Cabot Creamery Offers Tips For Quick, Delicious Recipes To Keep Your Busy Family Eating Healthy
CABOT, Vt., March 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- One of the major obstacles many of us face on the path to eating a healthy diet is the same we face when it comes to goals like exercising more, taking a class, volunteering, or starting a business. The modern schedule is so crammed with activities, responsibilities, and commitments that we're often unable to set aside time for even the most important things, like our health. A lifestyle filled with poor food decisions will only add more stress to busy days, which can negatively affect health even further; obviously, something an individual struggling to find the time to eat healthy cannot afford. In observance of National Nutrition Month, Cabot Creamery's Registered Dietitians have developed a list of simple meal management tips, along with a few easy to prepare and delicious recipes, to help us continue to eat better and feel great.
"One of the best parts of March for many people is the beginning of daylight savings time," says Regan Jones, Cabot Health Team Member and Registered Dietitian. "As we 'spring forward,' it begins to stay lighter longer in the evenings, which allows us to fill up our schedules with sports practices and other outdoor adventures. The downside of these longer, busier nights is that many people find themselves struggling to eat healthy. Instead of giving in to fast food runs on these longer days, Cabot's Registered Dietitians want to show you that it's possible to eat healthy even when you're busy."
To keep busy families on track, the Cabot Health Team has created a list of simple tips that are easy to incorporate in any schedule:
- Make a meal plan. Take a little time to plan out your meals for the week before heading to the grocery store. This takes the guesswork out of figuring out what to make for dinner after a busy day and makes it easy to come home and prepare a quick, healthy meal.
- Use your crockpot. Slow-cooker meals, like Cabot's Lightenup! Rotisserie Chicken Chili, are about as simple as they come. Just dump everything into the pot, set the timer and dinner will be waiting for you when you get home.
- Fill your freezer. Instead of cooking just enough to feed your family for one meal, double the recipe and freeze half. On a busy night, simply pull the leftovers out of the freezer, reheat and serve.
- Prep food on the weekends. Spending even an hour on the weekend prepping food can make a huge difference during a busy week.
Prepping foods on the weekend is one of the smartest ways to make mealtime extremely quick and easy during the week. Save time on your busiest nights by:
- Bake some chicken breasts. Slice them up and use on salads and sandwiches.
- Chop some veggies and hard-boil some eggs for quick snacks.
- Cook a batch of high-protein, Greek-Style yogurt pancakes and freeze. When you need a quick breakfast, simply defrost a few, top with your favorite nut butter and eat!
- Make a big pot of soup that's loaded with beans, lean protein, and veggies - like Cabot's Lentil-Veggie Soup with Cheddar Croutons - for easy lunches and dinners.
- Mix together some Greek yogurt, chopped fruit and nuts and freeze in ice cube trays. Pop a few out on a busy day for a quick, protein-packed snack!
"On particularly busy days, you can also extend the feeling of fullness by adding protein to your meals," says Jones. "Dairy foods like cheese and yogurt are perfect. You can stir some Greek-Style yogurt into your favorite sauce just before serving for an added protein boost, top veggies with a little shredded cheese, or bake some quick breads or muffins with Greek-Style yogurt for extra protein and calcium."
For a full day of time saving tastes, try Cabot's High Protein Crunchy Pancakes for breakfast, Southwestern Corn, Avocado, & Pepper Jack Salad for lunch, Apple-Cheddar Crisps for a power snack, and Grilled Cheesy Portabello Caps with Turkey & Sage for a savory dinner. Find even more simple, satisfying recipes at cabotcheese.coop/recipes.
HIGH PROTEIN CRUNCHY PANCAKES
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients:
3/4 cup "complete" buttermilk pancake mix
1/2 cup (2 scoops) Cabot Whey Protein Powder
1/4 cup walnut pieces
1 cup water
Cooking spray
1 cup Cabot 2% Strawberry Greek-Style Yogurt or Cabot 2% Vanilla Bean Greek-Style Yogurt
Directions:
1. In food processor, combine pancake mix, whey protein powder and walnuts; process for 30 seconds or until walnuts are finely chopped.
