You may be familiar with Blue Diamond nuts, produced by a California co-op of 3,200 growers. Their almonds have been sold since 1910—one hundred years of health almonds.

In addition to almond butter and Almond Breeze almond milk, the company makes nut thins that are well worth a try (unless you avoid potentially addictive healthy snacks).

The snack cracker line comprises seven flavors of all-natural, crunchy, baked nut crackers that are wheat-free and gluten-free (and certified kosher by OU). We haven’t tried all six because we’re addicted to the Barbeque, but they include Almond, Almond Cheddar Cheese, Country Ranch, Hazelnut, Pecan and Sea Salt.

Loaded with healthy nuts (see the health benefits of nuts), the crackers have 2g of protein per serving, no cholesterol or sugar and are low in sodium.

We’re as happy as squirrels.

Nut thins are a great crunch—and they’re
gluten-free and kosher. Photo by
Katharine Pollak | THE NIBBLE

Two of our index cards combine in this
salmon-avocado salad. Photo courtesy Whole
Foods Market. Get the recipe.

You can search, and you can buy healthy recipe cookbooks.

But you can also invent your own recipes; and use the occasion as a teaching game for the family. (Plan now to start playing next weekend.)

Here’s the game:

1. Announce the rules: First, each family member develops a list of healthy foods. (If your children are old enough, they also need to know why it’s a healthy ingredient—as do adult participants.) The person with the most gets a prize, to be determined by you. The family will gather on [date] and [time] for the next leg.

2. Next, everyone brings his or her list to the dinner table (or other place and time you designate) and take turns reading them out. You place each new food item on a separate index card. (For example, only make one card for brown rice, even if everyone has it on his/her list.)

4. Now that you have ingredients, it’s onto the next leg: creating recipes from them. Spread the cards out on the table so everyone can see them. Go around the table, asking each person in turn to suggest a combination of ingredients and a recipe (for example, grilled fish, grape and red onion tacos). Write the suggested recipe on a pad, along with the name of the person who suggested it.

5. Finally, you get to make the recipes. Print out a calendar and place the recipes on specific days of the month (it’s easier to plan the meals).

6. After each healthy recipe is made, vote on whether it goes, stays or needs to be revised. Take the time to reinforce why the recipe is healthy, and which ingredients are the healthiest. Mark on the calendar which recipes are “winners.”

7. At the end of 30 days, tally the winning recipes and declare a winner. Now, you can start the process over again.

When you make brown rice, make double the amount you need. That way, you’ll have leftover brown rice, a very versatile food. It can be used for everything from stuffing burritos and omelets to bulking up soups, salads and wraps to creating a flavorful main or new side dish.

If you don’t have any leftover brown rice on hand, you can quickly microwave a package of frozen cooked brown rice, or cook brown rice from scratch in 12 to 15 minutes in a pressure cooker.

This recipe, from Whole Foods Market, creates an elegant Chinese-inspired rice side, enhanced with fresh pineapple and edamame and flavored with grated ginger and cilantro. (Get the recipe.) Serve it as a vegetarian main course or as a side with steamed fish or roasted chicken.

Photo courtesy Whole Foods Market.