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Cabbage Wrap – Light Chicken Salad with Healthy Spices

Cabbage wrap and chicken salad is a delicious light food pairing. Great for anytime of year for losing weight, and gaining protein and fiber. And you can make your own tasty version with mustard that lasts in your lunch bag.

A cabbage wrap is great option for lunch, dinner, brunch, or an afternoon snack.

You can get a bite of sweet, savory, and crunchy in the recipe below. 🥬

Boy, I wish I knew how to make my own chicken salad when I was younger and hungry ravenous for something to eat before dinner.

It’s a snack that can be made very inexpensively and fast. Often you find grocery rotisserie chickens that are already cooked. So all you have to do is assemble. Or you can cook your own chicken breasts and even make chicken nuggets.

To shred the chicken, work along the grain pulling apart longer pieces. Then to make smaller and shorter pieces, with a sharper knife cut the long pieces straight across. Or pull the long pieces into even smaller pieces. You decide.

And you decide what goes in your chicken salad. Celery is a good pairing. And if you don’t have celery on had, lettuce pieces are also a great filler add in.

Onions and grapes are also good and healthy together in synergy. You can think of it as a superfood anti-inflammatory pairing. 🍇+🧅

Grapes bring sweetness to the chicken (or you can sub fish) cabbage wrap.

You can use red or green grapes but usually if you use red grapes, then red onion is good and green grapes with white or yellow onions for color effects.

But you do you deciding how to slice and dice up your onions and grapes.

I like the red onions because they’re more mild. If you cut the pieces small, they will not stand out …and for more fine, you can use a grater or a zester tool.

Then for seasoning I add salt and pepper. And to complement, I add a little anti-inflammatory turmeric powder.

Turmeric and black pepper together are another powerful anti-inflammatory healthy duo. 🎉 Tip: great for pain in joints!

And for tastes to further elevate the chicken salad: you can give it a lemony taste vibe with coriander. You wouldn’t want to use lemon juice here because it would be too sour and add to much liquid, and you wouldn’t want to use lemon zest because then it’s too lemony and overpowering the other tastes.

Coriander is a good dry compromise.

I like to use coriander seeds that I crush with my fingers and eat give a burst of bright lemony flavor when you bite into.

And to to give a French bistro vibe, I add tarragon from spice.

And that goes well with the mustard tastes where you have choices.

I like to lean into my Ayurvedic needs that show up in food preferences that I let decide the choice.

You can use a honey mustard for a sweeter chicken salad or a Dijon mustard to go with the French bistro tastes. Or a plain yellow mustard.

And to give a nice texture crunch 🤩, slivered almonds (or crumbled cashews) complement best with crunchy cabbage! You can also substitute with other nuts and seeds but slivered almonds crush (and in your mouth)! 🧡

Because of the vinegar acid in most mustards, it’s a practical condiment choice because it won’t go bad in room temps. Although after opened, it is better refrigerated to preserve taste.

So whatcha waitin’ for?

You can prep your chicken salad, and then put your salad to (cabbage) bed rest for tomorrow’s lunch (?). 😋

Cabbage Wrap with Healthy Lemony Spices Chicken Salad

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

6 oz cooked chicken, finely shredded
cabbage (Napa, red, Italian, or Bok Choy)
1 tbsp mustard
1 tbsp grapes, quartered in size
1 tbsp onions, minced
turmeric powder
salt and pepper
1 tsp coriander or lemon pepper
tarragon (optional)
slivered almonds

Instructions

Finely shred chicken and mix in remaining ingredeints.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie – Frozen Anti-Inflammatory

Strawberry banana smoothie is one I can get behind. It’s a great start.

For frrozen smoothies, frozen strawberries are a reliable source. They are a high source of Vitamin C.

For bananas, you don’t have to wait until they are ripe for a smoothie as texture best. You can go ahead and add your just bought bananas to your freezer.

Peel the banana and add to a freezer safe bag. The bananas will turn brownish black but they will be a good taste and soft texture for your smoothies. So like strawberries you can freeze or buy frozen, you have your bananas ready.

