Healthy Salad

Ingredients
Orange Vinagrette Salad Dressing.
See link: http://healthyfoodforahealthyou.blogspot.com/2014/07/orange-vinagrette-dressing.html
Spinach
Kale
Walnuts
Raw Pepitas
Raw Sunflower Seeds

Directions
Wash spinach and kale.
Hand tear Kale off of stem.
Cut off Spinach tails.  We just leave them on.
Sprinkle walnuts and seeds on salad.
Add dressing.
Enjoy!

Mustard Hummus

Ingredients
2 15 ounce can chickpeas rinsed and drained
4 T Lemon Juice
1 T spicy brown mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1 c chopped gr. onions (4-5 onions)
1 T reg mustard
1 T dijon mustard
1/2 tsp ground tumeric

Directions
Put into food processor.  Add water as necessary to blend.  Serve immediately with veggies, crackers, or chips.

Margarita Smoothie

Ingredients
1 cup ice
1 T 100% lime juice (Fresh or bottled.  Fresh is better.)
1 T 100% lemon juice (Fresh or bottled.  Fresh is better.)
4-6 strawberries
3 large slices of pineapple or 6-8 cubes
1 banana
1/2 or whole orange, start with half, add to taste.
1-2 T agave nectar - You can skip this.  It doesn't need it and adds many calories.

Directions
Put all ingredients in a blender and blend. :)

Optional
You can go two directions here...
1 direction (not recommended for health) - Add a shot of tequila.  This version is WAY less calories than the mix you get in the store.
Meal direction - Add a scoop of protein powder and you have a healthy meal or snack depending on your activity level.

*Remember it takes a deficit of 3500 calories to lose 1 pound.  

That's 500 calories a day.  

Make healthy choices!

Good Morning Breakfast Smoothie

 

Ingredients
1 cup frozen papaya
1 frozen banana
1/2 cup almond milk
1 cup fresh kale
1 scoop brown rice powder

Directions
Put into blender and blend.
You may need to add more almond milk or water so that it blends and is drinkable!

Cocoa Date Energy Bites

 

Ingredients

1 cup pitted dates

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup walnuts or to be heart healthy sprouted sunflower seeds

2 TBSP cocoa powder

2 TBSP honey

Directions

Put all ingredients in food processor and pulse until mixture is able to form a ball in your hands.

Make rounded TBSP sized balls.

Refrigerate.

Triple Green Drink

1 1/2 cups spinach

1/2 cup kale

1 cup almond milk

1 frozen banana

1/2 green apple

1 scoop protein powder

Blend and enjoy.

Garnish with a sprig of spinach or kale.

Share with a friend or pig out!

Makes 2 servings. :)

Healthy Snack Mix

What you will need:
A large tub
Smaller containers to portion out servings and/or pack them in your lunch/bag/purse.
Whole almonds
Dried cranberries
Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips 60% cacao

This little container holds 1/2 cup which is 2 servings.
Watch your serving sizes!
For example: for each of these ingredients each package says that a serving size is 1/4 cup.
That doesn't mean you get to eat 1/4 cup of each!

One of the keys to eating healthy is that you have to have healthy stuff around and not the bad stuff.
It's also not really a good idea to deny yourself sweets if you are a sweets kind of person.
You just have to have healthy sweets around.
I've learned to satisfy my chocolate craving by making healthier choices.
I only eat dark chocolate with 60% cacao or higher for my health.
I combine my chocolate with other things that are healthy for me so I don't just fill up on chocolate.
The key is finding what works for you.
Mixing a large batch saves time.
Having healthy snacks around keep you from making bad food choices!

Super Easy Salmon Tacos

Ingredients
Corn tortillas
Salsa
Spinach
Cooked Salmon
(See Tim's Perfect Salmon recipe)http://healthyfoodforahealthyou.blogspot.com/2011/07/tims-perfect-salmon.html

Last night I looked in the fridge for some inspiration.  I had leftover salmon.  I like mine with the cajun seasoning!
All I had to do was heat up the salmon, warm up the tortillas, spoon a little salsa on the tortilla and add some spinach. Yum!

Healthy Snacking

One of the best ways to snack in a healthy way is to have fresh fruit and vegetables around.  

If you are looking for an energy boost mid morning or afternoon, fruit is quickly digested and converted into energy! Vegetables will fill you up!

Another key is not to have the bad stuff around.  

You know what I'm talking about...the candy, cookies, and donuts that are so hard to resist.  

Retrain your taste buds to crave fruit and veges!

