Have you been wishing for
    Healthy Snacks and Healthy Recipes ?
Well, here are some ideas....

Healthy and Delicious Recipes

Here are are some of the things listed there:

  • Snack Ideas
  • Finger Foods (ants on a log and more)
  • Tasty Dips (for bread, crackers, veggies, etc.)
  • Smoothies (use the hidden power of protein, veggies, and fruit)
  • "Natural" Sweets
  • You Design Your Own Muffins

Read my comments on 
Weight Loss Programs and me.

 

Mindfulness and Eating

Okay, okay, most of us at one time or another shovel the food down at the fastest speed possible. I tell people it's because I had siblings who would nab the good stuff off my plate. I think I made that up. Every book on nutrition and weight loss says slow down. Sure, easier said than done, though. So here is a little task I invite you to try. It's called mindfulness eating. I learned about it at a "stress reduction" mindfulness seminar that I took with Dr. Bob Stahl. Here is how you can try it out for starters. Pop a raisin in your mouth (if you hate raisins, chose another fruit!). Now suck on it. Feel it with your tongue. Taste it. I don't want to spoil the fun and tell you what will happen, but if you take a minute (or so) to mindfully eat that raisin, you will discover tastes, sensations, textures, and thoughts you never would have expected.

Drinking water

My sister, Bonnie, told me a great story about drinking water that comes from Kathleen DesMaisons' book The Sugar Addict's Total Recovery Program. Again, drinking water is something that we should all do more of. But water can be a little dull sometimes. So Kathleen says to make drinking lots of water easier, spruce it up with a lemon wedge for more flavor without any sugar. If someone dares to give you grief about your water and lemons, throw the lemon at him! Supposedly we should be drinking half our body's weight in ounces every day. So a person who weighs 160 pounds should drink 80 ounces, that's 10 cups per day! Heck, that's not that much. If the drink has no sweeteners or caffeine in it, such as a cup of lemon water or herbal tea, then it can count toward your daily water intake.

Easier Vegetable Chopping

We have one of those Zyliss food choppers. Everyone should have one. No electricity. Easy to clean up. Pulverizes veggies. No need for a garlic press (that loses way too much garlic anyway). Costs $7 at Ross and $20 at kitchen stores. I have tried other brands, they work okay. The Zyliss is great. Worth every penny. And mostly, the reason why everyone should have one of these is the drastic reduction in emergency room visits for stitches on your non-chopping hand!

Cast-Iron Frying Pans

We have 2 cast-iron 10 inch wide frying pans, one cast-iron 6 inch wide frying pan, and a cast-iron wok. We picked them up at our local camping store and at the flea market. Using the non-stick frying pans isn't that good for you and yes it does save on the fats, but it still is cooking on plastic. I suggest you get a cast-iron pan and use 1 teaspoon light olive oil. Get the pan hot enough so that if you sprinkle a couple of water droplets on it, the water dances.  (If the oil starts smoking, toss the oil and start again- it's rancid now.) I generally cook on a medium to high flame. To care for your cast-iron pan. Wash it with hot soapy water. Rinse. And to prevent any rust, dry it with a towel before putting it away. In the old hippie days, people would say no soap, and to cook it dry. Not necessary and a bit disgusting if you ask me. On a side note, it is said that you can increase you iron intake by eating foods cooked in cast-iron pans. Cool, strong blood cells too.


Make your snacks/recipes even more healthy with substitutions:
Instead of frying in oils or fats:
Start your sauté with 1T light olive oil. Toss in your veggies or whatever. Then add small amounts of water to cook them with out more oil or burning them. Cover to get the steam to help cook as well.

Supplement some protein:
Nuts and seeds (see sprouted nuts and seeds for less fat and more protein)
Rice milk or soy milk (unsweetened)
Tofu
Soy protein powder (unsweetened)

Instead of eggs:
    1/2 mushed ripe banana = 1 egg
    1/4 c. apple sauce = 1 egg
Instead of butter:
    1/4 c. light olive oil (or safflower oil) = 1/c butter
Instead of dairy:
    Instead of cream cheese:
        Blend tofu in the blender and season (click here for more Tofu Blends)
            Sweet bagel spread: sweeten with honey and add apple pie spices
           Tofu mayonaise: add lemon, salt, oil, and seasonings
Instead of milk:
    Rice dream or soy milk for milk in recipes or as a drink