Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays to all my favorite readers! Even though it is the season of delicious food that you otherwise may not eat during the rest of the year (in my case..it's gravy)..Remember to eat everything in moderation.

Here's a great way to satisfy your sweet tooth without adding excessive calories and all that other "unhealthy" stuff...

Buy a fresh pineapple and dice it up. Snacking on pineapple is simply scrumptious!

You can also make a fresh fruit smoothie by blending together some diced pineapple with plain yogurt. Add flaxseed to get some more nutrients in there.

Or, make a fresh fruit salad by mixing together some pineapple, plain yogurt or lowfat sour cream, mandarin oranges and sliced cherries or blueberries. Yumm!!!


Enjoy!

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Easy & Nutritious Meal for Holiday Season

It's always nice to be able to have a homemade meal that doesn't take much time to prepare. This is especially true when you're tired for any reason including long work hours, tkr recuperation or illness. Here's a recipe that doesn't take much energy to get ready. Plus, it's nutritious. Can't beat that...I remember eating it as a kid when my grandparents would make it. I've added some modern twists..

Enjoy this recipe throughout the busy holiday season or any time of the year.

Boiled Dinner

6-8 cups water

2 large carrots, peeled and diced

1 - 2” slice of cabbage

2 slices onion

2 potatoes, peeled and however you want to cut them

1 chicken breast, skin removed

1 t. Italian seasoning

¼ t dried basil

3 sprigs broccoli

Place water into Dutch oven, crockpot or large cooking pot.

Add all ingredients.

Cook over medium heat until everything is cooked til tender. If cooking on a stovetop, partially cover. If using a crockpot, fully cover for the duration.

Stir occasionally.

There are a variety of ways to serve this:

* You can serve this as a soup by cutting the protein up.

* Remove the veggies and protein to a serving plate and serve with a dollop of plain yogurt.

*Save the broth for other uses. Use the broth instead of canned broth in any recipe.

* Place a slice of whole grain bread onto the plate and pour some broth over it. Eat this in addition to, or instead of, the potatoes.

Freeze or refrigerate unused portions for later use. Store in airtight containers.

What's nice about this recipe, is you can alter the preparation methods according to how you feel. If you lack energy, simply peel the veggies and place whole into the water.

* Or, substitute peeled baby carrots for the carrots that require peeling.

* You can also buy a package of peeled and prepared fresh veggies to open and place into the water. The choice is yours.

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An Easy Way to Avoid Overeating

The holiday season brings with it so many different foods that only come out this time of year. It's the only time of the year that star or Christmas tree-shaped sugar cookies abound, for instance. And, let's not forget everyone's favorite, fruitcake. :) For myself, it's the only time of year I consume gravy and stuffing. Everyone is different, but overeating during this time commonly occurs for many people. The less you eat the less weight you put on your joints and tkr, too. What's a good way to avoid this? Here's my suggestion...

Use a smaller plate. Have you noticed how dinner plates have dramatically increased in size lately? It seems to have simultaneously occurred with the increased obesity epidemic and larger serving portions. Go figure. Dinner plates used to average 8” width, now they can be as big as 12” Yikes. The sight of these larger plates is just not pleasant, in my opinion. It's just so much food. Way too much food.

If you don't have any smaller plates in your cupboard, go to your thrift store. Past generations commonly used dinner plates that were 8” diameter. And, these items abound in thrift stores due to families donating estates. You can get an entire 8-place serving set for $20. If you look around, you may find a better deal.

You may also want to use dessert or salad plates as your main serving plate. This will decrease your portion sizes even smaller. Filling your smaller plates up with food fools your mind into thinking you're eating a lot of food.

Give these suggestions a try. You will like it. Enjoy!

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A Change of Pace

Hi my favorite readers!

The holiday season is upon us and I thought it would be fun to share a nontraditional recipe (for most folks, anyways). How about making a pot of some nutritious, easy to make and tasty black beans and rice? Let's go for it...

Cuban Black Beans & Rice

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1/4c olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 medium red bell pepper, chopped

3 garlic cloves

1/2t cumin

2 bay leaves, crumbled

2 15-oz cans black beans, drained

1c water

1c rice

2T olive oil

2t vinegar

Heat 1/4c oil in large saucepan over medium heat

Add onions, pepper and garlic

Cook until onions are translucent and soft

Stir in cumin and bay leaves

Add beans and water

Bring to boil

Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally

In separate saucepan, bring 2c water to boil. Add rice.

Cover, reduce heat and cook until rice is done.

Set aside.

Remove bay leaves from beans

Stir in 2T oil and vinegar

Season to taste

Serve beans over rice

Store leftovers in airtight container in fridge. Or, freeze for later use.

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