diet Archives - Page 2 of 8

Bittersweet Chocolate Cake

Still thinking about what to contribute to tomorrow’s Thanksgiving feast? We’ve got you covered with Le Colonial‘s Bittersweet Chocolate Cake. This is the perfect amount of sweet at the end of a filling, savory meal. Just make sure you leave some space! ‘Tis the season to indulge (a little) after all.

We’ve got a week left of National Diabetes Awareness Month- which means you still have time to drop by both Le Colonial and Brasserie Ruhlmann to check out our curated and healthy prix-fixe menu, perfect for when you’re tired of cooking and over of all of the Thanksgiving leftovers.

Bittersweet Chocolate Cake

INGREDIENTS:

6 tablespoons stick butter or margarine
4 ounces dark chocolate (61%)
1/3 cup fat-free milk
1/3 cup sugar-free apricot preserves or apricot spreadable fruit
2 teaspoons instant coffee crystals
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups Equal Spoonful or Granulated*
3 egg whites
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 oz of Frangelico liqueur * May substitute 36 packets Equal sweetener

INSTRUCTIONS:

For Torte, heat 6 tablespoons butter, 4 ounces dark chocolate, milk, preserves and coffee crystals in small saucepan, whisking frequently until chocolate is almost melted.
Remove pan from heat; continue whisking until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
Whisk in egg yolk and vanilla.
Add Equal and Frangelico, whisking until smooth.
Lightly grease bottom of an 8-inch round cake pan and line with parchment or waxed paper.
Beat egg whites and cream of tartar to stiff peaks in large bowl.
Fold chocolate mixture into egg whites; fold in combined flour and salt.
Pour cake batter into pan.
Bake in preheated 350 F oven 20 to 25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Do not over bake.
Carefully loosen side of cake from pan with small sharp knife, which will keep cake from cracking as it cools.
Cool cake completely in pan on wire rack. Cover and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours or until chilled.
Remove cake from pan and place on serving plate.
Garnish top of cake with dollop of crème fraiche, fresh raspberries and fresh mint, if desired.
Cut cake into wedges.

ENJOY!

Spiced Grain Salad

We continue to bring you healthy recipes from our collaboration with Brasserie Ruhlmann for National Diabetes Awareness Month. Today, check out how to make this spiced grain salad! Including the sauce, the couscous, the vegetables, all the way down to the vinaigrette!

And don’t forget- you can order this and more from a Diabetes friendly menu at both Brasserie Ruhlmann and Le Colonial through the end of the month!

grain-salad

Spiced Grain Salad with roasted vegetables and a curried sherry vinaigrette.

Romasco Sauce

16oz Piquillo pepper
0.5oz Jalapeno chopped
2oz Almonds chopped
1oz Breadcrumbs
1pc Garlic
0.1oz Cumin
0.1oz Cayenne
2oz Sherry wine
4oz Olive oil

Combine the peppers, jalapeno, almonds, crumbs; cumin, cayenne and sherry within a blender until smooth slowly drizzle in the oil until thickened. add salt and pepper

Spiced Couscous Salad

¼ cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
4 to 5 cardamom seeds
2 strings of saffron
½ cup chopped dried cranberry
1 pound couscous
2.5 cups of vegetable stock
2 teaspoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic (peeled/diced or crushed)
1 teaspoon grated ginger
pinch of diced / dried chili pepper
½ of each bell pepper diced, red, yellow and green
1 Spanish onion diced

1 cup cooked quinoa
1 cup cooked faro wheat
1 cup cooked wheat berry
1/2 fennel bulb – diced
¼ cup grated carrot
4 diced Portobello mushroom – roasted in a pan
¼ cup parsley – chopped

To make the Spiced Couscous: Bring vegetable stock to a boil and reserve.

Heat the olive oil, add spices and cook till its aromatic, add the couscous and lightly toast, 2-3 minutes. Top with the boiling stock, stir once and cover with plastic wrap. Allow this to cook for 10-15 minutes. Once the couscous is cooked and all liquid absorbed, separate all the grains using a fork.

