healthy eating recipe

Many years ago—dating back to those good old college days, I chanced upon my then flatmate and up-to-now bestbuddy, preparing several batches of what looked like peanut cookies. Seeing that she wasn't reading any recipe, I thought she has been baking them ever since. But I was wrong. Instead of moist, chewy peanut cookies, what came out were flat, golden brown disks so hard that they could cause a concusion when thrown at someone's unfortunate head. If only my friend had followed this peanut cookie recipe from www.about.com, she wouldn't have thrown so much money and effort making those discs instead of delectable peanut cookies.

Peanut Cookies

Ingredients:

1 egg
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped roasted peanuts

Procedure:

1.With a hand mixer, beat the egg and sugar together.
2.In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, and soda.
3.Add to egg mixture, alternating with oil.
4.Put in the vanilla and peanuts last. Stir.
5.Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet.
6.Bake for 6-8 minutes at 375 degrees.
7.Serve with milk or any warm beverage of your choice.

When it comes to kids, serving veggies has never been easy. Whether it's the appearance, smell, or taste; it has always been a common case whereby moms had to use tremendous amounts of creativity in cooking, just so that they could make their little ones eat these very important nutrition sources. As a kid, I too disliked veggies. However, whenever my mom would conceal them by wrapping them in springrolls, I was more than willing to devour my share that I often end up eating too many of them.

Springrolls Stuffed with Stir-Fried Veggies

Ingredients:

2 cups mung bean sprouts washed, tails removed
1 carrot washed, peeled, and cut into thin strips
1 onion sliced
2 sweet potatoes washed, peeled, and cut into strips
1 cup green beans washed, stringed, and cut into 1-inch diagonal pieces
salt and pepper
¾ cup canola oil
20 pieces springroll wrappers

Procedure:

Filling:
1.In a skillet or wok, heat a tablespoon of canola oil.
2.Put in the onions and cook until translucent.
3.Add the sweet potatoes and then a little bit of water.
4.Cover and let cook until potatoes are half-cooked.
5.Add in the carrots and green beans. Cover for 5 minutes.
6.Put the mung bean sprouts last and then season with salt and pepper.
7.Stir-fry for a couple of minutes before covering. Let cook for another minute.
8.Remove from skillet/wok and set aside to cool.

Making the Rolls:
1.Separate the spring roll wrappers.
2.For each wrapper use 2 tablespoonfuls of veggie filling.
3.To roll, first, fold the top and bottom horizontally.
4.Starting from one side, roll until all wrapper is used. Secure the edges using a little water or water 2 tablespoons of water mixed with a tablespoon of cornstarch.
5.Set aside.
Frying the Rolls:
1.Heat remaining canola oil in deep fryer.
2.When hot, fry the rolls, making sure that theres' some space for each one to fry evenly.
3.Fry each side until golden brown.
4.When done, transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain excess oil.
5.Serve warm with a dip made of vinegar, sugar, crushed garlic and freshly cracked black pepper.

Stir-fried vegetables Chinese style is the easiest, fastest main dish anyone can whip up anytime. Requiring a few easy-to-find ingredients, mostly veggies found in your local grocery, and a little bit of this and that and some ordinary spices, you can already serve an uber-nutritious viand that can be made in as little as 10 minutes.
Definitely one of my favorite dishes to cook, especially when I'm too pooped out to make something elaborate, quick veggie stir-fry dishes go best with steamed rice, a serving of store-bought rotisserie chicken, and ice-cold tea mixed with fresh orange juice and some honey. Enjoy!

Quick Veggie Stir-Fry

1 head broccoli divided into florets
1 whole carrot peeled and julienned
11/2 cups green beans, stringed and cut into ½ inch diagonal pieces
1 white onion sliced
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper

Ingredients:

1.Melt the butter in the wok and then add the olive oil quickly to keep the butter from browning.
2.Stir in the sliced onions and cook until translucent.
3.Add in the carrots and green beans plus just enough water to keep the dish from getting dry.
4.Cover for three minutes.
5.Afterwards, put all the broccoli florets and continue stir-frying for a couple more minutes.
6.Season with salt and pepper to taste.
7.Stir and then serve hot.

