Crazy for Yonanas

Hey guys!

So I want to tell you about this cool contraption called Yonanas...it basically turns frozen fruit into an awesome ice cream like treat. My family ordered ours from the shopping channel, and it arrived very quickly...I think within a week.

It is super easy to use. There is a motorized base and a chute you attach with a thing to push your fruit down the chute. 

You need some frozen fruit that's been in the freezer for at least 24 hours and that's basically it.

We let our fruit thaw for about 3 minutes (we used bananas, blueberries, and mango chunks). Then we put 1 banana down the chute, a handful of blueberries, some mango, and another half banana. We plugged it in and turned it on and voila and frozen masterpiece (kind of)! We made a round with dark chocolate and bananas as well and it turned out great. 

The only cons- it is SUPER loud (I guess not really a big con), and some of the fruit does get stuck inside the grinder part...cleaning it is not too bad but you do lose some fruit.

All in all it is pretty amazing; easy, fast, and the treats were delicious.

Recipe Review: Apple Chips

Hey guys!

So I ended up making the apple chips I had mentioned in my previous post...and they were delicious!

Here are some pics:

This was one HUGE honeycrisp apple, sprinkled with the teeniest amount of sugar and cinnamon.

Some of my slices were a bit thicker since I was in a crazy rush trying to slice the apple so I wouldn't be late to pick my sister up from school.
 
They were in the oven for about an hour and a half and the majority came out super crispy...like real chips :')

The thin ones were very crunchy and pretty sweet, while the slightly thicker ones were chewier and had a tangier/more apple-y taste to them, but both were super yummy.  

Next time I wouldn't include any sugar since they were more than sweet enough.

PS- The one apple made about a cereal bowl sized serving. The bottom picture is only showing about a third of the total.

Why Apples Rock

So I decided to write about apples because I LOVE them...especially honeycrisp apples...so tart, yet sweet, and absolutely delish. Apples are a great snack, healthy, and easy to pair with other foods.

I found a great article here outlining the many wonderful effects of apple phytochemicals. Also, stats from Nutrition Data has the composition of an apple. For example, 1 medium apple is only 95 cals, is a good source of vitamin C and fibre. OK, back to the phytochemicals, (which are basically chemicals in fruits and vegetables that provide benefits to us beyond our basic nutritional requirements) apples have lots- specifically flavonoids. According to the article I had previously mentioned, apples have been linked to help prevent cancer, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes. Apples have also been linked to help with weight loss, and help with asthma symptoms. Quercitin, a very active compound mainly found in the peel of apples, has proven anti-oxidant activity as well. I'm sure some of you are wondering if this stuff actually gets absorbed into your body after you eat an apple, and this is a good question. Phytochemical bioavailability increases when you eat your fruits and veggies with a little bit of fat/oil. The fat helps ensure your body takes up more of these good-for-you chemicals rather than having them leave your body. Processing apples (aka apple juice, applesauce, cider, etc.) decreases phytochemical levels so make sure you eat your whole apple avec peel a day to keep the doctor and chronic diseases away!

Apple Snacks

1. Slice an apple into rounds. Spread each round with a bit of almond/peanut butter and sprinkle with granola.

2. Cube an apple. Put in in a bowl and sprinkle some cinnamon on top. Microwave for 2 minutes, stir and microwave for another 2 minutes.

3. Slice an apple and have it with cheese.

4. Make apple chips. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 250 F. Thinly slice 2-3 apples. Toss apples in a cinnamon and brown sugar mix. Bake for about 2 hours (the apples slices should look quite dry). Let cool and enjoy!

Squash and Salad

Hey everyone,

I wanted to share some of the recipes I've made recently: a stuffed butternut squash, and an awesome apple salad. 

So let me start with the squash...I wanted something delicious and something that would make me feel warm when I looked at it to battle the winter blues. We had a lot of fresh cranberries left over from over the holidays so I thought that would be a yummy ingredient. I ended up googling (good old google!) squash with cranberries and I found this recipe and I used it as my guide! I'm pretty bad at following recipes and there is always a lot of estimations when I cook. Anyways, here are the ingredients:

- 1 butternut squash, cut in half lengthwise
- 2 handfuls of fresh cranberries
- 1/4 c of chopped walnuts
- 4 spoons of brown sugar (2 for each half)
- butter

Preheat the oven to 375 then prepare the squash. Just remove the seeds and layer the cranberries, walnuts, and sugar in each of the halves. I pressed butter into the surface of the squash, and covered my baking tray with foil. I baked it for 1 hour and 20 minutes at 375, and for the last 5 minutes I uncovered the tray and turned up the heat to 425 to make the cranberries all juicy and bubbly, and the squash more golden. It was super tasty and my family loved it!

By the time I was done the squash and it was baking away I was hungry for lunch. I hadn't made a big salad in a while and we had lots of brie cheese left (cheese= my love, my life, my everything) and I thought it would taste good with apples. I ended up mixing baby spinach, brie cheese, a cubed royal gala apple, sliced walnuts, dried cranberries, red onion, and a poppy seed dressing for a delicious and filling salad.

Lose the wheat, lose the weight?

Hey guys,

So I'm reading this book called Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis. My mom had read it and from the small overview she had given me I was totally against reading it since it sounded a little far-fetched to me. So far I'm  half way through it, and I'm glad I decided to start it. The info he presents is not as radical as I imagined and much of it agrees with what I already know. As I'm sure you guessed it is all about wheat...but modern day wheat, and how different it is than the original stuff. Dr. Davis is saying that present, genetically altered wheat and it's proteins don't only affect Celiac disease sufferers, but everyone. One of the ideas he presents are exorphins; peptides from wheat that have addictive properties(1)...causing people wanting even more wheat (pretzels, cupcakes, delicious cinnamon raisin bagels; you name it). I can totally see wheat addiction happening...I definitely have it. Sometimes at school I would end up eating THREE sandwiches during a day...WHAT?! Yeah...two pieces of toast for breakfast, a sandwich at lunch, and my bad late-night Nutella sandwich snacking habit. So I'm starting to believe what Dr. Davis is saying, and realizing how hard it is to have no wheat! I guess everything in moderation...I'll let you know what else he presents as I keep reading.

(1) Opioid peptides derived from food proteins. The exorphins. Zioudrou C, Streaty RA, Klee WA.

Here it goes...

So my fabulous cousin gave me the idea to start this blog since she knows I love nutrition and was saying I was always bombarding her with facts when we're together...and thanks to my sis I have this creative name. I don't really have any sort of organization in mind right now, but I will eventually be including fitness and cooking stuff along with nutrition info. After graduating I realized I miss staying up to date with the latest health research, and I'm hoping this is a good way for me to jump back into it. I'm excited to hear what you have to say and I am free to any suggestions/things you would like me to write about. Let the blogging begin!

"If you don’t take care of your body, where are you going to live?" - Anonymous