Trim Down Tuesdays: Q&A + Berries and Plum Granola Cobbler

Welcome to Trim Down Tuesdays with Karen Moreno, RD, CDN!  Each Tuesday Karen will post answers to questions that you, the readers, ask about diet and/or nutrition AND of course, she'll post one of her own recipes.
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Here's are the questions and answers for this week!

1. What is the most important meal of the day? Why? 

I know you’ve all heard this before, but BREAKFAST is the most important meal of the day. Even its name tells you that you are "Breaking the Fast." 

When you wake up in the morning after not eating for 7-8 hours, your body needs energy to fuel itself and start the day off right. After not eating all night, the first thing you want to do is rev up your metabolism. The wrong thing to do is actually skip breakfast because by doing this you are actually telling your body that you are starving it, therefore slowing down your metabolism. In this case your body feels like it needs to conserve energy so the next time you put something in your mouth, your body will STORE it instead of burning it off, exactly the opposite of what you want if you are trying to lose weight. Actually, when researchers looked at the eating patterns of people who maintained a weight loss in the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) they discovered that eating breakfast is a characteristic common to successful weight loss maintainers and may even be a factor in their success.

So what should you eat? 

Aim for about 300 calories for breakfast.

·      try some nonfat Greek yogurt with berries

·      an egg white omelet with veggies and whole wheat bread

·      oatmeal with some fruits, slivered almonds, and cinnamon

·      a bowl of cereal (Puffins Original and Kashi Go Lean are my favorites)

2. How much protein should a person have on a given day??  What are the advantages of protein for your body and diet?

The amount of protein a person needs varies depending on their weight. A good way to calculate your average protein needs is to take your weight, in kg (divide your wt in lbs by 2.2 to find out your wt in kg) and multiply by a range of .8-1.0. This is the estimated amount of protein you should eat daily.

Ex. 150 lb women (wt in kg=150/2.2=68.2kg x .8=54.6 g 68.2 x 1=68.2 g)

Her estimated daily protein intake should be between 54.6-68.2 g per day.

Protein is great because it can help fill you up. I always like to combine foods high in fiber and protein when choosing a snack. For example, an apple with peanut butter, string cheese with a piece of fruit, or turkey on a high fiber cracker, such as Finn Crisps. 

Just don’t forget that not all protein is created equally. While a rib eye steak and chicken breast both have high amounts of protein, don’t forget that with protein usually comes fat. The rib eye steak is higher in artery clogging saturated fats while the chicken breast is much lower in total fat and has very minimal amounts of saturated fats. Opt for lean proteins such as white meat chicken or turkey without the skin, lean meats that are less marbleized, fish, and vegetarian protein options such as tofu, quinoa, and beans.

Here's Karen's recipe for this week, each serving has under 200 calories! Terrific!

This is one of my favorite year round desserts, which makes it perfect for both fall and spring. In the summertime, I make it with whatever fresh fruits I can get my hands on: usually berries, plums, and peaches. In the winter I make it with pears, apples, and a ton of cinnamon. Besides for the health benefits from the fiber filling fruit, this recipe calls for canola oil instead of butter, which has only 1 g of saturated fat vs. 7g in butter (per tbsp), and the oats help contribute to your intake of whole grains and have also been shown to lower cholesterol. Now that we’re officially in spring, feel free to stick with a summertime version, move on to fall, or mix the two with a berry and apple version. Whatever kind you make, serve with vanilla ice cream, and this is one treat no one will turn down!  

