January Challenge | Healthy Eats – Food Network Healthy Living Blog

Your Least Favorite Vegetables by Healthy Eats in January Challenge, January 27, 2012

: Are you sure you don't like Brussels sprouts?

We’re teaming up with fellow food bloggers and healthy eating advocates to host a Healthy Every Week Challenge, a month-long initiative to develop healthy eating habits. The plan is to develop a manageable healthy habit each week that will carry through the new year. Join us here and share what you’re eating on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #gethealthy.

In honor of “Eat More Fruits and Vegetables” week of our Healthy Every Week Challenge, we asked our pals on Facebook and Twitter what their least favorite vegetable was. There were a few eggplant-haters, a bunch of votes against turnips and peppers, some who won’t eat broccoli, a whole lot of people against beets and even more who loathe Brussels sprouts.

Healthy Every Week Challenge: Eat More Whole-Grains Wrap Up by Healthy Eats in January Challenge, January 19, 2012

We’re teaming up with fellow food bloggers and healthy eating advocates to host a Healthy Every Week Challenge, a month-long initiative to develop healthy eating habits. The plan is to develop a manageable healthy habit each week that will carry through the new year. Join us here and share what you’re eating on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #gethealthy.

Quite possibly the best news of the week for the healthy challengers: Corn is a whole-grain. And so popcorn is a whole-grain. Air-popped is best, and of course with minimal butter/oil on it (but sprinkle liberally with cinnamon or spices!), but yes, eat some air-popped popcorn for a snack, and you’ve fulfilled week 2′s challenge of eating your whole grains. But the challenge participants didn’t limit their grain selection to just corn — oatmeal played a big role, as did whole-wheat flours, whole-wheat pasta, brown rice and wheat berries. What was the best grain, or form of whole grains that you ate this week? After the jump, check out a round-up of our challenge participants’ blog posts about whole grain week.

Win This Kitchen Scale! by Victoria Phillips in Giveaway, January Challenge, January 18, 2012

: Excercise perfect portion control with a kitchen scale.

We’re teaming up with fellow food bloggers and healthy eating advocates to host a Healthy Every Week Challenge, a month-long initiative to develop healthy eating habits. The plan is to develop a manageable healthy habit each week that will carry through the new year. Join us here and share what you’re eating on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #gethealthy.

Keep your portion control on track with the EatSmart Precision Retro Mechanical Kitchen Scale. Make things easy by weighing up to 11 pounds of fruit, vegetables or meat in the 1.5 quart stainless steel mixing bowl. The retro design and easy-to-read display match any kitchen decor while being both accurate and efficient.

You can buy your own EatSmart Precision Retro Mechanical Kitchen Scale or enter in the comments for a chance to win a copy. Just let us know, in the comments, how you would put this kitchen scale to use. The contest starts at 10:00 a.m. EST today, and ends on Friday, January 20 at 5 p.m. EST.

We’re giving away one scale to lucky, randomly selected commenters. You must include your email address in the “Email” field when submitting your comment so we can communicate with you if you’re a winner.

You may only comment once to be considered and you don’t have to purchase anything to win; a purchase will not increase your chances of winning. Odds depend on total number of entries. Void where prohibited. Only open to legal residents of 50 U.S. states, D.C. or Puerto Rico, and you must be at least 18 to win. For the first day of the giveaway, all entries (answers) must be entered between 10:00 a.m. EST on January 18 and 5 p.m. EST on January 20, 2012. Subject to full official rules. By leaving a comment on the blog, you acknowledge your acceptance to the Official Rules. ARV of each prize: $49.95. Sponsor: Scripps Networks, LLC, d/b/a Food Network, 9721 Sherrill Blvd, Knoxville, TN 37932.

So tell us, how would you put this kitchen scale to use?

Healthy Cooking Tool: Hand Blender by Michelle Buffardi in January Challenge, January 17, 2012

: Use a hand blender in recipes that call for a standard blender.

We’re teaming up with fellow food bloggers and healthy eating advocates to host a Healthy Every Week Challenge, a month-long initiative to develop healthy eating habits. The plan an is to develop a manageable healthy habit each week that will carry through the new year. Join us here and share what you’re eating on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #gethealthy.

One tool that no healthy home kitchen should be without is a hand blender (also called an immersion blender). This svelte little tool goes right into your soup, sauce or smoothie, allowing you to blend up something creamy, without transferring liquids from pot to blender. And with one of these, you’ll never deal with a soup-blender explosion again. When you close the lid on hot liquids and then blend, the steam can build up and cause the lid to blow off, sending hot soup flying all around your kitchen. When you bring the blender to the soup, that won’t happen.

You can even use this blender to mix up pancake or crepe batter in seconds.

Use a hand blender to make these recipes:

Mushroom-Hummus Soup

Nutty Sweet Potato Soup

Orange-Banana Smoothie

Lentil Soup

Butternut Squash Soup

Chicken Sate With Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce

Souffle Pancake With Apple-Pear Compote

You can buy this Cuisinart hand blender for $29.99 at the Food Network Store, and if you join us tonight on Twitter at 8:30pm for a chat about healthy cooking at home (#gethealthy), we’re giving away two of these hand blenders at the end of the chat.

