Perfect Pairing

Combine the Perfect Pairing to Get this Salad Pizza

By Mary Curnette

Pizza and salad – the finest combination. Make them one with this perfect pairing. Pizza is my favorite food and no willpower will change that.  Make it with a delicious wheat crust and some veggies and it’s still a well-rounded meal. Health versus taste should never define your meals. Rather, they should always work together.

For many people, food can be a source of guilt or punishment. It is a battle between “I should have this” and “I want this”, but it is not meant to be a negative part of our lives. Food is always good. Yes, food nourishes our body, but it is also important to allow it to nourish our spirit.

So take this food, pizza, that many associate with “bad”, and change it into this positive experience. Make this, eat it, and love every bite. (And if you’re craving a not-so-healthy version, that’s okay, have it.) On most days, you can have a salad-like pizza instead.

Servings: 2 12” pizzas

Prep Time: 2 hours

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes

Crust:

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1 tablespoon active yeast

1 ½ cups warm water

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon salt

3 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

Handful of cornmeal

Pizza toppings:

1 cup ricotta cheese

3 garlic cloves, minced

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup sliced mozzarella cheese

6 cups mixed greens

¼ cup chopped sundried tomatoes

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1.      Combine the sugar, yeast, and warm water. Let sit for 5 minutes or until the yeast is foamy and dissolved. This is known as “proofing” the yeast. If this does not occur, the yeast is dead and you should start again with active yeast.

2.      Whisk in the olive oil, honey, and salt.

3.      Add 3 cups of whole wheat flour and mix with a large rubber spatula until the dough starts to come together.

4.      Once the dough holds together, knead by hand for 5 minutes. Add flour as needed if the dough is too wet. Your dough is done when it is smooth and will slowly bounce back when poked.

5.      Place the dough in a bowl lightly coated with olive oil. Cover and allow to rise (in a warm environment if possible).

6.      The dough will have doubled in size in about 1-2 hours. When this occurs, punch the dough down to release the air, then cut into two. These are your two crusts. Roll them each into a ball. If you want to save a crust for future use, wrap this one now and put it in the freezer. It will stay good for a couple months.

7.      Preheat oven to 475F degrees. Oil your baking sheets and dust with cornmeal.

8.      Roll out the dough and place on baking sheet.

9.      Mix together ricotta, minced garlic, salt, and pepper.

10.  Spread ricotta mixture on to pizza and top with mozzarella slices.

11.  Bake for 15 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned.

12.  In the meantime, make a salad by chopping mixed greens and sundried tomatoes, placing them in a bowl, and dressing with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

13.  When the crust with cheese has been baked, top with the “salad”. Cut and serve.

Nutrition:

For 1/3 of 1 pizza: 348 calories, 17 g fat (0 g trans fat, 7 g saturated fat, 8 grams monounsaturated fat, 1 g polyunsaturated fat), 36 g carbohydrates (6 g fiber, 7 g sugar), 14 g protein

The School RD: From Classroom to Cafeteria

By Ellyn Cory 

Registered Dietitians, also known as RDs, are health professionals who learn the physiology and metabolism of food to help clients and patients improve their health. Most of the time, people think of RDs as working in hospitals, but the truth is RDs are everywhere. From gyms to grocery stores and everywhere in between, RDs are there to help. One of these places is in the school district. Every year, more and more dietitians are being hired to work in health promotion in school districts. Earlier this year, I worked with one of these dietitians to learn more about what she does. The main goal of the health promotion dietitian in a school district is to change the health and eating habits of the students in the district. Since every school and the population it serves is so different, the job of health promotion dietitian varies from RD to RD and from school to school. Some school dietitians plan the menus for the district, some write grants, and some even are in charge of a gardening program. It is extremely important that each RD knows their population well and is constantly looking for innovative ways to encourage healthy habits. School dietitians can target classrooms, teams and clubs, and entire schools within their district. During my time with the school RD, we targeted all three of these subgroups.

In the Classroom:

                A class of students are most easily targeted by going into the class and talking to the students. Classrooms are great places to target students because they are already set up to listen and learn. At the school district I visited, they had just started a fruit and vegetable snack program with a grant that the health promotion dietitian secured. During one of these snack times we went in to the classroom and educated the classroom on the fruit they got for a snack that day. The students got to learn about the fruit they were eating and also received a handout to take home. The handout had a connect-the-dots on it in hopes that the children would do the activity and want to show it to their parents.

