I’ve been having great fun looking through recipes and settling on our Thanksgiving menu. Of course, I can’t help but keep it healthy and clean eating.  I’m working from the notion that any of us can create a delicious, healthy and clean eating meal without having to add tons of calories that taste good going down but don’t feel so great when they morph into extra pounds. 

This past month I came across a recipe for sweet potato pie ice cream that is so simple and delicious that you’ll hardly believe it! It appears in the current issue of Clean Eating Magazine, one of my favs.  It’s only contains a handful of ingredients and uses only natural sweeteners and tastes like, well, sweet potato pie!  I made it for my most recent Good Morning Connecticut segment on WTNH earlier this month and it was a hit with Steve and the crew.

I adapted it just a bit after my first go round (it was a bit sweet for me so I reduced the maple syrup). You can have fun with this and make it your own. It’s the perfect way to mix up Thanksgiving with a new twist that’s healthy too.  Keep in mind that it takes a little pre-planning as you need sufficient time to freeze the ice cream.

Sweet Potato Pie Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 large sweet potato, peeled and sliced into 1/2″ pieces
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
2 cups unsweetened oat milk (available at the health food store)
1/2 cup raw honey
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place sweet potato pieces on a foil lined baking sheet (for easy clean up) and pour maple syrup over sweet potatoes to coat evenly.  Bake for 30-60 minutes until tender.

2. Remove from oven and then transfer to refrigerator to let soften further.

3. Put sweet potatoes in food processor and puree until creamy. Then add oat milk, blend a little longer and add remaining ingredients.  Blend until smooth and creamy, about 4 minutes (I tried this in both the Vitamin and food processor and this is so much easier in the food processor as the Vitamix is too deep).

4. Pour into a square metal cake pan and freeze for 12 hours, until solid.

I found that the ice cream needed a good 10-15 minutes to soften up before serving.  Once it isn’t so cold, it’s a whole lot creamier!

Give it a try and let me know what you think about this clean eating treat.

I’m a sucker for sweet potatoes in particular, with pumpkin and butternut squash as close runners up.  All of these are staples of a clean eating diet in our household.

This is one of my favorite recipes that’s hearty and super healthy. I adapted the recipe from something I saw many years ago.  I was looking through my recipes the other day and when I saw it, I made a beeline to the farmers’ market to pick up some just picked items which I included in it. You’ll love the creaminess of this soup although it has minimal butter. And you can surely substitute olive oil in its place.

Roasted Sweet Potato Bisque Soup

Serves 6

4 sweet potatoes baked, about 2 pounds
4 tbsp. butter or olive oil
2 gloves garlic, minced
6 -6 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup onion, chopped
2 cups green cabbage, chopped in 1 inch pieces
2 large parsnips, peeled and chopped
4 cups chopped Swiss Chard, kale, spinach or collard greens

Seasoning Mix:

2 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. dill weed
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. ground sage
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. white pepper

Directions:

1. Combine the seasoning mix in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Roast the sweet potatoes in a 350 oven for approximately an hour until tender.  Let cool, scoop out of skins and puree in the food processor or with a hand blender.
3. In a large soup pot, melt the butter or olive oil and then add the sweet potato puree, garlic and 2 tbsp of the seasoning mix.  Cook for 8 minutes stirring frequently (it can easily stick!).
4. Add 4 cups of the broth and continue to stir frequently until thickened, 5-6 minutes.
5. Add two more cups of the broth and then add the onion, cabbage, parsnips and greens.
6. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes until the parsnips are cooked. Be sure to stir frequently to avoid sticking. 
7. Add the remaining broth, if needed.
8. Serve and enjoy!

Give the recipe a spin and let me know what you think!

And tell me about your favorite fall root veggie soup that you just can’t get enough of in your clean eating routine.

One of the things I like best about clean eating is that a few simple ingredients blended together can make a delicious meal that can be super easy.  I routinely like to keep it simple with the freshest ingredients. Make it a one pot meal and it’s even better – less mess in the kitchen.

The inspiration for this recipe came from Clean Eating Magazine.  Awhile back I had seen a recipe with black eyed peas and collard greens but I wasn’t so wild about the potatoes.  I actually was looking for it recently, couldn’t find it and put together what I thought sounded good, with some additions and changes.  It was absolutely delicious and it’s so basic that I can see making this pretty regularly in my meal planning routine.

You’ll love this clean eating recipe because it’s so fast, you have it made in about 30 minutes. And with greens, beans and sweet potatoes, it’s brimming with a whole host of nutrients your body needs.  I love that it features so many complex carbohydrates and it will keep your energy up for hours.

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 32 oz. carton low sodium vegetable broth
2 cups water
2 medium sweet potatoes, diced
1 bunch collards greens, chopped
15 ounce can black-eyed peas (I like Eden Organic)
14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes (I love Muir Glen, all organic)
½ tsp. dried oregano
½ tsp. dried rosemary
Sea salt and fresh pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil until soft, about 5-7 minutes.
2. Add broth, water and sweet potatoes, bring to a boil and simmer for about 10 minutes.
3. Add black-eyed peas, tomatoes, collards greens, oregano and rosemary and simmer until collards are tender, approximately 10-15 minutes.
4. Season with salt and pepper.

What’s your favorite way to combine beans and greens in a soup? Have other ideas for a quick and delicious soup that’s healthy? Do tell!

