Researchers at the Pennsylvania State University completed a study that shows that hiding veggies in foods is an effective strategy to get people to eat more veggies and significantly fewer calories. This is because nonstarchy veggies are the foods that are the lowest in calorie density. For example, lettuce is a lot lower in calorie density than burgers, pizza, fatty meets, cheese and many other common foods in our marketplace. (You can view the abstract here: Blatt, A. D., Roe, L. S., Rolls, B. J., Am J Clin Nutr April 2011 vol. 93 no. 4 756-763 http://ajcn.org/content/93/4/756.short?rss=1)

We have been reading and reporting about calorie density for a long time – it is an excellent way to compare foods and can make all the difference for someone trying to lose weight – focus on eating more salads, fruits and cooked whole grains versus heavily processed foods that contain a lot of fat and sugar. We know that adding more veggies to any dish does lower the total calories.

We wanted to give this fun idea of hiding pureed vegetables in foods a try. We picked meatloaf and mashed potatoes and we were WOWED by the results. They tasted great and our teenage boy testers thought so, too.

Our calorie outcome saved 600 calories as compared to food you would find at a restaurant (we used the nutrition information from Boston Market for this calculation). Who would have guessed that this meatloaf rang in at just 100 calories and the mashed potatoes at 66 calories!

Here is how we did it:

Half n Half Meat Loaf

1 pound lean ground turkey breast

1 pound frozen stew veggies

1 can whole tomatoes, no salt added

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp poultry seasoning

1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Ketchup, about 2 tablespoons

Directions:

1. Cook the veggies in the microwave for 10 minutes or until really tender.

2. Puree the cooked veggies with the tomatoes in a food processor.

3. Stir the turkey, puree, seasonings and bread crumbs together. Place into oiled loaf pan, top with ketchup and bake at 375F for 1 hour or until done.

4. Allow to sit out for 10 minutes; cut and serve from the pan. It will be a little softer than usual but it tasted delicious and moist!

Mashed Cauli Taters

1 pound yukon gold potatoes

1 pound frozen cauliflower florets

1 teaspoon butter

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 cup skim milk

Directions:

1. Peel the potatoes and cut them in quarters. Cook them in boiling water with the cauliflower florets until they are very tender, about 25-30 minutes. (We usually go 20 minutes for potatoes.)

2. Drain off the water, mash with a potato masher and then whip smooth with electric beaters. Add the butter, seasonings and skim milk. Dab with additional butter or margarine. Serve hot.

Dr. Kenney, our newsletter and CPE course author made a great suggestion for adding more veggies – he used the example of a stir fry dish – use more veggies, less meat and less oil and you will lower the calories tremendously; plus you won’t have to cut the portion size to do that. He likes to use fresh garlic and ginger, too. And he recommends a light soy sauce that has less sodium.

If you have a way to make “hidden veggies”  tell us below. If we use your answer you are eligible for a drawing for our new poster, Fall in Love With Salad.

This post is sponsored by the NutritionEducationStore.com – wait til you see all of the new posters we are creating!

This article with complete nutrition analysis, handouts on using veggie puree and a macaroni and cheese with carrots dish is featured in the April 2011 issue of Communicating Food for Health Newsletter:

Last night after cooking, I took a bag of garbanzo beans (chick peas) and put them in the crockpot to soak overnight. This morning I turned them on high and then reduced to low for them to cook all day. At 4:30 PM the house smelled so wonderful that I became inspired to make one of the healthiest, and most popular, buffet dinners in our house! Teenager approved. (Caveat – if I make something he doesn’t like I can risk becoming the short order cook for pizza, macaroni or spaghetti!).

Mediterranean Style Garbanzo Beans

1 lb dried garbanzo beans, soaked and boiled until tender

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 tablespoon minced garlic/garlic paste

1 cup no-added-salt chicken broth

1 can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, with juice

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

1 cup baby spinach leaves (fresh if you can)

Black pepper to taste

Saute the garlic until nutty. Add the chicken broth and reduce to half the amount (evaporate). Add the tomatoes, the cooked chick peas (can use canned, drained instead). Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil and then simmer briefly. (Serves 8, each 1 cup serving: 222 calories, 4 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, o g trans fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 29 mg sodium, 36 g carbohydrate, 11 g fiber, 11 g protein)

Fluffy Jasmine Rice

For the rice, I cooked white jasmine rice (I know, it should be brown but this is so light and delicious it was our one indulgence!) in the rice cooker – 1 cup rice, 1-1/2 cups water – cooks in 20 minutes – fluff with a fork. It goes REALLY well with the garbanzo beans.

Butternut Squash

Cut squash in quarters, remove the seeds, cover and microwave on high for 10 minutes or until fork tender, sprinkle with reduced-calorie pancake syrup and cinnamon.

4 Pepper Lemon Chicken

Wow – this one was a big surprise it tasted so wonderful!

8 chicken tenders (we buy them bulk frozen at Walmart)

1/2 tsp olive oil

1 onion, sliced

1 red pepper sliced

dash: cayenne pepper, chili powder, black pepper

juice of 2 lemons

orange zest (optional – we used dried orange zest but you can also grate fresh or skip this if you are in a hurry)

Put the chicken tenders in the microwave for 5 minutes – they will thaw and cook slightly which hastens the cooking of this whole dish. Meanwhile, use a large nonstick wok or skillet and saute the onions and peppers. Season well according to your taste. Add the lemon juice. Remove the chicken and chop it lightly into thinner strips – add to the pan. Season with orange and saute until the chicken is done.

For our salad, I used romaine, fresh ginger paste (I buy this in a tube in the produce section of the grocery store), grated carrots and a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It is so flavorful with the ginger and no salty/fatty dressing is needed. It is always a hit.

Voila – enjoy. I have noticed that a buffet at 4 or 5 o’clock always ends up with kids eating a LOT of healthy items.

Check out the Heart Education Materials and Heart Quiz in our store – February is heart month or see the new materials for the 2010 Dietary Guidelines:

Dietary Guidelines Value Posters

What are you doing for Bean Day? Let us know in the comments below:

2011 Trends Same as 1870

Food and Health Communications 2011 Food Trend Predictions

2011 Trends Same as 1870

We are still experiencing the same trend in food that has been going on since 1870. One word describes it: efficiency. It applies to every stage of food production.  Why did I pick 1870? That is the year when the percentage of farmers went from 58% to 47% in this country, which illustrates agricultural efficiency as a population statistic.  A middling purifier was invented to produce a superior flour (more food processing). The first weather report was transmitted by telegraph.  Later in 1872, many fruits and vegetables were improved through better agricultural methods. And in 1874 margarine was produced.  And also in this year the pressure cooker was invented to cook faster.  (Source: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/timeline/comp.htm )

Everyone wants more for less effort, which is how we become more efficient and progress as a society. This still applies to our modern food chain:

• Farmers want higher yields with less effort and lower cost.
• Food manufacturers want higher sales and profits – they are always looking for the holy grail for consumer demand and they have done this through decadent calorie-dense foods and many fads: the fat-free fad, the carbs-are-bad fad, the huge-portions-for-better-value fad, more-calcium foods, lower-trans-fat foods and now with the “restaurant is in your kitchen” trend among others. Fast food companies know that we love to drive through and have dinner in the car in 5 minutes when we are pressed for time and hungry now.
• Grocers and other food retailers want to increase sales and optimize their operations.
• Consumers want better meals in less time and many need to stretch their food dollars.  They want to think they have more nutritious food or something special. They also view food as a source of entertainment as seen on cooking channels, in many written articles and the creativity of chefs. Of course some are simply too busy to do anything but eat on the go. Some poor populations live in food deserts where access to anything but convenience stores and fast food restaurants is the only choice.

Our economy and society has steadily become “more efficient” since the dawn of agriculture and this has kept constant through the industrial revolution and now the digital revolution. The adaptation of the digital era has eaten up a lot of free time and income as everyone spends more time and money on their gadgets and becoming “digitized”; furthermore as the book Googled points out, life as we know it has been disrupted because of the internet and there is a general scramble to do more with less.