On the Field:

                Certain after school activities, especially sports teams, need more specific nutritional education. A marching band may need education on staying hydrated and well fueled during competitions, whereas the football team could benefit from education on supplements. At the school district I visited, we did one of these educations before soccer practice for all of the male soccer players in high school. It is important that the school dietitian builds good relationships with the coaches or administrators of the after school activities so that they allow her to talk to their groups. For this education, we focused on protein needs and good sources of protein.

In the Cafeteria:

                To target the whole school, it is important to choose locations where the whole school might be as points of education and promotion. A couple of the ways we can target the whole school is by doing health promotion activities at lunch time, in the cafeteria, in the gym, and on the playground. These are three locations where the every student in the school goes. Posters could also be posted in high traffic areas such as in bathrooms and above water fountains. In the school district I visited, we posted a promotional bulletin board in the cafeteria of the middle school and handed out fresh produce snacks to elementary school students at lunch time.

                With the rise in childhood obesity and the recent move to sedentary lifestyles, the importance of school dietitians is growing. Check out your district’s website today to see if they employ an RD, then check out http://www.healthpronet.org/ahp_month/05_05.html to learn more about Registered Dietitians and where they work.

https://pixabay.com/en/photos/football/?cat=people

Butternut Squash Cheesecake Bars

By Kristen DeCesare, Dietetic Intern

Is Your Mouth Watering Yet?

Mine sure is! That’s how delicious these light and creamy bars were. Cheesecake has always been a favorite dessert of mine and I have yet to come across a kind that I don’t enjoy. Recently, I discovered this recipe by Ilona’s Passion, Ilona’s recipe, Butternut Squash Greek Yogurt Cheesecake Bars, and I fell in love! Her creation uses ingredients such as butternut squash puree, Greek yogurt cream cheese, and Greek yogurt. It was the first time that I have ever seen Greek yogurt cream cheese in a cheesecake recipe and I had to test it out for myself. I decided to switch up a few ingredients and see how this would all would work because it seemed too good to be true.

The Season is the Reason

This fall season I became so drawn to butternut squash. It was on sale EVERYWHERE, how could I resist? There’s so many benefits to buying seasonal produce. The cost is lower because there’s such an abundance of the product, the flavor is improved because the product can grow and ripen properly, the nutritional value is higher, and it is more environmentally friendly.(1) Butternut squash has a naturally sweet flavor with a decadent, buttery, orange flesh. It belongs to the Cucurbita moschata species along with pumpkin, cucumber, and courgette(2). It’s rich in beta carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium and magnesium. In Missouri, butternut squash in season anywhere from July to December. Get em’ before they’re gone!

Recipe Notes

Believe it or not, one of these bars packs less than 200 calories, crazy, right? They are also low in total fat, specifically, only 8 grams for one serving. Thanks to the butternut squash, the vitamin A content was 66 micrograms. The sugar content was also a total of 13 grams. For this recipe, I switched out refined white sugar for organic cane sugar. It’s much less processed than white sugar and has the succulent taste of sugarcane along with some of the nutrients that are found in cane juice(3). For the crust, I added 1% milk to help bind the crust together. I also feel that a recipe can never have too much cinnamon so I increased the original amount by ½ teaspoon. I loved how this recipe featured Greek yogurt cream cheese, it was my first time trying it and I’m pleased to say that I was impressed. It packs nearly four times more protein and ½ the fat compared to regular cream cheese and has a slightly tangy flavor. This product was a great addition to the cheesecake because it helped make the texture so creamy and delicious.

Let’s Get to the Good Stuff, Shall We?

Let’s get to baking! Scroll below for some awesome pictures from my baking adventure. More detailed steps can be found in the recipe towards the end of this (awesome) blog.

Featured Steps:

Grab some parchment paper and get to work! Cut a piece that will fit inside your 8x8 pan. Get your ingredients ready to make the graham cracker crust.

This is that beautiful “sandy” texture you should be looking for. Look at the size of those tasty granules!

Once your crust is made, press it into the bottom of the parchment-paper lined pan. Make sure that it is evenly spread out.

