For this week’s Cooking with the Moms podcast, we share two of our favorite Mediterranean-inspired recipes:  Potato Ole Omelet and Walnut Cannellini Wraps.  We promise your kids will like the recipes as much as the adults do!  Tune in and let us know what you think of the show, and feel free to share your family’s favorite Mediterranean recipes right here on our blog.

Mini Mango Cheesecakes

The great thing about these easy recipes is that they taste great and they’re not dripping in sugar, saturated fat and calories.  In other words, your friends and family can feel good about eating them.  To make the spiced pecans, we use less sugar than most spiced nut recipes — but they’re still sweet enough for our taste — and there is less bad fat in our yummy mango cheesecakes thanks to the 1/3-less-fat cream cheese and light sour cream.  We hope you’ll tune in, and by all means, if you get a chance to try the recipes, let us know what you think of them.

Sugar & Spice Pecans

Sweet potato casserole is another vegetable side dish kids seem to want to eat. Years ago — 1996 to be exact — Liz found a recipe for Streusel Topped Sweet Potato Casserole in Cooking Light Magazine. She’s been making a version of that recipe ever since. Coincidentally, Janice found that same scrumptious side dish, and made her own recipe revisions for Thanksgiving (instead of folding in three beaten egg whites, she simply adds two whole eggs). Even though there are no marshmallows on top, we guarantee your guests - kids included - will gobble it up.

Streusel Topped Sweet Potato Casserole

Makes 12 Servings

Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine

• 3 pounds unpeeled sweet potatoes
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 teaspoon grated orange rind, optional
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 egg whites
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 ¼ cups finely chopped, unpeeled Granny Smith apple
• 1/2 to 1 cup toasted, chopped pecans
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Cook sweet potatoes in boiling water for 20 minutes or until tender. Let cool; peel and mash. Combine potatoes, orange juice, and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl and stir (orange zest, optional)
2. Beat egg whites (at room temperature) until soft peaks form. Add ¼ cup brown sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. Gently stir one-fourth egg white mixture into sweet potato mixture. Gently fold remaining egg white mixture into sweet potato mixture. Spoon mixture into 2-quart casserole coated with cooking spray and set aside.
3. To make the topping, combine apples, pecans, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a bowl and stir well. Spoon evenly over the sweet potato mixture. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until puffed. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

What’s your favorite Thanksgiving side dish? Feel free to share your ideas and recipes right here on our blog!

This week, Janice and I are attending the Mediterranean Diet Conference in Cambridge, MA sponsored by a group called Oldways. Fifteen years ago, I covered Oldways’ first Mediterranean Diet Conference for CNN (in my pre-Meal Makeover Mom life, I was a nutrition producer and reporter for CNN). Back in 1993 the group got together to talk about the taste and health benefits of eating the Mediterranean way - a lifestyle approach to healthful eating filled with fruits, vegetables, fish, beans, nuts and whole grains as well as olive oil, rich in good-for-you fats.

Some of the same people who spoke 15 years ago are at the meeting this week including cookbook author, Nancy Harmon Jenkins. I was excited to see Nancy because I’ve been cooking from her book, The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook, since before Josh was born! One of my favorite recipes in the book is Risotto Alla Zucca (Risotto with Pumpkin or Squash).

Whether you’re a huge fan of risotto - a rich and creamy, traditional northern Italian rice dish — or have never made it before, I think you and your kids will love Nancy’s recipe. Sometimes I use sweet potato instead of the squash.

Risotto Alla Zucca

Makes 6 to 8 Servings

(Adapted from The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook)

• 6 cups all-natural chicken or vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 medium yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced
• 1 small butternut squash, peeled and coarsely chopped, 2 to 3 cups
• 2 cups Arborio rice
• 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon salt or more to taste

