Super Food-Roast Butternut Squash Recipe

Fall / Winter Vegetables Are Nutrient Rich

Fall and Winter is the season for the super foods, butternut, neck pumpkins, acorn and all dark orange squashes. These Fall veggies are a power house of flavor and nutrients. Underneath the tough skin is a deep orange flesh that goes well from soup pots, to skillet, to roasting pan with simple preparations. High heat brings out the best in these full flavored robust vegetables. The Caramelization of the sugars with high heat unlocks more flavor and brings out a sweet nutty dish. This simple roast butternut squash recipe will tantalize your taste buds. Eat it as is as a side dish or toss when still warm with some baby greens to make a low calorie-vitamin rich Fall salad.

1 butternut squash (apx. 3 cups after peeling and cubing)
1 small red onion
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. brown sugar
1 tsp. sea salt
½ tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp. fresh chopped rosemary (or ½ tsp dry rosemary, crumbled)

1. Cut off ends of squash and stand on end.
2. Using sharp knife, remove skins, by slicing down one inch slices at a time; slicing top to bottom all the way around the squash.
3. Cut in half and remove seeds with a spoon.
4. Cut squash into 1 inch strips or wedges, then into one inch cubes. Place in bowl.
5. Cut onion into one inch wedges and add to squash.
6. Peel garlic and cut each clove into halves. Add to squash.
7. Combine all other ingredients and pour over squash; toss gently to coat all of the squash evenly.
8. Pour squash mixture out onto a large sheet pan or roasting roasting pan. A stoneware pan will give you the best results for caramel flavor and color.
9. Bake at 475 for 25 minutes on top shelf. Finished squash will have a brown color, and be tender when stabbed with a fork.

Fiber Burns Calories

This recipe is real food cooked right. When you eat good-for-you-foods that are high in fiber, you will increase your metabolism and burn more calories. Learn more about increasing your metabolism with the Wow! You Are Really Lucky…. program. Click here to learn more about this calorie burning program.

Good-For-You Milk Shake

Milkshakes Can Be Good-For-You

This Good-For-You Milk Shake makes a refreshing healthy snack for adults and kids!

Yogurt is one of the top 12 super foods so now instead of a high calorie junk food this recipe will create a snack treat that is nutritious and healthy.

Milk Shake For Kids

This shake is delicious for anyone but I say it is a shake for kids as it has more calories. This will serve 3 excited kids!

8 oz. plain non-fat yogurt
2 bananas
8 oz. 100% pineapple juice
dash of cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla
ice to fill blender
Blend on high till ice is crushed

High Fiber – Protein Shake For Adults

This is an awesome shake that will give you plenty of nutrients.

Just mix this up to in your blender, no exact measurements required. Just wing it every time!!

4 oz. plain non-fat yogurt
1 banana or any fruit you want
5 oz. milk or water
dash of cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla optional
4-5 ice cubes
1 scoop Greens Plus Powder
1/2 portion protein powder

When you add one portion of protein powder it is as good as dinner. Pick a protein powder that is 100% whey or egg white protein with no added sugars or non-nutritive sweeteners.

A side benefit of the Greens Plus protein shake is that you will poop good! Guaranteed!!

NOTE: Unless you are a body builder most likely a half portion based on the package recommendations will be fine. We do not need to over consume the protein.

I even add my liquid bio-available vitamins to this to make a real POWER Shake and afternoon pick-me-up. Click this link to learn more about bio-available vitamins and also find good quality whey protein powder.

Good For You Protein or Energy Bars

How do you pick a good meal replacement protein bar or energy bar?

That is a really good question that I recently received through my email. The protein bar industry really concerns me. Most people assume that since the bars are called protein bars or meal replacement bars that they are good for you. The degree of goodness varies greatly. Many of the good-for-you bars are nothing more than well packaged candy. First of all, what is good for me might not be a good choice for you.

Protein Bars, Meal Replacement, Energy Bar?

What is the reason that you are eating a bar?
Are you looking for a high protein bar, an energy bar or a meal replacement?

• Skipping a meal on the run
• Post work out carbs intake
• Protein source when working out
• A healthy dessert
• Kids’ snack instead of candy
• Grown-Up Snack instead of candy or junk

All of those are terrific reasons to eat a snack bar, or energy bar. The choice of the bars available is huge so how do you pick one that is good for you? What do you look for?

Good For You Ingredient List

The very first step in choosing your bars is to look at the ingredients list. Do not buy your bars based on what it says on the label. The label is written by marketing agents who are paid to sell the product. Understanding that the label is the marketing and the ingredients list is the facts will go a long way toward picking better food.

I recommend that you get bars that have very few chemicals or manmade food products in them. Generally, those ingredients are distinguishable by the fact that you do not know what they are when you are looking at the ingredients list. Examples may be dextrose, high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, artificial flavors, and hundreds more. Chemicals are addictive and have no nutritional value! Stay away from chemically-laden foods.

If you are using your bar for energy or a kids’ snack, sugar is OK, just look for good sugars. Regular sugar, raw sugar, cane sugar, honey and maple syrup would be good choices. We all need sugar to create energy. Glucose or simple sugars are essential for athletes after workouts and kids can use a good energy snack too.

Look for whole grain products. Brown rice, oats, whole wheat, bulgar, millet, quinoa, barley and other types of whole grains. The words rice, white rice, wheat, organic wheat, enriched wheat listed in your ingredient list are all the equivalent to more sugar. The above-listed grains will give you the good-for-you natural whole grain goodness of fiber and the right fats!

As a meal, protein is important. A body builder will also want a good supply of protein. How are they putting the protein in? Is it whey protein, legumes, seeds and nuts, and other recognizable ingredients or is the list full of things you never heard of? I actually use a meal replacement that is more like a soft granola than a bar. It is yummy, and chock full of natural goodness. Some of the foods include: oats, raisins, chick peas, kidney beans, bananas red beats blueberries, millet, whole rye, barley, oats, corn, Quinoa, cinnamon, glove, aloe, nutmeg, guava and more…….

The point here is that there are actually whole food meal replacements that are fun, fast, healthy, tasty and as good for you as eating dinner! To learn more about Deb’s whole food choices DebsFavoriteWholeFoods.com

After you find your choice of bars that have all good-for-you ingredients, then go to the nutritional analysis and check out how it meets your preferred dietary profile. Avoid the habit of most people who check out the nutritional analysis as their only deciding factor. Pick your meal replacement bar based on what is in it, in the ingredient list, not based on what is not in it based on the label and nutritional analysis. If it is not made out of real food, it is not a good choice and may be causing you to crave more foods.

Healthy Bars or Chemicals?

Is your body screaming ‘feed me’ and you are giving it chemicals (drugs)? Take some time to find healthy meal replacement bars. Your protein bar should be chemical-free so that you are consuming good nutrition in your bars. To check out the snacks that I include in my diet go to DebsFavoriteWholeFoods.com

Solutions to weight loss without dieting

You will learn how to increase your metabolism and stay healthy without dieting in the program: Wow! You Are Really Lucky… You Have A High Metabolism! Skill power makes it easy to stay healthy so you do not have to use will power.

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