Here are market “efficiency” trends for food that we feel will continue:

• All retail food stores seek to bring the restaurant into the house – we feel that is the largest trend that is here to stay:
  • Consumers get the comfort of home and fancier foods for less effort and lower cost than a restaurant meal. TV and food blogs have educated them to demand these foods but budgets have driven them into the stores and grocers have obliged.
  • Salad mixes, prepared produce, roasted meats, fancy prepared seafood, fruit platters, party platters, spice mixes, gourmet soups, prepared sauces, exotic bakery items and much more are now common. Just like what you find in your favorite restaurant!
  • The produce aisle has quite a few more “already prepared items”; “steam in the bag” produce has become more popular with more choices.
  • Frozen foods, ethnic foods and private labels foods are more numerous.
• Walmart is the largest seller of groceries (WSJ Nov 2010). The superstores offer value, good selection and the opportunity to one stop shop. They also put pressure on grocery stores to keep prices lower. Regular grocery stores posted an increase in sales (3Q 2010: Associated Press December 2, 2010) as more consumers want to save money. They have kept prices down and eradicated items that do not sell in an effort to be competitive. Many store brand items come in smaller containers to help lower costs.
• Raw ingredients are scarcer. Try to find a box of barley, whole oats or fresh yeast. Ricotta cheese was nowhere to be found in one store we shopped. Whole heads of lettuce are now way outnumbered by bags of lettuce. Less popular vegetables like endive, kale, beets and leeks are missing or very low in number in common stores.
• In-season and local is not as evident in the produce aisle of a grocery store. (Although farmer’s markets are more numerous for these items.) You can get fresh apples and winter squash in the middle of the summer and asparagus, corn, tomatoes and peaches in the middle of winter.  “Go Local” might be a favorite topic among food editors but it is not apparent in grocery stores where items are available year round for good prices.  We just bought berries for a lower price than what we paid in summer and they are every bit as fresh and delicious.
• Food allergy items are more prevalent. Gluten-free options are on almost every aisle. The labeling of the 7 most common allergens is on almost every package.
• Only items that sell and sell profitably are kept on the shelves. Did you notice that the cake mix selection is smaller? Ditto with salad dressings, mayonnaise, cuts of meat, low-fat ice cream and fresh fish.
• Food manufacturers want to sell and sell at a profit so they are still wooing consumers with the lures of “extra nutrition” and “extra convenience” with package claims and offerings. Flavor and seasonings will continue to be creative and emphasized.
• “Nutrition” has become a convoluted claim with bits of this and bits of that to sell a food, not help someone manage a whole diet.
• There are more low-sodium or no-added-salt foods available now. But that doesn’t mean you can stop reading labels – there are probably 500 down and 50,000 to go! (just a playful guess!)

The bottom line of what all of this means for the consumer?

Many consumers are “under water” with their nutrition and overall diet. They are getting too many calories but very little fiber or nutrients for long-term health and weight control (health.gov).  The Dietary Guidelines’ most important message in 2005 and again in 2010 is to get the nutrients needed in the calories allotted. We do not need acai juice, special antioxidants, phytochemicals or probiotics. We need more fruits and vegetables, cooked whole grains, beans/legumes and skim dairy which all adds up to more fiber and fewer calories. Yet we are sidetracked with the phytochemicals in chocolate, some antioxidant properties of sugared pomegranate juice, probiotics in sugared yogurt, high protein, “energy” drinks, super sports beverages and many other claims by manufacturers. Obesity has risen and over 2/3 of the population is still very overweight. Healthcare costs are 75% of the national budget.

Our series this year for 2011 is going to help consumers become more efficient with their meal planning, food preparation and shopping. Someone needs to be on their side.

Have a comment or favorite trend or trend list? Post it below.

Want to see our newest and most beautiful poster that says it all:

Learn to make better salads in less time:

Salad Secrets Book

Happy Holidays to all of our readers!

Photo from our new book, Salad Secrets

Did you know that today, August 3rd, is Watermelon Day?

Here are 5 things you should know about melons in general – we want to celebrate all melons because we like them so much:

1. Melon is a better value than value meals.

- Melon is probably one of the best values when it comes to food selections. Why? First of all, melon is cheap – right now in the store a melon in season (cantaloupe or watermelon) is around .02 to .05 per ounce. Second of all, it is low in calories and full of water and fiber which helps you feel fuller on fewer calories.

If you ate a pound of melon, it would cost, on average, about .50 cents. Better still, it would only contain about 144 calories and barely any fat or sodium. Compare that to the “value item” double burger from McDonalds right now. One double burger is $1. But it is only 5.3 ounces – so you would have to eat 3 of them to equal one pound – that is $3 and about  1170 calories, 2760 mg of sodium and almost 60 g of fat.

You might laugh because you would not eat a whole pound of anything at any one sitting. But over the course of the day you probably eat several pounds of food – our question:  is that mostly burgers or mostly fruits and veggies? When you want value, think of your health and not the fast food board offerings.

2. Melon is a great “shopper stretcher”

Melon does sit at room temperature for a few days. So, while you eat all of the produce that perishes faster, like peaches and berries, the melon is getting riper. After a few days you can slice it and have fruit for the rest of the week. It is like you went shopping again! Hint: if you are buying several kinds of melons, it is best to use up the watermelon first, within three days. Cut melon should always be stored in the refrigerator.

3. Melon is the best multi-vitamin food

It contains A 2-cup serving of watermelon is an excellent source of Vitamins A, B6 and C plus a healthy amount of potassium – 270 mg.

4. You can be an artist with your melon:

http://www.watermelon.org/watermelon_carving.asp

5. But it is also great just to keep it on hand and serve it cool and crisp on a platter –

For best results, follow the SEE principle for melon preparation: Slice, Eat, Enjoy!

Here is our favorite melon recipe that is wonderful when made with fresh summer fruit:

Tutti Fruiti

3 cups diced watermelon 1 cup halved strawberries 1 cup diced papaya 1 cup diced pineapple 2 oranges, peeled, seeded and diced juice of 2 limes Dice all the fruit and place in a large mixing bowl. Add lime juice and mix well. Refrigerate until ready to serve. This recipe looks very nice if served in a half watermelon shell or tall glasses as we have above. Servings: Serves 6. 1 cups per serving. Diabetic Exchanges: Bread Starch:1.0 Fruit:1.0 Total Preparation & Cooking Time: 10 Min (10 For Prep,0 For Cook ) Per Serving: Calories:74, Total Fat:0.6g, Saturated Fat:0g, Trans Fat:0g, Cholesterol:0mg, Sodium:2mg, Carbohydrates: 17.9g, Dietary Fiber:2.7g, Sugars:16.7g, Protein:1.3g,

This wonderful post is brought to you by: http://nutritioneducationstore.com

Click here for all of our new and wonderful things – we have a lot going on. Can’t wait to show you more!

Looking for the 2011 Handouts? Click Here

One of our subscribers called and requested healthy appetizers for the Super Bowl. We got to work right away on the project and decided to have a little fun with a tapas theme. Tapas means little plates and these dishes originate from many Mediterranean countries. So, we started making many small plates of vegetables and fruit and stored them away.

We had some people over the next day and exclaimed that they were getting our Super Bowl fare. The end result? Empty plates! That is always good.

Now, these are very simple. Simple enough for kids to make. And they are healthy.

Veggies with Cucumber Yogurt Dill Dip

1 cup strained non-fat yogurt (you can buy this in the dairy section of your grocery store or strain nonfat plain yogurt over night in a strainer with a paper towel on the bottom)

1/2 cup diced cucumber

1 tsp fresh chopped dill

dash garlic powder

Mix the dip and place in a small serving bowl. Surround with cucumber sticks, baby carrots and bell pepper rings.

Chips with Low-Salt Salsa

We figure everyone loves chips so we know we will not get away with leaving them out. We picked tortilla chips and salsa because the salsa is made from veggies. And the blue corn chips have plenty of anthocyanin which is good.

We made the salsa quickly from low-sodium canned tomatoes.

1 14 ounce can no-salt-added diced tomatoes

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp garlic powder

dash hot pepper sauce

Place in food processor and pulse until the salsa is chunky. Pour into serving dish and surround with white and blue corn chips.

Tomato Pinwheels

Tomato Pinwheels look impressive but they are very easy to make.