I learned this after I had been using fresh bananas that were too soft to eat by themselves. I like bananas when they are firm and about a day away from their green unripe peel.

And if you’re picky like I am with banana brown spots, if you freeze them you won’t have to deal with them. The entire banana will be brownish.

Frozen Strawberry Banana Smoothie

This is a reminder of childhood popsicles.

Course beverage

Cuisine American

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

3 frozen strawberries.
1/2 medium banana
almond milk (or milk of choice)
basil, mint, or cilantro.
orange juice
coconut oil (optional)

Instructions

Blend the ingredients. When you add the herby flavor, it gives a third dimension. Mint will be mildest, basil is middle of the road, and cilantro will the the most pungent. Save Money Tip: you can freeze your fresh organic strawberries when they are in season.
Pour about 3/4 full, leaving a little room for the orange dreamsicle layer.
Mix orange juice and milk about half and half.
After frozen, pour the orange layer on top.
Freeze again or add crushed ice to the top layer
Enjoy!

Blueberry Cobbler – Applesauce (Low-Sugar)

Blueberry cobbler is a dessert that can be made with low-sugar and no butter. And this one is made from unsweetened applesauce as a substitute.

This is also a blueberry recipe that can be made all healthy with no-added sugar (only blueberry and apple 🍏🫐), and all gluten-free if you want.

You can super easy mix this in one bowl and in less than 30 minutes from start to finish (prep and bake). 🏁

Pre-heat the oven to 325°F/165°C while you’re gathering your ingredients.

It’s that simple…

And with just 5 primary ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen: flour, applesauce, frozen blueberries, maple syrup, and milk.

The star ingredient is the blueberries. I’m wild about the wild ones (…you too?).

Blueberries are super healthy foods with their anti-inflammatory eat-from-the-rainbow polyphenols 🌈 Anthocyanin flavanoids are also found in blackberries that can be added or substituted in this dessert.

Berries paired with applesauce is loaded with vitamins, minerals, and fiber… and you’ll taste all that natural goodness in a blueberry cobbler dessert.

Fruit cobblers came from England and word got around and traveled to the U.S. southern states where it’s a dessert staple.

And that’s where I made this simple and healthy blueberry cobbler version.

The mixed batter will look like pancake batter if that makes you happy!

And it reminds me of the batter I made for my first blueberry muffin pan. That was the first dessert I ever made as a teen. I remember the box with the small aluminum can of blueberries inside that was cracked open with a can opener.

Those baking memories inspired me later on to make more blueberry inspired desserts like blueberry pancakes. And then blueberry became wildly popular as a touted super food.

So I added in my blueberry cheesecake. And a blueberry smoothie too.

And if you use frozen blueberries, you don’t have to drain or take out in advance. You can just add them from out of the freezer. And you always have them available like ingredients in your pantry (like applesauce that’s also a great item to always have on hand).

I like how they leave a little blueberry streak as they defrost.

You can even make a blueberry swirl pattern if you like by slightly squishing the blueberries as they warm up to room temps, and then taking a knife to swirl the juice.

But there’s nothing a full on blueberry look… it’s dramatic and you can make no mistake… it’s blueberry!

applesauce blueberry cobbler with no butter that's low fat and low sugar.

Applesauce Blueberry Cobbler (Low-Sugar)

This berry delicious cobbler is made with applesauce fewer calories.

Course Breakfast, brunch

Cuisine American, southern

Servings 2

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

1/4 cup buttermilk (or milk)
1 oz applesauce, unsweetened
1/4 cup frozen blueberries
1/4 cup flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp brown sugar (for top)

Instructions

Combine dry ingredients and wet ingredients. Pour batter into small baking dish.
Add blueberries ontop.
Sprinkle brown sugar on top.
Bake at 325°F/165°C for about 20 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Tropical Smoothie Blend – With Dragon and Passion Fruit

Tropical smoothie is one you can make at home with passion and tropical fruits like dragon fruit we now have access to in our Western grocery stores.

Like I’ve seen beautiful dragon fruit that’s a relatively new find in the Western hemisphere. The fruit’s outside vibrant pink and green color gives off the tropical (orchid?) look. It’s also called Pitaya that means “scaly fruit” and not scary fruit as it’s very pretty like a tight rose.

