Honey and Pistachio Stuffed Dates

This post is going to be short and sweet. And when I say sweet, I mean it. I found this recipe for stuffed dates online and I wanted to simplify it (as in really simplify) so I could give it out at work. People loved it at work, so I made it for some guests over the weekend. This could pass as a dessert or appetizer and can be made in 45 minutes. I know this might sound like a lot of time, but you can watch TV or listen to the radio while you are relaxing in the kitchen and making these. It's calming, really.

What you will need:

Salted and shelled pistachios (a typical 6-ounce bag)
~40-50 large dates (large Medjool dates work best)
~1/4 cup honey

What you will do:

1. Chop the pistachios

2. Add the honey to the pistachios and mix until the pistachio pieces stick together relatively well (well enough to stuff into the dates)

3. Pit the dates and stuff them with the honey and pistachio mixture.

Seriously, this recipe is too delicious not to make. You could put these out with a cheese tray, or serve them with some vanilla ice cream. Whatever you do, I don't care, make this (someone at work told me this was the best thing they had eaten all year)!

And now on to the dreaded new year's resolution........

I've been writing some posts on my recommendations for new year's resolutions, for other people (more to come this week and next), but have yet to declare my own. The reason for that is simple; I don't think you really care. I'll be honest, I don't really care what yours are, so I figure no one cares about mine. However, since I still continue to read posts about people's declarations of new years resolutions, I figure you might continue reading this one, so I'll go ahead and tell you mine; First, I resolve to do yoga twice a week, and get my arms nice and toned for my September wedding (so far I've been doing well with this) and my second resolution is to do a triathlon next year. Remember my biathlon this year? This year I'm going to swim too! Yikes.

There, it's in writing, now I must do them.

Enjoy the rest of your week everyone!

Happy Fourth?

I know it's June 30th, but really quick.....where did 2011 go!? Just think, in 2.5 seconds it will be the 4th of July. That's how fast time goes by lately. I feel like I was just making new year's resolutions.

Speaking of resolutions, who is still going strong? I am, for the most part, but I'm still working on a few things:


1) Not eating as much at night. I'm eating less, but I'm still eating more than I should (calories, that is). With my increased intake of beer during the summer (often one-half or one 12-ounce beer) it's more difficult to control the mindless nighttime snacking. But in reality, nothing I put in my mouth is mindless, which is what helps keep me successful in eating healthy and staying slender.


2) Decreasing my caffeine intake. I'm down to only 300 mg caffeine per day (the max you should consume is about 400mg) . My goal is to get down to 200 mg, but I never want to stop drinking coffee (read this article about coffee and Alzheimers), I'll just add more decaf and less regular.


3) Stop nagging as much. I'm really working hard on this one. Nick and I have been under some stress lately (as I'm sure most people have), some good, some not so good, and I tend to get more snappy during these times. I'm really trying to just stop, breathe and react with love.




What are you doing to celebrate July 4th?

Grilling?


In our part of town, the Fourth of July starts today, actually. I don't work today, but will be working Friday and Saturday. Then on Saturday night Nick and I are having our party. On Monday, the actual fourth, Nick and I will relax (clean!) and watch the fireworks at night.

I have been telling my clients that they don't need to deprive themselves at summer cookouts, but I do believe there is an appropriate way to fill your plate;

Source: ChooseMyPlate.gov

I found this (below) in my photos from last year. Yikes. I surely didn't practice what I preach (there is a burger under that cheese and tomato)! But hey, I did include a nice slice of tomato on there. One-quarter of a cup, it counts for something, right?! I think that was my first plate, actually. I took a day off from eating plenty of fruits and veggies, and I'll probably do it again on Saturday. I do know I'll have some veggies and dip, fruit and baked beans (with Beano), so those have to count for something!

Random Tips for the Fourth

- Don't forget to be food safe! Here are ten great summer grilling food safety tools to get you ready for grilling season.


- If you are looking for some great 4th of July recipes, check out AllRecipes.com's 4th of July recipes


- Looking for some pointers on making your holiday plate a bit healthier? Check out this article with helpful tips form dietitian Ellie Krieger.