Heat up 2 tablespoon of olive oil, add ginger, chili, onions and garlic, and then add bell peppers, cook lightly, reserve.

In a large bowl, combine the quinoa, wheat berry, faro wheat, spiced couscous, bell pepper mixture, raw fennel, roasted Portobello, grated carrot, parsley and season with salt and pepper. Reserve hot.

Roasted Root Vegetables (equal parts)

Bell pepper
Baby carrots – peeled

Blanched vegetables

Asparagus
Wax beans

Row vegetables

Snap peas
Avocado

To make the Roasted Root Vegetables: In a large bowl, toss each individual vegetables in olive oil, honey, crushed garlic, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper; put each vegetable onto a sheet pan and roast at 500°f until tender and caramelized; repeat for all vegetables separately.

Curried Sherry Vinaigrette

2 tablespoons madras curry
¼ cup honey
1 cup olive oil
½ cup sherry vinegar

To make the Curried Sherry Vinaigrette: In a medium sauce pot over low heat, toast the madras curry powder for 5-7 minutes until fragrant; add the honey and slightly caramelize. Combine with the olive oil and sherry vinaigrette. Cool and reserve.

To make the Spiced Couscous Salad: Season the grain salad with a small amount of the curried sherry vinaigrette. In a salad bowl, spoon a small amount of the warm grain salad in the bottom. Warm a mixture of the roasted vegetables in the oven and place above the grain salad. Finish with a small amount of the curried sherry vinaigrette and sage and thyme from the roast vegetables.

ENJOY!

Panna Cotta

This delicious Panna Cotta recipe comes from our collaboration with Brasserie Ruhlmann for National Diabetes Awareness Month. Try making it for your friends and family this holiday season!

Don’t forget you still have time to enjoy our curated prix-fixe menus at both Brasserie Ruhlmann and Le Colonial until November 30th! Part of the proceeds will go towards raising awareness of how it is to live with diabetes and how to prevent the disease.

Panna Cotta (Serves 6)

INGREDIENTS:

¾ cup milk
1 vanilla bean, split
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup + 2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 cup + 2 tablespoons
Vermont Butter & Cheese
Crème fraiche
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons buttermilk
3 gelatin sheets

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a small saucepan set over medium-high heat brings the milk, scraped vanilla bean and sugar to a boil.
Remove from heat and add the gelatin sheets, buttermilk and the heavy cream.
Using a fine sieve strain mixture into a clean mixing bowl.
Carefully fold in the crème fraiche into the milk and sugar mixture.
Pour into six 4-ounce ramekins and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours before serving.

TO SERVE:

Served cold, top the Panna Cotta with fresh seasonal fruit

ENJOY!

Roasted Organic Chicken

As part of our collaboration with Brasserie Ruhlmann for National Diabetes Awareness Month, please enjoy this roasted chicken recipe! Also, remember that all month long, you can order a diabetes friendly menu at Brasserie Ruhlmann and Le Colonial NYC, curated by Lyfebulb.

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INGREDIENTS

1 whole roaster chicken, 5 to 7 pounds, giblets removed, rinsed and dried well
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 teaspoon onion, finely minced
1 teaspoon Herbs de Provence
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Place the dried chicken in a large roasting pan.
In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Gently slide a spoon between the breast meat and the skin to separate the two. Do this on each side. Then using about 1 or 2 teaspoons per side, put some of the mixture under the breast skin and rub it around.
Use the remaining mixture to rub all over the rest of the bird. Tuck the wings under the bird so that the tips don’t burn and tie up the legs with some kitchen twine to cook more evenly
Put the chicken in the oven and reduce the temperature to 375 degrees, roast for about 2 hours.
When the chicken is done, remove it from the oven and allow it to sit for at least 15 to 20 minutes.

November: National Diabetes Awareness Month

Happy November!

diabetesawarenessmonth

Today marks the beginning of National Diabetes Awareness Month.

