Vegetarian Frito Pie: Why Can't Super Bowl Food Be Healthy?

Frito Pie in Santa Fe

My southern friends brag about their trashy Frito Pie, which often consists of greasy meat chili dumped over a bag of chips, lots of high fat cheese and sour cream.

That won't fly in my vegetarian household. We enjoy our trashy food, but we have to have a few healthier twists.

When my kids were little, they loved the canned Health Valley chili. I developed a recipe based on the favor profile:

Vegetarian Chili

2 T olive oil

1 yellow onion - diced

2 cloves garlic - crushed

1 tablespoon salt

2 cup dried pinto beans, rinsed 

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

2 carrots, diced

1/2 C textured vegetable protein (TVP)

1 T cumin

Freshly ground pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne (more if your kids like spicy food)

In a large saucepan add olive oil and add diced onions. Cook until onions soften.  Continue cooking while adding pinto beans, crushed garlic and 4 C water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and stir in salt. Cook for 1 hour, covered, then add tomatoes carrots, TVP and cumin and cook till carrots and beans are almost tender, about 45 minutes.

Stir in pepper and cayenne to taste, and add more salt if needed.

Serve over brown rice, with a dollop of tofu sour cream if desired.

It's also good with guacamole.

For Frito pie, pour Fritos into a large baking dish (11 x 9)

Top with chili, grate low fat cheddar on top and dot with tofu sour cream. Bake for 10 min at 350, until cheese is melted.

Healthy Breakfast on the Go: Reality vs Fantasy

Breakfast commercials often feature smiling families sitting down enjoying a freshly made meal, or at least slurping down a bowl of cereal, the kids with their hair combed and the mom in full make up.

The reality in our house is screaming over lost shoes, misplaced homework and coffee that just won’t drip through fast enough. The dog needs to pee, the litter box has to be scooped, a soccer uniform is dirty and no one picked up the dry cleaning.

Are we having fun yet?

So my kids grab whatever they can and run out the door.  Sometimes I have planned ahead and made relatively healthy muffins that they can pop in the microwave, but that is the kind of advance planning that would have also foreseen the dirty uniform, dry cleaning slips and overdue library books.

And maybe picked up some more coffee beans.

But for those crazy mornings, Garden Lites comes to the rescue. A new line of delicious frozen vegetable muffins, Veggie Muffins hit the trifecta - they are tasty, healthy and portable.

The muffins are also gluten free, low in calories and a good source of fiber.

And they take 35 seconds to heat up in the microwave- faster than you can say," did you find your homework, remember your gym shoes, take your lunch, bring an umbrella and oh no, step over here and avoid the puppy’s accident."

Consider the zucchini chocolate muffins. The first two ingredients? Zucchini, then carrots. One muffin has 50% of the RDA of vitamin A, and 40% of the iron. And they taste great.

My daughter loved these and I had to fight her for one post workout (much more satisfying than a granola bar).

The corn muffins don’t have quite as impressive a nutritional profile - but they are also not loaded with crap.

There are also a veggie berry oat and zucchini banana chocolate chip, both with zucchini as the first ingredient, and a carrot berry with carrots at the helm.

Veggie Muffins are sold frozen, but take about 4 hours to thaw, so they are great snacks for a road trip, or for teens who can’t stomach food first thing in the morning.

Luvo - Lots to Love

Luvo flatbreads

Finding healthy, frozen food can be like hitting the daily double: rare, but so satisfying. Luvo, a new entry into the frozen entree business, at least in the East Coast, hits the mark again and again.

Flatbreads come with whole wheat / flaxseed crusts, but they taste delicious, not virtuous. I tried the the Caramelized Onion & Mushroom Flatbread with Ricotta Cheese, which is a perfect dinner with a salad. My daughter also sampled the breakfast version, topped with ricotta, a touch of honey & apricot jam & chopped apple; for kids who get up too late to sit down for breakfast, this is a healthy breakfast on the go. There are also more combos, including an appealing sounding mushroom, egg and spinach version.

Unlike many prepared foods, the Luvo entrees are loaded with flavor, not salt. They are also made with no GMO ingredients.

And if, like me, you feel guilty about the excessive packing used in prepared foods, you can rest easy - the meals come in recyclable paper pouches that go from freezer to microwave to recycling bin.

