Coffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

Are you ready for your health tip for the week (you’re going to love me for this one)?!  Eat a handful of chocolate chips with a glass of red wine.  Their flavors compliment each other very well and they’re both full of healthy antioxidants.  You will be taking care of your body while celebrating National Chocolate Chip Day (which was actually this past Sunday on May 15…but who’s counting days).  Told you that you’d love me for this health tip.

Coffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup almonds (slivered)
• 1/3 cup instant coffee granules
• 2 2/3 cups flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 pound butter (at room temperature)
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Toast almonds on a baking sheet in oven until golden brown, about 10 minutes and allow to cool completely. Dissolve coffee granules in 2 tablespoons of hot water. Combine flour, soda and salt. With a mixer at medium speed beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in cooled coffee, vanilla and eggs. Add in flour mixture while beating at low speed. Stir in almonds and chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets about 3 inches apart. Bake until edges start to brown, generally about 10 minutes. Cool for a couple minutes on cookie sheets before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

In-Season Produce: English Trifle

We now know that buying in-season fruits and vegetables, particularly produce that has been grown locally, is better for our environment (and probably our taste buds and bodies too).  But it also provides an exciting opportunity to try new foods and to experiment with seasonal recipes!

Check out this recipe for English Trifle.  If you make it, shoot a picture of your finished dish and upload it to the Walden at Chatham Center Facebook page.  Anyone interested in having a community cooking contest?

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 621 | Total Fat: 23g | Cholesterol: 29mg

In-Season Produce: Markets near Walden at Chatham Center

Do you shop for your fresh food and produce locally? If not, you may want to give it some serious consideration. Although today’s global market allows us to buy foods grown almost anywhere in the world at any given time, this option is not the most sustainable.

Buying in-season fruits and vegetables that are locally grown helps to eliminate the environmental damage caused by shipping foods across the country – and in some cases – the world. Not only does your food dollar go directly to the farmers, but you’re able to enjoy the health benefits of eating fresh, better tasting, unprocessed produce. According to the National Resources Defense Council, in-season foods for the state of Georgia (and surrouning areas) include:

Blueberries Cabbage Carrots Greens Snap Beans Strawberries Vidalia Onions Yellow Squash Zucchini Asparagus (Tennessee) Bananas (Florida) Broccoli (Florida, North Carolina) Cantaloupe (Florida) Cauliflower (Florida) Celery (Florida) Chinese Cabbage (Florida) Collards (Tennessee) Cucumber (Florida) Eggplant (Florida) Endive (Florida) Escarole (Florida) Gourds (Tennessee) Grapefruit (Florida) Herbs (Tennessee) Honey (Tennessee) Honeydew Melon (Florida) Indian Corn (Tennessee) Kumquat (Florida)

Leafy greens (North Carolina) Limes (Florida) Mamey Sapote (Florida) Mixed Greens (South Carolina) Mushrooms (Florida, Tennessee) Okra (Florida) Onions (Florida) Oranges (Florida) Papaya (Florida) Peanuts (North Carolina) Pecans* (Alabama) Peppers (Florida) Potatoes (Florida) Radishes (Florida) Scallions (South Carolina) Squash* (Alabama, Florida) Sweet Corn (Florida) Sweet Potatoes * (Alabama, North Carolina) Tangelos (Florida) Tangerines (Florida) Tomatoes (Florida) Watermelon (Florida)

Here is a short list of markets that sell fresh locally grown foods near the Walden at Chatham Center area. If you can suggest any other markets, leave a comment and let the community know!

Markets near Walden at Chatham Center

Step away from the cheeseburger, please!

It’s now March.  This is the period that personal trainers like to refer to as the “dropout month”.  It’s when all of the my-New-Year’s-resolution-is-to-go-to-the-gym-more people start losing sight of their fitness goals and fall back into bad health habits.

Well, I want to help you keep your eye on the prize.  Put the fries down, step away from the cheeseburger and check out this TIME magazine list that details the 10 worst fast-food meals for your body.  Here are five of them (one of which I’m guilty of eating last week – yikes!)…

• Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries – 2,140 Calories
  This Outback Steakhouse appetizer has more calories than you should eat all day.
• Taco Bell Chicken Ranch Fully Loaded Taco Salad – 960 Calories
  When it comes to highest calorie count, this salad beats every other item on the Taco Bell menu.
• McDonald’s Chocolate Triple Thick Shake (32 oz.) – 1,160 Calories
  This shake has more calories than any other item on the menu, and with 27 g of fat, it has more jiggle’s worth than two McDonald’s cheeseburgers.
• Starbucks Hazelnut Signature Hot Chocolate – 600 Calories
  One of these in the morning and you’re already a quarter of the way through your recommended daily calories.
• Dunkin’ Donuts Sausage, Supreme Omelet and Cheese on Bagel – 690 calories
  More grams of fat than three glazed doughnuts and comes close to the recommended limit for sodium per day.

Take A Slice Cake With You

Help yourself to a slice of Mardi Gras King Cake and celebrate Fat Tuesday. Today is the day to think of what we over indulge in and to think about what we can start to abstain from.

Fat Tuesday traditionally helps kick off Lent by letting people have one last go at all their delicious vices like a tasty slice of King Cake. Sweets are certainly one thing I have a hard time keeping away from, especially when there are cookies on the table.

What are you doing today to celebrate Mardi Gras?

Domino’s Pizza Taking Advantage Of The Poor Reviews

Domino’s Pizza is changing the way they make their pizza. Apparently, ranking at the bottom of pizza chains based on taste hit home for Domino’s. They are changing their recipe in all aspects and the new recipe took affect late December.

I tasted the new recipe before I even saw the new commercial or announcement and I knew there was something going on.  The new recipe is so good and I really encourage you to try it.

Will you try the new pizza?