1. Heat the broth to a bare simmer and keep simmering very gently while you prepare the risotto.
2. In a large Dutch oven or saucepan, gently sauté the onions in the oil over medium-low heat until the onions are thoroughly softened but not browned, about 15 minutes. Add the squash and stir well to coat the pieces with the oil. Cover and cook for 5 to 10 minutes or until the squash is soft enough to be broken up with a spoon. If the squash starts to scorch, add a little water or broth. The squash should be very soft, almost a puree.
3. When the squash is soft, add the rice and stir to mix well. Add a ladle or two of the simmering broth and stir. As soon as the rice has absorbed the liquid, add more, and continue adding simmering liquid, ladle by ladle stirring constantly. There should always be liquid visible in the pan. Do not add all the liquid at once; this will produce boiled rice or pilaf instead of risotto. The rice is done when it is al dente, with a bit of a bite in the center. Each grain should be well coated with brilliant yellow sauce, which should be dense and rather syrupy looking. When it is done, the risotto should be thick enough to eat with a fork. You might not need to use all the liquid. Total cooking time varies from 20 to 30 minutes.
4. When the rice is cooked, remove the pan from the heat and immediately stir in about ¼ cup of the cheese and the pepper. Let stand for 5 minutes or so, to settle the flavors, then taste and adjust the seasoning, adding salt as needed. Serve immediately and pass more cheese at the table.

By the way, the reason I’m at home right now posting to the blog rather than hanging out with Janice tasting olive oil is because Simon woke up sick today. Luckily Tim was able to come home from work this morning while I spoke at the conference (more on my talk as well as Janice’s when we post again later this week). In the meantime, if you have a traditional Mediterranean dish you and your family love - something from Greece, Morocco, Italy, Spain, etc - feel free to add it to the comments section of this post, and by all means, let us know if you try this recipe.

~ Liz

Clif Kid Organic Twisted Fruit:  Looking for a fun new snack to pack in your child’s lunchbox or backpack?  Your search is over.  Clif Bar is out with a new line of Twisted Fruit snacks.  They take real fruit - strawberry, pineapple, grape — and twist it into a rope shape.  It looks like licorice but is all natural and has no added sugar.

Food Should Taste Good:  Multigrain, sweet potato, olive, and even chocolate. Those are a few of our favorite Food Should Taste Good snack chip flavors.  The sweet potato chips were a big hit with our kids - something we appreciate given their 3 grams of fiber and 20% vitamin A per serving. 

PlumSweet:  Sunsweet is at it again with a new dried plum snack your whole family will love.  PlumSweets are scrumptious, bite-sized pieces of dried plums coated in rich, dark chocolate.  Yum!

Read more about some of the other healthy new food products at the show in the Chicago Tribune, and let us know what new kid-friendly snacks you have found at your local market.

On this particular trip, Simon had his sights set on soup (and cookies, of course). It seemed bizarre but he insisted on a Creamy Portobello Mushroom Soup - one of the all-natural soups from Imagine. I kid you not.

So that night, I took the soup, added a few nutritious ingredients to jazz it up, and presented “mud” with dinner to the delight of everyone.

Muddy Mushroom Soup

Makes About 5 Servings

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• One pound mushrooms, coarsely chopped
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• One 32-ounce carton Creamy Portobello Mushroom Soup
• 1 cup oyster crackers

1. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Add the soup and bring to a low boil, stirring occasionally. Serve in individual bowls and top with oyster crackers (look for trans-fat free oyster crackers from companies like Westminster Cracker Company or Trader Joe’s).

Nutrition Information per Serving: 160 calories, 7g fat (0g saturated), 360mg sodium, 19g carbohydrate, 3g fiber, 6g protein, 10% iron

While Simon ate it happily, Josh was a bit skeptical. That’s when I came up with the name, Muddy Mushroom Soup. In the end, Josh also gave it two thumbs up and said he really loved it. The only complaint from the boys and hubby Tim was that the soup needed more mushrooms — can you imagine kids actually asking for MORE vegetables!? (I originally made it with 10 ounces of mushrooms, but have since increased it to a pound — use the 10 ounces if you think your troops would prefer a bit less).

For more soup ideas, tune into this week’s Soups that Satisfy podcast. But before you leave our blog, feel free to share any of your own silly recipe success stories.