But, surprise (!) it’s not what it looks like inside…

Blend in a smoothie, it does do as the dragon fruit taste is so subtle (almost tasteless) and smooth in a smoothie with dragon fruit, passion fruit, and pineapple. 🍍

But you don’t taste the dragon fruit.

And like Houdini magic, you don’t even see it either… the dragon fruit disappears as you saw that it’s distinctly whitish with black seeds.

dragon fruit, passion fruit, and pineapple in a tropical smoothie. — Dragon fruit, passion fruit, and pineapple tropical smoothie blend. 🍍🪷

…But invisible dragon fruit is quickly becoming a common tropical fruit. And makes a good choice to add to our tropical smoothie drinks 🌅 since we can find the fruit in our stores.

And you know what that means: fruit abundance equals price drop.

This hand-picked tropical fruit was under $3 and I remember its fruit siblings as over $5 just a few short months ago. It even has its own 3040 PLU sticker and number, making it a common produce. 💕

So you can add to your anti-inflammatory morning routine, breakfast parfait, or break-fait to take a break.

But first you have to crack into the stunning looking soft magenta and pineapple green streak fruit exterior.

…When you cut inside, you see the magenta flaming color even brighter than the outside.

Inside has a lot of pink color drama going on. 💄Looks like yummy fine silks. And feels slippery like an orchid’s petals.

When you finally get deep down into the fruit center, you’ll see the stark color and pattern contrast.

It’s like a dice color pattern design. Nature is so clever.

…And you can cut them into game playing dice shapes for your edible creations! How fun is that. 🎲

Whether you slip them into your dragon fruit tropical smoothie or assemble in a parfait, it’s a fun treat.

And a healthy one full of fiber (beating strawberries 🍓) that’s good for losing weight goals. And full of C and B vitamins.

…And when paired with passion fruit, it’s off the fruit charts!

In addition to a tropical smoothie, you can also build a tropical parfait.

How to Play the Parfait Game (or Build a Parfait)

This is a game where you end up eating what you make with your dragon fruit dice. 🎲🎲

It’s a lot more rewarding than playing a game of Parcheesi that can take hours. It takes prep minutes and you can play with one or more players. 😊

So let’s begin…

Rule of thumb for parfait (that I like to use): add one layer of Greek yogurt at the bottom.

That becomes your base.

Bottom layer: And then add two star ingredients (or hero flavor ingredients as Paul Hollywood would say on the Great British Bake Off if he were here critiquing).

…Be bold, choose visually contrasting food ingredients in color and/or texture. You can even choose kiwi or a star fruit which was popular during my catering days. That can also go in your tropical smoothie.

Dragon fruit is an interesting choice.

I chose blueberries for the dark moody blue contrast, and you can sub with any bright berries for a pop! 🫐

Making micro choices like this is fun and relaxing… it’s playing creative dress up with your food. Then it’s not like work.

Moving on, next add another layer of the primer or Greek yogurt white base.

Middle layer: And then add another layer of one of the star ingredients already used, and introduce another fruit or new ingredient.

In this case, banana slices. 🍌

I could keep building layers, but by this point I’m running out of space in the glass. If I had a trifle bowl to work with, I’d add another layer.

Top layer: Then for the very top layer I call the zhugh layer, add your textures like nuts and seeds. I like walnuts and flax seeds for this one.

Chia seeds would be dramatic too.

It’s your dreamy parfait, so you can dream up your parfait desires into reality!

The other tip I have is to make two for yourself. So if you’re making for a couple, then make 4. Easy math…

Or roll the dragon fruit dice, and see what fun number you get. It will be at least uno “1” for each dice. 😊

The reason I make one extra is because then you can enjoy again. The next day. And the same for a tropical smoothie.

This is a good smoothie for breaking a fast…

It has protein (yogurt or milk for a smoothie), carb (fruit), and fat (nuts and seeds) all in one.

Tropical Smoothie with Dragon Fruit, Passion Fruit, and Pineapple

This is a tropical smoothie you can now make at home and not travel to the tropics or a smoothie place to get!