At Lyfebulb, our mission is to improve the quality of life of those living with chronic disease. We have a special focus on Diabetes, as our founder, Karin Hehenberger, has Type 1 Diabetes herself.

Type 1 Diabetes occurs when the body cannot produce insulin, and requires daily shots of insulin to maintain a steady blood sugar level. Type 2 Diabetes is the result of the body’s inefficient use of insulin. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 29 million people in the United States have Diabetes, and 86 million have prediabetes. Lack of awareness about Diabetes combined with insufficient access to health services can lead to blindness, amputations, and kidney failure. Persons afflicted by both Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes benefit from healthy diet and regular exercise.

Two tenets of The Lyfebulb Philosophy, which we announced yesterday, are to ‘eat well’ and ‘do good.’ With this in mind, we are thrilled to partner with two incredible restaurants – Brasserie Ruhlmann and Le Colonial in NYC – to bring you a special prix fixe menu in honor of National Diabetes Awareness Month.

The menus are a result of a collaboration between Lyfebulb and the chefs at the two restaurants to bring you healthy, Diabetes friendly options that limit sugar and carbs. While the menus are great for diabetics, everyone can benefit from a healthier diet.

Check out the menu below. A percentage of all proceeds will go to the Lyfebulb Foundation, which focuses on creating awareness about diabetes, providing education to children about eating healthy, and building a community of patient-to-patient mentorship.

bothmenus

Lyfebulb Partners with Le Colonial NYC: Coconut Chicken Soup

front

The Team at Lyfebulb is proud to partner with a Lyfebulb Favorite in NYC: Le Colonial NYC in honor of Diabetes Awareness Month!

During the month of November, Le Colonial will feature a very special diabetes friendly three course prix-fixe menu, proceeds from which will benefit the Lyfebulb Foundation and support our mission to improve the lives of those living with chronic disease!

Make sure you stop by the 57th street location during the month of November to try it out – much more information to come.

As a teaser, here is the recipe of one of the sumptuous, and healthy, dishes that will be featured on the menu:

Coconut Chicken Soup or súp gà dừa

coconut-soup

Ingredients

3 cups (24 fluid ounces) sodium free chicken stock
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces across the grain
½ lb (8 ounces) fresh or canned straw mushrooms (drained)
One stalk lemongrass
6 fresh bird’s eye chilies (more or less depending on your heat preference)
2 inch piece of fresh galangal, sliced thinly crosswise
5 fresh kaffir lime leaves
5 limes
¼ cup fish sauce (but have more ready)
½ cup fresh cilantro leaves
1½ cups (12 fluid ounces) full fat coconut milk

Instructions

First, concentrate the stock. Put the chicken stock in a wide and shallow saucepan (to ensure fast evaporation), bring it to a boil, and reduce it over medium to high heat until the liquid measures half its original volume.
Halve (or quarter) the straw mushrooms into bite size pieces; set aside. Any meaty, mild flavored mushrooms will do.
Cut the lemongrass stalk into 1 inch pieces and smash them set aside.
Do to the chilies what you just did to the lemongrass; set aside.
Remove the stems and the tough veins that run through the middle from the kaffir lime leaves, and tear them up into small pieces. You can also bruise them a little. Set aside.
Juice 2 limes; set aside.
Put the coconut milk into a 4 quart pot, followed by concentrated chicken stock, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass pieces, and galangal slices.
Bring the mixture slowly to between 160° and 180°F (slightly below a simmer), allowing the herbs to infuse the liquid for about a minute.
Keeping the temperature steady, add the mushrooms and the chicken to the liquid; adjust the heat to maintain the temperature. The liquid should never at any point come to a rapid boil. Don’t worry; at 160°180°F, your chicken will be thoroughly cooked.
Stir gently to ensure that the chicken is evenly cooked. (If you want more liquid, add more plain water or unconcentrated broth.)
Once the chicken is cooked through, throw in the smashed chilies and remove the pot from heat immediately.
Add the juice of 2 limes and the fish sauce to the pot, stir, and taste. Add more lime juice and fish sauce, if necessary. The soup should be predominantly sour, followed by salty. The sweetness comes from natural sugar in the coconut milk.
Stir in the cilantro leaves and serve your soup!