1 whole wheat tortilla (we tried to find one that is lower than 300 mg of sodium)

2 tablespoons prepared hummus (we tried to find one that is not too high in sodium – the varieties in our deli varied so it paid to read the label – this one was less than 100 mg of sodium per serving)

1 chopped plum tomato

1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes

Spread the whole wheat tortilla with the hummus. Place the diced tomatoes on one end and roll tightly. Cut in 1 inch pieces and arrange in a circle on a plate. Place the grape/cherry tomatoes in the center.

Veggies With Hummus

Here is another small veggie plate that is not the standard stale veggie platter you find in most grocery stores – and it is a way to use up the hummus from the pinwheels.

1 cup hummus
1 cup celery sticks
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes
1 cup broccoli florets (tops)
Arrange the veggies on a plate surrounding the hummus. If you want a little red color on the hummus you can add a little tomato paste.

Fruit Tapas

Dried fruit is popular in the Mediterranean. We made a platter with figs (cut them in half so they look better), dried cranberries, dried plums (this is a sneaky word for prunes), and apple wedges. We cheated and used the apple wedges that are already cut and in bags in the grocery store.

By making these 5 small plates and arranging them around the room you have a nice appetizer spread or great snack plates in your refrigerator. Use them for the Super Bowl or for any time of year – for parties or after school snacks. Everyone loves the variety!

Looking for the 2011 Handouts? Click Here

Pear Centerpiece

12 pears, preferably different colors (we used 3 different types: Comice, Bosc, Red Bartlett)

1 cup dried cranberries

large clear decorative bowl or vase

Place half of cranberries on the bottom of the bowl or vase. Layer pears on top in a decorative pattern. Sprinkle cranberries in the last layer.  Keep chilled until ready for use. Use as a centerpiece for dinner or just family time when it is great to snack on fresh fruit. You will be surprised at how fast they disappear!

Fall Pear Salad

8 cups mixed greens, washed and ready to serve

2 sliced Red Bartlett pears

1/4 cup sliced dried figs

1/4 cup mixed dried fruit: golden raisins, blueberries, cranberries

2 tablespoons toasted walnut pieces

Balsamic vinegar to taste

Place the greens in a large bowl and top with sliced pears, sliced figs, dried fruit and walnut pieces. Serve with the vinegar on the side. Olive oil and black pepper are welcome, too.

Fall Fruit Platter, Pear Platter

Here we have an arrangement of concord grapes and assorted pears. Keep this in mind for another table centerpiece, party dish or gift that you can give for the holidays!

Healthy Fruit and Cheese Platter

4 ounces lowfat, low-sodium farmer’s cheese, sliced thin

1 sliced Red Bartlett Pear (use lemon juice to keep it from turning brown)

1 cup mixed dried fruit: golden raisins, dried cranberries, dried blueberries, dried sliced figs

Arrange all items on a platter. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. We like to serve these with fat-free, salt-free crackers.

Dried Fruit Gift Platter

This is a healthier alternative to cookies and easier, too!

This is a fun platter to make, especially with our spiral dish! But you can use any dish and make a fun pattern with a selection of dried fruits.

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup dried blueberries

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup halved dried figs (cutting them in half makes them much prettier)

Enjoy!

We have great holiday nutrition education handouts and resources here!

Sophisticated Pear Recipe here

Frugal Heart Healthy Proteins

Stacey L. Krawczyk, MS, RD, LDN

The Webster’s Dictionary defines the word Frugal as: characterized by or reflecting economy in the use of resources

Who isn’t looking for the opportunity to save a little money at the grocery store these days?  The American diet typically revolves around the protein portion of the meal which contributes to a large portion of our total grocery bill. Is there a way to save more in this area?  We’ve done a little investigating to see what proteins out there are the best bang for your buck as well as your heart. To better compare the information we’ve broken down the costs by calculating the cost per gram of protein provided. This is a nutrient-rich approach and enables a more balanced comparison.

Note:  These items were selected from a review of 60 protein foods at large grocery store chains in the Chicago Suburbs.

As you can see from the list, the most frugal complete protein you can purchase is Textured Soy Protein granules. Soy contains no cholesterol and very little fat which makes it very heart-friendly. We have also included some traditional inexpensive proteins – like hot dogs and lunchmeat. When compared as providing cost per gram of protein, they are among the most expensive items as well as containing considerably more fat and saturated fat – which is less heart-healthy. Who would have thought salmon is cheaper than hot dogs when compared like this? Some food for thought as you are looking at ways to best use stretch your food dollars – ask yourself can I make choices that provide heart-healthy options but are still frugal?

Stacey L. Krawczyk, MS, RD, LDN
Champaign, Illinois

Find a PowerPoint show and handouts for Shopping on a Budget here. Note: we can make any of our PowerPoint shows into slideshows for your website – just ask.

Living more environmentally friendly is more important than ever. Everything from travel and electricity to the food we eat affects the carbon foot print we leave behind and our pocketbooks. There are small steps that we can make at home that will have a big impact on preserving our global environment.

Plan

• Planning your menu at least a week at a time and then using it to make your grocery list saves you time and money and is usually healthier for you. The more trips to the store you make, the more you spend. This is often because you don’t have a list and can’t remember what you need, but also because you have more time at the store to be tempted by clever marketers.
• Making fewer trips also saves on gasoline and therefore, carbon emissions. The more planning you do, the less food you discard.

Discard Less

• Put a compost bin in your backyard instead of throwing food away. According to a study by the University of Arizona Garbage Project, Americans throw away 1.3 pounds of food every day, or 474.5 pounds per year. That garbage is filling up our landfills. The Johnson County Environmental department is concerned we may fill up the local landfill sooner than planned. The USDA estimates that higher percentages of fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy and grain products are thrown away than other items.
• Look for products that have less packaging. More and more companies have listened to our concerns and are now reducing their packaging.
• You can also use biodegradable disposables and attempt to reduce the use of disposables such as paper and foam plates, cups and paper towels.
• If you are already washing a load of dishes, a few more pieces being washed will increase costs only slightly and result in considerable savings in the cost of disposables. And use fragrance-free detergents as they are more eco-friendly than their counterparts.
• Instead of buying bottled water, buy a water bottle to fill.

Buy Local
Think global by buying local. Do some research and find out the best place to purchase local products. The more local the product, the less it has had to travel, thus cutting down of carbon emissions.

You can make a difference in energy consumption with small changes in your cooking and baking, too.

• Many newer ovens come to temperature so rapidly that they make preheating unnecessary. When roasting or baking, put the food in right away and then turn the oven off five or ten minutes early and let dishes finish cooking in the residual heat. The same concept is true for anything cooked on an electric stovetop.
• Glass or ceramic baking pans warm up faster and retain heat longer than metal pans, so you can lower the oven temperature by 25° and conserve energy. Foods will cook just as quickly as they would in the original recipe.
• When it’s time to replace equipment, purchase Energy Star products. To earn Energy Star qualification, products must meet strict criteria for energy efficiency set by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy. The Web site www.energystar.gov offers lists of Energy Star-qualified products such as dishwashers, refrigerators, lighting fixtures and ceiling fans.
• While you’re at it, investigate induction cooking. This method uses electricity to produce a magnetic field that reacts with the ferric content in stainless steel, cast iron, and enameled steel cookware, exciting the molecules and producing heat. The cookware (and therefore the food) gets hot, but the stovetop doesn’t. Less heat is wasted and the food heats faster, saving time and energy. Induction cooking is about 90% energy efficient compared with gas and electric radiant, which are 50% to 60% efficient.

Small steps can make a huge difference in our environment with very little disruption in your life. Sources: Today’s Dietitian Vol. 10 No. 6 P. 8, University of Arizona Garbage Project, Amy Reaman, Dietetic Intern

By Nichole Burnett, MS, RD, LD
http://www.johnson.ksu.edu
Family and Consumer Sciences
County Extension Agent
K-State Research and Extension
Johnson County

Edited to add: We had one comment that making a switch to a more plant based diet is important – and we do not want to leave this point out of course!! Science Daily reports, shifting entirely from an average American diet to a vegetable-based one would reduce the same emissions as 8,000 miles driven per year.  As a comparison, they state that switching to a diet that is completely local would save 1,000 miles per year.

