Sandwhich Thins

This post is for Brenda. While we lived there I kept meaning to show her how to post on this blog, but it never happened. So I am going to share one of her healthy secrets. She has been buying these whole wheat sandwich buns. They eat their hamburgers, sloppy-joes, etc on them. They get rid of the regular white buns which are very simple carbs, and replace it with quality complex carbs. This is great for Roy's blood sugar and I thought it was a great idea. The next time I go to the store for buns, I'm getting these!

Applesauce

I'm all about the substitutions lately, and I've found a good one. I have been putting applesauce in my recipes instead of the oil / butter / shortning. What I'll usually do is take the measurement of oil / butter / shortning and put in applesauce for half of it, and olive oil / canola oil for the other half. Brenda and I tried this a couple months ago with one of her cookie recipes and it tasted great. (Roy was excited because with half the fat he could eat twice as many:) I have also tried it in this yummy chocolate zucchini bread/cake recipe. Enjoy!

Chocolate Zucchini Bread/Cake Revised

3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla or almond extract
1/2 cup olive oil or canola oil
1/2 cup applesauce
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
5 Tbsp cocoa
2 cups ground/shredded zucchini

Put in greased 9x13 pan or two bread loaves. Bake at 325 for one hour. May top with chocolate frosting or glaze.

I think I'm going to have squash coming out of my ears soon (I planted a bunch in Roy and Brenda's garden) so if anyone has any fun ways to use squash I'd love to hear them.

Who are you cooking with?

This is the latest website I'm using for recipes.  And every one I've tried has been so good!  Looks like for the most part they are cooking from recipes they find and give you their tips, twists, etc. on how to make them turn out good.  Some are homemade styles, healthy eating, etc.  They have a superb 30 minute recipe list!  http://www.ourbestbites.com/

So any sites you like to follow? 

What do you put on your skin?

Just recently I have started to read the labels on my lotion, shampoo, toothpaste etc. And I do wonder "How much of all of that stuff that I can't pronounce gets absorbed through my skin and does it affect me? Well some may think I'm being a little extreme, but I think it is definitely something to think about. It's hard to get "all natural" everything, but I have made a few small changes and I do think twice before I rub something into my skin. I have been using coconut oil for lotion. I love it because I love the smell of coconuts. (It kinda smells like an almond joy Roy =) But the ingredients read coconut oil. And that is it. It is edible. So I feel pretty safe rubbing it on my skin every day. And a little bit goes a long ways so it is pretty cheap to buy. I'm still trying to find a good sunscreen, but I came across this article and thought it was quite interesting so I thought I would share. Click here to read the article. Let me know what you think.

Healthiest Bean Dip I've Found

Bean Dip (recently sampled at the Wyatt Riot with raving reviews):

1 can whole kernal corn
1 can black beans
1 can black eyed peas
1 can kidney beans
(all of these are drained)

1 red pepper diced small
1 yellow pepper diced small
1 orange pepper diced small
1-2 green peppers diced small
1 small onion diced
6 roma tomatoes diced
2-3 avacados diced (or 7-8 avacados for Paige style dip:)
Pour light catalina salad dressing over to desired sweetness, and put in a big bowl!

The New USDA Dietary Guidelines Symbol

You probably all remember the food pyramid. Well they have now changed the pyramid to a plate which makes a lot more sense and is a lot easier to think about as you are preparing meals. Go to www.choosemyplate.gov to learn more about this plate and lots of other healthy tips.

The meal that has been feeding us all week

Don't be afraid to add some health to traditional recipes!  I've been on this puree kick for a couple months now, but am now venturing out and tweaking other recipes.  We really don't have a problem eating our veggies in this house, but I decided that if we could have more veggies and just toss them in everyday recipes, why not...?  I saw the Pioneer Woman on TV last month making the "best lasagna ever"- her words.  My mouth was watering looking at the finished dish, so I knew I had to try it.  Her site is awesome, with really good recipes and lots of laughs.  I imagine her life kinda like Paige's.  She fell in love with a real cowboy, moved to a ranch with him, and feeds him good food everyday.  Well anyway, I made some changes to her recipes for the health of it, and this lasagna turned out to be pretty dang good.  Still don't know if its the healthiest version, but lets take baby steps.

 Lasagna

1 1/2 lbs ground beef  1lb lean ground turkey (I use beef and turkey in my recipes, you just need to be conscious of the lean percentage vs. fat percentage in ground meats)  

1 lb hot breakfast sausage (Jimmy Dean) next time I'll plan ahead and search harder for a healthier substitute

2 garlic cloves, minced  I always used dried, cheaper in the long run for me

2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes

2 tablespoons dried basil

1 teaspoon salt     

2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans whole tomatoes  substituted for petite diced no salt added, any other Wyatt boy not like tomatoes??

2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste

3 cups cottage cheese  substituted for low-fat

2 eggs, beaten  only added 1 egg, you could probably get away with just an egg white

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes

 1 pound mozzarella slices  used lower fat shredded

1 package lasagna noodles

1/2 cup pureed cauliflower, I added this to the cottage cheese mixture

1/2 cup sweet potato (ok, this I actually kept out of the sauce so we could have Mashed Sweet Potatoes on the side)    

I also drained all the fat from the meat, even if she said not to.  And substituted no-boil lasagna noodles, because lasagna already takes enough time to make.  See the link below for the full recipe, and amazing pictures with more instructions. 

 http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/the_best_lasagn/

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Boil a few potatoes until soft.  Take the skins off.  Cut up and mash.  We add nothing to them, they're so good alone.

A spinach salad with nuts or a darker leaf lettuce salad would also be a great side.  Just thought I'd share, because its nice to try something new and tweak recipes so they work better for you.