Recall Notice: Nature Valley Dark Chocolate Granola Thins

Don't open that box of Nature Valley Dark Chocolate Granola Thins if you are allergic to  peanuts! 

This is sort of a weird recall, because a simple (presumably mechanical) error could cause serious illness or even death.

According to a WalletPop article, some Nature Valley Dark Chocolate Granola Thins boxes were instead filled with its Peanut Butter Flavor Granola Thins. "The only item subject to this recall are 10-count boxes of Nature Valley Dark Chocolate Flavor Granola Thins with this date code: 05JUN2011 YO 12," stated the article.
As peanuts are not among the ingredients listed on the Dark Chocolate boxes, someone with a peanut allergy could eat them ... and peanut allergies can be fatal. So far, according to the Food & Drug Administration, "no reactions or illnesses have been linked to the recall." I pray that remains true.

Island Chicken with Pineapple and Roasted Sweet Potatoes

I'm winging it again in the kitchen. (Yes, that was a bad pun, but it could be worse. Trust me.) 

The chicken features tastes of the Orient (soy and sesame) with a hint of Hawaiian pineapple and a southern barbecue favorite, roasted sweet potatoes. Everything's cooked in the oven.
Island Chicken with Pineapple and Roasted Sweet Potatoes

While getting this ready, scrub, and put two skinny sweet potatoes (about 6 oz. each) in a preheated 370-degree oven for 20 minutes. (Make sure you stab them a couple of times with a steak knife so they won't explode and place in a small pan with a small baking rack in it to let them drip without messing up the oven, but don't cover them.)

Marinate 1 1/2 pounds of thinly sliced chicken (the kind I usually pan fry): in the following marinade for 5-10 minutes.

Marinade:
1/2 a medium-sized lime, juiced
Grated lime zest, if desired (I didn't do that this time)
a few drops of sesame seed oil
3 TBSP olive oil
about two TBSP. pineapple juice from a freshly-cut pineapple. (You can buy it cored and ready to slice.)
5 sprays of Bragg Liquid Aminos (if you don't have this, you may substitute 1/2-1 tsp. of light soy sauce). Just don't include any salt in the next step.

Put the following spices on both sides of the meat: a pinch of salt, ground pepper to taste (preferably freshly-ground mixed peppercorns) and a dash of McCormick's Perfect Pinch Roasted Garlic and Red Pepper.

Mix marinade ingredients thoroughly in a 9" by 12" glass oven-safe dish; place chicken in marinade for 2 to 5 minutes; turn and marinate for 3 to 5 minutes more. It's cooked in the marinade to create a light sauce.

Cover dish with foil and place in a preheated 325-degree oven for 35 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center (check it by cutting the thickest piece in the center). 
Spoon a couple of teaspoons of sauce over chicken; serve it with the pineapple and baked sweet potato.

Next time I make this recipe, I plan to brown the chicken slightly by taking the foil off for the last three to four minutes.

Website Review: Self.com

One of the best listing of snacks ever was one I found on Self.com. It can be accessed here, and has a ton of sidebar links to explore.

This magazine isn't just about the new diets and exercise, though. It has an advanced recipe search feature, a beauty and style section and community forums.

Self.com promotes a healthy way of life in general by making all these things just one click away.

From recipes and menus, to blogs and articles about food and diet; this site has it all.

My favorite food on the snack list, by the way, is the Back to Nature Honey Graham Sticks.

Berry Good Fruit, Nut and Veggie Salad for One

As promised a while ago, I have made a salad with a lot of fruit and veggies, but the star, of course, are the berries. I suspect this would also be good with thawed and drained frozen fruit. Use organic if you can; there's a real taste difference, particularly in the berries and the cherry tomatoes.

Berry Good Fruit, Nut, and Veggie Salad for One

5 large strawberries, washed, hulled and quartered
1/4 C. blueberries, washed and stemmed
10 grapes, washed, stemmed and halved
5 small cherry or grape tomatoes, washed and halved
4 large leaves of romaine, washed and drained, torn into small bite-size pieces
1 oz. crumbled blue cheese
1 oz. chopped pecans
Bacos (if desired - to taste)

Take romaine; wash and drain it (either by using a salad spinner or shaking it). Gently tear into bite-sized pieces into a large salad bowl. Wash, hull and quarter strawberries; scatter evenly on salad. Wash and stem blueberries and grapes, halve grapes and put on salad between strawberries. Wash and halve cherry/grape tomatoes and put on salad. Top with chopped pecans and crumbled blue cheese. If desired, sprinkle Bacos on top.