- My tip is to make friends with the fruit tray, and eat your beans. Yum.



QUESTION: What will you do this holiday? What's your favorite cookout food? I love baked beans and bratwursts.

In 2011 I Resolve To...

Happy New Year's Eve! Looking back at last year's resolutions, I am pretty happy with my accomplishments. For my "blog resolution" I had a goal to create a database of about 100 "quick and healthy dinner recipes", which only ended up being about thirty recipes, but oh well. I'm actually still working on this so I haven't given up. Here are some of my favorite quick and easy recipes from last year;


(**Note: Many of these were created before I was on the low FODMAPs diet, so garlic and onion will have to be omitted if you follow that diet. Also, these can all be found on the right column of my blog, under "Quick Meal Recipes" and also "More Simple and Healthy Recipes"**)

Tempeh Sloppy Joe's
(Recipe adapted from Mari)

Turkey and Spinach Meatballs

(recipe adapted from Gluten Free Gidget)

Oat Bran Pizza Dough

Nutty Noodles

Sweet Potato Soup

Do you make new year's resolutions? The key to making the best new year's resolutions is to make them realistic. After all, what's the point in making a goal/resolution for yourself that is unachievable, or which may be so difficult that it causes stress? This year's resolutions stem a bit from last year's but I also have some brand new ones;


Food/Nutrition: Continue to decrease my caffeine intake. This has been hard to kick because I started working at Market District where employees get free coffee all day long, whenever, wherever, no joke. Right now I'm averaging 400 mg caffeine per day. My goal is to get down to 300 mg. Last year at this time I was consuming around 600mg per day, and do you know why?! It's because I had not yet discovered the low FODMAPs diet, and I was malabsorbing half of my nutrients! Therefore I was chronically fatigued and there wasn't enough caffeine in the world to get me going. It's sad when I think about it, but oh well, I'm happy to have discovered a diet that is really saving my life, physically and mentally.


While I do have a goal to decrease my caffeine intake, I'm not incredibly worried about it. I don't have high blood pressure (in fact mine is low!) and I don't get anxiety from drinking caffeine, nor do I get a rapid increase in heart rate. This is not to mention all of the benefits that have been discussed in the news this year about consuming caffeine. Do you want to know the real reason I am so adamant about decreasing my caffeine intake? I want to be prepared for pregnancy!! I'm not planning on getting pregnant for at least 4 or 5 years, but while pregnant I will only be allowed 200 mg caffeine MAX. It will be a lot easier for me to do this if I am already consuming a small amount of caffeine. Yeah, I know, I'm crazy to be thinking so far ahead, but it's also important for me to not have to be dependent on caffeine....as much...



Work: I get a lot of questions about the homeopathic supplements we sell where I work. I'm always completely honest with the customers and tell them I don't know much about these products. This year I want to learn more about homeopathic medicine/supplements, starting with a free online course offered by one of the companies (I will focus on the unbiased objective information, not the biased subjective information provided by the company!).



Mental health: I'm still working hard on living in the moment, and not always going through the million things I "have to do" in my head. I'm training myself to be better at this, and while it's a slow process, it's working well.

I'm also working on not nagging so much. I tend to nag, as I'm told by Nick, and I realize it gets me no where. Anyone else have a problem with this? I have noticed the more I nag, the less receptive Nick is to my requests, so in fact it has the opposite effect.

We bought a house this year and we also both switched jobs. There have been a lot of stressful moments but I refuse to let stress cause our relationship any harm. I've seen relationships fall apart due to nagging, or one partner trying to control the other, and that's just not something I want to see happen with Nick and I. We work really well together and I plan on being with him for the rest of my life (which brings me to another new year's resolution...get engaged!! hehe, we'll see, I think this may be the year!).

Question: I gotta ask, what's one new year's resolution that you have this year?

Any fun plans for the evening? Nick and I are going to dinner with some of his friends and their girlfriends, then having people over to our house. Hopefully it's low key, but fun.

See you in 2011!