Holidays are the perfect time to throw our healthy eating out the window, kicking diets to the curb. We often eat without awareness, tend to consume a lot more calories than we usually might, can ignore intuitive signs that we’re full and can rationalize eating high fat foods. Ring a bell?

But when it comes to holiday cooking, all it takes is a little forethought to make food taste great without adding unnecessary calories. Here are a few simple tips to keep your Thanksgiving cooking healthy and low fat but packed with flavor.

• Use chicken broth and fresh herbs in dishes to add flavor
• Focus on roasting and baking instead of frying
• When making green beans – instead of using bacon , add toasted sesame seeds — less fat and lots of flavor
• When making sweet potatoes or other favorite sides dishes - use pure maple syrup or agave nectar as a sweetener instead of sugar or marshmallows (I never did understand the appeal of sweet potatoes with marshmallows anyway!)
• Stuffing – use whole grain bread for a healthier twist than white bread
• Substitute olive oil for butter in recipes

What are you favorite ways to add flavor but stay on track with healthy eating when the holidays roll around? Share your ideas below and have a happy Thanksgiving!

When Thanksgiving rolls around, it’s easy to kick our diets to the curb, gain weight and forget all that we know about healthy eating. Sound familiar? But with a little creativity and some planning ahead, it’s possible to create healthy and delicious Thanksgiving dishes to accompany all that turkey.

One of my favorite side dishes is roasted sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are high on my list of all time favorite vegetables and at this time of year, they’re in season and delicious, especially when locally grown. I love that sweet potatoes are so good for us, brimming with important nutrients and providing a source of long lasting energy.

Knowing me, you can guess that my recipe forgoes all the less than healthy, full-of-fat-and-calories ingredients — sugar, marshmallows, and butter, just to name a few  Instead, I sweeten them only with fresh orange juice and a few spices. Bruce swears by them and so do I — they’re part of our fall/winter routine, not just at Thanksgiving but during the course of many weeks.

So enjoy this simple, quick and delicious recipe that will have your waistline thanking you when all is said and done – a simple and healthy way to stay on track during these days of holiday overindulgence.

Check out the recipe below and let me know what you think. And less us know you’re favorite way to enjoy sweet potatoes

Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Makes 6-8 servings

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 1 Hour

Ingredients:
4 pounds sweet potatoes, scrubbed
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tbsp. pure maple syrup (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prick the sweet potatoes with a fork, place on a baking sheet and roast for approximately 1 hour, or until tender. Remove and let cool.
2. Scoop sweet potatoes from skin and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the orange juice, cinnamon and nutmeg.
3. Either mash by hand, put in a food processor or use an immersion blender to mix, removing lumps until a smooth consistency.
4. For sweeter potatoes, add the maple syrup.
5. Warm up in the oven or microwave and enjoy.

But there’s fun and adventure, not to mention tasty treats, in veering off the traditional breakfast path. I personally get tired of eating the same old things and benefit from variety. But I also try really hard to start my day with some mix of fruits and vegetables. Why? Well the latest research suggests that we should be getting anywhere from 7-13 servings of fruits and vegetables everyday. That’s no easy feat given the standard American diet!

Today’s a great example of mixing it up. I had a salad of fresh organic greens and half an avocado drizzled with a little olive oil and vinegar. A salad for breakfast? You got it! And guess what? It was delicious. The avocado contains heart healthy fat that’s so much better for us than say, cream cheese. And fat adds so much flavor so it tasted rich and creamy. So imagine, that alone was about 3 servings right there. And for a mid-morning snack, I had a small serving of mashed sweet potatoes that I cooked a few days ago. I just LOVE sweet potatoes and they’re full of complex carbohydrates for lasting energy. And you know what, this kept me satisfied until lunch.

 What do you eat for breakfast? Is it as healthy as possible? What can you add or change to create a healthy breakfast that gives you lasting energy? And how can you starting eating more fruits and vegetables? Share your thoughts here.

PS If you’re feeling stuck in the fruit and vegetable department, talk to me about a product I love and take everyday myself – Juice Plus, it’s raw, organic fruits and vegetables in a capsule form. Click here to check it out.

Ingredients:
4 pounds sweet potatoes, scrubbed
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tbsp. pure maple syrup (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prick the sweet potatoes with a fork, place on a baking sheet and roast for approximately 1 hour, or until tender. Remove and let cool.
2. Scoop sweet potatoes from skin and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the orange juice, cinnamon and nutmeg.
3. Either mash by hand, put in a food processor or use an immersion blender to mix, removing lumps until a smooth consistency.
4. For sweeter potatoes, add the maple syrup.
5. Warm up in the oven or microwave and enjoy.

Sweet potatoes are chock full of important vitamins and minerals that we need to keep us healthy. They have abundant amounts of Vitamins A and C , antioxidants that can help reverse free radical damage. In addition, they contain potassium, iron, fiber, and other nutrients.

Because they are complex carbohydrates, they slowly release in our system, giving us long lasting energy. Some studies show that sweet potatoes are an important ingredient in managing blood sugar levels. In fact, sweet potatoes are a great way to tame a sugar craving. As with all root vegetables, when you roast them, they naturally become sweeter. So instead of reaching for a sugary snack, a serving of sweet potato fries is a great alternative when you have an afternoon hankering.