Chef Meg's Latest Recipes

Summer is winding down, which means we're starting to work on fall and even holiday recipes in the SparkPeople test kitchen (aka Chef Meg's kitchen). Our healthy cooking expert created a no-fail creamy hummus recipe, with a whole-wheat flatbread to pair with it. And, for a quick, kid-friendly, late summer meal, you'll want to try the BBQ Chicken Flatbread.

I've heard rave reviews about her cilantro-lime steak salad. The trick is to marinate the meat in the morning, make the salad while you're waiting for the grill to heat up, and dinner is ready in no time!

Slimmer Sausage and Peppers: This hearty yet better-for-you dinner is perfect for a camping trip, a cookout with friends, or just dinner on a Wednesday night.  
cals: 292.5   fat: 11.6 g   protein: 15.9 g   carbs: 35.4 g   fiber: 2.3 g

New from Chef Meg in August

Wondering what Chef Meg's been cooking up this month? She's continuing to grill up healthy favorites, from peppers and sausage to steak. She came up with a super easy whole-wheat flatbread recipe that can be paired with hummus or turned into a kid-friendly and adult-approved BBQ chicken pizza! Yum!

Cheap and Easy Bean Dinners

This week's menu features beans, an economical and delicious protein source! Learn more about this underappreciated super food!

What Really Matters in Your Yoga Practice

I've been teaching yoga for a little more than three years now, and I've been practicing almost twice as long. The most difficult part of the practice for me has been not the physical poses--though there still are many that challenge me, particularly inversions--but everything else. As someone who has always had trouble sitting still and who battles anxiety, yoga is both therapy and, on certain days, torture for me.

I keep doing it because, quite simply, it's what I do. I encourage my students and friends interested in the practice to do the same. Today I want to share with you a few short lessons I've gleaned from my years on the mat. I share these both as encouragement for you and as reminders for myself, for we're all students with room to grow and learn.

Breathe. Whether you're fully in the pose or taking a modification, your primary focus should be on your breath. Keep it even and deep, with your inhales matching your exhales in length and intensity. Holding the breath is tempting, especially in balancing poses, but the breath is what gives us energy. Keep it flowing to breathe life into your poses. Yoga without breath is calisthenics.

Travel to Italy at Dinnertime This Week

Shake up dinnertime with a culinary tour of Italy. No fatty Alfredo or loaded lasagna here--just healthy, tasty comfort foods! We've rounded up seven healthy Italian favorites that will have you shouting "mamma mia!" Buon appetito!

7 Super Sandwiches for Suppertime

This collection of sandwich recipes is the best thing since sliced bread! Get a week's worth of healthy, tasty, hand-held meals!

Study: Adding Fiber Can Be a Pain the Gut

I'm a fan of fiber. In addition to keeping your GI system happy and healthy, fiber helps fill you up and ward off hunger--if Mother Nature put it in your food, that is. When fiber is added to processed foods by manufacturers, a new short-term study found that this functional fiber lacks the same hunger-busting benefits--and might even cause discomfort.
This "stealth" fiber is added to foods like granola and snack bars, breads, crackers, cereals, and even yogurt in the past few years. Inulin, polydextrose and maltodextrin are among the added fibers used by food manufacturers to add health benefits to foods.
Back in 2010 I wrote about the adverse reactions I have with inulin, so I avoid it and other forms of functional fiber to prevent bellyaches and bloating. The women in the study, who were given four snack bars with no added fiber and one with extra fiber, had the same reactions. When they consumed a high-fiber bar, they felt no difference in hunger levels versus when they ate the low-fiber bar, but they did report more gas and bloating.

I understand the appeal of added fiber foods. But if you're eating a well-balanced diet with plenty of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, consuming the recommended 25-35 grams of fiber daily is within reach.

Let's look at a sample meal plan to see how fiber adds up:

A Month of Fun, Healthy School Lunches

Want to get kids off to a healthy start this school year? So does SparkPeople! That's why our very own Samantha Donohue, dailySpark blogger and healthy lunch packer extraordinaire, wrote our latest e-book: A Month of Fun and Healthy School Lunches from SparkPeople.

We think it's just what you need to get kids excited about packing lunch--with tips and recipes for meals they'll actually eat.

With A Month of Fun and Healthy School Lunches, you'll end the food fight and get kids excited about packing lunch--with fun yet simple meals they'll actually eat. Written by a mother of three, with 50 easy and healthy recipes plus plenty of ideas tested by real parents in real life, this e-book turns lunchtime into fun time while reinforcing the importance of eating right!

The book includes:

• Tips for Making Healthy School Lunches Kids Will Actually Eat
• Mom-Tested Tips for Saving Money and Time
• Fun, Easy Ways to Turn Lunch into Something Special
• The Basics of Planning a Healthy Lunch
• Dozens of Meal Ideas: DIY Lunches, Finger Foods, Sandwich Makeovers and More
• Also: Tips for Teens, Tweens, and Kids Who Insist on Buying Lunch
• Bonus: 25 Healthy, Kid-Friendly After-School Snack Ideas!

Diabetes-Friendly Dinners

It's hard enough to decide what to make for dinner when you don't have any dietary restrictions. When you have to create meals that are diabetes-friendly, it can make mealtime more challenging. That's why we rounded up a week's worth of diabetes-friendly meals that are healthy, simple, and delicious!