A visit to a local farmer’s market proved to be a wonderful experience. There was a huge array of tropical fruits, local grown seasonal produce, fresh herbs, sunflowers and more!

What a way to support local growers and revamp the creative juices in my kitchen. I chose mint, opal basil, baby potatoes, a red bell pepper, an extremely ripe mango, corn on the cob, fresh local-grown, ripe tomatoes, an orange, bananas and an avocado. I plan to use them during the week and the only regret is that I did not buy more.

The mango and orange were sliced for a rather delectable breakfast treat. The mango literally tasted like candy, it was so ripe! I plan to try more tropical fruits the next time I go – there were many from the area that I have not heard of before.

The tomatoes were astounding – they were so ripe, juicy and delicious. We ate some of them sliced fresh with just a little oil, vinegar and black pepper. Later on in the day I roasted some of the tomatoes for a simple angel hair pasta dish with roasted marinara, complete with the opal basil that was also at the market.

Why should you attend a farmers’ market?

• A cheap family outing and fun event

• Exercise and Vitamin D from walking around outside

• Learn more about produce

• Try new things

• Eat more fruits and vegetables

• Get items that are fresher, better tasting and naturally ripe

• Support local growers

• Great bargains on local seasonal produce

Here is what you should bring:

• Cash

• Hat/sunglasses

• Water – if it is hot outside you might get thirsty on your expedition

• Bug spray if there are mosquitoes near you

• A bag or box to carry your items home

• Cooler with ice in case you have other errands to run afterwards – some items like leafy lettuce and fresh herbs are more delicate and may not hold up that well in a hot car.

Here are favorite recipes using Farmer’s Market Ingredients:

Open-Faced Fish Sandwich Dinner:

1 fillet of fish, baked

1 slice whole grain toast

2 slices fresh tomatoes

1/2 tsp low-fat mayonnaise

1. Assemble sandwich with toast on the bottom then fish and tomatoes on top.
2. Serve with these items on the side to make a complete meal:

• 2 cups leafy green salad tossed with fresh lemon juice

• 1 potato made into oven fries with salt-free ketchup (bake sliced potato wedges for 20 minutes at 425 degrees)

• 1 cup fresh mint tea (boil fresh mint for one minute and then chill over ice)

Serves 1: 432 calories, 5.5 g fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 43 mg cholesterol, 384 mg sodium, 10.5 g fiber, 72 g carbohydrate, 27 g protein

Angel Hair Market Pasta

8 ounces angel hair pasta, dry

3 large, ripe tomatoes, cored, halved and seeded

1/2 onion, peeled and quartered

1/4 cup fresh chopped basil dash granulated garlic

dash dried oregano

4 tablespoons grated parmesan

1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper

1. Cook pasta according to package directions then drain and hold.
2. Meanwhile, preheat your oven broiler. Place tomatoes and onion side up in a large baking dish.
3. Roast the vegetables under the broiler until skins turn very brown and blisters – about 10 minutes. Place herbs and onions into a food processor or blender. Puree briefly until basil is chopped fine then add the tomatoes and puree until almost smooth. Reheat sauce and toss with cooked angel hair pasta. Sprinkle 1 grated parmesan and fresh cracked black pepper over the top of each.

Serves 4. Each 1-1/2 cup serving: 256 calories, 2.5 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 4 mg cholesterol, 81 mg sodium, 47 g carbohydrate, 2.5 g fiber, 10 g protein.

Simple Boiled Corn:

Husk the corn and boil in a large pot of water for 3 minutes. Drain and serve hot. We like to top with fresh lemon and spray margarine. If you prepare a large amount in advance you can use the leftovers in salads and salsas during the week.

Per cob: 156 calories, 1.5 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 0 mg cho- lesterol, 399 mg sodium, 36 g carbo- hydrate, 4.5 g fiber, 5 g protein.

Farmer’s Market Salad:

1 cucumber, partially peeled and seeds removed

1/4 red bell pepper, sliced thin

1/2 tsp olive oil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon fresh sliced basil

black pepper – freshly cracked – to taste

garlic parsley blend

Toss together and serve.

Serves 4. Each 1/2 cup serving: 13 calories, .5 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 1 mg sodium, 2 g carbohydrate, .5 g fiber, 0 g protein.

Each meal: 424 calories, 5 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 4 mg cho- lesterol, 481 mg sodium, 86 g carbo- hydrate, 7.5 g fiber, 16 g protein.

Check out our new Farmer’s Market Poster:

Download a free Farmer’s Market Handout and Tip Sheet

To find a farmer’s market near you, visit http://www.localharvest.org/

Take a look at our photo above – we found a sale on vinegar bottles in a kitchen store and stocked up on a few of them. We filled them with balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar and rice wine vinegar. They were put on a decorative plate with a black pepper grinder and a bottle of olive oil. Voila! We now have an attractive centerpiece that always helps us serve a healthy salad!

Researchers found that vinegar helped curb appetite when consumed before a meal – why not have a salad with vinegar? (European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (vol 59, issue 9, pp983-988)

Enjoy! This photo compliments of our new macro lens – more photos to follow!

Get more lessons on wellness at weight loss here

Inside Triathlon Magazone Spring 2009 Page 46

USAT was kind enough to put my pic and recipes in this month’s issue of USA Triathlon Life magazine for Spring 2009 - see page 46. 

I guess the fact that I could make 15 meals in one day means they are fast, right? The whole point to our video, 25 ingredients, 15 meals is that you utilize many of the same ingredients throughout the week and you cook once and serve twice!

Here is a slide show:

[postcasa]http://picasaweb.google.com/data/feed/base/user/west1745/albumid/5335483774405770481?alt=rss&kind=photo&hl=en_US[/postcasa]

Here are my top 5 recommendations for bringing the Mediterranean diet, and all of its health benefits, into your kitchen:

1.  Make plants – fruit, vegetables, grains, legumes, seeds – the centerpiece of your meals. Start lunch with a tossed salad, adding in chickpeas and pumpkin seeds.
2.  Include olives or olive oil in as many foods as possible. Toss your salad with olive oil or add olives to your favorite recipes.
3.  Use nuts as part of your protein choices. Add a handful of nuts to your salad or sprinkle nuts over breakfast oatmeal.
4.  Choose fish or shellfish at least twice each week. Toss pasta with tuna and olive oil or coat salmon with crushed pistacchios.
5.  Flavor your foods with herbs and spices instead of salt.

We couldn’t agree more! In fact we liked the timing of her post since we had just prepared a Mediterranean Pizza using potatoes for a crust.

6 yukon gold potatoes, medium in size, skin on
drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil
fresh chopped garlic
fresh chopped basil
3 ripe plum tomatoes
1/4 cup sliced sundried tomatoes
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped fresh spinach leaves
2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
fresh-cracked black pepper to taste 

Rinse the dirt off the potatoes and pierce with a fork. Microwave the potatoes until done, about 2 minutes each. They are done when a knife goes through them easily.

Preheat the oven to 375F. Mash the potatoes into a lightly  oiled rectangular 9X12 baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with basil and mashed garlic. Top with sliced plum tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, spinach and mushrooms. Sprinkle with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or  until the cheese is golden brown and the veggies are roasted. Cool slightly then cut into squares. Grate black pepper over the top. We like to serve with a large tossed salad with roasted walnuts, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and roasted asparagus.

This recipe appears in our new DVD, 25 Ingredients, 15 meals.

A stir fry dish is so easy to make! 

Brown rice – make it in the rice cooker or according to package directions using 1 cup of rice and 2 cups of water for 3 cups or about enough for 4 people (go 1.5 cups of rice and 3 cups of water if you have a heartier appetite). Rice should be  done in 30 minutes and it can be cooking while you prepare and cook the stir fry below.