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

1 Dragon fruit, diced (they actually look like dice!)
1 Pineapple (fresh or canned)
Passion fruit, diced
maple syrup (optional)
milk of choice (coconut milk suggested)

Instructions

Blend up your tropical fruits and add about a 1/4 cup milk to 1 cup milk. Add more milk as desired for a thin or thick smoothie. To add more or less sweetness, add or reduce pineapple and/or maple syrup.
For a foam top, you can use the thicker part of coconut milk to create.

Notes

This will work with coconut water, but will be thinner and you can add pureed fruit or small fruit chunks to thicken.

Cinnamon Donut (Baked) – Low-Sugar

Donut baked with low-sugar cinnamon and honey is a way to love the original fried dough dessert that tastes amazing. 🍩 And these are made with healthy flour and ingredients. Recipe below.

The hole is credited to a sea captain on the waters in 1847.

Holed-donuts even look a bit like life preservers 🛟… and his story (and history) goes like this: the captain wanted more even cooking all around, so he punched a hole in the middle.

Then years later, donuts became “oily cakes” from the earliest donut shop recorded on land in the U.S.

And today, you can avoid oil and water (in cooking) by easy baking low-sugar donuts.

And you get more of an even bake like I did, using your special pans.

I used my Nordic Ware for this baking project that would hold up to any heated baking wars inside the oven. 😊

When you mix in whole wheat flour, you’re getting more fiber and protein than all-purpose flour. It’s a small tweak you can make in your cakey dough recipes.

The dough-batter will be a little darker in color.

I grew up on whole wheat sandwiches so it was an easy substitute for me.

You can see it holds up well in the pan of whole and hole donuts. With holes too, you get double the w(hole), plus more.

And sometimes a low-sugar healthy sweet cinnamon donut hole bite is all you need to fulfill the sweet tooth inside the pie hole (mouth).

When I worked with food event planning in Lebanese restaurants, one of the more popular desserts was Awamat (donut holes).

So this is where it can get confusing… is the hole the space in the middle of the donut or the donut round hole? 😁

In my party planning days 🥳, it was the round holes.

Those were often the choice for birthday parties or special dinner events that could be built up into a Croquembouche display (like a Christmas pine cone tree 🌲).

Holes in the middle can’t do that as they’re just air.

So the solid holes was something special and new to me. 🍩

Another new change I learned: donuts aren’t just for breakfast anymore like they used to be.

And the decked out party cinnamon donut holes I worked with were made with honey instead, and zhughed with saffron that gave a tangy tasting top.

…Plus a pretty interesting look with the stringy red strands.

In reminiscing about those special event donut days, this is my low-sugar healthy whole wheat version of the donut that you can decorate for any sweet occasion. You can make these anytime.

And add a melted chocolate glaze to the top, add rose tea buds, or a low-sugar chocolate frosting.

You can also try a coconut donut with a chocolate glaze.

Celebrate! And Mabrouk as we’d say… that means Congratulations! 🎉

Healthy Whole Wheat Cinnamon Donut - Low-Sugar

When you want a sweet bite, these fill the hole with a low-sugar, healthy baked snack.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, lebanese

Servings 4

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

1-1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup milk of choice
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp honey (or maple syrup)
1 tbsp light extra virgin olive oil
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp cinnamon spice
additional cinnamon for zhughing (optional)

Instructions

Mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients until fully combined.
Roll 8 balls with hands and add to baking sheet pan (or make 2 donut rings and 4-5 1" balls).
Bake on 350°F/180°C for about 20 minutes. Don't overbake. Tips: With whole wheat flour, you'll tend to think that it may not be baked through so time is more reliable. About a few minutes or 5 minutes before finished, you can also flip the donut bottom to top of the pan, and see that the bottoms are slightly darker and finish your bake more evenly. Or for the donut holes, have fun rolling them around!
For a simple glaze, save your egg white and add a splash or water. Glaze donuts about 5 minutes before end of bake. You can also add a melted chocolate, light honey, or maple syrup glaze after the donut pan is cooled. Or simply zhugh with a dusting of cinnamon.