Dive Coastal Cuisine review

02/02/12 11:20 AM

By Macey Meriggi, mmeriggi@smu.edu Tucked away in the Snider Plaza shopping center of Highland Park is a unique, casual, and healthy dining experience for seafood lovers. Dive, a walk-up style diner, offers a wide variety of hearty and creative salads, wraps, and seasonal seafood entrees. The atmosphere is relaxed, kid-friendly, with an extremely attentive and helpful staff. Owner and Miami-native, Franchesca Nor, brings her 'taste of the oceans' to Dallas in the form a quick and affordable meal. I had driven by Dive many times before I ever thought of actually choosing the restaurant for the weekly dinner I have with my father. Just recently I adopted a strictly regimented healthy lifestyle and when I was asked where I cared to dine, being in the mood for seafood, I...

Why you should eat cacao powder

01/31/12 09:57 AM

By now, we've all heard that chocolate is “good” for you. Antioxidants and whatnot, right? But even if you choose dark chocolate over milk, you're still getting lots of sugar. Cacao powder, used in making chocolate, almost has too many health benefits to count. This little bean has more antioxidants than blueberries or green tea, helps repair damage to your body caused by toxins, increases levels of neurotransmitters in your brain, and has several essential minerals. Cacao is also believed to repair sun damage done to skin and decrease your risk for certain types of cancer. You probably can't walk outside and pick a handful of cacao beans, but buying raw, unprocessed cacao powder (not the Hershey's stuff you find on the baking aisle) works just as well....

Oak Lawn Coffee: A pleasant remake

01/28/12 14:24 PM

 Oak Lawn Coffee is relatively new to Dallas. You may have heard of them under the name Urban Dog - but a new owner has taken over and changed more than the name of this new hot spot.

 An improved menu offers a wider selection of drinks and food. Many of their snacks are made in-house, such as their yogurt parfaits and made-to-order sandwiches. Those items that aren't, such as the strawberry muffin I'm enjoying as I write, come from local bakeries like Rush Patisserie.

To top it all off, if you use the mobile app ScoutMob, you can receive 50 percent off your order. But even without the sweet deal, I think I've found a new study spot.  

Healthier Soups

01/25/12 13:40 PM

After walking around all morning in the cold, windy rain, I came home ready to eat some nice warm soup. I'd argue that there are few things more comforting than a big bowl of steamy goodness, but did you know that some soups contain half of your suggested daily sodium intake? The Mayo Clinic suggests that a healthy range for the average adult is 1,500-2,300 mg of sodium a day. Fortunately, many brands you see in the grocery aisles are devoted to providing you with healthier soups, and even the oldest of brands now offer low-sodium choices. Don't make the mistake of overlooking these options. Today, I kicked back with Healthy Choice's “Zesty Gumbo”. For little difference in flavor and a huge difference in nutrition, I'd say it's worth the change....

RECIPE: Blueberry crumb bars

01/24/12 15:56 PM

By Kate Petty, kpetty@smu.edu As promised, I'm finally digging through my piles of saved recipes. This one for blueberry-lemon crumb bars caught my eye today. They turned out amazingly! The lemon is pretty unnoticeable though. I think the future I would either juice the lemons and add them in with the blueberry mixture along with an extra teaspoon of cornstarch, or I would skip them altogether. Give them a try though, here's the recipe from mybakingaddiction.com: Ingredients 1 cup white granulated sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup unsalted butter 1 egg 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt zest of two lemons 4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries 1/2 cup white sugar 3 teaspoons...