(You have the chance to win her cookbook at the end of this post!)
As I chatted with Ellie, I was able to watch her live on video which was super cool! You may see the video of Ellie chatting with me below.
Isn’t she so warm and kind? I was a little star struck!
I was told I had 15 minutes to talk with Ellie about healthy eating and jotted down a bunch of the questions you guys submitted for me to ask her. You may see the questions I asked in the video below, along with a summary of her answers since I know that videos sometimes don’t show up the best, depending on your internet connection.
- What are your tips for great skin?
Ellie says that so many things go into having good skin, including sleeping and eating well. She says that the research is really strong saying that foods that are rich in antioxidants and healthy fats are great for your skin. She also tries to stay out of the sun.
- What are your thoughts on high-protein diets? Is getting enough protein a concern of yours?
Ellie said that protein is important, but emphasized that there are a lot of great non-meat sources for protein, including grains, nuts, dairy and beans. Ellie said that one cup of milk has as much protein as an egg, adding that people may be eating more protein-rich foods than they realize. She encourages people to look at all the ways to get protein into your diet, including those from non-meat sources.
- What is your go-to easy meal to prepare on a hot summer day?
Ellie said she loves putting out a spread of salads and different nibbles, including a bulgur salad, sliced tomato drizzled with olive oil, shrimp cocktail or anything cold or room-temperature.
She also mentioned a recipe for a pita pizza made in the toaster oven that sounded fantastic!
Start with a whole wheat pita and tear it in half, spreading the two halves with ricotta cheese. Add sliced grapes on top and place the pita pizzas in the toaster oven until the edges of the pita get a little crispy. Then drizzle honey and lemon juice over the cheese and grapes, adding a sprinkle of fresh basil at the very end.
- What does your workout regimen look like?
Ellie said she has a “minimum” in her head of doing something active three days a week and loves to take her workouts outside. She lifts weights, does yoga at least once a week, runs, and loves spinning as well as biking, walking and hiking outside.
- Do you have any tips for healthy eating while dining at a restaurant?
Ellie recommends picking a restaurant that specializes in preparing food with local produce or has a chef that leans toward healthy cooking. She often checks the menu of a restaurant she’s planning to visit online before she goes, so has an idea about what to order ahead of time. Ellie also tries not to dig into the bread basket right away, but says that if she really wants the bread, she waits to eat it until after her entrée is delivered.
- What is your favorite indulgent dish?
Ellie said she is more of a savory person than a sweet person and loves warm, crusty bread and butter. She also loves French fries!
- If you could offer one piece of advice to someone who is just beginning their healthy living journey, what would it be?
Ellie said, “Don’t worry about being perfect.” She encourages people to stay as close to the healthy track as possible, but says not to get down on yourself if you slip up.
***
My interview with Ellie was set up by the California Table Grapes Commission and they wanted me to pass along the word about the opportunity for one of you to win $5,000 simply by submitting your idea for a healthy snack made with grapes! No photo is necessary to enter the contest – just your healthy grape snack idea, which you may submit via the Grapes from California Facebook page.
And now for the giveaway!
Comfort Food Fix and Green Black Red Giveaway
One PBF reader will win the following two cookbooks:
- Comfort Food Fix, Ellie Krieger’s beautiful cookbook featuring 150 delicious comfort food recipes that are lower in calories and fat
- Green Black Red, California Table Grapes’ cookbook, featuring recipes ranging from fresh salads to rich desserts
To enter this giveaway, simply comment below, telling me why you’d like to win either one of these beautiful cookbooks.
I’ll randomly select a winner tomorrow.
Good luck!
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I live in Northern California wine country, and I’d love some new ways of using grapes in my cooking! I also love healthified comfort foods, so that cookbook would be wonderful 🙂
I would love a cookbook to help me make healthy, delicious meals for my family!
I love looking through cookbooks for new ideas! I am in a food rut right now so I need inspiration!!
I’d love the cookbook so I can try out new healthy and delicious recipes!
I would love to win her cookbook because I’m always looking for new recipes to try!
I’d love to add one of her cookbooks to my growing collection 🙂 I like that her recipes are healthy minded and encourage non-animal protein – and they’re impressively still delicious and comforting.
I am a huge comfort food eater, so some nice healthy recipes would be nice to add to my repertoire.
I’d like to win either book (they both look great!) because I am a huge fan of Ellie’s cook show. I know that either cookbook would get a lot of use in my family.
I really love grapes! Especially red ones! At the moment I’ll eat them mainly as part of a snack, so winning a cookbook full of recipes and ideas to help me incorporate grapes into more of my main meals would be amazing!!
Winning these cookbooks would give me a new selection of healthy recipes to try out. I’ve been getting bored lately with cooking the same things!
Live for and love comfort foood!!!!! Would be awesome to have healthy recipes for the best naughty comfort foods! How cool you got to interview her.
I love cookbooks! I would love a new one for inspiration for new meals this summer!
I would love those two cookbooks. My husbands favorite fruit is grapes, so I would love to surprise him with a few meals!