If you aren’t a vegetarian, you can enjoy the hormone-free animal products. But anyone can savor the vegan whole grain pilaf, with quinoa, wheat berries, brown rice and kale.

Luvo meals are available in supermarkets and are a great idea when you travel - if your hotel room has microwave, you can healthy meals on the road. And now you can also have them in the air: Delta is serving them on West Coast shuttles and transcontinental flights to and from JFK, LAX, SFO and SEA.

Healthy Eating for Back to School

Urban legends abound about children who choose salads over brownies, but most kids, left to their own devices, will opt for the sugary, fatty option every time.

Even my children, raised as vegetarians – as they point out, ice cream and chocolate don’t have meat.

And as my youngest heads back to school, and we confront late sports practices, piano lessons and other afterschool activities, I start hunting for healthier convenience foods.

Kidfresh has a new line of frozen meals, with vegetables ‘hidden’ inside. The cheese quesadillas have carrots blended in and the ravioli tomato sauce includes butternut squash and carrots.

Even the chicken nuggets (which my niece sampled) have undetectable cauliflower mixed in.

Kidfresh also uses no artificial ingredients, flavors, colors or preservatives.

My kids are past the hiding vegetable stage, though I still make puttanesca sauce with a bunch of chopped spinach or kale. If you puree greens in a spicy tomato sauce, they take on the tomato/olive/hot pepper flavor and if anyone spies a little green, you can always say it’s parsley.

How do you hide vegetables in your kid’s food? Comment below for a chance to win a coupon for a free Kidfresh meal.

Healthy Smoothies

In New York City, where I live, calorie counts have to be posted at fast food outlets and chain coffee shops like Starbucks. Sometimes I am shocked to see the calorie count in a muffin or scone.

At least at Starbucks, a smoothie is a great choice, a blend of banana, strawberries, milk and protein powder.

But although Starbucks let’s you customize your milk, with nonfat or soy, they don’t have Lactaid. I can understand this; if you are lactose-intolerant, you can just use soy milk.

But my daughter prefers the taste of cow's milk. So at home, we use our blender to create smoothies using whole fresh fruit and Lactaid.

My secret is two-fold. I freeze overripe bananas (after peeling them – believe me, mentioning this step is important) and use those in the smoothies. The brownish bananas are much sweeter, and using them frozen means I can use less ice, and more milk.

Freezing bananas is also a great way to use up extra bananas that ripened too fast too eat - i keep them on hand for banana bread and a not-at-all-healthy but delicious chocolate peanut butter cake.

My smoothies are loaded with vitamins from the fruit and protein from the milk, so there’s no need to add protein powder.

Healthy Smoothie for one

½ frozen banana

3-4 strawberries, hulled

¼ cup Lactaid

2 ice cubes

Blend and enjoy.

You can also substitute peach, watermelon or mango for the strawberries.

Melissa d'Arabian showcased Lactaid’s versatility on the TODAY Show, with this recipe:

 http://www.today.com/id/52297933/ns/today-today_food/t/chicken-lactose-free-creamy-mushroom-sauce/#

Earth Day Eyelashes

In honor of Earth Day, I began my trial of a natural growth serum, Fysiko Eyelash Serum, for my aging eyelashes.

When men age, the effect on their hair is readily apparent; a receding hairline and/or bald spot. For women, the effect is more subtle. Hair may grow coarser, and a bit thinner, and formerly lush eyebrows become brittle and sparse.

I have been correcting this irritating problem with my eyelashes with ever-increasing globs of mascara, but this can give more a raccoon appearance. Fysiko Eyelash Serum is designed to enhance eyelashes and decrease your dependence on mascara.

The serum contains healthy ingredients like grape seed extract, ginseng root and chamomile, along with vitamin E, olive oil, thyme and soy protein. But it is not approved for pregnant women or nursing mothers, or girls under age 16.

I was able to wear my contact lens after applying the serum – I just waited about 10 minutes, until my eyelashes were dry. You can also apply the serum a second time at bedtime, after washing your face.

Although Fysiko Eyelash Growth Serum is expensive, the $139 tube lasts for 6-8 months. And think of the money you will save on mascara.

Check out more testimonials.