At our house I always make sure I have apples, oranges, bananas, carrots and celery.

You can mix it up with grapefruit, clementines, pears, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini...whatever!  

Easy Oats Breakfast

Hot Oatmeal with soy milk.

Cold oat cereal with soymilk.

This makes a super easy and healthy breakfast.

Ingredients

1 large container

1 measuring cup to keep in container.  1/2 cup is a serving size.

1 container of old fashioned oats.

1 package of raisins or cranberries

1 package of chopped walnuts or almonds

Directions

Open up your packages.

Pour some oats into your container.

Then sprinkle in some raisins,

Then sprinke in some walnuts.

Repeat until the container is almost full.

Cover and shake to mix.

Put in your measuring scoop.

Now you are all ready for breakfast!

This is usually what I have for breakfast in various forms.  

You can eat it cold.

You can it it hot.  

You can just add water.  I like to add soy milk.

You can add fresh fruit.

I like to add 1/2 scoop vanilla soy protein powder for extra protein.

You can switch the nuts and use a different kind other than walnut such as almond.

You can switch the raisins and use cranberries.

The best part is that you make it ahead of time and all you have to do is scoop it out of the container instead of mixing it everyday.

Chorizo and Bean Chili

Ingredients
1 package soy chorizo or lean ground turkey cooked (see note below)
2 15 ounce cans red kidney beans
1 15 ounce can small red kidney beans
1 15 ounce can black beans
3 15 ounce cans crushed tomatoes
2 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 large onion chopped
3 cups water

Directions
Put chopped onion and a bit of water in large pot and cook onion until translucent. Stir occasionally. Watch so it doesn't burn!
While the onion is cooking,  rinse all beans.
Combine all ingredients in a large pot and stir.
Bring to a boil on high and simmer on low for 60 minutes.
Serve with brown rice.
Makes 12 servings.
I like to freeze half of it and save it for when I don't have time to cook!

Soy chorizo is hard to find.  We get ours at: Pete's Fruit Market.
If you can't find soy chorizo use lean ground turkey.
http://local.yahoo.com/info-16723912-pete-s-fruit-market-milwaukee

Sweet Red Pepper Hummus

Ingredients

2 red bell peppers de-seeded and chopped

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 Tablespoon cumin

4 cups cooked garbanzo beans/chick peas (see notes about these below) 3- 15 ounce cans or a 16 ounce package of dried beans

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

water as needed

There are three ways to go about obtaining cooked garbanzo beans.

The Fast Way.The first way is to get them out of a can already cooked.  Just make sure you rinse and drain them or you will have excessive unwanted flatulence!

The Middle Length Way and probably the most cost effective way. The second way is to get them in the hard dry form and soak them overnight.  Then, the next day, cook them for about 45 minutes after getting the water to boil and then putting it on simmer.  Rinse and drain.  Let cool.  Instructions are on the package.

The Long Way The third way is to boil them for 2 minutes, turn off the heat and let them sit for an hour, and then return them to boil and let them simmer for 1 1/2 hours.  Rinse and drain. Let cool.Instructions are on the package.

Directions

1.  Decide which version of Chickpeas that you are going to use and plan accordingly.

2.  Place the ingredients in a food processor. 

3.  Start to blend.  Add water slowly as need to form a dip-like consistency.

4.  Scoop out of food processor and put in a serving bowl.
5.  Chill if needed or desired.

6.  Serve with chips, pita bread or vegetables. We like to eat it with carrots and celery.

Wheat Berry Salad with Cranberries and Walnuts

1 cup dry wheat berries
3 cups water
sea salt

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 Tablespoons lemon juice(bottled is fine)
ground pepper
1/c cup dried cranberries
1 Tablespoon dried parsley
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions
1.  Rinse wheat berries and drain.  Check for stones.
2.  Put wheat in pot with water and a pinch of salt.
3.  Bring to a boil.
4.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 40 minutes.
5.  Drain and set aside.

While wheat berries are cooking you can work on the rest of the recipe.
1.  Mix together oil, vinegar, lemon juice, salt and a pinch of pepper.
2.  Add the cranberries, parsley and walnuts.
3.  Add the wheat berries to the mixture and combine well.
4.  Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 3 days.
5.  Serves 6.  Enjoy!

Recipe from YogaJournal magazine Marcdh 2012.  I modified the recipe.  I added the walnuts and excluded 1/4 cup chopped chives.  They also called for 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley but I did not have that so I substituted dried parsley.