There are many reasons to make your own homemade bread crumbs. First, you’ll save money. Second, they’ll taste way better than packaged ones. Third, they’ll be healthier. By using whole wheat bread, you’ll be adding beneficial fiber to your meal. And finally, it’s so easy!
Let me clarify: it’s easy if you have a food processor. But even if you don’t, you can still do this. Always start with fresh bread. Nobody wants to eat stale bread so why would you want stale bread crumbs? So fresh bread is a must. You can make crumbs with any kind of bread like white or sourdough, but whole wheat is the healthiest so look for 100% whole wheat bread with 3 grams of fiber per slice. Fiber is your friend.
Some recipes call for dry bread crumbs to make something crispy like breaded cutlets or chicken fingers. Others need soft bread crumbs, like a topping for mac & cheese. My recipe shows how to make both dry and soft crumbs, and also how easy it is to make your own super-crispy Panko crumbs, too!
If you don’t have a food processor, you can finish the dry crumbs in a blender or by putting the dried bread in a plastic bag and rolling with a rolling pan, or even smacking it with a small pan. Soft bread crumbs can be made using the large holes of a grater, but carefully! So whatever kind of breadcrumbs you need, dry ones, seasoned crumbs, fresh or Panko, remember that homemade is always better. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
Baking without butter is a priority around here because I am not living without cookies. When I’m not having my lemon brownies, doughnuts, marble loaf, or apple bars (all made without butter) there is always a cookie on my dessert plate. I haven’t had a store-bought cookie in decades. Why would I when healthy cookies are so easy to make. We eat a few and I freeze a few, so there are always a variety of cookies in the freezer.
Crispy cookies like this one can be eaten still frozen – talk about crunchy! This healthy cookie can be made with extra light olive oil or canola and it’s 100% whole grain, made with oats and whole wheat pastry flour with crisp rice cereal added for even more crunch. You’ll see I added some mini chocolate chips although you can omit those… but I wouldn’t. 🙂 Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
I don’t need to tell you why you have to eat your vegetables. Okay, maybe I do. Your mother probably told you they provide vitamins, which your body can not produce so you need to get them from food. But back in the day we didn’t know about the recently discovered antioxidants and phytonutrients found in fruits and vegetables, with each different color providing its own specific anti-aging and protective nutrients. And the more intense their color, the more benefits. Many of these phytonutrients (with names I can’t pronounce) cannot be found in any other food groups.
Bottom line: Vegetables can help prevent certain diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Vegetables are also some of the richest sources of fiber that exist. So if you want to look great and feel great with a strong immune system, do what I do and eat vegetables every single day. I have a salad with every meal and then one or two cooked vegetables as well. Roasting is my favorite way to cook vegetables. Roasting brings out the natural sugars in vegetables and it’s the easiest way I know to cook them and to eat more than one color at a time.
Even a novice cook can make these super easy roasted veggies. Click here for my new recipe. – Jenny Jones
I make my own cheese blintzes because I have to! I love blintzes and every time I’ve ordered them in a restaurant or deli they arrive so greasy it’s almost like they’re deep fried. So now I make my own and there is no comparison. Mine are soft, never greasy, and lightly browned with lots of delicious filling made with farmer’s cheese (I get Friendship brand), reduced fat cream cheese, sugar, and just a hint of vanilla. Farmer’s cheese is a dry and crumbly cheese and it makes the best blintzes. It can be hard to find but it’s worth looking for.
I make 12 blintzes at a time, keep some refrigerated for a few days, and just brown what I need, usually two for breakfast. I’ve had them with every kind of fruit from berries, to cantaloupe, to peaches, papaya or mango. My dad used to make cheese blintzes for dessert sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. Okay, sometimes, I have one with fruit for breakfast and the other one with cinnamon & sugar. No matter how you serve these healthy cheese blintzes, once you make them yourself you will never order them in a restaurant again. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
Of all my recipes, this meatloaf gets the most rave reviews. I love It! I’ve been making this healthy recipe for years the exact same way and I can never decide if I like it better with my buttermilk mashed potatoes or the next day in a sandwich with a little mustard on a good sourdough bread. It’s hard to mess up meat loaf. Just mix everything up and put it in the oven.
A lot of recipes use a combination of ground beef, pork, and veal but I like to keep it simple and I use the very leanest beef I can find. But it still contains fat so the reason I roast my meatloaf on a baking sheet is to allow any excess fat to flow away from the meat – no one needs that extra saturated fat. So don’t use a loaf pan.
Another benefit of using a baking sheet is… well, there are two: one, is there’s no cleanup because you line it with foil, and second, it browns on all sides! So it’s beautiful, too. I’m pretty sure this “best ever” meatloaf recipe will become a regular part of your own healthy foods and meals. Click herefor the recipe. – Jenny Jones
Fiber is good. We need fiber. It helps with weight loss because it keeps you full longer, plus it keeps your blood sugar stable. So it makes sense that morning is the best time to have a healthy, high fiber meal. But this does not mean eating something that tastes like toasted particle board or a bowl of spackle! With me, it means light and fluffy pancakes.
Yes, even 100% whole grain pancakes can be light and fluffy if you use buttermilk – real buttermilk from the store, not the one they SAY you can make by adding lemon juice to a cup of milk – hogwash! That is not a substitute for buttermilk, it’s only a cup of lemon-flavored milk. So get some real buttermilk and make my easy, light & fluffy, delicious, healthy whole grain pancakes. And here’s even better news: You can use extra-light olive oil… or canola… or any oil of your choice. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
Why do I love my healthy chocolate cupcakes? First off, there are only two tablespoons of butter in all twelve cupcakes. Second, these healthy cupcakes are made with canola oil or you can use extra-light olive oil (both are heart-healthy). You won’t even need eggs for this easy recipe. And I mean easy. It’s another of my one-bowl recipes that I know you’ll make again.
Cupcakes are like having your own personal mini cake. There’s no need to have loads of butter when these dark, chocolate-y, rich-tasting cupcakes are so light, you’ll never feel stuffed after eating one… or two! Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
If you’ve ever baked bread or anything with yeast you know that it helps to have a warm spot to help the dough rise. Some things that work are a warming drawer, placing the dough under a lamp, or heating the oven for a minute and then turning it off (but then you need to preheat the oven). But here’s a way I never thought of… a heating pad. Whaddya think? Good idea? Or do you have something better?
If you make homemade granola just once, you will never buy it in the store again. My easy healthy granola uses only six ingredients and you can put it together in five minutes. It’s one of my top three most watched youtube videos. And the taste… is downright addictive! This healthy granola is crunchy with lots of nuts and made with coconut and real maple syrup. Have it as your morning cereal or as a crunchy topping on yogurt. There’s lots of protein and fiber and all those oats are good for lowering cholesterol. It’s such a simple recipe, I hope you’ll try it. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
If you know me, you know I am always trying to eliminate butter and it’s not always easy with baking. But my Streusel Coffee Cake just got a Jenny Jones Makeover! For starters, the chocolate chips used to be optional but now I’m calling it a Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake because that one tablespoon of mini chocolate chips needs to be there.
Now here’s the best part: no more butter. Well, there was only a tablespoon of butter in the old recipe so it wasn’t a lot but I always thought you needed butter to make a good streusel topping but not so, my health-seeking friends. I’ve discovered that my transfat-free spread (Canola Harvest) works beautifully in place of the butter so now there is no butter in this delicious healthy coffee cake with a crispy, nutty, chocolatey topping. But you can always stay with the butter if you like. Either way, it’s the best coffee cake I’ve ever had. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
