Nutrition

Healthy Holiday Eating: Stuffed Bell Peppers

Christina Lucy has spent the majority of her life involved in the fitness industry and is a multi-level certified fitness instructor. She holds a bachelors degree in marketing and has taught group fitness classes for over 20 years. Christina is certified through RRCA as a certified running coach. She is also a POSE Method certified running coach, NESTA certified personal trainer, PACE circuit training instructor, certified personal fitness chef, certified online personal trainer, and has training in ropes course facilitation. She co-developed the Adventure Boot Camp educational program, and the EZ8 Running Coach Business Program.

Christina’s most recent venture is developing the Christina Lucy Company. This is a company designed to take Christina’s passion for food and fitness into fun and easy programs for others. She offers Healthy Cooking Classes, Grocery Shopping Tours and a variety of fitness classes in Orange County, Calif. You can learn more about Christina at www.ChristinaLucy.com

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This is an alternative to the meat stuffed bell peppers. It makes an excellent side-dish as both the starch and vegetables are combined. This is an incredibly flavorful meal made with very healthy complex carbohydrates.
Ingredients:

• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 cup non-fat, low-sodium vegetable broth
• 2/3 cup quinoa or brown rice (See info. on quinoa below)
• 2 large red, yellow, orange or green bell peppers
• ¼ cup egg whites
• 1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
• ½ cup bias-sliced French string beans
• ¼ cup shredded Romano cheese
• 3 tbsp. fine dry Italian bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp. chopped fresh basil
• 1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium saucepan, combine mushrooms, vegetable broth, 1 Tbsp basil and quinoa or rice. Bring to a boil, reduce heat. Cover and simmer until tender. Drain any remaining liquid if necessary.
2. Cut peppers in half lengthwise, remove seeds and membranes. In large saucepan, cook pepper halves in boiling water 1-3 minutes, just until nearly tender. Drain on paper towel.
3. In a medium bowl, combine egg whites, tomato, beans, cheese, bread crumbs, remaining basil, rosemary, salt and crushed red pepper. Stir in cooked rice mixture. Place peppers, cut side up, in 2-quart rectangular baking dish. Spoon rice mixture into pepper halves.
4. Cover and bake for 20 minutes, or until mixture is heated through and peppers are just tender. If desired, sprinkle peppers with additional cheese.

Nutrition Information:
Per Serving: Calories 184, Total Fat 4g (sat 2g), Cholesterol 59 mg, Sodium 250 mg, Carbohydrate 30g, Fiber 5g, Protein 9g

Quinoa the Super Grain
Quinoa is a super-grain because it is one of the healthiest foods you can find! Pronounced “keen-wah”, it was a staple of the Inca diet. You can use it in many dishes that call for rice, oatmeal or barley. However, quinoa differs from other grains in many ways.

Quinoa provides all of your body’s requirements: carbohydrates, fats, protein, vitamins, minerals, and fiber. It is considered a complete protein because it provides all eight essential amino acids. It has more protein, iron and unsaturated fats but fewer carbohydrates than other grains. Quinoa is equivalent to milk in protein and is high in fiber, vitamins B & E, iron, and zinc.

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