Use your choice of salad dressing. (Sometimes I make a dressing and sometimes I use what's in the frig.) I prefer either fat-free honey mustard, blue cheese or a low-fat, somewhat weak vinaigrette dressing on this salad.

A Collection of Recipes to Try

I haven't been doing nearly as much cooking as I want to be and thus have been collecting an incredible number of healthy recipes that I'm holding in reserve to review (and probably change out a bit here and there).



Two such recipes are from Alyssa Yeager at Kitchen La Bohème I love reading her blog; she's a very creative person on a mission to eat healthy and primarily vegetarian and vegan. I totally respect that, but I'm not sure I could give up eating my mom's pot roast and meatloaf (or bacon with my eggs). The links to Alyssa's blog entries are below:

EASY DELICIOUS VEGAN Pumpkin Spice Loaf with Maple Glaze
VEGANIZE IT Turkey Cutlet Sandwiches with Smoked Paprika Mayo and Roasted Bell Peppers


Last night, I also saw a re-run of Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals, which featured an intriguing "pizza." Why is "pizza" in quotes? Simply because its base isn't dough, but a portobello mushroom cap. I love mushrooms on my pizza. I think I also could learn to like pizza on my mushrooms by making her Portobello Pizzas recipe. I also liked the looks of Proscuitto with Pears and Arugula, another recipe in the same episode.

If anyone makes these recipes before I do, let me know how they turned out.

By the way, it appears The Rachael Ray Show is moving to ABC as of tomorrow, which I didn't realize until I didn't see her in her usual 11 a.m. NBC slot and did some research on the Web. I don't watch TV all that much, so I guess I missed the memo.

Product Review: EnviroKids' Organic Koala Crisp cereal

I loved Rice Krispies and Cocoa Crunch cereals as a kid. As an adult, I have become concerned about the preservatives (and other undesirable ingredients, such as corn syrup) that randomly appear where they don't need to be ... such as in my cereal and wanted something that would be a good substitute.

A few years ago, I went through a phase where I did nearly all of my grocery shopping at either Whole Foods Market or Better Health Market. I was trying an elimination diet to see if gluten bothered me, so I was on a mission to find a cereal which didn't include it.

I bought a couple of other cereals with it. The buckwheat flakes weren't a notable success (although they did taste better when I put raisins in the bowl, too). The puffed rice needed serious sugar and milk to be edible. But EnviroKidz Koala Crisp Cereal by Nature's Path Foods was full of chocolaty goodness.
On the website, it's listed as being "Made with love and ...It's a little too good; actually, it's hard to eat just one serving. This fact led to my first major cereal mix in conjunction with the unsweetened puffed rice. (Try it with 2/3 Koala Crisp and 1/3 puffed rice and your choice of milk or milk substitute.)

Organic brown rice flour, organic evaporated cane juice, organic cocoa, natural chocolate flavor, sea salt, organic molasses.

Product Review: Jelly Belly® 100-calorie packs

I was delighted to hear that earlier this year Jelly Belly® had entered into the 100-calorie pack war. I learned to love them when my best friend, whose husband was stationed at Great Lakes with the Navy at the time, worked fro the factory in Chicago.

Even the sugar-free kind taste better than the same old jelly beans in a bag that get scattered through Easter baskets. I was less enthused to hear that some of them had caffeine in them. (I do not need caffeine in my jelly beans, personally.)

Limiting the amount of jelly beans is a great idea, but I think that 100-calorie packs, are, in general, incredibly overpriced.

If you can't find the 100-calorie Jelly Belly® packs, which I understand were being sold singly, why not get one of the larger containers of them or bulk Jelly Belly® beans (available in a number of places, including bulk food sections of various markets)? Put enough different kinds in your bulk bag to be interesting. Wash and dry your hands well when you get home, and put enough jelly beans to be equal to the 100-calorie mark (or 2 Weight Watcher Points). If using the bulk jar, put the packs back into it.

For those people who are all about convenience, and won't bother with that idea, these 100-calorie packs or the small boxes you sometimes see are fine; whatever works for you!