Halloween Treat: Healthful Hearty Snickers Bars

Trick or treat! Hall-o-ween is right around the corner! I, like many, have an undying love for all things chocolate, but I am always searching for that “healthy alternative” that fits my lifestyle but also doesn’t compromise taste. Let’s get started, here’s what you will need:

• Cashews
• Coconut milk (substitutes; almond or rice milk)
• Medjool dates, pitted
• Shredded Coconut
• Local Honey
• Peanut Butter (substitutes; any nut butter or PB2)
• Nut of Choice (hazelnuts, peanuts or almonds)

Prep time: 20 – 30 mins
Total Time: 4.5 – 5 hours
Serves: 6 – 20 people based on cut sizes
Average calories per bar: 80

For the base
• 1 1/2 cups cashews
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 8 Medjool dates, pitted
• 3 tbsp local honey
1. In a food processor, process cashews into small pieces.
2. Add in coconut, dates, and local honey and process until a sticky dough forms.
3. Add parchment paper to your dish to prevent sticking.
4. Rolled the sticky dough into a ball to make for a more even layer.
5. Use your palm to flatten the ball and use a silicon spatula to evenly distribute the dough
6. Place in the freezer.

For the caramel
• 8 Medjool dates, pitted
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 2 tbsp coconut milk
• 1 tbsp local honey
1. In a food processor, process dated and honey.
2. Add in peanut butter and gradually add in coconut milk until a smooth caramel forms.
3. Remove dough from the freezer.
4. Spread the caramel over the base.
5. Place back in the freezer for easy layer of chocolate

Toppings
• 1/4 cup nut topping of choice ( I LOVE using hazelnuts for their added flavor but used shaved almonds for this recipe – I used whatever I have in my kitchen)
• 1 cup melted chocolate (I use dairy free, soy free chocolate chips, but feel free to use what is in your kitchen)
1. Remove tray from the freezer.
2. Melt chocolate in the microwave, stirring every 15 seconds until completely melted.
3. Pour chocolate over the caramel layer and spread evenly with a silicon spatula
4. Place back in the freezer until hardened (I normally wait 3-4 hours).
5. Remove from the freezer, cut to desired size and enjoy!

Perfect Appetizer Platter

Fall is here and with that come countless Sundays watching football and hosting friends. What do you do when it becomes too cold to grill outside? Instead of ordering carb-heavy pizza or sugary chicken wings, try this delicious, protein-rich and diabetic friendly appetizer platter! It is inspired by ingredients that are common in Sweden that remind us of home. It will not cause any blood sugar spikes, but is not only good for diabetics, but for anyone trying to maintain a well-balanced and healthy diet.

The hard-boiled eggs, smoked salmon, ham, and fish roe are excellent sources of protein, avocados have great health benefits as well, and are jam-packed with healthy fats, while tomatoes are rich with beneficial nutrients, antioxidants, and vitamins.

All you need is the following:

Hard-boiled eggs sliced in halves
Avocados sliced lengthwise into bite-sized pieces
Smoked salmon pieces rolled and secured with toothpicks
Prosciutto or ham rolled and secured with toothpicks
Fish roe
Tomatoes sliced in quarters
Lemon
Parsley

Place the ingredients on your favorite serving platter, drizzle with lemon, and finish off with some parsley. Serve with some whole wheat crackers and voila!

This recipe is easy to prepare and requires no actual cooking, apart from boiling a few eggs ?

Kale and Goat Cheese Frittata Cups

(adapted from thekitchn.com)

Makes 8 individual cups

Ingredients

2 cups chopped kale
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoons red pepper flakes
8 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
Dash ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 cup goat cheese, crumbled

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. To get 2 cups kale, remove the leaves from the kale ribs. Wash and dry the leaves and cut them into 1/2-inch-wide strips.