Tell us: Do you own a hand blender? How do you use yours?

Weekend Cooking: Make a Whole-Grain Treat Today, Snack on Leftovers Next Week by Michelle Buffardi in January Challenge, January 14, 2012

: These cookies are packed with whole-grains.

We’re teaming up with fellow food bloggers and healthy eating advocates to host a Healthy Every Week Challenge, a month-long initiative to develop healthy eating habits. The plan an is to develop a manageable healthy habit each week that will carry through the new year. Join us here and share what you’re eating on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #gethealthy.

There’s generally more time on weekends for bigger cooking and baking projects — a Tuesday night isn’t usually ideal for experimenting with homemade pasta or learning to make ice cream from scratch. So when you do have extra time on the weekend, pick something that’s maybe a bit more adventurous or time-consuming, but that also makes great leftovers for the busy week ahead. If you make pancakes or waffles this weekend, make a few extra and stick them in the freezer. If you make a pot of soup or chili, freeze single servings in freezer bags; move a portion from the freezer to the fridge at night and by lunchtime the next day it’ll be ready to heat and eat. If you’re in the mood for something sweet, make a whole-grain-packed treat that will satisfy your cravings this weekend, and that you can eat for a snack during the busy week to come.

Spotlight Recipe: Giada’s Herbed Quinoa by Michelle Buffardi in January Challenge, January 13, 2012

: Giada's lemony herbed quinoa.

We’re teaming up with fellow food bloggers and healthy eating advocates to host a Healthy Every Week Challenge, a month-long initiative to develop healthy eating habits. The plan is to develop a manageable healthy habit each week that will carry through the new year. Join us here and share what you’re eating on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #gethealthy.

Quinoa is technically a seed, but is often categorized as a whole grain (it counts for whole grain week of the January Challenge!). This ancient grain made our recent list of 10 Foods that Fill You Up because it’s high in protein (8 grams per serving) and fiber (5 grams per serving). Quinoa is one of my favorite grains because I love its nutty flavor and texture, but also because it cooks quickly (as opposed to wheat, rye and spelt berries, which I love but that take forever to cook).

If you’ve never cooked quinoa before, Giada DeLaurentiis’ Herbed Quinoa is a good basic recipe to start with. It’s a great side dish served with chicken, fish or pork, or add a scoop to mixed greens and a few toasted walnuts for a filling lunch salad.

Win This Cookbook: Ancient Grains for Modern Meals by Victoria Phillips in January Challenge, January 11, 2012

: Eat more whole grains with a cookbook full of whole grain recipes.

We’re teaming up with fellow food bloggers and healthy eating advocates to host a Healthy Every Week Challenge, a month-long initiative to develop healthy eating habits. The plan an is to develop a manageable healthy habit each week that will carry through the new year. Join us here and share what you’re eating on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #gethealthy.

The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that at least half of all the grains you eat are whole grains. I know what you’re thinking, but adding more whole grains to your diet doesn’t have to be boring. Barley, farro, kamut, polenta and wheat berries are just a few of the grains highlighted in Ancient Grains for Modern Meals.

Healthy Every Week Challenge Weekly Round-Up by Healthy Eats in January Challenge, January 10, 2012

: The Picky Eater's Chocolate Brownie Oatmeal

We’re teaming up with fellow food bloggers and healthy eating advocates to host a Healthy Every Week Challenge, a month-long initiative to develop healthy eating habits. The plan an is to develop a manageable healthy habit each week that will carry through the new year. Join us here and share what you’re eating on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #gethealthy.

We made it through week 1 of our Healthy Every Week Challenge, with many successes reported by participants. It seems that most of you were able to eat breakfast every day, or at least almost every day. Many reported quick breakfasts like nut butter on whole wheat toast or a container of yogurt and some fruit. Quite a few of you are egg lovers and there are a lot of die-hard smoothie fans out there, too. But overwhelmingly, the challenge breakfast of choice was oatmeal. When we gave away 2 bags of Coach’s Oat’s Oatmeal we learned about so many new ways to eat oatmeal — you like it topped with apples, brown sugar and cinnamon, honey, dried fruit, granola, chia and flax seeds, bananas, berries, pumpkin puree and there was even one report of topping oatmeal with Irish whiskey. To add to the oatmeal love, Kath Freston from KathEats.com shared with us her favorite ways to eat oatmeal (in smoothies, cooked on the stove-top and in pancakes!). The recipe pictured on top got a ton of attention on Twitter, and why wouldn’t it — it’s chocolate brownie oatmeal! Its creator, Anjali, over at The Picky Eater ate it every day during week 1 — a good idea for week 2 as well. The goal for week 2 is to eat more whole grains (you should keep eating breakfast, too!) so keep eating that oatmeal, granola and whole grain toast for breakfast and you’re set.

After the jump, see what our friends and participants were up to during week 1 of the challenge.

Join Us for a Healthy January Challenge by Healthy Eats in January Challenge, December 18, 2011

It’s that time of year again: holiday indulgences are upon us, followed by devout January resolutions. But it seems that no matter how many times we promise ourselves you’re going to stick to our resolutions for the whole year, we all seem to settle back into the same routine come February. This year, try something different and make sure you reach your healthy goal in the new year.

Steps to a healthier 2012: