fruit and vegetables

Time for a pop quiz. Which foods have the most fiber?

Most muffins are made with white flour, sugar, butter and not much more. But these banana chocolate chip muffins are chock full of nutrients and fiber to get your morning started right.

Makes 6 servings; serving size 2 bundles

This may be hard to digest: A typical pot pie made with a shortening-laden crust can have a staggering 10 grams of trans fat and 20 grams of saturated fat per serving.

To slash the artery-clogging fats, we created a crust-less pot pie using egg roll wraps to hold the savory filling. Our new twist on this pie is a bundle of fun for kids and adults to eat. In fact, we encourage everyone eat the bundles with their hands and use a spoon to pick up any bits of chicken or veggies that escape.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice (about 1 cup)
1/2 small onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice (about 1/2 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon or 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Pinch of black pepper
1 cup all-natural chicken broth
4 teaspoons cornstarch
3/4 cup frozen petite peas, thawed
3/4 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
12 egg roll wraps (NOT the smaller wonton wrappers)

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the carrot and onion and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, and cook 1 minute more.

2. Stir in the chicken, tarragon, salt, and pepper. Cook until the chicken is no longer pink, about 5 minutes.

3. Place the broth and cornstarch in a bowl and whisk until well combined. Add to the skillet along with the peas and corn, and bring the liquid to a simmer, stirring constantly. Continue to simmer and stir gently until the sauce thickens, about 2 minutes.

3. To prepare the bundles, use a muffin pan with 12 medium-size cups (do not coat with nonstick cooking spray). Gently place 1 egg roll wrap into each cup, letting it extend over the sides.

4. Place a generous 1/4 cup of the chicken mixture into each wrap, and sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top. Fold the corners up and over the top of the filling and press to seal the edges (it doesn't have to be perfect!). Brush the remaining oil on top of each bundle.

5. Bake until golden and crisp,12 to 15 minutes. Cool slightly before eating.

Nutrition Information:
360 calories, 7g fat (1g saturated, 0.4 omega-3), 680mg sodium, 48g carbohydrate, 3g fiber, 24g protein, 70% vitamin A, 15% iron

This recipe is from the new book No Whine with Dinner by Liz Weiss and Janice Newell Bissex. Order your copy today.

Two summers ago, we found out our toddler was allergic to peanuts, corn, soy, eggs, chicken and wheat. The news was relatively devastating at the time. It took six months for us to learn to cook without those ingredients and to do entirely without processed foods, which are rich sources of soy, corn and wheat proteins.

But we've learned to look back on the diagnosis as a blessing. Our son is thriving, and the whole family eats a healthier diet as a result. Here are three things we've learned:  

Reading nutrition labels helps you make healthier food choices.
Nutrition labels are opaque, requiring a decoder and a  chemical engineering degree to decipher. But that's the first clue that picking processed foods over whole foods might not be the best idea. Looking for allergens has led us to startling discoveries, such as: 

• High-fructose corn syrup is often used to sweeten ham and hot dogs.
• Huge amounts of sodium and sugar hide in unexpected places.
• Wheat and gluten turn up in surprising places from beer to oat meal to prepackaged broth.

This is to say nothing of unrealistic serving sizes that are designed to minimize calorie and fat counts on the labels. Of course, nutritionists have drawn the public's attention to these issues for years, but seeing the proof ourselves made it more believable. 

We still buy processed foods, but we look for foods with labels that we understand and that have short ingredient lists. 

It's not hard to give your kids good food habits
For parents trying to feed picky eaters and manage busy lives, frozen chicken fingers, hot dogs and other "convenience" foods often become nightly fare for their young kids. But when your child is allergic to so many ingredients common to processed food, the term "convenience" takes on new meaning. In our house, convenience is an apple or a banana, a celery stick or a carrot.

And our 3-year-old eats them up. Really, he doesn't have much of an option. And neither do we. Something simple like mac and cheese, which we make from rice noodles, whole milk and shredded cheese, takes 15 minutes to prepare.