2. Add water and process for 5 seconds or until blended; set aside.
3. Coat large skillet or griddle with cooking spray; place over medium-high heat until very hot, about 3 minutes.
4. Spoon 1/4 cup batter per pancake onto hot skillet or griddle (don't overcrowd pancakes) and cook for 1 minute or until bubbles appear. Turn over and cook until underside of pancake is golden. Serve topped with yogurt.
SOUTHWESTERN CORN, AVOCADO & PEPPER JACK SALAD
Makes 8 servings
Ingredients:
1 clove garlic, peeled
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 ears fresh corn, husks removed and bases trimmed, or 2 1/2 cups frozen corn, thawed
2 California (Haas) avocados, pitted, peeled and diced
6 ounces Cabot Pepper Jack, finely diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 cup chopped jarred roasted red peppers
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
Directions:
1. Coarsely chop garlic. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and mash into paste with blade of knife held sideways. Scrape into small bowl and whisk in oil, vinegar and pepper; set aside. (Alternatively, puree ingredients in blender.)
2. If using fresh corn, stand each ear up on end and cut down along cob with sharp knife, removing raw kernels in strips. Break up strips into kernels.
3. In large bowl, combine corn, avocados, cheddar, red peppers and cilantro or parsley. Pour reserved dressing on top and stir gently to combine. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day.
Ingredients:
4 Fuji, Granny Smith, Gala or other firm, dense apples
4 ounces Cabot Sharp Cheddar
King Arthur All-Purpose Unbleached Flour
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 200°F.
2. Wash apple and slice into paper-thin (1/16 inch) rounds with mandoline or slicer.
3. Thinly slice cheddar with cheese slicer.
4. Place cheddar slice on apple slice; coat one side of second apple slice with flour and lay on top of cheese, flour side down. Press down on edges to seal and to encase cheese.
5. Bake on nonstick baking sheet for one hour; turn slices over and bake for approximately one hour more or until crisp. Let cool completely.
The chips can be made several days in advance and stored in an airtight container at room temperature. If you have a small evergreen tree as a centerpiece, hang the apple chips on the tree as ornaments!
GRILLED CHEESEY PORTABELLO CAPS WITH TURKEY & SAGE
Makes 4 main-course servings
Ingredients:
4 large portabello mushroom caps
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 shallot, minced
2 tablespoons fine dry breadcrumbs
4 teaspoons minced fresh sage leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
12 ounces lean ground turkey
3 ounces Cabot White Oak Cheddar*, grated (about 3/4 cup)
Directions:
1. Preheat grill to medium.
2. Remove stems from mushroom caps. With spoon, scrape out and discard gills. Brush tops lightly with oil and set aside.
3. In medium bowl, mix together shallots, breadcrumbs, sage, salt, pepper and nutmeg; add turkey and knead together just until seasonings are evenly distributed. Divide turkey mixture among mushroom caps.
4. Place turkey-side-up on grill. Close lid (or cover with tent of foil) and cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until turkey is cooked through to center.
5. Top with cheddar, cover again and cook until cheese is melted, about 2 minutes longer.
*If Cabot White Oak Cheddar is not available in your area, you can substitute for Cabot Vermont Sharp Cheddar or Cabot New York Extra Sharp Cheddar.
ABOUT CABOT CREAMERY COOPERATIVE
Cabot Creamery Cooperative has been in continuous operation in Vermont since 1919, and makes a full line of cheeses, yogurt, sour cream, cottage cheese and butter. Widely known as makers of "The World's Best Cheddar," Cabot is owned by the 1200 dairy farm families of Agri-Mark, the Northeast's premier dairy cooperative, with farms located throughout New England and upstate New York. For more information on Cabot, visit: http://www.cabotcheese.coop.
Cabot Creamery Cooperative is the world's first cheese maker and dairy cooperative to achieve B Corporation Certification, a validation of its attention to environmental and social impacts on stakeholders.
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Contact: Bob Schiers
1.888.214.9444 or [email protected]
SOURCE Cabot Creamery Cooperative
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