Enter Your Recipes For A Chance To Attend BlogHer 2013 in Texas

This post brought to you by Pompeian. All opinions are 100% mine.

Every now and then, a bit of change in your life is a good thing. Changing up your routines and styles keeps you from falling into ruts, slumps and becoming bored with your surroundings. In the kitchen, change can often result in the awakening of the senses and spirit. Nothing compares to taking a bite of something memorable for the first time especially when you made it with your own hands. Pompeian & Hungry Girl are challenging foodies and bloggers from all around the World to re-create some of their favorite recipes using Pompeian grapeseed oil or OlivExtra Premium Mediterranean Blend, instead of their usual butter or vegetable oil. All you have to do is simply post your recipe on your blog w/ a picture of the finished product, head to the Pompeian’s Time to Change Your Oil app to share your link, enter your contact info and click submit. The lucky winner will be selected by Hungry Girl Lisa Lillien and will receive an expense paid trip to BLogHer Food ’13 in Austin, TX in June. The winning recipe will also be featured throughout the event courtesy of Pompeian.

Chefs for years have known about the wonders of grape-seed oil because of its high smoke point and its light flavors that lend to just about any dish. We here at The Supreme Plate tend to use the Grape-seed in recipes like these Smoky Fried Chickpeas or this amazing Beef-Stir Fry that will have your friends begging for more. This is an incredibly easy contest to enter and can be won by anyone particularly those of you who have skills in the kitchen and take great photos (which happens to be most of our readers) just make sure you use the right products and then post it to the Facebook pge listed below. Just for entering alone, you will get a coupon for a free bottle of Pompeian Oils that you can use at your local grocery store. Please make sure so that you don’t find yourself excluded from the contest that you keep whatever post you submit, strictly about the contest and the oil itself, don't make this about your recent trip to Greece, that could be where ya find yourself lost.

Two Degrees, Buy Their Products & Help Feed Hungry Children Worldwide

Brands built on the premise of giving back and helping the inhabitants of this world see another day, should be praised and spoken about frequently. Two Degrees, a company whose main focus is to help feed hungry children recently caught our attention at the Natural Products Expo, in Anaheim.

We took notice of Two Degrees, not because they had silly dressed characters passing out free samples, but because their mission statement was so prominently displayed. Their obvious desire to help any child who is hungry, get a square meal was felt after only a few seconds of conversation with one of their cheerful reps.

Too many companies nowadays say they are helping people who can’t seem to find a square meal no matter how hard they try, but in all actuality they are only lining their own pockets and avoiding having to pay taxes on their earnings. Two Degrees is not one of those "Culture Vulture" kind of companies.

TwoDegrees manufactures nutritious, delicious bars that are healthy, natural, and gluten free. They are consciously crafted with real fruit, nuts, seeds and heritage grains like chia, quinoa and millet.

We took a few days to snack on a couple of their bars such as the Apple Pecan, Cherry Almond & Chocolate Banana and found ourselves having bit more energy throughout the morning. A delicious snack that you can feed to your Vegan friends, that actually is involved in World affairs is a brand we respect and admire.

TwoDegrees makes it simple for their customers to do good. For every bar sold, they give a meal to a hungry child. The support from their customers allows them to fight childhood hunger both domestically and globally.

At Two Degrees, they purchase nutrient rich meals and medically formulated nutrition packs and whenever possible, these products are produced locally in the region they will be distributed - in this way, the purchase a customer makes of one Two Degrees bar also supports local economies.

Working closely with reputable companies such as Valid Nutrition, Two Degrees also helps communities begin to thrive by creating jobs for the locals and source most of their ingredients from local farmers. 

TwoDegrees provide meals to regions around the world that have been with famine by working alongside a network of non-profit partners in developing countries. Each of these organizations has dedicated distribution channels for the meals through health clinics, schools, and community groups in areas where children are suffering from chronic hunger or malnutrition. By donating one locally produced meal for each Two Degrees bar purchased, Two Degrees helps these organizations to provide needed meals to children.