Looking back now, I almost wish our first child had been diagnosed with food allergies as well. Then maybe she'd beg for a banana for breakfast instead of reaching for a Pop Tart.

If you're excited about food, your children can be, too
Several years ago we began raising some of our own food. Our oldest child helps us and she gets excited over the vegetables we produce. And she gets excited about the food we make from those veggies. (Children, it turns out, eat more fruits and vegetables if they're homegrown.)

She's invested in the process--a process towards healthier food choices we wouldn't have started if our youngest hadn't developed food allergies.

That's something we can be grateful for.

Related Links:

You probably know that eating a healthier diet can help you lose weight and keep cholesterol in check. But did you know choosing the right foods can also help your skin? Just as calcium is critical in bone health, other nutrients play a crucial role in the health of your skin, hair and nails—and those nutrients may even help you look younger.

Skin cells need certain nutrients to repair and regenerate. This is also true for healthy hair and nails. And that's where the foods you put on your plate come in. Here are nine nutrition secrets that can help you look and feel younger.

Antioxidants including vitamin C, vitamin E and vitamin A are substances that protect against the breaking down of cells in the body, including the skin. The best protection is an array of antioxidants, from brightly colored fruits and vegetables. Add dark green leafy vegetables, broccoli, blueberries, cantaloupe, pink grapefruit, red peppers, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, plums, prunes, purple grapes, beets and tomatoes to your weekly menu.

Vitamin C is essential for the formation of collagen, the spongy stuff that keeps skin plump and wrinkle-free. You can find vitamin C in citrus fruits, red peppers, dark green leafy vegetables, tomatoes, strawberries and kiwi fruit.

Beta Carotene is critical for skin health, too. In the body, it converts to vitamin A and is involved in the growth and repair of skin cells and may protect against sun damage. Note: Vitamin A supplements in high doses can be toxic so go for carrots, pumpkin, mangos, sweet potatoes and other orange colored foods.

Vitamin E helps protect healthy cells and guards against sun damage, too. Wheat germ, fortified cereals, nuts and seeds have vitamin E. There's even some research that suggests Vitamin E can join forces with Vitamin C for an extra boost of anti-aging skin protection. So how about a glass of orange juice with a handful of almonds for an afternoon snack to nourish your skin?

Healthy fats such as omega-3 fats found in salmon, flaxseed and walnuts and the mono-unsaturated oils found in olive oil, canola oil, avocados and nut butters are heart healthy and help keep skin moisturized from the inside out.

Beauty on the half-shell? Oysters are a great source of the mineral zinc which is involved in wound healing and the formation of new collagen. Rather have sushi? The mineral selenium found in tuna and crab may help delay aging by reducing sun damage and protecting skin's elasticity. Selenium is also found in grass-fed beef and buffalo.

Finally, think about what you drink: Overdoing it at the bar—even the coffee bar—can show on your face. Avoid excess alcohol and caffeine which can dry and dehydrate your skin, robbing the cells of needed water, and causing fine lines to be more visible. And be sure to drink plenty of water throughout the day and eat water-rich foods such as fruits and vegetables. This helps keep your skin hydrated and looking its best.

One advantage of going meatless for a month: Learning new recipes. Certainly cooking is easier and faster when you're working familiar foods and recipes.

But it's a lot more fun -- at least in our house -- when we challenge ourselves to cook with unfamiliar ingredients like eggplant and sardines.

Here's a menu that involves both for our first week in our mostly meatless month. We made the Jalepeño Creamed Corn, Fallen Spinach Soufflé and Stuffed Poblanos over the weekend (the spinach and poblano dishes use eggs; picture above). I created the Roasted Root Vegetables based on a recipe in Gourmet magazine many years ago. I've lost the original, but this recreation works great.

Mostly Meatless May Menu Week 1

Roasted Root Vegetables
Makes 6 Servings

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
Fennel bulb sliced
3 Carrots cut into 1-inch strips
2 Celery stalks coarsely chopped
2 Garlic cloves coarsely chopped
1 Green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 Cup onion chopped
1/2 Fingerling potatoes
Salt, pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat bottom of roasting pan with olive oil.