Berries and Plum Granola Cobbler

Serves: 10

Total time: About 1 hour

Base

5 cups mixed berries, frozen or fresh

3 medium plums (or peaches, apples, or your favorite fruit), sliced, with the skin

Topping

1 ½ cups rolled oats

½ cup whole wheat flour

½ cup chopped walnuts and/or almonds [¼ CUP EACH]

¼ cup maple syrup

¼ cup canola oil

½ teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Spray the bottom of a 9” circular Pyrex with non-stick cooking spray. Pour all the fruit on the bottom of the Pyrex.  In a separate bowl, mix all the ingredients for the topping, except the cinnamon, until well incorporated. Mix with hands to get a more crumbly topping.  Pour topping evenly over the fruit and sprinkle the cinnamon on top.  Bake for 45-60 minutes, until the topping is golden brown and the fruit bubbles.  Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream. Some of my friends even love to have leftovers the next day in their Greek yogurt!

Nutrition content:

Per serving (2” slice, without ice cream): 175 calories, 21 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 4 g protein, 10 g fat

—Karen Moreno, RD, CDN

Apple Crisp

Here's another dessert for you!  This is a great dessert to bring to someone's house as a gift, especially if you put it in a nice baking dish they can keep after everyone eats it all up!  But don't forget the ice cream!!!

Apple Crisp

For the Crumb Topping:

1 stick unsalted butter or margarine, melted

1 cup flour

1/2 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar (light or dark is fine)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

For the Apple Filling:

5 apples, peeled and sliced thinly (Use any kind of apple or try a variety)

2 lemons, juiced

4 tablespoons sugar (You can mix white and brown sugar for this if you'd like, and feel free to add more sugar if you want the apples to be sweeter.)

3 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. To make the crumble, combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix with a fork until pea-sized balls form, set aside.  This can be done ahead of time. Place crumble topping in an airtight container and left in the fridge until you are ready to bake the apple crisp.

Place sliced apples in a bowl and pour half of the lemon juice over the apples to prevent discoloration.  Prepare the rest of the ingredients and pour over apple slices.  Using clean hands mix the contents of the bowl so that the apples are equally coated with all ingredients.  Pour apples into a baking dish and cover with the crumb topping. Bake apple crisp for about an hour or until the apples are fork tender and the crisp is golden brown around the edges. 

NOTE: You can use this recipe with any type of fruit crisp.  Try berry, pear, peach, plum, the options are endless!  If you like raisins try adding some in with the apples.  Or combine pears and apples together. Or apple and cranberries. You get what I mean I hope.  Enjoy!

Arugula and Apples with Honey-Apple Cider Vinaigrette

Remember The Meatball Shop??  Well this past weekend I traveled downtown to have some more of that delicious Arugula and Apple salad.  This time I was sure to find out a little about the dressing that makes this salad so amazingly delicious!  The secret ingredients are apple cider vinegar and honey.  I got this recipe from Martha Stewart.

Arugula and Apple Salad with Honey-Apple Cider Vinaigrette
(makes about 1 1/2 cups of dressing)
2 containers or bags of Arugula
3 Honeycrisp Apples, sliced thinly
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 shallot, minced
the juice of 1 1/2 lemons
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Slice apples thinly and place in serving bowl.  Squeeze the juice from 1/2 of a lemon on the apple slices to prevent browning. Place the arugula on top of the apple slices and set aside. DO NOT MIX ARUGULA WITH LEMON AND APPLES, it will wilt.

In a small bowl whisk together the honey, vinegar, shallot, and the juice of 1 lemon.  Slowly add olive oil while continuing to whisk, add salt and pepper to taste.  Pour over salad directly before serving.  Enjoy!

Safta's Apple Cake

Safta means grandma in Hebrew.  This is a recipe that has been in my family since I was little.  My grandma used to make it all the time, and I actually never liked it as a young child.  Now my grandma lives in Florida, so my cousin and mom have continued the tradition of making this cake. It's a family favorite for sure!!  I have gotten to like it as I've grown older, and now I am sharing it with you!  Hope you enjoy it as much as my family does!