Here is the recipe for the stir fry (note – this is from our Video 25 ingredients, 15 meals – we are using roasted chicken from the first day that we roasted one):

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 cup chopped onion
1-1/2 cups chopped celery
1-1/2 cups chopped baby carrots 
1 cup chicken broth
2 cups fresh spinach leaves
1 cup roasted chicken breast
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
Dash of sesame oil

Pour oil in large shallow pan or wok and heat lightly. Saute the garlic and ginger until nutty brown. Immediately add the onion, celery and carrots and saute briefly. Add the chicken broth and cover the pan. Cook until the vegetables are crisp tender. Add the spinach, chicken, soy sauce and sesame oil and reheat. Serve the stir fry over top of the cooked brown rice or fold in the brown rice and reheat and serve.

You can also add toasted sesame seeds, snow pea pods, broccoli, nuts, etc. to make this stiry fry more fun. And occasionally, instead of using the chicken, we like to use frozen shrimp – we get those on special in our grocery freezer – completely peeled, deveined and tail off – very easy.

Tip: Cook extra rice to use for another day! Sometimes we even freeze the extra rice – it is so easy to pull it out and use it in tacos, soups, more stiry fry dishes, etc. 

Tip: Go easy on the soy sauce and use the reduced-sodium variety whenever possible. Did you know that the CDC just came out with a recommendation for almost 70% of the US population to lower their sodium intake to 1500 mg per day? We do have that info here.  Read the article for free.  Get a great presentation on low-sodium cooking here.  And the CDC recommendation is here. 

Enjoy! Comments and questions are always appreciated.

I think this has to be the most delicious and yet healthiest pizza I have ever created! Healthy because it is low in fat and sodium. Tasty because everyone said so!

It was my son’s 13th birthday party and I got up very early to bake the cake and make the pizza dough before yet another video shoot. It was all worth it when the kids said, “oh wow, it is HOME MADE” – I guess that is the new luxury, right?

Anyway, here is the recipe for the crust:

1 cup warm water (warm meaning warm to the touch but not hot) about 110F
1 packet dry yeast
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp olive oil

Mix very well.Then allow the dough to rise covered at room temperature until it doubles in volume, about an hour. Form into balls and roll into a crust. Prick with a fork and bake 10 minutes in a 350F oven. Makes 2 12-inch crusts that are about 1/4 inch thick.

Notes:
I like to use the paddle on my Kitchen Aid mixer because I feel the dough hook just rips it up and does not develop the gluten strands very well. I guess I am spoiled from using a Hobart for too long while in pastry kitchens of the Hyatt! But anyway, after it was mixed, I put it in the refrigerator all day to let it rise slowly.  I made a double batch or 4 pizzas.

Toppings:
No-salt-added pasta sauce (use about 1/2 cup per crust)
Julienne of red pepper or your favorite vegetable sliced thin
fresh chopped basil (or use dried oregano)
a sprinkle of no-salt-added farmer’s cheese*

Spread the sauce over the crust. Add the veggies then the cheese and herbs. Bake for 10 minutes at 375F and cut into 8 pieces (2 pieces per person).

We served the pizza with pasta, salad, fresh fruit and a big chocolate birthday cake of course! No big pizza delivery bill and much better health – never to mention the aroma of the fresh baked pizza surrounding the whole house with the guests here – that was priceless…

*I just discovered Friendship no-salt-added farmer’s cheese in the dairy section of our grocery store and I love it! It tastes a little like Feta cheese but without the salt. It is low in fat (2.5 g per ounce) for a cheese. It is just the ticket for salads and pizza and more!

So after watching our first take, my assistant and I decided that we have to come up with a master list of around 20 foods to buy and then show  at least 12 different fast meals you can make from these ingredients! That is a challenge!! I do admit to stretching the list to 25 items, but then I did come up with 15 different items you can make with those that everyone will like that are easy to prepare – we make them over and over here and my son can even make some of them. 

Here is our list of foods starting with whole grains, lean protein, fruits and vegetables and dairy (mostly fat-free except for Parmesan cheese which is used sparingly):

1. Pasta, whole grain penne
2. Brown rice
3. Tortillas, whole wheat
4. Lentils
5. Chicken, whole
6. Fish
7. Walnuts
8. Salad mix
9. Fresh spinach
10. Tomatoes, plum
11. Baby carrots
12. Broccoli
13. Butternut squash
14. Zucchini
15. Onions
16. Canned diced tomatoes, no added salt
17. Strawberries
18. Blueberries
19. Celery
20. Apples
21. Potatoes
22. No Salt Added Tomato Sauce
23. Fat-free sour cream
24. Yogurt – light vanilla
25. Parmesan cheese

The cost for all of those ingredients was just $63!! (This assumes you have staple cooking items like oregano, black pepper, cumin, coriander, ginger, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, vinegar, oil, soy sauce and sesame oil on hand. )

And our list of meals – including 1 snack and 2 desserts:

1. Lentils and rice – plain, winter squash, onions
2. Lentils and rice – burrito or wrap
3. Whole chicken – Roasted with potatoes/onions, carrots, salad
4. Chicken salad – with chicken, potatoes, salad
5. Chicken – pasta, broth, veggies
6. Chicken with rice – arroz con pollo
7. Chicken stir fry – spinach, celery, broccoli, onions, carrots
8. Chicken rice veggie soup
9. Fish – microwave with zucchini and rice
10. Tortilla Pizza
11. Potato Pizza – potatoes with plum tomatoes, spinach, onions, parmesan cheese
12. Baked stuffed potato – potato with broccoli, ff sour cream, parmesan
13. Snack platter with apples, carrots, celery
14. Dessert with berries and yogurt
15. Apple sauce with vanilla yogurt

We feel this teaches many lessons - 

• Making balanced low-fat, high-fiber meals that are based on grains, fruits and vegetables with minimal amounts of animal protein and fat – helps you get to requirements of MyPyramid and the Dietary Guidelines
• Buying more fruits and veggies is a great idea to add variety and color for all of your meals – note how we just have a few grains and lean protein items on our list
• You can save money, time and calories by cooking yourself versus going out to eat.
• You save a lot of money by buying less-processed food and it really doesn’t take that much more time or effort to cook yourself – with our easy ways of course!
• Stocking your kitchen for fast healthy meals that save significant time, money and calories from eating out
• How to use planned overs
• Meal planning and list making
• Time saving tips
• Cooking tips

Stay tuned!

Our newest video is in the works! Stock Your Kitchen For Fast and Healthy Meals!

Why: because you will save time, money and calories

You will save time because you won’t have to keep running to the store or out to eat. Consider how long it takes to go to a restaurant, place an order, wait for it, take it home and serve/clean up. Our surveys to health professionals showed that it takes less time to prepare a healthful meal if you have the ingredients on hand.  Get organized and have more time to enjoy your home and  your life!

You will save money – it costs roughly .80 each for lasagna versus $12.95 for the same dish while out. Save money on food and have more to save and spend on other things you enjoy!

You will save calories, fat and sodium. Most restaurant food contains at least double the fat, sodium and calories if not more. Take control of what goes in your food and in your body!

Here is the first picture from our grains section. We like to keep pasta, rice, couscous, bulgur, oatmeal, whole grain low-sodium cereals, light popcorn and whole cream of wheat on hand – all delicious whole grains that you cook that do not have added salt or fat. 

We will add more sections as we shoot – stay tuned!

Here is a compelling slide from our new show Healthy Shopping on A Budget. With every MyPyramid food group (grains, vegetables, fruits, meat/beans, milk), we found that the least processed foods were the least expensive foods. While most people assume healthy foods are more expensive because chicken breasts and fat-free cookies are more expensive than their regular counterparts, we found that this assumption is a narrow-minded approach and that frugality and healthy shopping require a broader scope. Take a look at the vegetable chart above – you can see that fresh vegetables are the least expensive (and might even be less than this when they are in season or from a farmer’s market) compared to more processed ones like frozen potatoes (mashed, French fries) and potato chips.  Clearly, healthy shopping on a budget means buying less processed foods, not fat-free processed foods!

This slide was another of our favorites:

Cooking from scratch at home does save money! And our healthy lasagna is a lot lower in fat and sodium, too! If you compare to a restaurant meal of lasagna you save either way:

Scratch Lasagna – .80 per serving

Frozen Lasagna – $2.95 per serving

Restaurant Lasagna – $12.95 per serving

We looked up the nutrition facts for a restaurant portion of lasagna and we were shocked. In addition to spending a lot more money you get a lot more fat (47 grams), calories (850) and sodium (1280 mg)!

