Recipe Thursday - at least this week ;)

TAH had a hard day yesterday.  She has only gotten about 6 hours of sleep in the last two days, thanks to her classes.  Nevertheless, she managed to eat pretty well yesterday!  She got in her veggies and fruit as well as the majority of her water.  Random helpful hint for when you are tired: an apple is better at waking you up than a cup of coffee.  So, instead of running to the dehydrating drink, eat an apple! 

SJM is STILL raving about how good she is feeling from eating loads of veggies and drinking more water.  She told me today at lunch that every day she wakes up and immediately notices a difference in how she feels.  Her face is continuing to heal, and it almost looks like new, thanks to the antioxidants!  Today for our lunch I made turkey burgers.  It was the first time I made them; they were DELICIOUS, EASY & CHEAP!!!  Try to find a recipe that doesn't use mayo!  If you would like the recipe I used, let me know!  I combined a few.  On the turkey burger, I placed sliced tomatoes, romaine lettuce, sliced avocado, sliced red onion, and provolone cheese.  I served the turkey burger on a whole wheat bun with roasted asparagus on the side.

Helpful Hint of the Day:   Make eating healthy easy!  Prepare to-go containers of vegetables and fruit for when you are craving a snack.  Keep unhealthy food out of the house! 

Recipe(s) of the day: Judith asked about a recipe for sauteed vegetables.  I found two of them.  One of them is more basic and the other is Asian-inspired.  Hopefully these help!

Basic Sauteed Vegetables: feel free to substitute whatever vegetables you want!

Ingredients:

• 7 asparagus spears, cut 1 inch long
• 2 carrots, cut 1/2 inch long
• 1 medium onion, quartered
• 1 medium red bell pepper, cut 1 inch squares
• 1/2 cup cauliflower, in bite size pieces
• 1 stalk celery, cut 1/2 inch long
• 1 medium yellow squash, cut to equal size as celery
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 2-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper (powder)
• 2 tablespoons basil
• 2 tablespoons white wine
• Pam cooking spray  

Directions:

1.  Spay Pam in large heavy skillet add vegetables then add spices.
2.  Cook over medium high heat about 4 minutes stirring often.
3.  Add wine and cover for 3 minutes more, stir once every minute.
4.  Remove from heat to stop cooking and serve on warmed plate.
5.  Don't cook too long covered as this will create to much steam thus releasing the water soluble vitamins into the air instead of into your body.

Adapted from: http://www.food.com/recipe/great-sauteed-vegetables-17537

Asian-inspired Sauteed Vegetables: You can also substitute vegetables on this recipe!

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce, reduced-sodium
• 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 whole pepper(s), jalapeno, minced
• 1 pounds asparagus
• 3 cup(s) peas, sugar snap, trimmed
• 1 1/2 cup(s) pepper(s), red, bell, strips
• 3 whole onion(s), green, chopped 1 cup
• 2 teaspoon oil, dark sesame
• 2 teaspoon ginger, fresh peeled and minced
• 3 clove(s) garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup(s) cilantro, fresh, chopped

Preparation

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl; set aside. Snap off tough ends of asparagus; cut into 3-inch pieces, and place in a large bowl. Add peas, bell pepper, and onions; set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add ginger and garlic; stir-fry 30 seconds. Add vegetable mixture; stir-fry 3 minutes.
3. Add hoisin sauce mixture; stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes or until thick and vegetables are crisp-tender. Remove from heat, and stir in cilantro.

Adapted from: http://www.everydayhealth.com/health-recipe/asian-vegetable-stirfry.aspx

Tuesday's Pretty Pictures & The Perils of High-Protein, Low-Carb Diets

TAH had a little trouble yesterday, because of a large amount of school work that kept her up until 6AM!
I am waiting to hear back about her day.  I do have a picture of her yummy lunch:

Yesterday went very well for SJM.  She has been maintaining a high water intake despite the fact that she lost her main water bottle.  Way to persevere! She bought a full cart of groceries for the first time in a LONG time.  See below:

So, last night she made a large plate of sauteed veggies that looked extremely tasty from the pictures!  Here is the timeline of photos...

Take 1.

Take 2.

Take 3. Now THAT looks good :-D

Helpful Hint of the day:  I need to take a detour from simple hints.  I want to tell you how important veggies combined with a high water intake are to a healthy, trim figure.  High protein, low carb diets are NOT healthy, especially for women, for a number of reasons: 

*First and foremost, they are nearly impossible to maintain.   Yes, the weight will come off initially, but there are not many people who can or should maintain this diet for a long period of time.  Therefore, what is the point of losing the weight, just to gain it back again?  I see no point. 

*Second, it is very harmful for the body.  When a person consumes 30-50% of their daily food from protein, the body goes into "ketosis."  Ketosis causes the body to feel less hungry by burning fat stored in the body, because it no longer has sufficient carbohydrates to burn for energy.  It all sounds good so far, right?  The problem is that ketosis leads to health problems, like kidney failure.

*Kidney failure is very likely from a high protein diet, because protein tends to be harder for the body to digest.  It puts a lot of strain on the body to break down a large amount of proteins, especially animal proteins (which is typically eaten by those dieting with this plan).

*High protein diets, especially those that contain a large proportion of animal proteins, are likely to cause high cholesterol.  High cholesterol has been linked to a higher risk of heart attack & stroke.

*High protein diets can also lead to osteoporosis.  Having a large proportion of protein in the diet has been known to cause excess calcium excretion in the urine.  Losing this essential calcium leads to osteoporosis.

*The risk of cancer is much higher for those who consume a high protein diet.  High protein diets miss out on the dietary benefits of fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains, which are key to carcinogen elimination & a healthy body.  It is well-known that the risk of cancer can be dramatically decreased by getting 80% of your daily food intake from fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains.  So much for that high protein, low carb diet!

Information derived from: http://women.webmd.com/guide/high-protein-low-carbohydrate-diets

Veggie Recipe of the Day:

Delicious Spaghetti Squash

Total time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeded

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes

3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

3 tablespoons sliced black olives (optional)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.
2. Place spaghetti squash cut sides down on the prepared baking sheet, and bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a sharp knife can be inserted with only a little resistance. Remove squash from oven, and set aside to cool enough to be easily handled.
3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute onion in oil until tender. Add garlic, and saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, and cook only until tomatoes are warm.
4. Use a large spoon to scoop the stringy pulp from the squash, and place in a medium bowl. Toss with the sauteed vegetables, feta cheese, olives, and basil. Serve warm.

Adapted from: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/spaghetti-squash-i/Detail.aspx