~ Liz

Though this recipe definitely featured what some might consider “adult” flavors — white wine vinegar, garlic, rosemary — Leah still loved it.  I did make a few minor tweaks to this recipe.  Instead of the juice of two oranges (which I did not have), I used about 3/4 cup orange juice.  And since I didn’t have any crème fraîche on hand, I used light sour cream.  By the way, on the side, we enjoyed mashed potatoes and roasted acorn squash. All around, I’d consider this a successful — and nutritious — family meal. 

We would love to hear some of your “adult food” success stories.  Have your kids ever surprised you by gobbling up a food you thought they would reject?  Do they routinely request a recipe that you thought was for “adults only?  We’re always on the lookout for new ideas so post your recipes and stories now!

~Janice

Tonight, we face one of the biggest nutrition challenges of the year: candy overload. Liz’s 13-year old son Josh has been scheming all week to collect as much candy as is humanly possible. His goal: to amass 200 pieces. Janice faces the same scenario, though Leah (AKA Hannah Montana) has slightly lower candy aspirations. Clearly, we’ll both have to set some limits (because after all, a diet of sugary candy is more than most dietitians can cope with)!

While surfing the blogisphere today, we came across an uber-clever post on AlphaMom.com to create an advent calendar designed to portion out Halloween candy over a month or more. Check it out! We’d love to hear how you tame the candy beasts in your house!

It’s not too late to listen to our recent Healthier Halloween podcast or read our Halloween tip sheet. Have a ghoulishly fun-filled evening.

Liz & Janice

We have so many cool things to share with you, but decided to start with a recipe for Cocoa Raisin Muffins.  We tasted this recipe at the California Raisin booth after meeting fitness trainer, Valerie Waters (if you go to the raisin website, you’ll find lots of Valerie’s easy-to-follow healthy living tips).  Anyway, despite the fact that we just got back to reality land, we tested & tweaked the recipe and infused some of our Meal Makeover Mom magic. 

These double-chocolate muffins are perfect for Halloween - whether you’re hosting a neighborhood party or just looking for a new muffin recipe to keep your little ghosts and goblins happy. 

Cocoa Raisin Muffins

Makes 24 Muffins

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1/3 cup 1% lowfat milk
• 1 cup California raisins
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil or coat 24 mini muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
2. Whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl.
3. Combine the applesauce, egg, oil, and milk in a medium bowl and stir until well blended. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir until just moistened.  Stir in the raisins and chocolate chips. The batter will be thick and “fudgy.”
4. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups (fill them generously).  Bake about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
5. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes.  Remove the muffins and cool an additional 5 minutes before serving.

Nutrition Information per Serving (2 mini muffins):   210 calories, 8g fat (1.5g saturated, 0.6g omega-3), 260mg sodium, 33g carbohydrate, 3g fiber, 4g protein, 10% iron

As you may know, we’re huge fans of chocolate - which is why this recipe caught our attention.  What also caught our attention were the raisins.  They offer an easy way to get more fruit into the family diet:  They’re portable, available year round, and kids naturally love them.

More news from our ADA adventures in upcoming posts this month!

In the spirit of full disclosure, we must admit that we couldn’t resist the urge to tweak the recipe just a tad. We added a finely diced red bell pepper, used lean ground beef (look for 90% lean or higher), a whole wheat blend pasta (whole wheat can be a bit of an overachievement so we compromise with the whole wheat blends from Barilla Plus … plus they’re really delish), and switched to part skim mozzarella.

The dish was incredibly easy to make and a definite winner as far as Leah was concerned. She actually gave us a really cool idea: For kids who pick out and eat the pasta first, you can use the savory meat sauce like a sloppy Joe and add it to a whole wheat hot dog or hamburger bun.

Skillet Pasta & Beef Dinner

Makes 5 Servings

• 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 1 medium red bell pepper, finely diced (about 1 cup)
• 1 pound lean ground beef (90% or higher)
• One 26-ounce jar pasta sauce (we like Light Ragu Tomato & Basil)
• 2 cups water
• 8 ounces dried whole wheat blend rotini (we like Barilla Plus)
• 1 cup preshredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (about 4 ounces)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, optional

1. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the bell pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 5 minutes
2. Add the meat and cook, breaking up the large pieces, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Drain excess fat.
3. Stir in the pasta sauce and water, raise the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Stir in the pasta and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender, about 15 minutes.
4. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese. Cover and let stand until the cheese melts, 5 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese as desired.