2. In a 10-inch skillet, cook the garlic in 1 tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat for 30 seconds. Add the kale and red pepper flakes and cook until wilted, 1 to 2 minutes.

3. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with the salt and pepper. Add the kale and oregano to the egg mixture.

4. Using a 12-cup muffin tin, use the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to grease 8 of the cups (you may also use butter or non-stick spray if you’d prefer). Sprinkle the tops with goat cheese. Bake until they are set in the center, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Rosemary Butternut Creme Sauce

Ingredients:

1 medium butternut squash
2 shallots, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 t. dried OR 1-2 T. fresh rosemary
1 c. full fat coconut milk
1/2 – 3/4 c. vegetable broth
1/2 c. Nutritional yeast (optional)
1/2 t. salt
1 T. Coconut oil

Preheat oven to 375’F. Slice the in 1/2 and roast until tender. (you can do this step a day or two ahead. Take advantage of another time that you already have your oven fired up and save on running it twice in this warm weather!). Allow the squash to cool. Remove the skin and place the squash in the food processor or high speed blender.

Place 1 T. coconut oil in a large pan over medium heat; add shallots and garlic and saute. Add the other remaining ingredients to the processor/blender while the onions and garlic cook. Once tender, add the onions and garlic and blend until smooth.

For a gluten free, high nutrient meal:

Spiralize or thin slice with a mandolin or peeler 3 lbs of zucchini and saute that in 1 T. coconut oil along with thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms. Once they start to become soften add the sauce and cook until tender!

Pinup Model

Photo by Autumn Luciano

First of all, let me say what an honor it is to speak on behalf of all of my hardcore femmes with IBD out there. When I had my first surgery, I couldn’t stand the thought that anyone could understand what I was experiencing. I felt very isolated. I grew resentful of anyone who claimed to understand my position in life. I owe a great debt to supportive women in the IBD community, for it is through them that my resentment passed and became acceptance. For anyone struggling with these feelings, know that you are not alone.

I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis in January of 2007. At 17, I had absolutely no way of comprehending what that meant at the time. Looking back, I envy my own naïveté at the time. In many ways, I think it saved me a great deal of emotional agony. It wasn’t until after my first surgery in 2011 that I began to understand that Colitis was a very destructive, very permanent diagnosis. I thought I knew what “tired” meant. I thought I knew what dying felt like, prior to my first surgery.

With four years of flare-ups under my belt, I was no longer a candidate for Remicade. My lymph nodes were swelling, and a major concern was Lymphoma. Imuran, steroids and various other medicines I can’t recall, were also no longer options. Immunodepressed and exhausted, I was 22 and living with a houseful of my closest friends. After several trips to the ER, I was greeted by a surgeon who coldly explained that I could either have surgery or die within the next few days. She left the room after explaining that I would “Never feel normal again.” And that I would have to get used to it, which would be hard for a “Pretty girl.”

Let’s be real. I was far from feeling like a pretty girl. I was on steroids for senior prom, and my boyfriend at the time (now husband) had to nair my back so I didn’t look like a chipmunk. I had bloated until my skin hurt, broke out into acne hell, and now I was expelling blood at a rate that was both horrifying and fascinating to my doctors. I was already pretty used to not being a pretty girl. I was the girl who cried watching the Olympic gymnasts because they could move.

Photo by Autumn Luciano

Three surgeries, a surgeon change, failed j-pouch, two ostomies and an astronomical amount of pain drugs later, I came out on the other side. I do mean that literally. I had lost 40 pounds and weighed a mere 90 pounds soaking wet, fully clothed. You could count every bone in my body, and the surgeries had ravaged my once adorable tummy. I didn’t just have a thigh gap, it was the Grand Canyon. My hair had fallen out from lack of nutrition, and I could barely walk to the bathroom, only feet from my bed. My skin was sallow and pale, my body was limp and fragile. But I was alive.

