Yummy Salad

Here is a great salad that incorporates lots of fruit. It tastes wonderful as well.
YOu will need the following: 1- 8 ounce package of low fat cream cheese, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 large can of crushed pineapple that has been drained, a 10 ounce package of frozen strawberries in juice, 2 bananas that have been sliced, 1.2 cup chopped nuts, and a large tub of cool Whip.
Soften the cream cheese and blend well with the sugar. Mix together the pineapple, nuts, and strawberries with the juices still in them. Combine the two mixtures together and place in a loaf pan. Freeze. Slice to serve.
This is a light salad to serve as a dessert at a luncheon. It is perfect at the end of the meal and compliments almost any meal. Very good and very tasty. YOu can omit the nuts if you desire. You could also use regular cream cheese, but this will give it more fat and calories.

A healthy vegetarian lunch

I’m not a vegetarian but I enjoy a variety of foods, including proteins that aren’t meat. Lately I’ve been craving fried tofu so I bought myself a package of extra firm tofu from Trader Joe’s. I’m too scared to try anything but extra firm, it just seems too squishy for me! This is also why, when I do cook with tofu, I cut very thin slices.

So, I started off with a non-stick skillet, where I added about a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil (also from Trader Joe’s). I cut some very thin slices of tofu and fried it up in the pan until nice and crispy. The olive oil gives it the perfect base to sprinkle on sea salt and pepper so that it will stick.

In the meantime, I had sweet potato fries baking in the toaster oven, on top of sprayed olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper. The fries were also from Trader Joe’s. When those were done, I paired it with reduced-sugar ketchup.

I toppoed off the meal with a nice salad and yummy italian dressing.

Stir fry

I love stir fry. Here is a simple recipe for making your own.
1 pound stew meat
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon ginger
5 cups sliced veggies of your choice
1 can beef broth
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup flour

Coat meat with flour and cook in hot oil until brown, adding the ginger. When meat is browned, add your veggies. Combine the broth, soy sauce and flour. Add to meat and cook until veggies are tender. Recipe can be done in less than 25 minutes.
Vegetables that you may want to try are carrots, celery, fresh mushrooms, broccoli, water chestnuts, baby corn, onion, green or red peppers. You could also use chicken in place of the stew meat and replace the beef broth with chicken broth.
I like serving this with rice. I also tend to double the batch so I can have lots of leftovers to munch on for the week. Reheating this stir fry is very good.
The recipe is healthy and all the veggies combine to make a mouth watering taste.

Breakfast pizza

Here is a really good recipe for Sunday mornings. It is easy to make and can be made the night before if you are pressed for time.
You will need the following: 1 package of crescent rolls, 1 cup frozen hash browns, 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 5 eggs that are beaten mixed with 1/4 cup milk, and salt and pepper to taste.
Place the crescent rolls on a round pizza pan. Press together to make one large round pizza crust. Place hash browns on the top and sprinkle with cheese. Pour the eggs mixed with the milk, salt and pepper over the crust. Bake at 375 degrees for half an hour.
This can be made with meat as well. Choose bacon, ham, or sausage. Just sprinkle it over the crust before you add the eggs.
We enjoy this breakfast pizza with coffee and some fruit. A piece of this pizza is very filling. I do recommend eating it all that morning as I think it is not good reheated.

Looking For Healthy New Years Eve Party Snacks?

If you are hosting a New Years Eve party and are thinking about what snacks to have on hand, try a snack that is delicious and has some great health benefits. One such party food is a veggie platter with a tasty bean dip. The veggies and beans provide the important cancer fighting flavonols–an antioxidant that research has shown might help prevent colon polyps from returning in a more advanced state. In a study of 2,000 adults who had been treated for colon polyps — little benign tumors that have a chance of becoming cancerous, the people whose diets were highest in flavonols were 76 percent less likely to have a recurrent polyp in an advanced stage than those with the lowest intake. The best veggies to have on that platter? Those would be onions, celery, radishes, cucumbers, and peppers.

Healthy Buffalo Chicken Salad

Eating healthy can still be delicious–just check out this spicy recipe that uses skinless chicken breasts!

