SWASHBUCKLED! (S2E8): It’s The Great Trader Joe’s Campout, Charlie Brown

This week, we get real rugged with our ode to camping! Full of tin foil dinners, meat granola bars, improvising barware, “postmatesing” liquor and lighting things on fire. Plus grammar and vocabulary lessons (non-camping related). Check out the full episode here!

 

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Ingredients featured in this week’s episode:

 

In preparation of camping this summer, Amanda tried out her camp cooking skills in the Fearless Flying Kitchen. Although, she doesn’t really ever go camping and thinks you can just throw packets of foil into the open fire (that’s how it works, right?)

We combine sweet and savory with these delicious peach and hatch green Chile foil packets. When we don’t have camping on the brain, we’ll make these again, but without the tin foil (since cooking with aluminum –> ingesting aluminum in your food –> not the best way to prepare meals on the daily) and instead bake in a pyrex dish. When peaches aren’t in season, you could even use canned or frozen (thawed) peaches.

Chile-Cheese Rice & Sausage Foil Packets

• Servings: 5-6
• Time: 30 min
• Difficulty: easy
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Recipe by Amanda Hibshman, RDN

Ingredients

• One bag of microwavable brown rice
• One can of diced green chiles
• 2 Tbsp Nonfat Greek yogurt
• One Peach, diced
• 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
• salt and pepper to taste
• Garlic powder 1 tsp
• 1 package smoked, apple chardonnay sausage, sliced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400˚F.
2. Combine bag of brown rice with can of chiles and microwave for 2 minutes. Meanwhile, dice peach and add to rice and chiles after being microwaved. Add to that mozzarella, salt, pepper, Greek yogurt, and garlic salt.
3. Get your sheets of foil ready. Add a portion of the rice mixture and top with a couple slices of sausage. Divide all the ingredients evenly between 5 or 6 tin foil sheets. Wrap up and bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes. OR you could just toss it in a camp fire (we’re assuming this will work?)
4. If you want to use a pyrex dish, we recommend mixing the sausages in with the rice mixture and placing in an 8X12 glass baking dish and bake at 400 for 20 minutes.

Smores Vodka Cocktail

• Servings: 2
• Time: 5 min
• Difficulty: moderately easy
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Recipe by Amanda Hibshman, RDN

Ingredients

• One ounce coffee syrup
• 1 small scoop vanilla ice cream*
• Two ounces of vodka**
• 1 Tbsp chocolate syrup
• 2 Tbsp Half and Half
• Ice for shaking
• Glass Rimming: Chocolate syrup and crushed graham crackers, marshmallows

Directions

1. Add ingredients to a shaker (or two zoo cups) and cover and shake until combined.
2. Get a fire source and toast your marshmallow
3. Get two smaller plates or bowls. Add chocolate syrup to one and crushed graham crackers to the other.  Grab a glass and place the rim in the chocolate syrup, then the graham crackers. Strain cocktail into glass. Top with roasted marshmallow.

*You really don’t need this. It is what we did, must most of it stayed with the ice when we strained it. If you really want this to be like dessert, you can put a little vanilla ice cream in your glass after rimming and before straining  into it. Or save some fat and calories and leave it out. You won’t miss it.

** We just had a regular vodka, but a flavored vodka would be delicious here too! Try a whipped cream or marshmallow flavor and let us know how it goes in the comments.

 

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Healthy Whole Wheat Pancakes

Here is the first video and recipe I shared with Nutrition Milestones, and it really is just too much fun to not post here as well. OJ and I were asked to make our favorite pancake recipe, which is basically just my father-in-law’s famous pancakes, with just a few healthy tweaks. Since filming this, I have also incorporated Non-Fat Vanilla Greek Yogurt to replace the buttermilk (not that there is anything wrong with buttermilk, it is just something I don’t normally purchase, and I am up to my ears with Non-Fat Vanilla Greek Yogurt!) I have also substituted honey for the sugar and added some cinnamon, added blueberries or chocolate chips, and all of them taste equally delicious!

• Servings: 10-12 silver dollar pancakes or 5-7 full size pancakes
• Time: 10 mins
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat white flour from Trader Joes
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 Tbsp canola oil

Instructions

• Mix together wet ingredients
• Mix together dry ingredients
• Then add wet to dry and mix until well combined.
• Meanwhile, pre-heat your electric griddle to 350 (or a griddle pan on your stove at a medium high heat). Once hot, place a dollop of batter onto the griddle (1 Tbsp for silver dollar, 1/4-1/3 cup for full size).

Favorite Topping: Fresh Fruit and a drizzle of Trader Joe’s Organic Maple Agave Syrup Blend

The Mean Green Smoothie

I sometimes think that if pizza never existed, smoothies might be my favorite food. They are so versatile and you can easily customize the nutrition profile by adding different fruits, veggies, protein powder, nuts, etc. Lucky for me, my little one loves smoothies too, and asks for them almost as often as she asks for MnMs.

When you are making green smoothies, you can start with picking a green vegetable. This one calls for spinach, but I have also been known to throw some kale if I have some in my fridge. Then I pick some light colored, frozen fruit. I usually have bananas stocked in my freezer, so that is a given. Then I’ll add whatever TJ’s has in stock (they often run out of frozen mango), usually pineapple and mango. You can add other fruit, such as berries, but it turns the beautiful green smoothie into a brown color. Still delicious, but doesn’t really match the name. Then pick a protein, my go-to as of late has been non-fat vanilla Greek yogurt, but also have some Trader Joe’s Whey Protein powder in my pantry for back up. Using the sweetened Greek Yogurt gives a little but more robust flavor to the smoothie, which I like.

For the last month or so, I have been blogging and vlogging for Nutrition Milestones, which is a team of dietitians that provide nutrition services for people going through life changes, such as pregnancy, parenthood, weddings, medical diagnoses, etc. Olive and I recently shared with them our Green Smoothie recipe, take a look!

• Servings: 2
• Time: 5 min
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients:

• 2-3 cups spinach, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup non-fat vanilla Greek yogurt (approx. Just use one small 6 oz container)
• 1 frozen banana
• 1/2 cup frozen mango
• 1/2 cup frozen pineapple
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup Milk of choice or water

Directions:

1. Put in blender and blend on high until smooth. If you need to think it out more, add additional water or milk.