To date, Two Degrees has donated regionally produced and supplied meals to children in the United States via Feeding America, Haiti, India, Kenya, Malawi and Somalia through Action Against Hunger, Akshaya Patra, IMA World Health, Partners in Health, Relief International and Valid Nutrition.

Cookbook Alert: Simple Sexy Food - Dr. Linda De Villers

Love & Food, are two necessities in life. True, you can live without loving anyone or having anyone love you, but that makes for a cold and often lonely life. When you find that someone who makes feel like rushing home at the end of a hard day when everyone else is going out to unwind and cut loose, you can feel it in your heart and soul. What often happens though unfortunately is that relationships, much like jobs sometimes wind up in a rut simply because no one has the time to be spontaneous and creative on a whim anymore.

Doubling up on the usual stresses we find in life is that fact that quality jobs and people in this world seem to be becoming harder to find every day. Dr. Linda De Villers a internationally known and respected authority on human sexuality with an emphasis on the role of exercise and diet in improving sexual function has recently released an aphrodisiac themed cook book and manual of sorts to help improve both your health and your sex life. To quote Dr. Villers directly “at the very least it will help you perk up your sex life and your eating habits. The beauty of that is that, at their essences, both food and sex are deliciously simple pleasures.”

Simple Sexy Food isn’t your usual chocolate covered strawberry and oysters kind of cook either. Complete with 101 recipes, humorous but informative photos and reasons behind why things work the way they do, this manual for lovers of both sex and food give you a great bit of information without leaving you feelings as if you just sat on an overpriced therapists couch for an hour. Simple Sexy Food, has an A – Z listing of foods that turn everyone on as well as create a healthy bit of energy in the body on top of delicious recipes such as French Toast w/ Grand Marnier, a great Lobster Tail & Watermelon Salad, Poblano Chilies stuffed w/ Crab & Shrimp and our favorite Artichokes stuffed w. Shrimp. 

In the end we know that some people have too much to admit maybe they want to try something new or that they don’t know everything in the bedroom or kitchen. But in a world full of instant gratification (which was so aptly applied in a section found in the book) people are feeling more rightfully so than ever in refusing to settle for less in an era where moving on to the next best thing seems to be a better solution than solving issues with someone you love.

This is a good book for a newly married couple an old couple having trouble in either the kitchen or the bedroom or anyone looking to brighten their day with a good meal and some amazing sex. 

For more info check out: Simple Sexy Food - Linda De Villers, PhD

How To Eat Better (Without Realizing It)

By now we all know the importance of healthy eating, but making changes to your eating habits is usually easier said than done. If you’re a red meat and fried potatoes kind of eater, going cold turkey and switching to a salad-only diet probably won’t be effective. And even if you’re a usually healthy eater but have a weakness for chocolate, replacing all of your treats with fruit may not satisfy your sweet tooth.

Improving eating habits doesn’t have to mean a drastic switch in your diet, however. There are lots of ways to eat healthier, more nutritious and balanced meals without sacrificing the foods you crave.

Experiment with Cooking Methods

Oftentimes, a dish is unhealthy because of how it’s prepared, not necessarily because of what ingredients are in it. If you cook with a lot of oil or use frying as your go-to kitchen technique, try making the same dishes using different cooking methods. Oven bake traditionally fried foods like breaded chicken, fries and onion rings, and try roasting, baking poaching or grilling meats and vegetables.

Find Healthier Versions of “Junk” Foods

Just because you want to eat healthier doesn’t mean you’ll never get to enjoy your favorite junk foods again. Instead of cutting out fries, for instant, try baked sweet potato fries for a healthier, lower calorie option. Or choose whole grain popcorn instead of the variety that comes slathered in butter; pretty soon, your taste buds won’t even crave the “bad” stuff you liked before.

Substitute Vegetables

Cutting back on foods like red meat and starchy pastas is a common feature of healthier eating, but not everyone can give up goodness like burgers and macaroni so easily! Instead of cutting back on certain foods entirely, occasionally substitute veggies for the foods you’re cutting back on (but not every time!): cauliflower mac and cheese and portabella burgers are good examples of how substituting vegetables can still provide you with satisfying, indulgent meals.