While the crust is baking, combine the Greek yogurt cream cheese, Greek yogurt, and cane sugar together. Mix until combined. Add in the egg and mix again. Make sure to scrape your bowl! The mixture should look creamy before adding the remainder of the ingredients. If you feel that the batter is too lumpy, try pushing it through a strainer.

After adding and mixing the remaining ingredients, the cheesecake is ready to be baked. Make sure to check the center of the pan to check the doneness, it shouldn’t wiggle if you lightly shake the pan. The result of this creation are these decadent morsels. The butternut squash contributed to such a beautiful color and flavor of these bars, I had to keep myself from scarfing down the entire pan! 

Recipe:

Butternut Squash Cheesecake Bars

“Adapted from Butternut Squash Greek Yogurt Cheesecake Bars- Ilona’s Passion”. Recipe. Ilona. Ilona’s Passion. N.p., 7 Oct. 2016. Web. 20 November 2016.

A light, creamy seasonal treat to delight your taste buds this holiday season

Yield:	1, 8x8 pan		Serving Size: 1 bar                    Number of Servings: 12

Ingredients: For the crust: Graham cracker crumbs Butter, unsalted, melted Milk, 1% For the cheesecake: Greek yogurt cream cheese brick Organic cane sugar Greek yogurt, plain* Egg, whole Butternut squash puree* Cornstarch Cinnamon, ground Nutmeg, ground Vanilla extract

US Standard Quantities 1½ cups ¼ cup 2 teaspoons 8 oz. (1 brick) 1 cup 1 cup 1 each ½ cup 1 teaspoon 1½ teaspoons 1/8 teaspoon 1 teaspoon

Method of Preparation:

1. Gather all ingredients and equipment.
2. Preheat the oven to 300°F. Place parchment paper on the bottom of your 8x8 baking pan.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and milk. Mix together until a “sandy texture” is achieved. Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan and bake for 15-20 minutes until fragrant. Remove and set aside.
4. While the crust is baking, prepare your cheesecake in a standard mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Combine the cream cheese, cane sugar, and Greek yogurt. Mix on medium speed until there are no lumps.
5. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add in the egg and mix on medium speed until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again.
6. Add in the butternut squash puree, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined. Pour the mix into the pan with the pre-baked graham cracker crust and bake for 30 minutes or until the center of the pan does not jiggle.
7. Let cool 30 minutes to 1 hour before cutting into 12 portions, serve and enjoy! Store any remains in an airtight container for up to 7 days.

*Chef’s Notes: You will need just a little over 1 container of plain Greek yogurt to measure out 1 full cup. For this recipe, you can make the butternut squash puree ahead of time by cutting the butternut squash into halves and placing them cut side down on a baking sheet lined with foil. Roast them for 30-40 minutes at 375°F until they are fork tender. Scoop out the innards and mash with a potato masher or puree with a food processor. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days.

Nutritional Analysis: Per serving Calories 176 Carbohydrates: 21 g Folate: 5 mcg Total Fat: 8 g Fiber: 0 g Calcium: 57 mg Saturated Fat: 4 g Cholesterol: 35 mg Iron: 0 mg Protein: 5 g Vitamin B-12 .02 mcg Sodium: 170 mg Mono Fat: 1.8 g Vitamin A 66 mcg Sugar 13 g ______________________________________________________________________________

Sweet Endings

I hope that you enjoyed this recipe as much as I did! It would be a great addition to a Thanksgiving feast, or just for when you’re feeling like indulging in something oh-so sweet and delicious. 

Happy Eating!

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Resources:

[1]6 Benefits of Eating Seasonal Produce | Reboot With Joe. (2016). Retrieved November 21, 2016, from http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/benefits-of-eating-seasonally/

[1] "Butternut Squash Nutrition Facts and Health Benefits." Nutrition And You.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2016. <http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/butternut-squash.html>.

[1] "Organic Cane Sugar vs Other Sweeteners: How They Measure Up, Part 1 | SmartyPants Vitamins." SmartyPants Vitamins. N.p., 17 June 2016. Web. 21 Nov. 2016. <https://smartypantsvitamins.com/organic-cane-sugar-vs-other-sweeteners-how-they-measure-up-part-1/>.