Nutrition Information per Serving: 410 calories, 10g fat (4g saturated, 0.3g omega-3), 620mg sodium, 46g carbohydrate, 6g fiber, 34g protein, 35% vitamin A, 70% vitamin C, 25% calcium, 15% iron

On a final note, our November 12 Cooking with the Moms radio podcast will feature the topic of Healthy Eating on a Budget so stay tuned.

Liz & Janice

Though we haven’t taken our kids to Starbucks yet to sample the new offerings, we suspect they’d like everything on the menu. In the meantime, we’ll continue to serve up breakfast every morning to our kids … and if either one of us happens to be too busy to sit down to a bowl of cereal, a waffle, or a smoothie, we’ll keep Starbucks in mind.

Liz & Janice

Janice, Liz, and Chrissy Redmond from Cone, who set up our tasting

By Liz: 

As some of you may know, we tend to raise an eyebrow (or two) when we see ingredients like partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, artifi cial flavor, and artificial colors — Red 40, Blue 1, Yellow 6 – on food product labels.  Those ingredients are often the norm in cake and frosting mixes, which busy moms and dads (and yes, even The Meal Makeover Moms) rely on from time to time.  Now, to the rescue, is a new line of oh-so-tasty all-natural cake and frosting mixes from a company called Naturally Nora. 

When Nora herself called me two weeks ago and sent along some samples, I donned my apron and got cooking.  With two party invitations and a promise to bring dessert, I first tried Nora’s Cookie Cookie Yellow Cake Mix with Bits of Chocolate Cookie and the Cheerful Chocolate frosting.  For party-number two, I baked Alot’a Dots Yellow Cake Mix with Bits of Color and the Alot’a Dots frosting.  The response from over a dozen kid taste testers a alot’a adults was overwhelmingly positive.  Not a crumb was left.  If you get a chance to try one of Nora’s mixes or any other all-natural products, let us know what you think it them.

We’re confident your kids – even if they’re averse to vegetables – will gobble up this naturally sweet side dish.  All of our children – Janice’s daughter’s Leah and Carolyn and Liz’s sons Simon and Josh – gave the new recipe two thumbs up.  That’s what we call “veggie success.”

Delicious Delicata Squash

Makes 4 Servings

• Two 1-pound delicata squash, cut in half lengthwise and seeded
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Generous pinch ground cloves
• Pinch salt
• 2 teaspoons unsalted butter, cut into four small pieces

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.  Place the squash halves, cut side up, in a glass baking dish.
2. Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and salt in a small bowl.  Top each squash half with the butter, and sprinkle with the brown sugar mixture.  Bake, uncovered, until the squash is very tender when tested with a fork, about 1 hour.

Nutrition Information per Serving: 70 calories, 2g total fat, 1g saturated fat, 75mg sodium, 14g carbohydrate, 2g fiber, 2g protein, 130% vitamin A, 25% iron

There are many creative ways to raise money for cancer. Last weekend, Janice walked in her fifth annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk. There, she met James Hilton — he’s the zany guy in the photo wearing a giant pink hairdryer — who founded www.myhairdryerforcancer.org. Through his organization, he gets celebrities to donate an autographed hairdryer and then auctions them off. Proceeds go to cancer research. How cool is that?!

On the tour, we saw how potato chips and Smartfood Popcorn are made, and we got to eat them warm as they came off the production line (incredibly yummy, if we must say so ourselves). We were impressed by the fact that Frito-Lay has reduced the saturated fat in its chips by switching to sunflower oil and that all its chips are trans-fat free. They even have a line of products called Pinch of Salt featuring lower sodium versions of their most popular snacks (we blogged about this on July 7, 2008).

It’s nice to know you can enjoy chips without all the guilt when you need a little crunch with your lunch! As with all snacks, keep an eye on those portion sizes!