Eat Seasonally

One easy way to trick yourself into eating healthier is to make it a goal to eat seasonally. Since good-for-you fruits and vegetables make up the majority of seasonal foods, making a point to go out and buy foods that are in season will automatically bring more nutrients and vitamins into your diet. You may even be exposed to new produce you never knew you liked before!

Season from Scratch

Instead of buying dressings and seasonings at the grocery store that tend to be high in sodium, calories or fats, try making your own at home. Salad dressings, taco seasoning and pasta sauces are all easy to make from the comfort of your own kitchen and will likely be much better for you—and better tasting—than anything you’d find at the supermarket.

Author Bio: This is a guest post by Meredith K. on behalf of Alexia Foods. 

For baked appetizer options and some simple recipes, visit www.alexiafoods.com.

ROTD: Strawberry Salad Smoothie

Starting off the year on a healthy note never anyone in our book. We promised ourselves that we were going to eat as little processed or pre-prepared food as possible this year, we wanted to put this incredibly healthy recipe up for everyone to try out. This Strawberry Salad Smoothie recipe makes for a gluten-free & vegan beverage that will surely help power you through the morning as well as help cleanse the body of a lot of the artery clogging goodies we consumed throughout the holiday season.

Enjoy.

(click read more for the Entire Recipe)

Bonne Maman Golden Plum Mirabelle Preserves

Anytime of day where you can sneak in something sweet is the right time of day in our opinion. Knowing that what you are about to eat isn’t loaded with manmade additives should help you avoid having to furtively consume something in the dark corners of your home or office. It has been said that the most important meal of the day is Breakfast, which has been proven to be true by numerous Dieticians, Doctors and Weight Trainers. 

The reason for Breakfast being such an important meal is because it helps to kick-start your bodies metabolism and provides a much needed boost of energy after “fasting” all night while sleeping. Studies also show that individuals who routinely eat breakfast have a significantly higher chance of losing weight and maintaining that loss. That being said, we don’t want you to run out and start eating a steady diet of pancakes and sausage just because it is breakfast food (although that does sound good as it gets colder outside.)

We'd much rather like to introduce you to Bonne Maman® makers of some of the finest traditional French Preserves & Jellies found around the World.

Bonne Maman® is a brand who strives to provide their customers a product that is made from only the most superb of select ingredients. Producing a wide range of flavors from strawberry and apricot to the latest addition to the already impressive lineup Golden Plum Mirabelle, Bonne Maman® is a premium brand that should be on the kitchen table every morning next to your bagel or toast. 

If we haven’t convinced you to start eating a healthy breakfast every day, then try the Golden Plum Mirabelle Preserve out as a glaze on that roasted Holiday Ham you should be making in the near future or on some Seared Duck Breasts, you will be amazed at how complex flavors like these can turn a regular weeknight meal into some extraordinary.

All Bonne Maman® products are 100% natural, using only fruit & natural sugar with no additives, artificial flavors, colors, and are Gluten & Nut Free, so enjoy them today.

Available at finer stores or online at: www.BonneMaman.us (usually for less than $5.00 for a 13oz jar that’s pretty impressive)

Mediterranean Tuna Salad

Mediterranean Tuna Salad

It was cold outside this morning. Many things are worse than waking up an going outside into the freezing cold, but this salad isn’t one of them. As we are literally just a week and a half away from Thanksgiving Day, everyone by now should be on point in watching what and how much they are eating. Right around now, I find myself in the kitchen for days on end, making recipes for other people, taking care of catering orders and preparing to feed my family and friends, not because it is Thanksgiving, but because that is what I enjoy doing.

This is a quick and easy Mediterranean Tuna Salad recipe that uses makes short work of any cooking, leaving more time for eating, enjoying and getting back to what you have to do for the day.

Enjoy!

(click Read More for the entire recipe)