Here is a list of inexpensive healthful foods you should have in your meals and on your weekly shopping list:

We like to shop our freezer and pantry first – to use up what we have on hand – and then we take a look at store specials – did you know most grocery stores have weekly flyers online?

Here is the info about our show – with a flash edition for preview. 

And our best tips – to help you save more:

A wonderful way to make dinner is to roast everything in the oven – this process is attendance-free, efficient and impressive in the way it looks and adds aroma to your house. This whole chicken pictured above was only $4.79 at Walmart (they are running about $8-9 in our grocery store) so I bought it and put it in the freezer for a special day, knowing I can defrost it easily in the microwave. There is something about a roasted chicken that reminds me of the meals my grandmother used to make. 

Here is the menu:

- Herb roasted chicken
- Winter Squash
- Potato Casserole with carrots, onions and herbs
- Pink Apple Pie (crustless)
- Tossed salad 

Herb roasted chicken:
1 chicken, whole, defrosted
2 bayleaves
1 tsp each: dried thyme, granulated garlic, rosemary, black pepper 

Preheat the oven to 325F.  Rinse the chicken in cold water and put it in the glass baking dish. Rub the outside with dried thyme, rosemary, granulated garlic and black pepper and put bay leaves inside.  I roasted it uncovered to an internal temperature of 180F, which took 90  minutes. 

Winter squash: Cut 1 butternut squash into quarters and remove the seeds. Put in a glass baking dish and cover with foil and place in the oven with the chicken. It takes about 80 minutes to bake.

Potato casserole:
3 small baking potatoes
1 onion
1 cup baby carrots or sliced carrots
Rinse potatoes to remove loose dirt. Cut in slices, along with onions and carrots. Place them in a baking dish. Drizzle with a little olive oil and toss with granulated garlic and parsley mix and black pepper. Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 70 minutes.

Pink apple pie:
3 apples, cut in wedges
1 cup leftover berries
1/4 cup pomegranate juice or any juice
Cut apples in wedges and toss with some berries and juice – in this case we were using old berries from a photo shoot. Cover and bake one hour.

If you notice, I started putting the longest-baking items in the oven first and everything came out at once in the end.

Here are pix:

I served the potatoes, winter squash and salad on the plate with just a few slices of chicken. The leftover chicken was made into 2 more great meals the following days:

- Chicken sandwich on whole wheat bread with lettuce, grapes, baby carrots and yogurt

- Chicken and rice:

1 cup brown rice
2 cups water
1 cup chopped chicken (bone and skin free)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup peas
1 tsp each: coriander, granulated garlic with parsley
1/2 tsp chili powder

Place all of the ingredients in a rice cooker, cover and cook until done, about 30 minutes. You can also put all in a pan with a lid and cook on medium-low heat until done. This dish is done when all water is evaporated and the rice is done.

I served the Chicken and Rice with a few tortilla chips for garnish and a big green salad on the side!

Here are the new products we are making – some fun posters and one more to come that shows all different foods at 100 calories each!

5 Ways to More Fruits and Vegetables

It was time for “Make Your Own Burritos” night here.

We bought flour tortillas that are low in sodium and a good deal from Walmart. These can be stored in the freezer to make wraps, soft tacos, burritos and pizza, so they are important in our house.  Calories each are 120 and sodium is 110 mg. 

Next, we cooked some ground chicken breast that we found on sale along with some onions:

After cooking until completely done, we seasoned with chili powder, oregano, cumin and coriander and then added some fresh lime juice. Then we ground it in the food processor to make it resemble the fine texture of ground beef that is a lot higher in fat. 

Next up is the roasted salsa:

This is made by broiling 3 plum tomatoes, one onion and a sweet or hot pepper (your choice) then grinding them in the food processor along with lemon juice and chopped cilantro. This makes a tasty salsa that is inexpensive and very low in sodium compared to prepared ones you find in the store.

Next was a simple bean dip made with no-salt-added pinto beans, a touch of tomato paste,  cumin, garlic powder and chili powder (add those to taste):

Brown rice was made in the rice cooker and served to use as a filler for the burritos or a side dish – diner’s choice.  Creativity and choice is what is fun about this meal!

So, diners had a choice of a large tossed salad, fresh-made salsa, tortillas, brown rice, ground chicken breast, bean dip and fat-free sour cream for their burritos. It was a festive meal that was made fun by passing all the bowls and making fun creations. 

Enjoy!

Here is how I structure it:

• Pasta with fresh broiled tomatoes (or pomodoro tomatoes) and other veggies 
• Green veggie to go with baked fish and rice – usually asparagus or green beans
• Stir fry veggies – usually carrots, mushrooms, spinach, peppers and these can be used for salads and other dishes, too
• Another vegetable to go with chicken or turkey breast – usually broccoli or zucchini or green beans in a steam bag; can also be winter squash
• Ingredients for salsa that can be used to make burritos, tacos, fish, chicken (broiled salsa recipe and instructions here)
• Salad and fruit
• Sometimes cabbage for slaw – and it doubles as a great stir fry ingredient, too
• Something new to try – lately I have been reading Ottolenghi The Cookbook and I have been making delicious salads and a couscous dish that are inspired from the pictures 

There are more menu planning tips here, too.

Here is a fun meal we just made – it was turkey burgers with oven fries, fresh slaw and carrot wedges.

Step one – preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Wash potato under running water and then cut into wedges.

Step 2. Place wedges on lightly oiled baking pan. Lightly spray with cooking oil spray. Place in oven and bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Step 3. Turn potatoes over after they are brown and continue baking another 5 minutes. This is what they look like when they are done.

We made a quick slaw and cut carrot wedges. This is a lot better than what you find in a fast food place but gobbled up just as quickly!

For the quick slaw – toss fresh sliced cabbage with a little oil, Balsamic vinegar, a pinch of sugar and black pepper. 

We served the oven fries with a turkey burger – complete with English muffin, lettuce tomato and no-salt-added ketchup. 

More recipes, a budget shopping list and tips here

Last night we made orzo with pomodoro tomatoes and basil. I realized at the end that I did not chop a thing thanks to the ingredients I found in the store – the Gourmet Garden basil and garlic tubes and the box of sodium-free chopped pomodoro tomatoes.

The orzo is pasta that is shaped like rice and it cooks quickly. It adds variety to the spaghetti and macaroni that are staples in our kitchen.  

Here is the recipe:

1.  Saute 1 tablespoon minced garlic in 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil until nutty over medium heat in a sauce pan
2. Add 2 cups chopped pomodoro tomatoes and juice along with 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil and allow to cook briefly.  
3. Stir in 3 cups cooked orzo. 

We paired the Orzo with a Light Caesar Salad that was very very lightly dressed with Light Caesar Dressing by Cardini’s:

We enjoy the flavor of Cardini’s and this dressing is much lower in fat AND sodium than most other Caesar Dressings we have come across in the store.

We also served Chicken Tenderloins with Key Lime and Cilantro:

The chicken tenders were placed in a glass baking dish and topped with key lime juice and Gourmet Garden chopped cilantro and then baked for 20 minutes at 350. We have the leftovers for some chicken tacos later in the week. 

Some more menu ideas from our week:

- Lowfat Lasagna with Egg Plant Parmesan, salad

- Chicken Rice Tacos with corn, slaw, sliced avocado

- Turkey Cutlets with fresh zucchini, mashed sweet potatoes

- Turkey Mushroom Rice Pot (leftover chopped turkey cooked with brown rice and mushrooms), cucumber yogurt salad

This menu was inspired from the produce section of the store. I find it is very efficient to go home with 4 or 5 meal ideas that use some of the same ingredients.

Note:  We have had a question on the Pomi brand Pomodoro tomatoes featured here.  They are a pomodoro or plum tomato that is diced and packaged without salt in an aseptic container. You can also use fresh diced plum tomatoes or canned diced tomatoes without salt. If using the  latter, a pinch of sugar will make them more similar to the plum tomatoes which are sweeter and have a more mild flavor.  Thanks to Janice Gregg from Oregon State University Extension for asking us to clarify this!