Safta's Apple Cake
For the Dough:
2 sticks softened margarine (If you are Kosher make sure it's the Fleischman's Pareve Margarine)
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 egg
2 cups + 1 tablespoon all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until combined into a dough.
Spread half of the dough on the bottom of a well greased spring form pan (could be square or round).  To help spread the dough, grease your hands with non-stick cooking spray or vegetable oil to prevent the dough from sticking all over.  Try to make the bottom cake layer as even as possible.  Place the spring form pan and dough mixture in the food processor in the fridge while you prepare the apple filling.

For the Apple Filling:

4-5 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and grated using the food processor

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

1/4 cup flour, OR graham cracker crumbs, OR bread crumbs (to absorb apple juices while baking)

Use the food processor, fitted with a grating blade, grate the apples.  Place grated apples in a bowl along with sugar, lemon juice, flour, and cinnamon.  Mix until well coated.  Use your hands to squeeze out the juice from the apples and place on top of bottom dough layer.  Repeat this step until all the grated apples are evenly spread in the spring form pan.  

Get the dough from the fridge and with greased hands, spread the rest of the dough on top of the apples. Use a fork to poke holes in the cake to allow the steam escape while cooking. You can also use a knife to monogram the cake, like I did (see photo below) when I made this cake for a friend.   

Sprinkle top layer generously with sugar.  Place in oven and bake for about an hour or until golden brown.  Let cool slightly before taking a knife to loosen the edges of the cake from the pan.  Open spring form pan and use large spatula or knife to loosen bottom and slide onto serving platter.  Serve at room temperature, slice, and enjoy. 

Note: If there are leftovers the cake should be refrigerated.

A monogrammed cake makes a great gift to bring to someone's house for dinner!

My Safta's Charoset (My Grandma's Charoset)

About Charoset...(taken from Wikipedia)

Charoset, haroset, or charoses (Hebrew: חֲרֽוֹסֶת [ḥărōset]) is a sweet, dark-colored, chunky paste made of fruits and nuts served primarily during the Passover Seder. Its color and texture are meant to recall the mortar with which the Israelites bonded bricks when they were enslaved in Ancient Egypt. The word "charoset" comes from the Hebrew word cheres — חרס — "clay."

The charoset serves an ancillary function with maror on the Passover Seder Plate. Before eating the maror — in the present day generally horseradish or romaine lettuce — participants dip the maror into the charoset and then shake off the charoset before eating the maror. This action symbolises how hard the Israelites worked in Egypt, combining a food that brings tears to the eyes (the maror) with one that resembles the mortar used to build Egyptian cities and storehouses (the charoset).

Despite its symbolism, the charoset is a tasty concoction and is a favorite of children. During the Seder meal, it may be eaten liberally, often spread on matzah.

Growing up I never really liked charoset, I don't think I ate it. Never did....but now that I have an appreciation for food and all that jazz I have decided that I like the taste of it! And you guys know how much I love dates. So, my Safta, which means Grandma in Hebrew, has been making charoset for Passover like this for many years. I wanted to share the recipe with you all, I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does!

Safta's Charoset

(Makes 6 cups)

1 pound pitted dates

1 apple peeled and chopped into big chunks

1 1/2 cup walnuts

1 cup Manischewitz wine (if you are worried about the kids substitute grape juice, but I can't promise anything about the taste!)

1/3 cup agave nectar

1 tsp cinnamon

1. First you must soften the dates by placing them in a glass bowl and pouring boiling water over them. Let them sit in the water for about 10 minutes.

2. With a slotted spoon, fish out the dates and place them into the food processor along with the chopped apple, and walnuts. Process.

3. After blending for a few minutes, stop and scrape down the walls with a spatula. Add wine, cinnamon, and agave nectar and process until the mixture comes out smooth, see photo.

NOTE: If you feel it's needed you can feel free to add more dates, agave, cinnamon, apples, and walnuts. This recipe has always been done by taste, my safta's taste, and then my mom's taste, and now my taste! This is how I made it and I think it tastes pretty damn good!!! If you don't have the taste, follow the recipe and hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as my family does!