Feeding your children a healthy low fat snack can be a challenge but to be honest most adults have trouble finding a healthy low fat snack that they like. There are so many options from the pre-packaged food that are full of chemicals and high in fat but they are quick and easy and store for a long time.
Many of the healthy low fat snacks are very expensive if you are buying them from a grocery or even through a food co-op.
So the best thing you can do is make your own healthy low fat snacks and store them in convenient sized containers for quick easy use.
Take all your extra fruit and vegetable depending on the time of the year and put them in the dehydrator. (I bought 40 pounds of ripe bananas that were on clearance at the grocery and dehydrated them into banana chips that our family loves) You can do apples, pears, peaches, plums, many other fruits even strawberries.
The extra vegetables from your garden can make a tremendously healthy low fat snack. We make a vegetarian lasagne and we take the extra eggplant or zucchini as well as peppers, peppers, tomatoes and spray them with a light coat of olive oil and then sprinkle season salt on them. As a variation I sprinkled some eggplant with curry powder which my wife really loves.
All of these can be done in just a few hours.
A few tips for this great healthy low fat snack:
1. Make consistent cuts so all of your fruit or vegetable on a tray is one size.
2. Make a small batch of each item to see what you like.
3. Try things you don’t like fresh (my children don’t like eggplant but dried and seasoned its like a chip)
4. Store things sealed well and if you have a lot extra freeze it. Without the chemical preservatives they won’t last as long as the store items.
Nesco American Harvest FD-61WHC Snackmaster Express Food Dehydrator All-In-One Kit with Jerky Gun
Our family has a very unique diet. Several of our older children have been vegetarian for years for health and social reasons. We also have two special needs children who need a gluten free diet for the digestive system. So when all of this came together we had to figure out how to remake some of our favorite dishes. I didn’t look online, I just started thinking about how I could make lasagne using vegetables instead of pasta and still have the great flavor. Our family is not vegan so for those of you who do not eat any cheese you may need to modify the ingredient lists to make vegan lasagna gluten free.
Vegetarian Lasagna Wheat Free Recipe
One small onion
Two garlic cloves
1 Tbsp. olive oil
Mince the onion and garlic and sauté in the olive oil.
1 small can tomato paste
1 small can tomato sauce
1 Tbsp. Italian Seasoning
Add to the minced onion and garlic and simmer while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
1 head cabbage
1 small eggplant
1 green bell pepper
10 mushrooms
2 medium tomatoes
Peel cabbage leaves and cut into square the size of a small serving of veggie lasagna. Clean the pepper and and slice into thin slices and cut in half. Slice mushrooms into thin slices. slice Tomatoes into thin slices. Cut Eggplant vertically and then into squares the same size of the cabbage squares. You can also use yellow summer squash or zucchini instead of the eggplant. You can make your gluten free vegetable lasagna with any fresh vegetables from your garden. We have used thin sliced carrots, spinach leaves, celery, etc.. cover the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking pan with a thin layer of the tomato and onion sauce. Then put in a single layer of cabbage.
24 oz. of Ricotta Cheese (or cottage Cheese)
16 oz. graded Mozzarella Cheese
Parsley
Mix them all together. take half of the cheese mixture with your hands and drop it over the first layer of cabbage leaves in your baking pan for your vegetarian lasagna gluten free. Then add a layer of eggplant or ladle half of the sauce over the eggplant. spread the rest of the cheese mixture over the sauce and add your other vegetables and mushrooms (save the sliced tomatoes for the top). Add a final layer of cabbage and top with 4 oz. of grated mozzarella and top with tomato slices sprayed with olive oil and sprinkled with Italian seasoning. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes let sit for 10 minutes and serve. This is not a thick dish so you may need to serve it in a bowl. You can make your veggie lasagna thicker by using two cans of tomatoes paste and leave out the tomatoes sauce.
Using petite filet steaks rub with a light mixture of your favorite spices and let stand in cooler or refrigerator for at least a half an hour. Preheat a grill and grill the Kobe Beef steaks at least four minutes per side until inside temperature is correct for your choice of doneness. This is my favorite method of enjoying Kobe Beef and its great flavor without adding a lot of outside flavor from sauces and condiments that easily overcome the excellence of the Kobe Beef. Serving this steak with some simple grilled vegetables is one of the best meals in the world.
Sear the salted and peppered steaks in a skillet with olive oil and transfer to 400 degree oven for 10 minutes. During this time sauté the ginger and garlic lightly then add the fresh mushrooms and other ingredients. Remove the steak pour over the sauce and top with garlic chives. The flavor of the mushrooms and sauce is excellent pairing for this great beef but I think loses some of the clarity of the beef.