I had a request – “Mom, can you make tomato soup?” Okay – and so anyone who knows me, knows that I am not going to buy canned tomato soup because of the high sodium content. So, I bought a box of pomodoro tomatoes, without added salt. And I am definitely going to be buying more of them. I have been using them in pasta (simple pasta with sauteed garlic, tomato and basil), risotto and now soup. It was so easy to make – and so delicious. We saved seconds for tonight’s dinner.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic (I buy it crushed in a tube in the produce section of the store)
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 can low-sodium chicken broth
1 box diced pomodoro tomatoes (about 2 cups – see the picture below), no added salt
1 cup water
1 tablespoon fresh chopped Italian Herbs or Basil (I buy that in a tube in the produce section too – very economical and always ready to use – see in the picture)
2 bay leaves
dash granulated garlic
black pepper to taste

Saute the garlic, onion, carrot and celery in the olive oil in a Dutch oven pan over medium heat until golden, about 2-3 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover the pan, reduce heat to simmer and simmer until the veggies are tender over low heat, about 15 minutes. Puree with hand held blender or in blender or food processor – taking care that the soup is hot and you don’t want to splash it on you.

Serve hot in a bowl – we sprinkled with a bit of parmesan cheese.

Our salad had a fun mix of fresh veggies – celery, cucumbers, grape tomatoes, grated carrot, dried cherries and toasted almonds. We topped with balsamic vinegar. And we served soup, salad and open faced tuna sandwiches for dinner. All in all I spent about 20 minutes in the kitchen from start to finish – fast, delicious and healthy – and low in fat and calories, too.

Enjoy

But a real drawback – is what to do with them? It is not like you are going to find them extremely palatable to open the can and eat them. But a few easy steps in the kitchen can bring you a feast.

Delicious Vegetarian Tacos:
Bean filling:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 small onion, sliced
1 bell pepper, sliced
juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 can no-salt-added black beans

cooked rice (2 cups)

10 medium soft taco shells – see notes at end

non-fat sour cream

4 ears of corn, microwaved and kernels sliced off into bowl (or use 2 cups frozen corn kernels and heat according to package directions)

1 sweet potato – bake 5 minutes in the microwave – cut in quarters

1) Saute the garlic, onion and pepper in the olive oil until golden, about 2 minutes. Add the canned beans including the juice. Season with cilantro and lime.
2) Soften the tortillas in the microwave by heating briefly
3) Make the tacos by placing rice, beans, corn and sourcream in the center of the tortilla and rolling up.

Serve the tacos on a plate with corn and sweet potato. Roll and chill extra tacos for later.

We made fresh peaches for dessert – quarter peaches and place in microwave container with lid. Cover and cook for 6 minutes.

Notes about the tortilla shells and other ingredients. We found these tortillas that are low in fat and sodium – that is more important to us to have them low in sodium than it is to have them be whole grain particularly with the fiber found in the beans. Many tortilla shells are very large and very high in sodium so you have to read the labels.

We like the tubes of garlic and cilantro. They are only $3 and they last a long time – we get at least 20 meals out of each one.

New products
Holiday products

Lately I have been making a greater effort to keep the food budget on target. I have been stocking up on sale items that we use on a regular basis (gotta love the 2 for 1 specials!), not buying so many convenience/treat type things like diet soda, crackers, cereals and chips, and taking at look at each item and the other choices instead of just flying through the store like a 747 buying everything I buy out of habit. I am buying “ingredients” much more than “prepared foods.”

This has led me to notice one thing I was spending a lot of money on – lettuce. 2 people in this house go through 4 bags of lettuce a week. Pre-washed lettuce is now $2.50 a bag in our store which would equal $10.00 per week. BUT this doesn’t mean we are not eating salad or lettuce!! I did notice that whole heads of red leaf and romaine, that are very robust in size, are $1.25 each. So, I opted for 1 of each of those.

Tonight I decided to shoot photos while I was preparing the lettuce. When I weighed the lettuce, I discovered that one head is actually equal to 2 bags (One head of prepared lettuce without the core weighed 15 ounces while one bag prepared lettuce weighs about 8 ounces) – hence the discovery that I now have it for just 62 cents per bag instead of $2.50. And I must say, last week I was surprised that the cut lettuce lasted 4 or 5 days – we ran out before it went bad.

So here is how I prepared it:

Cut the lettuce in bite-sized pieces with a sharp stainless steel knife and place into large pot of cold water and stir well; allow to sit for a bit so that all the dirt sinks to the bottom. Remove the lettuce from the top of the water and allow to drain well in colander (and yes, instead of a colander you can use a lettuce spinner to remove the water). Place drained lettuce in plastic bag with a few holes cut in the bottom and keep refrigerated. The lettuce should last about 4 days.

Here are a few other vegetable specials I found this week:

- Campari tomatoes – these are slightly larger than cherry tomatoes and were the best value per pound this week in the store. I like to quarter them and put them on salads or use them in pasta or salsa.

- Mild Cubanelle peppers – these are not that hot – just a bit spicy. They were 3 for $1.79 while green bell peppers were $2.99 each and red bell peppers were $4.99 each. I was able to use one of them to make salsa and the others will be used for salad for the week.

And voila – the finished products:

Fresh garden salad with summer specials on produce.

Salmon with fresh-roasted salsa made in the food processor with oven-broiled campari tomatoes, onion and cubanelle pepper, lemon juice and Gourmet Garden’s cilantro paste.

Microwave fresh corn – I put an ear of corn that was wrapped in plastic in the microwave for 2.5 minutes.

This is such a simple dish to make. Chop up a selection of fresh veggies – saute with a little (2 tsp) olive oil in a nonstick pan and add broth and fresh herbs (basil, oregano). Serve over heated pasta. Top with parmesan cheese. We find this is a great way to use up extra veggies and offer a low-cal, low-fat dinner that is a new twist on pasta with red sauce.

Tortilla pizza is so easy to make – great for an appetizer, snack or light dinner. And really great to feed a bunch of kids who are hungry now!

We started with our favorite salt-free sauce, Enrico’s No-Salt-Added Pasta Sauce and some tortillas. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Then added a light sprinkle of reduced-fat cheese. You can add other favorite ingredients as well – the sky is the limit. But the kids wanted just cheese so we stuck to their order.

After 10 minutes baking – pizza is done!

Serve with salad:

And our 10 minute Microwave BBQ Chicken Tenders:

For the chicken tenders – we buy them frozen in large bulk packages from the Walmart super store. Put them frozen in one layer in a baking dish and then dab with a bit of barbecue sauce on top – go easy on the sauce because it is very high in salt. Cover with plastic wrap.

Microwave using the “chicken” automatic setting on the microwave (or 80% power for 12 minutes) and in about 12-15 minutes you have perfect cooked moist chicken tenders. Chicken is done when it is firm and no longer pink in the center.

If you teach cooking demonstrations you will be interested in our new MyPyramid Cooking Demo Kit:

Here is a dish that is very easy to make and pleasing to kids of all ages. Now that it is getting a little cooler it is fun to use the oven again!
Oven Fries
2 medium-sized baking potatoes
Cooking oil spray
Black pepper to taste
No-salt-added ketchup

Rinse the potatoes under cold running water to remove any dirt. Preheat oven to 450F. Lightly spray a baking pan with cooking oil spray.
Cut the potatoes in half and then cut each half into 6 or 8 thin wedges. Arrange in a single layer on baking pan. Lightly spray the top of the potatoes.

Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Turn potatoes over and bake an additional 5 minutes or until golden like the ones in the picture. Season with black pepper and serve with no-salt-added ketchup.

Enjoy! I served mine with a large tossed salad topped with tuna. My son ate them with a tossed salad and a toaster oven grilled cheese sandwich.

Penne Pasta Bolognese

1 onion, chopped
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (dried basil, oregano, marjoram)
ground black pepper to taste
1 pound ground very lean turkey breast
1 jar low-sodium pasta sauce
8 oz box penne pasta

Cook the pasta according to package directions; drain in colander and reserve.

Chop the onion and saute in olive oil with the seasonings.