Being pretty was the last thing on my mind, I felt like I had been thrown into battle without armor. You didn’t make it out pretty, much less alive, without armor. But I did.

Being who I am, with some authority issues, being told what I couldn’t do was a challenge. After waking up every day for a year thinking you might die, nothing seems beyond your reach. So I started to play again. I ran, I worked out three hours a day and started to kick box. I taught dance at a summer camp. I got married. I started killing it with my dream job. I had a normal life.

Photo by Steven Jon Horner

It wasn’t just good enough to have a normal life. (Even though that was all I begged for all through my surgeries. Just a chance to be normal.) I wanted so much more, being finally capable, three years later. Looking at my body, and knowing that it hadn’t really been mine for nearly 10 years, I wanted ownership of it again. I had eaten well, I had trained it, groomed my muscles and rewarded years of struggle with a strong and healthy body.

Pinup was an unknown universe to me at the time. I had grown up with a love of old things, partially raised by my grandparents. It was well known that I enjoyed dressing in vintage clothing, and I had begun experimenting with my hair and makeup. I was starting to feel like myself again. Blow drying wasn’t exhausting. Getting ready was fun again, not a daunting tedium.

I was invited by a high school friend of my husband’s to a Retro night/Pinup competition at a local bar in the winter of 2013. I was prim, in a vintage 40s silk dress, with modest and frazzled victory rolls. I watched the girls (who were all so perfect in every way) compete, and I knew I was so in love with their culture. Everything about what they were saying and doing spoke to my core. After the competition, the musicians began to play and I noted that nobody was dancing. Since my health had been regained, dancing had become one of my very favorite things. I walked to the table to girls and leaned in over the shoulder of the dainty pin up who had won. “You know, everybody here will dance if you do.” I said, and we launched the dance floor. There I was. The very first night I had been able to do everything the doctors told me I would never do again. Dancing merrily and embarrassing the heck out of my introverted husband.

It snowballed from there. I didn’t know then that the winner that night would become one of my best friends, Ada Vice. Or that Gabbey Music, joined at her hip, would fold me lovingly into the world of Pinup. With the help of those two, and the lovely Alfie Jean, I had begun practicing the art of vintage beauty. It wasn’t until a year later that I would realize I had not only reclaimed my life, but all of the things fate stood to take from me before I ever knew I wanted them.

Photo by Autumn Luciano

My body has become such a beautiful thing to me. Not because it seems to fit the societal standard, I feel very much that I won the genetic lottery there. I feel that way because it has carried me through some of the most terrible and devastating things a human can live through. With more resilience that I had ever given it credit for previously, it stretched, and it shrank. It is beautiful because it is mine. Scarred, tired, radiant, strong, and mine. It is through pinup that I realized this, and I continue to model for me. For the girl who dreamed of a normal life, and got so much more.

xoxo,

Stella Swoon

Originally published on http://www.girlswithguts.org/2016/01/14/your-stories-stella-swoon-pinup-model/

Kale & Peppers

What is your newest favorite healthy recipe? Kale and Peppers is mine!

Ingredients

2 teaspoons olive oil

4 cups sliced mini peppers

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

14 cups chopped kale, stems removed (about 1 pound)

1/2 cup organic vegetable broth (such as Swanson Certified Organic)

1 garlic clove, minced

Lemon wedges (optional)

Preparation

Heat olive oil in a pan oven over medium-high heat. Add red bell pepper, , salt, and black pepper; sauté 3 minutes or until tender. Add chopped kale and broth; cover. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook 10 -20 minutes or until tender, stirring on occasion. Stir in garlic; increase heat to medium. Cook, uncovered, for 2 minutes or until liquid evaporates. Serve with lemon wedges, if desired.

Gina Costa CPC, ELI-MP

Certified Professional Coach

917-882-2402

New Beginnings Coaching Services, LLC

http://www.newbeginningswithgina.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ginacostacoach

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