As you can see, our blog has been redesigned and is housed on our own site, not on Blogspot.  We’ll still be blogging at least once a week to this new blog on MealMakeoverMoms.com.  We are anxious to hear what you think of all our changes!  Once you have had a chance to visit, please post your feedback right here on our blog. Happy surfing!

To hear our two additional interviews on snacks and lunch, cruise on over to Vicky and Jen’s website, and while you’re there, listen to their other 100 episodes on topics ranging from organizing your kitchen to traveling on a budget!

For years, children and parents have recited variations of this memorable chant, but what they don’t realize is that something in the lyrics is wrong - beans are a vegetable, not a fruit! While 3 out of 4 adults know the bean chant, only 1 in 4 know that beans are actually a vegetable. It’s time to set the record straight!

Lime ‘n Honey Black Bean Dip
Makes 6 to 8 Servings

One 15 ½ -ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup salsa
1/4 cup light sour cream
2 tablespoons lime juice (juice of 1 lime)
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1. Place the beans, salsa, sour cream, lime juice, honey, cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth and creamy.

2. Serve with baked tortilla chips or baby carrots.

Nutrition Information per Serving (1/4 cup): 60 calories, 0.5g fat (0g saturated fat), 180mg sodium, 13g carbohydrate, 3g fiber, 3g protein

If you have a favorite after-school snack idea you’d like to share, post it here on our blog!

Here’s my “recipe” for green beans:
1. Cut green beans into 1-2 inch lengths. Add a bit of water and cook in microwave for about 5 minutes.
2. In a small sauce pan, saute plenty of garlic in a little canola or olive oil. After the garlic is tender, add slivered almonds. Stir constantly until almonds are toasted.
3. Add cooked green beans and just a bit of chopped dried apricots. Mix well.
4. Serve sprinkled with feta cheese.

If your kids are screaming for ice cream, be sure to listen to our Cooking with the Moms podcast from August 6th. The theme is Frozen Treats, and during the show, we share three homemade popsicle recipes and a Super Sundae with Strawberries.  Try our sundae recipe and let us know what you think!

Super Sundae with Strawberries
Makes 1 Serving

One small scoop lowfat vanilla frozen yogurt or ice cream (about 1/3 cup)
Two strawberries, thinly sliced
Drizzle chocolate syrup
Drizzle caramel syrup
2 teaspoon toasted chopped walnuts or pecans
Small dollop light whipped cream

Spoon the ice cream into a bowl or parfait glass. Place the strawberries around the ice cream, drizzle with the chocolate syrup and caramel syrup, and sprinkle with the nuts. Garnish with a dollop of whipped cream.

Nutrition Information per Serving: 140 calories, 6g fat (2g saturated), 45mg sodium, 19g carbohydrate, 1g fiber, 3g protein, 35% vitamin C, 8% calcium

This summer, Andrea spent two weeks at Camp Medolark (www.Medolark.com) near Camden, Maine. On her way back to Connecticut, she stopped by the Moms’ “studio” and sat in on our Frozen Treats show. You’ll love hearing her talk about her adventures at camp (she got to take cooking classes!) and her thoughts on our Trio of Pops.

We hope you’ll listen in each week just like Andrea does! In the meantime, here’s a recipe for Watermelon Pomegranate Pops to whet your appetite for our August 6th podcast

Watermelon Pomegranate Pops
Makes 4 Servings

1 1/2 cups cubed seedless watermelon
1/2 cup Pomegranate blueberry juice

Combine the watermelon and juice in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into four 3-ounce popsicle molds and freeze until firm, about 3 hours. To remove the pops from the molds, run under warm water to loosen. If you don’t have popsicle molds, divide t he liquid between four paper cups. Cover each cup with foil, insert one craft stick through the center of each foil, and freeze.

* We like Minute Made Enhanced Pomegranate Blueberry Juice

Nutrition Information per Serving: 30 calories, 0g fat (0g saturated), 0mg sodium, 9g carbohydrate, 0g fiber, 0g protein, 15% vitamin C