Add the ground turkey breast to the pan and cook until done (when it is firm and opaque). Transfer the turkey/onion mixture to a food processor and process until fine. This is the trick to working with turkey breast – it takes it from big clumps to more fine pieces as you would have if you used ground beef.

Place the turkey back in the pan and add the pasta sauce. Heat through.

We like to use a pasta sauce that has no added salt. Check out the Nutrition Facts Label for this one – it only has 25 mg of sodium per serving. Most commercial sauces have upwards of 600 mg of sodium per 1/2-cup serving!!

Look at how the ground turkey has a better texture after using the food processor. You can also use a blender.

Add pasta and heat through.

Place in bowl and top with a little shredded Parmesan and voila! Delicious lowfat meal!!

Crockpot Applesauce

5 pound bag red apples (we used Gala), cored and quartered, skin left on
1/2 cup Splenda
apple pie spice to taste (about 2 teaspoons)
1/2 cup water

Put in crockpot and cook on low overnight or all day.

It only takes a few minutes to core and quarter the apples. And since we put this on the crockpot at night, the whole house smelled like home-made applesauce the next morning. Now that is something to wake up to!!

I like the applesauce chunky – so I just stirred it until the apples were broken up into a chunky apple sauce. If you like it smooth you can use a food processor to attain that consistency. The red skin of the apples imparts a beautiful color.

Serve the apples warm any time of day – and then chill for later use. Keeps about a week in the refrigerator.

Here is a pic of our finished applesauce in a dessert dish topped with whipped cream:

Chicken Chili

This dish goes together really fast in the microwave. It also disappears really fast!

3 cups cooked pinto beans, drained
1 can no-salt-added tomatoes
1 cup cooked, skinless chicken, cut in chunks
Seasonings to taste: chili powder, dried oregano, garlic/parsley mix, coriander, cumin (about a teaspoon of each)

Place all ingredients in microwave dish. Microwave on high until heated through, about 5-6 minutes. Stir well. Serve over pasta, rice or in rolled up tortilla. Optional: top with fat-free sourcream.

We used frozen pinto beans that are pictured and mentioned in meal two of the “1 Chicken – 6 Meals” series (see January 2007).

Chicken Pasta Bowl

This dish goes together in about 15 minutes when you have the ingredients already prepared.

2 cups medium shell pasta, dry
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup asparagus, cut in 2 inch strips
1/2 cup sliced red pepper strips
1 can low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup cooked, skinless chicken, cut in chunks
Seasonings to taste: garlic powder, thyme, rosemary, black pepper
Grated parmesan – about 2-4 tablespoons

1. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain in colander.
2. Add oil to large saute pan and heat over medium-high heat.
3. Saute vegetables until crisp-tender, stirring frequently.
4. Add cooked pasta, cooked chicken, broth and seasonings.
5. Heat until broth is evaporated and pasta is heated through.
6. Sprinkle with grated parmesan and serve hot.

Chicken Veggie Stir Fry

This is an easy recipe. We made the brown rice and soaked the shitake mushrooms yesterday. The chicken was already cooked and frozen, too. So the whole thing from start to finish was about 15 minutes. It disappeared even faster!

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup sliced carrots
2 cloves minced garlic
1 cup sliced mushrooms, we used half shitake and half regular
1 cup sliced asparagus tips
1/4 cup sliced mild hot pepper (pascilla or poblano)
1/2 cup sliced red pepper
1 bag fresh snow peas
1 cup cooked chicken
seasonings: 1 tsp sesame oil, 2 tablespoons light soy sauce, 1 tsp ginger paste

Pour the oil into the pan and heat over medium high. Saute the carrots then add the garlic, mushrooms, asparagus and peppers. Saute briefly until golden. Cover and stir frequently for a few minutes until crisp tender. Add the snow peas, chicken and seasonings and heat through.

Serve hot with cooked brown rice (1-1/2 cups brown rice, 3 cups water – cook 30 minutes).

Note that you can serve family style right in the pan or put on plates – we showed both ways. We used a large paella style pan because this fascillitates faster cooking and using less oil. You can also use a wok or nonstick skillet.

For those who are time impaired, consider the many frozen packages of stir fry veggies:

We used our kitchen time well – having everything ready before you start cooking is called Mis En Place – it means everything in its place. Note the plate full of veggies above – everything is chopped and ready before we started cooking.

We also got ready the “mis en place” for tomorrow’s pasta chicken dinner:

Today is cold in Florida – so time to make soup! Here is what went into the crockpot:

Chicken Wild Rice Soup

4 cups defatted chicken broth (reserved from day one)
1 cup brown/wild rice mix (if you don’t have the mix, use half cup of each)
1/2 cup diced red pepper
1 cup chopped skinless chicken (from day one)
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
seasonings to taste: black pepper, garlic/parsley mix, thyme, Italian seasoning

Place all ingredients into a crock pot and cover. Cook on high power until the rice is tender, about 2 hours. Adjust consistencey with more water or broth as needed. We like ours thick.

Serve with a large tossed salad.

If you don’t have a crockpot, simmer on the stove, covered, until the rice is tender, about 45-60 minutes. Add more liquid as needed, stir occasionally.

Note: Since it is Monday, we made salad, cut up fruit, cooked brown rice and soaked Shitake mushrooms for our stir fry tomorrow. Always make good use of kitchen time and think ahead for tomorrow! More good recipes to come!!

Chicken Burritos

We were inspired to make these because there is a restaurant near us that makes great ones.

You will find the pinto beans we used in your grocer’s freezer – we got them at Walmart. I like them because they are already cooked and do not contain sodium. They come in a resealable bag so are very easy to use.

3 cups cooked pinto beans, drained if using canned or boiled
1/2 cup prepared salsa – made this without salt (recipe below)
3 cups frozen corn kernels
2 teaspoons margarine (trans-free)
1 cup cooked chopped chicken, skinless
1 cup fat-free sourcream
8 flour or tortillas, warmed in microwave at service time
Heat the pinto beans with the salsa in the microwave. Heat the corn with the margarine in the microwave.

Allow everyone to assemble their own tortillas using beans, corn, chicken and sour cream. Extra salsa can be used here as well.

It takes some doing to find flour tortillas that are not too high in sodium and low in fat – read the label and try to stay under 200mg per tortilla. And if you are using the fresh-made chicken, frozen corn and frozen pinto beans they are very low in sodium so you come out okay.

This recipe makes 8 tortillas which feeds 4 to 8.

Salsa

2 fresh tomatoes, cut in half and seeds squeezed out
1/2 onion, peeled and quartered
1 anaheim (mild) chile pepper, cut in half, seeds and veins removed
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, wash and remove stems
fresh lime juice

Preheat broiler. Make salsa by placing tomato, onion, and chili pepper on a flat cookie tray, skin sides up. Broil until skins blister and turn very brown. Drain off juice and discard. Place cilantro, roasted onion and roasted pepper into blender or food processor. Puree fine. Add tomatoes and pulse until chunky. Add fresh lime juice. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

We bought a whole chicken on sale ($5) in our grocery store so we decided to turn it into some great meals.
We cooked the chicken in the crock pot – this serves many purposes – a tender juicy chicken, great broth and no attendance time. Directions: Cover chicken with water; cover; cook on high until done and tender, about 3 hours (if you don’t have a crockpot, simmer on stove for 1 hour in plenty of water in a large pot.)

Once the chicken was cooked it was cooled and then cut and put in bags and frozen for later use. We removed the fat from the broth using our special cup shown above and refrigerated the broth for later use.

For our first meal, we decided to make Arroz Con Pollo – Chicken with Rice:
2 cups rice
4 cups of water/broth,
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
1/4 cup chopped red pepper
2 tablespoons chopped sundried tomatoes
1/2 cup black beluga lentils (brown will also work)
1 cup cooked chopped chicken, skinless
black pepper and garlic/parsley powder to taste
Place all ingredients into the rice cooker; cover and cook. 20 minutes later, dinner is done! (You can also cook on top of the stove and simmer all until liquid is evaporated.)
Serves 6 to 7. Extra rice and chicken went into bags for the freezer for later use.

Beluga black lentils are great to have on hand. They cook as quickly as rice and make a colorful addition to many dishes. We got them from the Whole Foods Market. You can also use plain brown lentils as well.