Reader's Request: How Do You Get Kids to Eat a Healthy Lunch?

It's almost parents' favorite time of year: back-to-school.

That's why we're asking for your help. We hear from members all the time how difficult it can be to get kids to eat right--and even more so when they're away from home and tempted by pizza and chocolate milk in the lunch line.

Would you be willing to share your best tips in the comments below?

July's Best Recipes from Chef Meg

Wonder what Chef Meg has been cooking lately? From perfect poached chicken--the secret to moist and juicy chicken salad--to 100-calorie frozen banana splits, our healthy cooking expert has been busy! Check out these recipes--you might find a new family favorite. (I recommend the dressing in the shrimp salad. Yum!)


Back to Basics: Poached Chicken: What's the secret to moist and flavorful chicken? Poaching it! Chicken breasts contain very little fat; this method keeps the meat from drying out.

Many of you asked why we didn't keep the poaching liquid. It doesn't have as much flavor as stock, which is made from chicken bones. You're welcome to keep it and use as you would broth or stock, but the flavor will be mild. To intensify the flavor, you can simmer it until it has reduced in volume by half.

CALORIES: 126.7  |  FAT: 1.4g  |  PROTEIN: 26.3g  |  CARBS: 0.5g  |  FIBER: 0.2g

7 Nights of Chicken Dinners

Chicken breasts are the little black dress of the protein group. Dress them up, dress them down--they're great with any meal. Here are a week's worth of healthy, new-to-you recipes!

The Olympics Workout Game: Work Out While You Watch

Who says you have to be a world-class athlete to get in a workout during the Olympics? If you tune in to watch contenders from around the globe go for the gold, don't skip your own workouts. Use our fun Olympics Workout Game to squeeze in some fitness while you watch. We can't promise you'll be as fast as Usain Bolt or have shoulders like Michael Phelps, but we do think you'll enjoy this fun workout. 
Try this workout during tonight's opening ceremonies or while you watch any Olympic event in the future.

Could AC Be Making Us Fatter?

Temperatures in Cincinnati and across the country reached near-record highs over the past few weeks. I live in a third- and fourth-floor walk-up apartment just north of the city's center. According to my thermostat, it was 96 degrees Fahrenheit on the top floor of my apartment at 10 p.m.

I very rarely use air conditioning. I turned it on once this year when our fridge overheated and I needed to keep all our food on ice for 24 hours, and we used it the weekend it was over 100 degrees for three days straight, though we set it to 85.  I use it in the car sometimes when driving on the highway--I don't like so much wind blowing on me at high speeds--but even on the lowest setting I have to turn it off after a few minutes. Otherwise, I avoid it as much as I can.  

I'm a naturally cold person, requiring at least a sheet on even the most stifling of summer nights, wearing socks year-round, and shivering in the car, the office, and pretty much anywhere else that central air is in use. Going to a movie theater or the mall in summer leaves me with goosebumps and chattering teeth. When dining out during the warmest months, I opt for al fresco dining; it's no fun to shiver through your meals.

I grew up living in old houses, none of which had central air. From kindergarten through 12th grade, I went to school in buildings without it. My dorm room freshman year didn't have AC, but sophomore year it did, though I had moved to France by spring quarter, when we would actually need to use it. In France, neither my room nor my host mom's house was "climatisée" (air-conditioned) but we had heavy wooden shades that we could pull in to keep out the heat. I noticed there that some businesses or offices were air conditioned, but that didn't mean the entire building would be; the hallways, restrooms, and other communal areas often did not have AC. Most restaurants and small offices, even government ones, were not air conditioned; neither was my university.  No one seemed to mind its absence, so I soon stopped noticing.

Two weeks ago, I had to take my car in for a tune-up, in an area of town that offers little more than car dealerships, fast-food joints, and industrial sites. It wasn't exactly the ideal locale for a walk (on another 90+-degree afternoon) so I sat in the waiting area and responded to emails.

I carry an emergency sweater with me from May through September, which feels slightly ridiculous when walking about but is a lifesaver when blasted by Arctic air in a restaurant or store. Unfortunately, that day my sweater was in my car, which was then being worked on. I shivered, watched the goose bumps rise, and crossed my fingers for quick service. When I returned outside, I felt ill--it was SO hot. Too hot. My body didn't like the drastic fluctuation, and I ended up with a headache.

I just don't get it: Those of us in temperate climates anxiously await summer's sunshine and high temperatures, then the minute the mercury rises, we combat it with freezing-cold air conditioning. Why do we avoid the heat when we've been waiting for it all year?

People think I'm weird for avoiding AC and complaining about being cold in summertime, but as it turns out air conditioning might be among the modern conveniences taking its toll on our waistlines.

7 Terrific Tomato Recipes

Confession: I'm a tomato snob. I won't eat fresh ones nine months of the year. To me, biting into a tomato and expecting red, ripe, juicy goodness and getting a mouthful of mealy, flavorless mush isn't worth it.

Thankfully, it's tomato season, which means I'm eating these beauties morning, noon and night. Green zebras, hefty mortgage lifters, tiny little purple Cherokees... red, yellow, green, and all colors in between... raw, cooked... You get the picture!

I'm sure I'm not alone in my love of summer tomatoes, so that's why this week's menu honors my favorite summer crop!