Would love to win Comfort Food Fix because you want to eat nice comfort food, but still eat healthy! Really need some tips about that!
I am always looking for new cookbooks that offer delicious food that is also healthy for you. Cookbooks like these help to live the sustained life of making healthy choices when it comes to food and cooking. Would love to win the Comfort Food Fix and try out some new healthy recipes!!
i’m always looking for new ways to spice up my sometimes “boring” meals and i think these cookbooks would help me do that!
I would be so excited to win either of those books-I’m always looking for new and creative healthy recipes!
I’m always looking for ways to keep a healthy regime. This would allow me to expand my healthy eating options 🙂
Thanks for posting the interview! I love reading how others face the challenges of eating healthy & sharing ideas! Looks like it would be a great book to share with my daughter who is really getting into the healthy cooking life style while still in grad school!!
Rose
I’d like to win these cookbooks because I love cooking healthy, and I am also a vegetarian so I would like to check out her recipes for non-meat proteins 🙂
I have a slight obsession with cookbooks!!
Love her! I’ve made a few of her recipes that I’ve found online, and I would love to own her cookbook! You can never have too many cookbooks 🙂
I’m 17 and I love, love, love to cook healthy meals for my family! it’s something I really enjoy and know that everyone is benefiting from putting something nutritious in their body 🙂
Thank you for this great interview, I like her laid back healthy style. I assume the competition is only for us readers? If not, I ould love to join! =)
anyone can enter the facebook competition!! i hope you win!
I love to cook and try new healthy recipes!
I feel like I am in a real cooking rut!! lol I made the BBQ chicken burger recipe from your blog and it was delicious and gave me inspiration. I could use more inspiration with these cook books! Great interview.
Great interview Julie! I love Ellie and regularly turn to her recipes for inspiration, so I’m sure I’d love those cookbooks
I’d love to win either cookbook – I’m always looking for new, interesting and healthy recipes to feed my family.
I’d love to win Comfort Food Fix because I feel like I make bad eating choices when it comes to “comfort foods.” I tend to go for the most unhealthy stuff rather than the healthy make you feel good foods.
I’d love to read the book! She sounds so interesting
I’m already a pretty healthy eater. My family….not so much.
I would like Ellie’s book so that I can offer them healthy versions of the comfort foods they crave.
I just moved into a new house with a fabulous kitchen space! I can’t wait to start cooking up a storm!! These books would be perfect for me! 🙂
Fun interview! Thanks for asking Ellie actual questions and not just saying she’s “pretty in person” like Tina did!
I love Ellie so much! I’d love either of those cookbooks but I’m pulled a little more toward the Comfort Food Fix.
YAY for your big interview-congrats! I love Ellie, I love you, and I love cookbooks…hint, hint 😉
I would LOVE to win these cookbooks. I have Ellie’s first cookbook and have made so many wonderful dishes from it!
I am a grape fanatic, I could truly sit back and down a bag of grapes the way some people munch on potato chips. They are delicious! ( especially the red ones 😉 ) I’ve recently told my self I need to be dedicated to living a healthy lifestyle and I think this will be a fun way to dive into healthy cooking while giving my favorite snack a little pizazz!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE looking through cookbooks to find inspiration for recipes. I usually end up tweeking things a little bit because I like to expirement in the kitchen. I also think that a cookbook dedicated to grapes is truly interesting. I would love to see what recipes they have come up with!
I’d love to win one of these cookbooks because I really like Ellie and her recipes. I met her a couple of years ago at a book signing and she was super nice! 🙂
I would love to win one of these cookbooks because I have just moved out of the comfort of my parents home and onto one of my own and cooking is my biggest challenge so far!
I sometimes get in food ruts and these cookbooks would be perfect to help me spice things up!
I’d love to win these cookbooks because it is so much fun looking through and finding new inspiration! I’m especially intrigued by the grape book – honestly I’ve never really thought about cooking with grapes before!
The cookbook with grapes sounds so intriguing! I’d like to see what recipes they came up.
I love Ellie Kreiger and would love to try some of her healthy recipes!
i’m always looking for new healthy recipes to try and i’m definitely intrigued by the grape cookbook 🙂
I think that either of those cookbooks would switch up my cooking in the evenings! The cookbooks sound great!
I’m stuck in a cooking rut and would love some new cookbooks to give me some different recipe ideas!
I just moved out of my parents’ place and both my roommates and I are in need of some healthy and easy recipes to make now that we’re on our own!! Thanks! =)
I would love to be able to cook healthy meals for my friends and family! Cooking and nutrition are two of my favorite things! Thanks for the opportunity!
I would love to win this cookbook. I am a trainer and love when my clients ask me for healthy advice and food ideas. What gets me is when I can share with them a “comfort” meal and they’re like “whoa THIS is HEALTHY?!?” it makes me feel accomplished to show them that healthy eating and living is not torture like people make it out to be. You do not have to do extreme dieting or crazy low carb or whatever is popular. A few tricks err and there will help. This cookbook will help me have some fun new ideas to help share with people to encourage fun and healthy lifestyle! Plus, I love to cook, so this could be fun for me too! 🙂