In a large bowl, toss carrots, celery, fennel bulb, garlic, onion and bell pepper with 2 tbsp. of olive oil and red wine vinegar. Mix in roasting pan with potatoes. Add salt and pepper and cook for about 90 minutes or until potatoes are tender. I've added fresh herbs like rosemary and thyme in the past, but the fennel bulb adds enough aromatic flavor to this dish for us.

Jalapeño Creamed Corn Recipe
I love the fresh corn part of this recipe, but it can be a lot of work. I use a serrated knife to score and scrape the corn from the cob. It's okay to substitute one can of creamed corn for half the fresh ears, but you're missing out if you don't use any fresh corn.

Stuffed Poblanos Recipe
I'm not a big fan of frying food -- I love the taste, just not the mess and added fat and calories. But this dish is really fantastic when you pull it off. You can skip the frying and roast the stuffed poblanos in the oven long enough to melt the cheese inside.

Fallen Spinach Soufflé Recipe
This makes a nice main dish or a good side. I sprinkle spiced almonds on top to add a little crunch factor.

Eggplant Lasagna Recipe
This is a new recipe for me, which I'm making this weekend. I'll be substituting acorn squash for pumpkin.

Spaghetti with Sardines, Dill and Fried Capers
Also new in our kitchen, this recipe is in keeping with our Mostly Meatless May rules: Try a new source of protein. In this case, sardines. I'll let you know how it goes.

Asparagus and Gruyére Tart
Asparagus is in season! This is a neat twist introduced to me via Twitter this month. Can't wait to bite into it.

Garden Turkey Meatballs: Love spaghetti and meatballs but hate all the extra fat and calories? Registered dietitian Liz Weiss shows you how to give your meatballs a makeover--with turkey.

Cut Out Meat for a Month: Want to cut out meat for a month? That's what Everwell's Sean Kelley is doing. See how his family is reducing their meat consumption -- and find out what rules they're following.

Veggie Prep: If you're not preparing your vegetables right, you may not be getting their full nutritional value. Here's how to prep your veggies and keep all their healthy nutrients.

For the last few years, my family has had an on-and-off again affair with vegetarian diets. Cognizant of the high cost of meat on our budget, our health (diabetes and heart disease run rampant in our families) and on the environment, we've looked at ways to reduce our consumption.

Mostly, the affair has been off. A few days of lentils, 12-bean soup and iffy salads turns into a ribeye binge. We eat less meat than the 220-plus pounds that the USDA says most Americans eat each year, but we eat more than we think we should: In one recent weekly grocery trip, I purchased a 5-pound chicken, two pounds of beef, two pounds of farm raised salmon and a one-pound ham. That's at least 10 pounds of meat for a family of four--with two kids under age 6.

Why so much meat? For us, it's just easy to prepare. If you've spent as many years as I have learning to braise beef ribs and roast herb chicken, you really don't want to learn how to perfect tofu texture.

But it's our last meat purchase for a while--at least for a month. Let Mostly Meatless May begin. In an effort to rewire our diets, we're dropping most meat for the month and focusing on new sources of protein. Here are some simple rules that we think will encourage less meat consumption long term:

1. Each member of the family can eat 8 ounces of meat a week or about 2 pounds for the entire month.

2. Half of that meat must come from sustainably raised seafood like albacore tuna, farmed rainbow trout and wild-caught salmon from Alaska. Not sure what's sustainable? Here's a list from the Monterey Aquarium's Seafood Watch.

3. Pork and beef can can only be used as a seasoning agent. (This allows for soups from stock, for example, or vegetables flavored with a small piece of salted ham or bacon.)

4. You must try at least one new source of protein a week. On our list: Sardines (one of the best sources of heart healthy omega-3s), tempeh and seitan.

That's it. I'll update this blog each Friday in May with links recipe we tried and notes on our successes and failures. You can find daily updates on our Twitter account, @Everwell.