites.

Also, your normal supermarket eggs coming from mass factory farming just don't compare nutritionally with organic free range eggs from healthy chickens that are allowed to roam freely and eat a more natural diet.

I recently compared eggs I bought at the grocery store with a batch of eggs I got at a farm stand where the chickens were free roaming and healthy.

Most people don't realize that there's a major difference because they've never bought real eggs from healthy chickens... The eggs from the grocery store had pale yellow yolks. On the other hand, the healthier free range eggs had deep orange colored yolks indicating much higher nutrition levels and carotenoids.

So next time a health or fitness professional tells you that egg whites are superior, you can quietly ignore their advice knowing that you understand the REAL deal about egg yolks.

One more thing about eggs...

I read a study recently that compared groups of people that ate egg breakfasts vs groups of people that ate cereal or bagel based breakfasts. The results of the study showed that the egg eaters lost or maintained a healthier bodyweight, while the cereal/bagel eaters gained weight.

It was hypothesized that the egg eaters actually ate less calories during the remainder of the day because their appetite was more satisfied compared to the cereal/bagel eaters who would have been more prone to wild blood sugar swings and food cravings.