You will need:

2 boneless and skinless chicken breasts
4 tsp. cayenne pepper hot sauce
2 tsp. olive oil
6 cups chopped romaine lettuce
4 stalks celery, sliced
2 tbsp. crumbled blue cheese

To Prepare:
Cut chicken breast into 1/2 -inch strips. Mix hot sauce and oil in a small bowl. coat chicken with mixture, place on baking sheet and broil for about two minutes each side, or until chicken is cooked through.
Place the veggies in a bowls, and put the warm chicken on top. Use a low calorie dressing of your choice (light blue -cheese dressing tastes great on this!), and sprinkle on some of the crumbled blue cheese on each salad.

Here’s a yummy, healthy snack for you

You can have this snack in the morning, for breakfast, or you can have it as an evening snack. You could even pack it in your lunchbox to have during break time at work. If your kids have a “sofisticated” sort of taste, they would enjoy this too.

Start by taking a whole wheat (I like honey wheat) bagel and toasting it slightly. You want it just a little crispy on the outside and still soft on the inside. This counts as your whole grain.

Next you’ll get your dairy and some protein through your cheese. Go for the fancy cheeses like brie or chevre. Laughing cow is a “safe” taste if you are scared to try exotic cheeses. Spread this on your bagels.

Buy a jar of fruit preserves that are 100% fruit. You should never buy any that adds sugar. Spread this on top of the cheese.

That’s it! Next step? EAT! It is Sooo tasty!

It could be healthier

Every single food on this planet that is considered unhealthy can be made healthier! You have to switch it to whole grains, fresh veggies and fruits, lean meats and 2% cheese, and good fats. Its not hard to do. Here are some examples:

French fries deep fried: Change to sweet potatoe fries cut up and baked
Ketchup: Buy reduced sugar ketchup instead
Burger: Grill it instead of frying it. Use lean ground turkey and place on a whole wheat bun. Only use one bun.
Hot dog: Use 100% beef, lean, or turkey dogs
Chicken salad: Don’t use canned chicken. Use lite mayo
Waffles: Buy kashi waffles and use sugar free syrup. Top with fresh fruits.

See, there are ways to reinvent every single food, using healthy ingredients instead!

Cooking the healthy way

Cleanliness should be observe at all aspects of our life. In our house sanitation, personal hygiene and even in cooking. It’s not only having the fresh ingredients and right procedures. But the proper way of cooking our food is important. Cooking oil should used only once or twice. Because some people reuse the used oil to budget their stocks. It is right to limit the usage but using it twice is enough to keep our food healthy.

Always wash your hands before cooking. Use clean utensils because the food can be contaminated with the bacteria left by the tools you used. All leftover food that can be eat should be put in the refrigerator to avoid spoiling. But before putting it inside make sure that it is cold. Hot foods that puts inside the refrigerator right away are the foods that spoils easily.

Observe these advices and live healthy.

Healthy Summer Dishes

Summer is upon us, and many families are looking for quick healthy and satisfying meals to prepare during the day. These two recipes are guaranteed to lighten the load of cooking a heavy meal.

The first recipe is Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps. You will need one pound of boneless, skinless chicken, one ten ounce bag of shredded carrots, scallions, cilantro leaves, large lettuce leaves, lime wedges and ½ cup jarred sweet chili sauce (found in the Asian aisle or nearest Asian grocery store).

To prepare the filling, slice the chicken into one-inch pieces and fry in a pan with the carrots and a few sliced scallions. When the chickens is fully cooked (5-6 minutes) remove from heat and add half a cup fresh cilantro leaves. Once everything is mixed, pour the sweet chili sauce over the filling. To serve, place approximately a half a cup of the chicken filling with a lime wedge on the side. This dish is simply refreshingly healthy and delicious.

The second recipe is Grilled Tuna and Artichoke Salad. You will need a one pound ½ inch thick tuna steak, fat-free Italian dressing, a bag of mixed baby greens, one 14 once can of water-packed artichokes, one can of roasted red peppers (not packed in oil), and four lemon wedges. To prepare, cook tuna until brown but still pink in the center (2-3 minutes on each side. Let cool for about five minutes. Meanwhile, toss greens, quartered artichokes, and red peppers. To serve, place tuna over the tossed salad and drizzle with dressing.

These recipes are quick, easy and most of all healthy. Enjoy!

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