It's a good thing they are now selling fish fillet at the local grocery. Before, it took pains to fillet a fish, and to think that the preparation of the actual dish itself is relatively simple. These days, whenever I feel like preparing a fish dish, I need only to go to the nearby grocery and get a pack of fish fillet. Using just a few simple ingredients and requiring less than 20 minutes to cook, it makes an excellent, nutritious, and light dinner for the whole family. One of my favorites is this simple steamed fish fillet dish below.

Steamed Fish Fillet with Soy Sauce

Ingredients:

¼ kilo fish fillet
¼ cup of light less-sodium soy sauce
¼ cup fish or chicken broth
1 piece ginger cut into thin strips
1 stalk Welsh onions sliced
8-12 pieces peppercorns
1 teaspoon canola oil
salt and pepper


Procedure:
1.Rinse the fish with clean water and pat dry. Rub with a little salt and pepper and then set aside.
2.Ready the steamer. Steam the fish for 20 minutes or until flaky. Be careful not to overcook it or else the fish would become dry.
3.When cooked, set the fish aside.
4.In a sauce pan, heat the oil
5.Cook the ginger in oil for a minute.
6.Add in the broth and then the soy sauce.
7.Let simmer for five minutes.
8.Crack the peppercorns and season the sauce with it.
9.Before turning off heat add the sliced Welsh onions.
10.To serve, arrange fish fillet on a platter. Pur the sauce over the fish and serve hot with steamed rice.

Side dishes need not be complicated. Without spending too much time in the kitchen, you can easily whip up a simple yet very nutritious side dish in as little as 10-15 minutes. One good and nutritious veggie side dish to try is this simple squash patties. Made with only six ingredients, this makes a perfect accompaniment to meat or fish dishes with some rice.

Simple Squash Patties

1 whole squash grated
½ cup flour
2 eggs beaten
2 stalks green onion leaves, finely chopped
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup canola oil for frying

Procedure:
1. Place the grated squash in a bowl.
2. Put in the eggs and flour.
3. Add in the chopped green onions.
4. Season with the salt and pepper. Mix well.
5. Meanwhile, heat oil in a frying pan.
6. Drop by the spoonful and then flatten with the back of the spoon to form small patties.
7. Cook each side until golden brown.
8. When done, transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain excess oil.
9. Serve warm with your favorite sauce, catsup, or mayonnaise.

Bored with the usual egg dishes? Here is one delicious egg dish to try!

Tuna Stuffed Eggs

12 hardboiled eggs, peeled and halved
¾ cup flaked tuna(in vegetable oil or water), drained
½ onion
½ carrot
1 fresh egg beaten
1 cup flour or seasoned bread crumbs
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
½ cup canola oil for frying

Procedure:

1. Scoop out the yolks from the hardboiled eggs and place them in a bowl. Set aside the hollowed out white parts of the eggs.
2. Mash the yolks with a fork. Put in the tuna and continue mashing until tuna is reduced to very small flakes.
3. Add in the onion, carrot, salt and pepper. Mix well.
4. Start assembling the eggs by stuffing the hollows with the tuna filling. Set aside.
5.Put the egg and seasoned bread crumbs/flour in separate dishes.
6. Heat the oil.
7. One by one, dip each egg half in the beaten egg mixture before rolling on the bread crumbs. Make sure that each egg half is coated well.
8. Place in hot oil and fry until golden brown.
9. When cooked, put eggs on a dish lined with paper towel to drain excess oil. Serve hot with some pickles or kimchi.

Sweet, juicy, succulent, with an irresistible aroma and golden appearance; it comes as no surprise why mango is touted as the “queen of fruits.” Served a la carte or mixed with other ingredients to make a delectable dessert, it has never failed to please the palate, especially mine. Unconsciously, I never realized how madly in love I am with mangoes until my cousin pointed out that all the desserts I serve during family gatherings include them. Although true, I don't think anyone who has ever had a taste of any of my treats ever complained. What with the delicious sweet taste of this queen of fruits, who could resist? Here is one of my faves, whose recipe I got from www.samartfoods.com.

Mango Fool

3 cups pureed mango, strained

1 tablespoon lime/lemon juice

½ cup granulated sugar

3 cups chilled whip cream, whipped until stiff peaks formed

mango strips for garnish

Procedure:

1.Combine the mango puree with the lime/lemon juice and sugar. Chill for an hour or two.
2.Before serving, fold the chilled mango mixture with the whipped cream. Fold lightly so that the puree mixture and the whipped cream retain their distinctiveness.
3.Spoon into pretty glasses or flutes. Top with mango strips. Serve immediately.